Reinventing BBQ & Busting Vegan Myths – Kerry Fitzmaurice, Founder of Pure Grit BBQ

If you want to hear what it’s like to open a restaurant in 2022 - listen to Kerry Fitzmaurice, Founder of Pure Grit BBQ.  She found her Chef on Instagram during the pandemic, started with selling sauces, then did pop-ups, and recently opened her first location in NYC in May. 

Not only is she reinventing what BBQ looks and taste like, but she’s on a mission to make it accessible and delicious for anyone -  carnivores, omnivores and plant-eaters!

She shares her early journey with us, all the ups and downs, and the happy guest and team moments that make it all worthwhile.  

Show Highlights 

• Feeling excluded from eating BBQ at SXSW led her to start Pure Grit
• Pure Grit isn’t only for vegans, it’s for anyone that wants a delicious meal
• Discovering her #1 selling item by accident (burning it!)
• The importance of being in the restaurant every day to see what’s happening
• How the NYC Restaurant community has embraced and supported her
• The growing vegan fast-casual concepts - like Hart House 
• How you can help!

Connect with Kerry on LinkedIn here
Learn more about Pure Grit BBQ

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Jen Kern: So, all I can do is listen, respect, understand. And my thing is like, I'm learning how to calm down, right? It's my baby, it's my passion, you know, I love it. And, like, I tell the story, and when I was a baby when I was a little kid, this is our family iconic story about me, we had a durable, I loved that durable. Good morning everyone. Welcome to Restaurants Reinvented. This is Jen Kern, and today I have another on fire, fabulous female coming onto our show. Her name is Kerry Fitzmaurice, and by way of a quick introduction, Carrie started her career as an environmental economist, we'll learn a little bit more about that later. And then spent 25, I'm just gonna say they were glamorous and exhausting years, as an advertising PR and marketing executive, where she worked with some pretty impressive brands like, I don't know, Sonos, Target, Exxon I saw on there. Really impressive background. 

[00:01:22] And then, in the pandemic, brought a dream to life with a vegan barbecue restaurant. Opening this restaurant as recent as four months ago in New York city, of all places, The Big Apple, one of my favorite cities on Earth.

[00:01:38] She's also been featured recently in an article about female executives in a male-dominated industry, not only restaurants but the barbecue industry overall, and what it was like for her getting VC funding and things like that. So, we're gonna dive into all things restauranting today. Carrie, welcome to the show.

[00:01:57] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here. I'm a huge fan. And I consider your show sort of the one place to go for all the information on what's happening and what's new and cutting edge and where we should be focusing our efforts in the restaurant business. So, thank you for having your podcast.

[00:02:14] It's awesome.

[00:02:15] Jen Kern: Super humbled. Well, I will say this is my passion project. It's, brings me so much joy. In fact, my t-shirt today has joy on it because I love podcasting, and it means a lot to me that it's been helpful to you. So, thank you for sharing that. I also want you to share where you were last night.

[00:02:31] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Last night was such an incredible night. We had the amazing opportunity of catering the backstage friends and family for the Red Hot Chili Peppers of MetLife. And so, yeah, it was, I mean, it was a moment. It was incredible. The band is so incredible. I am such a child of like, you know, the eighties and nineties and the Red Hot Chili Peppers were just a big part of my, you know, coming of age and to that full circle moment of coming back and actually being able to feed them our food and have them love it, I can't explain it, it was amazing. 

[00:03:05] And then to stay and watch the show, and I'm still on a high, let's just put it that way. I'm still on a high that I had that incredible opportunity to, you know, to serve them. It's, like, such an honor.

[00:03:16] Jen Kern: Oh, my Gosh. Well, congratulations. That's huge. I mean, listen, you've only been in business a few short months, and I know you're out there really hustling, grinding and working and trying to get your brand and your amazing, very unique and distinctive food in front of people and to get. Entrance into something like that.

[00:03:32] And I love concerts. Like, I love music and live performing and all that good stuff. And, oh, what was your favorite song, by the way?

[00:03:40] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Oh, my God. I mean, it's probably the, you know, like Suck My Kiss is like, you know, or Under the Bridge, right? Like, they, like you forget, they're such an amazing, they've been doing it for so long, and they're in such great shape, and they're incredible that it's like, you forget how many amazing songs they have.

[00:03:56] Like, and then you're sitting there, you're like, "Oh, my God. Oh, right. Oh, right. Oh, right. And so, it was just like, "Give it away, give it away, give it away now." Like, everybody's, like, screaming and jumping, and the strokes opened up for them. It was just like a core memory night.

[00:04:09] Jen Kern: Nice. Well, we're gonna keep those endorphins humming along here on the show. You know, all things, all things restauranting, I really wanna dive in and talk to you about what it was like to open a restaurant in 2022. You're the first one I've had on the show that is a brand new restauranter. 

[00:04:27] And everything I've seen in restaurants since I started working in them, when I was like 14, to today, when I'm working in them on the technology side, but still, like, very deeply ingrained in restaurants. There's been so much change and evolution. So, I'd love for you to share, like, what was it like for you opening a restaurant in 2022?

[00:04:49] Kerry Fitzmaurice: I think, you know, to your point, it's I don't know what I don't know. So, I didn't open a restaurant prior to 2022. I did, I never had a restaurant prior to the pandemic, so I have no comparison. I can only say what I know now. So, it took, you know, I've been formulating and working on the concept of what plant-based barbecue could mean and look like for three years.

[00:05:13] So, I felt very ready to open a restaurant. And what was nice is I had spent those three years working through my ideas with somebody that already owned restaurants in Manhattan, this guy named Chris Pizzimenti. He owns Al Horno Lean Mexican Kitchen it's a chain of restaurants in Manhattan. And I was really able to sit down with him and talk to him.

