Podcasts about restaurant-operations

During a recession, there is a decline in consumer spending when the credit markets become harder and harder for consumers to utilize. This is a key trigger point we are watching very closely as the impact on the casual and fine dining sales will most likely be the first to be affected.Our Foodable Labs data shows that current trends for consumer traffic have been trending down for most sectors.Fine Dining down 3.9% Q1 vs Q2Casual Dining down 4.7% Q1 vs Q2Fast Casual down 1.4% Q1 vs Q2QSR up .053% Q1 vs Q2Recessions can be caused by a financial crisis, the bursting of a real estate or stock market bubble, or some black swan event that causes consumers to lose faith in the economy. Combine this with the current macroeconomics of global conflict, food supply shortages, and energy on the brink of supply problems in G20 nations, and you have the ingredients for a full-on recession.When GDP for the April through June period is released, it may be negative again, and by one common rule of thumb, two-quarters of negative GDP growth would mean the U.S. is already in a recession.That remains far from the case under the more formal standards economists use, particularly because hiring, perhaps the most important marker, remains very strong. A recent Reuters poll showed economists upping the likelihood of a downturn over the next year to 40%, but until workers start losing jobs, it is unlikely one has begun. The issue with the restaurant issue is we are already seeing the first signs of slowing job growth and reversal of job numbers for the first time in two years.So what are the things you can do to prepare? In this episode, we dive into a discussion with Ricky Richardson of Eggs Up Grill to talk about the tactics to help your restaurant business survive and thrive in these uncertain times.Discussion PointsManagement Preparation, how and what kind of team you should be building or grooming.Technology - prepare for more automation and more CRM integration.Menu Management - getting things right by maximizing and building new concepts - more with less.Marketing - more important than ever with market shares up for grabs and limited consumer spending on the rise.

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion. In this episode of Chef AF, I chat with Hunter Evans, chef and owner of Elvie's in Jackson Mississippi. Elvie's which offers a modern take on classic French cuisine through Southern Culinary ingredients and traditions. The restaurant was named after Evans' grandmother who he spent time with in the kitchen growing up in New Orleans. Chef Evans a native of Jackson, Mississippi worked in kitchens run by acclaimed chef John Currence while getting his bachelor's degree in Hospitality Management at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. Evans continued his training at CIA, the Culinary Institute of America in New York. Chef staged at top restaurants in NYC, including Le Bernardin, Cafe Boulud and Daniel. After graduation, Hunter went on to work for Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality before returning to Mississippi to fulfill his dream of opening a restaurant in his hometown.I asked Evans about getting into culinary and he said his grandmother was the most influential and early exposure to food and great ingredients definitely came from her. He talks about his family always eating together and being around food, but said he didn't see cooking as a career possibility until his senior year. When Evans went to Culinary Institute of America he says, “I kind of saw my path and my goals pretty clearly early on which I feel like a lot of people don't so I feel very grateful that I figured out what I wanted to early on and that felt like the next step. I wasn't sure what to expect but you know I've told a lot of people and especially young cooks that are coming through the restaurant, I want to go to school, make sure you want to do it because it costs a lot of money. It's very time consuming. But ultimately you get out of it what you put into it.”To hear about challenges Evans faced and how he was able to help his community, plus get his recipe for Heirloom Tomato Vinaigrette, check out this episode of Chef AF “It's All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion. In this episode of Chef AF, I chat with Executive Chef Jair Solis Mendoza from The Restaurant at the Norton Museum of Art about his twenty years of experience, influences on his menu and mentoring the next generation of young cooks. Chef Mendoza born in Lima, Peru, was introduced to food early on by his family's pickling business and in the kitchen. As a young boy, Chef spent time over summer break making meals for the staff and began learning the restaurant business. Over his career, Mendoza has held positions at Troquet on South in Boston, NIOS at the Muse Hotel in New York City, Area 31 in Miami and The Breakers in West Palm Beach. Chef infuses a global approach to his culinary point of view. Chef talks about the importance of mentorship and about mentoring young cooks today. He says, “to me cooking is what keeps people together and you can learn from each other and you get to experiment.” Adding, “I try to pass that along to the new newbies too and for them to understand that if you don't make mistakes you will not learn. There's no such thing as a perfect recipe. You know you need to be able to judge less, try more.” Mendoza says focus is important in the kitchen, he says, “I guess it all depends on the individual, I treat every single one of my cooks as individuals and you know everyone deserves the opportunity to get better,” I asked Mendoza about industry challenges he has faced in day-to-day business, he says, “I guess the most obvious one is just staffing, to be able to find people that are willing to work and willing to do the type of work that we do. I mean after a pandemic, we've gotten a lot of people that just never been in the industry before.” To hear about special events at The Restaurant at the Norton Museum, how an exhibition can influence the menu and get the Norton's Quiche recipe, check out this episode of Chef AF “It's All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!

Is the restaurant industry facing a major collapse under economic pressure? Why the mass exodus of significant CEO's within the last year, with Darden, Red Robin, Denny's, Brinker, and Starbucks all stating their CEOs were retiring after guiding their companies through the pandemic for over the past two years. Wingstop and Red Lobster's CEOs left for positions at other companies, adding to the turnover list.The previously recorded high of CEO departures was in 2019 – also the last time U.S. economists saw a potential recession on the horizon. Amid high inflation and rising recession concerns, company leadership may be preparing for difficult times after a few years of staggering change.Many companies not worried about layoffs may need to begin adjustments on compensation as inflation looms. In the past economic downturns of 2008, companies did not take inflation into consideration for compensation budgets since it was considered transitory. Now all of this may change with a new normal expectation of a 4-6% annual inflation base. The likelihood of Chair Power continuing a hard press on slowing inflation through Q4 2022 could place the country and the world in a new economic condition never seen before in the entire history of the restaurant business.We get a chance to chat with Patrick Renna the President of Burgerfi to reveal key pressures that brands are facing as they prepare to enter a very uncertain market. We dive in deep on strategy talking about technology, HR, menu management, and the future of growth plans.

The Fed Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testified in front of Congress this week. The update comes after the S&P 500's worst week since March 2020, including its fall into a bear market and the biggest Fed hike since 1994.With this new economic pressure, the restaurant industry continues to face rising menu prices and a double-digit slow down in retail restaurant traffic with consumers now dining out an average of 1.1 times less per week according to Foodable Labs.Tesla CEO Elon Musk, joins a growing chorus of Wall Street voices, including Roubini Macro Associates' Nouriel Roubini and several banks warning of tougher times ahead.“I think that a recession is inevitable at some point. As to whether there is a recession in the near term, I think that is more likely than not,” Musk told Bloomberg in an interview early Tuesday at the Qatar Economic Forum.Musk's comment lines up with an email he reportedly sent to company executives earlier this month, where he spoke of a “super bad feeling” about the global economy and said 10% of Tesla jobs needed to go, knocking shares of the company at the time.Could we see the first slowing of labor in the restaurant industry as a variety of white-collar jobs are now being hit with the hiring freeze and slowdown in many leading companies in the finance, retail, and automaker sectors?Goldman Sachs now sees a 30% chance of an economic slowdown over the next 12 months, from a previous 15% on worries the Fed will “feel compelled to respond forcefully” to high inflation. The restaurant sector could feel some of the deepest cuts as consumer spending could slow dramatically in the third and fourth quarters of this year.In this podcast, we talk with Larry Reinstein of LJR Hospitality and break down some of the key trends facing the industry and how operators can address a fast-changing economic landscape in the areas of management, labor, future technology and consumer habits.

Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill is planning to open a drive-thru service model for their casual dining business. Considered to be the first pure-play drive-thru in casual dining this could be the birth of something very exciting for the restaurant business.The drive-thru is being added to a restaurant in Bowling Green, Ky., and is expected to be up and running this summer. The big question is how will drive-thru impact pricing and speed of service for the chain and will they be able to compete with the rising stars of fast-casual and the stalwarts of QSR?Bigger questions about dining out will depend on the consumer. Credit card balances rose year over year, reaching $841 billion in the first three months of 2022, according to data released Tuesday from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.“There's a good chance that Americans' total credit card balances will soon reach a new record high, marking a sharp reversal from the precipitous drop that occurred in 2020 and early 2021,” said Ted Rossman, a senior industry analyst at CreditCards.com.This will impact the restaurant business in a big way and survival may depend completely on strategies like casual dining drive-thru and new technology innovations that will position some brands to take a new market share position.Listen in on the full episode as we break down a variety of technology and consumer demand topics.Also, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter for the largest Podcast Network in foodservice.

You can now pay for your burritos and tacos with Bitcoin and other digital currencies, which could open up an array of innovations around loyalty and decentralized payment. Flexa has announced that the Mexican fast-casual chain can now accept digital payments through its platform. The option is available at all Chipotle locations in the US, and you can use the option on the Flexa-enabled wallet app, such as Gemini and SPEDN. Just launch up your app, choose Chipotle and show your phone to the cashier.The big question will be the direction of digital payments in the future could we see a leapfrog over the existing platforms like Venmo, Zelle, and others with a new feature for merchant services, data, and more? Its possible that an innovation wave could be brewing in the retail sector and likely that Chipotle has some very secretive plans for the future of blockchain payments.In my book the Chipotle Effect - the concept was the birth of the digital consumer and what that could lead to with brands like Chipotle, I think we have an answer now - and the digital pioneer for the industry, once again appears to be Chipotle. Others will follow fast, and there will be a mass adoption period just like social media in 2007-2010 - but the killer app is still early to identify, rest assured it's coming very fast!

