The Grilled Podcast: Recent Episodes
Tony Babinski
The Grilled Podcast is about the food business and other matters. Our principal focus is on what it takes to get you the food you love. Our guests are some of the best chefs, restaurateurs and creative food people in Montreal, Toronto, New York and beyond.
Viewers of Dragon’s Den on CBC and lovers of fun and delicious snack food know the story of Smart Monkey Popcorn. Two brothers, Joseph and Fabio Zeppilli, quit their lucrative jobs in finance and law to take a chance as entrepreneurs. Over five years, they’ve built their brand into a cross-Canada sensation, selling millions of bags of flavoured popcorn. They’ve built their success by following their hearts, taking chances, thinking and acting unconventionally, dedicated customer service, and fearless prototyping. And they’ve payed that success forward, making a point of mentoring other young entrepreneurs. The result is ongoing success and growth under the challenging shadow of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.
David Barry is the President of Pursuit, a travel and hospitality company with hotels and tourist attractions across North America and in Iceland. Pursuit has been experiencing tremendous growth in the last few years, and now, like the rest of the hospitality industry, has been it hard by the advent of COVID 19.
Like so many in this inspiring industry, Pursuit has responded with real creativity, positivity and resourcefulness. As Dave has said, we will get through this, and we’ll travel again – some of us this Summer. In this interview, we talk about how Pursuit is putting Safety First and ensuring that those who do travel enjoy the best experience possible this season.
We also talk about how Pursuit has been generous in its communities during this challenging time.
After we completed this interview, Pursuit demonstrated true leadership in making a public statement against racial discrimination and against police brutality. I’ve published the whole text at www.thegrilledproject.com
Pino Di Ioia and Tina Serrao, along with Pino’s twin brother Anthony Di Ioia, head Beaver Tails inc..Since 1978, Montreal-based Beaver Tails has been delighting customers across Canada and the US, and in destinations around the world with its namesake pastry. Like many others, they closed their locations during the COVID-19 lock-down.
As de-confinement begins across North America, they have opened again, and found customers yearning for their unique brand of comfort food. Today, as they begin building their business back up, they confront the questions facing businesses everywhere, particularly in the food and hospitality sector.
How do you operate in an era where large public gatherings are discouraged? How do you reach and satisfy customers in a time of ongoing social distancing? And how you can carry on delivering joy when uncertainty is the word of the day?
They shared their insight during our conversation, which you can listen to here.
Bertrand Cesvet is the CEO of and Senior Partner at Sid Lee, the international award-winning agency that has made waves for over 20 years by keeping one step ahead. We sat down for a friendly chat about the impact of Covid 19 on the hospitality and food industries both now and in the future. Without shrinking from the negative impact of the current situation, we look at how collaboration, changing consumer habits at home and possible trends like local tourism might provide opportunity. At the same time, we address the balance between Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and fear, which drives whom, and what the impact might be.
Jonathan Rodrigue est le co-fondateur et le PDG de Still Good. Still Good travaille main dans la main avec des producteurs et des organismes locaux qui ne veulent rien jeter pour concocter des biscuits qui font craquer. Au cours de cette entretien, Jonathan nous parle de comment il navigue le crise de la Covid 19 tout en tenant le cap – batir un meilleure monde en transformant la chaine alimentaire.
Jonathan Rodrigue founded Still Good Foods out of principle. He was trying to find a way to reduce food waste, which is one of the greatest sources of greenhouse emissions today. The first result is cookies that they sell at retail and online. They’re dedicated to their mission and to changing the way the food system works, even during the challenges posed by social isolation. In this conversation, he details the challenges of reducing food waste and suggests how we can change our food system for the better – something positive to think about as we go through a period of rapid, massive change.
Une émission spéciale de GRILLED en français! C'est notre plaisir d'acceuilir Bruno Ménard des IGA Louise Menard, qui nous
parlent des défis aux lesquelles les épiciers et leurs clients font face pendant la crise de la Covid-19. Tout ça pour nous livrer le comfort de lequel nous tous besoin!
Bruno Menard is VP and Co-Owner of IGA Louise Menard, which operate a number of grocery stores in the Montreal area.
In this episode of GRILLED, he tells us how grocers and the food supply chain are standing up to the Covid-19 crisis - and what we might all learn from it in the future.
We’re back to cover the heroic measures being taken by the food industry during the Covid-19 crisis. With society disrupted, they are working harder than ever to ensure that the food we love continues to get to our tables.
In the first episode of this special series, we speak with Nick Morena, of Montreal’s iconic Saint-Viateur bagel. In order to respect social distancing, we spoke on the phone. While the sound isn’t always great, the message is clear: a lot of people are working hard, for which we’re very grateful.25