344 : From Fine Dining to Coffee w/ Nicolas Simon of El Condor Coffee Roasters
05/03/22 • 52 min
1 Listener
Our industry is one focused on creating memorable experiences for guests of our shops. Being detail oriented is part of our hospitality to people because we know that when all those little things come together, they deliver a real impact.
This is what driven today's guest throughout his illustrious career working for some of the worlds most prestigious hotels and Restaurants to deliver these experiences.
Nicolas Simon caught the hospitality bug upon graduating from one of the top business schools in France. From there, various experiences with Byblos Saint-Tropez, Four Seasons Paris, then Geneva and Plaza-Athénée defined his all-around profile in the industry, from F&B operations to finance and marketing. He was also the managing partner of three restaurants (two of them being awarded a Michelin star within the first year of operation), before being appointed Alain Ducasse’s Director of Operations North America and moving to New York City 14 years ago. In November 2016, Nicolas became the co-founder and CEO of Wilcuma – a full-service hospitality workshop that offers services such as consultancy, management, and real estate, and also has a portfolio of proprietary concepts planned for development and operation
Fueled by his passion for hospitality and executing at the highest levels, Nicholas has set his sights on the coffee world with the opening of the new El Condor Coffee Roasters in the West Village, NYC. El Condor seeks to create a transcendent and comfortable all-day cafe experience that delivers quality, consistency, and genuine connection.
We cover:
- Beginnings in hospitality
- Growing as a manager and leader
- The critical role of operations
- Philosophy on service and caring for guests
- Entering into the coffee industry
- The vision and goals of El Condor
- Advice for how to approach hospitality and systems for accountability
Links:
Related Episodes:
330 : Establishing Systems in Your Coffee Shop
301 : Hiring and Training for Excellence
188 : Founder Friday w/ Jon Allen of Onyx Coffee Lab
Visit our amazing Sponsors!
Our industry is one focused on creating memorable experiences for guests of our shops. Being detail oriented is part of our hospitality to people because we know that when all those little things come together, they deliver a real impact.
This is what driven today's guest throughout his illustrious career working for some of the worlds most prestigious hotels and Restaurants to deliver these experiences.
Nicolas Simon caught the hospitality bug upon graduating from one of the top business schools in France. From there, various experiences with Byblos Saint-Tropez, Four Seasons Paris, then Geneva and Plaza-Athénée defined his all-around profile in the industry, from F&B operations to finance and marketing. He was also the managing partner of three restaurants (two of them being awarded a Michelin star within the first year of operation), before being appointed Alain Ducasse’s Director of Operations North America and moving to New York City 14 years ago. In November 2016, Nicolas became the co-founder and CEO of Wilcuma – a full-service hospitality workshop that offers services such as consultancy, management, and real estate, and also has a portfolio of proprietary concepts planned for development and operation
Fueled by his passion for hospitality and executing at the highest levels, Nicholas has set his sights on the coffee world with the opening of the new El Condor Coffee Roasters in the West Village, NYC. El Condor seeks to create a transcendent and comfortable all-day cafe experience that delivers quality, consistency, and genuine connection.
We cover:
- Beginnings in hospitality
- Growing as a manager and leader
- The critical role of operations
- Philosophy on service and caring for guests
- Entering into the coffee industry
- The vision and goals of El Condor
- Advice for how to approach hospitality and systems for accountability
Links:
Related Episodes:
330 : Establishing Systems in Your Coffee Shop
301 : Hiring and Training for Excellence
188 : Founder Friday w/ Jon Allen of Onyx Coffee Lab
Visit our amazing Sponsors!
Previous Episode
343 : Founder Friday! "Curated Edition" | Hospitality + Meeting People Where They Are
Welcome to this special edition of the Founder Friday series! We have an incredible collection of interviews from some of the world's best coffee shop operators and entrepreneurs. Within each interview are gems of wisdom that help us move ourselves and the industry forward.
In this special edition of Founder Friday I went back into the archives to mine those gems from past guests around a specific topic, -hospitality and meeting people where they are.
Our industry of specialty coffee has worked hard to build itself up and now we see a mammoth effort to help welcome people into what we have built.
In this episode we will here form four past guests:
- Matt Chitharanjan and Namrata Asthana of Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters in India
- Dorian Bolden of Beyu Cafe in Durham, NC
- Daniel Brown and Nephthaly Leonidas of Gilly Brew Bar in Stone Mountain, GA
- Andrew Sinclair of Madlab Coffee in Los Angeles, CA
Each of these past Founder Friday guests brings a unique take and perspective on what goes in to hospitality and meeting people where they are. From accessible brewing, staff and self care - to friendly service encounters, values, and connecting beyond the transaction, I think this episode will deliver a concentrated dose of wisdom to help inspire us all.
Related Episodes:
- 171 : Founder Friday w/ Matt Chitharanjan and Namrata Asthana of Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters in India
- 225: Encore Founder Friday! Dorian Bolden of Beyu Caffe, Durham, NC 279 : Founder Friday! w/ Daniel Brown and Nephthaly Leonidas of Gilly Brew Bar
- 305 : Founder Friday! w/ Andrew Sinclair of MadLab Coffee, Los Angeles, CA
- 045 : Simple, Powerful Hospitality w/ Philip Turner
- 085 : How we Ruin the Specialty Experience
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Next Episode
Messy Can Be Beautiful
Some of the reasons we do not take the next step to delegate management or take the next step in our business is because we feel we are not ready. It seems embarrassing to not have it all together when you've over authority to someone like a manager and you want to wait till you have a perfect system and suite of resources to hand them. Problem is that you will likely never truly be "ready". On top of that, you may be robbing them, and yourself, of the benefit that comes with working through and imperfect context.
Today on Shift Break we are going to be talking about why what you think is messy can and often is something beautiful for your business and the people who work in it.
Related episodes:
261 : The Basics of Managing Managers
Why "Next in Line" promotion Might be a Bad Idea
330 : Establishing Systems in Your Coffee Shop
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