Today we’d like to introduce you to Gerardo Sarmiento.
Hi Gerardo, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I came to the US to study in college in 1978. Graduated with an electrical engineering degree and a masters degree in management. My plan was to return to Peru but what started as “practical training” in a high tech company continued for the rest of my professional career and never went back. I worked for several large communications and technology companies and rose through the ranks with my last position at Compaq in Houston as VP running the consulting division for Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2002, when HP bought Compaq, I decided to take the “buyout” package and effectively “temporarily” retired from the corporate world – I thought it would last a couple of years. In 2004 my wife and I moved to the Cypress area (northwest Houston suburb) and found it a real challenge to find a good place to go out for dinner and we normally ended up driving all the way into town. In 2005, and through the miracles of chance and opportunity, I thought that we could invest in a new high quality restaurant to cover the void. After a long, exciting, frustrating and scary construction phase we opened our doors in December of 2005 – just in time for the holidays. I must note that neither my wife or I had any experience in the restaurant business – never worked in one in any capacity; we just knew what we liked in a restaurant. After the first 2 years of intense money pressures (we had no loans and no investors – it was all our savings and retirement money) we had to make a decision: should we cut our losses and just shut it down (it was consistently losing money and we kept bailing it it out), or continue and turn it around. But to continue someone had to get the hands dirty and move from hands-off investor to hands-on operator. Since my wife still had her corporate job (salary + health benefits) I decided I would give it a shot – I was unemployed anyway! Making a long story short I became the chef, sommelier, business manager and full time operator of the business. Thankfully cooking professionally came naturally to me (at age 49). Later I traveled to the Culinary Institute of America in New York on weekends to learn the basics and couple that with my cooking instincts. My business background helped me tremendously in controlling all the important aspects (inventory, cost, cash flow, etc.)
In November of 2007 we were “discovered” by fame food critic Alison Cook of the Houston Chronicle. She gave us a raving review and we were now on the map of Houston’s dining scene. Later we made it among the Top 100 Restaurants in Houston for several years in a row. We never looked back.
In 2011 my wife (Adriana) retired from her corporate job and joined full time at the restaurant. She now takes care of the front of the house while I manage the kitchen and the overall operation.
In 2009 what started as a hobby – traveling with friends to wine and dine destinations in the world – became a real, and separate, business that later we incorporated as Mezzanotte Luxury Tours.
So now we have two thriving businesses: the restaurant and the travel business. We are a very busy couple. We have been married 21 years and have one son that was born with the restaurant. He has worked in the kitchen and in the front and help us as bartender on weekends when he comes home from A&M in College Station.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Absolutely not. We were on the brink of bankruptcy back in 2006 and took determination, resilience, confidence and hard work to turn the business around. Today (almost 21 years later) I would say the restaurant is a “well oiled machine” but the challenges show up on a daily basis. And we need to prove ourselves everyday.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a family owned and operated business and we are very proud of the quality of our product and our service. We do not cut corners – we source the highest quality ingredients. We are also very proud of our team. We have managed to retain our employees for over a decade – we have employees that have been with us for 19 years, 15 years, 12 years. We treat everyone as family – and that includes employees and customers. We know most customers by name – we have a big following of regulars and many of them have become personal friends.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Ours is not merely a business. Our Italian restaurant is our life! We have met most of our close friends here, as customers. We have mourned the passing of some of our dear friends. But we have also celebrated many happy moments: cancer remissions, wedding proposals and engagements, children baptisms.
Our other company (Mezzanotte Luxury Tours) started as a hobby in 2009 but grew to the point that we created a spinoff of the restaurant as a separate business entity some years later. Our travel business has allowed us to see the world in the company of many friends going to exciting destinations. We have many recurring travelers also – couples that have been with us to 15 tours!!
In general we would like them to know that when they visit Mezzanotte Ristorante they are not coming just to eat Italian food. They come for a dining experience created and run by a real dedicated and caring family.
Pricing:
- not cheap but well worth it
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mezzanotteristorante.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mezzanotte_tx
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mezzanotte.tx
- LinkedIn: Gerry Sarmiento
