982: Mickey Bakst Co-Founder of Ben's Friends

Mickey Bakst is the Co-Founder of Ben's Friends. Ben’s Friends is a community of chefs, bartenders, line cooks, servers, sommeliers, host and hostesses, GMs and owners who have found or are seeking sobriety. Their mission: "to offer community, hope and a path forward for those struggling with substance abuse and addiction." Mickey Bakst has been sober since 1982. He began his restaurant career in the early 70's at a restaurant in Newport Beach, CA. In 1974 he bought into the restaurant and was a co-owner from 1974 until his exit in 1982 when he also go sober. After successfully navigating AA and attaining his sobriety, he rejoined the restaurant industry in the fine dining realm. He is "officially" retired now, after serving as the GM at Charleston Grill. He is known as the "unofficial mayor of Charleston" today.

Unstoppables! Please consider taking this survey about our listener demographics so that we can better determine how to best serve our listeners. Less than 10 simple questions. Here is the link: CLICK HERE

Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!!

• Join Restaurant Unstoppable Network and get your first 30 days on me!  Connect with my past guest and a community of superfans.
• Subscribe to the Restaurant Unstoppable YouTube Channel
• Join the private Unstoppable Facebook Group
• Join the email list! (Scroll Down to get the Vendor List!)

Favorite success quote/mantra:

• "Sobriety is my super power."

In this episode with Mickey Bakst we will discuss:

• Sobriety
• Substance abuse in the industry
• The industry in the 70s and 80s
• Fine dining
• Taking care of your people and your guests at an equal measure
• The future of the industry

Today's sponsor:

Ovation - Do you want real-time feedback from your guests instead of 1-star reviews? Ovation uses a 2-question, SMS-based survey, and frictionless integrations with online ordering platforms and other tools to enable restaurants to easily resolve guest concerns in real-time, get more 5-star reviews, discover insights to improve, and drive revenue. Unstoppable listeners who sign up will get$100 off their set-up fee! Visit ovationup.com/unstoppable to learn more.

1Huddle - 1Huddle is a coaching and development platform using quick-burst mobile games to more quickly and effectively level up and fire up your workforce. With a mobile-first approach to preparing the modern worker, a library of 3,000+ quick-burst skill games, and the option to instantly create personalized content – 1Huddle is changing the way restaurants develop their workers by transforming traditional manuals and videos into deceptively simple, highly effective mobile games proven to level up workers quickly.

Key clients include Loews Hotels, Novartis, Madison Square Garden, Yum, FB Society, Hakkasan, TAO Group, and the Dog Haus.

Restaurant Systems Pro - Join the 60-day Restaurant Systems Pro FREE TRAINING. This is something that has never been done before. This 60-day event is at no cost to you, but it is not for everyone. Fred Langley, CEO of Restaurant Systems Pro, will lead a group of restaurateurs through the Restaurant Systems Pro software and set up the systems for your restaurant. During the 60 days, Fred will walk you through the Restaurant Systems Pro Process and help you crush the following goals: Recipe Costing Cards; Guidance in your books for accounting; Cash controls; Sales Forecasting(With Accuracy); Checklists; Budgeting for the entire year; Scheduling for profit; More butts in seats and more… Click Here to learn more.

Contact:

Website: https://www.bensfriendshope.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 Mickey Bakst 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!