Frank Pullara

00:00Hey everybody, today we're talking about my good friend Ben Ellsworth and GigPro. After years of spending too much time and money on useless staffing software, Ben Ellsworth knew something had to change. So out of necessity, GigPro was born. GigPro is the on-demand marketplace for hospitality staffing. They're changing the way people work and hire. If you download the GigPro app today, you can get the help you need. GigPro has an exclusive promo offer for Nashville Restaurant Radio listeners. Sign up at go.gigpro.com forward slash n-r-r-b-i-z and make sure that you use that code. I want them to know that you came from Nashville Restaurant Radio. That again is go.gigpro.com forward slash n-r-r-b-i-z. That code will get you your first gig for free up to $200. Go check them out right now. One of God's great gifts to this world was fresh baked bread.

01:01That's why Sharpier's Bakery delivers six days a week to your restaurant, as they've been doing for 36 years. Aaron Mosso's family has been running Sharpier's Bakery, locally owned and operated right here in Nashville, Tennessee, like I said, for 36 years. Go check him out at sharpiers.com. That's c-h-a-r-p-i-e-r-s dot com or Sharpier's Bakery on Instagram and Facebook. Give Aaron Mosso a call at 615-319-6453 to set up an appointment to talk about what fresh bread you'd like delivered to your restaurant today. Welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio. The tastiest hour of talk in Music City. Now here's your host, Brandon Styll. Hello, Music City, and welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio.

02:06My name is Brandon Styll, and I am your host. I did this episode alone, and you know, I've done a couple of these episodes alone, and the one that's going to be coming up on Monday with the Walker brothers, I did that one alone. Why? Because my co-host has twins, and her husband works a lot, and I work a lot, and she works every night, and trying to find time for this many people to get in one place at one time. Sometimes it's difficult. So I'm not afraid to sit and talk with people, as I like to do. So this one with Frank Pulera today. Frank is the chef and owner at Culecino in Franklin. It is downtown Franklin. It is kind of attached to the Harpeth Hotel right there on Franklin Road. I believe it's Franklin Road. Yeah, but it's right downtown Nashville, and sometimes I miss Jen. You know, I get in these interviews sometimes, and I'm like, ah, Jen adds so much, and I miss her so much.

03:10I cannot wait to put out this episode we just did with Craig Barber. We're a week away from it coming out, but it is recorded, and he is the CEO of O'Charlie's and 99 Restaurants. And man, what it just happened. It's a great interview from a guy who's got 254 restaurants. We talked about his strategies throughout COVID and all of the stuff. And this Monday, you're going to hear from the Walker brothers. Sam and Luke Walker. They make Walker Brothers Kombucha, and their stuff is fantastic, and their story is great. And we had so much fun in studio talking about it. And today, Frank Palera. I mean, this guy moved to town to open this restaurant in the beginning of a pandemic, him and his family. They wanted to do this thing, and they made it happen. And he's hustling, and he's doing it. And you know, sometimes just sharing that story of somebody coming to town and all the things that happen. He was open about talking about it.

04:10So I know Jen's been over there. I tried to go the other day, and we did not get in. It started raining, and we just bailed. But go check him out if you're in the Franklin area. I have to say, happy St. Patrick's Day. The show was supposed to come out yesterday. This episode was supposed to come out yesterday on St. Patrick's Day, which is Kerry Bringle from Peg Lake Porker. It's his birthday. So shout out to Kerry Bringle. Happy birthday, sir. He and Margot McCormick did one of my first live interview that I ever did was with Kerry Bringle on March 17th, 2020. You can go back and listen to that. It's a good one. I had no clue what I was doing. It was one of those. It was a lot of fun. Not that I have any clue right now what I'm doing. But St. Patrick's Day was a lot different for me than it used to be, I guess. Not that it ever really was a big time. But we took the kids to Chattanooga, and we did Sea Rock City.

05:12We even got like a birdhouse that I put up today. And then we went and saw the aquarium. So a little spring break down. I stayed the night last night and celebrated St. Patrick's Day with my kid playing like Fortnite. So we were just hanging out in our hotel room. It's amazing how kids absolutely can just... Just being in an hotel room is like they feel like celebrities. It was so fun. The awe and wonder that comes out of those kids' faces when we do just fun stuff is every everything. It's pretty damn cool, I have to say. I'm going to start rambling here. We're going to jump in with Frank Polaro. I can't say it the way that he says it, but that's how he... I have zero Italian accent. I can't do it. So sit back, relax, and have a wonderful weekend, guys.

06:13It's supposed to be a little chilly tomorrow and overcast, but Sunday, holy shit. Sunday is a 70 and sunny banger. So get out there, do something fun, go hiking, but make that plan now. On Sunday, go find a patio somewhere and have you some Margs or some Bloody Marys or whatever you do on a Sunday. Go find somewhere and enjoy the hell out of it. Spring in Nashville, folks. Let's jump in with Frank Polaro. Super excited today to welcome in Frank Polaro from Colicino in Franklin. Franklin, Tennessee. How are you doing today, man? Doing well. Thanks for having me. It is our honor to have you here. Welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio. Are you a, like, are you a Nashvillean? When did you move here? I moved here about two years ago from Naples, Florida. About two years ago. When did you move here? Like, what day? February 15th. Oh, so you were, like, two years ago.

07:16And did you move here for this restaurant? I moved here for this restaurant. Interesting. Yep, we were born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and then lived there for most of my life. And my wife and I got sick of the snow, newly wed, and we decided to move to Naples, Florida. And I was there for about 10 years. What did you do in Naples? Worked in the restaurant. Just, like, I've done my whole life. Your whole life? Since I've been 15 years old. What was your job when you were 15? Salad and dishwasher. Just like anybody else starting in this industry. That's right, man. There's almost like a... I find people that started off working pantry and dish or as a busboy, bar back, those type things, you really get to see the industry. You get to look up to people. If you come in after you graduate college and you decide, hey, look, I want to be a chef or something, and you go to culinary school, you walk in with the expectation that I want to be a chef.

