Holy Guacamole Podcast

Cafe Culture Episode with Dear Globe Coffee.

LieAnne Navarro is an artist, roaster and community organizer at Dear Globe Coffee Beans are for sale at the cafe or by subscription -- sustainably sourced, and farmer direct, prioritizing organically grown beans, espresso drinks, and a wonderful food menu.

LieAnne skills as a cafe owner starts as an artist, and a barista, apprentice Hi 5 years ago roasting beans at Highlandtown roastery, High Grounds. She's built a roastery in Mt Vernon for wholesale and retail, and opened her new cafe five weeks ago at 422 W. Mulberry Street. Her cafe includes an adjoining art space where Baltimore can look forward to music, visual art, sculpture and more.

Her coffee knowledge is deep. She shares her recent journey to Special Coffee Association in Boston, which is now a global organization. Her presenation starts at 19 minutes of the video.

Call out to artist and community mentioned in this episode:

sam christian holmes

collab with trinacria — a cannoli latte, in recognition of the Italian markets long and deep 112 year connection with Baltimore artists and community.

collaboration with Wheely Good Smoothies at the 32nd Street Farmers Market

Keffa Coffee is mention as a local resource for many cafe owners. Yirgacheffe video from a recent visit to Dear Globe Cafe is on our IG feed.

Enjoy listening and look for more Cafe Culture episodes on Holy Guacamoles' IG feed Website and IG

I know so many restaurants are still trying to deal with the Great Resignation, and restaurants are a tough challenge. This episode is a very simple approach to hiring. But first, let me share some realities:

• volume is a huge problem - low cashflow makes it hard to hire anyone more, when you are already running low on Labor Costs.
• the work needs to get done — no way around the fact that food, food prep, and serving a fantastic plate has no short cuts.
• inflation is real, and people are feeling it.

So with those three realities, let me address your hiring conundrum.

1. Have a job description
2. Have a job advertisement that promotes the job and shares the "why" of the job, and the "why" of your business.
3. Don't rush the process.
   1. Interview (we used to have two ppl interveiw— one of the other of us would have the BS meter turned on)
   2. Call references. Learn where the candidate REALLy is in their career, and ask what they need to grow further. What I mean is this is a whole person, you want to make sure they are going to be ready for this new role, and that it's not above or below their skills.

4. Offer the job in a phone call and in an email. By this I mean add some formality to the process.

5. Make sure you have a training process in place. (First month version and up to 6 months of training…or continuous, help them feel engaged)

6. Last but def not least have productive reviews.

CONCLUSION: This is not a silver bullet, I know it's not easy to find people. The industry is having a huge shift. Be willing and able to make that shift and create a healthy environment. And if this stuff still doesn't resonate, call me or email me. This is what I do.

Poio is a casual Mexican BBQ place in Kansas City. Chef Carlos Montera is it's savvy, yet grounded owner. He's created a menu that works well as a stand alone operation in the heart of Kansas City, and could also become more.

This episode is a chance to explore whether to or whether not to count on investors, and why. Chef Carlos is honest in his conversation, and his words are what a young start up owner wants to know. How to be successful with a small budget. When to step out of a lease that isn't working, how to choose a location that will serve your customers, and ensure your volume is not absorbing the rent. He also share how many other aspects of business he carries out. He has built a reputation of not being afraid to take on BBQ, and he knows how to do what he's good at, and not take more complex party planning unless it's financially rewarding. He talked about delivery to neighborhoods. Delivery where you have built in a volume of sales, because there is a central delivery location. This method requires teaching your customers, and ensures your business is here to grow.

Check out their website and IG.

The proper name is the Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act of 2021 — would add $42 billion to the SBA's pandemic-era relief program. Now, after the House vote, the act will head to the U.S. Senate. If passed there, it will move to the President's desk.

If the Replenishment Act is signed into law, the funds would render aid to the nation's restaurant industry.

It's a rollercoaster ride that continues on Capitol Hill. None of us want this to be false hope, because the industry has been through too much already when it comes to this topic.

Senate must refill the Restaurant Revitalization Fund to ensure every independent restaurant and bar can survive and thrive. If you hop on https://www.saverestaurants.com/ site has clear call to action! Please get yourself in gear!

Owning a bakery is many people's dream. Today's episode is an exploration into one way to own a bakery. What does it mean to become a business owner and baker. We hear first hand from one owner, Elise Smith and what she has discovered on her journey.

Elise Smith is the owner of WinniE's Bakery. She is an accomplished pastry chef and published recipe developer, food stylist and food writer. WinniE's Bakery is a bake to order and small batch producer of artisanal baked goods. She has a strong online presence— onIG, and she's about to she will soon be in Magnolia Network! That said this episode is grounded in practical habits. She shares what a to-do list looks like, her schedule, the detail involved in recipes creation, and baking cakes when that's what the client wants.

