Claim OwnershipThe Business of Restaurants
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The Business of Restaurants is an interview based podcast series hosted by Irish based restaurant consultant Evan O'Ceallaigh. Every week Evan sits down with a leading restaurant owner to hear about their stories to get to where they are, some of the highlights and challenges along the way, and most importantly chats about the business of the restaurant industry!
21 Episodes
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In Episode 21 of The Business of Restaurants Podcast, I chat with legendary chef Michael Bonacini.
Michael was born in South Wales. He trained classically under legendary Chef Anton Mosimann at London’s Dorchester Hotel. Micheal is today one of the most famous Canadian chefs and has written multiple cookbooks as well as hosting many of his own Tv shows on American Tv. Micheal partnered up with Peter Oliver in 1993 and founded Oliver & Bonacini restaurants.
Oliver & Bonacini Hospitality is recognized as one of Canada’s leading restaurant and event groups. With locations in Toronto, Montreal, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton and beyond, O&B’s diverse portfolio includes a collection of unique and innovative restaurants, event spaces, a bakery, and several strategic partnerships. O&B’s restaurants include à la carte dining, quick service, catering, grocery and special events. The company’s private dining and events division, Oliver & Bonacini Events and Catering, manage several large-scale event venues, including Arcadian, The Carlu, Malaparte, and others.
I chat with Michael about his early career working in kitchens in London, opening his first restaurant Jump in Toronto, the tough slog of the first few months in business, why his business partnership works so well, how he runs over 42 restaurants, why it is important to always be in growth mode, the reason for the success of O & B, the core value handbook, the management structure of his business, what criteria they look at when opening a new location and much much more!
Click the Subscribe button above or follow us on Spotify or most other podcast platforms to be the first to see new episodes out every Wednesday!
In Episode 20 of The Business of Restaurants Podcast, I chat with the co-owner of the well known Vancouver hotspot Jam Cafe. Mike has a long and successful career in the restaurant industry and before Jam cafe, was the director of operations of the Aburi restaurant group in Canada where he oversaw 4 restaurants, 400 staff and a yearly revenue of 20 million.
Jam cafe opened their first branch in Victoria, Vancouver in 2012 by husband and wife team Jim and Candy Walmsley and Mike partnered up with the company in 2016 to launch their second location on downtown Vancouver on Beatty Street.
I chat with Mike about his early career, going into a business partnership with his long time friend, opening Jam Cafe, scaling the business, the importance of a good team, the key behind the success of Jam Cafe, the key criteria that dictates a new location, future expansion plans for the Jam Cafe Group and much more!
Follow us on Spotify or most other podcast platforms to be the first to see new episodes out every Wednesday!
In Episode 19 of The Business of Restaurants Podcast, I chat with the well known Irish business owner Brody Sweeney.
Brody Sweeney is probably most well known for founding O'Briens Irish Sandwich Bars which went from start up in 1998 to over 200 stores in over 13 countries globally. Prior to that he was involved with the franchise Prontoprint before selling the business back to the U.K. parent in 1988. He has written two business guides, Making Bread and "Small to Tall" - How to grow your business from its entrepreneurial roots".
He founded a Thai takeaway business, Camile Thai Kitchen, in 2010 which has over 30 branches currently now franchised or operating across Ireland and also currently 7 in the London area with plans to expand this to over 100 in the coming years!
I chat with Brody about founding O'Briens sandwich shop, the hardship of the early days, losing money for years at the beginning, the key of failure, growing the business into a global franchise, starting over from nothing with Camile Thai, building the brand to over 30 restaurants currently, big expansion plans for London and much much more!
Click the Subscribe button above or follow us on Spotify or most other podcast platforms to be the first to see new episodes out every Wednesday!
In Episode 18 of The Business of Restaurants Podcast, I chat with legendary UK chef Phil Howard. Phil is a co-proprietor for the Michelin-starred Kitchen W8, The Ledbury (now closed), Church Road in Barnes and Union in La Plagne Montalbert, a ski resort and village in France. He also has interests in the London restaurants Lorne and Perilla, and is an investor in The Wild Room, which supplies foraged ingredients, mushrooms and truffles to the restaurant trade. In 2011, he picked up a Catey Award for Restaurateur of the Year (and rightly so!).
In 2016, Phil sold The Square and now focuses entirely on Elystan Street, which offers a more relaxed menu in a casual setting. Despite this more laidback approach (although Phil's definition of 'laidback' may differ to a lot of other people's!), Elystan Street was awarded a Michelin star just a year after opening. Since then, he has also opened another restaurant called Church Road in Barnes with his business partner Rebecca Mascarenhas.
I chat with Phil about his early career in the industry, working under Marco Pierre White, getting his big break as his first head chef role, The success of The Square, winning Michelin Stars, the importance of having business partners in business, one of the biggest mistakes made in his early career, the importance of good recruitment, opening Elystan Street, running multiple restaurants and and much much more!
