The Pre-Shift

The Pre-Shift Podcast presented by 7shifts breaks down everything you’ve ever wanted to know about running a restaurant better. Conversations with some of the biggest names, newest players, and industry innovators bring key insights into how they grew their businesses.  Host DJ Costantino asks probing questions to get to know restauranteurs, chefs, and executives better and find out where they came from, how they got to where they are, and what lessons they learned along the way. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Joe Kahn, Founder and CIO of Condado Tacos and Chris Artinian, CEO of Condado Tacos

Guest Bio
Joe Kahn is the Founder & Chief Innovation Officer at Condado Tacos. His passion for hospitality started at just 15 years old working at Sizzler and then Pizza Hut. Along the way, he learned to bartend and earned his first management position at The Outpost, a local Chicago venue. After decades of working in all aspects of the restaurant industry, Joe took the plunge to open his own restaurant—which failed. But instead of turning in his apron, he learned from his mistakes, borrowed money from his wife’s 401k, and founded Condado Tacos with several business partners. His focus on creating clean and craveable tacos in an environment that encourages creativity and community was a hit. By 2026, there will be 100 Condado Tacos restaurants! What’s Joe’s secret to success? Treating people well and really great tacos.

Chris Artinian serves as President & CEO at Condado Tacos. He has over 30 years of restaurant and retail experience with private and public companies and extensive experience in restaurant and consumer services. He first encountered Condado Tacos while working at The Beekman Group and loved the concept so much that he joined the company to help chart the brand’s meteoric growth because he has the chops. Chris previously held CEO titles at TooJay’s Gourmet Deli, Bakery & Restaurant, Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill, and Morton’s. He’s recognized by industry peers for his deep operational experience in developing winning strategies and exceptional teams. he also serves on the Board of Directors of Another Broken Egg, Ted’s Cafe Escondido, and Condado Tacos.

Additional Resources

• Condado Tacos
• Condado Tacos Careers
• 2021’s Breakout Brand of the Year: Condado Tacos Takes the Lead

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About Us
7shifts is the restaurant HR platform helping operators hire, train, schedule, pay, and retain their team in one place. With an easy-to-use platform and built-for-restaurant workflows, 7shifts replaces disconnected systems for 55,000 restaurants.

The Pre-Shift Podcast presented by 7shifts breaks down everything you’ve ever wanted to know about running a restaurant better. Conversations with some of the biggest names, newest players, and industry innovators bring key insights into how they grew their businesses.  Host DJ Costantino asks probing questions to get to know restauranteurs, chefs, and executives better and find out where they came from, how they got to where they are, and what lessons they learned along the way. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Michel Falcon, Founder & CEO of Brasa Peruvian Kitchen

Guest Bio
Michel Falcon is a restaurant entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and best selling author. His expertises are company culture, employee performance, and customer experience strategies. As the CEO & Founder of Brasa Peruvian Kitchen, he oversees all people and growth initiatives. Since August 2021, Brasa has succesfully opened three corporate-owned locations in Toronto, The company's next growth market in New York City in 2023.

Additional Resources

• Brasa Peruvian Kitchen
• Michel Falcon
• Brasa Peruvian Careers

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About Us
7shifts is the restaurant HR platform helping operators hire, train, schedule, pay, and retain their team in one place. With an easy-to-use platform and built-for-restaurant workflows, 7shifts replaces disconnected systems for 55,000 restaurants.

The Pre-Shift Podcast presented by 7shifts breaks down everything you’ve ever wanted to know about running a restaurant better. Conversations with some of the biggest names, newest players, and industry innovators bring key insights into how they grew their businesses.  Host DJ Costantino asks probing questions to get to know restauranteurs, chefs, and executives better and find out where they came from, how they got to where they are, and what lessons they learned along the way. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Ron Hsu, Owner of Lazy Betty, Humble Pie, and Juniper Cafe

Guest Bio

Champion of fair wages, equality and great food. James Beard nominated Atlanta restaurateur Ron Hsu envisions an industry where the workforce doesn't rely on the goodwill of customers and strives for changes to the way things have always been done.

Additional Resources

• Lazy Betty
• Humble Pie
• Juniper Cafe
• RAISE High Road Restaurants

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About Us
7shifts is the restaurant HR platform helping operators hire, train, schedule, pay, and retain their team in one place. With an easy-to-use platform and built-for-restaurant workflows, 7shifts replaces disconnected systems for 55,000 restaurants.

