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A blue dumpster covered in graffiti placed against a concrete wall, resting on asphalt

August 15, 2025by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Your One-Page Business Plan is Trash

Your One-Page Business Plan is Trash

by Doug Radkey

Subtle, no?

If you’re planning to open a bar, restaurant, or hotel using a one-page business plan or an AI-generated template, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Let me be clear: using an AI-generated template is the absolute worst option.

I’ve seen it too many times. A passionate operator walks in with a dream and a slick one-pager (or even a 20-page document) in hand.

There are a few bullet points. A vision statement. Some rough numbers. A bit of basic demographics. Maybe a “mission.”

They think they’re ready right then and there to pitch to investors, lease a location, and operate a successful business.

Here’s the truth: a one-page plan isn’t a plan.

What it is, is a wishlist. And wishlists don’t build profitable, scalable, legacy-driven hospitality businesses.

It might feel good in the moment to have something down on paper. But when the real work starts—the budget controls, construction delays, staffing issues, supplier negotiations, licensing hiccups, margin pressures—that one-page business plan doesn’t do one damn thing to help you.

So, let’s call it what it is: lazy, outdated, and dangerous.

The Seduction of Simplicity

One-page business plans are everywhere. They’re easy. They’re free.

Maybe they’ve become trendy because some business guru got lucky and built a unicorn business with one.

One-pagers are sold as “quick-start” tools for entrepreneurs who want clarity and speed.

Well, clarity without depth is misleading. Speed without structure is reckless.

If you’re building a side hustle e-commerce business to run out of your basement or garage, fine. Maybe a one-pager can help you validate an idea.

But if you’re investing $250,000 to $2,500,000 or more into a physical property? If you want to build a business that hires teams, serves guests, signs leases, and burns through cash every day? You need more. Way more.

This is particularly true of an industry where the margin for error is razor thin. Where failure rates still hover around 60 to 80 percent. And where the smallest mistake can cost tens of thousands of dollars in a matter of weeks.

Let’s Talk About What’s Actually Missing

A one-pager or basic template from the bank or an AI program might give you a north star, but it doesn’t show you the terrain, the weather conditions, or the pitfalls along the way.

Here’s what it doesn’t give you:

1. Financial Reality Checks

You won’t see line-by-line startup budgets. You won’t understand contribution margins. And you won’t forecast labor productivity or revenue per available guest during different dayparts or seasons.

Most one-page plans have a single line called “Projected Revenue,” and maybe a “Cost of Goods Sold” and “Profit” box, if you’re lucky.

That’s not a financial strategy. That’s napkin math.

2. Market Nuance

“Target Market: Millennials.” Oh really? Which Millennials? Urban 30-somethings with disposable income? Foodies influenced by TikTok? Business travelers who value speed and convenience?

One-pagers flatten your market. What is the projected TAM/SAM/SOM?

These one-pagers don’t unpack demographics, psychographics, or behavioral segments. They definitely don’t account for neighborhood trends, transit flow, or tourism cycles.

3. Operational Strategy

Where’s your tech stack? Your vendor procurement plan? Your SOPs?

What about your training systems, performance metrics, shift structure, and flow-of-service blueprints?

A one-pager won’t even mention these, let alone show you how they connect to your financial model.

4. Brand Experience

“Cool vibes” is not a brand strategy. “Elevated, yet accessible” is not brand positioning.

Real brand work takes introspection, data, story, and soul.

A one-pager gives you slogans. A proper strategy playbook gives you meaning, and that in-depth meaning is what drives guest loyalty and differentiation.

5. Risk Mitigation

Let me ask you something: How do you know the size of property you need? How do you know what space is available to you?

If you don’t know either of those details, how do you plan to maximize your available budget, and the opportunity?

What happens if your chef walks out before you open? If your liquor license gets delayed?

Your one-pager doesn’t know. Because one-page business plans assume success.

Real strategic playbooks prepare you for failure and build contingency into every strategy.

So, Why Do So Many People Still Use Them?

Because they’re fast. Because they’re cheap. They look nice.

Because someone on YouTube said you could launch your restaurant in 60 days with ChatGPT.

And, let’s be honest, because they’re easy to hide behind.

You don’t have to face your gaps. You don’t have to confront what you don’t know. Your free to keep pretending your dream is “almost ready,” when really, you’re coasting on delusion.

One-pagers, templates, and auto-generated AI business plans might feel efficient. Most of the time, they’re simply a distraction from doing the real work.

You Need Playbooks, Not Just a Plan

At KRG Hospitality, we don’t do templated PDFs. We don’t sell cookie-cutter plans.

What we build with our clients are playbooks. These are dynamic, connected, tactical documents that actually help you start, stabilize, and scale your business.

Here’s what that looks like with our KRG Method program:

Feasibility Study

Validate your market. Understand your guests. Assess the viability of your business. Build confidence for your investors, and for yourself.

Concept Development

Design the business experience: programming, service, space, and an introduction to design. Create the DNA of your operation with clarity and cohesion.

Prototype Playbook

Layout. Flow. Fixtures. Furniture. Equipment. Zones. Build the engine that powers your day-to-day without friction.

Brand Strategy

Voice. Story. Purpose. Positioning. No more “vibe” businesses. Instead, you’ll build a brand that matters.

Tech-Stack Playbook

POS. PMS. CRM. Ordering. Inventory. We plug you into the right systems from day one.

Marketing Playbook

We map the entire journey from awareness to loyalty. Not just what platforms to use, but how to use them effectively for ROI.

Financial Playbook

Revenue models. Labor strategies. Cost controls. Funding schedules. Pre-opening cash flow. Profitability targets. Real math. Real insight.

Business Plan

This is the final product, the operation-facing doc. It’s not the starting point, it’s the summary of all your previous thinking tied into one strategic playbook.

And guess what? It works.

We’ve maintained a 98% startup success rate since 2009. And our clients average 18-plus-percet profit margins (over 24 percent for hotels). That doesn’t happen with a one-pager.

Real Story, Real Risk

We recently had a potential client come to us after trying to launch their venue with a one-page plan, hence the inspiration for this article.

They claimed they were 60 days from opening. Lease signed. Equipment was ordered.

Well, here’s the thing: There was no brand. There was no menu strategy, no staffing plan, no leadership. The financial model? Non-existent. The only semblance of a tech stack was a basic POS built for retail.

Their one-page plan had a paragraph about “innovative food,” and how they “will use social media and build great local partnerships.”

What it didn’t have was reality.

They were behind in their schedule, already $100K over budget, and couldn’t secure any investor confidence to help with their needed cash injection.

Had we been involved earlier, they could have saved thousands of dollars and months of stress.

The Bottom Line

I bet you’ve heard this one before: If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.

If your business is worth doing, it’s worth doing right from the very start.

You don’t need a shortcut, you need a system. You don’t need a one-pager, you need a proven method.

And you don’t need a “pretty” template, you need to think deeply about your business, because that’s what leads to results.

At KRG Hospitality, we don’t sell plans. We build brands, systems, strategy, and profit.

What we sell is strategic clarity.

So, if you’re serious about this business, ditch the one-pager. Because success isn’t something you manifest, it’s something you plan for. And planning requires both depth and critical thinking.

Image: Kevin Butz on Unsplash

A surreal image of stacks of cash resting on a pile of blue slush, representing a slush fund

August 8, 2025by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

A Party Slush Fund? We’re Down

A Party Slush Fund? We’re Down

by David Klemt

I asked AI for a visual representation of a slush fund, and I am not disappointed.

Innovation and adaptability have always been crucial for hospitality. Today, in increasingly challenging times, both are more important than ever.

So, whenever we come across an idea that’s outside the norm, we pay attention. Two days ago, we came across one such promotion.

The originators are a New York-based concept called Torch & Crown Brewing Company. They operate two locations, one in SoHo, and another in Union Square.

Torch & Crown is well aware that people appear to be pulling back from spending in bars, restaurants, clubs… Pretty much anywhere that’s offering anything not deemed essential.

To motivate people to gather and “throw down,” Torch & Crown has introduced their Slush Fund.

Their Story

From what I can find, the founders of Torch & Crown, Joe Correia and John Dantzler, are childhood friends. Yes, I put their names in alphabetical order because I feel like they may be competitive people.

They took an interesting route into brewing beer.

Basically, they wanted to drink beer while underage (something we would never endorse, of course) but were thwarted at the age of 16. That’s the age they were when their fake IDs were confiscated by a business in the East Village.

As the story goes, the duo got their hands on a homebrew kit, proceeded to cause it to erupt, and were grounded for weeks. Apparently unfazed, the two learned how to brew beer, and even entered homebrew contests.

During a trip to Ireland, Correia and Dantzler committed to opening their own brewery. They accomplished that goal in the 2010s, opening a brewery in the Bronx.

