718:Kristina Zhao on The Pivot to 3rd-party-less pickup/delivery
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Release Date: 05/28/2020
749: Zaid Ayoub on Converting Commissary into Direct-To-Consumer Kitchen
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Zaid Ayoub is the founder and CEO of the Bay Area-headquartered, rapidly expanding fast-casual concept . A Jordan native, Ayoub frequented a local falafel shop while in college in the U.S. studying engineering and noticed that it often had a line out the door. He wondered if Mediterranean food could blend great flavors with streamlined operations, there was a market (full of hungry people) eager to eat it. After a few years in tech startups, a friend of his mentioned his Mediterranean fast-casual concept idea, and Ayoub took the plunge, opening the first SAJJ...
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748: Evan Hennessey on Finding Comfort in Vulnerability
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Chef Hennessey is an award-winning chef and Dover, NH native. He graduated from at the Atlantic Culinary Academy in 2001. He has had experiences cooking alongside some of the best chef’s in the country including: Chef Charlie Palmer at New York City’sn , Chef Grant Achatz at Trio in Chicago, Andrew Carmellini at , Thomas Rice and Ken Oringer at Clio, Eli Kaimeh and Thomas Keller at . Chef Hennessey has worked as the Executive Chef of 43 Degrees North, and , as well as Chef de Partie of , all in Portsmouth, NH. Chef Hennessey is trained in classical French techniques and methods and...
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747: Workshop-Anarchism is Business with Ari Weinzweig
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Like most success stories, Ari Weinzweig's started over a casual conversation and a beer, with his now partner Paul Saginaw, about their dream business. In 1982, those casual conversations began to manifest into what was then Zingerman's Delicatessen. Today, Zingerman's is much more than a deli; it is a community of businesses, which consist of the following services: catering, event planning, bakery, baking classes, creamery, mail ordering, ZingTrain, restaurant, coffee-house, and candy manufacturer. These business combined, do over 35,000,000 in annual sales. Check out...
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746: Matt Jennings on Homegrown Vision
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Matthew Jennings grew up in Boston, MA. During his summer teen years, Jennings got his start as a prep cook in Nantucket, MA. He went on to study at the New England Culinary Institute, and to work as a cheesemonger before opening his first business, Farmstead, in Providence, RI. After 10 years of successfully running and scaling Farmstead restaurant, Jennings followed his gut and made the move to his hometown of Boston to open Townsman. Jennings received countless awards and accolades for both restaurants. Yet, in 2018 he walked away from it all. Today, Jennings shares his knowledge with...
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745: Workshop- Knowing with It's Time to Scale with Chris Schultz
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Chris Schultz spent 15 years with the Starbucks management and leadership team before joining , aka the MOD Squad in 2009. Schultz helped MOD Pizza go from 1 location to 100 locations in 2016 as Senior Vice President of Operations. Today, Chris serves as their CEO. You can see, Chris Schultz has developed a track recording of helping great brands scale. That's what we're here to talk about today: When You Know You're Ready To Scale. Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!! Subscribe to the Join the private Join the email list! (Scroll Down to get the Vendor List!) Favorite...
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#BONUS EPISODE-- Talking Shop with Jamie Bissonnette
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
BONUS Episode!!! we're connecting with our most recent guest, Jamie Bissonnette, to reflect on his episode, pull back a few extra layers, and ask the questions you wish I did. These recordings are happening weekly at . Join the network and be a part of the she transformation.
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744: Jamie Bissonnette on How to Network Like a Boss
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Collinsville, CT native, Jamie Bissonnette is a graduate of the . After cooking and eating around the nation and overseas, Bissonnette landed in Boston in 1999. After working around Boston, Bissonnette was recruited to help Garrett Hawker open . Two years later Jamie was recruited by Ken Oringer to open KO Prime. Oringer and Bissonnette partnered to develop Boston favorites , Coppa, and . Check out the first time Jamie joined RU back on ! Visit to help save local restaurants. Tell congress to NOW! Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!! Subscribe to the Join the private Join the...
