Italian restaurant concept Il Mulino New York has expanded its licensing division with the hopes of having new locations of its Il Mulino New York, the more casual Trattoria Il Mulino, and steakhouse concept Il Mulino Prime open in hotels.
There is currently one Il Mulino Prime restaurant, in the New York City neighborhood of SoHo, as well as company-owned Il Mulino New York restaurants, a fine-dining concept, in the neighborhoods of Tribeca, the Upper East Side, and the East Village, plus one each in the Long Island town of Roslyn, N.Y.; Atlantic City, N.J., Boca Raton, Fla.; and Sunny Isles Beach, Fla.
There are two licensed Trattoria Il Mulino locations at the Swan & Dolphin Hotel in Orlando, Fla., and the Hilton in Nashville. A licensed variation of the steakhouse concept, called Bistecca by Il Mulino, is at the Mt. Airy Lodge in Mt. Airy, Pa.
Il Mulino specializes in the food of the Italian region of Abruzzo in central Italy on the Adriatic coast.
The trattoria is more focused on pasta, pizza and salad, while Il Mulino New York has more of a focus on seafood and other entrées, a higher end wine list, white tablecloths and higher average checks.
Both concepts use the same sauces, Galligan said.
“Italian plays a big role in everybody’s palate, as Italian steak does, so our Prime concept also would do very well. It’s a nice combination of steaks and pastas. It’s a good bar scene, a good crowd, a good vibe, great great food, a lot of inter-reaction in service, which is very very important,” he said.
Company president Brian Galligan said the three licensed locations were performing well, although he declined to give further details, noting that Il Mulino is privately owned, and was hoping to find new opportunities.
“We are looking aggressively now to … leverage that expertise and success and looking to business partners to continue to grow the brand domestically,” he said. Adding that hotels were ideal licensees.
“They have more infrastructure and more opportunities than independent restaurants,” he said.
Galligan said having an “iconic” brand name like Il Mulino was an amenity both for hotels and mixed-use properties that included condominiums, and could potentially improve room rates and real estate valuations.
In exchange for licensing fees, Galligan and his company help with the design of the restaurants, bring the culinary team to New York City to train for “several weeks at a time, to really understand the culture, and the sauces, and the preparation.”
Then a pre-opening team takes care of tableware and trains service staff. It also provides purchasing specifications.
“We get involved in every aspect,” Galligan said. “We have to find the right partnership that’s going to protect the brand and continue to move forward with it.”
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
