671: Staffan Terje on Respect Yourself and Be Prepared

Chef Staffan Terje was born, raised, AND trained in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1982, after working in Stockholm for a few years, Staffan was offered a job in Sarasota, Florida. His plan was to work for a year in the states. He never left. In 1988, the lure of Italian cuisine called and Staffan joined Piatti Ristorante in Yountville, Napa Valley. Promoted quickly, he was soon responsible for new restaurant openings, menu development, and training. Other career highlights include a seven-year stint at San Francisco's famed Scala's Bistro and cooking at The James Beard House in New York City. Today Chef Terje serves as Chef Partner of Perbacco and Barbacco in SanFrancisco, CA. Check out episode 666 with Umberto Gibin as mentioned in today's episode! Show notes… Favorite success quote or mantra: "I just hate the word talent. You buckle down and work; that's talent. Talent has two parts: hard work and grit. if you have those, you have talent to do anything. Never think you';re some kind of genius." In today's episode with Staffan Terje we will discuss: Chef life is hard work Stress Learning to butcher on a farm Don't lie about your knowledge Be honest always Define your concept The importance of business knowledge Business skills are as important as cooking skills Advice on expansion Don't strive for perfection at first Share Knowledge! You have a commitment to your employees Expect mistakes when opening Don't do too much too fast Criticism is good! Opening in the 2008 recession Creativity Opening in the wrong location The decision to close a restaurant based on location Do your research and do the numbers! Today's sponsor: BentoBox empowers restaurants to own their presence, profits and relationships. The hospitality platform disrupts third-party services that come between the restaurant and the guest. BentoBox puts the restaurant first and offers tools that drive high-margin revenue directly through the restaurant's website. BentoBox is trusted and loved by over 5,000 restaurants worldwide including Union Square Hospitality Group, Eleven Madison Park, Gramercy Tavern, Lilia and more. Restaurant365 is a cloud-based, all-in-one, restaurant-specific accounting and back-office platform that seamlessly integrates with POS systems, payroll providers, food and beverage vendors. It generates accurate real-time reporting and analysis in user-friendly dashboards, facilitating immediate, data-driven decision making. Restaurant365 eliminates manual, error-prone processes and is designed to help restaurant businesses grow with functionality that helps optimize labor costs, reduce food costs and increase revenue. Wisetail's user-friendly platform focuses on engaging, growing, and empowering your workforce while enabling your culture to thrive in multi-site businesses. It is easily configurable to an organization's brand and technical specifications. In addition, Wisetail provides a social community for their customers to share best practices and continuously improve the learning experience. Knowledge bombs Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success? I never stop What is your biggest weakness? Over-analyze things What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview? "What was the first place you got a job and why?" Looking for honesty. What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it? Finding enough people who can afford to work at restaurants Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team. Be nice to people What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner? One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson GET THIS BOOK FOR FREE AT AUDIBLE.COM  What's the one thing you feel restaurateurs don't know well enough or do often enough? Close. Try to be too many things to too many people. Rest and relaxation What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your four walls restaurant and how has it influence operations? Choco App :ordering from suppliers made simple. 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? Keep it clean Be kind Don't look back Contact info: Perbacco website Barbacco website 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 Staffan Terje 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!