647: Ben Poremba on Transforming Communities One Block at a Time

Israeli native, Ben Poremba moved to St. Louis to earn a BA in philosophy from the University of Missouri. He also attended University of Gastronomic Studies in Parma, Italy. Today Poremba is  Chef/Owner of Bengelina Hospitality Group, the St. Louis-based, award-winning operator of Nixta and Bar Limón, Elaia, Olio, La Patisserie Chouquette, and The Benevolent King. Poremba is a three-time James Beard Award semifinalist in the category of Best Chef-Midwest, and he continues taking the St. Louis dining scene by storm.

Show notes… Favorite success quote or mantra:

• “Food of love for the love of food.”

In this episode with Ben Poremba we will discuss:

• Show Notes
• Think of every customer as family
• Restaurant as a social hub
• Learning from your parents
• Not following conventional restaurant rules
• The history of food
• The philosophy of food
• Failures
• Catering
• Networking
• Living and being intentional
• Finesse in the industry
• Long-term gain vs. short-term gain
• Political motives in building a restaurant
• Strong community roots and growth
• Finding the balance between caring enough without losing sight of “it’s just food”
• The importance of an identity
• Remove yourself from the restaurant

Today's sponsor:

BentoBox empowers restaurants to own their presence, profits and relationships. The hospitality platform disrupts third-party services that come between the restaurant and the guest. BentoBox puts the restaurant first and offers tools that drive high-margin revenue directly through the restaurant’s website. BentoBox is trusted and loved by over 5,000 restaurants worldwide including Union Square Hospitality Group, Eleven Madison Park, Gramercy Tavern, Lilia and more.

 

CAKE provides an easy-to-use integrated software and hardware solution to build better dining experiences for restaurant operators and their guests. With mobile marketing and waitlist management to point of sale payment processing, the CAKErestaurant management system helps you grow your business.  Learn more at trycake.com/unstoppable

Restaurant365 is a cloud-based, all-in-one, restaurant-specific accounting and back-office platform that seamlessly integrates with POS systems, payroll providers, food and beverage vendors. It generates accurate real-time reporting and analysis in user-friendly dashboards, facilitating immediate, data-driven decision making. Restaurant365 eliminates manual, error-prone processes and is designed to help restaurant businesses grow with functionality that helps optimize labor costs, reduce food costs and increase revenue.

 

Knowledge bombs

1. Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
   • Words
2. What is your biggest weakness?
   • Words
3. What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview?
   • What do you want to do or be?
4. What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?
   • Having to physically be back in the kitchen.
5. Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
   • Do things with intention.
6. What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?
   •  Maxims by La Rochfoucauld
   • GET THIS BOOK FOR FREE AT AUDIBLE.COM 
7. What's the one thing you feel restaurateurs don't know well enough or do often enough?
   • Authentic community outreach.
8. What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your four walls restaurant and how has it influence operations?
   • Human Resources!
9. 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?
   • Commitment to people and NOT processes
   • Stay committed to a place
   • Creativity

Contact info:

Email: ben@bengelina.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 Ben Poremba 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!