#072 - Matt Eisenacher: How Piada Italian Street Food Defies Fast-Casual Expectations
Release Date: 07/24/2018
#097 - Amanda Smith: How Menehune Chef Brings Cooking Education & Community to Hawaiian Children
Just Forking Around
Amanda Smith is the Founder and Executive Director of Menehune Chef, a non-profit that offers functional, intuitive, and practical cooking education to children on the Garden Island of Kauai, using all local Hawaiian-sourced ingredients. They work with local chefs and farmers to really infuse the essence of community involvement, sustainable living, and locally-grown ingredients into the lives of these children. Amanda’s vision is to impact future generations – starting with a single poi smoothie – and generate a powerful movement that will be shared through our keiki (or “the...
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#096 - Dr. Beth Ricanati: The Transformative Power of Challah & One Woman’s Journey to Wellness
Just Forking Around
Dr. Beth Ricanati is a physician, mother, and the author of . Dr. Ricanati’s debut book chronicles her journey creating a thousand challahs, showcasing a woman’s quest for wellness and peace. She has created a career focused on bringing wellness into women’s everyday lives, especially busy moms juggling life and children, but her book is meant for anyone who is carrying a myriad of responsibilities and rarely takes even a few minutes to stop and smell the rising yeast. “For the first time, I made challah and the most incredible thing happened: I just stopped! When you’re...
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#095 - Amy Falbaum: The Invisible Backbone of the Hospitality Industry
Just Forking Around
Amy Falbaum is the founder and president of Amy Falbaum & Associates (AF&A), a global hospitality recruiting firm based out of New York. This is a very different side of the industry than we usually talk about on the show, but Amy has a fascinating story and fills an often-overlooked role for the often-underappreciated people who make our meals and trips truly special. “In recruiting, before even the skillset, we look for that cultural fit and that citizen, that human being with integrity.” –Amy Falbaum AF&M also serves a unique clientele: pretty much any venue...
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#94 - Ani Torosyan: How DishDivvy is Solving the Dinner Dilemma
Just Forking Around
Ani Torosyan is the CEO and Founder of DishDivvy, an online platform that connects approved home cooks with hungry neighbors. If you’re one of those hungry people, you can download the DishDivvy app to find homemade food with the click of a button – and if you’re someone who makes food with love, you can get paid for sharing it with your community! “Everyone who’s different and bringing something different to the table – literally and figuratively – thank you! We appreciate you.” –Ani Torosyan Raised in an Armenian immigrant family and growing up in a...
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#093 - Shoop's Delicatessen | Friday Forkisode
Just Forking Around
One part delicatessen + one part European market + one part cafe = a recipe for a delicious day in Santa Monica. If you want a European delicacy of sweet treat for entertaining your guests (or yourself), on Main Street is the place to be – and if you then want to sit down in for a quick-but-mouth-watering lunch or breakfast, it’s still the place to be. The menu is dense with choices ranging from pancakes and avocado toast to frankfurters and in-house smoke salmon – and it’s so, so difficult to narrow it down to just one thing. But I was determined to order just one dish,...
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#092 - Chelsea Poling: Natural Tools to Bring Out the Wisdom Within
Just Forking Around
Chelsea Poling is a certified Reiki Level I Practitioner, natural beauty authority and wellness expert, and the founder Rose Botanica, a natural online health and wellness boutique. Formerly employed by NASA and USAID, Chelsea has worked on behalf of the U.S. government to do everything from procuring parts for the shuttle program to promoting women’s rights abroad – and in the process, she learned some secrets about natural wellness and beauty. Now Chelsea’s mission is to seek out natural, organic beauty products and share these secrets with the world. Today, Chelsea shares some...
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#091 - Christopher Mercier: What Goes into Iconic Restaurant Spaces?
Just Forking Around
People may not understand or even stop to consider the depth or complexity that goes into designing and building restaurant spaces, but today we’re going to learn a LOT more about this often-overlooked aspect of the hospitality industry. Here to discuss what goes into creating iconic restaurant spaces is Christopher Mercier, the founder and principal designer of (fer) studio. You may have seen (fer)’s handiwork at iconic restaurants like Father’s Office in Culver City, Connie & Ted’s in West Hollywood, Officine Brera in downtown Los Angeles, or Sixth and Mill in Downtown Los...
