Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore

 

Michael Dorf was born and raised in Milwaukee, WI. After studying Psychology and Business at Washington University, he founded New York City’s go-to venue for independent music, the Knitting Factory, in 1986.

As Knitting Factory Chairman and CEO, Dorf helped bring the concert house to global prominence by expanding into Europe and Asia via tours, branded festivals, and record production and sales.

Dorf was recognized as a pioneer in producing music on the Internet, through a variety of strategic relationships with Apple Computer, Intel, MCI, and Bell Atlantic. During his Knitting Factory tenure, he produced over 200 recordings, a television series, and built a new venue in Los Angeles. In 2002, he left his operating responsibilities and sold his equity position to pursue other endeavors, including a Carnegie Hall concert fundraiser series, founding a Hebrew school, and winemaking.

By 2008, Dorf had conceptualized a venue that brought his love for both the making and enjoyment of wine under one roof and created City Winery –Manhattan’s first fully-functional winery, restaurant, music venue and private event space. City Winery offers a wide selection of wines, exquisite cuisine and intimate performances from iconic performers.

Dorf expanded his company in 2012 with the opening of City Winery Chicago. Subsequent years have brought new venues to Nashville, Atlanta, Boston, and Washington DC, with Hudson Valley and Philadelphia.

Check out Indulge Your Senses:  Scaling Intimacy in a Digital World by Michael Dorf

Today’s feature affiliate: Bentobox. In need of a restaurant website? Click this link to find out why so many of my guests use Bentobox!

Bentobox Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast

Show notes…

Calls to ACTION!!!

Favorite success quote or mantra:

  • "You gotta love what you do."
  • "Indulge your senses."

In this episode with Michael Dorf we will discuss:

  • Starting out in the music industry
  • Marketing
  • Making wine
  • Unique challenges with an urban winery
  • Numbers come first!

Today's sponsor:

7shifts is a modern labor management platform, designed by restaurateurs, for restaurateurs. Effectively labor management is more important than ever to ensure profitability and restaurant success. Trusted by over 400,000 restaurant professionals, 7shifts gives you the tools you need to streamline labor operations, communicate with your team, and retain your talent. Best of all 7shifts integrates with the POS and Payroll systems you already use and trust (like Toast!) turning labor into a competitive advantage for your business. Restaurant Unstoppable members get 3 months, absolutely free.

Talk To The Manager – Nowadays, most guests don't want to call you on the phone or give you their feedback face-to-face.
With TalkToTheManager, guests can avoid making a scene by sending you comments and questions anonymously by text message, allowing you to respond and handle issues in real-time. It's easy to set up and simple to use for both staff and visitors. No software integration. No downloads, and no apps to install.

Talk To The Manager Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast

Diageo Bar Academy equips bartenders, servers, managers, and hospitality professionals with the insights, stories, and tools to be better - raising the bar on industry standards. Diageo Bar Academy reaches a diverse audience, with backgrounds and skill levels of all ranges- providing them with skills, knowledge, and the techniques they need to improve their personal and professional lives.
Diageo Bar Academy Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast

Knowledge bombs

  1. Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
    • Endorphins
  2. What is your biggest weakness?
    • Over-indulgence
  3. What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview?
    • Uniqueness
  4. What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?
    • People/labor
  5. Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
    • Considerate
  6. What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff?
    • Empathy
  7. What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?
  8. What is something restaurateurs don't do well enough or often enough?
    • Take care of their employees
  9. What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your restaurant walls and how has it influence operations?
    • Pre-order your beverages before you arrive at the restaurant on our website
  10. Name one service you've hired.
  11. If you got the news that you'd be leaving this world tomorrow and all memories of you, your work, and your restaurants would be lost with your departure with the exception of 3 pieces of wisdom you could leave behind for the good of humanity, what would they be?
    • Think outside the box
    • Selfish philanthropy
    • Team leader

Contact info:

Website: citywinery.com

Email: michael@citywinery.com

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining today! Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for the Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates.

Huge thanks to Michael Dorf for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!

 

Restaurant Unstoppable is a free podcast. One of the ways I'm able to make it free is by earning a commission when sharing certain products with you. I've made it a core value to only share tools, resources, and services my guest mentors have recommend, first. If you're finding value in my podcast, please use my links!
Direct download: Michael_Dorf_PODCAST_mixdown.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:30am EDT