if you want to hear with the best advice
Wolfgang Puck Gordon Ramsay Bobby Flay
and other successful chefs have for how
to make it as a restaurateur then this
video is for you
just remember you have to make always
more money than you spend and you will
stay in business and you will always
live okay key to a successful business
is remembering the customers king
perchance without them WA nobody if you
don’t really love it if you’re not in
cutting your the word passion throwing
around all the time there’s no more
important word you’re cooking if you’re
not passionate about it it’s not the
right thing for you
what’s that believe they should it seven
my one word is believe and I believe in
you I believe you have an amazing gift
inside you that I want to see explode
out into the world now I started the
making it series to take a deep dive
down specific industries specific
verticals and niches to get the best
advice the best knowledge the best
wisdom for the people who accomplish the
most in that field and distill it down
into one video for you guys so today
we’re going to learn from some of the
world’s most famous chefs on how to make
it in the restaurant business
enjoy all right up first number one is
be consistent with Thomas Keller and
great restaurants have to be consistent
we can all cook you know there was a lot
of great chefs out there who can do a
lot of great things but to be consistent
300 days a year you know lunch and
dinner over and over and over and over
again is really for me what defines
greatness it’s the one one-hit wonders
or one-hit wonders to be there for a
long time to be impactful for a long
time to have a team that continues to
evolve to have guests that continue to
come to your restaurant to have that
relationship with your partners with all
your suppliers
those are really really important things
for me in a restaurant number two is
don’t live beyond your means with
Wolfgang Puck was there someone earlier
in your career that worked with you on
helping you set up the businesses and
teaching you the business
side or did you already have that now my
mother when I left at 14 she told me you
know what can you just remember you have
to make always more money than you spend
and you will stay in business and you
will always live okay and my mother was
always like that you know
let’s not try to overspend let’s not
spend more than what we have so when I
first started Spago for example in 1982
in January when we open it we started
with 26 employees five years later we
have 96 employees
it was the same size restaurant
basically but I started everybody was
working pigs basically 16 hours a day so
little by little I trained people and
added people to it but we didn’t live
beyond our means
number three is focus on the customer
with Gordon Ramsay key to a successful
business is remembering the customers
King because without them we nobody and
so i from a chef’s point of view always
put myself in a customer’s situation
where I see it from their eyes I don’t
cook for chefs
every time chefs come into the dining
room the first thing do is turn up the
place upside down start photographing
the food and and they’re constantly you
know dissecting the food as a try and as
opposed to enjoying it so I always look
at from a customer’s perspective because
they’re king and without them we’re
history
number four is intersect art and
commerce with Mario Batali as a core of
your business ideology
to figure out what it is that you can
make that is perceived as value as
delicious and as something you want to
make when I talk to all of my chef
friends what’s important for all of us
is to realize we need to live on the
intersection of art the food we want to
make and commerce the food they want to
eat and if you can find that in the same
vicinity then you have a restaurant idea
if you just want to make stuff that
makes you completely happy and your
customers don’t understand it you do not
have a business you have a good place
for you to express your art but the most
important thing is that it’s a
sustainable experience for both you your
staff and your customers so when you
have that idea I would say that in the
next 20 years what’s gonna become super
important there will be continued astray
XI ation of super fine dining of the
highest level but what’s gonna really be
your business model will be a more
casual experience where people can eat
fancy food maybe without so many
tablecloth so without so many finger
fancy waiters and retail glasses not to
diminish the greatness of what I
perceived to be find out in because I
to go to fine dining but I would say
that more experiences are gonna be based
on casual less formal dining moment and
yet still quite fancy food number five
find your dream with Anthony Bourdain
any advice for somebody looking to find
what they love short answer on cooking
is before you spend money on cooking
school go and work in a restaurant even
for free if necessary work in a busy
restaurant and you know give yourself
enough time to understand how hard it is
how little money will be making how long
