At just 27 years old, Brandon Frohne — executive chef at Mason’s at Loews Vanderbilt Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee — has already spent a decade in the restaurant business, including time at hotels such as the Peninsula Inn & Spa in St. Petersburg, Florida, not to mention overcoming personal challenges such as drug addiction.
These days, Frohne is busier than ever, not only serving up Southern food with a twist at three-meal restaurant Mason’s, but also building his own personal brand and raising three young kids with his wife, Lessie. Nevertheless, Frohne also has made time to do plenty of publicity, including appearances on national television shows including the Food Network’s “Chopped” and Travel Channel’s “Chow Masters.”
HOTELS spoke with Frohne recently about balancing being in the kitchen with being in the spotlight and why he believes his aggressive brand-building strategies are worthwhile.
HOTELS: Why did you first choose to become a chef?
Brandon Frohne: It’s kind of ironic because my family had been in the restaurant business for four generations, but it really wasn’t until I was 17 that I kind of stumbled upon it and decided this is what I want to do. I was really mischievous as a teenager. I spent the better part of my teenage years doing stupid stuff. I was in and out of juvenile detention, group homes and foster care, and I just couldn’t seem to get my life together.
I kind of got tired of that right around 17. I decided to move in with my grandmother in Florida and figure out what to do. I knew I had to get job, so I walked up to the nicest hotel in St. Petersburg. I guess I left a really good impression because they had me start right away as a host in the restaurant. I did that for one week and developed a pretty good relationship with the chef, and he offered me an apprenticeship.
It was cool, because I had really never had an opportunity that big, and that’s all I really needed — somebody to give me a chance. It definitely helped me figure out what my passion was. It felt great to learn and progress, and it taught me a lot of structure, and it definitely ignited my passion for food. I haven’t really looked back since.
HOTELS: How did you come to your current job, and what attracted you to it?
Frohne: I had just moved back to Nashville from Atlanta. I was in-between jobs at the time, just trying to figure out the next step. There really wasn’t anybody looking for a chef at the time, so I decided to start a pop-up restaurant called Forage South. It was like a top-secret dinner — you only could find out about it on social media, and we were selling out in a matter of minutes.
While I was doing pop-up dinners, we were making a pretty good name for ourselves. Loews reached out to a local food blogger because they were looking for a chef to build a Southern concept. My name got thrown in the hat, and I ended up talking to them. I was hesitant at first because hotel chefs and hotel restaurants get a bad rap. But as I talked with them and learned about the concept, I realized it was a phenomenal opportunity for me to put my mark on a restaurant. It was the first time I had the opportunity to build a restaurant from scratch, and I was grateful for the position — I still am.
That was February 2013. I had about four months before we opened to develop the food, pick out plates and figure out what we wanted the restaurant to stand for. We really wanted to break down the barriers of what a hotel restaurant was known as and do an exciting concept that locals would embrace — offer impeccable service with Southern food with a twist.
We opened in mid-May 2013. Whenever we have folks that come to Nashville, we’re usually the first and last touchpoint for them. We have a chance to highlight what we see Southern food as and what it’s becoming. It’s always busy — it never slows down.
HOTELS: What have been your biggest takeaways from the various TV appearances and other PR you have done recently, and how are you able to balance those responsibilities with your work in the kitchen?
Frohne: It’s a tough balance, but PR and marketing is so valuable. We’re kind of tucked away in a hotel, so for us it’s extremely important to get out the word about what we’re doing and our philosophies so folks can experience it and so we can remain open. PR is definitely a great avenue for that.
What’s helped me is making sure I have a solidly trained team. You as one person can’t do everything yourself. I’ve really trained my chef de cuisine and my sous chef to manage the restaurant while I’m gone.
HOTELS: Who was pushing you to be aggressive with your PR, or is that just something you wanted to do?
Frohne: I had the opportunity to do a little bit of media before I came to Loews, and it was fun for me, especially the TV. For me, sort of building a brand, eventually the plan is for me to have my own show.
Once we were doing some interesting stuff here in the restaurant, the media was taking notice, and we started getting opportunities left and right. We were on national television twice, for “Chopped” and a show on the Travel Channel. It’s definitely hard to go to New York for four days and do filming when you have a restaurant to run, but it definitely has been valuable. I think that we all realize that in this day and age, for us to continue to grow our business, media and PR are a huge part of that.
HOTELS: What numbers can you share in terms of how much the business has grown thanks to all your PR and marketing efforts?
Frohne: We’ve seen more than 50% growth in business this year versus last year, and we directly attribute that to anything that’s come out in print, TV or social media. We always see that common trend. Any time we have a piece that comes out, we’re busy. And the bulk of our business is really from locals. Being in a hotel, typically you’re going to get a big capture rate for breakfast and lunch, so we get a great deal of hotel guests for breakfast and lunch, but our dinner business is predominantly locals.
With anything you’re passionate about and you want to build, you want to get the word out about it. That’s why we’ve really tried to engage on social media and go to the media with our restaurant because we’re excited about it, and we want people to be able to experience that.