303: Food Safety & Allergen Awareness in Restaurants with Denise Baron Herrera

Tracy Stuckrath [00:00:06]:
Hey, everybody. We're kicking off March, as I always do, with Women's History Month, and I'm so excited to bring to this bring you this woman that's to the left of me here or and talk about how she is actually making her mark with food and beverage in in her career and in her job. And that's what my whole focus on March is, is women making her story in food and beverage in their respective fields. So I'm gonna bring you a slew of women this month, sometimes two a week, one a week, whatever it is, but I'm excited to introduce you to them because you might not know who they are. So with with that note, I'm introducing you to Denise Herrera. She is the cofounding chef and the chief culinary officer at Burton's Grill and Bar and the Red Heat American Tavern. Hello, Denise. Hello.

Denise Herrera [00:00:58]:
How are you? I'm doing well. Thank you.

Anna Williams [00:01:01]:
Well, thank you for joining me. I'm so excited to talk to you. And for everybody to know, I got introduced to Denise through her marketing person who met my friend And at your opening in Bert Burton's Grill and Bar opening in Atlanta. Right? Correct. Yeah. Yeah. So and she was she was at an events. She was at your opening, and she was so impressed about allergies.

Anna Williams [00:01:25]:
She's texting me at the event saying and need to talk to these people. That's awesome. I'm like, okay. And here we are. So welcome. And I'll tell us about your role as the cofounding chef and chief culinary officer at Burton's. What does that mean?

Denise Herrera [00:01:42]:
It means a lot. So being fortunate, I, I twenty years ago, we started this company and I was the first chef. So over time, my role has progressed and changed from executive chef to culinary director service president of food and beverage to chief culinary officer. And within those roles, obviously, I've had hands in all different parts of that. But, ultimately, it was really building the back of house processes, procedures that we live and die by today. And so part of my job

Anna Williams [00:02:11]:
Hopefully not die. No. Exactly. Here like yeah. Yeah.

Denise Herrera [00:02:15]:
We do operate in New Hampshire, so I always think about that as their their state motto. But anyway, so we my my job is and menu engineering, sourcing product, recipe writing, costing analysis, educating, training, but also, more importantly, culture and making sure that we continue to set out what we wanted to do in the beginning, which was be employer of choice and be best of brand.

Anna Williams [00:02:37]:
Okay. Well and and when I I put the title up here, food safety and allergen awareness in restaurants, and when you did that, you that was not your intent when you guys first originally originally started. You wanted to be the best in brand, which is awesome. But how did you come about to being this high level restaurant or this restaurant that has this high level of accountability towards allergy awareness?

Denise Herrera [00:03:06]:
Yeah. So it started with conversations and a lot of it revolving around who we wanted to be as a brand. And so in 02/2004, when these conversations started, a lot was happening in the world with bird bird flu still, mad cow disease, swine flu. And so we said we didn't wanna anchor ourselves on one protein to be a a fish house or a steak house or anything like that. We wanted something for everybody. And so when we anchored on that, we then started to talk about one menu all day, customization of the dining experience, and what does that look like. It was at a time when everybody was saying no, no we can't make that request to the kitchen, no our kitchen can't handle any accommodations to what our chef is doing. And then there were certain chefs that just made made positions that said I'm not changing the recipe, this is the way that I created it and this is the way that you're going to get it.

Denise Herrera [00:03:52]:
And we felt that that was really restrictive and we really wanted everybody to have a seat at the dinner table no matter what if you had any allergens, if you had dietary preferences, if you just didn't like something, we wanted to have something available for you. And so that was where the customization of the dining experience really started. And then my co founding partner and CEO at the time, Kevin Vegan, he was also a proponent of saying, do you need to cook with peanuts? And I said, I don't need to cook with peanuts. There's so many other tree nuts out there that I can, I can utilize? And it was because we wanted the child population and it was such a high anaphylaxis at the time and it was just, it was out there. And so we just made a statement at that point in time, you're never going to bring a peanut in the restaurant. And then customization really came down to splitting food in the kitchen for the guests. If a guest didn't want tomatoes in their salad, we can take them out because we make things a la manue. And so really getting our service staff to buy into that and understand like, no, we're not going to charge them more money for that.

Denise Herrera [00:04:52]:
No, we're not going to say no, we're going to say yes. And so we, we talk a lot about how do we become a yesterant. And so upon hiring and I love that. And these are meetings. It's how do you get to saying yes to the guest and what the request is instead of always saying no? How can we make this happen? And so in the beginning when I was the chef of our Hang And location, that's what I was doing. People said, do you have hollandaise sauce or a bearnaise sauce? I don't have bearnaise, but I can make you a hollandaise. Give me ten minutes. And I'd go back and I make it.

Denise Herrera [00:05:23]:
And so that was really what I was focused on was just making sure every guest leave the lighted and told the friends about it so they would come back. And that's how the customization really, really was born. Right. Yeah. Well, and I and so are you a % scratch kitchen then? So we are a % scratch kitchen except for bread, but we make all of our soups, all of our salad dressings, all of our disease, and people don't really know that. It's just something that we just we do because to me, it's really important to have to know what the ingredients are that goes into my food and that we cook with with whole food. So, and my, my co founding CEO was also celiac and he was diagnosed celiac, I think, before he turned 10 years old. So fast forward to our fourth location and I was just watching him eat and I was like, you eat all of our food.

