Jonathan Morr

Bond St. Republic. Stand. It would be easy to call Jonathan Morr a restaurant visionary. But that’s only half the story. He was also the force behind APT, the forefather of such fixtures as Soho House and Norwood, and is the owner of the highly successful Townhouse Hotel in South Beach. We recently stole a moment with our friend and colleague to ask him about his secrets.

Base: You have a very strong track record, with the successes of Bond St, Republic, Townhouse, APT, and now Stand. Are there common factors that you find help ensure success?
Jonathan Morr: I’m not a chef. Most successful restauranteurs are chefs. Except for Keith McNally, Steve Hansen, and a few others. I therefore need to keep doing different things. Everything has to have a concept. Bond St is perhaps less a concept, but Bond St is really “me.” At the time it opened, there were few Japanese restaurants, except for Nobu and a few Midtown traditional ones. But really the success of the others is the concept behind it, a concept and the design. And, of course, the quality [of the cuisine] has to be there.

B: What led you into the hotel and restaurant business?
JM: Simple. It goes back to my childhood and traveling with my parents. I loved hotels, loved playing in hotels. I always wanted to be a hotel manager. So I went to a hotel management college in Switzerland. I worked in hotels for the first six years of my career, but when I went out on my own I started with restaurants.

B: How important is branding to your properties?
JM: Branding is more important when you want to do multiple stores of the same concept. I would love to have a “real brand.” I want Stand to be a brand.

B: You’ve been talking a lot recently about “good fast food.” Republic and Stand are both of this concept. Why are you becoming increasingly interested in this?
JM: I’ve always been interested in that concept. It probably has to do with the fact that I grew up in NYC, Europe, and Israel. In Israel we had no fast food. I was 16 when someone opened a McDonald’s equivalent called Burger Ranch. As children we were deprived of fast food. It was a treat. But in Europe you have a different quality of food. In the US the quality is blah, so I wanted to bring the “treat” aspect and the quality here.
My whole thing is: fast food doesn’t have to be bad food. For the same amount of money, you can produce bad pizza, average pizza, or good pizza. The second day I was in NYC, I had this idea to do a hot dog shop. Real, quality hot dogs. There weren’t that many hot dog chains. At the time there was Nathan’s. But few that were quality. There’s a lot of room in the market for good fast food. I mean, fast food really feeds the people. It’s not like a Bond St. There’s something really nice about feeding the people.

B: You recently opened Bond St Beverly Hills. How is the restaurant business different in LA than NYC?
JM: It’s different in many ways. Eating habits, for one. LA is an 8 p.m. town. It’s a one-seating type of town. The walk-in factor is a lot less than NYC, and since people drive, they drink less. Bond St in NYC is generally fully reserved. However, I always leave room for walk-ins; it’s good for business. In NYC, it’s important to develop a culture. You should be able to walk in and at least get a seat at the sushi bar without reservations. In LA, there are very few walk-ins. Speaking of reservations, in NYC we take reservations and we’ll confirm day of. If we can’t get a hold of you, please call back by 3 p.m. to confirm. In LA: “What do you mean I have to call you back?”
Also, as far as permits are concerned, especially with the Health Department, they are a lot more strict in LA. You get a rating that you have to put on your door—it’s in your face. It took us two months to be approved by the Health Department. But I like that! I like the fact that we’re forced to be clean. Thankfully we got a 99 rating.

B: I’ve seen you agonize with your Bond St chefs over “broth that should be slightly more pink.” Or eat burgers for one month straight so that they tasted exactly right. Why do you see such attention to detail as necessary?
JM: I’m still struggling with that soup, by the way! I don’t want to call myself a perfectionist but consistency is the most important thing. Whether it’s Stand or Republic, I know what I want and I work with the chefs to get it right. It has to be perfect all the time. Stand, for example, can be whatever… it’s a new menu. But here [Bond St LA], we’re doing the same menu. We’re working with new chefs and training them to have it be the same. It’s imperative.

B: You’ve worked a great deal with French architect and interior designer India Mahdavi. What attracts you to her work?
JM: First of all, I love India. We’re very good friends. One of the things I like the most is the process of working with her. Spending a week at the Costes, going to see furniture, being in her studio. In short, I just love her “product.” I think she’s brilliant, a genius. She can reinvent herself and evolve all the time. She constantly pushes herself! India’s furniture makes me happy. I love having her stuff around me.
Also, with India I can jump from APT to Townhouse, and one [style] has nothing to do with the other and I don’t repeat myself. The good thing is we work really well together. We have that chemistry. At the end of the day, the best products out there are the best owner plus best designer and the chemistry they have together. Look at Andre [Balazs] plus [Christian] Liaigre for the Mercer. Or [Philippe] Starck plus Ian [Schrager] and the Royalton. Chemistry is key. When I asked India to design APT, she initially said no. She said, “I don’t know anything about clubs.” I said, “That’s exactly why I want you!” Same with Mainland in that it’s weird to have her do it. It’s all about communal seating. With India, she was able to push the communal seating to a different level.

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