08:17But when you start off as a dishwasher, you look at the grill guy and you're like... That's what I want to be. Dude, that guy's a badass. And you watch the managers and the people. It's like this crazy dance and you're like... I want to get there. I want to get there. Well, I still have that old school mentality that you start down there and you have to work your way up and prove yourself. You were saying some people feel, I just graduated from school. I want to... I'm ready. I'm a chef. It's just like, that's not how it works. You have to earn it. You have to earn the respect of all your peers and the people around you. It's not just here's a title and here you go. How is that working today? I mean, because right now, the job pool and you're in Franklin, and I've got a restaurant in Brentwood, the two aren't completely dissimilar. I mean, like, I mean, we're kind of in the same area and the pool of people that are coming in and applying for jobs just randomly, there's just not a lot of them. We've had so much turnover. That was one thing moving from Naples to here I was worried about because I didn't have that following.

09:21You know, I was branching out on my own and I was so nervous not having a crew that knew me, that knows my style, that knows. So there was a lot of turnover, a lot of cooks or even front of the house. I was just like, I'm in this industry for 15 years. I got all this experience. And after like the first busy night, there's like, all right, this isn't for me. So why? But that's so interesting. Why do you think that is? I'm not sure. I've always questioned that because I'm so used to this, but we had so much turnover and we had just people just not coming in too. And it's just that time of the, what was going on in the world. So well, when you moved here, literally one month before a pandemic began, we had the tornado on March 3rd, 2020. Yeah, like they're just talking about just the anniversary today. Yeah, we're recording this on March 3rd. Yep. So this will come out next week. But yes, but today is the actual anniversary of the tornado.

10:24That was one of the most amazing times in Nashville to me. I mean, there's the flood of 2000, I think it was 2010. The flood of 2010 was another moment where you get to really see Nashville for what Nashville is. I mean, my sister works her hands on Nashville and they had too many volunteers. People coming out to help after the tornado, we're sending people home. We have too many people. Nashville is just such an amazing city. Well, that's one thing that we fell in love with. When I met with my partner, he's just like, so where do you want to do this restaurant? And my wife and I were looking at other locations because it's up to me pretty much. He's like, it's up to you. Where do you want to go? And my wife and I visited multiple cities and towns and states. After walking Franklin, Tennessee and stuff like that, it felt like home to us. Like everyone's so genuine and so welcoming. Like complete strangers would be walking down the street saying, just start talking to us. And it kind of reminded us of like the Midwest and like being home and not have to, I mean, I would love to go back to Wisconsin and open a restaurant, but it's just like, I don't want to live there because of all the negative 40 degrees and the snow.

11:35It's really cold again. Yeah, I mean. So it's just like right in the middle. So we've been very happy here. Well, yeah, it's almost like the three bears. Like you were where it's really cold and really hot. And now you're going to be like just just right. Yep. You're enjoying the seasons. Dude, it's awesome. My kids were Florida babies. So they've never seen snow before. And right when we moved here, it was like the first snowfall too. Oh, man. And they were outside like, what is this? Like they're just running around and it's great to see that. You have twins, right? Twin six-year-olds. Twin six-year-olds. So you're the owner there. You're one of the owners, a partner at Collegino. So you own a restaurant and you've got two kids. That's enough to keep a man very busy. Yeah. My wife is a very strong woman. Like she does a lot at the house and does a lot with the kids. So my co-host Jen is not here today. Normally I have a person sitting in this seat. That's Jenny Chikawa. She owns a restaurant with her husband. They just she had a bunch of stuff come today and just couldn't make it.

12:36I'm sorry. She has twins. She has a boy and a girl twins that are like one and a half. Not even one and a half. They just turned one like two months ago. And so she loves like, you have twins. She would have like a 10-minute level of excitement with you to like compare notes. She's just like, what should I prepare for? Yeah, they're like, it must be so difficult. And my wife and I are like, that's all we know. Like it's not like we had one kid and then the twin came or the twins came and stuff like that. It's just, this is the normal to us. This was the normal. Yeah, we had the one and then we have six, I have six and eight year old boys. And I, after we had the second one, I was like, I can't believe I ever would sell a complaint like that this is hard to have one because two is impossible. And then I went, there's no freaking way. How do people twins do it? Like, I mean, I don't know how because you have to have two cribs and two, you know, strollers. And financially it gets a little, uh, there's no hand me down. No, and you have a boy and a girl. Luckily, my sister has a lot of kids and my sister-in-law has two kids.

13:38So it's kind of nice sharing the clothes. And now we're in a position to start handing down clothes too. And it's kind of like a cycle. It's kind of nice. Jen ate at your restaurant a couple months ago. She said it was wonderful. She loved it. I have yet to make it out there. You're in Florida and then February the 15th of 2020. We are going to move to Nashville and we are going to open our restaurant. Is this your dream? It's been my dream since I was eight or 10 years old. So it's your dream to open a restaurant. You're here and then pandemic. What did you do? Like what was going through your mind? A lot, actually. Well, my partners were like, so what do you want to do? I'm like, well, there's really no choice. Like we're invested in this. Let's keep on pushing through. Luckily we're in Williamson County and right when we were opening, it was actually when everything was starting to open up more. When, when, when did you actually open the doors? January 8th, January 2021. Yes. Okay. Yes. So we just had our one year anniversary.

