A quartet of Bay Area businesses are vying for investor funding on the first season of a new CNBC show called Restaurant Startup a sort of combination of CNN's Shark Tank and Restaurant Impossible. First up, in an episode that aired yesterday, is the already well publicized Bacon Bacon mini-empire, which went on the show seeking $400,000 in order to expand to L.A.
Later in the season, Bespoke Doughnuts (the tricked-out doughnut makers who were slinging their wares at Beaux in the Castro on weekends for a while, until cagily posting on Facebook in late May that there is "fun stuff" in their future) will be giving their pitch, as will SF whole-animal-roast caterer The Whole Beast (chef John Fink), and Oakland-based confectioner Sugar Knife. (See the full list here.)
In the course of their pitch in Episode 2, Bacon Bacon partners Jim Angelus and Conor Wiecking reveal that between their two Bacon Bacon trucks and their storefront in Frederick Knob (205A Frederick Street, and yes, that's a neighborhood) they're grossing $1.7 million a year, with about a 14% profit, which is quite good for the food industry. Angelus earlier spoke about some expansion plans with Inside Scoop, but at the time he hinted that San Jose or Sacramento might be next.
Restaurant Startup hosts/prospective investors Joe Bastianich and Tim Love grill Angelus and Wiecking on their business plan, asking them why if they're in the bacon business they aren't buying pork fatback and smoking their own bacon, as opposed to buying pre-sliced and smoked bacon.
And then Bastianich tells the guys that despite liking their food, single-ingredient concepts like theirs are "for hipsters and losers." In the end, he and Love choose the competing team (a couple of attractive ladies) from an L.A. food truck called Baby's Badass Burgers, who get to launch their business in the studio kitchen on the show. You can watch the whole episode here.
Let's hope that Bespoke Doughnuts, The Whole Beast, and Sugar Knife fare better!
