February 3, 2025 • 27 mins
Any time you go through a disaster, the first thing you want to do is find your family and hug them, Main + Main’s CEO and Los Angeles resident Kyle Kavanaugh tells Bloomberg Intelligence. In this episode of the Choppin’ It Up podcast, Kavanaugh sits down with BI’s senior restaurant and foodservice analyst Michael Halen to discuss how the wildfires will affect Californians and the state’s restaurant industry. He also comments on the coming 2026 World Cup, Super Bowl and 2028 Summer Olympics in the city, and hot markets for restaurant development, including the sun belt and Texas.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:13):
Welcome to Chopping it Up. I'm your host, Mike Hallen,
the senior Restaurant and Food Service Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
Our research and that of bi's five hundred analysts around
the globe can be found exclusively on the Bloomberg terminal. Today,
we're joined by Kyle Kavanaugh, founder of Maine and Maine.
Thanks for joining me, Kyle.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Yeah, we're here and I look forward to diving in.
There's a lot to talk about what's going on on
the West Coast, that's for sure. I'm sorry I missed
the team at ICR, but a lot of us were
staying home to take care of business, if you will. Yeah,
you were missed.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
For those of you that don't know Kyle, he's located
in La County. So you know, when we exchanged texts
last week, my Green texts, I was very happy to
hear that you and the fam made out okay during
the wildfires.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, you know, thank you. I appreciate it. You know,
it was it was a pretty broad outreach from a
number of people, as you could imagine, friends from all
over the world, you know, just they just don't know
where you reside when you're when you're a Los Angeles resident,
so I had a tremendous amount of outreach, which was comforting. Uh,
you know, but as I was taking the incoming text
(01:18):
and the incoming messages, I was sending as many on
outgoing to a friends and family that I knew resided
in these areas, and and and then on top of it,
you're you're monitoring, you know, just that the news as
much as you could and much as the information there was.
And there was so much uh, I guess, political banging
(01:41):
going on early stage that I think a lot of
people forgot what was really at hand, which is actually
in need of those people that were losing their homes
and losing their businesses and and losing everything devastation, right,
But everybody was it was picking, picking partners to go
beat up on and and I think everyone lost in
this process without a doubt. But it was it was
(02:03):
comforting to get text from you and like I said,
from friends all over the world, and and those that
I sent the messages to. Michael, one of the some
of the disappointing things were, you know, I hope you're safe,
and I hope you're okay, and I hope your family
is okay. And like your spon my response to you is, yeah,
I'm great, thank you for reaching out. I got the
responses that, actually, no, I'm not I'm in a hotel room,
(02:26):
and and our home was lost, and I'm with my
kids and and actually I don't know who my next
move is right kind of stuff. So those are those
are obviously great disappointing responses to get back. And then
I would get a number for days that were I'm
actually traveling, I'm on holiday, right, these friends that are
(02:46):
on holiday and they're not aware of if their home
was spared or not. And thankfully the two that were
on holiday, their homes were spared, and there were people
their homes were spared, you know, just as you see
in the media coverage. But it was, it was it
was a struggle and still is a struggle, and we're
(03:06):
trying to do what we can. I am in the
real estate realm. I'm the restaurant realm, so I'm on
the front end of it. We're on the commercial real
estate side, so a lot of the people who we
lost homes were either on finance or commercial real estate
were in that space. And then on the business side
operating businesses, you know, are affected clearly by it, So
thank you for reaching out.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Yeah, sure thing, man, it must have been scary and
it's heartbreaking and it's still going on now with the.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Hughes fire right.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
You touched a little bit on what you do at
mean and mean you know, what motivates you to start
the business, what has it evolved into, and what does
it specialize in, the business has.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Been around for thirty plus years. I've been I've been
in the real estate front, site selection. I just saw
something on a bio I had the other day since
eighty seven, and I couldn't do the math. I got
a birthday coming up on Saturday. I don't feel that old.
But but the math that was was definitely rounding the
corner of a lot of stars in that process, and
a lot of experience and and and it has given
(04:08):
me the opportunity to pick and choose who I get
to work with. I dove into the restaurant, into the
commercial real estate realm early stage, literally in the in
the early nineties. I was on the site selection side,
and I picked. I chose food and beverage for a
couple of reasons. You know, the old adage of who
(04:30):
I've always used and I borrowed it from a friend
of mine. Is that winter loser got a booze is
what people allowed to say. So in a good market
there's there's the need for entertainment of that level, and
a bad market there's a need for that entertainment and
that level. So I felt, I felt food was always
a good place. Food is a congregation environment. It's all
about family, and it's about getting together with your friends
(04:53):
and spending some time and and but most importantly getting nourishment.
So it and and that's the neat part about where
it's evolved is is you know, where are we in
the wellness space? How are people consuming product? What are
they consuming? Who's paying attention? So there's a lot of
humanitarian side of it, I guess, you know. It makes
you think about what you're putting in your body.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
I'm not like that.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
I'll take anything, and it starts with tequila, you know,
bring me another one. We have a lot of fun
in that process doing research and development. But in the
restaurant space, it is all about family. And the restaurant
people that I know treat each other with respect because
it's a very competitive business and you got to lean
on your brother and sisters every once in a while
to get better results and share information. So I actually
(05:38):
like it. So we're site selection advisors. We do strategic
growth for startups. I like to say we take them
from two to two hundred. However, one of our larger
clients that we work with on a brokerage capacity is
a Chicken concept from Atlanta, which has you know, thousands
of units. I'll leave them out of the dialogue as
the specific names, but they are great organization, been very
(06:01):
loyal to us for twenty years and we've been very
loyal to them, and you learn a lot. You know,
they're the top chicken performer in the QSR segment, and
if they're the top QSR segment performer, let alone chicken.
