696: Jon Alexis on 4 Ways to Improve Hospitality with Technology
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Release Date: 02/27/2020
720: Howard Behar on The One Reason for Our Existence
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
For 21 years Behar led ' domestic business as President of North America, and he became the founding President of Starbucks International opening the very first store outside of North America in Japan. During his tenure, he participated in the growth of the company from only 28 stores to over 15,000 stores spanning five continents. He served on the Starbucks Board of Directors for twelve years before retiring. Additionally, Howard is the author of . His second book is titled . Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!! Subscribe to the Join the private Join the email list! (Scroll...
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719: Vaughan Dugan on Leading With Confidence and Integrity
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Vaughan Dugan has been an entrepreneur since his elementary school days cutting lawns in Newport, RI. By the 90's he was a millionaire with his business Stellar Concepts & Design Inc. In 2006, Vaughan entered the world of Food and Beverage with his first concept Pizza Fusion. The brand was a trailblazer in the food industry and set the standard for environmentally-friendly restaurants. After Pizza Fusion, he began working with Rodney mayo and Scott Freilich, two of the most well-known name in south Florida restaurant sense-- and longtime friends from Dugan's college years. Together, they...
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718:Kristina Zhao on The Pivot to 3rd-party-less pickup/delivery
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Kirstina Zhao calls San Antonio, TX home. Prior to taking over the family restaurant, Sichuan House, Kristina was being groomed for the medical field... that didn't happen. Zhao ended up at the University of Texas where she studied Communications and Public Relations. Next, she went into the wireless industry on the B2B side. In 2015, Kristina came back home to San Antonio to help her father with the family restaurant. It didn't take long for her to get her millennial hands knuckle deep into the day-to-day operations. 5 years later she runs the show. Kristina came on my radar by way of Anna...
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717: Mark Estee on Vertical Integration and Social Capital
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Mark Estee is an award-winning chef, restaurateur and visionary on a mission to reinvent dining culture as we know it. Today, Estee owns in downtown Reno, in downtown Carson City, inside the Nevada Museum of Art, the historic , and the recently opened in Carson City. He’s also the managing partner at . Estee has been featured on the Food Network and Cooking Channel, is a James Beard Award nominee, was awarded Best New Restaurant by Esquire, and was honored as Entrepreneur of the Year by the Reno Gazette Journal. Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!! ...
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716: Danielle Rosse on Live and Die by Your Budget
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Danielle Rosse was just 22 and recently widowed when she first opened in 2001. In 2013 She purchased the restaurant to become the sole owner of the establishment and in 2015 she underwent a massive $1.8-million-dollar renovation on the property elevating the guest experience. In addition to Oceans 234 in 2007, Rosse launch The Whale Raw Bar, A neighborhood New England Raw bar in Parkland. After six years of successful business ownership she sold in 2013. a guided online Bootcamp dedicated to helping restaurants rebuilding their business. Check out about menu engineering as mentioned...
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715: Joe Fontana on How to Squash Gossip in Your Business
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
A product of Chicago, IL, Joe Fontana gave up his cush office lifestyle to pursue his passion for hospitality and food. At the time, this specific passion was meatballs. So he started where he could, selling meatballs at a farmers market, which lead to a Kickstarter campaign to support his brick and mortar. The meatball thing didn't work out, but it created opportunities, specifically, an opportunity for . Check out previous as mentioned in today's episode! Check out as mentioned in today's episode! Check out as mentioned in today's episode! Check out as mentioned...
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714: Eric Bernheim on 9 Strategies to Resolve Landlord-Tenant Relations
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Eric Bernheim is a partner at law firm where he skillfully leads his clients through complex real estate transactions. His practice includes transactional work, zoning, land use, and commercial leasing matters focusing on representing restaurant operators interested in expanding throughout the country. With over a decade of experience, Eric’s solid understanding of commercial and residential real estate matters provides his clients with peace of mind and confidence. Check out as mentioned in today's episode. Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!! Subscribe to the Join the...
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713: Monte Silva on Applying the Right Pressure on Your Team
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Monte Silva has over 40 years of experience in the restaurant industry. He has worked for Wolfgang Puck, , , , Bound'ry, Watermark, , and . He has 20 years in management as Director of Restaurants, Director of Operations, General Manager, Regional Training Manager, Chef, Wine Director, Service Manager, and Bar Manager. Monte has also worked as a Regional Sales Manager for a Wine Importer in Los Angeles, and consulted at and Premiere Liquors, as well as for restaurant groups. Check out as mentioned in today's episode. Check out as mentioned in today's episode. Check out as mentioned in...