14:39Okay. So things were, we were at a hundred percent capacity. We were still, we weren't opening it at a hundred percent. Sure. Still masks and stuff like that. But, you know, we just kept on pushing through and whatever happened happened. I mean, we just had to be true to ourselves and do what we love to do and see what happens. I mean, to some degree, that's what you have to do right now. There's no, I've, I've said this multiple times on this podcast. This is one of the times where you see what true leadership looks like. Because there isn't a book by Patrick Lanzione that says how to lead during a pandemic. This is where the people who are genuine leaders have stepped up and they've led their companies through and I've seen so many companies thrive throughout this. I think because there's been a, like every time somebody comes in and says, Hey, I want you to do this. I don't have time. I just don't have time. I don't have time. There's so many ideas. There's so many visionaries out there that the pandemic gave them months off to go, Hey, start doing that shit.

15:44Start making that happen. And so many people have done such amazing things throughout this industry. And some people didn't. Some people didn't make it. We've been very fortunate. I had people, some guys moved here and some people moved here for this to help me. Like my sous chef and my GM right now. And it's like, you feel invested in that. And we're very hands on people. You're saying like, what do you do? There's no book on how to do this. And we just, we put our heads down and we did what we could do. We didn't open at a hundred percent. Like I said, consistency and quality is our main concern. So it's like, okay, if there's empty seats and people are coming in and we don't have enough staff, tell them, sorry, there's going to be a little wait. And people have been very responsive to that at that time. And we just, we're very hands on. Like I said, my sous chef and I were on the line almost every single night. If people, if we didn't have staff, the last thing I wanted to do was cut our hours or close down or I want to keep that consistency and be, this is what we're going to do from day one.

16:48And we're going to stay true to that. Well, it's, it's weird because you know, there's snow days, right? There's restaurants that close and there's restaurants that like Waffle House, Waffle House is going to be open. We're open. Doesn't matter. Like if it's raining, if it's whatever it is, they're open. I'm open. And then there's restaurants you go, but you have, but you have to, that's the remember me side of it. That people recognize when a restaurant is open during those times, they go, oh shit, look, they're open today. Like, I didn't know you guys are open. You're like, we're always going to be open. We're always going to be open. At the Greenhouse Grill, we're like that. We're like, look, people walk here, come by, we're going to, whatever the snow is, we'll get to it. Unless it's just, you know, ice and there's no electricity. My staff will call me and say, hey, I don't feel comfortable driving in this. I understand. And back to what we did when we opened, if we don't have enough servers or enough cooks, we say, sorry, this is what we have for this evening. But for the most part, we have opened. My staff has been super welcoming with that. And we just, we do what we do. So you mentioned you've had a lot of turnover. Oh, yeah. What do you think the reason is?

17:48Do you, do you know? I mean, do you have a, because everybody has a theory, right? As to why things happen. But you've been having, you said you've had a lot of turnover recently. In this industry, there's always turnover. Always. I mean, everyone's looking for an extra 25 cents or 50 cents. Are you talking back of the house? Back of the house, for the most part. I'm a back of the house person. So front of the house. I mean, we've had actually a really good front of the house. I mean, not too much turnover. Of course, we would, we need more. Um, but I don't know what, why the reasoning so much turnover this, you know, it's. Maybe people are wanting to get out of this industry more because they've had some time off and reflected on life and like the time off and more of the being with the family. Cause when I was doing the build out and now I was working, but I wasn't working every single night and like what I do now again. But are you working every night now? Pretty much. I mean, I, the last two months I've been trying to take a day off. But when we first opened, it was 24 seven.

18:52Um, like I said, my wife is thankfully she's, she's, she's an amazing woman and she was home. And I mean, she works too. She works with the restaurant as well. Um, what does she do for the restaurant? She's an accountant. So she runs the books. That's a great partnership. Oh man. That's amazing. Like that's a good partner to have. Yeah. And she knows, she knows how you're doing. Your ass needs to get to work. Your labor numbers are high. Yeah. So low it down. But I don't know what the reasoning for the labor, you know, it's just, maybe people just got used to being home and like that. And they got into different parts of the industry, like being a food rep or I don't know. Yeah. There's a, there's a, is there any, how do you get people? People downtown, frankly, I said Brentwood right there at Maribor. We have, we have a really good team, but we're in an office park in Brentwood. And it's just not a place people are driving by and they go, oh, look, I'll just go apply there. So we have to like actively go find people.

19:53Like, Hey, come work here. We'd love to have you here. Like you're kind of people drive by. They can see you. Are you getting a lot of applications or what do you do to get people? We post on Instagram. We post on Facebook. We do that. The Nashville, it was like a hospitality page. Yeah. We've done indeed. We've done all those types of things. The best way is usually when you get one person, you go tell them, bring a friend, bring a friend. Yeah. And that's the best way. So that's what we've been sort of doing. I mean, staff that we have right now has been the best F I've had since we've opened. I'm the same way. Right now, I've got a really good team of people that care that want to make it happen. I'm super proud. In the last month, we're definitely seeing a lot more applicants coming in. It's good. Yeah. It's interesting. I'm fascinated. I asked, I had Hugh Acheson on the show. Okay. And I said, with this, this was, this was in May of 2020.

20:56And I said, do you think, I said, this has been an employee's market for so long. I said, do you think that after the pandemic, we lose a bunch of restaurants and a bunch of, you know, if, if, if there's a hundred thousand people to work in these jobs and we lose 20% of restaurants, is it going to be an employer's market after this? And he goes, dude, people are hungry. I don't want to talk about that. And I was like, that's a good point. He made me feel like, damn, but that was the opposite happened. The opposite happened that restaurants made it through. And then so many people went and got other jobs because they saw a vulnerability in this industry. Yeah, that's true. Oh, it's just been, it's been interesting. It's been a widely discussed topic of conversation. So you're at a year. You just had the year celebration. Do anything special? What did you guys do for that? I think we did like a champagne toast and celebrate with the team and the family. And when guests came in, I think we gave like a little champagne toast.

