Best Served

En este episodio de Best Served en Español, Corina Hierro de Chamba habla con Barbie Beltran y Jose Guerrero de Sacred Society sobre la transformación que puede tener en su vida tomar decisiones saludables.

Edwin Sandoval strives to bring his Honduras roots to his cooking at his concept Xatrucho. Born in Honduras and raised in Colorado, Edwin has spent twelve years in the culinary industry working at restaurants like Le Grand Bistro, Argyll Whisky Beer, and Telegraph Bistro. His concept Xatrucho has spanned several iterations including a pop- up restaurant and at a food hall.

Levi Noe is the Vice President of Brokerage at Fuel and Iron Realty. A Denver native, Levi’s background in copywriting, marketing, education, entrepreneurship, and food service lend him a unique perspective into F&B real estate negotiations.

Kyle Inserra is a commercial real estate professional and the host of two podcasts, The National Restaurant Owners Podcast and Commercial Real Estate School. A 15-year restaurant industry veteran, Kyle is a thought leader in the hospitality industry and commercial real estate space.

Fernando and Aida Scarpati are brother and sister co-owners of Ferdi, the new Italian restaurant in West Village, New York City. Their family legacy in the restaurant industry dates back to their grandfather, Ferdinando (nicknamed Ferdi), who came to America and opened up Ferdi’s, a restaurant in the Bronx. Their new restaurant Ferdi is an homage to that legacy and to Italian food.

Jim Taylor is the creator of Benchmark Sixty, a Canadian restaurant financial optimization agency that uses data, benchmarks, and metrics to increase profit margins and improve productivity.

Before starting Benchmark Sixty, he worked for Cactus Club Cafe and helped them grow into the household name they are today in Canada.

Carlos and Victor Pedro grew up in their father’s restaurant, Ipanema. Ipanema has been in their family and in New York, in one location or another, for decades. Now Victor and Carlos have taken up the mantle as they open the newest location of Ipanema.

Jillian Brown discusses moving away from Yelp and Tripadvisor type reviews and using Instagram highlights to create a community of online customers.

Denver Restaurant Tik Tok Week features eight food content creators in their own episodes to discuss topics like the power of food, misconceptions of restaurant influencer marketing as well as tips & tricks for short-form video.

Jesvyn Terraza talks about immigrant founded food businesses and the accountability of food content creators in the restaurants they highlight.

Denver Restaurant Tik Tok Week features eight food content creators in their own episodes to discuss topics like the power of food, misconceptions of restaurant influencer marketing as well as tips & tricks for short-form video.

Nick Howard speaks about utensils, accessible packaging, and why he creates content about eating in his car.

Denver Restaurant Tik Tok Week features eight food content creators in their own episodes to discuss topics like the power of food, misconceptions of restaurant influencer marketing as well as tips & tricks for short-form video.

Alana Kaufman talks about social media engagement and creating content at food festivals.

Denver Restaurant Tik Tok Week features eight food content creators in their own episodes to discuss topics like the power of food, misconceptions of restaurant influencer marketing as well as tips & tricks for short-form video.

Haley Paez talks promoting your values and using social media as a billboard in restaurant social media marketing.

Denver Restaurant Tik Tok Week features eight food content creators in their own episodes to discuss topics like the power of food, misconceptions of restaurant influencer marketing as well as tips & tricks for short-form video.

Kip and Chris talk about fusing the culinary and cannabis worlds.

Denver Restaurant Tik Tok Week features eight food content creators in their own episodes to discuss topics like the power of food, misconceptions of restaurant influencer marketing as well as tips & tricks for short-form video.

Daniela Evans breaks down the costs of creating short vertical videos and the costs of being a restaurant content creator.

Denver Restaurant Tik Tok Week features eight food content creators in their own episodes to discuss topics like the power of food, misconceptions of restaurant influencer marketing as well as tips & tricks for short-form video.

Larry connects his years of experience in the kitchen with how to create the best restaurant content on social media.

Denver Restaurant Tik Tok Week features eight food content creators in their own episodes to discuss topics like the power of food, misconceptions of restaurant influencer marketing as well as tips & tricks for short-form video.

Reem Assil is the founder of Reem’s California, an Arab street corner bakery dedicated to community building, social justice, and sustainability. Best Served learned about Reem through Sicily Sierra and Nite Yun, all members of La Cocina, a womens’ food business incubator program. A true entrepreneur, Reem did this episode from her car.

Zuri Resendiz has been a friend of Best Served for a long time. He’s been on the show twice previously when he worked at Shanahan’s Steakhouse and at Cattivella. Now he’s broken away from his fine dining past and has opened Luchador food truck, serving street and traditional Mexican food made daily from scratch.

The six phases of New Restaurant Opening Order Of Operations (RO4) come from something we call the Countdown To Launch. Countdown To Launch is a checklist of over 800 things you need to do along your path to opening a new restaurant. Watch this episode to learn more about RO4.

