When a robot cooks your lunch with Steve Ells of Chipotle and Kernel

Hello and welcome to how I built this lab. I'm Guy Roz, so this is the place where we tell the stories of companies that are working on big world changing ideas, and it's also where we bring back previous How I Built Thus Guests for an update. Steve Ell was first on the show way back in twenty seventeen, and at the time he told the story of how he built Chipotle from a single restaurant in Denver, To a massive chain that really changed the restaurant industry and kind of created this whole concept of fast casual dining. It's actually an amazing episode and if you haven't heard it, I definitely recommend that you go back in your podcast feed and give it a listen.

But we invited Steve to come back on the show this week because he's now working on a new concept that he also believes could revolutionize the industry. Essentially, it's a chain of very small, highly automated restaurants. that will serve a vegan menu. It's called Colonel and he's planning to open the first locations in New York City very soon. And when we left off with Steve back in 2017, Chipotle was dealing with a pretty major crisis.

A string of foodborne illness outbreaks have caused some customers to get sick. And things got so bad that Steve would actually end up stepping down from his role as CEO of the chain that he started back in 1993. When The foodborne illness. Issues.

were going on. I mean this was this was some of our toughest Toughest times at Chipotle. And and coming off of extraordinary success and and kind of nothing but success. It's it's quite a shock, it's quite a slap in the face. And and when people are are uh getting ill from what you're feeding them. It's

You take that very Personally. It's uh it's it's nothing you want to see happen. And so Y you know, uh you're only thinking about How to solve the problem.

Во каз-пробле. How can we make sure it never happens again? How can we make sure that uh Chipotle will be you know the safest place for people to eat? So that's that's what's on your mind, um, not thinking about my position.

However. After we got through reinventing our safety protocols and making sure that we were putting The best practices in place. You know, it it was taking a while for sales to come back.

Yeah, the public was wary. And and I can't blame them. Um, for so long we had promised food with integrity and And then something like this happens. So I knew

Uh you know It was pretty obvious to me that we needed to jump start. uh the company and and and new leadership is one of the things that that needs to be part of that. Yeah. Steve the last time.

We talked this was in the fall of twenty seventeen. Uh, and I guess at the time you were you were already having conversations about Your future as a CEO of Chipole. And I think just just like just about a month after that interview aired in in November of twenty seventeen Um you stepped down as CEO and and you became executive chairman.

I mean, I mean everything I've read about your statements, you know You were super supportive of of Brian Nicol, who took over and and you know, very kind of gracious, but I I just from a personal perspective, right? Like from the Steve Ells as the guy who like

saw Mission Burritos in San Francisco and the steaming, you know plates of beans to the guy who starts this restaurant in Denver and then scales it. How did it feel? Stop running it.

that process is, you know, gut wrenching, right? to have allowed uh under your watch a food borne illness. uh is is is not easy. Yeah. Looking in the mirror and knowing that

having new leadership. to to sort of restart the the brand Um Yeah you know. It's the right decision. These are not easy things to to have to face.

Um You know, w all said and done. After doing it for At that time it would have been twenty five years. having someone else come in to to take the CEO position is is a sense of relief, really.

And so I I'm I'm not gonna say it was easy because it wasn't. Um and when and when I handed it over to Brian. You know, I felt comfort in his ability to rebuild the team

uh to build excitement about the safety protocols, the the new procedures. And also his way of you know, speaking to the public and and gaining confidence through great communications. And so so he did a fantastic job. But uh you know.

Yeah. Sitting on the board. As executive chairman It's not what I do. I mean it was a fine job, but but it's not what uh energizes me.

And and so I took the opportunity to retire. And think about what was next. You step down, um, officially it was announced and right as the pandemic was unfolding in in March of twenty twenty as executive chairman.

And when you step down, did you have a sense of what you wanted to do next? Did you kind of have an idea in your mind? Avoid. Where you would go? I didn't.

Um You know, I remember Well, I remember a few times. These these uh sort of Big transitions in my life.