[00:05:32] And I learned a lot from him and he helped me negotiate a lease in one of his prior spaces 'cause he was downsizing. He was able to help me with, you know, my expectations for sales. He helped me, I kept his staff, and I was able to work with them and re, retrain them on our menu. It really has been this community effort.

[00:05:55] And I think I, I mentioned to you before, New York City has this WhatsApp group that's like New York City restaurants. And it was formed in the beginning of the pandemic. And I was invited to join it because I was helping the restaurants put together marketing, like, cross-promotion marketing, so that the restaurants could support each other.

[00:06:11] So, we were helping them with assets. But we were also asking for advice, and we were listening and figuring out, hearing their problems, and then also trying to learn from them. So, it's really been, to your point, it's like, "This is an incredible community, and we all wanna help and support each other."

[00:06:27] And I've only felt that from day one. So, it's been beautiful, and it's been hard. I mean, it's also, you open a restaurant, we opened on May 17, then that second strain of COVID kind of swept through the city and heat waves and New Yorkers leaving town, and we're trying to get our message out there.

[00:06:49] And it's been as awesome as I thought it would be and also as hard as I thought it would be. It's not easy, but it's rewarding, as you know, I mean, it's, it's very rewarding.

[00:07:01] Jen Kern: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I appreciate, I appreciate both sides of that spectrum, right? I mean, it's something that you've been wanting to do and came to you. I'd like you to explain a little bit about that. Like, where did you get this idea of vegan barbecue?

[00:07:18] Kerry Fitzmaurice: I was in, three years ago, a little over three years ago, I was in, I was at South by Southwest for work. And it's a very, you know, awesome barbecue town in Austin, Texas, and lots of famous pitmasters. And a lot of people, when we would have downtime, we'd be like, "Oh great. I'm gonna go to this barbecue place or this barbecue place or this barbecue place."

[00:07:38] And, as a plant-based eater, It wasn't, I knew there wouldn't be much food for me, right? Like, maybe cornbread, but a lot of times the side dishes even have animal products in the side dishes. And, and I just felt excluded 'cause I felt like everybody's gonna go and they're gonna share all this food and sit around a table and talk about the day or plan for tomorrow and eat delicious barbecue and get to know each other better.

[00:08:05] And I felt like, "Wow. I'm, that's, I'm excluded." 'Cause, what am I gonna say to everybody, "Come on, let's go get a salad." Like, "No, I'm not." And so, I really felt like what if there was a barbecue that was inclusive, you know, that was inclusive to not just, you know, all eaters and all dietary restrictions, but just even in the way we talk.

[00:08:25] So, instead of, like, my, "I like my butt rubbed, and my pork pulled." Or, "You can smell my butts from here." You know? What if we came up with other taglines and other ways of talking about barbecue to make it, like, more open, more friendly, more, more people to the table? Because it is such an awesome food genre that I think more people want in, and I wanted to bring that to them.

[00:08:49] So, that's where I came up with the idea.

[00:08:51] Jen Kern: That's so cool. And you're gluten-free also, right? So, the whole restaurant is both, um, plant-based and gluten-free?

[00:08:56] Kerry Fitzmaurice: I think, um, yeah, I'm gluten intolerant, and I call myself plant-based. I'm, I try not to put too many labels on anything 'cause I want people to feel like this is just a journey, we're all, this is just a moment. Like, "Let's just eat more plants." Like, "Let's not call it anything." But yes. So as, if you are a vegan, let's say you're vegan and you're gluten intolerant or gluten-free. 

[00:09:19] It's really hard because a lot of proteins for vegans are made out of vital wheat gluten, which can be really hard on people's systems. So, a lot of, um, like, Monk's Meats is a, is an incredible vegan barbecue place in Brooklyn. They smoke everything there, but it's all seitan, so it just makes it difficult.

[00:09:37] And so, we really just wanted to come up, see if we could come up with a solution that was both. 'Cause then, we felt like we could invite more people. You know what I mean? Like, you know, we get so many people that come in that are omnivores, but come to pure grip because we, they know that it's gluten-free and they don't have to worry.

[00:09:54] So, it's like just trying to invite more people to the table. So, that's kind of why we did it. And it's not, it's not hard to do. You just need to think. Like, we have cornbread, gluten-free cornbread waffles, we use an incredible gluten-free pasta in our mac and cheese that you wouldn't even know any difference.

[00:10:09] And then, we use daring chicken and impossible meat, as our alternative proteins, both of which are gluten-free.

[00:10:15] Jen Kern: Awesome. Awesome. So, you're at South by Southwest in what year? Like, 2019, 2018?

[00:10:22] Kerry Fitzmaurice: 2018, I think.

[00:10:23] Jen Kern: Yeah. Okay. And you're feeling like, "Wow, there's this awesome, like, food moments happening. I can't really participate. That stinks." You get this idea. You come back. What next? Come back to New York, what next?

[00:10:35] Kerry Fitzmaurice: I came back, and I did mark. I started doing, well, I started thinking about names. I mean, the name that came to me in the moment, I was like, "Oh, we'll call it No Bones Barbecue." Like, I thought that was so funny and a play on words about authenticity. And I came back and I immediately started doing market research.

[00:10:51] So, a friend of mine had a market research company. So, we started thinking like, "Is there an addressable market? Is there a niche in the market? Will anybody buy this food? Does anybody care?" You know what I mean? And so, we were just trying to figure out the market. And then I went to a trademark attorney and realized I could not get No Bones Barbecue.

[00:11:06] 'Cause there was a place in Chicago called No Bones Beach Club.

[00:11:09] Jen Kern: Mm-hmm.

[00:11:10] Kerry Fitzmaurice: So, I was like, "Oh my God, I, I, what am I gonna do?" And I went to Dallas barbecue here in Manhattan, and I bought, I got a margarita, and then they'd give you a tiny Corona that you put upside down in that margarita. It was that kind of day. And I sat there drinking the margarita.

