Happy Thursday,

Keith Benjamin joined us this week.  He is the co-founder of Uptown Hospitality Group in Charleston.  Keith was helping us settle a debate about the mark up on beer, and then we spent a lot more time talking about the perception of restaurant profitablity from the eyes of the diner.  More on all of that below.  Bark Hot Dogs, a prior restaurant chain of mine, came up in that conversation, so I thought I'd share a recipe that everyone loved for Heirloom Baked Beans.

Given my obsession with storing and organizing recipes, I wanted to highlight a feature that I have been using a lot that I don't think gets enough play time in meez; embeddable recipes.  I also think the feature can have a big impact on how chefs can share their content (and in the future, a massive opportunity to improve the cookbook experience)

🎙️ The meez Podcast

Should Every Restaurant Have a $5 Beer?

And is the restaurant at a tipping point with margin compression?

Keith Benjamin joined Mike Jacobar, Matt Conway, and me. Keith operates five spots in Charleston and is still a partner in four NYC bars. The three of us got into the $5 beer debate, among other restaurant margin topics.  Matt feels it's egregious.  I think the rest of us all agree that a restaurant or bar should charge what they need to, and the market will decide.

My specific take: You can get a $5 Modelo at the corner store.  That store does not have service staff, massive HVAC, design, music, ambiance, and all the rest that goes with the experience of the bar or restaurant.  You're paying for that experience.  And the customer will quickly decide whether it's worth it.  Most often,it very much is because you're creating a gather place, a chance for connection, whether that's with your friends, a date, or just the bartender to chat with.  

We cover:

• The $5 beer debate
• The industry tipping point we're all living through right now
• ADHD as an entrepreneurial superpower (Keith's take)
• Frequency always wins: the loyalty framework Keith lives by
• Why the public doesn't understand restaurant profitability

👉 Listen to the full episode

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🤔🌶️ Hot Take

What People Don't Get About Running a Restaurant

It takes an enormous effort to run a restaurant, timing service, keeping guests happy, engaged, and feeling seen.  Executing on food consistently.  Managing vendors, repairs and maintenance, insurance premiums, weather, and market volatility.  The list goes on.

I remember when I opened my first restaurant, Bark.  We had a lot of press: NY Times, Food Network, etc.  I vividly recall friends and neighbors making comments about how I'm a milionare now, and what am I going to do with all the money.   I'm sure we've all felt this. Like really? Are you kidding?  I'm selling $4 hot dogs in a 900-square-foot space with 32 seats.  

But besides the obvious math, we all agreed that, generally speaking, it is just too much behind the scenes for customers to really understand what the margins are. like in a restaurant.  It takes a whole heck of a lot to be rolling in dough unless you're a baker with a disregard for the health dept. compliance (that was my dad joke for the day).  

I am seeing more and more chefs speak up about this.  You see an $80 steak and think you're getting ripped off.  But that steak costs the restaurant $40 all in, and they should really be charging $120.  

The way Keith put it: "The general public, the consumer, doesn't get it. They don't care. It's not even on their radar. They think that Matt sits in his office daily and sips on a beautiful bottle of wine, and that I'm in my office ripping shots of tequila and eating chicken wings, and that it's all..." Mike finished the sentence for him. "And counts the cash."

👉 Watch the clip on LinkedIn

👉 Watch on Instagram

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📔 Chef Notes

Embeddable Recipes (And Why I Love Them)

Did you know you can embed meez recipes on your website?  If you have seen some of the recipes I share here in the weekly newsletter, the majority of them are living on our scaling up blog on our website.  The beauty is that anyone on the internet can appreciate the benefits of dynamic scaling, unit of measure conversion, changing ingredient quantities, video prep step slideshows, etc., without logging into the meez app.

We have seen some customers embed recipes into other apps as well.

We will continue to improve upon the functionality of what is possible with these embeds, and your feedback is always what helps the most!  

In the future, I see a world where these recipes can be embedded into a digital cookbook to unlock the ability to create a more interactive experience, link to products for those recipes, update new versions, and empower chefs to have more control over their content.  

👉 Check out some examples here

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Recipe:

Heirloom Baked Beans

This is a throwback to a Bark Hot Dogs classic. Very classic approach to baked beans, with some great yet simple upgrades.  

Heirloom beans change the texture and flavor a bunch.  I like Jacob's Cattle Beans or Borlotti Beans, but you can also use cranberry beans.  Just make sure to soak them overnight with the ham hock.  

Good bacon is non-negotiable.  I'm a huge fan of Nueske's bacon, we used the bacon ends, which is a great way to get a better price point with the same flavor.  Benton's bacon works great too.  Just use slab bacon if you can't get the ends.  

The rest is really straight forward.

👉 Get the full recipe on meez

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Want to Be a Guest on The meez Podcast?

We are always looking for operators, chefs, and food industry leaders who have a story to tell.

👉 Apply to be a guest

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