E7: "A Very Different Restaurant" Brian Canlis

Brian Canlis runs Canlis restaurant alongside his brother, Mark. And they do things differently - very differently. As you will hear, Canlis is a restaurant that operates with a mission statement - a 'why' - that drives all their decisions. They are determined to treat staff better, to connect on a level that is unheard of in restaurants, to break all the rules, and forgo profit in the pursuit of an ideology, a feeling. They serve a message that is so much bigger than what's on the plate, yet one so powerful, it can be tasted in everything they do.

Their response to the Covid pandemic and subsequent lockdowns was an example to all in the industry, pivoting hundreds of times to ensure they maintained their mission to "inspire all people to turn toward one another".

Brian is a truly inspirational restaurateur who practices what he calls 'vulnerable leadership' - a way of building and maintaining strong levels of trust within his team. Canlis has to be one of the best fine-dining restaurants in the world for a young student to train and develop as a professional and a person, and discover that there really is a different way to run a restaurant.