One of the main reasons I’ve stayed in the hospitality industry is the comradery and sense of family that are the backbone of every level of restaurant.

I was fortunate to find something very similar in the podcasting world. When I first contacted Eric Cascciatore he was very open and giving to a new and less experienced podcaster. I remember him saying “after listening to a few episodes I may not have started my podcast because I didn’t think I could do it as well”

So, after being a guest on my podcast, he wanted to get me to do an episode on his. Of course I agreed and here is the result. I’ll be posting the video version in a week or two after he gets it loaded to his You Tube channel.

You can find this episode and about a thousand others with the leaders in the restaurant industry at www.restaurantunstoppable.com or on You Tube at https://www.youtube.com/@RestaurantUnstoppable

Enjoy

Wyatt Evans, a participant in the Heritage Fire event coming to Canterbury Park in Minnesota the afternoon of Sunday June 25th. 

Wyatt’s team from Jester Concept’s P.S Steak will be cooking meat over live fire along with other chefs from around the Twin Cities. In other words, it’s a Chef’s idea of fun under the summer sun. Or, Imagine charcoal grilling burgers in your backyard times ten.

The ever-growing food culture of the cities made the Heritage Fire Tour a natural stop to showcase the talent and innovation of the restaurants using local ethically raised heritage breed pork and beef along with local sustainably grown heirloom vegetables and fruit.

You can find more information on the event and tickets on their website, www.heritagefiretour.com

We started our conversation with Wyatt talking about his plans for the Heritage Fire Tour then moved on to learn more about Wyatt Evans and his life in the industry.

This episode was first released in May of last year, only three months into the Ukraine/Russia conflict/war. Kyiv had already experienced a few missile strikes, but it felt to everyobne that the coming spring would be somewhat normal. But, here we are nearly one year later wirh thousands of deaths, destroyed infrastucture and familys. Ive been trying to get hold of Maria, but sketchy Wi-Fi and her constant movement to find safety has made reconnecting very difficult. So in retrospect and to keep awarenss high in an effort to help my friends in Ukraine here is a conversation of resilence and hope.

From the May, 2022 posting;

Maria Banlko is just one of the hospitality people that are the lesser-known heroes of the Ukrainian war with Russia. These restaurant industry veterans are trying to hold their country together with the guts to stay in place and keep their lights on. They’re using their hospitality instincts to find ways to keep their business running while organizing volunteer kitchens that feed their neighbors, the front-line workers in hospitals and clinics and the military whenever they needed it. The voice you heard at the top is Maria Banko. She’s an outspoken, determined woman working with a multi-concept company called The Gastro Family of Restaurants.

Maria is their communications director handling public relations for the constantly pivoting restaurant company while sometimes volunteering in one of the Gastro Family kitchens to help box a few meals, to be delivered to various organizations in need of food. She passionately describes the reasons and results of the war as she sees it.

We came out with so much material I’ve created a special episode with the rest of our conversation on the how essential the food culture will be in re-building the country after the war. It will be posted soon.

 Podcast Music:

Moonlight Night – Traditional Ukrainian Folk Song

Bright Flow – William Benkert

Break The Barrier – Edgar Hopp

Why chat with another podcast host about the same thing you focus on in your own posdcast? Well, the best way to describe it is to listen for yourself to hear why the wisdom of the overview revieved by an itelligent host is why.

We started our conversation with the timeline of events that brought him to the world of podcasting. Even after growing up in restaurants, Eric’s dreams were set on aviation to become a commercial pilot. But the call of the restaurants were still too strong for Eriuc to ignore. The fascinating conversation covered a lot ground about the past present and future on the industry.

On the way to discovering the how’s and whys of tipping I was able to discern some of the pros and cons with a little more clarity and I’ve boiled down to three major points that I’ll discuss in this episode on how changing the tipping culture can help re-structure restaurants into a healthier business that is less vulnerable to failure.

First up is the staff. The people who make the restaurant happen every day. Let’s unpack some of the issues and see if it will ever be possible for the American restaurant industry to be a workplace with the wages, benefits and defined career paths to management or ownership that other industries are able to offer. Some larger restaurant companies are well on their way to offer these opportunities. But it’s still a rare and nearly impossible practice for the small chain or independent. My hope is to see the restaurant business taking the opportunity at this moment to go through a period of re-building post pandemic. I’ll try to point to a possible course that may give an answer, setting the industry in the direction of the “new normal” greatly discussed in March of 2020 when the pandemic brought this 355-billion-dollar business to a screeching halt.

Music;

I've Found My Way - Hallman

Sosso - Magnus Ludvigsson

Keep Showing Up - John T. Graham

Defining Mexican restaurants as only nachos and chimichangas is much like never looking beyond eggrolls and Chow Mein when trying to describe a Chinese restaurant menu.

On this podcast I have Michael Harvey from Charleston South Carolina talking about Jalisco. A restaurant he and his partner have built examining the depth of Mexican cuisine and introducing his market to the varied ingredients and techniques of Mexico from the indigenous to the modern.  

Among other things we discuss is the big chance the first restaurateur who tries to re-define a restaurant style takes when their market may not be ready for the lesson. But, with a strong belief in the power of good food, a little resilience and sometimes deep pockets owners can persevere and find success thus opening the doors for others to follow solidifying the new menu style as the next step in that cuisine.

Whenever you try to be that sunflower in a field of dandelions, you either run the risk of being chopped down because of your uniqueness or become the example for others to follow. That result is still undecided for Michael and Jalisco.

Jalisco Taqueria & Tequila

Cassique Clubhouse Kiawah

Popmenu Answering

Music;

MFC, TATA Music