So it's nice to see the successes of these operators
and be close in the trenches with them. And then
it's it's also great to be in the kitchen with
(06:23):
culinary trained I'm not culinary trained individuals who have such
a passion for the food and trying to take their
product from the kitchen and translate it to the consumer
on the street and in a shopping center or wherever
it may be. It's a neat evolution that we've been
part of for over thirty years.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Great man. Yeah, this industry is filled with a lot
of great people and you fit right in win or
lose your booze. That's that's interesting you say that. You know,
that reminds me of my stock trading days when I
was in my twenties. You know, it's like you had
a big day, then you go out and celebrate you
had a bad day. Well, maybe you have a couple
of drinks.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
It's very true. And we're learning a lot about that.
You know, alcohol consumptions down. I think that's just an
aging population. It's also learning a lot about some of
the attributes that are positive and negative. And they alternative
alternatives are out there that people don't you know, raise
an eyebrow about there. They're becoming commonplace. So but but
the food element is a real part of of the family.
(07:20):
You learn so much around the kitchen table and you
you you really become who you are in our society.
And I think restaurants are the same right and I speak,
I speak holistically. Is a is a place right And
you you know a lot of first jobs people haven't
been in the restaurant industry. So it's to me, it's
just always been a good connectivity in commercial real estate
(07:43):
and food because everybody can relate, right, everybody can relate
to some degree for sure.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
How's the real estate market in California for restaurants now?
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Yeah, you know, it's it's a great question, thank you.
One of the things that I'm super excited about. You know,
Los Angeles has been beat the heck and in the
last four years in California, in particular San Francisco. We're
doing a lot of business in San Francisco right now.
I'm heading back up on Monday. It was there last
week and I got to say, you know, nine months
(08:13):
ago when I were working there walking through the city,
there's you know, there's you've got a more than a
fair share of homeless, more fair more than a fair
share of uncomfortableness and and and prime associated with it.
In San francisco's really turned the corner. They have a
new mayor up there. I think that's made a big
difference for that city. But for Los Angeles in particular.
I'm super excited for us in California and in Southern
(08:35):
California because we have three pretty monumental events coming up,
uh in the next three and a half four years.
You know, we've got World Cup that is coming to town.
We've got a Super Bowl coming back to town. But most importantly,
we have the Olympics in twenty eight right. And when
you're when you're on a world stage of that nature,
(08:57):
a lot of things happened. One it brings the best
of the best to the table to exude what the
persona is of a city. Right, So you got a
lot of people that are really good at what they
do talking to each other about how it can be
better and how our city can be reflected as a
better location. You know, I had a great, lovely experience
(09:18):
this summer I had. It was very privileged to go
spend a couple of days in Paris and go to
the Olympics in Paris and just see what that town
did and how it reacted differently during an Olympic event. Right. First,
First of all, there's just too many people at the Olympics,
is what the first thing fay. So the most of
the Parisians headed south and dove into the Rose. But
for those that were in town, it was a lovely experience.
(09:42):
It was cure, it was safe, It was clean. It
was great, the restaurants all that thrive, and I hope
for the same for Los Angeles. Right, it's you're on
a world stage and there's a lot looking at us.
So in light of all the banter that goes back
and forth from from political parties and people beating each
other up, they're they're going to eventually realize we better
(10:03):
hold hands and hug or we're gonna make a real
asset of ourselves in this process. And I think that
that's going to be great, And hopefully that comes to
light and people don't position where it doesn't get anything done.
It's have experienced that. But when it comes to Los Angeles,
I think they did a really good job in eighty
four and I'm looking pretty excited for them in twenty eight.
(10:23):
So you're gonna you're gonna have a lot of eyes
on this city for the next three or four years.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Yeah, those are some huge events. And I had read
earlier today that all of the venues for the Olympics
have been spared by the fires, which was good news.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah, you know, it's a good good question. You know,
I was looking at something on all the structures that
have been destroyed and the acreages have been destroyed and
the events were spared. But like you said, Michael, we're
not out of it. Right. We have a huge fire.
And just as I was diving into bed last night,
I was like, okay, where where where is my fire safe?
(11:02):
And you know, you think about all these things and
how much have I pushed the cloud? And what is
our evacuation plan? When I talk to my friends that
were in the Palisades and no longer have homes, they
didn't have these plans in place, right, And and in
restaurants there aren't really evacuation plans for for restaurants and
employees and retailers, and and more importantly, now that it's
(11:25):
been destroyed, what's the reintegration plan? Right? What's the rea
we all we all know we can run to the
hills and we can run to wherever what's our what's
our safe place and and our rally spot and go
stay at our friends, which a lot of my friends
were doing. And everybody opened their homes. And you know,
but if you had a if you had a spare bedroom,
and I called a half dozen of my friends, like
(11:45):
I got my sons off at college, I got an
extra guest room I got, I'll just you know, I'll
light up the the bar, come over. We'll try to
make light of what you're experiencing, and and and and
make sure you know there's going to be a lighter
day tomorrow. And so the reintegration is really the hard part.
When you have to run for the hills, how do
you get read back to where it is? And that's
(12:07):
that's what I think is most highly affecting are It's
going to highly affect the restaurant business. Right when I
when I talk to our restaurant clients and friends round tables,
you know, you just kind of discuss how's life and
how are things going. The restaurants that were surrounding these
areas and the ones that are in uh, the ones
(12:28):
that have the ability to to provide takeaway or comfort food.
