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

Martha Lucius

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

  1. 10/13/2023

    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
  2. 09/29/2023

    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.

    34 min
  3. 09/01/2023

    114: Tyler Zielinski on Building a Better Bar

    What makes a bar work? How do you make the math work?  And how do you keep it working for  years to come? We interview UK based Tyler Zielinski to get his opinion. He writes for PUNCH, Food & Wine, London Evening Standard, Eater, Class Bar Mag, Condé Nast Traveler and more. And he is a Brand and Hospitality Consultant for bars, spirit companies and industry events. Our loyal listeners, intellectually curious business owners, want to know better ways to improve their business, in an ever changing environment. This episode will suit you if you own a bar, run a business with a bar, or need a refresher to get your mind thinking of how to make the small changes that make a big difference.  Tyler shares that owners should be in the habit of costing your bar menu.  Here is the link to the Bar Metrix costing seminar mentioned in the show. Our geeky team and listeners always appreciates resources on numbers and math.  This episode explores Pillar I and III, of the Six Pillars of a Successful Business. Pillar I explores the message, mission and brand. Pillar III explores the systems that make your business operate, and operate efficiently.  If you wish to learn more about Tyler Zielinski, follow him on Instagram here, and if you want to learn about his seminars look on IG, the next session is called "Building Your Bar's Brand Through Communications". Tyler, we support your efforts to share your knowledge and educate those who are curious for more!

    41 min
4.9
out of 5
17 Ratings

About

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