141 episodes

Runing a cafe, bar, restaurant or artisinal business? Are you in a city, town or village and wish you could get some inspiration and strategy. Host Martha Lucius, restaurant strategist puts the limelight on food and beverage owners and draws out what makes it tick. You'll hear success stories, statistics and all the ways we love hospitality.

Who is Martha Lucius? She was a owner/operator for 18 years, and now is a business strategist and world traveler with a distinguishing palette. Martha values small changes in operations that evolve big success in fiscal stability and delighted diners. Read more here: Marthalucius.com.

Holy Guacamole was rebranded to Restaurant Whisperer in 2023

Restaurant Whisperer, Owners with a niche who love support and inspiration‪.‬ Martha Lucius

    • Society & Culture
    • 4.9 • 17 Ratings

Runing a cafe, bar, restaurant or artisinal business? Are you in a city, town or village and wish you could get some inspiration and strategy. Host Martha Lucius, restaurant strategist puts the limelight on food and beverage owners and draws out what makes it tick. You'll hear success stories, statistics and all the ways we love hospitality.

Who is Martha Lucius? She was a owner/operator for 18 years, and now is a business strategist and world traveler with a distinguishing palette. Martha values small changes in operations that evolve big success in fiscal stability and delighted diners. Read more here: Marthalucius.com.

Holy Guacamole was rebranded to Restaurant Whisperer in 2023

    121: Marketing FAQs with Malia Part 3

    121: Marketing FAQs with Malia Part 3

    Third in a three part series on Social Media Marketing with Malia at Millenial Marketing. Malia, the owner of Millenial Marketing, and Martha, host of Holy Guacamole, talk through the most Frequently Asked Questions Malia receives regarding social media. Chances are you have asked some of these questions yourself, and know that social media is forever shifting and changing, and you might need an update. Want to know more, and talk to Malia about your project, here is the website, and if you want to see how they present themselves in social media, here is their IG .
    This episode reflects the Sixth Pillar of the Six Pillars of a successful Business. The Sixth Pillar is about hospitality. Social Media is like an invitation to come in to a restaurant, cafe or business. Whether you create your own content of need help with a marketing plan, or if you wish to turn over the project to professionals, this episode will satisfy curiousity with the voice of an expert. 

    • 14 min
    120: Prostart Explained by Tom Schuch

    120: Prostart Explained by Tom Schuch

    Continuing our series on experts in our field, today we have on Tom Suchuch to discuss the NM high school culinary program, ProStart. This is a national program with state level programs.  ProStart is part of a necessary conversaton about our current hiring challenges in the restaurant industry. The difficulty in finding and retaining either experienced and/or trainable staff is our latest challenge The industry business model is evolving quickly and restaurant owners have to adapt. Tom Schuch is a perfect choice -- his expertise as the Education Director in New Mexico's chapter of the National Restaurant Association can allow us to think about other avenues to find for hiring people. 
    Tom Schuch has extensive experience. Tom has been in the food and beverage industry for over twenty years, is a ServSafe instructor with NMRA for the last 3 years and now is leading the ProStart progam. He leads other educational initiatives including ServSafe, Alcohol Server, and ManageFirst certifications.   He also serves as the Executive Director of the Hospitality Industry Education Foundation.
    Links mentioned in this episode:
    education@nmrestaurants.org
    https://www.nmrestaurants.org/prostart-program/
    https://chooserestaurants.org/programs/restaurant-ready/
    https://chooserestaurants.org/programs/prostart
    Here is their links mentioned in the show. This episode is intentionally making and effort to seed this information to food and drink businesses around the country. 

    • 32 min
    119: Marketing FAQs with Malia Part 2

    119: Marketing FAQs with Malia Part 2

    Second in a three part series on Social Media Marketing with Malia at Millenial Marketing. Malia, the owner of Millenial Marketing, and Martha, host of Holy Guacamole, talk through the most Frequently Asked Questions Malia receives regarding social media. Chances are you have asked some of these questions yourself, and know that social media is forever shifting and changing, and you might need an update. Want to know more, and talk to Malia about your project, here is the website, and if you want to see how they present themselves in social media, here is their IG .
    This episode reflects the Sixth Pillar of the Six Pillars of Business. The Sixth Pillar is about hospitality. Social Media is like an invitation to come in to a restaurant, cafe or business. Whether you create your own content of need help with a marketing plan, or if you wish to turn over the project to professionals, this episode will satisfy curiousity with the voice of an expert. 

