It's Talking Tuesday and today we're talking to Jeff Benjamin, Chief Operations Offer for the Vetri Family of Restaurants and Author of Front of the House: Restaurant Manners, Misbehaviors, & Secrets. Our topic of the day is his aforementioned book. The words that come to mind when I think of this book are: caring, soul, passion, partnership, authenticity, knowing who you are, and being genuine. Benjamin really puts this industry under such beautiful light; this book will make you be proud of being in this industry... That, I can guarantee. If you want to discover why this is a must read for anyone in our industry, especially those front of house folks, you know what to do... SMASH! that play button! 

JeffersonMackin is a Graduate of the Military Academy of West Point and the University of Virginia- Darden Graduate School of Business Administration. For about 10 years Macklin dabbled in the world of Digital Media and Music management until joining the Barbara Lynch Gruppo in 2007 as Chief Operations Officer, where he over saw the operations of 7 extremely successful restaurants. Under his tenure the Barbara Lynch Gruppo, was showered with accolades. In 2015 he left the Barbara Lynch Gruppo to Partner with Chef Colin Lynch and his wife, Heather Kennaway Lynch, on Bar Mezzana, a coastal Italian restaurant opening up in Spring 2016 in, Boston, MA

Ottawa Native, Stephen Beckta graduated with honors from Algonquin College’s Sommelier program. After completion, Stephen departed Ottawa to hone his skills in New York City for four years with the top players in the restaurant industry. While in New York he worked for Cafe Boulud and Eleven Madison Park before returning to his native city. Today, Stephen Beckta is proprietor of Beckta, one of Canada’s premier fine dining restaurants, along with the critically acclaimed, small-plates Play Food & Wine, located in the historic Byward Market, along with the upscale neighborhood restaurant Gezellig in Westboro.  

Today we're discussing the significance of mentorship. It is one of the most challenging times ever to recruit and retain talented and passionate hospitality people. If you want the best people, you need to be the best person. If you want to become the best person, you need to go work for the best people. Folks, its the power of mentorship.

Roger Beaudoin has 18 years of experience in the restaurant and hospitality industry and has combined that experience w/MBA from Babson College. He has headed four restaurant and hospitality operations in all. His most recent restaurant, The Matterhorn Ski Bar, a seasonal, 4 month restaurant and bar,  generated 1 million dollars in annual sales.

Today, with all of his knowledge and experience, he is tackling his newest passion project, RestaurantRockstarsAcademy.com, where he shares the tricks of the trade and everything he's learned over the years of being an extremely successful restaurateur.

Frank Bonanno found his passion early, working in restaurants most of his life. After he graduated from the School of Finance at the University of Denver, Bonanno revisited that passion for restaurants by earning a second degree at the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park, NY. In the late 90's when he wasn't being paid to cook he was staging throughout cities in both Europe and in the States. In 2001 he opened Mizuna, rated by Zagat as one of the top restaurants... not just in Colorado, but in the nation. Today, Under his restaurant group, Bonanno Concepts, Bonanno operates a total of 10 concepts  in the Denver Colorado area. On top of all this he's the author of two books and the Host of Chef Driven on PBS.

Robert gained twenty years of experience in operations, six sigma, financial management, business development, and multi-unit general management responsibility with Starwood Hotels & Resorts. He became Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Key Hospitality Group, a hotel management and hospitality real estate development firm. During Robert's tenure the company managed and developed several assets in collaboration with Starwood, Hilton, and Intercontinental Hotel Group. Today, Robert serves as Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Untitled Hospitality Group.

Throughout her 28 years in the service industry, Kate has learned first-hand how to manage high volume and high standards, as well as how to fix operations that were poorly managed or on their way out. With the mission to bring excellent service to patrons of the service industry, Kate launched her full-service hospitality consulting business in 2007. Kate has contributed writings to both Culintro.com and Restaurant Hospitality Magazine. For the past 6 years she has been an instructor at the Institute for Culinary Education, where her upbeat teaching style and love of public speaking have helped hundreds of future chefs navigate their own careers and create their own success stories. Today, we're here to talk about her book Hello: and Every Little Thing That Matters.

The last table is served, the station is broken down, everything is put away, the inventory is complete, and now its time to meet Chef Adam Lamb on the back dock where the most important and interesting meetings are held.

Native of Toronto, Giorgio Taverniti attended the well known Italian culinary program at George Brown College. In 1992 Giorgio Teamed up with his mom, and took ownership of Frank's Pizza House, located in Toronto Canada. Franks Pizza House has been named "Best Pizza in Toronto", "Best Delivery in Toronto", and "Best Calzone/Panzerotti. You want to be sure to catch this episode, because Giorgio shares how he's been leveraging technology to maximize his continued Success, specifically, Snapchat.