{"id":766,"date":"2017-05-26T09:00:28","date_gmt":"2017-05-26T13:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=766"},"modified":"2017-06-05T13:29:40","modified_gmt":"2017-06-05T17:29:40","slug":"adam-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=766","title":{"rendered":"Adam Gold"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the Love of Food and Music<\/em><\/h1>\n

By E. Jay\u00a0Zarett | Photography provided by Adam Gold\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

As a Syracuse University student, Adam Gold performed live music and served waffles at the house parties he hosted on Ackerman Avenue.<\/p>\n

Nearly 11 years later, that concept still thrives as Funk \u2018N Waffles, a unique restaurant and live music venue in downtown Syracuse.<\/p>\n

During their junior year, Adam and his housemates were craving waffles. They decided to experiment. The group raided the freezer, found Thin Mints and threw them in the batter. Once those were successfully prepared, they branched out, trying batches including fruit, cream cheese and even bagel chips.<\/p>\n

From there, the group began serving waffles at their parties, where Adam and his band played. When those parties were a hit, Adam and his friend, Kyle Corea, came up with the idea to turn the combination of live music performances and distinct waffle recipes into a full-time business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat first party, everybody just went nuts,\u201d Adam remembered. \u201cThey were like, \u2018There\u2019re waffles at this party.\u2019 They were texting all their friends. Everyone was getting excited. We really felt like we had hit something at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam and Kyle entered their idea into the Panasci Business Plan Competition, a student business contest hosted by the Whitman School of Management. They received positive reviews from the judges, and eventually their plan took home fourth place.<\/p>\n

Following their graduation, the first Funk \u2018N Waffles opened on South Crouse Avenue in 2007. Seven years later, the business expanded to a second location downtown.<\/p>\n

This year, Funk \u2018N Waffles is branching even farther, this time with a new location in Rochester. Adam said the new location will be the biggest yet, and will allow Funk \u2018N Waffles to host largescale musical acts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many, many music venues in Rochester that have ticketed events on a regular basis,\u201d Adam said. \u201cThat just means there are people to go see that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sam Levey, Funk \u2018N Waffles general manager, said Adam has a specific vision for the restaurant and musical acts that perform there. He\u2019s seen Adam grow during his time owning the business, Sam said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a mature and respected business leader in this town,\u201d Sam said. \u201cHe\u2019s also a friendly guy who\u2019s still cool and has his finger on the pulse of what\u2019s happening in music, what\u2019s happening in this town and what\u2019s happening locally.\u201d<\/p>\n

After operating for more than 10 years, the original Funk \u2018N Waffles location closed in February, as plans to level the structure and build a luxury apartment complex in its place are in the works. Adam said the restaurant could return to the area by campus once the new building is complete.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might just be that it\u2019s a break for a year and a half and we\u2019ll build a new one there,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of factors to it. I don\u2019t have all the numbers I need to make that decision, but I certainly would be interested in it. We had a good thing going there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam still performs at Funk \u2018N Waffles and at other locations throughout the country with his band, Sophistafunk, a group which combines spoken-word artistry, old-school hip-hop and funky rhythms to create a unique live band experience, according to its website.<\/p>\n

Adam\u2019s interest in music was sparked when he began taking piano lessons with his older brothers. He was instantly hooked on the piano, he said. Soon he was writing his own music and performing.<\/p>\n

Sophistafunk has toured across the country and played venues in major cities like New York City and San Francisco. His favorite performance with Sophistafunk was at the Shambhala Music Festival in the United Kingdom, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just such an experience to be out there in another country with my buds and my bandmates,\u201d Adam said. \u201cJust seeing how far the music took us. That was really a trip.\u201d<\/p>\n

Touring gave Adam the opportunity to explore how other music venues operate. It\u2019s allowed him to improve the procedures and expand the musical offerings at Funk \u2018N Waffles.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Touring] gives me a little more perspective on what is happening out there at other music venues,\u201d he said. \u201cThe ones that I respect the most, I try to take as much as I can and learn from them, and apply it to my own business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Charley Orlando, Funk \u2018N Waffles talent buyer, first met Adam when both were touring musicians. It\u2019s Adam\u2019s passion for music and food that allows Funk \u2018N Waffles to be successful, Charley said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is this business,\u201d Charley said. \u201cWithout him, this would not exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ten years ago, Adam never imagined Funk \u2018N Waffles would grow the way it has.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love seeing families come in here and eat waffles and I love seeing their kids jump up on stage and get excited about the idea of music,\u201d Adam said. \u201cThere\u2019s something about music. It\u2019s the universal language. And food is the same way.\u201d SWM <\/em><\/p>\n

For Funk \u2019N Waffles locations, menus and calendar, visit funknwaffles.com<\/a>. To learn more about Sophistafunk, visit sophistafunkband.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the Love of Food and Music By E. Jay\u00a0Zarett | Photography provided by Adam Gold\u00a0 As a Syracuse University student, Adam Gold performed live music and served waffles at the house parties he hosted on Ackerman Avenue. Nearly 11 years later, that concept still thrives as Funk \u2018N Waffles, a unique restaurant and live…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[250,251,249,240,252],"class_list":["post-766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-adam-gold","tag-e-jay-zarett","tag-funk-n-waffles","tag-june-2017","tag-king-of-arts"],"gutentor_comment":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/King-of-arts-1.jpg?fit=5200%2C3465&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1053,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1053","url_meta":{"origin":766,"position":0},"title":"Bea Talplacido","author":"Staff","date":"August 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"When Music Meets Fashion By Kathryn Walsh | Photography by Alexis Emm Hey, Carson Daly \u2014 Bea Talplacido is still waiting for an answer. 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