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Chef Andre Natera on the business and craft of the restaurant industry.

Run the Pass with Chef Andre Natera is a food industry channel exploring the business and operational forces shaping the restaurant sector, from supply chain pressures and food technology to shifting consumer trends and concept development. Chef Natera brings a working culinary professional's perspective to topics that matter to operators, executives, and foodservice buyers. On MarketScale, the channel serves food and beverage professionals who want both creative and commercial context.

34 episodes
Channel Brief·Run the Pass with Chef Andre Natera · 34 episodes
Updated Sep 23, 2021

Restaurant survival requires culture, innovation, and media reach.

Run the Pass documents how leading chefs and hospitality operators navigate pandemic disruption, staffing collapse, and scaling challenges through reinvention, community building, and direct audience engagement.

Run the Pass argues that the modern restaurant industry is no longer defined by cooking alone, but by adaptability, workforce management, and the ability to build loyal audiences. The channel documents this through direct interviews with operating chefs and founders who have pivoted to food trucks, scaled multi-unit concepts, launched staffing software, and leveraged media to grow restaurant empires, proving that survival depends on solving operational and cultural challenges alongside culinary excellence.

Drawn from How Anthony Bourdain Inspired a Banker to Crea… and 4 more →

“My goal was to work at a top restaurant then run and operate my own.”

Chef Mathew Peters, only U.S. winner of Bocuse d'Or

By the numbers

12 restaurants

culinary operations Junior Borges oversees in Dallas neighborhood

9 cities

traveled to by Chef Byron Gomez during post-pandemic networking

4 brothers

co-founded Chronic Tacos Enterprises with Michael Mohammed

What the channel argues

InsightHospitality staffing complexities drove the creation of Hyre, a workforce management software addressing pandemic-era recruiting challenges.→
InsightChefs building restaurant empires increasingly rely on media and smaller-footprint formats to scale without heavy capital requirements.→
InsightCulinary innovation now bridges cultures and dietary trends: Vietnamese-Filipino fusion (Fil N' Viet), plant-based work (Allen Campbell with Tom Brady's TB12 Manual), and sustainable seafood education reshape competitive advantage.→
InsightCompetition and professional certifications, including the American Culinary Federation framework, influence how chefs develop kitchen mindset and credentials.→
InsightRestaurant culture and service excellence are deliberate operational choices, not byproducts; they define whether teams consistently execute.→

What you'll learn

•Pandemic forced restaurants to pivot to takeout and food trucks, but operators who built loyal audiences and media channels sustained and scaled growth.
•Workforce management software emerged as critical infrastructure because hospitality staffing remained complex even after initial COVID disruption.
•Chefs now wear multiple hats: operator, media personality, sustainability advocate, and community builder—single-skill mastery no longer differentiates.
•Culinary fusion and dietary diversity (plant-based, sustainable seafood, cultural mashups) attract customers and solve perception challenges around sustainability and health.
•Restaurant culture is a deliberate design choice; strong teams require clear values and service philosophy, not just kitchen skill.

What to do about it

→Audit your restaurant's media footprint and consider how direct audience engagement (social, podcast, events) can build brand loyalty independent of location or format.
→Evaluate staffing and culture as core operational problems: invest in clear hiring criteria, retention frameworks, and kitchen leadership development rather than treating them as overhead.
→Identify one culinary or operational trend (fusion, sustainability, wellness) that aligns with your audience and differentiate on it explicitly, signaling intent to the market.

Who and what shows up

Eropa Stein

CEO of Hyre

Created workforce management software to solve hospitality staffing complexities exposed by pandemic disruption.

Michael Mohammed

Chief Executive Officer and President, Chronic Tacos Enterprises, Inc.

Oversees fast-casual Mexican brand strategy and discusses creating vibe as core operational value.

Mathew Peters

Chef, only U.S. winner of Bocuse d'Or

Competed against personal goals and found competitive cooking transformed his kitchen mindset and operations.

Tiffany Derry

Celebrity chef, Top Chef and Bar Rescue

Demonstrates how media presence and smaller-footprint restaurant formats enable empire growth without heavy capital.

Chef Allen Campbell

Wellness and plant-based culinary advisor, Tom Brady TB12 Nutrition Manual

Shifted from traditional fine dining to health-focused plant-based work, exemplifying how dietary trends reshape chef identity.

Questions this channel answers

Q

How do restaurants scale without a large footprint or capital?

By building smaller-unit formats, leveraging media channels to drive awareness, and often using celebrity chef credibility to attract customers and franchisees.

Will Every Restaurant Have a Celebrity Chef? →
Q

What business model changes stuck after the pandemic?

Takeout, to-go, food trucks, and meal kits became permanent revenue streams; chefs also embraced media and direct-to-consumer channels to survive lockdowns.

How Anthony Bourdain Inspired a Banker to Create a Culin… →
Q

How do you attract and keep talented restaurant staff?

Workforce management software and deliberate culture-building address recruitment, scheduling, and retention; burnout requires direct attention to hours, working conditions, and team leadership.

How the Hospitality Staffing Landscape Changed →
Q

How does culinary diversity or sustainability become a business advantage?

Chefs who educate customers on seafood literacy, embrace plant-based or fusion cuisines, or highlight cultural heritage differentiate from competitors and align with changing consumer values.

How a Fourth Generation Butcher is Ready to Help People … →
Topics:Pandemic business model pivots (takeout, food trucks, meal kits)Workforce management and staffing technologyRestaurant scaling and multi-unit operationsSustainability (seafood, meat alternatives, plant-based)Media strategy and celebrity chef economics
Themes:Operational resilience through diversified revenue models and formatsCulture and people as competitive moats, not cost centersMedia and direct audience engagement as necessary restaurant business infrastructure

Industry context

The restaurant industry increasingly prioritizes operational leadership and diversified revenue strategies as core competitive advantages. Chefs and operators are adopting business models that extend beyond traditional service-based restaurants.

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