Foodwoolf Returns After Three Years

Hi friends! It’s been a while.  Since my last post three years ago, a lot has changed.

The social media landscape has completely transformed the way we communicate. In just three years, Instagram has created a visual equivalent to visual blogging. It’s given us a constant stream of food-porn gratification and visual stories of our favorite food brands. This is the time of websites, lifestyle brands, podcasts, and online personalities.

It’s good to be back to the website I started in 2007. Ten years ago, I was an early adopter who  joined the “blogosphere” after the first wave of food blogging started to gain momentum. I wrote recipes, food essays, restaurant reviews, and eventually began writing a series called Service 101. These pieces were a place where I could share my insights and experiences as a service leader and consultant working in some of Los Angeles’ top restaurants.

Three years ago I began to get the inkling that if Foodwoolf was to continue, something needed to change. I was working on a book about restaurant consulting, when I realized that the most important shift I was seeing in the food industry was in fast casual restaurants. Wanting to expand my experience beyond fine dining and coffee shops, I decided to dedicate my next few years to the study of the industry from the inside out.

I put this website on the back burner and my consulting practice on hold.

I joined a healthy fast food concept called Sweetgreen. I became an operator of the company’s first west coast store and dedicated myself to learning about the healthy fast food industry from the inside out.

I experimented with leadership approaches. I had beautiful triumphs and some heart-breaking failures. I did intensive training in D.C., NYC, and Maryland. I learned about sourcing great ingredients.  I met world class leaders. I developed great people and trained future leaders. I saw the power of vision and core values in action. I chopped more kale than you could imagine. I worked side by side with leaders who inspired me. Together we struggled, failed, pushed, pulled, kicked ass, and pushed ourselves to be better than the day before. I lifted cases of romaine like a boss, counted lemons and weighed every vegetable in the store at four am on inventory days, and lead a team of enthusiastic team members to market success and personal development.

Several years later, I was approached to return to my consulting work to help a healthy food chain in Florida. I developed recipes, people, and operational plans that helped the restaurant grow and thrive.

I returned to LA to help open a world-class Northern Italian restaurant.  Together with the founders and, in an unexpected turn of fate, my husband, I helped the team re-define the traditional restaurant paradigms and build something truly groundbreaking.

In these three years, I’ve seen a lot of pretty remarkable things.  I’ve grown professionally, learned new skills, and experienced a whole new level of  personal development. 

I’ve seen how love, vulnerability, and patience make up the most important muscle I’ve got: faith.

I’ve learned a lot more while I’ve been away.  I’m so excited to share some of the lessons I’ve learned.

In addition to new content, I look forward to giving Foodwoolf a tune up. I’m eager to make this site a resource for people who love restaurants, who work in a food business, for people who are looking to open their own restaurant/cafe, or are interested in becoming a consultant.

I look forward to hearing from you.

I’ve missed you.