Today I breakdown three tech categories that could be leaders in the future recovery of the restaurant industry. The key will be consumer adoption, UX, and the storytelling that many restaurants will need to implement to shift into a next-gen technology future.Faster Mobile PaymentsSquare, for instance, launched new handheld devices for servers that are designed to speed table turns. And Toast unveiled upgrades to its QR-code-based ordering and payment system, including a new feature that allows both the server and guests to add items to a running tab.The tools are not necessarily new, but they're being increasingly framed as labor savers because they eliminate the need for a server to run back and forth to put in an order or grab the bill.Delivery TechnologyNext-gen tech will begin to break out the delivery segment and potentially drive costs up in the beginning with higher margins in the future. Expect more logistics, order ahead, staging technology, and self-delivery technology. The key will be mobile UX integration to improve the customer experience to increase loyalty.Casual Dining Enters Premium Drive ThruTrends are heating up in Casual-dining drive-thrus. They've started to appear in various forms, from a full-service drive-thru at Smokey Bones to simple drive-up pickup windows at some Applebee's. Many analysts are leaning in that we will see more chains moving in this direction. Expect some premium aspects presented by casual brands to compete - the bigger question will be the aspect of if premium drive-thru is a good timing based on the economic conditions.Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to get all the latest podcast updates from the Foodable Podcast Network!

Even with rampant inflation and rapidly accelerating interest rates, household borrowing climbed to start 2022 and hit a new record, the Federal Reserve reported Tuesday.Consumer debt and credit rose 1.7% in the first quarter to $15.84 trillion. The rise in total household credit was propelled largely by a $250 billion increase in mortgage debt, which now stands at $11.18 trillion, an increase of 10% from the first quarter in 2021.Consumers are returning to their previous habits with the balance between goods and services (Restaurants and dining out) spending back to where it stood in May 2020, according to data adjusted for inflation from Flexport, a freight forwarder. A separate metric cited by Goldman Sachs shows goods consumption about 5 percent higher from before the pandemic.Follow the Amazon TrendsInvestment firms noted that macro indicators appear to be deteriorating at a faster pace in a significant development for Amazon (AMZN)."The resulting negative sentiment across both consumers and businesses is likely to result in more cautious spending patterns, with headwinds worsening as the economic slowdown deepens. For consumers, that means less discretionary spend on pricier physical goods and more price sensitivity to service items like dining out."Will China boost spending with a Digital Yuan airdrop?The airdrop is a joint effort between the city of Shenzhen and Meituan Dianping, China's leading food delivery app. As per instructions, users would need to first log in to the Meituan app, sign up for the incentive, and then potentially receive the e-CNY rewards as part of a lottery draw.If chosen, the e-CNY is then dispensed to users and can be spent at more than 15,000 in-app merchant terminals that accept the state-owned digital currency. Previously, the People's Bank of China had identified the e-CNY as a potential tool for advancing regional economies and improving the efficiency of select financial services. Meanwhile, sources at Meituan say that the e-CNY plays a vital role in boosting spending and revitalizing local businesses. Shenzhen is also currently one of three cities in China where residents can pay municipal taxes and charges with the e-CNY.

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion. In this episode of Chef AF, Pepe talks with Executive Chef Jeremy Shelton of Verde, located at the Pérez Art Museum Miami, to discuss his early passion for comfort food, menu innovation, and a new recipe that is a fresh take on an old classic.When Pepe asks Shelton why he decided to cook for a living, he shares that cooking is important to him and it's something that he has always wanted to do. He talks about spending a lot of time as a child in the kitchen, watching the great cooks in his family preparing dishes and enjoying meals together. He says, “I think food has always been something that's been a value to me, that kind of helps to bring people together and I think that's incredibly important and it's just something that I was always drawn to.”Shelton talks about his Southern roots and growing up in Florida. He shares fond memories of comfort foods like Grandpa's pancakes on Sunday mornings, and a favorite stew, pinto beans and Ham Hocks served with butter and horseradish. He says, “For some reason it's like one of the most comforting things in the world to me. He adds that he still makes the dish from time to time, although not as often as he'd like to.Pepe and Shelton chat about his culinary training and experience. Shelton reveals that he actually started in the industry at 16 years old as a dishwasher and slowly worked his way up to line cook. After turning 18 and completing high school, Shelton tells Pepe that he moved to Miami and attended Johnson & Wales. He talks about the years following culinary school being filled with a wide range of opportunities, and working at several prominent restaurants in the Miami area. He talks about a short stint in DC, which he recalls was, “a nice chance of pace”, before returning to Florida, initially to Palm Beach, where he helped run several high volume operations and partnered in a fast casual concept before landing back in Miami, joining the Constellation Culinary team and running Verde at the Pérez Art Museum Miami.When asked about the menu offerings at Verde, Shelton talks about using seasonal ingredients and working with local farmers and distributors whenever possible. He shares that the restaurant recently decided to do what he calls, “a major overhaul of the menu”, by changing about 75% of the dishes. He says that while the new menu “took a more Mediterranean approach”, he is also quick to point out that the menu features treasured dishes from the previous menus as well. He says, “There are certain things that are on our menu that will never change based on, you know, the history of the restaurant and its relationship with the museum.” He adds, “There's certain things that are ‘the untouchables' so to speak. But those are all very, very good dishes. So, it's not really something that needs to change.”To hear Shelton talk about the importance of being able to pivot, solving labor shortages, and the positive change happening due to Covid, check out the episode of Chef AF “It's All Food” or you can listen at iTunes Now!

Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. CMG, -5.23% shed 5.23% to $1,252.89 Wednesday. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. closed $705.66 short of its 52-week high ($1,958.55), which the company achieved on September 23rd.The stock underperformed when compared to some of its competitors Wednesday, as McDonald's Corp. MCD, -4.38% fell 4.38% to $231.05, Yum! Brands Inc. YUM, -2.68% fell 2.68% to $109.46, and Domino's Pizza Inc. DPZ, -2.51% fell 2.51% to $328.02. Trading volume (306,196) eclipsed its 50-day average volume of 267,893.Chipotle Hiring IssuesA recent report, titled “Unequal Opportunity: Uncovering Discrimination in Hiring at Chipotle Mexican Grill” reached disturbing conclusions, according to experts. Specifically, of the applications submitted in 37 states over a three-week period in February, white applicants heard back from recruiters about “significantly” more jobs than Black applicants, the report found.Pricing Starting to Affect SentimentFinance chief Jack Hartung said the chain has raised prices by about 10% for the 12 months through Q1 compared to 2% in a typical year all at the same time Chipotle continues to see falling consumer satisfaction. Foodable Labs reported the third quarter in a row with falling brand sentiment specifically related to order accuracy and the lack of food quality. Current Q2 has the brand's overall sentiment rating at 76.98 the lowest in the history of the brand.Overall SentimentFood Quality 75.91 (Down YOY)Food Value 73.71 (Down YOY)Food Accuracy 72.06 (Down YOY)Source - Foodable LabsHartung isn't certain that the current leveling off signals a full reprieve. “I'd love it to be that inflation continues to pause and that our ingredient costs are stable here on out and I'd love to be able to say six months from now that we've not increased our prices,” Hartung said. “But we'll see. It all just depends on the inflationary environment.”

Woworks acquired Barberitos Southwestern Grille and Cantina, a 54-unit fast casual chain, and Zoup Eatery, a 68-unit fast casual chain, in a press release this past Thursday. Zoup will continue to be run separately by Eric Ersher, founder and previous CEO of Zoup Systems. With these acquisitions, Woworks will own six brands and over 400 restaurant locations.Since its birth in 2020, Woworks, the parent company of Saladworks, has focused on adding healthy fast casual brands to its portfolio. The company acquired Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh and Frutta Bowls in 2020 and The Simple Greek last year. Woworks has also targeted expansion, adding 60 restaurant units last year and signing 28 new franchise agreements, which represented 112 new units.The company may be buying these chains in consumer distress - with a consistent downtrend in consumer sentiment in all but one of the transactions. Garbanzo, Frutta and Simple Greek were in dire consumer downtrends at the date of the sale. Zoup however has been a solid performer on overall sentiment and Barberitos was also a falling knife of consumer dissatisfaction according to Foodable Labs sentiment data.Barberitos and Zoup could also grow using Woworks' network of nontraditional locations, including ghost kitchens through partnerships with Ghost Kitchens and Combo Kitchens, as well as grocery stores, airports, colleges, and universities.

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion. In this episode of Chef AF, Pepe chats with Chef Kaytlin Dangaran about her unique path to becoming a Chef, her passion for Italian food and her commitment to using the freshest, local ingredients. When asked about her passion for cooking, Dangaran says, “I can't remember a time that I didn't want to cook.” She shares that even when she was very young she loved cooking and actually had the goal of attending culinary school following high school but instead she decided to follow her parent's advice to attend college where she studied cultural anthropology. She shares that her studies led to her becoming even more passionate about food. She says, “That kind of reinforced my love of food, of how different cultures eat and how food is the central thing that brings people together.” Dangaran talks about her time working with a nonprofit in South America, and shares that she continuously felt another calling, the drive to cook, which led to her moving to New York, enrolling into culinary school and finding a mentor. She says, “I went to the French Culinary Institute in New York, and I found this wonderful Chef who taught me everything there was to know about Italian food which is my passion for sure.”Pepe asks Dangaran how she ended up at Bistro in Sarasota, Florida, and Dangaran shares that after her time in New York she wanted to see different things, and considering she had always been on the East Coast, she decided to check out the West Coast and ended up in San Francisco. She talks about working at a few high end venues and finding an appreciation for fresh produce during her time there. She talks about missing New York and returning there for a short time before moving back home to Florida where she worked at Pérez Art Museum until joining the team at Bistro.Dangaran talks about her experience working predominantly in Italian restaurants, her love for cooking and the importance of using fresh ingredients. She says, “That's what I love about Italian cooking is the honesty of the ingredients.” She adds, “I didn't realize that as much until I moved to San Francisco and I found that love for produce and ingredients and how important those things are in a dish.”When asked about her culinary point of view, Dangaran shares that her focus is on staying hyper local and hyper seasonal. “In Sarasota, specifically at Bistro, I've probably had the most local ingredients that I've ever had at any of my restaurants.” She talks about sourcing ingredients like milk and honey locally and the excitement she feels when getting to use new ingredients as the produce changes seasonally. She adds, “I want to make beautiful dishes but I want the ingredients to be in season because nothing's better than when you're in season.”To hear Dangaran talk more about seasonal ingredients, offering cooking classes and the importance of mentorship, check out this episode of Chef AF “It's All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!

