Welcome back to The Perfect Bite podcast, your fusion of food and entrepreneurship. I met today's guest over two decades ago in middle school, north of Chicago. One of us became a Michelin starred chef, and the other yaps into a microphone. You can guess who was the cooler of the two of us. But seriously, I am beyond honored to have reconnected with and have on the show today an acclaimed chef and the founder of Hill's Research Kitchen, Chef Henry Hill.

Henry takes us behind the scenes of all the kitchens he’s worked in, from the suburbs of Chicago, to Eleven Madison Park, The NoMad, and eventually becoming executive chef of Dusek’s, the fine-dining establishment that was attached to the iconic Thalia Hall concert venue in Chicago. During this time, Henry not only became one of the youngest chefs to receive a Michelin star, he also learned a lot of lessons. Most importantly—how to be a great manager.

Henry’s stories prove that through grit, a sense of urgency, and a desire to understand and support others, you can become an amazing leader in any type of scenario. He also chats with us about his CPG product founder days for a carbonated coffee called Cafe Racer, and how he became the founder of his own research and development consultancy today, Hill’s Research Kitchen. His personal mission always leads back to enhancing folks’ lives through the power of flavor.

To learn more about Hill’s Research Kitchen, head to www.researchkitchen.com.

You can follow Henry on social media @chefhenryhill.

Want to watch the entire episode? Head here to our YouTube!

Make sure to subscribe, rate and review The Perfect Bite anywhere you listen to podcasts.

You can follow us on social media @perfectbitepod and visit our site www.theperfectbitepod.com.

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Welcome back to The Perfect Bite podcast, your fusion of food and entrepreneurship. On this podcast, we obviously talk a lot about food and how delicious it is, how much of an impact it makes on us. But knowing your food is safe and properly taken care of? That's priceless. Jake Simon, CEO & co-founder of ConnectedFresh, is behind an innovation keeping the back of house running smoothly and your meals as fresh as they can be.

ConnectedFresh provides a combination of small sensors and software to help restaurants, convenience stores, catering and other food and bev customers keep track of their most important equipment issues, food safety problems, and compliance incidents. No more having to manually log freezer temperatures or experience costly food waste! ConnectedFresh logs all of these issues for you and lets you know in the moment when something is wrong.

I learned so much in our conversation about back of house practices and how ConnectedFresh is making things easier for restaurants to focus on what they really care about—serving great food and connecting with guests. You could say they keep the mise from becoming a mess! Ultimately, the team is behind an innovation that takes care of the folks that love taking care of other folks.

To learn more about ConnectedFresh, head to www.connectedfresh.com.

You can follow ConnectedFresh and Jake Simon on LinkedIn.

Heading to the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago May 17-20, 2025? Make sure to find ConnectedFresh’s booth!

Want to watch the entire episode? Head here to our YouTube!

Make sure to subscribe, rate and review The Perfect Bite anywhere you listen to podcasts.

You can follow us on social media @perfectbitepod and visit our site www.theperfectbitepod.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to The Perfect Bite podcast, your fusion of food and entrepreneurship. Today's guest is a big reason why The Perfect Bite even exists today. She helped me find a career working alongside folks in food and bev when I was a little lost leaving my own startup, which she also was incredibly supportive of. And that's really what her job is today, supporting entrepreneurs in the F&B industry through a platform you can buy all their delicious products in one spot. Please welcome today's guest, CEO and founder of Here Here Market, Disha Gulati!

Growing up in a food family, Disha has always been in love with trying new flavors. Though her career journey started more traditionally, focusing on global data analytics for the massive CPG company Mondelez, Disha always held a candle for entrepreneurship. She started one version of Here Here Market, focusing on group dining, in March 2020. You can imagine how that went—she very smartly pivoted when realizing chefs and food artisans needed ways to diversify their revenue streams when unable to cook for folks in person. Now, over 900 SKUS and 300 creators and chefs are on Here Here Market, selling their delicious products for a taste of restaurant quality at home, anywhere in the country.

We chat through Disha’s journey, our funniest moments working together (think celebrity run-ins at the James Beard Awards!), and how to keep facing life’s challenges with grit and grace.

To shop Here Here Market, head to hereheremarket.com.

You can follow Here Here Market on social media @hereheremkt and Disha Gulati on LinkedIn, as well as her Instagram @chitown_disha.

Want to watch the entire episode? Head here to our YouTube!

Make sure to subscribe, rate and review The Perfect Bite anywhere you listen to podcasts.

You can follow us on social media @perfectbitepod and visit our site www.theperfectbitepod.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.