Uh after college deciding to go to cooking school. Uh, I said, Dad, I want to go to cooking school. He said, Well w uh are you gonna be a chef? Do you I'm I said, No, I just I'm really interested in cooking. I I think I I think I'd have a lot of fun. I think I'd learn a lot. Ah, maybe that's risky. Maybe maybe decide what you want to do first. I remember uh working at stars uh and and and telling my dad

Hey, I I'm gonna leave, I'm gonna go start this uh this burrito place. Uh I'm gonna move back to Colorado and do it. He's like tell me what the what does the plan look like? I said I don't really know yet. Uh I just I just have this hunch. And and so you know, I'm not afraid to uh try new things without sort of having a full plan in place.

The change. Just felt like it was going to be right. It I I I knew that I needed to do something different. Didn't know what I'm saying.

So what did you I mean, during the pandemic, did you kinda hunker down and just start to think? So it was in the winter, so I was in Colorado and I was skiing a lot. Um, but also reading and spending time with friends and And family and Yeah w you know, one of the things that I read was Bill Gates um How to Avoid a Climate Disaster.

And Um, what st struck me was this scientific consensus that if we don't address the amount of greenhouse gases we're emitting and and bring them down to zero. by twenty fifty that we

we go over the tipping point and and whether you believe You know, those are exactly the numbers. I think Conceptually it's right that we have you know, we have a long way to go to to to reduce our greenhouse gases.

Uh so that we're not affecting negatively our our planet. And I thought well what what could I do about it? And I I come to understand that.

You know, twenty five or thirty percent or so of the greenhouse gases that we emit come from what we eat. And and the vast majority of that comes from animal sources.

So I thought well what if what if I started a A plant based restaurant. And of course if I start a plant based restaurant, that's really not gonna move the needle.

But I thought well what if it's a Chain the size of Chipotle might that help? Um pr still probably not. These are these are big. You know.

And and so I thought well what if everybody copied this restaurant like they they copied the Chipotle model. Might that do something. And and I thought well quite possibly. And so why not give it a shot? When you were sort of experimenting with this Um I'm assuming that that

You know, when you left Chipotle. You couldn't open another chain of Mexican restaurants, but it was it would be it was okay for you to to Getting back into the food business. Oh yeah. No, I I I was I was speaking with Chipotle.

Of course I have a non compete uh in in in place. But I asked them, I said, Well what what do you think uh if I if I started a plant based uh restaurant. Chipotle. or uh the fast casual format.

certainly something completely different. And and they said it would be fine to open a um um a handful of of restaurants. And and so you thought, okay. A plant based restaurant. Um There have been some attempts to do this. I think e even in in in Washington, D C, Jose Andrés has a

Like a plant based fast casual place. Um w when you start to think about it, what were you thinking like? Like this will be like Plant based fast food.

Kind of restaurant? So I don't really like categories. I never really liked the categories that people threw at Chipotle. But I wanted to create

um a menu that that people felt good about eating every day. So the name of this The the name of this restaurant is is Colonel. And uh We have uh two sandwiches. One sort of like a uh an engineered patty that that's meant to taste like chicken. It's like a it's a fried chicken sandwich that's

Not chicken, but Taste every bit as well. much of it like a fried chicken sandwich. And then that we have the kernel burger, which is grains and legumes. But we also have two Big salads. We have a uh a kale Caesar. That's of course plant based.

And we have a salad of chicories with white bean and chick pea schmear. And uh Uh lentils and a mustard vinaigrette. We have some some sides that are not typical for Yeah.

Of course we have crispy potatoes. But we also have roasted carrots. And the carrots have A uh green hummus. And spicy toasted almonds.

Um we have roasted beets. with Quinoa. And a salsa verde. and a seed crunch, so we make we ha take a bunch of different seeds and make like a savory granola.

And and lastly for the vegetables, we have a crispy cucumbers. with chili jam and roasted cashews. So when some people think about These plant based menus they think about the these highly processed items that are meant to taste like meat. And yes, we have one chicken sandwich that's meant to taste like

Chicken. But but most of the menu. is you know whole Sort of. Grains, legumes, vegetables.