Those guys were all up right. So if you think
about it, if you've ever been in the natural disaster, I
don't know if you're around during nine to eleven or
any of the events we have them out here with
earthquakes and fires in the Southeast with the hurricanes, But
(12:49):
anytime you go through something like that, the first thing
you really want to do is is go find your
family and hug them, right, and you want to you
want to have this safety and security of it. The
second thing you want to do is you got to
nourish yourself in that process. It's like it's like, let's
get together and everybody's safe. Okay, who's going to go
run and get sandwiches? Who's going to do that? And
the last thing you want is really the stress of
(13:11):
cooking in your own kitchen, right, And you almost don't
feel like you should have that privilege of it. So
you either go dine out and you just talk about
how the world's tragedies are affecting you. And so most
of these restaurant touris I've spoken to have actually seen
an uptick in that right because of that. And I
think that's great, right, is that that we are their
(13:33):
place where they feel most comfortable, meaning the restaurant industry,
they feel the most comfortable that they can go take
their family and then and rejoice and be to together
with their friends and know that it's going to be
a better day. Right, So I'm happy about that. The
I started a foundation with Hell and Lao from Clear
Pass Solutions a couple of years ago called Step Up
(13:54):
to the table and we are. We're meeting with Helen
on Saturday, and we're going to repush the initiative that
we put back in twenty twenty, which was during the
COVID years, where we were starting a challenge of gift cards,
where at the time we said it was a gift
could give three times, and it was you know, it
was around the holidays. It was in the fall of
(14:14):
the twenty twenty that we started it. And I would
challenge you, Michael that you know i'd give good buy
my four gift cards from my favorite dining establishment, and
I challenge you to do the same, because you're you
were pumping money into the system that they needed drastically
at the time because all these restaurants were closed, and
then you kept these people employed and appreciative to and
(14:37):
then you gave that gift card to a third you know,
the second round was you gave the gift card to
your friend. I now give the gift card to whoever,
because I could use it for myself, but you most
likely give it out. That's what they're all about. That's
round two of the giving. And then round three is
when that person actually goes to the restaurant, right, and
that experience that they get at the restaurant. So so
(14:58):
step up the tables that have a great initiative in
the COVID years and we've we've kept it around and
we under and what we want to do this round
is to challenge and or advocate for people to go
dine at those restaurants that have stepped up. So you know,
(15:19):
we have good friends over at the Kava Organization, Cobber Grill,
and and and all these these Chipotle you would pick
once David young Bergo was on the phone with him
over at Stonefire. All these restaurants that stepped up and
provided to La Fire Department and provided to first responders
during all this this this tragedy. We I think society,
(15:42):
our community now owes them that endorsement. Go dine with them,
go shop with them, because they were helping the frontline
responders keeping you know, the forty thousand acres of fires
that did burn to forty thousand to not one hundred thousand, right,
And it's just mind boggling when you think about the
acreage of the burden of the polace, these twenty three
(16:03):
thousand acres or whatever it is. Yeah, what Manhattan's I
think I read with like fourteen thousand acres, right or
something like that. Right. It's just it's just the size
and the magnitude of it is just really mind bog. Sorry,
I'm pretty passionate about it, so I get a little
long winded.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Yeah, you have question now, But it's great. It's great
to support chains and restaurant tours that are stepping up
to your point. You know, I think I saw shake
Shack and some others also, Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Yeah, we're trying to compile a list in our in
our community, like who who is it that has actually
made that impact and and how can we help them?
How can you know what is what is the next step.
There's short term, midterm, long term effects that this whole product.
The short term is we got we got to find homes.
We got to find you know, thousands of people displaced.
Communities are gone as you know, right, and schools. You know,
(16:52):
I was on the phone with one friend and you
didn't have an office, you didn't have a house, you
didn't have a church, did have a grocery store. His
kids didn't have a school. So he's a he's a
he's a he's a candidate for complete relocation, which is
good and bad, right because because they give the cancer
for the next person to come in in four years
when they can rebuild literally four years unfortunately. And then
(17:13):
it also gives them a chance to go look at
an opportunity. And in other communities. I was on the
phone with a buddy of mine and in Palm Beach
this morning talking about, uh, you know, people the migration.
It's just you know, you guys, someone when you got
a twenty five million dollar home that burns down, you know,
there's very few places in the country that you want
to go reload that All Beach happens to be one
(17:33):
of those, and they're actually getting activity right for for
those reasons we have it. I live in Newport Beach
is where I reside, and we've had a big migration
because Palisies and and Altadina all these are great, great communities,
not that anybody should uh suffer, but but these are
communities that have just the backbone of of of your
(17:58):
neighbor is your brother or your sister, and it's it's
really hard just to drop in and feel collected and
feel part of that in a restaurant. In my opinion,
is one of those places you can do it right.
You could always make a friend at a restaurant and
you might not even know the person who lives next
door to you, but you probably know some people of
the restaurants down the street. Yep.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
So you know, it was a lot widely publicized that
Californians moved out of the state after COVID, you know,
and I think I've also read that there's some some
concern that, you know, the destruction is going to cause
prices to rise even higher after after the rebuild. You know,
are there fears about people moving out of La County?
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yeah? I mean you there, let's call them fears or
opportunities right there. I think that just post Post nine
to eleven in Manhattan, there was a regientifocation of the
city that brought new blood to the town. COVID the
same thing, you know, you know, half of Wall Street
moved to to Paul Beach right or to Miami whatever
(19:03):
it is. And and what that really does is it
creates that opportunity for new energy and new perspective. You know,
most of those people that do move, they're they're they're scarred,
they're tired, they're tainted. They just want to get out
of whatever they're in. And there's and they're not, there's
not the fight to remain. You know, I talked to
you know, my friends that are that are true you know,
(19:26):
let's call it natives. They don't want to go anywhere.
California is a great city. It's got a great talent,
it's got a great state. It's got a it's got
its own complications. Like every state, it has its own complications.
And people left California for for economy. They left California
for politics, and they and they left California but for
greater opportunity. And what that, frankly does is it just
(19:46):
opens a slot for somebody else to come in, right,
and and we welcome that, right, We welcome that because
because if you're bringing something to contribute, you know, an offering,
an idea, a commerce or or you know, you know, consumption,
come on out right. And if you're if you're tired
(20:07):
and you don't want to be in California, there's plenty
of places.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
To go outside of California. What are the hot real
estate markets that uh, you're you know that you're operating
in that you're seeing, So I.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Hit up to back in San Francisco on Monday. But
I'm I'm on the Texas for for uh a couple
of days of looking at real estate and conference. Right,
sun Belt states are still solid. This is the week
to talk about some Belt states. They they they're freezing
right in New Orleans and in the show. And that's
kind of crazy to think of it, how it's impacting.
