864: Frank Brigtsen Chef/Owner at Brigtsen's Restaurant

With excitement allow me to introduce to you today's guest, Chef Frank Brigtsen and his wife Marna are the owners of Brigtsen's Restaurant, in the Riverbend neighborhood of Uptown New Orleans. Frank began his culinary career in 1973 while attending Louisiana State University. In 1979, he apprenticed at Commander's Palace Restaurant under the guidance of Chef Paul Prudhomme. In 1980, Frank became the first Night Chef at K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen when the restaurant began dinner service. During his seven-year tenure with Chef Prudhomme at K-Paul's, Frank attained the position of Executive Chef. Paul and the late K Prudhomme were instrumental in helping Frank and Marna open Brigtsen's in 1986.

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Favorite success quote or mantra:

• "In cooking, color is flavor, and brown is the color of flavor."
• "We always have time to do it right."

In this episode with Frank Brigsten we will discuss:

• Providing opportunities to your staff
• How Hurricane Katrina affected the NOLA restaurant scene
• Multi-unit?
• The importance of growth
• Creating a cooking school
• Lease negotiation
• The broken economics of the restaurant industry
• Labor and costs

Today's sponsor:

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Knowledge bombs

1. Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
   • 100% effort
2. What is your biggest weakness?
   • Not giving 100% effort
3. What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview?
   • Do you have the fire and the desire?
4. What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?
   • Unpredictability of food markets
5. Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
   • Be their friend
6. What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?
   • Setting the Table by Danny Meyer
   • GET THIS BOOK FOR FREE AT AUDIBLE.COM
7. What is something restaurateurs don't do well enough or often enough?
   • Be proactive rather than reactive
8. What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your restaurant walls and how has it influenced operations?
   • POS system: Positouch
9. If you got the news that you'd be leaving this world tomorrow and all memories of you, your work, and your restaurants would be lost with your departure with the exception of 3 pieces of wisdom you could leave behind for the good of humanity, what would they be?
   • Pass it on
   • Don't forget your loved ones
   • Leave a mark and do good

Contact info:

Brigsten's website: brigstens.com

Thanks for listening!

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Huge thanks to Frank Brigsten for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!

Restaurant Unstoppable is a free podcast. One of the ways I'm able to make it free is by earning a commission when sharing certain products with you. I've made it a core value to only share tools, resources, and services my guest mentors have recommend, first. If you're finding value in my podcast, please use my links!