Anna Williams [00:06:12]:
And he's like, well, because

Denise Herrera [00:06:13]:
you cook clean and I understand what's in the ingredients. And, and I said to him, I said, would you be opposed to doing a gluten free menu? And he's he's like, if we do it, you're doing it right. It's people's lives lives at hand here and you can't go in half hearted on this. And so we said, okay, we're gonna do it. And over the course of the the last fifteen years, we have really worked towards standardized allergen procedures and handling training and education and really making sure that that is the forefront of our of our team members' knowledge base.

Anna Williams [00:06:46]:
I think that's so important because it is it's you're not looking at it at your for your bottom line only. You're looking at it for bringing in the people who can eat at your restaurant, and in in the end, they're gonna impact your bottom line positively.

Denise Herrera [00:07:00]:
Mhmm.

Anna Williams [00:07:01]:
Correct. Yeah. And well, and I even saw an article. I skimmed it, and I haven't gone through it yet, but it's about the Disney lawsuit for the woman who the doctor who passed away two years ago now. And the restaurant is saying, no. We're not gonna because they've asked for the ingredients of the the recipe, and they're like, no. That's private information. We can't share that with you.

Anna Williams [00:07:25]:
I'm like, a lady died. It's not like The ingredients.

Denise Herrera [00:07:28]:
And that's and that's so interesting to me because I have people that that dine in my restaurant that are still exploring what allergies they might be sensitive to. And so recently, I had somebody that said I my child is is going through various meetings. And I'm just curious because we haven't had haven't had any rashes or anything, but I just noticed a rash. What are you using in x? And I was like, this is what we're meetings, everything. Like, oh, we might need to look at dairy or we might need to look at corn or we might need and I and I wanna be able to help you find that answer because Right. That's really important as as as knowing the why of why your child is getting sick. What is happening? How I couldn't even imagine and concern that a parent feels at that time.

Anna Williams [00:08:08]:
Well and I actually had a restaurant here in my hometown. I'm like, they said their their brussel sprout salad was gluten free, and I'm like, my stomach was a wrack within thirty minutes of leaving. And I'm like, hey. I'm just curious what's in it. Well, it's gluten free. I'm like, I get that, and I appreciate that, but I'm trying to figure out why my stomach is a wrack. Well and then the later on, the chef's like, well, it's because of brussel sprouts. That's what brussel sprouts do to you.

Anna Williams [00:08:32]:
And I'm like, dude, that's really not the answer I want. You know? Like, just tell me what the ingredients are so I can go and talk to an allergist or somebody to figure it out. Correct. So what can you share a defining moment when you realized that Burton's Grill was truly making an impact in this allergy friendly

Denise Herrera [00:08:52]:
dining? Yeah. It was, it was early on and it was it was more for me and it was meetings. We have something called share your experience. And so on our website, you can come in and share your experience. And when I would see parents reaching out and saying, this is the first time my child has ever dined in a restaurant. This is the first time my child has ever been part of a birthday party that was able to eat the same food that they were that they were eating. Like, that that to me, like, I got chills right now. Like and I love it when people come in and say, I feel normal.

Denise Herrera [00:09:24]:
I don't feel like you are asking me if it's a preference or an allergy or this or that or and so normalizing it, I think really made me say we're onto something and people kept coming and flocks and flocks and flocks, and it it really has has been rewarding to see that.

Anna Williams [00:09:42]:
And you how many restaurants do you have now?

Denise Herrera [00:09:44]:
So we have 21 locations for Burton's, five locations for Red Heat, and we are opening two locations in the next eight weeks.

Anna Williams [00:09:52]:
Oh, wow. Okay. We're busy. You are busy. I know that's fantastic. And so when you're doing that, I mean, because you're you're because I I've got two questions in my and, I think, here. Because your quality assure you're also over quality assurance. So, Mike, one question was when you're doing that I mean, you're scratch kosher, so you know the ingredients that you're sourcing.

Anna Williams [00:10:13]:
But, like, when you're looking at a gluten free pasta or something that's not a fresh tomato, What are you doing with your food service food distributors in in deciding what products to buy? So men like, manufacturers

Denise Herrera [00:10:30]:
know me pretty well now that they don't come to me with anything that has gluten in it unless it's, like, a pasta. So but they're showing me something and I was like, is it is is it gluten free? And they say no, that I'm just not interested. And so a lot of it starts with the sourcing of the product like you're like you're allergic to. And then we have strict specifications in in place. We do not bring in regular flour in our restaurants. All of our flour is gluten free, all purpose flour, and that's what we cook with. I have a rotini pasta on my menu for our Milanese and for our lobster shrimp pasta, and that is a naturally, it's it's a gluten free pasta. And so people, when they guide in our restaurants, they don't even know that they're eating gluten free because my job is to make sure that the experience is the same, whether it's gluten free or not gluten free.

Denise Herrera [00:11:16]:
And so 99% of our menu is a % gluten free outside of burger buns and long pasta. So like pappardelle or angel hair, But I have the rotini gluten free that I can sub in for that, and I have a gluten free burger bun that I sub in. We have really worked tirelessly to source gluten free panko, to source the the flour I mentioned, a gluten free spring roll wrapper that we work with the manufacturer. They shut down our facility, clean and sanitize it. They run our gluten free spring rolls through it, and then they send us a 250 cases that we then distribute to our hydro stores. So a lot of it is logistics and really making sure that people understand the the seriousness of it, of of how we need to pass these through safely and efficiently so that they get to our restaurants and we can service them to our guests.