[00:11:26] I think I was eating French fries 'cause that was all on the menu I could eat. And I was like coming up with names, and Pure Grit BBQ just popped into my head. And I called my trademark attorney and we actually, Jen, we found out yesterday, it's official, we own the trademark. It's official. We got all the paperwork.

[00:11:43] It took a couple years, but everything's official now. We own the name.

[00:11:48] Jen Kern: Awesome. And then, how did you pull it all together, all the pieces?

[00:11:53] You need a chef, you need help, right?

[00:11:54] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Yes. I, so I got this awesome vegan chef named Nikki King Bennett. She was on Bad Vegan, if you watched on Netflix, she was the head chef of Pure Wine and Food. And she helped me with all the side dishes. Then I found a pitmaster in Staten Island to help, train me, like, help me smoke different vegetables and alternative proteins.

[00:12:13] Then, I found a Hell's Kitchen hot sauce in Long Island city that helped me bottle, produce and bottle my barbecue sauce and my hot sauce. And we would meet in parks 'cause of COVID and we would talk over the phone, and we just pulled together what I thought was a super craveable menu. And then I was on Instagram, and I came across this woman named Emily Hersh, of Emily Hersh.

[00:12:33] She was competing in Hell's Kitchen: Young Guns, and she's from San Antonio, Texas. And I was like, "She's perfect. She's 25. She's 26 now." And we started talking, and I literally said to her, "Would you come to New York and just do a popup with me and see if this gels?" She's like, "Sure." She got on a plane, came to my apartment, not knowing me, and stayed with me for a week.

[00:12:54] Jen Kern: Wow.

[00:12:55] Kerry Fitzmaurice: And we just sort of like, we're like, "Let's do it." And I have a great partner in this woman named Jenny Mark, who helps with all the creative marketing, you know, the brand ethos, brand pillars, how we talk, how we go to market. So, we have this incredible female team.

[00:13:10] Jen Kern: And then, what was your inspiration for the menu? How'd you pull the menu and the different items together? Like, talk to me about what's, I mean, I, I wish I'd have eaten your food. I haven't, I follow you, I, I've had, I've had your sauces, which are sitting behind you, which I, I love. And they're quite good, and I'm gluten-free.

[00:13:25] So, I, I really appreciate that everything's gluten-free. I see your amazing pictures on Instagram, but where did it start? Like, what were the main dishes, and what's your top selling item?

[00:13:37] Kerry Fitzmaurice: It, you know, it's funny when we were coming up with it, when I had this idea three years ago. Impossible, well, daring wasn't even on the market, daring chicken. Impossible wasn't even at retail, mass retail. So, we were smoking sweet potatoes, beets, tofu, tempeh and really trying to and then this, we did traditional sides, that hasn't changed. Coleslaw, broccoli salad, which Emily came up with.

[00:13:57] It’s awesome. Potato salad and baked beans. We make our baked beans with black beans, which is the only major difference to the world. You know what I mean, around us? That was the mains. So, as we came closer to market, impossible came out and beyond came out. So, I started testing them in the smokers, beyond didn't smoke the way impossible smoked.

[00:14:17] So, we went impossible. So then, we started testing impossibles. We didn't crack our impossible that we sell in store until we went to Pig Beach, had an event, a charity event. And we went, and we didn't know their ovens. We smoked our impossible, what we call cut, but it's like a brisket. We put it in their ovens to finish it.

[00:14:37] And Emily and I got distracted, and the oven was really hot. We burned it.

[00:14:42] Jen Kern: Ooh.

[00:14:42] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Burned it, and we took it out. We were like, so I said, "It's gonna be fine." We slathered it in barbecue sauce. I wrapped it in tin foil, and I put it in a hot hold with a water pan. Okay. Or warm hold with a water pan. And it sat there for two hours while we finished other parts of the event.

[00:14:57] We come back to it, we open it up, it's, it was so good. And it's sliced like meat. It, somehow it dehi, it, so we learned a new way of cooking it from an accident. And now that's how we cook it every single time. And it's our number one seller.

[00:15:13] Jen Kern: You burn the heck out of it.

[00:15:14] Kerry Fitzmaurice: After you smoke it, you burn it, and then it crusts.

[00:15:18] Jen Kern: Yum. So, it's like the burned ends that you get at the barbecue places, which I love, and they're...

[00:15:23] Kerry Fitzmaurice: But it was like happenstance and, like, a lot of practice. And now it's like, we got it down, and it's our number one seller.

[00:15:30] Jen Kern: Wow. And what do you serve it with?

[00:15:32] Kerry Fitzmaurice: You have a choice. So, you get a Smoked Main Plate. You can choose one of our four smoked mains. So, our four major smoked mains are Tofu, for, like, the, you know, the tofu lovers, it's really good, Mushrooms, Jackfruit and our Impossible Cut.

[00:15:46] And then, the sides are your Broccoli Salad, coleslaw, Baked beans and Potato Salad. And you pick one smoked main with two sides. And every dish comes with a half of a waffle, and our waffles are corn meal and gluten-free.

[00:15:58] Jen Kern: They look amazing.

[00:15:59] Kerry Fitzmaurice: And then, you can get Fried Chicken, which is our Fried Daring Chicken. You can get that as part of a plate, on a sandwich, as a tender.

[00:16:05] And that's our number two top seller.

[00:16:08] Jen Kern: Wow.

[00:16:08] Kerry Fitzmaurice: You know what I mean? And we have excellent fries. So, we feel like the tenders, and the fries are like the gateway drug to bring in, you know what I mean, to bring in the omnivores that are like, "I, okay, I'll do that." And then, we'll move them slowly over to the Jackfruit and then to the Tofu.

[00:16:22] Jen Kern: It's the best of both worlds. I mean, what you're talking about is like comfort food with a little bit of a healthy spin on it.

[00:16:29] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Yeah. It's just a, I call it a plant-based spin because I wouldn't even, we don't even go after the health market.