21:57If they wanted a little sip and. It's awesome. Yeah. Has the community's been great? The community's been great. Reply, I mean, they've come back really well. Yeah. I mean, what I, my goal with this restaurant is to be like that little local gem. We don't want to be like a special occasion type of restaurant. We want it to be your everyday restaurant, families, kids. Because that's what restaurants survive on. Repeat business. Repeat business. So even if someone comes to me, there's other great restaurants on our down the street. So even if someone's coming in just for a before dinner drink and then go to another restaurant or where the place that they go for dessert afterwards. Sure. It's awesome. That's what we want. Creating community is one of the most special things I think about working in this industry. So you have to have a spirit of service. Where did that come from? How was your growing up? Did you, who was the first person that inspired you to want to cook? Oh, man. Um, I've always cooked with my grandma, my mom, my great grandma.

22:59I remember her, she was fairly, very old, but she, uh, every morning or every Easter she would be at our house and she'd be like peeing on the potatoes at six o'clock in the morning. I was really young and I would just talk to her and stuff like that. But, um, my uncle's in the industry. And then, uh, no, they cook classic like Italian food. Yeah. That's where I, some of the food on the, on the menu is just classic Italian food and stuff that I grew up eating. Um, like my asparagus fritters, like my grandma, my mom used to make those all the time. And my asparagus fritters. Yep. Or asparagus patties. They would call it patties. Okay. But it's a, we take that and then we just elevate it a little bit. Um, or her lentil soup and stuff like that. But it's very honest, humble, you know, simple food. What's the most popular thing that you sell? Um, of course, pasta being an Italian restaurant. Um, and we make all our pasta in house. Um, so. Wow. Yep. Every single day we have two people that make pasta for about six, seven hours.

24:00Um, so, um, our top selling pasta is probably our ravioli, uh, which, uh, veal shoulder and a bone marrow and raviola filling. Ooh. And then we, uh, our Campanella, which is with prosciutto and peas and with a little truffle, truffle butter cream sauce. Hell yeah. Yeah. So we should have had you bring some of that. I should have. Next time. I'm like a, like pasta is like my dad used to, when I was a little kid, um, my mom cooked like four dishes in rotation. I love you mom. If you're listening to this, but she made like chicken, why Kiki and this, my dad made like veal cutlets or, or like, like spaghetti and the spaghetti was like, I always loved pasta until I got older and like pasta is bad for you. Like, no, it's not bad for you. Not bad for you. That's some, you know, anyhow. It's my favorite food. I think I love it. And it's ours and our family too. My kids come to the restaurant. They're like Papa, I want pasta, pasta with butter. That's it. Well, the Italian restaurants, um, I think Italian food and Italian wine are like God's gift to this planet.

25:05That's very comforting. It's so good. It's the best things, right? When I used to run a restaurant, tiny restaurant in Brentwood, we had these beautiful veal salt and bokeh and we had, uh, veal piccata and chicken marsala and these wonderful Italian dishes. And the number one thing that was sold was an angel hair dish with a piece of grilled chicken on top. And it's comfort food. It's angel hair with like a white, it's like angel hair, white cream sauce. No, it was just a scallion cream sauce with a piece of chicken with like melted mozzarella cheese. And I used to get so frustrated because in the Brentwood Franklin, I think I want to lump both in and get people from Brentwood Franklin hating me. They just kind of like it. They don't want to step outside the box as much. You can put some really amazing stuff and they go, ah, I like ravioli, but, but no, try the, try that, try the veal salt and bokeh. That's what I was a little afraid of too, is our menu isn't like your Italian American. Um, it's a little bit more authentic. So when we were first opening up here, like, oh, do you have a chicken parmesan or stuff like that?

26:11Cause our menu, it's like I said, it's very authentic. So it's just, I mean, we have, we have the typical braises or like lamb neck, sugu, or we do have like an octopus and stuff like that. So how does the octopus sell? I was very nervous about that dish because I didn't know just being here from Naples, Florida, I didn't know what people's palates were or what they, it's like one of our top selling appetizers besides our meatballs. Of course. I mean, meatballs, you go to Italian restaurant. I want meatballs. There you go. So that's what I was saying. I was like, oh, I want a meatball. I know that it's easy. Interesting. So I was wondering everywhere I go, every city that I've been to in the past year and I fortunately try and get out of town to go eat food. Everybody has octopus. There's octopus on every menu everywhere. There's like that trend of it's like peaking right now on trend, but like in Nashville, like in Brent, Nashville, it's all over Nashville. But like Brentwood Franklin, you're not going to see it. And it's just, that's cool that you're doing it and glad people are buying it. I want to bring something different to the street. Yeah. I mean, there's not one, we're the only Italian restaurant on our street, which is, which is awesome.

27:16Yeah. But like I said, like people eat out a lot in Franklin and in the Nashville area. So if we're that one place that they go for Italian and in Franklin and have American down the street or the Southern or whatever else is down the street. That's it works for everybody. How has your community of other restaurant tours been? Have you met a lot of the people in the area and they excited to have you there? I met a lot of local like guests and stuff like that. Customer wise, chefs wise, I haven't met too much. That's one thing I wanted to do when I first moved here. I moved hoping to have like eight months. So, you know, do the build out and get used to and go out to dinner and try out the restaurants and meet chefs. And, and like, like we were talking about earlier, everything shut down when I got here. And then you're here a month. Bam. Yep. Everything closed. And then we opened up when everything else was up, you know, now I'm working 24 seven and my wife and I went out to our first like dinner and like a year together. Where'd you go?

