724: Jeremy Mandrell and Anne Ng on Clear Purpose, Direction, and Process

Jeremy Mandrell and Anne Ng met while working for Thomas Keller at Bouchon Bakery in Napa Valley, California. They have been baking together ever since. They honed their skills in different kitchens around the San Francisco Bay Area before moving to San Antonio in the summer of 2010. In 2011 they met entrepreneur Charlie Biedenharn who joined them in forming Bakery Lorraine. Today, they've scaled Lorraine to 5 locations and they've also opened a Donut shop, Maybelle's Donuts.

Check out The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller as mentioned in today's episode.

Check out Square POS as mentioned in today's episode.

Show notes…

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Favorite success quote or mantra:

• "Mistakes stop here."
• If there's any question, there's no question."

In today's episode with Jeremy Mandrell and Anne Ng we will discuss:

• Lessons Jeremy took from culinary school
• Commitment to excellence
• From food science to food prep and cooking
• Applying science to food
• Maintaining a level of ridiculously high standards
• How to attract great people to your organization
• Defeating your own laziness
• Getting your foot in the bakery door via farmer's markets
• Proof of concept
• How to develop regulars
• Quality of quantity
• Food trucks
• 3-way partnerships are best
• Pop-ups
• Converting a condemned house into a bakery
• Start where you can
• The decision to close a shop NOT because it was losing money
• Sexism in the industry
• How have restaurants changed?
• The future of the industry

Today's sponsor:

QuickBooks for Restaurants a Bookkeeping and Accounting Guide. The back-office restaurant accounting guide you’ve been searching for! Zac covers the accounting fundamentals, including sales tracking, purchasing, bill paying, invoicing, managing day-to-day liabilities, gift certificate tracking, cash management, detailed reporting, and more. Ultimately, Zac show owners and operators how to create the accurate financials and reporting that will enable them to make better informed, data-driven decisions.

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.

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Knowledge bombs

1. Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
   • Anne: approachability
   • Jeremy: hard work
2. What is your biggest weakness?
   • Anne: stubborn
   • Jeremy: cookies
3. What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview?
   • A team player, driven
4. What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?
   • Keeping up with standards from staff and food
5. Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
   • Integrity, standing up for what you believe in, doing the right thing even when nobody is watching
6. What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff?
   • Discipline
7. What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?
   • The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Elijayu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox
     GET THIS BOOK FOR FREE AT AUDIBLE.COM 
8. What's one thing you feel restaurateurs don't know well enough or do often enough?
   • Say thank you to your team
9. Name one service you've hired.
   • Graphic Design: Jamie Stolarski - San Antonio, TX
10. What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your restaurant walls and how has it influence operations?
    • Slack - Where work happens
11. 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?
    • Always strive to be better
    • Never settle for anything less than the expectation
    • Don't lose yourself in your work

Contact info:

www.bakerylorraine.com

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 Jeremy Mandrell and Anne Ng for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!

Restaurant Unstoppable is a free podcast. One of the ways I'm able to make it free is by earning a commission when sharing certain products with you. I've made it a core value to only share tools, resources, and services my guest mentors have recommend, first. If you're finding value in my podcast, please use my links!