Counsel to Counsel - September 2008 - (Page 20) partnership at a glance Columbia Restaurant Group Columbia Restaurant Group owns six restaurants and a café in Florida, including the landmark original Columbia Restaurant in Tampa’s Ybor City, the state’s largest and oldest restaurant. Their renowned menu features Spanish and Cuban cuisine with a few secret family recipes for good measure. For more than 100 years, Columbia has set the standard for fine dining and entertainment. Columbia, the Gem of Florida 1 st Through Five Generations 2 nd 1927: Casimiro Hernandez Jr. takes over the operation of the restaurant. 1935: Casimiro Jr. builds the first airconditioned dining room in Tampa, complete with an elevated dance floor. 1905: Columbia Restaurant is founded in Tampa’s Ybor City by Casimiro Hernandez Sr. 1937: Casimiro Jr. builds a courtyard dining room like those found in Andalucia. 1950s: Casimiro Jr. hires his new son-inlaw, Cesar Gonzmart. Richard Gonzmart is president of the Columbia Restaurant Group. A member of the fourth generation to manage the family-owned business, he has participated in the company’s greatest period of expansion. But revising history would mean they’d actually missed the real century mark, so they decided to stick with tradition and celebrate 100 years in 2005. In its early years, the 60-seat café did steady business, but that was threatened when prohibition came along. Instead of taking a conservative approach, Casimiro decided to expand next door in an effort to survive by selling more food. The gamble paid off and proved to be the first of many successful expansions. A 1934 handshake deal with a local banker allowed Casimiro Hernandez Jr., the second generation to run the business, to take the Columbia to the next level. He borrowed $50,000 to build Tampa’s first airconditioned dining room, a risky move that elevated the establishment into the class of fine dining. “learnedlessonsearlyon.Iwas I probably3½whenmygrandfather taughtmehowtotellfreshfishinthe cooler.Iwatchedhimthrowout60 gallonsofourfamousbeansoupbecause itwastoosalty.Ilearnedalotfromhis commitmenttoquality.” It turned out to be a fateful faux pas. The young man, Cesar Gonzalez-Martinez, did not realize that the girl, Adela, was the only child of Casimiro Jr. The next day Cesar was fired. But luckily for the Columbia, Cesar’s story didn’t end there. He went on to be a violinist in the Havana Symphony Orchestra. One day he was surprised to learn that the orchestra would feature a recent Julliard graduate as a guest performer: Adela Hernandez. Cesar and Adela rekindled their romance, married and became the third generation to run the restaurant. Cesar, who had shortened his family name to Gonzmart when he started his own orchestra (“Gonzalez-Martinez is a name like Jones- Smith,” explains Gonzmart), managed the restaurant with debonair, charismatic flair. In 1956 he opened a 300-seat showroom to stage the best Latin music and dance of the era. “My dad was a real showman. He saw the business through the ’50s and ’60s and beyond,” Gonzmart recalls. “I think he’s the only person who could have kept the Columbia alive during this period.” Like so many urban landscapes, Ybor City experienced a long, steady decline. As factories closed and storefronts were boarded up, the Columbia was one of the few businesses to survive. Cesar and his talents as an impresario and host made the difference. He continued to play violin six nights a week until the end of his life. Hail Cesar In 1935, a 15-year-old stand-in violinist at the Columbia tried to impress his sweetheart by taking her to dinner at the restaurant (with her mother in tow as a chaperone). 20 LexisNexis® Martindale-Hubbell®
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