Jessica Hazard-Owner- NY PIE

Speaker A: Hear that?

Speaker B: That's the sound of busy. To a restaurant, all that shouting and banging might as well be a symphony. It means the long days and longer nights are paying off. Sure, it's noisy, but there's a worse sound. This not busy. Busy means business, which is why Toast gives restaurants the tools and tech they need to help them perform under pressure. Sounds pretty good, right? Toast built for busy. Welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio, the tastiest hour of talk in music city. Now here's your host, Brandon Still. Hello, music City, and welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio. My name is Brandon still, and we are powered by. By Pepsi. We are excited to bring this episode to you. I am sorry that we have not put an episode out in, like, a, uh, a week and a half. Uh, we've been slammed. Want to send out, first and foremost, a big congratulations to my partner Vince, who got married this past Tuesday to his lovely, uh, wife, now Megan. And I am so excited for them. He is the best guy. And, uh, I just. I cannot say enough amazing things about events. Uh, he's. He's the best. And I'm gonna make it without him for, like, these 10 days. But, uh, it's gonna be a challenge. And, um, with that being said, hey, I wanna welcome, uh, a few new members over to, uh, Nara. We have the 1881 Smokehouse and Grill. They are in White Bluff, Tennessee. I was drawing a brain fart there. I was like, what? Where are they? White Bluff, Tennessee. If you are White Bluff, go check out the 1881 Smokehouse and Grill. I also want to welcome Babo Korean Bar. Uh, we want to welcome, um, Black Elm Coffee, Coco Rico French Bakery and Cafe. You may have seen their sticker video. And we got another sticker video coming out for Limu Peruvian cuisine. Uh, Marcio Flores and team over there in the Fatherland district of East Nashville. B.S. brew works. Um, Cherries. Big shout out to Cherries over there in East Nashville. We would also like to shout out, um, let's see who else we've got that's really kind of new coming on right now. We have got. I, uh, do want to say that we are, uh, excited to bring on. You are here hospitality. Had lunch at east side Bond Me today with a couple of vendors. It was absolutely delicious. They also have Golden Prawn number three. They've got Suiza, uh, Super Quesadilla Fly Pelican Fly, and Eastside Pho. Uh, Chad and Gracie over there. Amazing. And I have to give a shout out to Gordo's Taqueria. Those Guys are absolutely out of control. Their tacos are amazing. The burritos are amazing. Do want to say that, uh, in all of the napkin caddies there, we have Cool Eat Local, uh, inserts that are a direct link to NARA Nashville, which has all of our members listed. So if you want to go eat local, if you're trying to decide where you're going to eat tonight, go to narashnashville.com and, uh, you can choose your restaurant. Go support a local restaurant. Today we are talking with another local restaurant owner. Her name is Jessica Hazard. She came on in January, uh, when Jim Myers did his episode. And, uh, now she has opened her location in Capitol View Gulch, east, whatever you want to call it. She's kind of Caddy corner from the Detroit Cowboy. She's two doors down, three doors down from M.L. rose right there. She's across the street from Publix. That location's amazing. We're going to talk all about it today in this episode. But, uh, Jessica is one of my favorite people in town. Just love her. She's not, uh, only somebody who's a member of NARA and, uh, works with us really well. And we've been able to help her a lot of ways. And you know what? She's been able to help us in a lot of ways. She is an absolutely amazing restaurateur. And, um, yeah, you should go check it out. They got great lunch specials. Uh, NY Pie in Capital View. Uh, so I wish I had, like, lots of announcements. We do have our September the First Independent Restaurant show coming up. Uh, we have a very special guest coming on the show. Um, we are going to be interviewing our mayor, Freddie O', Connell on August 21st. And, uh, I would love to know what you would like me to ask him. So if you guys have questions that you would like, uh, send me an email. Brandonaranashville.com that's brandon a r a nashville.com and say, just put in the subject line question for Freddy. And I will try and incorporate whatever I possibly can. But obviously there's been a lot of things happening in this. Um, you know, we, uh, we. Taxes, bike lanes, lots of different things. We've got a stadium being built on the other side of the city, uh, the East Bank. What are we going to do for downtown? I mean, there's just a lot of stuff going on. And, uh, we're going to try and address all of it. We're going to try and talk about, uh, everything. I want to give, uh, Freddie o' Connell a great chance because we had him on the show, uh, a couple years ago, and it was the day after the Covenant shooting, and he was absolutely amazing. I was a big fan and still am, still am a big fan of what he's doing. I have no idea what he, uh, goes through every day. I would. I'm really excited to talk to him. So, uh, that is an episode coming up, so make sure that you have subscribed to it. We have a big, very, uh, special guest we're going to be announcing on the show on, um, August 21st on the Fredo console. We're going to be announcing our special guest speaker for the independent restaurant show September 1st. It is at Fat Bottom Brewery. It's from 3 to 6. Put it on your calendar right now. Go to naranashville.com, click the register button. Uh, obviously, it is free to come. This is for restaurant owners and restaurant leadership. If it's a restaurant bartender, somebody, anybody who, um, wants to come, who works in a restaurant is in. If you are a vendor, uh, and you want to come, uh, our tables, we're full. We have 37 vendors going to be there, and it is going to be awesome. Go listen to our last episode. We. We break down a lot of the vendors that are going to be there, but you need to go register. Look for us on Today in Nashville. That's coming up tomorrow. And then next week, we're going to be on Local on two, uh, and potentially Talk of the Town. Uh, they did a segment with us on NPR the other day, and we are just promoting local restaurants, promoting people to go to our site to come support you. So hopefully, um, you're able to catch that, uh, follow us on the socials, and you can see everything that we are doing. We are, uh, just. We're busy as hell, and we love it. We love helping you guys. Uh, please, if you want to get on our wait list, because we are on an official wait list, go to NAR Nashville and click. Hey, we'd like to be able to talk to you. And, um, we will get to you right after the show, or we'll meet you at the show. We'd love to see you there. So, without further ado, I think we should jump in right now with the Jessica Hazzard, owner of nypy. You are listening to Nashville Restaurant Radio. By the end of it, like, oh, that was nothing.

Speaker C: What about when you interviewed Will Guidera?

Speaker B: Um, I think I had. Yeah, I was a little nervous on that one. You know, like, the mayor or something is definitely like, okay, I Was nervous with, um, I was a little nervous with Bill Miller recently because he's such a, you know, pardon the pun, icon here in Nashville. And, you know, those kind of things get me a little bit because you don't want to sound like an idiot.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: We have the mayor coming up on, uh, the 21st. And I'm like, I'm a little nervous about that just for the fact that I don't know kind of every stat about the city. And I want to represent you guys the best I can, and I don't want to F that up.

Speaker C: Yeah. All.

Speaker B: Ah, right. We've been recording here.

Speaker C: Okay.

Speaker B: We, uh, we are super excited today. I am super excited today to welcome in Jessica Hazard. She is the owner of nypi. Welcome back to Nashville Restaurant Radio.

Speaker C: Thank you, Brandon.

Speaker B: So this is the last time you were here. Um, I think was it just before the ice storm?

Speaker C: It was right before. It was in January. Yeah.

Speaker B: Like days before the ice storm happened. And we had Jim Myers in here. Jim Myers. It was his one and only interview that he did. We kind of were going to do a handoff. We're going to have Jim start doing it. And we said, hey, look, let's start with Jessica. It was a. We were kind of in a new relationship where we had just kind of met and said, hey, I'd love to have you on the podcast now. We've worked together for months and months and I wanted to bring you back because you've just opened NYPI and Capital View.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: And before, we were just talking about the potential of what you are going to do at nyp. And now it's open.

