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Entrepreneurship at the Dining TableFebruary, 2003 When Maurice Werdegar, MBA '92, founded Palo Alto's Blue Chalk Café in 1993, there was no such thing as an upscale pool hall with good food but he thought it was the perfect use for an available historic building. Venture capitalists and other local investors didn't quite understand why a Stanford MBA wanted to become restaurant entrepreneur, so it took Werdegar a year and a half to raise money for his concept, now copied in a number of communities. In the same year Ed Levine, MBA '81, took the plunge, opening his first brasserie in Larkspur. Patterned after a place on the left bank of the Seine, Levine quickly learned that Americans do not want their wine served in "stocky glasses," even if that is the authentic Parisian way. "You have to be prepared to change; a restaurant that is not changing is dying," Levine told students who peppered the two alums with questions when two clubs — Entrepreneurship and E@t — teamed up to invite them to speak one lunch hour during winter quarter. After his success with the Blue Chalk, Werdegar opened a chain of restaurants known as Left at Albuquerque before stepping down to become a partner in Western Technology Investments. Levine is still CEO and chairman of Vine Dining Enterprises, which plans to expand Left Bank brasseries soon into Southern California. Location is more important than the menu, the two said. "Nobody wants to pay $5 to park for lunch," Weredegar offered. "Work on your espionage," Levine said, advising students to search out their competition and eat there frequently to count the customers before signing a lease. The lease should be as long term as possible because of the investment involved, he added. "Even if you fail, you then have something to sell."
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