<![CDATA[Silver Spoon Daily: Restaurant Tips in 2 Minutes]]>You own a restaurant. The dining room was full last night and you still can't pay yourself. Nobody around you understands the problem. I do.

I'm Al Kanbar, restaurant coach at Silver Spoon in Miami, and this show is for one person: the owner. Every episode is two minutes of straight talk about the things that eat your profit. Food cost that won't behave. Cooks and servers who quit after three weeks. Dead Tuesdays. A menu that leaks money. A business that falls apart the minute you take a day off.

One problem per episode, one fix you can use on your next shift. No theory, no corporate speak. Just what works on the floor and on the P&L, from someone who's stood where you're standing.

New episodes daily. Listen while the first coffee brews, then go run your restaurant.

Want to know exactly where your restaurant is leaking money? Grab the free Silver Spoon Restaurant Health Check, 20 questions, 10 minutes

]]>https://www.silverspoonmia.comRiverside.fm (https://riverside.com)Sun, 15 Nov 2026 20:39:55 GMTMon, 06 Jul 2026 18:39:21 GMT60Al Kanbar<p>You own a restaurant. The dining room was full last night and you still can't pay yourself. Nobody around you understands the problem. I do.</p><p>I'm Al Kanbar, restaurant coach at Silver Spoon in Miami, and this show is for one person: the owner. Every episode is two minutes of straight talk about the things that eat your profit. Food cost that won't behave. Cooks and servers who quit after three weeks. Dead Tuesdays. A menu that leaks money. A business that falls apart the minute you take a day off.</p><p>One problem per episode, one fix you can use on your next shift. No theory, no corporate speak. Just what works on the floor and on the P&amp;L, from someone who's stood where you're standing.</p><p>New episodes daily. Listen while the first coffee brews, then go run your restaurant.</p><p>Want to know exactly where your restaurant is leaking money? Grab the free Silver Spoon Restaurant Health Check, 20 questions, 10 minutes</p>episodicAl Kanbaral@silverspoonmia.comno<![CDATA[Ep 11. Your Walk-In Is a Bank Vault With the Door Open]]>Every owner watches the register. Almost nobody watches the walk-in. That’s where the money actually disappears.

The produce that got buried behind the new case. The par you over-prepped on Thursday that hit the trash Sunday. The cook who’s heavy-handed with the protein. None of it looks like theft and none of it makes a sound, but together it takes two, three, four points of food cost off your bottom line.

Do the math on it. If you’re doing a million a year, one point of food cost is ten thousand dollars. You’d never let an employee walk out the back door with ten grand. But the walk-in does it every single year and nobody asks a question.

In this episode:

  • Why waste is invisible until you force it to be visible
  • The red bin trick that turns your trash into a waste log for about twelve bucks
  • First in, first out, actually enforced, with painter’s tape and a marker
  • Why you should walk the walk-in before you place the order, not after

Get the red bin this week. What you learn in seven days will shock you.

Tomorrow: why your schedule is written backwards.

]]>https://www.silverspoonmia.comc5b078f1-f3e7-4208-8b01-6d23bdeb1bd5Tue, 03 Nov 2026 23:10:58 GMT<p>Every owner watches the register. Almost nobody watches the walk-in. That’s where the money actually disappears.</p><p>The produce that got buried behind the new case. The par you over-prepped on Thursday that hit the trash Sunday. The cook who’s heavy-handed with the protein. None of it looks like theft and none of it makes a sound, but together it takes two, three, four points of food cost off your bottom line.</p><p>Do the math on it. If you’re doing a million a year, one point of food cost is ten thousand dollars. You’d never let an employee walk out the back door with ten grand. But the walk-in does it every single year and nobody asks a question.</p><p>In this episode:</p><ul><li>Why waste is invisible until you force it to be visible</li><li>The red bin trick that turns your trash into a waste log for about twelve bucks</li><li>First in, first out, actually enforced, with painter’s tape and a marker</li><li>Why you should walk the walk-in before you place the order, not after</li></ul><p>Get the red bin this week. What you learn in seven days will shock you.</p><p>Tomorrow: why your schedule is written backwards.</p>no00:02:17111Ep 11. Your Walk-In Is a Bank Vault With the Door Openfull<![CDATA[Ep10. Delivery Apps Are Eating Your Profit. Here’s the Math]]>You have a business partner who takes 30 percent of every sale, never washes a dish, and owns your customer list. It's the delivery app on your phone right now. In this episode: the real math on a single delivery order, and three moves that put the margin and the customer back in your hands.

