Capital Grille founder Ned Grace now advises restaurants from Fla.

Edward P. “Ned” Grace is a long way from his first job in the restaurant business: washing dishes. And quite far away from Rhode Island, too, where his restaurateur skills once helped nurture the Capital Grille, Hemenway's and Bugaboo Creek Steak House into successful companies.

Grace, who once lived in Bristol, now lives in Palm Beach, Florida. At 69, the founder of the Capital Grille continues to apply his significant talents in the restaurant business, advising and investing all over the country.

Grace is managing director of Grace Venture Partners, a company he established in Orlando, Florida, and is a senior adviser for Angelo, Gordon & Co., a privately held investment-advising firm focused on alternative investing.

He also serves as a director at several companies, including restaurant chains Benihana Inc., based in Florida, and Fire-birds Wood Fired Grill, based in North Carolina. He is also a director at Shawmut Design and Construction, in Boston, and many other companies. He is chairman at Larkburger restaurant chain, which has locations mostly in Colorado, and a trustee at Barings Capital Corporate Investors. He also serves on the corporation at Johnson & Wales University.

Grace rose quickly from his start in the industry washing dishes. After graduating from the University of Vermont in 1973, he opened his own restaurant in Brattleboro, the Jolly Butcher’s Tavern.

He was 26 when he bought the Old Grist Mill Tavern, in Seekonk, in 1976. His restaurant résumé just grew from there, including opening Hemenway's seafood restaurant in Providence in 1985.

The East Providence-based Phelps Grace Company, which he headed, became an empire. It included Bugaboo Creek Steak House, a chain that offered the Canadian Rockies atmosphere, and the more upscale Capital Grille. After Providence, the Capital Grille added sites in Boston and Washington, D.C.

Later on, Grace resigned as president of Bugaboo Creek and the Capital Grille.

These days he enjoys mentoring less experienced restaurateurs about expanding their enterprises.

One piece of advice? A huge part of a restaurant’s value is its culture. Opening a franchise far away can challenge management’s ability to handle finances, purchasing and other administrative tasks. Grace advises staying close enough to make use of infrastructure that’s already in place from the first restaurant.

“Service and leverage your infrastructure,” he said. “And make sure you don’t lose the most valuable item of your business, which is the culture you created.”

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