997: Chef David Viana Chef/Partner of Heirloom Kitchen

David Viana is head chef and partner at Heirloom Restaurant Group in New Jersey. David began his career by attending law school in hopes of becoming an attorney. After 6 months in law school, he left because he was unhappy, and enrolled in culinary school. He worked at many well-established fine dining restaurants and eventually joined Heirloom in 2017. Heirloom now consists of a restaurant and a cooking school simultaneously. Many things about Heirloom are brand new in terms of business models and culture. David was also featured on Top Chef!

Check out episode 371 with Jock O'Sullivan as mentioned in today's episode.

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:

• "Under-promise and over-deliver."

In this episode with Sam Hart we will discuss:

• Partnerships
• Working in fine-dining
• Alternate payment and tipping models
• Attending and teaching a culinary school

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.

Knowledge bombs

1. Which “it factor” habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
   • Identifying good people
2. What is your biggest weakness?
   • Pride
3. What's one thing you ask or look for when interviewing/growing your team?
   • Are you capable of passion?
4. What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?
   • Opening a restaurant
5. Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
   • Be selfless
6. What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff?
   • A surprise gift for guests
7. What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?
   • Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara
   • GET THIS BOOK FOR FREE AT AUDIBLE.COM 
8. What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your restaurant walls and how has it influence operations?
   • Toast
   • Resy
9. What is one thing you feel restaurateurs don't do well enough or often enough?
   • Listening to your team
10. 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?
    • Be fearless
    • Make lots of mistakes
    • Learn from your mistakes

Contact:

Instagram: @chefdaveviana

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 David Viana 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!