Born in Germany and raised on Capitol Hill in Seattle, Ethan Stowell is a self taught chef. He opened Union in 2003 and hasn’t looked back. By 2008 He was named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs in America and has been nominated for more James Beard Awards than he cares to remember. 15 years after opening his first Restaurant they have grown the Ethan Stowell Restaurant Group into 16 locations and they’re continuing to grow.

Show notes…

Favorite Success Quote or Mantra.

Work hard. Be honest. Keep it simple.

In this episode with Ethan Stowell, we discuss: 

• How being instilled with work ethic and discipline influenced Stowell at a young age.
• Why earlier in your career you should be less focused about what you are making and more intentional on where you’re  working.
• How success in life and the kitchen is all about being organization.
• How a kitchen should be run.
• How time has only made being honest easier.
• What mistakes Stowell made in his earlier career.
• How less fancy, more casual dinning concepts can be more profitable that find dining.
• How to get to 70% Profit.
• How to get guest into a regular cycle of coming in.
• The impact of getting involved with your community.
• How the recession made Stowell Restaurant Group stronger, because it made them pay closer attention to the numbers.
• Stowell’s idea of the current and future state of the industry.
• Why you should think twice about jumping around in you’re early in your career. Give your employer at least a year before jumping to the next learning experience.
• How you shouldn’t expect the work force to adapt to you, instead you need to adapt to them.
• Resources mentioned
  • 153: Angela Stowell |Its Important For Us To Give Back

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Knowledge bombs

1. Which “it factor” habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?

   • Honesty.

2. What is your biggest weakness?

   • Stubborn and narrow mindedness

3. What’s one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview?

   • How do you like working on a team.
   • Hiring on attitude

4. What’s a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?

   • Staffing.

5. Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.

   • Engage with your community.

6. What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff?

   • Be honest.
   • Know that the guest isn’t always right, but the guest is always the guest.

7. Share an online resource or tool.

   • Monterey Seafood App

8. What’s one piece of technology you’ve adopted in your restaurant and how has it influence operations?

   1. Toast
   2. Sonos
   3. Sevenrooms
   4. Restaurant 365
   5. Venga

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?

   1. Spend time with your kids.
   2. Get involved with your community.
   3. do it the right way. No shortcuts.
   4. Have fun.

Contact Info

EthanStowellRestaurants.com

Thanks for Listening!

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Huge thanks to Ethan Stowell for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!

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The post 526: What Disciplined Looks Like with Ethan Stowell appeared first on Restaurant Unstoppable.