(20:39):
And you know, weather impacts restaurants all the time. It
closes restaurants, closed the places down, and and you know
the fires did that to us. But but I still
like the Sunbout states a lot. I've been doing a
lot of business in Florida. You know, there's some states
that are much easier to do business in than others.
And and so I'm still a big proponent of that.
(21:00):
Uh in in so the navigation of of host efficiencies
where time is money. That's why you see people move
into these smaller markets. You know. I think I think
some cities are I'm a I'm a big sand in Nashville,
but I think some cities are going to hit their hit,
their hit their plateau, if you will, you know, not
(21:21):
hitting their stride, but their hit their plateau. I think
the West side of I think the West coast of
Florida is is you know, going to be for the
next six, seven, eight years, is still going to see
see massive movement because of because just migration people can't afford.
It's kind of like it's kind of like the areas
outside of the inner cities, not inner cities, but it's
called the suburban areas of of of southern California. They saw,
(21:44):
they saw a massive growth because you couldn't afford to
live in those areas, right, you get priced out. So
I think I think these communities that are relevant get
priced out. And and excuse me when I say relevant
meaning proximity in there, or they're relevant in their proximity.
You know, you don't want to move ten hours away
from your family, but an hour you'll move away. And
(22:04):
if you can afford a bigger home, a bigger place.
So I think west Feld support is going to see
a lot of that. Personally, that's just you know, in
my personal opinion watching an observation of home growth and stuff.
And in Texas, Texas has a lot to offer, sitting
in the middle of the country, so to speak. So
it's it's a business friendly environment.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Great, Yeah, it's crazy with the fires and now the weather.
Restaurant industry just hasn't had much luckilately. Man, we finally
have some really easy year over year sales comparisons to
LAP and then we get hit with some of this stuff.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yeah, I was, I was looking at some numbers and
performing and and you know, in COVID, we used to
say that that the flat was the negative. The flat
wasn't a new positive. Right, if your sales flat, you're positive.
And the good thing about natural disasters and or weather
is that a new day comes tomorrow, a new you know,
(22:59):
someone will back into your restaurant or your retail store.
You know, retail. Retail has it's it's similar challenges. Right,
food is much greater necessity than an extra jacket. But
but so I think that that trends a little bit
faster and quicker if you're if you're if you're tracking it,
so when it comes to the weather related or disaster related,
it's a shorter recovery period. COVID was a strong one
(23:22):
for for restaurants, and in the paradigm that took place
on how people consume really shifted the personalities and some
restaurants and we worked with some some product offering in
the dessert segment. You used to walk in and it
was an indulgence, and you look at the product right
on the counter, and you bought two, you bought five,
you bought too many. But now you know when when
COVID changed how you could touch and play and feel
(23:44):
and and and and it became a uh a shift
to a pre order consumption pre ordering things. It's different
when you're ordering off your handheld or off the phone.
Old school is that you don't necessarily overconsume. Probably good
for the waistline, bad for the performance of the of
(24:07):
the of the unit. Right, So I'm okay thinking that
there's going to be a new day tomorrow. Yep.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
So post pandemic, you know, standalone units with a drive
through or locations that could support one.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
We're all the rage.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Is that still what most chains are looking for? You
know what other types of locations are popular? Right?
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Yeah? Very you know, besides the drive through, it was
open air. You know how much patio could I get? Right?
Because people wanted they wanted to dine in the patio.
So there were there were adoptive laws that took place
in California that accommodated the communities where like when you
travel in Europe and you have these patio pods that
(24:53):
drop out in the in the summertime. Winter time is
a little chilly, so they get rid of these patio pods.
You see a lot more of that being adopted here
on the West Coast because people just want to be outdoors.
Kind of sounds kind of funny because we have great weather.
We can use it eleven twelve bunch a year except
for the rain season. So I think that's another thing
that kind of changed because of of COVID. You're seeing that.
(25:17):
But the greatest is is cogregation, Like where do I
feel part of a community and where can I go
even if you're you know, alone, and you go sit
it in a part Think about any park of Manhattan,
just go to you know, you just sit and watch
people in any one of them and they just feel
like they're part of a community and you feel being
(25:37):
part of it. Sit at a bar, at a restaurant,
those that dine at the bar, they feel like they're
part of the community. So I think that there's that
congregation that is that is more prevalent. You know, the
restaurants are in herds now as opposed to individuals. They
will want to kind of be around each other. Like Tuesday,
I dined for Italian and Friday I dined for Mexican cuisine.
(26:00):
And I'm going to the same intersection, the same place,
the same corners of the same centers. But but I'm
getting my variables and there's good crossover. But it's the
congregation very interesting. All right.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
What's your favorite LA restaurant? Antana's okay? All right, so
next time, I don't know if you've.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Never had it. I haven't been around fifty plus years.
It is outstanding Italian restaurant in West Hollywood, and it
is uh, it's it's a It's a great place for
you to experience next time you're in town.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
All right, Well, I'm due for I'm due for a
trip out in June. I think I think we should
hit that up.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Man. Yeah, let's do it, all right, good stuff?
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Thanks for doing this, Kyle. Where can our listeners go
to find out more about Maine and Maine?
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Uh? Good question? Maine and Maine? Inc Is it's m
A I n A and d M A I n
I n C. Must be one of the longer U
l rs out there, but Maine End Maine, Inc. Is
our website. And you know, I'm fortunate enough to be
the founder of a company that really has done a
really good job. But I'm not the reason it's done
a great job. It's because of the team that we've built,
(27:06):
and we're highly specialized. And if you go to the website,
look look to the other people, don't look to me,
because they are actually way better than I am at
their specialty. But I look forward to meeting you wherever
you are.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
I'd love to hear it. Thank I want to thank
the audience for tuning in. If you liked our discussion,
please subscribe and leave a review. Check back soon for
another episode of Chopping It Up.
