CEO Corner by GLEAM Network
Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Grove Bay Hospitality On The Importance Of Building A Successful Company Through Respect and Core Values.
Meet Francesco Balli — Francesco co-founded Grove Bay Hospitality Group in 2010, with the goal of becoming an industry leader in innovative and profitable restaurant concepts. Since its inception, the group has successfully launched an array of concepts, ranging from fast-casual eateries to celebrity chef-driven restaurants. Balli was instrumental in securing a 50-year lease with the City of Miami for three restaurants, a 300 boat marina, and 60,000 sq. ft. of retail space on a 7-acre waterfront property in Coconut Grove, previously known as the Charthouse and Scotty’s Landing property. Francesco was recognized by Ernst & Young, as a finalist in the Entrepreneur of the Year 2018 Florida Awards program, the awards program recognizes entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellent and extraordinary success in areas such as financial performance, innovation, and commitment to their businesses and communities.
Before co-founding Grove Bay, Francesco was the CFO and Vice President of Finance at Areas USA, Inc., an airport and turnpike concessions operator with over 125 points of sale across nine airports and two turnpikes. As the CFO and Vice President of Finance at Areas USA, Francesco helped grow the company to over $220 million in annual sales. Before leaving Areas USA in 2010, Francesco assisted in winning the Florida Turnpike concession. Valued at over $6 billion, it was the largest turnpike concession contract in US history. Before Areas USA, Francesco served as a Manager for Ernst & Young’s Assurance Advisory and Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services department where he assisted clients such as DuPont, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Del Monte Foods, PNC Bank, and Miami Air.
Francesco holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Florida, a Master of Business Administration degree from Florida International University and is a Certified Public Accountant. During his leisure time, Francesco enjoys traveling with his wife, Betty, and their two kids.
Thank you for taking the time to chat with us today. Can you share with us a little bit more about your company and where the idea for Grove Bay Hospitality Group came from? In order for me to answer this, I think it’s relevant to share a little history of our backgrounds. Ignacio and I were born & raised in Miami and have been friends since High School. We studied at the University of Florida together, both studying accounting and we got our master’s degrees in FIU. He studied accounting and I got an MBA. We both had similar career paths too. We both worked for “Big 4” accounting firms. He was at Deloitte and I was at Ernst & Young. We both ended up in CFO roles at large restaurant companies. He specifically was at Shula’s Steakhouses and then at 50 Eggs. I was the CFO of a Spanish-based company called Areas USA which operated restaurants inside of the airport and turnpike travel plazas. Both in the restaurant industry but his background was more street-side operations and mine was more concession operations. Nevertheless, we both learned the restaurant “backward”… we learned it from the business and financial side first, and then we learned about the operations. This is not traditional. Traditionally, people in our industry are operation or culinary people who start restaurants and then sometimes struggle with the financial and business aspects of the restaurant. The restaurant business is a business first and so this special background of ours gave us a cutting edge. We both loved restaurants and going out to eat and drink but knowing the business side of it, it motivated us to start our own business. Ignacio and I always had an entrepreneurial spirit. We always wanted to own our businesses but did not know what type of business. Turns out, the restaurant business found us. In 2009, Ignacio and I decided we wanted to open our own Shula’s franchise and so we started looking for locations and in Oct. 2010 we opened our first restaurant. It wasn’t until 2013 when we acquired our 2nd restaurant, which was located inside Miami International Airport, North Terminal. This restaurant was a licensing deal with the Corona beer brand, called Corona Beach House. We later referred to our first restaurants as our “legacy restaurants” because they came from our former CFO backgrounds. In 2013, we were also afforded the opportunity through the City of Miami to submit a bid on the redevelopment of waterfront 7 acres in Coconut Grove where the former Scotty’s Landing and Charthouse restaurants were located. It was then when we decided to name ourselves Grove Bay Hospitality Group and set out to create a Hospitality Group born & raised in Miami with deep roots in its community. We opened an office in Coconut Grove and we submitted our competitive bid for this redevelopment project which consisted of three restaurants, a 400 boat dry-dock marina, 40,000 square feet of retail, and a 300 car parking garage. In June of 2013, we were awarded the contract and because it was waterfront property, the City of Miami charter required the contract to go to vote for the citizens of Miami. In November of 2013, the citizens of Miami voted 63% in favor of our project! This project is an 80-year lease with the City of Miami. It was at that moment we decided to start creating our own concepts and start teaming up with chefs to create cool and inviting concepts. Glass & Vine was the first concept we created with a chef. The Coconut Grove project was named Regatta Harbour and its first restaurant is scheduled to open in late Fall 2021.