Today I breakdown Reef Kitchens as they seek an ownership stake in 800 Degrees Go, a joint venture between restaurant chain 800 Degrees and robotics company Piestro, 800 Degrees Go announced Thursday. Reef will also open 500 800 Degrees Go locations through 2027, and Kenneth Rourke, Reef's EVP of kitchens and brands, has joined 800 Degrees Go's board.800 Degrees Go currently operates out of 40 Reef locations in 13 markets and expect to open 100 more units this year, according to the press release. Reef initially announced a deal with 800 Degrees eight months ago to operate 500 mobile units by 2026. These plans and Reef's current deal with 800 Degrees Go are one and the same, 800 Degrees CEO Tommy Lee wrote in an email to Restaurant Dive.This past Thursday the House of Representatives passed The Relief for Restaurants and Other Hard Hit Small Businesses Act of 2022 (H.R. 3807), which would add $42 billion into The Restaurant Revitalization Fund. The bill, which will soon face the Senate, would also allocate $13 billion for other businesses with less than 200 employees that were hurt by the pandemic environment.If H.R. 3807 passes the Senate, the 177,000 restaurants that were approved for RRF grants but did not receive funding before the portal closed are already in a queue to receive grants, legislators said on a media call hosted by the Independent Restaurant Coalition on Thursday afternoon. About 20% of the industry will be eligible and will be asked by the SBA to sign a form confirming their businesses are either open or will reopen in the next sixth months. No additional application requirements will be necessary.

Shares of the California-based chain crashed over 5% in the afternoon trading session, more than doubling the decline of the S&P 500 Restaurants index.The decline could certainly be correlated with the anticipated earnings release, which is leaning in to some uncertainty as inflation impacts on margins have promoted price increases across products. According to Keybanc, prices have increased by 5-6% in a survey of over 1,500 locations. The bank noted that prices are now 3.3% higher for Steak/Barbacoa, 3.1% higher for Carnitas, and 2.4% higher for Chicken/Sofritas/Veggie entrees. These price hikes add to a spike in avocado prices to the highest level seen in nearly 25 years.Wedbush still shows as a buy"While CMG is not immune to incremental food cost inflation, we believe it remains relatively well-positioned to offset the incremental inflation with price increases remains relatively well-positioned to offset the incremental inflation with price increases," said a Wedbush note to investors.In comparison to other chains our own Foodable Labs data has been tracking overall sentiment for the past eight years and Chipotle has taken a bit of a hit this past quarter.Chipotle Overall SentimentThis time last year - 82.3 vs 77.2 in March 2022 and a fall of 5.1 points the largest we have seen in a YOY over the past four years.Panera Overall SentimentThis time last year - 79.2 vs 78.4 in March 2022 (Down 1.2 Points)Mod Pizza Overall SentimentThis time last year - 73.2 vs 79.4 in March 2022 (Up 5.8 Points)SweetgreenThis time last year - 80.3 vs 74.1 in March 2022 (Down 6 points)

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next-generation consumer. In this podcast, we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion. In this episode of Chef AF, Pepe talks with Corporate Executive Chef Dewey LoSasso of Bill Hansen Catering & Event Production, to discuss his early start in the industry, why it's important to be a lifelong learner, and the latest innovations in catering menus. LoSasso talks about growing up in New Jersey, along the Jersey Shore, and his early start in the restaurant industry. He shares that his first job was as a dishwasher at the age of 13, and how he immediately fell in love with the business. By the age of 14, he had decided that he wanted to become a Chef. LoSasso talks about how his very supportive father, a master plumber, would bring home used restaurant equipment in order to create a kitchen in the family's basement for the young chef to practice with. He talks about cooking with his mother and father, their discussions about food and ingredients, making memorable holiday meals together, and how that shaped him during his childhood. He says, “I think it was something that definitely influenced me as I got older.”When asked about his education, LoSasso shares that he continued to work in restaurants throughout high school, then right after graduation, he enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America. He talks about working his way through culinary school and traveling from New York to Miami while sampling a variety of dishes, and learning along the way. He says “It was always about hospitality and culinary, and just the whole business whether it's construction, wine lists, dining room elements, the whole thing for me has been a case study in life. In a way and still to this day, I mean, I'm always learning.” Pepe and LoSasso chat about a few of his career highlights. He talks about being hired at The Forge, one of the oldest restaurants in Miami, then relaunching the brand around 2009, and both the challenges and joys that came along with recreating a menu that paid homage to the dishes of the past while embracing new concepts as well. LoSasso reflects on his time working with Micki Wolfson and the Wolfsonian Museum which enabled him to travel every summer to places like Switzerland, France and Australia. He recalls that timeframe was like an experimental kitchen that was a big influence on him. He talks about his journey leading up to opening his first restaurant and working with ‘farm to table' decades before it was trending. In addition to launching several other restaurant concepts, LoSasso was a private chef for numerous celebrities, before deciding to join the team at Bill Hansen Catering & Event Production in 2016. LoSasso talks about working with Bill Hansen Catering & Event Production over the past five years and how they have been expanding the brand and bringing a restaurant sensibility to a catering environment. He says, “Bill Hansen, who's been around for over 42 years, is an iconic man, he actually wrote the book on catering.” LoSasso shares some key insights regarding catering menu development and why incorporating new options, such as vegan dishes are important because plant-based foods are becoming more and more relevant. He adds, “We feel that if you're reactive to what's in the marketplace, we can do a great vegan menu without using a lot of processed plant-based food. And I think the trends are showing, for us, plant-based food is here to stay.”Tune in to the podcast to learn more from LoSasso about plant-based catering, future predictions, and his thoughts regarding Covid takeaways, on Chef AF “It's All Food” or you can listen on iTunes Now!

Supreet Raju and her husband & co-founder, Gaurav Gupta are huge food and travel enthusiasts, exploring the blockchain industry together since 2017. While working and researching projects in the market, they noticed a consistent failure in making blockchain products truly accessible to general audiences. Even simple products were made to sound complex, which attracted no one except developers and tech-geeks. With increasing global interest in crypto & blockchain, they felt the need to create something simple, educational & user-friendly to onboard the next wave of adoption - which culminated into OneRare.The future of technology and consumer adoption is leaning more and more into the evolution of blockchain and how NFT's, the Metaverse, and more will play a bigger role in the future of restaurants, food supply chain as well as consumer adoption, and pop culture. We dive deep into this podcast in a way that will explode your mind with our special interview.

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion. In this episode of Chef AF, Pepe chats with Chef Jose Garces about growing up around fantastic Ecuadorian cuisine, why he started developing plant-based foods and launching his latest concept.When asked about becoming a chef, Garces talks about growing up and watching fantastic cooks, his Mother and Grandmother, preparing foods revolving around the cuisine of Ecuador. Garces talks about attending cooking school in Chicago at Kendall, moving to Spain and working at the local eateries and hotels. He talks about moving to New York, where he worked under mentors at the Four Seasons and the Rainbow Room. He says, “I'd say that part of my career is where I really learned how to cook, how to become a Chef. I would say it was my heaviest training there.” Garces moved from New York to Philadelphia in 2000. He shares that the next part of his career involved leaning into ownership and entrepreneurial opportunities. He opened his first restaurant, Amada, named after his Grandmother, in 2005. He talks about competing on ‘The Next Iron Chef',  becoming an ‘Iron Chef', and appearing on 5 seasons of the show. He says, “I have quite a few battles under my belt.”Pepe and Garces discuss why he started developing plant-based foods. He shares that there were a few factors in the decision. He tells Pepe that a colleague had reached out to him and asked if he would be interested in collaborating on a project to create Latin inspired plant-based meals. Garces says that around the same time-frame, his daughter was having gluten allergies as well as lactose intolerance, and they found that a plant-based diet worked better for her. Garces says, “I was challenged to create these plant-based foods and I took it on wholeheartedly.” He says the result was the launch of Casa Verde.Pepe asks Garces about his most recent endeavor, a Mexican fast casual concept. Garces is excited to talk about the opening of Buena Onda, which means ‘Good Vibes'. The restaurant, a Baja Taqueria, was inspired by the spirit of Mexico's Baja Peninsula. Garces talks about how the restaurant is scaling in both units and with new franchising opportunities. He adds, “This should be a national brand within this year.”To hear Garces talk more about plant-based foods, virtual brands, and the Garces Foundation, check out this episode of Chef AF “It's All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!Produced by Lisa Pepe

Mobile payment app Strike has partnered with Shopify, alternative payment provider Blackhawk Network, and point-of-sale supplier NCR to create a new US payment system that allows merchants to quickly receive payments in dollars after people pay with crypto.My Latest Video on this announcement.The Lightning Network-based system will work with online purchases from merchants using Shopify, as well as point-of-sale transactions at many large chain stores. All of this made operational in conjunction with Cash App.What this means for companies like a Starbucks whose sales are $24.6 B and over 43% in card payments could save the chain as much as $800 Million a year in fees. Multiply that by the 4 Trillion restaurant industry globally and you end up with an addressable market of approximately $9 Billion in savings.Block, formerly known as Square, is integrating the Lightning Network into its popular Cash App, a move first promised in 2019. The company said the feature should be available to all U.S. Cash App users, except those in New York State, in the coming weeks.The integration of the network will allow Cash app customers in the U.S. to send bitcoin for free within seconds to anybody in the world.The Lightning integration is made possible by the Lightning Development Kit created by Spiral, which is funded by Block.Cash App customers will also be able to send bitcoin to any compatible wallet that accepts Lightning Network payments, without being charged fees.Almost three years ago, Block CEO Jack Dorsey, who's also an investor in Lightning Labs, said there were plans underway to integrate the scaling technology with Square's Cash App.

