In part two of the Aura Gardens series, Rachel continues her conversation with co owner RJ Fernandez and picks up right where the story left off.

If part one was about legacy, family, and the deep roots of a third generation steakhouse, this chapter is about what happens when that legacy starts to feel out of step with the times.

RJ opens up about the slow slide into stagnation at the Murrieta restaurant, the pressure to keep prices low while costs climbed, and what it felt like to watch newer, flashier concepts pull focus while they were still trying to do everything old school and word of mouth.

Then the world shuts down. Covid arrives. And for the first time in decades, the restaurant goes quiet.

In this episode, you will hear about

• The moment RJ realized the family steakhouse was getting left behind by changing guest expectations and social media culture
• How rising food costs made it harder and harder to remain the go to affordable steakhouse in town
• Why the next generation of guests wanted more than a good steak things like experience, spectacle, and Instagram friendly moments
• RJ’s early attempts at his own concept including the Windmill Food Hall project and a quick service concept called Salt and Smoke in Oceanside
• How timing, leases, and a global pandemic turned those dreams into expensive almosts that later revealed themselves as blessings
• What it felt like to lay off an entire team with the hope of bringing them back when indoor dining returned
• The strange relief and spaciousness that arrived when the restaurant paused and why RJ’s mom describes that period as the happiest she had felt in a long time
• RJ’s realization that he had built his entire identity around the restaurant and had almost no life outside of work
• The resentment, grief, and honesty that surfaced as he watched friends live fuller lives while he stayed married to the business
• The two paths his mom ultimately offered
• RJ buys and re-imagines the restaurant, or she sells everything and closes the chapter
• How trying to innovate the legacy brand began to strain his relationship with his mom and long time staff
• The lessons RJ learned from experiments that did not work and how those failures shaped the leader he is now

• You are an owner or operator who feels the old model is not working but you are scared to let go
• You are sitting in the messy middle trying to honor a legacy while knowing something has to change
• You have a family business and feel the tension between generations, vision, and timing
• You are considering rebranding, relocating, or closing a concept and wondering what that would mean for your identity
• You need to hear someone be honest about burnout, duty, and the cost of staying in a business past the point of alignment

In part three, we move into the rebirth. RJ and Rachel talk about the heartbreak of losing the Murrieta restaurant, the doors that closed, and how that cleared space for a new vision in Carlsbad with his cousin Andrew.

Make sure you are subscribed so you do not miss the next episode and if you know a hospitality owner who is wrestling with change right now, share this conversation with them.

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