it will take you to pay back that
student loan how just how difficult and
unglamorous it is and at how insane you
have to be to to find a home and if you
know there are two types of people who
people who love the restaurant business
and thrive on that sort of insanity and
an adrenaline and futility and and an
inequity that sounds great pressure in
the heat and then there are normal
people and you need to find out before
you go to school so I’m all for pursuing
your dream but but I think it’s a good
idea to go find out really you know
before you invest in that dream either
time or money you know find out what
that means you know if there’s a
downside you know I don’t know how we
all got this gig you know I think was
yeah I mean I you know are you pursuing
your dream
yeah me too number six master your craft
with jacques pepin what do you think
great cooks is there a common thread
what a great cooks anywhere in the world
anywhere you find them what do they have
in common or their shared is there a
shared characteristic what are you what
kind of personality type is required to
be a good cut curd or is there such hard
worker consistency you know being there
on time and all that to all of that is
extremely extremely important so that
one first level then the second level if
you have that type of commitment then
you learn the trade and you become a
craftsman and the craftsmen is purely a
question of rep repeat you know do it
over and over and over and over and over
so that it kind of became part of your
DNA so that that the time we can afford
to let it go
disappeared because now you can sign it
from an audience talk your hands are
working and you can think in terms of
combination of an ingredient or whatever
to that the technical part of the food
itself to being a craftsman you know to
do to to be a technician but I know a
fair amount of very good technician in
the kitchen which are relatively loudly
cook the food is never very good so you
know this is not the end of it but it’s
a good seller if you are the type of
commitment right Doug if you become a
good technician then if you happen to
have talent then you have the know out
of those technique to take that talent
and take it somewhere and if you have
used a little bit of love in it then you
may get to extraordinary food number
seven question everything with Marco
Pierre White your philosophy of cooking
to me seems to stem from a very deep
knowledge of the understanding and the
science of food who if anyone was your
mentor in the science of food or did you
just pick it up from just getting in
there and getting your hands dirty again
it’s about questioning what you’re doing
this by understanding if you for example
take a tomato
you could have simple tomato in half and
you put half on the plate you put the
other half under the grill and then you
eat the two tomatoes you’ve got to ask
yourself which one tastes more of tomato
the one that’s cooked and then you could
ask yourself
why does it taste more tomato or by
cooking the tomato what you’re doing is
removing the water content by removing
the water content you removed the
acidity within the tomato and allow the
natural sweetness of the tomato to come
through so yeah and that’s just a simple
tomato did you take that same philosophy
and that same understanding all the way
through your cooking you do when I’m not
a scientist but you have to question why
we’re doing things and what’s happening
number eight
get your foundation right with Bobby
Flay when I started cooking it was only
thought of as a blue-collar profession I
worked in a restaurant called Joe
Allen’s which is right here in the
Broadway district it’s still open and as
I started as a busboy you know when I
was 17 and then I did that for two weeks
and I was sort of walking out of the
restaurant and the chef said to me you
know if you want to work in the kitchen
there’s a job and I said okay fine I
mean it wasn’t like I ya know and so I
started working in the kitchen it took
me a while to really understand that I
really liked it it took me about six
months and then I decided to go to
culinary school first I had to go back
and get my my my GED diploma to go to
culinary school because I hadn’t
graduated high school and and so I’ve
been cooking in my restaurants for 30
years and to me if you want to be an
authority figure in anything you need to
be well versed in that in that role
cooking is the same way if you go to
culinary school for six months a year or
two years it doesn’t really matter all
that it was really giving you is a an
opportunity to get an entry-level job in
the profession right period doesn’t make
you a chef right doesn’t say it doesn’t
you can’t it doesn’t mean you should be
on Top Chef cooking away although that’s
what a lot of people want to do I think
it’s really important to get the
foundation of your profession down and
if you don’t really love it if you’re
not in cutting you hear the word passion
throwing around all the time there’s no
more important word you’re cooking if
you’re not passionate about it it’s not