Speaker C: It is. It's been open for almost two weeks now.

Speaker B: How is it going?

Speaker C: It's going awesome. It's. It's everything I wanted it to be super fabulous.

Speaker B: What did you think? Like, you had this dream of what it could be and you said, it is everything that it is. What is that?

Speaker C: Oh, goodness. Okay, so this one, uh, is called Nypy La Tavala and Bar.

Speaker B: And what is the table? And bar is that La tavala.

Speaker C: Is that directly translated from Italian is the table. But the connotation and the meaning when you translate it is more about the. The gathering, the sharing a meal with your close friends and family. It's about that feeling about the experience. Experience. And that's what we intended to create specifically with this new concept. So at the core, it's NYPy. It's the same traditional New York style thin crust pizza. It, uh, has all the same. The same menu Items, but it has an expanded, um, list of menu items, as well as a full bar and wait service, um, during the nighttime. So the idea was to try out a new concept and to really bring the culture of NY piece to this new concept.

Speaker B: Well, your other locations, you have one in Franklin and you have one in West Nashville, one in Hendersonville, right?

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker B: And those are. You can sit in there and eat pizza.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: But it's counter service. You go up, you order the food, then you can sit down and eat it. Um, I order everything we had. Guess what we had for dinner last night?

Speaker C: NY pie.

Speaker B: And you know what I got, I got the same thing. I got the meat pizza, because that's my absolute favorite. And I'm gonna have it for lunch today also. But it's kind of a. I go and I pick it up and I bring it home, and it's really easy. It's casual. The downtown location, you walk in and it's full service.

Speaker C: Yeah. So it's. It's, um, quick service at lunch. And that was, that was a decision that we really grappled with, whether to, um, go all in full service or to do a hybrid model. And at the end of the day, we decided to do a hybrid model where it's quick service at lunch, it's full service at dinner, and then all day it's full service at the bar. And we went back and forth, quite frankly, and I think it was absolutely the right decision that we made. Uh, there's, you know, 16 floors of HCA, uh, office workers above us. And, you know, during construction, I'd look out the window and I just see people coming down, just in lines, coming down for, you know, for lunch. And, you know, I think you remember I come from the healthcare industry, and, you know, so I can relate to that. And people want a quick lunch. And so lunch has been absolutely fabulous. Um, people come in for the lunch special. It's great. It's like two slices and a drink. And they can come in, they can take it out, but most of them sit down and they still have that Tavila experience of eating with their co workers, but it's not taking them an hour to get lunch.

Speaker B: Yeah, it's really great. And I want to point out, because I've done that lunch before, and it is delicious. You can get a sl. There's a lunch special. You can get two slices and a soda or any kind of beverage. And then you can also get one slice and a small salad and a tea for. And it's like 10.99 or something. It's really respectable for what you're getting out there. I mean, if you want to do a quick business lunch to sit down, have a slice and a little salad and a drink and not spend $35, which I feel like every time you go out to eat at a sit down place, it's like 35 bucks a person. Yeah, every time you go. And so it's a great value. Plus the atmosphere in there is awesome. I like the big. She has like a big. It's almost a mural. And, uh, if you didn't know what this was, I don't know if you would because it's.

Speaker C: It.

Speaker B: It's so seamless. She has this huge picture and it says the New York pizza. Says New York style. New York pizza with the soul of Nashville. Right? Is that it? Am I paraphrasing?

Speaker C: You're paraphrasing. But it says New York pizza, Nashville soul.

Speaker B: Okay. New York pizza, Nashville soul. And then they have a picture of the skyline. Half it is the skyline of New York. And I think it's the Brooklyn Bridge. Brooklyn Bridge that turns into. Is it the pedestrian bridge?

Speaker C: Uh, the Shelby Bridge.

Speaker B: The Shelby Street Bridge. Okay. So it's like a blending of both of the skylines. And it's really like the coolest picture. And I didn't quite recognize it until I was like, hey, wait a minute. That's really neat.

Speaker C: What's also hysterical about that picture is when we first, you know, had it made and put up, um, there'd be people that would come in and they'd be there for like three hours. And then they would just stop in their tracks and look up and be like, oh, my God.

Speaker B: That's what I'm saying. Like, you might not recognize what that picture is. Cause it's just. There's just.

Speaker C: And it's huge.

Speaker B: It's huge. So gigantic. So La Tavola. La Tavola. I can't even say that today. I don't know what it is. La Tavola and bar. Because you wanted people to be able to be at a table and connect. And you have a huge community table kind of right when you walk in the door that anybody can sit at now. When I was there, I think There was a 12 top sitting at that table. There was a bunch of people came down from work and they were sitting at the table. But you also have, and this is one of my favorite, uh, you want people to come in and connect and dine and spend that time together. You've done something extra in the form of getting people to do that. And this was one of my favorite things. And this is something that anybody can do. And maybe it was an afterthought, I don't know. But you have little table topics at each table, and it's, uh, a. It's a little plastic cube, and it has all these little table topics that you can open up, pull one out, and it asks a question. One of them the other day was, what if you could get rid of social media with the push of a button? Would you?

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: And I was having lunch with Vince, my partner at, uh, Nara, and I was like. And we spent 10 minutes talking about this.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: My wife and I came in and ate. And one of the questions was, what's one thing you could change in your life right now if you could, like, push a button? And I was like, oh, man. I would start a morning routine. I would get up every morning at like, 5:30. I would go to the gym, I would journal. I would start the day early because it's summer and I'm just out of a routine. And she was like, yeah, I think. And guess what? The next morning, I got up at 5 o'. Clock. And I've been doing it every single day since then.

Speaker C: See that?

Speaker B: Like, I've already been to the gym this morning. Like, I've already been to the gym. And I'm back. Like, I have been crushing it because of that table topic that night at dinner.

Speaker C: That is awesome. This was, um, an idea of one of my directors, Chris. It was her idea. And, uh, I was like, you think we need one for every table? She's like, yes, we need one for every table. I was like, well, do you think we can, like, you know, split them up? And, you know, she's like, no, no. And so she was pretty. That was like, kind of.

Speaker B: You're like, can we put them in a Ziploc bag? Those are gonna be expensive. What are we talking about, opening a restaurant? I want to buy board games for everybo.

Speaker C: We've gotten so much good feedback. And you're right. It's like, you don't walk into NYPI Capitol View and see people on their cell phones. They are talking, they're sharing pizza, they're drinking wine. They're doing all those things that it's intended to do that you wanted to do.

Speaker B: The name of the restaurant. So that is one of the things that you said. It's going exactly the way that you wanted it to.

Speaker C: Yeah. It's intentional. I want you to. When you walk in, I want you to have that feeling. I want you to feel like, wow, this, I can see this being my neighborhood pizzeria restaurant. You know, I feel welcome here. I feel comfortable. It's nice. The food is amazing.

Speaker B: Well, the last time I showed up, you were at the front door greeting people with an apron on. And I took a candid shot of you bussing a table.

Speaker C: Yeah, that was nice. I deleted one of them.

Speaker B: And there's a good picture of you staring at me like, what are you doing? And I was like, this is it though. This is what a local restaurant is. Yeah, it is the owner at the front door greeting you, welcoming you in. And then it got busy. Yeah, like fast.

Speaker C: Mhm.

Speaker B: Like I sat down, there was nobody at the bar. And then like seven minutes later, the place was full. I thought you guys handled it really, really well for like your fifth day open or whatever. Fourth day open.

Speaker C: Yeah, it's, it's been, it's been wild.

