FULL COMP: The Voice of the Restaurant Industry Revolution

Restaurants within restaurants within restaurants within restaurants.  No, this isn't the sequel to the movie Inception, it's the innovative way the national brand Dog Haus has evolved its company over the last two years.  It's a lot to take in, but today we chat with Quasim Riaz who unpacks their unique business strategy to take one restaurant and turn it into five. For more on Quasim's projects...

Before the pandemic, before the calls for transparency between restaurateurs, there was Mike Bausch. A super successful restaurateur giving away all of his trade secrets. I reached out after reading his book Unsliced, a playbook on how to run a successful restaurant. Today we explore what motivated him to share his wisdom and key lessons from the book. For more on his book check out www.unslicedbo...

It feels like almost every facet of our industry has been redefined over the last 12 months, especially our relationship to our customers. We've had to rely on their loyalty and support more than ever. Patrick Kim saw an opportunity there: an opportunity to reward their loyalty while breeding more awareness for our brands. Enter the Worth Network, a disruptive platform turning our favorite custome...

There's a gritty side to entrepreneurship that doesn't get much attention. The hardest part of ownership isn't owning the business, it's in owning the choices you've made and the impact they have on you and your team. Today we chat with multi-million dollar culinary clothing maven, Ellen Bennett. Ellen wrote a book that's one part biography and one part action plan for aspiring entrepreneurs. We r...

Some folks seem to have it all figured out. Chef David Meyers is a Michelin-rated, globetrotting chef with restaurants around the world. He's one of the only guys I know that was able to successfully pop-up a restaurant in the midst of the pandemic. In today's episode we run through the best and worst decisions he's made and the lessons he's learned from both. For more on David go to www.gypsychef...

Tressie Lieberman is the Vice President of Digital and Off Premise for Chipotle. Do you think that was a big job in light of the pandemic? Tressie worked to conceptualize and execute a new way for this massive company to do business in a world that went from brick and mortar to digital overnight. In today's episode we tackle emerging trends, Chipotle's digital transformation and what independent r...

It wasn't just independent restaurants that have suffered through the pandemic, many of the big guys were hurt too. Their big advantage is that they have more money to try more things.  We can benefit from the wisdom of their experiences. Today we chat with Jay Livingston, the Chief Marketing Officer of Shake Shack to discuss what's working, what isn't and what's next. For more on Shake Shack go t...

As an industry we can look at the pandemic as a blessing or as a curse. No matter which one you choose, you'll be right.  Celebrity Chef Curtis Stone is choosing to view the pandemic as an opportunity to improve.  Today we run through the operational improvements he's made and the impact they've had on restaurants. For more on the chef visit www.curtisstone.com ________________________________ Sig...

Most of us have a tough time imagining what the world is going to look like next month, forget about next year. But, in order to ensure the survival of our businesses and this industry, we need to know what's coming down the pike. What resources and tools can we leverage to truly thrive in the restaurant industry? Today Tim Brown of Oracle runs us through what's available today and what we can loo...

Where do I think we've gone wrong as an industry? In a nutshell, it's storytelling. We've been unable to have tough conversations with our patrons and our peer around pricing and how hard our jobs truly are. Enter the most unlikely resource imaginable, Tucker Max. As it turns out, Tucker grew up in a restaurant family and that background paired with his prowess for storytelling puts him in a posit...

I am fascinated by the mastery of anything, especially in our industry. Noel Brohner, better known as the dough doctor, has mastered the art of making pizza. He's the go-to guy for the rich and famous seeking the perfect slice and the independent restaurateur looking to level up their offering. Typically, the best teachers are the best students and Noel is no exception. Today, Noel share with us w...

You should listen to Martha Hoover. Not because she owns and operates 14 different restaurants. Not because she offers her 400 member team full benefits and parental leave. Not because of her nationally renowned sustainability efforts. Not because her farm to table casual concepts are actually profitable. You should listen to Martha Hoover because she's right. This is our moment. This is our oppor...

