Episode 20 – Mastering Hospitality with Steve DiFillippo

Welcome to the TRSA podcast. Providing interviews and insights from the linen, uniform, and facility services industry. Most Americans might not realize it, but they benefit at least once per week from the cleanliness and safety of laundered, reusable linens, uniforms, towels, mats and other products provided by various businesses and organizations. TRSA represents the companies that supply, launder, and maintain linens and uniforms. And in this podcast, we will bring the thought leaders of the industry to you.

 

This is Jason Risley back again with another episode of TRSA’s Linen Uniform and Facility Services podcast. I had a great time chatting with today’s guest and learning about his previous experience and family ties to the commercial laundry industry, as well as his ultimate success in the restaurant business. Steve DiFilippo, the owner of Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse and author of It’s All About the Guest, will speak on September 18th as part of the brand new management development program during TRSAs 106th annual conference in Boston. In addition to giving a preview of his upcoming talk, Steve shared his customer service philosophy and how he’s built his restaurant business from a single location to a nationwide brand. Hi, Steve.

 

This is Jason Risley at TRSA. Hi. Hello? You? Good.

 

How are you doing? Great. You have some family ties to the commercial laundry industry with your father and brother both working for UniFirst? And my uncle well, my uncle my uncle Aldo actually started UniFirst, and then in the early ’50s, my dad started working with him and then my cousin, Ronnie, started the company in late ’60s and then my brother started I want to say the late 70s. Yes, so it’s my whole life.

 

In fact, my father, he was on the cover my father was on the cover of your magazine at one time. He was he was the president of the ILL, the Industrial Launders Association. He took a picture from jogging and that’s on the cover of your magazine, that’s kind of ironic. He just passed away last year, my dad, but he was president of UniFirst for, you know, he was executive vice president for a long time and he became president, you know, on the board and everything. I’ve been part of this industrial hardware association my whole life.

 

In fact, I worked for UniFirst when I was in college, actually high school and then college and then I got started the whole restaurant thing in my early twenties. And, that was it. What did you do when you worked for UniFirst? Well, I started in a stock room when I was, like, 16 years old Okay. On Woburn, and then and then I I started driving a truck.

 

I what I would do is I would take people the weekly you know, the the guys that would deliver the stuff to each account. You know, they would go on vacations, and I would I would do their runs. I would be like the vacation guy, I would cover their vacations. I did that when I was 18, 19, 20, 20. In all my vacations, I would go work at UniFirst in Nashua.

 

And, you know, it was it was it was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it. And what made you ultimately decide that you wanted to get into the restaurant space? Well, I that’s that’s a whole another thing. I when I was younger, I used to cook with my mom, and, I love to watch Julia Child.

 

And I I was just really into the whole culinary thing and and, you know, we used to travel a lot and I loved restaurants and hotels and, you know, I just it was my passion. You know, I I you know, UniFirst is family thing, but, you know, this I just wanted to be out on my own and be in the restaurant business and, you know, I was a young age and I started working in restaurants when I went to Boston University and I just lost the business. I got the bug and it’s kind of my dream to own my own restaurant. And so, you know, I did that 34 years ago. I was the first one and now there’s 12 of them.

 

So you started cooking at a young young age? Yeah. I was 24 when, I started Davios in 1985. It was on Newbury Street in Boston. That was the first one.

 

But even before that, like, growing up, you always had an interest in being a chef and the restaurant business? Right. You know, I cook when you know, I started cooking with my mom when I was young. And then, you know, I just I just loved being in restaurants. It was, you know, you would think I’d go into UniFirst like everyone else, but, I just had a different thought.

 

I just like to cook, and I like to be in restaurants and run restaurants, and so that’s why I did it. And you said you now have 12 locations of, Davios. What made you decide to expand from that single location that you had in Boston into other states? Well, you know, it kinda was in in my in my DNA. My father, my uncle, my cousin, they you know, UniFirst was a tiny little company started in Dorchester, Massachusetts back in the 40s in the 50s with my father and my uncle, they grew that company to now it’s almost a couple $1,000,000,000.

 

I mean, I see my father would sort of they did. They traveled around the country and they grew that company. And so kind of what I want to do, I wanted to take a restaurant business and kind of grow it into a national brand and that was been my goal since I started. And that’s we’re in 5 states now, in California, we’re got a bunch of new ones opening up in the next 2 years, going to Texas and Virginia and we’ll have 15 restaurants by the end of next year. And so just kind of what I was kinda taught to do is to grow a company.

