The Repertoire Newsletter

The Repertoire Newsletter Where hospitality professionals get curated news and impactful lessons Forwarded this? 💌 Subscribe! Hey Reader, I spent the last week in San Francisco, helping to put on a 500 person seafood event. It was the largest budget event I've ever been apart of, and the second largest from a guest count perspective. Total seafood flown in: 1,100 lbs 🦀🐟🦐 The guests in attendance were tech founders, owners of 9-figure product companies, and most notably, the Crown Prince of...

The Repertoire Newsletter Where hospitality professionals get curated news and impactful lessons Forwarded this? 💌 Subscribe! Hey Reader, Yes, we did get a new look - thanks for noticing! 😎 I also got to thinking...we're going to experiment with omitting the long "monologue" at the beginning of these newsletters for a few weeks. Reason being: including a 1,500-3,000 word "article slash blog post" at the start of your newsletter causes a few problems: It's a pretty big obligation to write one...

09.2024 Edition Editor: Justin Khanna Hey Reader, I'll just flat-out say it: not everything you do needs a system. Let me explain... Before diving in, allow me to make a couple of things clear: I won’t spend time trying to persuade you on the importance of valuing, creating, or implementing systems. Having worked in organizations where systems are integral, I've first-hand experienced the benefits. This piece is for those of you who expressed interest in the topic in the last newsletter....

02.2024 Edition Editor: Justin Khanna Hey Reader, I found a lesson-filled story about Jerry Seinfeld (the comedian) this week, and I wanted to share how it might apply to your work. First, some stats about his absolutely prolific creative output: Seinfeld's finale, which aired on May 14, 1998, was watched by an estimated 76.3 million people, making it one of the most-watched television events of the decade The show ran for nine seasons from 1989 to 1998, totaling 180 episodes The show won 10...

01.2024 Edition Editor: Justin Khanna Hey Reader, Happy New Year! 🎊 As we enter 2024, my mind is filled with thoughts of optimism. Today, I want to make a strong case for embracing optimism and why it's essential in a world where pessimism and negativity often hold sway. Why optimism, you might ask? Well, 2024 marks a significant milestone for me – it's been a full decade since I started creating content, at least in a formal sense. Not all of my early work is readily available for you to...

28.2023 Edition Editor: Justin Khanna Hey Reader, I heard an anecdote this week that really made me stop in my tracks: “Many variables exist, therefore many variables must be studied.” Art by Midjourney (I must admit, that quote was paraphrased by someone and also potentially mis-attributed to B.F. Skinner - I can’t seem to find the original across both Google and AI searches…) This quote hit so hard for me because we live in a world of “hacks”, “60-second tips” and “get _____ quick” advice....

20.2023 Edition Editor: Justin Khanna Hey Reader, It’s been a spotty few weeks of content for me - apologies, folks! When I say sorry like that, it’s often met with immensely supportive (or even zero) reactions, but I still feel it like a ton of guilt-filled bricks when I have to take time away from work (even though I don’t pay attention to my favorite creators’ publishing frequency…funny how that works!). It’s been a weird combination of friend-focused celebrations, family emergencies and...

17.2023 Edition Powered by 7shifts Editor: Justin Khanna Hey Reader, Lessons can come from all sorts of places. Today, I wanna share something I learned from this guy named Brian. He was an awesome team mate, and the only dishwasher at Grace in Chicago when I worked there. Lanky, tatted, soft-spoken and big into skating culture. Stood side-by-side with some of the other chef-de-parties, he actually looked like he was one of them, and he treated his work that way. See, at Grace, it wasn’t...

15.2023 Edition Powered by MISE Editor: Justin Khanna Hey Reader, I want to keep it quick today, considering we went pretty heavy on last week’s newsletter. It tells the story of a day at The French Laundry, and you can read it here if you’re a new subscriber. Art by MidJourney During that time, there was a guy at TFL who was gearing up to become a sous chef. To build up his management muscle, he was tasked with training up chef-de-parties during any station transitions/promotions, as well as...