Articles & Awards

In Columbus, Ohio, Brian Hinshaw signed on with a coach about three years ago to help him grow into a challenging new role. He was at the top of his kitchen game as executive chef of a single-unit restaurant for Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, a $70 million multiunit restaurant group in Columbus, when the company spotted his ability with people and promoted him to regional chef. About a year into the role, and in charge of six restaurants, Hinshaw’s confidence deflated like a hot soufflé exposed to a draft.

“Coming into this role, I was a chef—I had a knife in my hand,” says Hinshaw. Instead of boning fish and creating specials, his new job was to oversee everything that goes into the success of restaurants, from the chefs and the general managers to the culture, the food quality, marketing and financial results. “I didn’t even have a cell phone until I was promoted to regional,” says Hinshaw. He could see he was going to need some new skills.

When his company offered the services of a professional coach, Hinshaw jumped at the chance. The coach was an expert in people and management—different skills from those of his culinary mentors. He met with her, usually at a coffee shop, once a month for about a year and a quarter. “You could talk about anything—an hourly associate, how to deal with the executive team, how to use all the capabilities of the organization,” he says.

Outside meeting times, his coach e-mailed informative articles and suggested books he should read. Among other things, she encouraged new ways of thinking and dealing with people. For example, Hinshaw says, if restaurant cleanliness was the problem, he might first be inclined to just say, “Pick up a broom, and clean this up.” His coach showed him ways to get his people involved in solving their problems. She might say, “Why not ask the chef/GM, ‘Why is this kitchen always dirty?’” He worked on listening, and helping people to buy into what was expected.

Today, as a vice president, operating partner and executive corporate chef in
his organization, Hinshaw is in charge of some 1,900 associates (employees)
at 29 locations. Feedback tells him he’s become a better listener. And
employee opinion surveys rate him high, as approachable, professional and
knowledgeable in his area.

Individualized guidance isn’t just for people with extensive culinary knowledge. Career coaches say they’ve worked with culinary clients of many different ages and career stages.

According to a 2009 ICF Global Coaching Client Study conducted by
PricewaterhouseCoopers and Association Resource Centre Inc., more than 80% of coach clients who responded experienced a positive impact in their goals, including self-esteem/self-confidence, relationships, communication skills, work performance and life balance. The study says that clients who achieved a financial benefit from coaching saw an average return on investment of 3.44 times what they spent.

“Activist” is not a word many would use to describe Cameron Mitchell.  But that’s the role in which the founder and president of his eponymous Columbus, Ohio- based restaurant group found himself a few years ago when a line cook at one of his restaurants was on the verge of being deported. 

 The cook “had been in the country for years and was just a good guy, worked hard, and here he was being locked up in front of his children,” says David Miller, executive vive president at Cameron Mitchell Restaurants.  “Cameron organized this big protest, and we got him to be able to stay in the States.”

 Such inventiveness and dedication helped the Columbus native grow his company from a single-unit operation in 1993 to one with $118 million in sales in 2007 and such concepts as the 19-unit Mitchell’s Fish Market and the three-unit Cameron’s Steakhouses. 

 Mitchell sold those restaurants to Ruth’s Chris Steak House in 2008 for $92 million, freeing him to concentrate on such fledgling concepts as Ocean Prime, his steakhouse and supper club, and the less formal Cap City Fine Diner and Bar. 

 “He always does it the right way- he never cuts corners,” says Michael Glimcher, chief executive of Columbus-based Glimcher Realty Trust, who is Mitchell’s landlord at three of his restaurants and a personal friend for the past 15 years.  “He does what he says he’s going to do- every time.”
 By his own admission, Mitchell’s reputation for thoroughness and resourcefulness is a far cry from his start in the business while a high school student at Columbus’ Upper Arlington High School working at a Max & Erma’s almost 30 years ago. 

 “I was working for beer money,” he recalls.  “I was lazy and unmotivated, and had already been suspended for three days for being late to work.”

 Then, says Mitchell, now 46, he had an epiphany of sorts during a shift change. 

 “I was an a.m. cook and a p.m. host,” he says.  “It was pandemonium in the kitchen and time froze as I looked across the line and realized that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life.”

 He adds, “I was 18 years old.”

 Mitchell’s newfound dedication took him to The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., where he graduated with an associate degree in 1986.  After rising to director of operations at 55 Restaurant Group, Mitchell branched out on his own by opening Cameron’s in northwest Columbus in 1993.

 “Opening the first restaurant was big,” Mitchell says.  “I always knew I just needed a start.”

 In growing his company to 33 units before selling most of them to Ruth’s Chris, Mitchell developed what the company calls its “associates first” mentality.  Contrary to the industry’s common “guests first” mantra, Mitchell says he always believed that he needed to take care of his workers first in order to ensure the guest experience.  The organization now employs more than 2,000 people at the 17 company owned restaurants and the 12 that the company manages.
 “Cameron believes in the 99 percent of the good in people, not the 1 percent of the bad,” says Miller, 44, who started with Mitchell in 1996 as general manager of Cap City and estimates he’s built about 50 restaurants with Mitchell.  “Numerous times, we’ve given second and third chances to people, and a lot of them end up being associates.

 “If you ever have an important date or a concert you want to go to, we’re going to get you that shift off because at some important time, I’m going to ask that associate for a favor, and ‘yes’ has got to be the answer.”

 Such dedication from his staff not only was key to boosting the company’s sales and unit count, but also allowed Mitchell to open a dozen different types of dining concepts.  In addition to Ocean Prime and Cap City, which have check averages of about $80 and $20, respectively, Mitchell’s concepts range from Molly Woo’s Asian Bistro to Marcella’s Ristorante to M, one of just two Columbus restaurants to receive AAA’s four-diamond rating.  Mitchell’s restaurants also span six states, from Arizona to Florida. 

 Mitchell notes that his success lies in his insatiable curiosity, inability to accept mediocrity or ‘no’ for an answer, and an aversion to opening cookie-cutter restaurants. 

 “I’m not sure I’d get excited about running restaurant number 64,” he says. 

 The deal with Ruth’s Chris allowed Mitchell to shave off about $30 million in debt while freeing him up to pursue new concepts and continue opening restaurants in a challenging economy.  The company opened five restaurants in 2008 and will open three more this year.  While some operators would call that pace ambitious, Mitchell calls it “cautious.”

“Restaurants go through a lot of capital,” he says.  “I’ve been on my own for 16 years, and I’ve never had enough capital.  That’s the biggest challenge.”

Observers who thought the deal with Ruth’s Chris would slow Mitchell down were mistaken, Miller says. 

 “The perception on the outside was that Cameron was going to relax and step back, but he is more engaged and more passionate now than he has ever been,” he says.  “He’s like a duck.  He’s cool as a cucumber on top of the water, but underneath that mind is going a mile a minute.”
 In addition to expanding his restaurant company, Mitchell is active in the CIA.  In 2004, he gave the biggest gift the 63-year old institution had ever received from a graduate by establishing a $250,000 scholarship fund.  Last year, he was named the CIA’s 15th chairman of the board of trustees, becoming the first CIA graduate to hold the title. 

 “I fell in love with that school three days after I was up there,” Mitchell says. “[The CIA] gave me a good base of knowledge from which I could build my career.”

 In addition to his work with the CIA, Mitchell and his wife, Molly, are active in raising money for Columbus’ Nationwide Children’s Hospital and cancer research while raising their three kids, ages 6, 8 and 11.  All of that makes Mitchell a very busy man, though not too busy to step up for an associate or colleague.

 “The guy probably has less free time than you can imagine, but he always has time for a friend,” says Glimcher, who socializes with Mitchell about once a month.  “That’s a pretty good attribute.”

Cameron Mitchell is a study in contrasts. Dressed in a crisp dress shirt and slacks, soft spoken and extremely engaging, with an impish grin and a bit of a twinkle in his eye when he talks about his restaurants, his appearance belies the drive that helped him build a chain of 35 restaurants by his mid-40s.

Mitchell grew up in the prosperous suburb of Upper Arlington, but describes himself as a “have not,” largely because his parents, an insurance man and a secretary, were divorced. He coveted “a better life,” which may explain his incredible ambition. Another contrast: he was last in his class academically, but his classmates voted him class president and “most likely to succeed.”

Mitchell got his start in the food business as a high school junior washing dishes at the former Cork and Cleaver on Old Henderson Road (now Hyde Park). After graduating from high school in 1981, he worked at Max & Erma’s as a line cook and evening host. He says he was “lazy, the worst performer who was going nowhere.”

Then, late one evening, Mitchell had an “epiphany.” He rushed home, wrote down his goals and gave them to his mother. They included graduating from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, N.Y. and being an executive chef by the age of 23, general manager by 24, regional manager by 26, vice president of operations by 30 and president of a restaurant chain by 35.

But because of his grades, Mitchell was initially turned down by the CIA. He made up for it by taking remedial classes and eventually attended the CIA in 1985 and 86, a stint which included a five month apprenticeship at the Hyatt Regency Columbus. Upon graduation, Mitchell helped open 55 at the Crosswoods and was able to participate in the building of a chain (55 Group).

Mitchell had, in fact, met his goals. He was executive chef at age 23 and general manager at 24, both at 55 on the Boulevard. He was general manager at 55 Crosswoods, and he became head of operations at 55 Group by age 26.

Mitchell stayed at the 55 Group for about three years, but increasingly grew frustrated by what he considered a “glass ceiling.” He had another epiphany while watching Chef Hubert Siefert “work the room” at the Gourmet Market (now Spagio) and left 55 Group six weeks later to open his own restaurant and build his own restaurant chain. He was 29.

Although Mitchell certainly had the drive, it was a difficult challenge. Among other things, he had to raise a great deal of money and was down to his last $70. In anticipation of a “money” meeting with his lawyers, he took a chance and asked an investor for an additional $30,000 (he needed $40,000). Somehow he managed to get it all.

Cameron's, featuring upscale “New American” food with flair, opened in Linworth on Oct. 5, 1993. Cameron Mitchell was barely 30.

The restaurant was successful, and Mitchell began opening new restaurants at a dizzying pace: Cap City Diner in 1995 (with a second in 1997); Martini Italian Bistro in 1996; Columbus Fish Market and Mitchell’s Steakhouse in 1998; Ocean Club in 1999; and “M” and Molly Woo’s in 2001. Mitchell opened seven restaurants with completely different concepts in eight years.

In 2007, he opened Marcella’s. By 2008, there were a total of 34 restaurants in the Cameron Mitchell chain.

Along the way, he achieved his final goal of being the president of a restaurant chain by the age of 35. He sold Mitchell’s Fish Market and Mitchell’s Steakhouse restaurants to the high-end Ruth’s Chris chain for a reported $92 million.

Mitchell’s current project is Ocean Prime, an exciting concept that takes Mitchell's Ocean Club at Easton Town Centre to a whole new level. He describes Ocean Prime as “a place for grownups. (It’s) a place that generates no negative votes when a group is deciding where to dine, because it is both high-end steakhouse and fine dining seafood in a supper club atmosphere that includes multiple bars and entertainment.” There are currently five locations: Troy, Mich.; Orlando, Tampa, and Miami, Fla.; and Scottsdale, Ariz. They are all exceeding expectations. Mitchell hopes to expand this concept at as many as 25 “trophy locations in prime markets.”

As for the future, Mitchell says he is focusing on two principles – understanding the power of restaurant brand development and understanding mental capital is as important as financial capital. He envisions “moving from building enterprise to building legacy.” And, since he “loves and lives” his work, he never plans to retire.

Mitchell says the strengths of his restaurants are the consistent, excellent service and the culture and values. He prides himself on treating and training his associates very well, and on his focus of using top quality ingredients to make well-prepared, made-from-scratch food.

“There is no cost cutting,” he says. “Culture and values are more important than profits.”

A short order Q & A with Cameron Mitchell.

CityScene: What is the best restaurant experience you have ever had?
Cameron Mitchell: The French Laundry, Yountville, Calif. (the legendary Thomas Keller)

CS: What restaurateur do you admire?
CM: Richard Mellman, founder of the “Lettuce Entertain You” multi-concept Chicago restaurant group.

CS: Did you cook as a kid?
CM: Yes. (My) “specialties” included popovers and shrimp.

CS: What do you cook at home?
CM: “To help out Molly” (his wife), he recently prepared meat loaf and mashed potatoes.

CS: What are some of your casual dining favorites?
CM: Rotolo's Pizza, Tommy's Pizza.

CS: Where do you and your wife go for dinner (other than Cameron Mitchell restaurants)?
CM: Rigsby's Kitchen, The Rossi (and) Lindey's.

CS: What are three things you always have in your refrigerator at home?
CM: Fresca, skim milk (and) cheese.

CS: What are three of your favorite cooking tools?
CM: A nonstick skillet, grill (and) rubber spatula.

CS: Do you have any passions/hobbies outside of your work and family?
CM: Golf and travel (an annual family vacation in Italy).

CS: What would you be if you could not be a chef or restaurant owner?
CM: A senator.

An Ohio restaurant firm is bringing one of its signature eateries to Dallas' Uptown.

Ocean Prime restaurant – operated by Cameron Mitchell Restaurants of Columbus – will open this fall in the Rosewood Court building at Cedar Springs Road and Pearl Street. 
 
The 10,000-square-foot "modern American supper club" will seat 400 and will be on the ground floor of the new building.

"We are pleased that Ocean Prime has decided to open their first Texas location in Rosewood Court," Dallas businesswoman Caroline Rose Hunt, whose family built Rosewood Court, said Tuesday in a prepared statement. "Ocean Prime will provide our tenants a first-class dining experience in a one-of-a-kind location."

