Restaurant Voices Philadelphia National
The Biggest Lessons from The Chef Conference Philadelphia
Philadelphia’s energized culinary scene served as a perfect backdrop for The Chef Conference Philadelphia, which took place from April 4 – 7. Sponsored by Resy and American Express, industry professionals and experts from around the globe gathered for a long weekend of collaborative meals, panels, and discussions. We’ve compiled some of their best practices for tackling the biggest challenges facing the restaurant community today.
(Quotes have been edited for length and clarity.)
1. Articulating the purpose-driven ethos of working in hospitality can help restaurants find the right talent.
“I think the conversation isn’t about working from home or PTO. The selling point isn’t necessarily, ‘You get two extra days off for paid vacation.’ I think it’s more about, ‘Do you want to live a life of purpose?’ The moment we’re on our deathbed, each of us will be there thinking, ‘What did I leave behind?’ And I think that is what the definition of when you do something with a purpose and a mission, that’s what you get out of it. I think it’s a better life.”
— Roni Mazumdar, Founder & CEO, Unapologetic Foods (Semma, ADDA, Dhamaka, and others), New York
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2. Get creative with benefits and team activities to reinforce company culture.
“A lot of restaurants I worked at had an educational stipend, and it was a really kind gesture that nobody ever used. Employees felt like, “You have an educational stipend? Great. I have no time. It’s a nice thing on a piece of paper, but I don’t know how to handle it.” So we took that and tweaked it into a wellness stipend, and we engage with you on how to use it.”
— Brian Jacobs, CEO, Rustic Canyon Family (Rustic Canyon, Milo & Olive, Birdie G’s, and others), Los Angeles
“We do a thing called a Captain’s Dinner, where the captains sit down and have dinner, and then the management team, including myself, serves them dinner. We’re really bad at it, and they make fun of us, and then we make speeches to them about how important they are to the restaurant. We just do lots of things to try to make everybody understand the purpose that we’re there for.”
— Ti Martin, Co-Proprietor, Commander’s Palace, New Orleans
3. Sustainability should benefit your bottom line, be creative, and be delicious.
“When I think about sustainability, I think, ‘Can we do all the things that we want to do, and then have a sustaining P&L at the end of the day?’ I think if the P&L shows something, and we can prove this out, then I think that’s sustainable. Sustainability has to be really delicious too. Like, if it sucks, what’s the point?”
— Kelly Whitaker, Owner and Executive Chef, Id Est Hospitality Group, Boulder, Colorado
“We take our empty oyster shells and mix them with local beeswax and oil to make votives for the table. And I think that’s an important part of the conversation because then it gets folks thinking about how zero waste doesn’t have to be on the plate. Zero waste can go beyond the plate itself.”
— Rob Rubba, Chef and Partner, Oyster Oyster, Washington, D.C.
4. Creating sustainable environments for your team should be part of a holistic sustainability strategy.
“We moved to a four-day week with 40 hours per week when I took ownership. We thought, ‘Well, we will find out if it’s possible.’ And not only has it been possible for us, it has increased our performance massively, the well-being of the people that we work with, and just every part of the restaurant.”
— Ben Shewry, Chef and Owner, Attica, Melbourne (Australia)
5. Restaurants and operators are essential community leaders.
“Chefs are some of the most trusted and connected people in their communities. They’re telling us where immigrant populations might live, so that we can bring meals door to door if there’s certain groups of people who won’t go to a government run shelter. Chefs are made for this, and not just because they thrive in chaos, but especially when things don’t go according to plan.”
— Laura Hayes, Senior Chef Corps Manager at World Central Kitchen
6. To continue supporting communities, restaurants need support too.
“In our industry, we’re always the first ones to jump into things. But who takes care of us? We made a decision to really focus on hospitality and food & beverage relief. Since 2017, we’ve granted about $14.5 million and created a free mental health care program and run with it.”
— Chris Shepherd, Founding Director, Southern Smoke Foundation, Houston
“After the hurricane hit, I found out real fast that there is no money for businesses after a disaster. We need reform on how business interruption insurance works, and how exclusions are written in policies. We have to talk to our lawmakers about what’s happening, because they don’t understand.”
— Katie Button, Chef and Co-Founder, Cúrate, Asheville
“We need to be talking to local reps. City council people are tomorrow’s congresspersons, right? This is not red or blue, in my opinion, or left or right. This is simply about how we can preserve jobs, economies, and families. Everyone is pointing fingers at each other until a disaster strikes, and then magically, everyone is lifting everyone else into the boat.”
— Andrew Zimmern, TV Personality, Chef, and Writer
*Opinions and views in articles shared on Resy OS are presented for the purpose of discussion and commentary on topics of interest in the restaurant industry; they should not be viewed as substitutes for advice given by professionally engaged business consultants and advisors.
