Digital Hospitality

Jennifer Holmes and Maxine Smith opened Genesis Le Bleu Waters Restaurant to honor Genesis Holmes’ dream of cooking for people and serving his community. Today, the family keeps his memory alive through meals he loved and a restaurant built around caring for their neighbors. On Digital Hospitality with Shawn Walchef , Holmes and Smith reflect on opening without restaurant experience, learning the...

Shannon McMenamin grew up riding in her dad’s keg delivery van with bootleg Grateful Dead tapes playing along the way. Today, as president of McMenamins , she helps carry that love of music into more than 50 locations across Oregon and Washington. On Digital Hospitality with Shawn Walchef , McMenamin talks about her family’s approach to turning historic buildings into community gathering places an...

A restaurant’s story includes the decisions customers never see. Kelsey Bush , chef-owner behind Bloomsday , Loretta’s and Green Engine Coffee Co., joins Shawn Walchef to share how she’s building connections through her businesses. Blogs give her team room to explain everything from seasonal menus to the design choices inspired by her grandmother. She shares why Loretta’s needed a clear coffee-and...

What does it take to turn neighborhood food walks into a business across 23 cities? Kenny Dunn , founder and CEO of Eating Europe , joins Shawn Walchef to share how introducing friends to his favorite people and food in Rome became a business. As the company expanded, full-time salaries in cities with fewer bookings squeezed margins, forcing Dunn to pause growth and rethink the model. He shares ho...

What does it take to grow a restaurant brand without losing sight of food and service? Sean Greenberg , co-founder of Pluckers Wing Bar , joins Shawn Walchef to share lessons from 31 years in business. Opening their second restaurant 210 miles from the first forced the partners to build systems that could support growth. Today, handheld ordering and kitchen displays help their teams serve guests f...

What does it take to grow a restaurant company while giving your team more time for guests? Jason Berry, co-founder of KNEAD Hospitality + Design, joins Shawn Walchef at the CREATE conference to discuss building a company with 1,000 employees and creating opportunities for them to advance. For Berry, AI earns its place by capturing reservations and handling routine tasks so staff can focus on hosp...

How can restaurant technology solve bigger operational problems instead of responding to everyday frustrations? Raphaël Daverio , vice president of product at Nory , joins Shawn Walchef to explain how the company is building an AI operating system for multi-unit restaurants. Daverio shares how Nory turns restaurant data into proactive recommendations, allows operators to control the level of autom...

Waiting for more time or better content could be costing your business valuable connections. David Meltzer joins Shawn Walchef on Digital Hospitality to explain how entrepreneurs can turn everyday conversations into content and build relationships through storytelling. They discuss why quantity, speed and consistency improve quality, how one viewer can change your business, and why a small, engage...

How can a restaurant operator scale a multi-location brand without sacrificing authentic human connection in a digital world? Michel Falcon , CEO of Brasa Peruvian Kitchen , joins Shawn Walchef on Digital Hospitality to share his playbook for building a people-first culture in the restaurant industry. Falcon explains how he modernizes onboarding for tech-savvy employees to keep turnover low, uses...

Daniella Senior built Colada Shop to be a place people could visit throughout the day, from morning coffee to lunch and happy hour. On Digital Hospitality , she talks with Shawn Walchef about the café’s unexpected start, its expansion into an airport and the details that make guests feel welcome. Music is one of them. Across seven locations, Colada Shop uses Soundtrack to create playlists that fit...

What does it take to grow a restaurant brand without losing the neighborhood hospitality that made it special? Jack Biebel of Ggiata Delicatessen joins Shawn Walchef at the CREATE conference after Ggiata received the Emerging Brand Award. Bible explains how three childhood friends from New Jersey built a modern Los Angeles deli despite having no restaurant experience, why Ggiata uses technology be...

What does it take to keep a restaurant’s technology running while building a company through dark times? Dan Diaz of F3 Technologies joins Shawn Walchef at the CREATE conference to explain how F3 supports restaurants by managing their networks, POS systems, loyalty platforms and Wi-Fi. Diaz shares why operators often underestimate the importance of their network until it fails, how F3 grew from a...

