Based out of San Francisco Laurie is the glue, the enabler for independent restaurateurs and  business owners. She collaborates and guides the operators allowing them to focus on what's most important, their guests and the relationships they have with their employees and vendors. The team behind AOCSF does all the heavy lifting behind the scenes.

She is the founding partner of AOCSF, a hospitality consulting firm which focuses on the “not-so-sexy” side of our industry, accounting. I have worked with this talented team in the past and they do much, much more for their clients than simply providing a P&L. They are truly part of the team and a voice when things get tricky.

In today's show we talk about:

• How to interview a consultant for your business

• She defines of her ideal client

• How to set boundaries and establish goals

• Why owners / executives should consider sharing their P&L with their management team and why the balance sheet can be the most important guide for this process.

• Strategies to train and retain your managers

• AOCSF expansion into different markets which may include Colorado...

• She distills the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Employee Retention Credit and the Stabilization Bill.

• Her weekly blog that gives us access to reliable information when the rules are changing so quickly. 

I encourage you to sign up for AOCSF’s bi-weekly email that distills the relevant information regarding PPP and the Stabilization Bill. You can do this by emailing her at laurie@aocsf.com

Laurie Highlights

Golden Gate Restaurant Association

http://ggra.org/

Independent Restaurant Coalition 

https://www.saverestaurants.com/

We encourage you to follow and support

https://www.instagram.com/indprestaurants/

You can find her:

http://aocsf.com/

Jeff owns/runs multiple hospitality companies including hosting some of the most exciting and forward thinking festivals in Colorado. I continue to be inspired by Jeff because of his community involvement, creativity and his ability to be vulnerable.

Today we talk about:

• 23 Years of Dining Out Magazine

• He describes what it's like to be overextended at his biggest festival of the year and he talks about the lessons he learned from that.

• Leverages momentum 365 days in advance.

• He distills his three pillars of hosting events and his view of the guest experience.

• Tributary Food Hall in Golden Colorado and what's he doing to make it work.

• The “Pay It Forward Wall” (( Which is so inspiring ))

• His -new- definition of LOCAL 

• My favorite part of the interview is at the end. Temptation Kitchen! You gotta hear this! Imagine a competitive stoned chef cooking show… 

• What's it like to be a mentor, volunteering and leading a younger generation.

• Jeff is going to be a father! Reach out and congratulate him...

His annual festivals:

http://www.toptacodenver.com/

https://chickenfightfest.com/

https://www.raresteakfest.com/

Tributary Food Hall

https://www.tributarygolden.com/

He is also a four time James Beard nominee (2015/2016/2017/2018), Food and Wine Peoples Best Chef (2016), Star Chefs Chef of the year award (2018) and he may have BEAT! Bobby Flay on his own show...

Today we talk about:

His view on Mentorship 

Employee Retention + Development 

Engagement with his teams and local community

Oak at Fourteenth Culinary Olympics (celebrating the younger generations allowing creativity)

His new Pizzeria NEW YORKESE in Boulder Colorado at the new Avanti

https://avantifandb.com/avanti-boulder/

Steve Highlights:

Fresh Guys

https://thefreshguys.com/

Tonalis Meats

https://www.tonalismeatsdenver.com/

River Bear Meats + Justin Brunson

https://riverbearmeats.com/

The Boulder / Denver community for the amazing support.

Steve's Big Ask:

(you the guest) Make the effort to connect with your favorite restaurant, TELL THEM WHAT -YOU- ARE LOOKING FOR, be specific and email the owner or manager directly to start the dialogue.

Steve's Restaurants:

https://www.oakatfourteenth.com/

https://www.denveracorn.com/

http://www.denverbrider.com/

His Ask: Connect him with amazing hospitality professionals. Email him directly...

jensen@bestservedpodcast.com

Where you can find him:

https://www.bestservedpodcast.com/

Email me I am happy to share my top 20 strategies to better manage these relationships.

mario@birdseyehospitality.com

Please subscribe to the show if you haven't already.

Thanks again for joining me, smile and have a fantastic day! 

Actually I believe we are all in the hospitality business and hospitality can be the driver that will uniquely (identify us as outstanding) - in our particular field. It's easier now more than ever to learn most anything online or in a classroom, but it's how YOU make genuine connections and leading with intention that will link us with our employees, customers, partners, and even our vendors. We need their buy-in.

Hospitality is a noble industry and touches the lives of millions of people every day. Everyone in our industry is unbelievably important, whether you own, operate, cook, serve, manage all these positions and relationships last a lifetime.This show is here  to prove that by showcasing the people who are doing it right and making an impact. And more importantly helping their guests create & celebrate special moments.