Ocean Prime has restaurants in Detroit, Miami, Phoenix, Orlando and Tampa, Fla. The Dallas restaurant will be Ocean Prime's first in Texas.

The menu includes seafood and steaks, and most dinner entrees are priced between $25 and $50.

Ocean Prime is one of seven restaurant chains operated by Cameron Mitchell Restaurants.
Dallas businessmen Jack Baum and Mort Meyerson originally planned to operate a restaurant in Rosewood Court. But the partners canceled those plans because of the economic downturn.
The 19-story Rosewood Court houses the corporate headquarters of the Hunt family's Rosewood Corp. investment firm and other tenants. Stream Realty leases the office space, and United Commercial Realty represents the retail section of the project.

"We're delighted to have Ocean Prime as the newest tenant at Rosewood Court," said Stream Realty's Jon Altschuler. "The restaurant will be unlike any other in Dallas.

"Having the restaurant open in the building will only add to Rosewood Court's energy level."

Bartenders are chucking the margarita mix and embracing fresh ingredients

Some bar hoppers go for a double. Today, some are requesting a shot of crushed basil, a dollop of organic celery and an soupçon of kumquat.

The new trend for so-called green cocktails embraces fresh ingredients and eschews preservative-infused staples like maraschino cherries and frozen margarita mix.
Case in point: the Guayabera, a libation made with organic cucumber, agave nectar, heaping spoonfuls of avocado, cilantro, ginger and freshly peeled pineapple. The flavor is both tart and sweet and, above all, fresh.

The Guayabera's creator, H. Joseph Ehrmann, runs Elixir, one of San Francisco's oldest saloons, located in the now-trendy Mission district. Four years ago, Ehrmann started introducing drinks made from fresh ingredients, in response to demand from health-conscious San Franciscans. "I got rid of all my pre-made bottled mixers and juices and went to buying fresh produce every morning," reports Ehrmann. "Green anything is in demand."

Elixir offers a green drinks happy hour once a month. When it started in 2006, only a dozen or so folks showed up. Now, the event is packed and several other bars in the city are holding copycat events.

The green cocktail trend, says Joshua Durr, director of research and development for Hawthorne Beverage Group and founder of cocktail consulting outfit Molecular Bartending in Louisville, Ky., "is no less than a renaissance within the world of cocktails."

While most sectors of the economy continue to struggle, spirits revenues managed to edge up 2.8% in 2008, to $18.7 billion, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. Though cocktails aren't cheap, with most mixed drinks ranging from $8 to $12, they arguably offer worthwhile pleasure for the money, compared to other, more expensive indulgences. Green cocktails fall within the same price range as most mixed drinks.

Along with organic vegetables, fruits and herbs, bartenders are mixing in organic spirits. Several organic brands have recently entered the marketplace, including Tru Organic Spirits, a division of five-year-old Los Angeles boutique liquor maker Modern Spirits. Tru Organic claims to make vodka and gin using certified organic and recycled products like wheat from organic farms.

Though the green cocktail trend has taken root primarily in smaller bars and restaurants, one chain, the Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, is offering green cocktails in its 23 locations across the U.S. "We take the same approach for our cocktails that we do for our food," says Ryan Valentine, Cameron Mitchell's beverage director. The company mixes its own liqueurs, syrups, fruit purees, plus pancetta-infused vodka for its fresh Bloody Marys.

The Grapefruit Basil Fizz is an innovation offered at two of the chain's Italian restaurants. It blends grapefruit-infused vodka, hand-squeezed lemon juice, fresh basil leaves, an egg white, homemade syrup and apple cider that comes direct from a nearby farm.

As afternoon turns to evening, employees at the Martini Modern Italian restaurant prepare for the after-work rush.

They hand-squeeze juice, prepare a sage-infused syrup and gather ingredients for pineapple puree and "muddled tarragon."

Their efforts won't contribute to entrees or appetizers. They'll land in mixed drinks.
Plain old cosmopolitans? So 2003. Boxed orange juice for mimosas? Heaven forbid.

These days, high-end bars are serving labor-intensive concoctions of exotic liqueurs and tropical fruit with names such as El Scorcho and Etude in Green.

Bartenders who once just splashed some soda into a shot of scotch instead dice fresh herbs, strain fruit pulp and rim glasses with crushed wasabi peas.

The extra tasks "marry the culinary approach to cocktail making," said Ryan Valentine, beverage director for Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, whose selections four years ago lacked fresh ingredients and were prepared more discreetly.

Today, he said, "It's theater."

The "bartenders" behind a growing number of bars have become artisans who design cocktails and present their creations with flair, viewing their trade as a specialized craft. (Some, depending on their swagger and expertise, prefer the term mixologists.)

At the Cameron Mitchell group, they are called "bar chefs" -- with signature drinks such as an elder-flower martini at Martini Modern Italian and a Midori-and-kiwi-puree cocktail at Marcella's.
Drinks at Nida's Thai on High, in the Short North, feature peanut-infused vodka and tom-yum soup. The bar at Alana's Food & Wine, on N. High Street, boasts fresh cucumbers and watermelon.
At the 2-month-old Martini Park, at Easton Town Center, three employees start the day at 8 a.m. (eight hours before the bar opens), revving up juicers to create fresh purees and "essences" to be used later in Honeydew This and Asian Limeade.

The experimental movement has progressed for several years in coastal cities -- and is likely to continue.

A recent National Restaurant Association survey of 1,600 professional chefs named "culinary cocktails" among the top trends for this year.

Doug Winship, a self- described "cocktail nerd" and alcohol blogger from Powell, began noticing elaborate drinks in central Ohio about two years ago.

He recently sipped a $9 Aviation Cocktail -- a layered concoction made with gin, imported maraschino liqueur, fresh lemon juice and creme de violette -- at Details Minibar & Lounge, open since last month in the Short North.

"Everybody wants to do something unusual with more esoteric ingredients," said Winship, 43. "We're seeing a resurgence of cocktail culture."

Such extravagance has a price, as imbibers toast farewell to the $5 gin and tonic, and raise a glass to, say, the $11 Between the Sheets cognac-and-rum hybrid at Details.

The haute drinks often fetch $10 or more at stylish venues. (Got $15? Try a Berries and Bubbles champagne float at M.)

Such drinks also mean longer waits at the bar as the mixologists do the squeezing, chopping, shaking and blending.

"It is more labor-intensive," said Scott Mehl, manager of Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse in the Short North -- which last year switched exclusively to freshly squeezed juices, with staffing levels since increased.

"But it puts out such a better product."

Although the selections there are dominated by classic drinks such as sidecars, old-fashioneds and mojitos, Mehl said, the little touches -- including homemade bitters and citrus-foam garnish -- accentuate the experience.

The choices at neighboring Eleven, a bar owned and operated by the Hyde Park group, feature mixers that include absinthe, flaming cherries and cranberry caviar, at $10.50 to $13.50.
The drinks are there. Are the drinkers?

Vodka drinks still make up 80 percent of the alcohol sales at Eleven, Mehl said.
Amid the competition, however, the envelope must be pushed.

"You need to be unique, making stuff people want to try," said Jimmy Allis, bar manager at Spice Gastro Lounge, a Park Street outpost that reopened in November under new management.

Spice cocktails -- such as a ginger-lime martini with a rim of crushed wasabi peas; or a drink that encompasses Bloody Mary mix, cocktail onions and fried capers -- were inspired by several sources, including trips to bars in New York and Miami, Allis said.

The cocktail trend boils down to quality vs. quantity, said Chris Dillman, beverage director for Details and Rosendales, where drink prices range from $8 to $15.

An evening with one or two top-notch drinks, Dillman said, beats a lifetime of cheap, candy-colored cosmos.

If you're quality-driven, price is much less of an issue," he said. "I hope it's indicative of a wider trend: less consumption, higher quality and demanding good service."

Cameron Mitchell is bringing another restaurant concept to Tampa Bay.

First he introduced Mitchell’s Fish House to West Shore Plaza in 2006. Now Mitchell is opening Ocean Prime this month at International Plaza.

Ocean Prime will offer fine dining with a music component, Mitchell said, and will compete with Capital Grille, as a high-end, special occasion restaurant. It is a takeoff on the age-old supper club concept, where guests would make an evening of eating, drinking and enjoying music in one place.

Mitchell, who has developed a series of dining concepts, started Mitchell’s Ocean Club in Columbus, Ohio.

After selling the Mitchell’s Fish House and Cameron’s Steakhouse concepts to Ruth’s Hospitality Group Inc. (Nasdaq: RUTH), which operates the Ruth’s Chris Steak House chain, in early 2008, he had to remove Mitchell’s from the Ocean Club name. Thus Ocean Prime was born.

There are currently five Ocean Prime restaurants open. Tampa will be the sixth and the third in Florida, after Miami and Orlando. The Miami restaurant opened in August, and the Orlando restaurant opened in October.

Selling Cameron’s Steakhouse and Mitchell’s Fish House for $92 million helped fund the expansion of Ocean Prime. Mitchell used the proceeds to “reward my shareholders, pay off some personal debt and provide capital to grow other concepts,” he said.

“It was a perfect storm in a good way,” he said. “We sold at the all-time high value point. Today we probably couldn’t get half that amount if we could find a buyer at all.”

He’s putting $4 million into the Tampa location, which is on the West Shore Boulevard approach to the mall building. The 8,500-square-foot standalone Ocean Prime building overlooks the man-made lake south of the mall and will be next door to a Crate & Barrel store currently under construction and slated to open in May.

Analyst: ‘The right fit’
Located on mall property near the Tampa International Airport and Raymond James Stadium is excellent for an upscale restaurant, said Darren Tristano, managing director for Technomic, a Chicago-based food service consulting company. The mall caters to the same type of customer as Ocean Prime covets, so this should be a good fit, Tristano said.

When finished, the restaurant will seat 424, including five private dining rooms. Most of the guests will have a view of the lake to the east.

There will be a 1,600-square-foot bar and cocktail lounge in the center of the space with a piano bar and a singer providing music all evening. Nearly 100 seats surround the bar.

Supper clubs had their heyday in the 1940s and 1950s, said Maryann Ferenc, owner of Mise en Place, an upscale restaurant near the University of Tampa. “If it’s done well, there’s a market here,” Ferenc said.

Executive chef and operating partner Jeff Hostenske will head the kitchen staff. The rest of the staff will focus on the dining experience, said Matt Goldstein, guest services manager.

The restaurant’s software system can store information about a guest to include their favorite drink and appetizer and whether the guest wants the drink ready upon arrival. It also allows for e-mail marketing, acknowledging customers’ birthdays and special occasions.

“Our hospitality sets us apart,” said GM Brandon Davis. “We give the customer whatever they want or promise to have it ready for their next visit. We don’t say no.”

Everything on the menu is made from scratch, including all sauces. At the bar, cocktails are made from freshly squeezed juices and ingredients, processes that cost the restaurant more but increase the appeal to the guests, Davis said.

It’s not fast food
Mitchell expects diners to spend two to two and a half hours on dinner. Tickets should average between $70 and $75 a head for dinner and between $20 and $25 for lunch.

That’s close to a tipping point, even for high-end diners, Tristano said. The restaurant may have to do some early promotions or discounts at first to get its clientele settled in.

Upscale restaurants are very important ingredients for the Westshore Business District because of the need for business entertaining, said Ron Rotella, executive director of the Westshore Alliance. The district has evolved over the years from an office center to a regional activity center with restaurants, hotels, movie screens and shopping.

Hyde Park, N.Y. - Cameron Mitchell, president and founder of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, has been elected the 15th chairman of the board oftrustees for The Culinary Institute of America here.

A 1986 graduate of the CIA, Mitchell is the first alumnus to become chairman.  Mitchell grew his business from one steakhouse in Columbus, Ohio, in 1993 to a 33-unit company located in nine states.  He sold ehis 19-unit Mitchell's Fish Market and three-unti Cameron's Steakhouse chains to Ruth's Hospitality Group for $92 million earlier this year.  He now operates 14 restaurants under seven brand names in Ohio, Michigan, Florida, and Arizona, as well as a catering company.

Mitchell succeeds William Anton, founder and chairman of Anton Airfood, Inc.

Cameron Mitchell’s recipes start by treating his staff with respect.

Don’t even think about eating at one of Cameron Mitchell’s restaurants on New Year’s Day. No one will be there to prepare your surf and turf.

“I don’t want to work on the holidays so I don’t expect anybody else to. I wouldn’t ask people to do something that I wouldn’t want to do,” Mitchell says. “We also give people personal days, and in the restaurant business, that’s very rare.”

The founder, owner and president of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants says the hospitality industry may focus on the customer, but his business — which features seven concepts with 15 restaurants, plus the Cameron Mitchell Catering Co. —takes a different approach.

“Our associates come first in our company,” he says. “We take care of our people, our people take care of our guests, and our guests take care of our company. We look at it as more of a triangular relationship.”

So how does Mitchell, whose company brought in $118 million in 2007 revenue, employ such great people at his company?

“We get the same people everybody else gets, we just treat them great,” he says. “That’s what separates us a little bit from some other folks.”

Mitchell follows a theory of two-way-street management: If it’s not good for his 1,200 associates, it’s not good for the company, and if it’s not good for the company, it’s not good for his associates. The goal, he says, is for everybody to work harmoniously with each other — but that’s not to say Mitchell avoids conflict. An employee once described Mitchell as the most demanding and best boss the employee had ever worked for.

