The Garnish is the podcast for restaurant people. We’ll bring you stories and advice from restaurateurs, managers, chefs, and everyone else who powers the restaurant industry.
By providing health insurance and adding a 2% kitchen appreciation fee to each bill — and by saying "thank you" every day — Ming Tsai shows the staff of his restaurant that he cares. For more on Ming, check out our previous episode with him, Season 1, Episode 3, where he told us about his origins and how he went from mechanical engineering student to chef to allergy advocate. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish for bonus content and a message from me whenever we release a new episode. Our theme song is Leopard, from Filmstro.
Ashish Alfred is the chef-owner of three restaurants in the Baltimore area: Duck Duck Goose Baltimore, Duck Duck Goose Bethesda, and George's Chophouse. He's also over five years sober and extremely open about his lifelong struggle with mental health. We chatted about sobriety in the industry, how he manages 65 staff members across three restaurants, how he strives for an outstanding guest experience, and what he'd advise a friend if they told him they were opening a restaurant. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish for bonus content and a message from me whenever we release a new episode. Our theme song is Leopard, from Filmstro.
Today on The Garnish, we're talking about restaurant renovations. We spoke to Dala Al-Fuwaires, a restaurant designer at FJI Design, about how to renovate a restaurant on a budget, and how to build your restaurant brand. Then, we also chatted with two restaurateurs — Alex Garcia and Steven Darwin — who've recently built out new locations of their restaurants and have some lessons to share. This episode is brought to you by Toast Capital, access to fast, flexible funding for restaurant owners and operators. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish for bonus content and a message from me whenever we release a new episode. Our theme song is Leopard, from Filmstro.
Irene Li, the founder of Mei Mei in Boston, MA, incorporates constant training into the jobs at Mei Mei: staff learn the finances behind the restaurant thanks to open-book management, they run peer trainings on everything from herbs to pronouns, and they also get external trainings, like one on service for those with alzheimers and dementia. She invests in her staff by teaching them everything she knows, and encouraging them to teach each other, and it pays off — average employee tenure at Mei Mei is 2-3 years. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish Our theme song is Leopard, from Filmstro.
From the moment Ciro Fodera, chef de cuisine of Capo South Boston, joined the team as sous chef three years ago, he's been hell-bent on demolishing the front- and back-of-house divide, and on building a cohesive, happy team. Thanks to his efforts, he hasn't had to replace a cook in over a year. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish Our theme song is Leopard, from Filmstro.
This episode is a rebroadcast of our February interview with Erin Wade, founder of Homeroom in Oakland, CA, interviewed by Allie Van Duyne and Tamara Portman. Wade got famous in the industry for how she and her staff created a system to deal with harassment, but Wade is also know for her commitment to making Homeroom a truly diverse work environment: more than 70% of the company's leaders are women and people of color. The audio sounds a little different in this episode because it's from before we upgraded our audio equipment, but bear with us, because it's an amazing conversation. Heads up that this episode contains discussion of sexual harassment. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish Our theme song is Leopard, from Filmstro.
Steven Darwin is the co-founder of Darwin's, a four-location cafe in Cambridge, MA. He opened the first location 27 years ago with his wife and co-founder, Isabel, and since then, Darwin and his team of managers have learned a lot about hiring. He says that you can train someone to do just about any job in a cafe, but you can't train personality — and you can usually tell within a few minutes if someone is right for the job. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish Our theme song is Leopard, from Filmstro.
Leslie Ciccone is the owner of (swah-rey), a two-location (soon to be four location) dessert bar in St Petersburg, Florida. Her whole business model is centered around kindness, and she aims to create a work environment for young women that's supportive and challenging, and that sets a standard of how they should let themselves be treated by an employer. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish Our theme song is Leopard, from Filmstro.
Logan Hostettler is the owner of 1894 Lodge in New Washington, Indiana, a town of around 700 people. Hostettler heavily cross-trains his kitchen staff so that everyone knows how to do everything, which really helps on a small team. He also told me about how talking about mental health openly is crucial to the success of his team, and how he's been able to watch a lot of young people on his staff rise to the occasion when given new responsibilities. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish Our theme song is Leopard, from Filmstro.
