Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore

In this episode with Brian and Brad Wasik, we discuss the history of Wasik's Cheese Shop, what growing up in a family cheese shop was like, never "aim an unloaded gun", the results of treating the assistants, secretaries, and truck drivers of the world well, changing and evolving with time, improving with every day, taking care of your people being the most important thing, having the same common goal within an organization, the struggles that come along with owning a family business, the importance of location, creating value added experiences, and being great without being pretentious. Wasik's Cheese Shop in Wellesley is a family business that has specialized in selecting and maturing cheeses since it was established by the late Stephen Wasik in 1979. Now run by Carol Wasik and her sons, Brad and Brian, the shop offers cut-to-order cheeses, wines, charcuterie, specialty foods, and other gourmet items.

In this episode with Dave Allred, we discuss how he got his start in the industry, always growing, creating habits, listening to your employees, the importance of standards, not standardizing personality, making sure your managers care, how franchises and corporations limit creativity, becoming an expert, empowering your team with system, the 10 steps of customer service, the difference between running a business versus a bar, why you can't make your people wait, a culture of teamwork, keeping processes as simple as possible, creating a complete experience, finding the best way to do something, giving away free stuff strategically, the rule of 3, spot checking, and selling your most proffitable items. When he was 16 years old, Dave Allred got his start bussing tables at a Chinese restaurant. He continued working in restaurants during and after college, and before long he was immersed in the world of bartending. After 15 plus years of industry work, Allred decided it was time to move in the direction of management and teaching. Today, in addition to being the author of 5 bar industry books, Allred is the founder and CEO of Bar Patrol, which helps owners and managers run more profitable bars.

In this episode with Juliette Gust, we discuss how the moral and behavioral standards trickle from the top down, how employees should handle being sexual harassed, how employers should handle sexual harassment, what NOT to do when someone reports sexual harassment or fraudulent behavior, using the ethicssuite.com platform to report these fraudulent reports, and the benefits of documenting these reports. Juliette Gust has led over 1,300 investigations spanning 74 countries and advised on close to 10,000 whistleblower reports. She is a former PwC Regulatory, Forensics and Hospitality & Leisure Advisory Services manager, and later developed and served as the Director of the global Fraud & Investigations team and Project Manager of the Anti-Corruption Compliance Program for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. Juliette also spent 15 years in industry operations from line positions to operations manager and general manager in high-volume hotels, casino hotels, convention centers and restaurants in top U.S. tourism destinations. On top of all this, she is the Co-Founder of Ethicssuite.com

In this episode with Bobby Marcotte and Bobby Buivid, we discuss how both Bobbys got into the industry, being original, changing the game, creating something from nothing, immersing yourself in the industry to get ahead, living in the moment, planning your next move, existing to care for your team, hiring people who care, how shared desires lead to partnerships, treating it like you own it, focusing on the experiences, knowing your story, and living to love the process. Marcotte, Buivid crossed paths a few years back. At the time, Marcotte was at the helm of the highly success Tuckaway Tavern serving as Executive Chef (which he continues to do), while Buivid was in Chicago consulting on restaurant design. About a year an a half ago they decided to join forces and began collaborating on a new vision that would "change the game". That vision would become Hop and Grind located in Durham, NH.

In this episode with Maria Campbell, we discuss focusing less on titles and more on "just being", the story behind Cooks Who Care, adaptability, sharing knowledge, putting yourself out there, why connecting people is important, knowing that you're not alone, the culture within the industry changing to support better quality of life, redefining what success looks like, and how to get involved with Cooks Who Care. Maria Campbell is the founder of Cooks Who Care. Cooks Who Care offers the food industry a new way to connect! With their unique digital platform, they provide management and staff with a way to meet others in the same field and to share leadership learning through online resources.

In this episode with Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, we discuss the inspiration for their eleven books, following your curiosity, common habits of successful chefs and restaurateurs, the significance of listening, how creativity is the #1 skill or strength people attribute their success to, how creativity leads to competitive advantage, the 3 stages to the creative process, the 5 inner senses that guide the best chefs, and how meditation, yoga, and reading impact the creative process. Karen Page along with husband, Andrew Dornenburg, are James Beard Award-winning authors of numerous culinary and restaurant industry themed books including Becoming a Chef, Culinary Artistry, Dining Out, Chef's Night Out, The New American Chef, What to Drink With What You Eat, The Flavor Bible, The Food Lover's Guide to Wine, and The Vegetarian Flavor Bible. This past year, Karen and Andrew published their latest book, Kitchen Creativity where they shine a light on the creative process.

In this episode with Kate Edwards, we discuss 1) The unaware customer service rep: folks in open kitchens who are now customer-facing and have to deliver some sort of customer service. 2) How being decent to your fellow man is more powerful and actionable than trying to be amazing. 3) #metoo in the restaurant business and how to handle being sexually... harassed. Throughout her 30 years in the service industry, Kate has learned first-hand how to manage high volume and high standards, as well as how to fix operations that were poorly managed or on their way out. With the mission to bring excellent service to patrons of the service industry, Kate launched her full-service hospitality consulting business in 2007. In addition to being an instructor and writing for many publications, Kate is the author of Hello: and Every Little Thing That Matters.

In this episode with Jonathan Blakeslee, we discuss doing something better every day, being patient when waiting for good things to happen, how Blakeslee got his start, calmness, focus, presence, following your passion, selling your passion, starting where you can, scaling from wholesale to retail, choosing transformative relationships over transactional relationships, knowing who you are, focusing on who you are, letting your team weigh in on the decision making and creative processes, becoming a person of value, and using small business centers. After serving in the United States Coast Gaurd, Jonathan Blakeslee fell in love with Japnese culture and tea. Upon finishing his service, Blakeslee attended the Western Culinary Institute in Portland Oregan, and would eventually find himself working at the Toa of Tea also located in Portland, OR. Homesickness slowly crept in, and Blakeslee moved bake to the east coast where he would start his own wholesale tea operation, White Heron. Today he has scaled that operation to include 40 seat cafe and White Herons own house-roasted organic coffee.

In this episode with repeat guest Anese Cavanaugh, we discuss how to create a positive holiday experience for yourself and those you love, how taking care of others starts with taking care of yourself, the 5 steps of intentional impact, how to close out the old year, and start the new year on the right foot. Anese Cavanaugh is devoted to helping people show up and bring their best selves to the table in order to create significant positive impact in their lives. She is the creator of the IEP or (Intentional Energetic Presence®) method, an advisor and thinking partner to leaders and organizations around the world, and author of Contagious Culture: Show Up, Set the Tone, and Intentionally Create an Organization That Thrives

In this episode, Richard Celler dives deep into the topic of common wage violations. Specifically, how tip crediting works, why you need to track your employee's tips, qualifying factors of paying someone a tip credit, the amount of non-tip credit work your employees are allowed to do (20%), tip pooling, whos allowed to share in the tip a pool, and what you need to know about off the clock and pre/post shift work. Richard Celler is the Managing Partner of Richard Celler Legal, P.A., a/k/a the Florida Overtime Lawyer. Mr. Celler's practice focuses on all areas of the employment context from discrimination, harassment, Title VII, the Family Medical Leave Act, and other employment-related statutes. Additionally, Mr. Celler represents individuals in whistleblower and wage and hour litigation.