Kent Rathbun Offers Entrepreneurial Advice

Kent Rathbun, who cracked the Neiman-Marcus Christmas catalog this year with a lobster shooter kit, has advice for other restaurateurs looking to turn their signature recipes into retail sensations. "You got to start small, and you got to think in terms of what people can use at home," Rathbun says...

By Hanna Raskin

September 14, 2010

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Kent Rathbun, who cracked the Neiman-Marcus Christmas catalog this year with a lobster shooter kit, has advice for other restaurateurs looking to turn their signature recipes into retail sensations.

"You got to start small, and you got to think in terms of what people can use at home," Rathbun says in a short video produced and distributed by Nation's Restaurant News, a foodservice industry publication.

Rathbun's segment is aimed at chefs who'd like to bottle, can or vacuum-pack their brand.

"It's spreading the word," says Rathbun, owner of Abacus, Jasper's and Rathbun's Blue Plate Kitchen, who warns enthusiastic culinary entrepreneurs not to produce more stuff than they can sell.

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