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The Simmer

The Simmer

The Simmer explores and explains hot topics in restaurant technology and the future of hospitality. It's led by two industry veterans with a lot of opinions. Kristen Hawley has spent over a decade covering the beat for her newsletter Expedite and top titles including Fast Company, Business Insider, Bon Appetit, Eater, and Food & Wine. Brandon Barton is CEO of Bite, an industry-leading intelligent kiosk ordering software provider with nearly two decades of experience in restaurant tech. Each episode, the hosts interview some of the smartest people in hospitality to dissect what's happening now

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  • 23 episodes
  • fortnightly
  • Avg 43 min
  • English
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • Sep 23, 2025 · 46 min

    Eli Feldman, Co-Founder & Partner, Shy Bird

    Eli Feldman runs Shy Bird, a restaurant with three locations in Boston. He’s also a tech early adopter and excited (and curious!) about how AI can reshape restaurants. In this episode, we talk about Eli’s recent AI hackathon for restaurants, what tools he finds especially useful, and how we might all reimagine the future of restaurants.

  • Aug 19, 2025 · 41 min

    The Simmer’s Summer Wrap-Up

    It’s a Kristen-and-Brandon summer special! The Simmer checks in on what Brandon dubs “reservation wars 3.0” as the biggest restaurant tech companies in the space — reservations and beyond — choose sides. In this episode we talk DoorDash, SevenRooms, Uber, OpenTable, Toast, Resy, Tock and more. The Simmer will return after Labor Day with more industry guests and insight.

  • Jul 22, 2025 · 43 min

    Cindy Klein Roche, Chief Growth Officer, ezCater

    Restaurant catering — and the tech that powers it — is hot, hot, hot. At nearly 20 years old, ezCater is poised to take advantage of the renewed interest from office workers and the restaurants that serve them. In this episode we talk about the evolution of catering, the tech that supports it, and why a little reassurance and hand-holding goes a long way with corporate clients.

Showing 21–23 of 23 episodes