Anna Williams [00:12:07]:
Well, the fact that you partner with that manufacturer of the spring roll wrappers to do that, I mean, when when you hear in the news that there are people that are adding sesame to their ingredients so they don't have to go through that process.

Denise Herrera [00:12:22]:
Mhmm.

Anna Williams [00:12:22]:
I mean, that's a manufacturer that believes in his product and in their product and or and their customers. Right?

Denise Herrera [00:12:29]:
Yeah. Yeah. And it was a lot of years of asking food. Like, and you have one yet? Do you have one yet? Do you have one yet? Yeah.

Anna Williams [00:12:37]:
But but you've made it worth their while.

Denise Herrera [00:12:40]:
I hope so. And

Anna Williams [00:12:40]:
and Yeah.

Denise Herrera [00:12:42]:
And it's been very widely received. The other thing food that I think is really interesting as a chef, as I was changing items that had gluten in them to items that didn't have gluten in them such as our fry batter, I noticed that it was actually better. The food was crispier. Same thing with these gluten free spring roll wrappers. We're like, they they're actually, like, crunchier and crispier and they don't we like them better. And so it was just this natural surprise that it was like, oh my gosh. It's we we like this more, and we're happy that it is naturally gluten free now.

Anna Williams [00:13:11]:
Awesome. And we have a LinkedIn user that piped in that says, I love this, but I don't know what that was a response to. But we're I think I love everything she's saying as well. So thank you for piping in on that. I agree with that. What I mean okay. So I'm gonna jump into this question of your biggest challenge because you said it took lots of question or lots of times to ask him. I feel like I'm yelling.

Anna Williams [00:13:34]:
What has been that biggest challenge in doing this and making sure that you're following those strict standards?

Denise Herrera [00:13:41]:
Yeah. Making sure everybody understands, from the suppliers down to the the the end user, whether it's a cook or a server or anybody. So I say training, training, training, training. It's always the biggest the biggest challenge and barrier. If you were to talk to me fifteen years ago, I would say understanding and education. I remember we went into a brand new market, and I was at a broad line distributor, and I was like, alright. What do you got for gluten free? And they said, we don't have and we don't have that here. I said, no, no, you do.

Denise Herrera [00:14:08]:
It's just it just hasn't come to fruition yet. And then it did come and they were like, you're right, it is a big catering. And so really just having people, understand that that it is an allergen and it is something that can affect people for the long term and to take it religious. And it's not a fad, it's something that really is important to understand. And then how do you turn it into a process and a procedure that you can make it into a business. I think that that's, for me, that's just been an evolution of time. I don't know if a company without setting straight off saying, Hey, this is what I'm going after right now, would be able to do it the way that I did it organically over the twenty years that we have been refining and doing it.

Anna Williams [00:14:51]:
Right. Yeah. And so over twenty years, I mean, you're the Broadline manufacturers understand who you are and what you're doing. But so on that note, I mean, where could you where would you suggest somebody start? I mean, because even as I'm I we were talking before the show. I'm like, I'm talking to different caterers and different hotels about what they do. And and I think it's a lack of I mean, you said it. It's a lack of knowledge. They don't, oh, oh, this is actually gluten free

Denise Herrera [00:15:19]:
Mhmm.

Anna Williams [00:15:19]:
Or this contains soy. They're like, why would that con like, Twizzlers contains gluten. Why would Twizzlers contain gluten? Right? So where do you where would you recommend that somebody start with this now in this day and age?

Denise Herrera [00:15:33]:
Well, I think it's starting with what are you trying to build? So understanding what is what is your end and and where you're at. Then regionally, where are you located? What do you have access to? And so some of that was prohibitive to me in the beginning. And and having 21 restaurants in nine states allows me some sort of purchasing power that I can I can dictate where I need things and, having agreements say such? But for an individual unit, it might be harder to say, I wanna get this really great product in from over there and that's not gonna work. And so I think knowing what you have in your available to you and then what you wanna be and then building it that way. I have tasted a lot of different products over the time and it's all getting much beverage, But product cuttings and tastings and understanding what what is your flavor profile, what are you looking at, how is this gonna work in your dish, and then building it that way. So really backing yourselves into what what you're looking for.

Anna Williams [00:16:32]:
Okay. Alright. So Flora Floridora asked on Instagram here, what gluten free pasta do you recommend if we can't come into Burton? So the the product that

Denise Herrera [00:16:45]:
I actually use is called Taste of Republic, and it is in a bunch of different stores. I know that it's in Whole Foods as one of them, but it is a individually quick frozen pasta that's gluten free. And so the what I love about it too is that I don't have to have a separate gluten free water pot. I actually heat my pasta up in the sauce So it takes on that flavor of the sauce as well. And so it's already cooked, and then that's that's the one that I love, Taste of Republic.

Anna Williams [00:17:11]:
Okay. Alright. Awesome. And I was at catering convention the other day and Burrilles was there, and I unfortunately, they didn't have their gluten free pasta for anybody to taste for or for me to participate in, but I they all are different. Right? And I got it. I I

Denise Herrera [00:17:27]:
do use Barilla. So Barilla is my, like, angel hair gluten free pasta. I like them as well. Those are the two that I that I would use mostly, Tate Republic and Barilla. Yeah. But you're right. They do have different cook times, different ways to cook them. I have found Barilla when you cook it fresh and sell it, serve it right away, it's really great.

