I

Lolita:When the economy slumped, Pennette prescribed "a shot of tequila."Below, marinated skirt steak, guacamole, grilled jalapenos and red onions.

cbS's cramped office on Mill Street inGreenwich. The company will be 13years old this month.

Pennette, who grew up in Green-wich, took a circuitous route to therestaurant industry. In 1979, he wasmajoring in biology at SpringfieldCollege in Massachusetts. He quit,joined a rock band and toured thecountry. "To get me back home, mydad, who was a big fan of restaurantsand design;' he says, "opened a res-taurant:' While his father, Michael, acreative director at an ad agency, ren-ovated and designed the restaurant,Pennette took an institutional-food-service training course at New YorkUniversity.

The Stone House, their Greenwichrestaurant, was beautiful and busy. Itwent out of business in nine months."We went down so fast;' Pennetteremembers. "We didn't have the ex-perience of managing the expensesand day-to-day dynamics. We weretrusting and people took advantage ofus:' His father asked him what exactlyhe'd learned in that course at NYU."Not much;' he replied. So MichaelPennette hired a consultant fromRestaurant Associates, a premier na-tional food-services comp ny, 0 tu-tor his son. Apprenticeship, Pen ettefound, was a far more effective-teach-ing model than lectures and course-work. Although he had passion andinnate entrepreneurial spirit to spare,he didn't have a business foundation.He started working in corporate chainrestaurants (Michel's Bakery Cafes),where the sterile, corporate unifor-mity "went against all my senses;' hesays. But he soaked up the charts, sys-tems and protocols.

Ten years after his family sold TheStone House, Pennette bought it back.Renamed Bella Luna, it enjoyed "twoyears of tremendous success and wasa triumph for my family" Then thechef quit; the restaurant foundered."I never forgot that-I learned neverto be dependent on a chef;' he says.That was his impetus to start cbS. CbSdoesn't create chef-centric restau-rants. "A chef's passion is so focusedon the food, they can be myopic;' hesays. "I take talented chefs and showthem how to be real. I transform thatextreme skill into a sustainable busi-ness.' Food and service are the heartof the restaurant industry, but there'smuch more. "CbS specializes in mar-ket, product, instinct and experi-ence:'

Pennette himself is not a cook. "I,/

never wanted to be a chef, and to thisday I can't cook;' he says, but addsthat this distance actually helps himedit and focus menus. "A chef told mehe wanted to have a biodynamic eggnestled in an emulsion foam. I said,'Only one-tenth of one percent ofyour guests want this:" Another cli-ent's concept was "an eclectic Medi-terranean restaurant:' I told him,"Have you ever said, 'I feel like having

eclectic Mediterranean tonight?'"Pennette has worked with star

chefs at casino and hotel restaurantswho "don't want to dirty their handswith breakfast, lunch, room serviceand banquets:' Yet banquets, not res-taurant dinner service, are the back-bone of the hotel business. CbS helpschefs adapt their Signature cuisine fora hotel's complete food service needs.

It was 15 years ago, when many

Fairfield County restaurants had whatPennette calis a "Pottery Barn" sensi-bility' "with friendly khaki-wearingstaff fumbling through:' that invest-ment banker Angelo DeCaro hiredhim to develop a restaurant wherethe food and environment "was notan obvious cliche:' Pennette signedemerging restaurant designer Da-vid Rockwell to create a hip, vibrantand colorful atmosphere for 54 ~

Pennette loves to give customers a thrill. Above, Lolita's in Greenwich. Above right, Bongos, top. and Tatu, two cbS-designed hotspots atthe Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

How to Make a Restaurant Hot, cb5 Style• Open strong-a great pre-opening party and preview dinners generate a buzz and get the excitement going.• Identify and invite "the players," the kingpins and catalysts in the market (every market is different). "Wetickle and seduce the right people," Pennette says. Everyone wants to hang out where the in-crowd does.• Give guests a "talking point" they'll remember and tell their friends about. At Bleu in Greenwich, the bath-room's see-through glass door frosted over when guests locked the door.• Confer style on your guests. Most can't afford to hire an interior decorator at home, but by hanging out at acool-looking restaurant, they "up their game." It reflects who they are.

