August 14th, 2015 – The Restaurant Brokers, Eric and Robin Gagnon, are joined on their weekly radio show by Southern Art, Peppermill Resort Spa Casino, and FIZZ to talk about operating and investing in restaurants within hotels and casinos.
 
Some restaurants are out in the open for everyone to see and others are hidden gems. This week Eric and Robin are talking about the hidden gems, restaurants in nontraditional locations like hotels and casinos. They’ll talk about what Sir Elton John’s relationship with Caesars Palace’s FIZZ champagne lounge is, what celebrities are going in and out of Peppermill and why Oprah’s former chef Art Smith’s restaurant Southern Art is making InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta a hotspot.
 
What are the positives?  Are there any challenges?  Answers to both of these questions seem to be the same! “Employees are the largest assets.” “Getting the right employees is the biggest challenge.” Multiple shareholders can be another challenge, but did you know Peppermill has internal control of all their restaurants? It’s true!
 
So, does the restaurant drive the casino and hotel business or does the hotel and casino drive the restaurant business? For Southern Art, Jason Deville shares his view, “For us it works both ways...for certain, restaurants and bars sell hotel rooms. We hear quite often that people come to stay at our hotel because they want to dine in Oprah’s chef’s restaurant.”
 
Tune in this weekend to hear more from our panel and learn how and why you should invest in a nontraditionally located restaurant, how to survive the internal competition, the steps to take before taking part in this type of commitment and more! Join Eric and Robin Gagnon as they Satisfy your appetite for acquisition, feed the need for restaurant reality and serve up a recipe for business success next week on the GLN the Good Living Network, Monday at 2pm EST, Tuesday at 9PM EST and Thursday at 3PM EST. 
 
This Week’s Guests:
 
Director of Food and Beverage InterContinental Buckhead/Southern Art Jason Deville: 
 
Jason Deville is a results driven food and beverage professional who always finds a way to get the job done. Deville also has a firm belief in educating employees and developing leaders. He says doing so has helped him build successful supervisory and management teams. Jason describes himself as always excited by a challenge and thriving best in fast-paced, high-pressure environments. He likes to deliver results while staying focused on the bottom line.
 
Peppermill Resort Spa Casino’s Jim Moritz:

Jim Moritz is the Assistant General Manager received his B.S. from University of Nevada, Reno and has been with Peppermill since 1978 when he started as a busboy. With hard work and dedication he climbed the ladder working various front and back of the house positions, from quick service to fine dining. Mr. Moritz has also been Director of Resort Operations and Director of Food and Beverage where he was responsible for 10 restaurants, 16 bars and lounges, banquets and a night club.

  
Owner of FIZZ Las Vegas Michael Greco:

Michael’s journey began in 2004 as the first employee of the renowned Body English, a multi-million dollar nightclub at the Hard Rock Hotel in which Greco spearheaded the conceptualization, design and opening. From night to day, Greco is also responsible for changing the face of daytime entertainment in Las Vegas with the creation of Rehab, the Sunday pool party at the Hard Rock Hotel.
 
With a vast amount of celebrity connections, Greco joined Palms Casino Resort in 2009 to work directly with George Maloof in an effort to keep the brand on the cutting edge. As the Vice President of Entertainment his highlights include signing both Mariah Carey and Matt Goss to their first Las Vegas residencies.
 
Greco’s most recent accomplishment came with the exciting late 2013 opening of FIZZ Las Vegas. The multi-million dollar project is a collaboration with business partner Steven Kennedy and global entrepreneur David Furnish.
 
About We Sell Restaurants
 
We Sell Restaurants is the nation’s largest restaurant brokerage firm specializing in restaurants wanted (restaurants for sale), leasing a restaurant and franchise restaurant resales.  The We Sell Restaurants brand is known nationwide for professionalism, industry knowledge and unmatched service. They can be found online at www.wesellrestaurants.com.  The firm is franchising their brand nationwide and has offices in Florida, Georgia, Colorado, Tennessee and South Carolina.