Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Late Night Restaurant Podcast Show

Every unanswered restaurant call puts a reservation, private event, takeout order, or future guest at risk.

Jay and Dom sit down with Randall and Vanessa from Hostie to explore how AI is changing restaurant communication while protecting the human side of hospitality.

Hostie answers calls and texts, books reservations, handles guest questions, supports multiple languages, and gives restaurant teams more time to serve the guests in front of them.

The numbers make missed calls hard to ignore. One restaurant receives 40 per cent of its calls outside business hours. Cactus Club Cafe recorded more than 100,000 calls across its locations in three days, with 60 per cent resolved by AI.

You’ll hear where restaurant AI is heading, how operators retain control of every guest interaction, and how Hostie gets a personalized virtual host running in about an hour.

If your phone keeps ringing while your team is in the weeds, this episode is worth hearing.

Jay Ashton and Domenic Pedulla welcome Australian direct response marketer John Dwyer, JD, founder of The Institute of Wow, for a blunt, funny, and practical conversation about restaurant marketing.

JD breaks down why restaurants lose revenue when they fail to collect customer data. He shares how one seafood restaurant built a 92,000-person database, filled empty seats with simple text messages, and used direct offers to drive real sales.

The episode covers Facebook contests, customer databases, high-value incentives, strong calls to action, and why random social posting is not a marketing plan.

With classic Late Night chaos, NEXT Food Expo talk, and a few wild ideas from Jay, this episode gives restaurant owners smart ways to bring guests back, increase visits, and build marketing systems that work.

Your food might be exceptional, but if your communication isn't, your customers never get the full story.

This week on The Late Night Restaurant Podcast, Jay Ashton and Domenic Pedulla sit down with Joshua from Beltway Media to explore one of the most overlooked areas in hospitality: strategic communications.

From building trust and shaping customer perception to branding, storytelling, AI, and the future of restaurant marketing, this conversation dives into why communications is no longer optional for restaurants and hospitality businesses.

Joshua explains the difference between marketing and communications, why authenticity outperforms perfection, and how every customer interaction, from your website and social media to your menu, music, and dining experience, shapes your brand.

If you're a restaurant owner, hospitality leader, marketer, or entrepreneur looking to strengthen your brand and build lasting customer trust, this episode is packed with practical insights you can apply today.

What does it take to walk away from a successful corporate career and risk everything to build your dream?

This week on The Late Night Restaurant Podcast, Jay Ashton and Domenic Pedulla sit down with Brandon McCraney, Owner and Master Blender of Old Raleigh Distillery in North Carolina.

Brandon shares the incredible story behind launching a distillery during the height of COVID, surviving construction setbacks, nearly losing everything, and building an award-winning whiskey brand through grit, creativity, and relentless determination.

The conversation explores entrepreneurship, hospitality, customer experience, government regulations, distillery operations, importing whiskey, and why telling your story matters as much as the product you create.

Whether you're a restaurateur, beverage professional, entrepreneur, or someone thinking about taking the leap into business ownership, this episode delivers honest lessons from someone who's lived every challenge.

Listen now and hear why persistence often becomes an entrepreneur's greatest asset. The Late Night Restaurant Podcast Brandon.

In this episode of The Late Night Restaurant Podcast, Jay Ashton and Domenic Pedulla sit down with Darren from SBS Specialty Beverage Solutions to explore how coffee has become one of the biggest profit opportunities in foodservice.

From nitro coffee and dirty sodas to the latest espresso technology from Europe, this conversation dives into what restaurant operators need to know to stay ahead. Darren shares insights from nearly three decades in the beverage industry, including trends from international trade shows, how equipment is evolving, and why total cost of ownership matters more than the sticker price.

They also discuss the launch of the Alberta Restaurant Hall of Fame Awards Gala, the importance of preserving hospitality history, and why innovation continues to reshape the guest experience.

Whether you own a café, restaurant, hotel, or bar, this episode is packed with ideas to help improve beverage sales, increase profitability, and create a better customer experience.

Listen now and learn where the beverage business is headed next.

Amanda, owner of Sweet Cheeses Charcuterie in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, joins us to share how she built a thriving charcuterie business serving everything from intimate gatherings to large-scale events.

We discuss entrepreneurship, customer experience, and how Rally Catering helped simplify ordering, payments, and operations, allowing her to focus on creating exceptional food experiences while growing her business.

A great conversation for caterers, restaurant operators, and anyone looking to work smarter while delivering outstanding hospitality.

www.sweetcheesuscharcuterie.com

What happens when chefs, restaurateurs, and beverage leaders stop looking elsewhere for inspiration and start celebrating what grows in their own backyard?

In this episode, guests from Ireland's thriving food and hospitality scene share how local ingredients, farmer partnerships, fermentation, and a deep connection to place are shaping some of the country's most respected restaurants and bars. The conversation explores Terroir, the challenges facing hospitality, the future of local food systems, and why confidence in your own products matters more than ever.

A thoughtful discussion about food, culture, community, and building something meaningful from the ground up.

From surviving as a refugee on a boat in the South China Sea to building a coffee brand rooted in purpose, Tim Nguyen's story is unlike anything we've featured before.

In this episode, Tim shares the incredible journey that brought him from Vietnam to Canada, back to Vietnam, and now back again with a mission-driven coffee company called Black Lotus Coffee. We talk about farming coffee, sustainability, entrepreneurship, mindfulness, and the life lessons behind the phrase "No Mud, No Lotus."

This is a conversation about resilience, second chances, and building a business with meaning at its core.

