The Main Course

People familiar with Time Out Magazine may already be familiar with the Time Out brand and what that brings to the table. And lately, that table can be found in a unique dining experience located in seven major cities from Miami to New York, and Montreal to Dubai; Time Out Market. Jay Coldren, COO of the Americas at Time Out Market, joined The Main Course’s Barbara Castiglia for a delicious chat about this curated dining adventure that brings together many tastes under one roof.

“Time Out Market is interesting,” Coldren said. “It’s a multicultural experience that was born from the Time Out Magazine. More than thirty years ago, we started as people who care about what’s going on in each city. As we developed and as the markets changed, and digital happened, we thought it would a be a great idea to do a physical manifestation of this amazing sort of cultural and culinary curation.”

With the Time Out Market concept, Coldren wants people to experience all the culture and food a city is known for in an atmosphere they’ll want to revisit again and again.

One of the things Coldren stressed about Time Out Markets was that this was no dining court or ordinary food hall. There are no chains at Time Out Markets. Some eateries come from Michelin star chefs or noted restaurants in a particular city. “As I’ve gone from market-to-market, I think we’ve done a great job of not going ‘mass’ and really finding these gems to the communities, and that’s what makes it fun,” Coldren said.

Learn more about Time Out Markets at https://www.timeoutmarket.com/.

In this episode of The Main Course, Barbara Castiglia speaks with Big Chicken’s CEO Josh Halpern to learn about the disruption this franchise is posed to cause franchises focused on chicken.

Big Chicken opened the doors of its first brick and mortar venue in Las Vegas, NV in 2018. Since then, they’ve opened several locations throughout the US including locations in stadium arenas. They have also found a home with Carnival Cruise Lines.

Today, the restaurant is focused on growing intelligently while bringing awareness to their brand. When asked what’s on the menu, Josh Halpern comically commented “as you can imagine, chicken, otherwise it’d be weird right?"

However, in all seriousness, Halpern continued to discuss what makes Big Chicken unique. “We really try to put effort on the chicken itself, right? So, we have chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders, chicken sliders… We try to incorporate every possible flavor profile from more savory to spicy because one of Shaquille’s key values is authenticity.”

In fact, Shaquille has a deep connection to chicken as it was a common dinner when he was a child. There’s even a Mac N’ Cheese side with a Cheez-it crust that is modeled after what he remembers his mom made when he was a kid.

Continue listening to Castiglia and Halpern discussing the future vision of the Big Chicken franchise, how they are coping with staffing and supply chain shortages, incorporating local flavor profiles into menu design, how they utilized time during the pandemic to set the stage to effectively expand their franchise operations, and much more.

Barbara Castiglia spoke with Savneet Singh, president and CEO of Par, a software and hardware solutions company for the restaurant industry, about the importance of technology to survive the pandemic.

“The pandemic pulled all that [technology] forward. If you didn’t have great technology … it was really hard to survive,” Singh explained. “You clearly saw the organizations and chains that had the investment in technology pre-pandemic dramatically outperformed those that didn’t.”

To prepare for the future, utilizing a unified platform will make restaurant operations significantly easier for all levels of employees at companies – from CIOs to store managers. A unified platform will help users see a wholistic picture based on data and enable them to make smarter decisions.

For those who are behind in the digital revolution, Singh recommended making their services more accessible and breaking down the shift to digital will help make the move more seamless.

Long term, consumers can expect digital options becoming even more customized to their preferences. For instance, Singh envisions a future where QR codes deliver an engaging online guest experience of interactive videos or custom entertainment.

Bottom line, Singh believes that “your digital presence is your fiscal presence,” and the pandemic couldn’t have made that statement more accurate.

Now the industry is on the lookout for the next greatest technology to take customer experience to the next level. However, he predicted that while technology may be physically more prevalent, it’ll become even more seamless in the future.

Host Barbara Castiglia welcomed to The Main Course Yariv Bash, CEO of Flytrex, to discuss an innovation in food delivery that has long been on the radar, but whose growth has been exacerbated by the pandemic: drones. While his company was founded in 2013 under different circumstances, it only took until 2016 for Bash and his team to realize that drone deliveries were “gonna happen.”

In 2017, Flytrex became the first company to provide a “working door delivery solution.” They started testing the technology in Iceland, and then the following year began working with the FAA to make the “pie in the sky” dream reach American’s front yard. And if it is food delivery, it could be a literal pie coming in from a drone in the sky.

“These are actually small airplanes,” Bash explained, “and they are being certified for commercial aviation. That is why it has been taking so long. The FAA is… putting in so much effort and resources to making sure the skies stay safe.”

Essentially, the process would work like this: instead of a delivery person taking an order and driving it over to the address themselves, they would take the order to the nearest drone station and the drone would take the order to the customer. The drone does so by hovering over the address at 80 feet and lowering the package on a tether to its final destination.

Bash argued that the drones would also be a “win-win” for restaurants, who struggle to make money from other delivery services that take a large surcharge from their orders. The drones, he said, are far more affordable.

