January 17, 2018

Meet Jennie Yip Kim of Jenjuice Hospitality in Harwood

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennie Yip Kim.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My career spans 25 years from New York City- Dallas. It began in 1992 in NYC from a restaurant hostess turned brunch manager at 44 restaurants in the Royalton Hotel for Brian McNally (restaurant owner) Jonathan Morr (food and beverage director), and Ian Schrager (hotel owner). After a few years in management, relocated to Miami Beach to launch the food and beverage program at the iconic Delano Hotel. The process was educational, to create and manage the most talked about hotel destination around the world was a dream project.

In 1996, Jenjuice Hospitality was born as a food and beverage company providing services in Restaurant Start-ups, Concepts, Development, Creative Services, Design, Marketing, Executive Recruitment, and Project Coordination.

Connections and recommendations played a vital role in our company’s growth, as well as staying boutique and unique in our project selection. From working with lighting designer, Arnold Chan of Isometrix at the Delano Hotel landed a project in Bangkok, launching a department store with five food and beverage outlets with interior designer Christian Liaigre. Then, Christian introduced me to hotelier Andre Balazs to develop and manage the Mercer Hotel’s food and beverage program with Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten in NYC. Next, the owners of Mercer Hotel decided to form a partnership to open a hotel and restaurant in Miami Beach, Townhouse Hotel, and Bond Street Restaurant (sold after 13 years). While living in Miami, new partnerships formed to open my namesake Chinese restaurant and nightclub, Miss Yip Chinese Cafe and BUCK15 nightclub. Since then, our projects include a few restaurants and nightclub in NYC, Condesa df Hotel in Mexico City, partnering with Ian Schrager to launch the Gramercy Park Hotel, rebranding the Knickerbocker Hotel’s food and beverage program, market study for Dream Hotel, consulted for the retailer, Benetton, and more.

Since moving to Dallas 5 years ago with my family (husband ‘s from Dallas), our consultancy has a change to balance family, business, and new market. We noticed many people saying, “We never heard of restaurant consults who help people open restaurants.” So, we scaled our company back a bit to accommodate this market, and educate “mom and pop” companies in restaurant startups, and interior design.

Since launching a bakeshop in Bishop Arts (Potpourri of Silk), an Indian restaurant in the Dallas Farmer’s market (8 Cloves), and developing a ramen shop, we noticed neighborhoods mushrooming filled with food halls, restaurants, hotels, and condominiums catering to the locals. Soon, destination neighborhoods will be worth the drive offering new entertainment and food options such as Legacy West, The Star in Frisco, Design District, Downtown Main Street, and more of Bishop Arts.

After 20 years of New York experience, the local people appreciate our knowledge, experience, network and success’ in the hospitality business, so a client is not too big or too small, we work with a single vision.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
We’ve learned to adapt to different states, countries, cultures and service styles. The hospitality business is predominantly male, so the stigma of equal rights is very apparent. I’ve had to fight for equal pay, equal opportunity, and equal right to speak. During the mid-90’s, I had a client in Asia who wanted to build the first modern lifestyle department store with multiple food and beverage outlets within. During our brainstorming meetings, the CEO and CFO would quickly remind me that I was not allowed to speak. I was perplexed, and they replied, “You’re a female, therefore, must speak when asked to.” I quickly reversed the tables by going to the owner, who hired me, and mentioned that if I can’t speak at our brainstorming meetings then what good am I. He knew, coming from the American culture, we didn’t work that way so at the next meeting and after that, he allowed me to speak first.

Overall, the ride has been pretty smooth but having the support from strong visionaries who believe in me, my work and ability to deliver have always brought a level of confidence to the company. Some great supporters have been chefs (Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Geoffrey Zakarian), hoteliers (Ian Schrager, Andre Balazs, Groupo Habita), interior designers (Anda Andrei, Christian Liaigre, Isometrix, India Mahdavi), restaurateur (Jonathan Morr, Lois Freedman), and developers.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Jenjuice Hospitality – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Jenjuice Hospitality is a restaurant development company since 1996 We specialize in restaurant start-ups for hotels, food halls, retail and free-standing properties. We’re known for creating boutique concepts, developing brands, educating staff on service and culture, connections, and setting up management for success. Also, we rebrand non-working restaurant spaces, marketing, and recruitment.

Services include menu development, kitchen design, interior designers and architects selection, uniform design, music selection, FF&E, tabletop, spatial planning, technology application, vendor negotiations to pre-opening budgets, timelines, and everything in-between.

We are most proud of being a reliable asset in creating bespoke properties with visionaries, chefs, and developers who aren’t afraid to break the status quo. Together, we set standards and stay true to a concept when developing a destination for the world to see.

What makes us different is the attention to detail, the management experience, the international network collaboration, and the press worthy mentions, that sets each property apart.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We are looking into staying local, and help brands expand in the Texas market.

New in 2018, additional services include Interior design and tabletop design.

Pricing:

HOURLY – 2 hour brainstorm session, and checklist on how to open a restaurant ($150/hr)
MONTHLY – depends on the scope of work. Menu development, re-branding to new concept and development (range from $3,000- $20,000/month)

Contact Info:

Address: 2651 N. Harwood St, Suite #525
Dallas, TX 75201
Website: www.jenjuicehospitality.com
Phone: 718-622-8584
Email: jenjuicehospitality@gmail.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenjuicehospitality/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenjuicehospitality/
Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennie-yip-kim-19659421/

Image Credits:
Ian Schrager Company
Andre Balazs Properties
Grupo Habita
Nicolas Kenig
Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten
Ocean Drive Magazine
Bill Wissler

Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.