“My mom was caterer and I have a passion to please people. I like watching people light up over food and I have developed many friendships over food. I traveled a lot on the West Coast and went to restaurants and picked up on dishes, recipes, or colors and that were special and could use one day in my restaurant. Before I started Another Broken Egg, I was an industrial engineer and worked with the Department of Defense and Department of Energy and my last project was designing the facility for the superconducting supercollider. President Clinton cut funding for it and I knew that was my time to go out on my own and open a restaurant. I had it in my soul and had to get it out. My first restaurant was in a house in Mandeville, LA built in 1908. I restored it and lived above the restaurant. In six months there were two-hour waits and I watched people park a quarter of a mile down the road and run to get in line. I knew it was the right thing and we had something special, but it was a lot of work starting out. There was one day I cooked for 125 people by myself because my two people in the kitchen didn’t show up. That was a tough day.

“We have a test kitchen in Sandestin. Our recipes have to be followed carefully. They are clearly explained because they have to be consistent throughout the brand. There is always someone who wants to tweak it. All of the social media comments come back to us and we address the good and the bad. Social media can be the death of a restaurant. We have 55 units, we are on track to have 100 by 2018. We are in 18 states and have 13 or 14 franchisees. All restaurants and menus are tied to the area.”

“I play golf once a week and got to the BVIs as often as I can. I love going to the islands and sailing. Anchoring down in a port and seeing a different sunset every night. But I love what I do. That is the whole thing behind being successful. I have been in this business for 20 years. The first restaurant did $345,000 a year. Now we generate over $70 million a year. We have over 1500 employees. My goal is to get it to 100 and leave a legacy of great restaurants. I have never chased the money. I have chased the greatness of restaurants. I can live frugally. I just need a decent car to travel in and golf clubs in the back.”

“This has been a blessing. If I had three restaurants, it would have been enough. Only 17 percent of people who get into the restaurant business survive it. Nothing short of right is right. I am always looking for ways to do it better.”