James Romano, Owner, Bon Banh Mi

James Romano, Owner, Bon Banh Mi

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
iHeartMedia presents CEOs. You Should Know. CEOs You Should Know
Charleston is brought to you by SC two fifty Charleston
Www dot SC two fifty Charleston dot Org.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
It's Michael Blaze joining me on CEOs you Should Know
today is James Romano. He's the owner of Bonbonme Southeast
Asian Kitchen now with three locations, two in Mount Pleasant,
one downtown.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
Welcome James, thanks for having me. Michael glad to be here.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
Yeah, So please explain the concept of Bonbondmee.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
So we are a fast casual style restaurant, Southeast Asian focused.
So you're going to find a lot of Vietnamese inspired dishes,
tie inspired dishes on our menu, along with a little
bit of flair and selections that you know, we love
and we feel like really compliment that particular cuisine.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Now, is that Southeast United States fusion with Asian.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
So little bit, you know, more of a Southeast Asian
flair for sure. The fact that we're in the Southeast
does kind of play into the name, for sure, but
definitely more of a Southeast Asian influence.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Now, Bon bondmeis started as a farmer's market standard Marion's
Square when in twenty eleven.

Speaker 3 (01:14):
Twenty eleven, that's correct. We a good friend of mine,
my business partner, Jason Sachron, you know, we we used
to make bond Me sandwiches for friends, family, you know,
get together, that sort of thing, and ultimately we decided
that we would give it a shot in the Farmer's
market because we had saturdays open in our schedule and

(01:35):
made application for the Marion Square Farmers Market and everything
started there on Saturday mornings.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Now, for those that don't know, and we're going to
make them hungry right now, explain what a Bondme sandwich is.

Speaker 3 (01:47):
So bond me sandwich, so bond me it translates in
Vietnamese to sandwich. So essentially a bond Me is going
to consist of a toasted baguette, typically some form of
protein on the inside, and then accompanied with usually a pickle,
vegetable element, herbs in the form of ty basil, cilantro,
typically a cucumber element, and then all basically combined together

(02:11):
so you get the hot and cold element of the
nice crusty bread along with the freshness of the vegetables.
It's just a great combination.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
Sounds delicious. Now, you're originally from New Jersey.

Speaker 3 (02:24):
Right, that's correct. Yep, born in New Jersey.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yeah, but you graduated here from College of Charlestown.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
That's right, So move down south a little bit before
high school. So I've been in Charleston since I was
I guess seventeen, eighteen years old. So I think by
definition I'm allowed to say I'm from here. Now depends
who I talk.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
I don't know about that, because you know what, I'm
in the same boat. I moved here as a young adult,
and I just joke because there's some natives.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
Where it's like, if you weren't.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
Born a rope hospital downtown, you ain't from here.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
That's exactly right, I thought. I thought when I hit
the twenty year mark, it would make those conversations a
little easier. But nonetheless, I don't plan on leaving. And
it's you know, it's obviously an amazing place to live.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
It is and the people are wonderful. So you also
attended the Culinary Institute of Charleston ran.

Speaker 3 (03:15):
Yes, So I graduated from College of Charleston. Was not
intent on pursuing a career in hospitality, food and beverage,
and ultimately When I did decide to go that route,
you know, I had already done undergraduate of College of Charleston,
and I felt like, if I was going to get
into this business, I needed to be able to you know,

(03:38):
wrap my arms around every aspect of it. So I
decided to go back and take some culinary classes at
the Culinary Institute Charleston, which is affiliated with Trident. So
it took some classes there kind of just you know,
increased the level of education I had about the business
and kind of paired that with what I had already
learned in college, and just you know started running from there.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
Now you currently teach at CEOC, right.

