Corner Booth Podcast

Mike Stasko, president of Columbia, Ohio-based Sunny Street Café, was influenced by his father’s career in the restaurant equipment and supply business. He eventually went to work with his father at Rise & Dine, a breakfast and lunch concept where Mike learned how to manage its operations and business development. Mike rebranded Rise & Dine to Sunny Street and opened the first of what woul...

Giorgia Caporuscio was born in the small town of Terracina, Italy, an hour from Naples. In her youth, she dreamed of becoming a flight attendant to pursue her love of travel. At 19, she moved to New York City to work in her father’s pizza restaurant. The experience changed her direction. “It was love at first bite,” says Giorgia, adding “I became intrigued with the process of authentic pizza makin...

Fuwa Fuwa is Japanese for Fluffy Fluffy, which, in this case, also translates to a successful, fast-growing soufflé pancake concept. Benson Lau started in 2018 with one small cafe in Toronto and has quickly grown his business to 40 locations throughout Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. During the summer of 2024, Benson and his team opened their newest unit in Orange County, Califo...

Business school graduate Darren Spicer studied the success factors of the growing regional coffee sector while managing a unit of drive-thru coffee chain Dutch Bros. He and his two co-founders developed the drive-thru specialty beverage concept Clutch Coffee Bar, which was launched in 2018 in a second-generation drive-thru location in Mooresville, North Carolina.   “We succeed because of our commi...

As a child, Sarah Johnston, founder of Houston’s Fat Cat Creamery, hand-cranked creative homemade ice creams for family and friends. Following a career as a commercial real estate marketer, she leased space in a neighborhood strip mall to turn her childhood love of craft ice cream into a successful business.    Fat Cat Creamery offers quality uniquely flavored frozen desserts and baked goods. “I s...

Garrett Reed, CEO of Layne's Chicken Fingers, said he fell in love with the Texas-headquartered concept as a student at Texas A&M University. The original College Station, Texas unit began operations in 1994. In 2015, Garrett approached the concept's owner to express his interest in expanding the brand. He became the concept's owner two years later. In this episode, Garrett tells how he levera...

Chef Emeka Onugha’s passion for healthy food predated his meeting with real estate developer Adenah Bayoh when they launched Brick City Vegan in 2021. “From inception, our approach wasn’t to simply present an imitation of meat, but to create new flavors and textures in popular menu items,” says Emeka of his Montclair, New Jersey counter-service concept.  Montclair is proximate to Newark, which is...

Kelli Ferrell's dream of a small, limited-menu restaurant serving her favorite Southern dishes started with a vision board, a collage of images that represent and help manifest one’s goals. Eight years later, she purchased a shuttered burger restaurant in her neighborhood and created Nana's Chicken-N-Waffles. “I had no restaurant experience, but I was driven by my passion to serve people, my love...

Seek Hannemann is one of two brothers who assumed the operation of their parents' grill on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. One by one their other five brothers joined the business and Seven Brothers was created. The 2,400-square-foot counter service concept offers burgers with a Hawaiian flair, french fries, salads, and coconut macadamia shrimp.   The success of Seven Brothers led to additional locat...

Co-founders Jason Sobocinski and Etkin Tekin opened the first Haven Hot Chicken in 2020 and have quickly grown to 8 locations throughout Connecticut. They created a unique blend of marination and pressure frying that provides their chicken with what they call a “Crispy Crust Adhesion," which is flavorful and prevents the crust from separating. These efficient 1200 to 1500-square-foot spaces offer...

Hannah McClain is director of culinary and training for Louisville, KY-based Biscuit Belly, a fast-casual regional franchise in the U.S. South, Midwest, and Southeast. McClain has been promoting the company’s motto “Grab Life By The Biscuit!” since 2019. The rapidly expanding counter-service concept offers a wide variety of creative Southern-style biscuit meals such as the Boozy Bird, Biscuit Been...

How does a lawyer become the partner of one of the Food Network’s hottest celebrity chefs and restaurant owners? Tune in to find out how attorney Tom Foley met chef Tiffany Derry, selected locations, attracted investors, and launched the business that created Texas’s award-winning Roots Southern Table and Roots Chicken Shak.  They refer to each other as “Pots-and-Pans Tiffany” and “Pen-and-Paper T...

