Federico “Fred” Castellucci III, Family Man and Risk Taker
The New-Age Restauranteur Infusing Intentional Possibility to The Family Business
Risk-averse is not a word Federico “Fred” Castellucci III would use to describe himself. “I am the oldest child, and we are typically not risk-takers; it just happened,” he laughs. Castellucci is the President and CEO of Castellucci Hospitality Group which has an impressive portfolio a few of Atlanta’s most acclaimed restaurants including Iberian Pig, Cooks & Soldiers and the newly-Michelin-starred Mujo.
What it was like growing up in the restaurant industry and what did you learn along the way?
I grew up as a line cook, I worked the dining room and did every other job too. Initially wanted to get out of the restaurant business, so I went to Cornell for the hospitality program there. I realized that food and beverage was my passion, but there were other ways to approach it. I took over Sugo in 2008, which at the time was a failed restaurant set up by my dad that had been sold and gone out of business. One customer at a time was my ethos. One customer at a time, one day at a time, one night at a time. That is the founding story of the restaurant group.
How did you develop such a thick skin to face the challenges of the restaurant industry?
Doing nothing is its own form of risk. Each restaurant has been a learning experience, whether it’s been a success or a failure, because not all restaurants are huge hits. I’m happiest when I’m creating. There’s a tremendous cost that’s associated with each new restaurant, so you try to mitigate that risk by thinking through all of the factors that will lead to its success. Maybe I’m hardwired because I saw my dad do it over and over again. Even with failure, he continued. That perseverance was inspiring to me. I knew that if I could test my ideas and have some success, I would keep going until it worked.
What is it like working with your family?
I have this way of just sucking everyone in. I got my wife involved after she left JP Morgan to run our marketing department. After my sister, Stephanie, graduated from Cornell, I convinced her to run Sugo while I opened Iberian Pig in Decatur. She became our director of HR overseeing all of our people operations. When my brother went to the Culinary Institute before working in some of the best international kitchens. Now, he is our culinary director. We’ve built a team around the most important functions of the restaurant. Adversity brings you closer together, and then as the success of the restaurant group has built, we’ve been able to enjoy that success together. There’s nothing sweeter than that.
