Steve Ells, Founder, Counter Service & Chipotle

We've been on an interview hot streak, but neglecting some seriously big industry news. In this episode, we talk about DoorDash's move to buy Instacart, Uber Eats' consolation prize, and Olo's ordering app — plus an epic Brandon rant about a persistent restaurant tech frustration. 

Like many New York restaurant pros, Brandon once worked for restaurateur Danny Meyer at Tabla, the shuttered restaurant that sets the tone in his new book, What Could Possibly Go Right? There’s plenty of nostalgia in this episode, but also some tech questions for a decades-long operator who’s done more than most to advance good technology inside restaurants

Steve Ells’s full title at his new restaurant brand is founder, executive chairman & chief concept officer at Counter Service. It’s a mouthful, but explains the totality of his contributions to the emerging brand. Best known for founding Chipotle three decades ago, Ells has turned his attention and expertise to crafting a tech-forward strategy to scale high-quality sandwiches. In this episode — recorded live! — we talk tech, robots, and, of course, burritos. 

Few people would call supply chain a sexy part of the restaurant business — not even Yusha Hu, who’s made a career out of it. Yusha spent time at Chipotle and Sweetgreen before launching Sightline OS for AI-powered supply chain management. In this episode we discuss AI, food safety, and what happens when the stack of cups runs out. 

Events and private dining have become vital revenue streams for many restaurants, but booking — or just inquiring about — an event can be a clunky and confusing experience. In this episode, we discuss restaurant events and why they’re important, how booking works now and how we got here, plus a better model for the future. (Brandon has particularly strong opinions on this one!)

Adam Weisblatt is not a tech guy, he says, but he *is* a restaurant guy. As co-founder of Los Angeles-based Last Word Hospitality, Adam helps to run seven distinct restaurants (with more on the way) in Southern California. His new book, For the Love of Restaurants, details the ups and downs of opening one of those restaurants, Found Oyster, in East Hollywood. In this episode, we talk about openings, operations, and what Adam wants every restaurant tech company to know. 

Would SevenRooms CEO Joel Montaniel have considered a delivery app an ideal acquirer when he started the reservations and customer relationship management platform in 2011? Probably not! But a year after DoorDash (which didn’t exist in 2011) acquired SevenRooms, its role inside the reservations industry is getting clearer. In this episode, we talk about consumer reservation fatigue, SevenRooms’ new, DoorDash-backed features, and Joel’s vision for a more open ecosystem.

Maddy Shannon started her career as a Bain consultant before pivoting to the back office at some of the country’s most prestigious restaurants. It’s given her a nuanced perspective on the right balance of tech and hospitality that we appreciate. In this episode, we discuss personalization, good restaurant AI, and the modern point of sale system as the technological heart of a restaurant. 

Hostie, an AI-powered “restaurant concierge” headquartered in the Bay Area, just announced $12 million in Series A funding. Randall Hom is Hostie’s co-founder and CEO. He’s also a San Francisco restaurateur who knows firsthand the challenges of engaging with human guests in the age of artificial intelligence. In this episode, we discuss guest preferences and engagement, AI for restaurants and “the city.” Which city? You’ll have to listen to find out. 

In this special episode, Kristen and Brandon discuss two major developments in the reinvigorated reservations wars: American Express moves to acquire European booking platform TheFork for $700 million and DoorDash-owned SevenRooms launches a tool (and a stake in the ground) to make it much easier for restaurants to aggregate reservations from multiple sources. Together, these moves represent a big shift in the business. When the Amex deal closes, it’ll have more bookable restaurants than OpenTable. Meanwhile, SevenRooms wants to force its competitors' hands, making it much easier for restaurants to use multiple booking channels. Watch this space!