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#090 - LUIGI al TEATRO | Friday Forkisode
Just Forking Around
Almost hidden behind a sneaky doorway on 2nd St. in Santa Monica, hungry and curious walkers by are just a few steps away from , a secret piece of heaven nestled near Main St. High ceilings, wall frescos of theater actors, and custom furniture direct the diner towards the star of the show: the open kitchen. If you’re lucky, you might even get a smile and a nod from Michelin Star Chef Luigi Fineo (and if you’re like me, you might blush). I went with a group for brunch and we ordered every dish on the menu – and I would eat every single one again! So instead of sharing...
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#089 - Charles Duque: The Five French Cheeses You Must Try Before You Die
Just Forking Around
Did you know that there are over 1,300 different varieties of cheese – just in France? I’m not forking with you! Joining the show to teach us more about these delicious dairy delicacies is Charles Duque, Managing Director of the Americas for the CNIEL (Centre national interprofessionnel de l'économie laitière), AKA the French Dairy Board. Charles also oversees the French Cheese Board, a NYC location for all things fromage. “We’re all overwhelmed these days going into a cheese shop... but we all know what we like! If you like hard cheeses, you like soft cheeses, you like strong...
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#088 - Devon Loftus: How Moon Cycle Bakery’s Hormone-Supportive Treats Celebrate Our Cycles & Empower Women
Just Forking Around
Devon Loftus is the founder of Moon Cycle Bakery, a sweet treat service that delivers hormone-supportive treats to people on their cycle. Devon and her team at Moon Cycle value celebration, empowerment, choice, and knowledge – and the power of a forking delicious brownie. Stigma is used to isolate people, but Moon Cycle is combatting that through community. Together, these Moon Cycle Mamas are breaking down the stigma surrounding menstruation and femininity, striving to reunite people with the awesome power of being a woman. The tools in their arsenal? Education, Matcha Coconut...
info_outlineToday we start our show off with a toast to breakfast for lunch – one of the delicious concepts that Columbus-based Piada Italian Street Food is experimenting with right now.
Our guest, Matt Eisenacher, is the Chief Concept Officer for Piada Italian Street Food. It’s a great title, and it means he oversees the branding, marketing, IT, and business development efforts as the restaurant expands nationwide. Matt joined Piada in 2013, when they had 16 restaurants open, and has overseen a LOT of growth already. PIada now operates 42 locations across 7 states, offering a healthy and convenient option for today’s hectic world.
Piada’s fast-casual, Italian-inspired concept is perhaps best represented by its namesake dish: the piada, a thin Italian flatbread (cooked on a stone right in front of you) wrapped around the same delicious meats, herbs, cheeses, and vegetables you might get from the most popular food carts and corner markets in Rimini, Italy.
“People aren’t buying food – they’re buying an experience, they’re buying the person.” –Matt Eisenacher
We also discuss:
- What is the Piada concept?
- Scaling a company
- Leveraging technology to improve the guest experience
- Crafting the guest’s journey
- The peasant food that inspired the piada
- Working in a test kitchen
- A day in the life of Matt Eisenacher
- Building a culture of decentralization
- Testing the concept in different markets
- How a profit-sharing plan gives the local chefs and partners running each restaurant ownership
- Learning how to introduce your menu to customers
Resources:
- Check out mypiada.com
- Follow Piada on Instagram: @piadaitalianstreetfood
- Connect with Matt: Twitter | LinkedIn
Matt Eisenacher’s Bio:
Matt Eisenacher is currently the Chief Concept Officer for Piada Italian Street Food based in Columbus, Ohio. Piada is an upscale, Italian inspired fast casual eatery serving a Chef driven menu in a fast, high energy setting. Matt is responsible for the branding, marketing, IT and business development efforts as the concept expands nationwide. He joined Piada in 2013 at 16 units and has helped grow the brand to 42 units across Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas and Minnesota.
Prior to joining Piada, Matt spent 12+ years in the Consumer-Packaged Goods industry across a variety of food & nutrition brands working for Nestle USA, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Abbott Nutrition. Matt received a Bachelor's degree in Finance and Management from Ohio University and his MBA, specializing in Marketing, from The Ohio State University.
Just Forking Around is produced by Podcast Masters