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712: Jenny Blake on The 4 Stages of The Pivot
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Jenny Blake () is the founder of Pivot Method, a growth strategy company that helps forward-thinking individuals and organizations map what’s next through scalable Pivot programs. She is an international keynote speaker, and the author of , Jenny also hosts the popular , which CNBC listed among , and Entrepreneur selected as one of the . Check out as mentioned in today's episode. Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!! Subscribe to the Join the private Join the email list! (Scroll Down to get the Vendor List!) Favorite success quote or mantra: "What you can plan is too small...
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711: Denyelle Bruno on Social Psychology and Hospitality
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Californian, Denyelle Bruno is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the University of San Francisco where she earned a BA in Psych, and a MA in Organization Development. While in college she climbed the corporate ladder at , before being recruited by to be a part of their retail team. Other career highlights include 2 years as VP of Retail with , 6 years with as VP of Retail Marketing, and Operation, and 3 years as President for . Today, and for the past 2.5 years, Denyelle has served as CEO. Check out as mentioned in today's episode. Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!!...
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Calls to ACTION!!!
- Subscribe to the Restaurant Unstoppable YouTube Channel
- Join the private Unstoppable Facebook Group
- Join the email list! (Scroll Down to get the Vendor List!)
Favorite success quote or mantra:
- "The longest journey begins with a single step."
In this episode with Jon Alexis we will discuss:
- Just start
- Lean into an underserved market
- Changing the perception of seafood
- Do everything in order to make the experience better for the guest
- Taking all the risk on yourself
- Systems
- Budgeting
- How to create a "problem solving machine"
- Automated ordering
- Trial and error in finding the best way to order seafood
- Fish-driven over chef-driven seafood experience
- Utilizing the normally unused parts of fish in creative ways
- People want options
- Value of educating your staff on everything you serve
- Surprising benefits to not being first to market
- Approaching Poke from new and fresh angles
- "Fast-fine" dining
- Using tech to improve the hospitality experience
- Only make decisions based on "will it make the experience better?"
- Over-fishing and what we can do about it
- The truth about "bycatch"
- Don't take the BS of you industry home with you
- Aqua-farming; 5 key factors:
- Are the fish raised in the environment they are meant to live in?
- Does the aquafarm have clean water circulation?
- Does the aqua farm produce more protein than it takes out?
- Is the feed they are using high-quality?
- The quality of antibiotics
Today's sponsor:
BentoBox empowers restaurants to own their presence, profits and relationships. The hospitality platform disrupts third-party services that come between the restaurant and the guest. BentoBox puts the restaurant first and offers tools that drive high-margin revenue directly through the restaurant’s website. BentoBox is trusted and loved by over 5,000 restaurants worldwide including Union Square Hospitality Group, Eleven Madison Park, Gramercy Tavern, Lilia and more.
Restaurant365 is a cloud-based, all-in-one, restaurant-specific accounting and back-office platform that seamlessly integrates with POS systems, payroll providers, food and beverage vendors. It generates accurate real-time reporting and analysis in user-friendly dashboards, facilitating immediate, data-driven decision making. Restaurant365 eliminates manual, error-prone processes and is designed to help restaurant businesses grow with functionality that helps optimize labor costs, reduce food costs and increase revenue.
P&G ProfessionalTM offers innovative total foodservice solutions featuring trusted brands such as Dawn® Professional, Cascade® Professional, Spic and Span® and Comet®. We are unique in that our total solutions are founded in customer and patron understanding, superior products that help save time and cut overall costs, and a five-star service group that is compensated based on customer satisfaction, not commissions. Visit www.pgpro.com for the latest information about P&G Professional's solutions and services.
Knowledge bombs
- Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
- Effort
- What is your biggest weakness?
- Inability to delegate
- What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview?
- Tell me about the best boss you've ever had
- Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
- If it would get you fired in a 9-5 you can't do it here
- What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff?
- Answer every question with another question
- What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?
- Setting the Table by Danny Meyer
- GET THIS BOOK FOR FREE AT AUDIBLE.COM
- What's one thing you feel restaurateurs don't know well enough or do often enough?
- Why WON'T a guest come to your restaurant (as apposed to why they WOULD)
- Name one service you've hired.
- What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your restaurant walls and how has it influenced operations?
- If you got the news that you'd be leaving this world tomorrow and all memories of you, your work, and your restaurants would be lost with your departure with the exception of 3 pieces of wisdom you could leave behind for the good of humanity, what would they be?
- Life is hard, food is good, enjoy your meals
- We don't have the responsibility to be good to the people around us; we have the opportunity
- Realize that waking up everyday is a blessing
Contact info:
Thanks for listening!
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Huge thanks to Jon Alexis for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!