Interview: Cocktail Kitchen's co-founders

Before Caterer meets John Gillespie and Giorgio Vallesi we are told that their relationship can be summed up as follows: Gillespie likes to spend the money, while Vallesi — a former accountant — likes to control it.

It seems the businessmen are polar opposites in terms of personality, but both very much on the same page when it comes to hospitality.

Having worked in the hospitality industry for more than a decade, and together at MMI in Dubai for several years, both felt confident that Dubai was in need of a ‘breath of normality’ — a venue that would favour a guest- centric approach and casual affordability.

Discussing how this philosophy has materialised in the form of Dubai-based restaurant and bar Cocktail Kitchen, Vallesi says: “Normality means different things — one is the fact that the owners are actually heavily involved in the venue. We are not sitting in a head office somewhere, looking at a large franchise.

"I’m more operational, whereas John is more [into] marketing and PR. He’s here often and very involved with customers and in our events. Secondly, there is a need for ‘normality’ in a sense of a place where the product is of a good quality and the price tag is not linked to a luxury set-up.”

He refers to the fact Dubai has a lot of five-star hotels with obvious “luxury elements” that mean the F&B offering does not come cheap. “I think Dubai is growing into more of a mature city, however, and people have an income that is more relatable to other parts of the world,” he notes.

“We feel that there is a demographic that needs a day-to-day place where they don’t need to spend a lot of money. Also [normality comes from] the fact that we are very casual — we don’t have a dress code or a booking policy, unless you are a party of six and above. People can spontaneously come here, wait at the bar for their friends and then make a plan for the evening.”

Remaining casual and affordable while offering a high-end guest experience is a tall order in a city like Dubai. However, Dubai has shown itself to be adaptable to trends and in this year especially the city has seen more concepts that pay attention to keeping their offering affordable springing up.

Growing awareness of what else is on offer, for less money perhaps, is also a factor, as Gillespie explains: “Consumers today are more conscious due to social media and awareness of what’s happening around you — everyone has an incentive or an offer to try to entice people through their doors.

“When we looked at our price position, we wanted to give back to the people who made it sustainable for us because there’s not going to be 10 Cocktail Kitchens; there is only one and we have a 10-year lease. So, what we try to do is look at everyday consumers — the demographic of people who cannot afford fine-dining and are looking for something that’s in their neighbourhood, and that’s casual.

"And I think with us, with the offers from the aperitivo through to the business lunch for AED59, we are trying to cater to that everyday customer, and make [going out] more affordable.

“For us to do that, you know, we have been here for 10 years in the city working together, so everything is done based on ourselves and what we feel is right for the business. It is trial and error as well, and we have to listen to our customers — if they become regulars and we don’t ask questions [about what they are looking for], then we can’t prove our business model.”

Signing a 10-year lease is a daunting prospect but one that excites the duo. Having made Dubai their home several years ago, Gillespie and Vallesi are playing the long game with Cocktail Kitchen.

Vallesi remarks: “We’re not interested in making big bucks in a couple of years — we are looking at the sustainability of the business and the only way you can do that is with regular customers and to exceed their expectations, drop your margin and make them feel they are getting more for what they pay. Then they feel like they want to come back, and we want them to come back two or three times a week.”

Gillespie confirms however, that he and Vallesi won’t make the mistake of becoming more affordable by dropping the quality of the product. as this would not be in keeping with what they want to create.

“To give you an example, if you come in for a gin and tonic, you get premium gin served with premium ice, which is an important asset for a bar, and premium, artisanal tonic water. So we provide the best quality we can in every aspect of that drink, but by dropping our margin we can remain affordable, compared to the market.”

Cocktail Kitchen uses social media and marketing opportunities to its advantage, but the co-owners also strongly believe in the power of word-of-mouth when it comes to generating a buzz that can be sustained.

The old fashioned approach of building relationships with customers and getting to know what they want is a sentiment Gillespie and Vallesi return to several times, reiterating the value of integrating with the local community. Choosing to be based in JLT plays a part in that as well.

Vallesi describes JLT as representative of Cocktail Kitchen in terms of being “something casual and something you don’t expect”.

Gillespie adds: “Up until three years ago, nobody had talked about JLT as a culinary destination but we’re seeing the media describe it as a ‘hidden gem’, with people migrating here from the Marina. So, if the product is good and word gets out, people will come.”

The pair, who have known each other for nine years, looked at the difference between customer service and hospitality when founding their business, with Cocktail Kitchen falling firmly in the latter camp, Gillespie says, adding: “We go the extra mile to help customers and people recognise that, and they recognise the price point,”

Elaborating on what they set out to do in creating their own concept, Gillespie says Cocktail Kitchen offers something for everyone, whether it’s “an aperitivo, a lunch or the weekend brunch” and strives to be a home from home for its customers.

“The approach that we have is everyone’s a friend of the house,” he shares. In order to achieve this, he notes that the training and development of the outlet’s team was an important part of that, as was working behind the scenes before opening, in terms of cocktail development, sourcing products and working with local distributors.

