Hospitality Design - July 2017 - 170

A 20-foot-tall, 3D-animated Quan Yin
statue welcomes guests to TAO LA

RICH
WOLF
Cofounder
TAO Group
New York
Restaurant and nightlife impresario Rich Wolf isn't motivated to
open a single simple restaurant. His mantra-along with his TAO
Group partners Noah Tepperberg, Jason Strauss, and Marc Packer-
is to do "next-level shit. Every time we do something, we try to raise
it to that level."
Take, for instance, the fact that TAO Group-which operates
roughly 25 venues in New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and
Sydney-has partnered with the Madison Square Garden Company
(MSG). A perfect strategic relationship, says Wolf, because of
the company's access to talent and sponsorships, extensive
infrastructure and contacts, ticketing platforms, and a think tank of
internal people. "We've got a lot on the table. We've got a lot of plans,"
he says of looking for the right company to join forces with. "We
decided that MSG was really the only company that had a similar
culture and that we could mesh well with."
Those plans include the recent opening of four venues on one
city block-including signature brands TAO, Beauty & Essex, and
Avenue nightclub, as well as new concept Luchini Pizzeria & Bar-
in West Hollywood in March. Still to come are a lobby lounge and the
Highlight Room, an 11,000-square-foot restaurant-club-pool rooftop
hybrid, at the soon-to-open Dream Hotel, situated in the same
complex. TAO Group's mega LA debut is the first time they have put
this many brands in one space. "We've basically created an enclave,"
explains Wolf, adding that an alleyway connects the spaces. "Guests
don't really have to leave the premises."
Longtime collaborator Rockwell Group reimagined all the venues

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July 2017 hospitalitydesign.com

for the West Coast. "You'll see a language
and certain things I refer to as the greatest
hits from the other venues in New York
and Las Vegas, but each will have its own
personality." There's the pawnshop entrance,
grand staircase, and a locket-wrapped dining
room at Beauty & Essex. At the two-story
TAO, complete with an original wood bow
truss ceiling, another 20-foot-tall Quan Yin
statue standing above a koi pond comes to life
thanks to animations from 3D projection mapping.
Still on the docket: a second Stanton Social restaurant
in New York (a follow-up to the shared plate restaurant on the
Lower East Side with a design by Josh Held); a TAO restaurant
and nightclub in an iconic building in Chicago by Rockwell Group;
three venues (including a Lavo from ICRAVE) at the Marina Bay
Sands in Singapore; and multiple new F&B spaces at the upcoming
Moxy Times Square (also by Rockwell Group). "With the growth
of our brands, we have to expand our guest base as well, especially
the 20-somethings, cultivating the next generation," he says of their
decision to team up with Marriott's Millennial-focused brand.
In the ever-evolving restaurant and nightclub world, the TAO
Group venues are celebrity magnets, rank on top 10 highest-grossing
lists each year (with the waitlists and long lines to match), and
continue to outdo themselves years after opening-17 years later,
the original TAO in Midtown New York still turns four covers a
night. Wolf credits their longevity for two reasons. One, "we haven't
overexposed ourselves. [Almost two decades later] we just opened
our fourth TAO in our third city. It is still special." And two, where
others say "location, location, location," he explains, "for us, it's about
hospitality, hospitality, hospitality. If you deliver hospitality, you can
never, ever lose." That also means taking care of TAO Group team
members as family, "and it's everybody's job to take care of
the guest."
The challenge, he says, is maintaining the quality TAO Group is
known for as they grow and "not miss a beat," he says. "We always
push ourselves because we're all creative people at heart. And we're
blessed in that people come to us to have fun."
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