Jay welcomes Kate from Food Allergy Canada for a conversation on how the food service industry can better handle food allergies. One in thirteen Canadians has a food allergy, and Kate's organization offers free tools, training, and resources to help operators build better practices. Simple communication, staff education, and smart prep systems can be the difference between a loyal guest and a liability. Kate breaks down what informed dining actually looks like and how any restaurant can get started at no cost.

Food allergies affect millions of Canadians and play a major role in where people choose to eat.

In this episode, Jay Ashton and Domenic Pedulla sit down with David Giacometti, founder of Foods For You, to discuss the growing importance of allergen awareness in restaurants. David shares how his experience in hospitality led him to create a platform that helps operators provide accurate allergy information while giving guests greater confidence when dining out.

From hidden ingredients and cross-contamination risks to building trust with guests and their families, this conversation explores why food safety is no longer optional. It's a competitive advantage and a responsibility every restaurant should take seriously.

In this episode of the podcast, hosts Dom and Jay sit down with Jane and Shell from Autech Canada to discuss the fascinating world of automated sushi machines. Originating from the engineers at Audio-Technical in Japan—yes, the same company famous for headphones and DJ turntables—Autech has brought incredibly precise sushi-making technology to the Canadian market.

We dive deep into their flagship model, the ASM-E-95, an unbelievable "rice sheet printer" capable of pumping out a wild 1,300 perfect rice sheets per hour.

What we discuss in this episode:

• The Origin Story: How a special equipment division at an audio company ended up making a manual prototype featured in the 1987 movie Wall Street.

• Debunking the Automation Myth: Why automated machinery isn't taking away high-end culinary jobs, but rather freeing up chefs to focus on creative menu curation and artistry.

• Solving the Labor Crunch: How a single machine can save a restaurant "half a person" in labor costs and remove the intense stress of finding specialized, traditionally trained labor.

• Unexpected Markets: Why non-traditional venues like high-end steakhouses are suddenly installing sushi machines to diversify their appetizer menus.

• Sanitation & Safety: The hidden logistical victory of temperature-controlled, easily cleanable, NSF-certified machinery in modern kitchens.

Whether you operate a traditional Japanese eatery or a steakhouse looking to safely inject fresh, high-margin ideas into your kitchen, this episode breaks down why commercial automation is a game-changer.

With a projected 4,000 restaurants facing closure across Canada this year alone, the hospitality industry has officially reached its structural breaking point. Profit margins are at an all-time low, menu prices are pushed to the absolute limit, and traditional business playbooks are being completely flipped upside down. If independent operators want to survive, they have to stop managing from the boardroom and start looking at their business through a completely fresh lens.

In this highly engaging and philosophical episode of the Late Night Restaurant Show, host Jay goes solo to sit down with Matthew, an engineer who is actively re-imagining the agricultural supply chain at Verdant. In a rare twist, the guest takes Jay off the hot seat by turning the tables to explore how backend supply chain quality directly drives frontline customer loyalty.

Together, they challenge some of the most deeply grandfathered myths in the food service space—including the outdated "30% food cost rule"—and unpack why a restaurant's true customer experience extends far beyond the plate.

• The "Parking Lot to Plate to Parking Lot" Journey: Breaking down the hidden friction points in a restaurant's customer map, from digital menus and deep potholes to food safety perceptions the next morning.

• The Death of the 30% Food Cost Rule: Why judging success by a rigid 1964 metric is failing modern operators, and why 85% of Canadian restaurateurs don't even know their actual menu costs.

• The "Why Theory" of Menu Engineering: A simple Excel sheet exercise that forces kitchens to ruthlessly question why individual ingredients (like a single slice of tomato) exist on a plate.

• Freshness & Ethylene Management: How extending the shelf-life of produce by just 4 to 7 days at the farm level completely alters the financial reality for distributors and restaurants.

• The Modern Hospitality Education Crisis: Navigating a severe gap in culinary labor where vital kitchen skills are being replaced by short-form TikTok videos.

• Complexity Talks, Simplicity Executes: Unpacking a vital corporate lesson on why the most scalable solutions are always inherently simple.

• The Empty Chair Concept: Why every critical business or marketing decision needs to actively place the customer in the room.

Jay also shares an unexpected piece of homework regarding a brilliant 1980s Canadian television show featuring engineering-minded farmers , alongside a real-time call-to-action that will instantly brighten your staff's day. Pop in your headphones for a refreshing masterclass on human behavior, supply chain systems, and authentic community building.

Ask any operator how the current economic climate handles their bottom line, and you’ll likely hear a chorus of complaints about inflation, dwindling consumer confidence, and paper-thin margins. But according to our latest guest, it’s time for a major reality check. The hospitality industry isn't facing a temporary hurdle, it's dealing with a permanent structural shift.

In this raw, political, and unfiltered live-recorded episode of the Late Night Restaurant Show, hosts Dom and Jay sit down with David Hopkins, the straight-shooting President of The Fifteen Group—Canada's largest restaurant consulting firm. David cuts through the noise of recent data trends (like the shocking Ipsos Canada report on plummeting consumer financial optimism) to deliver a hard truth: the market is heavily oversaturated, and the mediocre operators are running out of runway.

David breaks down why top-tier operators are still making incredible profits, why tightening labor shouldn't come at the cost of guest experience, and how to simplify backend inventory workflows to protect your baseline.

• The Saturated Market Reality: Why David argues that a 30% reduction in restaurant density would actually save the remaining 70% of healthy businesses.

• The Ipsos Canada Price Shock: Unpacking the new consumer baseline where 58% of diners prioritize price point, and 36% of Canadians are actively borrowing money just to live.

