Running one restaurant is hard enough, but what about three? For this Boston chef, multitasking and managing a trio of hotspots has become second nature.
As the executive chef for Brownstone, Clery’s and Dillion’s, Kelly Snogles always has a full plate, but somehow finds time to give each venture his all. Thankfully, he has nearly two decades of restaurant experience to rely on, which comes in handy when trying to craft unique menus for each location.
“It started out as one,” chef Kelly tells Metro. “One became two and two became three. I’ve done three for the last three years now.”
It took a lot of hard work on chef Kelly’s part in order to get a shot at helming three restaurants for the Glynn Hospitality Group. The New York native has tried his hand at nearly every position in the culinary industry throughout the years, from dish washer to line cook. Chef Kelly began his food journey as a teen when his parents made him get a job after catching him smoking.
“I got caught smoking cigarettes when I was 15,” he says. “My parents were like, ‘Well, if you want to smoke cigarettes like a big man, you can get a job like a big man.'”
After bouncing around the New York area, chef Kelly shipped up to Boston in his 20s, landing a spot with Glynn on just his third day in the city. The working relationship has lasted for nearly 10 years.
As for how chef Kelly handles managing three seperate spots every day, the local culinary star admits that it takes a lot of effort trying to balance everything.
“I employ a system for all the boxes I have to check everyday,” he says.
“We use the terminology around here that I’m like mommy,” chef Kelly adds. “When mommy’s here, everything’s OK because I’m just here to deal with it. The minute I’m not here, things start to unravel pretty quick. Luckily I have other managers around.”
Over the years, chef Kelly has learned to rely more and more on his team members. While managing people can get difficult at times, he admits that the key to keeping things in line is to trust the people you work with to get the job done.
“You have to get work done through other people and you have to rely on them,” says chef Kelly. “If it’s not done exactly how you want it, you have to take every opportunity and turn it into a teaching moment. You can’t just railroad people.”
He adds, “I learn something new about how to manage people everyday.”
