Matrimony al Mattone: How to Maintain Marital Bliss While Running a Successful Restaurant
In the summer of 2014, Jen and Josh Ziskin spent a week in Tuscany leading a group of eight foodies on a tour of the region’s exquisite culture, catching up with old friends (they lived in Tuscany as newlyweds) and investigating what’s new. For this culinary couple, that last activity was crucial. They’re always collecting fresh ideas and experiences to carry back to La Morra, their Brookline, MA, eatery — chosen as one of Boston Magazine’s top 50 restaurants for 2012. Keeping things fresh is critical to maintaining success at La Morra. A great staff and loyal diners are other vital elements, as is understanding and appreciating your spouse’s role and knowing when not to “talk restaurant.”
We recently spoke with Jen and Josh as they prepped for another busy evening at their busy restaurant.
So, was it a restaurant that brought you guys together?
Jen: Yes and no. Actually, our moms grew up together and our grandmothers are really good friends. I grew up in Plymouth and Josh grew up in Brookline, and he and his family would come back home to Plymouth for the Jewish holidays. So I knew who he was. Then when I graduated college and was working in a restaurant, my grandmother said, “Oh, you should go see Josh Ziskin. He works in a restaurant, too. It would be nice if you were friends.” So I guess you could say it was a restaurant that brought us together.
Tell us about the first time you worked together in a restaurant.
Jen: We ended up together at Chez Henri in Cambridge. I had started there as a server and bartender, and Josh came over and became the sous chef — and I hated working with him. We were engaged, and he was higher up on the ladder, and I didn’t like him telling me what to do. It was not a good fit: being engaged and working together. So I left.
Josh: It was fine for me. I didn’t take it personally. I had a little more seniority because she was working just part time and I was promoted to sous chef, and I might have gotten a little carried away at times.
So then you got married and decided to open your own restaurant. Based on that first experience, was there trepidation?
Josh: About opening a restaurant together? Oh, definitely. We’d just had our third child about a month before we opened, and so at first Jen wasn’t involved that much because she had her hands full with three kids at home. But then what I realized when she would come in and help out at night was that, out of everyone, she was the one who most had my back, you know? We had each other’s back, no questions asked. We were on the same path. Same goals.
Jen: I was actually very concerned. I never thought we could make it work. And I’m amazed that we do it so well. I would say that the trick that works for us is that he’s the boss at work and I’m the boss at home. At the restaurant, I definitely sometimes disagree with him, but he usually gets the last say. It also helps that our duties are separate.
Josh: She runs the front and has the final say out there. And as the chef, I get the final say in the kitchen. We definitely voice our opinions. And if we’re adamant about something, we talk through it. There’s a lot of respect. We used to have a rule that we wouldn't talk about work at home. But at some point, that rule sort of went by the wayside. It just got too hard not to. But as soon as either of us isn’t interested in talking about it anymore, we stop.
Josh, describe your vision for La Morra.
An approachable northern Italian restaurant where service and food are of the highest quality, in a fine dining setting with a lower price. And I really liked this old building.
Jen: It really feels like a northern Italian trattoria.
Josh: We have a wood grill with a rotisserie, so we do a great wood-grilled hangar steak that’s always on the menu. We do a Cornish Hen al Mattone (under a brick). We do our own version of the bolognese. We have some incredible Tuscan meatballs and arancini. Those are favorites, but we change the menu constantly. And we make all our own pasta.
So, in addition to great food and the right atmosphere, what’s the secret to successfully staying in business for 10 years?
Jen: Hard work. You just have to work hard. But it always comes second to family. Our family comes first. And what helps is making the people at the restaurant be like your family. Everybody who works here really cares. We have just an amazing staff that makes people feel like they’re home when they come in here. And then we have such great regular customers. We get new ones all the time, but we have a great group of regulars. La Morra has a friendly, real neighborhood atmosphere that I think is really special.
What about future plans?
Jen: Making this place the best place it can be. Ten years is big; I feel really good about what we’ve built. But we’re also always open to new opportunities. Nothing immediately in the works though.
How does Staples help you get your job done?
Jen: We use Staples for all of our office supplies, and I love the convenience. I’d say that about 99 percent of the time, we use the delivery service, and it’s so quick. We can do all our ordering online, and that’s really nice, too. We have a Staples near our house, so we pop in there, too. Again, it’s the convenience.
Taylor Sisk is a North Carolina-based writer and editor who writes on a wide range of topics for a variety of outlets.