You have successfully partnered with an impressive list of Celebrity Chefs to develop and lead your concepts. Has this always been the vision of GBHG or has this evolved over the years? Like I mentioned earlier, we decided to take this approach with our third restaurant, which was Glass & Vine. Glass & Vine is located inside Peacock Park, formally the location of one of Miami’s first hotels, the Bay View House (later changed to Peacock Inn) established by Charles Peacock. This location was also a competitive bid offered by the City of Miami and we were awarded the 35-year lease in 2015 and opened the restaurant in March of 2016. Since then we have teamed up with several other chefs like Jeremy Ford, Jeff McInnis, Janine Booth, and Marcus Samuelsson. Not all of our restaurants are chef-driven though. We have developed concept-forward restaurants like Public Square and the restaurant that will open at Regatta Harbour, called Bayshore Club.
You and your co-founder are Co-CEOs. Even in the best of companies, navigating a co-CEO dynamic can be challenging. But yet you and Ignacio continue to thrive and have a solid friendship, even off-hours. What is your secret? Can you share some insight on how you are both able to make this work? It has worked well for us. Ignacio and I have been friends since high school. We went to the University of Florida together and studied accounting. We studied for the CPA exam together. Our kids are friends. Our working relationship starts with a deep-rooted friendship, which we realize is a very unique situation. Nevertheless, being Co-CEO’s could still be a challenging scenario. I think it works for us because three very important things happen: 1) We never come with an ego to work, ever. Checking your ego at the door is huge when wanting to have efficient, effective, productive, and impactful meetings. 2) We respect each other greatly. and 3) We are hands-on owners and leaders; we are involved in every aspect of the business. However, we have a clear understanding of each other’s roles and strengths.
Your company has some pretty strong ethos, and you continuously deepen your connection to the communities around you. How do you instill these values into your team, particularly new hires? Our mission statement is To Enhance People’s Lives — One Person and One Neighborhood at a Time. We strive to achieve our mission statement through living by our four core values: Exceptional Hospitality, People Focused, Community & Corporate Citizenship, and Performance. Exceptional Hospitality is about exceeding our guests’ expectations with memorable dining experiences by paying attention to every detail and taking care of their every need. People Focused is about fostering a working environment where employees, management, and ownership respect, trust and take care of each other. Our Community core value is about being a good corporate citizen and recognized member of our community. Performance is about providing our investors with a positive return. We truly believe if we exceed our guests’ expectations, if we treat our people well and be active members of our community, the performance will take care of itself. Instilling our culture in our team members is incredibly important to us and not always an easy task. We do this through a series of initiatives including extensive initial training for all new hires, welcome breakfast meeting for our new management hires, hosting a robust training & social portal we call Grove Bay Connect, hosting an annual team-building event for all managers, and visiting the restaurants as often as possible.
You came from a CPA background and pivoted into the restaurant industry. If you had to do it all over again, would you make the same decision? As I mentioned in my earlier response, Ignacio and I learned this business “backward”… by learning the financial and business aspects of restaurants before learning about operations. Our past experiences at the large accounting firms we worked at (i.e., Ernst & Young and Deloitte) gave tremendous insight and knowledge on how to create a culture about treating people fairly, with dignity, and respect. Unfortunately, the restaurant industry is notoriously known for not treating its people great. We wanted to change that and I think we are changing this. I would do it all over again, in a heartbeat.
What is the best career advice a mentor has given to you that still resonates with you to this day? Our main investor and friend shared one with me a long time ago and it has stuck with me all these years. The original quote is in Spanish but translates well. “There is no such thing as bad business with good people and no such thing as good business with bad people.” I liked this quote because it further solidifies the fact that business is about people. Even more true with restaurants, surrounding your business and yourself with good people, will help make for a successful restaurant!
If you enjoyed Francesco’s story and would like to connect with him directly, you can follow Francesco on Instagram.
GLEAM Network is a non-profit, volunteer-based organization whose purpose is to provide access to mentorship and leadership development to underserved professionals in the restaurant and foodservice industry. With a bold vision to be a truly global, and the most effective, mentoring network for our communities in the industry, our organization provides low / no-cost access to all programs. At GLEAM, we believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to learn by engaging with others who are more experienced and to advance their careers by building expertise and developing themselves. Founded during the pandemic to serve the needs of an industry hard-hit by closures and rocked by an uncertain future, GLEAM Network is the only organization of its kind in the Restaurant/Foodservice Industry. Learn more about GLEAM Network, our mission, and our 1:1 Mentor Programs on our website.
