Two years ago Beth Kizhnerman '84 did one of the hardest things she’s ever had to do. Deep in the throes of the pandemic, she closed her Greensboro restaurant, Smith Street Diner, one of the city’s most popular restaurants.
“You don’t always see in College these problem-solving skills develop until you leave and start working. Then you see this gift of problem solving you never knew you had suddenly come out of you to deal with whatever comes up in your business. That’s what Guilford did for me.”
Caption: Two years after closing a popular Greensboro eatery, Beth Kizhnerman '84 has opened a new restaurant.
Earlier this year, Beth did something even harder: She started over from scratch by opening a new restaurant, Gate City Provisions, on Walker Avenue just across from the UNC Greensboro campus. “It’s been difficult,” says Beth of the restaurant’s first four months. “Getting everything ready with the building, hiring, supplies — it’s been a lot but I wouldn’t do anything else. I just love the (restaurant) business.”
In a way, restaurants and food are all Beth has ever known. Growing up, she spent a lot of time in her family’s Vermont kitchen baking cookies and cakes. “Whenever someone was in the kitchen working I was there cooking right there with them,” she says.
Even at Guilford, Beth couldn’t break away. She worked as a waitress at restaurants around Greensboro to help pay her way through school. Beth majored in Business Management with a minor in History. She even took Nutrition and Food Service Management classes at UNCG in a consortium arrangement between the two schools.
Creating delicious food is only half the equation to a successful restaurant. There’s still the business side to consider. Beth was at a loss for making sense of the numbers until she went to culinary school.
“Sitting in the classroom at Guilford, oh my god, it was not really registering, but it all sort of came together for me once I got into the business,” says Beth. “I’m a very visual person when it comes to learning. For me, learning out in the world was so much better for me than looking at a textbook.”
Beth says her Guilford education — particularly the problem-solving skills she learned – have made her a better businesswoman.
“You wear so many hats in this business. You are in the kitchen one minute and the next you’re meeting guests or building tables,” she says. “You don’t always see in College these problem-solving skills develop until you leave and start working. Then you see this gift of problem solving you never knew you had suddenly come out of you to deal with whatever comes up in your business. That’s what Guilford did for me.”