 

I learned a lot from my dad and my uncle and my cousin. So, you know, that’s what you do. Right? You you take a business and you and you grow it, and that’s that’s what I did. So they kind of in a way almost provided a blueprint for how to expand your restaurant business in a way.

 

Yeah. It really it it’s a really good point. I mean, I I, you know, I had the cooking part with my mom, and my dad was just an incredible businessman and sales guy. You know, he’s a great amazing salesman. And my uncle was really smart.

 

And, you know, so, you know, I I was just so fortunate to have these incredible mentors, that I could learn from and and kinda even though they were an industrial uniform business, very, very different than restaurant business, you know, I still had that desire, you know, to travel and to open up new businesses and, and to do what they did. So I kinda did it in the restaurant field and, you know, that’s so if you look back on it, I kinda, obviously, it’s much smaller scale than UniFirst. I think they have 15,000 employees, I mean, a massive company. You know, I have I have over 1,000 employees, but not like they do. I mean, it’s very different.

 

And how difficult is it to launch the brand in other markets? It’s very difficult because, you know, I’m very well known here in Boston and, it’s my hometown. And when you go to a new city, they really don’t know you, and it takes time to build that branding, to build their name and for people to get to know you. People don’t really pay attention. You have to really get the word out and you got to meet the right people and so it’s very challenging.

 

It’s not easy, but I’ve done it and I enjoy it and I’m going to keep continually doing it. And you just got to find the right people. It’s all about the right people, in my opinion. And and location, obviously, you gotta you gotta be in the right spot. What do you find to be the biggest challenge in managing work with each and every single one that works in the company and it’s just difficult to get to everywhere.

 

I just love being in the restaurants. And I like for example, I don’t have an office. You would think a company like me and I have a food company, we sell products in stores and, all these restaurants and all these people. I don’t go to an office every day. I’m in a restaurant every day.

 

That’s what I do. I just wish I had more time to get to every restaurant. And I do, you know, I might get to the ones in Massachusetts, I get to quite a bit. But, you know, the other states, it’s hard, you know. So that’s that’s the hardest thing is to get to the restaurant, to make sure you know all the guests and and know all the customers.

 

And I mean, I mean, that’s the hardest part. So you really like to be in the restaurant locations rather than working out of, like, an office, for instance? Yeah. I I think restaurants should even have offices. I mean, what do you do in an office?

 

I mean, there is we have accounting, we have all that stuff. But with our computers today and our phones, you know, you don’t really need to go there. I mean, I if I go to an office, that means I’m not seeing our guests. We’re not seeing our employees. We’re not really seeing what’s going on.

 

I mean, office, it’s just stupid. I mean, I just I just don’t understand what people do in offices in our business because our rest you wanna be in the dining room. You wanna be in the kitchens. You wanna be in the private dining rooms. You know, you wanna be with the people.

 

And if you’re in an office, you’re really not seeing what’s going on. You’re not helping, you’re not seeing what’s wrong, what’s right. I mean, it just doesn’t make any sense to me. So I don’t care how big I get. I’ll never have an office.

 

And and none of my people have offices. Our corporate chefs, our vice presidents, they none of them have an office. Everybody’s like me. We’re on the road. We’re in our restaurants every day.

 

So it’s better to be making those connections with the guests and the employees. Right. Right. And if you’re in an office, you, you end up getting stuck there and you don’t really know what the heck is going on. I think it’s a big mistake if you have an office.

 

You know, I wrote a book. It’s called It’s All About the Guest, and I tell I I talk all about this stuff. And you had also mentioned that you, you had branched out into selling some of your menu items in stores Right. Across the country. What initially did you decide to do that?

 

Well, about 10 years ago, I it was suggested by one of the crafts who own the Patriots, Jonathan Craft said to me, we make these Philly cheesesteak spring rolls and he suggested to me to give a thought about sell to stadiums first and then to other hotels and restaurants and then then we got them into stores and and now we’re selling our products all over the country. And I go on TV, I sell them on QVC, and I sell a lot of stuff. And so and we have our homemade sausage now in stores. I mean, so things have just expanded to all these different products and it’s just a great branding idea These people see our name, they in the stores, and it’s just it’s just been a great thing. It’s great for the restaurant.

 

So that actually came from the craft, so that was, like, a customer suggestion. Yes. And I did and and now if I was in an office, would I have guys had suggestions? You know? So, I mean, so many things have come to me talking to our guests.

