The Simmer

Steve Ells, Founder, Counter Service Oct 13, 2026 00:43:02 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

Yusha Hu, Co-founder and CEO, Sightline OS Sep 16, 2026 00:37:23 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.

Michelle Fischer, CEO, TripleSeat Sep 1, 2026 00:37:14 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, Co-Founder, Last Word Hospitality Aug 18, 2026 00:46:06 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 opening

Joel Montaniel, CEO, SevenRooms Aug 11, 2026 00:50:27 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’ ne

Maddy Shannon, Head of Product, SpotOn Jul 28, 2026 00:39:01 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.

Randall Hom, Co-Founder & CEO, Hostie Jul 14, 2026 00:39:38 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

Reservations Wars, June Edition Jun 23, 2026 00:38:03 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

Joshua Sharkey, Founder & CEO, Meez Jun 16, 2026 00:50:24 Kristen and Brandon have shaken out the cobwebs and are back with a new episode of The Simmer featuring friend-of-the-pod, Joshua Sharkey, founder and CEO of Meez, a culinary operating system and recipe management tool. Pre-Meez, Josh spent time in the kitchens of several restaurants, including New York’s Tabla and Bouley. In this episode, we cover recipe scaling and sourcing (and more nonsexy but

The Simmer Live: Judy Thelen, Co-founder and CEO, Beli Apr 14, 2026 00:41:31 A Simmer first! This LIVE edition was recorded on April 10 at the Boston University Hospitality Leadership Summit. We’re joined by Judy Thelen, co-founder and CEO of white-hot social restaurant list-keeping and recommendations app Beli. In this episode, we talk about professional criticism, Beli’s plans to work with restaurants, and its big bet that we really just want to hear from people we trust

Noah Glass, CEO, Olo (Round 2) Apr 7, 2026 00:53:50 We love repeat guests on The Simmer! In his return to the podcast, Olo founder and CEO Noah Glass explains the next phase of his company’s evolution: the Olo Network. In this episode, we talk about Olo’s move from publicly traded company to privately held asset last year, plus the power of an ordering network and why Olo coined a new term — “second-party ordering” to describe its big bet on the fu

Sam Bakhshandehpour, President, Local Merchants, Bilt Mar 31, 2026 00:41:42 Former Jose Andres Group CEO Sam Bakhshandehpour recently joined Bilt, a $10 billion loyalty platform that rewards people for paying their rent and mortgage on Bilt cards, helping to fuel the so-called “points economy.” Recently, the company released a flashy video full of top-name chefs and restaurateurs to launch Bilt Hospitality, a kind of digital concierge service targeted at restaurants. But

Ben Leventhal, Founder & CEO, Blackbird Mar 10, 2026 00:48:52 Ben Leventhal’s impact on the restaurant business can not be overstated. The serial founder successfully launched (and exited) restaurant editorial network Eater and reservations service Resy. Now he’s back with Blackbird, a loyalty and payments platform for the restaurant industry. In this episode we talk about evolving restaurant loyalty, the so-called “reservations wars” and, of course, some

Pablo Rivero, CEO, Resy (round 2) Feb 25, 2026 00:37:14 Big reservations news from American Express this week: this summer, restaurants on Tock will transition to Resy, marking the end of the Tock brand. On the first Simmer episode with a second-time guest, Pablo Rivero, Resy CEO / SVP and Head of Amex global dining, talks us through what’s changing at Resy — and what’s not.

Maxx Freedman, Founder of Spice Feb 10, 2026 00:40:54 It’s been a minute (actually, years) since ghost kitchens and virtual brands dominated conversations about restaurant delivery. While those businesses have largely fallen out of view (with a few notable exceptions), restaurants still need a viable digital strategy. In this episode, we talk to Maxx Freedman, founder of Spice, a growth and marketing agency for restaurants, about what restaurants are

Welcome, 2026! Jan 8, 2026 00:34:27 In this special edition of The Simmer, Kristen and Brandon talk through that viral Reddit delivery post (and its aftermath), look back on what they got wrong (and right!) about 2025, and offer a few thoughts on the year ahead.

Jill Adams, Chief Marketing Officer, El Pollo Loco Dec 16, 2025 00:41:51 It’s a good time to be a chicken chain. New concepts are taking off and legacy brands, like the 50-year-old El Pollo Loco, are poised for serious growth. The fire-grilled chicken brand, currently open in eight states, is planning a larger expansion. In this episode, Jill Adams, the brand’s chief marketer, talks customer expectations, AI for better and more efficient marketing efforts, and why she’

Avi Goren, Co-founder and CEO, Marqii Dec 9, 2025 00:44:35 It’s been almost a decade since Avi Goren launched Marqii to help restaurants get found on the internet. That challenge remains, but search and discovery methods and technology have changed… a lot. In this episode, we talk about discovery in the age of generative AI and the continued challenge of reputation management for restaurants.

