A letter from the publisher, John Sawyer
Back in October for our 20th Anniversary issue, I wrote the article “How We Got Here”, a look back at how Restaurant Informer came to be and the people that helped make it happen. Well, there’s been a big change in course since that article.
We have decided to cease publishing the magazine and focus all our energy on RestaurantInformer.com, the newsletter, social channels and Rising Stars event. It was a tough decision, especially considering that we just rounded 20 years and loved publishing the magazine.
With this development, there also comes a change with our team. Christy Simo — who has been a fantastic editor, writer and colleague for 15 years — is stepping down from the editor role. Christy shaped Restaurant Informer‘s editorial to be the leading voice for Georgia’s restaurant industry. Her work is widely respected for its quality and the care she brought to it. We and many others will miss her.
Look to the future, we look forward to continue serving you with industry news, useful information for managing your restaurant and most of all visiting with you at your restaurants! Check out and follow our Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin pages. You’ll see pictures and videos of your industry colleagues, reels of FOH and BOH and much more. If you’d like us to visit you, drop me a line at john@restaurantinformer.com.
If you didn’t see the “How We Got Here” article in the October issue, I’ve added it below.
When committing to launching a restaurant trade magazine for Georgia, I knew very little about the industry. Like many, I worked in restaurants during my younger days in the Northeast, doing my best as a busboy, server, dishwasher, and prep cook. My talents were limited. Carrying giant trays of water glasses was dangerously precarious, and I could barely hold back screaming when scalding marinara spilled all over my hand. Never being able to keep up with writing customer orders down was a telling sign that my stint in the industry would be limited. But I enjoyed the camaraderie with my coworkers, especially hanging out with the bartender at the end of the night while he poured free shots.
Leading up to this magazine, I had 15 years of experience in publishing covering a variety of interest areas and trades like boating, textiles, arts, finance, and retail. But not restaurants. On top of that, I was 38, married with 3 kids under the age of 7. Dining out was not a common activity. One of my early sales calls on Sharon Severance of The Johnson Studio made it clear how much I had to learn. She had a deck of large cards showing the beautiful design work they did for local restaurants. With each card she flipped, she asked if I’d been to the restaurant. For each, the answer was no, no and no.
Facing those challenges of limited industry knowledge or connections, I dove in. Luckily, I quickly found that restaurateurs and the industry are the most welcoming I’ve ever experienced.
It helped tremendously that people I met in the early days made introductions and offered suggestions that nudged the magazine in the right direction. I had no idea who to feature on the first cover and had not even heard of Kevin Rathbun. With a tip from Stewart Singleton of WCSF, I learned of the recent opening of Rathbun’s. Little did I know that Rathbun would become the great success that he is today.
I reached out to the Georgia Restaurant Association (GRA) before the first issue went to press to see if they would like a magazine to serve the trade and its members. The GRA had just formed after splitting from the Georgia Travel & Hospitality Association and Ron Wolfe, the executive director at the time, thought the idea was a good one. Since then, we have worked alongside the great leadership of Karen Bremer and now Stephanie Fisher. As noted in the first issue’s “From the Publisher” article, “the magazine serves many of the same purposes as its partner … a forum for you, your colleagues and suppliers to share information, ideas, and tools for making your business more successful.”
There’s a long list of people who put their shoulders behind Restaurant Informer, and I’d like to call out a few of them – Ellen Hartman, Lara Creasy, Michael Deihl, Ryan Turner, Melissa Libby, Debby Cannon, and Robby Kukler. Each of them has shared their knowledge and insights through contributed articles over many years, adding an insider voice to the magazine and providing the gravitas elevating it to a higher level of respect.
Over 20 years, the incredible team behind Restaurant Informer has been the backbone that made publishing the magazine a pleasure. Starting with our Editor, Christy Simo, who has been with the magazine for 15 years, pulling together each issue, guiding it through the production process, and making sure it reads and looks professional, cover to cover. Scott Bagley has been our steady hand managing the magazine design for 14 years. There is no time that Scott didn’t make himself available to meet print deadlines, working through weekends, trips …whenever. He gets it done.
I hope you have found reading Restaurant Informer interesting, and informative and have been able to take away a few insights to help you along the way. It has been a pleasure serving you.
