Last fall Avero conducted our first-ever user survey, in which we asked our 20,000+ users in 45 countries to give us feedback on our restaurant software that drives profits. The survey was a great success in terms of feedback, and as an incentive for helping us get imporant information on how we can better serve our clients we awarded one lucky winner a brand new iPad mini: Congratulations to Chef David C. Felton from Ninety Acres in Peapack, New Jersey!
We sat down with Chef Felton to learn a little more about his business and how he leverages Avero’s restaurant solutions and analytics:
Avero: Tell us a little about yourself.
David: I am the chef at Ninety Acres, helped build it. Was really excited when we got Avero because I’ve never had anything like it. It’s a great tool to use for looking at sales, looking at everything. How you can break down things so granular is fantastic.
Avero: What is your favorite type of food?
David: I love fried chicken. I love fried chicken and pizza. That’s what I want to eat on my days off!
Avero: Describe your ideal food day — breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
David: I am a huge broccoli and cheddar omelet fan. It’s a good healthy way to start the day. Lunch can always be simple, like pizza. And then dinner, a good piece of meat and a salad. Simple.
Avero: Which chef or restaurateur would you most like to work with?
David: I think Philip Suarez from Jean Georges Group. What they do with restaurants, it just blows me away because they’re all similar, but they’re all very unique to themselves. When you’ve got places like ABC Kitchen and Jean Georges and they’re all under the same group, and at the same time you saw the potential of Wylie at WD50, so it’s like he’s so diverse in what he believes in, and I think that’s a great group. And then Danny Meyer, the hospitality king!
Avero: Tell us a little bit about Ninety Acres – concept, how long it’s been open, typical crowd…
David: We’ve been open four and a half years now. Our clientele averages 40-50 years old, higher-middle class. We also get a lot of young couples that have saved up, and we’ll see them once a year and consistently on their anniversary or birthday, so that’s great. We’ve got a strong clientele right now, but we’re building the clientele for the future. It’s exciting.
Avero: How long have you worked in the hospitality industry?
David: Too long. I should stop. I got my first paid job in a restaurant when I was 14, and now I’m 37 and haven’t stopped.
Avero: How did you first hear about us?
David: I think Micros told us there were third-party options to add on, and I’ve never had anything like this at any of the restaurants I’ve worked at. It’s always like you’re digging through sales receipts to try and figure things out, so this makes life a lot easier.
Avero: How do you use us on a daily basis?
David: We use the Avero app for comparing sales week-to-week, month-to-month, year-to-year. We use it for weekly labor reports, monthly labor reports, guest check average, keeping that consistent and trying to make sure we are showing growth as we go up. We use it for sales inventory — so we sold 30 salmon last weekend, how much salmon do we need to bring in?
Avero: How do we help you make better decisions and save time?
David: It’s fantastic for ordering. It’s fantastic for tracking back — for example, on Easter 400 people came in, how much beef did we need? How much salmon did we need? And you have that year-long average so you can look at a couple years’ history.We run really tight food costs, and it’s really because of Avero.
Follow David’s example and get started with Avero today!
