6 Burst results for "Amanda Cohen"
Bloomberg Radio New York
"amanda cohen" Discussed on Bloomberg Radio New York
"Joshua Bruce dean technology editor at business week He's got a feature in this week's issue of the magazine about the popular vegetable only eatery dirt candy It also very pleased to have the restaurant's owner and chef Amanda Cohen with us as well So Josh let's kick it off with you How did you discover dirt candy and why did you write this piece I'm just curious about the pitch to Joel Webber Your technology Exactly Well I'm a technology editor but also in New Yorker and I was really interested as the pandemic looked like it was waning this spring to see how restaurants would after all they had been through kind of get back on track I'm a vegetarian so dirt candy was very much on my radar screen and I was also interested in talking to Amanda about her experiences because she's been out in the forefront talking about labor issues in the industry And kind of pushing the business model in various ways And so I thought that she'd have some really interesting things to say about reshaping a restaurant at this interesting time and also I could go there and get to eat some good food I could say was this really just about getting some really great meals Let's bring a man in I thought a good place to start would be when we first when we first started talking you were just coming out of what seemed to be one stage and into the next one And over the last couple of months it seems like things worked out maybe surprisingly well for you in certain ways And I'm wondering if you could talk about just the factors that went into where you find yourself now and how things ended up being maybe better than expected and also continue to be a challenge Yeah I mean I had no idea that this is where I was going to end up I started I don't know part 5 my pandemic experience With the idea that we have to change the restaurant We weren't going to survive And we weren't we were surviving pre-pandemic but always on the egg and I had sort of made a promise to myself and my staff that we were going to start trying to figure out how to actually run the restaurant like the business and a passion project That was always teetering on the edge And we changed how we paid our staff We changed our pricing We changed the culture of the restaurant And in a huge surprise I think that all of us we are still here And we are actually doing really well It's the first time in my 13 years of running this restaurant that I actually feel like I'm running a business The changes that you've made they're not the conventional ones that we see with a lot of restaurants that have survived and thrived during the pandemic It's not like you went all in on delivery or everyone's eating outside right These are changes that aren't conventional I think we went against the wisdom and raised their prices and we really started double down on changing how we involve our staff and the restaurant and how we pay them and for a restaurant my size We now offer health insurance and all kinds of extra fun benefits like extra chickpeas and extra holidays and because of that unlike most restaurants we don't see this labor shortage in the restaurants that we aren't having a problem getting staff And we're also not going to having a problem getting customers which is probably the biggest surprise of all of that customers have really embraced these changes Well that's interesting too and I'm curious what was the kind of feedback you were getting from your workers from your customers in terms of helping you shape the way to move forward during this pandemic Well I think what we realized during the last year and a half 18 months is that customers actually liked us but also they really wanted to support restaurants And the last year everybody learns a lot more about restaurants There were tons of articles and new pieces and you saw like chefs and restaurants on the news constantly talking about what it meant to run a restaurant and how much it costs And I think somewhat that fourth wall of restaurants got broken down a little and so customers were I think customers sort of for the first time really wanted to spend their money somewhere where it can do it can make a difference And it's not just about the food but they were there to really support the people who worked in the restaurant and the people who ran the restaurant and pre-pandemic we were often called overpriced We're an expensive vegetarian restaurant And now we're called expensive And to me that's a huge difference of how gas are looking at it And they want to spend that money at our restaurant We are busier than we have ever been Amanda you said that you haven't had trouble with the labor shortages we've heard about throughout the restaurant industry and beyond I was interested in when you said you know obviously you laid off basically your entire staff at the beginning of the pandemic And then came back to all of them and said we're going to offer you a lot more money We're going to offer you the chance.