28:17Optimus. Okay. In Germantown. How was it? It was awesome. It was great. It's a nice place. Yeah. That's my, that was my goal when we first opened. I want to try out different restaurants and meet chefs and, you know, create that. You know, team or something like that and creating a community. That's one thing about Nashville that we're known for is that people are very welcoming, very welcoming. And I was talking to a guy today on this podcast and I said, you know, it's kind of like a, as long as you don't take more than you give, it goes both ways on this. You got to reach your hand out and you also got to, you can take things, but you got to give things and everyone's really willing to do that. It's pretty awesome. That's one thing I'm in talk with my PR company too. It'd be fun to do like chef dinners with another chef or a bar takeover. Like we're open late night, Thursday, Friday, Saturdays. And it'd be fun to have like, I guess, bartender come in from Nashville or from Chattanooga or somewhere and, you know, meet them and go over there at their place too.

29:18And, you know, just people and so create that relationship. So here's your chance y'all. If you're out there right now and you're listening, um, Frank Polera, I was trying to say it with the Polara Polara. Yeah. Frank Polara, uh, is at Colicino in Franklin and he wants to collaborate with you. So, uh, how would people get ahold of you for something like that? They can email me, um, frank.polera at colicino tn.com And that's C-U-L-A-C-C-I-N-O. Yep. And then tn.com. Okay. Um, is there other Colicino's? Um, there may be one in Chicago. Okay. Like a Colicino bar or something like that. Okay. What does Colicino mean? So Colicino, um, actually if I looked at my glass right here, you see that, that watering right there. Yep. It's leaving an imprint on the table. So like we're kind of hoping to leave an imprint or a mark on downtown Franklin or in this area and people who come and dine with us, they're leaving an imprint or an impression on us at our place.

30:23That's what Colicino means. I love that. It's like, remember me kind of a thing. Like where I go, people are going to remember what I did. Making memories somewhere or we're making a memory. Like we're having, making our own memories here as well. We're going to take a short break to hear a word from our sponsors. And remember, we don't take a dollar from any restaurant. We don't ask for free food, nothing anywhere we go. The people that are advertising what this show are supporting you. We want to talk about locally owned and operated restaurants, promote and share the stories of locally operated restaurants. And these people, these companies are not only just companies that pay, but like I trust them. I've vetted them. I use most of them where I absolutely can. And they're amazing people. And I'm so excited that they are sponsoring this show to support the local Nashville restaurant scene. So if you're interested in any of these products, give them a call.

31:23Check them out. These are really good people that really want to help you succeed. So without further ado, here we go. Are you a professional looking for a job here in Nashville? Maybe just looking for a gig. You need maybe a better work-life balance. Change the way you work. GigPro can provide the opportunity for higher pay, a flexible schedule and hopefully connect you with the right fit for a long-term employment. Sign up now at go.gigpro.com forward slash pro. Once you sign up and complete your profile, you can earn $5 for each person you refer to the app. Go do it now. What Chefs Want has been serving the Nashville restaurant community for over 15 years. During that time, they've worked tirelessly to be, well, what chefs want? Seven-day deliveries, no fuel charges, 24-7 customer care, unparalleled availability. And they'll split almost everything they sell. If you're the kind of person that wants to see what's new when it comes in stock, you should follow them on the socials at whatchefswant and sign up to be a customer at whatchefswant.com.

32:32You have heard me talk about SuperSource for the last two years. And in that time, Jason Ellis, I feel like he's taken over the city. It is hard for me to get a guest in here that doesn't use SuperSource. And I'm telling you, everybody loves it. When you mentioned Jason, they're like, oh my gosh, that guy's legitimate. Ask yourself this question. Do you feel that way about the person that provides you with your dish machine and chemicals? Because he's the real deal. And guess what? He's not going to make you sign a five-year contract. He's never going to say, well, you signed a contract, it's on you. He goes week to week. You never sign a contract. So he earns your business every single week. I loved it when we had Cam and Nickian from the Red Perch. And they said he's like one of our employees when he's in the building. He's that good. You should call him today. If you don't feel that way about your dish machine and chemical person, 770-337-1143 is how you get a hold of Jason. Or go to NashvilleRestaurantRadio.com, click the Sponsors tab.

33:34There's a special link on there that will give you special discounts for new customers. Call him now. That's amazing. I like that. So you went to Optus. Have you been anywhere else? Have you gone out to eat at all? Of course, I tried the restaurants down the street. Red Pony and 55 South and Cork and Cow. Good stuff. You've met Jason McConnell yet? I haven't met him. Okay. No, I have not met him. He's a solid dude. That's what I've heard. I've heard he's a great guy. Great guy. His employees actually come to our restaurant quite often. My employees go over there. My co-host works at Cork and Cow. She's the one who went over and ate at your place. Oh, really? She's definitely, you know... That's great. Red Pony, when I first got into town, Red Pony blew me away. I really liked their food there. That's awesome. Franklin needs more chef-owned, locally-owned and operated places.

34:36More the Merrier, in my opinion. I agree. Yeah. So what do you see for your future, man? I'd love to grow the company. Do you look for more locations? Do you want to have multiple colchinos? I would love to have multiple colchinos, but also being a chef, I'd like to have other concepts. Sure. So it's definitely in the works. My partners would love to do that as well. It's just creating that family and that bench of employees that want to continue to grow. Because, I mean, it takes a big group of people to run a restaurant. So... Oh man, it does. So hopefully, we definitely have that core group of people right now that definitely feel more comfortable of potentially growing. Who are the people... So you've got to find vendors. People when you get here... Hey, I got to find a guy that does my produce and my fish. And who are the people that you currently use? Let's give some shout-outs to people that do a great job. Use helperns.

