Sam and I were looking forward to this interview since I have not eaten at Ravenous since last spring, and also so we could drive through Saratoga and see what had reopened. Saratoga is one of those places that you are proud to have in the capital region with its chef inspired restaurants, the dance museum, and SPAC there is nothing that cannot keep you entertained. With the two of us finally being 21 we have been looking forward to exploring this city, not as a local but as a local tourist you know?
We were running a few minutes behind schedule, but Dave was extremely understanding and kind when we walked into the building. We socially distanced at a table and had our masks on throughout the interview, it was nice to start off with some small talk before we got into the questions. He was wearing a Ravenous t-shirt and we could tell he just came out of working hard in the kitchen. We told him our background in the food industry and why we started In Plate Sight to give him an idea of why we wanted to interview him.
Why did you create this restaurant? What drew you to making a creperie?
David Zuka was not the founder of the restaurant, but it has been here for 20 years and he has owned it for seven and a half years. He purchased it because as a guest and chef it was a unique concept because of its creative freedom. He looked at the crepe ,as a chef, as a way to put his own spin on a plate. He said, “You can put anything in a burrito, a flatbread, a bowl, and I knew what the past owners stood for, knew their reputation, knew the versatility, and did not want to pigeon hole myself into one style of cuisine.” If you look on their menu you can see they can go from black angus short-rib, to a curry chicken dish to a vegetarian dish like ratatouille and hearty dishes like chili. He saw the versatility when he bought the business, and even the staff contributes their ideas into the dishes as well. What flavor profiles has his staff experienced outside of Ravenous? They make fillings applicable to a crepe, it cannot be super runny but it is just a matter of modifying the recipe. Ravenous does international cuisine from scratch, and the plus is that they are extremely affordable. Zuka brings value to the region since there are a lot of great chefs in Saratoga and his restaurant is not gonna have you break the bank. The average customer spends $17-$18, they are a perfect intersection of quality and price and it brings value to the community.
How has COVID affected your business?
Ravenous was already set up for online ordering, curbside pickup, and also had three delivery partners in place. Ravenous did a significant amount of takeout prior to the pandemic and they were able to quickly pivot to delivery and takeout only. The customer base has changed and Zuka asked himself (while using google analytics) how are they finding me? Where are they from? It has really concentrated to a single area because people are not traveling, they are not going out to eat, because people are hunkered down to their hyper-focused local area. There has been a large increase in regulars, repeat customers, and even guests who haven’t been here in a long time. People were like I have to go back to ravenous because we haven’t been there in forever! They have been successful in pivoting to a new business model, but even so they are greatly anticipating the reopening of dining rooms of limited capacity. 60-75% of their business was maintained and fortunately he maintained 80% of his staff. The good thing is at Ravenous you can get something completely different every time and his food is built to travel since its in a wrap format. There are a lot of options so people can order multiple times a week and not get tired of ordering the same thing every time. His food was not designed to travel, but it is just inherent to the design of the crepe.
How do you think this summer will be different since people are not allowed at the track?
Zuka thinks that customer competence is going to be high and a desire to wanna go out is going to be there, but there is going to be reluctance and more research into the practices of the individual establishments. With the track running with spectators there are more people in the area, but the track is also direct competition to their restaurant setup. Since they are an early evening, lunch, afternoon snack sort of place that is not directly targeted toward guests leaving the track for a dinner place. For them, having the track closed may add to their traffic in the sense that more people will be in the downtown, rather than people leaving in order to be in the track at 11 am. By the time spectators got back into town and were getting ready this restaurant was already closing up. If it wasn’t for the entire community of Saratoga, Ravenous wouldn’t be a long-standing restaurant. Some of the largest revenue losses, due to COVID, come more from SPAC and the Arts community. Guests would eat brunch before going out to see a Ballet show. There was a great following from the Orchestra members that would come through for the concerts, Dave Matthews, Phish it drove business here because people would eat lunch before their show. SPAC has a bigger impact on his business than the track. Even so, Zuka is overall optimistic for the summer even though SPAC and The Arts are not going to continue this summer.