Foodservice added 250K jobs in the first 3 months of 2022Employment in the sector still lags behind February 2020 levels by about 820,000 jobs, but this is the smallest gap to date between pre-pandemic and current job levels.Restaurants and foodservice businesses added 61,000 jobs in March 2022, marking the 15th consecutive month of job growth in the sector, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But sectoral employment lags about 819,000 jobs behind February 2020, the closest the sector has come to close the gap between pre-pandemic employment and current job levels.Drone Delivery BeginsBrinker International has expanded its partnership with drone delivery company Flytrex, which now offers its service in Granbury, Texas, outside of Dallas-Fort Worth via press release.Drones will offer five-minute delivery of Brinker's brands, including two virtual brands It's Just Wings and Maggianno's Italian Classics.The expansion into Texas follows Flytrex's domestic debut in North Carolina in September 2020. Since then, the drone company has expanded into two additional North Carolina markets, including a delivery station in Holly Springs Towne Center, where the company delivers from Brinker's It's Just Wings brand.Robot Invasion - Four Companies to watchStarship Technologies offers autonomous robots for stores, restaurants, and campuses. Starship robots can carry items within a 4-mile radius. Starship's robots weigh no more than 100 pounds, move at pedestrian speed, and navigate around objects and people.Nuro produces custom autonomous delivery vehicles for neighborhoods. Its main vehicle, the R2, features 360° cameras, Lidar, short and long-range radar, and ultrasonic sensors. Nuro has formed several partnerships in Houston: Domino's for pizza deliveries, CVS for prescription deliveries, and Walmart for grocery deliveries. Postmates is a food delivery app and service owned by Uber. Its Serve robot is designed for safe, autonomous navigation on urban sidewalks. Serve navigates using Lidar and communicates with customers through an interactive touchscreen.Amazon Scout is an electric delivery system designed to get packages to customers safely using autonomous delivery devices. Scout bots are the size of a small cooler and roll along sidewalks at a walking pace. Scout initially launched testing to a neighborhood in Snohomish County, Washington. The autonomous delivery system has since expanded to Atlanta, Georgia, and Franklin, Tennessee.

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion. In this episode of Chef AF, Pepe talks with Josh Chanin, Energy Efficiency Consultant for California Instant Rebates to discuss how the California Instant Rebates Program works, why it is beneficial to commercial foodservice customers and their business, and who can qualify for these rebates. Chanin talks about working with utilities across the nation to help them run energy efficiency programs. He explains that utilities actually want their customers to save energy because it also saves the utility companies money in the long run since they don't have to build as much infrastructure to serve a growing customer base. Chanin shares that a lot of utilities are mandated by their public utilities commission to save energy. He says, “We help them do that by running things like rebate programs”.Chanin shares that the California foodservice instant rebates program is a California statewide program targeted specifically at commercial foodservice customers by allowing them to get rebates when purchasing any high efficiency, commercial foodservice equipment such as high efficiency fryers, convection ovens and steamers. Chanin talks about how the program works. Chanin shares that when commercial foodservice customers buy high efficiency, commercial foodservice equipment from their local or national food service equipment dealer or supplier, they are able to get pretty impactful rebates. Chanin shares that the rebates are offered at the time of purchase, making it an instant rebate as opposed to other standard rebate programs that arrive via mail and can take months to reach the customer. He says, “The instant rebates program is great because it allows you to get those rebates as a discount, and have a lower upfront cost when purchasing high efficiency equipment.”Chanin talks about how commercial customers can easily learn what products qualify for rebates and which California residents are eligible for rebates based on their zip code. Chanin says, “We cover almost all of the State of California.” Chanin shares that customers can visit the company's website, featuring a user-friendly search tab to look for equipment by name, manufacturer, model number or they can work directly with their equipment dealer to find the right products for them and check eligibility.Chanin talks about the benefits of high efficiency equipment. He says, “High efficiency equipment has a lot of benefits, especially for the small and medium sized businesses, not only do you get these great rebates, and you're able to save money on the purchase and save energy, which means saving money on your utility bills over the lifetime of your products.” Chanin talks about additional benefits of high efficiency equipment. Chanin shares that often those models have lower recovery times, which means that they can recover faster, such as when frozen food goes in the fryer, or when refrigerator doors are opened and closed again, they're able to get back to temperature faster than other models. Chanin adds, “High efficiency equipment is often name brand products that are higher quality and longer lasting.”Tune into the podcast to learn more from Chanin about the California Instant Rebates Program, on Chef AF “It's All Food” or you can listen at iTunes Now!Produced by Lisa Pepe

After more than a year of a bear market in innovation stocks that are not part of broad-based public equity benchmarks, we believe Instacart's move marks the first major publicly announced valuation cut by a private startup. One of its public competitors, DoorDash, DASH on the NYSE, also has dropped roughly 40% since March 2021. Instacart still could be overvalued relative to DASH, however, as its revenue growth, last year was less than a third of DoorDash's, 21% versus 69%, while its price-to-sales ratio is more than 50% higher at 13x compared to DASH's 7.5x.Meanwhile, data from private secondary markets also suggest that startup valuations are responding to the drawdown in public markets. Secondary marketplace Forge reported that prices for companies that traded on its platform both in the fourth quarter and in February declined roughly 10%, and that the percent of indications of interest (IOI's) on the sell side was 60%, the highest level since the depths of the coronavirus crisis during the first quarter of 2020 and a stark reversal from the 60% of buyer IOI's in 2021. Fast Casual Drive-Thru?Sweetgreen will open its first drive-thru pickup window, or "Sweetlane," in Schaumburg, Illinois, within the next year, the chain announced Wednesday. The unit's opening date and hours of operation have yet to be determined.Sweetgreen has been eyeing drive-thrus for several years, but the pandemic helped accelerate its plans. The chain's urban locations largely struggled during the pandemic, pushing Sweetgreen to build out its presence in suburban markets, where drive-thrus are a natural fit. In 2021, the fast casual chain opened 31 units, with 18 in suburban and residential communities, Neman said. Sweetgreen ended 2021 with 150 locations. Will this move continue to help the stock price?Foodable Labs Sentiment: 78.64 Down 3.12 Points in the past 90 daysWage WarsNusr-et Miami — an upscale steakhouse in Miami owned by celebrity chef Nusret Gokce, also known as "Salt Bae" — did not violate the Fair Labor Standards Act by using an 18% "service charge" added to customers' bills to help meet its minimum and overtime wage obligations, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled March 18 in Compere v. Nusret Miami (No. 20-12422 (11th Cir. March 18, 2022)).Filed by a total of 24 tipped employees at Nusr-et, the class-action lawsuit alleged that from Nov. 1, 2017, through Jan. 18, 2019, the restaurant "paid them less than the required federal minimum and overtime wages and forced them to participate in an illegal tip pool with non-tipped employees." The plaintiffs' case argued that the 18% service charge should be treated as a tip.The 11th Circuit determined that the service charge was not a tip because it was mandatory; the payment was not a "gift" and the amount was not, as the legal definition of "tip" states, "determined solely by the customer."Make sure to check out all of our amazing podcasts here on Foodable Network!

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion. In this episode of Chef AF, Pepe talks with Rick Petralia, Culinary Director at Fazoli's to discuss his jumpstart to becoming a Chef, his Culinary point of view and why he's passionate about approachable, authentic Italian food.Petralia talks about his unique journey towards becoming a Chef. He shares that while attending college to become a math major, he was working at a local restaurant as a server. During his shift one evening the cook called out and the manager asked him if he would be interested in learning how to cook. Petralia replied, “Sure I'll try it.” He adds, “I really enjoyed that and I transitioned from serving to cooking at the restaurant.” Petralia shares that this opportunity led to him changing course from being a math major to going to Culinary school. Petralia talks about the 15 years following Culinary school and how he held a variety of positions in the industry, none of which had him utilizing his culinary experience. He talks about a position becoming available at Fazoli's that would allow to get back into the culinary side of things. He says, “I thought, hey that'd be great to get back into a culinary more creative type of role.” He adds, “Italian is my background and you know it just really seemed like an exciting opportunity.”Petralia shares his culinary point of view and how he approaches recipe development particularly when it comes to QSR and Fast Casual. He talks about having over 200 locations that serve over 700000 meals per week and how being able to replicate every recipe with consistency is key. He says, “First and foremost, that's in the back of my mind every time I develop a recipe, is how is this going to happen 700000 times a week in the same way.”Tune into the podcast to learn more on how Petralia feels about developing recipes including Fazoli's Breadstick Panzanella (Bread Salad), what he has to say about upcoming culinary trends, and his thoughts on supply chain issues on this episode of Chef AF “It's All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!Produced by Lisa Pepe