Speaker B: How's the team been?

Speaker C: The team is, is incredible. We, uh, again, intentionality is, is something that you'll hear me say a lot is we hired for culture. You know, that, that um, quote, culture, uh, beach strategy for breakfast. I mean it, it does, uh, like I just think about that all the time. Like, we intentionally hire for culture. So every team member goes through their first interview. You know, what's your experience? Where can we, you know, you know, all the capability part. And then they don't, do not get hired unless they go through a culture interview. And we don't hire bad attitudes, we don't hire people that don't have that twinkle in their eye. Like, we want them to be enthusiastic, we want them to smile, we want them to like, be passionate about this. Like we, our team is so passionate about the product of our food, the customer service we provide our customers and we want that to shine through. And I'll tell you what, this team is rock star team.

Speaker B: Uh, I could tell. I mean everybody that I've come in contact with, even on the first night when we were there, we had, we were greeted by somebody that wasn't our server. And then our server came up and we brought food by two other people. And like so many people just stopped by our table to see, see how we were doing. And I was like, they've nailed this. They've got the right people in here that are just, you know, they have a, there's a spirit of service.

Speaker C: Hm.

Speaker B: You know, some people, sometimes you walk in somewhere. We were at uh, Kentucky Kingdom. I took my 11 year old to A water. The park.

Speaker C: Huh.

Speaker B: And it was like, most of the people there were like, when you sit down, put your seatbelt on, da, da, da. Uh, and it was like, I have to be here. It's hot. I have to read this to you. Get on the ride and then leave.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: And it was almost like they're. They're clocking in and clocking. And sometimes you go places and you get that. And I didn't get that vibe at all. Like, not even one time while I was there. Do you have core values? Like, what are the. If you're interviewing me for, like, a culture interview, what is a question you would ask me?

Speaker C: Um.

Speaker B: Oh, gosh, let's do the interview. What do you got? Let's role play.

Speaker C: Okay. Okay. So let's say you're interviewing for a server position.

Speaker B: Perfect.

Speaker C: Okay. Um, so we would really. Ah. And actually, um, I send all of these culture interviews through Chris, the person I mentioned before, so she would have a way better answer than I do. But sometimes I do them. So I'm actually looking at you like, I'm looking to see are your eyes sparkling? Are you smiling at me? Are you engaged? Yes. Perfect. You're hired. So I'm looking for your body language. And then so I might ask you something like, what do you care about when you come into a job? What's important to you?

Speaker B: Uh, money.

Speaker C: Okay.

Speaker B: Yeah, I'm gonna be your typical. Getting, uh, paid. What days do we get paid on?

Speaker C: Yeah. So you start asking, like, those questions, like, you know, um. And I also listen for the questions that people ask me back. Right.

Speaker B: That's. That's the biggest thing to me when I interview. So you asked me that question. What is important to me? You know what? People leaving this restaurant happy and full. I like to feel like nourished is the word that I want people to feel. So it's like they're whole, not just like, full, but, like, when they leave here, they're happier than when they walked in the door. And I had to. I get to play a role in that.

Speaker C: Right. And so your answer is, like, rocks. Rock star. It's like. It's like you're thinking about somebody other than yourself. You're thinking about service. And so really, I can ask you almost any question, and I can understand from your answer, you know, if you're going to be a good cultural fitness. And then sometimes we get it wrong, you know, Sometimes people just dupe us.

Speaker B: Are you trying to tell me you're not perfect? What are you?

Speaker C: Not a lot. Not a Lot. Um, oh, but anyway, so you asked me about, like, what's our. What's important to us as far as culture, um, goes, and we have adopted a program called Wild Hospitality. So we completely, completely lifted it from Will Guidera. You know, unreasonable hospitality. Love the book. Love everything about it. If you haven't read it, definitely read it. Especially if you're in the restaurant industry or really any service industry. Uh, but we've adopted as our own. So we, when we hired this team, we had a full week of training, of which about half of it was all culture. It was team building. It was, who are we as a company? You know, what do we care about? What are we passionate about? How do. What does good customer service look like? We did role plays. Um, we even do, like, language. So by the end of the week, people were adopting our language. And so, like, we'll say things like, let's get wild, you know, um, or, uh, the best thing is when you, when you do these training and then you go into. You're actually operating the business and you have one of your team members come up and say, I just gave somebody a wow moment. You know, so that's our language, right? It's like. And like, oh, what'd you do for that wow moment? You know? Yeah. And so it creates this common, this common language and a common, um, goal, I think. So we even have a board up that says wild Hospitality and it says things that we care about, like intentionality. Um, the one that I love the most is unspoken teamwork. So if you ever worked in a restaurant, which I know you have, there's, um, that dance, right? There's like, when you're in a groove and you're in the middle of a huge rush and you're dancing, you're not running into each other, but it's like, you know, you're bringing, you might be bringing a calzone out of the oven, and I see you doing that, so I'm going over and filling a marinara cup to put on the plate, you know, and it's. There's no words exchanged, but it's just, it's when you've hit that stride, you know, you've done it.

Speaker B: Yeah, that's a fun moment. That's. That's the thing I miss the most about restaurants is that organized chaos. Yeah, we called it, uh, Turbo Boost.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: You had to have that second gear. And it's, for me, being adhd, there's a hyper focus that happens in that moment that is like an absolute, like, everything is happening and I need this kind of chaos. It just feeds my soul. It's the thing that I miss the most. I get that feeling right now when I hit record. That's when I get that feeling when I'm live, when we're actually doing an interview, I feel all those like fun, happy feelings like that. That's the thing that fixes that moment that I miss.

Speaker A: Hey, I'm Matthew Clements with Robins Insurance Agency. You know, before I got into insurance I worked in the hospitality space, so I do understand firsthand how tough it can be to keep things running smoothly now. I love to help business owners like you protect what you've built. Whether it's a restaurant, bar, hotel, catering operation. I know the risks you're up against and how to cover them properly. This isn't a one size fits all coverage. I'm going to help you find a policy that actually fits your operation, your staff and your budget so you can focus on serving guests, not stressing about what ifs. It's an ever changing market. Anything could go wrong. If you want to work with someone who knows hospitality from the insides and out, reach out to me, call my cell phone 863-409-9372 or go to robinsins.com

Speaker B: if you're a restaurant owner looking for a new, low risk way to drive traffic and incremental revenue, you need to hear about Shared Spirits. Shared Spirits is a marketplace where guests purchase drinks online and then come into your restaurant to redeem them. Think of it as a prepaid beverage demand that shows up at your door. New guests, repeat guests and zero guesswork. For restaurants, this isn't discounting or deal chasing. You control what you offer, how it's redeemed and when it's available. Shared Spirits helps turn online purchases into real butts in seats, giving guests a reason to choose your place next. It's especially powerful during slower periods off nights or as a way to introduce new guests to your bar program without changing your menu or compromising your brand. If you want a smarter way to bring people through the door, increase bar traffic and create moments that convert into loyal regulars, Shared Spirits is worth a look. Meet your guests before before they even walk in with Shared Spirits. Sign up@ahsharedspirits.com Sharpier's Bakery is a locally owned and family operated wholesale bakery providing bread to Nashville's best eateries. They have operated in Nashville since 1986. Yes, next year will be 40 years. They providing high quality fresh bread daily for restaurants, catering companies, hospitals and universities. Their Bread is also free from any preservatives and artificial flavors. They're right off of Whitebridge Road. Erin Mose and her team been doing this for a long time. And you know what I love about them is that they're local and they care. They care about your business. That's like the number one thing you're going to hear me talk about is do they care about your business? And I 100% believe that they do. If you would like to be working with the bakery that cares about your business care, give them a call. 615-356-0872. That's 615-356-0872. Now, you can always visit them@sharpies.com that's C-A R P I E R S dot com and they have pictures of all of the bread that they can have for you and contact information. Go check them out. Sharpies Bakery Super Source develops and distributes high quality cleaning products and supplies as well as delivers ware, wash, housekeeping, keeping laundry programs and food service training. They partner with restaurants, golf and country clubs, hotels and resorts, schools, universities and healthcare institutions, save time and money and reduce inventory by utilizing their high quality products and engaging with their highly trained service specialists. If you're looking for wholesale cleaning products like dish machines in Nashville, Tennessee, they have you covered. Listen, guys, this is way more than a dish machine and chemical company. They do not make you sign a contract. They earn your business every single week. And let me tell you, I will personally vouch for Jason Ellis and his entire team over at Supersource. If you want a dish machine and chemical company like this, give them a call. 770-337-1143. And if you are a member of the Nashville area Restaurant alliance, make sure you tell them that you get the special NARA pricing. Excellent. Um, so you are open daily. Is there a day that you're not open? You're open seven days a week.

