In an industry where job hopping is common, Tom Hart, general manager of Smith & Wollensky’s flagship steakhouse in Manhattan, stands apart. He has been with the eatery since it opened nearly 30 years ago and has seen the concept expand to nine restaurants across the United States. Hart has played a key role in contributing to the success of the restaurant, which last year reported $27.1 million in sales.
Hart met Alan Stillman, Smith & Wollensky’s founder and chief executive, when he was a teen working as a waiter at Stillman’s now-shuttered eatery Tuesday’s. When the New York Smith & Wollensky location was in development, Hart took a demotion to be part of the opening team. Within a month, he was promoted from box lifter to steward, and by 1984 he was named general manager. Since then, the restaurant has served more than 850,000 meals.
What keeps you at the restaurant?
I was very lucky and very fortunate to have two guys take a chance and make me general manager at 27, Alan Stillman and operations director Mike Byrne, my mentor. I felt I had to give something back to them because they gave me an opportunity. I have a tremendous amount of very good people who work for me—seven who started with me, and 20 others who have been with me 25 years or more.
How do you explain the longevity?
This is a fun place to work. We are in one of the best cities in the world in one of the busiest restaurants in the country. We see all kinds of customers, and we are very busy all the time. We are covered by a union, and we pay above union wages. We treat staff with respect, and respect comes back to me and back to Alan and back to the customer.
How do you empower your staff?
I allow them to be entrepreneurial. They can correct a situation by picking up the check or buying a bottle of wine to make sure the guest has a great experience. It makes them feel like it is their place, and they don’t have to go check with the boss. It can make all the difference from someone leaving here unhappy and telling 10 people and someone telling 20 people what a great experience they had in spite of something going wrong. Fortunately, it doesn’t happen often.
How have dining habits changed?
Before the tax law changed in 1987 to reduce the write-off for business lunches, our lunch business was double what it is now. At the same time, our dinner business has grown [by] four or five times. Business people don’t have time for lunch like they did years ago. At dinner there is drinking and entertaining going on. People are more health-conscious, so we offer more salads and fish. At lunch we are 50 percent nonmeat. At dinner we are 20 percent nonmeat.
FAST FACTS EDUCATION: one year at Baruch College, City University of New YorkEXPERIENCE: 30 years with Smith & WollenskyAGE: 50BIRTHPLACE: Bronx, N.Y.
What are your challenges?
There is so much competition. In the early 1990s there were 15 to 20 steakhouses in New York. Today there are 125. You are going to get a very good steak in most steakhouses. The difference is how you are treated.
We always make guests feel welcome, and we always make a gesture whether it is buying them a dessert or giving them a glass of champagne to start the evening off.
What makes a good manager?
The best managers I have hired or worked with or promoted had back-of-the-house experience, and the more [they had], the better they were. You have to understand what the problems are back in the kitchen. No one can give you a story that you will buy, because you’ve lived it.