• The "Mandy's Salad" Paradox: Why premium-priced brands can still stay "busy as sin" if the foundational value proposition is executed beautifully.

• Culture Over Labor Cuts: Why shifting your energy toward menu engineering and product cost control yields higher profits than aggressively cutting floor staff.

• The Tipping Machine Backlash: Unpacking how default 25% and 30% tip configurations on payment terminals are actively alienating customers and destroying restaurant loyalty.

• Navi Cost Control: The origin story behind David's streamlined inventory software, designed as a simple middle-ground tool between complex legacy systems and standard spreadsheets.

Jay and Dom also jump into a heated debate on structural tax policy, specifically criticizing Manitoba's recent food PST exemption that inadvertently turns grocery stores into a restaurant’s fiercest tax-free competitor. Put on your headphones for an essential look at standard operational metrics, servant leadership culture, and what it truly takes to engineer an 11-out-of-10 guest experience.

With inflation soaring and skyrocketing operational costs squeezing the hospitality industry from every angle, independent operators are facing a harsh reality: roughly 40% of restaurants in regions like Quebec are currently operating without profitability. If you are looking to pull your business out of the red, the answer might not be changing your menu prices—it might be looking directly inside your kitchen's garbage cans.

In this episode of the Late Night Restaurant Show, hosts Dom and Jay sit down with Ben Liegey, the passionate founder of Better Table and director of the groundbreaking food waste solutions documentary, Food Synergy. Ben breaks down the mind-blowing math behind Canada's staggering $50 billion food waste crisis and reveals how typical food and beverage operations are unknowingly throwing away up to 7% of their total food revenue.

Ben pulls back the curtain on how Better Table works directly with commercial kitchens, hotels, and restaurants to transition away from antiquated pen-and-paper tracking. He shares how data-driven audits, behavioral changes, and cutting-edge mobile technologies are helping operators cut their waste in half, streamline their prep, and instantly inject thousands of dollars back into their bottom line.

• The 7% Revenue Drain: Why food waste is an invisible profit killer and how much money it's actually costing your operation.

• Kitchen Waste vs. Plate Waste: Identifying the massive disparity between back-of-house overproduction and what gets left behind on a guest's plate.

• The AI Over the Garbage Can: A look at the future of tech in commercial kitchens—from expensive high-end camera monitoring systems to accessible mobile audit apps.

• The Sustainability Recruitment Advantage: Why the younger generation of culinary professionals actively chooses to work for restaurants with eco-conscious leadership.

• The True Carbon Footprint of Food: Moving past the "farm-to-gate" metrics and understanding why food waste makes up a massive 10% of global climate change.

• Sneak Peek at "Bon Appify": Ben reveals the upcoming launch of Better Table’s brand-new automated food auditing mobile app.

Whether you are trying to tighten up a bloated inventory system, adopt smarter kitchen habits, or adapt your business model for 2026, Ben's expert strategies prove that maximizing efficiency is the ultimate recipe for sustainability.

What does it actually take to throw out the standard corporate playbook and build a local restaurant empire from scratch?

In this episode of the Late Night Restaurant Show, hosts Dom and Jay sit down with brothers Jeff and Gil Carlos, the visionary founders behind Alberta’s beloved breakfast chain, The Bro'Kin Yolk.

Jeff and Gil pull back the curtain on their 10-year journey, reflecting on a grueling year-and-a-half-long planning phase that was met with endless rejections from banks and landlords who told them their dream only looked good on paper. They also share the deeply personal tragedy that struck right in the middle of restaurant construction when their father suddenly passed away—and how fulfilling his dream of seeing his sons in business together became their ultimate driving force.

From mastering the "organized chaos" of an open-kitchen concept to expanding into franchising, Jeff and Gil prove that when you run a business for the right reasons, success naturally follows.

• The Power of the Pivot: Why Gil left the late-night pub scene and Jeff left high-end hotel kitchens to build a breakfast brand centered entirely on family presence.

• Navigating a Price-Conscious Market: How The Bro'Kin Yolk keeps its prices steady and builds immense consumer trust by refusing to let guests feel "ripped off" in a tough economy.

• Servant Leadership & Kitchen Culture: The harsh realities of modern back-of-house labor and why shifting the focus from "the owner" to "serving the team" is the ultimate secret sauce for retention.

• Menu Engineering & R&D: A deep dive into their multicultural, Filipino-infused flavor profiles, their #1 top-selling "Farmers" breakfast, and why they fry their potatoes exclusively in duck fat.

• The Franchise Vetting Blueprint: Why they are taking their time expanding out East and down to the U.S. by strictly prioritizing culture over corporate greed.

Whether you are a seasoned operator navigating current labor shortages or an aspiring entrepreneur waiting for someone to give you your first shot, Jeff and Gil’s masterclass in hospitality, resilience, and heart is an absolute must-listen.

Connect with our guests:

• Website: The Bro'Kin Yolk

• Follow their journey as they gear up for the NEXT Foodservice & Hospitality Expo this fall in Calgary!

In this episode, we sit down with Dave Auger, founder of Pulse Eighty-Six and an Ontario dealer for Androbar.

Dave sheds light on a major, often overlooked problem plaguing the hospitality industry: massive liquor losses.

From accidental overpours and inconsistent cocktail recipes to complacency and the lack of onsite management, the average restaurant or bar loses 15% to 20% of its alcohol inventory naturally.

Dave explains how Androbar, a smart, "punch-to-pour" liquor dispensing and control system—integrates seamlessly with legacy POS platforms to automate and track every single ounce. We dive deep into the real math behind these losses, why staff pushback happens (and how to solve it), and how automated systems can deliver a full return on investment in as little as 3 to 6 months.

