From Line Cook to COO - Protecting your brand and the path to growth for chefs, operators, and owners
Manage episode 513047450 series 3633887
Thousand-cover Sundays, a half-size kitchen, and a turkey-pot burner pulling fry duty, this conversation opens inside the controlled chaos that forged a chef who would later run a multi-unit brand.
We sit down with Rob to trace the arc from CIA grad and PM kitchen manager to executive chef, GM, Sysco corporate chef, and now COO of the recently rebranded Taste Unlimited, unpacking what it actually takes to scale beyond a single line while keeping soul, branding, and standards intact.
We revisit the 1998 Virginia Beach dining boom and pull hard-won lessons from the line: building speed without losing quality, improvising when equipment falls short, and navigating menus when a $9.99 prime rib was still a thing. Rob explains the leap from back-of-house to full P&L responsibility, the Sysco years spent educating top customers, and the lost art, and current opportunities, of food shows, where chefs learn by seeing whole animals broken down, testing gear, and building relationships that still move product and careers.
The playbook for small-batch makers gets specific. Work with your state Department of Agriculture. In Virginia, leverage Virginia’s Finest and the Virginia Specialty Food Association for endorsements, shared booths, and buyer intros. Backpack your samples into national shows like Fancy Food, hit the seminars, and walk up to speakers and buyers. It’s boots-on-the-ground, not magic, and one container order can change the year. When we turn to growth of Taste, we get an inside look at brand discipline: protecting trademarks, defending visual identity, and growing to nine stores plus catering, e-commerce, and a bakehouse without chasing every trend.
We close the convo on culture and ownership. Taste’s ESOP conversion brought 150 team members into the cap table, aligning pride with performance and giving sandwich makers to drivers a real stake in outcomes. Guests may be dining out less, but they’re demanding better; operators who reinvest in people, process, and product win. If you care about restaurant operations, brand building, or getting your sauce from garage to shelf, this one is packed with moves you can use today.
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Visit and support Taste at https://www.tasteunlimited.com/ and on IG at https://www.instagram.com/tasteunlimited/
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Chapters
1. Reunion And Restaurant Origins (00:00:00)
2. 1998 Virginia Beach Dining Boom (00:03:04)
3. First Nights On The Line (00:05:39)
4. Thousand Covers And Improv Cooking (00:08:34)
5. Price Memories And Menu Realities (00:12:54)
6. Jumping From Kitchen To Management (00:16:34)
7. Sysco Years And Chef Education (00:21:04)
8. Food Shows, Costs, And Access (00:25:19)
9. How Small Producers Break In (00:29:44)
10. Branding, Rebrands, And Taste’s Growth (00:34:39)
68 episodes