00:05 – Audrey Hogan:
So I’m here with Charles. Charles, will you introduce yourself? Tell us a little bit about what you do.
00:10 – Charles Reiser:
Charles Reiser. I work with Blue Ribbon Restaurants. Director of IT, I guess. We don’t have titles, so I love it.
00:17 – Audrey Hogan:
So what’s your day-to-day look like?
00:19 – Charles Reiser:
Mostly handling managers, helping them out, getting them past the fact that they didn’t read the training I gave out. It’s hands-on. It’s really assisting the managers with getting their jobs done, getting through the day, and keeping technology running for them.
00:38 – Audrey Hogan:
I know the projects you have going, and you’re always kind enough to talk to me about your thoughts on different vendors and solutions in the space.
00:47 – Charles Reiser:
Yes.
00:47 – Audrey Hogan:
But for people who don’t know you, would you talk a little bit about some of the projects you’re managing right now?
00:52 – Charles Reiser:
We’re working through tableside payment—top of my plate right now—followed closely by time and attendance. We’re doing multiple methods for implementing scheduling and a time clock using TimeForge. We’re also working through a couple of POS ideas that the operations team has suggested. I’m trying to figure out how that’s going to work for us and if it meets Blue Ribbon’s needs. We have kind of unusual needs because of the way our operation works with the sushi. We’ve got multiple kitchens, specific flows of service, the way the staff gets the food to the table, the way the customer orders. All of that affects how everything needs to show up—when it needs to show up and where it needs to show up.
01:45 – Audrey Hogan:
Blue Ribbon is in itself a pretty unique brand, right?
01:49 – Charles Reiser:
Yes.
01:50 – Audrey Hogan:
And I love getting to work with you because you have a nontraditional CIO-type background. Would you talk a little bit about your background?
01:58 – Charles Reiser:
I started out in the business cooking—actually as a dishwasher in my teens. Got into cooking, enjoyed it. Went to CIA, realized there were great chefs and everybody else, and I was not in the great chef category. So I got into management. By the 2000s, I was kind of burnt out, and I was always the guy who fixed all the technology. Because of a personal interest in technology, I got into Point of Sale at that point. My beginning was with Positouch. I spent most of my time in POS working for a Positouch dealer in New Jersey—the last days of Positouch essentially. Then I moved on to do some consulting for clients in the New York area, people I knew. Eventually, I wound up at Blue Ribbon full time.
02:48 – Audrey Hogan:
So what’s your favorite dish at Blue Ribbon?
02:54 – Charles Reiser:
The oxtail fried rice.
02:56 – Audrey Hogan:
Yeah, no, that was good.
02:58 – Charles Reiser:
I hate to say it, but I eat it like once a month at this point—and that’s holding myself back from eating it more often. It’s a joke. When I go to the restaurants, I’m like, hey, I want to order some food to go—oxtail fried rice.
03:14 – Audrey Hogan:
Let’s talk a little more about the projects we’re working on together. So with Blue Ribbon and TimeForge, you were initially talking about timekeeping and solving scheduling, especially at the restaurants that struggled with their existing solutions.
03:33 – Charles Reiser:
We had been using HotSchedules. They really don’t do things that Blue Ribbon needs. The forecasting tools are there, but we don’t make use of them. We have kind of unusual payroll needs. We’re usually running on off-hours at minimum staff. You really can’t have fewer people than we already have, so forecasting labor doesn’t work when you’re already at that number.
04:03 – Audrey Hogan:
Right.
04:03 – Charles Reiser:
It’s an artifact of being in Manhattan. You’re either busy and the restaurant is packed from five until midnight, or there’s no one there at all.
04:15 – Audrey Hogan:
Right.
04:15 – Charles Reiser:
It’s extremes. Scheduling for us is becoming more important. We’ve had a change in the dynamics of the restaurants, especially in the places outside of Manhattan. Scheduling is clearly becoming a big issue. Miami is a big one—it’s incredibly seasonal. We weren’t really utilizing the tools in HotSchedules. My goal was to get something fresh in, something that integrates better with our POS—which you guys do—and gives us a better tool to help the managers do their jobs properly. So I’m kind of excited about that.
