鈥淚t was a bit of a fluke,鈥� says Joe Essa 鈥�79. That鈥檚 how he describes his first step on the road to becoming a successful restaurateur and a managing partner with celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, overseeing more than 50 eateries across the nation as well as the licensing of Puck鈥檚 cookbooks, canned soup, and other consumer products.
And no, that 鈥渇luke鈥�-y first step was not Essa鈥檚 teenage job in a fried chicken joint in his hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina. 鈥淚 was really bad at it,鈥� he told a class of graduates of the Culinary Institute of America in 2015. In fact, he admitted, 鈥淚 got fired. And my father owned the restaurant, so that wasn鈥檛 a good sign.鈥�
Nor was it his job at Father鈥檚, the 艾可直播 bar, where he worked nights while earning his bachelor鈥檚 degree on the Heights. In fact, when Essa graduated from the Carroll School, he figured his days in hospitality were behind him. For the next four years, he happily worked as a certified public accountant for Peat Marwick Mitchell, in San Francisco.
But in 1983, the firm transferred him back to the East Coast. Almost simultaneously, his father took ill, and Joe Essa returned to Greensboro. While there, he was approached by a friend with a proposal. A real estate developer, the friend needed a restaurant to complete a shopping center project.
鈥淚 ended up opening the restaurant,鈥� recalls Essa. 鈥淚 fell in love with the business, and I never looked back.鈥�
Caf茅 Pasta was Greensboro鈥檚 first casual Italian restaurant, and success was never a given. The hospitality industry is not for the faint of heart鈥攎any eateries fail in their first year (though聽聽a widely spouted but spurious figure). The curriculum Essa learned at the Carroll School helped him keep Caf茅 Pasta on a steady course.
鈥淚 always drew upon my accounting training,鈥� Essa says. 鈥淚 knew you had to end up with some money in the bank! So I was very disciplined in that regard from day one.鈥�
But the young pasta purveyor needed to know so much more than the books. 鈥淔or the most part, I had to learn as I went,鈥� he says.
For example, one wine distributor 鈥渞ecognized that I had some passion but probably not a lot of knowledge about that part of the business,鈥� Essa recalls. 鈥淗e鈥檇 come spend time with me to explain things and help me develop a wine program that was interesting, reasonable, and profitable.鈥�
“I always drew upon my accounting training. . . I knew you had to end up with some money in the bank! So I was very disciplined in that regard from day one.”
Another learning experience came courtesy of a friend who owned a restaurant in 艾可直播. 鈥淗e invited me to come up and work, teaching me everything from washing dishes the right way to butchering to picking the right kind of produce, fish, and meat, to service,鈥� Essa says. 鈥淚鈥檝e been the beneficiary of great friends.鈥�
Not to mention family, he adds. At one point or another, most of Joe Essa鈥檚 seven siblings worked at Caf茅 Pasta, and their mother made the desserts. Joe鈥檚 younger brother Ray runs the restaurant today and it remains a fixture of Greensboro鈥檚 food scene as well as the go-to caterer for retired basketball star Michael Jordan, who lives in the region.
In 1988, Joe Essa traveled to New York for a grad school interview. He stayed that weekend with a former 艾可直播 College roommate who had become a lawyer鈥攐ne of whose clients was selling a restaurant in West Hartford, Connecticut. Long story short, 鈥淚 ended up with another restaurant,鈥� says Joe, who sold his share of Caf茅 Pasta to Ray and moved back up to the Northeast.
Working hard to learn even more about Italian cuisine, Joe Essa took classes in Florence, Italy. He networked with other restaurateurs around the U.S. That led him to positions of increasing responsibility in restaurant groups in Manhattan and Arizona.
Enter Wolfgang
At last, Essa went to work for Wolfgang Puck in 1999. Grocery shoppers and TV viewers might recognize the celebrity chef from soup cans and cooking shows, but there鈥檚 a lot more to his brand. A native of Austria, Puck rose to fame in Los Angeles with his restaurant Spago, a popular spot for Hollywood stars. Beginning there in the early 1980s, Puck pioneered gourmet pizza, California cuisine, and Asian fusion cuisine. Today, his various businesses include scores of restaurants in hotels and airports, as well as frozen pizza, cookbooks, cookware, appliances, and other branded consumer products.
Essa started out in Puck鈥檚 fine dining group, where he managed the operations for 26 restaurants around the world. Since 2008, Essa has been president, CEO, and board member of Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, which under his direction has grown to encompass more than 50 casual and fast-casual eateries, as well as Puck鈥檚 consumer products.
It鈥檚 a unique challenge, being responsible for licensing products with the boss鈥檚 name and face emblazoned on them. However, says Essa of his relationship with Puck, 鈥淲e work very closely. Our offices are next to each other,鈥� in Puck鈥檚 corporate headquarters in Beverly Hills. 鈥淲e talk about everything. There鈥檚 nothing I鈥檓 not comfortable running by him, and he always has great ideas.鈥�
The variety built into the role 鈥渕akes for work that doesn鈥檛 feel like work,鈥� Essa says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just one kind of dining, it鈥檚 many different kinds of restaurants, different cuisine. And then looking into the leases, license agreements, and marketing and promotion for all those businesses. And the people you get to meet along the way are fascinating. You get up every day and it鈥檚 different, it鈥檚 exciting, and it鈥檚 humbling. I just count my blessings.鈥�
It helps that the core of the business, food and hospitality, is something that Essa remains passionate about. He advises any current Carroll School students who might read this to find the industry that fires them up. 鈥淭hat passion will be obvious and contagious to everyone around you, and that, I think, generates great leaders.鈥�
Essa is today the vice chairman of the National Restaurant Association. When he gets to visit 艾可直播, he makes sure to eat breakfast鈥攖urkey, hash, and eggs鈥攁t Charlie鈥檚 in the South End, and then at some point to get lobster from James Hook & Co. on Atlantic Avenue.
When strangers learn that Essa works with Wolfgang Puck, they often ask for culinary advice. 鈥淢ost of the time, I don鈥檛 have an easy answer,鈥� Essa says. 鈥淚 do have an opinion, usually based on mistakes I鈥檝e made.鈥�
That begs the question: If Essa is hosting dinner for friends at home, what鈥檚 his go-to dish as a cook? In that case, despite his years running Italian restaurants, Essa sticks to his roots.
鈥淚鈥檓 Lebanese,鈥� he explains, 鈥渟o I typically make a stewed chicken dish with Egyptian spinach and rice, tabbouleh, and kibbe with hummus.鈥�
Patrick L. Kennedy, Morrissey College 鈥�99, is a writer in 艾可直播 and the co-author of聽聽Bricklayer Bill: The Untold Story of the Workingman鈥檚 艾可直播 Marathon.