In 2021, the duo opened a 9,000-square-foot brewery with a taproom and restaurant. Upon opening, Torch & Crown became the only production brewery in Manhattan.

The company has faced its own challenges, as most operators have for the past several years. From what I’ve gathered, their production team was let go roughly one year ago. With any luck, the skilled team members have found new brewing homes.

Slush Fund

Now, let’s get into why we’re here.

Torch & Crown has announced Slush Fund, and they describe it on their Instagram profile as a “party scholarship program.” People pitch a party to them via this link. The team selects their favorite pitches—considering theme, vibe, what makes the idea special, the Torch & Crown location, and proposed date—and the winners receive an impressive party package.

First, successful pitches can select the SoHo location, Union Square location, or help setting up their own party venue. Second, Torch & Crown provides up to $5,000 in beer, non-alc beverages, food, and decor. Finally, those selected also get support from the Torch & Crown team to bring their party idea to life.

The application process is open now, and the plan is to select five pitches for each season. That’s 20 parties across a calendar year.

The Slush Fund Copy

Below, you’ll find the text of Torch & Crown’s post about the Slush Fund party scholarship.

“The data is in: partying is dead. We’ve read the think pieces, we’ve seen the stats, and as a bar, we feel it. People are drinking less, gathering less, and opting out because it feels too expensive, too stressful, or just too much. We recently learned that some people literally thought house parties only existed in movies…

“So, that’s where we come in…Torch & Crown is here to revive the lost art of throwing down. Introducing Slush Fund: our party scholarship program designed to help you party like it’s the summer of 2016. Each season of the year, we’ll pick 5 party pitches and provide:

🍻 Venue space at our SoHo or Union Square locations — or help throwing down at yours
🎉 Up to $5K in beer, food, non-alc drinks, and decor
👯 Our team’s support to bring your idea to life

“We’re currently taking applications for our fall Slush Fund parties. Tell us your theme, your vibe, and where you’d host. If you’re selected, we’ll help make it happen. Link in bio to apply!”

Image: Canva

Canadian flag against blue sky and white clouds

August 1, 2025by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Five Traits Quantify Admirability

5 Traits Quantify Admirability

by David Klemt

In part three of this series, I look at what traits people find admirable in others, and apply them to hospitality concepts.

Some venues are effortlessly cool. Others are undeniably good.

In 2012, a team led by psychologist Ilan Dar-Nimrod published a study in the Journal of Individual Differences titled “Coolness: An Empirical Investigation.”

Researchers asked more than 1,000 Canadian survey respondents (hence the image up top) to define what “cool” meant to them. They were also asked to describe someone they believed fit the label.

Their findings? People tend to assign admirable traits to “cool” individuals. Specifically, attractiveness, competence, desirability, friendliness, and trendiness.

Admirability, to provide further context, “is the quality of being admirable, worthy of respect or approval due to excellent qualities or achievements. It’s a noun that describes something or someone deserving of admiration.”

Interestingly, these attributes, while appealing, don’t align with the “counter-cultural” or “edgy” factors that typically define “actual” coolness in subcultures or social identity theory, per the research team.

In short, people blur the lines between being cool and being appealing or admirable. In hospitality, we often do the same.

Let’s break these five traits down, and look at how they shape the way guests may perceive your brand. If you can set out to build a cool or good hospitality concept, can you build one that’s worthy of admiration?

Attractiveness

In the Dar-Nimrod study, physical and aesthetic attractiveness ranked high as a “cool” trait. That’s largely because many people conflate outer appeal with inner value.

We all know (or should, at least) that being deemed physically attractive doesn’t automatically equal cool. Still, in this particular study of coolness, being attractive was ranked high as an admirable trait.

However, that’s easy for guests to forget when they’re surrounded by sleek interiors, photogenic food, or staff who look like they belong in a luxury fashion brand’s campaign shoot.

In a hospitality setting, attractive design can make a strong first impression. Some bar, restaurant, and hotel operators throw a lot of resources toward making their space look and feel cool. And why not? It does make some sense to assume that an attractive space will attract attractive people.

But cool isn’t curated, it’s effortless. At least, it it should feel that way, from discovery and arrival, and from service to exit and followup. Every aspect of service should be as amazing as the interior and exterior design.

Operators and their teams should identify and remove pain points and deliver smooth, seamless service to help the guest relax and escape. That’s effortless cool.

If the concept lacks a cohesive vision beyond “make it look cool,” there’s a feeling of inauthenticity. The service feels far more like a business deal than experiential, and the experience lacks soul. Soon, guests will see through the attractive façade.

In other words, a stunning dining room or bar doesn’t compensate for transactional hospitality.

If you’re leaning heavily on looks, make sure there’s substance beneath the surface. Create moments. Don’t let the aesthetic do all the heavy lifting.

Competence

Guests love a restaurant or hotel that runs like a Swiss watch. Precision is admirable, and competence feels reliable.

And when things just work, it puts people at ease.

But let’s be honest—competence isn’t inherently cool. In fact, when a brand flaunts its expertise too much, it can come across as smug or inaccessible.

In the Dar-Nimrod study, competence was one of the most frequently mentioned traits in cool people. But being competent doesn’t mean you break rules, take risks, or build culture.

Further, many people today are less interested in your how than your what. It’s becoming nearly as important as your why.

If a guest comes to your bar, what should they expect? What does your restaurant have to offer them? Is there something about your hotel that guests should see and experience?

Focus much more on the why and what, and let them decide if they want to know your how.

It’s the difference between a chef who lets their food do the talking versus one who drills guests with the minutiae of each ingredient and every technique they use to create each dish. Sure, a handful of guests are interested; most just want to scan the menu, order, and eat.

For most concepts, operational excellence should support the experience, not be the experience. Let your team’s confidence come through in calm, collected moments.

Again, coolness seems like it takes very little, if any, effort. It’s a bit of paradox, but great operators put the hard work into analyzing and refining every step of service until it becomes so smooth that it seems to come off effortlessly.

Desirability

Exclusivity creates demand. Demand fuels the perception of coolness.

But here’s the trap: When people want in just because everyone else does (FOMO, anyone?), a concept or brand risks becoming nothing much more than a hype machine.

That can look like cool from the outside. It can even seem like the concept is printing money if seats or rooms are unavailable for weeks or months. However, if the guest experience is just average, all that has been built is a fragile house of cards.

In Dar-Nimrod’s research, social desirability—the idea that someone is wanted, valued, or sought after—was commonly linked to perceived coolness. But desire is contextual.

Just because a place is hard to get into doesn’t mean it’s good, or cool, or will be relevant six months after opening, let alone a year into operations.

Most concepts don’t need a velvet rope. And they don’t need reservations so exclusive that an entire black market industry sprouts up just to obtain one.

What operators, their teams, and their brand need are values, intention, and consistency. That’s what drives real brand loyalty.

Artificial scarcity, like superficial desirability, is fleeting; integrity and authenticity are enduring.

Friendliness

This one’s a bit of a curveball. Friendliness is thought to be one of the core tenets of hospitality. So, how could it not be cool?

In the study, friendliness was often linked with coolness, but not in a defining way. More often, it was background noise—something that made someone likable, not legendary.

Here’s the thing: being friendly is expected in our industry. Being cordial is our baseline; it’s our standard level of professionalism.

It’s warmth, however, that really draws in guests, makes an experience memorable, and inspires repeat visits. In fact, warmth is included in a list of attributes that people tend to equate with being good. You can find that and the rest of the “goodness” traits in the second article in this series.

When everything is pleasant but perceived as too polished, the experience can slide into forgettable territory. Worse, it can feel disingenuous, and easily become off-putting.

I’d argue that being warm and welcoming is a true tenet of hospitality. More so than friendliness, anyway.

To me, friendliness is a byproduct of being warm. It’s what really makes a guest feel welcome when stepping into a bar, restaurant, or hotel. A person really can’t be warm and welcoming without being friendly (unless they’re incredible actors).

Guest-facing staff should be warm, not robotic. They should build rapport, not routines.

Let your team’s personalities shine through, even if it breaks script now and then. Guests remember what’s real, and how staff made them feel.

Trendiness

Trendiness is the most deceptive trait on this list of five.

Dar-Nimrod’s participants often cited trendiness when describing cool people. But deeper analysis by the researchers revealed that trendiness is perceived cool, not authentic cool.

It’s difficult for any concept to seem authentic if its constantly chasing trends. What is the concept if there’s little to no consistency because the operators are just jumping on every shiny, new toy that comes across everyone’s social media feeds?

A venue that pursues every current trend—cocktail techniques, food items, cuisine mashups, design palettes, even vibes—might look cool (attractiveness). We need to keep in mind that fads are fleeting, and trends, however one may influence culture, tend to have short lives.

The authentically cool thing to do is be discerning. Sit back and let others chase fads or trends every time one pops up. It takes much more savvy, and therefore coolness, to wait to embrace a trend that seems organic to your concept.