Chris DeSaye, VP of Information Technology, Gibson’s Restaurant Group Dec 2, 2025 00:46:27 Longtime restaurant exec and OpenTable advisory board member Chris DeSaye knows the bookings business as well as anyone and has a clear view of what comes next. In this episode, we talk DoorDash, artificial intelligence, and, of course, the always-evolving reservations biz.

Rachael Nemeth Co-founder & CEO, Opus Training Nov 4, 2025 00:42:14 Rachael Nemeth runs a technology company, but she thinks like a hospitalitarian. Opus Training is a training operating system designed for multi-unit restaurants, helping empower front-line restaurant workers, including managers. In this episode, we talk about modern restaurant training, AI, and why the human touch is still supreme, even if the bots are helping.

Elizabeth Tilton, Founder & CEO, Oyster Sunday and OS Benefits Oct 21, 2025 00:46:47 Elizabeth Tilton started her career cooking in New Orleans before moving to join the marketing team at Momofuku in New York City. Years later, she’s translated that back-of-house experience to her own consultancy, Oyster Sunday, which acts as a back office for restaurants across the country. That led to a second company, OS Benefits, which provides ACA-compliant health insurance and wellness benef

Justin Falciola President, Americas, Deliverect Oct 7, 2025 00:51:31 Former restaurant executives make great restaurant technology executives. Why? They’ve seen the full picture. Before Justin Falciola joined Deliverect, he was a prospect, spending years working in tech at Papa John’s and later CKE Restaurants, parent company of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s. In this episode, we talk pizza, drive-thrus, AI, and new opportunities — plus, of course, DoorDash’s big reservat

Eli Feldman, Co-Founder & Partner, Shy Bird Sep 23, 2025 00:46:51 Eli Feldman runs Shy Bird, a restaurant with three locations in Boston. He’s also a tech early adopter and excited (and curious!) about how AI can reshape restaurants. In this episode, we talk about Eli’s recent AI hackathon for restaurants, what tools he finds especially useful, and how we might all reimagine the future of restaurants.

The Simmer’s Summer Wrap-Up Aug 19, 2025 00:41:18 It’s a Kristen-and-Brandon summer special! The Simmer checks in on what Brandon dubs “reservation wars 3.0” as the biggest restaurant tech companies in the space — reservations and beyond — choose sides. In this episode we talk DoorDash, SevenRooms, Uber, OpenTable, Toast, Resy, Tock and more. The Simmer will return after Labor Day with more industry guests and insight.

Cindy Klein Roche, Chief Growth Officer, ezCater Jul 22, 2025 00:43:51 Restaurant catering — and the tech that powers it — is hot, hot, hot. At nearly 20 years old, ezCater is poised to take advantage of the renewed interest from office workers and the restaurants that serve them. In this episode we talk about the evolution of catering, the tech that supports it, and why a little reassurance and hand-holding goes a long way with corporate clients.

Rob Edell, GM & Head of DashPass, DoorDash Jul 18, 2025 00:42:59 Before Rob Edell was DoorDash’s head of DashPass, he was a restaurant tech founder building a business he eventually sold to Resy. Rob joined DoorDash years before it became the market leader it is today, and after almost a decade of the company, he’s had a front row seat to the evolving restaurant business. In this episode, we talk about DoorDash’s growth and evolution, how DashPass encourages lo

Ilir Sela, Founder & CEO, Slice Jul 1, 2025 00:42:48 Ilir Sela has been helping local pizzerias with purpose-built tech for over a decade. Slice got its start as an online ordering platform for independent pizzerias and now offers much more: Point of sale, loyalty, delivery, and even supply chain support, printing custom pizza boxes and delivering them to customers. In this episode, we talk about first-party and third-party delivery, the newest crop

Fred LeFranc, CEO, Results Thru Strategy Jun 17, 2025 00:36:31 In this pre-recorded summer special, Kristen and Brandon ask Fred to predict the future. Lucky for us, he’s good at it. In this episode, we talk about the current state of casual dining (tl;dr: Chili’s is killing it), all those restaurant bankruptcies, and the importance of making an emotional connection with diners.

Kelly Esten, CMO, Toast Jun 3, 2025 00:48:59 We’re deep in an (unintentional) point of sale system theme at The Simmer. This week, Toast’s chief marketer Kelly Esten joins us to talk enterprise restaurants, artificial intelligence, and maybe accidentally perpetuate a rumor that Brandon really wants to be true.

