About this item
In the bestselling vein of Moneyball comes an entertaining, behind-the-scenes narrative about how the restaurant business is being transformed by the use of data, in an industry historically run by gut and intuition. From celebrity-run restaurants to today's cutting-edge culinary trendsetters, author Damian Mogavero looks at how the use of data is revolutionizing how restaurants are run, from hiring chefs and training staff to pioneering new recipes, reengineering menus, and transforming the dining experience from the inside out, so that no restaurant is out of anything you want, ever. After earning his MBA from Harvard Business School, Damian Mogavero founded a pioneering software company to completely reorganize how the restaurant industry functions , from the food they order to the menus they create, from the chefs and waitstaff they hire to the wines they stock. The use of data has helped to re-create the dining experience, maximize customer satisfaction, grow revenues, and improve popularity and profits. Damian first forged a relationship with Jeffrey Frederick, a recently promoted executive in charge of food and beverage at one of the biggest properties on the Las Vegas strip, who was eager to prove himself in the high-stakes, cutthroat world of Las Vegas dining. Using data analytics, as well as weekly coaching sessions with Damian over the next 15 years, Frederick became one of the most successful restaurant executives in the industry. Damian shows how the use of data provides trendsetting new restaurants, luxury hotels and casinos, and even cruise ships, nightclubs, and beloved mom and pop restaurants with the information they need to transform the food we eat and create the dining experience we have come to expect.
About the Author
Damian Mogavero is the CEO and founder of Avero, the international restaurant analytics software company based in New York City, and the author of The Underground Culinary Tour (Crown Business, January 2017) , written with Joseph D'Agnese. Avero aggregates over $24 billion in food and beverage data and helps over 34,000 restaurant operators in 68 countries drive profits annually through the use of intelligent data. He was named Cornell University Hotel School's Innovator of the Year in 2015, and received the Harvard Business School of NY America's Entrepreneur Award. Damian regularly speaks at hospitality, food and technology conferences including the National Restaurant Association Show and Dreamforce. He addressed the Class of 2017 at Cornell University Hotel School as part of the Dean's Distinguished Lecture Series.
Prior to founding Avero, Damian was CFO of a New York-based restaurant group, where he witnessed firsthand what happens when chefs and managers simply do not have the right tools to run their operations efficiently. Damian recognized that the restaurant industry needed revolutionary, easy-to-use software that could empower food and beverage operators to make faster, smarter and profitable decisions, while providing outstanding service to their guests.
Damian hosts the annual Underground Culinary Tour, which educates restaurant leaders on emerging trends, using New York City as a restaurant laboratory. He speaks to hospitality groups throughout the year on trends among what he calls the New Guard Restaurateurs and their constant innovations.
A passionate oenophile and coffee fanatic, Damian passed the WSET Level 3 Advanced Certificate in Wine and Spirits in 2008 with distinction, and successfully completed the first part of his Barista certification through Counter Culture in 2014. He has been featured in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fast Company, Fortune Small Business, WIRED, Nation's Restaurant News, Casino Journal, Global Gaming Business, Food Arts and Sante.
Damian graduated summa cum laude from La Salle University and earned his MBA from Harvard University. Before becoming a restaurant-CFO-turned-entrepreneur, he worked on Wall Street as an investment banker at Dillon, Read & Co. Damian rarely says no to delicious New York pizza, Philadelphia cheese steaks along with morning cortados and special occasion bottle of Burgundy. He became a runner out of necessity, finishing the NYC marathon, so that he could more fully enjoy all that New York's amazing restaurants have to offer.