When best friends Cassie Ghaffar and Sandy Nguyễn worked in restaurants together in college, they never imagined they would become successful multi-concept restaurant entrepreneurs together. Today, as business partners of Houston-based Saigon Hustle, Sunday Press, and Ginger Kale, they share their inspirational story of concept creation, profitability, and expansion. Saigon Hustle was launched jus...

Growing up in Detroit, brothers Brandon and Zane Hunt loved their hometown pizza. So, in 2011, they launched Via 313, introducing Motor City-style pizza to Austin, Texas with a $30,000 investment and a food truck. Today, Via 313 (“by way of” 313 — Detroit’s area code) boasts 17 units. Brandon and Zane explain how they:  Grew their business from a food truck to a full-service restaurant to an award...

Pete Mora’s appreciation for Mexican cuisine began when he arrived in the U.S. from his native Colombia.  “My parents had a tremendous influence on me,” says Pete. Following graduation from the University of Houston, where he studied entrepreneurship, he began working at his family’s restaurant — Poblano’s Mexican Grill — and "fell in love with foodservice,” he says. Pete learned the principles fo...

"Sweet dreams are made of cheese,” says I Heart Mac & Cheese franchisee Bruce Newman, who operates a unit in Glendale, AZ, and was in the process of opening his second location at the end of 2023.  Bruce’s grandfather, who owned a successful barbecue restaurant in New Jersey for 35 years, was his inspiration for entering the restaurant business. “I knew it was simply a matter of time for me,”...

Luis Javier “L.J.” acquired 24 years of experience in Guatemala with Pollo Campero prior to helping grow the fast-casual chicken concept in the United States beginning in 2017. His experience and MBA (ESEADE — Escuela Superior de Economía y Administración de Empresas) served him well in his expanding role with the company as director of marketing, CFO, and ultimately today as CEO. In this episode,...

"French Fries" originated in Belgium. New York City entrepreneur Annalee Schlossberg honors their history and tradition with her successful startup Bel-Fries. From the concept’s Lower East Side flagship location and two mobile units, Bel-Fries serves its signature fries with 16 freshly made sauces as a popular handheld lunch meal and late-night snack.   Bel-Fries’ well-crafted social media marketi...

Jay Ashton, long known as Canada’s Restaurant Guy, has developed a loyal following that extends far beyond borders. His popular podcasts "The Daily Restaurant Show" and "Menu Unplugged” have informed and entertained many restaurant operators with his current tips on brand building and improving the guest experience. A restaurant career that began at age 14 and has extended over 33 years provides a...

Chef Iliana de la Vega won the prestigious James Beard Award for Best Restaurant in Texas in 2022. El Naranjo, the restaurant she owns and operates with her husband, means The Orange Tree and is regarded as the highest quality traditional Mexican restaurant in the state of Texas. But life wasn’t always filled with success and recognition.  In 1997, Iliana opened the original El Naranjo in Oaxaca....

Ben Siegel, owner of Austin, TX Banger's Sausage House & Beer Garden, describes his concept as the most unique restaurant-event-entertainment center in the Lone Star state. “Our business model is different than most independently owned restaurant concepts,” says Ben. "We must be able to serve our regular guests and multiple social and business events at the same time."   In this episode, Ben s...

Johnny Carrabba’s legendary restaurant, Carrabba’s Italian Grill is turning 37 years old and is receiving the gift of reinvestment from its owner and creator. Redesigned private dining rooms, enhanced ambiance, and updated background music are just a few of the ways Johnny is refreshing the interior of his landmark original Carrabba’s on Kirby in Houston, Texas. "I have been blessed with a very st...

Eric Sandler is the Houston metro food editor for CultureMap, a digital media company that covers food, wine, entertainment, fashion, and sports. As part of his job, Eric stays current on trends and consumer preferences. “I have always been passionate about food, interested in dining and curious about food service," says Eric. "My job allows me to experience all areas of the restaurant industry an...

A native of Beijing, Grace Wang moved to the US and eventually entered a career in accounting and finance. She decided, however, that the restaurant business was her true calling and gained experience as a restaurant server and manager before opening her first concept Duck n' Bao, offering the traditional fare of her birthplace. Her first year in business was challenged by COVID, which allowed for...

Lauren Fernandez is the founder and CEO of Full Course, a three-year-old foodservice business incubator/accelerator and private equity firm. Lauren followed her love for food and interest in working closer to the consumer market into the restaurant business following her career as an attorney advising and representing pharmaceutical companies.   Her transition into the restaurant industry began wi...