Anna Williams [00:17:47]:
Okay. Alright. Cool. Awesome. So what going forward, you're opening two new restaurants. So what's one change you hope to see in the restaurant industry as a whole? I mean, events as you're opening up new restaurants that within the next decade when it comes to food safety and inclusion. Okay. Not so they can't so they can't beat you.

Anna Williams [00:18:09]:
No. No. No. It's actually

Denise Herrera [00:18:11]:
Yeah. It's actually more of ownership and of their responsibility to serving safe food to the public. And so when I when I went into culinary school and I became a chef, like I feel that I I took an oath that says I'm responsible for serving safe food to people. And so I feel that there are people that get into this industry thinking that it's and easy, two that you can make a lot of money fast, and we all know that's not true. And so I feel that the responsibility really needs to go back to the owner of the establishments to say, hey food safety is my responsibility. We all are supposed to be certified food least one person on the shift at a time. And so I know that there's other legislation that's coming through about having an allergen protocol or allergen procedures. I am in a state that does that, I'm in Massachusetts, and so we we are very allergen focused at the food level establishment.

Denise Herrera [00:19:06]:
Virginia just passed that and so being involved with the state associations and the National Restaurant Association on shaping that and saying this is our responsibility as an operator, I think is really important.

Anna Williams [00:19:18]:
Well, in it and I've been doing a lot of research on the the food code that that was updated in 2022 and which states have updated their food code to be on the 2020 to follow the 2022 food code. One state said, well, we're and just for clarification for everybody, there's one sentence in there that recommends that unpackaged food, meaning restaurant food, buffet, event buffet food, be labeled if it contains any of the top nine allergies. One state said, well, we're adopting everything but that sentence. I'm like, okay. One state said, yeah. That's pertain we're gonna adopt it as is for the entire state except for the main city and county of the state, which has the convention center main convention center and the big biggest hotels. And, like, they're, like, they have their own food code. And and then and it's just it's mind boggling.

Denise Herrera [00:20:13]:
And All it does is create confusion. Right. And when and when that creates confusion, no wonder why the operators don't understand. But it's Right. What am I supposed to follow? And Yeah. Yeah.

Anna Williams [00:20:24]:
Food. Yeah. Well, and I and I reached I talk was talking to a caterer from that state, and I'm like, okay. Well, you make food and you serve it inside the county and the city, but you also serve it in the rest of the state. What are you gonna do? And this woman was a salesperson, didn't know anything what I was talking about. She's like, but I'll talk to my head of culinary to find out. And and I actually need to reach out to him and her and find out what are you gonna do? How are you gonna do this? But it it's even like the EU ones that it's different in every country.

Denise Herrera [00:20:52]:
Since we operate in nine states, what we do is we take the most current and strict current and then the most strictness out of the ones, and then all of our restaurants operate at that level. So we have ours, which is the highest of the that they can be that's out there. Mhmm. And but things are always changing. And so we operate in And, and we had a health inspection. And I love our kids menu because it's called the beet choosy menu, and the kids get to pick and mix and match proteins and side items, and and it's fun for them. Right? And it's they're they can have healthy options. We didn't wanna dictate what the parents did for the for the children.

Denise Herrera [00:21:26]:
But we had a health inspection, and they said, in this town, we would like you to put on the menu that you have a a menu item of 600 calories or less. And we said, well, where does that say that in the food code? Because we know that we have it. It's not a problem. She said, well, that's my personal preference. And I was, well, you can't have personal preference. That's also part of food code. Like, that that doesn't work. Like, just tell me what it is, and I I will totally comply.

Denise Herrera [00:21:48]:
But Right. It's hard when it's when it's you're inserting opinions at times.

Anna Williams [00:21:54]:
Right. Right. Very true. Very, very true. And and I don't want it to be confusing for I don't want like you said, for the operator, but then also the diner because in which then goes on to because you said a lot of training. Right? And you're in charge of training of the employees. Mhmm. How has that how have you impacted these chefs that work in your restaurants as well as the servers that work in your restaurants? I mean, have you seen a change in in how they address all of this?

Denise Herrera [00:22:24]:
Oh, absolutely. They I mean, they are they read everything. They look at everything. And it's nice to have another set of eyes. We did put a allergy commitment in policy upon getting hired. So you sign something that says that you're gonna follow all these steps in our allergy commitment. And if you fail to follow all these, this could lead to termination because we wanted people to come in right out of the gate. They know they're getting hired.

Denise Herrera [00:22:46]:
This is something you're signing off on. This is serious for us. And so through training, it echoes through that. We have a purple card procedure, and purple card procedure means that when somebody comes in and they have all of our servers are asked ask a table if they have an allergen. If anybody has an allergen, the purple card comes out and then we start to write down the order. Once that order is taken, the server then goes to the expediter, validates and verifies what the order is to make sure it's free of any allergen. And then practices, we send that order into the kitchen meetings sure that if it's a cross contamination concern, we tell them get a fresh pan, do this, use these pebble tongs, go over here. And so we're making sure that everything is handled safely on a proactive approach.

Denise Herrera [00:23:26]:
Then the chef prepares it, they then put it on a special plate that is for allergen friendly food only. It's a square plate in our building and then the manager in the window signs off on it and then they run it to the guest to ensure that it is safe for the guest to to eat. But for me, it was also taking any what ifs or concerns out of the way. So that's why I really looked at taking any cross contamination concerns out of the kitchen, and then going back and just continuing training, training, training, and training.