the right thing for you because
especially in the restaurant business
it’s long hours a little bit of pay but
the payoff can be amazing in terms of
just lifestyle in terms of how how it
changes your life not financially so
much I mean maybe later down a line but
just it becomes part of your whole life
number nine stay ahead of the curb with
Robert Irvine when it comes to success
in food service you have to be open to
that little world called change and we
don’t like that over the years I’ve seen
the industry grown and reinvent itself
so many times I’ve lost count whether
you’re a restaurant owner a chef or
anyone else that works in the restaurant
industry you need to stay ahead of that
curve complacency has no place in the
foodservice industry it actually kills
profitability faster than anything else
so we’ve got to adapt to change in our
industry in order to keep our businesses
relevant and our consumers engaged but
let’s be clear change doesn’t have to be
massive it doesn’t have to involve me
showing up with a sledgehammer and a
makeover crew so let me summarize a few
critical success factors and they’re
pretty basic number one know what your
customers wants not what you want so
just remember this understanding the
demographics isn’t enough you have to
talk to your customers your clientele
and get their feedback about what you’re
doing well and what you’re doing not so
well get on social media how do people
know about your restaurants anybody how
do they know about restaurants a little
phone to taps or three clicks on that
they know about your food they know
about everything you have in your
restaurant the Internet and with social
media is taken the whole new world you
know think about the word of mouth the
internet is taking it to a whole
different level there’s no quicker way
to search for a restaurant by menu
neighborhood cost and the biggest one
your reputation to make sure you have an
up-to-date profile on major social media
sites
it’s the way to tell your story and
you’ll hear this a lot today your story
the whole idea of setting the table for
success is to help you in all the areas
you need help I am a tech geek just like
Jeff I convert it was like the lights
the heavens literally opened up and went
because I used to do in between control
with pens and papers I used to count
money like this write checks know
point-of-sale this is the big one
embrace technology the restaurant
industry is evolving quicker and quicker
every day and technology is changing the
way we do business and you need to adapt
or risk losing your competitive edge if
you’re not thinking about technology as
a business strategy well you already
late to the game the effective use of
technology can make your business faster
leaner and ultimately it can help you
deliver a better customer experience and
number 10 before we get to the bonuses
surround yourself with great people with
emerald Lacasse are you still I mean are
you in contact with every restaurant
every day in some way shape or form
assure them how do you keep that up I
mean it’s well I think that it’s um you
know first of all I’m very blessed to
have the people that I have in my
organization and I have people in my
organization that have been with me
since day one or pretty much even before
then so pick a restaurant no no okay
well evil Thompson has been with me 28
years he’s the general manager and my
chef there has been with me for 16 years
Josh pick a novel okay emeralds Orlando
let’s say tip of my tongue
Gabriel was with me at Commander’s
Palace was the general manager the
Director of Operations there so he’s
been with me about 29 years and Bernard
was my pot washer at Commander’s Palace
who’s a director of culinary no kiddin
so you’re a big believer in raising them
up how was your Johnson & Wales
that’s where you got your culinary
training do you still hire people out of
culinary school here a lot of chefs say
I don’t want another trust fund baby who
went to culinary school can’t cook I
don’t want it you know you know when I
interview young talent I’m really
looking for I’m looking for heart I’m
looking for soul I’m looking for passion
you know I can teach somebody how to
cook but you got to have the want and
the love and drive to want to cook if
you have that then it’s much easier to
teach somebody can you tell it about
five minutes into an interview whether
you’re gonna hire somebody or not yes so
you can what’s the main offender for
somebody who was there something someone
can say and definitely not get a job
with you well you know I’m not looking
for people that are looking to
necessarily build a resume although
that’s you know that certainly is a part
of it I want somebody that really wants
to to learn and grow in the organization
and so I’m not really I don’t really
look for experts I mean I’m looking for
people that really want to want to make
people happy is the key in the
restaurant business like I said I can
teach somebody how to cook but wanting
to cook and wanting to cook to make
someone happy that’s something that’s