Make sure you’re building something lasting. Integrate trends in ways that feel organic rather than opportunistic.

Don’t chase every trend; be the source of a trend. That’s a cooler move by nearly every measure.

Final Bite

So what do you do with all this?

Pursuing attractiveness, competence, desirability, friendliness, and trendiness to be cool isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Neither is perceiving these traits as admirable, and striving to develop a concept that has these attributes.

These traits can be cool, and can be admirable, and they do contribute to brand value.

But if you want to build a venue that feels cool in the way that draws a crowd without trying too hard, builds loyalty through authenticity, and sets the tone instead of following it, you’ll need to go deeper.

Cool can’t be faked, but it can be felt. At the end of the day, operators and their teams should strive to be hospitable, warm, and welcoming.

Image: Chris Robert via Unsplash

A vertical hotel sign reading "GOOD" with glass buildings in the background.

July 25, 2025by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Eight Traits Quantify Good

8 Traits Quantify Good

by David Klemt

Is this too on the nose? I feel like it’s too on the nose. At least it isn’t AI!

We took a look at what traits may make a bar, restaurant, or hotel cool. Now, we’re turning our focus to what would make one “good.”

Similarly to cool, it can be easier to identify good than to sit down and quantify it. That is to say, most of us sense goodness better than we describe goodness.

But what meaning of “good” am I using as a form of measurement? For this article, understand that I’m not using the words “good” or “goodness” in the context of rating a restaurant or bar, or its F&B items.

Rather, I’m going the direction of the article I based on the “Cool People” experiment. If we can quantify cool as a person, we can a bar, restaurant, or hotel’s coolness. Therefore, we should be able to do the same to measure a venue or brand’s goodness.

Drilling down further, I’m also not really looking at goodness to judge a brand’s ethics. I like restaurants and bars that implement SOPs that reduce waste. And I think it’s important for hotels to operate in sustainable manners.

However, we can all argue over responsible, ethical operations and whether that makes a brand good. Can a brand be performative but still good? If the result is the same, does it matter if the company doesn’t really care?

Instead, I’m using the “Cool People” experiment’s own attribute measurements, and looking at how they can apply to a hospitality business.

Agreeable

Three attributes scored in the “Cool People” experiment were part of a Big Five Personality Traits* list. This is one of them, along with being conscientious and calm.

If someone is agreeable, they’re sympathetic and warm. They’re perceived as compassionate, cooperative, and kind. People who are perceived as highly agreeable are regarded as empathetic, altruistic, and focused on maintaining positive relationships.

To me, that sounds a lot like a definition of hospitality. The spirit of hospitality is selflessness, kindness, helpfulness, and a devotion to welcoming all.

*Anyone curious to learn more can search for “A very brief measure of the Big-Five personality domains” by Samuel D. Gosling, Peter J. Rentfrow, and William B. Swann, Jr., published in the Journal of Research in Personality in 2003.

Calm

A calm person is emotionally stable. Perhaps the best way to look at this attribute is through its opposite: neuroticism.

If someone’s neurotic, they’re emotionally reactive. Stress and change are seen as threatening by neurotic people. Due to poor coping mechanisms, someone who’s neurotic may think less clearly about what they’re experiencing, and therefore make worse and worse decisions.

On the other hand, a calm person retains their composure, handling stressful situations rationally and gracefully. They’re able to make good, effective decisions in the midst of stress and tension.

So, a calm restaurant or bar doesn’t make its guests feel negative emotions. The vibe may be energetic rather than placid, but it doesn’t feel anxious or angry. Guests who visit a calm hospitality venue won’t be overcome with the desire to leave; they’ll feel comfortable and safe.

This is an attribute that’s certainly tied to culture. If leadership is reactive or emotionally unstable, the rest of the team will feel it, and that will be felt by guests. The same can be said for problematic staff that infect the team with their reactivity and negativity.

A stable, supportive leadership team that hires for and nurtures a positive, healthy team will create a calm atmosphere for guests.

Conforming

Let’s look at how the “Cool People” team presented this attribute to respondents.

This person believes that people should do what they are told.
He/she follows rules at all times, even when no one is watching.
It is important for this person to always behave properly.
He/she avoids doing anything people would say is wrong.

At first glance, this sounds like it’s describing an authoritarian: do as your told, and don’t deviate from the rules.

Now, let’s put “conforming” into the context of a well-run bar, restaurant, or hotel.

Ruling with an iron fist is poor leadership. Identifying a brand’s values and mission, and adhering to them every step of the way is real leadership.

Crafting a hiring and onboarding materials, including an employee manual that includes clear SOPs for every role, is the type of conformity that’s healthy for a hospitality business.

The benefit of everyone knowing what’s expected of them, and believing leadership walks the talk of values and mission, is consistency. And consistency is the key result of this form of conformity.

That said, leadership needs to strike a balance between conformity and adaptability. The team should adhere to SOPs without being robotic; empower them to adapt should they find themselves in a service recovery situation.

Conscientious

This is a slippery one. A person who’s perhaps too conscientious can be perceived as obstinate, refusing to change a course of action. People who have low conscientiousness may be viewed as unreliable and sloppy.

The ideal balance, then, is someone who’s reliable and organized, and wants to complete their tasks efficiently.

Were a restaurant or bar to be perceived as conscientious, the team would be known for its top-level service. That impeccable service—including service recovery—would, of course, be linked directly to being conforming, calm, and agreeable.

In short, a conscientious restaurant would be known for its reliable service. A conscientious bar is led by an organized team. Such a hotel would be a well-oiled machine that develops and nurtures a team committed to efficiency.

Secure

There are a couple of ways to view a bar, restaurant, or hotel through the lens of security.

A hospitality venue perceived as secure makes guests and staff feel safe and comfortable. Even those in rougher locations can be secure if the operators do the work to make guests feel safe once they’ve stepped through their doors.

That feeling of security must also extend to staff. The team needs to know and feel that leadership sees their value, treats them fairly, has their back when guests are being difficult or making them feel uncomfortable, and enforces rules consistently.

Security can also take the form of reliability. Putting in the work to be a guest’s “safe” option can pay big dividends. There’s security and long-term success in becoming someone’s “third spot.”

It’s fun to innovate and be edgy. However, it’s also important to be familiar and approachable. Security as reliability and consistency is how a bar, restaurant, or hotel encourages a guest’s second visit, and then the all-too-important third visit that transforms them into a regular.

In either sense of the word, security is a key attribute for a good venue.

Traditional

I’m going to admit that I struggled with this one. The way it was presented to participants of the “Cool People” experiment doesn’t appear to translate directly to bars, restaurants, or hotels.

Half of the measures for this attribute focus on religion explicitly. It’s also presented as the antithesis to hedonism, an attribute associated with people perceived as cool.

Okay, so how can I relate religion to hospitality? Respectfully, I hope. As I view its essence, religion can be defined by community, guidance and belief, and practices.

Traditionally, hospitality is about building and serving communities. Hospitality workers are also a community and in and of themselves.

As far as beliefs and guidance, hospitality is driven by service, generosity, and an authentic desire to welcome and accept others.

Those beliefs are reinforced by hospitality professionals who practice:

selflessness and sacrifice;
creating memories through kindness;
providing what guests want;
anticipating and honoring their needs; and
being respectful, friendly, and welcome everyone.

The way I see it, all hospitality venues that are welcoming and committed to hospitality are traditional.

Of course, there’s also the way we all perceive bars, restaurants, and hotels. Even the most innovative, experimental, and experiential concepts (The Aviary in Chicago, for example) are traditional in the sense that guests have an idea of what they should expect when they walk through the doors.

Universalistic

“This person thinks it is important that every person in the world be treated equally.” That’s how someone defined by this attribute could be measured, per the “Cool People” experiment team.

Let’s be honest, treating every guest as equal and equally important is the baseline for hospitality.

People can choose to spend their time and money at any bar or restaurant. Or they can decide against doing that at all, stay home, and make their own food and drinks. The same is true of lodging and accommodation: there are plenty of motels, hotels, and resorts someone can visit.

The question is: Why should they spend their time and money at your bar, restaurant, or hotel?

The answer is: Because you treat every guest with respect, and make them feel welcome and special.

Make someone feel cool and they’ll make return visits. They’ll tell their family, friends, coworkers, tourists, and people online to check out your spot. Make every guest feel relevant, seen, and heard.

It’s non-negotiable for a good restaurant, and that’s what makes a great hospitality brand and venue universalistic. If you’re not interested in welcoming everyone and treating them as equals, you’re in the wrong business.

Warm

Warmth is one of the core elements of hospitality. The people who conducted the “Cool Person” experiment may as well have been talking about a hospitality pro when they included the measures of this attribute:

it is important to this person to help people;
they care for other people;
they’re loyal to his/her friends; and
this person devotes himself/herself to people that are close to him/her.

