Moving on after tragedy in the restaurant business

The restaurant business is filled with adversity at every level. Those of us who have made this career choice understand and even thrive under the stressful conditions that our industry is known for, and something that every person who has ever worked in a restaurant, be it as a bus boy, a server, a cook, a dishwasher, or a manager, understands.

That being said sometimes challenges happen that you can never be prepared for or even contemplate unless you are faced with them directly. That was the case for SoDel Concepts this past year when we were unexpectedly faced with the untimely and unexpected death of our founder Matt Haley.

It was when faced with this crisis that we found that we were prepared, we were ready. The first thing we had to do, and to do quickly, was figure out how we were to move forward without Matt, who was the company’s Corporate Chef, CEO, and local and regional face of SoDel Concept. We looked at our company as a group and decided to redefine our mission to better understand our core values. What we realized was that what we all valued the most was fostering employees within the company, using the potential and talents of all of our employees. Giving loyal employees opportunities that they deserved but perhaps would not get otherwise was something that we always valued but now it became a focus, and here was an opportunity to make this happen in a big way. Matt’s absence created many holes in the company, and we needed to fill them quickly, and open 8 restaurants the next day. And that is what we did. We had General Managers that became corporate Directors of Operations, restaurant chefs who became corporate chefs, servers who became general managers of restaurants, sous chefs who became head chefs, and I went from being a behind the scenes Director of Operations for SoDel Concepts to the CEO. This all took place in a matter of days.

What we learned from this crisis was that we were a company of passionate and dedicated people who were all inspired by Matt’s vision of our role in our community. We will continue to grow our business and be a positive force in Sussex County, creating jobs, giving back, supporting other local businesses, and supporting each other.

Scott Kammerer is president and CEO of SoDel Concepts, which owns eight restaurants in coastal Delaware as well as Plate Catering and Big Thunder Roadside Kitchen, a food truck.