Speaker C: Seven days a week.

Speaker B: Are you doing lunch and dinner every day?

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker B: Are you doing brunch?

Speaker C: Uh, I mean, it's the same menu all day.

Speaker B: Okay. So if you want to eat it during that time, you can call it brunch.

Speaker C: Yes, you certainly can. Uh, we do the lunch specials or during the week, Monday through Friday, you can get slices. So we have a huge, uh, slice display, you know. Yeah, you do, yeah. And so, um, during the day you can order pizza by the slice. You can always order off the menu.

Speaker B: Can you get pizza by the slice?

Speaker C: At nighttime you can. We just, uh, we keep it A cheese and pepperoni at nighttime. Because most people at nighttime, they want to come in and they want to get, you know, a whole pizza, sit at La Taval.

Speaker B: La. Can I say that word? La Tavola and bar. And bar. I'm just saying. Well, they want to sit at the table. They want, like, to have, like, the Be served.

Speaker C: But. But you could also go online and order online and pick it up.

Speaker B: Are you on Uber Eats? DoorDash? What do you guys, uh, toast.

Speaker C: Uh, toast Delivery. Ubereats and Doordash.

Speaker B: Oh, wow. So pretty much anywhere.

Speaker C: Yeah. Except we don't do GrubHub anymore.

Speaker B: Oh, GrubHub still a thing.

Speaker C: Exactly.

Speaker B: Oh, I didn't. I'm. And there was no, like, shade to grubhub. I just don't ever hear anybody talking about grubhub anymore. I thought that, like, one of those other companies purchased grubhub, like, Postmates, like, all of a sudden was door eats or DoorDash. I don't know. Like, they just disappear, and then the other two own them.

Speaker C: Yeah. And I mean, it's. It's a huge part of our business is the delivery and online ordering and. And even in our wild hospitality training, we talk about how. How to think about your DoorDash delivery, you M. Know, folks, or your Uber Eats delivery, folks, as an extension of your team. A member of your team. So instead of being like an us versus Them, like, you know, you'll hear, oh, they come in and they're just, you know, they come in too early. They. The order was just placed and they're sitting there. It's like, no, they're a member of your team. Treat them with respect. And. And like they are. They're an extension of us. And so, uh, we. We really value and. And respect the work that they do.

Speaker B: I love that. As you should. I think you should treat all vendors that way.

Speaker C: Exactly.

Speaker B: You've recently brought on a man named Michael Milliken.

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker B: How's he doing? How's that? How is it? You've. You're. You're. You're tough. You're a badass. Okay. You're one of the people out there who I have just a massive amount of respect for because you have, uh, fucking done it. Like, you're one of those people that doesn't take no for an answer. You push, you work your ass off, you get shit done. And I. You're a badass. I think the word is just, you're a badass. Okay. And recently you've brought on a director of operations. So your badassery can be channeled in different ways. But now having somebody to do a lot of the things that you were just grinding and making happen. How has that experience been for you?

Speaker C: I mean, it's been a lifesaver. I mean, I think it would be, um, almost next to impossible to grow and to expand without having somebody that's really focused on the operations of the existing business.

Speaker B: Business.

Speaker C: And. And Michael has done a huge amount to also help open the new. The new store. And I mean, it's. It has taken a village to get this store open and it's a lot of work. Right. And so. But to. To be able. For me to be able to focus on every single detail from construction to our menu items, I mean, the whole gamut, you know, getting a liquor license, getting through permits, you know, all that stuff, I. I couldn't do it if, if I didn't have this. This awesome team. So, yeah, Michael's been great. Um, he comes from a background of professional management. And so, you know, I think I told you in our last interview. We started. We were mom and pop, right. We started with OG Nashville west. And I mean, I ran the store for three years from New Jersey. When I moved back to New Jersey for three years, you know, and it's just, it was so mom and pop and. And when I moved back to open the Franklin store, which is our third store, um, we were like, if I want to grow, I need to have a team, need to have processes and whatnot. So we've done a lot of work to get there and Michael's continuing to help us be more professionally managed or actually not more professionally managed.

Speaker B: He's an all around good guy. I've known him for a really long time and he actually is the reason why he actually introduced us.

Speaker C: He did, he did.

Speaker B: We met at a NARA Connect, the winter social at ah, Perrin Bakery. I didn't get to say this before. I don't know if I've said this on an interview because I wasn't on your last interview, but like when we met, we eat at NY Pie every week. Like that is a staple in our household and we love it. I didn't know that it was like this local place. I knew that it was right down. It's a mile from my. Less than a mile from my house.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: And it was really good. And whenever my wife gives me that look where she's like, uh, I don't want to cook or there's no dinner or whatever the case is. And not that it's just my. I don't want to say, like, it's my wife's responsibility to cook, but she plans the dinners is the way that it kind of works around in our house. Dolly wants to be a part of this interview, by the way.

Speaker C: Dolly does. You want me to.

Speaker B: Do you hear Dolly in there just barking away?

Speaker C: Jesus.

Speaker B: She's keeping us safe. There must be some dog walking around the street that wants to. To be a part of the interview. And she's saying, no. Yeah, thank God we have Dolly there she goes. She's. She's calmed down. But we, uh. When we. When I first met you, I said, hi. What's your name? You know, you're at the event, and you're like, Jessica. And I said, ny. You own in. I felt like I met a celebrity that day. And then I immediately, like, dragged you over to my wife, and I go, honey, this is Jessica. She owns nyp. And what did my wife do? She was like, oh, my God. Yeah, we eat there every week. Like, this is the greatest thing. And so it's been really fun to get to know you. Um, Go ahead.

Speaker C: I'm sorry, you call me a local hero

Speaker B: for us. Yeah. In our words, you were a local hero.

Speaker C: I'm like, yeah, yeah, local hero.

Speaker B: That's what I called you in the moment. Uh, she is a local hero, huh? Uh-huh. And now you, uh, guys are proud. I want to say proud, because you have a sticker on your door that says proud. And you put it on there. A proud member of nara. This is the testimonial side of the, uh, podcast. You knew it was coming. How, uh, how is your experience being a member of NARA so far?

Speaker C: Oh, it's. It's been. It's been incredible. I mean, from the. The first moment. So you're right. Michael introduced me. Nara. I had never heard of nara. Um, and I don't know how I. I must live in a shoebox.

Speaker B: It was brand new. It was brand new at that time.