What you'll learn:

  • The real math on one delivery order: commission, packaging, remakes
  • Why a dish priced for 30 percent food cost can lose money on the apps
  • Why you should price delivery 15 to 20 percent above dine-in (everyone does, and the apps allow it)
  • The flyer-in-the-bag move that turns app customers into customers you own


]]>ab5f894d-b260-4444-975e-65b393cd055eWed, 30 Sep 2026 01:13:22 GMT<p>You have a business partner who takes 30 percent of every sale, never washes a dish, and owns your customer list. It's the delivery app on your phone right now. In this episode: the real math on a single delivery order, and three moves that put the margin and the customer back in your hands.</p><p>What you'll learn:</p><ul><li>The real math on one delivery order: commission, packaging, remakes</li><li>Why a dish priced for 30 percent food cost can lose money on the apps</li><li>Why you should price delivery 15 to 20 percent above dine-in (everyone does, and the apps allow it)</li><li>The flyer-in-the-bag move that turns app customers into customers you own</li></ul><p><br /></p>no00:01:37110Ep10. Delivery Apps Are Eating Your Profit. Here’s the Mathfull<![CDATA[Ep9. Check Your Invoices. Your Prices Went Up and Nobody Told You]]>What did you pay for chicken last week? Not roughly. Exactly. If you don't know, your supplier does, and the number has been creeping up while you weren't looking. In this episode: how quiet price creep eats a year of profit, and the 15-minute-a-week habit that stops it.

What you'll learn:

  • Why nobody calls you when your case price goes up, and what that costs across 200 items and 52 weeks
  • Why the price sheet is a starting offer, not a fixed price
  • The 10-item price sheet that takes 15 minutes a week
  • The twice-a-year second-supplier quote that keeps everyone honest without switching

Chapters:
0:00 What did you pay for chicken?
0:10 Straight talk: the quiet creep
1:30 The Fix: the 10-item sheet
2:20 Your assignment

Free 20-question restaurant checkup: [HEALTH CHECK LINK]
The Silver Spoon Health Check takes 10 minutes and tells you exactly where your restaurant is leaking money.

Silver Spoon Daily is two minutes of straight talk for restaurant owners, every day. I'm Al Kanbar, restaurant coach and consultant.
Questions or want to work together: al@silverspoonmia.com

#restaurantbusiness #restaurantowner #foodcost #restaurantmanagement #smallbusiness

]]>2f6c91f2-d0c6-44f9-862b-a67852e7b3d1Mon, 31 Aug 2026 21:55:04 GMT<p>What did you pay for chicken last week? Not roughly. Exactly. If you don't know, your supplier does, and the number has been creeping up while you weren't looking. In this episode: how quiet price creep eats a year of profit, and the 15-minute-a-week habit that stops it.</p><p>What you'll learn:</p><ul><li>Why nobody calls you when your case price goes up, and what that costs across 200 items and 52 weeks</li><li>Why the price sheet is a starting offer, not a fixed price</li><li>The 10-item price sheet that takes 15 minutes a week</li><li>The twice-a-year second-supplier quote that keeps everyone honest without switching</li></ul><p></p><p>Chapters:<br />0:00 What did you pay for chicken?<br />0:10 Straight talk: the quiet creep<br />1:30 The Fix: the 10-item sheet<br />2:20 Your assignment</p><p>Free 20-question restaurant checkup: [HEALTH CHECK LINK]<br />The Silver Spoon Health Check takes 10 minutes and tells you exactly where your restaurant is leaking money.</p><p>Silver Spoon Daily is two minutes of straight talk for restaurant owners, every day. I'm Al Kanbar, restaurant coach and consultant.<br />Questions or want to work together: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="mailto:al@silverspoonmia.com" target="_blank">al@silverspoonmia.com</a></p><p>#restaurantbusiness #restaurantowner #foodcost #restaurantmanagement #smallbusiness</p>no00:01:3319Ep9. Check Your Invoices. Your Prices Went Up and Nobody Told Youfull<![CDATA[Ep8. Your Schedule Is Guessing. Your Payroll Is Paying For It]]>If you built this week’s schedule by copying last week and moving a couple names around, your labor cost isn’t a number. It’s a vibe. In this episode: why the schedule is the second biggest financial decision you make every week, and the forecast-first method that puts you back in control of it.