With very few minor revisions, that could absolutely describe the ideal candidate in a bar, restaurant, or hotel job listing.

It’s crucial to hospitality, and it walks hand in hand with being welcoming and agreeable.

We can train just about anyone on the technical aspects of a given hospitality role. That’s what onboarding, training, and ongoing training is all about: developing and reinforcing skills.

That’s why the prevailing wisdom from successful hospitality operators and leaders is to hire for personality. Look for genuine warmth, extraversion, and the personality traits you need for your concept’s team.

Final Sip

Can a hospitality business be perceived as good in similar fashion to a person?

Perhaps. I’ll say that this has been a bit of an odd exercise.

Of course, finding out if I can attribute “goodness” to a bar, restaurant, or hotel has also been fun for me. I hope these two articles—one on quantifying cool, one on measuring good—have been entertaining and compelling for you, as well.

As it stands, I’ve got one more in me. We’ve got a series! Cheers!

Image: Carson Masterson on Unsplash

July 11, 2025by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Six Traits Quantify Cool

Six Traits Quantify Cool

by David Klemt

It’s difficult to visualize cool, so here’s a dog wearing doggles on a sportbike outside of a bar. Cool!

A team of researchers published the results of an experiment spanning several years, nearly 6,000 participants, and a dozen countries to quantify cool.

The international team’s paper, “Cool People,” was published by the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Experimental Psychology.

Alphabetically, the respondents are from: Australia, Chile, China (mainland and Hong Kong), Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, and the United States.

The team’s research identifies six attributes of being “cool.” Interestingly, while they focused on 13 different regions, attributes associated with being cool are found to be surprisingly stable.

For the most part, cool people share these characteristics across several countries and cultures.

“Coolness is socially constructed such that a person, object, or behavior is cool if people agree that it is cool and uncool if they agree that it is not. Thus, it is less important to know how scholars have defined coolness than to understand what people perceive to be cool and uncool. We therefore operationally define coolness as whether or not a person is subjectively perceived to be cool by an observer.”

Per the Cool People researchers, this is fairly universal.

Relevance to Hospitality

I’ve taken a look at “cool” before. My conclusions were that it’s an amorphous concept, and that most people know something is cool in the moment. So, it’s interesting to see that researchers tackled the topic over the course of five or more years.

“Okay, great,” you may be thinking. “What does this have to do with my business?”

Hospitality is, by its nature, social. Coolness is a social construct, and society (and the cultural subsets therein) decide what’s cool.

People support brands and businesses they think are cool; it’s really that simple. Being deemed cool by a significant number of guests is a key to long-term success for most brands.

This experiment inspired me to look at restaurants, bars, and hotels through the lens of the Cool People experiment. Can we apply the six Cool People attributes to a restaurant, bar, or hotel?

Let’s dive in, or whatever a cool person would say. I guess they wouldn’t have to say anything; they’d make their move and people would follow.

Extraverted/Extroverted

In simple terms, extroverts are perceived—a key word here—as sociable and outgoing. They enjoy being around other people, and want to interact in social settings.

If your restaurant, bar, nightclub, or hotel were a “cool” person, it would display characteristics of an extrovert: sociable, assertive, friendly, makes friends easily, talkative/communicative, enjoys groups, finds socializing energizing, and many others.

(Extraversion versus introversion goes much deeper, psychologically speaking, and I’m keeping things much less complicated here. Introverts can absolutely have the characteristics above.)

Were your venue and staff seen as extroverted (and therefore cool), it would be perceived by guests as welcoming and sociable, at the least. The experience would tell a story, and make guests feel like friends rather than being strictly transactional.

Look appealing? Sound like your business? It should, because that’s hospitality at its core.

Achieving this attribute requires leadership to make the right decisions, from branding and marketing to hiring, onboarding, and training, and also curating the vibe during every daypart.

Hedonistic

Hedonism is indulgence. It’s a focus on pleasure, and an aversion to pain.

Understand this: People can eat, drink, relax, and sleep at home. They don’t really need to visit your bar, restaurant, or hotel; they want to visit your business. People want to socialize, see, and be seen, to feel accepted and special.

Of course, you and your team have to make them want to visit and spend their time and money at your place. They want to leave their homes and be made to feel cool and special, but you need to do the work to lure them to your venue.

A hedonistic restaurant, bar, nightclub or hotel delivers a memorable experience that fulfills guest desires and surpasses their expectations (delivering pleasure). Hedonism in this sense also means ensuring a guest’s exterior stressors melt away while they’re spending time with you and your team (removing pain points).

In my opinion, truly cool people make others feel cool. So, you and your team need to do the same. Look at your touch points. Review your leadership’s approach to service recovery. Be honest about whether your team feels empowered to be themselves while adhering to your SOPs and expectations.

Why? Because your guests want to feel cool. They want to feel relevant, important, seen, and heard. Does your standard of service make guests feel cool?

Show your guests that you think they’re cool. Indulge their wants and needs, unreasonably so if possible. In turn, they’ll want to indulge their desire to socialize, eat, and drink at your place.

Powerful

In the context of your hospitality brand, powerful can be defined as influential.

Does your community view your bar or restaurant favorably? Do the locals in your market support and spend time in your hotel?

If you’ve led your business to becoming a destination for surrounding markets, it’s powerful. And if people aspire to be seen at your business, that’s influence, and therefore power.

Has your restaurant or bar become a destination for people in other cities, states, provinces, and even other countries? Congratulations, you and your team have built, and are running, a powerful concept.

The same is true if your business can scale successfully; a concept that resonates strongly with the public is powerful. (Interestingly, building a brand that can scale but doesn’t is also cool.)

Create a legacy brand, lead your business to achieve long-term success, and you’ll have built a powerhouse.

Adventurous

People perceive as cool any person who’s willing to try new things, and does so often. The reasoning is simple: adventure is cool.

Travel and exploration are cool, and all over social media. Overlanding—self-reliant travel to remote destinations—has surged in popularity over the past few years. The ADV (adventure) motorcycle segment is expected to grow by a billion dollars year over year for the next eight years.

People want adventure, excitement, and new experiences. Hospitality brands are positioned uniquely to fulfill this desire.

Offering guests a unique spin on even a single F&B item can be adventurous. Introducing guests to a new-to-them cuisine is you and your team taking them on an adventure. The same is true for unique amenities, or creating a new way for a guest to experience a space.

Interesting glassware, compelling F&B pairings, eccentric ingredients and presentations, distinct menus, cuisines not otherwise presented in a given market… Even how menus or checks are dropped can deliver an adventure.

Adventurous people are seen as cool. You know what’s even cooler? Being the adventure. Strive to become an escape and escapade.

Open

Along with being adventurous, cool people are viewed as “open.”

Curiosity is cool. Being open to new experiences and ideas is cool. Welcoming people from all walks of life is cool.

This characteristic of coolness is represented in multiple ways in hospitality. A restaurant or bar team can at once be open to new ideas internally, and provide the opportunity for guests to experience new items and experiences.

Empower your team to share their thoughts on your brand, marketing, menus, promotions, and the guest experience. Speaking generally, different generations and groups have different opinions on what’s cool, so ask them for their input.

Be open to change, embrace it, and see how quickly your restaurant, bar, or hotel becomes the cool place to seek out new experiences.

Autonomous

Ask someone if conformity is cool and they’ll likely pull a face and say no. Of course, that’s somewhat ironic since most people want to be—and want to be part of—what’s deemed cool.

Trying to be cool is inherently uncool; we expect cool people to be so effortlessly. It’s a double-edged sword, with cool on one side of the blade and uncool (or cringe, if you prefer) on the other.

Going against the grain, circumventing expectations, and doing their own thing? That’s what cool people do.

It makes sense, then, that a restaurant or bar that doesn’t do and offer what every other place is doing (autonomy) is cool.

From the researchers: “[I]f coolness motivates the spread of innovation, then coolness should be associated with creating and diffusing new ideas.”

To be blunt, most restaurants, bars, and hotels are selling the same shit. In recent years, some big personalities in the industry have been saying this quite plainly. One was on the Bar Hacks podcast recently.

So, if we’re all selling the same things to our guests, how can any concept be seen as autonomous, and therefore cool? It comes down to strict adherence to our vision, a commitment to developing a fully realized brand, our team’s focus on the guest experience, and unique interpretation of menu items.

Of course, that last element can go sideways, slipping away from “cool” and spiraling into confusion or frustration.

Give your guests the cool, unique experience only you and your team can deliver, but make it approachable and understandable. Otherwise, you’ve given them homework, not an escape from their everyday lives.

Cool vs. Good

There’s an additional, interesting component to the Cool People experiment.

Within their paper the researchers reference a Canadian experiment. The study found that Canadian students, at least up to 2012, “frequently” saw cool people as those who demonstrated five characteristics of admirable people: friendliness, competence, desirability, attractiveness, and trendiness.

(Personally, I’m disappointed Canada wasn’t included in the Cool People experiment. I’m comfortable saying the rest of the KRG Hospitality team joins me in my dissatisfaction.)

Cool People researchers posit that that cool people should be admired by others for their status as a cool person. But that leads to other questions: Shouldn’t we admire good people? If so, is cool the same as good?

The researchers were compelled to address those questions during their experiment. Put simply, they found that cool people are capable of being “good.” However, they’re defined, for lack of a better word, as being extraverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open, and autonomous. You’ll notice “good” isn’t on that list.

So, no, cool is not the same as good, as far as this particular experiment’s findings show.

You’re probably wondering now what characteristics are attributed to good people. Well, you’re in luck, because the Cool People researchers included them in their experiment: conforming, traditional, secure, warm, agreeable, universalistic, conscientious, and calm.

What would the perception of being “good” look like for a restaurant, bar, or hotel? I may just tackle that question in an upcoming article.

Cheers!

AI-generated image: Microsoft Designer

AI-generated image of a bottle of Cognac, two Cognac snifters, and some mints on a silver platter on a restaurant table

June 20, 2025by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

It’s Time to Perfect Your Moves

It’s Time to Perfect Your Moves

by David Klemt

This AI-generated image will make sense after you read this article.

Will Guidara doesn’t just believe in hospitality, he’s all in on the kind that goes beyond expectations and transforms into unreasonable hospitality.

I mean, it’s the title of his best-selling book, and the subject of a Guidara-hosted TED Talk. That should tell you all you need to know about his belief in taking hospitality to “unreasonable” levels.

At the 2025 Bar & Restaurant Expo in Las Vegas, Guidara delivered a keynote that was part challenge, part call to arms. His message was clear: the only true long-term competitive advantage in food and beverage isn’t the food, the drinks, or the space. It’s the hospitality.

The KRG Hospitality team also lives this approach to hospitality. At the end of the day, most concepts are selling the same items. Makes sense given the iron grip purveyors have on F&B, right?

So, a hugely important differentiator is how operators and their teams deliver on hospitality. To that end, Guidara has identified 130 touch points that influence the guest experience. That’s 130 in roads. Or, depending on which moments a team doesn’t leverage, 130 self-imposed obstacles or exits.

The Only Competitive Advantage

“Eventually, someone else is going to come around and create a better product,” Guidara told a packed room in Las Vegas. “The only competitive advantage that exists in the long term is your hospitality.”

That might sound like a line, but coming from Guidara, it’s a philosophy.

He urged operators to “throw [y]ourselves wholeheartedly at the pursuit of those relationships,” referring to the guest connections that drive loyalty, advocacy, and repeat visits.

These aren’t just transactions; these are opportunities to make people feel seen, valued, and appreciated.

Drilling all the way down, whether someone is tossing a few bucks at a quick bite or dropping tens of thousands for an experience, they want the same thing. Everyone wants to feel relevant. To feel important, and even cool.

You may not see the guests you make feel special every day. However, the chances of transforming them into repeat guests increases when you treat them like VIPs regardless of who they are, what they order, and how much they spend.

130 Moments

At Eleven Madison Park, Guidara and his team identified 130 distinct touch points in a guest’s dining experience.

The first moment is that guest researching your venue online, and the last is leaving their table. One of those touch points (or moments) is dropping the check.

And yet, said Guidara, most operators treat it like the end of the story, as nothing more than a transactional curtain call.

Guidara sees it as one last moment to connect. He referenced a study involving 2,000 restaurants: the 1,000 that dropped a mint with the check saw an 18-percent increase in tips. Call it a gimmick if you want, but it’s a small gesture that had a tangible impact. And all those teams had to do was include a mint that costs literally three to five cents.

A Better Ending

As I was sitting in the audience, Guidara’s thoughts on dropping the check reminded me of a Jim Gaffigan bit. Joking about the restaurant experience, he says getting the check can feel like a bit of a gut punch, particularly when the service has been so warm and friendly. Upon receiving the check in his standup bit, Gaffigan deadpans, “I thought we were friends.”

Surely, we can all do better than just walking up, dropping the check, and waiting for payment.

Guidara shared a personal example of turning this touch point into more of a moment. After delivering a particularly high check, he returned to the table with a full bottle of Cognac. He poured a splash into each guest’s glass, then simply left the bottle on the table. Rarely did anyone pour more—but that wasn’t the point. The gesture itself was the takeaway.

Do I expect operators to accompany checks with expensive spirits or wine? No, of course not. But I do want operators, their leaders, and their staff to consider what they can do to leverage the final moments of a guest’s experience.

Review, Rethink, Refresh

Guidara encouraged every operator in the room to review their own touch points.

“In the next month, identify one touch point you may not think about much, and get creative to enhance it,” he said.

This doesn’t mean swinging for the fences and transforming the moment you’ve selected into something needlessly grandiose. Instead, the key is intentionality.

Even a small change—if it’s thoughtful—can become unforgettable.

Further, taking on this exercise should help you fine-tune your service cadence. I recommend undergoing this exercise each month from now until the end of the year, choosing at least one touch point to elevate. More than likely, your steps of service will benefit from this intentionality and resulting refinement.

Team First, Always

Pre-meal, Guidara argued, is the most important time to rally your team.

It’s the moment to communicate the “why” behind your service. This is the time to set the tone, reinforce values, and spread passion.

Pre-meal also happens to be on Chef Brian Duffy’s non-negotiable daily checklist, in case you needed more proof to its importance.

“I believe passion is contagious,” Guidara said during his BRE keynote. “Energy begets energy. Passion begets passion.”

But operators have to be brave enough to go first. Too many are caught up in trying to look “cool,” when what’s actually needed is a little vulnerability and a lot of real talk.

He also reminded leaders to get their hands dirty.

Some people have a romanticized vision of restaurant, bar or nightclub ownership. They think they’ll be the cool person showing up to their hotspot in an expensive drop-top, fawned over by staff and guests alike. The reality is typically much further from that dream.

As an owner, you’ll be the one sprinting to the bathroom to unclog a toilet, or staring at an electrical panel, trying to figure out why half the kitchen went down suddenly.

When your team is in the weeds, the fastest way to earn their respect is to do the most menial task in the room: “Don’t ask them to do anything you wouldn’t do yourself.”

Perfect Your Moves

Guidara uses the word “moves” to describe signature gestures. These are moments that define your operation, steps within your service cadence that set it apart.

Before you start overthinking your cadence or second-guessing every step, your moves don’t have to be dramatic or expensive. What’s important is that they’re yours.

“Only do what you can do well,” said Guidara. “If you can only do one thing, do that one thing and stand out.”

But keep a simple mantra in mind: Complication is the enemy.

“Nothing will gain traction with your team if it’s too difficult to implement.” We take this to heart at KRG, encouraging operators to keep their menus to 12 to 15 items, prepared better than any competitor makes them.

Also, bear this in mind: When team members are invited into the creative process—when they get to contribute to the magic—engagement skyrockets. The back-of-house team should be part of the initial food menu development stage. For the bar menu, the bar team should be actively engaged.

When it’s time for seasonal or mid-year menu refreshes, encourage involvement from the entire team.

Turn Guests Into Ambassadors

This isn’t about over-delivering or giving everything away. Rather, it’s about being present.

When your team is empowered and your service is intentional, you create moments that guests talk about. Those moments turn guests into evangelists.

They come back. They bring others. Your regulars become a legion of ambassadors for your brand.

We live and run businesses in a world where the food, the drinks, and the vibe can all be copied. But that kind of guest loyalty? That’s the one thing that pretenders can’t replicate.

Image: Canva

Diplomático Rum launches Single Vintage 2013, a limited-edition bottle

June 13, 2025by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

We Tasted Diplomático’s Latest Release

We Tasted Diplomático’s Latest Release

by David Klemt

I had the opportunity to attend a guided tasting of the latest release from Diplomático Rum, hosted by national brand ambassador Jose Luis Ballesteros.

During this guided tasting, those of us lucky enough to attend tasted Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva against the newest expression: Single Vintage 2013.

It’s odd to refer to a super-premium Venezuelan rum as “standard,” but Reserva Exclusiva is the entry point into Diplomático’s Traditional Range. It’s not up on the website currently, but Single Vintage 2013 will take its place in the Prestige Range.

In my experience, sharing tasting notes can hinder the experience for others. Someone who doesn’t detect the same notes as somebody else may think there’s something wrong with their palate. So, I’ll share the top-line notes from my tasting, with the caveat that “your mileage may very,” as it were.

When I sip Reserva Exclusiva, I pick up brown sugar, toffee, coffee, and dark chocolate. Personally, I pick up subtle orange peel notes, and also get a bit of licorice on the back end. As far as a lineup’s defining standard, Reserva Exclusiva is sophisticated sipper.

