Jason Berkowitz is the Founder of ARROW UP, a highly-designed training tool for reducing liability, insurance premiums, and building a stronger culture in restaurants. He has extensive restaurant experience, having been involved in over 40 restaurant openings and was most recently the COO of Tocaya Organica.

Here are a few highlights from this episode:

Featured takeaway: The best way to build a team is to build relationships.

“I have interviewed a lot of supervisors, and the one amazingly simple trait that they all shared was: literally just building relationships. Just talk to your staff! Figure out what’s important to them, let them know what’s important to you, and be authentic in those quiet little moments.” – Jason Berkowitz

What is the most important aspect of the guest experience nowadays?

Order accuracy. “I used to have people whose sole job was to take the food out of the bag, check it off, and put the food back in the bag…And what I realized was I was saving on production costs and losses from people coming back.”

What successful things have you seen or tried lately?

Beautiful QR codes. “It looks like QR codes for menus are here to stay. I went to this place and their QR code on their table was in this beautiful, glazed, ceramic piece. It was amazing – it was high end and it felt good… You’ve got to elevate that moment.”

Who deserves an Ovation in the restaurant industry?

Regarding Her, a national non-profit on a mission to empower and advance all women identifying food and drink entrepreneurs. “I‘m calling them the Women Mafia… it’s really cool. I just love the community that formed.”