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion. In this episode of Chef AF, Pepe talks with Rick Petralia, Culinary Director at Fazoli's to discuss his jumpstart to becoming a Chef, his Culinary point of view and why he's passionate about approachable, authentic Italian food.Petralia talks about his unique journey towards becoming a Chef. He shares that while attending college to become a math major, he was working at a local restaurant as a server. During his shift one evening the cook called out and the manager asked him if he would be interested in learning how to cook. Petralia replied, “Sure I'll try it.” He adds, “I really enjoyed that and I transitioned from serving to cooking at the restaurant.” Petralia shares that this opportunity led to him changing course from being a math major to going to Culinary school. Petralia talks about the 15 years following Culinary school and how he held a variety of positions in the industry, none of which had him utilizing his culinary experience. He talks about a position becoming available at Fazoli's that would allow to get back into the culinary side of things. He says, “I thought, hey that'd be great to get back into a culinary more creative type of role.” He adds, “Italian is my background and you know it just really seemed like an exciting opportunity.”Petralia shares his culinary point of view and how he approaches recipe development particularly when it comes to QSR and Fast Casual. He talks about having over 200 locations that serve over 700000 meals per week and how being able to replicate every recipe with consistency is key. He says, “First and foremost, that's in the back of my mind every time I develop a recipe, is how is this going to happen 700000 times a week in the same way.” Tune into the podcast to learn more on how Petralia feels about developing recipes including [Fazoli's Breadstick Panzanella (Bread Salad)], what he has to say about upcoming culinary trends, and his thoughts on supply chain issues on this episode of Chef AF “It's All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!Produced by Lisa Pepe

Crypto Impact on RestaurantsRestaurant Revitalization Fund is dropped from omnibus spending bill as hope for relief dwindles. The second round of restaurant relief will not be included in the omnibus spending bill expected to be voted on by Friday. The rallying cry for a last-ditch effort to include another round of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund in President Biden's spending package was led by Senate Small Business chair Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Maryland) and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) in February. Torchy's Tacos founder Mike Rypka is back as CEO, the company said Thursday.Fresh Mex Moves with Torchy'sRypka was serving as interim CEO for the Austin, Texas-based chain following the retirement of former CEO GJ Hart, which was announced in November. Before launching Torchy's, Rypka was a corporate chef for several fortune 500 organizations MTV Studios, Disney Animation, and Dell. The chain took on a new group of new investors in 2020 that included private-equity firm General Atlantic, as well as D1 Capital Partners, T. Rowe Price, Lone Pine Capital and XN.Chippy ChipotleChipotle has recruited a mechanical employee to take the weight off the hard-working humans. The new recruit is called Chippy and has been given the all-important task of making the Mexican food chain's tortilla chips. Chippy will be helping with staff shortages and combating inflation as we see more and more tech use with fast-casual concepts.Chippy's first shift at Chiptole will take place in its test center in Irving, California. Chippy is a product of Miso Robotics, whose other business partners include the aforementioned Buffalo Wild Wings and the Dodgers baseball franchise. Chipotle, they gave their own reasonings behind their new hire: “We are always exploring opportunities to enhance our employee and guest experience. Our goal is to drive efficiencies through collaborative robotics that will enable Chipotle's crew members to focus on other tasks in the restaurant.”McD Goes All-In On PodcastsPodcast growth has led to increased attention to and investment in podcast networks that can better connect advertisers with diverse creators to reach these audiences. SiriusXM this month signed an exclusive deal with reVolver Podcasts, a network that specializes in Spanish-language podcasts. Earlier this year, Pod Digital Media, a full-service agency for multicultural podcasters, signed a three-year, eight-figure ad deal with McDonald's as the QSR giant seeks to invest in diverse media partners.In 2022, 51% of the population has listened to a podcast and roughly 78% are familiar with the medium.Podcast listeners increased by 29.5% from 2018 to 2021.Over one-third (104 million) of Americans listen to podcasts regularly.According to Edison Research, 41% (116 million) listened to a podcast in the last month.28% (80 million) of Americans are weekly podcast listeners.

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion.In this episode of Chef AF, Pepe talks with Alex Sadowsky, Executive Chef at Twin Peaks to discuss his humble beginning in an industry that he quickly fell in love with while working his way up in a variety of kitchens, his passion for comfort food and how a childhood sandwich would become a signature recipe.Sadowsky talks about entering the industry as a dishwasher out of necessity and quickly learned that he'd found his calling. He talks about admiring other Chefs, reading their books and consuming as much knowledge as possible as he worked his way up in the kitchen, and into The Culinary Institute of America where he immersed himself in his culinary education.Sadowsky shares that following graduation he returned home to Minnesota and decided he wanted to gain even more experience. He says, “I worked my way through all these kitchens and tried to get a little bit of experience with everything you know, from Diners to Fine Dining, Seafood, Steakhouse, Country Clubs.” At one point he even owned two bars and grills where he really started to lean into cooking and serving comfort food.Sadowsky talks about growing tired of the cold weather in Minnesota and being ready to relocate to someplace warmer when a chance call with his best friend from culinary school, encouraged him to relocate to Texas. Once there Sadowsky joined a great company emerging in the Gastro Pub trend. It was during this time that Sadowsky says he was able to work directly with little farmers, create farm to table dishes and open up a lot of new concepts for the company.Sadowsky talks about becoming the Executive Chef at Twin Peaks and how it opened up the opportunity to take his love for comfort food to the next level first Nationally, and then scaling it Internationally with the company. Sadowsky shares details on a new comfort recipe that was inspired by his favorite food as a child. He says, “I love to talk about this! Okay I was addicted when I was a little kid to eating fried baloney sandwiches and I would put the potato chips right on the sandwich and I don't think I'm the only one. And, right now it seems like Bologna is having a big comeback.” So much so that he has created a special dish in honor of it!Chef shares with us his recipe for [Potato Chip Crusted Bologna], an inexpensive dish that he developed with hopes that it will bring back fond memories and make a bunch of people happy.Tune into the podcast to learn more about Chef Sadowsky's thoughts on virtual brands, comfort foods and labor shortages in the restaurant, on Chef AF “It's All Food” or you can listen at iTunes Now!Produced by Lisa Pepe

Starship Tech a sidewalk robotic company is raising 100 Million in a flashStarship robots are revolutionizing food and package deliveries, offering people convenient new services that improve everyday life. Their ability to harness technology combined with experience providing services to millions of people makes this a reality today.Google accused of 'deceptive' online ordering practices by a restaurant groupA class-action lawsuit has been filed against Google alleging the tech giant infringed on restaurants' intellectual property rights and interfered with their customer relationships by using "deceptive online ordering practices." The suit was filed on behalf of Left Field Holdings, which operates several Lime Fresh Mexican Grill restaurants.Chains Longterm Impact From Russian ExitsStarbucks and McDonald's announced Tuesday that they are halting business activity in Russia following the country's invasion of Ukraine. Neither company has forecasted when their Russian stores could reopen. The Golden Arches has 850 restaurants and 62,000 workers in Russia and 84% of its Russian restaurants are company-owned. Starbucks has 130 total restaurants in Russia, all of which are licensed by but not owned by the company, according to data published by the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute on Tuesday.Welcome to the NFT Restaurant BoomChefs like Tom Colicchio are minting NFT pizzas, recipes, and even limited-edition gin bottles. But is the rest of the food world along for the ride?This episode sponsored by California Energy Wise & Dawn Professional®

Foodservice Tech Sell-Off - Affect on your restaurant?Lots of technology news this week and also a seismic shift in what we could be dealing with very soon if we see a potential recession and seven dollar a gallon gas. The landscape has erie similarities to an era when old school POS was displaced in early 2000. DoorDash buys Bbot to beef up in-store digital ordering capabilitiesDoorDash is acquiring Bbot, a hospitality technology startup that simplifies digital orders and payments processes, the company announced Tuesday. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.The deal will expand DoorDash's suite of first-party platform services, such as DoorDash Drive and DoorDash Storefront, to meet increased demand for integrated and simplified solutions. The aggregator also claims Bbot's technology will increase partner restaurant sales and reduce diner wait times to order and pay.I see this as an early validation that Bbot did not want to go the IPO route with the battering of foodservice tech companies that have fallen as much as two-thirds in less than a year with the likes of OLO and Toast.Next up is Toast - as CFO Elana Gomez states they are looking for tactical investments for market share growth. In my opinion, this is a bad strategy under the current economic overpriced landscape that is on the verge of a major hit as well as a shift from web 2 to web 3 that is clearly underway.The company is staying its course amid a broader sell-off in the cloud-computing sector since November and volatility in the broader markets in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and lower margins. Toast's shares are now in the $20 range, down from the $40 level in September that made it one of the largest IPOs of the year in restaurant technology.Paul's Take: This is a problem that we are facing right now in the tech sector with foodservice and one that will not be realized until 2024-25 which will then be too late. A caution in investing in this sector right now due to the fact we could see an early disruption of an industry that was forced into growth before they and the technology advancements of the future were ready. There are clear changes beginning to shift the tech landscape once again and the COVID bandaid of tech companies that have been thrust into these uncertain times wreaks of a bad situation brewing.This episode is Sponsored by Popmenu

