Data-licious

A MEMBERS ONLY SUPPER CLUB FEEDS A NATIONAL PIPELINE OF RISING STAR CHEFS

I love reading about innovative, cutting edge businesses and reading about what made them work. This story that I am about to share is one that shows outstanding leadership. It really shows what it takes to succeed in business today. In 2011, a man named Brian Bordainick moved to New Orleans - his assigned location with Teach for America - and soon he became fed up with the city’s late night dining choices. He wasn’t a chef or a cook himself, so he invited a dozen people to a neighbor’s house for a Thai meal prepared by a friend of his.?

The food was exceptional and everyone loved the meal, but what struck Brian more was the intimacy created by the space, and the conversations that were stimulated by the food and the chef’s STORY. So later that year he tried it again, this time in a former brothel, he invited 85 people for Indian cuisine. He continued hosting these “pop-up” dinners featuring local chefs in and around the city until the idea for his company, Dinner Lab, finally came together. Often business ideas happen when we are not looking for a business idea but focused on a problem or experience.?

Within four years, Dinner Lab was turning over $5 million in annual revenue and employed 60 people, and were hosting hundreds of dining events per year in 24 cities. The model… the sell annual memberships, which range from $125-$175, depending on the market, that allow access to Dinner Lab meals, which typically run $50-$95 per seat (drinks and gratuities included).?

The events are always held in nontraditional venues, from the floor of a motorcycle factory to an airplane hanger, and each event starts with the chef explaining the theme of the meal and the origin of the recipes and ingredients. The chefs are often local sous chefs and line cooks that have never had the opportunity to present their own creations to the public. Some go on to become Dinner Lab celebrities and will then go on tour. The meals vary from Venezuelan comfort food to cutting edge molecular gastronomy.?

Members get asked to fill out detailed comment cards during the event, critiquing everything from the color of the garnish on the potatoes to the gin in the cocktails. The aspiring chefs can use those notes to refine their dishes. Dinner Lab acts as the development farm team for local restaurants, and the effects they have had on careers is dramatic.?

They also host private events like weddings and corporate parties. What makes them different from regular catering though is that the client can choose from a roster of dozens of chefs offering hundreds of menu items and experiences. They use data from their events to offer the best of each menu selection.?

Dinner Lab uses a strong Market Dominating Position to make their concept stand out. The uniqueness of this approach is that word of mouth referrals would have been guaranteed. The concept also allowed them to take advantage of a recruitment issue that more traditional restaurants would have struggled with.?

Mike Johnston

Co Founder and Architect behind MJB Evolve, a powerful and dynamic small business growth and coaching community.