]]>ec669847-0670-420d-8aa8-c8ea13342ad7Fri, 07 Aug 2026 19:24:51 GMT<p>If you built this week’s schedule by copying last week and moving a couple names around, your labor cost isn’t a number. It’s a vibe. In this episode: why the schedule is the second biggest financial decision you make every week, and the forecast-first method that puts you back in control of it.</p>no00:01:1718Ep8. Your Schedule Is Guessing. Your Payroll Is Paying For Itfull<![CDATA[Ep7. More People See Your Google Listing Than Your Restaurant]]>Your Google Business Profile is your real front door, and most owners haven't touched it in years. Al covers the three fixes that cost nothing and pay off immediately: hours that are actually right (especially holidays), photos taken this week instead of 2021, and how to reply to reviews. Plus the secret about answering bad reviews: you're not writing to the angry customer, you're writing to the hundred strangers reading your reply. Twenty minutes of work, the highest-return marketing you'll do all month.

Free download: the Silver Spoon Restaurant Health Check.

]]>a9fbe092-1108-4331-a0a1-d7b74b944153Fri, 10 Jul 2026 23:18:54 GMT<p>Your Google Business Profile is your real front door, and most owners haven't touched it in years. Al covers the three fixes that cost nothing and pay off immediately: hours that are actually right (especially holidays), photos taken this week instead of 2021, and how to reply to reviews. Plus the secret about answering bad reviews: you're not writing to the angry customer, you're writing to the hundred strangers reading your reply. Twenty minutes of work, the highest-return marketing you'll do all month.</p><p>Free download: the Silver Spoon Restaurant Health Check.</p>no00:01:46Ep7. More People See Your Google Listing Than Your Restaurantfull<![CDATA[Ep6. The Free Habit Every Great Restaurant Runs On]]>The best restaurants in the world share one habit. It costs nothing, takes ten minutes, and most independents skip it every day: the pre-shift meeting. In this episode, Al breaks down what happens when you skip it (servers finding out about 86'd items from angry tables, specials nobody sells, the same mistake repeating all week) and gives you the exact ten-minute agenda: the numbers, the menu, one service focus, and a taste of one dish. Run it tonight.

Free download: the Silver Spoon Restaurant Health Check, 20 questions that show you where your restaurant is leaking money.

]]>0285ca4d-e269-4cbc-b00b-0a18a41f2b75Fri, 10 Jul 2026 23:17:03 GMT<p>The best restaurants in the world share one habit. It costs nothing, takes ten minutes, and most independents skip it every day: the pre-shift meeting. In this episode, Al breaks down what happens when you skip it (servers finding out about 86'd items from angry tables, specials nobody sells, the same mistake repeating all week) and gives you the exact ten-minute agenda: the numbers, the menu, one service focus, and a taste of one dish. Run it tonight.</p><p>Free download: the Silver Spoon Restaurant Health Check, 20 questions that show you where your restaurant is leaking money.</p>no00:01:3516Ep6. The Free Habit Every Great Restaurant Runs Onfull<![CDATA[Ep 5. Why Your New Hires Keep Quitting]]>You hired someone new, pointed at your best server and said "just follow Maria." That's not training, that's gambling. In this episode, Al explains why people don't quit hard work, they quit chaos, and what every lost hire really costs you. Then he lays out the five-day first-week plan that turns new hires into keepers: the tour and menu tasting, station checklists, the reverse shadow, and the fifteen-minute check-in. Write it once, use it forever.

]]>c7d9e219-d907-41a4-9c80-9d2e418a5b39Thu, 09 Jul 2026 17:45:00 GMT<p>You hired someone new, pointed at your best server and said "just follow Maria." That's not training, that's gambling. In this episode, Al explains why people don't quit hard work, they quit chaos, and what every lost hire really costs you. Then he lays out the five-day first-week plan that turns new hires into keepers: the tour and menu tasting, station checklists, the reverse shadow, and the fifteen-minute check-in. Write it once, use it forever.</p>no00:01:4715Ep 5. Why Your New Hires Keep Quittingfull<![CDATA[Ep 4. If You Can't Leave for 3 Days, You Don't Own a Business]]>Could you turn your phone off for three days and come back to a restaurant that's still standing? If not, you own a job, not a business. Al walks through the first systems that buy your life back: opening and closing checklists your team actually signs, documented recipes any trained cook can execute, and the one-day-off test that shows you what to fix next.

