In the last year, celebrities like Kendall Jenner, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have become such fixtures at Eugene Remm’s restaurants that the places require bouncers to keep away the crowds.
And his newest Manhattan venture, The Corner Store — which opened last month in Soho and has already hosted the likes of Gigi Hadid and Swift — is the upscale “diner” Remm says he has always wanted.
“It’s a New York City joint that’s unapologetic… all the New York dishes that you like with a touch of nostalgia to make it a little bit of fun,” Remm said. “Ultimately, every brand that we’ve ever been a part of, it started as an idea of hey, I would like to eat here.”
Despite the success, the hundreds of requests, the expansion and the social media virality, Remm, who started Catch Hospitality Group in 2011, says he isn’t focused on marketing or social — and that the only “branding” he believes in is delivering an effective product.
“I don’t think Nike or Apple or Range Rover is thinking, hey, I want to make stuff that celebrities are going to use. I think they just make great products and great people use them…. I think celebrities like what everyone else likes.”
As for the menu, which features novelties like pizza rolls and sour cream & onion martinis, he admits, “Some people will say you’re being kitschy. No, we’re just being happy. And I think it’s okay to have a little bit of fun with food. It doesn’t need to be taken so seriously. Now, the execution of the food needs to be taken seriously. But if you want to make hot cream cheese croutons, you should have the right to do so.”
And the city energizes him to work, he said, at least 11 hours a day — in part because of the way social media is upending the restaurant business.
Instagram and TikTok are obsessed with The Corner Store. And while social media posts can almost singlehandedly tank or popularize a restaurant, Remm admits it complicates things.
“Back in the day if [former New York Times food critic] Pete Wells was going to do a review on a restaurant, he’d give a restaurant a month, two months to get their feet on the ground,” Remm explained.
Now?
“I find that anyone who has an opinion of the restaurant, they need to get there in the first week because they want to amplify that. It just makes the stakes so much higher and you have to elevate at a much faster pace … ” he said.
“You have such a narrow window to make something hot or not … the only thing that differentiates you is how quickly you can get yourself to a good place.”
Even as Catch’s social media account highlights moments like the NY Rangers naming Catch Steak as their favorite restaurant, Remm admits it has to stay organic.
“The truth is, in the past, we have focused on what would make a good Instagram moment, and every time we have, we failed,” he said. “And the other truth is, when we focus on creating great dishes that people are going to love because they’re truly tasty and delicious, those are the ones that become the most iconic moments.”
Remm’s family moved from the Soviet Union to Rockaway, Queens, when he was three years old. After college in Long Island, he got a job in the mailroom of a major PR firm.
He jumped from mailroom to assistant and connected with nightlife juggernaut the Gerber Group, started by Rande Gerber — who founded Casamigos tequila with George Clooney and is married to Cindy Crawford — and New York restaurateur Steve Hansen. They hired Remm to run Level V, a popular nightclub, in the then up-and-coming Meatpacking District.
“I just wasn’t very good at school or anything with traditional corporate America… so this was the only way I was going to feed myself,” Remm jokes.
In 2011, he and his partner Mark Birnbaum opened their own nightclub, Catch, which quickly ballooned into an entire hospitality group — including restaurants in Los Angeles, Dallas, Miami, Las Vegas, Aspen, and New York. Refusing to be pigeonholed, Remm launched the popular boxing fitness class Rumble, which has also spread across the US.
In 2017, Catch got a major infusion when Texas billionaire Tilman Fertitta, whose Landry’s group owns major chains like Bubba Gump’s and Del Frisco’s, bought a 50% stake.
While his brand has gone nationwide, Remm believes it’s important to stay based in NYC.
“It’s very challenging to be on a beach and be a killer …” he joked.
And Remm explains that now more than ever — as he opens new restaurants and expands to new cities — he needs to be a killer to maintain what he has built.
“So what is the definition of a brand? It’s a promise. It’s a promise that you’re going to have some sort of consistent experience from the beginning to the end. One bad experience can ruin 20 years…. you spend a lifetime to build a reputation and a moment to lose one.”
Put another way:
“Steve Jobs always says that, you know, marketing is ridiculous, right?” Remm said. “Because if you have to market something that means it’s not good.”