Restaurant Brain Trust Tackles The “Restaurant Bubble”

Restaurant Brain Trust’s inaugural event kicked off Tuesday, March 7th at Matchbox on 1901 14th Street, NW with a notable panel of DC-area restauranteurs including Peter D’Amelio, President & CEO of Matchbox Food Group, Amy Brandwein, Chef/Owner of Centrolina and Jack Sosnowski, President & CEO of Nobel Chef Hospitality. The lively panel offered guests insights into the challenges, delays and surprises they faced in their first and subsequent business openings throughout Washington, DC.

Bethany Kazaba, Co-Founder and Principal of Neighborhood Retail Group and one of five Founding Members of Restaurant Brain Trust, moderated the event, asking each panelist questions including: the biggest obstacles they faced in funding a new restaurant concept, whether or not to franchise a restaurant concept, how technology has impacted their patrons’ dining experiences, the importance of the people you surround yourself with in staffing a restaurant, how critical communities and neighborhoods are in supporting restaurants and how the so-called area “Restaurant Bubble” may affect their businesses.

Restaurant Brain Trust is a collective effort by several active members of the Greater Washington, DC restaurant community to develop an educational and networking series geared for restaurateurs and their staffs. Its mission is to help local restaurateurs realize their growth plans by equipping them with the educational content and professional contacts that will be integral to their success.