Restaurant mogul Frank embraces Friendly Empire

By Pat Stinson
Sun contributor
New restaurant mogul, Frank Lerchen, couldn’t be more modest about his transition from general manager of two restaurant-taverns to owner of three local food service establishments in less than six months, here in the seasonally somnolent village of Empire.
As Frank tells it, he was being groomed for ownership for the past five years by his boss, Mike Wiesen. However, it wasn’t until someone approached Wiesen about purchasing the Empire Village Inn that he began to seriously consider selling the taverns to Frank.

“Mike had someone interested in buying the V.I. but really wanted Mary and I to buy them, (the Village Inn and The Friendly Tavern), as we knew how to run them and knew the business,” Frank explained. “He wanted the businesses to grow and thrive.”
“It just kind of happened, and I really am thankful to him. He gave me a huge opportunity. Huge,” says Frank, shaking his head, still not quite believing his good fortune.
Sitting in his most recent acquisition, the former Moon Dog espresso bar and art gallery, now known as Gemma’s, (named after his daughter Gemma, who turned one year old on May 17), Frank is smiling. It’s after 8 p.m. on opening day, and the man shows no signs of fatigue. At the coffee bar, Gemma’s manager Ryan Romeike says between 80 and 90 people have passed through the doors since 7:15 a.m. today to offer their congratulations and to buy coffee and baked goodies, sandwiches and salads. As if on cue, Frank jumps up from his chair and asks if he can get (his fading interviewer) a cup of coffee. “Decaf? Half and half?” In a flash, he’s got a steaming cup of complimentary joe ready for his “customer.” Taking his seat once more near the café’s picture window, Frank gazes across M-22 to his other business, the Village Inn, while greeting people as they walk through Gemma’s door, and telling his story of working his way through the restaurant business.
“I really don’t know any different. It’s what I’ve always done. I was 12 years old when I started making pizzas. That was 28 years ago. I worked at the Bay View Inn in Acme and Pizza Plus, which used to be across Front Street from the fire station — where Burritt’s and Chef’s Inn and that whole building is today.”
Frank graduated from making pizzas to working weekends at the Flap Jack Shack while still in high school. Then, in 1985, Phil Murray of Windows hired him, and he worked on the line at one of the area’s finest restaurants for three years.
“Phil kind of took me under his wing and showed me the ropes and taught me how to cook.”
In 1988, Frank and a good friend headed for Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where he cooked for two ski seasons, coming home each summer to work at Art’s Tavern in Glen Arbor. At Art’s, he met owner Mike Wiesen, who also owned The Friendly and the V.I. After his Steamboat stint, Frank began working full-time for Mike at Art’s, at Windows, and “a little” at The Friendly, where he cooked and waited tables.
“In this business, it’s kinda what you have to do.” While working at Art’s, he also met another important person in his life, Mary Kearns, who later became Mary Lerchen.
Frank joined The Friendly Tavern as manager, eventually becoming general manager of both The Friendly and the Village Inn. “I had no idea I’d end up owning places. I was just trying to make a living … and here I am now.”
In January of this year, before the sale of both taverns was consummated, Frank pulled in to the Village Inn’s parking lot on an errand … and spied something on the opposite side of the highway that intrigued him.
“Dayton, (one of the owners of Moon Dog), had a sign in the window, and I walked across the street and that’s what started it,” says Frank of his coffee house venture. “I love the concept they, (Dayton and wife, Carmen), had going here. If I weren’t doing the taverns, I’d be doing this, anyway,” he says. Waving his hand, as if to stop traffic, he quickly adds, “Not that I don’t love the bars!”
Who can blame him for appreciating the open and airy feel of the new coffee house? Its funky purple trim, yellow couches, white ceiling fans and full-service coffee bar are a definite departure from the taverns’ pine paneling, bronzed by age and nicotine, and the bars’ mirrored back-drops.
Not to mention that a multiple-tavern owner’s day in a tourist town like Empire can begin anywhere from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. in the summertime. “I’m all over the place all day long. I might start with a walk around the Village Inn then head over to the office at The Friendly.” He smiles as he speaks of passing his general manager, Brian Reid, on the road, (“he works crazy, weird hours, too”), of laughing and waving to each other as they drive to their respective posts, during a day that can last until the Village Inn’s closing time of 2 a.m.
“I fought Mary about getting a cell phone, but she finally told me she has to be able to track me down.”
She’s not the only one. With 25 year-round employees and approximately 100 employees during the summer months, there’s bound to be a question or crisis to address.
It’s not all hard work, though. During the off-season, (late October through April), he takes his eldest son Maxwell, 6, to school and spends a couple of hours with son Henry Aaron, 3, and baby Gemma. He’s home every night for dinner and insists on having one day off per week — and makes certain that his general manager does, too.
