Putting Philoxenia into Practice with Demetri Tsolakis, CEO of Xenia Greek Hospitality

Demetri Tsolakis, CEO of Xenia Greek Hospitality, reflected on a powerful, yet often forgotten idea: hospitality is not a transaction, but a human obligation. Drawing from the ancient Greek philosophy of philoxenia, Tsolakis described hospitality as the act of turning a stranger into a friend, an approach that shapes every decision across his restaurants. 

The discussion also explored how this philosophy extends behind the scenes. Tsolakis shared his people-first approach to leadership, emphasizing personality over résumés, storytelling over scripts, and empowerment over micromanagement. By investing in education, trust, and creative freedom, he enables teams to act with ownership and authenticity. 

As the interview made clear, hospitality done right is not only about speed, rules or efficiency; it is about emotion, connection, and care. In an increasingly transactional world, Tsolakis’s perspective offers a compelling reminder that the most memorable experiences begin with how people are made to feel. 

The “Distinguished” podcast is produced by Boston University School of Hospitality Administration. 

Host: Arun Upneja, Dean
Producer: Mara Littman, Executive Director of Strategic Operations and Corporate Relations
Research and Content Creation: Lu Lan
Editing: Isabella Laikin
Sound Engineer: Andrew Hallock

Music: “Airport Lounge" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Transcript

Welcome & Guest Introduction: Demetri Tsolakis and Xenia Greek Hospitality

SPEAKER_00 0:06

What if hospitality wasn't just good service, but an ancient sacred law, a duty to turn a stranger into a friend? A guest today has built a celebrated restaurant empire on that very idea. Welcome back to the Distinguished Podcast, where we learn from the leaders reimagining the world of hospitality. I'm Arunup Neja, Dean of Boston University's School of Hospitality Administration. The visionary leader joining us is Dmitri Solakis, founder of Signia Greek Hospitality. He has created a portfolio of concepts, Krasi, Bravlaha, Greco, and Kaya, that are more than just restaurants. They tell stories, celebrate culture, and invite people into something more meaningful than just a meal. No surprise, Condin has just named Kaya one of the best new restaurants in the world. Here at the School of Hospitality, we empower students to engineer experiences that are both innovative and memorable. Dimitri doesn't just do this brilliantly and joyously in his businesses. He does this with passion as a member of our adjunct faculty. Today we'll get into the mind of a true cultural architect. We'll talk about how to build restaurants that people want to work in and return to, how to scale a brand without losing its soul and hospitality done right. It's a powerful tool for fostering human connections. So let's get started. Dimitri, welcome to the Distinguished Podcast. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. Fantastic. I've been looking forward to this conversation. So, first let's talk about the name of the company. So you've built your entire company on this ancient Greek concept of zenia. So most people understand this as hospitality, but the historical sources describe it as a sacred duty with divine consequences. So, how do you translate the weight and sanctity of that ancient obligation into a concrete trading program for the 21st century team member in Boston or DC?

Philoxenia: Turning Strangers into Friends

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Definitely. It's something you just feel. And I felt it in my household, how my mom would open the door to our neighbors or when someone moved down the street from us. You know, we were always really in tune to taking care of our neighbors and not just our family brothers and aunts and uncles. But we always had this mentality to really take care of people, make everyone feel welcomed. If it was in our restaurants at that time, in our household, you know, on the block, you know, we've always had that. And it's constantly something that I'm always seeing in in Greece and how you know the nomads and shepherds, you know, from back in the day were traveling village to village and needed somewhere to stay. And strangers were opening, you know, this idea of strangers now. We were grown up saying, stay away from strangers. It's scary. You know, don't talk to them. You know, but in our culture, it's like we welcome strangers. You know, a stranger turns into a friend. And it's something I constantly preach in my restaurants because you don't know who's coming into your restaurant. A name on a reservation is just a name. But once you dig into it, once you research it, once you look into it a little bit more, you can kind of see who's coming. You kind of get a better feel for it. And then once you welcome them, because at that time you're both strangers to each other, it's that icebreaking moment that when you welcome them to your into your restaurant and how you make them feel. You know, for me, you know, hospitality, the the of ancient Greek philosophy of philoxenia, turning a stranger into a friend, it's really a technique now. It's creating these experiences, creating these moments that make people feel so at ease, especially in the world we live in today, where it's kind of like, I don't know what I'm gonna wake up to, to go into a restaurant and just have that calming feel. You know, it's a beautiful thing. So, in in what I try to do is I try to go back to my childhood and see what my mom always did. I always looked up to my mom and saw, you know, how someone who struggled to speak English, someone who came here as an immigrant, what did she do to make people welcome her? And I think it was a reverse rule back then, back in the day. So now I'm kind of taking that. How can I welcome people? And I think we forgot in society how to really welcome people. And that's the mission of all my restaurants, whether it be two minutes in a Greco fast casual or an hour and a half to two hours in one of my full service restaurants. How do we welcome someone and how do they leave feeling a family? Because that's the best feeling, especially coming out of everything we just came through since the pandemic days and and and so on. So it became a mission, it became a purpose, and it became a passion, you know, not just for myself, but for my staff, and it's something we're all commonly united by. It's this mission of turning a stranger into a friend.