Click the Subscribe button above or follow us on Spotify or most other podcast platforms to be the first to see new episodes out every Wednesday!
In Episode 17 of The Business of Restaurants Podcast, I chat with Will Beckett who is the founder and owner of The Hawksmoor Restaurant Group. There are 6 Hawksmoor restaurants in London, a location each in Edinburgh and Manchester and most recently the group opened a Hawksmoor in the heart of Gramercy in New York City. I chat with Will about his many 'failures' in the restaurant industry before the success of opening Hawksmoor, the challenges in the early days of Hawksmoor, the London restaurant scene, the dream of opening a Hawksmoor in New York, the main key to running a successful restaurant group, opening Hawksmoor Dublin and much much more!
Click the Subscribe button above or follow us on Spotify or most other podcast platforms to be the first to see new episodes out every Wednesday!
In Episode 16 of The Business of Restaurants Podcast, I chat with Domini Kemp who is the founder and owner of The Itsa Restaurant Group. Domini is a chef, cookbook author, tv personality and the founder of one of the leading restaurant groups in Ireland, The Itsa Group. We hear from Domini about her early career working in Peacock Alley with Conrad Gallagher, opening her first restaurant, a small bagel shop called Itsa in Dublin, scaling the restaurant, opening multiple restaurant concepts, creating a CPU for her businesses, the importance of strong systems fir your business, working in a family business plus much much more! Click the Subscribe button above or follow us on Spotify or most other podcast platforms to be the first to see new episodes out every Wednesday!
In Episode 15 of The Business of Restaurants Podcast, I chat with Lorraine Heskin who is the founder and owner of The Gourmet Food Parlour Restaurant Group. There are 6 restaurants across Ireland at present and there are also a whole range of other parts of the business under the one GFP umbrella, including a very successful catering side to the business where Lorraine has a 5000sq ft unit in Dublin catering for everything from Weddings to birthday partys. We hear from Lorraine about her early career walking the streets of Manhattan as a sales rep selling Irish food and drinks, the difficult decision to leave the States, coming home and becoming an export sales and marketing manager for a large Irish food company, the journey of creating her own business and why she wanted to create a brand, learning from customer feedback, low points along the way, creating a national restaurant group plus much much more! Click the Subscribe button above or follow us on Spotify or most other podcast platforms to be the first to see new episodes out every Wednesday!
In Episode 14 of The Business of Restaurants Podcast, I chat with Mark Lamming who is the owner, along with his wife Paula, of a chain of bakeries in Canada called Purebread.
We hear from Mark about the Covid situation in Vancouver at present, opening his first Bakery, going from street food to brick and mortar, the reasons for the success of PureBread, doing things differently in the industry, staying on top, the branding process, opening multiple locations, creating a central production unit, growth plan, opportunities post covid, redesigning the shops layouts, the next big concept in food plus much more!
In Episode 13 of The Business of Restaurants Podcast, I speak with Brendan Ladner the owner of Smak Restaurants Group. Brendan currently has 3 locations in Vancouver, Canada. Smak specialises in healthy fast food and has been a real success story since its first store opening in 2013. In this episode I chat with Brendan about his time in business, Healthy fast food, sustainability in restaurants, opening up his own restaurant Smak, replicating the concept in multiple locations in Vancouver Canada, early mistakes in business, layout of his business, identifying your ideal customers, opening a new restaurant, advice to bussing restaurant owners, the future of retail and much more! Click the Subscribe button above or follow us on Spotify or most other podcast platforms to be the first to see new episodes out every Wednesday!
In Episode 12 of The Business of Restaurants Podcast, I speak with Garret Fitzgerald the owner of Chimac Restaurantin Dublin. Chimac is a unique restaurant on the Dublin food scene specialising in two things: Fried chicken and beer. A match made in heaven, right? Koreans love the combo so damn much they’ve dedicated a whole word to it. Pretty much a national pastime, Chimac comes from “chi”, short for “chikin” plus “mac” from "maekju", Korean for beer. Inspired by this fried chicken obsession, Garret and his partner Sofie decided to bring a taste of Seoul to the heart of Dublin. Think crispy free-range chicken that’s irresistibly good and sauce so delicious you’ll question all life decisions so far.
Paul Lenehan is the owner of a number of bars and restuarants in Kildare and Dublin including Harte's, Ashtons, Dew Drop and most recently Firecastle. In The Business of Restaurants Podcast Episode 11, I chat with Paul about his training in GMIT Hotel school, opening his first pub, the Kildare restaurant scene, opening a business during the economic crisis in Ireland in 2009, opening the 'hybrid' Firecastle in 2020, the "opportunities" that Covid gave the business, the future of the Irish pub plus much more. Click the Subscribe Button above or follow us on Spotify or most other podcast platforms to get new episodes every Wednesday.
