Brian takes Chef Pete through his journey in the restaurant business – from his start as a fill-in table busser at a small restaurant in his teenage years to being the Game Changer of Gulf Coast Dining – and the ups and downs of owning and managing a highly seen and enjoyed culinary kingdom.
His advice on launching and maintaining a brand is a must-listen and you need to write down everything you can during his and Chef Pete’s insights on creating a culture of cooperation to finally put an end to the Front of House/Back of House War that has been an unfortunate mainstay of the restaurant business for centuries – peace in our time.
So, don’t get full on other podcasts this week and skip this episode – you’ve earned the sweet treats and insights you’ll find inside.
Gorilla Rich is a fellow Mess Lord, Fellow Triple D family with Pete. Gorilla Rich has an amazing bbq stand located in a train-car in Pacifica, California.Featured on Food Networks Diners, Drive-In, and Dives (DDD), Gorilla BBQ offers a unique experience using fresh ingredients and slow cooked meats that melt in your mouth!
The nick-name “Gorilla” was given to Rich Bacchi by his dad. "I've always been a little bigger than normal!" Says Rich. His name, his personality, and his food are all large and in charge!
Rich Bacchi, a native Pacifica resident, comes from a long line of restaurateurs. His family owned and operated a restaurant just down the street from where Gorilla BBQ stands today. You could say he was raised to have his own spot and cook/BBQ some amazing food! Gorilla Barbeque LLC was officially established by Rich in 2006.
As mentioned above Rich’s parents owned a restaurant (which was a Mexican restaurant). All the way back since Rich can remember he was working at his family owned restaurant. The workforce consisted of his siblings, cousins, and the leaders were his mom and aunt. Because of his restaurant background his friends would always choose Rich as the one to cook. Most of the time his food of choice to cook would be BBQ.
The restaurant business was not Rich’s career of choice. Rich started out working for Track Magic traveling the country prepping and building racing go-carts. Rich started out as screwing in bolts to leading the team. While doing this Rich would BBQ for the team during events and such. However, once the company’s owner passed Track Magic met its demise. Shortly after Rich’s parents became ill and Rich needed to be closer to home. The train-car that now is the home of Gorilla BBQ became available and not knowing what he was going to use it for Rich bought the train-car. Then during a conversation with one of his friends the idea was born for Rich to open up a BBQ joint in the train-car.
Specific topics that Pete and Gorilla talk about in this episode are:
That is just a glimpse of todays episode of “The Raw Ingredients” you will definitely want to listen to this conversation between Rich and Pete.
Links:
Connect with Rich: Instagram Facebook GorillaBBQ
Connect with Pete: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, The MessLords, PRFOUNDATION
Pete’s Restaurants: PaniniPetes, SunsetPointe, Ed’sSeafoodShed, Squidink,