By Leslee Komaiko
For dineLA.com
For Angelenos of a certain age who consider themselves hip, or at least formerly hip, Bruce Marder will forever be associated with West Beach Café, the cool, but not trying too hard to be cool, Venice restaurant he opened in 1979. The Los Angeles native went on to open Rebecca’s across the street. Several other spots followed, some rousing successes, others not. Today, Marder is chef-owner of four popular restaurants: Capo, Cora’s, Broadway Deli and Brentwood.
How did you get into the restaurant business?
I’m a chef. I went to cooking school.
But your parents weren’t in the business?
My grandparents had a deli a long time ago, on Third Street Promenade.
Why have you focused on Santa Monica?
The landlord at West Beach Café and I became pseudo friends. The restaurant was very successful. There was a space across the street. I wanted to open a Mexican restaurant. He and I went into this thing. Because of the success of it people started asking me to do other things: Broadway Deli, DC3 at Santa Monica Airport. I consulted on a restaurant at the Pacific Design Center. All the time I was working on opening Capo which took three years to do. I wasn’t going to do it with me as the operator. I was going to do it with the guys who own Porta Via and Kazuto of Beacon. Because it took so long they all went their own way.
Tell me about Food Co. (the umbrella organization for Capo, Cora’s, Brentwood and the Broadway Deli).
After we opened Brentwood, the Open Table system came out. We decided it was more cost effective to do certain administrative work from a center area. Then Food Co. developed. I did two years of consulting at Il Sole on Sunset, opened Brass Cap, tried to make a go of it there. I’m getting ready to open another Cora’s.
So you haven’t started construction?
No. The only reason I’m doing it—well the main reason—is I’m trying to create some opportunity for my longtime management people at different restaurants.
So you will give them some ownership?
Yes.
You’re a nice boss.
I’m nice in some ways and not nice in others.
How are you not nice?
I’m pretty strict. It’s a business. Business has its rules and I try to maintain those rules.
How have you managed to stay so under the radar?
I’m not out there promoting myself per se. I come from this background where I’m more interested in promoting the restaurants and food and service. I’m not going to get crazy if they don’t know my name. It’s always flattering to be recognized. By the same token I don’t think it’s flattering to go out and sell yourself.
Plenty of chefs do.
I don’t know if it makes the food better or the customer experience better.
How involved are you in the day-to-day operations of the restaurants?
I am responsible for the style and recipes in all the restaurants, labor, food costs, all the wine buying. I’m responsible for all the employees. I’m the manager for all the restaurants.
So you pretty much do everything.
We have a system in place. I get information sent to me every night. I make sure people follow rules. I make sure we get an “A” from the health department. I deal with all the private parties. Today there’s a meeting with all the staff who could be partners in the restaurants. I make sure all the maintenance gets taken care of.
How much time do you spend in the kitchen?
I cook a lot at home and bring recipes here.
A lot of restaurateurs, if they have a successful concept, they just duplicate it. But your restaurants are so different from one another.
Style-wise, but not food-wise.
Why do you say that?
If Cora’s had the same menu as Capo it wouldn’t be quite as busy. I use the same technique and the same products.
But you’ve got a coffee shop, an Italian restaurant…
Capo is not an Italian restaurant. It feels like an Italian restaurant. It has an Italian name. But I’m serving ham from Spain, herring from Sweden. It gets categorized as an Italian restaurant but that’s not my idea. I’m using local products. We use a lot of French techniques.
I have an impolitic question: How does a chicken breast get to be $39 (at Capo)?
Do you know what we give our customer? We give a bread basket that probably costs $4 a table. We use the best silverware. The knife alone is $45, the plate is $45. When they sit down we give them something. At the end we give homemade cookies on every table on a $50 antique plate. We give them homemade chocolates. The vegetables are organic, the water is filtered.
Okay. I get it.
Several of your restaurants have been known for featuring some pretty fabulous art.
When I opened West Beach Café—it’s funny because I decided to become a chef in Morocco—I bought my first restaurant from Moroccans. They had an art gallery-restaurant. Venice was a big art enclave at that time. I started doing art shows and borrowing art from artists once a month. I became friends with them. Basically if it speaks to me I like it.
I loved that big nude you had at Brentwood but I assume some people took issue with it.
Oh yeah. I think the idea of having an issue with an artwork is kind of funny. Certain pieces were a little provocative and there are certain battles I don’t want to fight. My concept is, 99% of time the customer is always right. If I can give them what they like there’s no argument there.
How long was that piece up?
A couple months. Enough time to get enough responses from enough important people that we decided we were going to make some adjustments. I put it at Brass Cap [which closed last year] and no one said a word. Some people don’t have a sense of humor.
Is this the worst environment you recall for restaurants?
For me no. I blew it in the 1990s. I wasn’t ready for the downturn in the economy. I learned my lesson. I was way ready for it this time.
How so?
I don’t have any debt.
Where do you like to eat?
Sunin. They have the best falafel and good lentil soup, Mori Sushi. I just went to Bazaar. I thought the guy did a good job. I don’t know if I could go there every day.
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