This episode is a rebroadcast of our June interview with Ryan Egozi, director of operations at SuViche restaurant group in Miami, FL. He told us about how he and his team realized that it's best to hire people whose values align to that of your team, and then train them to do the work well. He also discussed the two different profit-sharing programs at SuViche and other ways they show appreciation to their staff. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish Our theme song is Leopard, from Filmstro.
How do you keep your staff happy? How do you create a work environment that your staff want to stay in? Is there a new way to hire, train, and retain your staff that works better than the status quo? The Garnish Staff Series is (almost!) here to answer those pressing questions. It's made up of seven 15-20 minute episodes, each an interview with a restaurateur, owner, or chef who's going above and beyond for the happiness of their staff. Every episode is packed with great stories and actionable advice, and I can't wait to share them with you. The series is coming out next week, so get excited, and subscribe to our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish to be the first to hear when it's out. Thanks for listening! Our theme song is Leopard, from Filmstro.
Today on The Garnish, we sat down with Eric Cacciatore, host of Restaurant Unstoppable. He grew up in his parents' restaurant, worked in a few more, and then spent some time as a commercial pilot and a winemaker's assistant. Since 2014, he's produced over 600 episodes of Restaurant Unstoppable. He aims to find out what makes a restaurant - and a restaurateur - successful. He's interviewed over 600 restaurant professionals, and he's learned a thing or two about the business. In this interview, we discuss the power of relationships in the restaurant industry, the impact of trends like food halls and delivery, the importance of taking care of employees first, and much more. You can find Restaurant Unstoppable wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at https://pos.toasttab.com/the-garnish-podcast. Our theme song is Leopard, from Filmstro.
Nowadays, it seems like everyone wants to open a restaurant. It's fun to daydream about what you'd put on your menu, how you'd decorate the space, what kind of boss you'd be, and how you'd assemble your dream team. One big question that people love to ignore when daydreaming is “how will I fund my restaurant?” When it comes to funding a restaurant, there are many, many different ways to go about procuring capital. In this episode of The Garnish, we spoke with Joanne Chang – whose bakery, Flour, has expanded to eight locations across Boston, about how she gained funding for her now very successful business. We also spoke with Emiliana Puyana, a program manager at La Cocina, a culinary business incubator that helps women and immigrants start businesses through mentorship, training, connections to funding, and subsidized use of a commercial kitchen. She told us about alternative paths to funding that are available to just about anyone. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at https://pos.toasttab.com/the-garnish-podcast. Our theme song is Leopard, from Filmstro.
Today on The Garnish we've got an episode about being a parent in the restaurant industry. In this episode, three moms and two dads from all over the restaurant industry give their perspectives on one of the greatest challenges to modern work-life balance: restaurant work and parenthood. We discuss the toughest parts of being a restaurant industry parent, as well as the unexpected joys that come with it. Meet our guests: Katie Rosengren, who you may remember from our episode about gratuity-free restaurants, who is a general manager at Juliet Restaurant and has a one year old son. Matt Titter, chef/owner of Max's Eatery, and father to a nine year old son, Max. Kyleen Atonson, a fine dining pastry chef at two Michelin Star restaurant Acadia in Chicago and mom of a five-month old son. Baljinder Nijjar, a restaurant manager with two grown children. Natalie Larson, sous chef at Mamaleh's and single mother of a 7 year old son. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at https://pos.toasttab.com/the-garnish-podcast. Our theme song is Leopard, from Filmstro.
When designing a restaurant, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of choices to make. All these choices, large and small, contribute to your overall vibe – but some of the decisions you make may be ruining the guest experience for your customers with disabilities. Today we've got an interview with Justin Alpert, a restaurant architect who is passionate about making restaurants more accessible to all customers. His twin brother, and frequent dining companion, is blind, so Alpert has learned all about the design elements that make or break the experience of a guest with a disability. We cover: The difference between designing a restaurant to code and designing a restaurant that's welcoming and hospitable for all your guests What restaurateurs should consider when looking at a new (or upcycled) space for a restaurant Simple ways that any restaurateur with any budget can help improve the dining experience for customers with disabilities How to train waitstaff to enhance the experience of guests with disabilities Further Reading: Justin's Instagram Justin's Twitter Dear Restaurants, Your Inaccessibility Is the Opposite of Hospitality For Larger Customers, Eating Out Is Still a Daunting Experience Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at https://pos.toasttab.com/the-garnish-podcast. Our theme song is Leopard, from Filmstro.
