Renaissance Restaurateur

Renaissance Restaurateur

By Sean Roth

Real Estate Editor

There must be a lot of hats in the back of Paul Mattison's closet, because he certainly wears more than a few throughout the day. No one would dispute that restaurateurs are busy, but Sarasota's Mattison is busier than most.

In five years, Mattison has gone from executive chief and part owner of one restaurant to ownership of three restaurants, a catering business, a culinary travel business, a cooking school and a retail store. At the same time, he became the spokesman for Cuisinart on the Home Shopping Network. And his employee base grew from 75 to about 200.

In late March, Mattison's life got somewhat easier with the sale of the St. Petersburg location. Is he slowing down? Hardly, talk to him for five minutes and it's clear that Mattison has bigger plans.

Raised in an Italian family in upper New York state, he grew up in the restaurant business working for Symeon Tsoupelis, owner of Greek restaurant Symeon's Homemade.

"As an immigrant he opened a little stand and developed it into a wonderful restaurant,' Mattison says of his mentor. Starting in 1985, Mattison attended and graduated from The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.

After five years at the pricey Aspen, Colo., mainstay Pinon's Restaurant, Mattison moved to Sarasota and took a job as executive chef and part owner in the Summerhouse restaurant on Siesta Key. During his 10 years there, he created a cooking school and an alfresco garden terrace. In 1998, he started Sarasota Bread Co., a gourmet retail store and restaurant.

He left his position with the Summerhouse in September 2001. A few months later, Mattison and business partner Jason Sango started work on Mattison's American Bistro in The Plaza Tower, St. Petersburg.

A year later, Mattison and Sango opened Mattison's City Grille on Main Street and Lemon Avenue in Sarasota. In November 2003, Mattison and Sango opened Mattison's Steakhouse at The Plaza on Longboat Key.

While Mattison was dealing with a street closure and resurfacing of Lemon Avenue that virtually closed down the City Grille restaurant, he set up the first franchised Mattison restaurant, Mattison's Siesta Grille, which opened in September 2004. All the while Mattison was operating a catering business that grew from a small space in the St. Petersburg restaurant to an 8,000-square-foot location on Longboat Key.

Still, Mattison was a somewhat reluctant entrepreneur.

"I never wanted to grow or even create Mattison's," Mattison says. "The St. Pete restaurant wasn't even going to be a Mattison's, but I couldn't talk my partner out of it."

Mattison says after the first restaurant, he really started expanding the catering business.

"I was at a catering job at an event (in Sarasota) when it came up in conversation that there was a derelict little corner," Mattison says. "I had taken tourists on cooking tours of France, Greece and primarily Italy. I thought it looks like a perfect spot for a European sidewalk cafe."

So Mattison cobbled together a plan for a 15-year lease with the city to open a restaurant. The concept was a large awning covering a bar and half of the tables with another six tables uncovered and surrounded by a black fence. The idea was risky; would Floridians give up air-conditioning in favor of an open-air restaurant?

So far, the restaurant is one of the most popular on Main Street.

During the summer of 2004, Mattison worked on the menu and hired the staff for the owner/operator/partner Clayton Thompson's Mattison's Siesta Grille.

Including the St. Petersburg location, the company generates about $8 million in annual revenue. In 2003, the company generated about $6 million. Catering operations amount to about $2 million annually.

Few of his partnerships have been by design. When W. Howard Rooks bought The Plaza on Longboat Key, at 525 Bay Isles Parkway, Longboat Key, Mattison's first thought was to walk away.

"I was under the impression that I would be given the first option to buy the property," Mattison says. "There was also the logistics of him approaching us about buying a portion of the business. But then we got to know him, and we negotiated a deal that made real sense. It was really a fair deal for everyone."

Rooks agrees. "We got along beautifully," Rooks says. "I told him I would only considering (being a partner) if I could be silent; I don't know the restaurant business."

A friend convinced Mattison to enter a licensing agreement, which created the Siesta restaurant.

"He wanted to be in restaurant business in the worst way," Mattison says. "He really wanted to do a partnership. But I was swamped. He's a very dynamic guy, and it was an appealing match. So instead of being the day-in, day-out-operating partner, we created a licensing quality agreement. He's the operating partner."

Meanwhile, in 2003, a representative from Cuisinart spotted Mattison at one of his cooking demonstrations.

"They said they really liked how I presented the products and asked if I would be willing to be their spokesperson for the Home Shopping Network, creating recipes and doing on-air sales," Mattison says. "I had done some local TV and was comfortable so I said OK."

He didn't realize how different HSN would be.

