1093: Aaron DeFeo, Owner and Operator of Little Rituals
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Release Date: 06/20/2024
1121: Gloria Varney, Chef/Owner of Nezinscot Farm
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Gloria Varney is the Chef/owner of in Turner, Maine. Gloria and her husband Gregg bought Nezinscot Farm from Gregg’s parents in 1987. She went to school to learn about comunity health education and soon realized the farm was where she could best carry this out with her community. She started working at the farm in as a fiber artist with fiber producing animals, and since then it has grown to everything from a kitchen to a cafe to a farm store to a classroom for her community. Today's sponsors: the company that helps restaurants, “Control the kitchen chaos.” With RT’s total...
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1120: Ari Weinzweig, Co-Founding Partner of Zingerman’s Community of Business
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Ari Weinzweig is a Co-Founding Partner at Community of Business. Zingerman's Deli was the first business opened by Ari and his business partner, back in 1982. Today there are 9 locations under various concepts today, as well as wholesale online and in-store. Ari is also the author of 4 books, covering building a great business, leadership, managing ourselves, and the power of beliefs in business. He recently released a new pamphlet all about Dignity. Today, we will be discussing his thesis and thoughts on Dignity. This is Ari's 3rd time on the show! Today's sponsors: the company...
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1119: Lisa Schultz, Partner at Zingerman’s Roadhouse
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Lisa Schultz is a Partner at Zingerman’s Roadhouse in Ann Arbor, MI. Lisa started working in restaurants throughout high school and returned to them after college. She worked as a server in a high end seafood restaurant in Ann Arbor before landing a job as a server at Zingerman’s Roadhouse in 2004 in her mid-20s. After five years there she became a manager in 2009 and is now a Partner. Zingerman’s started in 1982 as a deli and now consists of 9 brick and mortar locations across various concepts. Lisa's recommended tools/services from today's episode: : Culinary solutions - For chefs, by...
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1118: Ron Macklin, CVO of Macklin Connection & Author of Everyone Is Afraid
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Ron Macklin is the CVO of , which focuses on professional development and connection, and he is the author of , as well as the host of podcast. In this episode, Ron will present the 7 steps to becoming a better connector. Today's sponsors: : Dashtrack is an award-winning restaurant websites with unmatched 24/7 support. Effortless updates, AI-powered SEO, and commission-free ordering. Schedule your free site consultation today! : Are you a chef, owner, operator, or manage recipes in professional kitchens? meez is built just for you. Organize, share, prep, and scale recipes like never before....
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1117: Jon Schlegel, Founder of Snooze A.M. Eatery and Attimo Wine
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Jon Schlegel is the Founder of and . Jon Schlegel started in restaurants at the age of 14 and later went on to earn a business degree in hospitality from University of Denver. He worked for the best operators in fine dining until he got the idea for Snooze A.M. Eatery in 2001 and wrote up his business plan. He didn't secure funding and open his first Snooze location in 2006. He quickly scaled the concept and hired his first CEO in 2012. Today, there are 71 Snooze locations in 9 states. Attimo Wine opened in 2020. Today's sponsors: the company that helps restaurants, “Control the...
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1116: Sean, Scott, and David, Partners at Water Witch, Bar Nohm, and Remora
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Sean Neves, David Chon, and Scott Gardner are Partners at , Bar Nohm, and Remora, all in Salt Lake City, UT. Sean and Scott started working together in 2012 and a plan to open a bar soon began to form. In 2016, they opened Water Witch, located next door to Nohm, owned and operated by David Chon. They all decided to join forces and become partners in both businesses and opened up Bar Nohm in 2023. In 2022, they bought an old dive bar which they are turning into Remora. Today's sponsors: the company that helps restaurants, “Control the kitchen chaos.” With RT’s total oil...
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1115: John Platt, Chef and Co-Owner of Midway Mercantile
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
John Platt is the Co-Owner and Chef at in Midway, Utah. John started cooking as a child but grew up to be a principle at a boarding school. While holding that job, he began cooking for students in dorms, and found he really enjoyed it. In his late 30s, he switched careers and started working at his favorite restaurant in Seattle as a waiter and bartender. He soon became manager and opened his first restaurant in 2000, which lasted until 2017. He then moved to Midway, Utah and bought a 2nd gen restaurant space, converted and remodeled it, and opened Midway Mercantile. Today's sponsors:...
