Restaurant Whisperer, Owners with a niche who love support and inspiration.

We dig into the third pillar of a successful business: operating efficiently. Going deep with the Six Pillars of Success as a method for business owners to roadmap change and stability into their business. The Six Pillars are Brand Strategy, Financial Stability, Operations, Product Quality, Avenues & Distribution, and Hospitality. Operations in a restaurant are a set of tasks, SOPs, best practices...

We dig into the third pillar of a successful business: operating efficiently. Going deep with the Six Pillars of Success as a method for business owners to roadmap change and stability into their business. The Six Pillars are Brand Strategy, Financial Stability, Operations, Product Quality, Avenues & Distribution, and Hospitality. The jargon of operating efficiently is broken down into digestible...

Going deep with the Six Pillars of Success as a method for business owners to roadmap change and stability into their business. The Six Pillars are Brand Strategy, Financial Stability, Operations, Product Quality, Avenues & Distribution, and Hospitality. The jargon of financial stability is broken down into digestible morsels.  How can you build healthy habits that will support and grow your busin...

Kicking off the third year of Holy Guacamole we go deep with the Six Pillars of Success as a method for business owners to roadmap change into their business. The Six Pillars are Brand Strategy, Financial Stability, Operations, Product Quality, Avenues & Distribution, Hospitality In this episode guest Sari Kimbell shares her method of ensuring Financial Stability.  Guest Sari Kimbell and host Mart...

A new type of episode starts today with diehard industry professional Jenny Gaitner. This episodes' focus is on the living wage. She's been working in restaurants and bars as an employee since her teens. This episode is an honest and open conversation from the perspective of two people who have watched the industry since the 80s. What has changed, and what is more equitable in philosophy and respe...

Founder and Cheese Enthusiast, Julia Birnbaum, come on the pod to share her two year journey to opening Philly Cheese School. A place for learning about cheese, cheese tasting, and sharing these experiencing this with a friend, or getting to know other people. We dig deep into Julia's new business, and the intentional journey to create a queer-friendly, inclusive environment with the branding and...

The Six Pillars System is the backdrop for this and future episodes. Refer to Episode 90 for detailed explanation. I'm Martha Lucius, your host and restaurant strategist. Six Pillars is the method we use for client strategy work. We think it's useful to reval in Holy Guacamole's Podcast. Restaurant owners need a method to create change, Six Pillars creates the common language for change. The first...

To kick off the third year of Holy Guacamole we start with Six Pillars of Success is a method business owners use to roadmap change into their business. The Six Pillars are  Brand Strategy Financial Stability Operations Product Quality Avenues & Distribution Hospitality In this episode Six Pillars is defined. Future episodes focus on each pillar, one pillar at a time. This is the method host Marth...

The podcast is taking a hiatus. Those listening know that over 100 episodes have happened since Jun 2020. The new content is going to take a few weeks, but will be delightful and well worth it.   Check out episodes you havn't listened to so far.   

Maintaining equipment is like maintaining good staff. You can't avoid it, and you need to keep up with it! When you run a restaurant you are hopefully beyond the stage when you think you can do it all yourself. Maybe you are even beyond the belief that your staff should have monthly cleaning log that includes maintaining equipment. Like any good tool is remains good when you maintain it, and that...

How to staff a restaurant when shorthanded? This episode identifies not only hiring, but the necessary positive culture you want to nurture, and the ways to pay staff. It's necessary to have different practices for managers than for team members.  Applicants can be interviewed in zoom screenings and at Open Call. This may be an efficient method of hiring, and interrupts the flow of business less. ...

Anna Kent of Tom Cat's Kitchen came on this weeks' episode to share the business she is building. She sells plant based individual meals that can be purchased at Farmers Markets and through a subscription service. She is also serving at Roots Market and Brewing Good Coffee Company. Find her at 32nd Street Farmers Market and Catonsville.  The conversation of why she serves plant based meals was fil...

Our interview with Owner Max Lents of Baltimore Spirits Co was filled with so much interesting information we created a second episode. Listen back if you want to hear the origin story This episode explores the other reasons to love Baltimore Spirit Co—their Shot Tower Gin, Green to Gold Brandy, three different amaros (and what makes each unique), their whiskey tour and their cocktail room. Wherev...

