06: From Cookbook Author to Multi-Unit Restaurant Operator | Amanda Frederickson, Radish

My First Restaurant

Amanda is a cookbook author and owner of Radish, a fast casual restaurant with two locations in Nashville. In this interview Amanda shares the opportunity she saw for a healthy fast casual concept when she moved to Nashville, and how she took matters into her own hands by opening Radish. We discuss how she planned for and opened her first two locations, Radish’s org chart and what she looks for when hiring General Managers, the layers she implemented to allow her to step away from day-to-day operations and focus on growing the business, the opportunity of focusing on “B cities”, and the mistakes she’s made along the way. Amanda’s insights reveal what can happen when you combine a desire to scratch your own itch with a true market gap that has the same needs.

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Where to find Radish:

• Website: https://www.radishkitchen.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/radisheats/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/radishkitchen/

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Where to find Amanda:

• Website: https://www.amandafrederickson.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-frederickson-4b638911/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandafrederickson/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfXoSuwwVTJ0B31jVVLH8eQ

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Where to find Bryan:

• Website: https://www.myfirstrestaurant.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-tublin-03548910/
• Twitter: @btublin

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Where to find Kitava:

• Website: https://www.kitava.com/
• Instagram: @kitavakitchen

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Referenced:

• Williams Sonoma Test Kitchen
• SPQR

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In this episode, we cover:

• (01:57) How moving to Nashville sparked Amanda’s idea
• (4:18) Food knowledge + financial knowledge = powerful combo
• (05:39) Amanda’s restaurant experience prior to opening Radish
• (06:31) Hiring to fill gaps in knowledge
• (07:16) Where the initial financing came from
• (09:21) Daily sales they projected needing to hit to succeed
• (11:01) Difficulties in being the anchor tenant of a new development
• (14:46) How she leveraged her cookbook following to get the word out
• (16:08) The next steps Radish took after reaching a sustainable sales level
• (17:48) How they created layers that allowed Amanda to work on growing the business, rather than getting stuck in the weeds
• (19:19) The staffing structure at each restaurant, and the skills she looks for in a General Manager
• (22:23) What they do with profits from their business, and how they funded their second location
• (25:16) The team Radish used to build out their locations
• (27:39) What she would have done differently during the first restaurant buildout
• (30:56) Lessons learned since opening her second location
• (32:31) Goals for the future
• (34:49) Maintaining focus on growing in smaller cities that have been overlooked
• (38:55) The value in getting your hands dirty to learn
• (40:01) What Amanda does to take care of herself