Today we've got an episode about gratuity-free restaurants. On two opposite corners of the US, two neighborhood restaurants are currently thriving on a gratuity-free, profit-sharing model. In this episode, we'll hear all about what it's like to work at Juliet, in Somerville, MA, and at barcito, in Los Angeles. We'll dive into the challenges of implementing this model, as well as the joys of gratuity-free work, including stable income and benefits like health insurance, the motivation of profit-sharing, and a smaller front and back of house divide. Our guests this week: Andrea Borgen is the owner of barcito, a bar and restaurant in LA that has been gratuity-free for three years. She made waves when her restaurant made the switch, and then last year, she posted an article on Medium (linked below) about everything she's learned, the challenges she faced, and why she's not giving up. Katie Rosengren is a general manager at Juliet, a gratuity-free restaurant in Somerville, MA, just outside of Boston. In her 13 years in the industry, she's worked for tips and worked without them, and she is a passionate advocate for change in the restaurant world. Lauren Leland is a bartender at barcito. She worked in bars and restaurants in New York City before moving to LA. Sam Mangino has been a server at Juliet for two years. She started at Juliet when she was in college, and now works there full-time. Amanda McNamara worked front of house in three different restaurants for five years, largely living off of tips, and is now a content marketing manager at Toast, where she writes and reads about the restaurant industry all day long. Gabrielle Grant started in the restaurant industry as a clam-shucker, and in ten years, she worked almost every job in the restaurant industry, front and back of house. She's lived off of tips for much of her career, and is wary of the gratuity-free model. Links, Studies, Further Reading Juliet Barcito Danny Meyer On Eliminating Tipping: 'It Takes A Year To Get The Math Right' Why I Haven't Given Up on the “Hospitality Included” No-Tipping Model Seven facts about tipped workers and the tipped minimum wage Consumer Racial Discrimination in Tipping: A Replication and Extension Black Restaurant Servers Get Smaller Tips Should US Restaurants Abandon Tipping? A Review of the Issues and Evidence Does Tipping Help to Attract and Retain Better Service Workers? Is It Time to Rethink the Rules of Tipping? How Hard Is Your Server Working To Earn Minimum Wage? Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at https://pos.toasttab.com/the-garnish-podcast. Our theme song is Leopard, from Filmstro.
Content warning: this episode contains discussions about addiction, substance abuse disorder, alcoholism, and drug use. Today we've got an episode about addiction in the restaurant industry. While alcoholism affects people in every line of work, it's particularly prevalent in the restaurant world, and the surging opioid crisis has also made its way into the kitchens and dining rooms of our industry. We spoke to three people who each have a different experience with these issues, and we learned about the barriers restaurant workers face in getting treatment and living sober. We also got some perspectives on what restaurant owners and managers can do to create safer environments and help employees struggling with addiction. Get to know our guests: Carrie Neal Walden is a former server who has been sober since 2016 and now works for Ben's Friends, a support group for restaurant workers who struggle with addiction. She's also a sponsor to many newly-sober restaurant industry workers. She shares her story of recovery on her blog, A Life Filled with Pink. Shaaren Pine is a former server, bartender, and manager who started the NGO Restaurant Recovery after watching her now ex-husband, a lifelong restaurant worker, struggle with alcoholism. Restaurant Recovery connects those in the industry who struggle with addiction with resources like support groups, family support, and help with the financial and insurance aspect of getting treatment. Brandi Estrada is a social worker and restaurant and beverage industry lifer who started the NGO Bar Harm. Through Bar Harm, she teaches workshops on substance abuse and administering Narcan to restaurant staff and management, and provides many more community resources. Further reading: Addiction in the Restaurant Industry and How We Can Build a Culture of Support Substance Use and Substance Use Disorder by Industry (Report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) PJ Neumann's restaurant, Boomtown Biscuits and Whiskey, made the news for its decision to stock Narcan in-house. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at https://pos.toasttab.com/the-garnish-podcast. Our theme song is Leopard, from Filmstro.