Whether you're an independent pub owner or managing a high-volume venue, this episode is packed with eye-opening data that could be the difference between making or breaking your bottom line.

What happens when one of Canada’s top hospitality lawyers pulls back the curtain on government policy, restaurant survival, cannabis regulation, labor challenges, and the future of hospitality?

In this clip from The Late Night Restaurant Podcast, lawyer and industry advocate Adam Minsky delivers a raw and honest conversation about the pressures facing restaurants and hospitality businesses across Canada.

Topics include:

• Restaurant closures
• Government overreach
• Hospitality labor challenges
• Cannabis regulation
• Why independent operators are struggling
• The future of foodservice in Canada

One of the most direct conversations we’ve had on the show.

Restaurant operators are carrying more pressure than ever. Rising costs, staff burnout, consumer uncertainty, and constant stress are testing leadership across the industry.

In this episode of The Late Night Restaurant Podcast, Jay Ashton and Domenic Pedulla sit down with speaker and emotional resilience expert Sarah Westbrook to talk about emotional intelligence, leadership, stress, and how restaurant teams respond under pressure.

This conversation dives into:

• Emotional resilience in hospitality
• Managing stress during uncertainty
• Leadership versus fear-based management
• How emotions affect decision making
• Restaurant culture and communication
• Why emotional intelligence matters more than ever

Sarah shares practical ways operators and leaders can better handle pressure, communicate with their teams, and avoid emotional burnout while navigating one of the toughest operating environments the industry has faced.

A timely conversation for restaurant owners, managers, chefs, and hospitality leaders across Canada.

Learn more about Sara @ https://sarawestbrook.com/

May is Mental Health Month, and this episode hits where the industry often stays silent.

We sit down with leaders from the The Burnt Chef Project, now active across more than 45 countries, to talk about what is happening inside kitchens, dining rooms, and behind the scenes.

This is not theory. This is real life.

• 4 out of 5 hospitality professionals face mental health challenges during their career
• Loneliness and substance abuse are two of the biggest drivers
• Most operators are not trained to recognize the signs
• Most employees do not ask for help

You will hear what mental health actually means in the workplace.
You will hear why the current system fails people.
You will hear what simple actions change everything.

This episode is raw, honest, and needed.

If you lead people, this matters.
If you work in hospitality, this is your reality.

This episode goes where most don’t.

Jay and Dom sit down with Mark von Schellwitz after nearly 30 years inside the system.

He’s seen it all.

From policy battles to industry shifts, this is a straight look at what’s really holding restaurants back.

They break down:

• Why government policy is choking growth
• How overregulation is crushing small operators
• The real impact of taxes on food, alcohol, and tips
• Why the industry struggles to organize its voice
• How COVID permanently changed the business model
• Where restaurants are heading next

One clear takeaway:

The industry isn’t broken.

It’s being held back.

If you care about where restaurants are going, this is required listening.

This one hits leadership head-on.

Jay and Dom sit down with Laura Durrell to break down the real issue inside restaurants today.

It’s not labour.

It’s not trends.

It’s leadership.

Laura shares her journey from decades in Canadian restaurants to building a new path focused on developing better leaders.

They unpack:

• Why promoting your best worker creates your worst manager
• The “keys and card” problem in restaurants
• Why Gen Z expects coaching, not commands
• The real reason turnover stays high
• How culture, not hiring, drives retention
• The growing credibility crisis in leadership

One line says it all:

You don’t have a labor problem. You have a culture problem.

If you lead people, this episode forces a hard look in the mirror.

Jay and Dom sit down with Menu Matters founders Maeve Webster and Mike Kostyo to break down what’s really happening in foodservice right now.

Not trends. Not headlines. What actually matters.

They dig into:

• Why most “trends” are pushed, not pulled
• How operators lose their identity chasing the next thing
• Why value has nothing to do with price

And the one thing that still wins, human connection

This is a conversation about clarity in a messy market.

If you run a restaurant, lead a brand, or care about where this

industry is headed, this one hits.

The hospitality industry has a mental health problem — we've talked about it plenty on this show. But what about the physical side? Long shifts, late-night snacking, beer after service, picking through the kitchen, stress that never turns off. Jay and Dom sit down with Calgary-based speaker and health strategist Robin O'Grady — a ten-year hospitality veteran turned leadership health coach — to talk about what's quietly taking out restaurant leaders, and why fixing it doesn't have to mean cutting carbs, buying a gym membership, or turning your life upside down.

Robin's message is refreshingly simple: decide, assess, pick one thing, and stay consistent. That's it. No Ozempic. No six-pack. No elimination diets. Just the smallest change you can actually do forever.

In this episode, we get into:

• Why waking up in pain is not a normal part of aging — and what your body is trying to tell you
• The real reason most health plans fail (hint: you're trying to change too many things at once)
• "Discipline vs. restriction" — and why one works while the other always blows up
• The hydration rule Robin won't negotiate on, even if you eat pizza every day
• Stress, cortisol, and why high performers gain weight even when they barely eat
• The freezer story — how one chef taught Robin to release stress mid-shift
• Grounding exercises you can do in 60 seconds between tables
• The sidewalk client — how a 400+ lb. client started with one square of concrete and built a new life from there
• Why "busy" is often a trauma response disguised as a flex
• How to manufacture your own emergency before your body does it for you

If you've ever stood in the walk-in at the end of a Saturday night wondering how long you can keep this up — this one is for you.