Speaker 3 (04:03):
I do this semester. I'm not. I taught last year
as in the Hospitality and Tourism program, which is part
of the business program at College Charleston. But definitely something
I really enjoy. You know, getting out of the restaurant
is obviously healthy. Otherwise, you know, I'd spend probably every
waking minute there. But you know, working with students, especially

(04:26):
at the college that I went to, is something that
I would love to do all the time if I
had more time in my schedule. But when I can
fit it in, it's definitely something I really enjoy.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
Now, you have a long history in the hospitality business,
don't you.

Speaker 3 (04:41):
I do. I've been so you know, all through college,
I had always worked in restaurants, bars, you know, like
a lot of college students do. And it is always
something I enjoyed. I always felt like it was something
that was more than just a college job, to be
quite honest, never really put thought into pursuing it as
a career when I was in college. But you know,

(05:02):
after I got out of college and kind of, you know,
dip my toe into a few different things, it just
kind of continued to be something that kept popping into
my brain as a passion. So ultimately I got a
I got a job with the Homegrown Hospitality Group, which
is another local Charleston hospitality group, and ultimately got my

(05:23):
start with them as the general manager at Pearls Oyster
Bar here in Charlestown. So that's kind of how everything
got rolling as far as my career in the in
the hospitality industry and specifically here in Charleston.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
I love Pearls. It's a great place.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
What was the impetus for you to step away from
that corporate life and you know, ultimately open bond bond me.
But you know with the well, let's start with the
with the farmers market stand.

Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yeah, so the Farmer's market stand, like I said, was
nothing more than just kind of something that really started
as just a hey, we think people are going to
really enjoy this this food item, and you know, we've
got saturdays free in our schedule, so you know, let's
let's let's see what people think about this. You know,
my partner and I had both had a pretty pretty

(06:13):
good food endeavor's background at that point, and you know,
we just kind of wanted to see what people thought. Honestly,
we had a strong feeling that it would be something
people would really enjoy. So that kind of started just
about wanting to kind of make people happy and give
people something and give people an opportunity to try something
they maybe never had. It was during the farmers market

(06:34):
days where people, you know, our popularity started to grow
and people would say, you know, you guys ever thought
about opening a restaurant And it was something that at
the time we've kind of laughed at, almost scoffed at,
But ultimately we had enough of that feedback and we
felt like enough popularity that it basically transitioned into our
first brick and mortar on Spring Street, which you know

(06:57):
is kind of a funny side story as well, because
for those that frequent the downtown area, Spring Street has
become kind of almost what I would describe as a
mecca for new restaurants, variety of different types of cultures
and cuisines. Rewind back to when we opened, and I
remember one of the first couple of times I would
tell people where Bonbomb me was and they'd say, oh,

(07:19):
Spring Street, is it safe there?

Speaker 1 (07:22):
Ye, neighborhood back down, it was not.

Speaker 3 (07:25):
I mean, when I was in college, if you told
somebody you were going to Spring Street, it probably wasn't
for a good reason. Let's just say that. So, you know,
when we opened initially it was it was largely based
on what we could afford. It was a good opportunity
at that time, and we've held on to it ever
since then. But it's just it's it's amazing to see

(07:45):
that the transition where you know, now it's you know,
restaurants are clamoring at the opportunity to open on Spring Street,
whereas when we opened it was more out of necessity.

Speaker 2 (07:55):
Well, you've ultimately helped, you know, fuel that transition for
that area.

Speaker 3 (08:01):
I think so, you know, there's definitely along with us,
there's a couple more places that popped up around that
same time, but I definitely do think that we all
helped kind of pave the way for that expansion out
of the you know, we'll say the traditional downtown areas
like East Bay King Street. Those areas are great, but
it's nice to see a little bit of sprawl for
especially for small local businesses.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
Now, speaking of transition and going from a once a
week farmers market stand to a brick and mortar, even
though you were in the restaurant business for many years,
I'm sure it was full of challenges. What do you
think your biggest challenge was or your couple of big
biggest challenges.

