My First Restaurant

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My First Restaurant

Bryan Tublin

28 episodes

9 months ago

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 s...

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Entrepreneurship

All content for My First Restaurant is the property of Bryan Tublin and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

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 s...

Show more...

Entrepreneurship

Episodes (20/28)

My First Restaurant

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 s...

2 years ago

43 minutes

My First Restaurant

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 businessTest your concept first!Timing and momentum mattersRaise enough capital – Things always cost more and take longer than you thinkChoose the right contractor for your buildoutCentralized Commissary vs. Store-Level Production? There’s no right answerDo, Delegate, or DeprioritizeTake care of yourself firstLook for self awareness and a growth mind...

2 years ago

49 minutes

My First Restaurant

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 Cov...

2 years ago

50 minutes

My First Restaurant

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...

2 years ago

58 minutes

My First Restaurant

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 sophisticatedWhat the team did prior to opening to build buzz and refine their recipesH...

2 years ago

50 minutes

My First Restaurant

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 H...

2 years ago

46 minutes

My First Restaurant

21: From Pop-ups to Pizza Trendsetter | Marc Schechter, Square Pie Guys

“Lean into your network, don’t be afraid to grow it, and don’t be afraid to ask people for help and reach out to people who have done it before. You never know what you’ll get back, you just have to ask.”—Marc Schechter is the Co-Founder of Square Pie Guys, a Detroit style fast casual pizza chain based in the San Francisco Bay Area.With three locations between San Francisco and Oakland, Marc has grown Square Pie Guys into a trendsetting brand inspiring square pizza concepts nationwide. I...

2 years ago

1 hour 37 minutes

My First Restaurant

20: Creating a Civic Gathering Space | Manny Yekutiel, Manny’s

“The least understood thing about opening a public facing business is the feeling of it, the emotional journey you have to go on”—Manny Yekutiel is the owner of Manny’s, a civic and political event space with a bookshop, coffee shop, bar, and restaurant, located in San Francisco.As you’ll quickly find out, Manny is not your traditional business owner, and this is far from a traditional interview. Having worked in the world of fundraising for political campaigns, Manny is charismatic and persu...

2 years ago

38 minutes

My First Restaurant

19: Tackling Climate Change Through Food Waste | David Murphy & Kayla Abe, Shuggie’s

“Don’t pick the cheapest person, don’t pick the person who says they’re going to do it fast… pick the person that is the most responsible.”—In this episode we’re joined by David Murphy & Kayla Abe, co-owners of Shuggie’s Trash Pie & Natural Wine, a climate solutions restaurant highlighting upcycled ingredients, where they take all kinds of things left over from the food system and make them the stars of the menu.Shuggie’s is the new hotness of the San Francisco food scene and beyond, ...

2 years ago

53 minutes

My First Restaurant

18: Saved by a Second Location | Todd Parent, Extreme Pizza

“Whatever you think it’s gonna cost double it, whatever you think you need for working capital triple”—This week’s guest is Todd Parent, Co-Founder & CEO of Extreme Pizza, a Bay Area-born chain with over 30 locations from coast to coast.Todd had a unique journey to restaurant ownership, starting in the dish pit of a friend’s restaurant in New Jersey, honing his management skills in Aspen, then eventually making his way to San Francisco, where he was encouraged to chase his entrepreneurial...

2 years ago

1 hour 8 minutes

My First Restaurant

17: The Restaurant Lease Episode | Roberta Economidis, GE Law Group

“At some point you have to say, ‘I’m not going to make a bad business decision to get my dream space.’”—Today our guest is Roberta Economidis, co-founder and partner of Georgopoulos & Economidis, a boutique business law firm based in San Francisco, with a specialty in the hospitality industry. Roberta has helped restaurants and hospitality businesses throughout California and the US with everything from corporate structure, to lease negotiations, private equity offerings, licensing, permi...

2 years ago

53 minutes

My First Restaurant

16: How to Open With No Cash, No Chef, & No Time | Jennifer Peters, Just BE Kitchen

“I wanted to close the gap between who I was and what I did.”—Jennifer Peters is the Founder & Foodie of Just BE Kitchen, a two-unit fast casual concept in Colorado, with an allergen friendly menu focused on serving “mindful mouthfuls from a conscious kitchen” through meals that are gluten, grain, refined sugar, and dairy-free.As you’ll hear in our conversation, Jen’s mettle was tested several times along the way to opening and sustaining Just BE, from having her funding fall through righ...

