698: Chef Iliana de la Vega on Political Unrest and the Restaurant Industry

Iliana and Ernesto married in Mexico City and shortly after moved to Oaxaca, where Iliana had deep family roots and where she wanted to open a restaurant specializing in Oaxacan cuisine.  The restaurant flourished until 2006, when the community experienced a period of political unrest, causing Iliana and Ernesto to sell their restaurant and move to the United States. Not long after their arrival to Austin, Ernesto began planning the El Naranjo trailer as a first step to learn about the Austin market and its culinary scene. In May 2012, El Naranjo Restaurant & Bar finally opened, and they've consistently been recognized as one of the best traditional Mexican Cuisine restaurants in Austin. In 2014, the Mexican Government granted de la Vega with the prestigious Ohtli Award in recognition of her work in furthering Mexican gastronomy. The Ohtli is the greatest award given by the Mexican Government to Mexican citizens living abroad. In the same year, she was named the Hispanic Female Entrepreneur of the Year by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!! 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 or mantra: "Hard work. Be true to yourself. Be honest." In today's episode with Iliana de la Vega we will discuss: Growing up cooking in Mexico Importance of partners Business partnership with your spouse Oaxacan cuisine Early mistakes and how to fix them Presence in the kitchen as an owner Turmoil in Mexico in the early 2000's Political upheaval and strikes interrupting business Moving to the USA as a Mexican Testing a market Retaining staff Training staff Patiently educating you customers Rising costs 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. P&G ProfessionalTM offers innovative total foodservice solutions featuring trusted brands such as Dawn® Professional, Cascade® Professional, Spic and Span® and Comet®. We are unique in that our total solutions are founded in customer and patron understanding, superior products that help save time and cut overall costs, and a five-star service group that is compensated based on customer satisfaction, not commissions. Visit www.pgpro.com for the latest information about P&G Professional's solutions and services. Knowledge bombs Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success? Honesty What is your biggest weakness? Don't get enough sleep What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview? Eye-contact and honesty What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it? Make the restaurant happen for REAL, success Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team. The best service is the one you don't notice What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff? Know the menu perfectly, must know all terms and meanings What's one thing you feel restaurateurs don't know well enough or do often enough? Be present in the restaurant Name one service you've hired. Tabulate accounting What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your restaurant walls and how has it influence operations? Open Table 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? Work hard Study Be open to learn more Contact info: El Naranjo 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 Iliana de la Vega 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!