-- Can I Just Live Here?
I have spent 30 years in the restaurant industry, and I've experienced it from nearly every angle. I started as a busboy, eventually became Director of Operations for a brand with approximately 3,000 international locations, and ultimately became a restaurant owner myself.
That journey has made me an unusually critical observer of hospitality. I notice the details, the timing, the knowledge, and especially the difference between someone simply providing service and someone genuinely connecting with a guest.
Jenny and Ken made my experience at Starfish.
Not the food. Not the atmosphere. And I say that while acknowledging that both were exceptionally executed.
Jenny was behind the bar, and it became obvious very quickly that I wasn't talking to an ordinary bartender. She knows her craft and trade exceptionally well. As our conversation developed, I learned that she had also been a restaurant owner in the Boston area. Suddenly, her depth of knowledge and understanding of hospitality made even more sense.
Then came Ken.
My dumb ass is terrible with names if I don't use them, so I asked a gentleman who happened to be the General Manager for Jenny's name. While talking with him, I couldn't shake the feeling that I had seen him somewhere before.
Turns out, I probably had -- more than 20 years ago.
In the early 2000s, we both worked at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. I was at The Cheesecake Factory and Nick was at P.F. Chang's. Back then, we would hold our lineups outside, and I saw the Chang's staff coming and going through those doors constantly. More than two decades later, we're standing together at Starfish in Scottsdale trying to put the pieces together.
That's what I'll remember about this visit.
Restaurants spend enormous amounts of money designing beautiful spaces, developing menus, and creating atmosphere. Starfish has done all of those things extremely well.
But people create hospitality.
Jenny and Nick turned my first visit into a personal connection. Throughout my career, my philosophy was that meeting expectations was never enough. The goal was to exceed them.
My expectations are exceptionally high.
Nick and Jenny exceeded them with ease.
I cannot wait to go back.
Seriously, can I just live there?
Ten stars without hesitation. read more