Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore

Today we're going to be discussing Restaurant Fundamentals with Joe Erickson from RestaurantOwner.com. Joe has put together a checklist of basic systems every restaurant should have. We'll be covering systems for Management, FOH, and BOH. Joe Erickson is a leading contributor and Vice-President of RestaurantOwner.com and a feature writer for Restaurant Startup & Growth magazine. As a thirty-plus year veteran of the restaurant industry, Joe has created and developed several successful foodservice concepts as manager, owner, and consultant. In 2004, Joe teamed up with long-time friend and business associate, Jim Laube, founder of RestaurantOwner.com. Together they have developed hundreds of articles, tools, and resources to help independent operators compete with the chains and become more profitable.

In this episode, we discuss setting goals, applying a time limit to goals, taking jobs that help you learn and grow as a professional, putting in the work before you expect to reap the benefits, taking car of your team, and living with integrity. Chef Michael Ferraro graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 2002. He would go on to spend the next 6 years developing his craft. In 2008, Ferraro took over the kitchen at the recently-opened, NYC SoHo restaurant, Delicatessen. In 2009, Ferraro open Macbar, a restaurant fully dedicated to gourmet macaroni & che

In this episode, we discuss why running a business using a P&L is like driving a car looking through the rear-view mirror, how to set and control your spending with a budget, why daily tracking increases your situational awareness, and how sharing what you've tracked gets your team more involved. Also, we get a little off topic and discuss the significance of developing a "playbook" or protocols. Ryan Gromfin is also known as The Restaurant Boss. After years of working in the kitchen at numerous restaurants, 5-star hotels, with James Beard Award-winning chefs, and the best hotelier in the world, he is now using his experience to serve as an industry consultant at Authentic Restaurant Concepts. Today he helps restaurant owners reduce cost and increase profit with efficient strategies and you can find his work at www.TheRestaurantBoss.com

In this episode we discuss living in the moment, the value of having a vision, putting in the time and not bypassing experience, how the secret lies within the "human factor", how to grant approval of your guest, why granting approval of your guest starts with granting approval of yourself, how being in the zone is about removing the inner dialog and existing to serve the others, the invaluable skillset of finding and working with partners, what happens when our emotions get the best of us Ater arriving in New York with a Degree from the University of Belgrade, Dushan Zaric eventually broke into the industry as a Doorman. But this was only the beginning for Dushan. He found his passion for developing innovative cocktails while working behind the bar and has since established himself as one of the industry's most celebrated advisors and mentors. In 2012, Dushan was listed as a Forbes Top 50 Tastemakers and co-founded The 86 Co. In 2014, he was awarded the Best Bar Mentor Award at Tales of the Cocktail. A notable author, entrepreneur, and influencer, Dushan continues to serve the industry and inspire the new generation of bartenders as Co-Owner of Employees Only, located in New York City

In this episode, we discuss becoming a person of value by learning a unique skill that can serve someone else, why Kevin took the pay cut to transition to a management role, the approach Kevin took to becoming a bar owner, catering to what your customers want, how you can create a promotion out of anything, staying clean, functional and relevant, how to market a modern day restaurant or pub. Artist. Bar Owner. Comic Book Shop Owner. Entrepreneur. Hustler. Husband & Father. Bednarz wears a lot of hats, but the one thing that he always manages to accomplish in all of his passions is having fun. Kevin is the Owner / Operator of The Ashburn Pub, Northern Virginia's original neighborhood pub. With over 20 years in business, the Pub is a landmark restaurant that features amazing food, a full bar, craft beers, 11 TVs and exciting monthly events.

In this episode, Jon shares why you need to constantly strive to be the smartest person in the room, how knowledge is nothing if you can't exercise it through people, how you need to always leave room for humor, and why you need to embrace change and accepting new technologies. With nearly three decades of hands-on experience, Jon Taffer is an award-winning hospitality expert, best-selling author, highly respected management guru and top-rated television personality. His renowned method of management has become the industry gold standard, saving literally thousands of bars and restaurants as proven weekly on his Spike TV series "Bar Rescue." Taffer is one of only six inductees into the Nightclub Hall of Fame, and also holds such distinctions as "Pub Master" in the United Kingdom with multiple honors as "Operator of the Year" and "Property of the Year." In addition, Taffer is a coveted keynote speaker at major industry conventions and events.

In this episode, we discuss how open book management works, how open book management leads to a better society, how open book management is about the game, creating a company of owners, giving your team equity in your business, what is meant to be great instead of big, and then we make an example of two small giants: Union Square Hospitality & Zingermans Community of business. Bo Burlingham is an editor-at-large of Inc. magazine and the author of five books, the most recent beingFinish Big: How Great Entrepreneurs Exit Their Companies on Top. Today we'll be discussing two of his previous books: Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, 10th-Anniversary Edition which was one of five finalists for the 2006 Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year award. and The Great Game of Business, Expanded and Updated: The Only Sensible Way to Run a Company introduced the concept of open-book management, has sold more than 300,000 copies and was named one of "the 100 best business books of all time.

In this episode, we discuss how to approach a negative customer, why it is always best to take the human approach, how to identify when it is time to "fire" a guest, How to go about firing a guest, why you need to hold your business partners to the same standards as someone you'd be willing to marry, how to protect yourself opening under an LLC, implementing an operations agreement taking time to develop your team and business plan, and how even being a little distracted can cause you to fail. Chef Dave Query got his start in the restaurant industry at the age of 15 working at a hotdog stand. He would go on to graduate from the CIA in 1985. by 1988, at the age of 25, he was a restaurant owner. In 1994 Chef Dave founded the Big Red F Restaurant Group. 22 years later Big Red F is operating a total of 12 restaurants which consist of 6 unique concepts.

In this episode we discuss how to approach mentors, living intentionally, being selfless by purchasing from local and independent suppliers, making your restaurant an extension of your personal brand and believes, how to gather data and emails, training your staff, and delegating. Chef Marcus Guiliano is an award-winning chef, green restaurateur, real food activist, professional speaker, restaurant consultant & ultra-marathoner. In addition to successfully owning and operating the first Green Certified restaurant in the Hudson Valley, Aroma Thyme Bistro, Chef Marcus has begun to devote his time consulting and troubleshooting for other restaurants. Chef Marcus has launched activist/watchdog-oriented sites including NoFarmedSalmon.com, ChefonaMission.com & the controversial FoodFraudTV.com. You also need to check out 50mistakes.com, where Chef Marcus shares 50 common mistakes restaurant owners make.

The purpose of this episode is to introduce you to the concept of a MASTERMIND GROUP. We'll start off with a brief history of masterminds and then I'll dive into some of the finer details behind the theory of a mastermind group. The explanation I give came directly from the man himself, Napolean Hill and his book, Think and Grow Rich, where the concept of a mastermind was first expounded upon. After we all understand what a mastermind is and how it works, you'll join the members of the first every mastermind group I hosted and they'll share with you the benefits and value they extracted from the experience.