 |
|
|
|
Josh White is now the full-fledged owner of the Blue Rock Shoot.
Photograph by Dai Sugano
It's full bean ahead for Shoot owner Josh White
By Steve Enders
Coffee aficionados in Saratoga have seen Josh White before--the big guy behind the counter with the funky goatee and bleached hair. He's probably poured their coffee, heated up their bagels or maybe even made them a sandwich for lunch.
But now, White, just 25, doesn't only work there, he's the full-fledged owner of the Blue Rock Shoot on Big Basin Way.
White became the coffee shop's owner on June 1, taking over from owner, and then co-owner Mitch Cutler, who also owns La Fondue restaurant.
"I don't know what Mitch saw in me, but I guess he thought he could trust me to run the place," White says.
It really has been an odd transition and acquisition for White--certainly something that doesn't happen to everyone who enters the food service biz. It wasn't too long ago that he started waiting tables like so many other young people do, at La Fondue. Waiters don't just get whole businesses handed over to them.
Sure, the two got along well, but White didn't have any special kind of relationship with Cutler, he says. Rather, Cutler says he just saw compassion, a good work ethic and a desire to listen to customers' needs.
"I consider us friends, but in more of a business sense," White says.
Back in March 1996, Cutler offered a management position to White for his new Saratoga coffee shop, Blue Rock Shoot, and White soon found himself working right across the street.
Not too long after that, White was offered part-ownership of the coffee shop. He got a bank loan and bought half the business.
Last week, he bought the other half.
"It's up to him," Cutler says. "He's seen me, and has a model of my business effort. He's seen what it takes to succeed, and whether or not he can duplicate that is up to him." Cutler adds that if White shows up every day and puts in a lot of hard work, the shop will only take off further.
White shrugs his shoulders when he tries to figure out how he became owner of the place. Things have just worked out for him with the coffee shop. Another lucky twist of fate happened only days after the Blue Rock Shoot opened in 1996, when his son, Angelo, was born.
The 3-year-old tears around the restaurant rather well, running from table to table, and jumping on the chairs. He's a natural waiter, perhaps?
White says Angelo helps with things when it gets busy, as does his wife of four years, Carla.
But White had no business school training for the job, or any real ambition to own a restaurant or coffee shop. He even seems nonchalant about owning a major Saratoga establishment, until he really gets going and talks about the nitty-gritty business aspects.
"I'm a student of Mitch's. I just had an ambition to make a lot of money, but I guess everyone has that," he says.
White says he doesn't have any big plans for the shop--more of the same, which has proven nothing but successful so far.
One change he'd like to make, though, is to get a real kitchen going, perhaps a grill where they can start making more hot food.
That's not too drastic, though. He's probably just nervous.
"It's intense and a little stressful," he says, "but I just don't feel too excited. My wife and I are super busy. It hasn't really sunk in yet."
Even though White takes a laid-back attitude toward running the place, he says the shop has invoked some changes in him--he's learned to be more direct with people.
"To function, you need to be more forward and up front, and even a little stern when you have to. You have to do it to be successful," he says.
"I just feel really lucky," White continues. "I don't know why I ended up here. I'm just here."
|
|
|
|
Saratoga, California Since 1975