Bloomberg Radio New York
"amanda cohen" Discussed on Bloomberg Radio New York
"Got a feature in this week's issue of the magazine about the popular vegetable only eatery dirt candy It was also very pleased to have the restaurant's owner and chef Amanda Cohen with us as well So Josh let's kick it off with you How did you discover dirt candy and why did you write this piece I'm just curious about the pitch to Joel Webber The technology editor Exactly Well I'm a technology editor but also in New Yorker and I was really interested as the pandemic looked like it was waning this spring to see how restaurants would after all they had been through kind of get back on track I'm a vegetarian so dirt candy was very much on my radar screen and I was also interested in talking to Amanda about her experiences because she's been out in the forefront talking about labor issues in the industry And kind of pushing the business model in various ways And so I thought that she'd have some really interesting things to say about reshaping a restaurant at this interesting time and also I could go there and get to eat some good food Because it was this really just about getting some really great meals Let's bring a mandate I thought a good place to start would be when we first when we first started talking you were just coming out of what seemed to be one stage and into the next one And over the last couple of months it seems like things worked out maybe surprisingly well for you in certain ways And I'm wondering if you could talk about just the factors that went into where you find yourself now and how things ended up being maybe better than expected and also continue to be a challenge Yeah I mean I had no idea that this is where I was going to end up I started I don't know part 5 my pandemic experience With the idea that we have to change the restaurant We weren't going to survive And we weren't we were surviving creed pandemics but always on the edge And I started made a promise to myself and my staff that we were going to start trying to figure out how to actually run the restaurant like a business and not like a passion project That was always teetering on the edge And we changed how we paid our staff We changed our pricing We changed the culture of the restaurant And in a huge surprise I think that all of us we are still here And we are actually doing really well It's the first time in my 13 years of running this restaurant that I actually feel like I'm running a business The changes that you've made they're not the conventional ones that we see with a lot of restaurants that have survived and throughout during the pandemic It's not like you went all in on delivery or everyone's eating outside right These are changes that aren't conventional I think we went against the wisdom and breathe their prices and we really started double down on changing how we involved our staff and the restaurant and how we paid them and for a restaurant my size We now offer health insurance and all kinds of extra fun benefits like for 6 days and extra holidays and because of that unlike most restaurants we don't see this labor shortage in the restaurant that we aren't having a problem getting staffed And we're also not going to having a problem getting customers which is probably the biggest surprise of all of that customers have really embraced these changes Well that's interesting too And I'm curious what was the kind of feedback you were getting from your workers from your customers in terms of helping you shape the way to move forward during this pandemic Well I think what we realized during the last year and a half 18 months is that customers actually like us but also they really wanted to support restaurants And the last year everybody learns a lot more about restaurants There were tons of articles and new pieces and you saw like chefs and restaurants on the news constantly talking about what it meant for in a restaurant and how much of cost and I think from what that fourth wall of restaurants got broken down a little and so customers were I think customers sort of for the first time really wanted to spend their money somewhere where it can do it can make a difference And it's not just about the food but they were there to really support the people who worked in the restaurant and the people who ran the restaurant and pre-pandemic we were often called overpriced We're an expensive vegetarian restaurant And now we're called expensive And to me that's a huge difference of how gas are looking at us And they want to spend that money at our restaurant We are busier than we have ever been Amanda you said that you haven't had trouble with the labor shortages we've heard about throughout the restaurant industry and beyond I was interested in when you said obviously you laid off basically your entire staff at the beginning of the pandemic And then came back to all of them and said we're going to offer you a lot more money We're going to offer you the chance.
Bloomberg Radio New York
"amanda cohen" Discussed on Bloomberg Radio New York
"Issue of the magazine about the popular vegetable only eatery dirt candy It also very pleased to have the restaurant's owner and chef Amanda Cohen with us as well So Josh let's kick it off with you How did you discover dirt candy and why did you write this piece I'm just curious about the pitch to Joel Webber Your technology Exactly Well I'm a technology editor but also in New Yorker and I was really interested as the pandemic looked like it was waning this spring to see how restaurants would after all they had been through kind of get back on track I'm a vegetarian so dirt candy was very much on my radar screen and I was also interested in talking to Amanda about her experiences because she's been out in the forefront talking about labor issues in the industry And kind of pushing the business model in various ways And so I thought that she'd have some really interesting things to say about reshaping a restaurant at this interesting time and also I could go there and get to eat some good food Was this really just about getting some really great meals Let's bring a mandate I thought a good place to start would be when we first when we first started talking you were just coming out of what seemed to be one stage and into the next one And over the last couple of months it seems like things worked out maybe surprisingly well for you in certain ways And I'm wondering if you could talk about just the factors that went into where you find yourself now and how things ended up being maybe better than expected and also continue to be a challenge Yeah I mean I had no idea that this is where I was going to end up I started I don't know part 5 my pandemic experience With the idea that we have to change the restaurant We weren't going to survive And we weren't we were surviving pre-pandemic but always on the egg and I started made a promise to myself and my staff that we were going to start trying to figure out how to actually run the restaurant like a business and not like