Today we're speaking with Steve Ziegler, the Product Knowledge Expert for the WebstaurantStore.com. Based in Lancaster, PA, WebstaurantStore.com is the leading restaurant supply store providing restaurant supplies and equipment to the foodservice industry and individual customers worldwide. 

So I asked Steve and his team at the WebstaruantStore.com to put together a list of the top 5 selling items of 2015 that could help our restaurants operate more productively, efficiently ultimately making us more profitability. The following is what they came up with. 

In the 21 years of Anthony's career he's been a student at the Culinary Institute of America, has been an Assistant Food and Beverage Outlets Manager at Doubletree Hotel, was a Matre D at both Jean-Georges NYC  and Per Se, was the General Manger for Per Se and would be promoted to the Director of Operations for the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group. Today, Anthony's passion project is Journee, where by bringing people together, They hope to empower restaurant professionals to take control of their careers and change the way the industry evolves. They're doing it simply providing access to knowledge and resources

Today we're chatting with two authorities on the topic of employee recognition and restaurant culture: Roger Beaudoin of RestaurantRockstars; and David Long of MyEmployees.com. How many times have you heard "theres no good people out there." or "Its so hard to find good staff." Perhaps you've ever muttered these words out loud or to yourself in the past.

Truth is, if you're having trouble finding good people, the problem likely isn't with the people, instead it is you. This episode will teach you to be the best you can be to your people and in return, your people will be the best they can be to you. 

Michael Anthony Plays a huge role at Union Square Hospitality Group as Executive Chef and Partner of a little restaurant you may have heard of, Gramercy Tavern, as well as Executive Chef and Managing Director of Untitled and Studio Cafe at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Chef Anthony's most current project. Passionate about using ingredients that can be traced to their sources, Mike is known for forging strong ties between the restaurant and local farmers. Mike's accolades include: Food and Wines "Best New Chef" 2002; James Beards "Best New Restaurant" in 2005; New York Times "Best New Chef" in New York; James Beard Award for "Outstanding Restaurant" in 2008; James Beard Award "Best Chef in New York City" in 2012; and most recently James Beard Award "Outstanding Chef in America" in 2015.

Chef Chris Young is the Co-Author of the six volume Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking, which is an accessible 2,438-page encyclopedic cookbook for the professional chef or curious home cook. More recently, his life focus has been on ChefSteps.com. Founded in 2012, Chefsteps is a Seattle-based food and technology company on a mission to help people cook smarter. Chefsteps.com and its companion app are designed to inspire creativity and encourage experimentation through high-quality interactive content, techniques, tools, and resources.

Trees, is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York, has worked at Le Bernardin, spent a month at Fat Duck in Britain and opened five restaurants as corporate sous-chef with Michael Mina and eventually became chef de cuisine. He has also worked with Gordon Ramsay on “Hell’s Kitchen” and as chef de cuisine at Fig. Today Trees is the Executive Chef at Superba Food and Bread  in both Los Angeles and El Segundo, CA.

In this episode we discuss: How having a good brand more than great guest, but also great employees and media coverage; The biggest challenge restaurant have when establishing their brand; the four pillars to developing a restaurant brand; when to start the branding processes; how to create your brand if you're an existing restaurant; resources and tools you can leverage when developing your brand; and the mistakes to avoid when building your brand. 

Kaen Post is an entrepreneur, international branding authority, and author. She has been a monthly columnist for Fast Company, and has appeared in business and industry venues around the world including Fox News, Bloomberg TV, the New York Times, Entrepreneur Magazine and Forbes. Her work has benefited both Fortune 500 companies and emerging businesses along with many industry associations and individual professionals. In 2013 along with fellow branding expert Jocelyn Ring she co founded RestaurantBrandingRoadmap.com, an online destination where restauranteurs can learn how to build strong and distinct brands.

In todays episode we chat about: focusing on hospitality; the importance of culture; why you need to treat every moment of your career like your building a resume; treating it like you own it; staying hungry for knowledge; the one question you should be asking during all of your interviews. 

Erick Castro initially built his cocktail empire at San Francisco's Rickhouse and Bourbon & Branch by searching for obscure recipes, methods and ingredients that originated prior to Prohibition. His beverage programs have been place on some of the nation’s most coveted lists, including Esquire's Best Bars in America, Food & Wine’s “World’s Top Bars” and countless nominations at the prestigious Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards in New Orleans, and was recognized by the StarChefs organization as “Rising Star Mixologist” in 2010.In 2013, Castro partnered up with Southern California's hospitality collective, CH Projects, to launch Polite Provisions –which quickly received accolades such as Imbibe magazine’s Cocktail Bar of the Year 2014 and Food & Wine magazine’s Best New Bars. In 2014, he teamed up with the team behind Cocktail Kingdom to create Boilermaker in New York City, where it quickly earned a reputation. Also, in 2014, Castro, co-created Follow The Liter, an irreverent series of cocktail tutorials. On top of all this Castro manages the PossessedBySpirits.com blog and his newest project BartenderAtLarge.com, which he tells us more about at the end of the episode!