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Holy Guacamole is a free podcast. We would love for you to subscribe, download and/or review the show. Biz Tips are super brief episodes. The goal iss to improve your finances, or your systems for independent restaurants. If you are a fan of local restaurants, cafes and foodtrucks This episode in about finding one streams of income for your business: subscriptions.
Mental health among restaurant staff is finally gaining attention. By that I mean, we in the industry have known this topic for a long time—that everyone in our industry has extra - ordinary, perhaps superpowers mentally…until they don’t. Mental health deserves a reboot. Some owners are taking about mental health, and taking strides to make help available to staff.
Third in a three part series on Social Media Marketing with Malia at Millenial Marketing. Malia, the owner of Millenial Marketing, and Martha, host of Holy Guacamole, talk through the most Frequently Asked Questions Malia receives regarding social media. Chances are you have asked some of these questions yourself, and know that social media is forever shifting and changing, and you might need an update.
Continuing our series on experts in our field, today we have on Tom Suchuch to discuss the NM high school culinary program, ProStart. This is a national program with state level programs. ProStart is part of a necessary conversaton about our current hiring challenges in the restaurant industry. The difficulty in finding and retaining either experienced and/or trainable staff is our latest challenge The industry business model is evolving quickly and restaurant owners have to adapt.
Second in a three part series on Social Media Marketing with Malia at Millenial Marketing. Malia, the owner of Millenial Marketing, and Martha, host of Holy Guacamole, talk through the most Frequently Asked Questions Malia receives regarding social media. Chances are you have asked some of these questions yourself, and know that social media is forever shifting and changing, and you might need an update.
Claire and Brandon, owners of Sura Korean BBQ and Tofu House on Long Beach are our guest today. They have a long and lusterous history with this place. Claire and Brandon took on the project of giving Korean BBQ a refreshed and contemporary feel. It included improving from within, adding a patio, and improving the kitchen. They faced challenges, and do not stop!
First in a three part series on Social Media Marketing with Malia at Millenial Marketing. Malia, the owner of Millenial Marketing, and Martha, host of Holy Guacamole, talk through the most Frequently Asked Questions Malia receives regarding social media. Chances are you have asked some of these questions yourself, and know that social media is forever shifting and changing, and you might need an update.
This episode is a story about one of the best things in life -- ice cream, and it's plant based for all the good reasons! Listen and learn how this co-founders couple Nicole and Dwight conjured their sons' milk allergy into the joy ice cream brings into any family. Co-founder, father and chef, Dwight Campbell has exhaustive culinary skills -- serving steak dinners for 500 on a given evening.
Brahm is the farmer at the regenerative farm at The Inn at Shaker Mill Farm. Listen to this episode as an expert on how regenerative farming, is much like speaking another language in it's ability to give you new perspective, and positive perspective on life. This episode is as much about the life force that you carry in your daily life as it is about how regernative farming is the life force for our planets future.
What makes a bar work? How do you make the math work? And how do you keep it working for years to come? We interview UK based Tyler Zielinski to get his opinion. He writes for PUNCH, Food & Wine, London Evening Standard, Eater, Class Bar Mag, Condé Nast Traveler and more. And he is a Brand and Hospitality Consultant for bars, spirit companies and industry events.
Line abandonment falls into an operational topic, which is Pillar 3, in the Six Pillars of a Successful Business. How does it happen? In the restaurant industry customers leave a line before completing their intended transaction, which in this case would be ordering their food and dining at the restaurant. This phenomenon can occur in various contexts, such as waiting in line to place an order, waiting for a table to become available, or waiting to pay the bill.
Following the request from many listeners we felt a discussion on The Bear was worth a slight detour from our regular format. That's why we asked Jenny to come back and discuss The Bear, Season One with Martha. Starting off with a quote from the article by Carina Chocano from NY Times, called How ‘The Bear’ Captures the Panic of Modern Work. Jenny and Martha discuss various elements Chocano reveals, and other elements worth further exploration.
Climate change is striking us hard this year. Finding a place deserving of an episode took time. This episode shares the story of one amazing place on Earth where they are working with nature in numerous way. Step into The Inn at Shaker Mill Falls. It is an 18 room inn and retreat center operated out of a historic, repurposed gristmill built by the local Shaker Mt.
This episode starts a series whose time has come--Inner Circle Conversations. These are topics that I see trending or you, the audience is asking for me, the host, Martha Lucius, to share. Sharing how to run events and why. What's the purpose of having them, what's the power behind events, and why do them in the first place. If you are an owner, learn why you should consider doing them, and what's involoved.
