Restaurant Owners Uncorked - By Schedulefly

Eric is the kind of person who glows with natural, authentic, true hospitality from the moment you lay eyes on him. Wil had the opportunity to learn his story, the amazing chefs he has worked with, what's happening with commercial fishing and sustainability, his new focus on seafood charcuterie, and a lot more over nearly and hour and a half together. Great interview with a great guy. Enjoy...

This is the first in a new series of quotes from our two books and our podcast interviews. Short, educational or inspiring quotes interspersed between our long-form interviews. Enjoy!

Jon was on this podcast in March of 2017. The day after we posted the episode, a massive fire burned down a large apartment building near Little City Brewing, a tragic even that led to the main feeder streets to Little City being shut down for the last two years. This unexpected even had a huge impact not only on Little City, but on Jon's entire group, Local Icon Hospitality. Here's his honest, vulnerable telling of what he and his team went through, and how they've come out the other side stronger and better than ever. This is an awesome, awesome interview. Enjoy...

Jeff has been in the business for nearly 20 years, and opened Whiskey Kitchen three years ago. He and Wil discussed the story of Whiskey Kitchen, which is filled with both tragedy and success. Jeff shares the story openly, and offers a lot of great advice and wisdom from his time in the hospitality business. Whiskey Kitchen's name says it all, this place has a tremendous whiskey collection and a fantastic menu. Jeff is a cool character, and you'll enjoy learning and listening to him share...

Some thoughts from Wil about how much meaning and value independent restaurants add to their communities.

Wil had a fun conversation with Lisa Carvey, owner of The Braeburn in Langley, WA on Whidby Island on the Puget Sound. They spoke for an hour and covered lots of actionable and philosophical ground. A fun conversation. Tons of respect for Lisa and her crew! Enjoy....

Every now and then Wil shares some observations he's made from interviewing successful restaurant people. Here's one of them...

This is a deep, powerful conversation between Wil and Van, owner or Bida Manda and Brewery Bhavana in Raleigh, N.C. They have become friends over the last few years so they got into a meaningful conversation about not just the story of Brewery Bhavana, but also about about life and philosophy and how we treat and build relationships with the people we work with and the people we serve. Enjoy!

Angela and Marshall are opening Ex-Voto at the Durham Food Hall this Fall. We have tremendous respect for Angela and Marshall, and Wil had a great time chatting with them about their new project. They are so incredibly welcoming, honest, authentic, humble, passionate, and dedicated to lifting up the people around them and providing warm, memorable experiences to their customers. *Wil got the conversation sidetracked for about 30 minutes talking about Mezcal, so be forewarned. Enjoy...

Some thoughts Wil wanted to share about restaurants and Instagram.

This may be our best podcast ever. We have no words to describe it, just listen and enjoy...

Bret Oliverio owns Sup Dogs, and he's one of the best human beings we've come across in our years of serving restaurants. The story of Sup Dogs is so powerful that we made a film about it a few years go. It's here: https://vimeo.com/223895178. Bret was also featured in Restaurant Owners Uncorked part II. Wil asked Bret to hang out and catch up over a podcast, and the result was nearly two hours of conversation about everything from Sup Dogs being named the best college bar in America by Barstool Sports, to the pros and cons of growing to more location (there are two locations now), to family, business philosophy, a You Tube celebrity who has left both $10,000 in cash and a piece of pure gold as a tip, to anything else that came across our minds. This was fun, real, and could have gone on for a few more hours if we had let it. Bret and his team are all amazing people, and we are very fortunate at Schedulefly to have the chance to serve them. Enjoy!

Drew Moore runs three successful establishments in Carrboro, NC. He also closed his fourth establishment two months ago, so we had a lot of meaningful things to discuss. Drew has poured his heart and energy and money and passion and sweat into the restaurant business for many years, and he is very open and transparent with his story. Really, really great guy. We had fun hanging out. Enjoy!

The first night I met Kenneth 5-6 years ago I watched him demonstrate the servant leadership he and his partners have built into the culture, and I was very impressed. We are lucky to serve many restaurant owners who I not only learn from and admire, but who I would be very happy to have my kids work for one day. Kenneth is absolutely one of them. Willy Taco has two incredibly successful locations (Greenville and Spartanburg, SC and FR8yard (Spartanburg) is killing it with it's unique location and incredibly fun vibe. Kenneth and I drank some beer and sat on the upstaris deck at FR8yard after a southern summer storm and enjoyed a great conversation about hospitality and the things he and his team do to make memorable experiences for their guests. Enjoy...

I can't say enough good things about Emily Blount. Humble, authentic, successful, generous, and full of passion and energy for the restaurant business. In three years since opening, her restaurant has twice been a semi-finalist for a James Beard award. Check out her inspiring story here. Enjoy!

Kevin owns Dram & Draught in Raleigh and Greensboro, NC with business partner Drew Schenck. This place is like heaven if you like whiskey! Kevin and I spent half of this episode talking about the amazing nectar of the gods, and the other half talking about hospitality. We did this while sipping on Nikka Taketsura, Booker's 30th Anniversary Special Edition, and a bottle of Old Grand-Dad bottled in the early 80's. We had a great time, obviously. Enjoy!

When Johno Morisano bought the former Greyhound bus terminal building that had been built in 1938, he intended to hold it as a real estate investment. But upon closing on the property, he immediately decided he wanted to open a restaurant in it. Nearly five years into the business, The Grey has won Eater's Restaurant of the Year, been named as one of Time Magazine's 100 Greatest Places on Earth, and partner and Chef Mashama Bailey was recently named Best Chef in the Southeast by the James Beard Foundation after being nominated each of the last two years. We had a very fun, wide-ranging conversation and I came away so thoroughly impressed with Johno's work ethic, passion for his business, respect and care for his team, amazing relationship with business partner Mashama, and devotion to making The Grey a institution for the people in Savannah to enjoy for many years to come. Tons to learn from a guy who came into the hospitality business with no former experience, and quickly helped make his restaurant a nation

Bond Brothers was named the best new brewery in the nation by USA Today in 2016. Here's the story of how brothers Jay & Jeremy Bond and their two business partners had so much success so quickly they threw out their 5-year plan after just 6 months, since they were growing exponentially faster than they had anticipated. With no significant hospitality experience between the four of them, the guys were able to approach the business organically and with a fresh perspective, and have had no turnover after three years in business. We talked about why they don't micromanage, collaboration within the beer community, the three pillars of their business, why quality is becoming more important these days since customers are more educated on craft beers, the trend of craft breweries being acquired by large multinational companies and the impact that is having on the industry, and more. Jay and Jeremy are extremely nice, genuine, soft-spoken, humble guys who have built an absolutely phenomenal business. Enjoy...

Brandon has been in the business over twenty years, and earned seven consecutive Michelin stars as Executive Chef of Solbar in Napa Valley from the years 2010-2016. He returned to Chapel Hill, NC in 2016 and opened Hawthorne & Wood on April 6 of this year. Brandon and I covered a wide range of topics, from his education over the years about flavor combinations from around the world, the decision tree process of opening his first restaurant, learning through experience that chefs that yelled at staff didn't get their best work, giving his staff immediate feedback, both positive and constructive, striving for perfection but accepting excellence, investors, the four guideposts of his restaurant, and more. Brandon has been very successful but is very humble and curious, constantly trying to learn from others. He's a cool dude, and was very fun to chat with. Enjoy...