Best Friends & Partnerships

While mixing friendship and business can be a recipe for disaster, some partnerships have all the right ingredients for success. Long-time friends and business partners of Argyle Grill and Barrique Kitchen and Wine Bar, Greg Bartolotta, Keith Hart, Dante Paganini & Billy Wolfe shared their story and secrets for success with us.

THE LIST: Can you tell us how long you’ve known each other and how you got together to start the business?

GREG: We all go way back to the early 80’s working in the hospitality business. In 1990, a mutual friend introduced Keith and I. Back then, I was a partner in a nightclub in East Meadow. Billy was bartending at Uncle Sam’s/Spit night club in Levittown, where Keith was previously the promotional manager, and then selling roses in all the local night clubs. When Uncle Sam’s closed, Keith was looking for a place to store his roses at the end of the night. Every Friday and Saturday night between 2am-4am, Keith would meet 20 or so “Rose Girls” at my night club to store the remaining roses. Obviously, we spent many late nights together, and formed a friendship that has lasted a life time.

Keith went on to manage John Anthony’s in Babylon, where he met Dante, who did the planning and design for both John Anthony’s and Coco’s in Huntington, and also reunited with Bill, who was bartending there.

Fast forward to the late 90’s, Bill was living in Babylon Village and noticed a building on Deer Park Avenue that was for sale. It housed a bar called Stillman’s.

Bill pitched the idea to Dante and Keith to purchase the building and put a new restaurant in the village. At the time, I still had the nightclub in East Meadow and was also partners in a restaurant called Hemingway’s in Wantagh. While visiting Babylon village, several times I noticed on any given night 10-20 people standing outside Kotobuki, the neighboring restaurant to Stillman’s, waiting for a table. It didn’t take long for me to realize this would be a great location for a restaurant…just the over flow from Kotobuki alone would be good business. Bill, Keith and Dante decided to purchase of the building. At the time, they were all greats in the night club industry, but had limited restaurant experience, although Bill was an incredible host and cook in his own right. Keith asked me if I would be interested in partnering with them and I jumped at the opportunity.

In 1999 we purchased the building and built The Argyle Grill & Tavern. We will soon celebrate 20 years together

THE LIST: Why do you feel you make such good business partners?

GREG: We each had a specialty. Dante, the great designer. Keith promotions. Bill hospitality. And myself, the business aspect of the restaurant. Our businesses would have never succeeded if it was not for each of our individual efforts and select skill sets.

Our focus was to build a restaurant that had a great bar, not a bar that served good food. The restaurant was priority. We have gone on to open up two additional restaurants… Corbin and Reynolds located in Long Beach, which we sold in 2008, and Barrique Kitchen and Wine Bar in 2009 that we still own and operate along with The Argyle.

THE LIST: What’s your secret for keeping both the business and friendship successful?

GREG: The success of The Argyle has changed all our lives. What makes a great team/partnership is how we have welcomed each of our individual successes over the course of this partnership. We were friends first, and will continue to be friends for the rest of our lives, sharing individual milestones over the years. We have always found a solution for every problem as a team. Effort on all the partners has never lacked, we all want each of us to succeed and be happy.

THE LIST: If you guys had a night out or some time off together, where would you go, what would you do?

GREG: We love going to the Caribbean every winter… St. Martin, Anguilla and St. Bart’s. Locally, we chill on Fire Island, mostly Ocean Beach. We shoot over on Billy’s boat for dinner and sunset.

Retiring 3 years ago, original partner Dante Paganini still remains good friends with the group.