[00:16:35] Jen Kern: Okay.

[00:16:35] Kerry Fitzmaurice: I mean, we have a salad, and we have a veggie bowl, but it's like, to me, it's like…

[00:16:38] Jen Kern: So, it's not low-calorie?

[00:16:39] Kerry Fitzmaurice: No, I mean, we have a Mac and Cheese. It's like, it's you, you don't even wanna make that low-calorie. 

[00:16:44] Jen Kern: You're so tiny. You don't look like you're eating this stuff.

[00:16:46] Kerry Fitzmaurice: I eat it every day.

[00:16:48] I do. It's great. I eat it every day.

[00:16:50] Jen Kern: Good metabolism. Good metabolism.

[00:16:51] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Yeah.

[00:16:53] Jen Kern: Hey. Well, so we have this mutual friend now, Rev Ciancio, that I introduced you to because you're both in New York, you're both restauranters and entrepreneurs and marketing folks. And, Rev, don't get mad at me, but I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say Rev was very dubious of eating vegan.

[00:17:10] 'Cause I think his concepts are like, I mean, he's, like, a meat guy. You see him on Instagram, shoving huge hamburgers in his mouth, with these funny expressions, eating pizza loaded with every type of animal you can imagine. And he ate recently at your barbecue place and what happened? 

[00:17:28] Kerry Fitzmaurice: He did.

[00:17:28] Jen Kern: What happened? 

[00:17:29] Kerry Fitzmaurice: It was so, he's, first of all, he's so high energy and he's so fun. And, I mean, if you guys watch his Instagram or TikTok, I mean, he talks a mile a minute, if you think I talk fast, he's, he's...

[00:17:39] Jen Kern: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:17:40] Kerry Fitzmaurice: And he was very honest. I mean, he came and he ordered almost everything on the menu. And he really, I love that he gravitated towards the Jackfruit.

[00:17:48] Like, I thought he was gonna gravitate towards the Impossible Cut, but he went crazy for the Jackfruit and it was, it was so nice. I mean, he made a video about it. He's made a TikTok about it. He's been so incredibly supportive. It's been amazing. And that, to me, is the win. It's, it's the person that might eat a burger later or a steak later or a chicken later, that comes in and has, and dines with us once a week.

[00:18:10] You know what I mean? That's like, "You don't have to label it or call it anything. It's just delicious food, and I'm gonna eat that for lunch today or dinner tonight." And that's sort of what, my point of view.

[00:18:21] Jen Kern: Right. And I, you know, I originally thought, and maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm right, I don't know, you tell me, that this type of concept, being vegan and gluten-friendly, is very female-oriented, right? Like, like me, like, I would love to try it. I wouldn't have any hesitations to try it. My husband, on the other hand, might be kind of like a Rev, like, "Eh." Like, "I don't wanna go to a vegan restaurant tonight."

[00:18:44] I mean, like, 'cause let's face it, like most of the vegan restaurants out there haven't done a great job. But is it really female-led, is your demographic mostly female or how's it breaking down?

[00:18:56] Kerry Fitzmaurice: It's funny. When we came up with this idea, people were like, "Oh, like Tribeca." You know, like, "Oh, like Tribeca moms." I was like, "No." I, I, it's because it, like, to what I was saying before, it's plant-based, but it's, it's comfort food. I mean, it's potato salad. It's coleslaw, it's baked beans. It's, you know, fried chicken, French fries.

[00:19:15] So, we have seen a very diverse demographic. I mean, and when I say diverse, I mean truly gender, race, age, all of the above. So, we get a, a pretty large swath of people coming in, for many different reasons. Like, we had a boyfriend and girlfriend come in yesterday, and he eats everything. She's celiac. Her dream was to come to Pure Grit not so much for the plants but because she knew that she could have mac and cheese. That she's like, "I have not been able to have, 'cause nobody cares." You know what I mean? Or it's not, and I, and so, she came in, they ordered everything on the menu, and it was so cute. She, they were just moving in together, and it was just like a big moment for them.

[00:19:57] And it, I was so glad to share it with them. And she looked at me, and she goes, "This is the best meal I've ever had." And of course I, like, I burst out laughing 'cause I was like, "Come on." Like, "You're crazy."

[00:20:06] Jen Kern: Yeah.

[00:20:07] Kerry Fitzmaurice: And she was like, "No, genuinely, we will be back. This was lovely." And, you know, Jen, you know, this is why we do it.

[00:20:13] It's just like, the days that are so hard when you're like, you're not making your sales numbers, you know what I mean? Or somebody's unhappy, and then to hear that, you're just like, "Okay, it's the universe telling me I'm okay, I'm on the right track. It's gonna be okay." You know what I mean? You really need to be in the restaurant.

[00:20:29] The days when I'm away from the restaurant, I can really get bogged down on the reality or the numbers or, like, driving numbers and then stressing about.

[00:20:39] Jen Kern: Mm-hmm.

[00:20:40] Kerry Fitzmaurice: You know, all of that stuff. And it's like, you really gotta get into the restaurant, you talk to your customers, and you feel the vibe and it changes everything.

[00:20:46] Jen Kern: Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's the beauty of having just one, right? 'Cause you're not trying to spread yourself out, across, you know, for now, maybe you'll have more.

[00:20:54] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Yeah, for now. 

[00:20:55] Jen Kern: We shall see. 

[00:20:55] Kerry Fitzmaurice: I mean, the hope is.

[00:20:57] Jen Kern: Yeah. Okay. Okay. What is the service type? Are you, do you consider yourself fast-casual? Are you, are you table service? Do you bring the food to the tables?

[00:21:05] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Right now, we're fast-casual. Do, you come up to the counter, you order and then we'll bring, then you go sit down, and we'll bring it to you. 'Cause we're only, we're small. We have 18 seats inside or less, 16, and then two picnic benches outside. So, we're little, we're small, we're small but mighty. So, we've applied for beer and wine.