35:38Helperns? Okay. Use the garden creations. Or what chefs want. Creation gardens, what chefs want. I split those two words. It's okay. They're amazing. Sponsor of the show. We like them. Use Buxnort Trout. Okay. Very good. Yes. Love them. Take them on the show. What else do we use? I mean, not food related. We use super source. I see your little banner back there. So Jason. Tell me, is Jason... We had some people in here last week and they were the Red Perch. There are another couple you would really like. I think you guys really enjoy meeting them. But they were like, Jason's like amazing, man. He's like another member of our staff. He just goes in. Great. I don't have to worry about him. Like I've always... I'm very control freak. So even with my ordering, like I like to control how I order my chemicals or... Everything. Down to that. I don't have to worry about that with Jason. Like he... I think there's sometimes I check my cameras occasionally. And there's Jason at 7 30 in the morning, like checking the dishwasher. I see him and he just does his thing.

36:38He's great. He's... I get up here. I've talked... Jason's been a sponsor of mine since like day one. Right? So two years I've been talking about super source and what an amazing job he does. It's like slow and slower. He's just filling up like everybody in the city is coming over super source. I'm like, it's legit what I'm talking about. He just got here as well. I think like two, three years ago. Right? Yeah. From Atlanta. He opened the super source here in town and it was just him. And it was this guy just has this will and this energy and this... I want to take care of you. No, no contracts. He answers the phone right away. It's unbelievable. He's great. I told him about a year and I go, dude, you're going to own this town as far as dish, machine and chemicals because I didn't have in 20 years in the business. I didn't care about this machine chemicals at all. And I've learned so much from him about little things to do. And he's like a degreaser. You don't have to use more degreaser. Like there's a thing that dilute it into water.

37:39It doesn't matter if you use eight times. You're just wasting. It's meant to work at that dilution. So when we clean, the guys like to have like bubbles. It's like, guys, you don't need all that bubbles. And he'll tell me, he's like, hey, you guys are using too much chemical. And you want me to try and like calibrate it differently and stuff like that. Like you actually watch out for your business. Yeah. So yeah, I love him to death. Yeah, he's great. Do you guys bake your own fresh bread? We'll go through all my sponsors real quick. We do not bake our own bread. We do make our own focaccia. But bread wise, we do urban sprouts. So when I first moved here, I went to the farmer's market a couple of times. And so did my sous chef. And we met Franklin farmers market. Yep. Okay. And we met this guy. He's like, try my bread. I'm just starting to make it out of my house sort of thing. And like, it's okay. And every time, I mean, he was persistent. It was awesome. And he just said, now try it. And like, what would you do differently?

38:40How would you like it? And I think he was hoping that we would. Now it's just like, dude, that guy's awesome too. Like he'll one time when we were first open, we didn't know how much bread to order. And he came back six times. He just kept on baking bread and just bringing it. Baking bread and bringing it. He came back and forth 45 minutes, one way. And like, it was just baking bread. That's passion. It is. So we actually get... I love hearing that story. So we get our bread from him and he does do some microgreens as well and mushrooms. So we get some mushrooms from him as well. So that's urban sprouts. Urban sprouts? I've never even heard of them. Yeah. That's cool. Glad he gets a little bit of recognition here. We use sweet teas, gelato. Who's your broadliner? Chef's Warehouse. Chef's Warehouse. You buy all of like your everything else from Chef's Warehouse? They have a good import of Italian stuff. So we get like our buffalo mozzarella from them and our tomatoes from like...

39:43Samosa tomatoes and olives from them and stuff like that. Some quality people here you work with. I like it. Yeah. Some different people that I, you know... I've never used Chef's Warehouse before. I never heard of them until I got here. Who's your rep? Jace... Jason. Jason Howard. Okay. I used to know a guy that worked there. He was amazing. I tried to steal him. I was at US Foods and I was like, dude, I think he's probably running the place by now. What's his name? I can't think of his name at the top of my head. But it was eight years ago. But he was amazing. Yeah. They were just so small coming in town figuring it out. So it's great they do that. Yeah. I love it. I'm sorry to get this day. I'm just like all a million different places. It's 75 degrees outside right now. It's gorgeous outside. Oh man. You guys have a big patio. Yeah. About 90 seats outside. 90 seats outside? Yeah. So today's a rock and roll day. And tomorrow will be rock and roll. I can't wait. Oh weekends.

40:43We'll Sunday, Monday, I think it's supposed to rain. But beautiful all through the weekend. Yeah. We're excited. Like the other day my GM opened up the umbrellas. And if you look outside from our kitchen view to the patio where the first indoor outdoor bar actually to in downtown Franklin. Really? So we actually have like the nano walls, the nano windows and stuff like that. So those open up. But it's just like look. And he's like the umbrellas are open. First time in like six, seven weeks. He's like we're all like excited for it. So we're looking forward for the season. Just getting giddy. Oh yeah. So do you have an open kitchen? It's yeah. It's an open concept kitchen. So people are actually sitting right where the pizza station is. Okay. You can actually see them making the pizzas during lunch. On the other side of the expo line, people can actually sit and watch people make pasta during the day. So you can just sit there and have a bowl of pasta while you're watching being made in front of you. So I had a guy who's a general manager at Joyland. Have you been to Joyland yet? No. Joyland's in East Nashville.

41:44It's a hamburger spot. Fast casual, I would call it. It's not fast food, but it's a very fast. Can you walk in, you counter order it. And sit down. It's Sean. It's a Sean Brock restaurant. Okay. I mean, it's very well done. We have the general manager in here today and they have an open kitchen. And I said, is it different for people when they're making food and they can see who it's going to, right? Because bear with me. In any other kitchen where you don't see the actual people and dining in there, you create your dish, you spin it in the window and you go to the next one. It's gone. You don't get to see it anymore. It's gone. But in an open kitchen, you see where the plate is going and you see the table and you can almost see their reaction when they get it. Do you think that's something that inspires people to make the food look better? Do you think they put more heart in it because they can see the end user? I definitely think they put more pride in their dishes. And I think as much as people don't like having open custom kitchens because they feel like they want to hide the, I don't want to say the chaos or the mess or stuff like that.