If I were limited to a single word to describe Single Vintage 2013, it would be “rich.” Overall, it’s a richer, deeper drinking experience in comparison to Reserva Exclusiva.

Along with a warm hug of brown sugar, I detect vanilla, dark chocolate, and, interestingly, a touch of smoke and mint.

Limited Allocation

For anyone who has yet to be introduced to Jose Juis Ballesteros, he’s uniquely qualified for the role as Diplomático’s national brand ambassador.

He happens to represent the fourth generation of the family that founded the company.

In addition to guiding us as we tasted the benchmark expression versus the latest one, Ballesteros shared some compelling insights and tips.

Interestingly, there are less than 18,000 bottles of Single Vintage 2013 worldwide. Roughly 6,000 are allocated for the US, making this a rather exclusive rum for 2025.

So unique is Single Vintage 2013, Ballesteros is uncertain Diplomático will ever replicate its specific profile. In other words, if you find yourself with the opportunity to taste it, do it.

And, once you’ve tasted it, consider doing what it takes to add it to your bar, restaurant, or nightclub’s inventory.

Switch it Up

It’s natural, perhaps, to compare rum to whiskey. Seems like a no-brainer, right? Tasting notes, production, cocktail creation… They seem rather similar.

In fact, it’s not uncommon at all for bartenders and educators to use whiskey as entry point for people who say they’re not rum drinkers.

However, Ballesteros feels the better comparison is tequila. So, take a look at your inventory, and taste your premium and super-premium rums against tequilas in similar categories.

When it comes to making cocktails, tequila educators have steered me toward orange rather than lime over the past year or two. Now, I can add using oranges when tasting rum.

To taste like Ballesteros, take an orange slice, cover it in cocoa powder, and take a bite. Then, taste the rum. I can’t say yet if this works for all rums or mainly Diplomático, but give it a whirl.

Final Pour

When I asked Ballesteros about a good evening out—thing pre-meal, meal, and afterward—he said the following:

He suggests starting with a Daiquiri, moving to a Rum Negroni made with Exclusiva Reserva, then ending with a Single Vintage.

Staying on the topic of cocktails, Ballesteros noted that he used to agree with the belief that adding high-quality rum to a simple cocktail like a Rum & Coke was foolish. However, he has shifted that mindset.

Now, he enjoys playing around, learning how a premium or super-premium rum’s profile can change with the addition of just one or two ingredients.

Finally, on the subject of pushback from people who say they don’t like rum, he had this to say: “Everyone has a palate for one style.”

There are so many styles, countries of origin, and expressions that there’s something for everyone. It’s the bartender’s job to help guide guests to their perfect match.

Cheers!

INTRODUCING DIPLOMÁTICO SINGLE VINTAGE 2013: A RUM TEN YEARS IN THE MAKING

NEW YORK, NY (JUNE, 2025) – Diplomático Rum, the award-winning super-premium rum from Venezuela, proudly announces the launch of Single Vintage 2013, a limited-edition release that showcases the brand’s passion for craftsmanship, innovation and precision in rum-making.

Single Vintage 2013 marks a first for Diplomático – a pioneering blend of the three types of Diplomático´s light distillates before ageing (standard column, batch kettle, and barbet column). Crafted from reserves distilled in 2013 and matured for 10 years in ex-bourbon and ex-whiskey casks, the result is a rum as rich in complexity as it is in character.

This distinctive rum opens with notes of toffee, fudge and toasted almonds, evolving into a layered palate of dark chocolate, cherry, pear, dates and raisin, finishing with a smooth blend of brown sugar, vanilla, and mint chocolate.

“The 2013 vintage is a tribute to the art of rum-making and the depth of our reserves,” said Jose Luis Ballesteros, National Brand Ambassador, Diplomático Rum. “It reflects our pursuit of excellence and the remarkable flavor that emerges when innovation meets patience.”

Diplomático Single Vintage 2013 will be available in limited quantities at select premium retailers across the U.S. for a suggested retail price (SRP) of $120. Featuring a redesigned bottle and packaging, the release brings modern elegance to the prestige range while honoring the timeless spirit within. For more information about Diplomático Rum and its full portfolio, visit www.rondiplomatico.com.

Learn More

PR Contact: KLG Public Relations | diplomatico@klgpr.com

About Diplomático:

Diplomático Rum, distributed in more than 100 countries, is a super-premium rum from Venezuela and one of the most awarded spirits around the world. Diplomático honors the rum’s signature flavor and the art in its blending over any other thing. The product range consists of the Tradition Range: Planas, Mantuano, and flagship Reserva Exclusiva, the Prestige Range: Single Vintage and Ambassador. Learn more: www.rondiplomatico.com.

ENJOY DIPLOMÁTICO WITH MODERATION.

Diplomático Rum, 40-47% ALC/VOL, Imported by Brown-Forman, Louisville, KY. DIPLOMÁTICO is a registered trademark of Diplomatico Branding, Unipessoal LDA.

Disclaimer: Neither the author nor KRG Hospitality received compensation, monetary or otherwise, in exchange for this post.

Image provided by Diplomático Rum

AI-generated image of a pile of chicken nuggets on a plate in a restaurant, wtih a red flag jutting out of them

June 6, 2025by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Chicken Tenders with a Side of Red Flag

Chicken Tenders with a Side of Red Flag

by David Klemt

Red flag! AI-generated image.

Chef Brian Duffy doesn’t mince words, and when it comes to restaurant menus, he has zero patience for mediocrity and the absence of creativity.

During his latest live menu read at Bar & Restaurant Expo 2025, Chef Duffy once again shared his unfiltered thoughts and tips in real time.

Reviewing menus submitted prior to his live menu read, Chef Duffy went after tired ingredients, uninteresting items, pricing, and menus that scream “I was designed by a supplier!”

For those who have yet to witness a Duffified live menu read, the process is simple. A call for menus is sent out, people send over their menus, and they’re put up on a large screen at the Bar & Restaurant Expo’s F&B Innovation Center or in a classroom.

A key element is that Chef Duffy doesn’t see the menus ahead of time; his thoughts are off the cuff and in the moment.

It’s important to note that not every menu is eviscerated. Chef Duffy points out strengths, and offers suggestions to make good menus great. And, without fail, attendees paying attention will walk away with a pile of helpful tips.

Oh, look, chicken tenders. Yay.

Which came first, the chicken tenders or the apathy?

“If chicken tenders are on your menu, you’re bastardizing your brand.”

That line alone set the tone for the session. Chef Duffy’s point? If you’re trying to build a unique, memorable food program—and you should be—then you can’t fall back on the same tired menu items as everyone else.

If your reports show that chicken tenders are at the top of your sales, that’s a justification for keeping them. However, at least consider getting creative with accompanying sauces, presentations, and enhancements so you stand out from the competition.

Chicken tenders may be “safe,” but safe isn’t what guests remember, photograph, post about, or come back for specifically. Not to slander big brands, but chicken tenders are what people expect from full-service national and global chain restaurants.

Meet with your culinary team, get creative, stand out.

Your first five items reveal everything.

Chef Duffy says he can tell, just from scanning the first five menu items, whether your menu was designed by you or handed down by the food purveyor.

The latter is a problem.

“Your menu is your brand,” Chef Duffy reminded the F&B Innovation Center. “It tells your story, your values, your creativity—or your lack of all three.”

As he has said before, your menu is also your billboard.

That means you need to ditch generic descriptions, rethink your item layout, and stop outsourcing identity to third-party salespeople.

“Everybody has the same shit on their menu,” Chef Duffy said just a year ago. “We’ve been told what to put on our menu buy our purveyors.”

Being honest with yourself, is your menu actually yours, or have you ceded control of your brand to your suppliers?

Pricing should be as intentional as plating.

“I’m all for a funky number, my friends,” Duffy said.

This statement was in response to a menu with less-standard pricing. Whole numbers ending in 0 or 5? Not exactly blowing anyone’s hair back. Rational numbers ending in a 5 or 9? Been done, haven’t they?

Chef Duffy’s reasoning is psychological: Funky numbers can create curiosity. Perhaps more importantly, nontraditional numbers communicate that the pricing wasn’t slapped on from a cost spreadsheet; it was considered.

Of course, you don’t have to pour nonstandard numbers all over your menu. There’s nothing wrong with sprinkling them around instead.

Just be sure that you’ve costed your items down to the temp picks in your burgers, and bev-naps that accompany your drinks, when pricing your menu.

Retire the balsamic.

If your go-to vinaigrette is still balsamic, it’s time to move on.

“It was cool in 1986,” Duffy quipped.

If that statement offends or surprises you, it may be time to check out some flavor trend news and reports. Also, ask your culinary team what they think about the dressings accompanying the salads and other items leaving the kitchen. Anything but enthusiasm should tell you that they have some ideas for more on-trend accompaniments. (Note: A disinterested kitchen is a disengaged kitchen. Get your team excited!)