[00:21:23] We're still waiting to hear, but that's the hope. So, maybe we can get into a little bit more of a table, you know, come to the table to take your order in the evenings. But right now we're counter service and, but we have, there's a lot of intimacy there 'cause we bring the food, we'll have a conversation.

[00:21:38] We'll clear the tray. So, there's a lot of connection there.

[00:21:41] Jen Kern: Nice. Nice. And how is it going? How are your sales? How's it been? It's been four months, right?

[00:21:47] Kerry Fitzmaurice: It's three.

[00:21:48] Jen Kern: Three. Okay. So, it's too early to really say.

[00:21:51] Kerry Fitzmaurice: It's too early to really say, it's been, what I like to focus on is the reviews are, have been outstanding, and the food is great. And we've been working really, really hard on labor costs and food costs. Because, you know, pricing, I mean, you know how to price, like, but it's also, like, the elasticity of the market, what neighborhood are you in.

[00:22:12] We've got, we had this really wide menu. And then, we were like, "Okay. Yes, we can make all those things. But the paradox of choice is too much." Like, "Let's pair it down to the essentials." You know, like the, the top-selling salad, sandwiches and smoked mains. And then, if you, Jen, had been coming in and you've been getting a side of fried onions, that's no longer the menu, but it's up, you can tell me, "Can I get a side of fried onions?" And I'll get it for you.

[00:22:35] Do you know what I mean? Versus, like, having everything on the menu. And then, we also thought through, we have, we're right next to Baruch, which is a college and then a high school called School the Future and vegan food's expensive. I, there's nothing I can do about it, it is. But I can give you a really good salad and a really good veggie bowl at a price point you can afford.

[00:22:54] So, you can get a veggie bowl for 12 bucks and a loaded salad with quinoa and all these smoked veggies for 15. 

[00:23:01] And trying to work within that and offer student discounts. We have a, the armory right next to us. So, a military discount, we have a police precinct, so we do a police discount, and we really are reaching out to those communities.

[00:23:12] It's a work in progress, you know, and everybody seems to have left for the Hamptons or, you know, Hudson Valley or the Jersey Shore. And so, we're really kind of excited to, like, really push through fall. And there's an amazing barbecue event called Pig Island in Staten island.

[00:23:28] Kerry Fitzmaurice: And we're gonna be the only vegan vendor. So, we'll be doing our Pulled Jackfruit as for our booth. And then, we're doing a huge vegan festival, so you can see the dichotomy, right? We're going to Staten Island to a Pig Island and then to talk to the omnivores, and then we're gonna go to vegan. And we have a booth at the end of the month, it's the largest vegan festival in Manhattan. They're all over the country. And it is a ball. I mean, you wanna talk about the vegan community. 

[00:23:54] I mean, people wait in line for three hours. People bring suit, like little bags with Tupperware, so that they can buy and take home with them from all the vendors.

[00:24:02] It's an amazing party, and we cannot wait. That's gonna be super fun.

[00:24:05] Jen Kern: Well, this vegan category is getting pretty trendy with the whole Kevin Hart and the Hart House concept, which just launched.

[00:24:12] Kerry Fitzmaurice: So awesome.

[00:24:13] What do you know and think about that concept?

[00:24:15] Kerry Fitzmaurice: I love it. I was out in LA and met with the team that's doing Hart House. And I was so excited today, I woke up, and you know Franchise magazine, Franchise. So, they did a huge article on the launch of Hart House. And, throughout the article, our chef, Emily Hersh, is quoted as like to her perceptions on what it means, the, what it stands for, who are we speaking to, who are we drawing in.

[00:24:38] And so, that was exciting 'cause you know everybody's gonna read that article. And so, it's great that, like, we have a little presence in it. Because I think it's amazing and, like, he really wants to make it affordable. So, they're going after the, you know, mass affordability and I think that's gonna make a huge difference when people are making choices and inviting them in to understanding that it's just delicious food.

[00:24:59] Jen Kern: Right. Is there menu similar to yours, or is it very different?

[00:25:02] Kerry Fitzmaurice: No, it's just burgers.

[00:25:03] It's, it's really more similar to any vegan, it's like burgers. I think, I don't know if they're doing a proprietary burger blend or if they're using a beyond, you know what I mean? I'm not quite sure. But I think their culinary director, like, came from Burger King.

[00:25:17] Jen Kern: Oh, wow.

[00:25:18] Kerry Fitzmaurice: So, they're going after fast, fast food, QSR, McDonald's, like, look, you know, "Look out McDonald's." Is what they're going for. But one thing is we love tractor beverages. If you guys haven't tried tractor, they're amazing. And they, we carry tractor, and they carry tractor.

[00:25:32] Jen Kern: What is tractor beverages?

[00:25:34] Kerry Fitzmaurice: It's an, it's, you get it, we got through a broad liner, and it's like organic juices, and they have, like, 12 to choose from.

[00:25:40] And then, we tasted all of them, and we chose our four that we liked. So, we do Limeade green tea, Mandarin, Cardamom and Hibiscus. And you can choose any of them, but they, it is so delicious, and Hart House has them also. And so, that's, those are the biggest similarities. We both carry that.

[00:25:58] Jen Kern: It's a cold drink, I assume.

[00:26:00] Kerry Fitzmaurice: It's a cold drink.

[00:26:01] Yeah. It comes in a bubbler, and it's just, it's delicious.

[00:26:04] Jen Kern: It sounds really good, tractor beverages, I wrote it 

[00:26:06] Kerry Fitzmaurice: good. Oh, good. 

[00:26:07] Jen Kern: you touched on the, a few times now, like, food cost, obviously inflation, it's tough, supply chain. Getting, you know, quality food as a fast-casual, within a good price point that people will still wanna afford it and getting that good, the right percentage, which I, if you can share, I'd love to hear what are, what is your percent of sales to labor, right?

[00:26:29] How are you managing all of that?

[00:26:33] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Luckily, we have a great, you know, I've mentioned Chris Pizzimenti, we also have an operating, an operations consultant named Alan Dempsey, and then we have our GM chef Emily. So, it's sort of, the supply chain issue really hasn't affected us, except for packaging.

[00:26:50] Jen Kern: Mm-hmm.

[00:26:50] Kerry Fitzmaurice: So, I really wanted to do compostable packaging, which we do.

[00:26:54] It was really important to me to have everything very sustainable and well thought out. That's been difficult. So, you know, it's disappointing as I, and we don't, you know, we're tiny, so we don't have, I mean, I don't have, like, super buying power. So, we get whatever bags that they have or some, our packaging hasn't matched.

[00:27:12] And that, as a brander, I'm like hypersensitive to that because I want you to order the food to be delivered and have a good experience, which I'm not able to control, as much as I'd like. So, that's the disappointing thing to me, more in the nuances than actually not being able to serve you. So, we have a great relationship with our broad line, and we have a great relationship with, like, daring chicken and impossible.

[00:27:33] So, we haven't had any of those types of issues. And because we started pricing it, our menu, this spring, and we were pricing it at also like a 16 hour, $16 an hour labor cost. We're not trying to catch up on a labor cost or price per hour from a bygone era, right? Where some fast-casuals are now, like, "We gotta increase our prices 30%." And there's not much elasticity in their customer base or guest base.

[00:28:01] So, luckily, we've been able to avoid that. I think because we're new and we don't, we're still trying to predict, like, we have days where we sell out everything, and we have days where, you know, we only serve 30 people, you know what I mean? There's still that inconsistent. And, like, we crushed on Monday, crushed on Monday. Monday?

[00:28:20] We've never crushed a Monday. And it was like, so we, it's, there's still that unpredictability where it's like, sometimes we have too much labor, sometimes we don't have enough. And the one blessing for Emily is, Emily's able to jump on the line. So, it's, she's such a value to have as a manager and she can cashier and she can be the face of the brand, but then she can jump on the line.

[00:28:41] Like, I'm great at the table talking to you, and I can kind of work the register, you know, if it, figuring things out. But I can't jump on the line, and there's something really nice about us being small and being able to do that as part of our team right now.

[00:28:57] Jen Kern: Yeah. What kind of culture are you building? I mean, you just seem to me and from what I know of you, and you would be an awesome boss and an awesome manager and person to work with and for. We've done a lot of episodes recently on restaurant culture. And because of, not only the labor shortage, but there's a, you know, and there's a thinning workforce.

[00:29:19] People, it seems, like, aren't gravitating to work in restaurants that much anymore. And I don't know if that's true or not, but we know that the way that restaurants have approached their employees and their culture has been very transactional in the past, and that needs to change. So, we've unpacked that and had a lot of episodes that have been, to me, just fascinating about 'cause I love culture, I love people, whatever. How are you doing it?

[00:29:47] Kerry Fitzmaurice: think, you know, we're a small team, so I think I've learned and this is full honesty, like this is my, you know, you mentioned funding, it's like, I, it's, Pure Grit is mostly, like, a lot of my own capital, time, resources, in addition to a close friend, we didn't go to VC's. And so, it is, when I say bootstrapped, I mean, it is a bootstrapped.

[00:30:11] So, all the things I want to do and your awesome, you know, guests talk about, which is, like, a stipend to go learn something new or, you know, healthcare and all of the other things, that is my dream and aspirations for this brand, as we grow. Today, that's not a possibility, although I want it to be a possibility.

[00:30:33] So, all I can do is listen, respect, understand, and I, my thing is, like, I'm learning how to calm down, right? It's my baby. It's my passion. You know, I love it. And, like, I tell the story and I, this is not, don't judge me, Jen, but, like, when I was a baby, when I was a little kid, my, this is our family iconic story about me, we had a gerbil, I loved that gerbil.

[00:31:02] Jen Kern: I had gerbils.

[00:31:03] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Okay. I loved it so much.

[00:31:04] Jen Kern: Why do you think I gonna judge you for that?

[00:31:06] Kerry Fitzmaurice: No. 'Cause I killed my gerbil. I...

[00:31:09] Jen Kern: I did too. I did too.

[00:31:10] Kerry Fitzmaurice: I, did you really?

[00:31:12] Jen Kern: Well, go ahead. Tell you, tell your story. Good Lord.

[00:31:15] Kerry Fitzmaurice: I, I would, like, go like this. I'd love it. And I, like, like, I, I'm like, what, what was it of Mice and Men? I literally just, like, loved it so much. I strangled it and killed it and I put it, I didn't know.

[00:31:25] I didn't know I did it. I put it back in the cage and I don't know if it was one of my sisters or my mom was like, "Kerry just killed the gerbil." So, I always, that's like a story that's in the back of my mind because, you know, I'm, you know, I'm sitting at Pure Grit, I'm like, "Are people coming in? How's the food, good? Have you tried the food? Z? What are the sales? Blah, blah." And then it's like,"Mmmm."

[00:31:47] Jen Kern: Yeah.

[00:31:47] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Calm down, breathe.

[00:31:49] Jen Kern: Yeah.

[00:31:49] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Breathe. It's all gonna be okay. 

[00:31:52] Jen Kern: Mm. 

[00:31:52] Kerry Fitzmaurice: All we can do is serve delicious food and treat everybody with kindness and respect and everything will fall into place.

[00:31:58] Jen Kern: Amen. Amen sister. Mm-hmm. Okay, can I tell my gerbil story?

[00:32:06] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Yes, please.

[00:32:07] Jen Kern: I can't believe we both had gerbils, that is freaking, we are from the sixties or seventies, whatever. I'm not gonna say how old you are 'cause I don't know, but I was born in the '68, just saying.

[00:32:17] Kerry Fitzmaurice: I was born in '69.