Free download: the Silver Spoon Restaurant Health Check.

]]>2abf498d-f772-4047-8226-7880b227af7cMon, 06 Jul 2026 21:11:08 GMT<p>Could you turn your phone off for three days and come back to a restaurant that's still standing? If not, you own a job, not a business. Al walks through the first systems that buy your life back: opening and closing checklists your team actually signs, documented recipes any trained cook can execute, and the one-day-off test that shows you what to fix next.</p><p>Free download: the Silver Spoon Restaurant Health Check.</p>no00:01:3414Ep 4. If You Can't Leave for 3 Days, You Don't Own a Businessfull<![CDATA[Ep 3. Big Menu, Small Profit. Cut It.]]>The bigger your menu, the more waste, the more inventory, the slower your kitchen, and the thinner your margins. In this episode: how to pull your product mix report, find the dead dishes that are costing you money, and give your stars the menu real estate they deserve. Your guests don't remember big menus. They remember signature dishes.

Free download: the Silver Spoon Restaurant Health Check.

]]>6b61e567-49b7-4324-a8db-88ae2c8f8de6Mon, 06 Jul 2026 18:42:45 GMT<p>The bigger your menu, the more waste, the more inventory, the slower your kitchen, and the thinner your margins. In this episode: how to pull your product mix report, find the dead dishes that are costing you money, and give your stars the menu real estate they deserve. Your guests don't remember big menus. They remember signature dishes.</p><p>Free download: the Silver Spoon Restaurant Health Check.</p>no00:02:0413Ep 3. Big Menu, Small Profit. Cut It.full<![CDATA[Ep 2. You're Pricing Your Menu Wrong (Almost Everyone Is)]]>If you set your prices by looking at the restaurant across the street, you copied their mistakes. Al breaks down why menu prices can only come from the plate itself, how to cost a dish down to the garnish and the oil in the pan, and the food cost percentage to aim for. One dish a day, and in two weeks your whole core menu is costed.

Free download: the Silver Spoon Restaurant Health Check.

]]>3364d3b9-a6f6-4598-80f5-2d42aac33da6Mon, 06 Jul 2026 18:41:59 GMT<p>If you set your prices by looking at the restaurant across the street, you copied their mistakes. Al breaks down why menu prices can only come from the plate itself, how to cost a dish down to the garnish and the oil in the pan, and the food cost percentage to aim for. One dish a day, and in two weeks your whole core menu is costed.</p><p>Free download: the Silver Spoon Restaurant Health Check.</p>no00:02:0012Ep 2. You're Pricing Your Menu Wrong (Almost Everyone Is)full<![CDATA[Ep 1. Busy But Broke]]>Ep 1 — Full Restaurant, Empty Bank Account? Here's Why

Your dining room was packed last night and you still can't pay yourself. In this episode, restaurant coach Al Kanbar explains why sales mean nothing without margins, and shows you the three numbers that decide whether your restaurant makes money: food cost, labor cost, and prime cost. You'll learn how to pull them from last week's numbers tonight, in ten minutes, no accountant needed.

Free download: the Silver Spoon Restaurant Health Check, 20

]]>f3bb1990-410b-4b35-82bf-261795faf408Mon, 06 Jul 2026 18:41:20 GMT<p><b>Ep 1 — Full Restaurant, Empty Bank Account? Here's Why</b></p><p>Your dining room was packed last night and you still can't pay yourself. In this episode, restaurant coach Al Kanbar explains why sales mean nothing without margins, and shows you the three numbers that decide whether your restaurant makes money: food cost, labor cost, and prime cost. You'll learn how to pull them from last week's numbers tonight, in ten minutes, no accountant needed.</p><p>Free download: the Silver Spoon Restaurant Health Check, 20</p>no00:02:0311Ep 1. Busy But Brokefull