He gives credit to Mike Wiesen for establishing good management and emphatic credit to Reid for helping him enhance his management, (including his team of managers: Shannon Sheridan of the Village Inn, Matt Christensen — a veteran employee of 16 years — of The Friendly Tavern and Ryan Romeike of Gemma’s).
Frank’s management style must surely benefit from a trait many managers and business owners either never had or sometimes lose along the way: a sense of humor.
“We played a joke on Mike one day,” Frank says remembering, with obvious glee, a prank pulled on his former boss. “We moved a table out into the middle of the road, and we were playing cards when he pulled up. He laughed and told us to get back to work. ‘Don’t you guys have something to do,’ I think is what he said.” (Frank still keeps in close contact with Wiesen, “once or twice a week,” and obviously appreciates the business acumen of his predecessor.)
Teddy Mead, who has worked at both The Friendly Tavern, (which his parents owned from 1968 to 1974), and the Empire Village Inn, a total of 37 years, describes other Frank attributes: “He’s always up, at least from what I know, and always tells you what a good job you’re doing…like when I got back from vacation and someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was Frank, and he told me how much I was missed. That really means a lot.”
“He’s full of enthusiasm and lots of good ideas — not just talking about them, but doing them.”
When asked about those ideas, Frank mentions that there are two new flat-screen televisions at The Friendly, and that he now accepts Visa and MasterCard at all three business locations. He talks about the Village Inn formerly looking, “a little hard from the road,” and of cleaning the grounds and putting a fresh coat of paint on the exterior to soften the look for families. (He wants them to know they can bring their kids in for pizza.) Little has changed on the menu, and he’s quick to add that The Friendly burger is the same one Mike taught him how to make, using the same brand of beef that’s been served for years. According to Frank, The Friendly Tavern, which he says has been in business for 65 years, “…is an institution…and if I did too much, they’d crate me out on their shoulders.”
“They” refers to loyal customers and locals. “The Friendly is the flagship of the three, the anchor that lets us do the other two places. It’s the institution. I’ve seen people come in and watched them bring their kids in and their grandkids. The Village Inn is probably the more local place of the two, though we get a lot of nice tourists. What I don’t cover with The Friendly, I do with the Village Inn, and vice versa.”
One change that’s occurred without much planning has been the addition of music this year at the Village Inn. First, there was the winter benefit concert Chris Skellenger put together with New 3rd Coast and other area bands. Next, Frank had New 3rd Coast in for its own concert. Finally, he hired Chris’s band, 3-Hour Tour, to play during an Asparagus Festival barbeque held on the afternoon of May 21. Though it won’t be a regular offering, he says he’s open to hosting occasional future music events.
As for Gemma’s, Frank says he’d love to see the place “…be embraced by the locals and to be open year-round.” He points to a corner near the front door that will include a future corkboard for posting business cards and notices of local events. He points behind him to the sofas, (“a hang-out area”), and to tables and chairs toward the front of he café for “grabbing a bite to eat.” Along the back wall are coolers with gourmet sandwiches and specialty salads made fresh daily, Faygo original flavors, (including Red Pop, Rock & Rye and Root Beer), orange and grape Crush, Stewart’s sodas, Nantucket juices and bottled water. Beyond the coolers are local products like SoGood Coffee, roasted by Derek Prechtl, jams and other preserves by Food For Thought, Cherry Republic cherry products, art cards by Mary Sharry, photographs and postcards by Grace Dickinson and postcard packets by Kathleen Buhler. Frank is actively soliciting more local products, though manager Ryan jokes that Frank only let him “…get three-quarters done (stocking) before you made me open.“ Inside the door to the right, a large counter invites readers to browse through magazines from Time and Better Homes & Gardens to PC Photo and Vogue. Rounding the counter’s corner, the main attraction, Gemma’s coffee bar, serves regular and decaf coffee, (single, double or triple), espresso, mochas, cappuccinos, lattes, chai, hot chocolate, tea and homemade soup. A bakery counter tempts with fresh daily treats while an ice cream counter boasts gallons of gelato. Soon to follow are Italian sodas, iced coffees, fruit smoothies, frozen coffee drinks and… wireless Internet service, “Wi-Fi.”
It’s 9:15 p.m. now and downright exhausting listening to Frank describe his typical work day and plans for Gemma’s.
“I couldn’t do any of this without Mary and my kids and Brian and the people around me,” he says earnestly. “I know Gemma’s wouldn’t have happened without them and the customers. It’s like getting an Oscar. That is truly how I feel about this.”
Jumping up to help Ryan and Jessica with closing duties, he adds, “Three kids and three businesses. It’s crazy stuff!”
“Want the last oatmeal cookie?”
Gemma’s, 11590 LaCore, is open daily 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Friendly Tavern, 11015 W. Front St., hold daily summer hours 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., 326-5506. The Empire Village Inn, 11601 S. LaCore, is open summers from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. 326-5101.