This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Bashir Chedrawee, owner and CEO of Simone’s Kitchen, a Mediterranean eatery with three locations in New York state. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I started Simone’s Kitchen with my mother in 2018. As a Mediterranean-inspired eatery, we draw inspiration from countries across the Mediterranean basin, from Greece to Lebanon to Morocco, even Italy.
We had done company outings before in the US, such as going to a lakefront beach or renting out an entertainment center. However, going to a part of the world that we engage with on a daily basis, but most of us had never actually been to, was an experience that made sense.
So, in February this year, I told everyone at a business meeting that we were going to take the entire team to Greece for a week. In total, there were 73 of us, including plus ones. Flights, transportation, accommodation, some group activities, and certain meals were paid for by the company, costing over $2,000 per person.
They couldn’t believe it at first
The month before the announcement, I started thinking about where to go for our team’s fun trip.
There were a few reasons I chose Greece. Firstly, I think Greece has a culture that embodies Simone’s Kitchen’s philosophy of hospitality. It also felt attainable.
I had also been there before, so I felt comfortable that I could plan this trip myself as opposed to outsourcing it to a travel agency. I knew what to expect when we got there, and that Greece is not an expensive country to visit with the right planning.
The team was shocked when I told them the plans. I had to repeat it a few times for people to believe it.
We made the business more nimble
While I knew this trip was something we could pull off, I also knew we would have to run a much more nimble business. Closing for the week meant losing an estimated six figures in lost revenue.
We already had relationships with multiple vendors, so in the six months before the trip, we became more cognizant about comparing prices and buying from whichever vendor offered a lower price. For example, we spend about $300,000 a year on chicken thighs alone. When prices can differ by around 15% between suppliers, you can save tens of thousands of dollars over a year.
We slowed the pace of spending on a new store under construction. For example, we delayed purchases of certain items we didn’t need to order early. We also made sure we weren’t overstaffing our stores.
What helped was that we experienced a lot of growth in those six months. We had posted the trip announcement on our public Instagram, and I think that had an impact on public perception of our company.
I spent late nights and early mornings negotiating
To figure out where in Greece to go, I reached out to travel influencers who share travel tips for Greece. I set up meetings with one who gave options on where to stay. We decided to go to Athens, then Naxos, because of its accessibility from Athens and affordability.
Airbnb ended up being too expensive. Instead, I called hotels to negotiate pricing. In Naxos, we ended up splitting our stay between two hotels that were within walking distance of each other and the beach.
We needed flights from JFK to Athens, coach buses at every leg of the trip, and ferries to get to and from Naxos.
I reached out to any airline that offered direct flights from JFK and neighboring airports to Athens. With these different quotes, I managed to negotiate better prices for a JFK-to-Athens round trip, averaging about $1,000 per person.
I would work on it late at night and wake up early in the morning to make calls to the hotels, bus transportation, and ferry companies.
Two employees ended up proposing to their partners
Everybody received an itinerary showing where you needed to be at what time for each leg of transportation, as well as which team activities we had planned and paid for.
There were lots of special moments. We went island hopping one day, complete with a barbecue on the boat. Two couples got engaged, and some people even got tattoos together.
One profound moment we had was the last dinner in Naxos. We surprised everybody and told them to be ready for dinner in their best attire. We took two coach buses from the sea to the mountains of Naxos, and we ate dinner in a village made entirely of marble.
The hospitality industry is often viewed as a place where you go for minimum-wage work or to try to make a living off tips. We don’t always realize that companies can give employees experiences they may never have on their own, or even realize they wanted.
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