rare that you can find and when you see
that then that’s what I’m attracted to
thank you guys so much for watching I
hope you enjoyed I’d love to know what
do you think of this video who had the
single best piece of advice that you are
gonna take home and apply to your
business leave it down in the comments
below I’m really curious to find out I
also want to give a quick shout out to
Michael from lead the team net Michael
thank you so much for picking up a copy
of my book your one word and making the
blog post and post it on your website I
really appreciate the support man and
I’m so glad you enjoyed the book so
thank you guys again for watching I
believe in you I hope we continue to
believe in yourself and whatever your
one word is much love I’ll see you soon
if you in your mind have decided that
your career
it’s gonna be about feeding people you
have to understand that there’s one
piece of that which is feeding people
the other piece of that and there’s
three is that you’re taking care of your
family of staff in a way that allows
them to feel as important in your world
as is serving the customer twenty years
ago I spent a hundred percent of my time
on guest satisfaction now I spend fifty
percent of my time on guest satisfaction
and fifty percent of my time on staff
satisfaction because at the end of the
day you’re only as good as your team is
and if they are not happy or if they’re
eventually just moving on quickly
because they’re trying to build their
own little resume and go work for Gordon
Ramsay and then go work for Daniel below
and then go work for Mario Batali
evangelist and all of a sudden like
they’re just like spinning what you
really need to be is someone who totally
gets both the integration of your staff
happiness and your customer happiness
when you understand that then you can
start a restaurant
Jonathan Benno here I might some of you
may know Jonathan denno
he began at the French Laundry in 1995
and I shot in 1996 later became chef of
per se today he has his own restaurant
Jonathan came to me as a young chef de
Partie is chef de Partie is an
individual who works on a specific
station in this case Jonathan was the
fish cook he came to me one day and
Jonathan does at sea said chef he does
that when he’s making a point you points
out you with all four fingers and his
thumb underneath chef I mean that you
know you know he’s serious I’m I’m not
gonna have a cutting board on my station
tonight and like I’m working I mean I’m
busy you know it’s back in the old days
when would everybody had a lot to do and
and not that we don’t today but you know
I was more immersed in it and I’m
thinking okay whatever you know that’s
that’s interesting you’re not gonna have
a cutting board or you say yes I’m gonna
be so prepared I’m gonna be so prepared
I have so much confidence in my ability
to have my me–some class done that I’m
not gonna need a cutting board now every
chef de Partie in every restaurant has a
cutting board on their station
some of them need a cutting board the
butcher needs a cutting board to carve
the steak
Jonathan was doing fish everything’s in
place everything’s ready to go I was
just to do is cook and serve it I said
okay that’s fine don’t have a cutting
board at the end of the service flawless
it’s become the new standard for that
station because Jonathan bento had the
confidence and courage to step outside
of what was the norm in any restaurant
and say I’m gonna do better I’m gonna
create a new standard Wolfgang Puck what
I really love about you is you’re still
cooking every day you haven’t got too
big for that why I think to make that’s
the best part of my life you know what I
cook for my family at home whenever we
go home a few times my wife cooks she
makes good lasagna and good pasta and
good at yo piant food when she does that
she’s really good she makes good at the
opium coffee but we don’t live on that
chest if not people feel really skinny
so I think I love to cook at home I love
to cook in a restaurant I still go to
the farmers market I go to the chain of
farm I go to the fish market I might
rather do that than going to Neiman
Marcus shopping and that’s your passion
that’s why you’re so success I think so
too I think and I was really wondering
when I was younger if I could keep that
passion to still loving what I do and do
it actually you know not just talking
about it and I think I’m so lucky that I
still feel the same way about food about
the restaurant about people in general
as I did the when I started 35 years ago
in the restaurant business
raise your standard Apple at the cool
core value is that we believe that
people have passion can change the way
people not one drop of myself work
depends on your it’s supposed to mean
I don’t ever give up I’d have to be dead
or completely incapacitated hey believe
nation if you want to see my all-time
favorite top ten most of success I have
a very special secret video for you
these are the individual clips that I
have personally learned the most from
and applied to my life and my business
check the link in description for
details