 

By the way, we don’t use the word employee. We call our employees inner guests. So when I talk about it’s all about the guests, I took that’s for double meaning. It means the guests who walk to the front door and the guests who walk to the back door. I’m a huge advocate about taking care of your inner guests.

 

And I because I think in a restaurant, you know when you go to a restaurant, if the if the people working there are not happy and it’s a tough environment, it comes across to the guests. So we really take care of our people. We we’ve got longevity. We have people with us 30 plus years in a lot of our restaurants, 20 years, 10 years. And I think that really, really makes a difference and, especially in our business.

 

By the time the food gets to the table, it’s probably gone through 10 people’s hands. The the people are just so important, you know. And if someone messes up along that route, you probably gonna have a problem. So you really gotta take care of your people in a big way. Now for a brief message from TRSA.

 

Gather with top industry executives and emerging leaders to enhance information sharing and relationship building at this year’s annual conference. Begin with TRSA committee meetings, including 30 minute open discussion round tables on industry issues such as market and job specific and ideas. Network and socialize at the reception following the meetings. Professionals from managers up through CEOs and owners are encouraged to participate. The management development program provides a day of breakouts and general featuring subjects beneficial to leadership of all levels.

 

Next generation executives, emerging leaders, general managers, and other plant based management, graduates of EMI and PMI, owners and c suite executives will be inspired by keynote speaker Steve DeFilippo, restaurateur and author of It’s All About the Guest. Steve’s family has been deeply involved in the laundry business and he’ll bring that perspective as he shares the deliberate steps taken to transform his upscale restaurants into multiple locations during his presentation on mastering hospitality for business. Breakout sessions feature the best of the best top rated speakers and topics from TRSAs range of programs covering communications, management, recruiting and retention, and safety and skills development. Close out the day by sharing experiences and networking at Wednesday’s welcome reception. Opening keynote Bill Taylor will rev up the audience with questions such as what separates us from our rivals in the marketplace and what holds us together as colleagues in the workplace.

 

Here ideas, diagnostics and case studies and be guided to a new world of work and a cutting edge agenda for recruiting, evaluating, organizing, and retaining talent. Receive a complimentary copy of Bill’s most recent book, simply brilliant. How great organizations do ordinary things in extraordinary ways following his presentation. Get informed on trends and get tips with general session topic, riding the digital wave with Andrew Littman, MIT Media Lab and co director of Digital Life. This highly animated engaging presentation will translate the latest digital technology trends into clear business ready insights that are effective in any industry.

 

The closing keynote speaker, presidential historian and Pulitzer prize winning author, Doris Kearns Goodwin, will discuss leadership in turbulent times. Inspired by her current New York Times bestseller of the same name, Doris’ engaging and entertaining address will bring to life some of the actions of the most successful US presidents to provide perspective for today’s leaders and to underscore that the US democracy has survived and even thrived through troubling times in the past. Receive a complimentary copy of this book following the keynote. Unwind with colleagues by participating in a secrets of old Boston scavenger hunt, a competitive yet fun small team activity for all conference attendees. The TRSA annual awards dinner will recognize and celebrate the contributions of top industry leaders with the presentation of the operator and Maglin Biggie associate lifetime achievement awards.

 

The Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor is close to the Logan International Airport and offers free shuttles for your convenience. The city of Boston is a 15 minute ride via water taxi, Uber, or subway from the hotel. Register by August 9th to save $100 on registration. Take full advantage of TRSA’s 106th annual conference package this fall in New England. View the full brochure and register today at www.trsa.org/annualconference.

 

Now back to the episode. And did you have any challenges in expanding into that space of getting the menu items on stores nationwide? Oh, yes. It’s very difficult. You gotta meet the right people.

 

Some products don’t work in certain markets. I mean, you you really, it’s it’s really hard. But if it was easy, everybody would do it, right? I mean, things are hard. That’s why nothing is easy.

 

So you just got to stick at it, keep working hard and there’s some you get some nose. Some people don’t want the products, but you you just got to keep working it. Do you feel like that move has kind of helped expand the visibility of your, restaurants brand? No. No question.

 

I you know, I’ll be somewhere and, they’ll know the brand because they bought the products in the stores. It really helps us when we go into a new market because we’ve already been there with our products. Especially when I go on QVC, we sell our products in every state in the country. We’re becoming more and more well known with our name and our product. So never mind we make a lot of money, so it’s a great income for our for our company.

