Feeding Google: A chef's story

Charlie Ayers, the chef who made Google's cafeteria famous, is now running his own restaurant in Palo Alto.

EMAIL  |   PRINT  |   SHARE  |   RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)

charlie_ayers.03.jpg
Photos
9 forbidden foods 9 forbidden foods 9 forbidden foods
Government agencies have outlawed these forbidden foods, but epicures love them. Here's what restaurateurs and other business owners around the U.S. have to say about culinary contraband.

(Fortune Small Business) -- The chef who made Google's cafeteria famous opened his own restaurant last month in Palo Alto. Charlie Ayers's inspiration for his Calafia Café & Market a Go Go was the healthy gourmet food he dished up for employees of the search-engine giant. He promises that all food will be sourced from within a 150-mile radius, and many menu items can be found in his new book, Food 2.0: Secrets From the Chef Who Fed Google.

Since leaving Google (GOOG, Fortune 500), where he oversaw five sous-chefs and 150 employees serving 8,000 free meals daily, Ayers has been helping businesses bring tastier food to the company cafeteria. Fortune Small Business chatted with Ayers about making the transition from chef to small-business owner.

What's it like running your own business after working at a place as richly funded as Google?

It's hugely challenging not having that infrastructure. I hadn't paid a cellphone bill in six years. All of a sudden I'm like, "I can't send that to accounts payable!"

How did Google change?

In the beginning it was very rough and crude. They were very budget-conscious. But the one area they insisted on splurging for was food.

Are you able to leverage your experience there?

I use a list of vendors I had at Google and put them into a package for clients. The vendors give me better pricing than they would if the companies were just cold-calling them.

Who are your clients now?

Startup tech companies, including Zazzle, LinkedIn, and Ning. I'm taking what I did at Google and offering it to small startups. They see the value in creating a culture early on.

Do you have advice on growing a business in hard economic times?

If you can do it yourself, then do it. Don't be afraid to wear many hats. Surround yourself with qualified, creative, honest people who share in your vision for success.  To top of page

To write a note to the editor about this article, click here.




QMy dream is to launch my own business someday. Now that it's time to choose a major, I'm debating if I should major in entrepreneurial studies or major in engineering to acquire a set of skills first. Is majoring in entrepreneurship a good choice? More
Get Answer
- Spate, Orange, Calif.

Sponsors
More Galleries
10 of the most luxurious airline amenity kits When it comes to in-flight pampering, the amenity kits offered by these 10 airlines are the ultimate in luxury More
7 startups that want to improve your mental health From a text therapy platform to apps that push you reminders to breathe, these self-care startups offer help on a daily basis or in times of need. More
5 radical technologies that will change how you get to work From Uber's flying cars to the Hyperloop, these are some of the neatest transportation concepts in the works today. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.