March 14, 2017

Meet Billy Allin of Cakes & Ale Restaurant Family in Decatur

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Billy Allin.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Billy. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I always loved cooking and looked into it as a career several time in college but decided to go the professional root and got a degree in Economics and began in the investment world. I met Kristin (my wife) my senior year of college at College of Charleston, 1995. She was at Georgia Tech and quite the student: very driven and smart. We married three years later, moved in together in Greenwood SC and lived there for one year.

Her job transferred us to San Francisco, CA where I took a job in investments, but quickly was “bitten” by the attention to eating in the Bay Area. I think Kristin felt it too. The produce and attention to freshness was unreal. It was special, especially our first meal at Chez Panisse. I changed firms and Kristin was quickly moving up in her company. After 5 years in SF and Oakland I visited the San Francisco Culinary Academy as my firm was relocating to Los Angeles and we were uncertain of what we wanted to do.

We felt connected to San Francisco. I came home one day and asked Kristin if it would be possible for a career change for me. She was supportive, so I enrolled. We remained in San Francisco, Oakland actually. I immediately looked for an externship sight as I knew this was the most important part of my training. My first choice was Chez Panisse. I landed the externship but it was set to start 10 months out. I asked if they needed help otherwise and waited. I got a call a few weeks later and the chef said they needed someone one night a week. I signed up. Changed all my classes to daytime and started one day a week.

Meanwhile, Kristin was still rising in stature at her company. She was quickly promoted to a high level sales job. I continuously “staged” at restaurants all over SF on the other night of the week. This is where learning came in. A few weeks later, the chef at Chez Panisse asked if I wanted to work a few more nights a week. Of course I did. This was all unpaid. Thankfully for Kristin and some savings we could make this happen. I continued at the restaurant for the next several months, through my official externship.

When it was time to decide the next step my chef at Chez Panisse offered two scenarios, stay at Chez where, because of long standing traditions of promotion and advancement I would basically need to start at the beginning again with them from scratch. I was already 30 years old at this point. I needed to move more quickly and a one year back track seemed counter-productive as much as I loved Chez Panisse. The other alternative we came up with was to move to Napa Valley for the summer where an abundance of great restaurant operated but to focus on a restaurant with high-level food and high volume. Kristin’s job involved a lot of travelling and she could base out of anywhere as long as she could get to the airport. We moved to Napa and I began work at the Martini House under Chef Todd Humphries. It made huge sense in the next step: a system.

Kristin, quit her job roughly 4 months after moving and began work at a winery. We got pregnant and after a tiring year in Napa we moved to Atlanta. I got a job at Watershed under Scott Peacock. We had our first son and I quickly was promoted to a sous-chef. After three years, Kristin and I decided that what was missing in Atlanta was a restaurant like we loved in the Bay Area. I quit my job at Watershed and we planned our own restaurant, Cakes + Ale. We opened one year later in Decatur and have operated for 9 years. We moved locations in 2011 to the Decatur Square and in early 2015 opened Proof Bakeshop and in late 2015 we opened Bread & Butterfly.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As an entrepreneur, the restaurant business is not that dissimilar to any business. The hours may be different but in the end it is about selling and staffing. That inherently brings risk and has always been the biggest challenge. We buy product from the best farmers and purveyors we can source from so the product is relatively easy if you go through the steps of cooking.

The past few years have been the hardest with both staffing and selling. Early on we built a great team and many stayed for years. We all worked hard to sell and learned in the fly but were always fair and honest with our guests and paid attention to what was needed and became more knowledgeable. As Atlanta, and Decatur, has boomed, we are faced with what feels like a staffing shortage in restaurants, both Front and Back of the House. Keeping staff is vital right now and is the hardest I’ve seen it. We have always been good at selling if guests are in the door.

Like mentioned before, be honest, work hard and pay attention to the guest. But, with the number of restaurant opening the past couple of years, guests are more spread out so getting a full night every night can sometime be a struggle.

Personally, this business is hard on me, not because of hours or the physicality of it, but on the time I spend not seeing my two sons. Kristin has two more jobs outside of the restaurant, raising kids and running a household.

Please tell us about Cakes & Ale Restaurant Family: Cakes & Ale, Proof Bakeshop, Bread & Butterfly.
All of businesses specialize in small from scratch production using the best inputs (ingredients) we can get our hands on. We produce with integrity and serve with honesty and knowledge. Kristin and I are the only owners of our businesses so we take great pride in all of them. We also take great pride in the dedication of our coworkers. Many stay for years and that I think is great testament to a great work place. As a restaurant you are judged very heavily in the court of opinion. We know who we are and try not to sway to far from our core.

The following is very applicable to Cakes + Ale: There may be other restaurants that fascinate the diners with food look or food combinations but I feel we are one of the best at feeding our guests dinner. We decided to expand our business 1st by adding a bakeshop, Proof, to provide all baked goods for the restaurant. We always had done this but in a restricted amount of space. Now Proof has an identity all its own. Just as when we started Cakes + Ale, we analyzed the Atlanta market and realized something was missing. We opened Bread & Butterfly to capture an all-day cafe experience that we felt Atlanta was lacking. It also gave Proof its second large account.

What are your plans for the future? What are you looking forward to or planning for – any big changes?
Stay the course. Improve each location. We both want to spend more time together and with our kids so we will continue to develop dedicated and loyal coworkers.

Contact Info: