Five TED Talks That Everyone in the Restaurant Industry Should Watch

We’ve chosen just five below that we believe are full of ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’ among chefs, restaurant owners and restaurant workers. You’re sure to find them as fascinating and inspiring as we did.

‘Why Are We (Still) Wasting Food?’ – Marc Zornes, TEDx Hackney 2015

Regular readers of this blog may find Marc Zornes’ name familiar, and for good reason. He is one of the co-founders of Winnow Solutions, the creators of the Winnow System, a smart piece of technology designed to help cut restaurant kitchen food waste in half. We’ve talked about the wonders of the Winnow System on the Lockhart blog before, in our articles on smart ways to reduce your food wastage and the importance of sustainability in restaurants, and Marc’s talk at a TEDx event in Hackney further explains his motivations for its creation.

A third of all food produced in the world is wasted; Marc’s fascinating talk discusses the reasons why food waste still happens, and the steps that those in the hospitality industry can take to tackle it.

‘Cooking as Alchemy’ – Homaro Cantu and Ben Roche, TED Live 2011

A now almost iconic TED Talk, Chicago chefs Homaro Cantu and Ben Roche’s ‘Cooking as Alchemy’ presentation shares their experimental and innovative approach to cooking, presenting and eating food, which combines the art of fine dining with science - but also opens up new opportunities for tackling food poverty in some of the world’s most deprived regions.

Sadly, Homaro Cantu passed away in late 2015, but his invaluable contributions to the knowledge of food and cooking live on – this TED talk is a must-watch for chefs that need a little extra inspiration to push the boundaries, or anyone fascinated by the concept of molecular gastronomy.

‘The Convergence of Casual and Fine’ – Danny Meyer, TEDx Manhattan 2015

New York City restaurateur Danny Meyer made the news in 2015 following his decision to ban tipping at his full-service NYC restaurants, and it’s not the first time that he’s made waves in the city’s restaurant scene. In the 1980s he began to redefine both fine and casual dining when he opened Union Square Café, an amalgamation of both styles, and has opened many more since; in his TEDx Talk he discusses how to successfully execute a casual fine dining concept restaurant, which is more relevant now than ever since as we predicted in our post on 2016 foodservice trends, the appetite for ‘premiumised informality’ in restaurants is stronger than ever.

‘A Winning Recipe - Lessons from Restaurants on Engaging Your Team’ – Gabriel Stulman, TEDx Cambridge 2014

In the restaurant industry, as is the case with many industries, employee engagement, morale and motivation is an important issue – especially now when many within the industry believe that we’re facing a chefs skills shortage in the UK. Gabriel Stulman, CEO of the Happy Cooking Hospitality chain of restaurants, shares the lessons in positively engaging your entire restaurant team that he’s learned from successful and innovative leaders within the industry, but the lessons can be applied to absolutely every other industry too.

‘The Reach of a Restaurant’ – Thomas Keller, TEDx East 2010

What really determines what makes a restaurant successful? For French Laundry and Per Se owner Thomas Keller, it’s the guest experience that matters most, but he’s also invested in building strong relationships with individuals across the USA to ensure a supply of only the highest quality ingredients, and is also dedicated to creating experiences that guests in his restaurant don’t forget. In his inspiring TEDx Talk Thomas shares his formula for success, which every chef and restaurant owner needs to know – because it’s easier to replicate than you might think.

What are your favourite TED Talks for chefs and restaurant owners, and what makes them a must-watch? Share them with us in the comments below, and let us know what you thought of our favourites too."