Wolfgang Puck Gordon Ramsay Bobby Flay
and other successful chefs have for how
to make it as a restaurateur then this
video is for you
just remember you have to make always
more money than you spend and you will
stay in business and you will always
live okay key to a successful business
is remembering the customers king
perchance without them WA nobody if you
don’t really love it if you’re not in
cutting your the word passion throwing
around all the time there’s no more
important word you’re cooking if you’re
not passionate about it it’s not the
right thing for you
what’s that believe they should it seven
my one word is believe and I believe in
you I believe you have an amazing gift
inside you that I want to see explode
out into the world now I started the
making it series to take a deep dive
down specific industries specific
verticals and niches to get the best
advice the best knowledge the best
wisdom for the people who accomplish the
most in that field and distill it down
into one video for you guys so today
we’re going to learn from some of the
world’s most famous chefs on how to make
it in the restaurant business
enjoy all right up first number one is
be consistent with Thomas Keller and
great restaurants have to be consistent
we can all cook you know there was a lot
of great chefs out there who can do a
lot of great things but to be consistent
300 days a year you know lunch and
dinner over and over and over and over
again is really for me what defines
greatness it’s the one one-hit wonders
or one-hit wonders to be there for a
long time to be impactful for a long
time to have a team that continues to
evolve to have guests that continue to
come to your restaurant to have that
relationship with your partners with all
your suppliers
those are really really important things
for me in a restaurant number two is
don’t live beyond your means with
Wolfgang Puck was there someone earlier
in your career that worked with you on
helping you set up the businesses and
teaching you the business
side or did you already have that now my
mother when I left at 14 she told me you
know what can you just remember you have
to make always more money than you spend
and you will stay in business and you
will always live okay and my mother was
always like that you know
let’s not try to overspend let’s not
spend more than what we have so when I
first started Spago for example in 1982
in January when we open it we started
with 26 employees five years later we
have 96 employees
it was the same size restaurant
basically but I started everybody was
working pigs basically 16 hours a day so
little by little I trained people and
added people to it but we didn’t live
beyond our means
number three is focus on the customer
with Gordon Ramsay key to a successful
business is remembering the customers
King because without them we nobody and
so i from a chef’s point of view always
put myself in a customer’s situation
where I see it from their eyes I don’t
cook for chefs
every time chefs come into the dining
room the first thing do is turn up the
place upside down start photographing
the food and and they’re constantly you
know dissecting the food as a try and as
opposed to enjoying it so I always look
at from a customer’s perspective because
they’re king and without them we’re
history
number four is intersect art and
commerce with Mario Batali as a core of
your business ideology
to figure out what it is that you can
make that is perceived as value as
delicious and as something you want to
make when I talk to all of my chef
friends what’s important for all of us
is to realize we need to live on the
intersection of art the food we want to
make and commerce the food they want to
eat and if you can find that in the same
vicinity then you have a restaurant idea
if you just want to make stuff that
makes you completely happy and your
customers don’t understand it you do not
have a business you have a good place
for you to express your art but the most
important thing is that it’s a
sustainable experience for both you your
staff and your customers so when you
have that idea I would say that in the
next 20 years what’s gonna become super
important there will be continued astray
XI ation of super fine dining of the
highest level but what’s gonna really be
your business model will be a more
casual experience where people can eat
fancy food maybe without so many
tablecloth so without so many finger
fancy waiters and retail glasses not to
diminish the greatness of what I
perceived to be find out in because I
to go to fine dining but I would say
that more experiences are gonna be based
on casual less formal dining moment and
yet still quite fancy food number five
find your dream with Anthony Bourdain
any advice for somebody looking to find
what they love short answer on cooking
is before you spend money on cooking
school go and work in a restaurant even
for free if necessary work in a busy
restaurant and you know give yourself
enough time to understand how hard it is
how little money will be making how long
it will take you to pay back that