Hospitality as Emotion vs. Business

SPEAKER_00 5:25

Wow. So you talk about um hospitality as emotion, so you connect people, but then it is also a business. So how do you reconcile those two concepts?

Rethinking the Guest Experience: No Host Stands, No Interrogations

SPEAKER_01 5:37

I don't look at it as a business because I think when you look at it as a business, you're kind of looking at what you can get out of them or you you associate, you know, when someone comes in with dollar signs, and we don't want to do that. You know, the hospitality we provide, it's if you come in for a dessert and a coffee, it's the same feeling you're gonna get. If you're coming to have a feast of the gods at Krusty, which is uh everything on the menu at once. Uh, we really just want to welcome you and just not associate with any price tag. We're not a turn and burn style. I think that mentality has you know kind of swept swept away. You really can't think of in and out anymore. And a lot of restaurants built their models to be in and out, and they're not around anymore. You build your model on experiences, you build your models on how you can cater to guests. You know, Ubers happen and they come late. You know, accidents, people and the worst thing is before you go to a restaurant, is have anxiety. You know, and a lot of people enter restaurants already a mess. Oh no, we're late, we're gonna we're gonna miss our reservation, they're gonna charge us, or we don't have time, only have two hours, it's contracted. It's a lot of negative emotions before you go into a restaurant. And what I try to do in mine is take those away. It's the same thing when you go into a hotel. It's like when you check into a hotel, the first thing they say to you is they remind you, you're leaving in two days. It's like, okay, I didn't even get here yet, so why are you telling me when I'm leaving? Right. You know, you walk into a restaurant these days and it's my biggest pet peeve. I'll walk into any restaurant before I'm even greeted or said, you know, hello, how are you? It's do you have a reservation? It's like you feel attacked walking into a restaurant these days. So what we try to do is, you know what, let's make it known that we're working for our guests. We're really going to try whatever. So when you enter one of my establishments, it's welcome first. Like as you're opening your door. Uh my restaurants, most of them don't even have host stands. You know, there's no blocking. And when you want to walk into someone's house, there's no host there, you know, the hosts are greeting you, but there's nothing blocking you. You just walk in very casually and we just offer you, ask you, you know, are you joining us for dinner or a drink at the bar? You know, and kind of lead into conversation first. Because if you attack them with a question, it's already an interrogation and it's not that great feeling. So when they walk in, you know, we'll we'll ask them, would you like to join us for dinner for a drink at the bar today? And if they say, uh, of course, yes, we'd love to, um, we follow up with you have a reservation. If they do, great, it's a guarantee seat. If they do not, it's an arco. We want to show them that we're gonna cater. We'll do whatever we can to get them in. You know, if we have a table available for an hour, we'll let them know. We do have reservation coming in, but we can definitely accommodate you for an hour, or how about the patio, or how about the bar, or how about this, or how about that? Let them know that we're gonna try our best to cater to them and they don't need to have reservation. They don't need to plan two months from now that they're gonna be hungry on a Thursday at seven o'clock. You know, I think a lot of work goes into going out to dinner these days that is not enjoyable anymore. Most people come and say, I I waited too much for this reservation. By the time you get to that, you're you're let down. You know, you no one should have to wait to go out to a restaurant. I think, you know, a commodity is just going off the street. A spontaneous, carefree evening is walking into a restaurant and being able to score two bar seats or a table or whatever. Dining out has just gotten so transactional in the sense that you have to make a reservation, you have to be on time, you have to be out in 90 minutes. There's so many rules that it stripped away hospitality. And my group, we never want to set that in place. We never want to have rules where someone comes in and has to know that they only have they have a time frame, that they have to do this, they have to do that. It's just you don't enjoy it. No, we wanted to make it more carefree. And I think what helps with me is my culture. You know, when you go to Greece, it's you don't get pressured with reservations. You don't get pressured with table time. You can sit for four hours if you want. Those are the best evenings. You know, I think a lot of people here are that I have to be there, I have to finish my dad, I have to be there. And there's too much of that, I have to, I have to, and not too much, you know what? Let's just go with the flow. Let's just be a little more spontaneous, let's be a little more carefree. Let's just go in, and if we don't get in tonight, we'll go to the next restaurant. I think it makes it more fun that you kind of attempt, you know, to go out and you eat when you're hungry, not when a reservation said you have to. I've been so many places in the world where I made a reservation, I'm like, but you know, I want to eat lunch at four o'clock because I want to try this, but I have dinner at seven, and it just becomes so much in your head that you're like, you don't enjoy anything. You know, so I just like carefree approaches, I like spontaneous visits, and we try to blend that into all our concepts by always having unreservable, you know, tables and bar seats, you know, making things first come, first serve, but really training our staff that if somebody comes in and they're not on a list or anything, to try our hardest to get them in and what that means. Again, if it's just for an hour, if it's telling them to come back at a certain time, we really try to get the to cater to everyone. So they see that in uh in us.

