Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG) has named Zach Koff as president of the company’s Daily Provisions concept, a restaurant/retail hybrid that’s shifting into growth mode.
Koff joins the company from Shake Shack, where he was COO. A 13-year veteran of the fast-casual burger chain, Koff saw the concept grow from three stores to the current 471. He is credited with helping to systemize procedures and otherwise prepare Shake Shack for large-scale development.
Shake Shack was started and run by USHG until it was spun off in a highly visible public stock offering in 2015.
Daily Provisions is a three-daypart concept that serves a variety of sandwiches, salads, baked goods and specialty beverages, with an emphasis on to-go sales. Menu items range from a salted fudge brownie for $4.50 to a whole roasted chicken for $22.
The service is a minimal fast-service setup. At the original unit, customers order at an interior walk-up window and then have their orders presented to them by an employee. Seating is limited.
The original store broke new ground by becoming one of the first food outlets in New York City to limit payments to non-cash charges.
Koff’s first involvement with USHG came when he was still attending the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. In 2001, he landed an internship at Tabla, USHG’s now-shuttered Indian restaurant overlooking Manhattan’s Madison Park.
He would then spend eight years with the Brio and Bravo upscale Italian full-service chains—concepts outside USHG’s fold—before joining Shake Shack.
Daily Provisions currently has four locations, all in Manhattan. A fifth is slated to open in the New York borough of Brooklyn in the next few weeks.
“We know that Zach has the operational know-how to successfully scale Daily Provisions, while maintaining and advancing the commitment we feel towards our employees,” USHG CEO Chip Wade said in a statement.
“I’ve been enjoying (and craving!) Daily Provisions’ crullers and breakfast sandwiches since its inception,” Koff said in the statement. “For me, there’s nothing more professionally thrilling than joining an organization that’s poised for growth.”
Daily Provisions was the concept USHG brainstormed to shoehorn into a tiny space next to where the company’s flagship, Union Square Café, was relocated in late 2016. The buildout for the Café left too little adjacent space to house one of USHG’s other concepts, so the company invented a small retail-like operation that could do a significant volume of takeout.
USHG’s other concepts include Gramercy Tavern, Blue Smoke, Marta and Porch Light.
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