The Pre-Shift Podcast presented by 7shifts breaks down everything you’ve ever wanted to know about running a restaurant better. Conversations with some of the biggest names, newest players, and industry innovators bring key insights into how they grew their businesses.  Host DJ Costantino asks probing questions to get to know restauranteurs, chefs, and executives better and find out where they came from, how they got to where they are, and what lessons they learned along the way. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Eric Huang, Owner of Pecking House

Guest Bio
Eric Huang grew up in a Chinese-American restaurant in New York, a very common tale in the Chinese diaspora. He is an amateur cellist turned subpar college student turned chef. Despite investing many years and taking on crushing student debt to become a college-educated professional, he would return to work in restaurants because that’s where he felt most at home. He has been cooking in New York City for the last decade, honing his craft at Michelin-starred institutions such as Cafe Boulud, Gramercy Tavern and most recently as a sous chef at Eleven Madison Park. His dream was to open his own restaurant that would challenge the Western world’s prejudices against Chinese cuisine, but he encountered a minor obstacle in the spring of 2020. With his family’s restaurant, Peking House, shuttered due to the pandemic, he stepped in to do what he could and started frying chicken and delivering it to New Yorkers trapped in their apartments. This became wildly more successful than anyone planned on it being and thus Pecking House was born. He is now a fried chicken dealer in a restaurant landscape figuring out its direction in the wake of the pandemic. He has fully embraced the fast-casual restaurant life because it's fun, it’s tasty and you can put food on disposable plates.

Additional Resources

• Pecking House
• How Pecking House's Chili Fried Chicken Became a Smash Hit in NYC
• Eric Huang (@eric.p.huang) • Instagram
• Meet Eric Huang - Founder of Pecking House in New York City

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About Us
7shifts is the restaurant HR platform helping operators hire, train, schedule, pay, and retain their team in one place. With an easy-to-use platform and built-for-restaurant workflows, 7shifts replaces disconnected systems for 55,000 restaurants.

The Pre-Shift Podcast presented by 7shifts breaks down everything you’ve ever wanted to know about running a restaurant better. Conversations with some of the biggest names, newest players, and industry innovators bring key insights into how they grew their businesses.  Host DJ Costantino asks probing questions to get to know restauranteurs, chefs, and executives better and find out where they came from, how they got to where they are, and what lessons they learned along the way. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Katie Button, CEO / Co-Founder of Katie Button Restaurants:  Cúrate, La Bodega by Cúrate, Cúrate Trips, curateathome.com

Guest Bio
Asheville, North Carolina's beloved Cúrate, a collection of restaurants, online marketplace, wine club and culinary journeys designed to create exceptional and experiential access to Spanish culture. A Southern chef with a scientific mind, Button honed her craft in the kitchens of some of the world's best chefs, most notably Ferran Adrià and José Andrés, before venturing out to open Cúrate Bar de Tapas with husband Felix Meana and her family. Since, they have grown the Cúrate brand to include Cúrate Trips, Cúrate Spanish Wine Club, Cúrate at Home and most recently, La Bodega by Cúrate. Cúrate is part of the Katie Button Restaurants family, which includes Katie Button Media and Magnolia Network’s From The Source, a series exploring the origins and stories behind different ingredients.

Among her many accolades, chef Katie Button was featured as one of Food & Wine's 2015 Best New Chefs. Cúrate was named as one of the "40 Most Important Restaurants of the Past 40 Years" by Food & Wine and one of the "Most Important Restaurants of the Decade" by Esquire. In 2016, Button released her first cookbook, Cúrate: Authentic Spanish Food from an American Kitchen.

In 2022, the James Beard Foundation nominated Katie for a 2022 Best Chefs in America: Southeast award and Cúrate Bar de Tapas won the Outstanding Hospitality award. Katie continues to challenge the industry standard throughout it all, steadily building comprehensive benefits to create a sustainable work environment for her living wage-certified restaurant group. She also is an active participant in the James Beard Foundation's Impact programs and is currently serving on the Independent Restaurant Coalition's leadership team.   

Additional Resources

• Cúrate
• La Bodega by Cúrate
• Cúrate Trips
• Just Economics

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About Us
7shifts is the restaurant HR platform helping operators hire, train, schedule, pay, and retain their team in one place. With an easy-to-use platform and built-for-restaurant workflows, 7shifts replaces disconnected systems for 55,000 restaurants.

The Pre-Shift Podcast presented by 7shifts breaks down everything you’ve ever wanted to know about running a restaurant better. Conversations with some of the biggest names, newest players, and industry innovators bring key insights into how they grew their businesses.  Host DJ Costantino asks probing questions to get to know restauranteurs, chefs, and executives better and find out where they came from, how they got to where they are, and what lessons they learned along the way. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Eric Scheffer, Founder and CEO of Scheffer Group.