Welcome to Chopping it Up. I'm your host, Mike Hallen,
the senior Restaurant and Food Service Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
Our research and that of bi's five hundred analysts around
the globe can be found exclusively on the Bloomberg terminal. Today,
we're joined by Kyle Kavanaugh, founder of Maine and Maine.
Thanks for joining me, Kyle.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Yeah, we're here and I look forward to diving in.
There's a lot to talk about what's going on on
the West Coast, that's for sure. I'm sorry I missed
the team at ICR, but a lot of us were
staying home to take care of business, if you will. Yeah,
you were missed.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
For those of you that don't know Kyle, he's located
in La County. So you know, when we exchanged texts
last week, my Green texts, I was very happy to
hear that you and the fam made out okay during
the wildfires.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, you know, thank you. I appreciate it. You know,
it was it was a pretty broad outreach from a
number of people, as you could imagine, friends from all
over the world, you know, just they just don't know
where you reside when you're when you're a Los Angeles resident,
so I had a tremendous amount of outreach, which was comforting. Uh,
you know, but as I was taking the incoming text
(01:18):
and the incoming messages, I was sending as many on
outgoing to a friends and family that I knew resided
in these areas, and and and then on top of it,
you're you're monitoring, you know, just that the news as
much as you could and much as the information there was.
And there was so much uh, I guess, political banging
(01:41):
going on early stage that I think a lot of
people forgot what was really at hand, which is actually
in need of those people that were losing their homes
and losing their businesses and and losing everything devastation, right,
But everybody was it was picking, picking partners to go
beat up on and and I think everyone lost in
this process without a doubt. But it was it was
(02:03):
comforting to get text from you and like I said,
from friends all over the world, and and those that
I sent the messages to. Michael, one of the some
of the disappointing things were, you know, I hope you're safe,
and I hope you're okay, and I hope your family
is okay. And like your spon my response to you is, yeah,
I'm great, thank you for reaching out. I got the
responses that, actually, no, I'm not I'm in a hotel room,
(02:26):
and and our home was lost, and I'm with my
kids and and actually I don't know who my next
move is right kind of stuff. So those are those
are obviously great disappointing responses to get back. And then
I would get a number for days that were I'm
actually traveling, I'm on holiday, right, these friends that are
(02:46):
on holiday and they're not aware of if their home
was spared or not. And thankfully the two that were
on holiday, their homes were spared, and there were people
their homes were spared, you know, just as you see
in the media coverage. But it was, it was it
was a struggle and still is a struggle, and we're
(03:06):
trying to do what we can. I am in the
real estate realm. I'm the restaurant realm, so I'm on
the front end of it. We're on the commercial real
estate side, so a lot of the people who we
lost homes were either on finance or commercial real estate
were in that space. And then on the business side
operating businesses, you know, are affected clearly by it, So
thank you for reaching out.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Yeah, sure thing, man, it must have been scary and
it's heartbreaking and it's still going on now with the.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Hughes fire right.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
You touched a little bit on what you do at
mean and mean you know, what motivates you to start
the business, what has it evolved into, and what does
it specialize in, the business has.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Been around for thirty plus years. I've been I've been
in the real estate front, site selection. I just saw
something on a bio I had the other day since
eighty seven, and I couldn't do the math. I got
a birthday coming up on Saturday. I don't feel that old.
But but the math that was was definitely rounding the
corner of a lot of stars in that process, and
a lot of experience and and and it has given
(04:08):
me the opportunity to pick and choose who I get
to work with. I dove into the restaurant, into the
commercial real estate realm early stage, literally in the in
the early nineties. I was on the site selection side,
and I picked. I chose food and beverage for a
couple of reasons. You know, the old adage of who
(04:30):
I've always used and I borrowed it from a friend
of mine. Is that winter loser got a booze is
what people allowed to say. So in a good market
there's there's the need for entertainment of that level, and
a bad market there's a need for that entertainment and
that level. So I felt, I felt food was always
a good place. Food is a congregation environment. It's all
about family, and it's about getting together with your friends
(04:53):
and spending some time and and but most importantly getting nourishment.
So it and and that's the neat part about where
it's evolved is is you know, where are we in
the wellness space? How are people consuming product? What are
they consuming? Who's paying attention? So there's a lot of
humanitarian side of it, I guess, you know. It makes
you think about what you're putting in your body.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
I'm not like that.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
I'll take anything, and it starts with tequila, you know,
bring me another one. We have a lot of fun
in that process doing research and development. But in the
restaurant space, it is all about family. And the restaurant
people that I know treat each other with respect because
it's a very competitive business and you got to lean
on your brother and sisters every once in a while
to get better results and share information. So I actually
(05:38):
like it. So we're site selection advisors. We do strategic
growth for startups. I like to say we take them
from two to two hundred. However, one of our larger
clients that we work with on a brokerage capacity is
a Chicken concept from Atlanta, which has you know, thousands
of units. I'll leave them out of the dialogue as
the specific names, but they are great organization, been very
(06:01):
loyal to us for twenty years and we've been very
loyal to them, and you learn a lot. You know,
they're the top chicken performer in the QSR segment, and
if they're the top QSR segment performer, let alone chicken.
So it's nice to see the successes of these operators
and be close in the trenches with them. And then
it's it's also great to be in the kitchen with
(06:23):
culinary trained I'm not culinary trained individuals who have such
a passion for the food and trying to take their
product from the kitchen and translate it to the consumer
on the street and in a shopping center or wherever
it may be. It's a neat evolution that we've been
part of for over thirty years.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Great man. Yeah, this industry is filled with a lot
of great people and you fit right in win or
lose your booze. That's that's interesting you say that. You know,
that reminds me of my stock trading days when I
was in my twenties. You know, it's like you had
a big day, then you go out and celebrate you
had a bad day. Well, maybe you have a couple
of drinks.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
It's very true. And we're learning a lot about that.
