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THOMAS: I found the
restaurant. The restaurant was closed. I came onto the property and I said,
`Wow, this is it. This is magical. This is the place that I want to be. It
reminds me of France. It could be anywhere.'
So I went home, I
went back to LA, and I thought about it for a couple of days, and I called the
owners on the phone. I said, `My name's Thomas Keller. I'd like to fly up and
I'd like to introduce myself and show you who I am, and maybe talk about
purchasing your restaurant.'
Don and Sally
Schmidt were the previous owners. They said, `Sure, come on up.' They were the
kind of people, also, that wanted to find the right person to buy the
restaurant. They weren't just--they weren't the kind of people who were just
looking to sell the restaurant.
And finally, I put
together a prospectus of probably 300 pages. And I found an attorney that did
this kind of work in LA. He wasn't a restaurant attorney, but he was a man who
enjoyed great food and great wine, and his clients--his restaurant clients,
were well known, or at least well known to me. So I went to him with my
prospectus, and a bottle of EVO, and I said......
HATTIE: Oh, you go
with the olive oil.
THOMAS: With olive
oil, right, because, again, remember, I have no money.: I had no money. I'm
living off--basically I'm living off my credit cards... ...which is kind of
embarrassing.
HATTIE: So you
financed it on your credit cards at the beginning.
THOMAS: Basically.
HATTIE: Because
you're living on that.
THOMAS: Right.
Because I'm living on that. And I take him this prospectus, and I say, you
know, `Bob, this is'--this is another Bob in the project, I said, `This is my
idea. It's a great opportunity.' `You know, this is my prospectus.' He was very
impressed. He said, `You know, I've dealt with three or four other chefs who
have done this, and none of them have ever come to me as well-prepared as
you've come.'
And I think that
was key in getting him on board. And he said, `Fine, so, you know, I'm
impressed. I'll write this document for you, and this is how much it's going to
cost you.'
HATTIE: And then
you said...
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