Building a restaurant from the ground up is hard enough on its own.
Try opening that local eatery at the St. Johns Town Center, an area crammed with dozens of national chain restaurants.
Add the disruption of contractors handling punch-list items until early afternoon, then cleaning up as the staff is preparing for the dinner crowd.
And do all of that the week of Thanksgiving.
That was the beginning of Moxie Kitchen + Cocktails, a shared vision of Sarah Marie Johnston and her husband, executive chef Tom Gray.
“It was crazy,” she recalled.
That ability to remain on course in a world of obstacles is among the reasons Johnston was named the JAX Chamber’s Small Business Leader of the Year.
As she accepted the award this month, it was an acknowledgement of a career that began in retail in Southern California, then shifted to marketing and later as a restaurateur.
Johnston's first “real job” was in retail for a company that offered a strong management training program.
It was a way for her to blend her creative side as a writer and marketing person with the organization and infrastructure skills required to operate a successful business.
She and Gray met at The Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, Calif., where she managed the retail store and he was the executive sous chef of the restaurant.
By then, Gray had completed culinary school and worked in a variety of places, including New York and San Diego.
Five years into their relationship, an opportunity came for them to return to Gray’s hometown of Jacksonville.
They were founding partners of Bistro Aix in San Marco, where he was executive chef for 13 years. Johnston handled the restaurant’s marketing duties for eight years.
Their discussion about opening a new venture went on for a while. It was part of being creative people, she said, where you never stop creating in your mind.
“With Moxie, as we started to put the project together and see it really taking shape, we knew we had to pursue,” Johnston said. “We had to make it real.”
They ultimately sold their interest in Bistro Aix to start Moxie, with the backing of a group of private investors, help from the Small Business Administration and conventional financing.
As important as the financing, though, was the dream they had for the restaurant.
They wanted to plant a stake in the ground at the Town Center as a locally owned restaurant.
Something that said, “This is Jacksonville. You can come here and you can actually try something that’s truly local in every sense.”
They work with local farmers and artisan producers, as well as other community businesses to ensure the homegrown experience for customers at the 260-seat restaurant.
As Gray was creating the menu, Johnston was concentrating on marketing the restaurant, telling the story of their vision. Something she knew she could tell better than anyone else.
“I’ve always felt that I can talk about Tom’s culinary philosophy or the reason that we designed our building to look the way it does or why we are sourcing from special, local farmers,” she said.
Johnston then translates that vision into elements like Moxie’s website, social media efforts and marketing materials.
She gets a bit of help on social media from their 11-year-old son, Quinn, who often looks over her shoulder as she’s crafting Instagram and Facebook posts.
At times, he’ll say, “Oh, you have a typo there.” Other times, it’s “Yep, that’s a good one.”
The couple has intentionally involved Quinn in the restaurant from the beginning, including giving him his own hard hat to wear while Moxie was being built.
Quinn is another reason the couple wanted to build something that was their own vision, she said.
It gave him a front row seat to the lesson that a lot of hard work goes into realizing a dream.
As he grows up, Johnston said his role in the restaurant can grow, as well. Quinn is not a natural kitchen guy like his father, she said. But his outgoing personality would suit being a server or a host.
He enjoys giving tours, where he shares the stories behind the restaurant, the art or other details.
Making sure Quinn gets enough attention from and time with his parents is critical to them.
Being the owner of a small business allows them flexibility to make time for the important things, she said, “knowing that you’re always going to pick those hours up some time.”
Juggling many things at once has become a way of life for Johnston and Gray. Even submitting the application for the chamber award proved that.
She was approached about being nominated for the chamber’s South Council Small Business Leader of the Year award as the couple was deep into the process for a second restaurant — Town Hall in San Marco.
The application process included creating a presentation book and going through interviews during the holidays late last year.
Instead of worrying about juggling all of those duties, Johnston said, “Thank you, yes, I’m going to take you up on that challenge.”
And she did, as she compiled a 16-page slick presentation detailing the restaurant’s history, philosophy and reviews. It also contained several testimonials.
She won the South Council’s award, making her eligible for the overall chamber Small Business Leader of the Year honor.
Johnston didn’t have to do any prep work for the ceremony, which was scheduled for 7:30 a.m. on Valentine’s Day.
That meant an early morning for the couple on a holiday where their restaurant would be packed throughout the night. One that would end at 2 a.m. for Gray.
Another long day packed with a lot of activity to juggle.
@editormarilyn
(904) 356-2466