You know, alcohol consumptions down. I think that's just an
aging population. It's also learning a lot about some of
the attributes that are positive and negative. And they alternative
alternatives are out there that people don't you know, raise
an eyebrow about there. They're becoming commonplace. So but but
the food element is a real part of of the family.
(07:20):
You learn so much around the kitchen table and you
you you really become who you are in our society.
And I think restaurants are the same right and I speak,
I speak holistically. Is a is a place right And
you you know a lot of first jobs people haven't
been in the restaurant industry. So it's to me, it's
just always been a good connectivity in commercial real estate
(07:43):
and food because everybody can relate, right, everybody can relate
to some degree for sure.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
How's the real estate market in California for restaurants now?
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Yeah, you know, it's it's a great question, thank you.
One of the things that I'm super excited about. You know,
Los Angeles has been beat the heck and in the
last four years in California, in particular San Francisco. We're
doing a lot of business in San Francisco right now.
I'm heading back up on Monday. It was there last
week and I got to say, you know, nine months
(08:13):
ago when I were working there walking through the city,
there's you know, there's you've got a more than a
fair share of homeless, more fair more than a fair
share of uncomfortableness and and and prime associated with it.
In San francisco's really turned the corner. They have a
new mayor up there. I think that's made a big
difference for that city. But for Los Angeles in particular.
I'm super excited for us in California and in Southern
(08:35):
California because we have three pretty monumental events coming up,
uh in the next three and a half four years.
You know, we've got World Cup that is coming to town.
We've got a Super Bowl coming back to town. But most importantly,
we have the Olympics in twenty eight right. And when
you're when you're on a world stage of that nature,
(08:57):
a lot of things happened. One it brings the best
of the best to the table to exude what the
persona is of a city. Right, So you got a
lot of people that are really good at what they
do talking to each other about how it can be
better and how our city can be reflected as a
better location. You know, I had a great, lovely experience
(09:18):
this summer I had. It was very privileged to go
spend a couple of days in Paris and go to
the Olympics in Paris and just see what that town
did and how it reacted differently during an Olympic event. Right. First,
First of all, there's just too many people at the Olympics,
is what the first thing fay. So the most of
the Parisians headed south and dove into the Rose. But
for those that were in town, it was a lovely experience.
(09:42):
It was cure, it was safe, It was clean. It
was great, the restaurants all that thrive, and I hope
for the same for Los Angeles. Right, it's you're on
a world stage and there's a lot looking at us.
So in light of all the banter that goes back
and forth from from political parties and people beating each
other up, they're they're going to eventually realize we better
(10:03):
hold hands and hug or we're gonna make a real
asset of ourselves in this process. And I think that
that's going to be great, And hopefully that comes to
light and people don't position where it doesn't get anything done.
It's have experienced that. But when it comes to Los Angeles,
I think they did a really good job in eighty
four and I'm looking pretty excited for them in twenty eight.
(10:23):
So you're gonna you're gonna have a lot of eyes
on this city for the next three or four years.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Yeah, those are some huge events. And I had read
earlier today that all of the venues for the Olympics
have been spared by the fires, which was good news.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah, you know, it's a good good question. You know,
I was looking at something on all the structures that
have been destroyed and the acreages have been destroyed and
the events were spared. But like you said, Michael, we're
not out of it. Right. We have a huge fire.
And just as I was diving into bed last night,
I was like, okay, where where where is my fire safe?
(11:02):
And you know, you think about all these things and
how much have I pushed the cloud? And what is
our evacuation plan? When I talk to my friends that
were in the Palisades and no longer have homes, they
didn't have these plans in place, right, And and in
restaurants there aren't really evacuation plans for for restaurants and
employees and retailers, and and more importantly, now that it's
(11:25):
been destroyed, what's the reintegration plan? Right? What's the rea
we all we all know we can run to the
hills and we can run to wherever what's our what's
our safe place and and our rally spot and go
stay at our friends, which a lot of my friends
were doing. And everybody opened their homes. And you know,
but if you had a if you had a spare bedroom,
and I called a half dozen of my friends, like
(11:45):
I got my sons off at college, I got an
extra guest room I got, I'll just you know, I'll
light up the the bar, come over. We'll try to
make light of what you're experiencing, and and and and
make sure you know there's going to be a lighter
day tomorrow. And so the reintegration is really the hard part.
When you have to run for the hills, how do
you get read back to where it is? And that's
(12:07):
that's what I think is most highly affecting are It's
going to highly affect the restaurant business. Right when I
when I talk to our restaurant clients and friends round tables,
you know, you just kind of discuss how's life and
how are things going. The restaurants that were surrounding these
areas and the ones that are in uh, the ones
(12:28):
that have the ability to to provide takeaway or comfort food.
