nick kokonas
@nickkokonas
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Co-Owner: Alinea / Next / The Aviary / Roister / St. Clair Supper Club. Founder emeritus: Tock, Inc. Former-ish derivatives trader.
Chicago
Joined November 2010
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I could care less about college football. But I'm personally inviting the Clemson Tigers team and coaches to Chicago to experience what an actual celebration dinner should be.
I'm not joking.
Someone let them know what The Alinea Group does. It'll be worth it
@ClemsonTigers
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I regret having to publish this... but
@catcora
's instagram post was simply absurd and offensive after her unstable behavior at Alinea:
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Amazing news... Tock has been acquired by Squarespace! I remain CEO of Tock & our entire team will join with SQSP to support our clients in digitally connecting with the world - elegantly and with the same spirit of innovation we've fervently embraced
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Here's something else I never thought I'd write... Alinea To Go is now live!
First week --> Beef Short Rib Wellington / 50-50 Mashed / Creme Brulee.
As a result we've already 'hired back' staff. Any profits will be shared amongst whole staff.
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Truly crazy to me that any American can support Iran. All these far left kids have zero knowledge of history.
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It seems that no one understands the PE shop playbook on display with
@elonmusk
and Twitter. This is all pretty standard, minus the public nature of it all and the fact that he got locked in to a high purchase price.
But the rest, the rest is textbook if you strip away the weird
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This is genuinely the saddest day for The Alinea Group, the hospitality industry, and our teams. And we've been through some shit before.
As of tomorrow, per mandate, all Alinea Group restaurants will be closed. All guests will be refunded -- please be patient.
Please be safe.
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@ChefReactions
1. I really like your Instagram and watch a ton of them.
2. We’re just going put everything in a blender, then air fry it, and dump it on some Cheetos for you.
Enjoy!!
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Interestingly we've sold $5,600 worth of Margarita kits from Alinea. We've been doing this all wrong for years...
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Now that restaurants are mostly open again - * Let's talk about the right way to book them *
This is a more complicated subject than one might think (warning: long thread). And a frustrating one for both diners and restaurant owners.
And me!
Because, well, we've studied it /1
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Found Cat Cora’s restaurant. Open back up... I’m friends with the chef. ;-)
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Taxing unrealized gains is so incredibly stupid it must instead be some negotiating tactic. *Or* maybe our leaders have no idea how finance and business creation work. Both parties are incredibly broken, unfortunately.
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Wellington Short Rib via Alinea To Go. Over 2000 meals sold already. Bringing back more staff members. Get ready team.
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.
@PGATOUR
since fans probably won't be at many tournaments early in '21 how about this...
Pick 24 fans to play Monday after the tourney. Same Sunday set-up, tees, pins. Range of handicaps from +2 to 20. Film it.
Would settle a LOT of bar banter. Be great for the game & fun.
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Many predicted the death of fine dining post Covid. While not yet fully reopened, this week's waitlist
@Alinea
is... 2,311 parties comprising 7,100+ covers. For 5 days. 😳
I was optimistic the whole time... but even I am shocked by the demand.
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Covid testing for restaurants -- a thread.
On June 1 The Alinea Group was notified by an employee that s/he had tested positive for Covid19. That employee had not worked in 8 days. No one else showed any systems
Nonetheless every person that worked on the same day was tested /1
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Tonight The Alinea Group will collectively serve 3,220 meals. I could not be more proud of our team and our city. Stay safe everyone, be kind, and let’s see those family dinners !!
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Inexpensive pizza is usually ok. Cheap burgers are sometimes great. Tacos should never be expensive.
But....
Cheap sushi is always a disaster.
Am I wrong?
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@LaurieSegall
My dad used to tell me, "Never argue with a donkey because people watching won't know which one's the ass."
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@MaxTemkin
@ClemsonTigers
nothing wrong with fast food from time to time. But when you knock off a national championship, it's time to teach our youth that there are experiences to strive for in life moving forward :-) Plus... in the white house? no.
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As a restaurant owner myself I understand that every dollar counts right now.
Tock is waiving the April monthly service fee for all restaurants and wineries worldwide. Tomorrow, you'll get an invoice, and a full rebate all at once.
We will rebuild together.
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This Friday
@gachatz
and I will be running a test of our Twitch channel. Simple idea: cook dinner with a Michelin 3-star chef (and me), start to finish. No TV magic, no short cuts, no edits. A little over an hour.
What do you want us to cook? Any burning questions?
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@bcneligan
@ClemsonTigers
You don't invite someone and then ask them to pay... that's something a classless person would do. And it'll cost a LOT more than $3k. I mean, that's not even the vintage champagne budget for those of age.
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Restaurants in Chicago (and much of the northern part of the US) are going to go through a very hard time... beginning next week.
