We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brendan Dillon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Brendan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

Currently the biggest struggle for restaurants is the growing cost of goods and compounded by rising labor costs for back of the house employees. Now, more than ever, restaurant owners must diligently monitor their fluctuating costs and make significant decisions regarding menu design and planning to adapt to the current labor market. To address the wage disparity between our front-of-house and back-of-house employees, Hamlet has implemented a kitchen administration fee on our checks. This fee has successfully raised hourly wages for kitchen staff by $3-7, resulting in improved employee retention and reduced friction between these two groups. Interestingly, our sourcing from smaller farms has had a positive impact on the cost of vegetables and meats, contrary to the price increases observed with larger corporate farms, which tend to inflate their pricing more rapidly.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Brendan Dillon, and I have dedicated over 20 years to working in and around the restaurant industry. My fortunate upbringing involved having a talented chef and restaurateur as my father. In 2015, my partner Dennis Kiingati and I took the leap and opened a small restaurant and bar. Initially, our focus was primarily on crafting high-quality cocktails, accompanied by intriguing small plates of food. However, two years later, a fire caused significant damage to our building. During the rebuilding process, we seized the opportunity to expand both our kitchen and seating areas at Hamlet.

Over the past few years, we have witnessed a shift: our food sales now surpass our beverage sales. As a result, Hamlet has transformed into a restaurant that offers not only exceptional cocktails but also an emphasis on its culinary experience. We go above and beyond to seek out high quality spirits as well as source as much as possible from local farmers. We spend a lot of time thinking about how we can make the experience at Hamlet warm and hospitable while giving people the opportunity to try creative and exciting food and cocktails.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In the first year, around a month into our venture, an unfortunate incident occurred—a deep freeze caused a pipe to burst in the apartment above our newly established kitchen. The resulting closure lasted for nearly two weeks, and we were burdened with significant repair costs. Fast forward two years later, another setback struck when a fire erupted in an adjacent building. The ensuing water and smoke damage forced us to close our doors for a lengthy two months. Even after reopening, it took an additional eight months to fully restore our kitchen facilities. Enduring these two disasters, coupled with the challenges brought by a global pandemic in subsequent years, has been an eye-opening experience. We have learned valuable lessons about resilience, our unwavering dedication to our staff, and the immense difficulty of finding success in this industry. Strangely, these calamities have provided a silver lining—they have made certain aspects of the job appear easier. We have gained a better perspective on not letting small setbacks weigh us down, as we have faced and overcome far more formidable challenges.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

My business parter started off as a regular at the bar I was bartending at. We shared a mutual enjoyment for craft cocktails and both thought that a true “New York City” cocktail bar could be a welcome addition to Saratoga Springs.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hamletandghost.com
• Instagram: HamletandGhost

Image Credits
@LaChapelle_photography @curtisgallon