At the age of 21, an aspiring young chef from Philadelphia named Raymond Haldeman landed a job aboard the Arara III, a corporate catering yacht featured that year on the cover of Yachting Magazine. The vessel, owned by Illinois Tool Works had a corporate entertaining itinerary to travel to ports across the country and entertain their clients.
This dream job gave the talented young chef who was anxious to learn, the unique opportunity to work with upscale Caterers all across the country. In each city they visited, his job entailed cooking small lunches for the VIP’s, who included among other notable CEO’s, Lee Iacocca and Henry Ford Jr. During the evening the services of the notch caterers were hired to do the large dinner parties and cruises of 80- 120 guests each night. Haldeman seized the opportunity to improve his craft, kept a journal and documented each new recipe and catering technique he observed.
Upon his return, he started a small catering business out of his apartment in an old printing factory in Center City Philadelphia. His, first year, working out of his apartment, he grossed $1 million dollars and was featured on the cover of Money Magazine. In a few short years he parlayed that momentum into a thriving society catering business. His client-list grew to include the “who’s who” of American society and an impressive list of Fortune 500 companies and also had the honor of catering events for the Royal Family,
“Dinner was served in the Dinosaur Room, where Katharine Hepburn’s favorite calla lilies graced the tables and where caterer Raymond Haldeman served elegantly thin slices of smoked salmon flown in from Scotland,” George Christy, The Hollywood Reporter
He then opened 2 elegant gourmet restaurants and his popularity thrived. He was profiled in numerous publications, including prestigious magazines, Gourmet, Town & Country, and the Robb Report. He also hosted TV segments on cooking and entertaining. The Young Entrepreneurs Organization included him their list of the Top 100 Entrepreneurs in America. He later followed up with the opening of several upscale nightclubs in South Beach, Palm Beach and San Juan.
“Wunderkind…not yet 30 years old, Raymond Haldeman runs one of the most stylish restaurants in Philadelphia, masterminding both a thriving catering business and the establishment named for him,” Zack Hanle, Bon Appetit Magazine
“Success, His Businesses Are Really Cooking,” Business Headline, Jan Schaffer, Philadelphia Inquirer
Over 2 decades later, having built a stellar reputation, he found himself in a unique position with years of hands-on operating experience under his belt. He also had a burning desire to monetize his knowledge and parlay his years of experience into a new business without the high overhead cost of bricks and mortar.
Haldeman who had always enjoyed designing his own establishments with Designer Leslie John Koeser and had entertained the idea of becoming a designer over the years, but his lack of any formal training deterred him until one day he had a realization, he never had any formal training in any other of his successful ventures either! Haldeman was not only a self-made man, he was a self-taught man, and this epiphany propelled him to pursue a new career as restaurant designer. Haldeman had the foresight to marry his talent and experience with today’s technology, teaching himself graphic design, website design, 3D animation, SEO, google ads. This full-on assault to arm him with today’s technology was pivotal an provided the means for him to create his new career as, The Restaurant Designer. To his delight it has proven to be the most successful of all his previous endeavors.
Geographically, Haldeman’s main concentration of design work is in the Northeast Corridor. On occasion he has ventured to other parts of the country for high profile design jobs such as the Timber Breeze Resort, where owner Bill Gardner flew him back and forth to Wisconsin from the Philadelphia Executive Airport in his private jet. Other high profile jobs include Fins Bar & Grill with the effervescent edge lit led glass bar top in Cape May, NJ, the new CuzIn’s with the digital waterfall in New Brunswick, NY, (Haldeman designed the original CuzIn’s with the retractable Pergola roof, in Marlboro, NJ), Broad Street Bar & Restaurant with glass walls that disappear into the ceiling and open to Main Street in Souderton, PA and the glass enclosed octagon, Beacon 70 that opens to and elevated view of the marina view in Brick, NJ
Operators understand how important the visual impact of a guest’s experience can be and Raymond Haldeman not only delivers it, but he coined a phrase to describe it as, “Wow-Factor.” Yes, bold and striking “functional design with wow-factor,” is another secret ingredient to Raymond Haldeman’s success and he brings it to the table in spades. With the infusion of this hallmark into each new restaurant design he has once again built a stellar reputation, this time as restaurant designer which has catapulted him to the forefront of his field. Today, it is undeniable that the veteran designer is widely considered “the foremost authority on restaurant design in the country.” Restaurant owners seek him out because he understands them, what they want, what they need because as he says, at any given time in his life, he was them. Haldeman attributes this parallel of once being in the shoes of his clients as another reason he is effective and enjoys assisting owner/operators by sharing his credible perspective and expertise. “My only agenda” he says, “is to guide and support my clients in achieving the highest level of success possible.”
Haldeman says the take away is that, “there is always a path to relevance and a way to reinvent yourself,” he should know, he did it three times! For more info visit: https://www.raymondhaldeman.com/