The Problem with Reservation Culture

SPEAKER_00 10:22

Dimitri, now the problem I'm I'm thinking with your response now is anyone listening to this podcast, next time they go to a restaurant and the first interrogatory question they be they're asked is, Do you have a reservation? And that's gonna throw me off completely. So it should be just ruined ruined it for me for any restaurant, which is gonna lead off with that question.

SPEAKER_01 10:43

We shouldn't have to live by the law of reservations. We should be able to go to a restaurant and have them see if they can cater to us. You know, I'm not saying a party of 12 can just walk in, but if you're just on a casual night and you're like, I'm hungry, let's go eat, you shouldn't say I can't go there because I don't have a restaurant, I can't go there because I'm not gonna be busy. You should be able to walk in and just have a conversation. That's the first part of welcoming a stranger. It's just organic conversation. And we're forgetting how to talk to humans. Right. For the longest time, I loved communal tables because you talk to a stranger. Right. Then the pandemic happened, you don't want to sit anybody next to you in case they sneeze. You know, so it's kind of we've got to retrain ourselves. What does it mean to go out and socialize? You know, and and what's great about our restaurants and the food we serve and the culture that I came up with is it's always a party. It's always social enjoyment of food and drink. We drink to eat, we eat to drink. You know, some famous, you know, uh philosopher Socrates, one of them, Homer, one of them said something with food is like medicine and all this other stuff. Because it's true though. Live to eat or eat to live. Anyone, you know, anyone, anyone, you know, too much garlic in Zatziki, don't speak. So stuff like that. Any anything out there that, you know, comes from our culture, I feel it and I see it. And I took that and I said, you know what, I'm gonna put this into our restaurant, into our values, into our morals, because we need to let people know that it's okay that you don't have a reservation. It's okay that you sit for three hours. It's

The Feast of the Gods at Krasi

SPEAKER_01 12:03

okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:03

So um I I want to sort of follow up on this a little bit, the financial part of it. But um, you mentioned something, Feast of Gods. Is that really, truly a thing in any of your restaurants? It is.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

At Crassi, we have one thing called the Feast of the Gods, where we tell people six or more parties or six or more. It's one of every dish on the menu, so you try everything. Fantastic. It's it's a it's a it's a good deal out there. It's a

Balancing Hospitality with Financial Reality

SPEAKER_01 12:26

good idea.

SPEAKER_00 12:26

It's gonna go there with a party of six. Yes. Hospitality is great, but you've got to still pay your staff, you've got to pay the kitchen, you've got to pay the rent, you've got to pay utility. So how do you then balance the the financial aspect? How do you make how do you make that a success?

SPEAKER_01 12:42

You know, and it's getting harder and harder every day we wake up. We're always faced with challenges, but I think how we get through it is is the passion we have for the industry. It's seeing how excited our guests are to, you know, and calling them just by the word guests. I'm sick of the word customers. That's the transactional word for me. When you hear customers out there, it's like we're not customers. You know, you're not waiting in line, you're guests, you're coming to our house, you're we're opening the doors. But when you're building these models in these restaurants, you know, it's a risk. You know, we sign our life away, we sign 20-year leases. We gotta know, we gotta be open for 20 years. We gotta be able to keep staff, we gotta be able to pay rent, we gotta be able to keep the lights on. So you build these models, you know. For me, I I like smaller-sized restaurants. Uh when you start having to make big batched food, it's not for me. I like I like quality over quantity. Um, so when we build these restaurants, we know we do the little forecast and we say, okay, we have 50 seats, you know, the average guest, the average turn, how much they're gonna spend, blah, blah, blah. We do all that. But I think more importantly, is when you open these restaurants, it's how do you keep them full? How do you keep them, you know, your staff busy? Because you can hire a kitchen staff, you can hire a front of the house staff. It's fine, but how are they gonna make money so they can live? If they live, I live. That's how I look at it. If my staff is making money, I'm making money, you know, for the restaurant. Uh so we're constantly, constantly being innovative. What can we do to enhance hospitality? What can we do to enhance the dining experience? You know, going to the same restaurant with the same menu over and over, it gets kind of boring. You know, so constantly being seasonal, constantly telling stories on online, constantly doing different things, and a lot of times doing things out of your four walls because you can only make so much money in your four walls. So always being, you know, kind of innovative and saying, what can we do outside of here to make additional money, you know, to bring on more staff to give raises, do all that, because you know, they they need to make a living too. It's not just us when we make a living, you know, they need to, they the staff needs to as well. So we're constantly changing things up, we're constantly taking risks, we're constantly having fun. That's how I look at it. You know, we we keep a small little budget in our in our PN, like five percent. It's like, you know what, this is the money we're just gonna go out there and and and have fun with. You know, if it's giving a raging party for the staff, if it's taking research trips, it's whatever. If it's buying our regulars every 10th visit, something, whatever it is, we're doing something, you know, to keep people enticing, keep people coming back and wanting to come back. I think the best thing about doing this is isn't you and and this guest friendship is really creating these neighborhood spots that people want to visit not once a month or once a year for a birthday or anniversary, then maybe want to come by three times a week or two times a week. You know, maybe once it's just for a glass of wine at the bar and a snack, but maybe one time it's for a full dinner. You know, you want to see these people over and over. Because when we say strangers become family, you want to see your family more. You don't want to see them as once a year as a distant call, a distant cousin. You want to keep seeing them. So we constantly breathe that in. Let's make these guests want to come back.