[00:32:19] Jen Kern: Oh, good, all right. I had pet gerbils and I didn't love them that much, though, like you did. I mean, I liked them. I thought it was fun watching 'em go around the wheel and stuff and...

[00:32:30] Kerry Fitzmaurice: They have a trail.

[00:32:32] Jen Kern: Yes. Okay. Here's the deal, though, my dad didn't like to pay for heat in the house. He was cheap.

[00:32:40] Kerry Fitzmaurice: It was the seventies.

[00:32:40] Jen Kern: Loved my dad to death, but he would not turn the heat on in the winter. I mean, he turned it on, but the lowest possible level.

[00:32:47] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Of course, grab a sweater..

[00:32:48] Jen Kern: I went to school one day, came home, and my gerbil was frozen to death. Rock solid. Yep.

[00:32:56] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Oh, my Gosh. Have you forgiven your father?

[00:33:01] Jen Kern: Oh, yeah. Back to plant-based eating.

[00:33:06] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. It's a good

[00:33:09] Jen Kern: Oh my gosh. Well, Kerry, you're just so cool. And, and, you know, I really appreciate you just coming on and talking to, I mean, yeah, my typical guest, but it's all good 'cause it's restaurants. And it's, and what you just said is like, "Listen, everyone, if you wanna freak out, you could freak." Everyone, whether you're running a restaurant or you're running a tech company or whatever you're doing, or you're just working, I mean, there's always plenty of things to freak out about, but it's not helpful. It's not helpful to anyone. And I've had to do that too in, in, in my style of, of work. It's just really, "Calm the heck down." And, you know, it's, I think it's common for a lot of type A type people, but also you get to our age, not saying that we're old 'cause I don't feel old, but you just realize, like, what's that all about like, what's, like, that's like pride and ego and...

[00:33:54] Kerry Fitzmaurice: exactly. That's exactly right.

[00:33:56] Jen Kern: And achievement and all that kind of stuff. It's like, "Eh, now I think I'll back off of that."

[00:33:59] Kerry Fitzmaurice: I mean, restaurants, it's a lot of vulnerability and, you know, you're putting yourself out there in so many ways. I mean, you know what I mean? It's very vulnerable. And so, it's just kind of tempering that and not letting that rule you or the ego, you know what I mean? It's that balancing act of, like, trying to stay present.

[00:34:18] Jen Kern: Yeah. Yeah. It's great stuff. Well, so you're a marketing executive. What are the marketing strategies you're using?

[00:34:27] Kerry Fitzmaurice: That's a great question. 'Cause I've learned so much, I mean, I'm, my, Jenny, my partner and I, our sweet spot is brand marketing, you know, like logo design, brand pillars, how do we communicate, how do we talk about ourselves, you know, like, you know, for a long time we're losing inclusion. Inclusion, is that the right word?

[00:34:45] You know, like thinking of the nuances of the way you speak. And that's great. It's all well and good. It's served us very well, as you know, you've seen articles about us, you know, how the brand represents in the swag and stuff, but what we were missing and what I've learned quickly and we're changing that dial is...

[00:35:03] Jen Kern: Mm-hmm.

[00:35:04] Kerry Fitzmaurice: ...that doesn't necess, that translate probably to sentiment and the perception of the brand for people who just see us from the outside.

[00:35:12] Does that translate into butts and seats or craveability? Not really. Right? So, like, we did this some beautiful illustration, you can see it on our Instagram. We had an illustrator do it. It's gorgeous. We were putting it on the menus. We were putting it everywhere. I was talking to a good friend of ours, Meg.

[00:35:28] Jen Kern: Oh, yeah..

[00:35:29] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Okay. She's like, "Well, where's the food?" I'm like, "Oh, right. You wanna see the food." She goes, "I want food and reviews, food and reviews, food and reviews." So, it's like, I'm like, "Right." So, we've kind of like, we lessened the menu, we tightened it up. We were featuring our best sellers. Now we have, like, food photography all over our Insta.

[00:35:51] We reskin the website to be food photography and quotes. We're really leaning into our quotes that, I mean to our reviews. And really getting more tactical, conversational, one-on-one, like, "This is a burger. This could be you eating a burger." You know what I mean, like? And now we're thinking more about, "What's our point of view on food photography?

[00:36:10] How are we incorporating, if we're inclusive to you, how do you see yourself with us?" Because right now, there's no you in Pure Grit, it's literally like an illustration or food, "What about you? What about hands? What about mouse? Do you wanna see us eating?" Like, how do we, how do we make it inclusive if nobody's included?

[00:36:31] Jen Kern: I see a lot of people in your stories, though, 'cause I, I, on your Instagram stories. Well, I see you a lot and your team. I think that's good. I think having people too. I mean, I push back a little bit on our dear friend who, Meg Kypena, I just wanna give her a shout out 'cause she did.

[00:36:46] Kerry Fitzmaurice: She's amazing. She's amazing. One of the all-time greats.

[00:36:49] Jen Kern: She really is. And she definitely knows restaurant marketing a lot better than me, so yes. Like, food, and what did she say? Food and reviews. Food and reviews.

[00:36:57] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Yeah. And also... 

[00:36:58] Jen Kern: And also people wanna see your people.

[00:37:00] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Yes, I wanna see people, but I mean, like, people eating food.

[00:37:03] Jen Kern: Yeah. Okay.

[00:37:04] Kerry Fitzmaurice: The only, if you look at my Instagram, the only person that ever is consistently eating food is me.

[00:37:09] Jen Kern: Yeah.

[00:37:10] Kerry Fitzmaurice: So, we're just and then also, like if you come into our store, it's like a jewel box in the sense that we are keeping it so clean that now we're like, "Okay, let's put a mural on this wall.

[00:37:19] Let's put some food photography up. Let's warm it up a little bit." So, it's learning sort of like, conversion, conversion, you know, stuff that you guys already know in the restaurant business that, like, I was a little, I'm a little naive. I was a little naive thinking that like, "If I build it, they will come."