About Robin O'GradyRobin is a leadership health and performance speaker based in Calgary, Alberta. With over a decade of hands-on experience in hospitality and more than 36 years in customer service, she speaks directly to the leaders our industry depends on about building sustainable health into impossibly demanding careers. She's also a dancer, aerialist, and the founder of the newly launched International Arts and Media Foundation.

This episode hits where most operators struggle but rarely admit it. The real problem is not the menu, not the staff, not the market. It is the owner.

Chris Schneider, The Bar Business Coach, breaks down how mindset drives results, why your numbers are lying to you, and how small mistakes destroy profit over time.

You will hear why most bars and restaurants operate without clear data, why ego blocks growth, and how simple fixes like pricing, menu design, and training create real margin. This is not theory. This is what moves your bottom line.

If you want more profit, more control, and less chaos, start here.

Sheila steps in and flips the whole conversation.

You think you have a labour problem, she shows you it’s a hiring problem. Years in the trenches, she’s seen it all, and she calls it straight. Bad resumes hiding great people. Weak interviews missing real talent. Owners moving too fast and paying for it later.

This episode hits like a punch. Slow down. Dig deeper. Look for results, not noise. There are people out there ready to change your business, you’re just not seeing them.

Fix hiring. Hire different. Everything shifts.

🤘

Most restaurants are not failing because of food or service.

They are losing money in places they never look.

In this episode, we sit down with Mickey Pendergast, a cost-reduction expert with 30+ years in the industry, to break down where profit is quietly disappearing inside your business.

You will hear:

• Why great operators still struggle to make money
• The real reason margins stay stuck in single digits
• How “small” expenses like waste, linen, and processing fees drain profit
• Why more sales does not fix a broken cost structure
• How one or two points in savings can change your entire business

This is a straight conversation about what most operators ignore.

If you want to keep more of what you earn, this episode matters.

What does it take to build something that big, and survive everything that tries to break it?

In this episode, you get the full story behind one of the most unique restaurant concepts in North America. From a 200-square-foot fish market to a multi-million dollar operation, this is about resilience, reinvention, and thinking bigger than the industry tells you to.

You’ll hear:

• How a family business scaled into a destination brand
• The real impact of storytelling on sales and growth
• What happens when you lose everything and start again
• How to turn a restaurant into a media engine
• Lessons on leadership, pressure, and building for the next generation

This is not a theory episode. This is lived experience.

If you’re building something in this industry, this one will stick with you.

This episode gets real.

No tech talk. No theory. Just operators in the trenches.

We sit down with the team from Leo’s Kitchen & Bar in Edson, Alberta, a town of 10,000 where every decision hits harder and every dollar matters.

They break down what it actually takes to run a restaurant right now:

• Menu changes that take months
• Rising costs that never stop
• Equipment repairs that wipe out profits
• New competitors entering a small market

You’ll hear how they cost every item down to the ounce, why most restaurants are still guessing, and what happens when traffic slows but expenses don’t.

This is the side of the industry most people never see.

If you run a restaurant, you’ll feel this one.

If you don’t, you’ll understand why it’s one of the toughest businesses in the country. 👊

In this episode, we sit down with Josh from Spec Tank to break down one of the simplest ways to improve kitchen efficiency and reduce labor costs.

Josh shares his journey from chef to sales, and why he believes this system belongs in every kitchen. We get into how Spec Tank works, what it replaces, and where operators are wasting time and money today.

This is a real look at the hidden cost of cleaning in restaurants. Scrubbing, overtime, missed standards, and equipment wear all add up.

Key takeaways:

• How kitchens lose hours every week to manual cleaning
• Why labor is being misused in most operations
• How a soak system replaces scrubbing and saves time
• The impact on food safety, especially with cutting boards
• How to redeploy staff into roles that drive revenue
• What this looks like in real kitchens across Canada

If you’re running a kitchen, this episode gives you a clear look at where you’re losing time and how to fix it.

On this episode of The Late Night Restaurant Podcast, Jay Ashton Canada's Restaurant Guy and Domenic Pedulla sits down with Elias Hage, Founder and CEO of App8 and the force behind Rally Catering.

This is a deep, practical conversation about how restaurants, caterers, and foodservice operators use technology to move orders faster, cut admin time, and grow revenue without burning out.

Elias breaks down:

• How digital ordering replaces handwritten catering forms
• Why catering adds real margin when done right
• How schools now manage lunch programs with online ordering and government subsidies
• What operators miss when they ignore catering
• How systems create leverage across kitchens, staff, and sales
• Why speed, accuracy, and repeat orders matter more than ever

You’ll also hear how App8 evolved from solving table payments to powering catering, events, and K–12 food programs across North America, plus how operators unlock hidden sales sitting in their inbox right now.

If you run a restaurant, catering business, bakery, commissary kitchen, or foodservice brand, this episode gives you clear insight into:

• Building repeat catering customers
• Reducing order errors
• Saving hours each week
• Turning operations into growth engines

Real talk. Real tools. Real ways to scale.

👉Learn more about Rally Catering... https://www.rallycatering.com/

On this episode of The Late Night Restaurant Podcast, Canada's Restaurant Guy and Domenic Pedulla sits down with Michael Westhafer from Restaurant Rebellion to break down one hard truth...

Most restaurants are losing guests because they cannot be found online.

This conversation cuts straight to what matters right now for independent restaurants across Canada and North America.