Here are some of the highlights:

• How to treat your team like family and do it with sincerity
• How Scheffer has kept staff around for years
• What goes into the group's $1620 average annual spend on health and mental wellness benefits per staff member 
• Why Eric's restaurants have a 3% kitchen appreciation fee
• Leading with relentless generosity 

Guest Bio

Eric Scheffer has been a pioneer and key member of the Asheville food scene for over 20 years.

Originally from Brooklyn and raised on Long Island, Mr. Scheffer left behind a successful television and advertising career in L.A. to chase his true passions: food, wine, and people. After completely revamping The Savoy in 2000 to become one of the country’s preeminent fine dining restaurants—as well as put Asheville on the map as a restaurant destination—he went on to co-found AIR, the Asheville Independent Restaurant Association.

Among Mr. Scheffer’s numerous hospitality ventures are the creation of Dining Innovations, Asheville’s premiere catering & corporate events company, Bodega Gratia, a boutique Argentinian winery, and Victus World Imports, where he imported wines from Argentina, Spain, and France. He currently owns Vinnie’s Neighborhood Italian (voted best Italian restaurant in Asheville for 10 years in a row) and Jettie Rae’s Oyster House, which sit at number 2 and 3 on TripAdvisor’s best Asheville restaurants, respectively. With a slew of other concepts in the works, Mr. Scheffer is only just getting started.

With the Scheffer Group, he’s proud to showcase the culmination of his hospitality experience. “Relentless generosity brings us closer together,” he often says, and the spirit of that sentiment is easy to see in every project he tackles.

Additional Resources

• The Scheffer Group
• Vinnie's Italian
• Jettie Rae's Oyster House
• Cielo Catering Asheville
• Lantern Health

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About Us
7shifts is the restaurant HR platform helping operators hire, train, schedule, pay, and retain their team in one place. With an easy-to-use platform and built-for-restaurant workflows, 7shifts replaces disconnected systems for 55,000 restaurants.

The Pre-Shift Podcast presented by 7shifts (formerly The Restaurant Growth Podcast) breaks down everything you’ve ever wanted to know about running a restaurant better. Conversations with some of the biggest names, newest players, and industry innovators bring key insights into how they grew their businesses.  Host DJ Costantino asks probing questions to get to know restauranteurs, chefs, and executives better and find out where they came from, how they got to where they are, and what lessons they learned along the way. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Newton Hoang, Director of Marketing & IT at 7 Leaves Cafe. Here are some of the highlights:

• How your customers and employees are a reflection of one another
• 7 Leaves’ foray into mobile ordering
• Building a Culture of Care that keep employees engaged and boosts retention
• How technology can help make all of the above easier

Guest Bio
Newton Hoang is a: Marketing and IT unicorn. 25+ year food and beverage industry purist. Straight shooter with a side of empathy. Servant leader. Girl dad first, everything else second.

Additional Resources

• 7 Leaves Cafe
• Join Us - 7 Leaves Cafe
• Newton Hoang on LinkedIn
• AskNicely
• Grandma's House of Hope

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About Us
7shifts is the restaurant HR platform helping operators hire, train, schedule, pay, and retain their team in one place. With an easy-to-use platform and built-for-restaurant workflows, 7shifts replaces disconnected systems for 55,000 restaurants.

The Pre-Shift Podcast presented by 7shifts breaks down everything you’ve ever wanted to know about running a restaurant better. Conversations with some of the biggest names, newest players, and industry innovators bring key insights into how they grew their businesses.  Host DJ Costantino asks probing questions to get to know restauranteurs, chefs, and executives better and find out where they came from, how they got to where they are, and what lessons they learned along the way. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Kelly Phillips, Founder of Destination Unknown Restaurants. Here are some of the highlights:

• How Kelly started her businesses
• The decision to put many of her staff on a salary
• The impact that salaries have had on the team dynamic
• Why salaried roles in restaurants aren’t all that radical
• And how you can explore new comp strategies at your restaurant

