My long-term dream is to have just ONE dish

“Manifesto offers more exposure and great structure of marketing, also to facilitate your brand to many people. It's so good to have Manifesto as a partner, it's great for starting your own business. This kind of DameDos concept, I can't truly even imagine how to launch it without Manifesto.” - Juan Cruz Pacin

3 min read

Juan Cruz Pacin has been running Argentinian restaurants since 2013 in Prague, and his Gran Fierro is a remarkable address for gastronomy hunters. Juan has joined Manifesto since the very beginning in 2018 so we can say there was no Manifesto without his delicious empanadas and choripanes. Yet, Juan says there would be no DameDos without Manifesto, a new brand he launched this summer with chef Miguel Innella, and has big expansion plans with. We sat with Juan to understand what exactly the business model of Manifesto brings to entrepreneurs and how he deals with the most urgent pain points of today. In the end, Juan shares his take on the future of dining out and predicts the future trends. 

"In the end, just listen to yourself, to make a difference," thinks Juan. Photo: Vaclav Miskovsky

What made you decide to start your business in gastronomy? 

I've always had an idea of having a restaurant, so once I had time and money, I went for it. Right now I do not have such a romantic idea about it anymore, but still, I am happy with what I did. This business is different every day, you are never bored or tired of it. My brother was a chef and we all as a family were enjoying having a good time in restaurants drinking and eating. My first idea was to open an Argentinian restaurant in Prague, because I really missed the food from my home country. I thought it's gonna be the easiest way to bring my home here, but obviously, it wasn't :-).

 

"With DameDos it's different and yes, the idea is to expand. We would like to have a franchise in the future and the best place where to start realizing this is definitely Manifesto." - Juan Cruz

Although Juan's dream is one dish brought to perfection, he offers a diversity of authentic flavors. Photo: Vaclav Miskovsky. 

Is there anything you would advise new gastro entrepreneurs?

When you start creating something, there are always many opinions around. You should listen to everybody, and get their points but in the end, just listen to yourself. I think that's what makes a difference.

 

You recently rebranded Tinas Tapas to DameDos and moved your Gran Fierro restaurant to a larger location. Are you planning an expansion and why? 

Gran Fierro is a really unique concept and we would like to keep it that way. I am not interested in having a chain. Everything is based on an offline experience, so it was really hard during the pandemic, because we had no delivery and didn't want to have it. With DameDos it's different and yes, the idea is to expand. We would like to have a franchise in the future and the best place where to start realizing this is definitely Manifesto.

What is the main difference between opening a restaurant in a stand-alone location versus in Manifesto Market. 

Manifesto offers more exposure and a great structure of marketing, also to facilitate your brand to many people. It's so good to have Manifesto as a partner, it's great for starting your own business. This kind of DameDos concept, I can't truly even imagine how to start without Manifesto. For completely new brands it’s a place to be. Definitely.

What is most valuable to you about operating inside Manifesto?

A load of promotions for sure. You know, building the whole stand is much easier than outside. You only need to equip your kitchen unit. Electricity, debaras, support - all that is already there and taken care of. So it's a very low-cost decision to open a restaurant at Manifesto. You can just come one day, put all your things inside, invest around 250-300,000 CZK (€12k) and the next day you can open. This is completely impossible outside.  

I really appreciate the business model, if you are not doing that great temporarily - you don't suffer that much. It actually pushes both sides to cooperate together. The success of one is the success of the other. I find this business model very clever. 

Also what I can sense here, and let's say it's my personal feeling, is that in Manifesto there is no “competition”, all the other restaurants are like neighbors. If they are doing good, more people are coming, so it means more sales for everyone.

"I usually have two staff members per shift at Manifesto."

"I don't train my people to be nice, I just hire nice people," is Juan's approach. Photo: Jakub Cervenka

What are the biggest daily and long-term challenges for you? People? Money? Suppliers?

The biggest challenge is definitely the shortage of staff in the gastronomy industry. It's really difficult to replace them, whenever they are just sick, on holidays or decide to leave. So we are constantly trying to do our best to keep our staff, to train them well, because once we find them we don't want to let them go. Actually, I have this policy that I don't train my people to be nice, I just hire nice people, so it makes a big difference.

How many staff members do you need at Manifesto? 

I have six staff members in total, and usually two per shift.

What is the most difficult situation you have faced recently? 

To be honest, I can't remember.

On the other hand, what has made you the happiest recently?

Our last event focused on natural wines made me happy. It was the slowest week of the whole year, with a two-day bank holiday, making Prague almost empty. Regardless, we had a really nice number of people showing up! I was really happy, because Manifesto did the promotion about two weeks before the event itself and it worked really well. People showed up and they were interested. All the team was there as well and we enjoyed it together.

"Simplicity is key", says Juan Cruz about his menu. Photo: Vaclav Miskovsky.

Do you have an experience associated with DameDos that you will never forget? 

We had a group of special visitors a few weeks ago. A team of Argentinian cyclists who were passing through Prague on their way to Qatar for the football world cup in November. They went to our bistro at Manifesto for empanadas. That was a really cool experience.

 

What do you think customers will expect in 5 years? 

I would like to see in restaurants shorter menus, with fewer options of what you can order. My longterm dream is to have just ONE dish. Because when having only one dish, you can really master it to perfection. And it can be super fresh because of the fast rotation. I think that this model would be successful at Manifesto as well. To have just one-menu concepts and restaurants and mix them here. Technology will always be there but the classy vintage way will never disappear. I think it will always be about the atmosphere. 

What are the 3 most important factors you look at when putting together a new menu? 

First, the taste it's really important to us, so we are always doing several rounds of tasting until we say THIS IS IT. Connected with the WOW factor. Second, we are looking for items that don't get you tired easily. Plus in the long run, you want to repeat. Finally, simplicity is key as well.

Tell us more about yourself. If you didn't have DameDos and Gran Fierro, what would you be doing?

Since I have my restaurants, I don't have existential voids anymore. So I don't know, and more importantly, I don't want to know what that something else would be. I am really happy where I am.     

What do you miss most from Argentina in the Czech Republic?

The sun and the light. In the past, the food.

If you had to recommend another restaurant from Manifesto that you enjoy the most, which one would it be? 

Yaya's Meat & Seafood. Their olives are the best I've ever had in my life. 

Interview conducted by Klara Olivova.