You’ll learn:

• Why Google decides your traffic, not social media
• How PDF menus kill your visibility
• How AI now answers phones, texts guests, and replies to reviews
• Why Google Business Profiles drive real foot traffic
• What GEO and SEO mean for your menu, website, and reviews
• The first three fixes every operator needs to make

If you run a restaurant, cafe, bar, or food business, this episode gives you a clear playbook to get discovered, earn more 5-star reviews, and bring guests back through your doors.

learn more about Michael Westhafer: https://restaurantrebellion.com/

Jay Ashton, Canada's Restaurant Guy sits down with Sylvain Charlebois, host of The Food Professor Podcast, to unpack the hard numbers behind Canada’s restaurant correction.

They break down:

• Why more than 7,000 restaurants likely disappeared last year
• How labour changes, alcohol decline, tipping fatigue, and rising costs hit margins
• What GLP-1 drugs mean for appetizers, desserts, and dining habits
• Why independents face the biggest risk
• What operators need to change right now to survive and grow

No fluff. Real data. Real talk.

A must-listen for anyone in foodservice trying to stay ahead of what’s coming next on The Late Night Restaurant Podcast.

This episode features John Rebagliati, a 26-year food service brokerage veteran at IPS, in conversation with Jay. John started his career in restaurant operations before making the leap to the brokerage side in the spring of 2000, the same week he learned he was expecting his first child. He shares the culture shock of going from managing restaurants (where he assumed distributors stocked everything) to learning that roughly only 10–20% of SKUs are actually stocked at broad-line distributors.

The conversation covers how John built his career from cold-calling out of the Yellow Pages with a bag phone in his Mazda, to becoming a seasoned broker navigating complex manufacturer-distributor-operator dynamics. Key themes include the irreplaceable value of having worked in restaurant operations, how broker-operator trust is built over years, the misconceptions operators have about distribution, and how technology and AI are reshaping the industry.

John also shares personal insights on mentorship, morning routines, reducing screen time, and the importance of stepping away to recharge. The episode wraps with mutual appreciation between two long-time industry friends who've known each other since 2004.

Jay and Dom welcome Greg from GP Hospitality Partners for a deep dive into the biggest challenge facing restaurants today: building and retaining great teams. With his new book "Loyal AF: How to Build a Ride-or-Die Team That Grows Sales, Wows Guests, and Never Leaves" dropping soon, Greg shares hard-earned wisdom from working with 200+ restaurants on what actually makes employees stick around.

In This Episode:

• The real difference between calling your staff "family" vs. "team" (and why it matters)
• Why every restaurant supports mortgages, families, and dreams beyond just the owner
• How helping one restaurant improve creates a ripple effect in the entire community
• Why guest experience is impossible without the right people in place
• The truth about restaurant consulting (it's not like the TV shows)

Guest Bio:Greg is the founder of GP Hospitality Partners and author of "Butts and Seats: How to Create Raving Fans Who Come Back Again and Again." He's worked with over 200 restaurants, helping them build teams that actually stay and cultures that actually work.

Key Takeaway:Small improvements compound into major changes. If you can get one thing right with your team, it changes everything.

Connect with Greg:gphospitalitypartners.com

Book: "Loyal AF" (coming soon) | "Butts and Seats" (available now on Amazon)

Running a restaurant means juggling hiring, onboarding, scheduling, compliance, payroll, and people problems—all in a single week. This episode confronts a hard truth: fragmented systems waste time, create errors, and cost you real money.

We dig into why an all-in-one people management platform transforms the operator experience. One system. One source of truth. Hiring through payroll.

You'll hear where operators lose track, where the hidden costs pile up, and how simplicity improves compliance, saves hours, and actually supports your team on the floor.

No theory. Just real operations, real pressure, and solutions built for restaurants.

Learn more: https://www.pushoperations.com/

In this episode of The Late Night Restaurant Podcast, Jay and Dom sit down with Greg Farineau, Co-Founder of Headhunters Canada, to challenge the most common excuse in the industry: “We can’t find good people.”

Greg brings a refreshing, human-first perspective on recruiting, leadership, and retention. He explains why most hiring feels transactional, why throwing resumes at a problem never works, and why people do not leave jobs, they leave environments.

The conversation goes deep into what today’s workforce actually wants.
Being heard.
Being respected.
Being supported by real leadership.

This episode covers:

• Why hiring feels broken across restaurants and hospitality

• The difference between transactional recruiting and relationship-based hiring

• How culture, not wages alone, drives retention

• Why AI will never replace human connection in hiring

• What restaurant leaders miss when developing future managers

• Burnout, leadership blind spots, and the warning signs operators ignore

• Why foodservice remains one of the best training grounds for life and business

Greg also shares his personal burnout story and explains why pushing the brain past its limits is different than pushing the body, a message every operator and leader needs to hear.

If you are a restaurant owner, operator, manager, or hospitality leader who wants stronger teams, better retention, and real leadership impact, this episode will change how you think about hiring.

Listen in.
Because the talent is already out there.
Leadership decides whether they stay.

Join Jay and Dom on The Late Night Restaurant Show as they sit down with Sharyar from Clara AI at 7 AM Pakistan time to explore how artificial intelligence is transforming the restaurant industry. Discover how Clara AI is helping over 100 restaurants in Australia recover millions in lost revenue through intelligent call handling and automation.