“That was the ultimate compliment,” he says. “That says I’m demanding and hard-driving, but I’m caring and want to have fun at the same time. To me, that’s the best of both worlds. I have the innate ability to push someone to the edge of the cliff, and they have a choice: They can jump and fail, or they can turn around and face me, and then we’ll walk back from the edge of the cliff together.”

Mitchell says demanding excellence is inherent in the nature of successful leaders.
“I don’t think you can get to the championship game if you’re not demanding, ”he says. “Good coaches push people to better themselves more than they ever thought they could do, and that’s what I hope to be able to do.”

The ability to create an entrepreneurial vision for his company is another strength that sets Mitchell apart from his peers.

“I try to paint the vision for everybody I can,” he says. “I’m extremely goal-oriented, and the more I can talk to employees about our goals — where we’re going and how we’re going to get there — the more people start to believe in that, including myself. One of my skills is being able to look at what I want the end picture to be and determining the steps we need to take to make that picture happen. A visionary is able to put all those pieces together.”

Corporate decision-makers often find themselves working in their business rather than on it. In this scenario, Mitchell compares himself to the commander of an aircraft carrier.

“I don’t allow myself to be down in the engine room or the radio room,” he says. “That’s not to say that I don’t step foot in those areas, but I spend the majority of my time on the bridge because that’s where I can see where we’re going and chart our course.

“In the beginning, I had to focus a tremendous amount of my time on the details. As the business has grown over the years, I’ve handed that ball off to someone else.”

Mitchell learned to be comfortable in delegating the details to his leadership team, due, in part, to some advice his mother heard in a speech given by the late Dave Thomas [founder of Wendy’s International Inc.]: Surround yourself with great people.

“I’ve studied some of the great companies out there, like Southwest Airlines, and I try to create that atmosphere and energy for our own people,” he says. “With Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, I just happen to have my name on the front door, but this business and its success has been built on the hard work of thousands of people over the years. I’d be a fool to think it’s all about me; I’m just one cog in the wheel.”

Restaurateur Cameron Mitchell, a 1986 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, has taken on the duties of chairman of the renowned school's 25-member board of trustees. He's the first graduate to lead the board and also its youngest chairman, at 45.

"It's probably the pinnacle of my career so far," said Mitchell, founder and president of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants in Columbus.

Mitchell has been on the board of trustees for nine years. His two-year term as president started with his election on Oct. 25.

The institute, long known as the CIA, was founded in 1946 and has 2,700 students on the main campus at Hyde Park, N.Y.

There should be some kind of warning about these things. Cameron Mitchell’s new Martini Modern Italian (the renovated version of the old Martini Italian Bistro) markets itself as several things.

The joint is more modern now? Fine. The food is Italian? Lovely.

But no place in that new moniker does it warn you about the guests—and they’re really something.

These days, most of Cameron Mitchell’s places seem designed for the everyman. That’s why the eateries are so darn popular.

But, for some reason, this project has attracted a crowd of guests that the average restaurateur would kill for: It’s the beautiful people. Perfectly groomed, with perfectly tailored suits and perfect Italian shoes, they’re well-heeled in every sense of the word.

Apparently, they even have enough money left after shopping to swamp the bar and form a shoulder-to-shoulder barricade of beauty that’s breathtaking when you first enter.

Once you get around the bar-side barricade, however, the dining area is less crowded (and less overwhelming).

The starters seem pretty standard: Beef Carpaccio, Tuna Tartar, Calamari. But one classic combination, asparagus and prosciutto, takes on new life in the Bruschetta offering ($9). It has the appeal of all things that combine the elements of cured meat, cheese (a not-too-aggressive Taleggio) and bread.

The salad department feels a little more interesting. First off, the Heirloom Beet Salad ($8) highlights all that is likable about beets: a bright palate (to which pistachios contribute) and a mild sweetness. More reasons to rejoice: The beet flavor trumps any barnyard accents contributed by the goat-cheese dressing.

Salads with sweet elements were popular for a while, but the Martini Salad ($7) might be signaling the demise of that trend. The team of greens, pine nuts, tomatoes and gorgonzola dressing is undeniably savory, and undeniably delicious.

There’s also something really good about Martini’s pasta. If the Gnocchi Bolognese ($14) isn’t particularly potato-y, it is particularly tender. The tuber taste was missed, but achieving tenderness in the gnocchi department is quite a feat—at most places, the little nubs make for tough chewing. The flavor in this version comes mostly from the meat sauce, a soft, homogenous combination of ground beef, veal and wild boar. Something about it feels vaguely like the famous three-meat CMR meatloaf.

The biggest source of dining fun so far has been the Chicken Carbonara ($15). The menu lists the pasta as “cresti,” and according to Google, that’s a real genre—it refers to curved tubes with big, rooster-style crests. Sure enough, that’s what’s on the plate along with shards of chicken and asparagus and bacon. It doesn’t look like there’s much sauce there, but there’s enough creamy stuff to make every blessed tube worth consuming.

The menu also makes a significant commitment to more formal meat dishes.

In the classic department would be the Osso Bucco ($27), with long-cooked meat and wintery root vegetables. With polenta, it feels like comfort cooking for the slightly ritzy eater.

On the edgier side of the meat department would be the Veal Martini ($24), which is not as odd as it sounds. It’s almost junk food, with flattened fried veal paired up with prosciutto and a little sauce/gravy.

The Martini Modern Italian is decidedly upscale in a market that’s been rewarding downscale eateries for about a year, but it seems to be catching on. Maybe Cameron knows something we don’t.

Cameron Mitchell never seems to stop smiling. I noticed this one night while polishing off a spicy, rich and deeply flavored bowl of gumbo in the room where it all began.

You see, 15 years ago to that day (Oct. 6), Mitchell opened his first and namesake restaurant out in Linworth, and the man was celebrating his anniversary by mingling with fans and regulars and (throughout the month) offering part of his original menu at original prices.

Moving through the crowd and working the room like a pope, Mitchell was laughing and shaking hands - and heck, wouldn't you be, too? Last year, in a still-pre-economy-meltdown climate, he presciently sold off his Fish Markets and Steakhouses for a very cool $92 million.

That evening, as my massive double-cut pork chop was being delivered, I eyeballed Mitchell gliding toward my table. Suddenly, over the house speakers, I heard - I swear - Tony Bennett crooning, "Out of the tree of life I just picked me a plum," and realized in the movie version, this is where we'd sepia-tone our way back to a daydreaming boy leaning over a restaurant kitchen sink. Later that night, the boy would (as Mitchell's website bio reads) race home to scribble down his lofty goals of graduating from the best cooking school in the country, parlaying that into a head cheffing stint and, by his mid-30s, becoming the president of a super-successful and prestigious company.

If that drive and ambition seem to separate him from most of the rest of us, I found out through meeting him and the following e-mail interview that Cameron Mitchell is a surprisingly modest and down-to-earth guy with a great sense of humor. And a very big smile.

This week is Alive's Bar Guide issue, so I have to ask if you prefer beer, wine or cocktails - or are you an equal opportunist? Which specific labels do you favor?

It really depends on my mood, but I guess you'd say I'm an equal opportunist. My favorites would be Tanqueray gin, Far Niente Chardonnay or Bud Select.

What are some of your favorite food and drink pairings?

I don't really like to pair. When I'm drinking, I'm drinking. When I'm eating, I'm eating!

You seem to be very busy on the business end of things lately. How much cooking do you do these days - whether professionally, creating dishes for restaurants, or while at home?

Not much. I am surrounded by a terrific team of executive chefs who are extraordinary. And at home, my wife Molly really does the lion's share of cooking.

What did you have for dinner after you sealed the deal to sell your fish and steakhouses?

After the deal was signed, my executive team and I went to Press Grill for some cheeseburgers and beer, and then we went bowling!

What are some of your favorite dishes from your various restaurants?

The Veal Chop at the new Martini Modern Italian. The [small plate] Grilled Zucchini at Marcella's. The Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli at Mitchell's Ocean Club. The Thai Curry Chicken at Molly Woo's. Honey Glazed Duck at Cameron's. Halibut and the wild mushroom pot stickers at M. Romano Crusted Chicken at Cap City Diner.

What misconceptions might the Columbus public have about you?

That I'm a good cook.

What are your non-food-related hobbies?

Golf, travel, and spending time with my wife and my three children.

Are there any restaurant concepts you started cooking up that you later discarded or allowed yourself to be talked out of?

Yes, I wanted to do a Mexican rock 'n' roll restaurant ...

Besides your own, what are your favorite restaurants in town? In the country?

Rigsby's. Morton's for steak. The Rossi. Press Grill for cheeseburgers. Marshall's for breakfast. My favorite cities outside of Columbus to dine: New York, San Francisco, Napa Valley, Chicago, Las Vegas and L.A.

What's your favorite food movie?

I particularly like the prison scene [in Goodfellas] where Paul Sorvino's character is slicing the garlic with a razor blade so it "liquefies" in the pan.

What are some of your guilty food pleasures?

Too much of a good thing: I love my dairy! Cheese, ice cream ...

What restaurant trends do you dislike?

I hated the "no carb" fad, and forecasted that it would leave before it ever really got started. And I didn't like the "healthy low fat" cooking trend. Fat is flavor!

Cameron Mitchell's new take on Italian uses classics touched up with modern flair

Martini Modern Italian, Cameron Mitchell's latest concept, is replacing Martini Italian Bistro at 445 N. High St., at Vine Street.

"I want you to step into a dining experience like I've seen in Milan," Mitchell said as he prepared for its opening on Wednesday night. "For two hours, our customers can leave Columbus behind and have an experience like they can nowhere else."

The original Martini's opened in the mid-1990s and was more of the traditional rendering of Italian food in America. The space was decorated with an eye toward the eclectic.

It also represents the last of Mitchell's older concepts to undergo a makeover. Cameron's American Bistro and the Cap City Diner were given new menus this summer, also serving to mark the 15th anniversary of Mitchell's entry onto the dining scene.

With Martini Modern Italian's opening, the company has 12 restaurants representing nine concepts. Nine of the restaurants are in central Ohio.

The Martini's Italian Bistro in Louisville, Ky., will remain under the old concept and might soon be sold to the general manager, Mitchell said. Ocean Club's sisters, known outside this area as Ocean Prime, will soon give Mitchell 15 restaurants, with new spaces opening in Orlando, Fla., and Scottsdale, Ariz., in November and Tampa, Fla., after the first of the year.

The new Martini concept moves upscale and modern, with dark woods, white leather and special lighting.

The straightforward menu, which Mitchell calls "timeless Italian cookery and techniques presented in a modern style," features such classics as Osso Bucco, Vitello Milanese, Chicken Marsala and Gnocchi Bolognese, but with a lighter flair.

The menu also offers specialty cocktails and enough salads and small plates that diners can move in that direction if they choose.

Entrees run from $14 to $42, with salads and soups in the $7-to-$9 range and antipasti priced from $9 to $17. Specialty drinks are $9 and $10.

The restaurant, which seats 174 in the dining room and 46 in the bar, will be open for dinner from 4 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and until 9 p.m. on Sunday.

The restaurant, Mitchell said, also works as a counterpoint to Marcella's Ristorante, at 615 N. High St.

"We cover both ends of the spectrum, from high-end to casual trattoria, just 500 yards from each other. Where Marcella's is an expression of Tuscany, this is an expression of big-city Italy," he said.

Employees learn the drink menu at Martini Modern Italian, which replaces Martini's Italian Bistro at 445 N. High St. It was the last of Cameron Mitchell's older concepts to undergo a makeover.

Dark woods, white leather and special lighting were chosen to help bring to mind big-city Italy. Entree prices will range from $14 to $42 when the restaurant opens Wednesday.

Urban Columbus is about to get a taste of urban Italy.

Martini Modern Italian, Cameron Mitchell's latest concept, is replacing Martini Italian Bistro at 445 N. High St., at Vine Street.

"I want you to step into a dining experience like I've seen in Milan," Mitchell said as he prepared for its opening on Wednesday night. "For two hours, our customers can leave Columbus behind and have an experience like they can nowhere else."

The original Martini's opened in the mid-1990s and was more of the traditional rendering of Italian food in America. The space was decorated with an eye toward the eclectic.

It also represents the last of Mitchell's older concepts to undergo a makeover. Cameron's American Bistro and the Cap City Diner were given new menus this summer, also serving to mark the 15th anniversary of Mitchell's entry onto the dining scene.

With Martini Modern Italian's opening, the company has 12 restaurants representing nine concepts. Nine of the restaurants are in central Ohio.

The Martini's Italian Bistro in Louisville, Ky., will remain under the old concept and might soon be sold to the general manager, Mitchell said. Ocean Club's sisters, known outside this area as Ocean Prime, will soon give Mitchell 15 restaurants, with new spaces opening in Orlando, Fla., and Scottsdale, Ariz., in November and Tampa, Fla., after the first of the year.

The new Martini concept moves upscale and modern, with dark woods, white leather and special lighting.

The straightforward menu, which Mitchell calls "timeless Italian cookery and techniques presented in a modern style," features such classics as Osso Bucco, Vitello Milanese, Chicken Marsala and Gnocchi Bolognese, but with a lighter flair.

The menu also offers specialty cocktails and enough salads and small plates that diners can move in that direction if they choose.

Entrees run from $14 to $42, with salads and soups in the $7-to-$9 range and antipasti priced from $9 to $17. Specialty drinks are $9 and $10.