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion. In this episode of Chef AF, I chat with Chef Dawn Burrell about her incredible journey as an Olympian to finding her passion for a career in culinary, becoming a finalist on Top Chef Portland and her James Beard Award Nomination. Burrell who traveled the world with the USA's Track and Field team says it was a great way to spend her early twenties, she was traveling and there was airport and hotel time sprinkled with culture and great food. Her traveling played a role in her love of food and she says, “You know when you eat the food of the people, you are learning about their history and their culture without even knowing if you're in tune in that way.” Burrell says that her love for food came from her grandmother and aunts. I ask Burrell about culinary becoming a full-time career for her and she shares that during a difficult time in her life when she was facing retirement from track and field, she needed to find something else that she loved to do. She says, athletes have blinders on and you can lose sight of other interests and things you can do in life. She says, “So I had to quickly figure out for myself in my adult life and I landed in culinary, I really remember I had the fondest childhood memories of food and I always wanted to know more.”Burell has been extremely busy as a chef since culinary school. She was the sous chef at Uchiko, the executive chef at Kulture, she had a James Beard nomination, and became part of Lucille's Hospitality Group opening the restaurant Late August, a culinary collaboration with Chef Chris Williams. Burrell also talks about two industry non-profit organizations she supports, I'll Have What She's Having, a women-led non-profit, raising community awareness and funds in support of better health and healthcare in the food and beverage industry and Lucille 1913, a conscious community collective that is building a vertically integrated ecosystem to combat food insecurity and waste; creating training and employment opportunities in traditionally under-resourced neighborhoods; and empowering communities to discover a self-sustainable livelihood through food.To hear Chef Burrell talk about being an all star guest judge on Top Chef Season 19 and her recipe for Salmon with Buttermilk Broth & Gai Lan, plus find out why she decided on culinary school, check out this episode of Chef AF “It's All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion. In this episode of Chef AF, I chat with Tim Griffin, director of culinary at SPB Hospitality about his path to becoming a chef, finding his inspiration, and driving menu innovation for several brands. Since October 2020 Griffin has been leading SPB Hospitality Brands culinary team with over twenty years experience in fine dining, catering and hospitality. Prior to joining the SPB team he has worked for Kona Grill, Ignite Restaurant Group's Joe's Crab Shack and Brick House Tavern & Tap. Griffin also served as a founding Board Member of the Global Culinary Innovators Association. He attended Texas Tech University and earned a bachelor's degree in restaurant and management finishing his education at The Culinary Institute of America. Griffin says, while at CIA in Napa Valley, he would speak to chefs that would come through, and would have great conversations about being a multi-unit corporate chef. Ultimately those discussions helped him identify what he wanted to do with his culinary education. He was drawn to the scope and scale of managing multiple things and entities across cities, states, and the world. I ask Griffin if he has been feeling the challenges of supply chain shortages. He says, “Yes, there's been a lot of react and adapt to current menu items as well as products, it changes daily, weekly but we have a great supply chain and I work very closely with them.” Adding, “it's a tighter relationship now than it has been in the past.” Some of the SPB brands include Logan's Roadhouse, Rock Bottom, Gordon Biersch, Old Chicago, and more. Griffin also shares the different virtual brands that are in development with SPB. Griffin talks about food trends and says he is seeing a lot more from Korea. But he looks for up and coming food trends by taking advantage when he travels, by visiting small restaurants and seeing what ingredients and presentations they are doing. To hear more about the creative process in the test kitchen, get Griffin's take on developing menus, and the story behind the Roasted Cauliflower Recipe, check out this episode of Chef AF “It's All Food” or you can listen on Spotify!

Could third party be seeing the end of the party as more and more consumers are stressed with financial considerations and economic impact from inflation, interest rates, and global conflict?Operators are slowing down as well in terms of new restaurant openings. The slow return to normal and in-restaurant dining will have a slowing effect on the growth of third-party delivery.All that said, Door Dash recorded a 69% jump in revenue from 2020 to 2021, totaling $4.89 billion for the year, according to the company's full-year 2021 earnings results.The platform's losses also grew to $468 million for 2021 compared to 2020. DoorDash CFO Prabir Adarkar attributed this increase to the company's expansion into new verticals and investment in international growth.Trends are down and up as we break out some of the NRA's findings around the future consumer.More Restaurants Enter The MetaverseLast year, Applebee's experimented with NFTs as part of a "Metaverse Mondays” which had lackluster performance simply because they were new and first movers.The chief brand officer referred to the program as a low-risk, medium- to high-reward opportunity. He states going back to authenticity; the critical element is that it wasn't just a stunt or gimmick in terms of just an NFT that we put out there from our brand, but that we had that real-world component as well. The key for NFT and Metaverse use cases in the future will be real-world utility and the bridge that will enable how the market can develop for growth.Bringing in that real-world experience along with the NFT just made so much sense to be able to break through some of the noise that was happening as NFTs were starting to garner a lot of attention and a lot of activity from a lot of different brands.Panera also filed a trademark for the Paneraverse, and the potential of what they have in mind could be a big part of the brand's future. Listen to the podcast to learn more!

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion. In this episode of Chef AF, I chat with Mohamed “Mo” Alkassar, founding partner of Alpareno Restaurant Group about his extensive background in hospitality, his partnership with three-time James Beard award nominee, Chef Niven Patel, and the importance of mentorship. Alkassar, while in Madrid waiting for his visa to go to the United States, stumbled on the hospitality industry working in fine dining at Maison Blanche. He further developed his skills by working for some of the most well-recognized hospitality groups in the Middle East. Alkassar met his mentor during this time, Michael Bonadies, partner, Myriad Restaurant Group. The group that created Nobu and many other iconic restaurants. Alkassar moved to Miami and took a step back in his career to get experience in American style service before joining NRI, Nolan Reynolds International as chief operating officer. In addition to being the COO of NRI, Alkassar partnered with Chef Niven Patel, Charles Nolan and Brent Reynolds to form Alpareno Restaurant Group. Alpareno's culinary portfolio of chef-driven restaurants include Patel's Ghee Indian Kitchen, Mamey and Orno. Alkassar says, “Chef Niven is the embodiment of farm to table because he lives on this farm, it is his home in South Florida in Homestead, which he refers to as Rancho Patel, is actually his farm so he pretty much lives the food and beverage cycle right. He wakes up in the morning, he goes up on the farm, he picks the produce himself, he comes in every morning to all our restaurants with boxes.” I asked Alkassar about his philosophy that food has the power to bring people together. He talks about opening Mamey during the pandemic and being able to be there for the community and their staff, connecting everyone through food. Having a mentor or being a mentor in hospitality is common. Alkassar says, “we say we want to enhance the lives of all our stakeholders equally and put as much effort into doing so and you can only do so if you really mentor your team. I learned that I think I've always had it inherently since I was a kid, really to take care of people, mentor people and teach them what I know.” To hear more about creating dishes with fresh ingredients including grilled okra, and how Alkassar's team worked through the challenges during the pandemic, check out this episode of Chef AF “It's All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!

In today's episode of The Restaurant Report, host Paul Barron chats with Rajat Suri, chief executive officer of Presto about the future of where technology is going in foodservice. Suri, an engineer by training, confounded Lyft and developed Presto while at M.I.T. in 2008. Presto over the years started building out a suite of products in three major areas, touch, vision, and voice which are all different ways of translating a physical action or physical event to digital data. Presto Voice is a human-like AI voice, an assistant to help manage labor shortage. Presto Vision, a smart AI-driven analytics to optimize your everyday restaurant operations, and Presto Touch, a guest facing technology. Barron asks Suri if off-premise including drive-thru, pick-up and curbside, how it is today is the new normal, he says, he thinks off-premise is underpriced and will see a higher cost over the next few years. As companies like Uber Eats and DoorDash costs go up and you will see a decline in the off-premise business. Suri says, “I think drive-thrus are going to do gangbusters everywhere, I don't know if the world of people going back into dining rooms of restaurants that's going to come all the way back because I think people have realized that drive-thrus are very convenient a lot of people are more addicted to that channel. The future looks very good.”Barron talks to Suri about what would be the technology that would immediately draw people back into the drive-thrus, Suri says, I think the drive-thru is set for a rocket transformation due to technology. Presto is working on a drive-thru experience where you can literally drive in and you don't need to order or pay, you just pick up food. Presto's computer vision cameras can recognize the person ordering, have your food order ready for you and send you a text message to confirm you are getting the same thing or if you would like to add or change your order. Suri adds that this can speed up the drive-thru process and make it a better experience.Labor is getting more expensive and technology is getting less expensive, Suri says. He adds, automation is the strongest it's ever been today but it's going to look like nothing compared to five to ten years from now. To hear more from Suri about innovation, the future of technology in foodservice, and virtual staff members, check out this episode of The Restaurant Report on Spotify.

Leading off with the Cooper's Hawk announcement of their IPO in 2022 will set the stage for a few restaurant operations to take a lead in bringing themselves to the public stage. According to Ernst & Young, 2021 featured the highest annual deal volume on the markets ever, with 2,388 companies going public. The big questions for Coopers will be the connection to the Millenial and GenZ as a real market starts to emerge and could affect their powerhouse wine club of 500k strong. Casual dining still continues to be the one sector that has been affected most which could cause concern for Cooper's Hawk's valuation as an on-premise-focused casual dining brand.My 2022 Trends to Watch:I dive deep into mostly a technology-facing aspect of where the industry needs to go. I think we have finally faced our demons as an industry and understand that this is no longer an option for our success, but instead, the industry could be embracing a new technology avalanche coming its way. Tune in to the podcast for the full list of my trends to watch.