Anna Williams [00:23:57]:
So somebody that comes in that's got an egg allergy, for example, or a dairy allergy, how does that get hit? I mean, I mean, you just explained it that way, but so fresh gloves, fresh aprons, fresh fresh equipment, etcetera.

Denise Herrera [00:24:11]:
Mhmm. Yeah. All those things. And then we also have a master spreadsheet. And this is this is every menu item that we have, every recipe or sub recipe that's there. And we have linked them through the SUPC kosher, and then it then pulls through all of the sub ingredients for them. So, like, in a sauce Uh-huh. People are like mayonnaise.

Denise Herrera [00:24:32]:
Well, can is there soy in mayonnaise? Well, there's soy lecithin in mayonnaise. So can you have soy lecithin or can you have is it just soy protein? So we want to give our our staff as much information as they can to decipher any of the problems. Pre spreadsheet, we are in the walk ins looking at ingredient lists, like going all around trying to find it, so we created a more efficient process that has that. We identify all the great nine and then to go deeper whether it's nightshades, sulfites, any of those things, we will then fix that for them.

Anna Williams [00:25:00]:
That's awesome. So amazing. And and the fact is I'm assuming that you now have it in your database on your because you said it on your with the codes. Right? It's not just an Excel spreadsheet across the board. Right?

Denise Herrera [00:25:13]:
So that's what we're catering now. We just changed our back office system last year, and so putting all the recipes in and updating that,

Anna Williams [00:25:19]:
we're we're doing all Yeah.

Denise Herrera [00:25:21]:
Yeah. Okay.

Anna Williams [00:25:22]:
And that's a time consuming task.

Denise Herrera [00:25:24]:
It is. It is a time consuming task. Yeah. And then updating if anything changes and Right. Rubs, you can do that.

Anna Williams [00:25:30]:
And because you now have more than 20 restaurants under the food allergy labeling or the falcon no. It's not which one is it that you have to

Denise Herrera [00:25:42]:
You're right. You're right. It's a The Falco. Yeah. Yes. Yep. Yep. Food food food labeling.

Denise Herrera [00:25:46]:
And so we are working with the National Restaurant Association right now Yeah. And then putting all of our pieces together for our data database and pulling that through. So, again, that's not another small lift either.

Anna Williams [00:25:59]:
Right.

Denise Herrera [00:25:59]:
Getting meetings all that information accessible.

Anna Williams [00:26:02]:
And my friend Anna from Shellum Seafood Company and with her in Wrightsville Beach Just commented on Instagram where did it go. She said, thanks for the work you're doing, Denise. And she said, of course, you too, Tracy. Thank you. I appreciate that, Anna. Thank you. She if you need seafood in North Carolina, you need to talk to her because she wild harvests it on her own. It's awesome.

Anna Williams [00:26:29]:
I can introduce you to her. I would love some. Okay. Alright. Anna, I'm gonna introduce you guys. You ladies, I should say. As a woman in the in the restaurant industry, have you and and you've been in this job for twenty years. Have you faced any moments where you had to break barriers? And how did you navigate them?

Denise Herrera [00:26:47]:
Yeah. I mean, when I my first executive chef job pre Burton's, I remember I was in Southern California, and I have a sales rep come and. And they wanted to see the chef. Can I see the chef? I'm like, yeah. And I said, yeah. That's what you want. I'm here. And, they were just, they were like, oh, well, where is he? And I was like, well, you're talking to them and that's me.

Denise Herrera [00:27:07]:
But this conversation would be done now. And so that was the one way and I just think never backing down, kind of having a command presence, being Mhmm. And what my beliefs are. I'm also a student and so I study all the time. I wanna make sure that I'm knowledgeable about whatever I'm talking about. And so my first chef, my my when I was 15 years old, I was always on in the chef's yard. Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? And I'm still that way. I I just think that if I'm going to participate in an industry, I need to be knowledgeable about what I'm talking about.

Denise Herrera [00:27:39]:
And so I don't really have any barriers that I have to break anymore. I think that I've earned my place seat at the table and people come to me for whatever they need.

Anna Williams [00:27:50]:
And when do you walk the National Restaurant Show?

Denise Herrera [00:27:53]:
I do. I'm actually getting ready to go out there. And we have our New England restaurant biz and bar show here. So I walk both of them and speak speakers at both of them before and Okay. Yeah. That's great. I love it.

Anna Williams [00:28:04]:
Okay. Awesome. Oh, I'm thinking, okay. They oh, there's Disease. We know what we need to talk about. What do you I mean, I think you kinda touched on this a little bit, but, you know, because you're working with the National Restaurant Association, and I know they've got ServSafe food allergen training and and then your state restaurant associations food. But what do you wish more chefs and restaurateurs, restaurant operators, and and even let's take it to convention centers and hotels. Right? What do you wish they knew and understood about food allergies and and dietary restrictions? And and I wanna also ask too is, like, has this helped you financially? I mean, you're opening up, what, 20 oh, I forgot what number you were on.

Anna Williams [00:28:47]:
We're at twenty one.

Denise Herrera [00:28:48]:
We're gonna open two more, so we'll be at twenty three.

Anna Williams [00:28:50]:
Twenty three restaurants. Mhmm. Then you're doing something right, and you're making money.

