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Harborside's New Owner Discusses Changes, Plan for Success

Last Modified: Monday, July 14, 2014 at 11:29 a.m.

WINTER HAVEN | In a previous life, Harborside Restaurant on Winter Haven's Lake Shipp was a rustic, raucous hangout for a sandals-and-shorts crowd who kicked back oysters with pitchers of warm, domestic lager.

The place was razed by new owners, brothers Frank and Manny Papadopoulos, who debuted in December 2012 a sleek, two-story granite-and-glass sanctuary with fancier fare, ample parking and gorgeous views.

Frank & Manny's Harborside Restaurant is no more. A third incarnation is under way, scheduled to open by the end of September under the ownership of David Spinogatti, 42, a hardened restaurateur and New York native who has owned and operated restaurants in Orlando.

At age 13, Spinogatti earned pocket money washing dishes at a Jewish deli in Freehold, N.J. It fueled a passion for the business that has taken him far. After graduating Johnson & Wales University in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in restaurant management, he launched an 11-year career with the Palm Restaurant Group, a New York-based, family owned chain of high-end steak and seafood restaurants.

During his tenure, Spinogatti went from an entry-level assistant manager to general manager. He opened the Palm at the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Studios in Orlando. Prior to leaving in 2005, he was the Palm's national director of wine.

The married father of three, ages 7, 9 and 11, said he left the Palm group to strike out on his own and in 2006 he teamed up to open Beluga restaurant in Winter Park, which closed in 2009, a casualty of the economic downturn.

With Harborside, Spinogatti says he's back in business, this time running the show alone, his way. And while much of the restaurant remains the same, customers will find plenty that's new, including a copper-topped oyster bar, a private dining room for groups, parties and special events; and much more.

The Ledger sat down with the restaurateur to discuss some of those changes, and his overall philosophy for making Harborside a long-term success.

Q. What were your first impressions of the property before buying?

A. It was March and it was busy, an hour wait. We waited, too. I thought (the food) was OK. It wasn't anything that blew my socks off, but it was busy. The actual structural building was built fairly well, but the design was horrendous.

Q. So what changes are you making to improve design?

A. We have to redesign the kitchen. We're shrinking the freezer, making it a quarter of what it was. I don't need a lot of freezer space, I come from a scratch kitchen background, where you need the space to actually cook and prepare food. That's the heart. If your kitchen is not functional and sound and operating, and your menu doesn't tie to your layout, that's going to be disaster.

Q. How will a larger kitchen space improve function?

A. When you prep and make all of your own food it's a different process. You're making soups, stocks, sauces, and you need room to actually prep food. This (kitchen) only had a cooking line. We're basically taking all of the cold stuff that was on the line and making it its own station. If you're going to make chips, stocks, butcher fish, meat, you need to have room for multiple (workers) and multiple products.

Q. Can you elaborate on other improvements?

A We're adding an oyster bar, a full-service, sit-down bar with a copper top and shuckers. People like to see the staff working, so why hide it? Another thing we're doing is a private dining room. The competition on the private dining space is minimal in Winter Haven. I can name one place. Having been in major cities, up to 25 percent of our business at times was private dining for pharmacy groups, hospitals, private events, parties. We're going to have glass doors and we want to make it a quieter place to sit.

Q. You've removed the large saltwater fish aquarium that was a focal point of the main dining room, along with the large squid that was suspended over the bar. How much of the former Harborside will remain?

A. We're leaving the name, Harborside, because it's iconic with this location. We're not changing the general theme of the restaurant — seafood, steak. We will be a bit more aggressive and do more things, but we're very cognizant of the core staple of what the people want. I can say our (plated) presentations will be more unique for the area, more fresh items to be presented differently.

Q. How sensitive are you to pricing yourself out of the market?

A. To be a smart businessman, you have to have stuff that can be presentable to the masses. You don't want to scare people off. I consider this a price-sensitive market, but I do believe there's a portion of the market looking for this restaurant to be what it can be — people who will enjoy drinking a Sancerre with their oysters instead of a Bud Light. Having trained thousands of people, I believe our service can be top notch. It's free to give good service. But we still need to remember our core base. This is a big restaurant, you need to do 400 people over the weekend.

Q. Any enhancements planned for the deck and patio?

A. We're going to theme the downstairs bar for the boaters, add some frozen drink machines. It's going to be seat yourself. If you want to come off your boat and sit there and drink and have fun, be my guest. And we're adding tension (shade) sails to the outside patio. That space wasn't used by the other owners.

Q. Given the location, have you felt compelled to serve gator?

A. To be honest with you, I never ate it before I came down here. It's not cheap either, it's over $10 a pound. I was told that it's very big in the winter with the tourists. So we need to sell it, but maybe it's a seasonal thing.

Q. Will your big-city background shade the new Harborside experience?

A. People keep saying, I'm from up north but I have roots in Florida. We're very versed in what goes on here. I've owned restaurants in Florida. But the people who want more, we want to be there. We want to be different. I'm going to change stuff, but I'm not going to make it higher end. Will we have nicer wine glasses for people who want nice wine? Absolutely. We're going to attempt to walk that line. There's plenty of places to get draft beer, but if we don't separate ourselves, then why be in this beautiful building on the lake?


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