The restaurant, which seats 174 in the dining room and 46 in the bar, will be open for dinner from 4 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and until 9 p.m. on Sunday.

The restaurant, Mitchell said, also works as a counterpoint to Marcella's Ristorante, at 615 N. High St.

"We cover both ends of the spectrum, from high-end to casual trattoria, just 500 yards from each other. Where Marcella's is an expression of Tuscany, this is an expression of big-city Italy," he said.

Martini Italian Bistro, 445 N. High St., will close after dinner Saturday and reopen Oct. 15 as Martini Modern Italian, according to Cameron Mitchell Restaurants.

The restaurant will serve Italian dishes and handcrafted cocktails in a newly redecorated space that will feature dark woods, white leather and candlelight.

The company operates 12 restaurants under seven concepts.

One of Cameron Mitchell’s first restaurants is getting a makeover.

Martini Italian Bistro in Columbus’ Short North, will be idled Sept. 28 after 12 years of operations so it can reopen Oct. 15 as Martini Modern Italian.

Cameron Mitchell Restaurants LLC spokeswoman Carolyn Delp said although the name is familiar, the menu and look will be “100 percent different.”

“Sales have been flat,” she said. “Given all the new restaurants to the area, we felt that eventually we’d begin to have sales declines if we didn’t stay ahead of the curve.”

Columbus restaurant owner Cameron Mitchell received an unexpected tribute this year. Friends on the Cameron Mitchell Restaurants Executive Board, which runs nine local Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, surprised him by committing a gift of $25,000 in his honor to support the Hospitality Management program in the college's Department of Consumer Sciences.

The gift recognizes Mitchell's 15 years in the restaurant business and his support of the hospitality industry by establishing the Cameron Mitchell Scholarship Fund.

"This scholarship gift from the executive team to Cameron Mitchell is a token of our appreciation for his leadership and vision," said David Miller, executive vice president of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants and a member of the college's Hospitality Management Program Advisory Board. "We have all worked together as a team for a number of years, and we knew that this would have great meaning to Cameron, who takes seriously the mentorship of young people in the hospitality industry."

The scholarship will award $5,000 a year over the next five years to students in the Hospitality Management program. Heather Grieshop, a junior in the program, received the first Cameron Mitchell Scholarship in May.

A native of Fort Recovery, a small town in West Central Ohio, Grieshop said, "I was thrilled to receive the Cameron Mitchell Scholarship, not only because it assists me greatly in meeting my educational goals, but also because it comes from such a smart business with a fun work environment. Cameron Mitchell Restaurants really knows what it takes to go above and beyond at meeting guests' expectations and creating a memorable dining experience. The internship with them, provided along with the scholarship, will be a wonderful learning opportunity!"

Cheryl Achterberg, the new dean of the college, said, "We have high hopes of building the Hospitality Management program in our college. This gift signals a vote of confidence for our future. We're very grateful to Cameron Mitchell Restaurants."

After developing nearly a dozen brands since 1993, Cameron Mitchell, president and founder of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants in Columbus, Ohio, sold four of those brands late last year to the parent company of Ruth’s Chris Steak House for $92 million in cash. Fonder of creating concepts than opening hundreds of identical units, Mitchell believed his largest chain, the 19-unit Mitchell’s Fish Market, along with the other sold brands, would meet their growth potentials under the guidance of a company with more financial muscle and expansion expertise.

Would you call your company well capitalized at this point?

That really depends on how you look at it. The development of restaurants requires tremendous amounts of capital, and so you’re always in the capital acquisition mode.

Explain your thinking behind the Mitchell’s Fish Market sale.

We had too many restaurants [that] we were trying to grow and develop at one time, and it wasn’t fair to our people, our associates, to ask them to grow all those brands…[and] to the standard we wanted. It also was time to reward our partners and pay down our bank debt. We also wanted to get some growth capital [and] I wanted to be in the creation and development of new brands again.

Would you sell additional brands to fund further development?

My goal has always been to build an extraordinary restaurant company, and things become problematic if your prime motivation is to build it and sell it. To say I would or wouldn’t sell one of our brands would be pure speculation at this point.

How do you balance being a creative restaurateur and a businessman?

I guess I’m left and right brained. I love running restaurant businesses, but I love the creativity of it, the creation of new menus, new concepts—that’s the fun part of the business. I’d probably go crazy if all I was doing was building restaurant number one to 100. I admire those who do that, but I need the creativity of developing new ones.

A sky-blue Rolls Royce Phantom, a red Ferrari F430, a shiny black Maybach, a dark-blue Viper SRT10 and a classic Bentley Continental. These are some of the rides that roll into Ocean Prime nightly. I know this because my son races to Troy’s new hotspot nearly every evening around 7 or 8 p.m. to watch Metro

Detroit’s sweetest cars pull into the restaurant’s valet area. With camera in hand, my 11-year-old car lover stands off to the side, waiting for the automobiles’ owners to enter before he clicks away at their head-turning steel beauties.

He has been watching the restaurant/supper club go up since the very first nail was hammered into its structure a few months ago. Each day we would pass the under-construction facility and he would say, “It’s going up fast!”

It sure did go up fast, this nod to fine dining in an elegant, contemporary environment. On June 4, dozens of hot wheels and their see-and-be-seen drivers and passengers veered into the lot for the grand opening.

The Cameron Mitchell restaurant, with headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, is the talk of the town, and is hailed as the modern American supper club, harkening back to a day when nothing could beat an evening out at a prime supper club. Speaking of prime, the restaurant’s name refers to its offerings — ocean indicates fish and prime refers to the best cuts of beef. Whether you’re a surf or turf lover, the menu entices all.

We reserved a table on a recent Saturday night, thinking by now the crowds surely have died down.

Wrong. It was, and still is, abuzz with excitement. And the food? There aren’t enough stars to rate our dining experience. The service was impeccable and so was the fare. I’m not going to include prices, here, because, well, you only need to know that for two, you’ll likely spend about $100. We had a martini and a glass of wine each (if you opt not to drink alcohol, you can easily keep the bill under $100), and salads and sides are a la carte, so each option racks up the bill. Most main dishes vary in price, and everything is fresh — the fish is flown in daily.

I opted for halibut with a mustardy sauce, which was cooked just right, while my husband enjoyed succulent scallops (four was definitely not enough). Our sides included green beans almandine and mashed potatoes with hints of bleu cheese (both were big enough to feed at least four). The mashed potatoes were one of several potato options, from au gratin to baked.

We started the meal with salads. Mine was a Caesar concoction, but ever so different than the usual, with a more creamy-style dressing and a lovely crouton wafer, atop ultra-crisp, chilly Romaine. My husband savored a salad whose centerpiece was pear. Those nearby raved about their greens with apples. Hot, fresh bread made a hearty accompaniment.

Dinner selections typically include eight fresh fish choices as well as orchestrations such as pecan-crusted trout and crab cakes. Steaks range from a seven ounce filet to a 22-ounce porterhouse.

Incidentally, as soon as you sit down, the waitstaff provides you with pre-dinner appetizers, like little dishes of almonds, pimentocheese spread with crackers, and carrots — nibbles that evoke a supper club-ish appeal.

That supper club ambiance drifts throughout the place, from the chic linen-draped tables and shiny wood and steel chairs to the high ceilings. Gals dress snappy here, while men look generally spiffy. White-jacketed waitstaff glide amid the patrons, who sip on inspiring drinks and sample perfectly prepared dinners. Live piano music from the bar area filters through the eatery.

Outside, a patio with tables lends a modern appeal. Tucked within part of the outdoor area is a fire pit surrounded by low seating, tiki torches, lush evergreens and candlelight.

On the Saturday night I visited, it happened to be my wedding anniversary. When I made reservations,the woman on the phone asked if I was celebrating anything special. Of course, I told her, knowing my husband would get a kick out of a little extra attention. Attention? Well, let’s just say that upon our arrival, our waiter,

Craig, inquired about the anniversary as well. Meanwhile, Dave Barton, the on-duty service manager who will even perform magic tricks if you ask him, shared with us information on all the celebratory desserts and even gave us an anniversary card, signed by all of the staff. How’s that for personal attention?

As the evening wore on, a 20- and 30-something crowd entered, many in denim and heading for the bar area or outdoor fire pit.

Our meal was nothing less than outstanding. Every single morsel of food — overseen by executive chef Jeff Lindemeyer — that we bit into was perfection. Everything is served hot and nothing was over-seasoned or too fussy.

As for the staff, service was impeccable and personable. As we sat on the patio, we watched as curious passersby turned their heads, curiously watching the lively patio scene. Ocean Prime is a throwback to a time of sophisticated supper clubs, where the vibe is hip and the food and cocktails are amazing.

**4 STARS**

Excerpt from Article from June 22, 2008

We have to applaud a restaurant company willing to take a chance on Michigan while the economy is teetering.

Ocean Prime opened its doors this month during a time when we need a place like this - a place where we can forget our woes and choose a meal in an atmosphere that's luxurious.
The restaurant, in Troy, is owned by Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Mitchell opens concept restaurants with a high-end, supper club feel reminiscent of times past….

Mitchell began his restaurant career almost 30 years ago - starting from the bottom as a dishwasher and working his way up to open his own restaurants in an industry that he loves.

…The tan finishes and rich woods are combined with contemporary styled sheer drapery and granite bar tops. In addition to Troy, Mitchell is expanding into Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Scottsdale.

"There will be an energy in every Ocean Prime restaurant that our guests will appreciate. Ocean Prime will be the place to see and be seen," said Mitchell. "Our commitment is to deliver unsurpassed service, food and cocktails in surroundings that will make Ocean Prime a dining destination for couples and groups, young and old."

Menu items at the Troy location include appetizers such as French Onion soup; a raw bar of oysters, shellfish and crab; aged cheddar fondue; calamari; and classic oysters rockefeller.
Salads include a crisp wedge of iceberg with red onion, smoked bacon, grape tomatoes, Bleu Cheese and a Cabernet buttermilk dressing.

Or try the hearts of Romaine Knife & Fork Caesar with Parmesan garlic dressing and sourdough crostini. The signature salad is the House with Romaine, spinach, Granny Smith apples, goat cheese, walnuts and a sherry mustard vinaigrette.

Popular entrees are the chef's compositions of pecan crusted mountain trout with skillet beans and brown butter; and the Chilean Sea Bass with glazed carrots and champagne truffle sauce.
Items are 'A la Carte.' For example, the large potato selection … include potato latkes; mashed potatoes; sea salt and vinegar fries; Maytag Blue Cheese whipped; jalapeno au gratin; butter & sour cream; scallion twice baked with cheddar cheese & bacon, and candied yams with marshmallow brulee.

There are also vegetables like creamed spinach, jumbo asparagus with Hollandaise sauce, French bean; forest mushrooms, crispy onion straws with creamy horseradish, glazed carrots with brown sugar butter and sesame stir-fried snap peas.

Location, location, location. It's just as important in the restaurant business as it is in real estate.
And there couldn't be a better location for an ambitious restaurant than the golden corner in Troy where Ocean Prime debuted two weeks ago.

As the name suggests, it combines a fish/steak approach, with the menu just about evenly divided between the two, with perhaps a bit of an edge to the fins and shells.

It also has a lively bar scene to attract those who prefer to nibble an appetizer or two with a drink rather than sit down for a full dinner.

Ocean Prime is something of a tourist attraction in the early going, as the denizens of the nearby office complexes stopped by to see what it's all about.

The space is done up handsomely, its rather imposing entranceway backed with a vertical wine "cellar" that stretches from floor to ceiling.

The main dining room -- completely separate from the spacious cocktail lounge, but with its own small bar as a backdrop -- is set with white linen-covered tables under a high ceiling.

A wall of windows looks out on the street scene. The interior wall of slick, polished wood is punctuated with outsized porthole-style windows.

The parent company likens Ocean Prime to "a retro supper club," but I did not get that feeling in a recent visit. The place is much too contemporary for the designation, although there are some retro dishes on the menu.

When was the last time you saw deviled eggs on an appetizer list -- albeit eggs helped along by white truffle trimmings -- or, for that matter, baked Alaska on a dessert menu?

Maybe the brilliant white stewards' jackets on the good-looking staff evoke days gone by, but this is very much an up-to-the-minute spot that offers people something just a little different from its steakhouse neighbors on Big Beaver Road.

Executive chef Jeff Lindemeyer moved over from Cameron's Steak House in Birmingham, as did general manager Steve Singleton. (The company sold Cameron's and Mitchell's Fish Markets to Ruth's Chris Steak House a few months ago, leaving Ocean Prime the only Cameron Mitchell restaurant in town.)

Fish eaters may choose from completely garnished compositions, including pecan-crusted trout with skillet beans and brown butter -- the least expensive fish dish in the house ($15 at lunch, $18 at dinner) or perhaps jumbo lump crab cakes with asparagus and sweet corn cream, or simply go with plain broiled halibut, mahi-mahi or scallops, and then add self-chosen trimmings.

Steamed broccoli, creamed spinach, glazed carrots with brown sugar butter and asparagus with Hollandaise are among what the menu calls "accessories."

Prime steaks are available in sizes from 7-ounce filet mignon to the 22-ounce porterhouse. A la carte add-ons include bearnaise sauce, black truffle butter and green peppercorn and cognac sauce, as well as no less than eight potato treatments (try the jalapeno au gratin for something a little different).

Hearts of romaine with Parmesan garlic dressing and sourdough crostini is an especially appealing salad, but there are several on the list that catch the eye.