Fun as a Business Strategy

SPEAKER_00 15:33

So fun and you mentioned fun. Fun and finance. I I don't I'm pretty sure you did not learn the fun part in when you were getting your finance education, right?

Scripted vs. Authentic Service: Empowering Staff to Be Themselves

SPEAKER_01 15:43

Fun, you know, fun, you have to have fun doing it. If you're too serious about it, it it's not enjoyable. You know, and I think a lot of people go in there saying you again, back to the rules. You have to do this. You have to if once these rules are in place, you know, you kind of lose folks, you kind of lose, you know, the the fun and you kind of lose the personality and the character. We're not scripted restaurants. I don't tell my staff, go to this table and say this. Imagine being a robotic system, like these corporate restaurants you go to. We want our staff to be themselves. You know, we want our staff to tell their story, tell their interpretation. We said in the opening script, reimagine. It's such a beautiful thing to go in and reimagine things. You know, we're not doing the food my grandma was doing in Greece. We're reimagining it. We can't do octopus eight hours on the outside break. We can't. We don't have time for eight hours. No, so we we reimagine things. We reimagine recipes, we reimagine service and hospitality, we reimagine everything, and we bring it up to the modern society. You know, and that's one great thing about Greco, you know, being a fast casual. You want Greek food on the go, but you don't have two hours to sit for dinner, go into Greco and you'll have that experience within seven to eight minutes. You know, I think every culture, and we can talk about fast casuals, but there's two cultures that I love. I love Indian food and I love Ethiopian food. And for me, it's two restaurants that have this image that you go to an Indian restaurant, it's gonna be a lunch buffet, or some servers you won't understand and will have the same menu. But imagine that food being approachable to an American person. Imagine chicken tikka masala being translated. Imagine, you know, some of these words being translated. You want Americanizing so people understand. So our biggest thing in our restaurant is we're doing is we're educating. You know, I don't expect someone to come and say, I want a glass of Xinomavro. Like, what the hell? Xinomavro? You know, but if I know you like a certain red wine, I know you like fruity, I know you like subtle, I will take you on a trip to Greece, I will take you to a region, and I'll say, You're gonna drink Xinomavro, not Pinot Noir, but I know you like Pinot Noir, but I'm gonna get you something similar. I know you like sauvignon blanc, but I'm gonna get you a círtico. So imagine them leaving, and I'll say, you know what? I just tried in a círtico from Greece. It's my new favorite grape. You know, they leave feeling enriched. And I think when you can go to a restaurant and find something so unique, overall you just leave a different person, a happier person, more educated person. You leave a better person by going out to eat sometimes, you know, and and you're just being educated on things that you may not be able to try. Not every person is gonna get to go to Greece.

Hiring for Personality, Not Résumés

SPEAKER_00 18:03

So do you so you've got to hire the right kind of people. If this if the servers have to be their natural self and they have to tell these stories, then you've got to hire the right kind of staff, and then you've got to give them the right kind of background and education, right?

SPEAKER_01 18:17

Easy. When we interviewed, I don't even do resumes, you know. I think that's the worst thing. You know, some people, when they give you a resume, they just tell you basically what they did responsibilities, but who cares what you did? I want to know what you what you learned, what you accomplished. You know, even here teaching, I tell my students, I'm like, don't list your responsibilities for a job, dude. We already know what those are. We already know what a marketing manager does. We already know what uh this position does. We want to know how you benefited or what you did, what you accomplished there. So same thing when we interview, we're not interviewing with based on resumes, we're interviewing on personality, we're interviewing you know in person and just asking questions about life, asking questions of where they where they came from, you know, what excites them, what's their hobbies, where they put their most energy into. And if you realize where people are putting most of their energy to, that's what they want to end up doing. A lot of people say, I just love being around people and telling stories. Well, you know what, you're gonna be a great server. I I love wines, you're gonna be a great sommelier for us. I love you know taking risks and recipe, you're gonna be a great chef for us. You know, we kind of want to see what you enjoy in your daily life and match a position for you. You're not applying to be a server or host, you're applying, you know, in hospitality and let us kind of pair the position for you. But we do give the education, we do give the tools to succeed, we're constantly spending money, you know, on training, you know, whether bringing winemakers, rather doing tastings, you know, we're constantly not one member of my team will work at my restaurants without trying the full menu, tasting every wine. You can't go to a table and disgrace and you have an experience. The worst thing is I don't like sushi. Have you ever tried it? No. Well, how do you know you don't like sushi if you haven't tried it? Or I don't like I don't like this type of cuisine. Have you tried it? No. Well, you don't know. So we are we're always, always tasting, we're always telling my story, you know, how I wanted to open the restaurants, you know, my vision. And a lot of questions I do get from my personal staff is what was your vision for this place? And I said, you know what? A little Greek boy, you know, who who grew up in the family business, a restaurant, went to the first booth after school, didn't have any friends because I didn't have time to. My family basically had child labor. They had me go to work at nine years old serving sodas. So I grew up in the restaurant. It's in my blood. It's it's my I'm passionate about it because I was making connections at an early age. I saw how happy people were coming to try ethnic food. So I said, you know what? That's the story I want you to tell. My upbringing, my trips to Greece, my family story. Let's tell it out there. You know, and people like stories, they're attracted to stories. You know, and the consumer this day and age doesn't go out just to eat anymore and consume. They want to understand. You know, many, many people these days go out and they want to hear a story. They want to know the why. And I think it's fascinating, you know, that you just don't go in and order anymore. You know, you can go in there and see a menu with Greek words on there and Greek wines and really get educated on, you know, because if you go to Greece right now, you're gonna say, oh my god, it's blue and white, and I know the blue beaches. Well, you know what? It's not. It's 80% mountains in my in my country. And I want to tell the stories of the villages and the mountains and the shepherds and the and all that, and and find foods that you wouldn't normally find. You know, you all probably grew up eating lettuce on your Greek salads. It's not authentic. You know, it's not it's not true. You know, the pizza places, the Greek American ones, we're we're not serving the most authentic, but I want to tell the stories again, you know, of all that and tell more stories of Greece, tell more stories of regions. If Italian food could be regional, why can't Greek food be regional?

