Most restaurants rely on heroics. That’s why they break.
Chef calls out—everything collapses.
Staff turns over—culture disappears.
Owner burns out—nothing changes.

After 33 years in the kitchen, I’ve seen it all.
I’ve run high-volume operations, trained green teams into machines, and led groups through chaos and culture collapse.
And here’s what I know:

Culture eats talent for breakfast.
Systems beat talent when talent doesn’t have systems.

Today, I help restaurant leaders build kitchens that don’t rely on superheroes.
I work with chefs and operators to:

→ Define their way of doing business
→ Build leadership systems that teach it
→ Create operations that run consistently—even when they’re not there

It’s not theory. It’s not fluff.
One client cut turnover by 60% and grew profit by 15% in 90 days.

If your team is talented but inconsistent…
If your culture changes depending on who’s in charge…
If your restaurant falls apart when one person is out…

Let’s talk.

On the CULINARY MECHANIC podcast, I host candid conversations with hospitality's most innovative leaders. From kitchen culture to tech innovations, we blend battle-tested wisdom with modern insights that challenge 'the way it's always been done.' It's where restaurant wisdom meets real systems that work.

🎙️ Host: CULINARY MECHANIC
📩 DM me or visit culinarymechanic.com

3 years ago I hit "post" for the first time.





I had no strategy. No audience. No idea what I was doing.

Someone I trust said it would "increase the size of the room I was standing in."

So I started — with no strategy, just a belief that the way we lead kitchens needed to change.

Today I hit 10,000 followers.

Here's what I didn't expect:

Messages from chefs in Singapore asking about retention.

DMs from hospitality leaders in London sharing their burnout stories.

Comments from sous chefs in Ohio and Texas saying "this is exactly what my kitchen needs."

I started writing to share what I'd learned.

I kept writing because of what you shared back.

The feedback has been overwhelming at times.
Not because of the numbers — because of the stories.

Chefs telling me a post changed how they think about teaching.

Owners saying they finally had a conversation they'd been avoiding.

Sous chefs saying they felt seen for the first time.

That's not my content working.

That's this community working.

I don't write to build a following.

I write because leadership in the kitchen is broken — and too many talented people are burning out before anyone teaches them how to lead.

If anything I've shared has helped you think differently about your kitchen, your team, or yourself — that's the only metric that matters.

Thank you for reading. 

For pushing back. For sharing your own lessons.

Here's to the next 10,000 — and the kitchens that run better because of what we build together.

What's one leadership lesson you wish you'd learned earlier in your career?

Simon Zatyrka

If you're ready to stop living in service-to-service survival



The first install isn't a meeting.

It's a leadership operating system.

Not a new hire.
Not a motivational speech.
Not "trying harder."

A framework that runs whether you feel like leading or not.

We call it B.A.C.O.N.

Here's what it actually installs:

𝗕 — 𝗕𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 & 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗳𝘀
Non-negotiables in writing. How we communicate. How we clean. How we treat people. Not posters—enforced standards.

𝗔 — 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Clear roles. Clear ownership. Clear feedback. No ambiguity, no drama. Everyone knows what "done right" looks like.

𝗖 — 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘀
A 2-minute pre-shift. Same time every day. Same questions. Plus a weekly leadership meeting that kills repeat problems.

𝗢 — 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆
Checklists, protocols, and training reps that make standards stick—even when nobody feels motivated.

𝗡 — 𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀
Tie daily behaviors to labor, food cost, and ticket average. Turn "it feels high" into "here's what we're changing this week."

Here's what 90 days looks like:

Week 1–2: Feels forced. Leaders resist. You wonder if it's worth it.

Week 3–4: Resistance fades. The team starts anticipating the rhythm.

Week 5–8: Standards hold on busy nights. Escalations drop. Your chef stops being the only quality control system.

Week 9–12: Leaders lead without prompting. The restaurant runs a shift without you texting.

The kitchens that stick with this see fewer escalations, fewer prep misses, and leaders who coach instead of firefight.

The ones who quit after week 2 stay stuck in survival mode.

Motivation fades.
Systems compound.

You don't need to feel like leading.
You need a system that runs whether you feel like it or not.

DM "90" if you're ready to stop running on adrenaline.

Your kitchen doesn't need inspiration. It needs structure.





I've watched kitchens have an incredible Friday night.

Flawless execution. Happy guests. Team clicking on all cylinders.

Then Saturday comes and it's chaos again.

Different energy. Different mistakes. Different results.

Same kitchen. Same menu. Same people.

What changed?

Nothing was built to repeat.

Here's what structure actually looks like:

• A 2-minute pre-shift that names the priority, the standard, and who owns what
• A post-shift that captures one win or one fix for tomorrow
• A weekly meeting that kills repeat problems before they become culture
• Roles defined clearly enough that anyone can hold the standard—not just the chef

That's not corporate overhead.

That's the difference between a great night and a great operation.

Inspiration gets you through one service.

Structure gets you through every service.

The kitchens I see running calm and consistent aren't more talented.

They just stopped leaving execution to mood, memory, and motivation.

They built a rhythm.

And rhythms repeat.

Structure is the real definition of consistency.

Save this if you want predictable execution—and drop a 🔥 if you've lived the Friday-to-Saturday whiplash.

"People don't want to work anymore."




I hear this weekly from operators.

And every time, I ask the same thing:

What does your leadership system look like?

Silence. Or a list of complaints about the workforce.

Here's the uncomfortable truth:

The workforce changed. Permanently.

Labor has leverage now. 


Good people can leave and actually improve their lives. 


The old pressure-based playbook—fear, chaos, hero hours, "just replace them"—doesn't land the way it used to.

But most kitchens are still running it.


Even if they aren't yelling and screaming, they are still trying to do things "the way it's always been done"

And then wondering why turnover is "normal."

Here's what today's teams actually require:

• Clarity — not assumptions about what they should "just know"
• Feedback — not silence until something breaks
• Routines — not chaos that changes shift to shift
• Fair accountability — not selective enforcement based on who's working

That's not soft. That's operational.

When expectations are clear and enforced consistently, people stop guessing. 


They stop bracing for chaos. They start owning work.

When leadership is a system—not a personality—engagement follows.

The problem isn't that people don't want to work.

The problem is that most managers were never taught how to lead in this environment.

Leadership isn't a trait. It's a skill.

And skills are teachable.

So before you blame the labor pool, ask yourself:

What if your team knew exactly what "good" looked like today—before service started?

The workforce changed.

Leadership has to change with it.

Or you keep paying the turnover tax and calling it "normal."

What's one leadership shift you've had to make in the last few years?

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