42:53I think people own their stations a little bit better and they are a little bit cleaner. Instant accountability. Oh, yeah. That's funny that you said that because I still watch people's reactions, especially if I'm cooking or if I'm on the expo line. But I'll try and turn around and watch them, especially when we first opened with our tiramisu. It's a little bit different presentation. But when people, even til today, they get it and they're like, like their mouth just opens up. They're like, oh, wow. What's different about the presentation? It's an individual portion. We actually get talking about supporting the locals. I had these special dishes made from Handmade Studio in Nashville. Oh, sweet. So she made these beautiful ceramic dishes. So ours are house made ladyfingers. So we make our ladyfingers in-house. We add a chocolate ganache. Of course espresso and booze and stuff like that. But when people see it, it's just like, it's beautiful. Yeah, it's a different style.

43:54Different presentation. Similar flavor profile. Similar flavor profile. But it's just the presentation of it's just different. Do you have a pastry chef? Yeah, we have a pastry chef. She's self-trained, but she's done very well. We had a pastry chef near the day, too. And I haven't had any pastry chefs on the show before. That was our first pastry chef. And I was like, tell me about your story. What do you do? Do you create the desserts? Or do you give full autonomy to people? Do you have specials? Who do you have do the specials? We have specials. Right now, it's myself doing the specials. And then my sous-chef will bring me some ideas, too. For the first eight months or so, we were just running our menu. It was just too chaotic with being short staff and trying to create specials and prep the specials while you're trying to do lunch prep and then work a station. We're pretty short staff. We're actually changing our menu for the first time next week, I'm hoping, as soon as those get printed off and stuff like that.

44:56So we're finally feeling at a place that we can change the menu. And we've had some stability in the kitchen and staffing-wise in front of the house. Well, because this is going to come out in a week, you'll probably be changing your menu around the time this comes out. You won't give us any kind of sneak peek as to what's going to be on it? Pasta-wise, we're adding, it's almost like a frutti di mare. Doing it a little bit differently, though. Like we're going to do a sepia risotto with it. So a black risotto. What else did I put on the menu? Drawing a blank right now. And a lamb chop with a puffed-barrel salad. A pork asabuco with risotto as well. That would probably be what I would order. Pork shrinks, it's very comforting when you braise it and you have like all that the vegetables and the heartiness and stuff like that. The broth is usually my favorite part, too, because there's so much soul and love into that broth.

46:01Oh, yeah. That's, especially when it's done right. Yeah. You know, if it's actually done right, then that's fantastic. Well, I got to go check it out, man. I got to come check out the restaurant. Bring the wife and kids and everybody on a nice day. We're kid-friendly, too. Yeah. So my kids come every single, it used to be every Wednesday they would come. But now with sports starting and school and stuff like that, it makes it a little bit more difficult. Well, I thank you for coming in today. Thanks for having me. Did we forget anything? I don't think so. What do you want to talk about? Anything you want to, any like issues out there? Anything you want to discuss? I mean, issue wise, I'd just love to get more, more staff, I guess, you know, like, you know, people that want to be in this industry, that want to grow in this industry, that are passionate that this is, this is what their heart and soul want to do. Because that's, that's what I look for. We call those restaurant people. I want restaurant people, front of the house, back of the house, bartenders.

47:03I define restaurant people as having turbo boost. And they're the people who are okay telling their parents that they work in a restaurant. Because this is what I do when you tell your parents, I work in restaurants, what I do, then you're a restaurant person. But I always ask myself, if you're standing, if you're in lineup before the shift, and you can see the front door filling up with people, what do you do? What feeling happens? Like, I don't know, what do you mean? I'm like, you're not, you're not our kind. No, I still get anxious. All of a sudden you start feeling that feeling that radiates from your belly. It's about to be on. I'm already, I told my staff the other day, I'm like, tomorrow, it's going to be crazy. Get your head in it. I still get anxious, like I said. There's days that I'm prepping and I'm like, oh man, I opened in 30 minutes. I can still got this, this, this. I start getting anxious. Is it anxiety or is it excitement? It's more of like excitement, but it's like, I know what I need to get done. But it's like, like you said, you have one speed and you're like, you better put that turbo boost on and get it done.

48:06Some people are just like, if they're not restaurant people, they'll be just like, yeah, whatever happens, happens. So that's what I'm saying. Like you honestly, like what happens when you feel that? Did you, do you know that feeling? And they go, those are your turbo boosters warming up because in a minute you're about to be in the weeds. And that's, if you don't start getting excited at that, because that's the moment I, when I was out of the building for so long, I remember I was doing a lineup at the greenhouse grill and I looked at the front door and I was like, there's like 20 people at the front door. And I was like, oh yeah. And it's a sunny day, springtime. Let's go guy. And I just, I just, I don't know something about it. I just get all amped for it. With us, we do, especially on the weekends, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, well, every day we have like an in-between menu. So between 2.30 after lunch closes to 4.30, we have an in-between menu. So when it's beautiful outside, like if you start at three o'clock, like if you're that, the dinner cook and you're walking to three o'clock or server, you better be ready and have your turbo boost already on because you're walking into a busy business. And then we open at 4.30.