As we dive into this week's podcast we begin to tread in areas not often mentioned by the restaurant industry with Drone delivery leading the way and how Flytrex may be the next Uber for restaurant delivery. The real question will be the adoption curve of the digital consumer and if they have the uptake acceleration we have seen with online the third party. The likelihood that we see widespread drone delivery by 2025 is now a real possibility.C-Stores may have been the old school grab and go's of the past, but soon they will be forced and poised to enter the serious fray of fast-casual as they face an entirely new population of electric cars that are about to change the landscape of the American roadways. Fuel stations could be a thing of the past by 2030 and see the birth of a new model for C-store applications.Chipotle is often referred to as the rule breaker and the one that seems to always be out in front. In my book the Chipotle Effect, I predicted what we would see a new reality of the digital restaurant which is now becoming evident. Chipotle continues to separate from the pack as they enter into a fully digital and Chipotlane model - that in my opinion puts them on a course to 10K location by 2030. Lots to unpack in this episode as we also discuss what the tech stack might look like as we see these three key shifts moving the food consumer further and further from the dine-in restaurant.This episode is sponsored by Popmenu. Get $100 off your first month with Popmenu. Popmenu.com/restaurantreport

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion. In this episode of Chef AF, I chat with Sheryn Delgado-Abalos about choosing to be vegan at an early age, why she taught herself to cook and becoming an entrepreneur. When I asked her about becoming a chef, Delgado-Abalos says, “I ended up having to basically teach myself how to cook and prepare meals that were also healthy and that could sustain my new lifestyle even though I was so young and I just started experimenting in the kitchen.” She adds, “It was really myself teaching myself and when I was fifteen I had this notion, oh wouldn't it be great to have a restaurant.” Delgado-Abalos moved to Miami from Canada at twenty-one and while working at a hotel she met an investor that funded her first project. She says about opening her first vegan concept, “It was in Miami Beach in the nineties when the fashion world was just beginning here. It was a really good learning experience. It was basically my university for how to open up a business in Miami Beach because they don't make it so easy here. There's a lot of red tape and administration, a lot of licensing fees. So I spent a lot of my time at city hall trying to figure out how to do things correctly. I had to keep going back and I pretty much lived at city hall until we finally opened our doors.”As far as Delgado-Abalos' education she received formal education training from Food Future Institute, Food For Health Foundation, International School of Detoxification, SunFired Foods Academy and Ecornell Plant Based Nutrition as well as other programs. In 2010 Delgado-Abalos opened Thrive Juice Bar and in 2015, Plant Theory Creative Cuisine, a combination of her world travels and healthy, organic, gluten-free artisan-crafted food. Chef shares her recipe, Where's The Beet!, made with roasted portobello, sunflower seeds and more. To hear Delgado-Abalos talk about plant-based and the shift in the industry and how wellness and health will have a role in the future of food, check out this episode of Chef AF “It's All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion. In this episode of Chef AF, I chat with Chef Ben Ebbrell, co-founder and director at SORTEDfood, about his background as a trained chef and how a conversation at a pub with friends sparked the idea and the sentiment that got Sortedfood started. SORTEDfood began over ten years ago and their mission is to get people SORTED by empowering them with passion, knowledge, skills and tools so they can confidently cook with whatever they have available. SORTEDfood's youtube channel has over two million subscribers. Ebbrell says that their youtube channel started in 2010 and has changed over the years. He says, “it's changed and now it's more sort of entertainment and inspiration. First we promise that if you watch a video on youtube you'll always learn something. There's always some factual takeout but it's more about just hanging out and having fun together and there's lots of challenges and a bit of Jeopardy and some competition elements and we invite other expert guests and chefs in so that we can learn from them as well. It's kind of just one big happy family of food, drink and cooking an open invitation.”“We've realized as with many subjects once you open that treasure chest and you start to explore and the more you learn the more you realize you don't know and I think food is one of those things that can just keep going and people's perceptions and habits and behavior around food is changing and evolving. The kind of food that we were cooking ten years ago and to be honest with the kind of food we were avoiding ten years ago are now very very commonplace and absolutely important and topical and timely. We would be stupid if we didn't kind of feature that and celebrate that now,” Ebbrell says when I asked if the possibilities are endless for SORTEDfood.To hear how SORTEDfood was able to shine light on restaurants by highlighting their meal kits when creating video content during the pandemic, the gourmet beans on toast recipe, Ebbrell's thoughts on sustainability and more, check out this episode of Chef AF “It's All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!

Food safety is a huge aspect of how Ghost Kitchen will control most of the digital landscape for the future and understanding the demand on a restaurant brand will be huge for both consumer awareness and brand impact. Maybe this is why we are seeing David Change make a quick exit from Reef Kitchens with reported food safety concerns.The issue stems from reports from Business Insider and Restaurant Dive that Reef's units served undercooked food and routinely failed safety inspections. Fuku has moved to Kitchen United according to a press release.Metaverse for restaurantsThis may be the new wild west for restaurants and how this integrates into brand building, digital payment, order placement, gamification and so much more. My deep-level reporting on my show Tech Path explores the Metaverse and the blockchain and how Web 3 could shift the sands of digital to a completely new understanding of how digital restaurants will be realized in the future. Applebees and McDonalds have tested the waters with the recent sale of NFT's and the entrance into a new creator-related Metaverse play. The biggest point to notice here is the massive lack of awareness to what is happening in this area for technology as related to the restaurant industry - though not a surprise when I look back on how restaurants were highly unprepared for social media in 2007, the early adopters will be the winners once again.Looking for Metaverse and Blockchain strategies for your restaurant?

On this episode of Emerging Brands, Nicole Di Pietro, vice president of Jeremiah's Italian Ice talks about brand standards, franchising, and maintaining a strong local presence. Di Pietro, who started in hospitality when she was thirteen years old at a local bakery, says even though she worked there all four years of high school, she never thought that her long-term career would end up in the hospitality industry. She went to college and got a job at Tijuana Flats, where she continued working for twenty years before joining Jeremiah's Italian Ice. Di Pietro refers to herself as a lifer in the industry. In 2016 Di Pietro joined Jeremiah's Italian Ice as vice president preparing the brand for growth. She says one of the main reasons she wanted to be a part of the brand was their culture. “The culture is really what drew me in. Just having a servant heart and passion for people was really important for me to align myself with a brand that matched my personal core values and would be able to continue to scale that so the vision for Jeremiah's Italian Ice is really simple, it's to be the coolest frozen dessert brand” says Di Pietro. Adding, “our mission is to consistently create flavorful experiences for our staff and guests while inspiring them to live life to the coolest.”In terms of core values, Di Pietro says, “It's really important for us that the core values that we have are not just something that hangs in a frame on the wall. It's something that we utilize and we use and we exemplify on a daily basis and it's something that when we're looking for employees, franchise partners to grow with we need to ensure that our core values align with the people that we're aligning with because the people are the most important component to any concept.” Di Pietro talks about the future and says, “Jeremiah's franchising in 2021 for the future is really simple. We're trying to create a thoughtful franchising program with franchise partners that truly align with our culture and our core values, that have a people-first mentality and that implements that in their daily actions.” Tune into this episode of Emerging Brands to learn more about Jeramiah's franchise community, company culture, and developing a brand with strong local presence.

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion. In this episode of Chef AF, I chat with Chef Jack Yoss, Vice President of Culinary at Hai Hospitality about his early inspiration, hands-on training, the importance of having mentors, and working overseas. Yoss shares that his foundation for cooking came from Las Vegas and working for Wolfgang Puck restaurants for nearly eight years. He says he truly learned about people and how to work with different cultures while overseas. Yoss adds, he was in Bali, Thailand, and other countries and when working in a foreign land, managing five hundred people that all have different customs, you learn to adapt very quickly. I asked Yoss about the culture having an impact on his culinary style, he says, “I will never say that I fully understand the fundamentals of Indonesian Cuisine. You know there's hundreds of dialects, there's hundreds of regional cuisines, there's thousands of islands right, you're never going to fully understand that as a foreigner.” He adds, “but what I did get was a good base knowledge and that's definitely inflected the way that I cook these days.” Yoss spent time working with Hai Hospitality before going overseas, and on his return he joined the group again. Hai Hospitality is a restaurant group from Texas, their restaurants include, Uchi, Uchiko, Uchiba, and Loro an Asian smokehouse and bar by James Beard award winners Chef Tyson Cole and Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue. Yoss is known for his in the trenches work style, he says, “you can't lead through email and you can't lead through text, first of all the very first and foremost is you have to get to know and build relationships with your teams and your team doesn't only mean your chef de cuisine or your sous chefs. You need to get to know the line cooks, you need to get to know the prep cooks and you need to be visible.” Adding, “getting out, getting on the road, and getting in the restaurants.” To hear Yoss talk about the importance of mentors, his story behind the recipe for pork shoulder satay, his thoughts on the labor shortage, and what the future holds check out this episode of Chef AF “It's All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!

DoorDash on Monday began offering 10- to-15-minute deliveries in the New York City neighborhood of Chelsea and if this works out they plan to put the hammer down to compete with some of the services like GoPuff and other younger upstarts that are starting to put some pressure on the top dog in delivery.Jack in the Box has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Del Taco for $575 million, or $12.51 per share in cash, the companies announced Monday. This I think was a perfect acquisition for JIB with similar but not identical markets. The biggest issue we see is the potential to grow a demographic - Our Foodable Labs data revealed that Del Taco has a crossover rate of 23.8% of Jack in the Box customers one of the lower crossover demos in fast food!McDonald's is pulling a celeb play with Mariah Carey with 12 days of deals, plus fans have even more reasons to celebrate the Mariah Menu with free, limited-edition merch and a holiday-themed TV commercial.NFT's for restaurants may be closer than you think! - Make sure to listen to the full podcast to get the inside on how Blockchain and NFT's may be the next gold rush in restaurant technology - similar to the era of social media adoption by restaurants in 2007!

