The Late Night Restaurant Podcast Show

Jay Ashton and Domenic Pedulla welcome Australian direct response marketer John Dwyer, JD, founder of The Institute of Wow, for a blunt, funny, and practical conversation about restaurant marketing. JD breaks down why restaurants lose revenue when they fail to collect customer data. He shares how one seafood restaurant built a 92,000-person database, filled empty seats with simple text messages, a...

Your food might be exceptional, but if your communication isn't, your customers never get the full story. This week on The Late Night Restaurant Podcast, Jay Ashton and Domenic Pedulla sit down with Joshua from Beltway Media to explore one of the most overlooked areas in hospitality: strategic communications. From building trust and shaping customer perception to branding, storytelling, AI, an...

What does it take to walk away from a successful corporate career and risk everything to build your dream? This week on The Late Night Restaurant Podcast, Jay Ashton and Domenic Pedulla sit down with Brandon McCraney, Owner and Master Blender of Old Raleigh Distillery in North Carolina. Brandon shares the incredible story behind launching a distillery during the height of COVID, surviving construc...

In this episode of The Late Night Restaurant Podcast, Jay Ashton and Domenic Pedulla sit down with Darren from SBS Specialty Beverage Solutions to explore how coffee has become one of the biggest profit opportunities in foodservice. From nitro coffee and dirty sodas to the latest espresso technology from Europe, this conversation dives into what restaurant operators need to know to stay ahead. Dar...

Amanda, owner of Sweet Cheeses Charcuterie in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, joins us to share how she built a thriving charcuterie business serving everything from intimate gatherings to large-scale events. We discuss entrepreneurship, customer experience, and how Rally Catering helped simplify ordering, payments, and operations, allowing her to focus on creating exceptional food experiences while growi...

What happens when chefs, restaurateurs, and beverage leaders stop looking elsewhere for inspiration and start celebrating what grows in their own backyard? In this episode, guests from Ireland's thriving food and hospitality scene share how local ingredients, farmer partnerships, fermentation, and a deep connection to place are shaping some of the country's most respected restaurants and b...

From surviving as a refugee on a boat in the South China Sea to building a coffee brand rooted in purpose, Tim Nguyen's story is unlike anything we've featured before. In this episode, Tim shares the incredible journey that brought him from Vietnam to Canada, back to Vietnam, and now back again with a mission-driven coffee company called Black Lotus Coffee. We talk about farming coffee, su...

Jay welcomes Kate from Food Allergy Canada for a conversation on how the food service industry can better handle food allergies. One in thirteen Canadians has a food allergy, and Kate's organization offers free tools, training, and resources to help operators build better practices. Simple communication, staff education, and smart prep systems can be the difference between a loyal guest and a...

Food allergies affect millions of Canadians and play a major role in where people choose to eat. In this episode, Jay Ashton and Domenic Pedulla sit down with David Giacometti, founder of Foods For You, to discuss the growing importance of allergen awareness in restaurants. David shares how his experience in hospitality led him to create a platform that helps operators provide accurate allergy inf...

In this episode of the podcast, hosts Dom and Jay sit down with Jane and Shell from Autech Canada to discuss the fascinating world of automated sushi machines. Originating from the engineers at Audio-Technical in Japan—yes, the same company famous for headphones and DJ turntables—Autech has brought incredibly precise sushi-making technology to the Canadian market. We dive deep into their flagship...

With a projected 4,000 restaurants facing closure across Canada this year alone, the hospitality industry has officially reached its structural breaking point. Profit margins are at an all-time low, menu prices are pushed to the absolute limit, and traditional business playbooks are being completely flipped upside down. If independent operators want to survive, they have to stop managing from the...

Ask any operator how the current economic climate handles their bottom line, and you’ll likely hear a chorus of complaints about inflation, dwindling consumer confidence, and paper-thin margins. But according to our latest guest, it’s time for a major reality check. The hospitality industry isn't facing a temporary hurdle, it's dealing with a permanent structural shift. In this raw, politi...

With inflation soaring and skyrocketing operational costs squeezing the hospitality industry from every angle, independent operators are facing a harsh reality: roughly 40% of restaurants in regions like Quebec are currently operating without profitability. If you are looking to pull your business out of the red, the answer might not be changing your menu prices—it might be looking directly inside...