Building relationships is important to any business. Elise's super power is building relationships. She makes sure she is also in service of others less fortunate. Two amazing non-profits she helps are No Kid Hungry and Be the Match. No Kid Hungry's mission is to break the barriers of food insecurity. Be the Match is a registry of potential blood stem cell donors. Both are amazing charities, and reflect Elise's journey. Enjoy listening, and hope it helps spark ideas, that you can workshop…

Kelly Pace Hayes owns Pace and Love Marketing. She is a marketing consultant. She shares her mini bio, and describes the breadth of experience she has and how she now uses her experience. She has helped both small food businesses and large restaurant groups grow. She has clients across many industries now. She has the skills of a nimble individually run marketing company who worked at an agency, so can incorporate those processes into Pace and Love.

Her ability to gather and tell the story telling works. She's used it for many different industries, and for many facets of a business. Right now she helps businesses tell their story to attract good people to join a team. She explains clever packaging and how the brand can capture so much in the feel of the logo, package or environment.

Martha asks Kelly for shout outs for good marketing that builds your restaurant and product brand. Hear 3 good paths that Kelly recommends for marketing your restaurant or packaged food/beverage—loyalty, a chef's choice menu, and partnering with local community organizations.

Kelly mentions text loyalty programs. Here are several to consider: Klayvio, and here is a recent list to consider

We are heading to a butcher shop on a farm in Ellenburg, Washington State. That's a bucolic sounding scene. It's a place in a community where their customers can pick up fresh meat, take it home, and prepare dinner. That means the meat on your table is certified by USDA, but it's not going through one of the four huge slaughterhouses in the US.

People come to this farm to buy meat directly from farm. They have a whole animal butcher shop right there on the farm. We hear butcher Allison Miller tell us what she notices about the local food chain. Food matters to their clientele — having access to local, safe, clean food.

As always, share this episode and the show widely. I'm Martha Lucius, your host, and food consultant. When you want help in your operation, reach out, let's see what work needs to be done, and if I am a good fit.

Whether you run, or on a team at a cafe, restaurant, food truck, cocktail bar or brewery this interview will spark ideas.

Chef Kanthi runs a brew pub in Brighton, UK. He serves a niche menu: South Indian and Sri Lankan fare in Easy Tiger pub in Brighton, which is on the south coast of England. His experience is an excellent example of how quality leads success. He explains how he chooses his ingredients, how to count on local farms and purveyors, and how to balance that with his knowledge on food costs.

Enjoy listening.

Can you have a healthy business where quality leads your success? Revenue and profit follow? In the next few minutes you'll hear one example. As usual, i'm hoping that an example will get you into a frame of mind to workshop it into existence at your business, whether you run, or on a team at a cafe, restaurant, food truck, cocktail bar or brewery. You do your own research. can you infuse this into your business.

There is a popular Indian restaurant group in London. The restaurant group is called Dishoom. There are 8 locations in UK, all based on Irani cafes in Bombay. Their tagline is "from Bombay with Love"

Thakrar father told him as a teenager that he "really shouldn't measure profit." Which was his fathers way of getting him to shift his focus.

When starting or running a business Thakrar, the owner of Dishoom suggests taking four steps:

1. Find something that moves the customer and the employees.
2. Figure out what that is in you, do that and do more of that.
3. Find a way of making money out of that thing and make that business model work.
4. Focus not on the money, but on the thing that is giving you that emotional connection.

How can quality be the underlying principle that guides your staff, delights your customers, and makes you personally feel that a little poetry in your heart.

Enjoy listening...

Spotlighting markets starts with a butcher shop in Washington, DC. The rise of markets has taken off during the pandemic, which is why Paul Branner of Georgetown Butcher is a perfect gold stardard for our conversation on this topic. When owners are into food, but not into owning a restaurant markets become an asset which build community.

Georgetown Butcher opened a week before the pandemic and has now found their footing and followers to support. Paul Branner and Wendall Allsbrook lead a team with passion and professionalism.

Paul Branner shares their story of how their butcher shop has evolves and diversified, while finding a supportive and delighted community. They sell beef, pork, poultry and fish, along with produce to compliment. Delivery to homes in DC neighborhoods, is clearly delighting their growing followers. All this in a 700 square foot space in DC's trendy Georgetown neighborhood.

Two years under their belts, the owners, and team know where they are going. You can hear how planning, focus and identity in their Georgetown location, will keep this business on it's growth plan of delivery and additional locations.

March 9th is their Grand Re-opening. Congrats to them for creating a marketplace that emphasizes quality. The ability to talk to two butchers with decades of culinary experience is unusual and now desireable. Our desire, now, for human connection is clearly resonating with their customers.

We look forward to interviewing more market owners this year. Reach out to [email protected] when you hear something that you'd like to discuss.