From my days as a teenage dishwasher, to the Maitre’d of the Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton in SF. I've worked with businesses around the country to help them elevate their guest experience, operations & profits while reminding them just how much fun this business can be when done right.... Some of us, well, my people that work in restaurants, hotels, theme parks, airports or any business where guest interaction really matters knows that building trust and having the employee and customers best interest is our #1 goal. Its defining and executing the strategies that make our business unique.

If you feel the same way we do then this show is for you. Throughout this entire season we're going to be focusing in on what's working, what's not and the industry professionals we should be paying attention to. I'll be highlighting some of the hottest trends that are shaping the way we work today and --- sharing some of the best practices I've learned both on the job and as an owner.

I look forward to sharing stories of clients partners and companies I've worked with describing how we solved really sticky problems. I'll be interviewing special guests who will be opening up & sharing what's worked for them, their guests and their business.

I invite you to join me on this journey by subscribing to the show.  We are going to have a blast AND I don't want you to miss out on our insights that will (I promise) impact your teams and bottom line.

Next week, I'll be zooming out and focusing on what hospitality really means and why some leaders actually, may have it, well, accidentally, backwards, and why that could be causing a lot of the biggest issues facing our industry today.

I hope this resonates with you...

If you have any questions email me at mario@birdseyehospitality.com 

I would love to speak with you. Until then Please smile and stay tuned --  have a fantastic day!

I'm so excited to begin our first episode by focusing on hospitality and asking you the question what does hospitality mean to you, your business and your communities. 

As leaders, it is up to us to set the standard and to lift everyone up around us. True hospitality is a dialogue and customization of simple act or gesture. Yes, we are in the business of making money and growing that bottom line. However I feel it's the small interactions that can be potentially the most powerful for our guests, employees and our culture.

Allow me to describe a scenario: 

It's a snowy day in Denver CO and a server in a restaurant over-hears a guest describing their grandmother's tomato soup to other guests at the (table, clearly) trying to validate ordering the restaurant's version.

Something is sparked and the server immediately gets 3 very small tastes of warm tomato soup for everyone to try including 3 crunchy croutons. 

The guests are blown away, immediately thanking the server and praising the manager. The meal continues and the guests eventually leave... happy of course.

The intention of this particular server was not to make a couple extra dollars. It's because the 

server truly feels great about their job, who they work for and the freedom they have to make decisions.

My question to you is this? How can we recreate this on a larger scale, having unbelievable buy-in from our employees and teams is powerful? How do we empower our employees to act with greatness and to help not only trigger fond memories but create them?

Well the heroic work begins before this server is actually hired, trained and integrated into the culture. 

It's up to the owner and executives to distill their vision clearly, understanding what they are asking for and how they are asking for it. I'm referring to the high level operating procedures, best practices and clearly defining the experiences they want for their employees and guests. 

The owners are the roots of all organizations.

And once the roots are established and anchored they communicate and collaborate buy-in from the senior operators and managers. Collaboration is the key they are the ones that are actually running the business.

I’ll refer to the operators and managers as the stem being primarily responsible for the culture and growing a profitable business.

So when the ownership and managers are on the same page and have the freedom to manage with intention It is much easier to instill measurable strategies and best practices on a daily basis.

The roots anchor the stem and the stem supports the leaves and branches.

The leaves and branches not only get their energy from ownership and management, they also get energy from the environment. It becomes all encompassing. 

Day to day frustrations and challenges of running a hotel or restaurant can sometimes be (overwhelming + difficult) AND at no point will the people we employ always be able to give 100%. 

As leaders, managers and... particularly owners, ask yourself... how are you showing up for your employees? Do they have the tools necessary to execute the job that you expect of them? Are they empowered to make decisions? How well do they know your brand your vision and your goals?

But any way real quick, back to my tomato soup story… None of the guests actually ordered the soup, they didn't care for it… However two of them left a world class, 5 star review, said it was “their favorite” restaurant and described and how it made them feel. Getting anyone to say its their favorite anything is indisputable its their feeling.... In addition they went back the next week with a 6 top and spent over 415 dollars.. They like the food, but it's the experience they receive that genuine feeling of being cared for that brings them back. 

This experience cost under $0.25 and 3 minutes of time.

The secret recipe here is the employee that cared and felt cared for by the leadership of the restaurant. 

What are the BEST businesses doing consistently? LIVING BY THE ROOTS and being driven by leadership that has THE employees best interest. 

Hospitality goes far beyond restaurants and hotels and needs to have the spotlight no matter what business you are in.

Now Allow me to ask YOU the listener, what are some of your best practices you employ to show up for your people and teams? Are these strategies working and would you be willing to share them with with us? 

Next week I'll talk about how to make tomato soup and all the different steps it takes to put soup or anything else for that matter in a bowl. Well not really… Anyway, tune in, and please if you have any questions feel free to email me at mario@birdseyehospitality.com I love this subject!

Until then, I encourage you to smile and make someone's day...

Thanks again for listening to the show! 

And feel free to visit MarioNocifera.com