Interestingly enough, the other Ocean Prime restaurants on the company's drawing board are all in resort cities, including Scottsdale, Ariz., Miami, Tampa and Orlando, Fla. But we got ours first.

Excerpt from Nation's Restaurant News (June  5, 2008)

Four months after selling its 19-unit seafood group to the parent of Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants is starting a new chain called Ocean Prime that's based on one of its eateries here.

The Columbus-based multiconcept operator said it plans to develop four stores in Florida and Arizona by the end of the year after opening a unit this week in suburban Detroit. The “modern American dinner clubs,” as CMR describes them, are patterned after the company’s Mitchell’s Ocean Club restaurant here. CMR said it decided to change the concept’s name to avoid confusion with the Mitchell’s Fish Market and Columbus Fish Market restaurants that were sold in February to Ruth’s Chris’ parent, now known as Ruth’s Hospitality Group Inc., as part of a $92 million deal.

Excerpt from article by Steve Kowalski, Detroit Free Press:

Outdoor seating is becoming a popular pastime for dining along Big Beaver Road in Troy, whether the occasion calls for high-end or casual meetings.

Ocean Prime, a "reinvented" American supper club which debuted June 4. Ocean Prime's interior decor scored high marks Thursday evening from guests who had seats at the bar after work. The new Cameron Mitchell restaurant at the corner of Big Beaver and Coolidge features seafood and steak dishes, according to general manager Steve Singleton.

Cathy Lusader, who works in Troy and lives in Oakland Township, welcomed the outdoor patio as an option.

"One of the main attractions is the outside because a lot of other (restaurants) don't have it," Lusader said. "We'd be out there now but because of the humidity we're in here..."

Singleton said the "Prime" in Ocean Prime stands for the cuts of seafood ...and the cocktail and wine selections.

But prime may also describe the restaurant's location, across the street from the future site of the Pavilions, a $300 million development of office, retail and residential space. Somerset North and South, and scores of office buildings, are also within walking distance.

With piano and vocal entertainment seven nights a week, Singleton describes the restaurant experience as "sexy, sophisticated and sensual."

"Back in the day, supper clubs were the place to be," Singleton said. "Cameron has reinvented that."

Excerpt from the Troy-Somerset Gazette:

New Cameron Mitchell Restaurant at the Corner of Big Beaver and Coolidge Highway Set to Open June 4.

Cameron Mitchell has done it again. The famed restaurateur is giving Metro Detroiters a new place to step into the high life Wednesday, June 4, as Ocean Prime, the modern American supper club, makes its debut in Troy. Dubbed by its creator as “sexy, sophisticated and fun,” this new Cameron Mitchell restaurant will be a prime attraction.

“Back in the day, a supper club was the place to be. The vibe was hip, the food amazing and everyone had the tie of their lives. At Ocean Prime, we’ve redefined this great dining tradition,” said Ocean Prime General Manager Steve Singleton, Florida native turned Birmingham resident.

It is the big time, and the place to see and be seen. With live piano music, the moment guests enter they’ll feel the electric vibe. Ocean Prime will become everyone’s new favorite place,” Singleton added. Seated in the main dining room with a sophisticated black and white décor, you’ll know this is a world-class restaurant.

Like all good supper clubs of the past, Ocean Prime has a luxurious piano bar, which will be in operation every evening. Live entertainment is a staple at Ocean Prime.

Featuring the culinary expertise of Executive Chef Jeff Lindemeyer, Ocean Prime, located at the corner of Big Beaver & Coolidge Highway in Troy, will showcase the finest in fresh seafood... and handcrafted cocktails. And “prime” says it all. From the world class wine list to sumptuous chef compositions such as Braised Short Rib Osso Buco with Horseradish Mashed Potatoes, everything at Ocean Prime is of the highest quality.

“...Our menu offers a delicate balance between traditional and inventive new classics,” Lindemeyer said. “We understand what our guests want and are passionate about preparing it for them.”

The chef-driven menu was designed to bring modern twists to retro “supper club” favorites. Diners will be able to enjoy classics such as Aged Wisconsin Cheddar Fondue, White Truffle Caviar Deviled Eggs and Classic Oysters Rockefeller as well as modern dishes like the Asian-French inspired Salt N Pepper Tuna with Forest Mushrooms and Green Peppercorn Sauce. On the dessert menu, the supper club staple, Baked Alaska, takes its place alongside a rustic Georgia Peaches and Cream, and a rich Peanut Butter Pie dipped in a decadent bittersweet chocolate ganache.

This will all be served, Singleton says with a smile, accompanied by Ocean Prime’s handcrafted cocktails and world-class wine.

Ocean Prime was designed to make a sophisticated yet fun impression on guest, whether inside or out. In addition to three private dining rooms with seating for up to 60 guests, Ocean Prime features a beautiful outdoor patio terrace and bar, complete with a fireplace.

The retro elements of a supper club, reflected in the warn tan finished and rich woods – all combined with contemporary styled sheer drapery, state-of-the-art lighting and granite bar tops – were designed to add to the warm energy of the restaurant.

Guests may enjoy lunch at the restaurant Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.  Ocean Prime will serve dinner Monday through Thursday from 4:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. and Sunday from 4:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. Reservations may be made online at www.cameronmitchell.com, or by calling the restaurant at 248-458-0500.

Billed as a "modern American supper club" and "a place to see and be seen," the chic new Ocean Prime seafood and steak restaurant in Troy opens to the public at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. It's the first of five Ocean Primes to be built this year by Columbus, Ohio-based Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, creator of metro Detroit's Mitchell's Fish Market and Cameron's Steakhouse.

Featuring warm, contemporary décor and an outdoor terrace and bar with fireplace, the restaurant at Big Beaver and Coolidge will serve lunch weekdays and dinner nightly. Reservations: 248-458-0500 or www.cameronmitchell.com.

In November, Cameron Mitchell reached a deal to sell two-thirds of the multi-concept restaurant company he’d spent 14 years building to Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Inc. Such a windfall might send another person in search of R&R someplace tropical. But Mitchell, 44, was back at work the next day, jazzed about being debt-free and flush enough to plow money into three new concepts he’s confident will take his down-sized Cameron Mitchell Restaurants even farther, faster.

“We have three newer brands that we’re very excited about building. We own Marcella’s and Mitchell’s Ocean Club and we own a piece of the Rusty Bucket Corner Tavern. We want to build four to six Rusty Buckets, four Marcella’s and three to four Ocean Clubs a year,” Mitchell said.

“The day after the closing, I went back to work free of my bank debt, with my partners rewarded, my personal risk gone, my financial security in tact and my company’s infrastructure established. This is just another chapter in what hopefully becomes a very long story.”

Cameron Mitchell Restaurants will no longer be able to count 17-unit Mitchell’s Fish Market, two Columbus Fish Markets, two Mitchell’s Steakhouses and a Cameron’s Steakhouse as part of its portfolio of upscale and casual-dining concepts. In a deal announced in November and expected to close in the first quarter, the Columbus, Ohio-based multiconcept company sold the brands to Ruth’s Chris Steak House Inc.

“We’re building our Ocean Club restaurant concept, our Marcella’s and Rusty Bucket Corner Tavern. We just decided to build 20 some restaurants in a year to build out all those brands at their potential right now,” said Mitchell. “We love to build and create restaurant concepts. And we will continue to do that. At the same time, we will develop the brands we currently have in our stable.”

Columbus-based entrepreneur, Cameron Mitchell, president and founder of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants LLC, last November orchestrated the sale of 22 restaurants under the Mitchell’s Fish Market, Columbus Fish Market, Cameron’s Steakhouse and Mitchell’s Steakhouse brands to Ruth’s Chris Steak House. The sale was one of the higher multiples among foodservice industry deals in 2007.

Mitchell says the deal will allow his company to further develop its growth concepts such as Marcella’s and Rusty Bucket Corner Tavern.

Cameron Mitchell, the Columbus restaurateur whose empire has grown to 33 restaurants, is reinventing his company.

Mitchell said he will sell 19 Mitchell’s Fish Market restaurants and three steakhouses to Ruth’s Chris Steak House Inc.

“We’re a $120 million company this year. We expect to be a $120 million company again in 2010, 24 months after (the close of the sale). I’m not selling our growth potential. We are building no less restaurants next year than we would if we didn’t sell. In fact, we’re probably building more,” Mitchell said.

Cameron Mitchell put his Fish Market chain on the acquisition menu earlier this year, but in closing a deal, he added a side of steak.

The restaurateur’s Cameron Mitchell Restaurants LLC announced the sale of its 19 Fish Markets, two Mitchell’s Steakhouses and one Cameron’s Steakhouse to Heathrow, Fla.-based Ruth’s Chris Steak House Inc.

“This sale paves the way to achieve our goals innovation and expansion,” he said.

Cameron Mitchell Restaurants also manages the Rusty Bucket Corner Tavern, which is scheduled for four new locations in 2008 as well.

Walking down High Street, you may suddenly be drawn in by Marcella's open-air seating. Unlike the usual patio, at Marcella's the huge windows just open up to let the restaurant and the sidewalk seemingly become one. Someone passing by might just be able to reach in and steel a glass of wine right off your table.

Inside is a fun, casual, comfortable atmosphere, enhanced by exposed brick on one wall coupled with wood on the back bar. Then there's the Italian flavor in the decor. The fresh fruit hanging in baskets at the bar provides more than just an excellent ingredient for cocktails; it helps give Marcella's an Italian mercato feel.

In front of the kitchen is the salumeria, where the Berkel fly wheel slicer provides patrons with paper-thin slices of Italian meats. A large party table is situated right in front so guests can feel like part of the action. One final touch is the cappuccino machine, a must-have for any Italian-style bar.
"Our bartenders are not just mixologists, they are baristas," assistant general manager Jenn Rossi said.

The booze

Marcella's all-Italian wine list has around 50 labels, organized by body. Everything is available in three carafe sizes: Quartino, a little more than a glass; mezzolitro, a half bottle; or litro, a full bottle. Purists, no worries; all the wines are still presented. Many regions are represented and several of the quartini are only $5. Some of the country's finest wines also make the list, including Barbaresco, Bolgheri, Barolo and Brunelo di Montalcino. In true Italian countryside style, all wines are served in a tumbler.

For the cocktail lover, Marcella's has many unique concoctions, as well as a few standards. The most popular drink is the citrus white sangria ($5/glass, $20/litro), but they also offer a Primitivo red variety.

Fun twists on classic cocktails are another option, such as the bittersweet Grapefruit Negroni ($9) made with Bombay gin, Campari, sweet vermouth, fresh grapefruit juice and tonic. If you are in the mood for something a little more contemporary, the Kiwi Crush ($9) should do the trick, with Belvedere Cytrus vodka, Cointreau, Midori and fresh kiwi puree.

The Food

Marcella's offers a few larger items, but its menu is heavier with small plates, pizzas and pastas, which are great for sharing as a meal or a bar snack. The Sicilian pizza ($9) with capacola, salami, meatballs and Asiago is, as Rossi described it, "a meat eater's delight. The veal meatball with ricotta cheese melts in your mouth."

The meatball is also available by itself ($7) or served with fettucine ($10). Another popular dish is the pesto shrimp pizza ($10), made with roasted tomatoes and goat cheese.

A large selection of olives ($3), formaggi (3 for $10, 5 for $14) and salumi ($4) is a good place to start your small-plate adventure (the last two are cheese and deli meat, if you don't speak Italian). Several cold and hot small plates ($4 to $7) are also offered. The fritto misto with calamari, roasted garlic aioli and lemon is quite popular and the melted pecorino cheese is shipped in from Italy just for Marcella's.

Tucson, Ariz. – The Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers will honor Cameron Mitchell, president and founder of Columbus, Ohio-based Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, as the 2007 recipient of the Commitment to People Award. The presentation will be made during CHART’s 74th semi-annual conference, to be held Aug. 4-7 at the Lowes Ventana Canyon Resort here.

CHART presents the award every year to a leader of a restaurant or hospitality business who demonstrates a commitment to developing employees.

Several business consultants and industry professionals also will address conference attendees. Among the keynote speakers are Hyrum Smith, creator of FranklinCovey, a productivity training and products company, and Harry Paul, co-author of the best-selling book “Fish!,” who will discuss the guiding principles of Seattle’s landmark Pike Place Market. The conference will include several workshops on training practices for hourly workers, managers and executives.

Want someplace fun to grab some good Italian food anytime of night? Try Marcella’s, the newest member of the Cameron Mitchell Restaurants family. Reminiscent of an Italian café, the restaurant opened its doors this spring in the Short North. Floor-to-ceiling windows adjacent to the bar area are removed in fair weather for an open-air feel. A brick accent wall, aged wood floors, clean white tile, and an orange pressed tin ceiling add to the Old World feel. The dining room is separated from the kitchen by a mock salumeria – with meats and cheeses displayed in deli cases.

Complementing the décor, the mood at Marcella’s is relaxed and convivial – perfect for the Short North. Dish towels serve as napkins and maps of Italy are printed on the paper place-settings. Selections from Marcella’s all-Italian wine list are served either by the glass-size (quartino), half-bottle (mezzalitro), or bottle-size (litro) carafes. Rather than stemware, the wine is then poured into quaint tumblers, sending the message that atmosphere is more familial than formal.