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743: Rudy Miick on Core Values as Decision-Making Tools
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Repeat guest and friend, Rudy Miick, is joining us to discuss Core Values. Rudy is the founder of , where his clients run 3-5x the industry average. While others have been writing books about the ability to shift business culture, he's been doing this work successfully in real-time… defining, refining, and implementing what has, in recent years, been called Conscious Capitalism, Conscious Leadership, and Trust and Track management techniques. Thirty years and more than 1,600 successful projects later, Rudy's work still builds on purpose and is guided by clearly defined values that...
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742: Keith Sarasin on The Power of Vulnerability
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
At the age of 15, Keith Sarasin started working at a local sub shop washing dishes and making subs. By 2012 he held titles from Sous Chef to Executive Chef, and eventually private chef before founding . concept came about from Keith’s time working with local farms in the New England area. He wanted a way to support local farms while sharing the stories he learned from his time with various farmers. Since 2012, has hosted over 81 farms to table events across New England and fed more than 20,000 customers raising over $140,000 for local farms. In addition to his time in the kitchen,...
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740: Anthony Cruz & Gene Colley on The Pursuit of Perfection
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Gene Colley, a former operator of heavy river equipment, and Anthony Cruz, former fine-dining trained line-cook turned healthcare professional, joined forces in 2016 to tackle food market/event/festival gigs with their pop-up fish taco concept, Gulf Tacos. After making a name for themselves by winning a few local food competitions, the duo saw an opportunity to ride the Nashville Hot Chicken wave in 2018. With this seen opportunity, Southerns Food was created and they've been selling out of sandwiches, daily, ever since. Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!! Subscribe to...
info_outlineKirstina 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 Tauzin. Anna is my go-to authority for all things delivery and take-out. So, when she tells me I need to get someone on the show-- I listen. Today we're here to make an example of Zhao's solution for delivery and take out. We share how she came up with her idea and what tools she's using.
Show notes…
Check out Blinkist: Big Ideas in Small Packages as mentioned in today's episode!
Check out Toast POS as mentioned in today's episode!
Check out Summer Glen Creative as mentioned in today's episode!
Check out Re-turnz app as mentioned in today's episode!
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:
- "Rule your mind or it will rule you."
- "Happiness is a state of mind, a way of living; it is not a destination."
- " Don't take 'no' for an answer."
- Online ordering during COVID-19
- The pivot to online ordering - best practices
- The only person you can control is yourself
- Proving yourself to your parents/mentors
- Immigrating to the US (immigrant parents)
- Communication is key
- Empathy
- Food as medicine
- Mentors
- The benefit of having a little experience when entering the industry
- Why Kristina chose Toast POS
- Using built-in iOS technology to forward your telephone to your cell phone. This allows you to text your guest.
- How Kristina is using Summer Glen Creative for website hosting and web design. This is just for their landing page. Currently offering complimentary landing pages if you use their hosting***
- Using Re-turnz app as their delivery component
- Social media
- COVID-19 best practices
Today's sponsor:
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.
Toast - A POS built for restaurants by restaurant people Adapt fast with Toast's cloud-based restaurant POS system that updates to evolve your POS along with changing industry trends and guest expectations. Toast is built exclusively for restaurants of all shapes and sizes, with over 2/3 of our employees having restaurant experience to serve you better. Online Ordering - Let guests easily order directly from your restaurant for pickup or contactless delivery to keep revenue flowing during these uncertain times. Toast Delivery Services Dispatch local drivers through an on-demand network to keep your community fed and revenue coming in.
Contact info:
The Sichuan House Instagram: @sichuaneats
Kristina's Instagram: @xtinazeeeee
Thanks for listening!
Thanks so much for joining today! Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!
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Huge thanks to Kristina Zhao for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!