 

These restaurants are, you know, there’s slow times in our business, you know. I don’t care how great your restaurant is. There’s winter, there’s snowstorms, there’s heat waves, I mean, there’s lot of things happen that keep people from coming to your restaurant. So if you’re in stores, which just helps your company to be more well rounded and you have income coming in all the time. So it’s just a great thing.

 

So what do you see as the key reasons that Davios has both survived and also expanded in what’s a pretty tough industry like you mentioned? Yeah. I I I think it’s because we’re consistent. I think if you ever go to any of our restaurants, they’re very, very consistent because, we we hire a certain person. You know, we have we hire people who are passionate.

 

They care. They love they love this industry, and I I think that’s why I’m still here after 34 years as I, you know, I hire the right people. You know? You know, so much I can do to be the leader and to be the passionate leader, but you you just gotta get the right people. You know, we’ve made mistakes over the years.

 

We might hire somebody who gives a good interview, and we think they’re gonna be great. But, you know, I make decisions very quickly if they’re not gonna fit in the family. And I call it the Davios family. You just gotta figure out how to get those right people. That’s another very difficult thing, to expand around the country is getting the right people.

 

But, you know, we’ve been pretty fortunate. We got some good people. We have some good locations. So I keep it simple. I you know?

 

And and, obviously, you have to have great food. You know, we have amazing, amazing food, but, you know, I I think the hospitality of a restaurant is actually more important than the food. I mean, you go to we all go to these very casual restaurants. Food’s just okay, but we have a great time. We love it.

 

You know? And and if you go to a restaurant that, you know, might be the best food you’ve had in your life, but you don’t get value or you don’t get hospitality, you don’t go back. You know? Or another example is, you know, if you go to a restaurant and the steak’s overcook, you know, you know that’s a physical mistake, you know, you’ll go back. But if you don’t get hospitality and you get indifference or rudeness or anything like that, you’re never going back.

 

So that’s my point. I think hospitality is more important than the food. And I’m a chef. Okay? So for me to say that, it’s difficult to say it every I when I say that, I always, like, cringe, but it it really is true.

 

You know? I hate to admit it, but it’s true. So it’s the atmosphere that’s really important. Yeah. Atmosphere is important, but it’s really how you’re treated in a restaurant.

 

I mean, you’re not gonna go to a restaurant if you’re not treated right. I don’t care how good the food is. The food could be you you could say, wow. That’s the best food I’ve ever had, but that server was a jerk or the manager was a jerk or the bartender or, or whatever. You pick a pick a reason, but you really gotta take care of those guests.

 

It’s really, really important. And how do you think you’ve been able to create that family type of atmosphere at your restaurants? We know we have a great system. You know, we take care of our people. They they get treated respectfully.

 

They have a say. Obviously, we’re a busy restaurant, so they make money. But, it’s it’s really how you treat people. You know? I learned that from my dad, my uncle, and my cousin.

 

I mean, they I I, you know, I know how to treat people right. You know? And I think some of our industry restaurants just don’t do that. I think our business is just such a personal business that you have to be personal with your people. And I am, I’m very personal you know, and and I’m in the restaurant every day.

 

Approachable, not just me, but our managers. And that’s why I think I’m still here. And you talked a little bit earlier about your book. It’s all about the guest. Right.

 

What’s one key lesson that you share from the restaurant business in your book? I’ve got a lot of them, but, I would say mentors. I I think you’ve really you know, people coming up in our industry, you you gotta work for really good people or you have to have an advisor, you need to have a good father, mother, sister, brother, cousin, a friend, anybody who’s a really good mentor and someone that you talk to, you have great ideas, you listen to someone who teaches you. And I think today a lot of people don’t realize that even myself at this point I still have mentors that I deal with, that I talk to, I have ideas. You know, I just don’t do things all by myself.

 

And I think if you don’t have a mentor, not the problem. You know, you gotta get out there and get some mentors. And secondly, you want to do what you love. I think this business is a business of love, the restaurant business. And if you don’t because let’s face it, we work nights, weekends, holidays, whenever it was off.

 

You know, we it’s a tough life, you know. And if you if you don’t have the right wife or husband or whatever and they don’t get your passion, you’re probably not going to be successful. So you got to just love this business or it’s just not going to work out or or any business. I I do a lot of talks to schools. I do a lot of public, you know, speeches as a and I always tell the kids, you know, find out what you love and go do it.

 

Because if you don’t love what you do, you’re not gonna be successful. I’m I’m telling you, you talk to anyone who’s successful in life, they love what they do. I certainly do. So you feel like it’s important to find that passion? Right.

