NOTICED: The perks of being an investor

From vintage steak knives to having your pet painted on a wall, investing just got a lot more fun.

Investors in restaurants can now get their name on a cocktail or their face painted on the wall. (Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash)

If you’ve ever wanted to become an investor in a restaurant, the time may be now. Sure many big restaurant groups do their capital raise through venture capital funds like Kitchen Fund, or hospitality-driven investment funds like Apres Cru. But smaller independent operators rely on, well, people like you and me—friends, family, and regulars who may want a piece of the action. 

These intrepid restaurants are using more grass roots-styled crowdsourcing platforms like NuMarket, Kickstarter, GoFundMe and IndieGoGo, setting up investment opportunities starting as small as $300 and up to several thousand dollars.

Your reward for dropping coins in their bucket used to be fairly standard—an exclusive reservation line, friends & family access, preferred buyout rates, and the like. But recently owners and chefs have gotten creative with their swag.  Want to have your face painted on a restaurant’s wall? Want a cocktail mixed just for you and named for you on the menu of one of the city’s most prestigious bars? It’s all on offer.

Steak Knives were a gift to investors at Saxon and Parole. 

When chef Brad Farmerie opened Public back in the early aughts, investors each got their own wine mailbox for monthly hard-to-find vino, and when he opened Saxon +Parole, the team gave out vintage steak knives to each investor, along with a bottle in the cocktail cabinet and speciality cocktails.

These days perks are getting even more interesting. At Death & Co., which is currently fundraising, has a suite of investor perks ranging from priority reservations ($2500), to 10% off Death & Company for life ($5000, but unclear if it’s for your life or theirs?) and up to a $25,000, which includes a cocktail created for you and named for you on the permanent menu. 

Pony up $10K and you likeness (or that of your pet) will be painted into the restaurant’s mural.

But the best one I’ve ever seen comes from the folks at Francie who are fundraising for their new sibling restaurant, Allegretto al Forno on IndieGoGo. For their campaign, you can invest as little as $300 and as much as $10K which earns you (or your pet) the ability to be built into the restaurant. The ten grand investment comes with “recognition of your support in an architectural feature in Allegretto, such as a brick, tile or ceiling mural.” Seriously. You’ll have your likeness painted into the ceiling mural by artist Esao Andrews; you’ll be up there along with the owner John Winterman’s dogs. I mean, can’t beat that.