[00:37:35] And I've realized that it's a, as my, as Jenny likes to say, "It's a long walk." If I just was selling you burgers and had a vegan burger, you'd be like, "Oh, I get it." I'm trying to get you to understand plant-based barbecue. That's a little bit like,

[00:37:50] Jen Kern: What?

[00:37:50] Kerry Fitzmaurice: "What are you talking about? That is not a thing." So, I was a little naive on that.

[00:37:55] And so, now we're getting a little bit more like, you know, tactical one-on-one, you know, more like the, bringing people in.

[00:38:02] Jen Kern: Like digital marketing, are you doing digital marketing?

[00:38:04] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Yeah. We're bumping that up. We're doing digital marketing. We don't have a ton of money to spend, so we're just trying to be really thoughtful and trying, trying to pull, like, to your point about the Chili Peppers, a, a friend of mine, a friend of mine is a part of the Chili Pepper family. And I leaned on her, and she said, her name's Nancy Max, she's an amazing woman, she's said, "I want you to blow up. I wanna take care of you. I wanna help. How can I help?"

[00:38:28] Jen Kern: Ah.

[00:38:28] Kerry Fitzmaurice: And it's like, when you're an entrepreneur, and you're new...

[00:38:32] Jen Kern: Mm-hmm. 

[00:38:32] Kerry Fitzmaurice: ...I can't say that enough, those calls, those friendships, those people that just say, "What can I do? How can I help?" And she could've just said, oh, you know what I mean like, "Come to the concert." But she was like, "How about catering? We're gonna cater. Okay. We'll figure out a way to get you to cater 'cause there's union rules and this and that."

[00:38:49] Like, the people that go the extra mile to be like, "I'm gonna call you." Like, a friend of mine called, and she ordered a huge ordering, a catering job for Facebook. She works there,

[00:38:58] Jen Kern: Ah.

[00:38:58] Kerry Fitzmaurice: You know, like, those things matter and people don't realize that the individual, you have so much power to support small businesses and entrepreneurs.

[00:39:07] Like, "You, you matter." I can say to all of your listeners, "You matter, you, for sure, matter more than you ever could possibly know."

[00:39:14] Jen Kern: Right, right. Well, you're in a great area. I mean, New York City, Upper, you're Upper East Side, right?

[00:39:20] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Gramercy or 24th and Lexington.

[00:39:23] Jen Kern: Okay. So, you're Gramercy. I mean, the community, the local area, that type of, I mean, it's typically called local store marketing, right, like leaning into the community. You've told me some pretty cool stuff you're doing. Like, you pitched the Mets.

[00:39:37] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Yes, we did. We pitched the Mets. We're really excited. We haven't gotten confirmation yet, but that was super fun. And we're pitching Barclays. I mean, I just feel like our comfort vegan food, but that's also gluten-free is such a perfect place for, like, stadiums, airports, you know, where you're getting, you know, a lot of people coming through.

[00:39:54] And so, we're really, you know, hustling that in addition to just, I mean, you, you guys, if you come by the restaurant, you'll probably see me with a menu, passing them out, we're still, we're sampling out front. You know, we're going to the local community, we're going to Madison Square Park, which has an amazing flatter business district.

[00:40:09] I mean, those, that matters, that analog...

[00:40:12] Jen Kern: Yeah.

[00:40:13] Kerry Fitzmaurice: ...you know, hitting the streets.

[00:40:15] Jen Kern: Yeah. It's awesome. It's awesome.

[00:40:17] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Especially as a single unit.

[00:40:19] Jen Kern: Yeah. I love watching your, your journey.

[00:40:21] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Thank you. It's been really rewarding, I have to say. It's been really rewarding.

[00:40:27] Jen Kern: How would you like to ask anyone that's listening today for help? What, what would you ask if you had, could just throw out a request and say, "Contact me if..."

[00:40:36] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Contact me if you love barbecue, you, you see the value in the burgeoning plant-based, fast-casual arena 'cause I feel like there's a tremendous growth there and um, you know, I'm, we're bootstrapping for now. So,I would love, love, love to find a strategic partner, somebody that has all the attributes I don't have and wants to join us on this wild ride because, you know, we're only as good as our community.

[00:41:07] And so, yeah, that would be incredible.

[00:41:09] Yeah. Okay. Everyone contact her if you fit that category. Yes. I know I fit into some of those categories, for sure. So, it's been such a pleasure getting to know you. Well, really appreciate you joining us today, Kerry. Thank you so much for having me. This is, I hope you know the Chili Peppers was a big deal, but after listening to you for all, for, you know, these last couple years, I just, you're doing such a great job. And it's such an honor. It's such an honor to be on the show. I just feel like to be, I mean, among the greats that you've had, it's mind-boggling.

[00:41:40] So, thank you.

[00:41:41] Jen Kern: Well, it's an honor for me to have you. I mean, you are doing some really hard, tough things, and you've got a lot of grit. So, I have no doubt that you are gonna succeed, and with the community and the hospitality world behind you and the networks that we can help you, you know, continue to build. I have no doubt that it's gonna be on everyone's table in the Tri-state area.

[00:42:06] So, thanks for being an awesome female leader and awesome woman in restaurants and making some amazing food that I absolutely cannot wait to try.

[00:42:14] Kerry Fitzmaurice: I can't wait to host you. I can't wait to welcome you.

[00:42:16] Jen Kern: I'm coming, girl. I'm coming. My niece, I just heard, is buying a new place in New York, well, that's a little bit bigger and has room, so...

[00:42:24] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Great. I'm counting on you. 

[00:42:26] Jen Kern: I shall be there.

[00:42:27] Have a great day, Kerry, and keep reinventing.

[00:42:29] Kerry Fitzmaurice: Thank you so much.

[00:42:30] Jen Kern: Yes.