Denise Herrera [00:28:54]:
Yeah. Yep. Yeah. So in 02/2010, when the economic downturn happened, we stayed true. We did not cut portion sizes. We did not stray from what our that's the brand. We wanted to maintain the allergy protocols. And and I truly believe that maintaining the course and having a place where people felt safe, that is something that we hear all the time.

Denise Herrera [00:29:15]:
We feel safe. We we trust you. You're a trusted brand. I think has really helped propel. It helped us propel out of that. We we did not see a downturn, and we've continued to grow. Obviously, we all went through a very similar event in 2020 and coming out of that, again, you still stayed true. And we talked a lot about, do we go to one menu now? Do we because we have a gluten free and a regular menu and they're they're really the same needs.

Denise Herrera [00:29:41]:
But we said our, our guest base trusts us. If we start to say no, we're only doing one menu now, they're really the same, but it's just, it's and. I feel that that trust could be lost and so I want to continue to maintain that. And so anything that we do I look at it through a lens of how does this affect our allergy protocol, how does this affect our end user, our guests, their experience, and then financial impact, what does this do for us? Is it a win or loss? I think I had mentioned to you earlier, I do not believe that anybody that suffers from an allergen should have to pay any more money than somebody that does not. And so when you come to Burton's Grill and you order a gluten free item, it has the same cost as everything else. And it's just how we operate. I just I can't consciously say, nope. You're gonna pay more.

Denise Herrera [00:30:33]:
I mhmm. I know it's a little bit more money, but I've absorbed that into my into my model because I believe it's the right thing to do.

Anna Williams [00:30:43]:
Can you just repeat that from the shout out from the mountains, please?

Denise Herrera [00:30:47]:
Well, because you you mentioned it. It's like, but if I kept doing that and I kept nickeling and dining you for this or for that or for this, I don't believe my traffic counts would be up. They would either be flat to down. And so I I go back to feeling normal. Do you feel normal because you have to pay more money for something? No. That's not right. It's not right. And so Right.

Denise Herrera [00:31:06]:
It's the fun we've been doing.

Anna Williams [00:31:08]:
Well and it's it's so refreshing. So thank you very much and very much appreciated because it is it's like when I went to dinner the other night, and I got added $3 service charge because they had the gluten free pizza crust. And I'm like, just like you said, absorb that in your cost. And even one hotel chef said to me, well, can I I'm gonna charge meeting planners for the gluten free toaster? Or and I'm like, no, dude. That's part of your, like, your cost of doing business. Right? And, like, you're going to pay for that in one meal. Like your toaster didn't cost you that much money. Right? Correct.

Anna Williams [00:31:42]:
And I,

Denise Herrera [00:31:42]:
and I get it. We're, we are in business to make money. I'm not a nonprofit. I'm here to make money. And so like, I understand it. I think when you look at your business in a lens of that micro catering of the dollars, I think you're going to you're we call it, what do you say, tripping over dollars to pick up pennies? It's just it just doesn't make sense.

Anna Williams [00:32:01]:
Right. I've never heard that phrase, but I like that. Well and last week, I ran into so so so three's restaurants out of Greenville, South Carolina, and and and I now actually have to go to Barton's and get your menu. But I in my presentations, when I speak to different groups, I have a I went to a restaurant in Vegan. And looking at their 40 options on their menu, I could eat three that were gluten free. And that was like a steak, a grilled chicken, and a salad with no croutons on it. And so I could spend, like, $36. And I went to the restaurant with my friends and their family, and, like, 90% of the menu was gluten free just like, you know, yours.

Anna Williams [00:32:43]:
And my friend searching, she's like, what are you gonna eat? And I'm like, I don't have any idea. I'm like, in heaven. And I ran into them at catering source last week, and I told them this story. And they're and I'm like, I actually need to put their name on my slide because I want people to go there. Right? Mhmm. And and I said you and they're like, wait. Just like you, they take it so seriously, and they want people to enjoy it, and it's not a different price. Right? It's not saying, oh, you can get this done this way.

Anna Williams [00:33:11]:
Okay. Anyways, we're here to talk about Burton's because I'm just really, really excited. But how mhmm. Like, so you've been in this industry with your job for twenty years. And but in your it could be before Burton's. It could be during Burton's. But what is the best career advice that you've ever received, especially when it was unexpected?

Denise Herrera [00:33:34]:
Okay. So I'm actually gonna give you two because one of them was from a college professor and he said and a college professor would say, don't ever shy away from an opportunity because you don't think that you're ready for it. And so that really spoke true to me when I was deciding upon if I was gonna take the job at Burton's. I had just come off of a a year well, it was actually six months of backpacking through Central Mexico and Central America because I wanted to become fluent in Spanish. And I was sitting in the thing, I was like, alright. I had one job after out of college. What do I do? And I was like, I'm gonna faint until I make it. I'm gonna do it.

Denise Herrera [00:34:06]:
I'm just gonna I I remembered that piece of advice and I said, I'm all in. I'm gonna do it. What can they what can they do? Tell me I'm not not ready for it? That's that's the worst thing that can happen. And then events years later, here I'm at. And then the second piece of advice that somebody gave me, and it was actually my CEO, my co founding CEO, was people support what they help create. And I never really understood that until until I became a leadership into a leadership position and I reach out to line cooks, servers, bartenders, chefs, managers, like what ideas do you have? What is not working? What's here? What's this? I mean, we wouldn't have an allergy procedure if I didn't get other people involved at the service level. And so, like, once you get them involved and they have that buy in, everybody wants to see it succeed. They all wanna push it forward.

