Restaurant AI & Technology Report

The idea of virtual restaurants many become a reality for the casual dining sector. The biggest question is with they operationally work and is it a profitable model to move forward with? James O’Reilly, chief executive officer of Smokey Bones, discusses their pivot towards virtual restaurants and addresses the skepticism around how this futuristic concept will thrive.

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In this episode of The Barron Report, host Paul Barron talks with Randy Garutti, chief executive officer of Shake Shack, to discuss the innovation behind bringing the restaurant experience home with cook-at-home meal kits.

In the midst of the pandemic, Shake Shack partnered with Goldbelly to offer ShackBurger Kits which allows the company to keep their staff employed during this time. The kit includes eight burger patties, ShackSauce™, eight slices of American cheese and eight non-GMO Martin’s Potato Rolls all for $49. This experience has generated social media buzz as many consumers have taken to sharing their at-home experiences.

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In this episode of The Barron Report, host Paul Barron chats with John Houghtaling, attorney at Gauthier Murphy & Houghtaling LLC to discuss solutions and framework around setting up your business with insurance companies, understanding your coverage and how to navigate denied claims.

Houghtaling has been involved as a philanthropist in the restaurant industry with Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud and Jérôme Bocuse for a number of years. The four recently teamed up to create a PR, political and civil action plan to address what insurance companies are doing in response to pandemic. The purpose of the plan is to reconcile the misrepresentations about the policies and how they apply to the virus.

In this episode of The Barron Report, host Paul Barron chats Mat Focht, chief executive officer of EMERGING, to discuss the radical change of our economy as we experience a total shutdown of many industries and businesses.

EMERGING is an industry resource for companies to prepare for their next capital event. The company reviews multiple facets of a business to maximize revenue in a sustainable way.

In this episode of The Barron Report, host Paul Barron chats with Laurent May, chief executive officer of Ready, to discuss the new reality of the evolving restaurant industry and how essential the implementation of technology is for survival.

Ready is a virtual kiosk and mobile platform that focuses on frictionless, mobile ordering and pay-at-table services. Guests can order via a self-service method which provides safe, limited face-to-face contact for ordering in casual and fine dining locales. While on premise of fast casual venues, customers have access to menus digitally from the comfort of their vehicle.

In this episode of The Barron Report, host Paul Barron chats with Kyle Noonan, co-founder of FreeRange Concepts, to discuss the adaptability of business and operations during the Coronavirus crisis and how the restaurant and hospitality industry must move forward post pandemic.

FreeRange Concepts is a restaurant management company that operates four brands in Texas–Mutts, Bowl & Barrel, The General Public and The Rustic. The company has a simple motto to create remarkable memories. At each concept, they pioneer unique menu innovation, contemporary foodservice operations, and forward-thinking dining ideas into the hospitality and restaurant industry.

In this episode of The Barron Report, host Paul Barron chats with Joseph Corrigan, general counsel and vice president of strategic relations of Buyers Edge Platform to discuss the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Stimulus Bill around the Coronavirus pandemic.

Buyers Edge is the touchstone to foodservice operators that offers technology services to restauranteurs and multi-unit hospitality operators such as supply-chain consulting, group purchasing and produce management.

In this episode of The Barron Report, host Paul Barron chats with Julie Lim, executive vice president and head of foodservice of CAULIPOWER, to discuss the importance of menu development and how consumers’ taste will change post Coronavirus pandemic.

CAULIPOWER is a hyper growth start-up company that began marketing a cauliflower crust pizza in supermarket chains at just the right time. Within one year, they commercialized four innovative, cauliflower-based products. They launched products such as a cauliflower tortilla, chicken tenders coated in cauliflower, and soon to be launching cauliflower rice.

In this episode of The Barron Report, host Paul Barron chats with Luke Fryer, chief executive officer and founder of Harri, to discuss their innovative thinking around creating a partnership to aid displaced workers due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Harri is an employee technology platform focused on the hospitality and restaurant industry, which covers every aspect of the entire life cycle, such as day-to-day workflow like managing the hiring process, scheduling, training and developing the operations.

In this episode of The Barron Report, host Paul Barron chats with Ignacio Garcia-Menocal, co-founder and chief executive officer of Grove Bay Hospitality Group to discuss these unexpected shifts in operations and their focus on trying to provide assistance to their employees.