FULL COMP: The Voice of the Restaurant Industry Revolution

Working in hospitality is a calling. I felt called to serve people and, as a restaurateur, I’ve done just that. Chef’s have a different calling, to feed and nourish the masses. Today we chat with Dan Giusti, the former executive chef of Noma. Dan walked away from the prestige of fine dining to serve a bigger purpose. Through his company Brigaid, he’s committed his life to turning school cafeterias across America into scratch kitchens led by seasoned chefs. Today we explore the work that goes into revolutionizing the American school food system. For more on Brigaid go to chefsbrigaid.com Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter. Click here to book time on my personal calendar. Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide. Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business.

Restaurateurs tackle many problems, but money problems always make it to the top of the list. If we’re going to rethink the whole industry we need to start with financing. We start these passion projects deeply in debt and spend the first several years trying to dig our way out. That’s no way to run a business! My search for innovative ideas to avoid debt financing led me to Johann Moonesinghe. On this episode we chat about his company InKind, a restaurant financing company that’s created a debt free model worth exploring. For more on InKind go to www.inkind.com  Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter. Click here to book time on my personal calendar. Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide. Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business.

Twice a week, I show you the world I see. The world I want to live in. It’s filled with big names, big stories and bright futures. But there’s something to be said for the small stories...The independent restaurateur fighting the good fight in a forgotten neighborhood. There’s hope and inspiration there as well. Today we chat with Andrea Abdallah, owner of Barcito in Downtown Los Angeles. Andrea is proof that we can change the whole industry by changing the way we do business. Her story of struggle and survival epitomizes the reason why I’ve dedicated my life to serving those that serve the world. For more on Barcito, go to www.barcitola.com Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter. Click here to book time on my personal calendar. Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide. Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business.

Everyone has a different definition of success. But, if we all had to pick one, we’d probably pick Sam Nazarian's. His company, SBE, owns 36 hotels and over 200 culinary and nightlife venues globally. He’s worked with everyone from Philippe Stark to Jose Andres. And even in the midst of a global pandemic he’s expanding, opening Citizen’s a 40,000 sq foot eatery later this year. Sam has dominated every tier of hospitality for more than a decade now and today he unpacks his winning strategy. For more on SBE and their upcoming projects go to www.sbe.com Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter. Click here to book time on my personal calendar. Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide. Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business.

No one could have seen the utter decimation of our industry coming, right? Granted there were signs we were on shaky ground but I, for one, was too busy to see them. Michael Tingsager, on the other hand, was not. I reached out to Michael after pouring over the content on his website. The issues we’re tackling today, he was discussing more than a year ago. He’s a hospitality futurist. He can clearly see where we’re headed and what we need to do to ensure we get there safely. Today we dive deep into our past, present and the opportunities that lay before us. For more on Michael, go to www.hospitalitymavericks.com Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter. Click here to book time on my personal calendar. Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide. Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business.

The greatest lesson I’ve ever learned is that personal development is professional development. I learned that lesson and countless others from Verne Harnish and the platforms he’s created. Verne has spent his life trying to support the endeavors of Entrepreneurs just like you and me. In these difficult times we need guidance from the best teachers out there. That’s why I asked Verne to be on the show. Links Scaling Up Wolfgang Puck's HBR article Margaret Heffernan Verne's Resources Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter. Click here to book time on my personal calendar. Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide. Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business.

We’ve covered countless pivots on this show but I wanted to try something different. Today we chat with Krystle Mobayeni, founder of BentoBox. Krystle and her team created a plug and play website design service designed for our industry. She’s been touting the importance of the online experience for restaurants since long before the pandemic. There was no need to pivot! Retail, online ordering and so much more were readily available through Bentobox. During this time of great struggle, I see tremendous value in talking with visionaries like Krystle that have created solutions to problem we didn’t even know we had. For more on BentoBox go to getbento.com Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter. Click here to book time on my personal calendar. Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide. Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business.ant to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://bit.ly/YelpRestaurants to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business.

If you own and operate the best restaurant in the world does that make you the best restaurateur in the world? If I didn’t believe that Will Guidara was the best before our conversation I certainly do now. His love of craft and of industry inspired him to create not only a restaurant empire, but to create the Welcome Conference: a platform whereby the hospitality industry can come together to chart a better future for all of us.  Today we chat about what it takes to be the best, the strategy to get there and what's he's doing to make sure we, as an industry, come out of the pandemic stronger than ever. To learn more about the Welcome Conference go to welcomeconference.org Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter. Click here to book time on my personal calendar. Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide. Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business.

What's it take to become an overnight success? The short answer is years of dedication and hard work.  Chef Johnny Ray Zone took Nashville hot chicken, an obscure regional dish, and turned it into an international institution. The guy is a hot chicken mogul selling out 1,000’s of sandwiches a day, setting his own rules with the delivery companies and partnering with Post Malone on new promotions. I looked to him for inspiration when I opened my own fried chicken joint but I did it for money and never achieved the level of success that he has.  Why?  Because it’s his authenticity that has made him a star. Zone walks the walk and, in today’s conversation, he walks me though his path to greatness.  Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter. Click here to book time on my personal calendar. Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide. Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business.

Staring down the barrel of a 60% permanent closure rate...It's time to fix what's broken. It’s time to change the game. The hospitality industry is at a pivotal point and it has becomes painfully obvious that business acumen and strategic planning will matter just as much as resilience.There's no shortage of resources ranging from how to apply for loans to how to negotiate with your landlord. At some point, we will turn our sights towards the future and, when that time comes, we’ll need to the tools and strategies to thrive, not just survive. In the hospitality industry, we fix our own problems. This is no different. We’ve created a group called The Hospitality Game Changers It’s on Facebook, a platform you already use daily It’s a space just for us where we’re tackling the most difficult issues facing our industry and creating solutions. It’s updated daily with the most compelling audio, written and video content to make sure you’re plugged in to what’s going on today and what can help us tomorrow. It’s quick, easy and free to join. Just click here or login to Facebook and search Hospitality Game Changers in the search bar. Click join and you’re all set. We can’t change the cards that we are dealt, but we can change how we play the game.