Our interview with Owner Max Lents of Baltimore Spirits Co was filled with so much interesting information we had to turn this into two episode. Our first episode dives into the early days at Baltimore Spirits Co — finding their niche, financing a dream, and becoming the first rye distillery in the second generation of rye distilleries in the state of Maryland. Their attention to the process of di...

Let's scoot back to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the year 79. Pompeii was   buried under a thick layer of ash and lava. A thick layer -- 19 feet!  Pompeii is the world's oldest archaeological dig. It was a gem of a dig!   Archeologists began digging Pompeii in 1748. Because of this volcanic ash blanket, scientists were able to see, literally what people were eating and drinking the moment the...

It's summertime and this week is just a quick reminder of good episodes gone by!  Highlighted are episodes that I've loved doing and others that you have made popular.  Our podcast is now over two years old. If you are a regular listener would you hope over and review the show. When you post a review, it helps listeners find us. That means more restaurants are discovered for the amazing work they...

Chef Mel aka Chef Chauncey is thee creative chef you wish you knew!  She  has explored   many avenues in the culinary world both traditional   and   non- traditional. By nature Chef Mel prefes the thrills and challenges of the  roads less travelled! She believes that "food is a universal language" and through food She strives to create opportunities for cultures to connect and learn from one anoth...

Roger Beaudoin of Restaurant Rockstars sat down with me, Martha Lucius, and we had a deep and far reaching conversation. He is a restaurant consultant., known for tools and resources for restaurant owners who are ready to maximize their sales and profits Roger is more than a restaurant consultant. He is also a podcast host, and has owned several restaurants that boast solid revenue, good profit an...

We're continuing our journey of gastronomy with a reading about whiskey, from a newly published book called Make it a Double.   The author Shelley Sackier kindly agreed to a dramatic reading from her book, for Holy Guacamole. She was recently in Baltimore, at an event at Greedy Reads with Chelsea Gregoire. Chelsea added this book to our library at Church Bar and I was first in line to read it.   I...

Here is the short history of delivery service around the world, which culminates in the US.   The business of delivering tiffin boxes in Mumbai started in 1890. It's called Dhabbawallah, when the Parsi and British communities living in Mumbai needed the convenience of a tiffin delivery service. A year earlier, in. 1889 a pair of Italian royals are widely considered to be the first pizza delivery c...

We are exploring culture in an effort to find the ancient crafts that continue today in hospitality! Ancient Greeks believed that the gods wanted them to be hospitable to visitors or else they'd be punished Ancient Greeks also believed that h aving the highest hospitable standards was also seen as a sign of wealth.. Exploring the origins of any one item can reveal so much of how it's role has chan...

This episode marks the second anniversary of Holy Guacamole. A short summer vacation seems perfect right now. More storytelling, but through the eyes of history. Join this esoteric history journey across the globe about restaurants, taverns, inns, bars and more. Ancient definition of fast food and fine dining.  Is this escapism? You bet it is! Frankly however you are connected to the food industry...

Servant Leadership focuses on being proactive for the business and the team.  This episode defines reactive and proactive and zeros in on being proactive in your business by relying on the principals of Servant Leadership. It's a bit of philosophy, and a bit of pragmatic survival. Enjoy listening. 

SOKO Butchery is our third butcher on Holy Guacamole.  Chef Brad Feikert , chef/owner is nurturing his business in Takoma Park, MD with his own chef-led style. They are the only butchery shop for a 10 mile radius, where their following appreciates Brad's focus on animal welfare and sustainable farming practices.  That's a good thing since Brad has solid experience as a chef internationally, nation...

Holy Guacamoles mission is to support owners. Today's show we have on Chris Franzoni of EatmoreBmore shares his professional opinion about Social Media. He has his own account, and is familiar with content, social media's changing rules and emphasis.  Chris's underlying mission is to share and highlight positive messages for Baltimore restaurants. He shares ideas about the spectrum of styles socia...