Pre-Meal for Sep 17, 2025Ring the Bell

Happy Wednesday!

I put a tremendous amount of stock in the power of a daily huddle — a thirty-minute, all-team meeting to communicate important messages, and inspire your team. I believe in it so strongly, I named this newsletter after the meetings I used to host at my restaurants.

But what if a traditional daily pre-shift meeting isn’t logistically possible?

Charles Jarawan owns Brûlerie Aladdin Roastery, a coffee shop in Gatineau, Quebec. “I love the idea,” he told me. “But we open early and close late, so our people start at all different times. There’s no way to bring them all together to meet before their shifts begin.”

Rather than fixate on what he couldn’t do, Charles asked: What is a huddle for? Not the ritual itself, but the result?

One big reason for the daily huddle is to get your team fired up — and Charles found a brilliant way to make that happen.

Every time a team member ties on an apron and steps out to begin their shift, another employee rings a bell. When that bell rings, the entire shop, team and guests alike, break into a round of applause, welcoming that new employee to the floor, to the shift, and to the day.

If you want your team to give great hospitality, start by showing them great hospitality. When your team feels cared for and appreciated, your guests will feel it too. At this coffeeshop, the people who spend their day greeting and serving others begin their day by being welcomed — and not just by the team, but the very people they’re there to serve. Which means they’re charged up from the very first moment they set foot on the floor.

One more takeaway: if there’s an idea you wish you could pursue, even though it doesn’t work with your business’s structure or rhythm, shift the lens. Ask not how, but why, and let that be your compass.

Have a good service,

Will