Don't know how our industry is doing? Could be because the statistics are a little confusing. National Restaurant Association came out with a statistic that says restaurants are back to normal. Here we explore that statistic and the few other stats that are telling the story of what's going on in our industry. Statistics are useful when you have a series of stats that can tell a range of information.
This is a short story on how you can build a successful hiring habit even now, in 2023! Whenever restaurants are hiring, they follow, or don't follow a protocol. In this episode you'll hear the steps you can take and why they may work for your business. From the job advertisement that describes the job desciption in the best light, to screening calls, to interview no. 1 and no. 2 to the decision to, or not to hire the right person for the position.
Joe Shaffer from Hidden Water Farms shares where our food comes from, and knows how farmers steward the land and animals. He grew up raising cattle, and now has cattle, pigs, chickens and a vegetable plot at Hidden Waters with his partner Tom. Joe shares what the term "Regenerative Agriculture" means, and why it's an important method in caring for the environment.
This season has been filled with information about the Six Pillars of a successful business. This episode is about the interplay of Quality and Financial Stability. This Sandwich Episode uses a simple story to tell the financial lesson of changes in the restaurant industry. The recipe of building a sandwich the same way every time, ensures customer delight.
Jenny Gaitner is back. A light and lively conversation about the excuses staff provide when they don't want to come in to work. Jenny has been on the show previously, discussing staff pay and salaries. Jenny and me, Martha always have frank and lively conversation. This one includes a monkey plate of humor! Thanks for listening. Like what you hear?
The last few months have been all about understanding the Six Pillars of a Successful Business. Hospitality is the 6th of Six Pillars. It's where we take all the planning of a restaurants daily plan and turn it into reality. We all need a little levity. This levity is an amuse-bouche for a series of service stories.
Here we are, the last pillar in the Six Pillars of a Successful Business: HOSPITALITY. It’s subtitle is “what are the ways to attract guests to your place, in the first place… then, what are they ways to invite them back, over and over and over again!!! BUT WAIT…. but before we get there, I’m going to tuck in this teensy refresher. This little refresher will help you get centered before we dive into THAT LAST PILLAR,…. the Sixth Pillar — the outwardly focused pillar, the pillar about Hospitality
We take a break from the Six Pillars to share how food, community and kindness come together. And they come together at restaurants, bars, cafes, and food businesses, partly because each of those businesses is an epicenter in the community. There will be a couple stories about how food, community and kindness coelesce. Please send and share your stories too.
We take a break from the Six Pillars to share how food, community and kindness come together. And they come together at restaurants, bars, cafes, and food businesses, partly because each of those businesses is an epicenter in the community. Here are a couple of stories about how food, community and kindness coelesce. Please send and share your stories too.
Defining the Fifth Pillar of a Successful Business: the avenues and distribution to bring product to market. Avenues and distribution is where restaurant or CPG product find methods to sell their product. Many facets of the same jewel. The definition of the Fifth Pillar is more than the phrased "avenues" and your "distribution". Martha Lucius describes several examples of the many avenues possible in your business, and how each one can be a source of revenue and profit.
We dig into the fifth pillar of a successful business: avenues and distribution to bring product to market. Going deep with the Six Pillars of Success as a method for business owners to roadmap change and stability into their business. The Six Pillars are Brand Strategy, Financial Stability, Operations, Product Quality, Avenues & Distribution, and Hospitality.
The fourth pillar of a successful business is product & quality. Those words translate into a consistent and elusive practice of quality control within a business. Studying the Six Pillars of Success as a method for business owners to roadmap change and stability into their business. The Six Pillars are Brand Strategy, Financial Stability, Operations, Product Quality, Avenues & Distribution, and Hospitality.
We dig into the fourth pillar of a successful business: product & quality. Going deep with the Six Pillars of Success as a method for business owners to roadmap change and stability into their business. The Six Pillars are Brand Strategy, Financial Stability, Operations, Product Quality, Avenues & Distribution, and Hospitality. Quality is where product, service and time blend togther.
We dig into the third pillar of a successful business: operating efficiently. Going deep with the Six Pillars of Success as a method for business owners to roadmap change and stability into their business. The Six Pillars are Brand Strategy, Financial Stability, Operations, Product Quality, Avenues & Distribution, and Hospitality. Operations in a restaurant are a set of tasks, SOPs, best practices and equipment that all need to blend together in the right combination to ensure every day goes
We dig into the third pillar of a successful business: operating efficiently. Going deep with the Six Pillars of Success as a method for business owners to roadmap change and stability into their business. The Six Pillars are Brand Strategy, Financial Stability, Operations, Product Quality, Avenues & Distribution, and Hospitality. The jargon of operating efficiently is broken down into digestible morsels.
