748: Evan Hennessey on Finding Comfort in Vulnerability
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Release Date: 09/21/2020
REPOST 637: Kasey Anton & Mike Michalowicz On Taking Your Profit, First
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Today we're going to talk about why you need to pay yourself, FIRST! We're also diving into how. Joining us for the conversation are two of the best qualified: Kasey Anton and Mike Michalowicz. Mike Michalowicz is the author of Profit First: Transform Your Business From a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine. He's helped thousands of entrepreneurs gain control of their business. Kasey Anton, founder of Spark Business Consulting, and former restaurateur, and one of the only, if not THE only Certified Profit First Professionals with extensive restaurant owning experience. Success Quote...
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754: Nick Bishop Jr. on Creating A Brand Around One Menu Item
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Nick Bishop Jr grew up in a restaurant family and today is the Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Hattie B's Hot Chicken is a family business, founded and operated by father-and-son team Nick Bishop, Sr. and Nick Biship, Jr., and is headquartered in Nashville, TN, where there are three locations. The fast-casual eatery expanded first to Birmingham, AL, in 2016, followed by openings in Memphis, TN, and Atlanta, GA, in 2018. In the late summer of 2018, they opened their most recent location at Block 16 Urban Food Hall at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Check out as mentioned in today's episode. Check...
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753: Workshop - Carrie Luxem on HR Systems and Recruiting
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
You can find Carrie Luxem at her website or read her book Restaurant Operator's HR Playbook . We are here today to learn about recruiting and onboarding best practices, hiring for cultural fit. Check out my conversation on with Carrie Luxem! to get access to hundreds of experts like Carrie and take part in these workshops. 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: "Leadership is about making an emotional connection with people." In today's workshop with...
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752: Patrick Martin on Do All The Little Things and Don't Keep Secrets
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Pat Martin learned the art and craft of West Tennessee-style smoke and meat 25 years ago in the tiny town of Henderson, TN before making Nashville his home. It became a consuming passion that eventually led to a business when he opened the first Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint in October of 2006 in Nolensville, Tennessee - just south of Nashville. Today, there are 10 Martin’s in the Nashville area, Louisville Kentucky, Birmingham Alabama, and our newest location in Charleston South Carolina. Pat is a member of the famed , a philanthropic group of restaurateurs, pit masters, chefs, farmers and...
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#BONUS EPISOD--Talking Shop with Evan Hennessey
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
One of my goals with Restaurant Unstoppable is to slow down and to connect with guests and listeners on a more detailed, intimate level. I want to LITERALLY connect you with my network. Going forward, I’m going to offer all my guest the opportunity to connect with my audience via zoom the week their episode goes live. The goal is to pull back more layers and to get more granular. Plus, I want to provide my listeners with the opportunity to ask the questions they wish I had. If you want access to all future “Shop Talks” plus, workshops, coffee with eric, and access to other passionate,...
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751: Jeremy Julian on 6 Prioritized Systems and Tech To Invest In Your Restaurant
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
In today's episode, Jeremy Julian, Host of podcast and COO of joins us to discuss the 5 key systems every restaurant should invest in. Let's face it, there are many options out there to choose from when it comes to outfitting your restaurant,. Which tools and systems are most necessary? Which manufacturers of this technology to we recommend? What are my guest most recommended? These questions and more answered. Check out with Jeremy about credit card security and with Jeremy about 7 ways to prepare for a $15 per hour minimum wage increase. Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!! ...
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750: Nick Kokonas on Tock and Knowing Your Customer
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
After graduating with a degree in philosophy and a successful 10-year stint as an independent derivatives trader, Nick Kokonas partnered with Chef Grant Achatz to open in 2005. In the years to follow, Nick would go on to co-find , , and Roisters. In addition, Kokonas is the Founder and CEO of , a cloud-based comprehensive booking system for restaurants, events, and pop-ups around the world. Check out the first time Nick Kokonas joined RU on . 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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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...
info_outlineChef Hennessey is an award-winning chef and Dover, NH native. He graduated from Le Cordon Bleu 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 Cafe Boulud, Thomas Rice and Ken Oringer at Clio, Eli Kaimeh and Thomas Keller at Per Se. Chef Hennessey has worked as the Executive Chef of 43 Degrees North, and The Duniway Restaurant, as well as Chef de Partie of The One Hundred Club, all in Portsmouth, NH.
Chef Hennessey is trained in classical French techniques and methods and now serves what he calls Progressive New England Cuisine, utilizing locally farmed and foraged foods to create artistically inspired dishes. In the summer of 2020, Hennessey became a 3-time Chopped Champion on Food Network’s nationally acclaimed cooking competition show. In the spring of 2014, Hennessey was named a semi-finalist for the James Beard Awards in the category of Best Chef Northeast. In October of 2013, Chef Hennessey traveled to New York City and won the StarChefs.com VitaMix Challenge, a national competition that included a field of several hundreds of chefs, honed down to 6 six finalists and completed at the International Chefs Congress in Manhattan. Chef Hennessey is also a 2014 StarChefs.com Rising Star Chef Winner for Coastal New England.
Check out Evan Hennessey on the Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast way back on episode 008
Show notes…
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:
- "Be humble but be brave and always look forward."
- Humility
- Culinary school
- Fulfilling personal responsibilities while pursuing a career
- Literally building a restaurant
- Anarchism in business
- Learning from the greatest in your region
- The business side of restaurants
- Partnerships
- Partnerships with family
- Catering
- Word-of-mouth marketing
- Tasting menu, reservation-only dining
- The numbers of opening 3 days-a -week with only 9 seats
- Fine dining through COVID-19
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Knowledge bombs
- Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
- Openness
- What is your biggest weakness?
- Openness
- What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview?
- What is your favorite restaurant and why?
- What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?
- Maintaing the balance of positive work, finance, and family.
- Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
- Failure is fine, I'd rather you ask me questions instead of making mistakes.
- What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff?
- Connect with the guests.
- What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?
- Setting the Table by Danny Meyer
- On Trails: An Exploration by Robert Moor
- GET THIS BOOK FOR FREE AT AUDIBLE.COM
- Name one service you've hired.
- Brookford Farm in Cantebury, NH
- What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your restaurant walls and how has it influenced operations?
- Square Space
- OpenTable
- Facebook and Instagram
- 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?
- Don't be afraid to be brave
- I want my legacy to be a crater with houses built around it instead of a path with footprints
- Pay it forward
Contact info:
Instagram: @evanhennessey
Email: evan@stages.dining
Thanks for listening!
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Huge thanks to Evan Hennessey for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!