Speaker C: Okay.

Speaker B: I mean, it was, like, January. We launched in, like, November. I mean, like, that makes me feel totally understandable. You hadn't heard it.

Speaker C: Okay. Yeah. So we. We had met, and, um, and you and I had started talking, and. And you're like, well, these are the things that we want to do. We care, you know, we're passionate about independent restaurant owners. And so it was like, music to my ears. And even that first event, like, I don't just, you know, ordinarily bump into other restaurant owners, you know, So I don't I don't. I just don't. You know, unless you go to a restaurant and, like, they happen to be there and they come over the table and talk to you or whatever. But. So it's been. It's been so refreshing from a, uh, really. Excuse me, from a relationship perspective to get to know and meet other people and like, just sharing the same battle stories or, you know, what have you. But then. But then also you and I started talking. You're like, you know, we, We. We want to represent the. The independent restaurant owners, and we want to, you know, help them because, like, so many. So many restaurants, like, you know, getting ready to talk to the mayor, going out of business, right? And it's. It's cost, it's expenses, it's. It's revenue in the door and. And whatnot. So, um, the first partnership that you and I had, which, you know, um, I'm saying this for the listeners, is we went through a food, ah, vendor negotiation. And, um, it was incredible because it was something that was on my list. Oh, yeah, I got to do that. Got to do that, Got to do that. You know, I had been 80% with a company for forever, but I really didn't have any benefit from that. And so, um, you know, I went into negotiations saying, like, I want the relationship. I have to win. Right? I want them to win. And, um, at the end of the day, we ended up going with a different vendor, and I had a very positive relationship with that vendor as well. And so the kind of lesson there is, relationships are so important. Sometimes you just. You do need to put on your business hat and say what makes the most business sense. And so from a percent revenue, and the numbers are just starting to come in, you know, so it's kind of like, hot off the presses, but it's looking about a 4 to 5% savings in my cost of goods sold as a percent of net revenue, which is significant across four stores.

Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think the early projections were like 10 to 12% over, like, what we projected, what you spent. And then you look at the actuals when they come in, what you're using, how you're doing. So you're saying 4 to 5%.

Speaker C: Uh, yeah. So if you're. If you. Let's pretend that your cost of goods is 30% of your net revenue. So now it's at 25. And so that type of savings, you

Speaker B: know, so, you know, I hired four locations.

Speaker C: It's significant. And in order for us to. To grow and to provide the, you know, m. Basically, our mission is, um, to provide this great product and this great experience and to create memories for all these, our customers out there. We need to have. We need to be able to pay, you know, professional directors and managers, and it's not cheap, you know, it's not cheap at all. So, um, those things really matter and help us do the things that we want to do.

Speaker B: Uh, yeah. I think that in a world right now where I guess they're about to have the mayor on and taxes and all of these things are increasing, did you have any idea that you could get that kind of a savings through kind of the process that we did?

Speaker C: You know, I'm not like, um, I don't live under a rock. So yes, I knew that there was savings to be had. Did I expect it to be 5%? M. Probably not. You know, I thought maybe a couple percentage points, you know, a couple percentage points matter. And, you know, so that was kind of where we started to finish answering your question. I can be long winded and go in circles, so I apologize for that. But the other things that we've done is, um, you've highlighted a linen company. So we've gone with a new linen company. And, you know, for anybody that is in the restaurant business, you know how shady linen companies can be. It's just like there's, it's just like you feel like you're buying a mattress. It's like, you know, it's like, what. What's going on here?

Speaker B: It's a thing.

Speaker C: It's a thing. And, you know, I've gotten sideways with the linen company when I tried to break a contract, um, several years ago, and I ended up having to pay them a ridiculous amount of money to get on my contract. And so the biggest thing with this lending company, there is no contract. It's great, you know, so, um, so we've done that. We've, um, you know, we've done other things, but. But they're all things that I didn't know were a thing, you know, until nara, you know, made them a thing.

Speaker B: Well, and that's, that's what we really want to focus on. And thank you for saying those things. I think that a lot of people feel like, who's this guy? How are they going to come in and do these things? And you kind of talked about what a director of operations does. And I said, well, this is what I've done. And I worked in that side of it. Um, and so doing the broad line vendor negotiations is really eye opening. And I learned a lot from working with you because you're so good at negotiations and contract redlining and your attention to detail was, was absolutely incredible. I mean, I think I learned, uh, just in how we do our spreadsheets. I mean, you were so good at giving us honest feedback. And I just, I want to say thank you for that because you've helped us transform like, what we've been. Because we're really relatively early on when we did yours, and I was like, wow, now you do it with us. It's like, oh, wow, this is really streamlined and, um, we've done so many of these that we have a really good idea of where we can be. And, um, I was really excited to see how we complete everything. Um, you, ah, went with Cisco. Is that going well?

Speaker C: Oh, it's, it's fantastic. It's going extremely well.

Speaker B: And that wasn't a, uh, when we do this, it's a wide open. Anybody can win. And the funnest thing is, is bringing every in and kind of getting to learn about each company. So in the future, now you have a pretty good idea of what each broadliner has to offer. And so there's not a lot of that. I don't even know about gfs. I don't even know about US Foods or pfg. Like, right.

Speaker C: And I was very, you know, I'm, um, extremely brand loyal. You know, I stick, I stick to the brands. And so. And that's something that you appreciated, you know, as we work together and, and the vendors appreciated and responded to.

Speaker B: So, yeah, I mean, and I, for me, I love learning about all of the intricate details of the, the non negotiables that restaurants have because it's so fun going in and representing those non negotiables for people. Because it's not like, uh, hey, we, we just finished one the other day and the guy says, I do not want you to come in and sell me stuff. I don't want you to come in and go, hey, we got this new carnitas that you just throw in a microwave. It tastes just like, it's, you know, slow roasting. It's like they don't want it. Do not come in. Do not sell them that stuff. If they want something new, they will contact you. And when you communicate all these things on the front end, it makes that relationship so much better. And you kind of, instead of doing that every week, you do it one time. And I don't know, it's just, it's a, it's a lot of fun. And I'm really Glad that we're able to. To make that happen for you guys.

Speaker C: Yeah. Thanks.

Speaker B: September 1st is our next one. You're gonna come?

Speaker C: I would.

Speaker B: Oh, you're out of town.

Speaker C: I'm gonna be in the motherland. Yes.

Speaker B: You're going to Italy? Well, I'm like, is that where you're going?

Speaker A: Are you going.

Speaker C: Not the mother. Mother capital.

Speaker B: You're going to New York?

Speaker C: I'm going to New Jersey, but, yeah,

Speaker B: you'd be at home.

Speaker C: I'll be at home, yeah.

