For Richard Rosenthal, when it comes to opening a new restaurant, it's all about the mojo. He can't quite define his personal restaurant mojo, that exceptional, mysterious power that draws people into Max Downtown, Max a Mia, Max Amore, Max's Oyster Bar and Trumbull Kitchen, and makes them among the most popular eateries around. But he can say it's about creating a buzz.

"A restaurant has to have a certain buzz. It's really done through the patrons who create that atmosphere. But you have to create an environment that brings in those guests," Rosenthal said recently. Whatever ingredients Rosenthal uses, as president of the Max Restaurant Group he has created a small restaurant empire with menus that rival anything in a bigger city. They are casual yet urbane gastronomical venues as popular as they are chic, and he proudly uses the Max brand to help local charities and non-profits.

It is for his success, his energetic entrepreneurship, and his philanthropic contributions to the ongoing growth of Hartford that Rosenthal is the Hartford Business Journal's 2002 Business Person of the Year. "Restaurants are a key part of the Hartford Image Project's work to try to change the perception of Hartford," said Michael Kintner, vice president of marketing and communications at the MetroHartford Regional Economic Alliance. "Along with theater, the arts and entertainment, restaurants are something we see as one of the true distinguishing feature assets of Hartford. And obviously, Max's and Trumbull Kitchen are key to that."

"Rich's success is to a very large extent based on the fact that he is a consummate host and enjoys providing a quality experience for his patrons," said Simon Flynn, executive director of the Connecticut Restaurant Association. Steve Abrams, Rosenthal's managing partner at Max Downtown, has known Rosenthal since 1976 when the two were fraternity brothers at Bentley College. Abrams said he admires Rosenthal for his loyalty -- to partners and vendors - and his fairness and highly trained eye for details. "He can walk into a dining room and see an undercooked pasta coming out of the kitchen from 100 feet away," Abrams said. "And he doesn't understand why no one else can see it." Rosenthal, Abrams said, also is extremely easy to work with, primarily because he clearly communicates his expectations to everyone around him. And when it comes to growing his business, Abrams said Rosenthal is unusual in that he does not expand for the sake of growth.

"We are location driven, not concept driven," Abrams explained. "That's unusual in the restaurant business." Besides the Max chain -- named for Rosenthal's grandfather Max Veroff and which produces American, Northern Italian and seafood cuisine - Rosenthal recently opened Max at The Bushnell, a café to feed area office workers and the theater crowd. It also caters special events. And soon -- the date isn't yet known -- the first out-of-state Max will open at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. Expect an "American tavern" that's light on basketball mojo. "It's not going to be a basketball-themed restaurant," Rosenthal said, so don't look for Max Hoops or Three-Point Max's. "We've contemplated that back and forth. Our plan now is to do a restaurant using the location more than the Hall of Fame. We think that by the time you've done the Hall of Fame you've had enough basketball."

But can you get enough Max? Rosenthal believes a restaurant has to look good, but a good-looking restaurant can still fail. It's about style and design, "but also a certain level of comfort. Not just the padding in the seats, but coloring, lighting, music, and a little buzz." Rosenthal also puts a "huge" emphasis on training his wait staff. Each carries a pocket card spelling out the Max mission statement and approach to service. "Welcome the challenge of the demanding guest," is one missive. Rosenthal explains this. "The customer's not always right, but part of our credo is, if they're not, it doesn't matter," he said. "If you make a demanding guest happy, I'll tell you what you have is a regular. If you make a demanding guest happy you'll have a customer who will be back." Rosenthal said there's another motto not found on that pocket card but one Max employees know well: "The customer is rarely the problem." "If they're being rude it's because we made them wait, we took too long with the food," and this, he said, is an opportunity to fix something.

Rosenthal is one of those unique businessmen who seems to be working less from a blueprint and mostly with a Midas touch. He readily admits there is no formal, strategic business plan mapping out future restaurants over the next decade. "We don't have a wonderful strategic plan and we never have," he said. "We kind of open restaurants when the right location feels good. We'll probably kind of keep putzing around and doing a restaurant here and there and when the right thing happens, you know … no real plan. Just one day at a time."

Part of his business' success he owes to the unique ownership-partnership structure he has set up among his restaurants' managers. Each restaurant is owned by a managing partner who oversees its day-to-day running, and each is a limited liability company. Rosenthal is a partner with each of those owner/managers, and with each new business that opens, those owner/managers can buy an ownership share. "I think a tremendous amount of our success comes from the commitment of our owner-partners," Rosenthal said of his unique business arrangement. "You spread the worry and the profits." And profits there are. While Rosenthal did not wish to discuss specific numbers, he would say that Max Downtown grew steadily every year since it opened as Max on Main in 1986, until 2001 when revenues fell 5 percent. "This year [2002] we're going to beat last year's numbers," he said, estimating they would go higher by at least 1 to 2 percent. Based on national averages in a recession when business traveling and corporate entertaining are down, Rosenthal said: "We're doing phenomenal. We're dealing with those same elements and we're up and opened two restaurants, competing with ourselves a little bit."

The growth Rosenthal talks about while looking out his Lewis Street office across from Bushnell Park extends to the other restaurants as well. Max's Oyster Bar in West Hartford Center, he said, has grown steadily since its opening, and so have Max a Mia in Avon, which opened in 1990 and Max Amore in Glastonbury which opened in 1995. Trumbull Kitchen, located at the former site of the Civic Café, opened in May 2001 and was the first of Rosenthal's restaurants to break with the Max brand. "We wanted to do the opposite, open something with a younger profile," Rosenthal said. After a slow start - and some concern that maybe not using the Max brand "broke the spell" -- Trumbull Kitchen is coming into its own. Like all the other openings since Max Amore, Trumbull Kitchen's opening was a benefit for the Connecticut Children's Medical Center, and for the first time, also benefited the Arthritis Foundation. "I kind of feel I have to do it. We've been very fortunate that the community has been very supportive of what we do. We know that when we have an opening that there's a big demand to come to our opening parties. What a great vehicle to use to raise money for a charity." Rosenthal said. "In a community like Hartford, you want to do things like that. It's good for the soul, I guess. And it's good for the charity, which is more important."

Howard Carver, the former managing partner at Ernst & Young, spent time with Rosenthal when the two co-chaired the 2002 United Arts campaign for the Greater Hartford Arts Council. Carver described Rosenthal as "enthusiastic," "involved," "creative," and "very giving." "He didn't hesitate to commit the resources of the Max Restaurant Group two or three times," Carver said. For one fundraising event, Rosenthal closed off a portion of Max Downtown for a wine dinner that raised $25,000. Carver also was impressed by Rosenthal's connections. When Carver got the idea for a wine fundraising theme while traveling through California's Napa Valley, Rosenthal called the Napa winery that was fundraising for local arts efforts. Then he called the Robert Mondavi winery and arranged for Mondavi wine to be sold at the Max restaurants, with $1 from every glass going to the arts council. "He knows everybody in town," Carver said. "And he's not afraid to pick up the phone." What free time Rosenthal can find he often spends with his family, including wife, Vicki, and daughters Emily, 11, Julia, 9, and Hannah, 8. The West Hartford native also enjoys following food trends.

"I'm more interested in the New York Times food section on Wednesday than I am in the sports section on Sunday," he said. "If I'm watching a basketball game on TV, I'll be switching to the Food Channel, and I'll stay there and forget about the game." Rosenthal remains upbeat about having his businesses in Hartford. "There's a lot of great people around here. Hartford is, in my opinion, the most underrated city in the world. We have a horrible self image." But Rosenthal thinks he's got the cure. "All we're lacking," he said, "is a little mojo."