And and So my this is my my big question is about Obviously you were inspired to do this. Because you wanna

net positive benefit or impact on the planet. But Um Why do you think that this kind of food will work? I'm a huge fan of this food. I love

vegan food and I mostly eat a vegan diet. But I wonder, I mean, you know, I uh here in California, the line to In and Out Burger From eleven AM to two AM. always long. There's always people there, you know, and and

Five guys, burger joints, taco places, Chipotle. You know, m probably the vast majority of people eat at Chipotle are still ordering the The meat proteins. Why do you think that a a vegan concept like this is gonna appeal in

in scale. So Guy, I'm I'm not uh I don't adhere to a plant based diet. I still eat meat, I still eat fish. But I've noticed over the years that

uh I eat less and less meat. And when I find Really great. Plant based options. I find myself drawn to them.

And I notice A lot of people are acting in a similar way. I I and I think people choose more plant based options for a number of reasons. Some people understand that there's an en environmental implication. Some people care about animal welfare issues.

Other people think that uh Plant based menus offer. you know, uh uh uh uh better health. And for me it's probably all of those things. personally and I think and I think I'm not alone.

I think people will eat more plant based diets and and and make that part of their life. if there are better options. And if we and if we offer something that's really compelling, that's really delicious, that's that's something that you want to eat often. I think this could be a a wildly successful business.

We're gonna take a quick break, but when we come back, Steve Els is using robots to rethink the entire restaurant experience. That's in just a moment. Stay with us, you're listening to how I built this lab. There hasn't really been a whole lot of innovation in the deodorant space. That is until now, Lumi is a full body pH-balanced aluminum free deodorant created by an OBGYN to keep you smelling fresh. literally for days, up to seventy-two hours in fact. Lumi's Starter Pack is perfect for new customers. It comes with a solid stick deodorant.

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Built. Hi guy, my name is Grace and I'm from Rustin, Virginia. I have too many favorite episodes. I can't possibly pick just one. But I will never forget where I was when I heard Jamie Simenov from Ring talk about the crisis that almost crushed his company and then how his wife responded. I learned how moments of grace in the darkest of times can make all the difference in the world.

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And thanks so much. We love you guys. You're the best. And now Back to the show. Welcome back to How I Built This Lab. I'm Guy Raz, and I'm talking with Steve Ells, the founder of Chipotle, and now a new restaurant concept called Kernel. Okay, so you come up with this.

This plant based menu. Um and and that's That's one way that Colonel's gonna be different from like a typical fast food or or casual restaurant. But I understand that you're also planning to operate these locations, these kernel locations in a a different way. Can you tell me a little bit about that? Like how is Carnel gonna be

run differently than a typical restaurant. So the the the main difference is that it's uh it's based on a hub and spoke model. So One of the most difficult parts of making a great meal is the prep. And

What we've decided to do at Kernel is centralized the prep. So We do all of our Preparation, all of the food prep. in a uh central kitchen.

And that will service a couple of handfuls of restaurants. Within a five to ten minute bicycle ride. And will Put this prepped food into totes.

And load the totes onto a wagon and pull them by bicycle. to the restaurants every hour. So when the restaurant receives their Tot.

They load the prep food into the into the system. When You guy want to order food at Colonel Do you take out your device?

And you go through our app or web app. and see the offerings and decide what you want and Do the little double click and pay. and uh agree upon a time to to pick it up or have it delivered.

And uh the system takes it from there. The system knows what time it needs to start cooking the food. What time it needs to start toasting the buns. uh and and then hands that to the second person

Who uh puts that all together for you. And then hands that off. to a person who bundles and And puts the um the items in a bag.

And uh places them in a cubby. And so Where a typical fast casual restaurant might have You know, a dozen folks.

At peak period. Uh Colonel would have three. Uh when you come into the restaurant you unlock your Cubby with your SMS and and off you go.

So so this concept, I guess, is to completely reinvent h our relationship with Restaurants. Essentially. But it is going to be

delivered exactly on time and it's going to be hot. Because we're picking it up. It's ready exactly when we pick it up. And much of it will be automated. Each of these kernel locations. won't we'll only need three humans.