Food delivery has always been complicated and prohibitively expensive and, when third party delivery came on the scene, it seemed like a godsend. It appeared to be an infrastructural solution to a foundational problem. But this gift has also been a curse for many restaurateurs.  30% commissions didn't make since when delivery constituted 15% of our sales. Now that it constitutes 80+ percent, the w...

I've spent a lot of time over the last several months thinking about legacy.  I can't help but wonder if my efforts will result in a lasting impact on our industry. Am I able to move the conversation forward? Can I improve the day to day lives of my peers? I look to guys like Ben Leventhal for inspiration. Ben's contributions to food media and tech are undeniable. On the heels of him stepping down...

Our industry is full of one hit wonders. Innovators that are able to capture lightening in a bottle but only once. Many of us dream of a culinary empire with locations that span the globe. What I've been trying to figure out is what enables some folks to achieve this dream while so many of us fail in the pursuit. Today we chat with Adam Fleischman, a self taught chef that created and scaled both U...

There are roughly 1300 self made billionaires in the world. That may seem like a big number but when you compare that to the 7.8 billion people on the planet, it's incredibly small. How did they get there? Is it luck, skill or a combination of the two? Today we delve into the aspirational story of real estate tycoon Grant Cardone who elected to go back to zero just to see if he could do it all ove...

You don't know what you don't know. For many of us, the laws have changed on an almost daily basis on a local, state and federal level. Each change increases the odds of a slip up that could cost us thousands. Today we chat with attorney Anthony Zaller who will run us through what we need to know to stay protected, what resources are at our disposal and what steps we need to take to remain complia...

Empire building has become the standard in our industry. Why have one restaurant when you can have 100? This ambition, paired with debt financing, has led to the collapse of our industry. Many of us grew too big too fast. Enter Tyler Wilson. Tyler has spent the last decade growing from one location to two, without incurring one penny of debt. Wins and losses are financed from the profits of the bu...

My greatest frustration as a restaurateur has always been marketing. I knew we were doing a great job in the restaurant, I knew the community was in need of what we were offering but I had no idea how to effectively communicate that. There's so much noise out there, how do you break through? Most of us can't afford to hire a digital marketing expert but I happen to be close friends with one of the...

The restaurateurs that have really thrived over the last 10 months are the ones that have embraced the reality of our situation. They've accepted the pandemic and reworked their concepts to meet these new challenges head on. Mindfulness, innovation, pliability and strict adherence to standards have become the tools of the trade. Few incapsulate this more than Lindsay Tusk. From moving her restaura...

The pandemic didn't pick favorites. For each small, independent restaurant that has shut down, just as many celebrity chefs have lost everything. But they'll be fine. I'm sure they're sitting on piles of money, right? Wrong. When the fundamentals of an entire industry are wrong, every participant at every level suffers. Chef Brooke Williamson has reached the pinnacle of what our industry has to of...

We all hope to be successful, but how many of us plan to be successful? Susan Sarich of SusieCakes took the time to plan every aspect of her restaurant. The research and development that went into her business plan directly resulted in the success she had after opening. Having weathered two economic disasters and with dozens of locations under her belt, her plan seems bulletproof and in today's ep...

Some of the most inspiring things to come out of the pandemic have been the unexpected acts of heroism we've seen within our industry. In the worst of times, we still find ourselves of service to others. Few illustrate that ideal more that Chef Greg Baxtrom. He's converted one restaurant into a community food bank and another into a platform for aspiring chefs of color. In this episode we dive int...

As a leader, it takes courage to experience a problem and then chart the new course to remedy it. Vision is required to see that problem before it happens and make it part of your solution. Andy Hooper of &pizza is that kind of visionary. His early investments in technology and company culture have paid dividends over the last 9 months. They spent 2020 growing the company and will expand even...

So many of us were unprepared for the struggles we'd experience in 2020. Justin Rosenberg of Honeygrow was well prepared for any obstacles that came his way. Why? Some brands are built on strong economies and good luck, others are forged in fire. In this episode, Justin walks us through the hard lessons he learned scaling Honeygrow and how that prepared him for the pandemic. For more Honeygrow go...