Speaker 3 (08:39):
You know, that's a great question, and it kind of
ties into I think you touched a second ago on
kind of what maybe the catalyst was to make us
think we could do it, And a lot of that
was based on the experience I gained working with the
homegrown hospitality folks. That was probably one of the more
important parts of my trajection or trajectory, And ultimately there

(09:01):
came a time after I was doing some openings for them,
where I kind of looked around and I thought to myself,
I can do this. I you know, I'm doing it
for somebody else right now, but I can do this
on my own. That ultimately turned into kind of something
I laughed at a little further down the road, because
you know, when you say to yourself, I can do this,
you don't fully grasp what that means until you're in

(09:23):
it and you're a business owner. But I think the
biggest challenge that I that became very obvious was everything
in your business starts and stops with you. Everything is
your responsibility. If something needs to be fixed, You're the
one that's got to figure it out. It's you know,
it becomes it becomes way more than I tell people.

(09:45):
If all I had to worry about was serving people
and preparing food, that that would be the easiest job
in the world. But it's beyond that. It's you know,
some days I'm an accountant, some days I'm a repair guy.
Some days I'm an age back technician, some days I
dabble in HR. It's just, you know, it depends on

(10:06):
the day. But there there aren't too many days these
days where I just get to spend a whole day
in the kitchen or a whole day in the restaurant,
just focusing on food or focusing on taking care of people.
That's still my passion and that's what I love doing.
But a lot of times those aren't the challenges that
present themselves every day now.

Speaker 2 (10:22):
For years, when I've been talking to people in the
restaurant industry, I asked them what their biggest challenge was,
and they they always said staffing.

Speaker 1 (10:29):
Is that still the case?

Speaker 3 (10:31):
I think it is? You know, it's you have to
take great care of your people. You know, if not
for great people and the great people that we've had
over the years, there's no way that you know, you
and I are sitting and having this conversation right now,
because as much as I have a tendency to try
to wrap my arms around everything, it just doesn't. It

(10:51):
doesn't go without people, and it doesn't go without people
that stick with you and do a great job. And
we've been fortunate enough over the year years where at
all three of our locations, we've had people that have
been with us for years and people whose family I'm
close with, and I couldn't imagine operating our business without them,

(11:12):
and then on top of that you factor in the
you know, the cost of labor these days, and wages
going the way they are in Charleston. It definitely is
probably one of the more critical components of operating a business,
whether it's a restaurant or whether it's I can't speak
for any other business owners, but the people component is

(11:32):
the most important and can be the most challenging at
the same time.

Speaker 2 (11:35):
No, I think you're absolutely right, and you're right to
say you have to take care of your people. It
reminds me of one of my friends who was opening
a restaurant and he a pizza place, and he's like, yeah,
you just pay people and they do everything. I swear
to God, that's what he said. And I'm like, you know,
I've never run a restaurant before, but dude, I think
it's a little more involved than that.

Speaker 3 (11:56):
It is a touch more involved than that, and that
usually that mentality that someone they'll figure that out at
some point. But if it were that simple, you know,
you'd have a lot more businesses out.

Speaker 2 (12:08):
There, sure, a lot more successful busin exactly so, you
said you moved here as a teenager. I take it
you moved with your parents.

Speaker 3 (12:15):
I did. We relocated to Atlanta, so I actually went
to high school in Atlanta, and then when I started
looking for colleges, this was, you know, relatively close proximity,
and obviously, you know, the selling point of a beach
and a really you know, Lively city didn't hurt either.
But yeah, I moved here when I was seventeen from

(12:35):
the Atlanta area.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
Were either of your parents in the restaurant business.

Speaker 3 (12:39):
No, I've got some family on my mom's side that's
in the restaurant business. But you know, other than maybe
you know, my mom and dad, if they were sitting here,
might both say we worked in restaurants. I don't know
that I would call it necessarily a career in restaurants,
but you know, I was kind of maybe the first
one in the family to kind of really pursue it
in the manner that we are now.

Speaker 2 (13:00):
Who was your most important mentor? And I know that's
a loaded question because a lot of people feel obligated
to say, well, my mom and dad, and of course
you know that's usually the case, but you know, on
the business side of it, on the restaurant side of it,
who was who is your biggest influence.

