By providing health insurance and adding a 2% kitchen appreciation fee to each bill — and by saying "thank you" every day — Ming Tsai shows the staff of his restaurant that he cares. For more on Ming, check out our previous episode with him, Season 1, Episode 3, where he told us about his origins and how he went from mechanical engineering student …

Ashish Alfred is the chef-owner of three restaurants in the Baltimore area: Duck Duck Goose Baltimore, Duck Duck Goose Bethesda, and George’s Chophouse. He’s also over five years sober and extremely open about his lifelong struggle with mental health. We chatted about sobriety in the industry, how he manages 65 staff members across three restaurant…

Today on The Garnish, we’re talking about restaurant renovations. We spoke to Dala Al-Fuwaires, a restaurant designer at FJI Design, about how to renovate a restaurant on a budget, and how to build your restaurant brand. Then, we also chatted with two restaurateurs — Alex Garcia and Steven Darwin — who’ve recently built out new locations of their r…

Irene Li, the founder of Mei Mei in Boston, MA, incorporates constant training into the jobs at Mei Mei: staff learn the finances behind the restaurant thanks to open-book management, they run peer trainings on everything from herbs to pronouns, and they also get external trainings, like one on service for those with alzheimers and dementia. She in…

From the moment Ciro Fodera, chef de cuisine of Capo South Boston, joined the team as sous chef three years ago, he's been hell-bent on demolishing the front- and back-of-house divide, and on building a cohesive, happy team. Thanks to his efforts, he hasn’t had to replace a cook in over a year. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our l…

This episode is a rebroadcast of our February interview with Erin Wade, founder of Homeroom in Oakland, CA, interviewed by Allie Van Duyne and Tamara Portman. Wade got famous in the industry for how she and her staff created a system to deal with harassment, but Wade is also know for her commitment to making Homeroom a truly diverse work environmen…

Steven Darwin is the co-founder of Darwin’s, a four-location cafe in Cambridge, MA. He opened the first location 27 years ago with his wife and co-founder, Isabel, and since then, Darwin and his team of managers have learned a lot about hiring. He says that you can train someone to do just about any job in a cafe, but you can’t train personality — …

Leslie Ciccone is the owner of (swah-rey), a two-location (soon to be four location) dessert bar in St Petersburg, Florida. Her whole business model is centered around kindness, and she aims to create a work environment for young women that’s supportive and challenging, and that sets a standard of how they should let themselves be treated by an emp…

Logan Hostettler is the owner of 1894 Lodge in New Washington, Indiana, a town of around 700 people. Hostettler heavily cross-trains his kitchen staff so that everyone knows how to do everything, which really helps on a small team. He also told me about how talking about mental health openly is crucial to the success of his team, and how he’s been …

This episode is a rebroadcast of our June interview with Ryan Egozi, director of operations at SuViche restaurant group in Miami, FL. He told us about how he and his team realized that it’s best to hire people whose values align to that of your team, and then train them to do the work well. He also discussed the two different profit-sharing program…

How do you keep your staff happy? How do you create a work environment that your staff want to stay in? Is there a new way to hire, train, and retain your staff that works better than the status quo? The Garnish Staff Series is (almost!) here to answer those pressing questions. It's made up of seven 15-20 minute episodes, each an interview with a r…

Today on The Garnish, we sat down with Eric Cacciatore, host of Restaurant Unstoppable. He grew up in his parents’ restaurant, worked in a few more, and then spent some time as a commercial pilot and a winemaker’s assistant. Since 2014, he’s produced over 600 episodes of Restaurant Unstoppable. He aims to find out what makes a restaurant - and a re…

Nowadays, it seems like everyone wants to open a restaurant. It’s fun to daydream about what you’d put on your menu, how you’d decorate the space, what kind of boss you’d be, and how you’d assemble your dream team. One big question that people love to ignore when daydreaming is “how will I fund my restaurant?” When it comes to funding a restaurant,…

Today on The Garnish we’ve got an episode about being a parent in the restaurant industry. In this episode, three moms and two dads from all over the restaurant industry give their perspectives on one of the greatest challenges to modern work-life balance: restaurant work and parenthood. We discuss the toughest parts of being a restaurant industry …

When designing a restaurant, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of choices to make. All these choices, large and small, contribute to your overall vibe – but some of the decisions you make may be ruining the guest experience for your customers with disabilities. Today we’ve got an interview with Justin Alpert, a restaurant architect who is passi…

