{"id":297,"date":"2008-04-23T15:16:38","date_gmt":"2008-04-23T15:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/physical-fitness-restaurant-the-pump-energy-food\/"},"modified":"2008-04-23T15:16:38","modified_gmt":"2008-04-23T15:16:38","slug":"physical-fitness-restaurant-the-pump-energy-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/physical-fitness-restaurant-the-pump-energy-food\/","title":{"rendered":"Physical Fitness Restaurant | The Pump Energy Food"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a new one on Foodie – a Physical Fitness Restaurant – from New York of course<\/strong><\/p>\n

What a clever idea……<\/em><\/p>\n

How long until we see something like this in the UK?<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more than a decade, the bright orange vests have been a constant presence across midtown Manhattan; young guys on bikes in navy sweatshirts with bold orange type proclaiming \u201cEAT PROTEIN & VEGETABLES. EAT LEAN\u201d<\/strong>. All throughout peak lunch hours, they dart about, delivering healthy food to a fiercely loyal customer base, made up of celebrities, fashion designers, ad agencies, investment bankers and law firms; people who lead very busy lives but care about what they eat. <\/p>\n

Calling itself \u201cA Physical Fitness Restaurant\u201d<\/strong>, The Pump Energy Food was created in 1997 when Steve and Elena Kapelonis, healthy eaters with a family legacy in the restaurant business, felt there was a market for something different. The menu was founded on the flavor, simplicity and healthfulness of a Mediterranean diet (Steve grew up in Greece), but they added a New York twist: none of the food was fried. They never cooked using mayo or butter and used whole wheat breads instead of processed white flours. They had an absolute faith in adding protein powders to items that gave people sustainable energy throughout the day. Even muffins, pancakes and healthy shakes had added protein. This was a radical idea in 1997, when New York was saturated with fast food restaurants. <\/strong><\/p>\n

It caught on and soon grew to five locations. That\u2019s when Adam Eskin, an investment banker and avid fitness enthusiast, became a fan. Working for private equity firm Wexford Capital, he had been researching investment opportunities in the restaurant industry, looking for new concepts that had the potential to redefine the restaurant category. After looking at dozens of concepts, he kept coming back to The Pump. \u201cAll the other restaurants I looked at around the country were basically reinterpretations of what already existed. Nobody was doing what The Pump was doing. I saw that as a great opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

He put together a business case for how Wexford could buy the business and soon the deal was cinched. It was decided that Adam would run the company himself. \u201cThe next thing you know, I went from the boardroom to baking muffins.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIn talking to our customers, the one thing you hear again and again is that this was \u2018Food you don\u2019t have to worry about.\u2019 That\u2019s a very powerful thing. Our mission is very simple: make it easy for people to eat well.\u201d says Eskin. However, the restaurants and logo had grown tired, the menu had swollen to over 150 items and there were no recipes, systems or procedures from one store to the next. The stores were losing customers faster than they were gaining them. <\/p>\n

Eskin and his team have spent the last year rebuilding the company from scratch, all the while trying to pump out the food everyday. Eskin hired new operations people, created new systems and procedures, developed new training programs and has invested heavily in infrastructure and new equipment. To reinvigorate the brand, he hired Dan Fogarty, a long-time Chipotle Mexican Grill branding executive, who has created a new logo and brand identity, a soon-to-debut website, and has helped Eskin create a new store design that is currently under construction at 40th & Madison. <\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe\u2019re just now starting to see all the improvements pay off and get to a steady-state. The restaurant business is built on making pennies, while we\u2019ve been spending dollars. So it has been a real challenge, but that\u2019s what makes building a business fun.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How long until we see something like this in the UK?<\/strong><\/p>\n

40 West 55th St.
\nNew York, NY 10019
\nPhone: 212.246.6844
\nFax: 212.421.0164
\nHours:
\nMonday – Friday
\n 8:00am to 9:30pm
\nSaturday
\n 10:00am to 8:00pm
\nSunday
\n 11:00am to 9:00pm<\/p>\n

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<\/p>\n

112 West 38th St.
\nNew York, NY 10018
\nPhone: 212.764.2100
\nFax: 212.764.1107
\nHours:
\nMonday – Friday
\n 7:30am to 9:00pm
\nWeekends
\n Closed<\/p>\n

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<\/p>\n

31 East 21st St.
\nNew York, NY 10010
\nPhone: 212.253.7676
\nFax: 212.253.1050
\nHours:
\nMonday – Friday
\n 8:00am to 10:00pm
\nSaturday
\n 10:00am to 9:00pm
\nSunday
\n 11:00am to 9:00pm<\/p>\n

+++++++++++++++++++++++++<\/p>\n

113 East 31st St.
\nNew York, NY 10016
\nPhone: 212.213.5733
\nFax: 212.213.5001
\nHours:
\nMonday – Friday
\n 8:00am to 10:30pm
\nSaturday
\n 10:00am to 9:00pm
\nSunday
\n 11:00am to 9:00pm<\/p>\n

++++++++++++++++++++++++++<\/p>\n

805 3rd Ave.
\nNew York, NY 10022
\nPhone: 212.421.3055
\nFax: 212.421.0164
\nHours:
\nMonday – Friday
\n 8:00am to 9:00pm
\nClosed Weekends
\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.thepumpenergyfood.com<\/a> <\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a new one on Foodie – a Physical Fitness Restaurant – from New York of course What a clever idea…… How long until we see something like this in the UK? For more than a decade, the bright orange vests have been a constant presence across midtown Manhattan; young guys on bikes in read more …<\/span><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}