04:56 – Audrey Hogan:
We talked a long time before actually getting to the point where we said, “Hey, let’s do it.” It was the right time, everyone’s comfortable. It started at Pay Point, and now we’ve implemented. We’re still stabilizing some of the training. I remember on one of the first calls, you said, “Man, this is a lot of hands-on.” Diego does an amazing job pre-training. Everyone’s comfortable with what the system does and how to use it. We’re at the tail end of that with the first few restaurants.
05:34 – Charles Reiser:
Yeah, yeah.
05:35 – Audrey Hogan:
What about the process were you not expecting?
05:37 – Charles Reiser:
What I noticed in the last two installs was that the training is less important now. You guys have great documentation and utilities. We have videos from earlier training. What I found is that just handing the guys the help site gets them going. Some of it’s intuitive, but the help documents were a big benefit. HotSchedules has documentation, but it’s not easy to find training on specific subjects in their portal. I didn’t have that problem with yours. I went on a few times, looked up what I needed, and it took me right to it.
06:23 – Charles Reiser:
That’s been really helpful. I think the idea of not even having formal training going forward for the remaining stores is feasible. Maybe just have a couple of your team touch base with the store managers, answer questions, and let them get going on their own. That’s the ultimate in self-service that I like.
06:47 – Audrey Hogan:
Excellent. That’s always our goal—to make it easy enough. It’s designed from the end-user’s perspective. We’re constantly building based on feedback. So that’s the best thing I could hear—especially with my technical writing background. Screenshot, step-by-step, done, right?
07:08 – Charles Reiser:
Yeah. I’ve done a ton of those myself because I found that’s the best way to teach someone at the store level: give step-by-step instructions, plenty of pictures. I’ve got a manual full of those, and they fit with how I do things. This has been a great way to get them onboarded properly.
07:32 – Audrey Hogan:
What kind of feedback are you hearing from employees?
07:34 – Charles Reiser:
All positive. They write emails, ask for help, and you guys are responding within an incredibly reasonable amount of time. Sometimes minutes, sometimes longer, but always handled. You have a good sense of priority—what needs immediate help and what can wait until tomorrow. That’s great from a vendor.
07:58 – Audrey Hogan:
That’s excellent. We have a really experienced team. I think empathy drives that, right?
08:04 – Charles Reiser:
Yep.
08:05 – Audrey Hogan:
If they have customers stacked up behind them and they’re struggling, it’s like, “Let’s get on the phone and solve this.” If it can wait till tomorrow, it’s okay. So FS Tech was packed full of information.
08:18 – Charles Reiser:
Yeah.
08:19 – Audrey Hogan:
What do you think is the next big trend in restaurant technology that nobody’s talking about? And don’t say “AI.”
08:27 – Charles Reiser:
No one’s talking about—although they did this morning—is third-party delivery services. I’m concerned about what they’re doing and the direction they’re going. It may not be in the best interests of restaurants. In New York, they’ve restricted them to a 15% cap, but they find ways to work around that. The effective rate is way above 15% compared to what they put on paper.
09:04 – Audrey Hogan:
Playing number games.
09:05 – Charles Reiser:
Yeah, which is always problematic. The big thing I noticed recently—someone mentioned they were having a problem with integration. I looked into it and saw stores are shutting off the integration during service. That’s common for sushi. Sushi isn’t like regular food. During peak times, prep time gets longer. You have to prioritize customers in the restaurant. So they shut down delivery or extend delivery hours to slow down orders.
10:00 – Audrey Hogan:
Interesting.
10:01 – Charles Reiser:
Why doesn’t anyone do predictive hours on delivery? Deliveries get slower when it’s busy, just like reservations. When it’s slow, you get seated right away. Same idea.
10:23 – Audrey Hogan:
Interesting. Now I want to play with that data and see what our forecaster does with it.
