Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore

With excitement allow me to introduce to you today's guest Managing Partner at The Idea Collective and Co-Founder of Trufl, Chris Dimmick. With 10 years of experience opening and operating a myriad of unique properties, Chris is driven daily by the constant progress he sees in his restaurants and in the people who make them successful. Over the past 6 years Chris wears the restaurant operations, development, and management hat s for The Idea Collective, a multi-disciplinary creative consulting and experiential design firm. The Idea Collective has multiple past projects throughout the nation, and their two current projects are Sueno, and Tender Mercy, both located and Dayton, OH.

Check out Slack as recommended by Chris in this episode.

• Join Restaurant Unstoppable Network and get your first 30 days on me! Connect with my past guest and a community of superfans.
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• Join the email list! (Scroll Down to get the Vendor List!)

• "Do cool shit with good people and stay curious."

In today's episode with Chris Dimmick we will discuss:

• Being a consultant
• How to recruit
• How to be recruited
• Accessing capital
• Taking advantage of a smaller market
• Earning trust in a new market
• Losing capital and rebounding

7shifts is a modern labor management platform, designed by restaurateurs, for restaurateurs. Effectively labor management is more important than ever to ensure profitability and restaurant success. Trusted by over 400,000 restaurant professionals, 7shifts gives you the tools you need to streamline labor operations, communicate with your team, and retain your talent. Best of all 7shifts integrates with the POS and Payroll systems you already use and trust (like Toast!) turning labor into a competitive advantage for your business. Restaurant Unstoppable members get 3 months, absolutely free.

PlateIQ- the leading AP automation platform in the hospitality industry. Since 2014, Plate IQ has been saving time and money for companies like Cava, Tender Greens, and more. Just upload your invoices into Plate IQ and our proprietary technology will code each line item to your chart of accounts — automatically. For Bill Pay, virtual cards, and end-to-end invoice automation, head to plateiq.com.

At Popmenu, we know that in today’s world, a great hospitality experience usually begins online. Keeping the conversation with guests going beyond the meal also requires simple, powerful, fun technology capable of expression through all kinds of channels. Our team takes pride in helping restaurants put their best foot forward digitally so they can focus on what they do best. We think PDF menus are super boring, we believe 3rd party platforms have had too much say in how consumers find their next dining experience and we deeply feel that sharing your beautiful menu doesn’t have to be so difficult, time-consuming and expensive. As a listener of the Restaurant Unstoppable, you'll receive $100 off your first month of Popmenu!

Knowledge bombs

1. Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
   • Empathy
2. What is your biggest weakness?
   • Empathy
3. What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview?
   • Empathy
4. What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?
   • Adapting to ownership
5. Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
   • Over-communication
6. What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff?
   • Smiles, eyes, names.
7. What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?
   • Welc...

Its Talking Tuesday and the topic of Discussion is Stephen R. Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change Tune in to discover how you can start making a change in your life by first starting with changing how you see the world. Also discover what habits you can develop to become more effective and make your restaurant dreams unstoppable!

Entrepreneur, restaurateur, and environmental advocate, Josh Kopel, was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Throughout his 20+ year career in food and beverage, he has managed venues ranging from the Alligator Bayou Bar, as well as the hottest Hollywood nightclubs, bars, and ultra-lounges. He went independent in 2010, opening his first concept Five0Four, in Hollywood, CA. Ten years later, he's created a family of brands ranging from Michelin-rated fine-dining to fast-casual, all with a central focus on Southern hospitality and Southern cuisine. Check out his website here.

To learn more about carbon-neutral operations visit Chef Sammy Monsour's website.

Check out Josh's podcast - Full Comp Podcast

Check out Principles by Ray Dalia as recommended by Josh in this episode.

Check out Traction: Get a Grip On Your Business by Gino Wickman as recommended by Josh in this episode.

Check out Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't by Jim Collins as recommended by Josh in this episode.

• Subscribe to the Restaurant Unstoppable YouTube Channel
• Join the private Unstoppable Facebook Group
• Join the email list! (Scroll Down to get the Vendor List!)

• "Success is a mindset, not a feeling."