49:08I know a lot of restaurants open up at five, but when I first came to the Franklin area and Nashville area, I was noticing that especially in Franklin, people like to dine early. Yeah. So I was just like, well, let's open at 4.30 because people are already walking down the street, they're shopping and might not be the, might not stop at Colachino if I'm either ready at 4.30 and instead waiting for 5, 5.15. Have you heard the concept of dynamic pricing? Your restaurant's a menu restaurant, right? Where you sit down. Just the idea of bringing people in earlier. It's a concept that was brought up because like Uber, right? Uber has surges. So if there's a hockey game and there's a band playing at the Ryman and there's a band at Ascend Amphitheater downtown and they all end at the same time, Uber prices like a hundred dollars to get home, right? It's crazy what Uber does. Well, kind of restaurants could do the same thing. If you have a menu board or if you are doing a QR code for your menu, if you don't have a printed menu or you could print the menu, but let's just say at 4 o'clock or 3.30, if you come in, you pay 10% less than your standard menu price.

50:15If you come in at 5 o'clock, 5.30, then it's just the regular price. But if you come in at 7, it's a 20% increase in price and you come in at 9, it goes back down to 10% under the normal cost. Or whatever it might be, but like all of a sudden it takes that 7 o'clock hour, that 6 to 8, and it elevates. It's going to cost more to be in that prime time. But if you want to come earlier, you can save money. So almost like... And the way my menu is actually set up, that in-between menu, you're actually at those savings actually. It's like our pastas are a little bit smaller portions, but the prices are a little bit less. And we have pizzas and small bites and stuff like that. So you can actually, especially me being a restaurant person or a foodie, I like that. I'd rather eat appetizers sometimes. And I can make a meal out of five appetizers or stuff like that. And just do stuff shared for the table. We actually have a lot of people that come in and have a couple of craft cocktails, but then they order a bunch of appetizers and pizza and just hang out. It's an interesting concept that I was waiting for somebody to go like, I want to try that.

51:20I want to see somebody try and execute. It's actually a good idea. Dynamic Pricings. You can go... I mean, it's like, you know, there's like this new Southwest Flex, right? Well, everybody wants that prime time. Well, everyone wants the prime time, but people are taking pictures of Southwest Airlines, right? They're like taking pictures of outside. And if the wing is on the right or the left, it's like a flex like, oh, look, I'm in the A group. I'm in front of the wing. Or it was like, hey, I'm in the C group and behind the wing. And it's almost like if you start doing Dynamic Pricing where you start charging less, then it goes up. It's going to be a power play. I'm going to take you out to dinner at seven o'clock. Like, oh, shit, he must like me. Taking me at seven? Well, that's when it's most expensive. Like, it's almost a status symbol to be there at seven. And, you know, instead of everybody trying to book at that one time, it might encourage me. Like, I could eat earlier. Why not? Cost me a little bit less. Hey, let's do that. Let's do that. I mean, then restaurants could... I just think at seven o'clock, it's just such a shit show. So most of the time, everybody trying to walk in. How do we separate that? How do you even that out over a four-hour span?

52:24That might be a way to do it. I don't know. It's a great idea. Until somebody does it, it's just an idea. I want to see somebody pull it off because they're going to get... I don't know. I don't know. I'm just talking here. It's actually not a bad idea. So... All right. One of the things we do before you go is we ask our guest to... How old are you? 39. So you're familiar with... I've been using the term like Jerry's final thought. Do you know what that means? No. Okay. I'm gonna stop using it. You're the third person who said, I don't know what that means. Jerry Springer at the end of his shows used to have a final thought. Now I know. Yes. And it was the Jerry's final thought. Kind of a la Jerry's final thought. You get to take us out. Whatever you want to say, as long as you want to say it. Talking to the community of people that listen to this show. I don't even know who they are. It's a bunch of people. In the industry and not. So floor is yours. I guess I want to talk to people who...

53:28Especially back of the house people because I'm a chef. I guess if this is what you really want to do. I mean work your ass off and put your head down. And you know nothing's ever going to be handed to you. Like I talked to some of my staff right now too. Because I think we're talking a lot of people graduating. They just like want stuff handed to them. I was talking to one of my sous chefs. And I was just saying hey like I'm a type of person that. Is never going to be like hey do this or do that. Like I want you to open your eyes. Always scanning around and be a go getter. Because I'm never going to be like hey I want you to do this task. Or I want you to do this. I want you to come to me and say hey this needs to be done. How do I do it? And who's the contact if you need to contact? Because you're showing me that you want more responsibilities. And you want more ownership. Because that's the only way that you're going to grow. That's the only way any company will grow too. Because they have more people like that. Yeah so you're looking for those people?

54:30Yeah. If you're out there and you're one of those people. Send you an email. What's your email again? frank.polara at colochino tn.com And you can find them on instagram at c-u-l-a-c-c-i-n-o underscore tn. Colochino underscore tn. And you're right you're right downtown Franklin. Yeah. Right downtown. First in Maine. First in Maine. Yes. Beautiful location. Right over there by the Harpeth isn't it? A little close to the Harpeth Hotel. It's it's part of the same building. Okay yeah. So the Harpeth and the their restaurant and the hotel is on one side. And the other side there's the bake house and the olive oil company and stuff like that. Cool well thank you so much for for making the trip all the way up here to Nashville. Thank you for having me. And telling us some of your story and about your restaurant and thank you. Thank you. Big time. Frank Pulera thank you so much for joining Nashville Restaurant Radio.

55:33And thank you the listener for sticking in the entire time. Wow thank you so much. I will tell you that we have got an amazing show Monday the Walker Brothers. And Kayla Ellis who is the director of beverages over at the Oak Steakhouse. And Oku comes on the show and she was amazing. There's so many amazing interviews coming at you guys. Big congratulations out there. I believe Attaboy and Philip Cratchick from Ralph and Daughters and Folk. Made it to be finalists on the James Beardward voting. So congratulations guys. We are really pulling for you over here. And I hope that you guys are being safe out there. Have a wonderful rest of your weekend. Have a wonderful week. We'll be back in just 48 hours. Bye-bye.