Denise Herrera [00:34:51]:
And so that was a really big piece of advice and and especially for me who thinks that you have to take all the weight in your own shoulders, you have to do it yourself. And me me me me. It's not. It's if you get other people involved, they're gonna help you thrive and grow. And that's how this this company has become so successful is because there's so many people that help support it.

Anna Williams [00:35:10]:
That's so awesome. Will Gudera, he was a keynote speaker the other day at Catering Source, and he was talking about his the unreasonable hospitality, which I think you all do very, very well.

Denise Herrera [00:35:21]:
That's great. Yeah.

Anna Williams [00:35:23]:
And and but he was talking about that time that he closed the restaurant down and said, okay. Where are all the touch events that somebody has when they walk through this restaurant? And disease like, first, they came up with 20, and then they did 60 and whatever. And then at a 30, he's like, okay. That's a great start. Now how can we impact those? Mhmm. And but but he pulled in the people who are cleaning the dishes.

Denise Herrera [00:35:44]:
Mhmm.

Anna Williams [00:35:45]:
And and I think that's exactly what you did because you don't know what you don't know, and they know because they're dealing with it.

Denise Herrera [00:35:53]:
Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Mhmm.

Anna Williams [00:35:56]:
And and I think too I mean, they're the front facing you're in the kitchen. Right? They're the front facing people talking to your diners.

Denise Herrera [00:36:03]:
Right. And so the best place that I stand is by the dish pit. And so Okay. Why is that? The the because I get to see what's thrown away. What are

Anna Williams [00:36:14]:
Okay.

Denise Herrera [00:36:15]:
What are people not eating? What's oh, that garnish that that's supposed to be edible, but it's a garnish. It's getting tossed every time. And so, we used to put a a lemon wedge on on on every calamari dish that went out. I stood by that dish pit and I watched every lemon wedge get thrown in that garbage. It's like, well, why are we doing this? And so talking to the service staff, like, servers that go by me that have a full plate of food that are not a full plate, but have food that should be wrapped that's going to the dish pit. They already know. They're, like, they're traveling. They can't eat that.

Denise Herrera [00:36:43]:
They can't take that. I am asking why is that food not going home with Sam. Like, I need to know. And so just having those kinds of conversations of what are events meetings? What are they liking? What are they enjoying? That's really it's really important.

Anna Williams [00:36:55]:
Oh, I love and I and it's such a a thing on food waste as well and efficiency. Mhmm. I'm like, how much money did you save and and how many lemons did you save by not putting those lemons on that dish? Right? Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Okay. So thinking through all of this and and and as you've grown through this, I talk about safety, sustainability, and inclusion, and I think you've got that covered across the board.

Anna Williams [00:37:20]:
But how do you define food inclusion, and how has that shaped your approach to that menu development? You've touched about it a little bit, but

Denise Herrera [00:37:29]:
Yeah. You know what? I I think and I I'm gonna go back to saying I I think that food inclusion for me and for Burton's and how I've I've worked that in my position is really having availability to everybody that I can. And so to me that whether it's gluten free, dairy free, sulfite free, those are the things that I want to be able to I can have those options for people. And people that have a lot of allergens will typically reach out to us prior, and then I will usually say, hey, do you have time for a call or let's go through emails, and I'll put recommendations of certain things. The one the one area that I also love about Burton's is you can come in and say, I want no salt. I want no seasoning. I want no oil. I want no butter.

Denise Herrera [00:38:13]:
We will make those accommodations when we cook your food for you. And if it's something like risotto, I have to make risotto in the very beginning prior to the point of sale. And so in my prep risotto stage, I do not put butter, I do not put pepper, okay? I do not put any of those stuff. It's a vegetarian dairy free risotto base so that the point of sale, I a la minute and my mascarpone, my grana, my seasonings, but I can make a dairy free risotto for people by just thinking that by thinking that through. And so that that took some time. And so to me, inclusion is how how do I get to yes? How do I get to making that happen for you?

Anna Williams [00:38:52]:
Yeah. I just you when you were describing that, I'm like, I have three or four people that I need to tag on this on LinkedIn and such and say you need to go eat at Burton's because they're they're they're vegan, they're oil free, they're no sugar is it SOS? No sugar, oil, and salt and vegan, and they could totally eat. Right?

Denise Herrera [00:39:13]:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Anna Williams [00:39:15]:
So, hopefully, I get you three more customers. Alright. Yeah. Okay. And what has been your greatest accomplishment? I mean and and reminding everybody here, we're talking women's history month, and so this woman is making her story and, what I say completely. So what has been your biggest accomplishment? Your greatest?

Denise Herrera [00:39:37]:
I think my greatest accomplishment is is catering team members thrive. And so I really love knowing that we promote from within. And I have executive chefs, general managers, area directors that have started with me as servers, as dishwashers, as line cooks. I have an executive chef in one of our locations that was a dishwasher for me that didn't speak English, taught himself English. And then through time became a line cook, then an associate, then a sous chef, and through with the state association's help we got him some additional training and and that and he is now an executive chef that is in our we call it the mothership, it's really our flagship, it's our first restaurant and it's it's still the one that has the the highest sales and all that throughput for them. And he's running that restaurant. And to me, that is just like that is rewarding. And, you know, I I just love it.

Denise Herrera [00:40:28]:
I love it so much.

