B Y K A R A G E B H A R T

P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y E T H A N K A M I N S K Y

Stuart Davis offers up traditional Chinese cuisine with some American fanfare.

Stuart Davis isnt your typical Chinese restaurant owner. The born-and-raised Bos-

tonian was a long way from home when he opened the first City Wok in star-studded

North Hollywood, Calif., in 1990. Yes, Im an American owning and operating a Chi-

nese restaurant, says the 44-year-old founder and c.e.o. The authenticity comes

from our Chinese chefs and head chefs running the kitchen.

Davis began researching his four-unit concept in 1987. His goal: To create a fast-

casual, consumer-friendly restaurant that serves fresh, high-quality, made-to-order

Chinese cuisine in a stylish setting with table service. He was convinced that menu

items prepared on the spot in front of customers were the future of fast-casual. He

was also convinced that his version of Chinese take-out and delivery services could

break through traditional poor-communication barriers by offering state-of-the-art

packaging and employing a well-trained staff. He succeeded on all fronts.

Davis, the fomer manager of Apples Bar in Santa Monica, Calif., designed City

Woks menu by experimenting with recipes in the bars kitchen after the kitchen was

closed. There he met Hing Fan Chan, a professional head chef trained in Kowloon,

China. Chan, who previously cooked in many fine-dining establishments, helped

Davis create a high-end menu without the high-end prices. According to Davis,

Chan, who now operates his own restaurant, brought a lot of traditional recipes to

City Wok, yet worked with Davis to prepare his traditional dishes in a healthy man-

ner, eliminating things like MSG. It was an East-meets-West approach that com-

bined the best of their knowledge.

It was a 50-50 collaboration, Davis says. He had great talent when it came

Concepts of Tomorrow

WOK THIS WAY

Growth Strategies For Emerging Full-Service Restaurants

STUART DAVIS: Hes an American in his version ofChinese Heaven.

JANUARY 2003 RESTAURANT HOSPITALITY 29

WORKING WOK: Unlike many fast-casualoperations, City Wok prepares a customersorder on the spot, but with amazing speed.

cooking in the kitchen. It sellsthe brand and it sells the prod-uct, Davis says when describ-ing the mural. It shows peoplewhat some of the food lookslike and it shows smilingservers, happy guests and lotsof action. All City Wok restau-rants are built using high-endfinishes, including stainlesssteel and graniteanything thatrequires little maintenance.

City Woks packaging echoesits dcor. Take-out and deliveryorders account for 30 to 40 per-cent of City Woks daily busi-ness. Because of this, each CityWok has an area thats strictlydesignated for walk-in andphone-in orders only. Food ispackaged in state-of-the-art,heavy-duty packaging thatsports City Woks logo. Wespent a lot of time and a lot ofmoney making sure the packag-ing is effective, Davis says. Un-like many Chinese take-outjoints, Davis says his packagingwas created to fit the food,

rather than creating food to fit a package.Davis works to ensure that City Woks take-out pro-

cess is as slick as the take-out packaging. City Woksseating is limited, with each unit offering about 80seats. And with City Woks average check coming in atabout $8 for lunch and $12 for dinner, its pretty muchguaranteed that a four-top isnt going to generate a$150 check. But, according to Davis, large take-out or-ders can reach the $100 range, easily. Therefore, Davissays perfecting the take-out process is key.

We have young kids working on 40 orders at once,Davis says. And its not just burgers and fries. Thesekids have to learn a 60- to 70-item menu. Each cus-tomers take-out order is neatly packaged with condi-ments, fortune cookies and anything else the dishesprepared require. Before the customer leaves, eachorder is double-checked.

CITY WOKS MARKETING EFFORTS GO BEYOND SLICKwall displays and state-of-the-art packaging.The restaurant maintains a web site atwww.citywok.com. Most of City Woks market-ing efforts go into direct-mail campaigns that

use a 10,000-name database derived from City Wokscustomers, who fill out guest cards or type in informa-tion into a computer at City Wok locations. Currently,Davis is working to increase the number of names on

to professional, traditional Chinese cook-ing. I had a great sense of what people re-ally wanted.

Ninety percent of City Woks menu isavailable in half orders, an example ofDavis knowing what people really want.Davis claims City Wok was the first Chi-nese restaurant to offer half orders, differ-entiating the concept from Chineserestaurants that refuse to split orders. Itwent over fantastically, Davis says.

Many people have favorites when itcomes to Chinese, such as Kung PaoChicken, which is perhaps one reasonwhy 70 percent of City Woks menu still isintact today. Its amazing how peoplecome in and eat the same things threetimes a week, Davis says. But [newitems] keep the menu fresh and lookinggood. How quickly an item can be madeto order often determines whether or notit stays on the menu. If we feel there is adish we just arent executing to our stan-dards, we take it off and offer somethingelse, Davis says.

The speed in which City Woks dishesare prepared blends into the conceptsdcor. City Wok sports contemporary ex-hibition kitchens where professional Chi-nese chefs show off their skills working two woks at once. Thekitchen is the focal point of each restaurant. Its noisy, its fast-paced and fire occasionally shoots into the air. Its a show thatleaves the counter seats rarely empty. This isnt a romantic res-taurant...you arent going to propose here, Davis says.Theres a lot of action. Its hectic.