Lindsey Irvine, CMO, Square May 27, 2025 00:42:40 Brandon got stuck on a plane, so Kristen flies solo in this interview with Square’s top marketer, Lindsey Irivine. In this episode, we talk about big marketing initiatives and activations, and how Square sees itself as both a restaurant and consumer brand. Plus, Lindsey shares details of Square’s new San Francisco corner store, a consumer and small business play all in one.

Krystle Mobayeni, Head of Restaurants, Fiserv May 21, 2025 00:42:26 Fiserv recently unveiled a new point of sale system designed to serve “upper market restaurants,” or restaurants that do more than $1 million in processing volume annually, according to Fiserv head of restaurants, Krystle Mobayeni. Krystle, also the co-founder and CEO of BentoBox, a restaurant technology company acquired by Fiserv in 2021, joins The Simmer to talk reservations, point of sale syste

DoorDash buys SevenRooms for $1.2 billion May 7, 2025 00:35:34 It’s our first emergency podcast! On Tuesday, the biggest day for the restaurant technology business in years, a string of major announcements had our heads spinning. But one piece of news stands out: DoorDash plans to acquire reservations and customer relationship management service SevenRooms for $1.2 billion. What does it mean? Listen as Brandon and Kristen work it out in real time.

Niko Papademetriou SVP, Qu POS Apr 22, 2025 00:44:55 Is the POS dying? What even is a modern point of sale? Can it shed its old image and become what it always wanted to be: the true hub of modern restaurant operations? Niko Papademetriou runs sales and business development at Qu, a point of sale system that’s thinking through what the true future for restaurants looks like. In this episode, we talk POS (a lot); restaurant work, and the tools operat

Tammy Billings, Business Development, SignalFlare.ai Apr 8, 2025 00:48:46 Tammy Billings has worked in marketing and biz dev for decades and has plenty of experience with restaurant technology. In this far-ranging conversation, we talk about the past, present, and future of the industry. Plus: Want to get Kristen fired up? Talk about ethics in podcasting.

Suzie Tsai, CEO, Bonchon Mar 25, 2025 00:41:28 Suzie Tsai spent over a decade at restaurant powerhouse Brinker International, leading programs that included Chili’s white-hot beverage business, before landing the top role at Bonchon. In this episode, Suzie explains how a concept that launched (and then failed) in South Korea has found its footing in the US, growing over two decades. But this growth isn’t without challenges; Bonchon’s restauran

Tom Cortese, Chief Operating Officer, Kernel Foods Mar 11, 2025 00:46:51 Kernel made a splash when it opened its first New York City restaurant in early 2024. The then-vegan restaurant’s star employee was a robotic arm tasked with moving food in and out of the oven, assisting human workers by handling much of the heavy lifting. But the robot, along with Kernel’s name and one-time signature green paint in stores, have been retired. Instead, Kernel Foods is working on a

Michael Osanloo President & CEO, Portillo’s Feb 25, 2025 00:45:40 This episode starts with a lawsuit and an upset: Uber sues DoorDash in San Francisco, and New York Magazine declares all the cool restaurants are on OpenTable now. The drama! (Kind of.) Then, Michael Osanloo, president and CEO of Portillo’s — now a fast-growing, publicly traded restaurant company — joins the Simmer to talk marketing, loyalty, third-party delivery, and Chicago street food.

Abhinav Kapur Co-founder and CEO, Bikky Feb 11, 2025 00:38:59 We’re back on the restaurant loyalty beat this week with Abhinav Kapur, who’s led Bikky for nearly a decade. In this episode, we talk about developing loyal diners, email (and text!) marketing, and “tendies” from a new KFC spinoff, whatever those are.

Pablo Rivero, CEO, Resy Jan 28, 2025 00:35:39 Finally, Resy CEO Pablo Rivero joins The Simmer, completing our trifecta of interviews with leaders of the country’s largest reservations providers. In his role as SVP of global dining, he also oversees Tock, the reservations and ticketing platform Amex acquired last year for $400 million. It was a smart acquisition: American Express cardholders spent a staggering $100 billion (!!!) on dining in 2

Zach Goldstein Founder and CEO, Thanx Jan 14, 2025 00:45:08 Zach Goldstein is optimistic about the year ahead for restaurants. As founder and CEO of Thanx, a leading guest engagement platform for restaurants, Zach is known for his honest and sometimes provocative takes on the future of the industry. In this episode, we tackle hot topics in restaurant loyalty including personalization, advertising, guest retention, and AI.

