772: Mike Bausch on Ultimate and Efficient Communication

772: Mike Bausch on Ultimate and Efficient Communication

Author: Inspiring interviews with todays most successful restaurateurs 2-days a wee January 11, 2021 Duration: 2:03:26

Mike Bausch is an industry leader whose restaurant, Andolini's Pizzeria, is a top ten pizzeria in the US, as named by Trip Advisor, BuzzFeed, CNN and USA Today.

Andolini's began in 2005 and has grown to five pizzerias, two gelaterias, two food-hall concepts, a food truck, and a fine dining restaurant by 2020. He's a World Pizza Champion, a Guinness Book world record holder, and a writer for Pizza Today, and the author of Unsliced: How to Stay Whole in the Pizzeria Business.

Check out 32 Yokes: From My Mother's Table to Working the Line by Eric Ripert as mentioned in today's episode.

Show notes…

Calls to ACTION!!!

Favorite success quote or mantra:

    • "If you're not impressive then by default you are unimpressive."
    • "The complacency of today is the direct enemy of tomorrow."

In today's episode with Mike Bausch we will discuss:

    • Time in the military
    • Start small
    • Partnerships with family
    • Franchising?
    • HR systems and processes
    • Systems, processes, and procedures
    • Management development systems for opening a second location
    • Checklists
    • Using a giant white board for checklists
    • Positive reinforcement
    • COMMUNICATION!!!
    • How tech helps restaurant communication
    • Daily staff meetings
    • Food photography
    • Self-reliance and self-confidence

Today's sponsor:

7shifts is a modern labor management platform, designed by restaurateurs, for restaurateurs. Effectively labor management is more important than ever to ensure profitability and restaurant success. Trusted by over 400,000 restaurant professionals, 7shifts gives you the tools you need to streamline labor operations, communicate with your team, and retain your talent. Best of all 7shifts integrates with the POS and Payroll systems you already use and trust (like Toast!) turning labor into a competitive advantage for your business. Restaurant Unstoppable members get 3 months, absolutely free.

RestaurantOwner.com is an online community of independent restaurant owners and managers who want training and tools to build a better restaurant and a more profitable, successful business. Resources include hundreds of downloadable templates, training videos and online courses on topics such as recipe costing, prime cost, improving the guest experience and building a positive culture. RestaurantOwner.com also conducts regular live webinars on a variety of timely and relevant topics. Whether you're thinking about opening a restaurant, in the planning stages, or already have multiple locations, RestaurantOwner.com has resources that can help you make better decisions, streamline operations and elevate the thinking and level of engagement of your team.

Ecolab: Streamline your clean with Ecolab's new EPA-registered 2-in-1 solution, Sink & Surface Cleaner Sanitizer. It will help reduce risk, simplify your procedures and help ensure compliance. This solution cleans and sanitizes hard non-porous surfaces with a single product, eliminates the rinse step and equips your staff to clean more efficiently. Clean simplified, confidence delivered.

Ecolab S&S Clean Simplifed Ad 300x300

 

Knowledge bombs

  1. Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
    • Approachable and able to be wrong
  2. What is your biggest weakness?
    • Finding a balance between being a softie and a hard-ass
  3. What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview?
    • Instincts to please the customer above anything
  4. What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?
    • Maximizing morale in a demoralizing atmosphere
  5. Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
    • Passionate, ethical, effective, fun, understand that they want their job
  6. What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff?
    • Replacing food that customer's aren't happy with
  7. What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?
  8. What's one thing you feel restaurateurs don't know well enough or do often enough?
    • Don't seek to be individual, they seek to fit in
    • Some restaurateurs act like they don't have a boss rather than being the best boss they never had
  9. Name one service you've hired.
  10. What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your restaurant walls and how has it influenced operations?
  11. 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?
    • If you're not impressive then by default you are unimpressive
    • Never look down on the next generation
    • Never stop

Contact info:

www.unslicedbook.com

Instagram: @mikeybausch

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 Mike Bausch 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!

Eric Cacciatore sits down with the people who actually run the show in the world of food service. Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore is built on conversations with established restaurateurs and seasoned professionals who have navigated the intense realities of the industry. Twice a week, these interviews dig past the surface, focusing on the tangible details of leadership, team management, and effective marketing that separate a thriving venue from a struggling one. You’ll hear firsthand accounts of what worked, what didn’t, and the often-overlooked decisions that shape a restaurant's path. This podcast serves as a direct line to collective experience, whether you're dreaming of your first opening or steering a multi-location group. The dialogue is practical, centered on the daily grind and long-term strategy needed to build something lasting. For anyone invested in the business of hospitality, these regular episodes compile a vital resource, turning shared insights into actionable knowledge for your own journey.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 1000

Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Podcast Episodes
1148: Ilma Lopez, Chef/Co-Owner of Chaval and Ugly Duckling [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:05:29
Ilma Lopez is from Venezuela and moved to the US in 2001 to go to school. She ended up going to culinary school in NYC and worked there for high profile chefs like Daniel Boulud and others. She worked in Spain for a year…
1147: Terry O'Brien, Owner of Red Parka Pub [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:40:20
Terry O'Brien is the owner of The Red Parka Pub in Glen, New Hampshire. The Red Parka is a 53 year old restaurant housed in a building from the 1800s in the White Mountains of NH with 250 seats during peak season and doe…
1145: Dick Delaney, Owner of Delaney's Hole in the Wall [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:27:36
Dick Delaney is the Owner of Delaney's Hole in the Wall located in North Conway, New Hampshire. Dick Delaney originally wanted to open a ski and snowboard shop in NH but started working in restaurants in the White Mounta…
1144: Keith Sarasin, chef, author, and owner of Aatma [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:38:56
Chef Keith Sarasin is an award-winning chef, 4x author, and owner of Aatma. Keith Sarasin was previously on the show back in 2020. Chef Keith Sarasin is currently operating, along with Chef Chris Viaud, the Farmer's Tabl…
1143: Justin Walker, Chef/Partner at Walkers Maine [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:19:43
Chef Justin Walker is the chef and partner at Walkers Maine. Justin was a D1 racing skier while simultaneously working in restaurants. While is school and still racing, he decided to switch focus over to cooking. He went…
1142: Michael & Siobhán Sindoni, Owners of Wayside Tavern [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:13:52
Michael and Siobhán Sindoni are the owners of Wayside Tavern, located in Portland, Maine. Michael and Siobhán met while working in a restaurant in D.C. They eventually got married and worked together in the restaurant sc…
1141: Gregg Sessler, Chef/Owner of Oddfellows Tavern [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:54:48
Gregg Sessler is the Chef/Owner of Oddfellows Tavern in South Berwick, Maine. This is Gregg's 2nd time on the show. His first episode was number 06, way back in the beginning of Restaurant Unstoppable. Back then, Gregg o…
1140: Brett Wintersteen, Chef/Owner of HiFi BURRITOS [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:49:28
Brett Wintersteen is the Chef/Owner of HiFi BURRITOS in Dover, NH. Brett grew up in Rhode Island, working restaurants since he was 15, but went to school at UNH in Durham, NH. He got a job after college at Margarita's, a…
1139: Emshika Alberini, Chef/Owner of Chang Thai Cafe and The Catch [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:54:20
Emshika Alberini is the Chef/Owner of Chang Thai Cafe and The Catch, both in Littleton, NH. Emshika moved to the US from Thailand in 2000 looking to become a professor, but ended up in corporate America until 2006 when s…