Marc Schulman has not forgotten his formative years growing up in the restaurant owned by his parents, Eli and Esther Schulman, longtime operators of Eli’s The Place for Steak in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood. Working in that restaurant, which closed three years ago after a nearly 40-year run, shaped Schulman’s values about running a business in the best interests of both customers and employees.
Eli’s, which opened in 1966, was well-known in its day as a gathering place for upwardly mobile Chicagoans and visiting celebrities. Beginning as a steakhouse with some Jewish deli favorites, Eli’s menu evolved to include lighter items but always sold a lot of its special desserts.
The late Eli Schulman developed his signature cheesecake as the house dessert for the restaurant. Though he wanted to have a product that was so good that other restaurateurs would buy it to serve to their customers, he never dreamed that the cheesecake business would become as big as it has. Today, 15,000 Eli’s cheesecakes are made daily in more than 100 variations and sold all over the United States and in some foreign countries.
His son runs the cheesecake manufacturing business but keeps his hand in restaurants by overseeing the Cheesecake Café, open for breakfast, lunch and catering functions at the facility.
How did you end up in the foodservice business?
After working six and seven days a week all his life, my dad didn’t want me to go into the business, so he sent me off to law school. I practiced real estate and corporate law for five years but wanted to go back to foodservice.
What lessons from your restaurant background are you applying to the cheesecake manufacturing business?
FAST FACTS AGE: 53HOMETOWN: ChicagoEDUCATION: University of Denver, bachelor’s degree in finance; Northwestern University Law School, law degreePERSONAL: married, three childrenHOBBIES: collecting Chicago history memorabilia, tennis, travel
In two of the busiest restaurants I’ve seen, the owner-operator was always there. I learned from my dad to pay attention to the customers and the business. He was a good host and believed quality and value are important.
How do you keep the story of your parents and Eli’s the Place for Steak from being forgotten?
We still have the Eli Schulman playground across the street from where the restaurant was, and people enjoy it. That will have a lasting impact. I do a lot of tours at Eli’s Cheesecake World and talk about the amazing history of creating this signature product. People always want to see the Cartier watch that Frank Sinatra gave my dad in 1987, shortly before he died.
Explain a little about the Cheesecake Café at Eli’s Cheesecake World bakery.
We use the cafe for consumer research. It’s open for breakfast and lunch seven days. We have outdoor dining with a garden in the summertime, and we grill outside during the farmers markets. It’s been great because sometimes when you’re in manufacturing, you lose touch with seeing your customers. I have the opportunity to talk to the guests, so I still continue to be an operator.
Do you think you’ll ever open another restaurant like Eli’s the Place for Steak?
We had a lot of success, and the restaurant industry is a very exciting industry to be in, but it’s more complicated today. It’s become such a capital-intensive business. But it’s definitely possible.