The focus at Marcella’s is on sharing and service. Small plates are stacked in the center of each table so that patrons can share appetizers, pizzas, and entrees as well. Assistant General Manager Jenn Rossi tells me that she’s even seen guests passing plates between tables, making new friends as they enjoy dinner. Dining Room Manager Chrissy Pannunzio and the wait staff provide service that is just the right mix of attentive and fun. For appetizers, Marcella’s offers cold and hot small plates. Start with the Shaved Prosciutto and Ripe Melon ($4), or the Calamari ($7), which comes with both marinara and a wonderful creamy roasted garlic aioli. The pizzas feature tasty toppings and some of the freshest-tasting crust I’ve ever had. Try the classic Four Cheese, or the lovely Margherita, with tomato, mozzarella, and basil ($9 each). Even better yet is the fantastic Pesto Shrimp Pizza, with roasted tomato and tangy goat cheese ($10).

Marcella’s offers half a dozen Pasta dishes in manageable servings ($10 each). The traditional Capellini al Pomodoro, with fruity blistered tomatoes, basil, and garlic, is delicious, and even better when you add chicken or shrimp. There’s also a spicy Penne alla Arrabiata, and the Ravioli Mezzaluna, stuffed with rich goat cheese and topped with smoky Italian bacon. Or, you can select a nice entree, like Seared Salmon ($15) with glazed carrots and arugula vinaigrette, or the Skirt Steak ($17) with sea salt potatoes and gremolata butter. The Chicken Giardiniera ($12) is also quite flavorful – crispy pan-seared chicken in a lemony broth, topped with pickled carrots, cauliflower, red pepper, and celery. You really can’t make a bad choice for dessert ($5). The Profiteroles is a lot of fun to share – pistachio, chocolate, and honey vanilla gelato, each sandwiched in a miniature puff pastry and doused

with warm chocolate ganache. The thoroughly excellent Cherry Crustada is a must-try, with a buttery almond crumble and honey vanilla gelato. And the Double Chocolate Torte, topped with chopped pistachios, is so deliciously rich, it just might make you swear out loud. Marcella’s certainly makes its point: a restaurant doesn’t have to be rigid or stuffy

to serve good food. What’s also great about Mr. Mitchell’s latest venture is that you can drop in for a thoroughly enjoyable appetizer, dinner, and a dessert, yet not be so

stuffed that you’ll have to be wheel-barrowed out to the valet.

Cameron Mitchell has been the reigning Master of the Meatloaf since his Cap City Diner first came on the scene. Now, it’s time to give the meatloaf maven a new title: King of the Meatball.

Yes, indeed, the meatballs at Mitchell’s newest project, Marcella’s (615 N. High St.) are good—sinfully good. But the Short North stop aims to be more than a meatball joint. It’s a Ristorante Pizzeria Wine Bar, and that makes Marcella’s the pinnacle of appropriateness for the restaurateur’s empire.

Mitchell’s joints, even the upscale ones, have a reputation for loud ambient cacophony. Love it or hate it, it’s his unapologetic signature. But thankfully, mayhem happens to be perfectly suited for Marcella’s.

It’s a big, hip, tight-seated stop, where the vino and vittles practically pour from the kitchen. Here, however, there’s less of an element of performance in the attentive service as the team of bustling servers drops off an endless parade of eats.

It’s entirely possible to dine conventionally—with an appetizer, than a salad, then an entrée—but the right way to dine at Marcella’s involves ordering a thoughtless mass of concoctions and sharing whatever the kitchen brings.

With this guiding credo, enter the Meatball ($10). It’s achingly tender, with a warm wonderfulness that literally dissolves in your mouth. The masterpiece sits atop a worthy plate of fettucine, drenched in alfredo, surrounded by a tidy ring of sweet marinara and something the menu calls “torn bread crumb” which are chunks of oily bread to sop up residual sauce.

The saffron-tinged Rissoto ($11) is another are of competence. There’s a rich decadence in texture and flavor that teams nicely with simple (and comparatively austere) shrimp.

On the greener side of things, Marcella’s makes a handful of salads, including a particularly interesting offering called Tre Colore ($6). Bitter wisps of greens are set off with golden beets, radicchio and a few crumbles of gorgonzola. For those weary of the trend of sugary fruits in salad, this one’s for you. Even the dressing is without a hint of sweetness.

The Formaggi ($14) plate seems to be a big seller—and what’s not to like about a giant plate of cheese? It’s a flavor tour of the range fermented milk, from a familiar buffalo mozzarella to an aggressive aged goat cheese. This one’s built for sharing and for conversation.

If sharing appetizers doesn’t appeal to you and if an entrée is an absolute must have in your dining experience, Marcella’s is equipped to meet your needs. The Skirt Steak ($17) is abut as meat-and-potatoes—literally—as it gets, and the steak is suitably savory and tender.

So Marcella’s certainly makes the cut as a Ristorante and a Pizzeria. As for its qualifications as Wine Bar: Yep, there’s wine, and it’s sold by the cutesy-named quartino, mezzolitro and litro.

The wine menu categorizes its beverages according to descriptors, so the “fruity whites” are separated from the “rich whites” (pun duly noted and deferred). Wine fans accustomed to quiet, thoughtful beverage debates are ill-suited as Marcella’s customers since the place is too loud and too crazy for any profoundly academic discussions. On the other hand, decadent souls who enjoy the raw sensory experience of eating and drinking will do just fine.

This isn't your typical Cameron Mitchell restaurant.

The stacks of plates at the center of each table vary in design. Only a few chairs at the table match.

Heck, even the tables are different sizes.

The maestro of upscale metro Columbus dining has gone way casual with his newest restaurant, Marcella's, scheduled to open a week from today in the Short North's Yukon Building.

"It's going to be boisterous, it's going to be crowded, and, we hope, it's going to be a fun place where people will get together to try lots of different types of great Italian food," Mitchell said.

The new restaurant represents a U-turn for Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, which runs 30 others under eight nameplates.

Marcella's, 615 N. High St., is two blocks north of the Greater Columbus Convention Center and just below the first arch at the Short North's entrance. It was designed to emulate an Italian enoteca.

These traditional wine bars typically are casual places where you can eat a home-style meal, sip some wine and kick back.

The atmosphere reflects that, from the wood floor and distressed mirrors to the menu items and variety of Italian wines served in different-size carafes.

The magazine rack located just past the restaurant's front door holds Italian magazines and newspapers. The servers are receiving lessons in Italian pronunciation.

Meanwhile, the windows along High Street will fold, accordion-style, to link the restaurant to the sidewalk. Tables are placed close to one another.

"This is all about sharing," Mitchell said. "Sharing the food with one another, sharing friendships. Being part of the community. This is something we really wanted to do."

Sharing is the reason for all the small plates on the tables. The idea is to let everyone at the table sample the cheeses, cold cuts and appetizers, as well as the main dishes

The wine glasses are small - juice-size. And although Marcella's has the typically high Mitchell wine markup, the prices are consistent: A quarter bottle is a quarter of the price of a full bottle.

The restaurant (pronounced mar-CHELL-uz) takes its name from the woman who prepares meals for Mitchell and his family when in Tuscany during summer vacation.

Marcella's carries the tag "ristorante, pizzeria and wine bar."

Another of the authentic touches is the four-sided salumeria, or delicatessen, in front of the open kitchen.

That's where the meats and cheeses are sliced and the almonds and olives are stored.

The antipastos join the pastas, pizzas, salads and some special entrees on the menu. Most of the pastas cost $10. The most expensive dish is the Veal Milanese at $19.

Marcella's will make its own sangria and lemoncello.

The new restaurant cost $1.2 million, about half what it usually costs the company to open a store. The price is just one indicator of the approachable nature of Marcella's.

"This is something we're doing for fun," Mitchell said.

The restaurant will seat 120, including at the bar, located along the north side of the building. It will be open seven days a week from 4 p.m. "until late." Reservations are recommended.

Mitchell's other recent venture, Mitchell's Ocean Club, was created with its expansion into a chain in mind. A second Ocean Club is set for Troy, Mich., with a third in Scottsdale, Ariz., and possibly another in New York.

But there are no such expectations for Marcella's. Still, he said, if the reception is overwhelming, "Who knows? We would never say never to anything."

Columbus, Ohio, is home to Ohio State University and its fabled Buckeyes. It’s also headquarters for more than its fair share of chains: Wendy’s, Bob Evans, White Castle, Max & Erma’s, Steak Escape, Damon’s, Donatos Pizza, Bravo Cucina Italia and its sister concept, Brio Tuscan Grill.

“That’s $10 billion in chain-restaurant sales a year,” says Cameron Mitchell, president and founder of another Columbus-based company, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, a multiconcept operation with 29 restaurants in eight states.

Mitchell agreed to take us on a culinary tour of Columbus, a market he describes as not unsophisticated, but not totally grown-up, either.

Columbus, population 800,000 and the capital of Ohio, lacks the national presence of its bigger siblings, Cleveland and Cincinnati. But Ohio State University and a handful of Fortune 500 companies lend a certain cachet, not to mention economic stability, to the city.

“Between New York and Chicago, we’re the most upscale restaurant community in the Midwest,” says Gail Baker, executive director of the Central Ohio Restaurant Association. Baker mentions Handke’s Cuisine, owned by culinary Olympian Hartmut Handke; and Michael Reams, owner of the upscale Burgundy Room and G. Michaels restaurants, and The Refectory, a fine-dining establishment with a nationally known wine list.

A lease-negotiation meeting for a new restaurant in Scottsdale, Ariz., kept Mitchell occupied for some of the morning, so Carolyn Delp, operating partner and vice president of marketing at Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, serves as tour guide for the first part of our Road Trip.

Under the Arches

Around 11 a.m., we begin driving north on High Street, the road that bisects Columbus. CMR is headquartered in a low, industrial building on the south end of Short North, a warehouse district packed with art galleries, cafes and specialty retailers.

One of Short North’s landmarks is North Market, the city’s only remaining public market and a busy maze of restaurants, ethnic food shops and cookware stores.

Driving north, we notice a dozen or so iron arches over High Street. Similar arches spanned the area at the turn of the 20th century, giving Columbus the nickname Arch City. The new arches, erected in 2002, mark the city’s growing arts district.

As we drive, Delp explains that Columbus is growing mostly to the north and east; notable sites include Polaris, a 3-million-square-foot shopping mall on the north side that houses 100 restaurants.

One popular destination is the Arena District, home to the Columbus Blue Jackets, the city’s professional hockey team. Gordon Biersch Brewery, BD’s Mongolian Grill and Ted’s Montana Grill all have locations there.

Our first stop is Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse, which has three units in Columbus. “They talk about this steakhouse and ours,” Delp says, referring to four-unit Mitchell’s Steakhouse. An expansive patio with two-story-high black drapes and granite tables looks like something you’d see on the West Coast, not in the nation’s midsection.

Our next stop is the space that, come late May, will be CMR’s newest concept: Marcella’s. Inspired by Quartino in Chicago and Pastis in New York, the small-plates concept will offer salumi, antipasti and stone-oven pizzas, with no entree priced more than $15. “See the tin ceiling? And there will be booths over there,” Delp says excitedly as we tour the half-built restaurant.

College Town

Further north on High Street, the Gateway, a retail-restaurant development, marks the beginning of the OSU campus. We see Eddie George’s Grill, named after the famed OSU running back. Chains abound including Potbelly Sandwich Works, Panera Bread and Caribou Coffee.

On our way to Polaris, we stop at Rusty Bucket, a casual bar and grill at Lane Avenue Shopping Center, an upscale strip mall. CMR handles back-office work for the fledgling chain and takes a management fee in return.

“It’s a neighborhood bar—fun, friendly and fast,” Delp says as we survey the dining room and prominent bar. The decor is limited to neon signs and sports photos and memorabilia. “The economic model is great,” Delp says; the bars cost $900,000 to build and average $2 million in annual sales. By the end of this year, there will be 12 Rusty Buckets in operation, all in Ohio.

Soon we arrive at Polaris. CMR has two restaurants there: Molly Woo’s, a full-service Asian concept named after Mitchell’s wife, and Martini Italian Bistro. The decor at Molly Woo’s, which is 7,800 square feet and has 250 seats, is Chinatown-worthy, with red paint, black lacquer and Chinese lanterns.

It’s almost 1 p.m., and Delp orders spring rolls to go. While we’re waiting we check out Lindey’s, Bravo Development Inc.’s casual-upscale bistro. BDI’s founders, brothers Chris and Rick Doody, went to high school with Mitchell; the three remain friends.

Still Vanilla

1:30: Lunch at last, at Columbus Fish Market, Mitchell’s first seafood concept. Lunch is a Shang Hai Seafood Sampler, a Harpoon Shrimp Salad, Asian salmon, and penne pasta with roasted vegetables and marinara. Mitchell, who joins us at the restaurant, begins lunch with a cup of gumbo.

During lunch, he talks about OSU’s influence on the city. “All the sports teams, recruiting, entertaining, general business,” Mitchell says. “The school keeps the economy stable, as does city government.” And the students “make a nice youthful work-force base,” he adds.

Until the mid-’ 90s, Columbus “was a boring meat-and-potatoes town,” Mitchell says. Several factors helped change that, including an influx of executives from New York to work at companies such as Limited Brands. “Those people wanted style,” he says.

Despite the efforts of Mitchell, the Doody brothers and other entrepreneurs, Columbus remains “vanilla,” Mitchell says. “It doesn’t have any kind of ethnicity.” Figures from the 2000 Census back him up. Columbus’ demographic makeup is roughly 68 percent white, 24 percent African-American and 3.55 percent Asian. Cleveland, for its part, is 41.4 percent white, and Cincinnati, 53 percent.

“We don’t dumb down our food, but we are cognizant of the taste profile of our locations,” Mitchell says.