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1114: Erika Esparza and Carly Young, Co-CEOs of Yogurt Mill
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Erika Esparza and Carly Young are the Co-CEOs of . Erika's parents met in 1978 and 6 years later, in 1984, they opened their first Yogurt Mill location in the Modesto, CA area. They then opened their second location in 1989, with a third following in 1993. In 2004, location 4 appeared. In 2009, Erika officially joined the family business. Since then, the company has opened a commissary kitchen where they make products for wholesale/packaged goods sales, and they have begun operating 2 food trucks. Their goal is to open at least 7-8 locations within California. Favorite success...
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1113: Carmen Toledo, Co-Owner of Toledo’s Mexican Restaurant
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Carmen Toledo is the Front of House Operations Manager and 1 of 4 Co-Owners of in Fresno, CA. Carmen's father, Sam Toledo, immigrated to the US in the 1970s from Mexico. He started working in restaurants and eventually helped open a Mexican restaurant that he helped quickly scale to 3 locations. When he was denied equity in that business, he left to open his own restaurant, Toledo's, in 1991. Carmen is Sam's second child and she began working at the family restaurant when she was 13. She left to work at Starbuck's and gain knowledge and experience from a large, efficient franchise and...
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1112: Meredith Sandland, CEO of Empower Delivery and Author of Delivering the Digital Restaurant
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Meredith Sandland is the CEO of Empower Delivery and the co-author of 2 books, , and , both co-authored with Carl Osbourne. Prior to co-authoring those books, Meredith spent two decades in consulting, corporate strategy, and restaurant development. After Building 1,000+ restaurants the Chief Development Officer at Yum! Brands’ Taco Bell, Meredith observed that the on-demand economy was starting to affect restaurants. Meredith joined ghost kitchen start-up, as employee #4 to create their business model, raise initial capital, and serve as the public face of the Google Venture-backed...
info_outlineAaron DeFeo is the Owner/Operator of Little Rituals, along with past guest (episode 1090) Ross Simon. Aaron also owns his own consulting company, Solid Sipping, and he a partner in Arizona Cocktail Weekend. He also owns Stable, which is a juice alternative for making cocktails.
Favorite success quote/mantra: "Act with purpose."
In this episode we will discuss:
- Tech stack
- Partnerships
- Cocktail culture
- Fundrasing
- The importance of contracts with ownership
- Opening hardships
- AND MORE!
Today's sponsors:
Restaurant Technologies the company that helps restaurants, “Control the kitchen chaos.” With RT’s total oil management, you get: Dependable fresh bulk cooking oil delivery; Filtration + oil usage monitoring and reporting; Used cooking oil pick-up, and recycling; And say goodbye to messy, dangerous restaurant rendering tanks-yuck. RT’s end-to-end cooking oils solution helps you manage your used cooking oil storage, collection, and recycling- conveniently, safely, and cleanly- with no upfront costs. Head to www.RTI-inc.com, and let them know the Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast sent you their way.
National Council for Mental Health and Wellbeing - Create healthier, more engaged employees with Mental Health First Aid at Work for Restaurants. This training teaches employees how to recognize and respond to signs and symptoms of mental health or substance use challenges. It’s trusted by leading companies, offers flexible training options to adapt to the often- unpredictable restaurant and food services environments, and it’s developed and delivered by experts. Visit MentalHealthFirstAid.org/
Meez: Are you a chef, owner, operator, or manage recipes in professional kitchens? meez is built just for you. Organize, share, prep, and scale recipes like never before. Plus, engineer your menu in real-time and get accurate food costs. Sign up for free today and get 2 FREE months of invoice processing as a listener of the Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast. Visit getmeez.com/unstoppable
Restaurant Systems Pro - Join the 60-day Restaurant Systems Pro FREE TRAINING. This is something that has never been done before. This 60-day event is at no cost to you, but it is not for everyone. Fred Langley, CEO of Restaurant Systems Pro, will lead a group of restaurateurs through the Restaurant Systems Pro software and set up the systems for your restaurant. During the 60 days, Fred will walk you through the Restaurant Systems Pro Process and help you crush the following goals: Recipe Costing Cards; Guidance in your books for accounting; Cash controls; Sales Forecasting(With Accuracy); Checklists; Budgeting for the entire year; Scheduling for profit; More butts in seats and more… Click Here to learn more.
Contact the guest:
- Instagram: @docdefeo
- Solid Sipping: https://www.solidsipping.com/
- Arizona Cocktail Weekend: https://arizonacocktailweekend.com/
- Little Rituals: https://littleritualsbar.com
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