To operate them. So So we've taken um A lot of the of what I'll call the the the waste.

out of the Experience. And so if you think about All of the energy that's expended in a typical restaurant. Uh and you just

So you sort of study all the extra steps and the power and the space. Um It it's it's extraordinary. So for instance Customers will not walk into the restaurant. look at a menu board.

talk to somebody behind a counter. Place their order. hand them a credit card or cash and have a POS transaction because There is no menu board. There is no counter. There is no person behind the counter.

There's no. All of that takes place on your device before you even go into the restaurant. And you go into the restaurant Only when your order is ready. And you'll know precisely when your order is ready.

Your app will tell you. Um we also operate out of a much smaller footprint. uh we can operate out of eight hundred square feet where a typical fast casual might be twenty five hundred square feet. And our build out cost.

is a lot less. A typical fast casual restaurant will have Um a grease hood. Fire suppression systems. Gas lines.

Grease traps. You know, all of these uh sort of infrastructure pieces, we don't need any of that. So my question I'm w I'm still wondering about is why do you need the hub and spoke model, like why can't you just make All of the food and

Like you know, like McDonald's does, for example, in one central location and send everything frozen to each location and just keep it in a freezer. Yeah. What is special about the Chipotle model or the um the fast casual model.

Is that A lot of the food prep is done at the individual restaurants. Yeah. And so before that, in typical fast food restaurants Uh, you know, the food would come in highly processed or frozen. The new fast casual model has allowed a

fresh ingredients to come into restaurants and are prepared on site. Well, w we're doing the same thing, except in a central kitchen that's only a few minutes away from the restaurants. And what's exciting about this model is that you can really focus on

the central kitchen doing prep. All day long. If you look at the at most Bass Casual restaurants Prep will be be d be done before lunch. And then you stop and you switch over to

Lunch. rush and then after lunch you go back to prep. And then you go back to cooking again for the dinner rush. With the kernel model. Prep is done.

all day long. So you're constantly producing Freshly prepared. Vegetables. Paddy's Buns.

Everything that the the the restaurant. needs and you're delivering them Frequently. w we we'll we'll open with a with a cadence of about a delivery every hour.

All right, so you mentioned that it's gonna take just three people. Working in each of these restaurants. At a time. And a lot of automation. So let me I let me see if I understand this,'cause I think that that what you're talking about is robotics, right? And I've I've read a little bit about it, I guess

There's gonna be like a robotic arm. and an electric oven that's automated that actually does a lot of the cooking. So w was was that equipment that you were Like could did you just find it off the shelf or or was that equipment that you had to They had to be custom made.

So what what I what I knew I wanted to do was have a a team that was smaller than the typical restaurant team. And so how do you reduce the number of people from let's say a dozen down to three? Well, there's a there's a lot of automation. Uh there is robotics. You know, you know, you order from a digital environment, right? Instead of a uh uh

person to person environment. The equipment um varies. Uh so the the robot arm we didn't develop that, we we bought an off the shelf Cooka robot. It's a it's a robot that's typically used on uh assembly lines they they work twenty four seven for years

Um they're very reliable. Of course, we custom program that. Um we use Uh a an impingement oven. that we Took.

um and and modified. We have special Pans. uh that we custom made that go into the oven and a special uh way that the the robot arm uh engages with those pans. But a lot of the equipment is is off the shelf. It's just used

in a novel way. So if you look at the equipment. uh you might recognize some things But some things for sure are custom. Hm. And tell me about

I mean,'cause this model i if if this works, and I I mean, I don't s see why it wouldn't. I mean I think you're You're gonna open up the first location. um in the fall of twenty twenty three and and I read that plans are to have like fifteen locations within the next two years. Imagine that I mean uh the ambitions Are or be here.

Well well yes. I mean I w we we will we will go fast. You know, the Operating platform. has been working now for Well over a year.

And we're we're now in the process of building the um the the final version of it. And And I expect that it will we will open up and it'll be highly reliable. I think that we will learn though as we observe it in the first few months. And and

You know, almost for sure. We will tweak it. Before the second restaurant opens. And so I see Over the next

We will continue to refine. The system. And I think we will be able to Operate out of a smaller footprint?

and increase the um number of items that that we can make in a given time. But for sure the um the first the first restaurant the the platform works It works well. And it's just very exciting to watch. I mean the idea of opening a restaurant with no grease hoods or grease traps, no

ventilation, um no deep fryers. That's very appealing because that is a A huge challenge for many people who want to open restaurants. I mean that that that the the the barriers to entry are high when you can't bring all those things in they're expensive.

So let's Лемі аміна ам курюс, амі, до Right. Do you see it being replicated by other Like the Chipotle model was replicated? Do you do you see that as part of your business, like maybe even licensing the technology?

Well, I think I think that's exactly it, Guy. When people come in to look at the system, I think they will notice That there are fewer people working in the restaurant. Uh they'll notice the efficiencies.

They'll notice the reduced uh square footage. They'll notice that it probably is a much lower investment than a than a typical restaurant. And so people will be interested in copying or borrowing that That model.

Um, I think an opportunity though it would be to license this platform. Or parts of the platform. For cheaper than they could build it themselves. You know, it's it's interesting. I I wonder in terms of the cost, the start up costs. I'm I'm I'm curious about it. Like the other day I was uh

I was at a Williams Sonoma. And I was I was eyeing this beautiful espresso machine and it was like four thousand dollars. I'm not gonna buy it, but I was like, How many cups of of this coffee do I have to buy to for this to pay off? And actually you can do the math and you can figure it out and say, you know, in a couple of years, not going to Starbucks, this thing's gonna pay itself off. So just applying that principle to the this restaurant. Or I mean, if you had a restaurant with a grease, you know, trap and the hood and all that stuff and you had like five or six employees

Um you could get that up and running. But to have this restaurant with the special oven and the technology and only three employees, is are the start up costs just the initial costs higher? To get it off the ground or or not.

Well, You know, I have spent A good amount of money. And um I just completed my series A round and and raised thirty six million. And so so

No, that'll take us through the next couple of years. And and that will be a lot. To open up. uh fifteen restaurants. The investment cost in these individual restaurants, though, is

is Much less than a typical fast casual restaurant. Wow. So so there there is a lot that has gone into developing the technology. But the actual Amount that you spend to open one of these units.

is substantially less. than a typical fast casual restaurant. So you could apply the same model. to any kind of food. Essentially.

Well I I wouldn't say I wouldn't say any kind of food. I I I couldn't see Our system making spaghetti bolognaza. Right, like but like grab and go food, I mean, for example. Well there there are some things that I think it could do very well. Um there are others that it probably can't do yet.

Yeah. For sure, there's no question. That Robotics. We'll have

A lot more dexterity. And they will be a lot easier to program. And through AI, they will learn and get better. And so

What we've done is we've developed a platform And a format that will allow us to avail ourselves of the new technology and sort of plug it into s to what we've already created. And and I think a legacy restaurant might have a harder time doing that. or or might not gain as much advantage of the new technology coming out. And so I think it's exciting for uh for for people to come in and be involved in something that that has this kind of technology.

We're gonna take another quick break, but just ahead, more from Steve Ells on the future of food service. Stay with us, if you're listening to How I Built This Lab. Welcome back to how I built this lab. My guest is Steve Ells, the founder of Chipotle, and now a new highly automated vegan restaurant. called kernel. So Um one of the things

Yeah, there've been s a few articles about what you're doing, but not much information yet'cause it's still uh still, you know, I guess in sort of stealth mode. But one of the things that that I've read that's uh I think is very interesting is you suggested that The current system, the current model. of the sort of the fast food or fast casual, even the restaurant industry is broken. And I and and if you think that that this is the case, I think you're right, right? It's it's a you can see this with

Restaurants are struggling to find employees. Um employees are struggling. Many people don't want to work in in the space, though. the the pay is low and or or can be low, and some restaurants have to you know, like in San Francisco pay a lot, um, because the the cost of living is so high. Is this in a sense also an attempt to kind of address

That's Within restaurants. Well, so so I

Wanted to Two An experience for the team. That

Is Better than the typical fast food. Experience. One of the problems is that we see extraordinarily high turnover in the industry. I think it's something like 165% is typical. And so

The folks are are never there long enough to get really good. um at their jobs. And and I think the manager who has probably a team of Forty people. If they have lunch and dinner shifts of a dozen.

