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27: How to Raise Money for Restaurant Growth | Akash Mirchandani, Kitchen Fund
Akash Mirchandani is a Partner at Kitchen Fund, a leading investment firm focused on the emerging restaurant space. Kitchen Fund aims to fuel the brands that are changing how we eat, including investments in some popular restaurants you may have heard of such as sweetgreen, CAVA, and Curry Up Now. Prior to Kitchen Fund Akash worked in Blackstone’s Private Equity Group, graduated from Harvard where he was captain of the golf team, and deepened his passion for the food industry through a brief sta
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1
Aug. 18, 2023
27: How to Raise Money for Restaurant Growth | Akash Mirchandani, Kitchen Fund
Akash Mirchandani is a Partner at Kitchen Fund, a leading investment firm focused on the emerging restaurant space. Kitchen Fund aims to fuel the brands that are changing how we eat, including investments in some popular restaurants you may have heard of such as sweetgreen, CAVA, and Curry Up Now. Prior to Kitchen Fund Akash worked in Blackstone’s Private Equity Group, graduated from Harvard where he was captain of the golf team, and deepened his passion for the food industry through a brief sta
26
June 25, 2023
26: Top 10 Lessons Learned From Season 1
Host Bryan Tublin shares his top 10 lessons learned from Season 1 of My First Restaurant. Top 10 Lessons Learned: Know why you’re getting into the business Test your concept first! Timing and momentum matters Raise enough capital – Things always cost more and take longer than you think Choose the right contractor for your buildout Centralized Commissary vs. Store-Level Production? There’s no right answer Do, Delegate, or Deprioritize Take care of yourself first Look for self awareness and a grow
25
June 17, 2023
25: From Line Cook to Restaurant Owner | Dominica Rice-Cisneros, Bombera
“I work really hard, and my staff works really hard, so I have to be in love with that city and that community to do the work that I do.” — Dominica Rice-Cisneros is the Chef & Owner of Bombera in Oakland, California. During her long career as a line cook, Dominica worked her way up in fine dining establishments such as Chez Panisse and The Four Seasons, before opening her first restaurant Cosecha to showcase her take on California Mexican cuisine. Forced to close Cosecha during the Covid-19 pan
24
June 10, 2023
24: Secret Shoppers, Diversified Growth, & Running Two Businesses at Once | Mistie Boulton, Oren’s Hummus & EyeSpy
“You want more happy employees that are gonna turn to happy guests, and in order to do that you don’t want your team to feel overwhelmed.” — Mistie Boulton is the CEO of Oren’s Hummus, and the President and Founder of EyeSpy Critiquing & Consulting, a mystery shopping and operations improvement business for the service industry. Mistie brings 20+ years of restaurant industry experience to this conversation, where we dive deep into why she decided to start a mystery shopping business in her 20’s,
23
May 31, 2023
23: The Rise of “Fast Premium” and Roman Style Pizza | Gabriel Baldinucci, Baldinucci Pizza Romana
“Don’t ever even consider opening a restaurant unless you have worked in and ideally managed one.” — This week’s guest is Gabriel Baldinucci, co-founder of Baldinucci Pizza Romana, a “fast premium” pizza restaurant based in Austin, Texas. In this interview we discuss the origins of the concept, as well as: Why Gabriel believes the market for “fast premium” concepts is increasing as consumer palates become more sophisticated What the team did prior to opening to build buzz and refine their recipe
22
May 24, 2023
22: How Refining Operations Can Help You Grow | James Deng, Poké House
“The people that are super successful have their operations on lock.” — James Deng is the Founder & CEO of Poké House, a poké chain based in Northern California with 9 locations and counting. James opened Poké House’s first location in 2015, and has since grown the concept to 5 company-owned locations and 4 franchise operated units, with big plans to scale beyond those numbers in the coming years. In this episode James shares how Poké House grew into this success, including: - How Poké House dif
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