The system is also remarkable efficient at handling packages. “We’ve been delivering ice cream, eggs, coffee… anything that you can think of without a spill.”

Bash also said it would benefit local communities. “In the end it’s all about the local community, because everywhere we go we open up a local station, we hire local employees and we can support local restaurants, as well.”

Flytrex’s restaurant partners are currently, largely under non-disclosure agreements, but he said, “We love working with as many partners as we can once we open a station… to offer the largest variety and make sure that the station delivers as many deliveries as we can make a day.”

The fast-casual chicken market has a lot of competition in the U.S. That hasn’t stopped Campero USA from growing and winning over consumers. The Guatemalan brand has achieved great success in the U.S. market. Sharing the story is the company’s Managing Director and COO Luis Javier Rodas joined The Main Course Host Barbara Castiglia.

Rodas has spent over 20 years with the brand and began to manage the U.S. stores in 2016.

First, Rodas described the menu. “Fried chicken is our top seller, and it has a unique flavor. The key to the chicken sandwich is we use the same flavor from our bone-in chicken.”

The restaurant, like any other, faced considerable disruption in 2020. However, they were already ahead of the curve. “Without knowing what would happen, we were already launching digital kitchens, our delivery service, and loyalty program,” Rodas said.

Before the pandemic, most sales were dine-in. They were able to keep serving during shutdowns with drive-thru and delivery. They even added new customers. Rodas explained how. “Most marketing was billboards or radio, which was working. After the pandemic, we switched everything to digital and social media to expand reach.”

They also began using ghost kitchens in 2020, extending their service area by opening them in places where stores didn’t currently exist.

Their pivots made 2020 a record year. Once dining rooms were able to open, the company implemented new technology for safety. “We changed our service model to allow for ordering and payment at the table instead of interacting with a cashier,” Rodas noted.

Rodas said the company has big plans for growth in the next few years but will always balance growth with quality. “We have parallel teams working on this, and we’re looking for franchise partners that have a passion for the industry and experience.”

As arguably the oldest franchise brand, A&W is known for its classic root beer floats, but many aren’t aware of the many other options they offer at their many franchised stores.

John Palumbo, senior director of franchise development at A&W, spoke with Host Barbara Castiglia about the history and future of the brand, including his favorite menu items.

Starting as a root beer stand, the global company is now completely owned by its franchise partners. The advantage of being franchise-owned is the passion and drive the franchisees bring to the brand.

“We want folks that have a connection to this brand or some kind of emotional connection to the A&W brand,” Palumbo explained.

It’s not required to have much food service industry knowledge, but those ready to learn and grow through an extensive corporate support team will enjoy a long and successful business with a brand that truly cares about its stores and employees.

For instance, during the pandemic, A&W didn’t lay off a single employee and sent back all advertising payments paid by the franchisees so they could use that toward making payroll.

“To me, that spoke to the integrity of this brand… it’s always: ‘Do the right thing.’ ‘What can we do to help our franchisees today?’ ‘What makes sense?’” said Palumbo.

That type of company culture clearly seeps into the individual locations that comprise A&W, evidenced by their loyal restaurant-goers, or as they call ‘fans,’ who were eager to dine in once restrictions lifted.

“There’s research that show people do gravitate toward things they know and love and have a connection with, and we’re one of that.”

Looking to the future, Palumbo predicts more store locations will expand into the southwest and southeast this year, especially Las Vegas and the Carolinas.

Tune in to The Main Course to hear Palumbo’s favorite menu item or head over to A&W’s Facebook, Instagram or Twitter to engage with fellow fans and participate in challenges, promotions, awards and more.

Before technology entered the restaurant industry, commercial businesses had to rely on cash registers. The first industry to adopt a point of sale (POS) system were retail and grocery stores, and restaurants didn’t integrate the technology until about 30 years ago. President and Founder, Nadav Solomon, of Tabit, a POS and tableside ordering system company, explained how Tabit elevates human interaction through technology with 15 different products.

Solomon described their business model to Host Barbara Castiglia: “We redesigned all the software, not as an afterthought, like other POS companies… our solution actually provides great benefits to different restaurant players.”

Castiglia commented on how today’s staff desires these types of technologies, and the numbers reinforce why business owners should, too:

Increases the average per person check by 15%

Reduces labor on the floor by 25%

Eliminates server mistakes by 80-90%

Lowers table turn time by 12-15 minutes

Solomon explained, “As long as you have demand, you can dine in more people, each one of them are going to pay more and buy more food from you.”

With Tabit, restaurants can eliminate manual labor and increase mobility rate. For example, customers can more quickly split the check and receive drinks quicker. Solomon also described how servers can have educated and customized upsell conversations based on their food orders through the technology.

Additionally, Tabit technology is easy to adapt to major events like the pandemic. When restaurants closed, restaurants utilizing Tabit were able to easily transition to online operations and seamlessly turn servers into deliver drivers.

