April 2017 | Business View Magazine

122 123 them and create a good, quality product.” Good quality products are hallmarks at the Good Stuff Eatery. The restaurant only serves organic foods that are locally sourced, whenev- er possible. It makes fresh custard daily, using organic milk and eggs, to spin the over 30 flavors of its milkshakes. Hamburgers are made from a proprietary, custom blend of meat, and its hand cut French fries are sourced from a 4th generation family of farmers. In addition to its quality ingredients, Catherine says that what makes the Good Stuff Eatery different from oth- er burger “joints” is the fact that the restaurant Good Stuff Eatery (andWe the Pizza) is “chef-driven.” “We go back five generations in the restaurant business and we take a tremendous amount of pride in what we do. I’m a chef and all our man- agers are culinary graduates,” she exclaims. “So, we treat a burger like Ruth Chris treats a steak. We’ve taken our time to do it right, and we have a great team in place. Our Director of Opera- tions, John Reninger, was the White House chef for President Obama for eight years, and for President Bush for a year. Our Corporate Chef, Max Albano, is not only a graduate of the Culi- nary Institute of America, but also of the Hos- pitality Management School of the University of Florida.We have another chef who worked for John-Georges for many years. Then there’s my son, who is a CIA graduate,who’s worked for Le Cirque, Bouchon, and The French Laundry.He’s cooked at the White House many times.That’s howwe ensure the quality of the product and how it’s prepared. That’s what makes us different.” The Mendelsohns began with only one lo- cation, but over the last few years they began franchising, and today there are eight Good Stuff Eateries. “We have five franchised and three company-owned locations,” says Cath- erine. “Our plan, moving forward, is to expand in the tri-state area, here in D.C., Virginia, and Maryland. And we’re also opening a couple of company stores in Florida, because we want to develop a Florida market.We used to live in Clearwater Beach and we had a very well- known restaurant in St. Petersburg. In five years, I’d like to see us with about 50 stores. That would be comfortable, with some compa-