In this special episode, Kristen and Brandon discuss two major developments in the reinvigorated reservations wars: American Express moves to acquire European booking platform TheFork for $700 million and DoorDash-owned SevenRooms launches a tool (and a stake in the ground) to make it much easier for restaurants to aggregate reservations from multiple sources. Together, these moves represent a big shift in the business. When the Amex deal closes, it’ll have more bookable restaurants than OpenTable. Meanwhile, SevenRooms wants to force its competitors' hands, making it much easier for restaurants to use multiple booking channels. Watch this space!

Kristen and Brandon have shaken out the cobwebs and are back with a new episode of The Simmer featuring friend-of-the-pod, Joshua Sharkey, founder and CEO of Meez, a culinary operating system and recipe management tool. Pre-Meez, Josh spent time in the kitchens of several restaurants, including New York’s Tabla and Bouley. In this episode, we cover recipe scaling and sourcing (and more nonsexy but totally essential back-office tech) plus a whole lot about AI and how it’s primed to change how we all interact with everyone and everything.

A Simmer first! This LIVE edition was recorded on April 10 at the Boston University Hospitality Leadership Summit. We’re joined by Judy Thelen, co-founder and CEO of white-hot social restaurant list-keeping and recommendations app Beli. In this episode, we talk about professional criticism, Beli’s plans to work with restaurants, and its big bet that we really just want to hear from people we trust.

We love repeat guests on The Simmer! In his return to the podcast, Olo founder and CEO Noah Glass explains the next phase of his company’s evolution: the Olo Network. In this episode, we talk about Olo’s move from publicly traded company to privately held asset last year, plus the power of an ordering network and why Olo coined a new term — “second-party ordering” to describe its big bet on the future.

Former Jose Andres Group CEO Sam Bakhshandehpour recently joined Bilt, a $10 billion loyalty platform that rewards people for paying their rent and mortgage on Bilt cards, helping to fuel the so-called “points economy.” Recently, the company released a flashy video full of top-name chefs and restaurateurs to launch Bilt Hospitality, a kind of digital concierge service targeted at restaurants. But what is it, exactly? And how does it work? In this episode, Sam answers these questions and more — including when we might see a launch video with more than one woman in it. 

Ben Leventhal’s impact on the restaurant business can not be overstated. The serial founder  successfully launched (and exited) restaurant editorial network Eater and reservations service  Resy. Now he’s back with Blackbird, a loyalty and payments platform for the restaurant industry. In this episode we talk about evolving restaurant loyalty, the so-called “reservations wars” and, of course, some really great restaurants.

Big reservations news from American Express this week: this summer, restaurants on Tock will transition to Resy, marking the end of the Tock brand. On the first Simmer episode with a second-time guest, Pablo Rivero, Resy CEO / SVP and Head of Amex global dining, talks us through what’s changing at Resy — and what’s not. 

It’s been a minute (actually, years) since ghost kitchens and virtual brands dominated conversations about restaurant delivery. While those businesses have largely fallen out of view (with a few notable exceptions), restaurants still need a viable digital strategy. In this episode, we talk to Maxx Freedman, founder of Spice, a growth and marketing agency for restaurants, about what restaurants are asking for — and what they need — now. 

In this special edition of The Simmer, Kristen and Brandon talk through that viral Reddit delivery post (and its aftermath), look back on what they got wrong (and right!) about 2025, and offer a few thoughts on the year ahead.

It’s a good time to be a chicken chain. New concepts are taking off and legacy brands, like the 50-year-old El Pollo Loco, are poised for serious growth. The fire-grilled chicken brand, currently open in eight states, is planning a larger expansion. In this episode, Jill Adams, the brand’s chief marketer, talks customer expectations, AI for better and more efficient marketing efforts, and why she’s optimistic restaurants will have a good 2026.