Restaurants in the Time of COVID (Part One)

Restaurants have a staggeringly high failure rate - nearly fifty percent don’t make it. But you attract customers, you control costs, you protect your inventory and prevent shrinkage (another term for food walking out the back door), keep your man-hours per customer on target and your food cost low and you might just have a chance - until the whole damn world shuts down. We’ll look at innovation in the face of panic with our world-class guests.

What did restauranteurs of different stripes do to keep their successful ventures going through the pandemic?

This is Part I in a series - this episode: The Added Weight of two Michelin Stars

Guests:

Chef John Shields - Executive Chef, Smyth & The Loyalist, Chicago, IL

Karen Urie Shields - Executive Pastry Chef, Smyth & The Loyalist, Chicago, IL

Chef John’s Twitter

Smyth & The Loyalist’s website

Smyth Instagram

The Loyalist Instagram

Episode Notes:

We ran out of time but asked Chef John Shields off-air what his favorite lesson learned was from adapting the menu to take-out only - what foods did and didn’t translate well to carry-out. His response? The French-inspired Loyalist menu didn’t work - it didn’t travel well. On the other hand, burgers, barbeque and pizza worked like a charm.

Show notes:

Theme music by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder, including “Drumcorps Core (2015)” and “Mr. Chompers” (under license).

Show branding by Peg Fitzpatrick & PMG Group.

P.R. and social media by Carol Lunger, Emily Stern and AB+C Creative.