Simon Tran is reopening his Spanish inspired restaurant after a tough lease and landlord situation caused him to close. Botellón Spanish Tapas is meant to be a gathering place for people to explore new food, wines, and flavors. Simon is planning to open in late August or early September after closing in the summer of 2021. Watch to learn more about Simon’s inspiration behind the concept and his journey to reopen the restaurant.

KC Gonzalez always knew he was meant for restaurants. Growing up in the Philippines, he helped his grandmother at her store and cooked food for their multigenerational household. KC earned the moniker Chef Salty during his days as a sous chef, the name he currently uses as his Tik Tok handle. Tenmomi, his ghost kitchen ramen concept in Rutherford, New Jersey, is his newest project. Right now it's just him creating bowls of ramen but he’s working on flipping the narrative and making restaurants a good place to work for creatives again as he grows his business.

Chef Ji Hye Kim opened Miss Kim, a Korean restaurant focused on food inspired by Korean ancestors made with Michigan ingredients, in 2016 in Ann Arbor. Opening a restaurant was never a part of the original plan for Ji Hye. She started in hospital administration before becoming a cheesemonger at Zingerman’s at 27 years old. Watch to learn more about her journey and her mission to educate people about Korean food and fermentation.

Paul Arihara has used bartending to travel around the United States. Now he’s on a new journey with his family on Restaurant Tik Tok. Paul, his wife Leina, and daughter Joli run the DaaFamBam, a love story where food is the supporting actor. Watch his episode to learn more about his journey.

When David Witt reached out to Jensen to show his appreciation for Best Served Podcast’s episodes, he could only float the possibility of being a guest on the show. As a fan of the podcasts though, he knew his story, a story of addiction and recovery, would resonate with our audience. He manifested, put in the work, and made it come true. Watch this episode to learn more about David’s journey.

Jensen is serious when he says reach out to us. In his article “Where do Restaurants Go from Here?” he said, “I’m on the lookout for it, for you. What role will you play in where restaurants go from here?” Kelly Fischer answered the call when she DMed Jensen and their conversation led to this episode.

A duo like Bob Little and Chad Urban sound like they should be in a country music folk band. Instead they’re a chef duo who’ve opened three concepts (two restaurants and a catering operation) during the pandemic. Their restaurant Chez Nick in the Upper East side of Manhattan opened three weeks before restaurants shut down in 2020. How have they survived and had enough capital to open a new restaurant while staying true to a new, better restaurant culture? Listen to find out.

In the middle of a mental health crisis, at the end of a two year pandemic, Barbie Beltran is working to create a solution. Her dream? A Whole Health Bodega called Sacred Society focused on elevating peoples’ health in body, mind, spirit, and soul. It will be a one stop shop for convenience and building healthy habits. Jose Guerrero joined her to manifest that dream into reality. Working together has changed Jose’s outlook on meditation and cutting added sugar.

Chef Scott Schaden’s journey to open Terra started way back when he got into the industry at fifteen. Scott says, “The things that got me into the restaurant industry are the things I hate about the restaurant industry now. When I was fifteen, you know what got me into this job: easy access to drugs, late nights, hot hostess.” He’s ready to make a new kind of business moving away from that model.

If you are considering opening a brick & mortar food concept, you need to watch this video! Jensen Cummings outlines 18 steps from his previous experience, successes and failures, starting restaurants and consulting on restaurants that he wished he would have known every time he created a new concept. From Brand Messaging to Financial Planning to Real Estate, this video covers the 18 things that save time, energy, and money in opening F&B concepts.

Chef Paolo didn’t want to waste time on another social media platform. But Jensen and others kept saying he had to get more content out there, so he started making TikToks, and had a lot of fun doing it. Now his silly hotdog videos have the potential to transform into a real restaurant, because an investor reached out to him and wants to finance his vision for the Urban Hotdog Collective.

Jensen speaks to Mimi Lan about her struggle with public speaking, her opportunity to interview Andrew Zimmern, and how to use Clubhouse to connect with people across the world.

In part two Chef Jensen takes us deeper and bring storytelling to life with his epic Storytelling Challenge, and in this episode, you will leave impacted and inspired and ready to tell your story. You'll learn about why restaurants should become podcasters and ambassadors for their community. Let's connect back with Chef Jensen of Best Served.

In part I we follow along on Chef Jensen’s culinary journey from working for Debbie Golds a Top Chef Masters award winner to working for Troy Guard as he became the Executive Chef at Tag in Denver Co. Then well switch gears and learn how Jensen launched a massive storytelling hospitality movement with Best Served Podcast. I am excited to introduce you to Chef Jensen Cummings a fifth-generation chef. His family has owned restaurants since 1900.

Jensen speaks to Andrew Parr, Corey Nelson, and Sophie Braker about the content they created which brought the team of Best Served Creative together.

In the 86 86 86 Challenge, Best Served paid hospitality industry professionals $86 for their stories. Hear from first-time writers on the struggle with impostor syndrome, how they found the story within them and how we are adding more voices to the culinary narrative.

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