The feeling when you enter the Bastarestaurant is genuine, modern and relaxed. It's colorful, bustling, with great music, and above all, nothing feels perfect, in a good way. You're reminded of urban neighborhoods in cities around the world, and for a second you're in Barcelona or New York. Here you want to eat, socialize and feel good - and everything is surrounded by feeling and quality a´la urban style!
And there are many who want to experience the urban style á la BASTA. When Basta opened its first restaurant in Falun, there was a long queue in the street, and when the restaurant opened in Borlänge, 800 people had booked a table within a couple of hours. Both restaurants average 6000 guests a month. Now there is also a restaurant in Gävle and in the fall they will open in Sundsvall. Now the "group" has started to be built!
- We want to make Italian restaurant history in Sweden, and we have set the bar there. How far we can go and how fast we can grow remains to be seen. It has to happen at a pace where we can maintain the genuine quality. If we lose that, we lose the vision for Basta," says CEO Brazer Bolzlak, who runs the Basta Urban group together with his colleague Kristjan Longar, COO.
Triggered by change management and business development
Both Brazer and Kristjan have a background in sports, specifically soccer and volleyball, and through this have a drive for results. They trigger each other to constantly change and improve and develop the business. They see every day as a game, they like to win and perform optimally. "Every great business is built on friendship," they both say.
-We believe that we can always deliver that little extra; from the welcome at the door, to the customer being seated, eating the food and until the bill is paid - we can always write the last chapter of the experience for the guest. We want people to leave the restaurant satisfied, sharing their experience and wanting to come back! Then we have succeeded!
How do you do this?
- We are building structure and processes, focusing on quality instead of quantity; that is, it is quality and not as many restaurants as possible. We will expand at the rate at which we can maintain quality.
Basta is a big urban family
-Our restaurant will act as an engine of integration in the community. Here we speak about fifteen languages and here we care. We have developed an atmosphere where people have their voice heard and are seen. We lead as we learn, which is why we have low staff turnover. When we recruit, we do so with quality and personality, and we can also offer a safe and secure workplace. And they know that leadership is important and to be good role models, make demands but of course show respect for each other and create trust.
The future?
When it comes to opening a new restaurant, it is the location that decides and whether there is an interested property owner who is willing to invest. The Urban Group has a quality concept that they know will stand the test of time, so they are gradually establishing themselves in several medium-sized cities in Sweden. Brazer and Kristjan have been courted for establishments but turned them down;
-We want to grow with quality and not be everywhere. Today we are 45 employees and soon we will be 60 people when the Sundsvall restaurant opens. Our strength is low staff turnover, says Brazer.
"We will adapt to the future and build more concepts and we see, for example, that in Sweden we are health-conscious, like open kitchens and experiences; want the genuine and authentic experience. Growing with quality instead of as fast as possible is the Urban Italian Groups' concept.
Brazer and Kristjan talk about having a gut feeling but still being driven by structure and planned processes.
Crisis breeds creativity
-"We are now also seeing in these virus times that customers have a different buying behavior; takeaway is here to stay, both Brazer and Kristjan believe. They quickly changed their offer with food for pick-up or delivery to the door; a concept that works well. They have also offered customers a slightly lower price if they come to the restaurant themselves.
You have to dare to think in new ways and try things out; if it doesn't work out, you have to adjust again, not stop," Kristijan says.
Growing with incubator process support
Through Dalarna Science Park's business development processes, Brazer and Kristjan have received support to twist and turn the concept. Business coach Jörgen Bond asks those tricky and sometimes provocative questions that make Brazer and Kristjan triggered and challenged - just as they want.
- It is not the one who wants to win the most who wins! It is the one who is prepared to do the work in order to win that has the greatest opportunity. The Basta team is a team that does the job in a structured way and with a clear focus on what is important to the customer! They work incredibly hard with both what is important right now and also what is important in the future, says Jörgen Bond.
Basta is open and transparent
Brazer and Kristijan are also working together on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); how to reduce food waste and focus on sustainability as a holistic approach, thinking about "people, profit and planet" and reporting this through the "triple bottom line". This means reporting not only on financial performance but also on social and environmental performance. "We want to be open and transparent," say Brazer and Kristjan, "both with our work and the way we build the business group.
BASTA is the restaurant concept that is here to stay and grow through good times and bad!