"I'm used to a one- or two-camera conversation," Mattison says. "At any given time they've got about 87 million people watching. This is pretty serious stuff. They've got eight cameras and an overhead boom on you at all times. The director is in constant conversation over your earpiece with you while you are on the air. My first time on it was just a blur."

By the third show , Mattison's on-air spots were producing about $2,300 a minute. In a single day, Mattison filmed four 12-27 minutes spots, which collectively produced sales of about $115,000.

Now, Mattison does an on-air presentation for Cuisinart about four to five times a year.

He sold the St. Petersburg location, which was renamed the restaurant Bistro 111. As part of the sale agreement, Mattison will stay on as a consultant.

"Throughout the course of the day I can be at any one of my (Sarasota) restaurants in 10 to 15 minutes," Mattison says. "The issue was that if there was a problem in St. Pete I would have to tell them, 'Well, I'll be up there in an hour.' "

In February, Mattison took opened Mattison's Culinary Outfitters on Longboat Key. "I really needed office space pretty badly," Mattison says.

The location for the office space was a 1,500-square-foot suite in the front side of the Avenue of the Flowers building on Longboat, but it also presented Mattison with a more high-profile location than his existing Longboat restaurant.

"I was told that it would work as a furniture store," Mattison says. "We needed something to hook them so they would look at a menu or see that we do catering."

Mattison made the front portion of the building a culinary product store. "We get walk-in traffic all the time," Mattison says. "This has helped us develop (our catering business) over a lot of the Key just from walk-in business."

Mattison says his retail experience has allowed him to expand creatively.

"I'm really a frustrated architect," he says. "I see this really developing into the source for anything people need in the culinary world, including custom kitchen design. I enjoy creating the flow and design of a kitchen. ... If I wasn't so ingrained in the restaurant business this is the stuff I really would love to do."

Mattison envisions a culinary supermarket like what Circuit City has done for electronics or Barnes & Noble for books.

Asked about the next Mattison's, he says: "I don't want any more locations right now."

But the Review has heard that a new restaurant is probably just around the corner. Mattison still does traveling culinary workshops mainly in Italy, but locally he's not teaching any accredited cooking classes.

He works at least six days a week. A look at his planner lands Mattison in the workaholic category. He has a culinary event or work note on every day going back to Feb. 6.

"I try to get to each property as much as I can," he says. "I will hit the most important spots. I really rely on my management team to make it work. I find myself handling more big issues like equipment repair, catering special events, working on charitable boards or dealing with advertising."

On a typical day, he gets up at 7 a.m. and checks e-mails and phone messages for about 30 minutes. "I try to play catch up, which can take from 15 minutes to two hours," Mattison says. " Usually I have a 9 or 9:30 appointment... either that or I come down (to the Main Street restaurant) or the Longboat office. We will usually have an office meeting or I'll meet with the marketing manager to reviewing marketing proposals. Then I work with my accounting staff for 15 to 30 minutes."

From about 3-4 p.m., Mattison tries to relax.

"I go home to ride my bike or play seven holes," he says.

Then as the dinner rush nears, he makes the restaurant circuit.

"It's usually pretty easy to tell how everything is going," Mattison says. "They'll usually tell you, 'It's been kind of quiet.' or 'It's a been busy.' You also have to look at the expression on the servers' face. Do they have everything under control? Are they making money? Then I ask if they need anything."

If there isn't a crisis then Mattison heads to the kitchen.

"I watch to see if anyone has any questions," he says. "I also try to taste everything. I look at what is being plated right then; does it look good? I don't want people to suddenly change the way they are doing things simply because I'm here."

Next, Mattison talks to the manager.

"Then I try to visit with as many of the guests as I can," he says.

Then it's time for staff.

"Our staff is our biggest investment," he says. "We spend more on employees than on food and wine. I try to find the right people with the right attitude that can treat people the right way. I find people's strengths and weaknesses.

"I have finally matured enough to where if I don't remember someone's name I ask them again. I would like to say that I remember 90% to 95% of their names. I love when they need my help. I still want to jump in even if it means filling breadbaskets or water. I'm accessible, but I let people do their jobs."

Then he's off to the next restaurant.

He heads home between 8:30 p.m. and midnight.

As for the future, Mattison just wants to improve the restaurants and continue to grow the catering business. Although he downplays new locations; Mattison says opportunities exist in the market.

"I will probably fill these with something similar to our Siesta restaurant ... with a operational partner," he says.

Now that Mattison's mentor Tsoupelis has retired to Sarasota, Mattison says a new Greek restaurant may be only a matter of time.