However, none of these benefits would be possible without access to data. Solomon predicts that the industry will shift from “collect and redeem” to “surprise and delight” loyalty programs — because of data. Tabit can make this possible by partnering with its customers to identify goals and ensure those are achieved through regular consulting and mobile tool monitoring.

Ultimately, Tabit streamlines the restaurant industry’s pain points, elevates the customer experience and aims to partner with restaurants to grow their company.

Host Barbara Castiglia talks the latest restaurant technology with Zuppler’s Founder and CEO, Shiva Srinivasan. Zuppler, an online ordering management company, serves primarily independent restaurants and some chains, focusing on ensuring the company’s brand is maintained throughout the online ordering process.

Initially, Zuppler started as a portal, similar to a Grubhub, but as more competition came into the industry, they pivoted to focusing on the customer experience by working in the background of a restaurant’s website, creating an integrated approach with a strong focus on marketing. Since more than 50% of customers abandon their cart when an ordering link takes them to a third-party website, their business model has proved lucrative by increasing revenue potential 50-60%.

“It’s really important to highlight the restaurant’s brand… it should be one single experience for the user,” Srinivasan explained. “It should not feel like they’re going to an external site or linking somewhere else.”

Srinivasan also commented on how restaurants can remain competitive online, such as featuring high-quality menu item images, utilizing data to strategically upsell, and deploying marketing campaigns. Ultimately, Srinivasan encouraged more data utilization.

While the restaurant industry was traditionally slow to adopt technology to capture this data and increase automation, COVID-19 quickly flipped that trend. During the pandemic, Zuppler was bombarded with online ordering needs since restaurants needed to pivot rapidly. Zuppler, while not prepared for the huge rush, responded gracefully with the new incoming business.

“We knew that we had to do something to help, and it was not the time to think about making money and building the business. So right off the bat, we gave 6 months free for all our restaurants to help them through the pandemic,” Srinivasan said.

Srinivasan also touched on other trending topics, such as ghost kitchens and staffing issues. He ended the talk relaying the importance of how technology, automation and integrations can contribute to a business’s success, and Zuppler has the solutions for filling those gaps.

Author, restaurant owner and hospitality industry expert Barry Jessurun discussed his book, life lessons, and tips for restaurant success with Host Barbara Castiglia on The Main Course.

As owner of Green Valley Hospitality, Jessurun has ran four restaurants ranging from fast-casual to higher-end menus to university settings for up to 32 years. While he was one of the lucky restaurant owners to remain in business during the pandemic, Jessurun has learned a lot throughout his many decades in of restaurant life.

Jessurun took these life learnings to write the book “The Drunkard’s Path.” Readers can expect a manual-like, easy read that reviews basic employee and management expectations, the basics to succeed in any industry and how to tie it all into one’s life since there really is no work-life separation. The term ‘drunkard’s path’ refers to a route that an inebriated person may take on the way home from a pub — similarly, careers are usually never a straight, inclined line but more so a zigzagged path.

While the book is intended for audiences of any age, it’s especially useful for students to set a foundation of how to show up in your career. One concept that stands out to Castiglia is self-altruism, of which Jessurun is a big advocate. “To me self-altruism is like ‘I’m doing this because I want to do this because it’s the story I’m trying to create, but it also helps other people around me,’” added Jessurun.

It’s no surprise how Jessurun has maintained four thriving businesses amidst a pandemic and is eager to share his tips for restaurant success. For him, employees are seen as his ‘first customer,’ by focusing on staffing and retaining the best of the best. That starts with finding people who are happy, because teaching hard skills like making a sandwich or bartending is easier.

“The employee is my first customer, and I really need to create a place where they would just rather be,” added Jessurun.

Daniel Estrada, co-founder and CEO of 86 Repairs, noticed a large gap in the restaurant industry, which ultimately lead to the formation of his company. He discusses those gaps and more with the Host of The Main Course, Barbara Castiglia.

86 Repairs is a subscription service for multi-unit restaurants of five locations or more where customers text the repair experts any time something breaks, and the company manages the entire process of finding a solution.

The company prides itself of using data to first guide the customer on finding simple solutions that don’t require an 86 Repair representative, which saves the customer production loss time and expenses and in turn builds trust.

What sets 86 Repairs apart is that they log every maintenance need or fix request, which gives them a significant amount of data to use in preparing preventative maintenance plans. Conversely, most restaurant operators apply a ‘Band-Aid solution’ to the problem instead of utilizing data.

“We found that most restaurants are struggling with just trying to manage this on their own,” Estrada explained. “More specifically, they have each manager in each location trying to manage this on their own.”

By utilizing their extensive database and not marking up their rates with service providers, 86 Repairs can significantly reduce a customer’s bottom line.

He continued, “We found $50,000 in savings just by optimizing which vendors were being dispatched for which types of service requests.”

As for the conspiracy around McDonald’s ice cream machines reportedly always being down… Tune in to hear Estrada’s response in solving that mystery.