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Sex Appeal

•••47 Baang. The Asian fusion menu wasan "homage to Chinois on Main;' a trendyL.A, restaurant. Next, Pennette took the con-cept to The Inn at Longshore in Westport,where Rockwell realized Pennettes vision fora playful Jules Verne experience with curv-ing blue mosaic walls and an indoor fountainat Splash, Both restaurants were instant suc-cesses, "I ran them using systems from cor-porate restaurants;' he says. Pennette tookDeCaro to Aspen, Colo., where they openedtwo more restaurants,

Pennette developed what he calls "TheBlueprint:' All the nuances-when to lightthe candles, when to turn up and turn downthe music, what type of music to play, how awaiter should approach guests, how to matchthe right waiter with a table of guests-need-ed to be bolted down. But when cb5 left asite, restaurant managers smudged The Blue-print-fake flowers replaced real ones, staffwore badges, chefs created long specials lists.So, Pennette added management to cb5'sservices.

Real estate mogul Barry Sternlicht called.He'd created Starwood Hotels and Resortsand wanted cb5 to create W Hotel restau-rants in Atlanta, Chicago, New Orleans andLos Angeles. Cb5 approached each as if itwere a freestanding entity, tailoring eachone to its particular location, and designingthem as destinations rather than hotel stand-bys. Cirque du Soleil called, asking for a VIPevents progran1. Then cbS took on the casinoindustry. Understanding the guest and cul-ture is key, Pennelte says. Las Vegas "is aboutmaking a regular guy feel special;' he says.But what works in Vegas doesn't necessarilywork at Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods, wheremore guests are day-trippers and spend lesstime dining.

As the economy slumped, Pennette de-cided that Greenwich "needed a shot of te-quila:' People were depressed, "even thoughthey were still rich and living great lives:'Wanting "to bring some sexy fun to town;'Pennette decided to open a restaurant forhimself. He'd indulge in everything his cor-porate clients couldn't. If it didn't work, "Icould take the hit:' He opened Lolita Cocina& Tequila bar two years ago in the Byramsection. He wanted a "hideaway;' a placepeople in the know-successful 35-to-55-years-olds-could turn their friends onto.Inside the dimly lit "Mexican Bordello" res-taurant, with its red flocked wallpaper andred-and-black glass chandeliers, loud mu-sic rocked. A sexy hostess greeted guests.Waiters brought complimentary grapefruitand mint granitas in bowls steaming withdry ice. The menu of 150 tequilas included

$100 shots to be sipped, not downed. Thefood was "jacked-up" Mexican street food-guacamole with lobster, grilled salmon withcoconut-lime broth, and quattro (not tres)leches cake. Pennette watched Lolita awak-en his customers' spirits. He loved givingthem a thrill.

Six months later, he opened Red LuluCocina & Tequila Bar on Washington Streetin South Norwalk. The concept was the same,but the market demographic was a good10 years younger. The blogosphere eruptedwith praise and scorn for the darkness anddeafening music. "Lulu was more aggressive,more bar-oriented;' Pennette says, a love-it-or-hate-it place. "People said, 'This guy's cra-zy: I tell them, 'This isn't the place to bringyour mother for nachos. When you are in theright mood for Lulu, come:" CbS opened aLolita in Boston last year. A Red Lulu openedin Salem, Mass., in October. Another Lolitais about to open in South Beach.

Last spring cbS opened Gabriele's, aninstantly successful high-end Italian steak-house, for a client in Greenwich. Then, ina l80-degree turn, Pennette opened ChinaWhite for himself. Born of his passion forgreat Chinese food and "wha(' the demo-graphic wants;' the food "is between P.EChang's and Chinatown;' he says, but withorganic, high-quality ingredients. UnlikeLolita and Red Lulu, the look is spare, white,modern; the music is low. A second ChinaWhite opened in Purchase, N.Y. CbS plansto expand the China White brand to about20 locations. CbS usually opens 8 to 10 res-taurants a year for its clients. By now, theteam is so adept it can open them in 7 to12 weeks.

Three years ago, Pennette married long-time girlfriend Jennifer Morelli in Venice.(They met when she worked for him at Splashas a hostess.) Their twins, Michael and Coco,are five months old. Being married is stillnew, but cbS gives Pennette a 9-to-S gig, andafter postponing being a family man for solong, Pennette says he is "deeply committedto enjoying my family life:' Jennifer is his "in-spiration and my filter on most creative deci-sions:' At home he relaxes by playing guitar.For his 50th birthday, Jennifer gave him anelectric guitar signed by Eddie Van Halen,who included a note saying, "Don't hang thison the wall. Play it:'

He and Jennifer throw parties at theirlarge house in backcountry Greenwich.Their four-acre lawn and pool allows for bigstaff events, with 100- foot slip-and -slides,"children's games for adults:' CbS chefs startcooking. They fire up Pennette's big gasgrill, the one he doesn't know how to oper-ate. "I'm the only one who's never used it;'he says.

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