Résumé Advice: List Accomplishments, Not Responsibilities

SPEAKER_01 21:26

Right.

SPEAKER_00 21:26

So one very interesting uh thing I learned just now is um on a resume, don't list your responsibilities. List what you learned from that. Because we kind of know if you're a server, you did all of these things. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

We know you rolled buckets, you rolled several, you waited to get. But tell me, you know what, how many how your service elevated the hospitality, how your service led to increased reviews. Let us know what you accomplished. That's what a resume stands out. You know, resume doesn't stand out if you just spit back to me your your duties. Well, how did you do at them? Were you good at them? Did you were you not good at them? But if you tell me That you're you know, a marketing person goes in there and says, you know, I did this, this, and that. Did it lead to many more followers? Did you get a greater ROI? So I'm always telling my students, and they come back saying, Professor, it was the best thing you ever taught me. When I list my they feel more accomplished. Wow, I did that. I'm like, Yes, your resume is you. It's a roadmap of who you are and what you did. Oh, tell people the success you have. Don't just tell us what you did, tell us what it led to. And I think that's where a lot of people go wrong on resume. When I look at them, if I don't see that, I don't I don't even I don't even call them in.

SPEAKER_00 22:29

Yep. So these are two things here. One is what did you learn and what did you accomplish? Don't just list responsibilities. Correct. I think everyone listening, please uh take note of that. I think that's very interesting.

SPEAKER_01 22:40

You stand up, you stand apart on a pack of a pack of paper, pile of paper, the ones that say, hey, here's what I did and what it led to, you've already, you've already you

Scaling Greco: Fast Casual Greek Food Across States

SPEAKER_01 22:50

sold me.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

Okay. So you talked about Greco, the fast casual uh restaurant. So you've now generally speaking, you have many different concepts, but Greco is the one that you're trying to now replicate. And how many Grecos do you have? And um how how did you how do you think about scaling it? And does it scale well? I mean, is the soul of each restaurant, Greco, the same?

SPEAKER_01 23:13

Yeah, good question. I think scalability is something we as restaurant tours need to look into more. What's the purpose? Why are you doing all this? Why are you missing holidays, family events, and all this stuff? You know, what's the purpose? Do you want to just sit there in your restaurant and just serve, serve, serve, serve, serve? Or is there a financial goal? Do you want to make it scalable, you know, to create a legacy? You know, do you want to be the next sweet greens, cavas out there? You know, the fast casual for me started because I wanted to make Greek food approachable because everyone had this certain, you know, idea or mindset of what Greek food was. And I think any culture you go to or any foreign country, you go into street food first. You know, it's it's the best approach. You know, you go to Mexico for the tacos, you know, you go to India for the curries or wherever country you're going to, you're gonna always go to street food. It's usually more affordable. You know, it's usually something that you can just go grab on the go and enjoy a beautiful view or sunset with it. So I did Greco to kind of introduce Greek food in an approachable way for the society that's constantly changing and on the go. You know, we wanted it to make it where it could be customizable. Because I can't tell you you have to eat this dish a certain way. Well, now there's a vegan, they're gluten-free, they're cilia, there's all these people with restrictions, you know, halal. You you want to cater to everyone, and I think that's what's beautiful about hospitality, is that you can you can change your men, you can change your concept to make it inclusive and cater to everyone because groups of friends now, if you have that one person that's not can't, it's not nice, it's not fair. You know, you want to cater to everyone. So when we did Greco, we said we're gonna build this approachable concept that's gonna be for the society on the go. You know, we're gonna always, always prioritize hospitality, which you don't figure that you're gonna get in many of these fast, casual, or fast food type of restaurants. You know, we still want them to feel connected to our staff. You know, so you go into Greco, and if you only have a quick lunch break, we still want to give you that service, but at a much faster um pace. So making the food approachable, you know, making it something that could be copy-paste, so I can make it a scalable business, you know, having the same menu, having it consistent, you know, is really, really important. Right now with Greco, we're five here in Boston, well, one in the suburbs in Burlington, Massachusetts, and we have one in DC and one more opening in DC. So seven locations between two states, and the important thing is to always have the soul of the place. You have to be able to be blindfolded, thrown into Georgetown, and wake up and say, Oh my God, I'm in Greco. You know, you have to have that comforting feeling. You know, I every Greco has to, for us, the same floor, the same furniture, the same menu, because you you want that feeling that you had in Boston if you're in DC or vice versa. But creating this copy and paste, you know, after you you do one or two, you have you have a model. And that model for you after it becomes, you know, one that you can replicate. And as soon as you'll be able to do that, you have a scalable business. You know, once you have that scalable business, you have something now to offer. You know, for me, it's the growth investors. So are you franchising? Franchising is not on the agenda right now. Right now, it's more for institutional investors to come and say, you know what, we love your concept, we love your brand. You've proven that you're able to copy and paste, you've proven that you can operate in two two states. You know, let's push some money into it and open many more. If you're able to do it this this easily, you know, let's let's let's put some money into it and expand it. And I think that's what's comforting and and and beautiful about Greco being a fast casual, that it can be in in Oklahoma City versus to Greenland, who knows? You know, it could be anywhere and still have the same impact. So a scalable business for me has become a goal of mine, you know, especially with a Greco, to make it one day that I can exit from it and hopefully say, you know what, I create a legacy and tell that story.

