John Williams.

• Position: Gastronomy Inc. - Brief Article

Along with equal partners Tom Guinney and Tom Seig, John Williams runs Gastronomy, famous for its eatery phenoms The New Yorker, The Market Street Grill, The Oyster Bar, Cafe Pierpont, Club Baci, Bacci Trattoria, The Market Street Broiler, and their newest, The Market Street Grill and Oyster Bar in Cottonwood.

Gastronomy Properties, the company's real estate arm, owns a half-million square feet of business property in Salt Lake City, including the renovated Salt Lake Hardware building and historic Ford Motor Building. Both buildings advantageously flank the future Gateway Center project on the north and the south.

If an army, thus an economy, runs on its stomach, Gastronomy has experienced the Utah economy from a unique perspective. "We've seen the ups and the downs and yes, our business is greatly impacted by the overall economy of the state," says Williams.

"When Utah went into the major real estate slump early, we had to cut down on costs and expansion. After we had opened The New Yorker and Market Street Grill, I was feeling pretty cocky. I asked Izzy Wagner, one of the older great business gurus in Salt Lake what he thought and he said, 'I think you should take care of what you've got!' For the next few years we did just that, and it was pretty sage advice. The last several years have been excellent. Our volume of business and profitability has been better than ever. We hope it will continue, but something in our gut tells us that's not going to be the case."

Williams believes the largest impact on his business since 1985...