Raymond Brunyanszki, Camden Harbour Inn

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

My next guest is is a dear friend and really quite a talented individual. This is Raymond Brynjanski. He is the co owner of the Relay and Chateau, Camden, Harbour Inn and Danforth Inn as well as Natalie's Restaurant, Tempodula Restaurant and Opium. It's really great to have you in here today.

Raymond Brunyanszki:

Likewise. It's good to be back.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So you have been doing a lot of interesting things since the last time we had you on the radio show. I think the last time was before you were going to open your Portland location, right? Yeah, which has now been a couple of years.

Raymond Brunyanszki:

Yeah, I think it was 20002014 when I was in your show we just became Relay and Chateau with Camden Iberin. You did a wonderful interview together with John Cartwright of the White Barn Inn. And since then we in 2014 we bought Danford here in Portland. A year later we opened Tampo Dulu, our fine dining Southeast Asian restaurant and just a couple of months ago we made a couple of changes and opened up Opium Lounge in addition to Tampadulu. So we have now also a swanky bar at the Danfort.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I Guess we should talk about that,

Raymond Brunyanszki:

because there's been a lot of talk about opium.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

There has. There's been a lot of talk about Opium in the news. It's been kind of a controversial name that you've chosen.

Raymond Brunyanszki:

It is, and we were aware of that when we started working on it. And, you know, to me, Opium says more about the time frame in Shanghai. And we were looking for a name that fitted what we were doing already with Tampo Dulu, that Southeast Asian. Asian cuisine. The Danforth has been decorated with a lot of Asian art and furniture. We were looking at something that was speakeasy like, but also very fashionable. So we were inspired mostly by Opium, of Yves Saint Laurent, the famous perfume that's already on the market for 40 years, very well known for its fashionable and somewhat edgy campaigns. And, you know, it's a name that has been used for many bars throughout the world. And it just felt right, it felt fitting. It allowed us to do what we wanted to do with the bar. And every conversation that we had with our branding manager, Mark Woopery, with our PR firm, Parasol, in New York, with many people here in Maine, including some rehab centers, we always were aware of this controversy. I don't think we expected it to be such a backlash. When the name initially was launched, and even in that process, before we opened up and there was some controversy, we continued looking at it. I think at the end of the day, the conclusion was that maybe we had needed to change a couple of things in our marketing and how we were phrasing things, but that the name Opium in itself is a strong name and should stay, and that is what we still carrying. And I think we've seen a change now. People really enjoy Opium. It's packed almost every night, and people who've been there, they understand the relationship of the name and. And what we're doing, and that it really fits our product there. And the decorations of the lounge, it is sexy. It's a little dark. It's a lot of Asian feeling elements in it. The cocktails are slightly intoxicating in the way they're presented. Flower patterns on the ceiling. So it just, you know, it's a fitting name.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It seems to me that there are other people who are marketing things that are slightly edgy.

Raymond Brunyanszki:

Right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That don't get the type of backlash that you got.

Raymond Brunyanszki:

Well, I think a couple of things. I mean, definitely main has the timing of launching Opium was maybe somewhat critical. And because Maine was at that point, Portland Press Herald was publishing a lot of articles about Harrowing addicts and the results and outcomes of those addictions. Many people have died in the past years. So it's definitely on everybody's radar right now here in Maine, which is good. I think, in general, Portland, as a city itself is maybe a little bit more an activist city. So people have the tendency to loudly protests against a lot of things here. And, I mean, we've always felt that it was good that there was conversation. But we also feel that the name Opium in itself is not causing any addictions. It's not, you know, motivating anyone to, you know, start using drugs. We're not advocating that in. In any way. And I have, in my personal life, friends that are addicted that I've, you know, talk to almost on a daily basis, try to help, try to find ways for them to get connected to rehab centers, to really get rid of their addiction, because I think any addiction is an issue. You should not be addicted to anything, neither alcohol or whatever or smoking. And we've been very much working together with Fox Hill in Camden, which is a rehab center that was opened a few years ago, and everybody was protesting against the rehab center in Camden while we publicly were supporting it, because we do feel a need, especially here in Maine and located next to Amistad, and we have a program. We work together with them with a couple of people that work for me that are recovering addicts and need to find a place back in the workforce again and in a society that many companies don't want to hire because of their past, because they've been homeless and have many issues and still need to have the ability to sometimes, you know, fall back and. Or not show up. And we work with them very closely as well. We really do a lot to help that community. And maybe it's also my Dutch background a little bit. It's like, you know, I don't really think a name hurts anyone. And if I just had chosen a name to be controversial, then it wouldn't have worked, and people would have picked up on that when they walked in. But as soon as you walk in, you're immediately like, yeah, no, this has to be Opium. I mean, what other name would work for this place? And I think it also motivates us to work even harder at Opium, to give that extraordinary experience and get everything right so that there is no doubt that this is done from the right perspective.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I really enjoy going into your restaurant here in Portland, Tempadulu, and the bar itself. I mean, I don't really think there's anything like what you're doing here in the city of Portland and we have great restaurants and bars.