Those guys were all up right. So if you think
about it, if you've ever been in the natural disaster, I
don't know if you're around during nine to eleven or
any of the events we have them out here with
earthquakes and fires in the Southeast with the hurricanes, But
(12:49):
anytime you go through something like that, the first thing
you really want to do is is go find your
family and hug them, right, and you want to you
want to have this safety and security of it. The
second thing you want to do is you got to
nourish yourself in that process. It's like it's like, let's
get together and everybody's safe. Okay, who's going to go
run and get sandwiches? Who's going to do that? And
the last thing you want is really the stress of
(13:11):
cooking in your own kitchen, right, And you almost don't
feel like you should have that privilege of it. So
you either go dine out and you just talk about
how the world's tragedies are affecting you. And so most
of these restaurant touris I've spoken to have actually seen
an uptick in that right because of that. And I
think that's great, right, is that that we are their
(13:33):
place where they feel most comfortable, meaning the restaurant industry,
they feel the most comfortable that they can go take
their family and then and rejoice and be to together
with their friends and know that it's going to be
a better day. Right, So I'm happy about that. The
I started a foundation with Hell and Lao from Clear
Pass Solutions a couple of years ago called Step Up
(13:54):
to the table and we are. We're meeting with Helen
on Saturday, and we're going to repush the initiative that
we put back in twenty twenty, which was during the
COVID years, where we were starting a challenge of gift cards,
where at the time we said it was a gift
could give three times, and it was you know, it
was around the holidays. It was in the fall of
(14:14):
the twenty twenty that we started it. And I would
challenge you, Michael that you know i'd give good buy
my four gift cards from my favorite dining establishment, and
I challenge you to do the same, because you're you
were pumping money into the system that they needed drastically
at the time because all these restaurants were closed, and
then you kept these people employed and appreciative to and
(14:37):
then you gave that gift card to a third you know,
the second round was you gave the gift card to
your friend. I now give the gift card to whoever,
because I could use it for myself, but you most
likely give it out. That's what they're all about. That's
round two of the giving. And then round three is
when that person actually goes to the restaurant, right, and
that experience that they get at the restaurant. So so
(14:58):
step up the tables that have a great initiative in
the COVID years and we've we've kept it around and
we under and what we want to do this round
is to challenge and or advocate for people to go
dine at those restaurants that have stepped up. So you know,
(15:19):
we have good friends over at the Kava Organization, Cobber Grill,
and and and all these these Chipotle you would pick
once David young Bergo was on the phone with him
over at Stonefire. All these restaurants that stepped up and
provided to La Fire Department and provided to first responders
during all this this this tragedy. We I think society,
(15:42):
our community now owes them that endorsement. Go dine with them,
go shop with them, because they were helping the frontline
responders keeping you know, the forty thousand acres of fires
that did burn to forty thousand to not one hundred thousand, right,
And it's just mind boggling when you think about the
acreage of the burden of the polace, these twenty three
(16:03):
thousand acres or whatever it is. Yeah, what Manhattan's I
think I read with like fourteen thousand acres, right or
something like that. Right. It's just it's just the size
and the magnitude of it is just really mind bog. Sorry,
I'm pretty passionate about it, so I get a little
long winded.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Yeah, you have question now, But it's great. It's great
to support chains and restaurant tours that are stepping up
to your point. You know, I think I saw shake
Shack and some others also, Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Yeah, we're trying to compile a list in our in
our community, like who who is it that has actually
made that impact and and how can we help them?
How can you know what is what is the next step.
There's short term, midterm, long term effects that this whole product.
The short term is we got we got to find homes.
We got to find you know, thousands of people displaced.
Communities are gone as you know, right, and schools. You know,
(16:52):
I was on the phone with one friend and you
didn't have an office, you didn't have a house, you
didn't have a church, did have a grocery store. His
kids didn't have a school. So he's a he's a
he's a he's a candidate for complete relocation, which is
good and bad, right because because they give the cancer
for the next person to come in in four years
when they can rebuild literally four years unfortunately. And then
(17:13):
it also gives them a chance to go look at
an opportunity. And in other communities. I was on the
phone with a buddy of mine and in Palm Beach
this morning talking about, uh, you know, people the migration.
It's just you know, you guys, someone when you got
a twenty five million dollar home that burns down, you know,
there's very few places in the country that you want
to go reload that All Beach happens to be one
(17:33):
of those, and they're actually getting activity right for for
those reasons we have it. I live in Newport Beach
is where I reside, and we've had a big migration
because Palisies and and Altadina all these are great, great communities,
not that anybody should uh suffer, but but these are
communities that have just the backbone of of of your
(17:58):
neighbor is your brother or your sister, and it's it's
really hard just to drop in and feel collected and
feel part of that in a restaurant. In my opinion,
is one of those places you can do it right.
You could always make a friend at a restaurant and
you might not even know the person who lives next
door to you, but you probably know some people of
the restaurants down the street. Yep.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
So you know, it was a lot widely publicized that
Californians moved out of the state after COVID, you know,
and I think I've also read that there's some some
concern that, you know, the destruction is going to cause
prices to rise even higher after after the rebuild. You know,
are there fears about people moving out of La County?
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yeah? I mean you there, let's call them fears or
opportunities right there. I think that just post Post nine
to eleven in Manhattan, there was a regientifocation of the
city that brought new blood to the town. COVID the
same thing, you know, you know, half of Wall Street
moved to to Paul Beach right or to Miami whatever
(19:03):
it is. And and what that really does is it
creates that opportunity for new energy and new perspective. You know,
most of those people that do move, they're they're they're scarred,
they're tired, they're tainted. They just want to get out
of whatever they're in. And there's and they're not, there's
not the fight to remain. You know, I talked to
you know, my friends that are that are true you know,
(19:26):
let's call it natives. They don't want to go anywhere.
California is a great city. It's got a great talent,
it's got a great state. It's got a it's got
its own complications. Like every state, it has its own complications.
And people left California for for economy. They left California
for politics, and they and they left California but for
greater opportunity. And what that, frankly does is it just
(19:46):
opens a slot for somebody else to come in, right,
and and we welcome that, right, We welcome that because
because if you're bringing something to contribute, you know, an offering,
an idea, a commerce or or you know, you know, consumption,
come on out right. And if you're if you're tired
(20:07):
and you don't want to be in California, there's plenty
of places.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
To go outside of California. What are the hot real
estate markets that uh, you're you know that you're operating
in that you're seeing, So I.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Hit up to back in San Francisco on Monday. But
I'm I'm on the Texas for for uh a couple
of days of looking at real estate and conference. Right,
sun Belt states are still solid. This is the week
to talk about some Belt states. They they they're freezing
right in New Orleans and in the show. And that's
kind of crazy to think of it, how it's impacting.