2024 Year in Review Dec 30, 2024 00:33:39 Here’s something different: for the first time, Kristen and Brandon aren’t hosting a guest on The Simmer. Instead, we’re talking trends — good, bad, and ugly — that continue to shape restaurants. In this episode we talk about restaurant tech consolidation, restaurant robotics, and what a new US administration might mean for restaurants and the people who work in them. Thanks for helping to make 20

Geoff Alexander, President & CEO, Wow Bao Dec 17, 2024 00:49:30 Wow Bao started two decades ago as a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Chicago. Since then, it’s grown through modern channels like vending machines, deals with airports and sports stadiums, ghost kitchens, and frozen, packaged goods in grocery stores. In this episode, Geoff talks about his tech philosophy (tl;dr: it’s good to be first!), Wow Bao’s growth over time, and the challenges of selling one

Christine Schindler, Co-Founder and CEO, Pathspot Dec 3, 2024 00:34:27 Over the last few weeks, foodborne illnesses have killed several people in the U.S., sickening many others. Outbreaks affected major restaurants and retailers from McDonald’s to Whole Foods to Walmart; the offending E. coli bacteria was traced to ingredients including onions, carrots, and broccoli.Christine Schindler founded Pathspot to make restaurants safer, using tech to support health and safe

Lisa Grimm Co-founder and CEO, Roux Nov 19, 2024 00:43:34 Recipes on the internet have always been bad. They’re hard to find and even harder to mange. Many have tried to find a fix, but few have completely flipped the model on its head. Until now! Lisa Grimm is co-founder and CEO of Roux, which she describes as “the home of food culture.” It’s a place to find, store, modify, and share recipes while giving credit (and cash) to the original creator. (Join

Sam Bernstein Founder & CEO, Table22 Oct 30, 2024 00:38:57 Founder and CEO of Table22, Sam Bernstein, has some incredible news. He just closed a Series A funding round of 11 million dollars. In the latest episode, Bernstein talks about how Table22 is helping restaurants generate new revenue streams and innovatively bring their brands to life, fueling its mission to support merchants, restaurants, and shops in operationalizing unique offerings.

Alice Cheng Founder & CEO, Culinary Agents Oct 22, 2024 00:37:52 Alice Cheng launched Culinary Agents, a hiring platform for hospitality companies, 12 years ago. Since then, it’s served 2 million users, including more than 50,000 businesses, offering job listings, industry data, and educational content meant to inform and inspire the next generation of restaurant talent. On this episode, Alice debuts Culinary Agents’ newest endeavor: HospitalityCareerPaths.com

Aaron Noveshen Founder & CEO, Starbird Oct 8, 2024 00:44:55 Chef, founder, and industry leader Aaron Noveshen helms San Francisco Bay Area’s Starbird, a chicken concept. Starbird debuted eight years ago hoping to “completely disrupt fast food,” per Noveshen. During that time, the brand has grown quickly, embraced most of the industry’s tech-forward growth tactics — including ghost kitchens, which he still talks about favorably! On this episode, Noveshen d

Robert Sietsema Senior Restaurant Critic, Eater New York Sep 24, 2024 00:39:42 Robert Sietsema has been reviewing restaurants for over 30 years, and he has some thoughts. Specifically, in this episode, he has thoughts about QR code menus (absolutely not), reservations platforms (fine but he'd rather avoid), and social media ("It's putting me out of business."). Plus, Brandon and Kristen hang out in New York and make the restaurant technology introduction of

Tracy Kim, CEO, Dig Sep 11, 2024 00:39:55 Dig, formerly Dig Inn, is an East Coast-based chain selling its plates, sandwiches, sides, and salads at 33 locations. CEO Tracy Kim joined Dig nearly three years ago and spent the past year-and-a-half in the top role. In this episode, we talk business growth, marketing, positioning, and, yes, kiosks for a growing brand with big plans for the future.

Debby Soo, CEO, OpenTable Aug 27, 2024 00:46:45 Reservations are having a moment. So when the biggest player in the game makes big changes to its platform, the industry pays attention. Debby Soo assumed the top role at OpenTable in the summer of 2020, when restaurants were reeling from the sudden onset of the pandemic that changed their business forever. In this episode, we talk about the changes Soo and her exec team have made at OpenTable, wo

Gregg Majewski CEO, Craveworthy Brands Aug 20, 2024 00:37:07 What happens when you apply a startup-esque growth mindset, scale, and principles to restaurants? For Gregg Majewski, CEO of Craveworthy Brands, it means near immediate results. Majewski describes Craveworthy as a “restaurant platform company,” not a restaurant group, that gives brands tools and systems to scale, fast. It scaled from zero to 200 restaurants, and zero to $200 million in systemwide