I’m not saying, and Chef Duffy wasn’t suggesting, that tradition should be tossed in the trash. However, adhering strictly to decades-old tradition in the culinary world puts you, your menu, and your brand at risk of obsolescence.

You have a responsibility to embrace flavors that reflect today’s culinary trends and consumer palates if you work in F&B.

The same goes for buzzword-laden menus and what he calls “culinary white noise”—ingredients and terms that sound impressive but say nothing.

A box, a name, and a story.

When it comes to designing your menu, Chef Duffy likes to see creative item names, detailed but punchy descriptions, and a visual cue—like a box—surrounding (and therefore calling out) featured items.

Why?

Because you’re not just listing food, and that mindset needs a seismic shift.

Restaurant operators, their culinary and bar teams, and their service staff are curating a guest experience. The layout of your menu should help guide the guest journey, telling and reinforcing your brand’s story.

There’s limited real estate on a menu—including digital versions—so every millimeter requires careful consideration to maximize the results.

There’s no room for confusion.

Okay, this next one baffled not only Chef Duffy but every person who attended his live menu read. Honestly, if you have any idea what this meant, please email me with your thoughts.

One menu—remember, this is real life—that Chef Duffy reviewed included the phrase “choice of meat bar bbq” (written here exactly as it was on the menu). And where was this listed? Under the chicken wings.

Seriously, what does that even mean? If a room full of F&B professionals can’t figure it out, something has gone terribly wrong.

Put simply, ambiguity kills confidence. If a guest has to guess what they’re ordering—or worse, ask a server who also doesn’t know—you’ve very likely lost their return visit.

There’s nothing wrong with building mystery. Plenty of chefs, bartenders, and operators come up with item names and descriptions intended to pique guest curiosity.

But here’s the thing: That’s an intentional, curated choice. These items and descriptions are meant to provoke a response. It’s part of the experience, and each server and bartender can answer questions about such items confidently.

Put more simply, there’s a difference between, “Ooo, what’s that?” and, “Um, what’s that?”

Final Bite

Your menu is your voice, so make it count.

Chef Duffy’s latest live menu read was less a menu critique and more a rallying cry this year.

Stop giving up control of your inventory, menu, and brand to your purveyors. If you’re going to have the same dishes as other operators, at least get creative with the ingredients, sauces, and other accompanying items. Revisit your pricing strategy. And, hey, while you’re at it, revisit your dressings and other items, and determine if they’re still adding value.

Whether it’s weird pricing, boxed features, or creative naming conventions, every detail matters. Your menu doesn’t just feed your guests—it frames their expectations, defines your concept, and tells the world your brand story.

And if all else fails, just remember: Lose the chicken tenders and balsamic vinaigrette.

Image: Canva

Doug Radkey, KRG Hospitality, Bar, Restaurant, Hotel, Coach, Consultant

May 30, 2025by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Privilege of Being a Coach & Consultant

The Privilege of Being a Coach & Consultant in the Hospitality Industry

by Doug Radkey

I say this with gratitude and clarity: It’s not a right, it’s a privilege to be a coach and consultant in the hospitality industry.

And I don’t say that lightly.

To be trusted with someone’s vision—their dream of building a bar, restaurant, or hotel—is one of the greatest responsibilities I’ve ever carried. I’m not just strategizing, asking the right questions, or giving advice; I’m helping people make decisions that affect their livelihood, their families, their futures, and their legacy.

Every time a client says, “We want to work with you,” they’re inviting us into their world.

And that comes with an expectation to lead with clarity, honesty, and purpose.

It Isn’t Just Telling People What to Do

There’s a massive misconception about consulting. People think we saunter into a business, point out their flaws, hand over a plan, and walk away.

That’s not what we do. At least, that’s not what we do at KRG Hospitality.

We believe the most impactful results come from a hybrid approach, where coaching and consulting work together. Consulting gives you the strategy, the systems, the roadmaps. Coaching gives you the mindset, the accountability, the clarity to actually execute.

One without the other leaves a gap. That’s why we don’t just hand over a playbook and walk away, we look to walk alongside our clients, challenging their thinking while guiding their actions.

It’s not about telling people what to do; it’s about helping them become the kind of leaders who can start, stabilize, and scale truly remarkable hospitality businesses.

That balance is where transformation lives.

The Weight of Trust

When someone hires you as a consultant, they’re not just hiring your expertise. They’re hiring your integrity, your leadership, and your judgment.

They’re saying, “I’m willing to put my future in your hands.”

That’s not something I ever take for granted. Because with that trust comes an unspoken contract: To show up, be real, and deliver results.

The truth is, I’ve seen what happens when consultants don’t take that seriously. Cookie-cutter solutions. Generic strategies. Vague advice. And clients left more confused than when they started.

That’s not coaching or consulting; that’s just collecting a check. If you’re in this industry just to sell services, you’re in the wrong business.

But if you’re here to guide transformation, you understand the privilege this role holds.

The Real Role

Hospitality is different. We’re not selling widgets or other products. We’re creating experiences. More often than not, we’re building human connections.

And in this industry, every decision, from the lighting in the hallway to the type of salt on the rim of the glass, it all matters more than you think.

As a coach and consultant, our job is to:

Develop the strategies and details others overlook.
Ask the questions others are afraid to ask.
Challenge assumptions at the status quo.
Reinforce the standards of excellence.
Inspire bold, consistent, and strategic action.

This is where our playbooks come in. The eight playbooks we talk about all the time, they’re not just frameworks—they’re tools for clarity, accountability, and execution.

But the truth is, those playbooks are only as effective as the leadership behind them. And that’s what coaching is really about: bringing those plans to life with you. Because strategy without execution is just theory.

This is where our coaching framework activates the plan, through a combination of project task force support plus mindset and operational coaching. We step in as partners, not just planners, to help our clients start strong, stabilize with confidence, and scale with intention.

Whether it’s managing timelines, building culture, navigating change, or staying focused when things get hard, coaching ensures the strategy doesn’t just live on paper. Instead, it lives in the daily actions that drive real, measurable results.

This is where vision turns into reality. This is where momentum is built.

A Front-Row Seat to Transformation

One of the most rewarding parts of this work? Seeing the transformation happen in real time.

Watching a client go from idea to opening their doors. To go from stuck to clear. From chaotic to systematized. From dreaming to doing.

I remember working with a restaurant owner who came to us with a vague idea. She had heart but no direction. Through clarity sessions, a series of strategic playbooks, and post-open coaching, she found her confidence. She built a brand. She hired a team. She opened on time and on budget. And now, she’s highly profitable, and mentoring others within her community.

That’s building a legacy. That’s creating impact. That’s transformational.

The Humbling Truth

Here’s the humbling truth though: I don’t have all the answers. No one does.

But what I do have is perspective, experience, and a relentless commitment to seeing clients succeed. And that’s why we do the work. Not because it’s easy, but because it matters.

Being a coach and consultant in hospitality isn’t just about business. It’s about belief. It’s about believing in people’s ability to create something meaningful and by giving them the tools and support to do it.

So to every operator, entrepreneur, and leader who’s trusted us along the way, I have two words: Thank you. Thank you for giving us a front-row seat to your story.

And to every coach and consultant reading this: Never forget the privilege of what we get to do. Lead with clarity. Listen with empathy. Execute with excellence.

Because in this industry, the impact we make goes far beyond the glass, plate, or the check-in desk.

We help shape what hospitality looks and feels like for generations to come. And that right there is an absolute privilege.

Image: Microsoft Designer

An AI-generated image of a vintage, spherical restaurant or pub sign emblazoned with a script-style letter "L."

May 23, 2025by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Cultivating a Legacy Mindset

Cultivating a Legacy Mindset

by David Klemt

The letter “L” is for building a long-lasting, lucrative legacy. (AI-generated image)

We talk about legacy in restaurant, bar, and hotel brands like it’s something that happens once the awards start rolling in.

But at this year’s Bar & Restaurant Expo, a standout panel turned that idea on its head.

Legacy isn’t something we leave behind; we live our legacy in real time. Every hiring decision. Every shift meeting. Each and every moment we’re engaging with the public, representing our brand. Every awkward moment when a team member calls us out, and we choose whether to get defensive or get better.

And as Gen Z makes up more of our workforce—and, increasingly, our leadership—this mindset isn’t just good culture. A legacy mindset is great business.

Last week, I hypothesized that a growth mindset will help operators set themselves up for success from the outset. This theory is grounded on a few points made by Dave Kaplan about nontraditional capital raises, as well as being prepared to expand even if that never becomes part of the plan.

Part and parcel with a growth mindset is a legacy mindset.

As it happens, a panel of hospitality, operations, beverage, guest experience, artificial intelligence, and space tourism experts assembled during BRE 2025.