Speaker B: I don't think I could be more excited to introduce you to one tap Fix. One, uh, tap Fix.com is where you need to go. And they have any service provider that you need. Uh, as far as equipment failures, plumbing issues, H VAC problems, any of these problems that happen and you have to get on the phone and call somebody. There's an app. You can type in what's wrong and it will find you a person, give you an estimate, and they can come out that same day. Guys, this is revolutionary. Everybody is going to be on this before you know it, and you're going to say, oh, I heard about that on Nashville Restaurant Radio. This is one of those meetings where I was just over the moon, excited to learn about this. Now, Eric is the CEO and I'm going to have him on the podcast to explain the history behind it, why it works, how it works, all that stuff. But in the meantime, go to one tap fix.com. you will send me an email and say thank you. This is absolutely amazing, guys. If there's some area in your restaurant that you can do things at a less expensive way, you want to be kind of cheaper because you're cutting costs. I understand there are many opportunities for that. One of the areas you do not want to do that is when you have your hoods and exhaust cleaned. A subpar job in that regard could cause a kitchen fire and then you're out of business for a long time. Not to mention people could get hurt. That is why we recommend Kitchen Guard. They've been operating since 2009 are the trusted experts in the kitchen exhaust industry. They service Nashville and Middle Tennessee. And they will come in and do a few free consultation and they will check out your entire system and make sure that you have everything clean your kitchen hoods, your filters, your exhaust cleaning from hood to fan. They can exchange the filters, they can clean the filters, they can do repair and maintenance services, and they have clear and consistent communication with every single service. Guys, you got to get the best when it comes to kitchen hood Cleaning and that is kitchen guard. You need to call Curtis Kowalski. His number is 734-344-2010 or email him kurt.kowalski. that's K O W A L s k I@kitchenguard.com Pliny Crane. Pliny Crane. They are the marketing company you need. I get so many people when I'm sitting down with an owner through NARA who say what do you do for social media? We have a hostess who does our social media. Our website needs help. We just can't come up with new ideas. That is why you need to work with a full service marketing company just like Pliny Crane. All you have to do is give them hm a call. 865-850-7809 and uh, schedule a free 30 minute consultation where they sit down, ask you a bunch of questions about your business. You, they will learn what you're doing and they will create a strategy for you. All of that is free. You can sit down with them and learn what they do but you got to call. You can also email them info planeycrane.com or just go visit them at www.planycrane.com. that's P L I N Y C R-A N E.com Twine Graphics has filled a massive void that we have needed at nara. We now have a custom merch supplier that's local. They're right. And down downtown Franklin, let me tell you, they're absolutely amazing. It's one of the questions people ask me the most. Do you have a great merch contact? Yes, I do. Twine Graphics and screen printing. Everything is handled in house by their team. Creative design to productions. You're not juggling multiple companies to get things done. They offer custom apparel including screen printing and embroidery. Whether it's staff uniforms, branded tees or retail merch your customers actually want to buy. Beyond apparel, they also produce drinkware, decals and branded goods so your brand stays consistent across every single touch point. The best part is they have a, it's a showroom where you can actually feel the fabric, wear the hats, check them out, see all of their products before you buy them. That is Twine Graphics. You can call Brandon Hagan at 629-281-0838. Email them at brandontwine graphics.com or go visit them at www.twine graphics.com.

Speaker C: my other home.

Speaker B: What do you do when you go there?

Speaker C: Oh my goodness. New Jersey is so much fun.

Speaker B: Now we're not talking about business. Now we just get to have fun.

Speaker C: Yeah. So, um, I have a home in New Jersey and um, I spend most of my time clearly here. And this.

Speaker B: You're always here?

Speaker C: Yeah, this is my other home. Right.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Um, and people are always like, which do you like better, you know, Nashville or New, um, Jersey? I love them both for different reasons. So the reasons I love New Jersey, um, you know, great food. Of course. Uh, I always go to my local hometown pizzeria. So, um, I have a boat there. So, uh, we always go out on the boat. And boat do you have. I have a 28 foot open bow Sea Ray. So. Yep. So you can, you can ski behind it. It's a little bit big for skiing, but you can ski behind it. To behind it.

Speaker B: Now are you in a lake or you in the Atlantic?

Speaker C: Yeah, so we're. So my marina is the Viking Yacht. Uh, Marina. So. So it. You go out.

Speaker B: I don't know anything about that.

Speaker C: Uh, well, so Viking yachts are, are made in my hometown, New Gretna. I think I might have talked about this last time. I can't remember.

Speaker B: Uh, but I wasn't paying attention.

Speaker C: Okay. Yeah. So. But they're these beautiful, beautiful yachts and they're made right there at the Viking Yacht Marina, like, well, right behind it. Wow. And um, and they do like these test runs. So if you like you're out and they're doing test runs. The stay away. Like the, the wake is huge, you know, and they're just these beautiful boats and um, very expensive and very well known in the, in the boating industry. But anyway, so you.

Speaker B: I am not a boater.

Speaker C: Okay.

Speaker B: So I don't know anything about boats. I just. I know 28 foot sea ray. Yeah, I've seen those. I know that every time I get out on a boat, I can recognize a good boat. I get on a boat and I'm like, that's a nice boat. Look at that boat. I always like get boat envy. Although I've never had a boat.

Speaker C: Yeah. Okay, so you start in the marina and you go out through the rivers and the rivers are, they're brackish because it's like they, they, they. The fresh water runs into the sea

Speaker B: water and so are there bull sharks in there?

Speaker C: I don't know.

Speaker B: Because the bull sharks can live in brackish water.

Speaker C: I don't know if we have bull sharks. Um, maybe we do.

Speaker A: I don't know.

Speaker C: We have a lot of like flounder and stuff.

Speaker B: Okay. Yeah.

Speaker C: Mhm. So then you get, then you go to the bay is the next body of water. But we spend A lot of time in the rivers because it's just fun because you can, you know, you can anchor up with other boats or, you know, whatever, and then you can also go dots. You can get to the ocean. So we're right by Long Beach Island. Um, it's a pretty cool, Pretty cool area. So, yeah, so we do a lot of boating. Um, we go out to like, the local. The local watering holes. There's some great, uh, there's a place called Breezes that we go to that has live music. And I grew up with the owner of Breezes, and so there's always a lot of locals there. And, um, it's right on the. One of the rivers by my.

Speaker B: What's your drink of choice? When you go to the local bar and you're hanging out, what are you drinking?

Speaker C: Um, okay, so I normally, uh, there's not like these wild. I'm a wine drinker, but if I go to a bar that doesn't have like a greater than a six wine selection, I usually will have a Coors Light draft. Um, but if I'm going to have a cocktail, I usually do a grapefruit and vodka.

Speaker B: A greyhound.

Speaker C: Greyhound, yeah. Yes. Well, I'm learning about the bar industry because I now have La Tabala and bar.

Speaker B: And it's a full bar.

Speaker C: And it's a full bar. So, um, we have another incredible manager, Alex, that we've hired and he's a sommelier and, um, has extensive bartending, fine dining and front of the house experience. So leaning heavily on him and Michael and our bartenders to really build out our bar program. So actually today is mocktail and cocktail day, so I'm going to go to the Capitol View and try cocktails and mocktails.

Speaker B: Now, when you go to New Jersey, do you have business there? Uh, do you. Do people know you for anything? I mean, like, is it like a vacation when you go up there? Is it like vacation where you can let your hair down a little bit and not be like, hey, I'm the owner of NYPI.

Speaker C: Oh, yeah, 100% vacation. I mean, I'll work from home, you know, clearly. But, um, when you go where I live in New Jersey is. It's. It's incredible. It's in the middle of the woods. So I think I told you last time. I grew up on a campground. My parents own a campground. So it's right next to the campground and it shares the same lake. Not one that my boat's on, but it shares the same lake and it's nestled in the middle of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, uh, which is tons of trees, but you go just a couple miles out, and you're at the water, and then you go a couple miles more. You're. You, uh, know, you can go to the ocean.

Speaker B: Oh, wow.

Speaker C: So maybe more than a couple, but it's. It's all right there. So you have all this water, you have all this hiking and trails, and. And it's just a really cool, cool area, and it's free.

Speaker B: The lakes freeze over in the wintertime.

Speaker C: Um, you know, froze this winter. And it was so much fun. We. We had a blast. We went ice skating. And, um, I have a quad there. And so I probably shouldn't say this on the air, but, um, we hooked up a canoe behind the quad and got in the canoe and went, like, through all the trails, you know? Uh, that was. That was really a lot of fun.