a passion project That was always teetering on the edge and we changed how we paid our staff We changed our pricing We changed the culture The restaurant And in a huge surprise I think that all of us we are still here And we are actually doing really well It's the first time in my 13 years of running this restaurant that I actually feel like I'm running a business The changes that you've made they're not the conventional ones that we see with a lot of restaurants that have survived and thrived during the pandemic It's not like you went all in on delivery or everyone's eating outside right These are changes that aren't conventional I think we went against the wisdom and breathe their prices and we really started double down on changing how we involved our staff and the restaurant and how we paid them and for a restaurant my size We now offer health insurance and all kinds of extra fun benefits like extra chickpeas and extra holidays and because of that unlike most restaurants we don't see this labor shortage in the restaurants that we aren't having a problem getting staffed And we're also not going to having a problem getting customers which is probably the biggest surprise of all of that customers have really embraced these changes Well that's interesting too And I'm curious what was the kind of feedback you were getting from your workers from your customers in terms of helping you shape the way to move forward during this pandemic Well I think what we realized during the last year and a half 18 months is that customers actually liked us but also they really wanted to support restaurants And the last year everybody learns a lot more about restaurants There were tons of articles and news pieces and you saw like chefs and restaurants on the news constantly talking about what it meant to run a restaurant and how much it costs And I think somewhat that fourth wall of restaurants got broken down a little and so customers were I think customers sort of for the first time really wanted to spend their money somewhere where it can do it can make a difference And it's not just about the food but they were there to really support the people who worked in the restaurant and the people who ran the restaurant and pre-pandemic we were often called overpriced We're an expensive vegetarian restaurant And now we're called expensive And to me that's a huge difference of how gaffer looking at us And they want to spend that money at our restaurant We are busier than we have ever been Amanda you said that you haven't had trouble with the labor shortages we've heard about throughout the restaurant industry and beyond I was interested in when you said obviously you laid off basically your entire staff at the beginning of the pandemic And then came back to all of them and said you know we're going to offer you a lot more money We're going to offer you the chance to buy into health insurance But it wasn't actually them who came back to staff the restaurant right Basically your previous staff just kind of disappeared to the winds Can you talk about that a little bit So I was fortunate enough to keep my managers on And if I hadn't been able to keep them on I think we would have closed because I couldn't have really reopened this restaurant from scratch But everybody $29 who I laid off they did sort of decide to either lead the restaurant industry or a lot of them moved home They were quite young We've always had a pretty young staff and this time around we did hire again very young almost green workers but who were really interested in working at a place that didn't feel just like a dog that felt that they could contribute something more than just their labor too And that is their voice and how we run the restaurant Your experience is changing your thinking about what really makes a profitable restaurant maybe for the future Do we have to readjust our thinking about what works really in the restaurant industry I think we do I think the restaurants are going to survive We all have to sort of start contributing a lot more to them They can't be looking at these disposable places That are always going to be there Because we learned throughout the pandemic they're not And so many restaurants close So many people lost their life savings with their restaurants And the only way that this industry can go forward And pre-pandemic we talked about it as an industry certainly restaurants did But it wasn't really It was very disjointed And the pandemic really brought restaurants together And I think everybody sort of rethinking what it means to run a restaurant how to be more financially stable for everybody And that's a two way conversation or maybe a three way conversation between you your employees and your customers because.
Bloomberg Radio New York
"amanda cohen" Discussed on Bloomberg Radio New York
"Right now we're working at around 5 to 7% in our profit margin which is huge it's such a different So you raised your prices but you also raised wages and there were other things that you managed to figure out that tinkered with your formula and made you more profitable Can you talk a little bit more about those things Amanda and what other ways you were able to squeeze more out of the business We started squeezing a lot more out of the business as opposed to our employees The number one factor that changed was our food cost So before the year and a half ago pre-pandemic we were probably hovering around 25% which actually in the restaurant industry isn't bad Does that mean 25% of your costs were on food Yeah And now we're down around 14% which is that's where we're making our money That's a huge savings every month and out of that unable to pay So much more than I was beforehand It's really great to hear what you said because we talk about being more sustainable more efficient You really have figured it out And as a result have become more profitable What a great story It's featured in this week's issue of Bloomberg business week magazine comes courtesy of technology editor slash food Aficionado boosting And of course our thanks to the owner and chef of New York City restaurant dirt candy Amanda Cohen really great to have you both Thanks so much Thanks Hey let's do it at the next restaurant next time Exactly I'm into this cucumbers Tasty menu Let's do it All right that wraps up the first hour over the weekend edition of Bloomberg business week when Bloomberg radio I'm Carol masser And I'm Tim steinem I headed her next hour Raj rajaratnam received the longest prison sentence ever handed out for insider trading Now he's a free man and he says prosecutors got his case all wrong We talked to the former head of galleon group and you do not want to miss the conversation And also the CEO of online mental healthcare startups cerebral joining us on the heels of the company's latest funding round It's now valued at almost $5 billion Plus the federal government's efforts to counter Chinese espionage in America have not only produced few convictions they've also drawn complaints about racism and FBI.