Going deep with the Six Pillars of Success as a method for business owners to roadmap change and stability into their business. The Six Pillars are Brand Strategy, Financial Stability, Operations, Product Quality, Avenues & Distribution, and Hospitality. The jargon of financial stability is broken down into digestible morsels. How can you build healthy habits that will support and grow your businesses financial stability.
Kicking off the third year of Holy Guacamole we go deep with the Six Pillars of Success as a method for business owners to roadmap change into their business. The Six Pillars are Brand Strategy Financial Stability Operations Product Quality Avenues & Distribution Hospitality In this episode Six Pillars the pillar on Financial Stability is explored.
A new type of episode starts today with diehard industry professional Jenny Gaitner. This episodes' focus is on the living wage. She's been working in restaurants and bars as an employee since her teens. This episode is an honest and open conversation from the perspective of two people who have watched the industry since the 80s. What has changed, and what is more equitable in philosophy and respect for the employee?
Founder and Cheese Enthusiast, Julia Birnbaum, come on the pod to share her two year journey to opening Philly Cheese School. A place for learning about cheese, cheese tasting, and sharing these experiencing this with a friend, or getting to know other people. We dig deep into Julia’s new business, and the intentional journey to create a queer-friendly, inclusive environment with the branding and messaging that matches her fun personality!
The Six Pillars System is the backdrop for this and future episodes. Refer to Episode 90 for detailed explanation. I’m Martha Lucius, your host and restaurant strategist. Six Pillars is the method we use for client strategy work. We think it's useful to reval in Holy Guacamole's Podcast. Restaurant owners need a method to create change, Six Pillars creates the common language for change.
The podcast is taking a hiatus. Those listening know that over 100 episodes have happened since Jun 2020. The new content is going to take a few weeks, but will be delightful and well worth it. Check out episodes you havn't listened to so far.
Maintaining equipment is like maintaining good staff. You can't avoid it, and you need to keep up with it! When you run a restaurant you are hopefully beyond the stage when you think you can do it all yourself. Maybe you are even beyond the belief that your staff should have monthly cleaning log that includes maintaining equipment. Like any good tool is remains good when you maintain it, and that may mean calling a HVAC company to set up a quarterly cleaning and maintainance plan; and a restaura
How to staff a restaurant when shorthanded? This episode identifies not only hiring, but the necessary positive culture you want to nurture, and the ways to pay staff. It's necessary to have different practices for managers than for team members. Applicants can be interviewed in zoom screenings and at Open Call. This may be an efficient method of hiring, and interrupts the flow of business less.
Anna Kent of Tom Cat's Kitchen came on this weeks' episode to share the business she is building. She sells plant based individual meals that can be purchased at Farmers Markets and through a subscription service. She is also serving at Roots Market and Brewing Good Coffee Company. Find her at 32nd Street Farmers Market and Catonsville. The conversation of why she serves plant based meals was filled with her discovery -- reading, living in harmony with the world, and her balanced approach that
Our interview with Owner Max Lents of Baltimore Spirits Co was filled with so much interesting information we created a second episode. Listen back if you want to hear the origin story This episode explores the other reasons to love Baltimore Spirit Co—their Shot Tower Gin, Green to Gold Brandy, three different amaros (and what makes each unique), their whiskey tour and their cocktail room.
Our interview with Owner Max Lents of Baltimore Spirits Co was filled with so much interesting information we had to turn this into two episode. Our first episode dives into the early days at Baltimore Spirits Co — finding their niche, financing a dream, and becoming the first rye distillery in the second generation of rye distilleries in the state of Maryland.
Let's scoot back to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the year 79. Pompeii was buried under a thick layer of ash and lava. A thick layer -- 19 feet! Pompeii is the world's oldest archaeological dig. It was a gem of a dig! Archeologists began digging Pompeii in 1748. Because of this volcanic ash blanket, scientists were able to see, literally what people were eating and drinking the moment the volcano blew.
It's summertime and this week is just a quick reminder of good episodes gone by! Highlighted are episodes that I've loved doing and others that you have made popular. Our podcast is now over two years old. If you are a regular listener would you hope over and review the show. When you post a review, it helps listeners find us. That means more restaurants are discovered for the amazing work they are doing.
Chef Mel aka Chef Chauncey is thee creative chef you wish you knew! She has explored many avenues in the culinary world both traditional and non-traditional. By nature Chef Mel prefes the thrills and challenges of the roads less travelled! She believes that "food is a universal language" and through food She strives to create opportunities for cultures to connect and learn from one another.
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