Skidmore College - Scope Magazine Spring 2019

27 SKIDMORE COLLEGE A pastry dome half the size of the chef’s toque floats across the room and is delivered to a hungry diner with a theatrical flourish. Those who didn’t order it turn to ask, “What is that?” It’s a chicken pot pie and it embodies the “American comfort food, elevated” ethos of The Grove, a set of four San Francisco-based restaurants run and co-owned by Kenneth Zankel ’82 and his wife, Anna Veyna Zankel. The first Grove opened in 1999 and Zankel admits, “There was never supposed to be more than one.” Instead of building a prototype and then replicating it, the restaurants evolved to complement the neighborhoods they inhabited. Zankel likens the expansion to a growing family. “It became, ‘Let’s have a family where they’re all siblings. One is the downtown type, one is the more artsy type; they have similarities, and you can recognize them as a member of the family, but ideally, you’d want to meet each one.’” And while many restaurants set out to cater to the latest trends in din- ing, the Zankels have taken a different, more considerate approach. With each location, the couple asked themselves, “What do we love to eat? What kind of music do we like to listen to? What environment do we like to be in? What kind of hospitality would we like to be treated to?” They describe the end product as “a mosaic of the things we love.” For Zankel, “it’s so important for the restaurant to embody the personality of its owners … to represent the things that you want to celebrate.” Zankel’s personality particularly shines through in The Grove’s ex- tensive and deeply personal soundtrack, which runs the gamut from an unreleased Bono acoustic to a Billie Holiday performance. A self-described “music nut,” he’s curated about 8,000 songs for specialized playlists. In fact, if someone wanted to dine at The Grove from open to close for 31 days in a row, they’d never hear the same song twice. It’s no surprise then that The Examiner San Francisco once wrote of The Grove, “Not just a restaurant, but something much more personal.” So how did a fourth-generation New Yorker and business major from Skidmore end up on theWest Coast as a restaurateur? “I certainly never imagined res- taurants, but what I got at Skidmore was a really broad exposure to lots of subjects and I knew I wanted to do something on my own,” explains Zankel. “Right after graduation I played guitar gigs out on Martha’s Vineyard,” he recalls fondly. He then went to work at Harvard Management Compa- ny. There, he was exposed to entrepreneurs and “got the bug.” He contin- ued on to Columbia University for his Master of Business Administration and eventually followed a job with Visa to California. “They wanted to create a restaurant marketing program for the U.S. I met all these restaura- teurs and at a certain point I realized, ‘This is me, waiting to be.’” Looking back, Zankel acknowledges, “Skidmore shaped everything for me. The smaller class sizes, the amazing professors that really cared. It re- ally was the foundation for anything good that came after.” He recalls being tasked with Harvard Business School cases in one of his courses as a particularly invaluable experience for his career. “Those were amazing. You had to make choices, you didn’t have enough time and resources, but you had to make the best-informed decision. That’s what I do today, every day.” Zankel will be the first to admit that the restaurant industry isn’t glamorous. He’s clear: “If you want to survive, you better know business.” The Grove was “fast casual” before the term existed, but Zankel is acutely aware that the dining landscape is ever-changing. So how does Zankel keep The Grove one step ahead in an evolving environment? Put simply, by pairing the right people with the right work. “As someone who nowmakes hiring decisions, I’m far more impressed with a liberal arts degree,” he says. “The rest of it can be taught, but to know how to analyze and ask good and telling questions is really valuable.” — Sara Miga All on the table How Kenneth Zankel ’82 built a successful restaurant brand by letting his personality shine through Austin Perrotta; The Grove contributed image F O O D F O R C R E A T I V E T H O U G H T