City Woks dcor also includes a large, marketing-inspiredwall display that is put together like a collage, depicting servicepersonnel working tables, guests enjoying their food and chefs

32 RESTAURANT HOSPITALITY JANUARY 2003

W O K T H I S W A Y

O N T H E M E N UCity Wok Gyoza Bai

House special dumplings hand-made withchicken, bok choy and cilantro $4.95 (appetizer)

Won Ton Shrimp, chicken, napa cabbage, snow peas,

carrots & freshly made chicken dumplings in afresh chicken stock$2.95 to $5.50 (soup)

Spicy Chili Bean Chicken Blue Lake string beans, Serrano Chilies, onions,diced red bell pepper, & garlic in our special salt

and pepper mixture$9.50 (full), $6.95 (half)

Chicken Lettuce CupsMinced chicken with celery, carrots, water

chestnuts & scallions served with fresh lettuceleaves and hoisin sauce $6.50 (full only)

Shanghai Potato Scramble Fresh cut potatoes, julienne red & green bell

peppers, onions and egg, stir-fried with gingerand topped with minced green onions

$6.95 (full only)

Chinese Pepper Steak Tender filet mignon smothered with sweet

onions in a fresh pepper sauce $10.50 (full only)

People walk in and, without sounding too prejudiced, they see a slam-bang operation. Stuart Davis

DUAL ACTION: While chefs cookon one side, take-out orders areexpertly assembled on the other.

JANUARY 2003 RESTAURANT HOSPITALITY 33

the chains database. He consulted with Fishbowl, anational e-mail marketing firm, to take care of CityWoks e-mail specials, including 20% discounts, andbirthday and anniversary specials. Were starting tolean away from a postal database and leaning towardan e-mail database, he says. Its more cost-effective.

Davis City Woks are located in tourist-infusedtowns. Therefore, he makes a point to meet, greet,and feed local hotel concierges inhopes that they will recommendCity Wok to their hotels patrons.City Wok also buys listings in lo-cal magazines that are placed inevery hotel room in the area, butthats as far as Davis will go whenit comes to coupons and advertis-ing. When you send out mailersin things like Val Pack, you usu-ally get about a two percent re-turn, Davis says. Plus, your im-age takes a beating. Davis strivesto uphold City Woks image as anon-discounter.

Davis plans to grow the chain asbig as it can get without sacrificingquality and service. I never wantto hear Oh, they used to begood, Davis says. To prepare for

future growth (his goal is to open two units per year for the nextfive years), Davis has spent the last two years honing the infra-structure of the company to create a mode of compliance andbest practices within each restaurant. He contacted Bill Main &Associates for consulting purposes on everything from food han-dling and human resources to customized manuals for every po-sition. Weve spent the last two or three years making sure thecompany is ready to grow, Davis says.

ALONG WITH SELF-FINANCING AND CITY WOKS PROFITS, DAVISplans to finance future growth with the help of twoprivate investors that have been attached to City Woksgrowth for several years. Smaller endeavors, such asCity Woks latest location at the Trump 29 Casino, are

completely self-financed. (The City Wok in the Trump 29 Ca-sino operates in an upscale, three-restaurant food court and,therefore, is smaller.)

Currently, Davis is negotiating deals on two new City Woklocations. He looks for spots in medium-sized shopping cen-ters that also house quality grocery stores and stores like Wal-Mart or CVS. Davis says co-tenants, such as Starbucks andJamba Juice, have worked well for City Wok in the past.

So how does City Wok compete withother fast-casual shopping center located-concepts such as Panera and Chipotle?Davis says City Woks distinguishing factoris that it offers table service. At one pointDavis toyed with the idea of getting rid ofCity Woks dishwashers and going to dis-posable ware instead. We got a big, nega-tive response from focus groups in L.A.,Davis says. People want to be served...they dont want to wait in line and get theirown drink.

Davis says he doesnt have an exit strat-egy, but adds that if the right buyer comesalong, hell listen. For now, hes workingwith consultants, continuing to make thecompany strong from the inside so that,when the time comes, the concept looksattractive to larger companies peering infrom the outside.

City Wok Strategies

Create everything within the chain to be consumer-friendly.

Prepare authentic, healthy, made-to-order Chinese cuisine quickly and efficiently. Offer half orders.

Offer table, take-out and delivery services.

Pump up brand awareness through the packaging, dcor and web site.

Create an infrastructure that offers a real mode of compliance and best practices within each restaurant so when the time comes to exit, the chain looks attractive to quality buyers.

C I T Y W O K

CONCEPT: A fast-casual, consumer-friendly restaurant that servesfresh, health-consciously prepared, made-to-order Chinesecuisine in a contemporary setting. UNITS: 4 in California. OWNER: Stuart Davis, founder and c.e.o. LOCATIONS: El Paseo:Palm Desert, Calif.; Country Club: Palm Desert, Calif.; Studio City:Studio City, Calif.; Trump 29 Casino: Coachella, Calif. MENU:Five-page menu includes traditional Chinese cuisine (Kung PaoChicken) and dishes unique to City Wok (famed City Wok Chicken).AVERAGE CHECK: $8 lunch, $12 dinner ANNUAL SALES: $5.5million company-wide FUTURE GROWTH: Two units per year for thenext five years

WOK OR STAY: City Woks menu wasdesigned to travel well and also providefor a comfortable, sit-down experience.

WOK THIS WAYOn The MenuCITY WOK

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