Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Koral.
Adam, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started my career as a young cook out of culinary school. I started working at 2 Michelin Star restaurant Melisse in Santa Monica, where I learned the art of fine dining cuisine. After almost two years on the line, I decided to put down my knives to explore my entrepreneurial desires.
I was fortunate to meet my now business partners John Terzian and Brian Toll, who took me under their wings at The h.wood Group. At the time, there wasn’t much of a company, but within a few years, we had opened multiple successful venues in Los Angeles. The first of these venues was a small passion project on a tiny road in the Santa Monica Canyon. SHOREbar stemmed from my interest in the growing craft cocktail trend, and I quickly found that I could use my culinary background to come up with fresh seasonal cocktails using the amazing produce found just up the street at the Farmers’ Market.
Along with John and Brian’s experience operating and designing venues, we came up with the perfect storm that is SHOREbar. We were really surprised with how well SHOREbar took off locally, meeting new groups of people that we had never been exposed to in Hollywood, and this propelled us to want to open more venues to accommodate that demand. The next step for us was to start opening restaurants and expand our portfolio of options for our clientele, the first of which was The Nice Guy. Nice Guy was our first foray into dining, so we took what we knew best and put our spin on it by creating a very intimate Italian restaurant and lounge hybrid.
It was the first time that I had been back in the kitchen since my time at Melisse, and the creativity was flowing out of me. It was a really fun time and an experience that I’ll never forget. Since then, we have continued to grow both our restaurant and nightlife portfolios with our brands: Delilah, Blind Dragon, Peppermint Club, Poppy, Petite Taqueria, and of course Bootsy Bellows. This year we opened our first venue that we operate outside of Los Angeles, Mason and Blind Dragon Chicago, which join our other out of State license deals in Bootsy Bellows Aspen and Blind Dragon Scottsdale. Here in LA, we also continued to grow this year, opening our first sports bar, 40 Love, Harriet’s Rooftop Lounge at the new ONE Hotel West Hollywood, and maybe my favorite of all of them, SLAB, a small BBQ spot with Burt Bakman from Trudy’s Underground BBQ.
In the coming months, we are opening some amazing projects in LA: Mason Santa Monica and Alice at the new ONE Hotel West Hollywood. Next year, we are opening another handful of great venues outside of LA: Mason San Francisco, The Institute San Francisco, Bootsy Bellows Dallas, and The Nice Guy Aspen.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Nothing in the food and beverage/hospitality world is ever easy. It’s a life full of sacrifices, long nights, early mornings, lost friendships and fights with loved ones. Every day is another battle to stay relevant and to overcome the many obstacles that occur on a daily basis. We started with two failures before any of this current success started, and we always remind ourselves of those early failures to keep us humble and motivated.
SHOREbar – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
At SHOREbar we are focused on being a place on the westside where people can go to have fun and forget about their problems at home or work. SHOREbar is a destination night out, as it really is on an island on its own.
We are known for having some of the best cocktails in town and throwing some of the best parties at the same time. Every weekend we have local LA DJs spinning open format hits to crowds of dancing locals. We are extremely proud of being able to keep our regulars coming in for over six years strong, and growing our clientele to a larger scope than we ever imagined.
I think what sets us apart at SHOREbar is our constant drive to always have the highest level of hospitality in a nightlife venue. We treat every customer like they are family, and go above and beyond to ensure they have the best experience possible, every time they are with us.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
For me, success is measured by consistency. I want to know that our drinks are perfect every single time they are served, with a smile.
I want to know that when I walk into SHOREbar, the ambiance and vibe is exactly how it should be, fun, elegant, and relaxed all at the same time. Our customers should leave feeling the same sense of happiness they have felt every other time they’ve left over the past six + years.
Contact Info:
- Address: 112 W Channel Road Santa Monica, CA 90402
- Website: www.shorebarsm.com
- Phone: 310.429.1851
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: instagram.com/shorebarsm
- Facebook: facebook.com/SHOREbarSM
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/shorebar-santa-monica
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