Digital Hospitality

Aaron Hoffman shares how a college side hustle turned into DeliverThat , a national platform helping restaurants take control of delivery and grow catering with confidence. From a viral tweet and bike deliveries on campus to serving major brands through smarter logistics, he explains why restaurants should own the guest relationship. This episode explores first-party delivery, the value of caterin...

Khara Mangiduyos , co-founder of Kalei's Kitchenette , shares how humble beginnings at farmers markets grew into a thriving Hawaiian comfort food brand built on authenticity, resilience, and community. From launching with her husband as a two-person team to opening a brick-and-mortar after years of persistence, she explains why real connection matters more than polished marketing. This episode exp...

Amanda Kahalehoe , COO of Vicious Biscuit , shares how an emerging restaurant brand is scaling through systems, not chaos. From building the operational backbone behind growth to choosing technology that actually removes friction, Kahalehoe explains why modern operators need more than great food to expand. This episode explores franchise growth, smart tech stacks, vendor partnerships, and how the...

Stephanie Florio and Alexander Florio share how Swob is helping restaurants hire faster through simpler systems, smarter automation, and a better candidate experience. From responding within 24 hours to building stronger careers pages and reducing no-shows with AI, they explain how operators can compete for talent in a changing labor market. This episode explores digital hospitality and why hiring...

Shawn Walchef sits down with Cesar Vallin , co-owner of Cloak and Petal , to talk about rebuilding after failure and leading with authenticity. Vallin shares the lessons learned from bankruptcy, the mindset shift that shaped his restaurant, and why storytelling and vulnerability matter in hospitality. The conversation explores resilience, daily practices for staying present, and why long-term cons...

Matt Lattanzio , President of Supply & Demand Consulting and former revenue leader at 7shifts, breaks down why most restaurant tech companies struggle to scale. From building repeatable go-to-market systems to defining a true target account list, he shares practical insights on sales, marketing, and growth. This episode explores the shift from single-channel inbound to distributed strategies and w...

Shawn Walchef sits down with Enrique Medina, owner of Crest Cafe in San Diego, to talk about consistency, community, and running a restaurant on your own terms. Medina shares what it means to return to a family business, lead through one of the toughest periods in hospitality, and build a culture centered on regulars and relationships. The conversation explores operating without traditional restau...

Brett Spiegel , Vice President of Direct Ordering at Checkmate , breaks down why the menu has become one of the most powerful and overlooked tools in modern restaurants. From managing constant menu changes across multiple channels to turning digital screens into revenue drivers, he explains how leading brands are using data, testing, and technology to increase average order size and improve the gu...

Alistair Levine , CEO of Vine Hospitality , shares how a 7-location, 350-employee restaurant group is built on discipline, not trends. From lessons on leases and financial fundamentals to using YouTube as a demand and hiring engine, Levine explains how modern operators can blend old school principles with new school tools. This episode explores digital hospitality, intentional tech stacks, and why...

Benjamin Berg , CEO of E-Card Systems , joins Digital Hospitality to explain why gift cards are one of the most overlooked revenue tools in restaurants. Serving more than 100,000 brands each year, his company helps operators simplify both physical and digital gift card programs. Berg shares how gift cards became a lifeline during the pandemic, why most restaurants underutilize them, and how they c...

Tamar Mizrah i, founder of Goddess and the Baker , joins Digital Hospitality to share how she built and scaled a fast-casual café concept across Chicago. Mizrahi explains how focusing on simple menus, strong systems, and operational discipline helped the brand grow to multiple locations. She also discusses the role technology and partners like F3 play in supporting installs, networking, and POS in...

Christopher Staples, owner of Toast New American Gastro Pub in Richmond, Virginia, joins Digital Hospitality to share how patience, community, and disciplined operations helped grow his restaurant brand to three locations. Staples explains why Richmond’s neighborhood loyalty shapes restaurant strategy, how Toast POS powers his tech stack, and why guest relationships always come first. The conversa...

Vishal Agarwal shares how a frustrating airport restaurant experience, where he was nearly late for a flight because he couldn’t find a way to pay his bill, sparked the idea that became Checkmate . What began as a mobile payment concept quickly pivoted into integrating third party delivery platforms directly into restaurant POS systems. In this episode, Agarwal explains how solving real operationa...

