Kathy Sidell, owner and founder of The Met Restaurant Group is – without a doubt – one of the most influential restaurateurs in New England. But she isn’t stopping with the Boston area. Sidell is expanding her restaurant empire (currently with locations in Boston, Dedham, Natick and Nantucket) to the outskirts of Washington, D.C. in Bethesda, Maryland, now open.
Sidell also shared with BostInno plans for a completely new restaurant concept, coming in spring 2015. Stay tuned for more details on that – and in the meantime, check out how Kathy Sidell spends her busy restaurant-filled days.
How do you spend most mornings?
While my eyes are barely open, I check the closing numbers and notes from all the restaurants from the prior day. They are emailed to me after the close of every night. You could say that it is an addiction. I also read everything about food, dining, entertaining that I can get my hands on … and use this time to catch up on social media and return emails. Oh, and I also speak with my 30-year-old daughter in LA every morning before we start our day. Yes … every morning like clockwork.
What are the top priorities on your to-do list right now?
My to-do list is both my best friend and my nemesis. It grows, pretends it will shrink, then grows again. At the moment it is all about Thanksgiving and the holidays, finding affordable white truffles, always making sure our kids are doing well – we have five between my husband and I; anything they need is top priority. My mother, of course, trumps everything.
What is the best part and the worst part about your day?
Worst part is having to sleep. Best part is sleeping. Wait, Worst part is eating. Best part is eating. Can I say both?
What’s next for The Met Restaurant Group?
As far as projects we are working on – we are opening our latest and first restaurant outside of Massachusetts in the greater DC area in Bethesda, MD (Update: the restaurant is now open). And … here is a first time reveal … we will be opening a new concept on Dartmouth Street this spring. It will be like nothing we have done thus far.
If you could impart one piece of advice to our readers, what would it be?
Advice about what? Relationships? Sex? Film? Food? Just ask me, (I’m) sure I will have an opinion.
