Gaston Becherano Of Smorgasburg Miami: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became a Restaurateur
An Interview With Martita Mestey
Keep your support circle close by! Running a restaurant is physically and emotionally draining! Having a good support system does wonders to your mood, which in turn helps you be a better business person!
As part of our series about “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became a Restaurateur”, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Gaston Becherano.
Born in Mexico and raised in Miami, Gaston Becherano Cohen is the 27-year-old entrepreneur behind Smorgasburg Miami. An offshoot of the original successful outdoor markets operated in Williamsburg, N.Y., and Los Angeles, Gaston founded Smorgasburg Miami in March 2022, the 50,000 square-foot all-food market featuring 60+ of the best food vendors from Miami and across the country. Years before launching Smorgasburg Miami, Gaston graduated Tufts University with a degree in finance. He found his calling during a postgraduate solo sojourn in Japan that led to a love of Japanese food and rituals that brought him to kissatens, cozy tea rooms, and cafés throughout the country. Upon returning from his travels abroad, Gaston devoted himself to the culinary industry. In 2018 he was accepted as a vendor at Smorgasburg Brooklyn. There he debuted his concept, Bonsai and dedicated himself to selling kakigori — hand-cranked Japanese shaved ice. Gaston relocated back to Miami where he began Omotenashi Group — a collection of hospitality-driven enterprises. Gaston then opened Aventura Gardens Market in 2021. Supported by Smorgasburg’s founders, Gaston opened Smorgasburg Miami — every weekend drawing crowds upwards of 10,000 people. Gaston helps dozens of vendors launch concepts and incubate them at Smorgasburg Miami.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to ‘get to know’ you a bit. Can you share with our readers a story about what inspired you to become a restaurateur?
Above the food and the ambiance, the decor or the special, what really touches me about restaurants is the ability to experience hospitality. I believe that what you end up remembering about a restaurant is how someone makes you feel far more than what you tasted. My first impactful experience with intentional hospitality was at a restaurant in Florence with my family when I was about 12. The restaurant that my family and I were dining in wasn’t particularly upscale. It was a neighborhood restaurant that served typical Italian dishes run by a local Italian family. The place wasn’t particularly fancy. Wooden chairs and tables. Some decorative art but not too much. The hostess that greeted you was the owner and the cooks were either long-time hires or cousins of the owner. The waiter that was taking care of us realized that we were tourists and after the customary exchange of asking us where we were from and us responding that we were from Mexico City, he responded with his probably saved response that he usually used of a famous soccer player from Mexico, to which my parents offered a small chuckle. We were nearing the end of our meal and I hadn’t eaten much of the food. For some reason I was over saturated with pizza and pasta, of which we had eaten countless amounts the days before. Perhaps primed from the waiter exchange, I made a small remark to my parents that I wish I could eat some tacos, which I missed from home. About 10 minutes later, by complete surprise, the waiter neared our table and placed down a dish in front of me that we hadn’t ordered. Tacos. He made a self-deprecating joke excusing the kitchen staff from being Italian and not knowing how to cook Mexican food and left us. I felt so seen and heard and I teared up. That getsure touched me. It wasn’t about the tacos and how they tasted — they were fine. It was about the fact that the waiter achieved what every great restaurateur should aim for in any concept — making their guests feel special and welcomed.
Do you have a specific type of food that you focus on? What was it that first drew you to cooking that type of food? Can you share a story about that with us?
I love Japanese Food. In New York, I opened a Japanese Café, focusing on small dishes, drinks, and desserts from across the land of the rising sun. What first drew me to Japanese food was a trip I took to the country in the summer of 2017. I fell in love with both the culture and the food of Japan. It was my experiences of meandering through the small alley restaurants in Tokyo and Osaka that enamored me with the different dishes of Japanese cuisine. Japanese dishes are both simple and complex at the same time. The intertwined nature of a dish that has very few ingredients but packs such intense and subtle flavors is a mystery that made me fall in love with the cuisine.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that happened to you since you became a restaurateur? What was the lesson or take away you took out of that story?
At Smorgasburg Miami we welcome thousands of guests every weekend from all across Miami. One day, my sister was helping out at our information and merchandise tent, helping guests find their favorite vendor and picking our Smorgasburg Miami merch pieces. My sister grew up an enormous Jonas Brothers fan, with a special affinity for Joe Jonas. Low and behold, a few minutes into her first shift at the info station, the one and only Joe Jonas approached us, and my sister completely lost it. Joe wanted to know if there were any vegan vendors at the market and I had to help her find the right words to answer his questions. It was a very surreal moment for me to see such a big super star at Smorgasburg Miami — the concept I’ve put so much heart and work into. It was a big sign to me that we’ve really made an impact and solidified our position as a go-to destination in Miami in such a short time!
Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey? How did you overcome this obstacle?