What does it take to turn a love for hospitality into a profitable restaurant business? Don Connor of Whiskey ‘N Rye Smokehouse joins Shawn Walchef at the CREATE conference to explain why restaurant operators must understand the numbers behind their business. Connor shares how his experience in corporate strategy and finance shaped his approach to restaurant ownership, why operators need to monito...

What does it take for an emerging restaurant brand to reach new customers and prepare for its next stage of growth? Harold Walters of Shootz joins Shawn Walchef at the CREATE conference to explain how the Hawaiian-Asian fusion brand approaches content, advertising and restaurant technology. Walters shares why restaurants should create every social media post for someone who has never heard of the...

How can restaurant founders step away from daily operations without losing control of the business? Seth Cohen, co-founder and president of Sweetfin, joins Shawn Walchef at CREATE to share how the 15-location poké brand uses detailed systems, strong general managers and weekly financial reviews to maintain accountability. Cohen explains why Sweetfin treats each restaurant like its general manager’...

Scott Conant talks about finding new fulfillment after four decades in the restaurant industry. The two-time James Beard Award winner and longtime “Chopped” judge explains why he expanded into consumer packaged goods with Martone Street , a tomato sauce brand inspired by his grandparents’ home in Waterbury, Connecticut. Conant shares why he spent three and a half years developing the product, made...

Matt Haller , president and CEO of the International Franchise Association , explains how franchising helps restaurant brands grow while creating opportunities for first-time business owners. Recorded at CREATE for Emerging Restaurants in Rancho Palos Verdes, Haller discusses the promise brands make when accepting franchise fees and royalties, why franchisors and franchisees must grow together and...

Kelly Esten , chief marketing officer at Toast , talks about building technology for the reality of running a busy restaurant. Recorded at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, Esten breaks down Toast’s “ Built for Busy ” campaign, its evolution from point-of-sale platform to restaurant operating system and the company’s growing investment in AI. Toast IQ Grow combines software, AI...

Josh Pickens, president of Ole & Steen US, joins Shawn Walchef to share how the Danish bakery is building its business and hospitality experience in New York City. From first discovering Ole & Steen as a customer to rebuilding the culture inside its production facility, Pickens explains why trust, ownership, and product quality remain central to the brand’s growth. He shares how Ole &...

Scott Kleckner of Olive Wood Pizza talks about leaving the corporate restaurant world at 48 to bet on himself. Recorded at CREATE for Emerging Restaurants in Rancho Palos Verdes, Kleckner traces his path from renovating iconic venues such as Lambeau Field and Citi Field to acquiring a mobile wood-fired pizza catering company. After more than doubling the business in 20 months, he is building a 5,5...

Tim Hylton of Pryze explains how gamification helps restaurants improve employee performance by turning business goals into achievable tasks and rewards. Recorded at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, Hylton outlines how points, recognition, and incentives such as paid days off can motivate employees to reach those goals. He highlights the value of partnerships and a community of...

Sylvester Raymond , creator of Signal to Sale, explains how his AI engine helps restaurants find catering opportunities and approach potential customers at the right time. Recorded at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, Raymond outlines how the tool identifies decision-makers, tracks buying signals, and gives sales teams context before they reach out. His approach combines AI rese...

Oliver Barwin , CEO of Bushfire Kitchen , shares how he left Wall Street to lead his family’s restaurant business and grow it to 11 Southern California locations. From choosing a strategic capital partner to building the systems and team needed for expansion, he explains why a strong foundation comes before growth. With roughly half of sales coming from off-premise orders, Barwin details how kitch...

Mark Ray , owner of Stowe Cider , shares how a passion project in a Vermont garage transformed into a premier craft beverage brand distributing across six states. From the defining shift into cans to navigating the complex nuances of commercial cider production, he explains how partnering with Ekos gave his team the operational visibility needed to manage inventory, streamline production, and prot...

Christian Mouysset grew Hummus Brothers to six locations, but still struggled to understand where the money was going. That experience led him to build Tenzo , a restaurant operations platform that brings sales, labor, inventory and other business data together in real time. Mouysset joins Shawn Walchef in London to explain why restaurant data expires quickly, how AI can help operators identify pr...