Jules Mak is one of the up and coming restaurant owners in Dublin owning some of the most new restaurants to open in the city in recent years. He is the man behind Mak at D6 and also most recently Hush, which is a sandwich restaurant by day and a burger restaurant by night concept. I chat to Jules about his early upbringing in the restaurant world working in his Dad's restaurant, opening his first restaurant, creating a new age Chinese restaurant, some struggles in the early years, the fundamentals of opening a new restaurantr and his opinions on the future of dining among much more!
The Business of Restaurants Podcast Episode 9 with David Dunne. David Dunne is the owner of two of the best restaurants in Sligo - Knox and Flipside. Knox is an all day gourmet cafe and Flipside is a high end burger restaurant doing what some believe are the best burgers in Ireland! In this episode, I chat to David about his career in corporate finance and how that helped Knox, the logistics of opening his very first restaurant, opening a restaurant in an urban town, challenges to running a restaurant, pivoting during Covid 19, opening Flipside restaurant in Sligo and future expansion plans with the brand, key skills required for a successful restaurant and much more!
Mark Spagnuolo is the owner of Hoagitos Restaurant in Belmar New Jersey. Hoagitos is a bite sized sandwich restaurant serving really exciting gourmet sandwiches. In The Business of Restaurants Podcast Episode 8, we chat to Mark about his background before going into the restaurant industry, opening the very first Hoagitos and subsequently closing it down, mistakes they made in the early days, Instagram for Restaurants, how they adapted during Covid and some exciting expansion plans with Hoagitos into the future.
Chef Adrian Martin is a celebrity chef, cookbook author and tv presenter from Cavan in Ireland. He is well known in Ireland as a tv chef and has appeared on a number of television series and also has writtern multiple award winning cookbooks. In March 2020, Adrian opened his own restaurant called Wildflower in a shipping container in Camden in London. In this episode of The Business of Restaurants Podcast, we chat about Adrian's early career to date working in restaurants, becoming a 'celebrity' chef, opening his own restaurant and running it from his home in Ireland during a global pandemic, his future ambitions with the restaurant and much more!
Oran McGonagle is an Irishman from Donegal who now owns and runs his own restaurant group in Boston. In this chat we discuss his story moving to Boston and living the 'American Dream', striking lucky working for the East Coast Tavern Group, openeing new restaurant concepts, the importance of staff, ambitions to open the best bar in America and plenty more!
Colm McDonagh is a well known entrepreneur and businessman in Galway who is most well known for owning his own travel agency business in Galway for 30 years. In 2015, Colm along with his wife Caryl, swapped industries and went into the food business and opened Esquires cafe on Eyre Square. In this episode, I chat with Colm about his younger days and his entrepreneurial upbringing, leaving the travel business as he saw the industry was going to the web, opening up Esquires coffee shop, challenges he had along the way, why service is everything and his future ambitions with the business.
Rúibín is a contemporary bar & restaurant located in Galway City on Ireland's Wild Atlantic way, the brainchild of couple Richard Kennan & Alice Jary. Their ethos is to cook & create using the best seasonal Irish produce they can find and pairing this with influence & inspiration from flavours around the world. The pair spent numerous years travelling and soaking up different cultures, before bringing this knowledge back home to Galway’s Historic Docklands. In this episode, I chat with Richard about his background growing up in hospitality, opening up his own restaurant Ruibin with his partner and chef Alice Jary, opening up with a very tight budget, the anger he felt when Covid hit in March 2020 and they were forced to close Ruibin and the future of his business.
Cathal Keogh is the owner of Mocha Beans Coffee Group, which currently has 11 coffee shops located across Ireland. Cathal is from Galway and opened his very first Mocha beans in his hometown on Cross Street in 1997, over 20 years later it is still there today! In this episode, I spoke to Cathal about his early career working his way up in Campbell Catering, learning the business of coffee with Bewleys, creating a brand for your business, some very low points along the way where everything 'could have come thumbling down', opening a new business during the 2020 pandemic, running a national coffee shop group and much more.
David Moore has been a prominent figure in the hospitality industry since starting his career at The Box Tree, Ilkley over 30 years ago. He went on to spend 6 years at Le Manoir aux Quat Saison, in Oxford with Raymond Blanc before founding Restaurant Pied à Terre, in 1991. L’Autre Pied followed in 2007 and the acclaimed pop-up Pieds Nus, in 2013. In spite of new ventures, David is never far from Pied à Terre. As an established restaurateur he is constantly evolving in the industry and culinary world. Pied à Terre is now in its 30th year on Charlotte Street, gaining a second Michelin star in 1996. It is now in its 28th year in the Michelin guide. Pied à Terre continues to move forward with a new Chefs Kitchen Table on the first floor completed in 2019 and the launch of a Vegan home delivery in the first lockdown. David also has a successful media career including working with BBC2 on two series of The Restaurant with Raymond Blanc and Sarah Willingham; guest slots on Masterchef the Professionals; guest chef on This Morning; guest on The Wright Stuff; BBC1 presenter for Inside out London; regular contributor to BBC Radio1 with Nigel Barden. Collaborated with Nick Snaith on Magic Radio for Foodie Friday as well as being a voice for his industry at events and in the media.
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