The best and brightest restaurant companies are not just creating one great concept; they're creating many. See Restaurant Hospitality's picks for powerful multiconcept companies that not only play it cool, they kick ass. See all concepts >>
August 6, 2013
Benjamin Goldberg, left, and Max Goldberg
Headquarters: Nashville
Annual sales: $12 million
Units: 4
• Benjamin Goldberg, founder
• Max Goldberg, founder
• Shane Batchelor, director of operations
• Jenny Catherine Deathridge, project coordinator
Single concepts:
• The Catbird Seat (a 32-seat temple to fine dining)
• Patterson House (a swanky, speakeasy-style cocktail bar)
• Merchants (casual and fine dining on two floors)
• Paradise Park Trailer Resort (a honky-tonk)
Upcoming projects:
• Pinewood Social (a 13,000-square-foot trolley barn that will house a coffee concept, cocktail bar, casual restaurant, six-lane bowling alley, private karaoke rooms, a bocce ball court, shuffleboard and a pool when it opens in the fall)
Why it’s cool
At first blush, it appears brothers Benjamin and Max Goldberg lack focus. Their concepts are all over the map, ranging from haute cuisine to honky-tonk. But there is a method to their madness: they simply want to rule the world (or at least Nashville). Based on the game plan they’ve laid out so far, they’re on the right track. Their Merchants restaurant offers a casual bistro on the first floor and fine dining on the second. To fuel the place they hired a top gun chef who worked at Gramercy Tavern in NYC. And that’s what they do, surround themselves with top talent. At Catbird Seat, which was on everyone’s 2012 list of the best new restaurants in America, they brought in chefs Josh Habiger and Erik Anderson to hold court at this 20-seat culinary temple, which features a seven-course tasting menu. The chefs have worked at Noma in Copenhagen, the Fat Duck in London, the French Laundry in Napa and Alinea in Chicago. It doesn’t get better than that. Catbird is located above the brothers’ Patterson House, considered one of the country’s best watering holes. Alchemy Consulting (see RH May issue, page 50) was hired to create the mixology program. Even at their honky-tonk, Paradise Park Trailer Resort, they exceed expectations. The casual menu (burgers, grilled cheese, hand-cut fries) is far better than it has to be, and the superior sound system will blow you away. What’s most exciting about this group is their next project, a huge space that will encompass several venues. The Brothers Goldberg are ambitious and fearless, which is an unbeatable combination.
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