Today we’d like to introduce you to Nathan Buckley.
Hi Nathan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have worked in the restaurant industry for over 27 years. I got my first Executive Chef position 25 years ago at the age of 23. I was the Youngest Executive Chef for Morton’s Steakhouse out of the 62 locations worldwide. Since then I have held Executive Chef positions at multiple restaurants and Hotels all over Kansas City. I have also served as a General Manager in a few restaurants. So I know the front of the house as well. When Covid came I lost my position and decided to create KC Restaurant Wellness offering my consulting services to Restaurant owners. My services now consist of helping Restaurants re-brand through menu revisions. I help creating a consistent way to track food cost. To organize and train kitchen staff. I also offer services creating restaurant visions from scratch. I design kitchens, bars and restaurants as well. I write recipes, and create recipe books. Helping with creating order guides and ordering as well. All the tools that a restaurant needs to be a successful business I can assist with. Even when it comes to interviewing and hiring staff. I can help with that as well.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Any time you create a new business there are going to be struggles. When I first started marketing was mainly word of mouth from being in the business. Thanks to a wonderful hard working and supportive wife I was able to start with very little traffic. My wife has helped me out more than I could possibly explain. She built my website, and she serves as my bookkeeper as well. KC Restaurant Wellness is still a very new business. We have a long way to go before we are where I envisioned. This year has really picked up with new clients and exciting new projects. I also partner with some of the food purveyors that service and deliver products to the restaurants in the Metro. If their clients are having issues they are directed to my company at times. That had been a huge help. Overall, the company is moving in the right direction.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
KC Restaurant Wellness Is a restaurant consulting business designed to provide solutions to issues that restaurant owners and management in this industry face. We provide a wide range of services from food cost and daily routines, hiring and training staff, front and back of the house, even creating concepts for a restaurant from scratch. I have backgrounds in serving, bartending, general management in the front of the house. My back of the house experience goes back 27 years. I have been an Executive Chef for multiple companies for many of those years. Because of that, a real strength of KC Restaurant Wellness is the culinary side. Creating recipes and incorporating them into a tracking system to control food cost is a service I feel very strongly about providing. Teaching our clients how to use the tools that are out there to help with that as well. When we are assisting a client to create a new concept, we also provide the ability to design an entire restaurant. With that we can assist with choosing the right equipment for the menu, and where it needs to go. We use autocad software that integrates with architectural drawings and floor plan layouts. Consultations are free. Through that consultation we can truly adjust our services to fit the need of each individual client.
What are your plans for the future?
KC Restaurant Wellness is a fairly new company. I have consulted for multiple restaurants for many years. However, this business was created during covid when I left my last Executive Chef position. As many people know, starting a new business can take time to grow. This is our 4th year as a company, and I can see the client list starting to gain traction. Partnering up with food purveyors in the area has allowed our name to get in front of more people. We do have some new large-scale clients that we are working with now. But we also are very proud of the mom-and-pop restaurants that are our clients. I really get a sense that we are helping people fulfil their dreams at times.
Pricing:
- Our pricing is on an hourly rate depending on the circumstance of the job.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kcrestaurantwellness.com