What does it actually take to throw out the standard corporate playbook and build a local restaurant empire from scratch? In this episode of the Late Night Restaurant Show , hosts Dom and Jay sit down with brothers Jeff and Gil Carlos , the visionary founders behind Alberta’s beloved breakfast chain, The Bro'Kin Yolk . Jeff and Gil pull back the curtain on their 10-year journey, reflecting on...

In this episode, we sit down with Dave Auger, founder of Pulse Eighty-Six and an Ontario dealer for Androbar. Dave sheds light on a major, often overlooked problem plaguing the hospitality industry: massive liquor losses. From accidental overpours and inconsistent cocktail recipes to complacency and the lack of onsite management, the average restaurant or bar loses 15% to 20% of its alcohol invent...

What happens when one of Canada’s top hospitality lawyers pulls back the curtain on government policy, restaurant survival, cannabis regulation, labor challenges, and the future of hospitality? In this clip from The Late Night Restaurant Podcast, lawyer and industry advocate Adam Minsky delivers a raw and honest conversation about the pressures facing restaurants and hospitality businesses across...

Restaurant operators are carrying more pressure than ever. Rising costs, staff burnout, consumer uncertainty, and constant stress are testing leadership across the industry. In this episode of The Late Night Restaurant Podcast, Jay Ashton and Domenic Pedulla sit down with speaker and emotional resilience expert Sarah Westbrook to talk about emotional intelligence, leadership, stress, and how resta...

May is Mental Health Month , and this episode hits where the industry often stays silent. We sit down with leaders from the The Burnt Chef Project , now active across more than 45 countries, to talk about what is happening inside kitchens, dining rooms, and behind the scenes. This is not theory. This is real life. 4 out of 5 hospitality professionals face mental health challenges during their care...

This episode goes where most don’t. Jay and Dom sit down with Mark von Schellwitz after nearly 30 years inside the system. He’s seen it all. From policy battles to industry shifts, this is a straight look at what’s really holding restaurants back. They break down: Why government policy is choking growth How overregulation is crushing small operators The real impact of taxes on food, alcohol, and t...

This one hits leadership head-on. Jay and Dom sit down with Laura Durrell to break down the real issue inside restaurants today. It’s not labour. It’s not trends. It’s leadership. Laura shares her journey from decades in Canadian restaurants to building a new path focused on developing better leaders. They unpack: Why promoting your best worker creates your worst manager The “keys and card” proble...

Jay and Dom sit down with Menu Matters founders Maeve Webster and Mike Kostyo to break down what’s really happening in foodservice right now. Not trends. Not headlines. What actually matters. They dig into: Why most “trends” are pushed, not pulled How operators lose their identity chasing the next thing Why value has nothing to do with price And the one thing that still wins, human connection This...

The hospitality industry has a mental health problem — we've talked about it plenty on this show. But what about the physical side? Long shifts, late-night snacking, beer after service, picking through the kitchen, stress that never turns off. Jay and Dom sit down with Calgary-based speaker and health strategist Robin O'Grady — a ten-year hospitality veteran turned leadership health coach...

This episode hits where most operators struggle but rarely admit it. The real problem is not the menu, not the staff, not the market. It is the owner. Chris Schneider, The Bar Business Coach, breaks down how mindset drives results, why your numbers are lying to you, and how small mistakes destroy profit over time. You will hear why most bars and restaurants operate without clear data, why ego bloc...

Sheila steps in and flips the whole conversation. You think you have a labour problem, she shows you it’s a hiring problem. Years in the trenches, she’s seen it all, and she calls it straight. Bad resumes hiding great people. Weak interviews missing real talent. Owners moving too fast and paying for it later. This episode hits like a punch. Slow down. Dig deeper. Look for results, not noise. There...

Most restaurants are not failing because of food or service. They are losing money in places they never look. In this episode, we sit down with Mickey Pendergast, a cost-reduction expert with 30+ years in the industry, to break down where profit is quietly disappearing inside your business. You will hear: Why great operators still struggle to make money The real reason margins stay stuck in single...