2 years ago

41 minutes

My First Restaurant

15: SPECIAL GUEST - The Kitava Story | Sam Oches interviews Bryan Tublin about Kitava

This week we’re flipping the script. Guest host Sam Oches, Editorial Director of Informa’s Restaurant & Food Group, interviews Bryan about his journey to start and grow Kitava.Sam and Bryan discuss Kitava’s origin story, including the path from pop-ups and farmers markets to opening a brick-and-mortar location inside an old McDonald’s.Other topics covered include:- How Bryan merged his business with his eventual co-founder’s to form Kitava- The process of coming up with a name and br...

2 years ago

46 minutes

My First Restaurant

14: Building a Scalable Brand Through Passion & Culture | Leo Kremer, Dos Toros Taqueria

“The guest experience will never rise above the level of the team experience”—Leo Kremer is the Co-Founder of Dos Toros Taqueria.As a Berkeley, CA native, Leo and his brother Oliver grew up eating Mission-style burritos from local taquerias throughout the Bay Area. After spending time as a professional musician, including with Third Eye Blind, and working briefly in management consulting, Leo and his brother opened Dos Toros in New York City in 2009.Leo and Oliver steadily grew the business t...

2 years ago

57 minutes

My First Restaurant

13: Pioneering the Fast-Fine Restaurant Movement | Charles Bililies, Souvla

Charles Bililies is the Founder & CEO of Souvla, a group of fast-fine Greek restaurants with six locations throughout San Francisco. Charles has built Souvla from a passion project into a brand with a cult-like following, having been named a “Top 100 Restaurant” by the San Francisco Chronicle, and a recipient of the StarChefs award for “Best Concept”, as well as being featured in national media outlets such as The Today Show, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Bloomb...

2 years ago

1 hour 18 minutes

My First Restaurant

12: The Story of Ike’s (Part 2) | Ike Shehadeh, Ike’s Love & Sandwiches

“The universe will pay you in direct proportion to the value that you are giving.”This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation with Ike Shehadeh. If you haven’t listened to Part 1, go back and listen to Episode 11 for full context!In this deeply philosophical episode, we cover:The difference between wealth and financial successHow to make decisions for a fulfilling careerWhy people who want to “eat the rich” are really holding themselves backWhat the amount of money a person or business makes sa...

2 years ago

54 minutes

My First Restaurant

11: The Story of Ike’s (Part 1) | Ike Shehadeh, Ike’s Love & Sandwiches

“I’m working LESS now with a hundred locations than I did with one… It’s a MYTH that it’s hard to expand.” - Ike Shehadeh---Imagine the following…> You’ve been kicked out of college> Your first business goes broke and you become homeless> While working three jobs to make ends meet, you decide to open a sandwich shop> On your first day no one comes. You sell zero sandwiches> It takes you 3 months just to make more than $300 in gross sales per dayWhat do you do from here?Well fri...

2 years ago

56 minutes

My First Restaurant

10: Embracing Your Target Market | Benson Wang, Palm House Hospitality

“You need to be all in, otherwise it doesn’t really work.” - Benson WangBenson Wang is the co-founder and CEO of Palm House Hospitality, an experience driven lifestyle and hospitality company based in the Bay Area with a diversified portfolio in restaurants, nightlife and lodging.In our interview we discuss:- How Benson and team make data-driven menu changes by sending new items to the Thunderdome- How they embraced their target market to help make operational decisions (e.g. Valentine’s Day ...

2 years ago

1 hour 6 minutes

My First Restaurant

09: Staying True to Your Roots | Nelson German, alaMar, Sobre Mesa

“The end goal is to make people happy, and tell our stories through food” - Chef Nelson German--Nelson German is the Executive Chef/Owner of alaMar Kitchen & Bar and Sobre Mesa in Oakland, CA. His restaurants tell the stories of the African and Caribbean diasporas through cultural foodways, and have achieved local and national accolades. Chef Nelson appeared as a contestant on Bravo’s Top Chef - Season 18, and he was named one of Plate magazine's “2020 Chefs to Watch,” and “Best Chef 2022...

2 years ago

58 minutes

My First Restaurant

08: How to Make It in a Seasonal Economy | Jaime Sparrow, Sunbird

Jaime Sparrow is the owner of Sunbird Cape Cod, a zero-waste cafe specializing in fresh, local, and sustainable food. In this interview Jaime shares her journey from working in San Francisco restaurants to moving back home to open a food truck, and eventually a cafe, in a seasonal economy heavily driven by tourism. We discuss how Jaime and her husband tested their concept with a food truck, why popularity with Cape Cod locals gave them confidence to open their first restaurant, their early st...

2 years ago

47 minutes