We've all known this is coming -- cold, wet weather combined with a spike in Covid cases means that both indoor and outdoor dining are untenable. /1
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My email to The Alinea Group team explaining our plans. May be useful for other restaurants / businesses and for the public to understand why we are doing pick-up meals. Transparency is important:
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First there was
@NiseiLounge
now there is
@TheWienerCircle
on
@Tock
. If *anyone* ever says Tock is only for high end restaurants -- something I've always rejected -- my case is now complete.
Welcome Wiener Circle.... Chicago icon. Bastion of great dogs and good feelings.
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At the Alinea Group we've had nearly 15 years of some great moments, some low ones (cancer!), and some rebirths.
But I have to say that *nothing* -- no award or TV show -- has felt better than seeing people post pictures of bringing a tiny part of what we do home right now.
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Well that'll solve the thousands year old middle east conflicts.
All this performative garbage from the Chicago council combined with greater taxation, anti-business / anti-capitalist rhetoric, and at best lax law enforcement is just a disaster.
This has worked *nowhere*.
BREAKING: Mayor Brandon Johnson BREAKS a 23-23 TIE VOTE BY THE CHICAGO CITY COUNCIL and VOTES YES on a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza at a special City Council meeting that once again spilled out of control.
@wttw
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Today is my last day
@Tock
and I'm extremely grateful for, and proud of, the hundreds of talented people who work there now and helped us build it in past.
Thank you!
It has been a true adventure to have an idea, push it into existence, and then nurture it for a decade.
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Filled with circular reasoning, this 'plan' is a list of hopes with no discernible set of actions. These goals are laudable, but do not address immediate needs at all.
And "environment" is spelled incorrectly. Not a big deal, but indicative of the lack of rigor in the office.
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@tock
started out as an experiment at a single restaurant in Chicago... to see this map makes me so happy. We are helping hundreds of restaurants in my home town, and learning from them in person to build new features. So gratifying. Thank you.
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You don't get paid for your time, output, or expertise, really... or do so within a relatively narrow band.
You earn proportionally to the amount of risk you take.
It is amazing how few people understand this or embrace it.
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@NaithanJones
High quality chocolate, red wine, and a half mezcal margarita. Happy to show you the proper way to make one if you'd like.
Anyone who doesn't think that's a solid answer isn't worth working for.
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Pleased to announce that Tock has raised $10M to help *all* restaurants, wineries, pop-ups, brew pubs, distilleries, car dealerships, pizza chains, tattoo parlors, furniture stores, retailers -- *time slotted businesses* -- run better:
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Re-watched Moneyball tonight. Couldn't help but think that restaurants/hospitality are the equivalent of pre-moneyball thinking -- a fundamental misunderstanding of where 'wins' come from.
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"Make no small plans..." --> Daniel Burnham, Chicago 1910.
Make no plans --> Chicago government, 2023.
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Back in the late 1950's or early 60's my father, Jim Kokonas, owned and operated a diner not far from where Next / Aviary / Roister / Tock are now - 853 W. Madison St. Back then, though, it was Skid Row not the West Loop. It was all he could afford to open. [thread w/ pics]
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Whenever I see a business logo before, say, an actual business (or biz plan at least) I become very worried that someone has their priorities very backwards. Logos are what you drew on the back of your 7th grade notebook for your mythical band. Do the biz first, then the logo.
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Hi all -- if you ordered from Next / Roister / Alinea tonight... thank you! Please post some pics of your dinners at home. People are texting them to me but I'd love to see others' whom I don't know.
Pick up has been very smooth so far! Direct to car... no one inside restaurant
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The Alinea Group will be taking a much needed break but be assured that we will be back with unique, delicious, and fun Alinea To Go offerings in two weeks.
Here's to a better year for the entire hospitality industry, our country, and humanity. May we remain resilient & hopeful
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I'm pleased to announce that during the
@NextRestaurant
@chefjoseandres
menu we raised and donated $115,000 for
@WCKitchen
thanks to our patrons. Chef Andres is an inspiration, a true American, and we are honored to have worked with his team to showcase his work food and abroad
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I can only imagine the catastrophically tone-deaf speech that is being written up by our executive branch team right now -- and the teleprompter madness that is to come. And yet, as wild as my imagination is, I feel like it will somehow exceed it in the worst ways possible.
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‘Root Beer of Short Rib’ at home.
@Alinea
To Go. Crazy delicious. Really can’t believe this traveled so well. This Grant guy is someone to keep an eye on.
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@Frozen_Yolo
@ThisKindaBrad
@ClemsonTigers
Because it’s not about football. It’s about dignity, honor, and example. I like football, but I’m not a crazy fanatic. This is about showing them how a proper celebration looks in adulthood. And fun too.