Speaker 3 (13:15):
I would probably have to go back to my days
with Homegrown Hospitality. Can't stress enough how much of an
important part of my path that experience was, and specifically
Mark Cummins. For a lot of people who live and
have been living in Charleston for a long time, Mark
is a somebody who's synonymous with the community. He was
one of the owners of Homegrown Hospitality, one of the

(13:36):
founders along with Jerry Sheer, and Mark passed away a
few years back. But my experience with them and especially Mark,
whether it was you know, business acumen or just how
to talk to people. You know, I had never worked
in the Mount Pleasant area when I took over one

(13:57):
of their restaurants, and you know, one of the first
things he did was pull me aside and you know,
pointed to a table of older women that were out
for lunch, and he gave me a full rundown of
you know, how I should approach that conversation and what
they would want to talk about, and you know, everything
I needed to kind of approach that sort of engagement.
And you know that along with the business side of things,

(14:19):
because they were also one of the best I would
say business run companies, And I guess that. I guess
meaning the behind the scenes was some of the most
important stuff I learned, you know, learning that it wasn't
just about necessarily putting out great food and taking good
care of people. There was a there was a really
important business side of the restaurant industry. So I was

(14:41):
lucky enough to to work closely with them. And yeah,
I don't know that I would be here if not
for that relationship.

Speaker 2 (14:48):
Honestly, Yeah, I think that's so important, not only in
the restaurant industry. You know, everybody says, you know, I'm
I'm a great chef, or you know, I've got this
great concept and this goes well beyond the rest strunt industry,
or you know, I'm an artist or I'm this or
I'm that, and I want to take this to market.
And they think that the end product is the most

(15:09):
important thing, and not that it's not important, but you
have to know how to run a business right exactly.

Speaker 3 (15:15):
And what you just said is a perfect kind of
summary of it. That, Yeah, you have to have the
good food, you have to have the great food, you
have to have the great idea, you have to have
the art side of it. That is critical. But if
that's all you have, you know, not to say that,
places don't, you know, have that lightning in a bottle
moment where it just works regardless. But a lot of

(15:37):
times in order to be successful, you have to have
that element of art, that element of great food, great tastes,
great flavor. But if that's all you have and you're
lacking that business acumen or that ability to manage people
or just simply get along with people, I would say
that's one of the biggest things that I see as
a pitfall, is just the inability to convey your message

(16:00):
or get somebody else to do it the way you
do it. If you lack any of those kind of
soft skills as they call them, it doesn't matter what
the food tastes like, because all people taste is you know,
the words come out out of your mouth essentially.

Speaker 2 (16:15):
Right, And it's such a competitive Charleston is so the
low Country is such a competitive area for the restaurant business.
You're also a board member of low Country Local First, right.

Speaker 3 (16:26):
Yes, so that's a that's a recent development. I've actually
got my first first board meeting tomorrow, which I'm super
excited about. But yeah, it's A. I try to try
to stay involved in anything I can in the Charleston
area in the community, just because a I I thoroughly
enjoy being involved in talking to other people in the

(16:47):
industry and the community. But also, you know, I just
think about my up, you know, my coming up, and
I wish there were more outlets at the time for
me to kind of bounce ideas off of or just
say to somebody, hey, how did you do this, and
how did you do that, and how did you get
funding for this? And Low Country Local First is that's

(17:10):
exactly what they do. They focus on supporting small to
medium sized businesses. Whether you're just getting going, or whether
you've been open for a while and you're just struggling
to get some funding, or you have an idea for
something new, They'll help you with everything, whether it's like
I said, real estate negotiation, it doesn't matter what it is.
They are one of the best local nonprofits that you

(17:32):
know supports local businesses, which is I think a lot
of what we need right now in this economy.

