Chef Chatter

How 2 chefs kept 5 concepts alive during COVID-19

Martin Murch and John McLean, founders and chefs of Good Eats Group, which owns five restaurant concepts in Chicago, share how they transformed the menus and operations to stay afloat during COVID-19.

Martin Murch and John McLean of Good Eats Group.

April 1, 2021

By John McLean & Martin Murch, restaurateurs/chefs, Good Eats Group

With the significant economic impact of the pandemic, widespread closures, supply chain challenges, dining restrictions and decreased staffing, the restaurant industry was turned completely inside out and is still facing repercussions now months into 2021.

Restaurateurs, operators and chefs were forced to retool mentally and physically to re-evaluate business operations and learn how to care for their team and guests during these difficult times. Creativity and nimbleness in the industry are now paramount for combatting these various challenges.

We are seeing fine-dining chefs cook comfort foods like chicken pot pies, burgers, pizza, barbeque and pasta for pickup and delivery. Chefs nationwide are modifying and reducing menus to be more casual and approachable overall with the goal of accommodating a wider range of consumers and ensuring higher quality delivery. And with that, restaurateurs must also create a safe and clean dine-in experience as folks begin returning to restaurants.

At Good Eats Group, here is how we've approached the new era of dining out (and in):

The first step was creating the safest restaurant environment possible for team members and guests, while maintaining the brand concept and product. We reinvented the dining experience to accommodate current diner needs and health and safety protocols, without diluting the original brand. At Good Eats Group, we studied "highly controlled environments" throughout the globe and thereafter were among the first to adopt the UV-C air scrubbing technology in our restaurants. Our GermSafe Luxabel air filtration system processes the air every 22 to 27 minutes and kills harmful airborne issues including mold, bacteria, fungi, and viruses, including COVID-19.
We then identified creative avenues to engage guests with thoughtful offerings for their home experience. For us, this was launching pickup and delivery at each of our restaurants and offering inventive food packages (in 2019 we completed the conversion of all our takeout and delivery packaging to be fully eco-friendly), first responder boxed lunches, holiday and special occasion meals, pizza party kits, brunch boxes, fine-dining multi-course meals, and home replacement food options to help recreate the dine-in experience and provide locals with a high-quality meal.
And lastly, we created sustainable avenues for revenue in the longer-term. We developed multiple "ghost kitchen" concepts operated out of our existing brick-and-mortar spaces that reflect our authenticity, culinary passions, and cooking techniques.

Our concept, Sono Wood Fired, serves Michelin-recommended wood-fired pizza for delivery and takeout and is operated out of our restaurant, Sociale.

Another example is our newly opened concept, Charred Wing Bar, which features grilled jumbo wings and operates out of our restaurant Burger Bar Chicago. It was inspired by the dozens of wings flavors we've created over the past 10 years featuring global flavors. We've increased our sales opportunities significantly by operating multiple concepts out of one shared kitchen space.

As the economy opens back up and restrictions for restaurants ease, these new revenue streams will continue to be part of the hospitality landscape.

Overall, we are cautiously optimistic the casual restaurant sector will become more viable and manageable with a resurgence of sales.

Operations