May 1, 2007

He’s built nine well-known brands in the past 13 years.

His empire, worth more than $100 million, spans eight — soon to be nine — states. What’s even more impressive is that he’s done all that in a highly competitive — some might even say cutthroat — industry notorious for chewing up and spitting out wannabes by the dozens every year.

Clearly, Cameron Mitchell knows how to build a brand.

“It’s amazing the power of the concept,” says Mitchell, president of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants. “We have multiple concepts, and some are better than others. Some outperform others. If you can get that concept to be just right, you can build a hell of a brand. But it takes a lot of work.”

Here’s how Mitchell has successfully built his collection of diverse brands, from retro diners to Pan-Asian bistros, from supper clubs to sophisticated steakhouses. It’s a formula that’s proven to drive growth and is based on some universal concepts.

Define yourself
Mitchell says the foundation for any brand must be built upon a company’s core values and philosophies.

“I think any business venture has to ask themselves, ‘What do they want to be?’” he says. “We want to be an extraordinary restaurant company.

“Any organization also needs to define itself and say, ‘Who are we?’ You need to be able to answer that basic question. We answer that by saying we’re great people delivering genuine hospitality.

“Our third plank of our philosophy is, even though we have 2,500 associates and we all have different job descriptions, we all have the same role in the company. And that is to make raving fans of the five groups of people we do business with: our fellow associates, our guests, our purveyors, our partners and our community. If we make raving fans out of those five groups of people, we will succeed in making raving fans of anyone we come into contact with.”

Those three core philosophies go a long way in driving the brands that Mitchell creates.

And although he acknowledges that each restaurant concept he’s created has become a brand of sorts, the underlying, unifying brand behind all of them remains Cameron Mitchell Restaurants itself. Every restaurant concept has to adhere to that brand.

“What is our brand? Our brand is quality food, quality ambiance and, hopefully, great service to go with it,” he says. “We want our guests to be able to count on that.”

So no matter if that guest is dining at the Columbus Fish Market or the swanky M, customer expectations should be exceeded on all fronts.

“We try to be consistent with that throughout,” Mitchell says.

He makes it sound so easy, but the introspection required to start building a brand can’t be taken lightly. It’s the identity of your business. It’s your calling card. Your signature.

“What do you want your brand to be known for?” Mitchell says. “You have to develop that brand promise. The brand promise is what you want to deliver to people.”

To read the complete article online, please click here to go to the Smart Business website.

…Cameron Mitchell Restaurants of Columbus, Ohio, which has 28 restaurants in eight states, is primarily expanding its Mitchell’s Fish Market, with 13 branches now open in seven states.  The company also has been opening one of its complementary secondary concepts in some of the same markets.

A Cameron’s Steakhouse opened in December in the revitalized Bayshore Mall in Glendale, Wis., and a Mitchell’s Fish Market will open soon in another mall in the same Milwaukee metro area.  The Summit in Louisville, Ky., has both a Mitchell’s Fish Market and a Martini Italian Bistro.

As he prepares to open the eighth location of Mitchell’s Fish Market, Columbus, Ohio-based multiconcept restaurant leader Cameron Mitchell talks about why the upscale-casual seafood concept has what it takes to succeed on a broad scale.

Q: What are the criteria a concept needs to be successful as a multi-unit operation?
A: You have to look at three circles and where they interconnect: No.1, what do you have a passion for? No.2, it has to have a great economic engine. It’s got to work financially. And No. 3, we have to be the best in the market and have wide market acceptance.  Any concept that fits in those areas [can work].

Q: How does Mitchell’s Fish Market match these qualities?
A: When you look at the Fish Market, we’re passionate about it.  We love seafood.  We think we do a great job at it. It’s got a great economic model.  We’re averaging about $4.6 million in volume.  It’s got labor numbers that work, economics that work.  And we think we’re the best in the market.
 From a freshness perspective, no one does it like we do, with a refridgerated fish kitchen where it’s butchered right there… Some of our competitors have a commissary, and they cut their own fish, pre-portion it, wrap it and send it out to their restaurants.  We buy only top-of-the-trip fish.  It comes into our kitchen and is butchered right there.  From the time it’s out of the ocean to on out guests’ plates is only a couple of days.

Q: What kind of growth potential do you see for this “upscale seafood” niche?
A: We’re looking at the marketplace for opportunites like our [planned] development in Tampa.  They’re not going to put three steakhouses in these big developments.  In the Tampa development we have P.F. Chang’s, Maggiano’s, The Palm and Mitchell’s Fish Market.  You’ve got Asian, Italian, steak and seafood.  We’re really trying to position ourselves as the marquee player in that high-end, upscale-casual seafood segment, so those are the kind of neighbors we want.

Q: Did you make any changes to the concept to make it more amenable to multimarket success?
A: We’ve done a new [design].  Our décor used to have a lot of blue and really leaned toward a Northeastern look.  This is much more coastal.  The color scheme is much more female-directed.  We didn’t appeal as much to women before.  Now we have a stronger bar presence, and we use reds, creams, and burgundies [in our color scheme].  The first one we did in this new décor package is in Birmingham, Mich., which is a highly affluent market.  It’s our No. 1 store.  It did just under $6 million last year.  We want to be in affluent, high-density, suburban or urban locations.  Our real estate selection process is all geared that way.

Q: By the end of this year Mitchell’s Fish Market will have 11 units in six states.  What are your expansion plans looking ahead?
A: We want to build four to six units a year, and we want to be highly selective.  We’re searching for the best possible real estate out there, and we can afford that luxury.  We’re not a public company that’s compelled to build 10 or 12 restaurants [per year] and has to start making exceptions for real estate sites.  Do I want to say national expansion? Let’s just say growth is the exhaust of running a great company.

 I’ve seen too many guys who say they’re going to build X number of restaurants and be nation by [a certain date] and [today] they’re out of business.  That’s where we’d like to be, but we’ve got a long way to go.  It’s a long span of time to get there from here and it takes a lot of skill, a lot of hard work, and a lot of effort.  In the meantime, we’ll focus on what we’re doing here today and take it one step at a time.

Restaurants cook up equity programs to keep management turnover rate low

When an industry soars at the exact same time its labor pool nosedives, the experience creates lasting memories for those who rode, and survived, the wild ride.

Seasoned restaurateurs asked to reminisce about the late 1980s and early 1990s keenly remember hiring "anyone with a pulse" just to keep up with the explosive business from customers who began eating out with unprecedented frequency at a time when the demographic for entry-level workers reached an all-time low.

Perhaps one of the biggest lessons that emerged from that period was the importance of retaining good workers.

Although the labor picture is much improved, the proportion of young people who are willing to work has dipped and shows no sign of rebounding to previous levels, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Yet the restaurant industry continues to expand and is expected to remain strong, based on research by several industry trend watchers, including the Rosemont, Ill.-based NPD Foodworld, a publication for the foodservice industry.

So the ongoing reality of a booming industry with a limited worker base has led to some innovative approaches for hanging onto good employees. While many of these efforts have focused on entry-level staffers, a growing number of restaurant companies are upping the ante to keep management-level employees from moving to a competitor's payroll.

Equity incentive programs are just one of the carrots being dangled to engender loyalty and long-term service from management personnel, particularly in multi-unit restaurant chains.
 
"There's definitely a trend toward giving managers a piece of the action," said Bob Welcher, president of Columbus-based Restaurant Consultants, Inc.

Sense of ownership
Max & Erma's Restaurants Inc. has taken the equity concept a step beyond the usual offering of stock options. The Columbus-based chain with over 90 corporate and franchised stores has a managing partner program"that was created to foster a deep level of ownership among its management staff.  General managers who own at least 500 shares of Max & Erma's stock are eligible to participate.

It works like this: The employee agrees to let the company hold 500 shares for five years. In exchange, they become a managing partner and are guaranteed to stay in one location for the contract period with a predetermined net profit requirement. This compares to general managers who are often shuttled from location to location and have to meet net profit goals on a quarterly basis.

Max & Erma's program isn't peerless. The Outback Steakhouse chain has long been known for its managing partner program where a general manager invests $25,000 in his own restaurant location. In return, he pockets 10 percent of the store's bottom line.

Locally, another restaurant company known for being active in wanting management-level employees to feel a sense of corporate ownership is Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, operator of brands such as Columbus Fish Market, Martini Italian Bistro and Mitchell's Steakhouse.

Some members of Mitchell's executive team, including corporate chefs, also are known as operating partners. They receive a small percentage of company profit, said Carolyn Delp, a company spokeswoman.

"After two years of exemplary performance as a general manager or executive chef, key associates are eligible to become an operating partner," Delp said. "The partnership interest fully vests after 10 years of employment."

At Max & Erma's, 25 percent of anything generated above the established profit quota goes to the managing partner, in addition to annual performance raises based on mystery shopper scores.

It's an arrangement that has worked well for Keith Johnson. His five years as the managing partner of the company's Hilliard store ends on Oct. 31. He'll most likely have an opportunity to sign on for another five years, or be promoted. If the latter happens, Johnson is convinced that managing partner program has been a good training ground.

Cameron Mitchell's educational philanthropy began a few years ago with $500 scholarships for students at Columbus State Community College. In addition, about 20 CSCC students intern each year with Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, a company the Ohio restaurateur founded with a single bistro 11 years ago. The business now boasts a multiconcept chain of 22 restaurants in three states with projected gross sales of $83 million for 2004.

As the company has increased in size, so has Mitchell's giving. He established a scholarship four years ago at his alma mater, the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., to memorialize a young employee killed in an auto accident, and he has funded other scholarships at the school. As a member of the school's alumni committee, he recently decided to up the ante. Mitchell pledged to match every dollar his fellow alumni give to support the CIA during the next five years, up to $250,000.
Why have you been so generous in offering scholarships?

When I went to culinary school, I didn't have a dime to my name. I struggled to pay for gas for my car. I worked all the way through school. I made many trips to the financial-aid office.

The restaurant industry has been very good to me, and the CIA had a lot to do with my success in this business. I think most people want to give back and help people coming up behind them.

I also think the industry is starting to realize there is such a huge shortage of people in our business. If we want qualified young people to make [the restaurant industry] a career, we have to do our part to help them.

Tell about the Ian Van Hyde Memorial Scholarship. Who was Ian?
Ian was a high-school kid who worked at the Martini [Italian Bistro in downtown Columbus]. He was very effervescent. When you met him, he made you feel good. He was a bright ray of sunshine, a great kid. His whole dream was to go to the CIA.

What happened?

He was driving to school one day; it was his senior year. He was in a car wreck. I was sitting in an annual meeting at the CIA when I heard the news. I thought "What can I do?" We wanted to do something for the family, something lasting. We said we would do a $1,000 scholarship every year for 18 years, one for each year of his life. Each student who is awarded the scholarship must write a letter to [Ian's] parents and tell them about himself, what he's doing, his aspirations. We wanted it to be a way for the family to keep Ian's dream alive.

Columbus Bachelors and Bachelorettes Weigh in on What Makes For a Romantic Dinner Date
 
Many believe that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."  And so, it appears, is romance, or at least romantic dining.  our CityScene survey revealed significant differences between bachelor's and bachelorette's choices for the most romantic Columbus restaurants.
 
She Said...
 
M, 2 Miranova Place 629.0000
M, Cameron Mitchell's high-style marquee restaurant, may have one of the most beautiful rooms in Columbus, if not in Ohio.  The decor is swank, contemporary and upscale, from the remarkable lighting that changes colors during the evening to the flowing drapes separating tables and providing an air of intimacy.  One male "reviewer" put it this way - "the room has an air of fantasy to it; you always get credit for going all out when you choose this venue."
 
He Said...
 
Mitchell's Steakhouse
45 N. Third Street, 621.BEEF
7619 Huntington Park Drive  888.CHOP                                 
 
Mitchell's downtown, located in an old bank building, with high ceilings and a luxurious ambiance, including dark wood and burnished metals, has the look and feel of a New York City steakhouse.  Mitchell's Crosswoods has more of a supper club atmosphere with live music.  Booths allow for privacy, and moving over to the lounge is a great way to end the night.  And the fireplace in the bar area adds a special feeling.
 
Best of Columbus Romantic Dining
 
Best Room
Mitchell's Steakhouse Downtown
M
 
Best Oysters
Mitchell's Steakhouse (two locations)
Columbus Fish Market (two locations)
 
Best Chocolate Dessert
M - "Decadence of Chocolate"

When we asked Rich Melman five years ago to lend his name to our Concepts of Tomorrow Award, we understood then that he takes a different tack than those who give birth to a great concept and grow that concept into a regional or national chain.

Melman, the genius behind Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises in Chicago, has such a fertile mind that he chooses to create one great concept after another. It's for this reason that the award—The Richard Melman Concepts of Tomorrow Award—bears his name.

The 2005 winner of the Melman award, presented during a grand dinner at this year's Concepts of Tomorrow Conference, more closely mirrors Rich Melman than any other past recipient of the award.

Cameron Mitchell is the guiding force behind nine different concepts in seven states. This he accomplished in a mere 12 years under the banner of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, a $100 million company.

But it was Mitchell's decision several years ago to take just one of his concepts— Mitchell's Fish Market—and develop it into a growth vehicle. The concept, which currently consists of 14 units, is growing at a rate of three to four units a year, with each averaging $5 million in sales.

The editors of RH are convinced that Mitchell, at a mere 42 years old, has unlimited potential as a multiconcept operator and as the entrepreneurial force behind a Concept of Tomorrow.