Matt Tucker, CEO, Tock Aug 14, 2024 00:50:21 It's been a busy few weeks in the reservations business. Over the summer, American Express, which already owns Resy, announced a $400 million acquisition of rival booking service Tock. A few weeks later, OpenTable shared its own big news, a deal with Visa to grant cardholders special access to restaurants. In this extra spicy episode, Tock CEO Matt Tucker wastes no time punching up at his bigg

Nancy Luna, Restaurant Industry Journalist Jul 10, 2024 00:33:38 Nancy Luna is a veteran restaurant industry reporter and writer. She's covered restaurants in some capacity for over two decades for outlets including The Orange County Register, Nation's Restaurant News, and Business Insider. Starting as a blogger on MySpace (!!) during her local newspaper days, Nancy has carved out a niche that's served her as a journalist for decades. On this specia

Chip Wade, CEO, Union Square Hospitality Group Jun 18, 2024 00:41:42 What's the future of full service restaurants? It's easy to get caught up in growth and scale, but in this industry segment, customer experience *really* matters. Chip Wade took the reins at Union Square Hospitality Group from its storied founder, Danny Meyer. In this episode, we talk about how Wade will move USHG into a new era, including HQ+, the company's new training program for bu

Kyle Norton, Chief Revenue Officer, Owner.com Jun 4, 2024 00:39:54 In January, Owner.com announced a $33 million Series B round of funding, mainly from existing investors. According to Owner.com CRO Kyle Norton, it’s in service of helping mom-and-pop restaurants increase direct online sales. In this episode we talk about how restaurants can find and retain online customers, the evolution of restaurant discovery, and why working within narrow constraints — a parti

Noah Glass, founder and CEO, Olo May 21, 2024 00:45:17 It's been almost 19 years since Olo's first customer, its founder's grandmother, placed a restaurant order via text message. In that time, tech has changed — a lot! Still, on average, just one out of every six restaurant orders comes through digital channels. In this episode, Noah Glass, known as one of the earliest restaurant technology operatives, describes this evolution and what he

Will Guidara, restaurateur and author of Unreasonable Hospitality May 14, 2024 00:44:08 Since leaving Eleven Madison Park, the New York City fine dining restaurant he led to worldwide renown, nearly five years ago, Will Guidara has evangelized "unreasonable hospitality," or, as he defines it, the art of giving people more than they expect. As a professional speaker, he's managed to apply principles of running a successful and hospitable restaurant to other industries, f

Katie Fogertey, CFO, Shake Shack Apr 30, 2024 00:44:38 As Shake Shack's chief financial officer, Katie Fogertey manages the business's financial actions — that's obvious. But she's as much of a tech and operations expert as a financial one, taking a hands-on and holistic view of company when making decisions about its future. In this episode, we talk about "bespoke deployment" — Katie's term (that Kristen loves) for rolli

Alex Sambvani, CEO, Slang.ai Apr 23, 2024 00:40:48 Q: Who calls restaurants on the phone? A: Far more people than we expected. Alex Sambvani is co-founder and CEO of Slang, a voice AI company that answers the phone for hundreds of restaurants. Over half of calls to restaurants often go unanswered, meaning diners don't get answers to straightforward questions like, "Can I bring my dog to your patio?" On this edition Alex talks us thro

Joseph Unger, COO, Gosh Enterprise Apr 9, 2024 00:33:03 There are restaurant people, there are technology people, and there are people who do both. Joe Unger was once a Subway franchisee, then held leadership roles at Taco Bell and Reef Technology. Now currently COO for Gosh Enterprises, a fast-growing restaurant group, Unger speaks to both sides of the business and how they work together. We talk through restaurant technology's growth from fun exp

Camilla Opperman Morse, CEO, Nimbus Apr 2, 2024 00:43:30 Don’t call it a ghost kitchen! NYC-based Nimbus empowers the next generation of breakout food brands, providing dedicated kitchen space in hourly, daily, or monthly increments. We talk about what it takes to help food businesses launch, grow, and thrive. Plus, Camilla shares some big news: Nimbus is coming to Chicago! Music provided by Heywood Rex.

Savneet Singh, CEO, PAR Technology Mar 20, 2024 00:43:51 We can't help talking about it, surge pricing is everywhere! Join us for an insightful discussion with Savneet Singh about dynamic pricing and customer loyalty models, his company's latest acquisition, and what he really thinks about free coffee at work. Music provided by Heywood Rex.

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