Dive Brief:
- DoorDash has appointed Chef Michael Solomonov as its third chief restaurant advisor following Pinky Cole and Stephanie Izard, the company said Tuesday.
- Solomonov owns and operates eight concepts in Philadelphia and New York City, including Zahav.
- DoorDash has appointed a new chief restaurant advisor each year since it began its chief restaurant advisor program in 2021 with Izard. The year prior, Doordash created its Restaurant Advisory Council, which provides a forum for restaurant operators to tell the company what is working and what’s not.
Dive Insight:
As chief restaurant advisor, Solomonov will share his insights with DoorDash on unreleased products and services, work with operators across the country to hear their perspectives and “connect with employees to emphasize the importance of hospitality,” according to a press release. Solomonov has over a decade of restaurant experience, and his concepts include Federal Donuts, Dizengoff, Goldie, K’Far and Laser Wolf.
“We own and operate restaurants ranging from fast casual to fine dining, so I know firsthand the tremendous daily challenges of facing escalating food and labor costs,” Solomonov wrote in an email to Restaurant Dive. “In this position I’ll be there as a voice and as a conduit between restaurant owners and leadership at DoorDash, working on ways for greater restaurant successes.”
Among his top concerns are rising food and labor costs, he said.
“The restaurant community needs to be especially flexible and innovative to keep working to make truly sustainable businesses,” he said.
Small restaurants should look to add sources of revenue, and third-party aggregators like DoorDash can provide built-in marketing and communications to promote small businesses, he said. DoorDash offers specific partnership plans to allow restaurants to choose how they want to grow their business, as not all restaurants need the same thing.
“I also plan to work with DoorDash to expand more seamless technology with our POS systems so that from day one, restaurants can feel supported,” Solomonov said.
DoorDash has already made several updates to its merchant platform this year, adding personalized growth recommendations, store rewards to offer to loyal customers and additional Storefront features. In July, it partnered with ItsaCheckmate and Deliverect to allow restaurants to sign up for DoorDash through POS systems.
