Today we’d like to introduce you to two of our favorite Angelinos – Marc Rose & Med Abrous.
Can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today? You can include as little or as much detail as you’d like.
MARC: Growing up in New York City, nightlife was magical and a big part of our everyday lives. Even when we were underage, we were always finding ways to sneak into clubs. Soon enough, we were working in those clubs and helping to open new ones. I found success in nightlife at a very young age but became disenfranchised with the lifestyle. Moving to Los Angeles to pursue other opportunities led to a decade out of the hospitality business. Med, also my childhood friend, soon followed the move to Los Angeles but remained in the nightlife business—He helped to open all of the food and beverage outlets in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel when it re-launched. For quite some time Med nudged me to think about reviving my career in the industry, and that led to us conceiving the idea for The Spare Room. It was an inspiring journey to fill what we felt was a void in the marketplace, while being able to deliver hospitality in a way that we love.
MED: It all started for me in New York City as well, where I was working in nightclubs before and during college. My food and beverage professional story in LA started when I opened all the venues at The Roosevelt Hotel. This included Teddy’s Nightclub, Tropicana Bar, and Library Bar. Shortly after 2006, I became the Director of Bars and Entertainment for Thompson Hotels. Marc and I were childhood friends, and always wanted to work together. We started developing The Spare Room and were going to do it off-site somewhere, but then were able to locate a storage closet within the Roosevelt and build it out. Months later we had our first place.
Has it been a smooth road? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
MARC: Smooth? No. First of all, I work with my best friend. While that can be very challenging on a day-to-day basis, it’s not about learning to get along but learning to argue with each other. We have been friends for a very long time, and that brings very similar sensibilities and goals but also very different ways of executing and attaining them. Our industry creates issues every day and night, some as small as someone not getting good service. These are things that eat away at us and can affect our day to day earnings in an instant. Right now, I would say we are struggling the most with growth. We went from one business to three within the last year, and we are trying every day to learn how to delegate. When you are as picky as we are, it makes it very difficult. But, we need to trust that we are also picky in finding great people to help us get to that next level. Putting a team together that can grow with us is our main focus right now.
MED: Nothing is ever smooth in this business. Some of the challenges that we face on a day-to-day basis are tricky. We have gone from having 18 employees to almost 150 employees, and with that has come various challenges. What drives us to overcome some of these hurdles is our passion and excitement for creating businesses that have longevity and that are unique within the food and beverage landscape.
What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
MARC: We are proud of how diverse our portfolio of offerings are. To be able to host people from 8:00 AM until 2:00 AM at different venues is very special, and speaks to how diverse our personal lives and interests are. That being said, there is one ingredient that makes them all special, which is that we love what we do. Med and I genuinely care about people enjoying their experiences with us, so we try to preemptively think of every detail when creating a space. Issues that seem the smallest often bother someone the most, and we want our customers to know that we at least took that into consideration, even if we haven’t yet found a way to fix it perfectly.
MED: One of the things that we’re most proud of is our patience in identifying opportunities that we believe in. We have been offered many opportunities but have waited for those that satisfy what our idea of authenticity in hospitality is. This shines through in what we’ve done with The Spare Room, in terms of trying to bring people together in a different way through gaming. It also shines through in a way for Winsome, in our identification of not only a neighborhood, but of a kind of restaurant that was reliable and aspirational at the same time. It also shines through for Genghis Cohen in that we love both Chinese food and live music. Taking on a project like that fit our lifestyle, and I think it circles back to us being very picky. We only do the things that we believe are going to have longevity and that makes us happy.
What was growing up like? What’s your favorite memory from childhood?
MED: I wouldn’t trade growing up in New York City for anything. It was a very exciting time for the city during my childhood. New York culture was booming in so many ways, and it had this incredible energy. The city is still extremely diverse but while we were growing up it was the heyday for nightlife, art, music, and street culture. It’s exciting in a similar way to be in Los Angeles today. LA is catching up in terms of their art, music, design, and food scene. Not only is LA catching up, but leading the way. I’m happy to be a part of that.
Check out photos of the Spare Room and Winsome below.
