How To Turn Around A Restaurant With The Restaurant Coach

June 10, 2021

Barbara Castiglia Podcast

hospitality

Hospitality Works

Izzy Kharasch

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Izzy Kharasch

Food is serious business. Now, on The Main Course, host Barbara Castiglia will invite insiders on the front lines of food to share their expertise, strategies, and forecasts for navigating the ever-changing restaurant industry.

The restaurant industry took a significant hit over the past year, perhaps more than any other industry. Despite record takeout numbers, 1 in 6 restaurants closed permanently or long-term during 2020, according to a survey from the National Restaurant Association, which equals about 100,000 restaurants.

But, this year aside, restaurants have always faced challenges. So, what can a restaurant do to survive in a crowded marketplace?

On this episode of The Main Course, Host Barbara Castiglia talked with Izzy Kharasch, the Restaurant Coach, Chef, and owner of Hospitality Works. They spoke of Izzy’s career, what is a restaurant coach, common mistakes restaurants make, and the key challenges facing restaurants during and post-COVID.

For Izzy, career choice has never been a question. He started in high school and has never been passionate about anything else, Izzy said. He served as a food inspector in the U.S. Army before going to chef school. He has served as the Executive Chef at Harvard University, and in 1987 he founded Hospitality Works, helping several Chicago restaurants turn around their fortune. With his experience, he can help out all aspects of an organization, from the front to the back, letting them know what will work and what will not.

“One of the things that really makes me, my company, different from other consulting companies is that not only did I go to chef school … I have a lot of back-of-the-house experience, and then later I transitioned to front-of-the-house, and operations and development and training. Now, when I work with clients, I can work with them on the front-end and the back-end.”

Listen to learn more about Izzy’s career and his advice for restaurants as they recover from the COVID-19 Pandemic.