Raymond Brunyanszki:

Right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So you are very unique in your approach.

Raymond Brunyanszki:

Yeah, to me, in general, hospitality needs to be transformative. I don't think when you travel that it makes sense that you stay at a very generic hotel that doesn't in some way, you know, activate you or makes you talk about the design or gives you a sense of place. I remember 10 years ago when we opened Camden Harbour Inn and Natalie's. And you've been at Natalie's. The decor is quite red. And especially 10 years ago when Camden was a very traditional bed and breakfast community and white clapboard buildings and grandma's wallpaper on the walls. And we opened up Natalie's and we had to. Not to this extent that what we experienced here in Portland, but we had the same controversy going on there where people were just outraged that we had used a historical building and built this red, almost bordello like restaurant in it. And we got a lot of emails at that point. Social media was actually not such a thing at that point. But we got a lot of emails from people wishing us to go back to the Netherlands and we should not live in that town. And we destroyed the building. And, and to be honest, the past 10 years and with everything we've done and every event that we created, there has always been some controversy. From putting a drag queen 10 years ago already on stage at the Camden Opera House to supporting Maine equality, gay marriage. We've always been very publicly. We have a brand that is very public. Both Oscar and me are known in the communities that we operate in. And we feel we need to have a voice. We feel that you cannot complain about things and then not do anything. And if we are able to reach that many people with what we're doing, we should also use that to some extent to give our perspective on how we see things. And you can agree or disagree, I'm fine with that. I mean, I like the conversation, I like the discussion. And again, maybe that is very Dutch. I'm totally open minded for any point of view. I don't judge. I make jokes about it sometimes, but I think that everybody should live their own life in a way that they feel is good for them. And you know, the people, the hundreds if not thousands of people that responded to the, to opium and the name and what we were doing there and sitting behind their computers and I mean, I think we collected over 70 death threats in the past months from those people. I don't know how many emails we had that we should go bankrupt, that we should go out of business, that we should leave Portland, that we're the most horrible people that ever faced the planet. I just, when I see it, I'm like, I'm just thinking, it's so easy to sit behind your computer and go on social media or post somewhere under an article in a newspaper something without knowing who we are, without knowing what we're really doing, and most of all, without yourself most of the time not doing anything to make that change. I mean, sure, if you feel strongly about things that need to be changed, then go out and do something about it. And Oscar and I both do that every day. We fight for the things that we think are important and that need to be changed here, Maine. And we're involved in that. Everybody should do that. And we somehow will end up in a world that is much better than it is today.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

In the Netherlands, is there a greater ability to have conflictual conversations? Do you think that people are better able to engage in the sorts of discussions that maybe we're not as easily able to engage in here?

Raymond Brunyanszki:

That's a good question. I definitely thought a lot about that, especially in the past months. I think to some degree, especially in Portland, people in Maine think they're extremely liberal or liberal. To me, liberal means that you allow each other to have different opinions, to have that conversation without just voicing your opinion and not the willingness to listen to somebody else. And I think that is something you see more in the Netherlands. I think we in general care a little bit less about that other people have different opinions than you have. And of course, we try to convince each other from our point of view. So I think in general, Dutch people are listening to each other to greater extent that than what you see here, they allow each other's freedom. And I think we probably are more busy in general in the Netherlands with our work and with things that we're doing and more distracted by a lot of things that probably there is. Also, it's a very dense population in Netherlands. You live with 17 million people in a country that is a third of Maine, and the majority lives on the coast, like here in Maine. So it's very dense. Traffic jams, busy, busy, busy the whole day. So I think. I think people have just automatically lesser concern about a lot of things because you are forced to live so closely together. And so you need to give and take the whole time to make it work. And if you go to New York, you also see that people have opinions there. But at the same time, it's for A day that they voice them and listen to some other people and then move on again because there's always something next. But I said in the past months, quite often, you know, liberal in Portland, it doesn't mean that you necessarily want to listen to each other and allow each other to have different opinions. It basically means that one side screams this and the other side screams something else. And it is very often conflicting with each other. And somehow I think, in general, people need to learn how to listen to each other and to be open to arguments and what other people have to say and also be less sensitive about things. I think a lot of people are nowadays overly sensitive for so many things, and it is so political correct. And, you know, that is not how you can be creative of how you can build things in life. You need to sometimes cross boundaries to understand that you've crossed them, and you sometimes need to also cross them to be able to move forward again. And I think that is. It's also very much in my personality to be that way, to be on that edge and, you know, and see, you know, am I. Did I go too far, or can I still push it a little further? And it's what I'm doing every day. I mean, I very often said, you know, I compare myself often to a top athlete. To operate on this level, what we are doing, there's not much space for mistakes. You always need to be almost perfect, and that's exhausting. And with two restaurants, a bar, two hotels, two have 70 people on staff that always need to, you know, perform at their top abilities and to hire those people that are able to do that and to have that creativity. And all to ensure that our guests that are paying, you know, $800 for a room night in Camden will walk away and say, you know, it was expensive, but it was worth it, worth every penny. This is the most unique experience I've ever had to do. That is that takes a lot of. And it comes with a lot of stress. And definitely it came with a lot of sacrifices as well. And doing that for 10 years is hard work, but I love it, and I do it every day. But I don't think that people always realize that how much work and effort is going in, in what we're doing and how much thought there is behind it, and that an Opium bar, before it was ever announced, already was like a year in progress and conversations.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It does seem that there's a tremendous amount of creativity, really, that's needed to stay ahead of the game when it comes to hospitality, because Especially here in Maine, every day it seems like there's a new hotel opening up or a new restaurant. So in order to attract people really from around the world, you have to have your own way of doing things and it really has to be very, very good.

Raymond Brunyanszki:

I agree. I think it's a very personal translation. Camden harbor in Denver, they're all coming from my own creativity, my own vision on hospitality. I think what we're trying to create is an experience. I've said it before, but you never come home from a trip and you say, you know, I had such a beautiful bed in my bedroom. You always talk about what you've done, who you talk to, that is traveling to me. And a room needs to be good and we will do everything we possibly can to give you a super comfortable room. But at the end of the day, the amenities are less important. You can go to Mexico, stay at a $800 hotel, and there's not even electricity in that hotel because it's part of that experience of going back to nature. Traveling is more than a hotel room and it forces me to think every day about what we're doing. I'm very lucky to travel a lot, but I also need to be mentally in a good place to be able to do this. As you know, last year Oscar and I broke up after a 20 year relationship. And I definitely noticed that is having an impact on my daily work because it is such a creative process. And if you're, you know, sad, depressed over things that are happening in your life, it's so much harder to deal with guests that are traveling and having vacation and giving them the experience and creating new packages or amenities for your rooms and, and then at the same time trying to get your personal life back on track again. It is very close to who you are and what you're doing personally, privately, and then your work. It's very hard to tell right now where my private life stops and my working life starts.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you've continued to be co owners in this business. So you and Oscar, even though you broke up personally, professionally, you still work together?

Raymond Brunyanszki:

Yes, we do. I mean, I think what Oscar and I are doing right now is uncoupling after being 20 years together and sharing everything. You can't just, you know, walk away from everything and say, I hate you now, or I'm going to get into a massive fight with you because it doesn't do justice to 20 years of a really good life together. I also, I think we both also realized that to some extent, we will always need each Other in our lives. I think I cannot function and do what I do on a daily basis without having Oscar supporting me in that. I mean, I need his knowledge, I need his way of thinking. He thinks completely different than I do to, to be successful, I need that balance in my life. I think it also applies to Oscar and that he needs my creativity. The way I look at things in life. And that made us very successful in what we're doing. And I think we needed both some separation from each other in the beginning to realize that. And we worked together, but we. At the same time, we were very separate for a while. And now you see a year later that we talk a lot together, we spend time together. I'm dating someone else, but we also have dinner with three of us or even the four of us when Oscar's dating someone and we trying to, I call it uncouple right now and somehow get our separate lives again and at the same time find a new way to work together and respect each other as we have always done.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It's interesting to hear you describe this because I know having talked to other couples who have uncoupled who share something significant, whether it's, I don't know, a pet, a child, a house, something. It's not always easy to continue down that road together. And yet it's important to. Into.