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I'll soon be publishing / open sourcing our 'business plan', such as it is, as a template for other restaurants in the event this lasts more than a few weeks.
Goal: bring joy to your families and ours. That simple.
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I'm convinced some business owners *enjoy* being stubborn more than they want to be successful. "At least I did it my way," is not some sort of victory mantra as you shut down. I genuinely do not understand that mindset.
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This is one of the best food related videos I've ever seen. Amazing.
The Truth About Wasabi
Beautiful.
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Congrats to
@EileenCookCnty
It takes real grit to run these days and serve the people for the future of Chicago. It will be a difficult but fascinating and rewarding transition from the status quo
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Boring Super Bowl but maybe I should invite the winners to Chicago preemptively so they can be assured of great food!!
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A little more than 2 years after closing, the all new Tock office reopens tomorrow. We’ve grown by ~100 employees and hundreds of % by most metrics since March 2020. Can’t wait to see everyone in person!
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Nothing to do with minimum wage. It’s about efficiency. And overall cost savings —> you cannot depreciate labor but you can equipment.
Get used to seeing a ** lot ** more of this, regardless of wage growth.
This is the McDonald’s at the Minneapolis airport. This is what happens when the min wage is too high. Liberals think they are helping people, but they’re not.
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Tonight I’m an
@alinea
To Go customer! This is just crazy. 9 course meal to go (I got a few extras as I know the chef). An extraordinary effort by our team to send 1,200 of these out each evening! Thank you all. Friend’s virtual bday celebration simulcast will be special.
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What The Alinea Group is doing (at the moment) during this crisis:
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I want (someone) to start a site called "Yesterday's News Cycle"
It highlights whatever people were going nuts about a few months ago, but quickly died off.
Would serve as a reminder to ignore fake crises in favor of long-term enduring trends.
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In case you're wondering if people will go back to concerts, dining, etc. post pandemic, here is a picture of Wuhan night life from Reuters. No cases there since May 10th... and life is a party.
US businesses should plan accordingly. Survive the winter and set a solid plan.
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One can only hope that Bally’s fails to secure funding and we can avoid building Biff’s Pleasure Paradise & Casino in Chicago.
Gambling preys on those who can least afford it. And creates nothing.
Let’s give incentives to manufacturing and infrastructure instead.
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btw -- this is what I looked like as Alinea was being built... and I was tired, frustrated with construction, and terrified by my life choices !! [Feb, 2005]
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This is *way* worse than any chain restaurant group getting PPP. Melt down the gold at the Vatican, sell off the art, then apply for the PPP. Sell off the 277,000 sq. miles you own -- or a fraction.
Something about camel / eye of needle as I recall.
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"I am not a cat".
This man is the most 2021 thing ever.
He did nothing wrong at all and his analysis is better than 98% of professional analysts. More importantly, he had skin in the game -- he wasn't selling advice, he was investing his own money based on his own opinions.
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A year ago today, ahead of the Chicago shutdown,
@tock
moved to remote work. Here's a photo of the moment I spoke with our team.
I could hardly imagine then that we would add 50+ new employees in the next 12 months... or that we'd still be WFH. Proud of our team...!
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Proud of our Alinea Group team and community:
• 567 Roister covers, patio and To Go
• 82 10-course Next diners for Mexico City menu
• 1,173 Alinea Steak House To Go meals
...all today, on Father's Day.
Have a great one all you dads, and THANK YOU with love from TAG.
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Science, logic, and truth. Nice to hear those things mentioned without irony once again.
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So happy to be with SQSP and proud of our
@tock
team to be part of the IPO today. Opening via a direct listing and embracing innovation even in this -- that's why we joined together. Onward !!
#squarespaceDL
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To help our hospitality clients & industry
@Tock
has rapidly (1 wk, 24/7 work) proto'd and built Tock To Go, an extension of our booking system.
Prix Fixe and set meals for pickup or delivery. 2 way text for contactless delivery.
for more information.
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What do you want to eat on election night while you watch the returns come in? What are all-American foods everyone can agree with?
I'm putting together a To Go election menu feast and I want YOUR input.
[Apple Pie is definitely there already! So is champagne *and* whisky]
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With the year coming to a close I want to thank all Alinea Group customers for pivoting with our great team...
Since March 15th Alinea has served 135,587 To Go meals via Tock.
Most popular: 15th anniversary tasting menu
Most Surprising: Milwaukee pickups ~2k
Least: Steakhouse
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Thanks !! to all
@Alinea
customers for bringing us into your home this Thanksgiving.
• 1,260 turkeys
• Sides, Gravy, Pies, etc. for 6,000+
Our team did an amazing job on logistics, prep, and pick ups have been smooth thus far.
Be safe, avoid big gatherings, and be well.