Maintaining Culture and Quality Across Multiple Locations

SPEAKER_00 26:45

So, how do you, if you're expanding and particularly in different states, obviously uh the culture in each state and each, in fact, um neighborhood where you're operating is different. So over time there will be differences in different Grecos and how people are interacting with each other. But then how do you maintain the quality, the service standards that you have, um, and some sort of semblance of a culture that, you know, you go to one Greco and you go to the next one, you see something comforting. Okay, this is something that I recognize and I feel at home with.

SPEAKER_01 27:16

It's contagious. I think what we do in our training is that passion, you know, it's our purpose. We go in there and we from the top down, you know, it's a contagious thing. And we're very personalized, you know, we're always in contact with our managers, with our front-level staff. You know, a lot of companies won't even talk to their hourly employees. No, no, we know you. We know your name, we know your birthday, we know everything about you. You know, we're constantly, um, constantly in contact with our staff. But with that, is we have great systems in place too. And it's gotten easier over the years with technology and a lot of innovation out there that's kind of helped streamline our processes and on our operations. So it hasn't been that hard to communicate. And and for us more, it's always being present. As owners, you don't want to have a back seat, you don't want to disappear. You know, you you constantly want to be in, I'll go in to the restaurants and I'll put an apron and I'll work that line. You know, I find most enjoyment when I do that. And I think it's the respect when they see you do that. It's like he's not the owner, he's not better than us. I'm always, always play level. We're always on the same field. I think a lot of people, there's a lot of looking down on where we're just looking at each other in this one. And again, it has to be, you know, the the the soul of the business, you know, has to be constantly being present. You know, I think a lot of owners are are are missing from their businesses, and that's you can tell that when you walk into a restaurant. Um, but like if you have good systems in place, you know, procedures and all that, you know, it's it gets easier for me, and I don't know who's out there listening, but uh it's getting easier as I as I as I as I grow, as I I get older, you know, and the beautiful thing is you see others in your company that are next in line that you can constantly, you know, promote within and constantly, you know, grow people. You know, the beautiful thing is mentoring and educating now for me, especially where I'm at and and in taking this teaching role as well. I constantly love the education piece. I constantly love going to my staff with something new, a fresh idea, and including them. You can't just force things on people. You have to include, give them your feedback. What do you think? When they feel when they're feeling part of the team or part of the decision-making process, you know, it you'll see how heads turn. It's it's literally for them as well. They act as owners and we constantly preach that. It's your restaurant, it's your location, take it, act as the owner.

Teaching at Boston University: Learning from Students

SPEAKER_00 29:27

You know, um, Dimitri, the this was a question I I remember asking you when we were when you had, you know, we somehow we approached you or you approached us, or at some point we were in a conversation, and I heard about all the plans and how many restaurants you run and all your plans for opening new restaurants, and I was just amazed. How are you gonna find time to come and teach here? And so you're constantly and you are so high energy, and and I just, you know, it just baffles me to this day. How do you find time to teach and interact? And every time we call on you, you're always there and ready to engage, and you've got this an incredible business running.