Mod Pizza is set to go IPO soon and is one of the darlings of the Fast Casual Segment, founded in 2008. They have been on a tremendous growth plan. They have raised $160 million and set a goal to increase its store count to 1,000 locations by 2024. Check out our Brand Analysis on Mod Pizza on a recent podcast to talk about their unique culture, which sets them apart from any brand I know.Will the Robots be able to earn the acceptance of consumers as we see mass adoption coming for restaurants in the next few years? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, August saw record amounts of workers quitting, with over 4.3 million Americans leaving their jobs. 867,000 of those were accommodation and food service workers.73.8% of consumers are willing to interact with RobotsBiggest Concern - 87.4% Safety and SanitationVelvet Taco Sells Out! And while they are finding the new home with Leonard Green & Partners, Front Burner, the seller will maintain a minority stake. The issue is that I think they may have sold this too cheap - waiting for the information, but I speculate the valuation was under what this concept should be worth.Also, listen in on our updated Self Service data from Foodable Labs!78.4% of customers will engage self-service over waiting in a line81% of consumers will switch brands when a SS operation is clunky Best and Worst Self Service BrandsTijuana Flats 43.3 ScoreChipotle - 85.6 Score

As we continue to see a shift in technology to take on the rising issues with Labor C3 and Sam Nazarian is leading a seed capital round of $ 20 million for Nomi, a startup that uses automation to create bowl-based meals. The investment is part of a 50/50 deal with a partnership with C3, which will test the robotic kitchens through "Iron Chef" Masaharu Morimoto's Sa'Moto restaurant concept. The space is scattered with tech startups like Piestro, Beastro, Refraction Bot delivery,RBI's leadership may be up to something with this acquisition of Firehouse Subs for a coll 1.1. billion. Though I expect this is a play for growth as RBI continues to see a struggling performance in comparison with other QSR concepts. McDonald's is looking to deliver a gangster move on third-party delivery with a white-label deal that could have ripple effects on an entire industry with 32K restaurants and a need for high-speed delivery to ensure quality. Door Dash and Uber may have just bagged the 800-pound gorilla without a safety cage.Last up is Sweet Green and whether or not the 364 Million IPO will make a big difference for this brand who has struggled to get profitable for over five years. Likely that the recently hired Chris Carr as COO will have his hands full with a huge demand for performance from the public investors.Foodable Labs Sentiment RankingsSweetgreen - 75.48 - Ranked #23Firehouse Subs - 71.02 Ranked #57Burger King - 73.02 Ranked #42Tim Hortons - 56.99 Ranked #203Popeye's - 62.37 Ranked #112

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion. In this episode of Chef AF, I chat with Chef Paul Griffin, chief culinary officer at BurgerFi about his training, his experience of over twenty years, and his road to BurgerFi. Griffin, born and raised in New Zealand, talks about being classically trained and how it gave him a foundation in French European cuisine with a foundation of sauce technique. When Griffin finished school, he took the traditional path and went gourmet, working for some of the best restaurants in the country and the world, he says. Griffin says he spent many years honing his culinary skills at the top hotels in the world and small restaurants, including The Breakers in Palm Beach. He came to South Florida and that's when Griffin began to build BurgerFi. I asked Griffin how he became a founding member of BurgerFi and he says, “being a chef in south florida we made some acquaintances in the industry that worked front of house, that were entrepreneurs and you know over the years we had crossed paths and and back in 2006 we kind of joined together.” He adds, “We were running high-end full-service Italian restaurants here and in Delray Beach. Delray Beach is a very young and vibrant little town right on the beach here and we had several restaurants that were doing lunch and dinner at super high volume.” Griffin had found a niche item on the menu, it was an antibiotic free beef burger. He says, “The burgers really became the star and then it took a few years of that and we realized that we hadn't played in the QSR field ever.” Griffin adds, they took a product that they were already selling and it became the burger brand BurgerFi. I chat with Griffin about the size of the BurgerFi opening team and he says, “we've been consistent with the plan, again coming with operational strength. We have a five-person team based on the 5 positions that they train. We have a grilled person, we have the front of the house, we have you know the assembly person. Well, it's not an overly complicated system. So the training team today is leaps and bounds over what I started back then, I mean we've introduced amazing technology.”Griffin says when asked about the industry, “I would love to see hospitality bounce back.” He adds, “It's more important than the food I agree with you, it's all about going out talking to someone and you know being treated pleasantly. It's becoming a lost art.” To hear Chef Griffin talk about supply chain disruptions, his recipe for the BurgerFi Spicy Wagyu Burger better known as the SWAG Burger, technology, and more check out this episode of Chef AF “It's All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!

On this episode of Emerging Brands, Andy Wiederhorn, chief executive officer of FAT Brands talks about the impact of the pandemic on FAT Brands, partnering with third party delivery, and the benefits of becoming a franchisee. Wiederhorn shares with us the impact the pandemic had on FAT Brands saying, “The impact of the pandemic on FAT Brands was really challenging because we have multiple categories of restaurant companies, we have QSR brands, we have fast casual brands, we have casual dining brands and polished casual dining brands. So the effect here across our different brands was different in each category.” He adds, “the brands that were the most resilient of course were the QSR brands and the fast casual brands that always had delivery and togo and they went from thirty or forty percent delivery and to eighty five percent delivery and togo.” FAT Brands has fifteen different brands including Johnny Rockets, Hot Dog on a Stick, Marble Slab Creamery, Pretzelmaker, Round Table Pizza, Great American Cookie Company, FAT Burger, Elevation Burger, Yalla Mediterranean, Buffalo's Cafe, Hurricane Grill, and their most recent acquisition of Twin Peaks. Wiederhorn says, “recently our acquisition of Twin Peaks the sports lodge is really our first entry into polished casual dining, where you have much larger average unit volumes five or six million dollars a restaurant. These restaurants are quite large, six thousand square feet. They cost five or six million dollars to build and you know it's a whole different business being in the sports bar business.” Wiederhorn talks about the benefits of being a franchisee partner saying, “being part of the FAT Brands family brings all kinds of benefits to the franchisee. Our purchasing power today is more than five hundred million dollars a year in food, paper, beverages, and so when you're a franchisee joining our family you're getting two or three percent lower food costs just because of our global purchasing power.”  To hear more about the benefits of becoming a franchisee partner in regards to marketing power, the value of third party partnerships, and why restaurants should consider being on the plant-based protein train, tune into this episode of Emerging Brands on Apple Podcasts.

Today's weekly wrap dives into the trends and stats for the current labor situation brewing in foodservice with a dramatic impact on restaurants based on new consumer data analysis from Foodable Labs.Tweetable Data PointsFoodable Labs Data:-229K restaurants permanently closed during COVID19-Over 1.3MM jobs lost-62% of millennials that were in the industry have gone outside the foodservice sector for work-Tech challenged restaurants to make up over half of the landscape in 2022-Fastest growing sector - fast-casual up 13.4% new openings in 2021-120+ new concepts in fast-casual in 2021-35% of consumers are choosing to eat out less due to rising prices - the largest demographic is millennialsI also breakdown the Doordash global expansion and what this could mean to the restaurant business. Along with the evolution of ghost kitchens being launched by Inspire brands, a little late to the party but definitely, one to keep your eyes on for growth in multi-concept ghost kitchens.Wrapping up with my latest insights on the Panera Bread IPO and why this could be a very good thing for Panera in a time where the market is looking for a big leader on the technology front.

In today's weekly wrap episode of The Restaurant Report, host Paul Barron looks at fast food embracing technology, explores the future of automation to address labor shortages and dives into Shake Shack's growth plans as well as Fat Brands newest acquisition. Three Key Points:Shake Shake's Q3 earnings call was released and chief executive officer Randy Garutti shared details on the expansion for 2022, expecting to develop forty-five to fifty company-operated stores and adding walk up windows, drive up, and drive-thrus to about twenty-five percent of them. The pressure of labor shortages increase as people continue to leave their jobs and autonomous drone delivery will come into play. Barron talks about Flytrex, Dominos, Nuro's latest development and more. McDonalds and Burger King are expanding with AI in the drive-thru side but Barron says that autonomous voice ordering will take over AI. Fat Brands announced the acquisition of Fazoli's for one hundred and thirty million dollars, Barron asks, “Is this a buy or a bust?” Fat Brands has also acquired Twin Peaks from Garnett Station Partners for three hundred million. Tweetable Quotes: “Most restaurant operators right now are still dealing with old tech and old formats when it comes to managing labor.” - Paul Barron “This is getting so dystopian, I feel like hospitality, where is it going?” - Paul Barron “You've got to figure out the solution that is going to deal with both autonomy speed technology and hospitality on the same side and that I think is going to be the holy grail for the restaurant industry.” - Paul Barron

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion. In this episode of Chef AF, I talk with Greg Pryor, known to his instagram followers as Caster Azucar, a cook with no formal training about social media, his cooking that comes from his love of creating and why he sees food as an adventure. Pryor talks about the amazing feeling of trying something sensational in a restaurant and says he has had those experiences in New Zealand. He chats about eating at Michael Meredith's restaurant saying it was incredible and couldn't believe what he had done with a potato and cabbage dish. Pryor adds, “there's something that is my drive to try and get people to experiment more at home and appreciate food more when they go out, but also appreciate the adventure that is food.” Pryor shares with us his recipe Burnt Butter, Pistachio, and Potato Soup, which he says came from looking for something that was hearty, warm and fall-like. This recipe comes with an option to add grilled salmon. Pryor talks about creating echoes of the foundational flavors, saying that the dish is about bringing layers of flavor and texture to something as simple as a soup. Tune into the podcast to learn more on how Pryor feels about following recipes, what he has to say about cooking with sous vide, and his thoughts about the industry on this episode of Chef AF “It's All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!

Guest: Ken Chong, Co-Founder & CEO of All Day Kitchens