Perfection is a rare thing. In fact it is so rare that people are willing to travel great lengths to get a taste of it.
As an example Notre Dame is a vision of perfection which is about 3,600 miles from Williston Park but when you see it you are glad you made the effort.
Perfection comes in many forms. Tiger Woods swinging a golf club, Mikhail Baryshnikov dancing or Marilyn Monroe’s smile. When you see perfection you immediately know it. And so it is with food and with restaurants.
And so we can consider ourselves lucky because a mere 2.8 miles from Williston Park is Kitchen Kabaret, a gourmet deli that is a close to perfection as you will find on Long Island.
Located at 409 Glen Cove Road in Roslyn Heights just north of the Expressway, I have been a loyal customer for many years taking the 6 minute ride from my office probably three times a week.
In fact I have used this place as an example of how to run a successful business as I counsel some of my patients who own restaurants.
So let us take a close look at Kitchen Kabaret, a gourmet deli that rivals Balducci’s or Dean and DeLuca.
Kitchen Kabaret is the result of three generations of hard work in the deli business.
The idea of a gourmet deli was the brainstorm of Jim King the father. One of the things that impresses me about him is that he can still be seen handing out samples of fresh sushi or gourmet pizza to happy customers.
Kitchen Kabaret is a 5,000 square foot fine food deli that has a 70-tray deli counter, a chopped salad bar, a soup station, a juice and yogurt bar, a grill area, a sushi bar, a pizza section, an omelet station, a bakery, a cappuccino bar, a gourmet cheese section, a cozy place to sit and eat and gift baskets to die for. The atmosphere is active and happy because who doesn’t want to munch on fine foods.
We often harbor the delusion that great success comes from one magic ingredient and if we could only find it we have the key to success. But this of course is not true. It takes many factors to come together and stay together for many years in order to achieve great success. Here is what I found out after interviewing Jim King the son and heir apparent.
1. There has been a family legacy of work in the food business starting with the grandfather. And the magic here is that they all like each other and respect each other. It is reminiscent of the DeMatteis family who have been builders on Long Island for four generations.
2. There is a constant family presence in the store. If the dad is not there then the son is.
3. The father had a deep love of fine food and in fact frequently traveled to New York, Paris and London in order to uncover the secrets of the great delis there.
4. They are blessed with a gifted and hardworking executive chef who shows up at 3:30 a.m. every day to produce the fine foods that they serve. Her name is Sule Gungar.
5. They sought out and then bought the best location possible. They are about 200 yards from the Glen Cove exit on the Expressway and Roslyn Heights is a wealthy community.
6. The place was designed by the now world famous Tony Chi. But way back when he was hired by Jim he was a young kid just out of school. Jim told me it would be impossible to afford him now.
7. They have managed to find, train and retain a loyal group of quality managers such as Hasan Gungar, Ray Paquay, Paul Gilbert and John Khuja. These guys run a staff of 60 employees.
So there is your answer. You want to create something perfect?
Well perhaps you need to follow the model laid out for us by the King family. Have a family history in the business, a deep passion for what you make, an ability to work very hard for a very long time and a willingness to travel around the world to learn your craft.
But you will also need to find a good interior designer, a great executive chef and the ability to select and nourish a management team that remains loyal to you.
Do all this and you will be like the King family.
You will have found the formula for perfection.