Running a food establishment is difficult. There are many people working in tandem to make sure that food is produced at a consistently high level for guests. Without the back of the house operating smoothly, your food suffers and the guest experience as well. In my cafes in New York City, there was a period of time where my business partner, who happened to be the main chef for our cafes, had to leave the business. The next week, more people from the kitchen staff ended up leaving. There were massive gaps in our cooking department. For a period of 4 months, before we hired another head chef, I was forced to continue managing business operations, while also going into the kitchen and helping out with the cooking. The only reason we overcame this obstacle is because other people from the team stepped up and filled in the holes left by people who had left. What I realized was that it was vital to have team members who weren’t afraid of absorbing different roles that were outside of their comfort zone.
In your experience, what is the key to creating a dish that customers are crazy about?
I think the dishes that leave lasting impressions are dishes that clearly come from a place where the chef was passionate about what they were making. At Smorgasburg Miami, we accept vendors who all cook with tremendous passion and bring a unique twist to their cuisines. D’Abruzzo, for example, brings Arrosticini, a traditional lamb skewer dish from the Abruzzo region of Italy that is to die for. It’s simple but so so tasty and it represents the region it’s from well. Coney Burger, another vendor at Smorgasburg Miami, does their take on the classic nostalgic version of burgers but with a culinary and local sourcing twist! D’Pura Cepa, another local Miami vendor, makes to-die-for mofongos, a staple Puerto Rican dish that the owners grew up with. I believe that having passion behind what you cook is the secret ingredient to having your food taste amazing.
Personally, what is the ‘perfect meal for you’?
The perfect meal for me includes simple dishes done right, served in a warm ambiance by people who are naturally hospitable, while being surrounded and sharing the meal with the people I love the most.
Where does your inspiration for creating come from? Is there something that you turn to for a daily creativity boost?
My inspiration comes from realizing that the work that we do touches thousands of people in a positive way. My passion is creating an all inclusive environment where everyone from everywhere can gather together and have a memorable experience. Nothing brings people together like food!
Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? What impact do you think this will have?
Right now I’m focused on growing Smorgasburg Miami, Miami’s largest outdoor food market, which hosts thousands of people every weekend in Wynwood to eat from 60+ of the best vendors Miami has to offer! We’re working on some exciting projects like partnering with sports teams in Miami, to create awesome experiences for guests outside our home in Wynwood. Being able to host thousands of people every weekend and give them a great experience where they can interact with up and coming brands is a great feeling
What advice would you give to other restaurateurs to thrive and avoid burnout?
My advice to restaurateurs to avoid burnout is to surround yourself with as many people that love you as possible and spend as much time with them as you can. As a restaurateur, the notion of having work-life balance, especially in the beginning of a project is an illusion. You’re going to have to work long hard hours to be successful. I’ve found that the time that you get to spend with people that love you, even if it means at your restaurant or place of business makes a world of difference to your levels of happiness and mental health.
Thank you for all that. Now we are ready for the main question of the interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started as a Restaurateur” and why? Please share a story or an example for each.
1. The people you hire will dictate the success of your business. Every business depends on the quality of its team members for its success but none more so than restaurants. It’s so important to hire good human beings that have integrity and work ethic. A story that taught me this lesson was when I hired someone who in my gut knew wasn’t going to be the right fit but I was in a pinch to find someone. Later that week, I found out that the person didn’t show up to a really important morning shift, leaving the whole team scrambling!
2. Building a community of guests takes time! It took me a while to realize that it takes a long time to build a steady clientele of returning customers. At Smorgasburg, I still speak to people on a regular basis who have no idea who we are! It’s important to realize that one needs to work hard every day to spread the word about what we stand for to continue building a strong base of people who visit your establishment.
3. Be present and work on the challenges ‘under your nose.’ Often-times it’s easy to worry about something that are going to happen in the future. The most important thing is to work on things that are right there under your nose and take one step at a time. For Smorgasburg, we were worried that when Summer came, which brings regular rain, we would experience less foot traffic than in the Spring. We spent a lot of time worrying about what we would do! When Summer arrived, we actually experienced more foot traffic than the Spring, despite the rain storms! It’s important to plan ahead, but sometimes just focusing on the challenges in front of you that you can control is best!
4. Keep your support circle close by! Running a restaurant is physically and emotionally draining! Having a good support system does wonders to your mood, which in turn helps you be a better business person!
5. Enjoy it! Sometimes it’s difficult to enjoy the day to day when you’re working very hard and you’re facing challenges. Slowing down and enjoying your place of work, be it a restaurant or an office, and realizing the impact it has on your community, is so important!
What’s the one dish people have to try if they visit your establishment?
It’s hard to pick one specific dish at Smorgasburg — that’s like asking me who my favorite kid is! I would say that when you come to Smorgasburg Miami, the best thing to do is a lap of the entire market and go for whatever smells and looks great to you!
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
I really enjoy brewing and drinking loose leaf teas. The practice of brewing the tea forces me to slow down and enjoy the present moment. Heating the water, letting the leaves brew, and then tasting the different notes encompasses a practice that is similar to meditation. When I do this, I feel grounded, happier, and more fulfilled. If I were to inspire a movement, it would be challenge people to find an activity that they find meditative and to do that activity regularly and to the fullest of their passions!
Thank you so much for these insights. This was very inspirational!
Gaston Becherano Of Smorgasburg Miami: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became a… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.