Danny Meyer came to Boston to give a keynote speech at Toast's company kickoff, and on the same day, Toast CEO Chris Comparato interviewed him for our first episode of Season 2 of The Garnish. Danny talked about the importance of focusing on how you make your guests feel, why Union Square Hospitality Group hires for empathy, the future of the restaurant industry, the necessary combination of tech and touch, and how his restaurants are working to combat the industry's systemic problems. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at https://pos.toasttab.com/the-garnish-podcast. Our theme song is Leopard, from Filmstro.
Live from Food for Thought in New York City, this episode of The Garnish features Bareburger's Paul Zarmati, Tacombi's Luis Berenbau, Mulberry & Vine's Luis Reyes, 16 Handles' Roman Gorbach, and Stephen Van Note of Sarabeth's, Dock's, and Jane Restaurant. These prolific New York restaurateurs speak to the biggest trends they have noticed in the NYC area and how they are spilling out to the rest of the country. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish
In this episode, I sit down with renowned restaurant owner Eric Papachristos. Eric has built a career around his love of food, his pride in his Greek heritage, and his education and skilled approach in business. Eric speaks about how his childhood growing up in Greece shaped his passions and how he's able to focus on three unique restaurant concepts to find success. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish
Robots in restaurants?! Michael Farid, Co-Founder & CEO of Spyce, talks about a new and exciting reality: a robotic restaurant kitchen. Farid speaks of how he and his 3 MIT classmates went from basement inventors to restaurateurs. Find out how he maintains an environment of warm hospitality when half his staff is made up of robots. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish
Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli is one of the most noted names in New England's culinary scene. After an early start at his family's East Coast Grill and working at The Back Eddy, he spent more than five years as general manager of Island Creek Oyster Bar, worked at Eastern Standard and Craigie on Main, and has since shifted into consulting on various Boston restaurant openings, including The Automatic, Pagu, and the reimagined Cafe ArtScience. Currently, he's in the process of opening a new restaurant, the highly-anticipated Alcove. Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli has been featured in Eater, Boston Magazine, NECN, and The Boston Globe. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish
Dive into some of the freshest seafood trends for the summer! Rappahannock Oyster Bar's Kyle Anderson highlights the biggest trends in the seafood industry, like new ingredients, different fish, and broader taste pallets of guests. Plus, Kyle recounts his journey to restaurant success, from summer jobs on Cape Cod to managing one of Charleston's hottest restaurants. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish
Sam Treadway, named Boston's Best Bartender in 2013, tells his career story and explains what it means to become a great bartender. Subscribe to The Garnish for monthly stories on restaurant success! Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish
Jon Gillespie – restaurateur and investor from BDG Hospitality – sits down with AJ Beltis and Juan Ong to serve up the freshest bar and nightclub industry trends for 2018. Listen to learn more about experiential dining, multifaceted nightlife, and the decline of bottle service. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish
AJ Beltis and Cassy Lee sit down with Adam Silsby, whose decade of restaurant experience has taken him around the country before landing here in Boston. Adam dishes tips on beverage programs, staff training, craft beer, and more! Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish
Let's talk pizza. Area Four's Executive Chef Jeff Pond talks about how he achieved success in the restaurant industry and later became one of Boston's best pizza cooks. Hear how Pond developed from waiter at a retirement home to the culinary mind behind Boston's Area Four group. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish
AJ Beltis and Karen DeVincent interview celebrity chef, restaurateur, and food TV star Ming Tsai. Ming talks about his upbringing in the restaurant business, his bold switch from Yale Engineering student to chef, and how his son's allergies made him rethink his whole career. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish
In this episode of The Garnish, we chatted with Deena Marlette, the General Manager of Branch Line in Watertown, MA. She told us about the power of mentorship, how it felt to leave behind a teaching career to pursue restaurant life full-time, why she staffed her restaurant with enthusiastic people with zero experience, and more. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish
In the first episode of The Garnish, the Toast content team sits down with chef, author, and restaurateur Chris Hill. Chris shares stories of his first days working in the Atlanta Fish Market up to working as a renowned cook and influencer in the restaurant industry. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish
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