Scott Graden, New Scenic Café
By Wendy Webb

Hop in the car for a drive up scenic Highway 61, which runs alongside Minnesota’s Lake Superior shoreline from Duluth to the Canadian border, and you’ll encounter small towns, homes, resorts, shops and restaurants, all of them set against the backdrop of the dramatic and awe-inspiring big lake. It’s what most people would expect from a shoreline drive—with one notable exception. Midway between the cities of Duluth and Two Harbors, you’ll find the New Scenic Café, a small restaurant that takes big risks serving adventurous, contemporary food, right here on Lake Superior’s rural north shore.

Open for lunch and dinner, the New Scenic is the hotspot in the area for locals and tourist alike, who can jolly well plan on an hour-plus wait during the busy summer months if they haven’t called ahead. Grab a glass of wine or a microbrew, sit in the garden overlooking the lake and enjoy the view. A meal at the Scenic is worth the wait.

Chef-owner Scott Graden bought the restaurant in 1999. At just 28 years old, Graden had the vision of transforming what had essentially been a glorified diner into a fine-dining establishment, serving a creative, seasonally-changing menu. It was a gamble, especially because most of the popular restaurants in this resort-dominated area were serving basic burger-and-brew fare. But, this exacting young entrepreneur managed to hit on all the right elements for success—a casual, peaceful atmosphere in which customers feel comfortable in any sort of attire, a highly professional staff and food that turns customers into fanatics.

Here, Graden talks about the life of a young restaurateur.


Why did you decide open your own restaurant?
I had been a chef in several corporate-owned restaurants, and I didn’t like working under that umbrella. In that sort of structure, creativity in the kitchen is edited by a committee of business people. After a while in that environment, I decided that I was going to do it for myself or not do it at all. The opportunity to buy this place came up, and I took it.

Did you know what you were getting into?
I did. But I’ve learned that owning a restaurant is not like any other business. The profit margin is so low. You make one error in a restaurant and you’re backwards. For every dollar, you’re clearing about four cents, and that’s if everything is running perfectly. Competition moves in, your sales go down for a while. Cooler breaks down? That’s another expense. You have to work it, analyze it, and compensate for setbacks.

Most restaurants in the area serve basic, casual fare. You chose to break that mold to create a fine-dining establishment. Why?
It was an unfilled niche. Nobody was doing it. There are only a handful of upscale restaurants in this area, but nothing like this. I knew it would work.

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned about managing people?
Trust your staff and create policies that stem from consistency. For example, I don’t charge my staff for food because I value their opinions. If they see that something is wrong with the food, I want to hear it from them first, before I hear it from a customer. I want them to have a sense of ownership about the place, pride in what we’re doing.

How do you find good staff in a limited labor pool?
It’s important to hire people for the right reasons. I hire the person, not the resumé. Experience is great, but it really doesn’t matter to me whether people have a long list of experience. I can train people to wait tables and cook. I’m more interested in other things. Do they have a good attitude? Do they have good core values? Are they genuine? Are they self-motivated? The other piece of it is, people want to work here. I know that’s a luxury. I never take that for granted. I try very hard to make this the kind of place that people want to spend their time and energy contributing to.

You’ve created every recipe on your menu. Your food is your signature. How do you let go enough to have other people cook it?
Constant monitoring. I’ll push a plate of food back into the kitchen and tell the cooks it needs this or that. It’s about the small things. You can train the process of making a dish, but not the touch. Not the intangible. That part of it is about artistry and either someone has it or they don’t.

What are some other lessons you’ve learned throughout the past seven years?
When you’re an entrepreneur, you can work all day every day. You need to monitor yourself. It’s easy to work 80 to 90 hours a week, and more than that. You have to put in that kind of sweat equity to build a successful business, but you also have to make sure you have a balance in your life.

What advice would you give to someone who is contemplating owning a restaurant?
First, I’d ask a lot of questions. Why are you doing this? What are your goals? Define what you think your life will be like if you do this. What will your days consist of? Be realistic about it. And most importantly, talk to people who have done it.