How a Boston Chef Saved a Failing Restaurant — Then Opened More During the Pandemic

A near-collapse in the first half-year forced a radical rethink: Seth Gerber retooled the concept, doubled down on a risky expansion during COVID and turned one struggling dining room into a string of neighborhood restaurants — now he teaches students by running real operations.

When Gerber signed on with Mida as a co-owner and restaurant director, he promised himself he wouldn’t take the safe route. He’d come in as a general manager expecting a short stint, but the project grew on him. The partnership with founders Douglass Williams and Brian Lesser began with a lease and an experimental menu — and within six months the venture was bleeding cash and scraping for extra funding just to stay open. Beyond the numbers, Gerber realized the food and atmosphere didn’t match the kind of place he wanted to build.

The menu leaned toward high-design small plates, the kind of culinary statement that looked impressive but felt distant to the diners Gerber pictured. He shifted course, softening the concept and borrowing the convivial spirit of Italian neighborhood spots: warmer service, heartier dishes and a layout that encouraged groups to linger. It was a subtle change in direction, but the reaction was immediate. Regulars began returning, and tables that had been empty started filling.

Then came an even bolder move. With a second lease already signed, Gerber and his partners decided to open a new location as the pandemic shut much of the city down. Staffing was a scramble — many cooks were students with little restaurant experience — and rules on indoor dining kept changing. Still, the second site found its footing, proving the concept could be replicated. What began as a single neighborhood restaurant became several outlets across Boston.

The turnaround reshaped how Gerber thinks about hospitality. He now teaches hospitality at Boston University, insisting that service must be learned where it happens: in a busy kitchen and in front of guests. A local industry consultant said the most effective training comes from making mistakes under pressure and correcting them in real time. Gerber agrees — he prefers coaching on a service line to rote classroom exercises.

His experience offers three takeaways for restaurateurs: match what you offer to the people you want to serve, be willing to alter aesthetics or menu if customers aren’t responding, and don’t underestimate the learning value of on-the-job training. For Gerber, those lessons were hard-earned — and now he’s passing them along to the next generation of cooks and managers, using actual restaurants as their classroom.