Nora Hermann , COO of MOTO Pizza , joins Digital Hospitality to break down how the fast-growing brand is scaling with discipline. With seven locations and more on the way, MOTO relies on rightwork to forecast demand, optimize labor, and build smarter schedules before the week begins. Nora shares how planning for busy protects margin, strengthens culture, and reduces burnout, proving that sustainab...

Ben Morgan , Tyler Morgan , and Mallory Morgan of 1925 PubHouse in Anderson, Indiana join Digital Hospitality to share how a family restaurant is evolving in public. From losing a job during COVID to embracing smartphone storytelling, they discuss blending old-school marketing with modern tech. This episode explores leadership on camera, leveraging Toast and integrated tools, and why embracing the...

Julia Tinajero , co-owner of Basilico Italiano in Concord, North Carolina, joins Digital Hospitality to share how a one-pound mozzarella stick and a chicken Caesar wrap went viral and transformed her 85-seat restaurant. She explains how building menu items in public, embracing transparency, and responding to critics fueled real growth. This episode explores the power of short-form video, the reali...

Shawn Walchef sits down with Chef Christophe Cevasco , owner of Beeside Balcony , to talk about building a restaurant with focus, presence, and ownership. Cevasco shares what he learned leaving corporate dining, buying his first restaurant just before COVID, and resisting the urge to scale too fast. The conversation explores storytelling through YouTube , using technology to support hospitality, a...

In this Pitch The Tide session, Will Stewart , founder of rightwork , pitches a labor scheduling platform built to help restaurant managers make better decisions before the week begins. Rightwork forecasts demand, turns it into clear labor targets, and guides managers toward schedules that balance service, staffing, and profitability. Instead of static spreadsheets or guesswork, the platform gives...

Public speaking does not generate revenue by selling from the stage. It generates revenue by building belief. Shawn Walchef breaks down why pitching kills trust, why stories outperform sales decks, and how serving an audience creates leverage long after the room clears. From stage theory to the courage required to start small and stay consistent, this piece reframes public speaking as a long game...

Patrick Cattoor , Vice President of Operations at My Burger , joins Shawn Walchef on Digital Hospitality to discuss how the Twin Cities burger brand has scaled to 11 locations without losing its focus on people and service. Cattoor shares how his background in public accounting shaped his approach to operations, labor, and leadership, and why hospitality in a quick service environment requires int...

In this Pitch The Tide session, Kim Modeste , founder and CEO of S’more AI , shares what she learned from years of watching how restaurants actually try to drive sales. She explains the simple truth about contests: they work, but only for as long as people stay excited about them. Kim walks through why most contests fizzle out once the spreadsheets come out, and how S’more AI keeps the energy goin...

Shawn Walchef f did not build a media company by buying better cameras. He built it by learning how to use the tools already in his hands. For him, the smartphone became a studio, the camera became a business engine, and publishing became a daily habit instead of a marketing tactic. Over time, documenting replaced waiting, and consistency replaced perfection. Now, artificial intelligence has becom...

Belief took center stage on Rising Tides Live as Shawn Walchef and the community explored what it really takes to build credibility before you have results to point to. From running small experiments and finding champions to showing up consistently and being willing to look foolish in public, founders, operators, creators, and leaders shared real stories about earning trust before earning proof. A...

Paul Krug , founder of Glaze Teriyak i, joins Shawn Walchef on Digital Hospitality to share how a Seattle staple became a New York fast-casual mainstay. Krug reflects on scaling thoughtfully, learning hard lessons about expansion, and building systems that support people instead of adding pressure. He explains how partnering with KitchenSync gave Glaze financial clarity, empowered managers, and he...

In this Pitch The Tide session, Matt Haselhoff , founder of One Goal Consulting , breaks down why the restaurant technology ecosystem has become noisy, fragmented, and increasingly hard for operators to navigate. Drawing on decades of experience across restaurant tech and integrations, Matt explains how sales pressure, vendor sprawl, and broken trust have created a confusing buying environment for...