OUR STORY
Since 1996 we have been helping restaurants flourish throughout California and beyond. Through compassion, hard work and dedication, our founder, Ed Levine, established a set of principles integral to who we are today. We are proud of our reputation and always seek to impress by providing exceptional service and top-level expert advice.
We work directly with high-potential restaurants, providing strategic growth services across operations, accounting and human resources. Utilizing our decades of industry knowledge helping manage and grow hundreds of restaurants, our partners consistently show improved financial, operational and human resources results.
Our team consists of a wide range of specialists that allow us to efficiently provide top level support for any issues you may come across in your business. Every client receives highly personalized support to be sure you get exactly what you need and nothing you don’t.
“I want to share my knowledge to enable many restaurant businesses to prosper.”
Our Founder
Ed always had a passion for people and restaurants. He began working in restaurants when he was 16 and quickly worked his way up through the ranks. He was driven to learn about the business side of restaurants and focused on learning both the financial and operational side of the business.
He followed this path earning his MBA at Stanford. His accomplishments included becoming the CFO of Il Fornaio, moving on to be the CEO of Gordon Biersch Brewery, and eventually opening his own restaurant group, which includes the Left Bank Brasseries and LB Steak.
Knowing that Ed had a business degree, strong financial skills, and understood how to operate restaurants, his various friends that owned restaurants would go to him for business advice and coaching. With confidence and an inclination to help friends succeed in their businesses, Ed saw a need to be fulfilled and began a business to provide accounting support and financial guidance to the restaurants.
Word travels quickly in the restaurant industry and soon several restaurants had heard the news of a wise man that thrived on helping fellow restaurateurs. In a short time frame and without public advertisement, Ed’s accounting firm began picking up business, moving them from a small office behind Left Bank Brasserie in Larkspur to offices in Corte Madera, to Larkspur Landing and eventually relocating to the two Vine Solutions office locations existing today in Novato and Sacramento to accommodate the larger staff.
Having started with 8 clients and currently surpassing 200, the business continues to thrive while carrying out Ed’s vision. Ed looked at Accounting as more than just numbers, asking “What Story does this tell?” An important tactic Ed taught is fiscal responsibility. He encouraged clients to improve their circumstances by taking ownership and identifying the opportunities. Our long-standing mission; “Create value everyday through information, advice, and education” was the goal of what Ed wanted to provide his clientele.
What is your story?