student loan how just how difficult and
unglamorous it is and at how insane you
have to be to to find a home and if you
know there are two types of people who
people who love the restaurant business
and thrive on that sort of insanity and
an adrenaline and futility and and an
inequity that sounds great pressure in
the heat and then there are normal
people and you need to find out before
you go to school so I’m all for pursuing
your dream but but I think it’s a good
idea to go find out really you know
before you invest in that dream either
time or money you know find out what
that means you know if there’s a
downside you know I don’t know how we
all got this gig you know I think was
yeah I mean I you know are you pursuing
your dream
yeah me too number six master your craft
with jacques pepin what do you think
great cooks is there a common thread
what a great cooks anywhere in the world
anywhere you find them what do they have
in common or their shared is there a
shared characteristic what are you what
kind of personality type is required to
be a good cut curd or is there such hard
worker consistency you know being there
on time and all that to all of that is
extremely extremely important so that
one first level then the second level if
you have that type of commitment then
you learn the trade and you become a
craftsman and the craftsmen is purely a
question of rep repeat you know do it
over and over and over and over and over
so that it kind of became part of your
DNA so that that the time we can afford
to let it go
disappeared because now you can sign it
from an audience talk your hands are
working and you can think in terms of
combination of an ingredient or whatever
to that the technical part of the food
itself to being a craftsman you know to
do to to be a technician but I know a
fair amount of very good technician in
the kitchen which are relatively loudly
cook the food is never very good so you
know this is not the end of it but it’s
a good seller if you are the type of
commitment right Doug if you become a
good technician then if you happen to
have talent then you have the know out
of those technique to take that talent
and take it somewhere and if you have
used a little bit of love in it then you
may get to extraordinary food number
seven question everything with Marco
Pierre White your philosophy of cooking
to me seems to stem from a very deep
knowledge of the understanding and the
science of food who if anyone was your
mentor in the science of food or did you
just pick it up from just getting in
there and getting your hands dirty again
it’s about questioning what you’re doing
this by understanding if you for example
take a tomato
you could have simple tomato in half and
you put half on the plate you put the
other half under the grill and then you
eat the two tomatoes you’ve got to ask
yourself which one tastes more of tomato
the one that’s cooked and then you could
ask yourself
why does it taste more tomato or by
cooking the tomato what you’re doing is
removing the water content by removing
the water content you removed the
acidity within the tomato and allow the
natural sweetness of the tomato to come
through so yeah and that’s just a simple
tomato did you take that same philosophy
and that same understanding all the way
through your cooking you do when I’m not
a scientist but you have to question why
we’re doing things and what’s happening
number eight
get your foundation right with Bobby
Flay when I started cooking it was only
thought of as a blue-collar profession I
worked in a restaurant called Joe
Allen’s which is right here in the
Broadway district it’s still open and as
I started as a busboy you know when I
was 17 and then I did that for two weeks
and I was sort of walking out of the
restaurant and the chef said to me you
know if you want to work in the kitchen
there’s a job and I said okay fine I
mean it wasn’t like I ya know and so I
started working in the kitchen it took
me a while to really understand that I
really liked it it took me about six
months and then I decided to go to
culinary school first I had to go back
and get my my my GED diploma to go to
culinary school because I hadn’t
graduated high school and and so I’ve
been cooking in my restaurants for 30
years and to me if you want to be an
authority figure in anything you need to
be well versed in that in that role
cooking is the same way if you go to
culinary school for six months a year or
two years it doesn’t really matter all
that it was really giving you is a an
opportunity to get an entry-level job in
the profession right period doesn’t make
you a chef right doesn’t say it doesn’t
you can’t it doesn’t mean you should be
on Top Chef cooking away although that’s
what a lot of people want to do I think
it’s really important to get the
foundation of your profession down and
if you don’t really love it if you’re
not in cutting you hear the word passion
throwing around all the time there’s no
more important word you’re cooking if
you’re not passionate about it it’s not
the right thing for you because