Raymond Brunyanszki:

It's not easy, but to, To. To go down that road. I agree with you. But at the same time, I think you need to step back and evaluate what you have. And if you come to the conclusion that your life is only your life because you have a relationship with somebody, then I think something went wrong in your life. I think your life, your relationship is part of your life, of part of what you're doing in your life. But there are so many other aspects to your life as well. Your friends, your work, the place that you live, your hobbies, whatever you know motivates you to get out of bed. And as soon as you realize that, and you realize that your partner has always been to a great extent, important to the success of your life, then why would you get in a fight with. With him or her? And why would you destroy that to a point that you never can talk to each other anymore? And if you have children, even worse, why would you, you know, expose your children to that kind of behavior? I mean, I just don't. I understand that there are situations when. Where you get so upset with each other that you, you know, that you want to walk away from it and that you don't want to live together anymore, but it doesn't mean that. That you can't love that person anymore. It just, you know, and I don't really have jealousy in me. I mean, it's not there that much. So I'm fine when Oscar has another partner. And if he's happy, it's good for him. And actually it's better for me as well, because then everything goes much smoother. And I will work very hard with him to make sure that he's happy and that I stay happy. And that whatever we've done in the past 10 years and what we've built and created will continue to move forward. And yeah, we have strong talks, but I mean, we also have, which is very interesting now, discussions about his relationships and how I now I find it interesting that in some ways I can be more open to him than I was before because I don't feel that it is so touching my own privacy anymore, maybe in that relationship. And so I now sort of can advise him about his behavior better than I could when I was in a relationship, because somehow I always had a feeling that it would affect our relationship too much. And I think he has the same feeling with me where he feels more open to me and discuss things that we were not able to discuss with each other anymore. And that in itself is also beautiful.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I really appreciate your coming in here and sharing really a lot of very personal thoughts and also thoughts about opium. You've done so much work. I mean, I haven't known you for the entirety of the 10 years, but I've known you for a big chunk

Raymond Brunyanszki:

of the 10 years.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you've put a lot of effort into this. You're somebody who really cares deeply about what he does, and you care deeply about the people that come to stay, you know, at your. At Camden Harbor Inn and also at the Danforth, the people who come to eat there too. And we can tell, you know, as someone who's been at these locations, I mean, it's a very, very special experience. So to have somebody behind it, to have you and Oscar behind it, it

Raymond Brunyanszki:

means a lot, right? Yeah, no, absolutely. And I care about my staff as well. The 70 plus people that every day need to, you know, to great extent, deal with our guests and making sure that everything runs smoothly for us. But I'm a perfectionist. I feel that everything needs to go as flawless as possible. For I guest at all times. They call me Di in my company. I also have this somehow this ability to just walk in and see immediately what goes wrong. And that annoys people sometimes, but it helps. And I think over time I've learned what my role is in this company and became a little bit more relaxed about what I need to do. I think the first, first five, six years, I worked probably 16 hours per day and felt the need to be involved in everything that happened. I'm able to let it go a little bit right now and trust my staff to do things. And actually, because of that, things go much better because it allows me to walk in and talk to people, see what's going on. And after 10 years, you have so much experience and so much knowledge of your own companies that you can actually walk in and see what's going on without, you know, being there day and night and trying to be involved with every decision. And I also like, you know, we have people of 30 years old, 24 years old, 21 years old, and I like their creativity and their vision on the world, and I like talking to them and listening to them and how they see hospitality and how they see our guests. And very often very fun ideas create right there and. And we try to implement them and try to make it our own and do it in a Camden Harbour Inn or Danforth way. It's an interesting ride. I'm super happy that we're still doing this and I hope for another 10 years to at least to continue with what we're doing.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I have every hope that this is going to happen for you.

Raymond Brunyanszki:

Thank you.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I've been speaking with Raymond Brunyansky, who is the co owner of Relais and Chateau Camden Harbour Inn and the Danforth Inn, as well as Natalie's Restaurant, Tempo, Dulu and Opium. Thank you. Thank you for all that you do and for coming in today.

Raymond Brunyanszki:

Thank you. I appreciate it.