Before accepting his Melman award at night, Mitchell kicked off the conference agenda. He told a packed audience that the key to his success and the success of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants is a strong culture that lives by three principles—be passionate, maintain your integrity at all times and believe in and trust your people.

Those principles, not so coincidentally, have made Rich Melman the icon he is.

Cameron Mitchell is a Columbus icon.  His restaurant concepts consistently prove to be tremendously popular, no matter that they differ greatly.  Cameron likes to cook at home, but doesn’t do so at work any more.  Cheese is an essential ingredient to have in his kitchen, as is Fresca (although it’s not really an ingredient).  He, like Joe Saccone and Chris Doody, thinks that Korean Barbeque is the only restaurant concept we suggested to him that has a chance of succeeding, and he ought to know.  Concept, he says, is the most important factor in the success or failure of a restaurant, and he would advise anyone wishing to take their operations multi-unit to make sure that their culture and values are alive and well in every one of their operations.  He and Chris Doody agree that the best movie dinner scene is form Five Easy Pieces with Jack Nicholson.  Ever the diplomat, he refused to use the superlative when choosing a breakfast place, but did admit that he and his family love to eat breakfast at Marshall’s in Grandview.

A customer once asked Cameron why on earth he wanted to open a seafood restaurant in Columbus, when the nearest water is Buckeye Lake.  He says that stuck with him more than almost any other comment he received, and surely had a profound impact on the care he put into the development of both his Ocean Club and Fish Market concepts.  Although Cameron does agree that there are too many restaurants in Columbus, he let us pick his brain for a little advice that could benefit another upstart.  Behold the wisdom of Cameron Mitchell:

C Magazine: Given the expansion of the residential capacity of downtown Columbus, what do you think small and medium-sized business owners should focus on to capitalize on the rapid development we are seeing?
Cameron Mitchell: Learn to cater to the many new guests who will be living downtown.  Find out what their needs are, and enhance their downtown living experience.

C Magazine: Is there a correlation between increasing economy of scale and decrease in the quality of product being produced?  I.E. as your companies have gotten bigger, have you noticed that practices like producing food at commissaries or sub-contracting out production has had a negative impact on the overall quality of the product?
CM: We do not use commissaries or sub-contract out production of products.  We operate all of our restaurants as if they are a single entity.

C Magazine: How difficult is it to maintain consistency of product with a multi-unit operation?
CM: It is very difficult.  We continually train, train and re-train.

C Magazine: What advice would you offer someone starting out in multi-unit operations to ensure consistency of product?
CM: First and foremost, make sure that your company culture and core values are in place.  Putting associates first is core to Cameron Mitchell’s way of doing business – a strategy that strongly differentiates us from most every other competitor in the industry.  We know that the true path to great guest satisfaction lies in having truly happy associates.  Happy associates care enough to help us maintain consistency.

Congratulations to the following Columbus restaurants on their recent awards!
 
Citysearch Best of 2006 Awards

Best Brunch
Best Dessert
Best Group Dining
Cap City Diner

Best Fine Dining
Best Special Occasion Dining
M

Best Date Spot
M, Runner Up

Best Romantic Dining
M, Runner Up

Best Wine List
M, Runner Up

This Week Readers Poll 2006:

Best Casual Dining
Cap City Diner

Best Desserts
Cap City Diner, Runner Up 

Cameron Mitchell, who as president and chief executive of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants oversees a $102 million, 26-unit restaurant company, has come a long way since he had his career-defining moment as a teenager working as a host and line cook at a Max & Erma’s restaurant in Columbus, Ohio.

“One Friday night I had an epiphany,” he says.  “It was just mayhem.  The restaurant was really busy.  There was a line out the door, order tickets hanging in the window.  Time froze.  I said, “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.”

That night Mitchell, who calls himself the poster child for the “dish room to board room” career path, put pen to paper and defined his career goals for the next 15 years.  And he hit each one:  student at The Culinary Institute of America after high school, executive chef at 23, general manager at 24, regional manager at 30 and finally, at 35, president of his own restaurant organization.

Today as head of the Columbus-based company, he’s still looking ahead.  Cameron Mitchell Restaurants currently has four new units in development and maintains a stable of 11 concepts in Ohio and five other states.

In Columbus there are 13 units representing nine of the concepts:  Mitchell’s Steakhouse, a classic high-end steakhouse; Columbus Fish Market, a fine-dining fish house; Cap City Fine Diner and Bar, and upscale diner; The Ocean Club, a seafood concept with an undersea design motif; M, a fine-dining downtown venture featuring American cuisine with European and Pacific Rim influences; Molly Woo’s, a Pan-Asian bistro; Cameron’s American Bistro, the company’s first concept; Martini Italian Bistro, an Italian concept offering an extensive list of its namesake cocktail; and Columbus Brewing Co., a brewpub offering sandwiches and pizzas in the city’s Brewery District.

He’s also expanded to Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Michigan with two growth concepts, Mitchell’s Fish Market and Cameron’s Steakhouse.  Additional units of those concepts are slated to open in Tampa, Fla., and Milwaukee in early 2006.  Mitchell’s Fish Market, which specializes in fresh fish and features a raw bar, has an average unit volume of $4.7 million and seats 250 guests in its 7,000-square-foot buildings.  The sophisticated Cameron’s Steakhouse posts about $5 million in sales each year and seats 200.  Decorated with dark leather and woods, the classic steakhouse offers aged, corn-fed beef as well as seafood items.  Average dinner checks are $70. 

A third growth concept, Rusty Bucket, which Cameron Mitchell Restaurants manages for another company, has four units in Columbus and is expected to expand outside of Ohio as well.  The upscale-tavern concept seats about 150 and has a footprint of about 4,000 square feet.  Checks average $11 at lunch and $20 at dinner.

Mitchell estimates his restaurants will gross a total of $120 million in 2006, up from $102 million in 2005.  In addition, aggregate same-store sales for all the concepts are up about 3 percent.

The development of diverse concepts, like the other steps in his career, was by design.  “I never had a dream to build one restaurant.  I was starting a company,” Mitchell says.  “Our first goal was to build a multiconcept company and be king of the hill in our own backyard.  I saw what Rich Melman did in Chicago and I said, ‘ Columbus is ripe for this.  We need some cool restaurants around here.”

Doral Chenoweth, the “Grumpy Gourmet,” a veteran restaurant critic who covers dining for The Columbus Dispatch, says Mitchell has successfully made his mark in Columbus.

“He dominates the city,” Chenoweth says.  “He’s done an excellent job of marketing himself in this town.  He’s as well known as Coca-Cola here.  He’s sold the brand, but he’s always backed it up with quality.”

That quality is clearly evident on the menus at Cameron Mitchell Restaurants’ concepts, according to Chuck Kline, vice president of food and beverage.  Though they vary cuisine, all of the concepts focus on made-from-scratch sauces and dressings, as well as high-quality meats and seafood.

Because fresh fish is central to several of the concepts, including The Ocean Club, Columbus Fish Market and Mitchell’s Fish Market, menu items change often to feature the freshest available fish, flown in from around the world.  At the Fish Market concepts, menus are printed daily to reflect the most up-to-date offerings.  “We’re in the middle of the country, but I’d put our seafood up against anyone,” Kline says.

One of the company’s signature dishes is fish served Shanghai-style – steamed with ginger and scallions and served with sticky rice, spinach and rice-wine soy sauce – at Columbus Fish Market and Mitchell’s Fish Market.  Comfort food, namely wild-mushroom meatloaf with buttermilk-chive mashed potatoes, broccoli, chili onion rings and barbeque gravy is a favorite at Cap City Fine Diner and Bar.

“That’s what we’re trying to create, those dishes you have cravings for,” Kline says.  “Those dishes where you’re sitting on your couch and say, ‘I can’t wait to go back to the Fish Market and get that Shanghai fish’ or ‘That salad at Cap City is awesome.’”

Kline adds that he’s witnessed the maturing of the Midwestern market, as diners have become less resistant to higher prices and more open to high-end ingredients like Kobe beef, which is served at the M in downtown Columbus and the Michigan unit of Cameron’s Steakhouse.  “I’ve always wanted to be – and our company has always wanted to be – the educator,” Kline says.  “We’ve kind of led the trend here in Columbus.  I think we’ve been very influential in this town.”

Cameron Mitchell Restaurants LLC and Bravo Development Inc. long have been staples of the Columbus dining scene, but now the booming businesses are becoming bigger players nationwide
Armed with menus bearing fish, steak and pasta, the dining companies have been reaching beyond Ohio and the Midwest into some of the biggest, busiest markets. And both are doing it by taking small, manageable bites.

Mitchell stands at 27 restaurants in eight states, including a restaurant that opened this month in Tampa, Fla. Two more are scheduled to open by the end of the year.

Bravo has 51 restaurants in 19 states, counting the newest one in Canton, with seven more expected this year and one that will be relocated.

Darren Tristano, managing director of Technomic Inc., a restaurant research firm in Chicago, said industry trends are playing into the hands of Mitchell's and Bravo, making it an opportune time to expand operations.

"There has been a lot of blending and blurring of menus in recent years," he said, citing operations such as Applebee's International Inc., whose menu stretches from steaks and seafood to pasta and barbecue. "People are starting to want more specific meals, trending toward the upscale casual niche. (Mitchell and Bravo) already fit there."

Big fish story

Mitchell runs 13 restaurants in Central Ohio in styles ranging from casual Americana at the Cap City Diner to Chinese at Molly Woo's Asian Bistro to fine dining at M, the firm's self-proclaimed marquee restaurant.

From that smorgasbord, the company picked the Columbus Fish Market, renamed Mitchell's Fish Market for non-Central Ohio sites, as its primary growth driver. It is in 12 locations with another to open this year.

The Tampa restaurant is the company's first outside the Midwest, but it won't be the last.

"We have a good brand name in the Midwest," said CEO Cameron Mitchell. "California, the Southwest, Texas, Florida - those are big markets where people from the Midwest tend to gravitate. We hope to leapfrog into places like Texas and California."

Carolyn Cullers-Delp, vice president of marketing, said the company is pursuing sites in Stamford, Conn., Cherry Hill, N.J., and Summerland, Nev. - suburbs of New York, Philadelphia and Las Vegas. Mitchell said a goal is to have a Manhattan outlet.

Tristano said choosing to grow through the Fish Market was a good choice because seafood is increasingly popular with health-conscious diners.
Also, Mitchell offers a step up in quality and atmosphere in a seafood market dominated by Red Lobster, owned by Darden Restaurants Inc.

"For a chain restaurant, it feels upscale and feels like an independent," he said.
Other competitors include the 63-unit Bonefish Grill Inc., owned by Outback Steakhouse Inc.; Legal Sea Foods Inc., with 31 restaurants; and McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants Inc., with 52 restaurants.

Bonefish has a Dublin eatery, and McCormick & Schmick's is set to open at Easton Town Center this month.

The Columbus dining company is beginning to branch out with other nameplates as well.
Mitchell's Steakhouse, renamed Cameron's Steakhouse outside the region, will locate in two outside cities by the end of the year, with a restaurant in suburban Milwaukee joining one that operates in suburban Detroit.

Mitchell said the company hoped to expand the Fish Market and the Cameron's Steakhouse operations at the same rate, but the steakhouses face more competition. He said company executives have discussed expanding Molly Woo's beyond Columbus, but there are no immediate plans.

"Eventually, we'd like to do some new concepts, but for now our focus is on those two brands," Mitchell said. "We'll grow as far as we can grow. If we continue to perform well, we'll continue to grow."

Italian expansion

Bravo has varied restaurant styles in Central Ohio, like Mitchell's, and has hitched its national fortunes to its Bravo Cucina Italiana and Brio Tuscan Grille.

Rick Doody, chief executive, said executives are pleased with Bravo's growth - an expansion of eight to 10 restaurants annually since 2003. This is the last year of a four-year growth plan and includes three new cities for the company - Albuquerque, N.M., Buffalo, N.Y., and Greensboro, N.C.

Tristano said Bravo has succeeded despite a hit to the Italian food segment by carb-counting customers, a trend that has spun itself out, putting pasta back on an upswing.
He credited the company's gain to customer service and an ability to operate unlike a chain. And for Bravo, as for Mitchell, the chief competition comes from Darden and its Olive Garden operation.

"The food quality and service perception is higher with Bravo (than Olive Garden)," Tristano said. "When you walk in there is more of an aroma and it feels less like a chain. ... They will continue to do well."

The groundwork is laid for continued expansion in 2007 and beyond with locations in Detroit, St. Louis and Chicago signed and Las Vegas, Phoenix, Miami and Lehigh, Pa., as possible destinations for the year.

Brios are aimed at major cities, "trophy locations," Doody called them, such as Chicago and Las Vegas, while the firm's Bravos fit best in smaller cities like Des Moines, Iowa and Canton.
Nicole Roope, Bravo's director of marketing, said the company had been growing at an almost 2-to-1 ratio of Bravos to Brios, but recently the split is closer to even because there have been more opportunities for Brios. Ultimately, the goal is 150 Bravos and 100 Brios, she said.

Doody credited much of the success to the company's ability to establish itself as a go-to restaurant anchor for lifestyle retail developments such as Easton Town Center, which is home to Brio and the company's Bon Vie Bistro & Bar, which offers French-American cuisine.

Roughly 80 percent of the company's restaurants operate in those complexes, which attract plenty of customers and lead to savings on landscaping and maintenance.

"We have no plans to grow exponentially," Doody said. "We can handle this growth. Eight to 10 restaurants a year is a good number."