especially in the restaurant business
it’s long hours a little bit of pay but
the payoff can be amazing in terms of
just lifestyle in terms of how how it
changes your life not financially so
much I mean maybe later down a line but
just it becomes part of your whole life
number nine stay ahead of the curb with
Robert Irvine when it comes to success
in food service you have to be open to
that little world called change and we
don’t like that over the years I’ve seen
the industry grown and reinvent itself
so many times I’ve lost count whether
you’re a restaurant owner a chef or
anyone else that works in the restaurant
industry you need to stay ahead of that
curve complacency has no place in the
foodservice industry it actually kills
profitability faster than anything else
so we’ve got to adapt to change in our
industry in order to keep our businesses
relevant and our consumers engaged but
let’s be clear change doesn’t have to be
massive it doesn’t have to involve me
showing up with a sledgehammer and a
makeover crew so let me summarize a few
critical success factors and they’re
pretty basic number one know what your
customers wants not what you want so
just remember this understanding the
demographics isn’t enough you have to
talk to your customers your clientele
and get their feedback about what you’re
doing well and what you’re doing not so
well get on social media how do people
know about your restaurants anybody how
do they know about restaurants a little
phone to taps or three clicks on that
they know about your food they know
about everything you have in your
restaurant the Internet and with social
media is taken the whole new world you
know think about the word of mouth the
internet is taking it to a whole
different level there’s no quicker way
to search for a restaurant by menu
neighborhood cost and the biggest one
your reputation to make sure you have an
up-to-date profile on major social media
sites
it’s the way to tell your story and
you’ll hear this a lot today your story
the whole idea of setting the table for
success is to help you in all the areas
you need help I am a tech geek just like
Jeff I convert it was like the lights
the heavens literally opened up and went
because I used to do in between control
with pens and papers I used to count
money like this write checks know
point-of-sale this is the big one
embrace technology the restaurant
industry is evolving quicker and quicker
every day and technology is changing the
way we do business and you need to adapt
or risk losing your competitive edge if
you’re not thinking about technology as
a business strategy well you already
late to the game the effective use of
technology can make your business faster
leaner and ultimately it can help you
deliver a better customer experience and
number 10 before we get to the bonuses
surround yourself with great people with
emerald Lacasse are you still I mean are
you in contact with every restaurant
every day in some way shape or form
assure them how do you keep that up I
mean it’s well I think that it’s um you
know first of all I’m very blessed to
have the people that I have in my
organization and I have people in my
organization that have been with me
since day one or pretty much even before
then so pick a restaurant no no okay
well evil Thompson has been with me 28
years he’s the general manager and my
chef there has been with me for 16 years
Josh pick a novel okay emeralds Orlando
let’s say tip of my tongue
Gabriel was with me at Commander’s
Palace was the general manager the
Director of Operations there so he’s
been with me about 29 years and Bernard
was my pot washer at Commander’s Palace
who’s a director of culinary no kiddin
so you’re a big believer in raising them
up how was your Johnson & Wales
that’s where you got your culinary
training do you still hire people out of
culinary school here a lot of chefs say
I don’t want another trust fund baby who
went to culinary school can’t cook I
don’t want it you know you know when I
interview young talent I’m really
looking for I’m looking for heart I’m
looking for soul I’m looking for passion
you know I can teach somebody how to
cook but you got to have the want and
the love and drive to want to cook if
you have that then it’s much easier to
teach somebody can you tell it about
five minutes into an interview whether
you’re gonna hire somebody or not yes so
you can what’s the main offender for
somebody who was there something someone
can say and definitely not get a job
with you well you know I’m not looking
for people that are looking to
necessarily build a resume although
that’s you know that certainly is a part
of it I want somebody that really wants
to to learn and grow in the organization
and so I’m not really I don’t really
look for experts I mean I’m looking for
people that really want to want to make
people happy is the key in the
restaurant business like I said I can
teach somebody how to cook but wanting
to cook and wanting to cook to make
someone happy that’s something that’s
rare that you can find and when you see
that then that’s what I’m attracted to