Asked about settling on a name for their venue, Vallesi and Gillespie reveal that they had a few ideas they tried on for size before settling on Cocktail Kitchen, which utlimatelly stems from their belief that the bar and the kitchen should operate as one.

“There’s a dualism,” Gillespie explains. “There’s a common trend around the world that the best bartenders will go into the kitchen and talk to the chef, and look for inspiration, and vice versa — the chef will always come to the bartender at the end of his shift and enjoy a drink. There’s a bond between the two. We wanted to create a concept with the kitchen and the bar as one, with the chef and the bartender working side by side.

He concedes that this was physically impossible due to MEP constraints but that the synergy is still there, and actively culivated — as was one of the ways in which the venue chooses to stand out: its championing of vermouth.

“One of the trends that we looked at was vermouth and we wanted something that would give us a USP, something a bit different. Everything we wanted to do fitted into this [idea of] aperitivo. They’re fortified wines, they’re quite light and refreshing, and they have mixability. A lot of people don’t realise but actually vermouth is the king of the cocktail,” Gillespie asserts.

In complete agreement, Vallesi continues: “It’s in every classic cocktail. If you have a negroni but change the [type of] gin, the drink will remain pretty much the same but if you change the vermouth, you see something becoming much more aromatic or dryer or more intense. It switches the flavour profile more than the spirit will do; it’s a very complex beverage and we are reviving this category.”

Cocktail Kitchen sources its vermouth through MMI and has selected brands mostly from Italy, Spain and France, although it has imported vermouth from California and Germany as well, and is scoping out Australia.

“The new generation is coming from bartenders creating their own vermouth and, at the same time, brands that have been around a long time are reviving their offering. Vermouth is something that has its own identity,” Vallesi adds.

Gillespie feels now is the perfect time to look for these sorts of opportunities as “there aren’t many cocktail bars in the city". He notes that the outlet has had people coming in who have never tried vermouth and he enjoys talking to customers about the cocktail menu.

“Even the mocktails to a point — it’s always something that’s overlooked in a restaurant and bar. You don’t get the same experience, so we try to look at that with the products we bring in and work with, to create great non-alcoholic drinks.

“Also, for a period of time when you open in Dubai, you’re always dry, so we wanted to get people to talk about our mocktails,” he adds, noting that he and Vallesi have strived to do something “positive” with the launch of Cocktail Kitchen, referring to the duo being keen for the homegrown concept to stand out as an independent offering, tailored to the needs of ‘everyday’ people.

“We have so many F&B choices in this city, but we felt there wasn’t enough of the accessible affordable concepts that people wanted. I’ve been here 10 years and I’d say you’re going to see more concepts like us in the future, and hopefully we’ll be part of that movement and people will remember all the positive things we set out to do. Ten years ago there were fewer players and a lot of the hotels were leasing spaces. The approach now is the opposite with the rise of the independents,” Gillespie comments.

While launching a concept without a celebrity chef or big name brand involved has huge appeal, there are numerous challenges to overcome with a project of this nature.

“At first, finding a location was a challenge. Two guys coming into a big hotel chain with a concept and not a brand was a challenge because they wouldn’t take us seriously — we knew what we were doing but we weren’t a brand. That was one of the first psychological hurdles that we had to overcome, while staying true to our concept.

"We had to keep knocking on doors until we found operators that understood our language, and then once you find a space, by the time you get to negotiations, sometimes they’re gone; you have a small window to make it happen.

“Behind the scenes, the cost of doing a project like this, raising the capital, finding a space, negotiating the rent, finding a contractor... the barriers to entry are quite high in this part of the world. Even down to the local legislation of the alcohol licence. Each element brought its own challenges but we had to look at each as an opportunity to improve,” Gillespie shares.

Vallesi makes the point that although the pair are F&B operators (so they know how to run a restaurant), this was their first time building one.

“That challenge comes with understanding all the processes and the legislation, bringing together architects, engineers, the landlord and the authorities to execute your business model. That has been a massive learning curve for us,” he reveals.

Not least with recruitment, no doubt, with nearly 40 hires for the outlet, all in line with two policies: recruiting locally and “looking at payroll as a monthly figure that covers basic salary, accommodation and transportation” rather than allowances.

“Our thinking was, if you are not able to come to this country and find a place where you want to live independently then probably your character is not entrepreneurial enough.

"It helps people to come out of their shell and be more independent, which will reflect in the way they interact with guests — they’ll be a little bit more themselves, more in control of their life,” Vallesi explains.

Asked about their overall impression of setting up their own bar and restaurant, and their plans for its future, Gillespie concludes: “It was daunting at the start but if you look at the end product, it gives me satisfaction; when customers come in, they are taken aback by the attention to detail. Now we have to make it sustainable, keep it growing and keep it fresh — and the people we have are very important to that process. Cocktail Kitchen is not just me and Giorgio; it’s the people behind the scenes as well, so we will always recognise and reward out team for their work and efforts.”