(20:39):
And you know, weather impacts restaurants all the time. It
closes restaurants, closed the places down, and and you know
the fires did that to us. But but I still
like the Sunbout states a lot. I've been doing a
lot of business in Florida. You know, there's some states
that are much easier to do business in than others.
And and so I'm still a big proponent of that.
(21:00):
Uh in in so the navigation of of host efficiencies
where time is money. That's why you see people move
into these smaller markets. You know. I think I think
some cities are I'm a I'm a big sand in Nashville,
but I think some cities are going to hit their hit,
their hit their plateau, if you will, you know, not
(21:21):
hitting their stride, but their hit their plateau. I think
the West side of I think the West coast of
Florida is is you know, going to be for the
next six, seven, eight years, is still going to see
see massive movement because of because just migration people can't afford.
It's kind of like it's kind of like the areas
outside of the inner cities, not inner cities, but it's
called the suburban areas of of of southern California. They saw,
(21:44):
they saw a massive growth because you couldn't afford to
live in those areas, right, you get priced out. So
I think I think these communities that are relevant get
priced out. And and excuse me when I say relevant
meaning proximity in there, or they're relevant in their proximity.
You know, you don't want to move ten hours away
from your family, but an hour you'll move away. And
(22:04):
if you can afford a bigger home, a bigger place.
So I think west Feld support is going to see
a lot of that. Personally, that's just you know, in
my personal opinion watching an observation of home growth and stuff.
And in Texas, Texas has a lot to offer, sitting
in the middle of the country, so to speak. So
it's it's a business friendly environment.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Great, Yeah, it's crazy with the fires and now the weather.
Restaurant industry just hasn't had much luckilately. Man, we finally
have some really easy year over year sales comparisons to
LAP and then we get hit with some of this stuff.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yeah, I was, I was looking at some numbers and
performing and and you know, in COVID, we used to
say that that the flat was the negative. The flat
wasn't a new positive. Right, if your sales flat, you're positive.
And the good thing about natural disasters and or weather
is that a new day comes tomorrow, a new you know,
(22:59):
someone will back into your restaurant or your retail store.
You know, retail. Retail has it's it's similar challenges. Right,
food is much greater necessity than an extra jacket. But
but so I think that that trends a little bit
faster and quicker if you're if you're if you're tracking it,
so when it comes to the weather related or disaster related,
it's a shorter recovery period. COVID was a strong one
(23:22):
for for restaurants, and in the paradigm that took place
on how people consume really shifted the personalities and some
restaurants and we worked with some some product offering in
the dessert segment. You used to walk in and it
was an indulgence, and you look at the product right
on the counter, and you bought two, you bought five,
you bought too many. But now you know when when
COVID changed how you could touch and play and feel
(23:44):
and and and and it became a uh a shift
to a pre order consumption pre ordering things. It's different
when you're ordering off your handheld or off the phone.
Old school is that you don't necessarily overconsume. Probably good
for the waistline, bad for the performance of the of
(24:07):
the of the unit. Right, So I'm okay thinking that
there's going to be a new day tomorrow. Yep.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
So post pandemic, you know, standalone units with a drive
through or locations that could support one.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
We're all the rage.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Is that still what most chains are looking for? You
know what other types of locations are popular? Right?
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Yeah? Very you know, besides the drive through, it was
open air. You know how much patio could I get? Right?
Because people wanted they wanted to dine in the patio.
So there were there were adoptive laws that took place
in California that accommodated the communities where like when you
travel in Europe and you have these patio pods that
(24:53):
drop out in the in the summertime. Winter time is
a little chilly, so they get rid of these patio pods.
You see a lot more of that being adopted here
on the West Coast because people just want to be outdoors.
Kind of sounds kind of funny because we have great weather.
We can use it eleven twelve bunch a year except
for the rain season. So I think that's another thing
that kind of changed because of of COVID. You're seeing that.
(25:17):
But the greatest is is cogregation, Like where do I
feel part of a community and where can I go
even if you're you know, alone, and you go sit
it in a part Think about any park of Manhattan,
just go to you know, you just sit and watch
people in any one of them and they just feel
like they're part of a community and you feel being
(25:37):
part of it. Sit at a bar, at a restaurant,
those that dine at the bar, they feel like they're
part of the community. So I think that there's that
congregation that is that is more prevalent. You know, the
restaurants are in herds now as opposed to individuals. They
will want to kind of be around each other. Like Tuesday,
I dined for Italian and Friday I dined for Mexican cuisine.
(26:00):
And I'm going to the same intersection, the same place,
the same corners of the same centers. But but I'm
getting my variables and there's good crossover. But it's the
congregation very interesting. All right.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
What's your favorite LA restaurant? Antana's okay? All right, so
next time, I don't know if you've.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Never had it. I haven't been around fifty plus years.
It is outstanding Italian restaurant in West Hollywood, and it
is uh, it's it's a It's a great place for
you to experience next time you're in town.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
All right, Well, I'm due for I'm due for a
trip out in June. I think I think we should
hit that up.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Man. Yeah, let's do it, all right, good stuff?
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Thanks for doing this, Kyle. Where can our listeners go
to find out more about Maine and Maine?
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Uh? Good question? Maine and Maine? Inc Is it's m
A I n A and d M A I n
I n C. Must be one of the longer U
l rs out there, but Maine End Maine, Inc. Is
our website. And you know, I'm fortunate enough to be
the founder of a company that really has done a
really good job. But I'm not the reason it's done
a great job. It's because of the team that we've built,
(27:06):
and we're highly specialized. And if you go to the website,
look look to the other people, don't look to me,
because they are actually way better than I am at
their specialty. But I look forward to meeting you wherever
you are.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
I'd love to hear it. Thank I want to thank
the audience for tuning in. If you liked our discussion,
please subscribe and leave a review. Check back soon for
another episode of Chopping It Up.
Host
Michael Halen
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