How to Expand your Empire, by Ethan Stowell

1. Decide you want to open another Italian-inspired restaurant that features luscious pastas and ahi and/or hamachi crudo.

2. Differentiate this from your other ventures by co-opting the weird title of a book by a food writer, and develop a loose theme around the simplicity of simple meals with fresh ingredients celebrated by said writer.

3. Create a modern, attractive, upscale-yet-casual space that only very loosely relates to this rusticity theme. Settle on a sleek urban cabin/basketball court look.

4. Work your usual magic in the kitchen. Bestow on the ungrateful foodies of this town plates of melt-in-your-mouth ahi/hamachi crudo with a hint of spicy chili and avocado, bucatini in tomato sauce with oregano and guanciale, and quail with corona beans and spinach.

5. Add in the usual flourishes: smaller, shareable plates; good service; and a solid wine list and a staff capable of making recommendations from it.

6. Count your money.