Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Gowhari
Hi Ryan, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up around the restaurant business because my father has owned Spruzzo in Malibu for 30 years. It’s your classic neighborhood joint type restaurant and I always looked up to my dad for how hard he worked. I started working when I was 17 – delivering pizzas, hosting, bussing tables. He put me through the works in order to get the experience I needed. I told my dad I wanted to open my own restaurant one day and he always said when he felt I had gotten enough experience, he would help me out. So, I worked throughout college to expedite that process and the goal was to get my degree and then hit the ground running. By the time I was 23 I became a manager at Spruzzo and that was the time we had agreed that we could start our search for expansion.
After about 2 years and 25+ locations toured, we finally found what we were looking for – our current location in the Palisades. The space had a similar ambiance – neighborhood joint with regulars making up the vast majority of the business. But right as we were ready to sign the lease agreement, covid hit. The shutdowns blew up the deal and I was devastated. Not to mention the challenges that brought to our existing Malibu location. I went from having the ink on papers to open my own restaurant, to having to lay off all of my front of house staff and working take-out/delivery with my dad and our kitchen team to keep the lights on. It was a rough few months. But once the county opened outdoor dining, we had a miraculous comeback. Spruzzo in Malibu boasts a 2000+ square foot patio with an ocean view, and people were dying to eat out again. We actually did better in the Summer of 2020 than we were doing before. And at that point I realized that eventually, things will get back to normal and people will dine out again. So we went back to the landlord and signed our deal to open Spruzzo in the Palisades in November of 2020. After a year of design, permitting, construction, furnishing, training, etc we opened in January of 2022 and so we’ll be celebrating 3 years very soon here. It’s been the most challenging, but at the same time rewarding experience of my life and I wouldn’t change a single thing. I’m extremely grateful for all the support from my family, especially my father.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
One challenge once the lease got signed was permitting, design, and construction. A tale as old as time – it took way longer and cost a lot more money than we anticipated. The city was backed up and working slower due to covid, the price of materials skyrocketed during the pandemic, and I had never worked with an architect before so I made many mistakes along the way. Not a great formula, but fortunately everything worked out.
Once we opened though…that was a different story. Between December of 2021 and March of 2022, I worked every single day for 14 hours. I’d wake up with my mind scattered along the mountain of things we needed to get done. Not me nor my dad had opened a restaurant from scratch before – we were operators that know how to make the place run properly. And all of that work was seemingly futile – there were no customers! Of course one might expect that when opening a brand new restaurant, but after putting all this time and money and effort into this project just to have $1500 in sales in a whole day…we were seriously contemplating how grave a mistake we had made with the whole thing. Even considered selling it for pennies on the dollar just to get out. But thankfully we stayed resilient and slowly brought the business up. Word of mouth travels fast in this town and I think people enjoyed the authenticity with which we run Spruzzo.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Spruzzo is a neighborhood Italian-American restaurant that has a family-friendly environment, a menu with all of the Italian classics, and a carefully picked staff that is warm and welcoming. Our fare is thoughtfully crafted by our Chef Alex, who is also a partner in the business, and has worked with us since early in the Malibu days. He has studied Italian food and tweaked the recipes to perfection throughout the years. Everyone on our team feels like family so when customers come into the restaurant, they feel like they’re getting a home-cooked meal. The level of attention to detail and care that goes into this place is evident in everything we do.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I’ve had incredibly good luck in my life. Not everyone gets to learn from a seasoned veteran in the restaurant business, which I had in my father. Additionally, the financial support and trust in me to make this place successful is something no one else would have given me. I am so grateful for the opportunities afforded to me and that’s the reason I work so hard.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://spruzzopalisades.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spruzzo.la/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spruzzopalisades/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/spruzzo-restaurant-and-bar-pacific-palisades?osq=spruzzo
Image Credits
Katrina Fredrick
