The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 72

I THE PALM BEACH POST AUGUST 26, 1996 5 Cover Story To the Max: Creating a restaurant legend 1 Max's Restaurants Unique Restaurant Concepts, Boca Raton, was founded in the mid-1980s. It's a partnership between Dennis Max and Burt Rapo-port and is the umbrella organization for all of Max's existing restaurants. I VI "7 059v Max met Burt Rapoport, his partner in Unique, while at Victoria Station. In the mid-1970s, the two left Victoria Station and came to South Florida to open a restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. That deal fell through, but they joined five investment bankers and an architect to open a bar and restaurant called Raffles in the Dadeland Mall.

It was a huge success as a singles bar. The group sold a chain of five Raffles in 1983. Rapoport then left for New York, and Max and his wife, Patti, began work on Cafe Max. Max and Patti loved good food and wanted to do something "almost for ourselves," he said. The two traveled extensively and planned and created and worked.

They finally came up with Cafe Max, a radical idea to a state that previously was known for a Stuckey's at almost every exit. It offered in 1984 something that later would be known as New American Cuisine and included wood-grilled meats, wines by the glass and baby vegetables. Max financed it partly with his credit cards and loans from his family. Start-up costs were just under $200,000. "At first, it was not a success," Max said.

"For the first few months, we were doing 15 to 20 dinners a night, which is disastrous." Then his wife's recipe for caviar pie won a contest, the cafe got some publicity, and all of a sudden the place was packed. Max said they were cramming two parties of two onto tables for four. A succession of restaurants followed amid rave reviews, including Max's Place in Miami and Maxaluna in Boca Raton. Christopher Becker, a senior vice president with Crocker Realty Trust, said Crocker approached Max to create Maxaluna. Many of the early restaurants were financed that way with a landlord providing some of the financing and a location.

Max created Unique Restaurant Concepts, which employs more than 1,000 people, in 1984. Rapoport came back to Florida as a partner in the early 1990s. Within a couple of years, Unique was expanding rapidly and needed more money. Developer Dan Catalfumo, a self-made man like Max, became his partner. And now, Max is looking at going public to help finance more expansion.

"Now, you need $0 million or $7 million a year if you want to open five or six restaurants," he said. "The timing seems closer than ever." By DANIELLE HERUBIN Palm Beach Post Staff Writer BOCA RATON It's a midday weekday in a crowded cafe. Four hungry diners glance around for a glimpse of an open table. One of them, a broker, observes that the owner, the legendary Dennis Max, must be doing well. "I don't think he's doing that well," says the other broker.

"It's all borrowed money." They parry words about Max's financial status, each quickly realizing that neither has information good enough to become the currency of those who barter with inside news. The conversation skips to Elizabeth Dole. And another false rumor about Max fuels the legend. Dennis Max, who through his Boca Raton company Unique Restaurant Concepts owns seven eating establishments, is one of the most well-known restaurateurs in Florida. He's considered one of the top 10 restaurateurs in the nation.

He's also one of the most talked-about businessmen in South Florida. While he has sold plenty of his restaurants, he never has closed one himself, a record almost unheard of in this revolving-door business. Disney just signed him on to create three restaurants in its Orlando neighborhood Celebration. Revenues next year are expected to hit $50 million. Max, so far, has always used private financing for his restaurants.

Max's Grill was created with personal and family loans. Max's South Beach was backed by a group of 10 passive investors who received minority stakes. But as the concepts and number of new restaurants grew, so did the need for more start-up capital. Now Max, 51, is talking to the investment community about taking his holding group, Unique, public. "The time is right," he said.

Building a lifestyle It's hard to look at the legend now and see him at age 30, a California native who was working hard toward self-destruction as a broker in a Wall Street firm. One day, a 44-year-old man working the trading desk keeled over with a heart attack, right in the middle of the day. "I said, there's no way I wanted that to happen to me," Max said. He stopped smoking and began eating right. He also began running 5 or 6 miles a day and skiing, cycling and doing weight-" -training.

He-takes one hour each 1 (Hj 1 'i I I -ilk i Max think he has been so successful. "I think Dennis realizes more than most that an evening at one of his restaurants is an experience, a socialization process in and of itself," said John E. Abdo, vice chairman of BankAtlantic. That "experience" isn't created easily. Max said it's like making movies.

Unique's executives create a story board and post it on a bulletin board. They talk about what the waiters should look like. They go on trips. Creating Cafe Max Mark Militello, Max's original chef for his first restaurant, Cafe Max in Pompano Beach, said Max took him all over the world researching restaurants. Max later spun off one restaurant Max's Place because Militello wanted to focus on one thing while Max kept looking for concepts he could turn into new restaurants! LIU XINStaff Photographer Max's Coffee Shop at Mizner Park in Boca Raton is one of many eateries owned by Unique Restaurant Concepts, a partnership between Dennis Max and Burt Rapoport.

Max is looking at going public to help finance more expansion. Astor Place Bar Grill, Astor Hotel, Miami. Max's Coffee Shop and Mizner Bread Bakery, Mizner Park, Boca Raton. Max's Grill, Mizner Park, Boca Raton. Maxaluna, Boca Raton.

Prezzo, Boca Raton. Prezzo, North Miami. Prezzo, Kendall. Bread Alone at Disney's Celebration residential community, Orlando. Max's Cafe Coffee Shop at Disney's Celebration.

Max's Cafe Coffee Shop, Livingston, N.J. Max's Grill at Disney's Celebration. Max's Grill, Fort Lauderdale. Brasserie Max, Plantation, sold to a group that owns the South Florida Hooter's franchise. Cafe Max, sold to Oliver Saucey and Darryle Broek.

Cafe Ole, Boca Raton. Max's Place, Miami, sold to Mark Militello. Restaurant is now called Mark's Place. Max's South Beach, sold to New York designer Kenneth Jaworski. Nightclub Notte, a Boca membership club, sold to Burt Patterson.

Prezzo, Palm Beach Gardens, sold to George Kelly. Raffles, the chain, sold in 1982. Source: Dennis Max. day just for himself usually around 4 p.m. Max at the time was considering making a market for a new restaurant chain called Victoria Station.

As he was interviewing company officials, they told him they needed managers. He asked for a job. Max's whole life had prepared him for the restaurant business. His mother was the head of food service for Warner Bros. His father was an American Airlines pilot.

His family traveled a lot, paying special attention to the cuisines of different locales. Max grew up loving food. In college, he helped pay his expenses by bartending and waiting tables. He studied English, then earned a master's degree in business administration from the University of Southern California. The combination of creativity and financial acumen is one of the many reasons people who know.