We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Keenan Langlois. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Keenan below.
Hi Keenan, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
6 months after leaving a chef job working for another restaurant group I was looking through Craigslist for any opportunity I could find. A closed gas station, an old ice cream shop, anything I could turn into a kitchen. I came across this little shop up in Salem and once I visited I knew it was exactly this place. Stacia’s place was once a sub shop for 30 years. I knew if a business selling sandwiches lasted for so long and put the owner’s children through college then I could continue to make it work. I pulled together some resources and made the move into the space. After months of renovation I finally opened and shake casa was launched.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I fell into the restaurants industry in my early teens after my brother’s friend was leaving for college and there was a vacancy at the local pizza shop. Little did I know eventually I would be drawn to The Culinary Institute of America to formalize my kitchen education. After years of traveling and working in dozens of restaurants gaining knowledge and experience, I begin to develop my own style. Eventually I outgrew the restaurant companies that I was working for and decided to move out on my own.
After finding the location for ChezCasa, the concept soon began to take shape. Because this previous sandwich shop had been so successful I decided to continue on that path by making simple relatable food at a very high quality.
The configuration of the restaurant puts me in very close contact to the guests. I get to appreciate their enthusiasm if they have made a journey to come visit and experience. It’s also nice to chat with them and find things out like where they’re from or their favorite food encounters.
It’s not at all what I expected but it’s what I got and I love it anyways!
Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?
I am a survivor of the covid shutdown. I opened in September of 2019 after a couple of months of local support I got a nice feature in a larger publication. Things were really starting to come together after those first few months. I was about to make it through my first winter and the Covid shutdown began. Although I never closed a day, things definitely were a struggle to keep going. I had relenting bills, simple items that I needed for daily production increase some costs by 400%. I trimmed down my staff to just myself and one other part-time employee. I was overdrafting the bank account weekly. Costing me thousands of dollars in overdraft fees. If you think you’re going through hell keep going. I was able to alleviate some of the pressure by deferring one of my partners’ loans, and people started coming out with some confidence, the wind of change came about.
It took 2 years to finally dig out and see the light. The business is finally running healthy, bills get paid, loans have been closed on. I have a supportive staff and the constant panic has abated.
Now I’m starting my second restaurant.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
In ChezCasa I built my reputation as a chef owner by actually working the kitchen every day, every hour. We make as much product as possible in house. I use quality ingredients and prepare them with educated skill. The result is simple, relatable food prepared at a high level, and at an affordable price. Served in a welcoming positive environment.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chezcasafood.com
- Instagram: @Chezcasaboston