thank you guys so much for watching I
hope you enjoyed I’d love to know what
do you think of this video who had the
single best piece of advice that you are
gonna take home and apply to your
business leave it down in the comments
below I’m really curious to find out I
also want to give a quick shout out to
Michael from lead the team net Michael
thank you so much for picking up a copy
of my book your one word and making the
blog post and post it on your website I
really appreciate the support man and
I’m so glad you enjoyed the book so
thank you guys again for watching I
believe in you I hope we continue to
believe in yourself and whatever your
one word is much love I’ll see you soon
if you in your mind have decided that
your career
it’s gonna be about feeding people you
have to understand that there’s one
piece of that which is feeding people
the other piece of that and there’s
three is that you’re taking care of your
family of staff in a way that allows
them to feel as important in your world
as is serving the customer twenty years
ago I spent a hundred percent of my time
on guest satisfaction now I spend fifty
percent of my time on guest satisfaction
and fifty percent of my time on staff
satisfaction because at the end of the
day you’re only as good as your team is
and if they are not happy or if they’re
eventually just moving on quickly
because they’re trying to build their
own little resume and go work for Gordon
Ramsay and then go work for Daniel below
and then go work for Mario Batali
evangelist and all of a sudden like
they’re just like spinning what you
really need to be is someone who totally
gets both the integration of your staff
happiness and your customer happiness
when you understand that then you can
start a restaurant
Jonathan Benno here I might some of you
may know Jonathan denno
he began at the French Laundry in 1995
and I shot in 1996 later became chef of
per se today he has his own restaurant
Jonathan came to me as a young chef de
Partie is chef de Partie is an
individual who works on a specific
station in this case Jonathan was the
fish cook he came to me one day and
Jonathan does at sea said chef he does
that when he’s making a point you points
out you with all four fingers and his
thumb underneath chef I mean that you
know you know he’s serious I’m I’m not
gonna have a cutting board on my station
tonight and like I’m working I mean I’m
busy you know it’s back in the old days
when would everybody had a lot to do and
and not that we don’t today but you know
I was more immersed in it and I’m
thinking okay whatever you know that’s
that’s interesting you’re not gonna have
a cutting board or you say yes I’m gonna
be so prepared I’m gonna be so prepared
I have so much confidence in my ability
to have my me–some class done that I’m
not gonna need a cutting board now every
chef de Partie in every restaurant has a
cutting board on their station
some of them need a cutting board the
butcher needs a cutting board to carve
the steak
Jonathan was doing fish everything’s in
place everything’s ready to go I was
just to do is cook and serve it I said
okay that’s fine don’t have a cutting
board at the end of the service flawless
it’s become the new standard for that
station because Jonathan bento had the
confidence and courage to step outside
of what was the norm in any restaurant
and say I’m gonna do better I’m gonna
create a new standard Wolfgang Puck what
I really love about you is you’re still
cooking every day you haven’t got too
big for that why I think to make that’s
the best part of my life you know what I
cook for my family at home whenever we
go home a few times my wife cooks she
makes good lasagna and good pasta and
good at yo piant food when she does that
she’s really good she makes good at the
opium coffee but we don’t live on that
chest if not people feel really skinny
so I think I love to cook at home I love
to cook in a restaurant I still go to
the farmers market I go to the chain of
farm I go to the fish market I might
rather do that than going to Neiman
Marcus shopping and that’s your passion
that’s why you’re so success I think so
too I think and I was really wondering
when I was younger if I could keep that
passion to still loving what I do and do
it actually you know not just talking
about it and I think I’m so lucky that I
still feel the same way about food about
the restaurant about people in general
as I did the when I started 35 years ago
in the restaurant business
raise your standard Apple at the cool
core value is that we believe that
people have passion can change the way
people not one drop of myself work
depends on your it’s supposed to mean
I don’t ever give up I’d have to be dead
or completely incapacitated hey believe
nation if you want to see my all-time
favorite top ten most of success I have
a very special secret video for you
these are the individual clips that I
have personally learned the most from
and applied to my life and my business
check the link in description for
details
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