AI Call Management Revolution

• How Clara AI has answered 425,000+ calls and recovered $3.2 million in revenue
• The power of 24/7 automated phone answering that never misses a reservation or order
• Why the average missed call costs restaurants $35-50 in lost revenue
• How Clara handles 20 concurrent calls with 30-second average order times

Beyond Phone Calls: The Four Pillars of Clara AI

1. Inbound Call Management - Taking orders, answering queries, and booking reservations around the clock
2. Outbound Marketing Calls - Personalized promotional calls to segmented customer lists
3. Staff Training Innovation - AI-powered verbal assessments that reduce pressure and identify knowledge gaps
4. Voice-Activated Inventory - Save 5+ hours weekly by simply speaking your inventory counts

Game-Changing Insights

• Why AI training feels less judgmental than human evaluation
• How multilingual support (70+ languages) breaks down communication barriers
• The 18-day ROI that's disrupting traditional restaurant staffing models
• Integration strategies with POS and booking management systems

Perfect For:

• Restaurant owners struggling with missed calls and staffing challenges
• Operators looking to reduce labor costs while improving customer service
• Food service managers interested in AI-powered staff training solutions
• Hospitality professionals exploring inventory management automation
• Anyone curious about practical AI applications in the restaurant industry

Episode Length: 48 minutes

Featured Guest: Sharyar, Founder of Clara AI (Pakistan)

Learn More: GetClaraAI.com

On this episode of The Late Night Restaurant Show, Chef D joins us from a cruise ship to talk about his newest project Something Different, a one-seating-per-night restaurant already making waves in Cambridge and across Toronto. With decades of experience in the industry, Chef D offers sharp insights on innovation in the kitchen, the value of mentorship, and how to build something that lasts in a fast-changing food economy. Whether you're a chef, restaurateur, or someone who understands the pressure behind the pass, this episode brings clarity, honesty, and a real look at what it takes to lead in hospitality today.

Check out Something Different: https://chefdtv.com/something-different?

In this energizing episode of the Late Night Restaurant Show, Saawan Logan, founder of North Water, shares the story behind Canada's cleanest bottled water brand and what it really means to lead with authenticity. From serving water at the G7 to redefining what it means to be a modern leader, Saawan speaks openly about challenges, clarity, and why being real matters now more than ever. It's a conversation about values, vision, and the future of food and beverage in Canada.

Matt Wampler returns to the Late Night Restaurant Show for an unfiltered conversation on restaurant operations, tech overload, and how to fix the broken profit formula. From his early days running sandwich shops to leading a top restaurant tech company, Matt shares real strategies that work, why most AI hype misses the mark, and what operators should actually focus on. Insightful, honest, and packed with value for anyone in the industry.

Matt Plapp, founder of America's Best Restaurants, reveals the marketing strategies that have helped over 2,000 restaurants grow their sales. Learn the 3 critical tactics every restaurant must implement: customer data capture, strategic email/text marketing, and authentic video content that builds community connections.

Discover how one pizza restaurant generated $6,500 in sales from just $700 in Facebook ads, why storytelling beats coupons, and how independent restaurants can compete with major chains. Matt shares real examples, including a viral Mother's Day campaign and practical tips you can implement immediately no massive budget required.

Perfect for restaurant owners, operators, and hospitality managers looking to grow sales through smarter, more effective marketing.

Guest: Matt Plapp, founder of America's Best Restaurants (serving 2,000+ restaurants since 2008)

In this episode, Jay and Dom talk with the team behind Pivot, a Montreal restaurant tech company that's actually built by people who've worked in restaurants.

They get into one of the biggest headaches in the industry: scheduling, payroll, and trying to make five different systems talk to each other. The Pivot founders walk through how their AI scheduling works (it's literally one click), how tips and payroll sync up automatically, and why connecting your existing tools is way smarter than piling on more software.

Pivot basically acts like the brain of your operation—connecting your POS, reservations, and payroll so you're not chained to a laptop in the back office. More time on the floor, with your team, with guests. You know, the stuff that actually matters.

They also share some real numbers: restaurants cutting scheduling time from 12–16 hours a week down to under an hour. The whole conversation is about simplicity, not complexity—and why tech built by people who've actually worked a Friday night dinner rush just gets it in a way most software doesn't.

Worth a listen if you run a restaurant, manage multiple spots, or you're just curious how AI can actually help day-to-day ops without making your life harder.

Learn more about Pivot : https://www.pivotapp.ca/en

What do a rubber duck, local search optimization, and soggy burgers have in common? They all show up in this high-energy, no-fluff conversation with the legendary David Rev Ciancio aka Rev... restaurant owner, hospitality marketing expert, and unapologetic pickle-hater.

In this episode of The Late Night Restaurant Podcast, Rev spills the secret sauce on:

• The 67% rule that proves Google was built for restaurants

• Why most operators are chasing squirrels instead of guests

• The one marketing fix that boosted beer sales at his restaurant by 800%

• Why posting on Instagram isn't marketing and what actually is

• The marketing tool every restaurant needs (that costs less than a good steak)

Whether you're a seasoned operator or just opened your first food truck, this episode is a masterclass in restaurant growth packed with real talk, killer stats, and laugh-out-loud moments. Yup, this is a keeper.

🍔 🍺 Bring your appetite. Leave with a blueprint.

In one of the most inspiring episodes of The Late Night Restaurant Podcast to date, we sit down with Brooks Kirchheimer, the visionary behind Utah’s celebrated Hill Top Hospitality Group. From playing pretend restaurant as a kid to running five thriving restaurants with a 300+ person team, Brooks’ story is a testament to what happens when you lead with heart, not ego.

We dive deep into:

• His people-first philosophy that includes paid mental health support, full benefits, and daily family meals

• How he transformed Utah’s dining scene, focusing on locals-first instead of tourist traps

• Creative ways he thrills guests from Polaroids to handwritten birthday menus

• The power of community enrichment including hands-on work with disability programs and farm dinners that raise money for cancer institutes

Brooks proves you don’t need to cut corners to build success you just need to do the right thing, consistently.