    • 19 min
    118: Sura Korean BBQ and Tofu House

    118: Sura Korean BBQ and Tofu House

    Claire and Brandon, owners of Sura Korean BBQ and Tofu House on Long Beach are our guest today. They have a long and lusterous history with this place. Claire and Brandon took on the project of giving Korean BBQ a refreshed and contemporary feel. It included improving from within, adding a patio, and improving the kitchen. They faced challenges, and do not stop!  This episode is for you if you need a shot of confidence with a side of awareness that you can make improvements and be happy with them. 
    We are starting a new thing on the show. In our episode with Cajou Creamery, Nicole Foster sent the following question to Claire and Brandon, "Tell a time when you were very afraid of doing something , and you did it anyway, and tell us what the outcome was?"
    This episode was chosen to give examples from two pillars of the Six Pillars program -- First Pillar and Third Pillar.  The first pillar is about branding and strategy. Know your niche, and continue to refine your definition of your niche in the language you use on your website, in social media. The third pillar is about operations. Sura has revised and tidied up their systems and renovation , and know that it takes time, happens slowly and cannot be rushed.  


    Want to know more about Sura Korean BBQ and tofu house?  Hop over to Sura's website. Their IG is packed with good, consistent messaging. 
    Enjoy listening. We appreciat you listening, and would love a reiew when you are inclined. 
     

    • 33 min
    117: Marketing FAQs with Malia Part 1

    117: Marketing FAQs with Malia Part 1

    First in a three part series on Social Media Marketing with Malia at Millenial Marketing. Malia, the owner of Millenial Marketing, and Martha, host of Holy Guacamole, talk through the most Frequently Asked Questions Malia receives regarding social media. Chances are you have asked some of these questions yourself, and know that social media is forever shifting and changing, and you might need an update. Want to know more, and talk to Malia about your project, here is the website, and if you want to see how they present themselves in social media, here is their IG .
    This episode reflects the Sixth Pillar of the Six Pillars of Business. The Sixth Pillar is about hospitality. Social Media is like an invitation to come in to a restaurant, cafe or business. Whether you create your own content of need help with a marketing plan, or if you wish to turn over the project to professionals, this episode will satisfy curiousity with the voice of an expert. 

    • 11 min
    116: Cajou -- Plant Based Ice Cream Story

    116: Cajou -- Plant Based Ice Cream Story

    This episode is a story about one of the best things in life -- ice cream, and it's plant based for all the good reasons!  Listen and learn how this co-founders couple Nicole and Dwight conjured their sons' milk allergy into the joy ice cream brings into any family.  Co-founder, father and chef, Dwight Campbell has exhaustive culinary skills -- serving steak dinners for 500 on a given evening. He experimented and tinkered with almonds and then cashews to create a plant-based ice cream recipe. Co-founder, mother and entrepreneur, Nicole Foster who is a lawyer and plant forward eater has harnessed this delicious dessert into an ice cream shop, and now is scaling up with a copacker. It's engenuity, resourcefulness and perserverence!  
    The journey started in Baltimore and like so many Baltimore-firsts is stepping up to serve culturally creative flavors as an outpouring of their Jamaican heritage and their sophisticated global outlook. 
    This episode reflects two pillars of the Six Pillars of Business Success. Pillar 1 -- brand and strategy, and Pillar 5 -- their ability to secure their co-packing and packaging which leads to many avenues of distribution. 
     

    • 32 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
17 Ratings

17 Ratings

zen cafe lover ,

Best Go To Podcast

I love how Martha gives you a behind the counter look at what goes into making a successful restaurant. I love hearing the stories first hand from the owners about how they made it all happen - from dream to reality. After a podcast I head to the restaurant and it comes to life. Thanks Martha!

B’moreBeck ,

Learn the inside scoop!

Love visiting these restaurants and cafes gems via this podcast. It’s fun hearing the story of how the places came to be, who the players are, and what makes the restaurant well worth a visit. Heading to Absolute Bakery next time in CO. Sounds delightful! Thanks for taking us there and to all the other spots!

The my country ,

Real world advice for restaurants

Martha and Dave are excellent resources for restaurants and other food industry businesses. In the podcast, they offer great, common-sense ideas about maneuvering businesses through the pandemic as well as converse with a host of great guests. I can’t wait to see what comes next from this dynamic duo as the pandemic eases and their conversations morph into something new and equally informative. Five stars for Holy Guacamole!

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