In this interview, Ken Burgin talks with Tony Percuoco, one of Australia’s leading Italian restaurateurs. He and his brothers have opened a number of highly-regarded restaurants in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast in Australia. His current restaurant is Tartufo in Fortitude Valley.

Tony and I sat outside the restaurant (hence the atmospheric sounds) and talked about menu and marketing developments, his profit secrets, managing staff and finance, the changing restaurant scene and how to keep customers happy. Here’s a chance to listen and learn from a master!

There are many types of management skills – in this interview Ken Burgin discusses them with communications and leadership coach Carmel Murphy, the Communications Queen. She’s also a senior manager in a restaurant chain, so she knows what’s needed in real life.

We went through her list of essential ‘people management’ skills and how these can be developed in young managers and staff who want to take more responsibility. We also talked about personality types, working with cultural differences and overcoming fear – topics of relevance for all of us.

You can also hear Carmel in one of our most popular podcasts (#30) on Understanding and Managing Employee Personality Types.

It’s time to turn the ‘problem’ of customer allergies into a positive opportunity for promotion. Let’s stop the eye-rolling and groaning every time a gluten-free or nut-free request comes in, and see that there are thousands of potential customers who will flock to your business if they know their food sensitivies and allergies will be understood and respected.

In this interview, Ken Burgin talks with restaurant coach and consultant Joshua Clifton. We discussed the common allergies to be aware of, the dangers of an anaphylactic reaction by someone who encounters food they should not eat (potentially fatal) and Joshua’s personal challenges with this issue. We also talked about the correct wording for menus, the awareness training staff need, and how to manage a busy service while still taking this all into account.

He recommends we check the Anaphylaxis Network of Australia, the Primal Pantry in Brisbane and see how Disney foodservice handles the issue at their theme parks.

It’s great to interview Brooke Adey, the manager of Yellow restaurant in Sydney and 2015 Winner of the Appetite for Excellence Young Waiter Award. This is Australia’s premier national award for chefs, waiters and restaurateurs.

She happily admits to being a ‘lifer’ in hospitality, and is sharpening her skills in management after a wide range of experience in Adelaide and Sydney restaurants.

Brooke says “I have always loved great food and wine, performing and learning, being a waiter allows me to do all of these things and more. As for my service philosophy, I believe you should treat the restaurant like your home, your colleagues like your family and your guests like your friends. Take pride in your venue, from the way it is presented to the energy that it gives; like members of your family, you might not get to pick your team but they can be some of the greatest relationships you will ever have.

It's not hard to write a good advertisement for staff. And most of your competitors' ads are so poorly written that, with a little care, yours will stand out like a beacon. The secret is to offer benefits that match the desires of the people you want to hire. Don’t just talk about what you want, but list in detail the benefits you offer that will appeal to applicants. These are much more than just ‘good pay’. although that’s important.

In this podcast Ken Burgin tells you how to get into the mind of an applicant, and put together ads that will get the phone ringing. This works for chef employment, front of house staff and managers - each of these groups have their own requirements and expectations you need to meet. Make use of the Profitable Hospitality Staff Management department and the Staff Management Downloads - we've got your employee management needs covered!

More than 106 million people from China will vacation overseas in 2016 – the numbers are staggering! Just to Australia alone, there will be more than one million visitors, creating massive pressure on travel infrastructure and the staff resources needed to meet demand. The opportunities are fantastic, especially as more than 30% will be independent travellers, looking for good cuisine and great experiences, ready to enjoy the great food, drink and coffee at your restaurant or cafe.

In this interview Ken Burgin talks with John Hart, CEO of Restaurant & Catering Australia. John recently travelled to China and has been working closely with Tourism Australia on their extensive China Ready program for restaurants. Welcoming the new wave of Chinese tourists is a very exciting development for foodservice operators everywhere – be prepared!

Ken Burgin talks with Adam Reiner, who says the mission of his website Restaurant Manifesto is about ‘helping people dine more successfully by decoding the secret language of restaurants from an insider’s perspective. Certainly, I have a lot of life lessons from my work in restaurants that I’m happy to discuss with the listeners, but I’d prefer the conversation center more around the themes of how people can become better diners. So many blogs today spend so much energy ranting and raving about how awful restaurant guests are, but precious few come from a place of love or, God forbid, offer the guest any advice on how to use this information more constructively.’

Adam has worked in New York restaurants for almost 20 years. He was a member of the team at Mario Batali’s iconic Italian restaurant, Babbo, for nearly ten years and he currently works for Major Food Group as a captain at Carbone in Greenwich Village. He spent the majority of 2015 living in Hong Kong, where he was hired to be the New York Liaison and Brand Ambassador to the Carbone restaurant there. ‘It was an amazing experience to witness service dynamics in a foreign country, to interact with guests overseas and to train people on how to understand our New York swagger and style of service.’

Adam launched The Restaurant Manifesto in early 2014 (under the pen name Peter Camarero, to avoid conflict of interest) and since then has tried hard to be a more compassionate voice for helping people’s dining experiences. ‘Restaurants are complex organisms and too many restaurant patrons, even ones who fashion themselves experts, have overly simplistic ideas about how the organism functions. Gaining more literacy about the ecosystem, in his opinion, helps people cultivate better relationships with staff and, ultimately, results in better service.’ Follow Adam on his website and his pithy Twitter feed.

A smart online marketing strategy is essential for modern events

In this podcast, Ken Burgin talks with Sheila Scarborough of

Why automate? Not because we want to be robots, but it can make

It’s also about setting up systems that other people can do for

Start with areas where the most human errors are occurring –

Lots more information about developing an efficient and

Let’s challenge the wide-spread perception that Millennial or Generation-Y employees are a problem: self-centred, too casual, a short attention span and living on their phones. Every generation says the ‘young ones’ are a disappointment - conflict between young and old is nothing new!

In this interview, Ken Burgin talks with Dr Chip Espinoza, author of the new book Millennials Who Manage – How to Overcome Workplace Perceptions and Become a Great Leader.

The Millennial generation is now the largest of the working age groups (USA) – more than Gen X (born 1960-1979) and the Baby Boomers (1945-1959). We need to build their skills and prize their ability. They expect more frequent training, and don’t need a manager to give them information – they can find it themselves. Let’s use their more casual approach to improve our hospitality, and their ease with technology is exactly what we need more of. This interview (and book) is full of practical ways to turn your young workforce into a competitive asset for the future.