Whether you’re running a restaurant, leading a team, or just looking for hope in hospitality, this one’s for you.

Rob Hood joins us for an honest conversation about the realities of modern hospitality. From dish pits in 1988 to executive leadership across Canada, Rob shares the journey that shaped his perspective on what truly matters in this industry.

We explore how technology is reshaping hotels—AI at the front desk, robotics in the kitchen, and evolving guest expectations. Rob explains which innovations actually improve the experience and which are just noise.

The conversation turns to what real hospitality looks like: the difference you feel when ownership is present, when leaders genuinely care about their people, and when the details matter. Rob shares stories from London and Vancouver that reveal how leadership directly impacts the guest experience.

We discuss why authenticity matters more than ever in restaurants, how diners now use their phones to drive demand, and why experience has become the true competitive advantage in a commoditized market.

Rob opens up about the Burnt Chef Project and why addressing mental health in hospitality isn't optional anymore. He talks about available resources, what leaders can do to protect their teams, and the collective responsibility we share to create safer, healthier workplaces. We don't shy away from the hard topics—loss, pressure, passion, and the toll this industry can take.

This episode delivers direct, actionable insight for anyone leading or working in hotels and restaurants. It's about building better, not just building more.

Learn more about the Burnt Chef Project at https://www.theburntchefproject.com/

Juan Cifuentes from MenuLink joins the Late Night Restaurant Show to discuss how his Toronto-based startup is helping restaurants reclaim revenue by slashing pickup order fees from 15-30% down to just 1%.

In this episode, Juan shares MenuLink's mission to give restaurants ownership over their revenue, explains the simple 5-minute signup process.

We dive into practical tips for restaurants using third-party platforms from proper packaging choices to surprise-and-delight marketing tactics inside delivery bags.

Juan also shares his unconventional journey from philosophy student to telecom manager to restaurant tech disruptor, and why now is the time for the industry to have more options beyond the big platforms.

Plus: Dom gets AI-transformed into a woman wearing slippers, Jay pitches marketing ideas, and the team reminds everyone about Next Food Expo coming to Calgary September 13-14.

Key Topics:

• How MenuLink reduces pickup fees to 1% (and delivery to 2% coming soon)
• Self-enrollment process for restaurants across Canada and the US
• Marketing strategies for delivery orders (packaging, in-bag promotions, handwritten notes)
• The importance of Google Maps optimization for restaurants

Visit menulink.ca to learn more or email juan@menulink.ca

Robin Apel, President at Barmetrix Vancouver, joins The Late Night Restaurant Podcast to reveal how restaurants are losing thousands of dollars every week without even knowing it.

Key Takeaways:

The Numbers Are Shocking

• One restaurant was losing $600/week on a single item (Kahlua in espresso martinis) due to bartenders overpouring by just a quarter ounce
• 15% of draft beer commonly goes unaccounted for - that's one in every seven kegs simply disappearing
• With proper inventory management, most of these losses are completely preventable

The Real Problems

• Post-COVID brain drain has left many restaurants with undertrained staff managing complex inventories
• Modern bars carry hundreds of SKUs compared to a handful decades ago
• Restaurants think they're doing okay because there's money in the bank, but they're leaving massive profit on the table

How Barmetrix Works

• Uses barcode scanners and digital scales to track inventory to the tenth of a gram
• Compares actual inventory against POS sales data to identify gaps
• Provides actionable insights: "Here's what left the building vs. what got rung in"
• No contracts, no obligations - prove the value in one month or walk away

Wild Stories from the Field

• Caught staff adding water to bottles to cover theft (froze bottles to test - liquor doesn't freeze, watered-down liquor does)
• Discovered a broken beer line in a wall by swapping tap positions
• One client put theft footage on screen at staff party and fired half the crew

The Bottom Line Robin's philosophy is simple: "I'm not going to change your prices, fire your staff, or switch your suppliers. I just want to get you paid for what's leaving the building." For restaurants doing any volume, the ROI is immediate and substantial.

Barmetrix operates across North America and internationally. No contracts. Just results.

Learn more: https://www.barmetrix.com/

This episode hits home. After 51 years in hospitality, Tom shares how burnout shaped his life and why he’s leading The Burnt Chef Project across North America. We talk about mental health in restaurants, leadership, loneliness, and the simple things that help like saying thank you, or texting someone, “You’re awesome.”

You’ll hear real talk about empathy, the pressure to be perfect, and how small acts change everything. Tom’s story will make you rethink how you lead your team, take care of yourself, and look at the industry you love.

Learn more... https://www.theburntchefproject.com/

This episode hits a key issue in restaurants today. Tech adoption. Jay and Dominic sit with Jordan Boesch the CEO from 7shifts to break down the four stages of tech adoption from paper and gut feel to a connected tech stack that drives profit.

You will hear
• The four stages of tech adoption and where most restaurants sit today
• Why experience and intuition are not enough anymore
• How tech links to retention, labor control, and payroll accuracy
• Real results from operators who upgraded their systems

You will leave with a clear path to level up your systems, reduce waste, and give your team a better workplace.

In this episode, I sit down with industry legend Joyce Turchetti for a real conversation about what’s broken in hospitality and how to fix it. We talk about accountability, leadership, and what it takes to build restaurants that last. Joyce shares stories from the old days of New York nightlife, lessons from decades in the business, and the simple truth about why hospitality has to get back to its roots.

If you’ve ever worked a double, run a kitchen, or tried to turn a restaurant around, this one will hit home.