Bloomberg Radio New York
"amanda cohen" Discussed on Bloomberg Radio New York
"For businesses with 100 or more workers The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th circuit in Cincinnati made that ruling Friday after the mandate was blocked in November by a lower court The White House is saying Vladimir Putin is still deciding whether or not to invade Ukraine Security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday intelligence agencies are reporting the Russian president is still mulling over the decision but giving serious consideration to invade Tiger Woods is back on the golf course The golfer hit the links Friday with his son Charlie at the PNC championship program in Orlando Played competitive golf a year ago at the same event And a time capsule from 1887 possibly containing a rare photo of president Lincoln in his coffin Might have been found in Richmond Virginia wvr reports crews were working on removing a pedestal that once held the statue of general Robert E. Lee when they found a copper box Plans are to open it Monday I'm Scott Carr You're listening to Bloomberg business week with Carol maser and Bloomberg quick takes Tim steno V from Bloomberg radio It has not been easy running a restaurant during the pandemic Uh we know that And yet one dining establishment on New York City's lower east side is not only surviving COVID Tim it's becoming more profitable than ever Here with that story is Joshua Bruce technology editor at business week He's got a feature in this week's issue of the magazine about the popular vegetable only eatery dirt candy It was also very pleased to have the restaurant's owner and chef Amanda Cohen with us as well So Josh let's kick it off with you How did you discover dirt candy and why did you write this piece I'm just curious about the pitch to Joel Webber Your technology editing Yeah exactly Well I'm a technology editor but also in New Yorker and I was really interested as the pandemic looked like it was waning this spring to see how restaurants would after all they had been through kind of get back on track I'm a vegetarian so dirt candy was very much on my radar screen and I was also interested in talking to Amanda about her experiences because she's been out in the forefront talking about labor issues in the industry And kind of pushing the business model in various ways And so I thought that she'd have some really interesting things to say about reshaping a restaurant at this interesting time and also I could go there and get to eat some good food Let's go see it Was this really just about getting some really great meals Let's bring a man in I thought a good place to start would be when we first when we first started talking you were just coming out of what seemed to be one stage and into the next one And over the last couple of months it seems like things worked out maybe surprisingly well for you in certain ways And I'm wondering if you could talk about just the factors that went into where you find yourself now and how things ended up being maybe better than expected and also continue to be a challenge Yeah I mean I had no idea that this is where I was going to end up I started I don't know part 5 my pandemic experience With the idea that we have to change the restaurant We weren't going to survive And we were surviving creed pandemic but always on the edge And I started made a promise to myself and my staff that we were going to start trying to figure out how to actually run the restaurant like a business and a passion project That was always teetering on the edge And we changed how we paid our staff We changed our pricing We changed the culture of the restaurant And in a huge surprise I think that all of us we are still here And we are actually doing really well It's the first time in my 13 years of running this restaurant that I actually feel like I'm running a business The changes that you've made they're not the conventional ones that we see with a lot of restaurants that have survived and throughout during the pandemic It's not like you went all in on delivery or everyone's eating outside right These are changes that aren't conventional I think we went against the wisdom and breathe.