SPEAKER_01 30:05

It's actually the rewarding part of my job, I think. You know, when I can come in here and teach what I'm doing and give 90 to 100 students in my classroom relevant information and you know, here, this is me, this is how I did it. And have students then come up to you and say, Wow, or just wanting to learn more and you know, being firsthand knowledge for them, because I think there's such a big misconception of hospitality out there, and it drives me nuts when someone's gonna pay so much money to go to school and they think they're gonna be a restaurant manager or a front desk person at a hotel. I'm like, that's not it. We're in the industry of experiences, we're in the industry to create. Take your favorite perfume. How would you create an experience based on that? Take the laundromat, how are you gonna create an experience? We fix problems. If you're a problem solver, this is the best industry for you. So when I come into this classroom, I'm also engaging in conversation. You know, a lot of students have given me the best ideas through conversation. You know, I should be able to give some students some profits from GRECO. I had some amazing ideas, but when you can do a case study with your team and say, hey, this is what I created, you're all eating in fast casuals. Let's let's debrief, let's talk about what you see, what we're doing wrong, and you know, how you can make it better. And I had students, you know, give me the best ideas, you know, who really led to my company. You know, I had one student, um, he was from Japan, and he was like, Professor, you know, in Japan, you know, we you know we eat a certain way, you know, we have chopsticks, but my American friends, when they come to visit me, I send them a YouTube video on how to eat with chopsticks. He goes, but when I went to your restaurant and had it had a Yito, I took it out of the bag and ate it with a fork and knife, and everybody was looking at me. He goes, You should create a video on how to eat a Yito. So my napkin now at the restaurant is instructions on how to eat a Yiro, comically. It's fun. The same student then told me, you know what? Also, when I ordered Greco, it was I I you guys staple the bags and I scratched my hand and I was bleeding, and then the staple went in the food. You should put a sticker, like this we did in Japan, with a QR code linking you to your app downloads. I did that and my app downloads literally went on fire. My QR code for every takeout bag, it says like fresh Greek inside or something in Greek inside. You scan it before you open the bag, you can download the app for $5 off. This student literally got me triple downloads. Unfortunately, he he he dropped my class. He had to go back home for unfortunate reasons, but you know, um, a student like that. That's the the mentality I like to see, how you solve problems, and I think people don't associate that with hospitality, and it is. That's your career in hospitality. It's not a front desk at a hotel. Fine to do if you that's what you want to do, but there's so much more behind the scenes in hospitality, how to create these amazing experiences, and not just you know financially, but just to get some ROI in marketing, to get some you know, people you know having these experiences out there, you know, traveling or whatever it is. You know, there's just so much, I think, misconception of what hospitality is, and I'm here to really clear that. You know, I want students to know that it's my day isn't going you know every day and being a chef, or which I'm not a chef, you know, I hire them. That's not my day. My day is really how am I gonna structure an experience? How am I going to invite guests? How am I going to make so many people happy today? And once I'm able to do that, I get so many students, you know what? I'm now majoring in hospitality because they didn't know. They didn't know. I think the word hospitality is associated to just an industry where your opening remarks were it's not. It's it's a law, it's a culture, you know, it's a philosophy. I think that's what we're teaching in this school. That's why I love being here because I'm able to have these discussions with students and kind of say, you know what, you're wrong about that. It's it's a misconception of hospitality. Here's what it is, and we talk about it, and it just opens many more doors to many more conversations. And I'm actually learning, I think, more from that the students than they are for me. It's just a great, you know, database to have of, you know, it's it's it's a market, it's a demographic. College students are out there spending their money, you know. So, how do you tap into their minds? And you have to kind of the psychology behind it. So it's been very, very interesting. And in the end, it's just been super rewarding to have conversations with these

Delegating and Empowering Restaurant Managers

SPEAKER_01 33:56

students.

SPEAKER_00 33:56

You're running so many restaurants, you're opening so many new, and you're still engaging with the school, coming and teaching here, and all the other aspects that we ask you to engage with, and you are very happy to do your here for the podcast as well. So, how do you uh delegate responsibility to restaurant managers where it keeps you away and independent? So obviously, you're doing something right in terms of uh training your managers and having them take over so much that you are free to walk around.

SPEAKER_01 34:26

You have to. They would get bored without that. You know, you you empower them to make decisions on their own. If you the reason why I left investment banking in the corporate world, I never was able to make my own decision. I've always had to get approval. I always had to wait. And I don't want my managers doing that, I don't want my team doing that. I want them to be me when I'm not there. That's why they're there. You know, if I'm just having a manager to do, again, the resume responsibilities, I don't need that. You know, I need someone who's gonna go above and beyond responsibilities. I need someone who's gonna make decisions. Don't just say the problem, find the solution. You know, do your own magic. You know, we breed our team to kind of be on the sense that they are owners, they are their operators, they can do what they want, you know, in the sense, obviously, you're not saying give everything away for free, but within the means of the restaurant, go out there. Don't make a mistake. We learn from it too. You know, we empower so much in our company that we're not checking in, we're not micromanaging. You know, the reviews say it, you know, the numbers say it. Numbers don't lie. You know, all the stuff that we need to see to kind of to gauge and see how the restaurant's doing, they're there for us. But what I can't see is how my manager is gonna interact. That's on them. You know, and I want to empower them to say, you, you know what, go out there, be yourself. You have all the tools you need, you know how to make people's days. That's all we're here. We're here to put smiles on faces. And it's simple. And and that's what I love doing, and and and mentoring on that. And constantly, how do we enhance this? You know, hospitality doesn't stop there. You know, everybody can say, okay, we can give a free dessert, that's hospitality. And it's not. You know, I think that's what, oh my god, I get something for free. No, it's not that. It's that feeling that you leave. If you can wake up the next day and say, Oh my god, I had an amazing night, how many nights can you say that?

