Jensen Cummings, a legacy figure within the restaurant industry, is uncovering and remedying fallacies within the industry. Having transitioned from a top chef to behind the scenes managerial operations, Jensen has an all encompassing understanding of restaurant industry operations.

Here are a few highlights from this episode:

What is the most important aspect of the guest experience?

Taking care of the employees that make the guest experience happen.

“We need to flip that fallacy that the customer comes first and the customer is always right. Those are fallacies. Absolute fallacies that we’ve bought into for so long. Can’t say no to the guest that doesn’t mean you always have to say yes. We have to build a culture internally . . .

We have been a part of so many great memorable moments. People’s first dates, anniversaries, birthdays. Somehow we feel like through osmosis. We absorb all the feels from those experience. The reality is, we leave it all on the field. There’s no hospitality left for ourselves and we have to have some self hospitality. We have to have a hospitality for the people that actually make those experiences possible. Because then the guest has a great experience, not the facade that we continue to throw up.“

Successful tactics you’ve seen or tried lately?

“Thought leadership. The industry needs somebody who is willing to ask questions that most people are not willing or able to to to ask.“

Who deserves an Ovation in the industry?

Jordan Bush, 7 Shifts

Ji Hye Kim, Miss Kim

“One of the smartest restauranteurs that I’ve come across in a long time. She thinks about how to meld her culture of Korean cuisine with the bounty of Michigan in a very unique way. So I love that from a from a brand and concept position.“