10:27 – Charles Reiser:
Yeah.
10:28 – Audrey Hogan:
So FSTEC just wrapped up. Was there any tech you saw that you’re excited about, or any big takeaways?
10:38 – Charles Reiser:
Most sessions were talking about AI.
10:41 – Audrey Hogan:
Yeah.
10:42 – Charles Reiser:
The only thing I got out of that was, okay, I’m not the only person who thinks AI is creepy. I’m fine dining. I don’t think of AI as front-facing. I think of it as tools to help staff behind the scenes—not exposed to the customer.
10:58 – Audrey Hogan:
A lot of people said the same—this is to help people, not replace people.
11:06 – Charles Reiser:
Yeah. It’s to help them do their job better so we have better customer service. Our biggest issue is the waiter wrote down the wrong item, misunderstood the guest, and delivered the wrong thing. With all the allergies today, especially in Asian cuisine, that’s a big deal. I’d love something that helps staff take orders better.
11:40 – Audrey Hogan:
We were joking at dinner that there was a mic under the table.
11:44 – Charles Reiser:
Yes. It was like that—very detailed about what you couldn’t eat.
11:53 – Audrey Hogan:
Yeah.
11:53 – Charles Reiser:
Considering we had someone at the table who was gluten intolerant, it was just—okay.
11:59 – Audrey Hogan:
If someone wanted to connect with you because one of your projects resonated with them, how should they reach out?
12:11 – Charles Reiser:
I’m on LinkedIn. I’m open to accepting pretty much anyone as a connection.
12:20 – Audrey Hogan:
Awesome.
12:21 – Charles Reiser:
You don’t even have to be in the food service industry. I know a lot of people who aren’t.
12:26 – Audrey Hogan:
Yeah. Is there anything else you want to talk about?
12:30 – Charles Reiser:
I’m really satisfied with what you guys are doing for us. It’s been a real positive for Blue Ribbon. What I’ve noticed with TimeForge and my POS vendor NorthStar is more of “What will make this work for you?” instead of “Yeah, we don’t do that,” which is what I get from most vendors. That’s important. I’m supporting a 14-store chain that’s not really a chain—it’s 14 independent restaurants with special needs. I need to accommodate those, and you guys have been great.
13:12 – Audrey Hogan:
I find it refreshing working with you and your store teams. You have all A-players—you’re an A-player. Every manager I work with is an A-player. A lot of vendors get detached from what it’s like working in the store.
13:28 – Charles Reiser:
Yes.
13:29 – Audrey Hogan:
Or they’re working with non–A-players who have strong opinions that are wrong. That happens. It’s easy for vendors to say, “We don’t do that.” But at TimeForge, and I know CBS is the same, it’s about enabling and empowering you to do what you want. When you’ve got A-players saying, “This is why it needs to work this way—make it happen,” it makes our lives so much easier.
14:04 – Charles Reiser:
Yeah.
14:05 – Audrey Hogan:
And I think it strengthens the product too. I can’t believe we’re the only sushi concept doing things this way.
14:15 – Audrey Hogan:
Yeah, absolutely.
14:17 – Charles Reiser:
Even QSR has helped me adapt existing functionality to make it look like it’s doing exactly what I need.
14:36 – Audrey Hogan:
I also appreciate our relationship because our software has grown. We started out as a scheduling system, and now we’ve got 20 different modules you can pick from.
14:51 – Charles Reiser:
Yeah.
14:52 – Audrey Hogan:
And that’s all based on restaurants calling us saying, “Scheduling is awesome—but it’s useless if I don’t know my sales data.”
14:58 – Charles Reiser:
Right.
14:59 – Audrey Hogan:
“Scheduling is awesome—but it’s useless if people can’t clock in.”
15:03 – Charles Reiser:
Yep.
15:03 – Audrey Hogan:
So we appreciate it.
15:04 – Charles Reiser:
All right. Thank you.
15:07 – Audrey Hogan:
Thanks for the time.