As a customer what can we do to help?
The biggest thing would be to use a businesses’ in-house online ordering for pickup and curbside instead of using third party servicer’s. They do not have the high commission rates if you order directly from the restaurant, they will get the same quality and same food, don’t have to tip the driver, there is no the delivery fee and you just pick it up here. This goes for every business in town, it is less expensive for the consumer. Save yourself some money, save him some money, and utilize in-house ordering systems and pick it up. Please have faith in the operators in this town, state, capital region he has been doing it for 35 years, these establishments are working hard behind the scenes to make sure you are safe. The implementation of gloves, masks, social distancing, robust cleaning procedures, and his staff working hard to make sure they are ready to go for dine in service makes it a safe environment to dine-in. Come out to support us, the sanitation practices are in place, and the staff is healthy and trained.
How are you and your staff adjusting reopening? How are your suppliers?
From a supply chain standpoint, he has fifteen years of experience as a business development manager and because of this experience, he knew how to get out in front of the curb. Zuka respectfully made sure he bought gloves every week, and as sanitizers became available he made sure to buy them. As more restaurants reopen there is going to be more of a bigger pool of need for these products. When it comes to the perishable products, he is partnered with good distribution partners who have been able to maintain inventory levels. Costs of proteins have gone up because of the things that went on in meat plants during the pandemic. He already had forecasts in place for inventory to make sure there were no gaps in his purchasing and has been able to offer his entire menu without interruption. Menu was already set up for cost utilization, made from scratch daily and have been able to cross utilize their ingredients. It is going to take a year to 18 months for things to shakeout. Staying in business has a lot to do with cash reserves, newer business and smaller businesses do not have as many cash reserves.
What was your first reaction when they announced closing of restaurants?
He wasn’t surprised, he stays up on current events, watched the talking heads on the news on a nightly basis and saw it coming. There was a reduction in occupancy before the complete shutdown happened which further indicated the shutdown was necessary. He has continued throughout the process to keep himself updated on the cutting edge news, using New York State Restaurant Association, Small Business Development Council, and the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce. There are countless tools out there and he feels like he was back in college and just took an 18 credit semester, forgiveness of the PPE loan. Knowledge is power especially when owning a business. The resources here have been up to the test, there have been so many people and so many webinars and the community has really stepped up. No one is charging for this information, they could technically charge per webinar, it really brings home the message we are stronger together.
How is in-person dining going to go? How many tables are you going to have?
“We have created a QR Code so people can join the waitlist, can order online, and even pay for their meals through this technology.” Ravenous had to remove 50% of the seating in order to maintain social distancing, sanitizing, and the staff only approaches the table only to bring food. If there are people who are not technologically savvy, the servers can interact with them without compromising their safety. Zuka has implemented the back end technology himself by watching webinars, it was only a matter of going into google QR code creator so people can order from their phone. He has had 9-10 weeks of being in the restaurant so he has had the time to educate himself, and his staff so they can utilize these new systems. In defense of some other restauranteurs who have had not the time to implement these technologies they might not have been on site in their restaurant, they had to close and did not have to sit in their four walls for days. His staff is a team and they work together to generate ideas and write it on paper, and try to implement the ideas to see if they work. The team is going to make a small video, in order to show people how to use the QR code when they come in. They have been open 7 days a week, he is a perfectionist and wants it to be an organized reopening. “It’s scary until you have the patience to sit down and read it”, says Zuka.
FYI- Him and his kitchen manager are ServSafe certified
After this interview we were amazed with how informed, resilient, and proactive David was with the knowledge that was offered by multiple sources. He utilized this knowledge and turned it into power not only for himself, but for his staff, his customers, and his community. You can really tell he has a passion to make sure his business stays strong no matter what life throws at him and this is the quality of a successful business owner. If you have never been to Ravenous make sure to check it out, we are more than sure you will have a safe and lovely dining experience here once indoor dining resumes. If you cannot wait another week, then we recommend ordering directly from Ravenous. With their menu options you’ll want to order more than one crepe!
In Plate Sight 