I mean, this is a this is hard for someone to manage a team of forty people. Yeah. I'm excited about having these very, very small teams. So if we need three people at a shift, Maybe we have a team of eight. Maybe nine.

And and you can really pay attention and mentor and train. And It's also different work. I mean, yes. They're cooking. Yes, it's a restaurant. But there's a lot of technology.

And understanding that technology and caring for that technology, maintaining the technology, it's a sort of an elevated position. It's gonna take a lot of training and will command a higher Wages. And and since we only have uh three people, uh we'll be able to afford those higher wages. I think our

Purpose. is bigger than our product. being able to address Global warming. being able to address

s some of the uh inequality with uh with pay for folks in in in the world of fast food and restaurants in general to be able to pay them um much higher wages and give them full benefits. Give them vacation time, give them predictable schedules. give them a stock option program so that they can Participate in the upside of the venture.

This is all very, very exciting and it's much more doable. when you have smaller teams that you can really mentor and pay a lot of attention to. I'm curious, Steve, I'm I'm sure you've seen this at San Francisco Airport. I'm sure l lot of people who've been to the airport have seen it, but there's a a a fully automated barista there. Right. And I think there's another one in the city. In fact, I I saw fully automated

Cotton candy machine. recently which was absolutely amazing'cause it shapes the cotton candy at different shapes. It's incredible. It seems like y just a few more steps. This can be entirely automated.

that you wouldn't need any humans involved. Well, I I I think that That It certainly

Possible. in in the future. But I think we're many, many, many, many years away from that. Um How technology

evolves with robotics and eventually how much dexterity these these robots can have. You know, I'm not sure. I think there's There will always be a place. you know, for

Um for our teams. uh to operate the the kernel model for the foreseeable future. And I'm talking about the next Decade at least.

Right. Yeah. And so um I I just want to make sure that That we're creating a system that has the potential to create a really great work environment.

And reward our folks. Appropriately. And I think that's tough with some of the current fast food models out there. I think you see depressed wages. because margins are so tight.

Right. It's it's and I and I think these operators would love to pay their their folks more. But the model just can't afford to do it. Um, over the last twenty years we've become more and more used to fewer and fewer human to human interactions, right? Like we order stuff through Amazon or we get our food delivered through DoorDash and you know, it just kinda happens and For many people that's b that's better. It's a better option.

Um, but there are still lots of people who do like that face to face interaction. You go into a Chick-fil-A And uh they're famously extremely friendly. Same with In and Out. It's part of their training. Um the you will not encounter human. Colonel, right? You you will go in and there will be no sort of human face. And so is there

How do you create a a a sense of warmth, a feeling of hospitality, welcome, you know, without the human. What what are you doing to kind of I don't know Bring that sensibility in. Hm.

So a a lot of people ask ask me this question. And um And ask me if it's ultimately a good thing. You know, I we'll we'll have to see how it unfolds. Yeah, I know for sure.

That continuing to operate these systems. uh that's heavy, heavy, heavy on on numbers of employees who turn over very frequently Is not sustainable.

It says to me that people don't want those particular jobs. under those conditions with With that pay. And so it it takes reinventing the system.

To do that. I think craving human interaction is not going to go away. I think we might get it in different places. But

I See a necessity. to create an economic model For serving this food.

And that and that and that solves some problems. Um There's always going to be a place, I think, for the kind of human act interaction that you It will probably just be different.

So When will you know? Like what When will you know you s you're you're talking about fifteen restaurants over the next two years what are your I mean, obviously your metrics are gonna be your sales, but what other metrics metrics are you gonna be looking for to see whether This is working.

Well we we will know a lot about our Customers. in their habits and and their frequency. And hopefully how they felt about their experience because of our connectivity. to them through the app.

Um You know, success to me means that that they uh love the food. that they tell all their friends about it. uh that they come often. And if that happens, uh we know we're in a very good position.

