388: Respect, listen, and push forward with Marc Jacksina

In this episode with Chef Marc Jacksina, we discuss what attracted Chef Jacksina to this industry, why you need to "remember where the fence is", why a clean workspace is more than just a clean workspace, paying attention to your numbers, how to go about making change, the value of incredible service, the customers need is acknowledgement, carving out your niche, how Chef Jacksina found his niche, how to know when you've found your niche, counting inventory, taking the thing you don't know and doing it, what percentage you should take as a partner, why making money is the restaurant business is about volume, being properly capitalized, making the initial leap into ownership, not buying into your own success, how there is a time an place for play and it's not at 5 pm on a Friday, why you need great PR and story, why getting respect from your peers is more important to getting respect from those who hand out rewards, and why the blame game never works.

Hailing from NY, where he got his start running neighborhood trattorias, multi-unit corporate restaurants, and a five star Adirondack inn, Marc Jacksina relocated to Charlotte with his wife Lauren, and two sons, Lucas and Ian, in 2004. It was there, where he opened multiple Best New Restaurant award winners including Nan & Byron's, Halcyon, and Lulu. Chef Jacksina is now Executive Chef at Earl's Grocery, an urban provisions larder and cafe serving inspired street food, grab and go dinners, and some of the city's tastiest fried chicken. In addition, Marc hosts the online video series, OrderFire where he interviews leading culinarians, mixologists, restaurateurs, purveyors, and farmers to paint them in a more multidimensional light.