Restaurant operations consulting · New York
The industry changed drastically in the last twenty years. I help restaurant owners adapt to what that means. Hours down. Margin up. Place runs with less of you.
The Diagnosis
The vision. The service. The quality. The commitment to craft. All of it was already hard to sustain twenty years ago. Today, on the same model, it's impossible.
+134%
Beef
~3×
Labor burden
2×
Rent, NYC
74%
Off‑premise
Twenty years of compounding. Same playbook.
One — The Practice
More isn't usually the answer. The work is figuring out what to take away and what to double down on. It's hard to know which is which when you're deep in it and just going through the motions. One size doesn't fit all, so you get to choose how much help you need, from a proper week long audit, to implementing changes, to creating tools to help you increase productivity and efficiency.
01
A week of identifying. Where your time is going. Where your resources are being allocated. What's draining the operation. What's working, what isn't. You finish with a written report and a clear path forward, with the reasoning behind each call.
02
Two weeks where the operation gets rebuilt. Menus, SOPs, scheduling, purveyors, hours of operation. Fat gets trimmed, hard calls get made. By the end, the place doesn't feel like you're catching up every shift. It feels like there's room to grow.
03
Hyper‑specific tools, à la carte. Some keep you organized. Some streamline tasks. Some show you information in ways you've never seen. By the end of Phase 2 we know exactly what would help. Tools that fit your operation. Not subscriptions you use ten percent of, while your workflow bends to fit them.
Two — The Operator
Hands on operator with twenty years inside the pressure of running a restaurant. Single unit independents and corporate multi unit groups, in markets across the country.
Both front and back of house experience, with more than ten restaurant openings under my belt. Familiar with the commitment a successful operation requires, and the daily pressure and challenges that come with it.
"Managing egos might be the most important part of the whole business."
Today
I've stepped away from the regular restaurant life to found No More, a non alcoholic cocktail brand with a brick and mortar in the East Village. The brand was created to fill a gap that exists in both non alcoholic spaces and products. I don't think anyone has done something truly good in the space yet, and I enjoy the challenge of building something new, where there isn't a set roadmap.
Three — The Tools
Every operator I know is paying for software that almost works. The dashboard that almost shows what matters. The CRM that almost fits how you book. Built for a hundred restaurants at once, which means built for none of them.
The work I do is different. We figure out what you actually use and what you wish was different about every tool you've already paid for. Then I build it. Not a template with your logo. Software with everything you need and nothing you don't.
The three below are examples of tools I built for myself because I needed them. Yours will look different.
Tuesday morning
April 28, 2026
Week 18 · Q2
Today · Sales
$3,247
+11% vs Tue · target $3,000
Reminders & To-Do
By Employee
Schedule · On now
Payroll · Week to date
$8,420
of $11,000 budgeted
Labor % of sales
28.4%
+1.8 over band · target 26%
Par alerts · 3 low
Tonight · 42 confirmed
Instagram · 24h
2,140
Reach
+89
Saves
+14
Follows
9
DMs · 3 unread
Klaviyo · NYC Weekly
38%
Open rate · sent 2h ago
Ads · 2 active
The Brief
Tuesday, April 28
Good morning, Eli. Yesterday closed strong. Three things matter today.
The lead
+11% above last Tuesday.
Most of it came from the 7:30 turn (up 22%). The Goldberg six-top tipped 28%. The slow-Tuesday narrative is starting to break.
Hourly pattern
Saturday hits capacity 45 minutes earlier than last month.
The late seating you considered cutting is now a candidate for a price test, not a cut.
Menu engineering
Spritz No. 1 moved Plowhorse → Star.
Two candidates for the cut conversation you keep deferring.
Food cost
28.4%, two over your 26 target.
Two cocktails priced against that produce are now bleeding margin you don't want to bleed.
Customers
Repeat rate up 4 points to 32%.
Repeat rate is the trailing indicator that confirms what the night already feels like.
Money
Thursday tight, Friday clear.
Goals · scoreboard
Mostly on the right side of where you wanted it.
Act on, ranked
Three things, in order.
Cut the crudo or rework it. The math has been clear for three weeks.
Re-quote two cocktails against the new cucumber price before anything else.
Write Goldberg this morning while the experience is still fresh.
— Curated for you. Replies optional.
3.3 — The Event Pipeline
Inquiries land here from email or forms. Drafts go out in your voice, with your packages, your tax handling, your overtime rules baked in. Walkthrough confirmed becomes contract drafted becomes deposit invoiced becomes calendar synced, on the back of one click. Eight tabs collapsed into one screen, doing the work the way you'd do it if you had time.
Events Pipeline
AI-drafted reply · in your voice
Re: Birthday on the 19th, party of 24
"Hi Sara, thanks for the note. The 19th works for a buyout of the back room with two bartenders, four-hour minimum. Quote below assumes the Gathering package, twenty-four guests, full bar with our zero-proof menu. Walkthrough Wednesday or Thursday next week..."
Contract & Invoice
Custom builds
A few examples of what we've built. Each one solves a specific problem for a specific operation. We figure out what would actually save you the most time, then build it. Custom, automated, yours.
Hover any tool below to see what it does.
Start here
A discovery call is a conversation. I'll ask what's going on. You'll tell me. We'll know in half an hour whether I can help and whether you'd actually want me to.