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Curious how the Michelin guide can rate restaurants in Chicago that have been essentially closed for over a year. We’ve worked hard on To Go but that’s not meant to be 3*. And they can’t have dined in. So why a new guide? Makes sense in 2022. Not now. Now is rebirth.
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Today -- literally today -- I reached a goal that I set for myself when I was 25 years old. I don't know yet whether that was a good goal or not... I just know that anything is possible if you set a North Star and work towards it diligently... with many helpers.
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Transparency is important in moments of crisis and so I am sharing what The Alinea Group is doing for our team and to ensure our ability to reopen in the future.
Please note: these are brutal decisions to make with great impact on people we care about deeply.
(cont)...
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Putting on my
@Tock
hat here for a few posts.
Expand the chart to see the drop off in reservations from end of Feb. to March 15, when almost 85% down.
Our team quickly built Tock to Go and launched in a few days to help restaurants and communities. (cont..) /1
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This cements
@yelp
as one of the worst companies in our industry. I want not only this removed but all TAG Yelp pages taken down. I should have the right to not be included without consent. Awful corporate decisions during a crisis. Terrible.
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Please do us all a favor and don't be this guy in any way.
We are trying to hire back employees, feed people in our community safely, and spread out the distribution of the food nexus to help flatten the curve.
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Terribly embarrassing and just plain terrible. I cannot believe this is what our country had come to. Who can take this blowhard seriously.
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Vaxed! Thank you BioNTech for decades of scientific research and thinking out of the box on immunotherapies. Science for the win, again.
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Think people will head back to restaurants? It appears so.... up and to the right, as they say.... I think this is just the start. 2nd half of 2021 and into 2022 will be record boom time. Hang in there, reopen safely.
(daily reservations on Tock, numbers redacted purposefully)
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It is hard to find the right words, but easy to know what is right. I feel it's important to publicly state our values, as we did to our employees yesterday in this note. All of our restaurants will be closed today and we should reflect on the root cause of 'why' not 'how'.
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I can no longer write (with a pen on paper) as opposed to typing. I type all day... I write like I did in kindergarten. I cannot even fill out basic forms and stress out when doing it... it just doesn't flow. Anyone else?
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Leadership. Standards. Push. Last night’s EoD report from GM Rizqi Soeharsono at Alinea. 6 days ago we never did pickup orders. Yesterday 697. Tomorrow we will do that better. Thanks Riz and Team TAG. Our employees and community benefit from the team’s professionalism. 3* ToGo
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The key to success long term?
Show up every time, on time.
If you are expected but unprepared... still show up. Running late? Should have planned ahead, but let people know you're late, your fault.
My dad taught me that ages ago. Shocking how few people follow through.
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[click pic to expand]
see the blue? Those are free reservations at restaurants. The orange is To Go. As different parts of the country cautiously reopen, we
@tock
are seeing reservations begin to pick back up. Biggest trend? Prepayment. More coming Monday.
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Since those who criticize should actually have ideas too (otherwise you're just a *critic*) here are a few radical and not so radical ideas:
1.The Chicago beachfront is under utilized. In cities like Barcelona there are beachfront bars / restaurants that are unique but identical
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Here’s what a night of “service” now looks like. We’ve built whole new systems of info and procedure in just a few weeks.
@Tock
has enabled us to scale by controlling the orders per pickup window + sell bev pairings. 1195 meals, 584 orders. 4 min avg pickup time, contactless.
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I genuinely cannot tell if this is agitprop theater or if she really believes this. Either way, what a catastrophe for the youth of Chicago.
NEW: Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates says the union’s contract demands from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson will cost the city more than $50 billion. ⬇️
“$50 billion dollars and three cents…”
“And so what?”
“That’s audacity.”
For context, total base tax
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Someone once told me I'd never get anyone to pre-pay for a restaurant reservation.Yesterday alone 100's of restos sold $2.54MM on
@Tock
!
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@ByronSigcho
I’ve never donated to a single politician ever. My first ever donation is going to whoever runs against you.
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1/ A thread about what the current state of the hospitality industry looks like through the lens of bookings / cancellation inflows and outflows via
@tock
Keep in mind that this is a statistically relevant slice of about 4% of GDP. Graphs represent millions of $$ and diners.
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While not requiring vaccinations, The Alinea Group will provide vaccination lapel pins to any employees who voluntarily choose to show proof of vax. Those employees will not be required to wear masks per CDC guidelines, and guests can identify them via the pin. /1
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Also: the hospitality industry is about to get crushed. 4-5% of GDP is restaurant sector and we're just beginning to see the effects of travel restrictions and quarantines. Hotels / Restaurants will be the second wave of biz's needing help, esp. mom & pops with low margins.
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Where is the rule that says great hospitality means that staff need to take abuse from crazy customers and say 'thank you'
#employeesfirst
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