 

Right. Who wants to go to work every day? I don’t. I haven’t worked in 34 years, honestly. I really don’t think I work.

 

I I because I I just love what I do. I don’t consider it work. I don’t say I’m going to work today. I just don’t even use that word. To me, this is what I was here to do.

 

I was here to build a company like my dad and my uncle and, you know, help people. You know, I’m very philanthropic. I do a lot of lot of charity events. Just love what I do. I it’s I’m I’m just the luckiest guy in the world.

 

You know, I really am. And you’ve talked a little bit about your customer service, philosophy. How do you think an attention to detail and superior customer service translates to businesses like the laundry industry? They’re all service. I mean, UniFirst is a is a great example because they’re not the cheapest company.

 

In fact, they’re probably the most expensive. So what does that mean? You know, it’s because of their service and and their quality, of their of their stuff. I mean, they they really they’re an incredible company. I I think if you have great service, you take care of your your customer, you’re going to do fine and that’s why UniFirst has done so well is that they really understand service.

 

That’s what they really are. They’re a service business and they take care of their employees incredibly well. And for business that big, they’re nonunion, the whole company is nonunion, which is extraordinary in that industry. So that that, you know, shows you how great they are as a company. And how important of a partner to a fine dining establishment like Davios as a commercial laundry service?

 

Well, UniFirst, they yeah. They don’t they don’t do commercial laundry. So we don’t we actually use them for the walk on mats. So all our restaurants, if you walk in, you walk on their mats, right at the front doors. But we don’t use them because they don’t do linen.

 

We use Churchill linen here in Boston and New York and Philadelphia. They’re fantastic, Churchill linen. And I think it’s crucial that you have a good linen company because if your linen is crappy, you’re putting down a $50 stake, it’s not going to because your napkins got to be clean. Also the uniforms that our kitchen wears, you know, have to be really done well. You know, it’s a pricing.

 

They wanna look good. We have open kitchen, so everybody sees our chefs cooking. So it’s really important that they look good and feel good, and it’s very, very important to have a good linen company. And and we’re fortunate we have a good one here in Boston. So you have an open concept.

 

So those uniforms are really important for, Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And our chefs visit the tables. They come out. They talk to to the guests.

 

I mean, it’s it’s really important that they look good. Oh, so they really interact with your guests in the restaurant? Oh, yeah. Yeah. People love it.

 

Yeah. Because we have an open, kitchen and then in front of the kitchen there’s a chef’s table. We’re all up to 10 seats and people sit there and the chef talk to them and plus we do a lot of tours, people love to see our kitchen and walk them through and so they have to look good and it’s a pride thing too. They wanna look good as well. And you’re going to speak at TRSAs upcoming annual conference in September in Boston.

 

Can you give us a preview of your presentation? Sure. I’m gonna talk about kinda how I got where I am. You know, I’m gonna talk about, the history of the company and then I’m just going to I’m going to talk about how to take care of your guests and your inner guests and all my ideas of how the Davios family works. And, I and, you know, I don’t care how big the company is.

 

You really gotta take care of your people and, you know, it’s something that, you know, I’ve been really proud of. And I tell a lot of stories. I’m a storyteller. You know, I think you learn more from a story than you do for me lecturing. You.

 

So I don’t get up there and I start lecturing you. Do this, do this, do that. I tell stories, about things that have happened to me in my life. You’ve learned from that story, really what’s the right thing to do. Sounds great.

 

We’re looking forward to hearing those stories. Yeah. You’ll be there. Right? Yep.

 

I will be there. Oh, good. Okay. Good. Yeah.

 

So that’s what I do. I’ll probably tell about 7 or 8 stories and take questions and just I just have a lot of fun and I get excited and my favorite part is the questions from the audience. I really enjoy that. But, anyway, this is fun. I’ll see you, in September.

 

Yep. I’ll see you in September. Thank you so much. While he ultimately moved into a different business, Steve shared some great lessons on customer service and building a brand from the ground up. Let us know your thoughts by dropping us a note at podcast attrsa.org.

 

That’s podcasts at trsa.org. If you’re interested in seeing Steve speak at TRSA’s TRSA’s upcoming annual conference in Boston, go to www.trsa.org/annualconference and register today. Excerpts from this interview will also run-in the September issue of TRSA’s monthly print publication, Textile Services Magazine. Keep an eye out for it in your mailbox. If you liked what you heard today, please subscribe, rate, and review the show.

 

We’re available on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher. For more information on the Linen Uniform and Facility Services podcast, visit www. Trsa.org/podcast.