Speaker B: That sounds really dangerous because I'm a dad, and I'm like, if my kids ever. I would be like, no, do not do that.

Speaker C: Yeah, it's.

Speaker B: But it's also something. I would totally be like, hell, yeah, let's do it.

Speaker C: Yeah, it's a lot of fun.

Speaker B: Because that sounds like a lot of fun.

Speaker C: But what happens is you get into this, you know, my home there, and. And I think everybody that goes in there experiences this. It's like. It's like time just stops. And, like, you. You can go in there, and you'd be there for, like, four days, and. And, like, never leave. You know, you're just in that, you know, in the woods or whatever, and. And it's just, like. It's magical. And then you wake up and, like, oh, now it's time to go home. Um, you know, my other home.

Speaker B: Back to work. Back to work, Back to the daily. Are you living your dream right now? Are you happy?

Speaker C: Oh, uh, I'm very happy. Very happy.

Speaker B: It sounds like you got a nice little rhythm going, and you get to. I think that the key is the escape is being able to go to New Jersey and being able to have that downtime a little bit. Because the restaurant business is hard.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: Why do people say it's so hard? Well, what is hard about it? I mean, I'm. Because I have a theory. I'll share my theory.

Speaker C: Okay. You want to share first?

Speaker B: Sure. I think that, um. Yeah. You never have a day that goes as planned. I think that so many people have a plan for their day. They come in, they clock in, they do the thing that they do, and it's. I got the Things done, I need to get done. And you never leave a restaurant feeling like, I did everything I needed to do because shit happens right and left, and it doesn't stop and things get thrown at you right and left. And I. People say it's really hard, but I think that when you do it every day, you know that every day you get up like it's not going to go as planned, so it kind of just rolls off of you. And you. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. Because it's a mindset.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: So I think people in the industry get that and they do that, but if you're outside the industry, you're like, how in the f. Are you maintaining this. This insanity? And, uh. So I think that people say it's hard, and it is hard, but if you do it every day, it kind of becomes normal. And then in regular life traffic, like, normal things don't bother you because you're like, whatever. It's not a big deal.

Speaker C: Yeah, I think it can be hard because you're dealing every day. There's so much human interaction. So it's not a job where you are crunching numbers on a spreadsheet all day long. I've done that as parts of my job. And there's not the human variable. So whether that's your team members or your customers or whatever, and you want everybody to be cohesive and you want to provide great customer service. And sometimes you fail. And it's. Sometimes it's a. It's like challenge. Game on. I want to, you know, do better. I want to make. Make that customer that comes in that's not happy. Maybe it's. They're not. Not happy with me. Maybe it's something else. But you want to, you know, you want them to leave a better spot than when they came in. Kind of like your interview answer.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, 100%.

Speaker C: But. But I also, um, I also have paid a lot of attention to building, uh, out a really incredible team, a really incredible management crew. And so, like I said earlier, it takes a village. And so when you can rely on those people, um, to that care as much as you do about the business, that's. That's really when you can make it manageable. So when you ask me where I'm going, yes, Italy is on the docket. I haven't booked it yet, but I'm going to Italy for sure this year.

Speaker B: Have you ever been to Italy?

Speaker C: I've not been to Italy.

Speaker B: You've never been to Italy? Now, that reminds me, um, if you Go to NYP Franklin. You can get pizzas. You can get. Do you have calzones there? I've never got a calzone. Oh, yeah, I've never got that.

Speaker C: Calzones are good.

Speaker B: So that's my next Strombolis. Okay. And Strombolis. But if you go to.

Speaker C: You got this. La.

Speaker B: La Tavola. La Tavola. La Tavola.

Speaker C: It's close. Close.

Speaker B: What does it say?

Speaker C: La Tavala.

Speaker B: La Tavala. Yeah, that's it. I kind of get it. Right. La Tava and bar. You have items on the menu there that are not on the menu at any other places.

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker B: You have exclusive items that you can only get at the La Tavola.

Speaker C: We do. We do. We, uh. We're trying. We're trying out some new. New items. Uh, you know, if you. If you go to a pizzeria in the Northeast, like, you're going to have tons of pasta options and tons of other options, subs and whatnot. We specifically did not do that at nypi because we wanted to focus on bringing just. We wanted to focus on our star, you know, pizza and, you know, calzones and Strombolis. Um, but here we wanted to offer more without doing the, you know, full everything you can get type pasta. So we have spaghetti and meatballs, spaghetti and meat sauce. We have baked penne, uh, regatta, which is baked ziti, essentially. We have sausage, pepper, and onion sub. Um, meatball subs.

Speaker B: I had a meatball sub. I am a sucker for a good meatball sub. Yeah, it was delicious. But then you brought me out a sample of the.

Speaker C: The sausage, pepper and onions.

Speaker B: The sausage, pepper and onions and. Oh, my gosh.

Speaker C: Right?

Speaker B: It was good, right?

Speaker C: If you never. I mean, uh, a lot of people have never had it, and it doesn't sound like. I don't know if I want to have that. It is so good.

Speaker B: No sausage, pepper, onions. Like, those things all go together really well.

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, it's. It's a staple in the Northeast. Yeah.

Speaker B: Well, I didn't know that, and I tried it. I was like, this is freaking awesome.

Speaker C: People get trays of it and, like, just eat it with, like, you know, a side of bread or whatever.

Speaker B: That's a great segue. Uh, do you do catering? Like, if you wanted a tray of that to do something like that? If you're throwing a party and you want Nypi to cater, do you guys do catering?

Speaker C: Yep. So the. The business plan has catering being launched next, so we're. We're working on, you Know, getting all the, the kinks worked out of Capitol, uh, View. And next step by fall is launching a full blown catering.

Speaker B: Oh, wow.

Speaker C: Yeah, so. Well, so that menu will have, you know, the full list of pastas and, you know, chickens and, you know, chickens. Chicken, you know, like, um, uh, you know, chicken piccata, chicken parmesan, those type of things.

Speaker B: Well, when you do that, I'll introduce you to our friends over at Nibble and Delivered.

Speaker C: Okay.

Speaker B: Two, uh, different technologies that work together to do catering. I have a joke that so many people say that we're going to do catering. And I go, okay, that's how you're going to increase sales. You're going to do catering. It's a lot more complicated than just doing catering. Nibble and Delivered help you put that plan together so you can just do catering. We just did three demos in the past two weeks and we're doing a test at my old restaurant right now to check the whole thing out. So they're going to be at the September 1st show. Um, which you won't be at.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker B: But you'll be on a quad behind a canoe or on your boat. If you put a canoe behind the. Now if you put a canoe behind the boat, that would be kind of like, um.

Speaker C: That would be dumb.

Speaker B: Oh, that would be dumb.

Speaker C: That'd be dumb. Yeah. That could really hurt when you wipe out.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Yeah. No, that's a bad idea.

Speaker B: Well, wouldn't it really hurt if you wipe out on a quad too and you hit a tree?

Speaker C: Well, we weren't going that fast. I mean, you don't have to go that fast.

Speaker B: I wonder what kind of a wake a canoe could make.

Speaker C: I'm saying it was a good idea. It was a terrible idea. But it was so much fun.

Speaker B: Uh, uh, sometimes the terrible ideas are, are the best, but m. Just do it safely.

Speaker C: But, but going back to catering. Yes. So, so we're thinking of not just doing catering. We're thinking of catering as being almost like an opening another business. Like that's how serious we're taking it.