flavors unknown podcast
"amanda cohen" Discussed on flavors unknown podcast
"Amazing flavor is an amazing human who has perfected their craft. Welcome to flavors known behind the scenes. Look at new flavors and the chefs pastry chefs and bartenders. Who create them with your hosts emmanuel. You can easily distinguish my guest new crowd with our spikey platinum blonde hair. It's her creativity and drive. That defines her as a chef. Pastry chefs tv pistol ut author and foot constant my guest today is elizabeth faulkner and this episode sixty three of the flavors unknown podcast with his abbott faulkner. We go over more than twenty years of her car. Year from season. Cake in san francisco to crescendo. In brooklyn we talk about creative process a recent trip to china and about her view about the future of the industry. I am your host emmanuel laroche. I o beating of food industry for more than twenty years both in europe in the us and every other week. Our interview chefs spitzer chefs end. Mix from around the country before we start time favor to ask. We posted a survey in though show description at flavors unknown that we would love to have your feedback on your liking. What we can do better about their show. It takes a few minutes so tell us what you think. And if you do you can be one of the three winner of a rifle and get a seventy five dollar amazon gift card. So thank you in advance for your input high chef. How are you. i'm great. how are you. I'm very good and welcome to flavors known. I'm really excited to have you on the show today. I'm so i'm actually very excited to talk to you. As well you know all we love virtual arenas these days so embassy had a conversation about food and travel whatever. Exactly yeah the grades you have done. Some things involve across like the years. So you have open several restaurants you debbie into a lot of. I'm in a company to show that cooking competition should have been James be a finalist in five as a history shifts are or banana you have presidents off. The wc are the women chefs and restore suddenly feel the president. Now war ashley. It's kind of it's a. It's a good story. I was a member early member of limited rush towards when he started thirty years ago. Because one of the i former bosses one of my former chef was one of the founders and of course i knew all those women who started that organization is because they weren't getting enough attention for the amazing work that they were already doing thirty years ago in the industry and they just getting as much recognition as their male colleagues. And so i've been a member all these years. And then i became the president in two thousand fifteen and i was brought back on later and then coincidentally almost perfect. I guess we're full. Circle is that we had a meeting right before the pandemic hit us in new york and we decided that we time to wind up business that we're in a good black positive cash flow space but we found that the last five years honestly were very hard very challenging to raise money for the organization because in fact there are just so many nonprofits and there are a lot more a lot more focus on women in the industry in the last few years since the metoo movement so we just kind of decided you know i think out what the founders initially had started we had had run its course and we decided that it would be our best interest in the best interest of women going into business going forward to actually wind down and look at other organizations to support in the way. This is a good sign. I think than for women in the industry correct. Yeah that i think so because and also like you know. It's all volunteer board of directors. And you know. I had a really great board of directors very you know. A bunch of superstars from tiffany as on to amanda cohen to karen kuna wicks and kelly fields and just so many amazing people. Sorry sunny just from all over the place and we were all just in the last couple of years getting pulled more and more into other events and other a lot of the nonprofits have been focusing on women in the industry which is meaning. But then we've been asked to do all the dinners all the events so we cannot run organization where we have to ask ourselves to do more and more like we always wanna to do more but like it just seemed like there were already so many different groups and representation happening that we felt like it would be better to put our energy and some of these newer ones or basically put our heads together and then we started collaborating with the beard foundation too. So i mean. I have a lot of hope for the future of where we're going with foodstuff digital. Yeah so you know with everything. That's i've mentioned before an interesting the the ucr and then you'll passion as well for martial arts you know. Where do you find the your your driveway. Your drive coming from you know. I think it's kind of just my nature. I somebody who group in a very artistic family. And then. When i was in college i ended up finishing francisco art institute in studying experimental art experimental installations and then simultaneously was working at williams sonoma at the original store in san francisco. And and so. I kind of both you know was honing a sort of desire to to look at different mediums in different ways and falling in love with the food revolution of california. That was happening all around me in the late eighties. So when i when i started cooking i really committed myself to learning so much of crap in the tradition in the foundations of cooking in fine dining through some great chefs from toronto. To tracy deja dan. I was focused on patriot. Because i kind of excelled at it really fast. Even though i never wanted to be a pastry chef on. I just kind of like. That's how i started and then when i opened up my own places i i kind of liked the idea of you know eventually i was like i've got open a bakery but i'm certainly not gonna make you know carrot cake with martha pen ferrets. I wanted everything to be. So i had come from plated food. You know so. I wanted to cates peachy super special textures and flavors and when the facts away i when i met you think two thousand eight wear the owner of the citizen right story on time so i had citizen cake for fifteen years in the night opened up. A little. Satellite cafe called citizen cupcake for four years. And then i had another restaurant called orson. That was very modern and edgy. So a chance your question. I think that i've always liked to sort of understand the basis of an economy culture or language around food and then also see what else. I can take it so i. I've been doing that for so many years now or i might have done. I might very classic traditional food. Sometimes but i also love the modernism and the changing things up. Not just for the five eight but just to kind of play with people's perception so full story coming full circle is like.