Advice for Aspiring Hospitality Professionals: Be Authentic

SPEAKER_01 36:02

Right.

SPEAKER_00 36:02

Okay. Um, so what advice would you give to aspiring hospitality, young husb aspiring hospitality professionals?

SPEAKER_01 36:11

I I love that question because I we do it in my in my class too, and I I love the final project, which is basically the innovation competition, is it these ideas? My advice is be authentic. You know, there's so many resources out there, like AI and Chat GBT, that's just giving you the wrong information. It's not you. Once you're authentic, once you come up with an idea, once you come up with something by yourself, you know, when you're out there in the field, you don't have chat GBT doing your work, but you it has to be you. We become so reliant on this non-human thing that's spitting up information that's you don't know how to do deal with it after. No, the biggest thing I I tell everybody and and I I see in my servers and in my bartenders is to be authentic. Authenticity. That's something that can't be replicated. You know, if someone else is giving information, that's that's copying. You know, it's great to be inspired by things, it's great to you know have that inspiration, but you need to interpret that, you need to reimagine that, you know, and being authentic is probably the most important thing. You know, when you go out there in the workforce, you know, no one's gonna do your work. You have to you have to show up, you have to perform. You can only do that by being authentic. You know, I think it's the it's the only advice these days. I'm constantly asked that question, but I go back and back, but you know what, just be truthful to yourself, be an authentic person. I think that's that that goes the longest way. My concepts, they're all authentic concepts. I don't go out there and copy, and I don't go chat GPT, give me a new great concept. There's something you have to feel. So by being authentic out there, you're you're you're showing up, you're being your best self.

Rapid Fire Questions

SPEAKER_00 37:34

Fantastic. Um, I think um uh we have a set of questions, um, just so that very quick answers a word, a phrase, or a couple of sentences, rapid fire, uh no overthinking. Um I I I feel that we already, I think everyone listening, kind of has a very good sense of who you are, but still I have these questions. So, what's one hospitality trend that you think needs to go now? We are done with it.

SPEAKER_01 38:00

AI. AI for me it has to be AI. Chat boxes, you know. I that's not hospitality. Scripted is is not. You know, I need the human touch will never go away.

SPEAKER_00 38:10

Yep. For our world, it's it's very important. Um where is your one favorite place to get away?

SPEAKER_01 38:16

Believe it or not, Greece. Greece. Greece. I just go back and I'm constantly refreshed, I'm constantly uh inspired, I'm constantly learning. I don't think we have enough time in the world to learn. You know, I'm so learning, I'm rediscovering every time I'm in Greece. I love it. Do you read books? You have your favorite book? I read a lot of mythology, Greek mythology. Okay. Still, a lot of Greek mythology.

SPEAKER_00 38:35

It's all Greek here. All Greek TV. Um, do you watch TV? Uh rarely. Rarely, okay. Rarely. Any particular program you're watching?

SPEAKER_01 38:43

Travel on Greece. No kidding. No, I I do, you know, for me, uh, Netflix is a Netflix and chill. I'm on that bandwagon. That's a good trend. Netflix and chill. Uh I'm I'm focused when I watch Netflix. Whatever, whatever's trending, whatever show that people are talking about, I have to jump on and watch.

SPEAKER_00 38:58

What is the one must-place visit in Boston?

SPEAKER_01 39:02

That's a hard question. You know, there's for me, I'm a very, very simple, you know, sweatpants and shorts kind of guy. I don't even like attempting to dress up to go out to dinner. You know, I like ethnic spots. You know, I I'm a big fan like of Blue Nile and JP for great Ethiopian food. I anywhere I can walk to, so I go out and back bay a lot. But sometimes friends do make me dress up and go out. I do love Mu, Moo Steakhouse out in the Fort Point area. But mostly I'm eating ethnic food. Um, things I can't Google and make at home. Mahaniam for great Thai food out in in Brookline. Um, just any any little ethnic any ethnic spa.

SPEAKER_00 39:38

Fantastic. Uh Dimitri, I really, really enjoyed our conversation. Thank you so much for visiting us and everything you do for sure. Engaging with us, teaching our students. So really appreciated your uh comments on the podcast. Thank you. My pleasure. Dimitri, thank you for offering such an insightful and energizing lens on what it takes to build restaurants and careers with intention, authenticity, and joy. To our listeners, whether you're opening your first concept, leading a growing brand, or simply someone who loves going out to enjoy great food and great company. This conversation is a reminder that hospitality is a way to design meaningful experiences. Join us next time on the Distinguished Podcast as we continue learning from leaders who are reshaping hospitality from the inside out. If you want to join the conversation and share your thoughts and suggestions, email me at sardine at BU.edu. That is s-a den at BU.edu. This episode was produced by Mara Littman, marketing by Rachel Hamlin, audio video by Jason Jose of Okun Media. To keep up with Distinguished Podcast, be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. To learn more about experience innovation in our programs, visit bu.edu slash hospitality. I'm Arundupneja, in a BU School of Hospitality, wishing you a great day.