Today we’ve got an episode about gratuity-free restaurants. On two opposite corners of the US, two neighborhood restaurants are currently thriving on a gratuity-free, profit-sharing model. In this episode, we’ll hear all about what it’s like to work at Juliet, in Somerville, MA, and at barcito, in Los Angeles. We’ll dive into the challenges of impl…

Content warning: this episode contains discussions about addiction, substance abuse disorder, alcoholism, and drug use. Today we’ve got an episode about addiction in the restaurant industry. While alcoholism affects people in every line of work, it’s particularly prevalent in the restaurant world, and the surging opioid crisis has also made its way…

Danny Meyer came to Boston to give a keynote speech at Toast's company kickoff, and on the same day, Toast CEO Chris Comparato interviewed him for our first episode of Season 2 of The Garnish. Danny talked about the importance of focusing on how you make your guests feel, why Union Square Hospitality Group hires for empathy, the future of the resta…

Live from Food for Thought in New York City, this episode of The Garnish features Bareburger's Paul Zarmati, Tacombi's Luis Berenbau, Mulberry & Vine's Luis Reyes, 16 Handles' Roman Gorbach, and Stephen Van Note of Sarabeth's, Dock's, and Jane Restaurant. These prolific New York restaurateurs speak to the biggest trends they have noticed in the NYC…

In this episode, I sit down with renowned restaurant owner Eric Papachristos. Eric has built a career around his love of food, his pride in his Greek heritage, and his education and skilled approach in business. Eric speaks about how his childhood growing up in Greece shaped his passions and how he's able to focus on three unique restaurant concept…

Robots in restaurants?! Michael Farid, Co-Founder & CEO of Spyce, talks about a new and exciting reality: a robotic restaurant kitchen. Farid speaks of how he and his 3 MIT classmates went from basement inventors to restaurateurs. Find out how he maintains an environment of warm hospitality when half his staff is made up of robots. Thanks for liste…

Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli is one of the most noted names in New England’s culinary scene. After an early start at his family’s East Coast Grill and working at The Back Eddy, he spent more than five years as general manager of Island Creek Oyster Bar, worked at Eastern Standard and Craigie on Main, and has since shifted into consulting on various Bos…

Dive into some of the freshest seafood trends for the summer! Rappahannock Oyster Bar's Kyle Anderson highlights the biggest trends in the seafood industry, like new ingredients, different fish, and broader taste pallets of guests. Plus, Kyle recounts his journey to restaurant success, from summer jobs on Cape Cod to managing one of Charleston's ho…

Sam Treadway, named Boston's Best Bartender in 2013, tells his career story and explains what it means to become a great bartender. Subscribe to The Garnish for monthly stories on restaurant success! Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnishDoor The Garnish

Jon Gillespie – restaurateur and investor from BDG Hospitality – sits down with AJ Beltis and Juan Ong to serve up the freshest bar and nightclub industry trends for 2018. Listen to learn more about experiential dining, multifaceted nightlife, and the decline of bottle service. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newslette…

AJ Beltis and Cassy Lee sit down with Adam Silsby, whose decade of restaurant experience has taken him around the country before landing here in Boston. Adam dishes tips on beverage programs, staff training, craft beer, and more! Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly/thegarnish…

Let's talk pizza. Area Four's Executive Chef Jeff Pond talks about how he achieved success in the restaurant industry and later became one of Boston's best pizza cooks. Hear how Pond developed from waiter at a retirement home to the culinary mind behind Boston's Area Four group. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newslett…

AJ Beltis and Karen DeVincent interview celebrity chef, restaurateur, and food TV star Ming Tsai. Ming talks about his upbringing in the restaurant business, his bold switch from Yale Engineering student to chef, and how his son's allergies made him rethink his whole career. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter a…

In this episode of The Garnish, we chatted with Deena Marlette, the General Manager of Branch Line in Watertown, MA. She told us about the power of mentorship, how it felt to leave behind a teaching career to pursue restaurant life full-time, why she staffed her restaurant with enthusiastic people with zero experience, and more. Thanks for listenin…

In the first episode of The Garnish, the Toast content team sits down with chef, author, and restaurateur Chris Hill. Chris shares stories of his first days working in the Atlanta Fish Market up to working as a renowned cook and influencer in the restaurant industry. Thanks for listening to The Garnish! Sign up for our listener newsletter at bit.ly…