A quick lesson learned today, talking about lobster, cheese, friendship and retail…

I went to Miami this morning, to discuss Grilled Cheese Gallery’s marketing plan with Jeyffrey Thomson and Francesco Zampogna… and also because I love Brickell.

I was working outside, waiting for the rush of lunch hours to cool down so we can have that meeting when Jeyffrey brought me - out of the blue, I did not even mentioned I was hungry - that beautiful grilled-cheese sandwich with lobster as the main ingredient.

Yes, it really loved it, taking it to my personal Top 5 right away but…

What really mattered is something else.

Jeyffrey saw me working at 1:30PM and simply thought I could use some food. He picked a recipe he thought I would love (who does not like lobster? 🤷🏻‍♂️😁), prepared it himself and brought it to my table out of the blue.

Why do I make a big deal of it?

Jeyffrey (and the rest of the team) truly cares. He observes and tries to figure out how to make your experience better. He hasn’t done that because we are friends or business partners, he has done that because that’s what he does with everyone entering the restaurants regardless of who they are.

I strongly believe that the retail industry has to focus on the experience customers have. You can order food - GCG is on Uber Eats and the other big players - but you can’t order the full experience, the kindness, the service concierge-style, the smile, the ambiance and all these little things that will make your lunch or dinner memorable.

The Internet has killed many industries because they could not adapt to the new deal that comes with customer being constantly one click away from anything. It won’t kill retail and the restaurant business, but it changes it forever. Darwin is at work here, and I know Grilled Cheese Gallery will keep on adapting and constantly reinventing itself with Jeyffrey’s leadership.

That’s what I learned today and wanted to share with you guys. Peace ❤️