H I G H C O T T O N / S O U T H E R N L E A D E R S T E L L A L L

eed Dulany and Jamie Durrence met when Dulany was seeking a restaurant

manager for Local 11ten Food & Wine. Durrence told him he’d only take the position provided that, if he made the restaurant more profitable, they would then expand the business—which is exactly what they did. The expansion gave birth to Daniel Reed Hospitality (their middle names combined), which owns eateries Local 11ten, Perch, The Public Kitchen & Bar and Soho South Cafe.

LEADERSHIP STYLEHow do you lead your staff ? Leadership is only possible by leading through example. I don’t expect our employees to do a task that I wouldn’t do myself. An employee who consistently shows initiative is someone whom we consider extremely valuable. Honesty in the workplace is absolutely essential. We are loyal to our employees and they are very loyal to us.

ON MOTIVATIONWhat wakes you up in the morning and motivates you to get things accomplished? Anyone who knows me will tell you that sitting still certainly isn’t one of my strengths. I’m motivated by progress. Each and every day is an opportunity to be a better person than you were the day before.

THE BRIEF MOTIVATION BY THE NUMBERS

DANIEL REEDHOSPITALITY GROUP

R

60%locals

40%tourists140 7

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEESCUSTOMERS YEARS IN BUSINESS

95%EMPLOYEE

RETENTION RATE

THE DANIEL REED HOSPITALITY GROUPWHEN JAMIE DURRENCE STEPPED IN AS THE LEADERSHIP ROLE FOR THIS POPULAR RESTAURANT GROUP, NO ONE COULD PREDICT WHAT A DIFFERENCE ONE MAN COULD MAKE

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JAMIE DURRENCE’S TIPS TO TRACKING DOWN A GREAT RESTAURANT LOCATIONPHYSICAL LOCATION & VISIBILITY: “Location, location, location! The best location will minimize your risk and strengthen your investment.”

REASONABLE LEASE OR OWNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY: “Getting into a relationship with an unreasonable landlord or moving forward with an over-priced property can sink your ship before you have set sail. Also, if a location or its price seems too good to be true — then it probably is.”

LEAD WITH NUMBERS, NOT EMOTIONS: “Being passionate and overly emotional about a business venture can lead to making poor decisions. The numbers don’t lie. Start with your projected revenue, be realistic and work backwards from there.”

What things do you do to motivate your employees?Our retention rate is incredibly high. We find that, by providing a better workplace environment than our competition, our employees are motivated to be a part of the team. We rarely have new opportunities to hire. This is not the status quo in the restaurant industry. Our focus isn’t always on the bottom line—in fact, it’s just the opposite. We’re in business to make money, naturally, but our focus is on improving the quality of life for people. At least twice a year, we close all our locations so we can get our staff and management together and have a good time. This is a very expensive thing to do, but it’s invaluable. We definitely know how to have a good time and we throw one hell of a party.

BIG CHALLENGESWhat was the biggest challenge that you faced personally in building your business? Moving forward in business, at times, requires severing relationships with employees who fail to reach their potential. It’s always challenging to terminate people, even if it’s for their own personal development. I’ve had to terminate some very close relationships and I always find that to be a big challenge.What was the biggest challenge you faced professionally in building your business? Renovating the space for The Public Kitchen & Bar was extremely challenging. I spent almost every single day on location

from sun up until sun down. I have a good bit of experience with construction-related projects, but this one was much more challenging than anyone thought it would be. It was an exhausting time and it taught me a great deal about having patience in business.

THE GOALWhat’s next for Daniel Reed? We continually look for ways to expand and usually have at least two projects in the hopper. I think groups often expand too rapidly and dilute their point of view. We want each project to be special. When the next Daniel Reed location is announced, anyone familiar with our brand will know that a lot of energy and thought went into that decision. I feel this gives us a competitive advantage. You can’t just expand for the sake of expanding.

ON MARKETING AND COMMUNITYWhy Savannah? What draws you to this city? I grew up outside of Savannah on a working farm and spent many of my younger years visiting the city. Savannah has always felt extremely comfortable to me. Savannah’s beauty and quality of life is on par with anywhere I’ve even been. I feel fortunate that I never wake up wishing I was anywhere else, with the exception of vacationing in St. Barthelemy.

ON INNOVATIONWhat’s the next big trend in fine dining? We’re always looking for

what’s new—and things don’t stay “new” for long. We are hesitant when it comes to trends and believe that quality and consistency lead to longevity. I think that there will be a renewed interest in wine programs and that interaction with sommeliers will become more prominent in higher-end locations in smaller cities, much like it is now in larger cities.

THE BALANCING ACT— WORK AND HOME LIFEWhat things do you do to keep your life in balance? I try to enjoy things that are important outside of the workplace, like spending time with my close-knit circle of friends, most of whom work with me on a daily basis. I also enjoy working out, restoration projects and training to be a better airplane pilot.

THE BUILDINGSThe Public Kitchen won an AIA Award of Excellence—how proud are you of how the restaurant space turned out? Public produced more challenges than any other project we’ve done. We treat each challenge as an opportunity instead of a problem. That pushes us to be more creative.Why did you decide that the décor was so important to the restaurant’s success? We are not big believers in gimmicks. Our mission is to preserve and restore landmark locations, and we try to reclaim as much of the original integrity of the architecture as we can and enhance it with supporting design. This results in the creation of a strong sense of place where guests enjoy spending time. n

The Public Kitchen & Baron Liberty and Bull Street

in Downtown Savannah

Local 11tenin Savannah

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