This powerhouse blend of operators and innovators included:

Meaghan Dorman: The Raines Law Room, and Dear Irving
Beth Hussey: Shifty, and Hazel’s
Dave Kaplan: Death & Co., and Gin & Luck
Colleen McLeod Garner: Paragon Space Development Corp., and Cecilia.AI

Each offered a different perspective on the idea of legacy, coming together to lay out a roadmap for what lasting leadership looks like now.

Legacy is Culture That Lives Beyond You

For Meaghan Dorman, legacy starts with perspective.

Not ego. Not personal mythology. Perspective.

“Legacy is building a shared perspective that can leave your concept and live on its own,” she said.

Take a moment to digest Dorman’s viewpoint.

An operator isn’t just building a concept they control. What they’re creating is a concept others carry forward because they believe in it. The team an operator builds and the guests they work to transform into brand evangelists believe in the brand and the mission.

At least, that’s what operators should do. Ultimately, success depends on whether team members and guests believe in the operator themself.

I take this to be a founder’s versus owner’s mentality. Anyone who can afford to do so can purchase equity in a business, and take a stake in ownership. A founder, however, takes ownership of the brand, mission, innovation…the entire business. That means owning the strategy, successes and failures, and responsibility for driving team members and the business forward.

This is exactly the shift in mindset needed to engage a generation that values transparency, inclusivity, and authenticity.

If the culture can’t thrive without the operator in the room, they’re an owner, not a leader. And if they’re not a leader, they’re not building a legacy.

In fact, what they’ve built is a leash, and they’ve strapped and padlocked it to their leg.

Staff Serves Guests. Management Serves Staff.

Beth Hussey doesn’t pull her punches. She’s refreshingly straightforward with her perspectives on, and passion for, hospitality.

For her, legacy is hospitality at its most fundamental: A value that lives on in others.

Expressing those values and their importance happens through modeling: small, consistent actions that communicate the message, “I’m here for you.”

Hussey takes the radical step of flipping the power dynamic.

“Management serves employees like they serve their guests,” she said.

That one sentence reframes everything. It forces leaders to examine how they show up, particularly when it’s inconvenient.

She also challenged operators to consider whether their training programs are as guest-friendly as they expect their team members to be.

Hussey encouraged the operators and leaders in the room to stop and think about their training processes as if they had just thrown their guests into the same experience. The majority who took the time to consider how they train their staff “probably wouldn’t like it,” she opined.

That’s a gut-check moment for anyone who’s watched new hires get thrown to the wolves. And if many people reading this are being honest with themselves, they’ve done exactly that to new team members at some point in their careers.

The Suggestion Box Question

Hussey doesn’t just talk about feedback. Instead, she builds in real, actionable systems for it

Two weeks before team meetings, Hussey puts out a suggestion box, open to any team member. Before the meeting, she and her leadership team sit down, go through each suggestion, and address them during the meeting.

This doesn’t mean the team always gets their way; not every suggestion gets implemented by leadership. However, the suggestion, good or bad, yay or nay, is addressed. A reason is provided, in front of the team member who suggested it, for the suggestion being embraced or rejected. That’s a powerful message of leadership, teamwork, and valuing the team’s input.

Shifty, interestingly, features a truly anonymous suggestion box. This is a real, anonymous channel that can be reviewed ahead of a team meeting.

However, Hussey has noticed something alarming about this feature.

“Operators have asked us to turn it off, even though it has never once been used for evil,” Hussey noted, to laughter throughout the room. “Why don’t you want honest feedback from employees?”

That question says it all, really. If an operator or member of the leadership team fears their team’s honesty, the problem isn’t the team.

Codifying Culture at Scale Without Killing It

Dave Kaplan knows what it means to build a brand that people believe in—and sometimes, walk away from.

During the panel discussion, he revealed an internal saying about the brand: “Everyone quits Death & Co. at least once.”

That may sound like a negative. However, the key insight is this: Everyone comes back.

That’s legacy in action.

Operating multiple concepts in multiple cities, Kaplan has learned how important it is to codify culture without strangling it. His company’s five core values aren’t just decorative, they’re operational.

These values are applied to hiring, recognition, and even when it’s time to let someone go.

Scaling that culture requires infrastructure. Kaplan shared how they’re developing a company-wide learning management system (LMS), and investing in a tight tech stack to align operations across markets.

That said, tools alone don’t build trust. For that, a leader needs transparency.

When a major operational change is proposed at Death & Co., they open a two-week feedback window. If necessary, they even hold a town hall. This process isn’t just good policy, it’s a direct response to something Kaplan once heard from a long-time team member.

Ronald Fucking McDonald

Kaplan told the story of being a bit surprised—and somewhat frustrated—by the reactions to him visiting a Death & Co. outpost.

To paraphrase the response from a long-term (I believe original) Death & Co. team member addressing Kaplan’s frustration: “You haven’t been around much. You may as well be Ronald Fucking McDonald.”

Brutal, but honest. And exactly the kind of wake-up call too many owners brush off. To his credit, Kaplan took that blunt feedback on board.

He could’ve flexed his title as Dave Fucking Kaplan, if he were that type of person. And he could’ve taken out his frustration on the team members he felt had slighted or at least ignored him. Instead, Kaplan used that reality check as fuel to double down on being present, accountable, and humble.

There it is again: the founder’s mindset.

Here’s the unspoken truth about legacy: It doesn’t care about your title. Legacy cares about how a leader shows up, and how often.

Reverse Mentoring, AI, and the End of Top-Down Leadership

Anyone still asking whether artificial intelligence has a place in hospitality (and building a legacy), Colleen McLeod Garner has a message for you: “Pandora’s Box is already open.”

In other words, AI is taking its place in hospitality, regardless of who agrees with it doing so. Operators can either determine the best ways to implement and succeed with the AI solutions best suited to their operations, or they can fall behind, ultimately finding themselves passed by.

McLeod Garner doesn’t support replacing people with tech. If she did, we at KRG Hospitality wouldn’t agree with her on AI, and I would say so.

Her approach is to enhance human connection through strategic automation. By streamlining ops and freeing up staff from menial tasks, AI empowers staff to spend more time doing what matters: serving guests, supporting each other, and representing the brand.

But McLeod Garner’s real breakthrough insight about leadership? Reverse mentoring.

Flip it, and Reverse It

“Age does not dictate knowledge or leadership,” she said.

In a world where Gen Z employees bring digital fluency and cultural insight to the table, the smartest thing a senior leader can do is listen. That means inviting younger team members into leadership discussions, not as silent observers, but as active participants.

An operator adding reverse mentorship to their leadership toolbox sends a powerful message: “You matter. What you do here matters. Your ideas matter.”

McLeod Garner challenged leaders to ask questions, then shut up and listen—literally.

Ask open-ended questions. Let people until they’ve exhausted the issue on their own. This isn’t done to prove a point about what a great leader an operator is; this simple action shows team members that an operator respects them enough to listen fully, and give their insights careful consideration.

Respect. Empathy. Trust. Those aren’t soft skills, they’re business survival skills. And for Gen Z, and therefore future-proofed businesses and brands, they’re non-negotiable from this point on.

The New Metrics of Leadership

What makes this conversation urgent isn’t just generational turnover. While our industry is facing that issue, what we’re all facing is cultural transformation.

Gen Z, speaking generally, doesn’t tolerate hypocrisy from employers. These team members, admittedly generalizing again, are quick to hold leadership accountable. They’re not impressed by surface-level perks or “cool culture” branding.

They want authenticity, action, and alignment.

Legacy, then, isn’t about what leaders build for themselves. It’s about what they build with, and leave for, their teams.

This commitment to legacy includes:

Transparent hiring and promotion processes.
Feedback mechanisms that actually lead to change.
Recognition systems rooted in core values.
Tech that improves but, crucially, doesn’t remove people from the human experience.
Intergenerational learning that flows both ways.

None of this is easy. It takes hard work, humility, and long-term commitment. As Kaplan has put it, practicing relentless pursuit until it’s a key component of your everyday life.

As each panelist explained in their own way, the payoff for all the hard work in developing a legacy mindset is real: improved staff and guest retention, stronger culture, and a business that stands for something more than a bottom line.

Last Call: Build a Brand That Outlives You

Legacy doesn’t just mean being remembered. At least, not to me. Legacy means an operator’s impact, and that of their brand, is being repeated.

If team members carry a former employer’s values into their next job, or share an operator’s leadership principles with someone else, or feel changed for the better because they worked with a given operator, that’s a legacy.

Achieving that type of legacy doesn’t take ten or 20 or 30 years. In fact, there’s no set timeline that determines a legacy has been developed. Building a legacy requires presence and perspective. It demands the courage to be the kind of leader a team actually wants to follow.

And if Gen Z in particular has anything to say about legacy in hospitality—and they do—that’s exactly the kind of leadership that will last.

Image: Canva