In today's episode with Josh Kopek we will discuss:

• Gratitude
• Don't be satisfied; be grateful
• Nightclub hospitality
• Understanding your failures AND your success
• Fear in the industry, fear to fail
• Gender inequities in the restaurant industry
• Creating a side-hustle to leverage the cost to open your business
• Passive income - can you leverage it?
• Invest in people, not businesses
• Outward vs. inward growth
• Authentic desperation in trying to make people happy
• Every restaurant you buy is giving you a new job
• Southern food on the west coast
• Damage control in your restaurant when it's needed
• What is equity worth vs. cash flow?
• Strategic quitting: if something isn't working, STOP!
• Ego and vulnerability

Toast - A POS built for restaurants by restaurant people Adapt fast with Toast's cloud-based restaurant POS system that updates to evolve your POS along with changing industry trends and guest expectations. Toast is built exclusively for restaurants of all shapes and sizes, with over 2/3 of our employees having restaurant experience to serve you better. Online Ordering - Let guests easily order directly from your restaurant for pickup or contactless delivery to keep revenue flowing during these uncertain times. Toast Delivery Services Dispatch local drivers through an on-demand network to keep your community fed and revenue coming in.

Knowledge bombs

1. Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
   • My vulnerability
2. What is your biggest weakness?
   • My ego
3. What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview?
   • "How do you feel about people?"
4. What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?
   • COVID-19, "how can I be more of-service?"
5. Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
   • Attention to detail
6. What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff?
   • Everybody leaves happy
7. What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?
   • Traction: Get a Grip On Your Business by Gino Wickman
   • GET THIS BOOK FOR FREE AT AUDIBLE.COM
8. What's one thing you feel restaurateurs don't do well enough or do often enough?
   • Quit
9. Name one service you've hired.
   • Social media manager
10. What's one piece of technology you've adop...

For 10 years Jennifer was the general manager, wine director at the very successful Annisa Restaurant in West Village, New York. It has been said that she was a fixture of the restaurants dining room with her designer dresses and Towering heels. After hanging up her high heels at Annisa she started Cape House Catering where she catered to off premise events for 3 years. Today the entrepreneurial spirit still seems to be burning bright with her latest venture “Good To-Go”. Good To-Go is the first all natural “dehydrated gourment” line of package meals.

Ross Simon is the Owner of Drink Better Cocktails, Little Rituals, and Bitter & Twisted Cocktail Parlour all in Phoenix, AZ. Ross is from Scotland but really found his groove in the bar/cocktail world when he began managing a 3-story bar in London, called The Old Crown. He left that establishment to work and learn at the best bar he could find: LAB BAR in London. He worked there from 199-2005 and then moved to America, establishing himself in Phoenix, and looked to open his own bar. He opened his first location, Bitter & Twisted Cocktail Parlour in 2014 and Little Rituals 5 years later.

Favorite success quote/mantra: "Moving in a direction with intention."

In this episode we will discuss:

• Cocktails
• Wholesale
• Raising funds
• Investors
• Consumers
• Food cost
• Awards culture
• Cancel culture
• AND MORE!

Today's sponsors:

Restaurant Technologies the company that helps restaurants, “Control the kitchen chaos.” With RT’s total oil management, you get: Dependable fresh bulk cooking oil delivery; Filtration + oil usage monitoring and reporting; Used cooking oil pick-up, and recycling; And say goodbye to messy, dangerous restaurant rendering tanks-yuck. RT’s end-to-end cooking oils solution helps you manage your used cooking oil storage, collection, and recycling- conveniently, safely, and cleanly- with no upfront costs. Head to www.RTI-inc.com, and let them know the Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast sent you their way.

Meez: Are you a chef, owner, operator, or manage recipes in professional kitchens? meez is built just for you. Organize, share, prep, and scale recipes like never before. Plus, engineer your menu in real-time and get accurate food costs. Sign up for free today and get 2 FREE months of invoice processing as a listener of the Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast. Visit getmeez.com/unstoppable to learn more.

Restaurant Systems Pro - Join the 60-day Restaurant Systems Pro FREE TRAINING. This is something that has never been done before. This 60-day event is at no cost to you, but it is not for everyone. Fred Langley, CEO of Restaurant Systems Pro, will lead a group of restaurateurs through the Restaurant Systems Pro software and set up the systems for your restaurant. During the 60 days, Fred will walk you through the Restaurant Systems Pro Process and help you crush the following goals: Recipe Costing Cards; Guidance in your books for accounting; Cash controls; Sales Forecasting(With Accuracy); Checklists; Budgeting for the entire year; Scheduling for profit; More butts in seats and more... Click Here to learn more.

Contact the guest:

• On the web: https://drinkbettercocktails.com

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