Rapper. Actor. Restaurateur? Platinum-selling rapper Chris Bridges (a.k.a. Ludacris) added the third title with last year’s opening of Straits Atlanta, a Singaporean restaurant that’s become a magnet for lovers of food from the Pacific Rim. Instead of hewing to the traditional entrepreneurial mold of successful rappers—start a clothing line, open a club or star in a reality TV show—Bridges tried his hand in the notoriously tough restaurant business; where a high percentage of new ventures close after a year.
"I’m a foodie. I love food, but this was a real estate purchase at first," says Bridges, who has won several Grammy Awards and scored good reviews for his role in the Oscar-winning movie Crash. "I own the building. It used to be a restaurant. I ran into Chris Yeo who owns a chain of restaurants at a charity event. He invited me to his restaurant in San Francisco. I was sold."
In the restaurant business, as with becoming a more discerning gourmand, Bridges admits there’s been a learning curve, but one, he said, that is quickly closing. "You really learn as you go along. I may not know everything about food, about wine pairings or about the business, but you are constantly learning. I’ve been blessed enough to eat in so many different places and in so many different countries and have come to appreciate the diversity and range of food and the culture of chefs, cooking, spices, everything."
Call it culinary karma that Bridges, who savors Thai food, met Yeo, whose Straits restaurants in Northern California have legions of devotees. Bringing the franchise to Atlanta intrigued Bridges, since the city, though predominantly African-American, embraces cultures and food from all over the world. "I like really spicy food and I like the blends of spices in Singaporean cuisine and Thai food. People in Atlanta are always looking for something new and this was new."
As a self-proclaimed foodie, Bridges has a culinary adventure streak having tried octopus, quail eggs, alligator and escargot. "I’m almost up to trying anything when it comes to food."
Born in Champaign, Ill., Bridges spent his adolescence in Atlanta, making a name for himself as a deejay before signing with Def Jam and becoming a top-selling rapper. Music led to movies, making him millions and exposing him to the finer things in life.
Success has enabled him to eat in the finest restaurants and in the most storied food countries in the world; experiences that shaped his approach to being a restaurateur. The emphasis at Straits, he said, is great food in a relaxed, refined environment. As for his favorite restaurant. He thinks a few seconds before settling on Café Martarona in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. He spent his 30th birthday at the restaurant, where everything is served family style and, he says, the chicken parmesan and lobster are sublime. His favorite food country is France, with its unparalleled culinary history and quality and quantity of eponymous restaurants.
"I like seeking out the best restaurants when I travel, but I can also be fine with traditional southern food like fried chicken, which I grew up eating," said Bridges, whose ideal meal would blend his twin loves of Italian food and seafood. Menu must-haves would include crab legs, oysters ("they’re romantic," he says), lobster and shrimp. Despite an intense passion for food—he sent a friend to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris to attend cooking school—you won’t find him in the kitchen whipping up a great meal. "I don’t have the patience to cook."
Were he to prepare romantic dinner for someone special, it would include good music, a fine selection of wines, gourmet desserts and…tacos. "That’s about the only think I can cook well." The stomach remains one of the easiest ways to a man’s heart, so Bridges encourages women to be adventurous in the kitchen. He also says that anyone—rapper, actor, athlete, etc.—considering becoming a restaurateur should bring relentless passion and devotion to the job. The restaurant business isn’t easy, but to those willing to learn and sacrifice, he says, "it’s very rewarding."
For more information about Straits Atlanta, visit www.straitsrestaurants.com.