Speaker 2 (17:37):
It's absolutely what we need. And you know, it amazes
me sometimes that it took so long for people to
to kind of embrace those kinds of entities that help
that put things in place to help businesses in the community,
people in the community. For so long, people were just

(17:57):
kind of on their own unless they had a mentor
showing them the way right exactly.

Speaker 3 (18:02):
Yeah, and you know, and I would also say that
one thing I was guilty of, especially when I was
younger and we were first getting going, was thinking that,
you know, the idea I had or the plan I
had for doing something was was the best way to
do it, and I didn't need somebody else necessarily. But
as you start, as you get older and you start
doing different things, you start to quickly realize that, you know,

(18:24):
ideas from other people, different ways to do things are
probably one of your biggest assets. And if anything, you know,
trying to do everything on your own ends up being
a pitfall if you're not getting ideas and you know
different approaches, you know, and that's why organizations like that
are so critical.

Speaker 2 (18:44):
Like you said, now, if there's anybody out there listening
that's a chef or a caterer or whatever it may be,
and you know their dream is to open a restaurant,
what is the most important piece of advice you think
you could give them at this stage.

Speaker 3 (18:59):
I would say, I think the commitment to the job
and the amount of time and passion and energy that
it takes to do that. Don't underestimate that because it
is an everyday thing, especially when you're getting going, sometimes
it can feel like a twenty four to seven thing.
And ultimately, if it's not something that you're willing to

(19:20):
embrace as almost like a lifestyle early on, you know
it might not be for you. And I don't say
that as a as a scare tactic. I just it's
more or less that it has to be something that
you know, you truly want to embrace as part of
your life. And I'm still trying to figure out how
to balance all those things as I say all that,

(19:41):
and and I would be lying to you if I
said I knew how to do that at this point.
But it is it is a hard thing to embrace,
and it does take a lot of your time, it
takes a lot of your passion and energy. So as
long as you're ready, you're ready to ready to embrace that,
then I would encourage anybody to, you know, pursue that passion.
And the other thing I would add to that is

(20:02):
kind of going back to the dynamic of you know,
realizing that as great of a chef as you might be,
being ready to wear different hats and kind of accept
the fact that you might not be able just to
stand in your kitchen in your restaurant all the time
and make great food. A lot of times, it's going
to come back to other skill sets, other responsibilities, other tasks,

(20:25):
So be prepared to embrace those responsibilities, just like you
embrace the idea of making great food. I think that's
a great that's a great way to kind of look
at it.

Speaker 2 (20:36):
Yeah, I think that's really good advice. I know there's
a lot of people listening that are eager to try
bondbonding if they haven't trying it already. So you have
the location on Spring Street one in Mount Pleasant on
Ben Sawyer, and you're also out at Oakland Market in
Mount Pleasant.

Speaker 3 (20:51):
Right, that's correct, yep, three locations. We open seven days
a week, eleven am. We're open for lunch and dinner.
We'd love to have you in the restaurant at the
same time. Our food, we say, our food travels incredibly well.
So if you're more of a pickup to go sort
of person, we'd love to have you. We also have
a great beer and wine selection, sake selection at each

(21:11):
of the locations. So I'm personally one of those people
that likes to go sit and maybe have a beer
or a glass of wine and then take my food
with me. So if that's more your speed, we can
help you out there. And then we also do a
good bit of delivery through your normal third party delivery outlets,
so we've kind of got an option for everybody. Whether

(21:31):
you're like I said, you're downtown, whether you're in on
the Coleman side of Mount Pleasant, or whether you're on
the seventeen side of Mount Pleasant, We've got an option
for you, and we definitely would love to have you.

Speaker 2 (21:42):
Well, it sounds great. It was a pleasure to talk
to you. James Vermano, owner of bonbond Me Southeast Asian Kitchen,
Thanks for your time today, James.

Speaker 3 (21:49):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (21:50):
Michael, you've been listening to iHeart Radios CEOs you should
know heard every Tuesday and Saturday morning right here on
this iHeart Radio station.