Speaker B: It sounds that way. I mean, not that you're just going to do catering. You have a team together. You're going to launch and fall like you have. If there's one thing I know about you, you're not doing anything half assed. You're going to have a plan and you're going to execute at the fullest degree of how you can execute. And, uh, that's one of the things I learned from you and I love that about you. Of all the people that work with them, like, they're gonna make it. That restaurant's gonna crush.

Speaker C: You know, when you had the table topic cards, uh, the question that you asked me is, what's your favorite quote?

Speaker B: Oh. Ah, yeah.

Speaker C: And I got to thinking about it after I told you, you know, the first thing that came to the top of my head. Um, but I got to think about it and when I started thinking about opening Capital View, I was like, this is a big deal. This is, this is going to be very expensive. It's, uh, a, uh, lot's riding on this. And I was listening to the great Eminem and he has, he has a lyric that says, success is my only option, failure is not. And I just, I just keep hearing that in my brain, like, that just keeps rolling. And it's like, that's, that's the quote. That's what I should have answered.

Speaker B: That's an entrepreneurial mindset.

Speaker C: Mhm.

Speaker B: You know, I can't, I can't fail. Yeah, this has to work.

Speaker C: Yeah, it has to work.

Speaker B: This has to work. There's no option for failure. Failure is not. That's not in the vocabulary.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: All right, Jessica, um, if you want to learn about, like, Jessica's background, her growing up and what she did in health care and slaughterhouses and all of the things, you can go back to January 28th when we released our first episode, episode with Jim Myers. And you go back and listen to that one and, um, it was really an interesting conversation. If you want to learn about her backstory, I didn't want to get a bunch into that because we already did that.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: I want to talk today about nypi, the Capitol View location, everything about it. If you, uh, are hungry and it's lunchtime, or you are hungry and it's dinner time and you have children, I think if you have kids, this is where those table topics are really fun because you can take them there and start pulling those out and your kids will have to think and talk to you.

Speaker C: Mhm.

Speaker B: And that's, that's awesome.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: Uh, Tavola. Oh my goodness. I'm just going to say it wrong, uh, for the rest of my life, just as an inside joke. And I love it. Go check out the NYPI out in Capitol View. Go check out our last interview and go check out nype. If you live in West Nashville, if you're in Hendersonville, if you're in Franklin, any of these locations are absolutely fantastic.

Speaker C: And you know, Brandon, thank you for the shout out the thing. I think people are scared about with Capitol View is parking.

Speaker B: And the parking's amazing.

Speaker C: Parking is fabulous there.

Speaker B: Fabulous.

Speaker C: It's free. It's free. Two hour parking on the street, in the parking deck behind the store, in the public parking deck across the store. It's great.

Speaker B: Uh, when we were there with my wife, she was like, we need to get what's parking in that Go parking is a non issue. I go parking. I always park right in front. There's plenty of parking everywhere. And we got there and I was like, we're gonna park right here. She's like, there's a spot. And I go, there's uh, always a spot. Like I can always find parking. It's amazing.

Speaker C: I know. I hate to publicize it too much, but I do fear that people might be deterred from coming because they're like, oh, well that's like on the edge of the Gulch, you know, might be expensive, but no.

Speaker B: So it's called Capitol View. I was talking to somebody the other day who does PR for the area.

Speaker C: Oh, okay.

Speaker B: And she said, I wish they called it the. Was it the East Gulch or North Gulch?

Speaker C: The northern edge of the Gulch.

Speaker B: If they called it the North Gulch area, more people would go, right. But since it's Capitol View, like where is that? And so let's tell people how to get there. If you are on, if you're taking the interstate, you're on 40 and you get off, you're going to get off Church street and you're going to go down. What is the name of that street that's right there? It's Church Street.

Speaker C: Mhm.

Speaker B: No, it's the one. It's not Church street, it's Charlotte.

Speaker C: Yeah, it's like a. They sort of blend together somehow.

Speaker B: Charlotte leads you right in. When you take Charlotte, like towards downtown and you're right there in Capill, you make a left. Is it a Vici store that's right there on the corner?

Speaker C: Yeah. Um, I don't know. It depends what side you're coming in on. But yeah, it's literally right off the interstate. You get off a Church street, you go past um, the Nashville Electric, you know, services, and then you turn on Martin Luther King and it's like. And then 11th Avenue and there's a

Speaker B: lot of other stuff, a lot of other places over there. Yeah, you're kind of not really Catty Corner, but if you know where like Kid Rocks, Detroit Cowboy is ML Rose, Condado's. There's an ML Rose two doors down. Candada tacos.

Speaker C: Dunkin Donuts.

Speaker B: Dunkin Donuts. Uh, right there on the corner. I saw that the other day. I was like, look at that. There's a Dunkin right there.

Speaker C: There's a makeup place. There's a, um, you can get your, like a hair. A blowout place for your hair. There's a massage place. I mean, there's. It's. There's a lot of really cool things right. Right in that area.

Speaker B: Yeah. So it's not just like you're going to be isolated. If you want to go do some shopping or walk around, check out the area. There's a Publix.

Speaker C: Yes. It's the best publix. I love that Publix.

Speaker B: Publix across the street.

Speaker C: This is teeny little publix. And it's great.

Speaker B: It's like this little, like an urban publix.

Speaker C: It's great.

Speaker B: It's fantastic. So, um, go check her out. Jessica, thank you for, um, everything you do. Thank you for believing in us at Nara and thank you for, um, your friendship. Thank you for your awesome pizza that we, my kids, their absolute favorite pizza. We eat it all the time. And I wish you nothing but the best of success and everything that you do. I know you're gonna be incredibly successful. But that being said, I just. I wish you nothing more than success in a safe trip to New Jersey.

Speaker C: Thank you.

Speaker B: All right, we will talk to you again soon. All right. Thank you for listening. Uh, that was so fun to catch up with Jessica. Any of you can tell, like, while she's a member of the alliance and we work together, she is also a good friend. And I just. I think she's so cool, and she's an amazing operator. Uh, we're not doing a Gordon Food Service. Final thought, because we don't, uh, we have Pepsi, and we are working with Pepsi to do something fun, a fun segment that Pepsi is going to bring to you. And, uh, I will tell you right now, if you are somebody out there and you are like, hey, we like the other guys, or we don't like the other guys, or you want to save money, you want a partner, then you need to reach out to me, because we need to get Pepsi in your building. We have made a bunch of conversions recently, and restaurants are really happy with what is going on. We're talking about, uh, pricing. We're talking about marketing help. We're talking about dining in your restaurant. Just a ton of support that Pepsi is bringing to your business. And if you're a business right now that needs support, um, you should reach out. Reach out to me. We would love to talk to you about what Pepsi is doing in restaurants. I know it's the south, and people say it's a Coke town, and maybe, you know, you grew up that way, but it's not too late to change. Um, you know, my kids liked Coke, and now we're drinking Pepsi in the house because, hey, they're a major partner of ours. And, uh, my kids are now, like, we think we like Pepsi better. It's just a matter of where you grew up. I am a big fan of Pepsi. Uh, because they have Mountain Dew. Uh, they also have, um, Celsius. Celsius is one of their brands, so. And Poppy, so good stuff. Um, reach out to me. Thank you guys for listening. Uh, we're gonna have a bunch more episodes coming up, I promise. We are not, like, slowing this thing down. We're just getting caught up with everything. And I know you understand. We will start in. Summer's over. Kids are back in school. We got a lot more, uh, time on our hands to get out here and do these episodes. So we appreciate you listening, hope that you guys are being safe out there. Love you guys. Bye.