CULINARY MECHANIC

Death to the Beige Lobby Bar
Most hotel F&B programs feel like an afterthought—bland menus, zero community connection, and a dining room that might as well be in any city, anywhere. Kenneth Scharlatt is on a mission to change that.

In this episode, Kenneth shares how Savage Orchid Hosp...

You don’t need more prep cooks—you need less waste.

Chef and zero-waste pioneer Vojtech Vegh joins Simon to dismantle the myths around food waste in restaurants. This isn’t about compost bins or turning scraps into soup—it’s about rethinking your me...

Leadership Isn’t a Title—It’s a Daily Choice

Christopher McFadden doesn’t just talk about leadership—he lives it. From teenage retail hustler to wine-soaked restaurant GM to executive career coach, he’s walked the line between burnout and breakthrough. In this episode, we get into what makes people

The system isn’t the point—what it unlocks is.

Still soaking your wood chips? You’re doing it wrong.

In this fire-breathing episode of Culinary Mechanic, Simon sits down with Barbecue Hall of Famer and grilling myth-buster Meathead to dismantle decades of backyard lore—and rebuild it with scienc...

Your food’s great. Your service is solid. So why aren’t your guests coming back?

In this episode, Simon sits down with Ewan Thompson of Hospitality Benchmark Solutions (HBS) to dismantle one of the most dangerous assumptions in independent restaurants: that a great first visit guarantees a second.

If your kitchen’s running hot but your margins are cold, this one’s for you.

Guy Leggatt didn’t just work the line—he studied the system. From Vancouver fine dining to corporate ops and back again, Guy built a career turning chaos into clarity. Now, through his consultancy Line Check Str...

In this episode of CULINARY MECHANIC, Simon sits down with Noelle Labrie, founder of Tri Skill Consulting, to explore how frontline experiences in the industry—from bartending in Deep Ellum to building restaurant teams in Kuwait—shaped her passion for developing “fresh leaders.” Noel’s story starts with jello sh...

In this episode of CULINARY MECHANIC, Simon Zatyrka welcomes Luca—a seasoned front-of-house professional with roots in Italy and a career forged in the heat of both European and American restaurants. What begins as a story of necessity (a broke college student in Milan needing date money) evolves into a decades-long pursuit of true hospitality mastery.

Chef Ron Duprat, Top Chef Season 6 contestant and culinary diplomat, brings his unfiltered perspective on today's restaurant industry. Born in Haiti and classically trained at the Culinary Institute of America, Ron has worked in prestigious establishments from The Montauk Club to Ritz Carlton while advocating for Black chefs through the Black Culinary Alliance.

In this hard-...

Justin Brunson, founder of Brunson Meat Company, joins Simon Zatyrka to reveal how he developed his revolutionary "noble mold" meat aging process after transitioning from acclaimed chef-owner to meat industry innovator. Discover how Brunson's Iowa farm roots and restaurant experience at Old Major led to creating a unique aging technique that's now capturing attention from Michelin-starred ...

Matt Wampler, CEO, Co-Founder of Clear Cogs, joins CULINARY MECHANIC to share how his predictive analytics platform is transforming restaurant operations across four countries. With a background in restaurant turnarounds and multi-unit management, Matt brings hard-earned wisdom on scaling operations from two to four locations while maintaining quality and culture.

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