How Frankie’s Grew Its Wine Program to $2 Million | John Paterson
Michelin-awarded restaurateur Josh Kopel sits down with John Paterson on FULL COMP — the show where Josh Kopel unpacks the tactics, tools, and strategies of the world’s best restaurateurs.
John Paterson runs Frankie’s, the Brooklyn neighborhood restaurant that has been open for 20 years, and he grew its wine program from roughly a million and change to about $2 million a year without turning it into a fine-dining room — no tablecloths, staff in t-shirts, 50 seats and a garden. His argument to Josh Kopel is that value perception, not price, is the real lever: in a neighborhood where guests are paying five, six, seven thousand dollars a month in rent or buying ten-to-twelve-million-dollar houses, the constraint was never willingness to spend, it was whether the experience justified the spend. He breaks down the high-low juxtaposition that makes it work — serious wine served in a room where nobody has to put on a suit — and why that combination outperforms both the casual and the formal versions of the same restaurant.
Paterson traces the path from Montgomery, Alabama, where his mother catered out of the house and his parents bought their first restaurant in 2001 — a 40-seat room open only 11am to 2pm Monday through Friday that was on a wait by 11:05 — through 12 years in New York to becoming an owner himself two and a half years ago. He is direct about what nobody discussed at the family dinner table: the ugly, nitty-gritty parts of ownership that only surface once the business is yours.
The back half is a clinic on community as a growth strategy rather than a marketing slogan. Paterson explains the boots-on-the-ground work that built Frankie’s in its first five years, why a dining room where 50% of guests have never visited before is an enormous untapped opportunity, and how he treats reviews: a bad review is, 100% of the time, a failure on his part to meet the expectations of the person who walked through the door — realistic or not — because those guests paid exactly the same amount as the ones who left great reviews. He closes on listening, adapting, and the specific lessons that came from opening in an unfamiliar market.
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⏱ CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
09:57 Frankie’s: Embracing Authenticity and Community
20:03 Value Perception: Crafting Experiences Worth Paying For
30:02 Building a Brand: Community Engagement and Marketing Strategies
32:34 Navigating the Challenges of New Markets
34:36 The Importance of Listening and Adapting
45:34 Lessons Learned: The Journey of Entrepreneurship
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🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS
• John’s journey began in Montgomery, Alabama, influenced by his family’s catering business.
• He gained early restaurant experience working for his parents’ restaurant.
• College years in Charleston shaped his passion for fine dining and hospitality.
• Internship at the French Laundry was a pivotal moment in his career.
• Moved to New York to pursue a career in wine and hospitality.
• Worked at notable restaurants like Craft Bar and Nomad, learning from industry leaders.
• Joined Frankie’s, where he focused on enhancing the wine program and overall guest experience.
• Believes in creating a welcoming atmosphere without pretension at Frankie’s.
• Value is perceived differently by each customer, and quality matters.
• Community engagement is key to building a loyal customer base. Doing things that don’t scale can make you a category killer.
• Providing tools and training is essential for team success.
• Hospitality is about loving people and effective communication.
• Listening to customer feedback is crucial for improvement.
• Adapting to local markets requires flexibility and responsiveness.
• Negative reviews are opportunities for growth and learning.
• Every restaurant experience is a performance; treat it as such.
• Maintaining authenticity while adapting to customer demands is key.
• Entrepreneurship involves a lot of guessing and learning from mistakes.
• Comfort with discomfort is essential for success in the restaurant industry.
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ABOUT THE HOST
Josh Kopel is a Michelin-awarded restaurateur, founder of Restaurant Scaling
Systems, and the host of FULL COMP. After two decades operating restaurants —
from fast casual to fine dining — Josh Kopel now teaches independent restaurant
owners how to build profitable restaurants that run without them.
For free restaurant marketing tools and trainings from Josh Kopel, visit
https://joshkopel.com
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