Guest Bio
Kelly is Founder and Partner in Destination Unknown Restaurants, which is known across DC for Ghostburger (2020, 2022), Taqueria Las Gemelas (2021), and Destino (2021). Recent career accomplishments for Kelly include welcoming President Biden into Taqueria Las Gemelas for Cinco de Mayo shortly after the concept's opening, being part of the 2021 RAMMY winning team for the restaurant group's nomination in multiple categories, and landing on Washington Business Journal's 40 Under 40 2022 list and FSR's 2022 "Rising Stars" list. Kelly was also an integral part of the leadership team that transformed Las Gemelas Cocina Mexicana into Destino in December 2021. It reopened to glowing feedback from guests for their ambitious rustic Mexican fare. Shortly thereafter, Destino landed on Washingtonian Magazine's competitive list of the top 25 Best New Restaurants that opened during the pandemic alongside sister restaurant, Las Gemelas. In late summer 2022, Kelly also transitioned her first restaurant, Espita, into Ghostburger's first standalone concept in a full circle moment for the award-winning pandemic pop-up that began in Espita's Mexican kitchen. Across all of these concepts, Kelly has implemented a living wage at all of her restaurants and eliminated tipping, which she hopes will show other restaurateurs that reevaluating your wage structure is possible, and may even make your restaurant more successful. 

Additional Resources

• Destination Unknown Restaurants
• Destino
• Taqueria Las Gemelas
• Ghostburger
• Biden calls in Ghostburger takeout order, leaves employee speechless - The Washington Post
• President Biden Surprises a DC Taqueria Owner by Dropping by on Cinco De Mayo - Washingtonian
• Virtual Restaurant Roundtable on Tip Management and Strategy

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About Us
7shifts is the restaurant HR platform helping operators hire, train, schedule, pay, and retain their team in one place. With an easy-to-use platform and built-for-restaurant workflows, 7shifts replaces disconnected systems for 55,000 restaurants.

The Pre-Shift Podcast presented by 7shifts breaks down everything you’ve ever wanted to know about running a restaurant better. Conversations with some of the biggest names, newest players, and industry innovators bring key insights into how they grew their businesses.  Host DJ Costantino asks probing questions to get to know restauranteurs, chefs, and executives better and find out where they came from, how they got to where they are, and what lessons they learned along the way. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Anthony Valletta, President of bartaco. Here are some of the highlights:

• How the restaurant industry has changed over Anthony’s decade-long career 
• Bartaco’s heavy lean-in on technology
• The unique approach to training and career development
• Bartaco’s radical wage structure
• And how all of those practices have bartaco poised for growth in 2023

About Anthony Valletta

Anthony Valletta is a restaurant and hospitality industry veteran with over 20 years of experience and deep knowledge in growing brands both big and small. Throughout his career, Valletta has opened two dozen restaurants with varying concepts. He currently serves as the President of bartaco, the upscale street food restaurant brand with a coastal vibe in a relaxed environment, and was previously the Company’s SVP of Operations. As President, Anthony is focused on helping bartaco grow while deepening its ties to local communities by creating jobs with growth opportunities. Prior to joining the bartaco team, Valletta served as Chief Operating Officer at restaurant tech concept, Birdcall. Other previous roles include Chief Operating Officer at fine dining concept Michael Mina in San Francisco, as well as Director of Operations at Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group, where he oversaw locations in Chicago, Denver, New York City, Washington D.C., and Boston.

Anthony is passionate about humanitarianism and has been named Humanitarian of the Year twice, once in 2014 by the Greg Hill Foundation and again in 2018 by March of Dimes. He received his Bachelor of Hospitality Administration and Hospitality Administration/Management from Boston University.

Additional Resources

• bartaco careers
• GiANT Worldwide
• 1Huddle
• OneDine
• Anthony Valletta on LinkedIn
• Scott Lawton on LinkedIn

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About Us
7shifts is the restaurant HR platform helping operators hire, train, schedule, pay, and retain their team in one place. With an easy-to-use platform and built-for-restaurant workflows, 7shifts replaces disconnected systems for 55,000 restaurants.

This episode was originally published as part of the Restaurant Growth Podcast. It has been rebranded as part of The Pre-Shift Podcast as of January 2023. The information presented may no longer be up-to-date and may differ from the viewpoints and insights currently shared on The Pre-Shift Podcast.

How do you create a restaurant culture that attracts staff and retains them?

We asked someone who’s done it—the one and only Danny Meyer.

Danny Meyer is the founder of Union Square Hospitality Group and Shake Shack, one of the most prolific restaurateurs of our time. Danny is also a founder of Enlightened Hospitality Investments, which invests in companies that serve the hospitality space.

Danny joined 7shifts CEO, Jordan Boesch, for a talk hosted by Danny Klein of Food News Media. From what culture is, to how it’s built, and how to use servant leadership, a lot of ground was covered. 

The Restaurant Growth Podcast is presented by 7shifts and hosted by DJ Costantino.

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About Us
7shifts is the restaurant HR platform helping operators hire, train, schedule, pay, and retain their team in one place. With an easy-to-use platform and built-for-restaurant workflows, 7shifts replaces disconnected systems for 55,000 restaurants.