Success also means that, you know, enough people are coming and we have the volumes to to achieve the sales levels that we're predicting. And so I think if we have those two things, we're we're off to the races. So right now you're starting in New York, which is where you live. And um And do you have a plan to uh of where you want it to expand next, or will you wait and see what happens in New York first?

Yeah. So Yeah, you know, I I really like to focus on on the problem at hand and that is over the next two years. uh really refin the system. I think if we have the sales volume and the customer affinity to prove that the the brand is a success.

Then we go to new markets. And yes, there are there are markets that have the right kinds of densities and they're close enough to us and uh there there there will be a natural expansion program. Steve, what have you how have you changed as a leader? from the time you ran Chipotle to to this. I mean what are you doing differently

Maybe better. that you didn't do there or that you learned from there. that you're applying to here. Yeah. So

Chipotle is thirty years old. Uh. was thirty years old this summer. And so if I think about my leadership style Thirty years ago.

And what it is today. I mean it's it's it's much, much different. Y you know, thankfully I've I've learned from My mistakes. learn from other people who uh are terrific leaders.

And um I think I'm I I think the way I'm opening kernels today is much different than I than I opened Chipotle. Uh thirty years ago. There are some similarities though. Um

I have a very strong vision. for sort of the foundational principles. And those will be really great ingredients. Solid cooking techniques.

And and building teams. that believe in our purpose And and love to provide great hospitality. And while hospitality May not be face to face.

With the customers. It's providing a really good experience. Through The app. It's providing reliability on service times.

It's making sure that everything that we serve is delicious. And so Foundationally, I think. I'll operate in a very similar way. But

The team that I'm putting in place today. is really a team that's So expert and ready to Take this.

Uh and and and I didn't initially build Chipotle with that kind of team. Yeah. You know.

Steve, you your your legacy as a as a sort of a pioneer in this space is is solidified. I mean, so many people have replicated the model of Chipotle. And it's a great restaurant. I I probably you know, my family probably eats there a few times a month. It's my my kids' favorite place to eat. Um But

You know, I I wonder I mean you Left Chipotle. Great reputation, ver you know, wealthy, you did very well. Why are you doing this? I'm curious what motivates you now. You don't need the money, you don't need the Reputational

push, you don't need the legacy side. What what is it that Gets you going about Doing this why? Well It's

It's not an easy question to answer. You know, I've been around restaurants my my entire life. And I see why. There is high turnover. I see, you know, why

Certain restaurants serve certain kinds of food. I think Colonel. could be a platform. That Perhaps solves.

Some fundamental problems. And it's a It's really hard. I'm but this but this problem is is fun to solve. And the team that I've put together They're so smart and

It's been really great to to see how they have been addressing some of these challenges that that that we have. I mean, I just I have fun doing this. But I also have always loved Serving people. Like literally serving food.

I mean I used to love to throw dinner parties. you know, in high school. In college. And of course then when I graduate to college I go into the restaurant business to serve food. So is this idea of serving is is sort of

I I think carnal is just an extension of that. But just in a different way. I also I also like to challenge the system. I don't think there's been a lot of innovation in restaurants.

Uh over over the generations. We pretty much have the same kind of equipment. The same kinds of kitchens. The same kinds of cooking techniques. So I think I think

By reinventing it. I don't know, it's exciting. And I think a lot of good could come out of it. That's Steve Ells, founder of Chipotle, and now Colonel.

By the way, I wasn't kidding when I said that Chipotle is my kids' favorite place to eat. We were actually in Paris earlier this year on vacation. We're the greatest food cities on the planet. And you know where they ate? That's right. They got burritos at Chipotle.

In Paris. Hey, thanks so much for listening to the show this week. Please make sure to click the follow button on your podcast app so you never miss a new episode of the show, and as always, it's totally free. This episode was produced by Chris Massini with editing by John Isabella. Our music was composed by Romte Arablui. Our audio engineer was Neil Rouch, our production team and how I built this includes Alex Chung, Casey Herman, Carla Estevez, JC Howard, Carrie Thompson, Niva Grant, Malia Agadello, and Sam Paulson. I'm Guy Roz and you been listening.

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