Anna Williams [00:40:30]:
Well, in and I it reiterates the fact that this industry can be a career whether and and starting at that dishwasher and now he's the executive chef of your main I'm like, would he probably have even thought that was possible when he walked through the door?

Denise Herrera [00:40:47]:
No. And dishwasher.

Anna Williams [00:40:49]:
Oh, I love that, Denise. And I love it. I love I

Denise Herrera [00:40:51]:
love seeing him in the role and just saying how proud I am. And and he says, I thank you for the opportunity.

Anna Williams [00:40:57]:
I'm gonna cry now. I know. I was too.

Denise Herrera [00:41:01]:
It just really was amazing.

Anna Williams [00:41:02]:
Yeah. I I remember chatting with a a gentleman who came to The United States Thirty Something Years ago, did not speak a lick English, started in banquets at a hotel or wherever. And now he's in Florida working at at And, and he's like, I learned English, and I've put four kids through college as a banquet server in a in hotels.

Denise Herrera [00:41:24]:
Mhmm.

Anna Williams [00:41:24]:
And I just find that so remarkable and awesome and and proud that this industry can create so many fantastic opportunities.

Denise Herrera [00:41:37]:
Yeah. I agree.

Anna Williams [00:41:38]:
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So if you this is gonna end end this this celebration of Denise with the question of if what is your favorite food and why?

Denise Herrera [00:41:51]:
Okay. So my favorite food is fresh food. And the reason why is because I think it tastes the best. And so when I was growing up, I was a really picky eater. I mean, I marinated Italian seasonings, marinated chicken, green needs, and potato. Never would touch fish. None of that stuff. Went to culinary school.

Denise Herrera [00:42:12]:
My parents were like, you're never going to be a chef. I don't know how this is going to work. And then I got a job And I worked for a really well known restaurant group, and they taught me quality. And when I realized quality and freshness really reflected better flavor flavoring food, that's when I latched in. And that's really how the ethos of burnt needs and of got started as well is and so I always think fresh is best and that's why we have we have no freezers in our we have a very stand up freezer in our restaurant, very dietary minimal frozen food that comes through our kitchens. If it doesn't come to our kitchen frozen, I'm either freezing ice cubes or flavored butters that we top our steaks and our seafood with so I can maximize my my shelf life on them. But fresh is best.

Anna Williams [00:42:52]:
That's amazing. You're one of two restaurants that I know of that, and you're the only one the only kosher one would be Chipotle because they advertise all the time. Now I okay. So what are the states that you're in? So we're

Denise Herrera [00:43:03]:
in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and soon to be Pennsylvania.

Anna Williams [00:43:17]:
Nice. Okay. Awesome. And alright. In North Carolina, I know you're in Charlotte. Right?

Denise Herrera [00:43:23]:
Yes. We have two locations in Charlotte, and we're opening a third location in about a month and a half in Birkdale, Huntersville. Okay. That area. Right. And then in early June, we'll be opening in Wayne, Pennsylvania. And so that's a new market for us and I'm excited because I'm and of going back home. I'm a PA girl.

Denise Herrera [00:43:43]:
Nice. Born and raised there, so it's nice to go back. Where is Wayne, Pennsylvania? So Wayne is outside of Philadelphia, Northeast a little bit, North of Westchester in that area.

Anna Williams [00:43:54]:
Okay. Okay. Alright. Awesome. I go to Philly. Yeah. I can I'll find you. I'm gonna go somewhere.

Denise Herrera [00:44:00]:
Alright. Good.

Anna Williams [00:44:01]:
And I can just get in my car and drive west. And in South in South Carolina, where are you? Charles Mount Pleasant. So right outside of Charleston. Charleston. Okay. Alright. That's not too far away either. So, oh, I know.

Anna Williams [00:44:13]:
The FAB conference in May. I can go to that. You need to go to that.

Denise Herrera [00:44:17]:
I was just gonna write that down too.

Anna Williams [00:44:18]:
Females and business. The females in food and beverage. Oh,

Denise Herrera [00:44:22]:
awesome. Female.

Anna Williams [00:44:23]:
Yeah. I'll send you that info. Yeah. Please. Okay. Well, I am so excited. I thank you so much for what you're doing, and congratulations to Burton's as well on your anniversary twenty years and in all your success in that. But I really appreciate you being a woman who believes in, you know, in what you do as well as making sure that your employees and your coworkers succeed in their jobs.

Denise Herrera [00:44:50]:
Thank you. Thank you for having me here today. I appreciate it.

Anna Williams [00:44:54]:
Oh, you're welcome. And, everybody, if you want to, here's her LinkedIn profile, denise vegan dot dash herrera, and connect with her there or go eat at one of the restaurants. And stay with me for one second when we close out. K. Well, I've got quite a few more women to introduce you to this month for Women's History Month, and we next week will there'll be two. So stay tuned for that. And until next week, stay stay safe and eat well, and have a good day. Thanks.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:45:24]:
Thanks for listening to the Catering at a Meeting podcast where every meal matters. I'm Tracy Stuckrat, your food and beverage inclusion expert. Call me and let's get started right now on creating safe and inclusive food and beverage experiences for your customers, your employees, and your communities. Share the podcast with your friends and colleagues at our Catering at a Meeting Facebook page and on all podcast platforms. To learn more about me and receive valuable information, go to tracystuckrath.com. And if you'd like more information on how to feed engagement, nourish inclusion, and bolster your bottom line, then visit eating@ameeting.com.