Quick Informal Government Summit
From Italy to China to the U.S., Filippo Fiori has gained a whole lot of knowledge from his travels, which he plans to share on the Quick Informal Government Summit.
Picture: Networld Media Group
August 8, 2025 by Bradley Cooper — Editor, ATM Market & Meals Truck Operator
The Quick Informal Government Summit is rapidly approaching from Oct. 5 to 7 in Austin, Texas. FastCasual.com is spotlighting panelists who might be sharing professional insights on the occasion.
Filippo Fiori, head chef and CEO of Due Cucini Italiana will be a part of the panel Constructing a lean restaurant: Optimizing operations with good self-service. This panel will cowl strategies comparable to self-service POS techniques, optimizing the menu, coaching workers, knowledge and different strategies to benefit from self-service expertise.
The Quick Informal Government Summit is a significant occasion that gathers executives to community, find out about modern trade traits and take their manufacturers within the subsequent degree.
Networld Media Group is the organizer of the summit, publishers of Fastcasual.com, QSRweb and Pizza Market. Click on right here to register for the Quick Informal Government Summit.
The following Networld Media Group occasion is the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit going down March 16-18, 2026 in San Diego, California. High restaurant leaders will spend two and a half days of networking, inspiring tales and confirmed methods.
Describe your present function.
As a head chef, I am liable for bringing essentially the most genuine flavors to our company whereas guaranteeing consistency throughout our places. I oversee almost each facet of operations, from upkeep and provide chain to back-of-house coaching, recipe improvement, and implementation. I am extremely concerned in website choice for brand new eating places and, due to my engineering background, I am an actual ache within the neck (in one of the simplest ways) for our architect, kitchen design group and development crew to make sure each element helps environment friendly service. I am additionally concerned in strategic selections and enterprise improvement initiatives, together with catering, to assist the corporate develop whereas staying true to our mission
What was your first-ever profession function and what’s one vital lesson you realized from it?
I really began out as a nuclear engineer, analyzing the protection of nuclear energy crops. It taught me rapidly that irrespective of how good you’re, teamwork at all times wins — there’s merely no method to sort out one thing that advanced alone. Humorous sufficient, earlier than that, I labored part-time as a marriage occasion waiter to pay for my research, and the identical lesson utilized. Whether or not it is retaining reactors secure or getting 200 meals to tables whereas the band is enjoying, communication and teamwork are every little thing.
What impressed you to work in your trade?
I’ve at all times loved cooking. After I first enrolled in engineering, I believed I’d construct a profession, save sufficient cash, and open a restaurant once I turned 40. However ardour took over prior to deliberate. Contemporary off my Ph.D. and mainly broke, I opened my first restaurant with Davide at 30. It was a leap, however one pushed by the idea that good meals and significant work might go hand in hand
What do you take pleasure in most about your present function?
I am extraordinarily proud when our places execute our dishes properly and supply the identical expertise to each visitor. Reaching consistency throughout a number of places, whereas serving recent pasta from a scratch kitchen and providing heat Italian hospitality, is extremely rewarding. It is a pleasure to see our groups deliver that imaginative and prescient to life every day
What’s a typical false impression individuals have about what you do?
Individuals usually assume that as a head chef, I am at all times cooking — and that I should be uninterested in it. In actuality, the function is far more about main groups and managing operations, and I not often get to cook dinner in the course of the workday. That is why I am at all times cooking in my free time, merely for the enjoyment of it. Sharing meals with household and buddies is extremely rewarding for me
What trade traits do you assume are at the moment over-hyped and why?
I believe scorching fried hen is over-hyped. It is change into the default ‘modern’ menu addition for a lot of quick informal manufacturers searching for a fast site visitors enhance, however the market is saturated, and the operational challenges (fryer administration, consistency and price volatility) usually outweigh the advantages except it is core to the model. It is easy to get distracted by what’s trending as a substitute of specializing in differentiation and meals that actually aligns together with your idea’s id
What trade traits do you assume do not get sufficient consideration and why?
Many of the consideration is at all times given to meals and drinks, nevertheless one pattern that does not get sufficient consideration is operational simplicity as a aggressive benefit. In quick informal, we regularly chase new tech, new menu objects or social media traits, however the actual differentiator might be how frictionless your kitchen techniques and workflows are, permitting groups to ship higher meals sooner with much less waste and stress. One other underappreciated space is the intersection of sustainability and cost-efficiency—decreasing waste, bettering vitality use, and good sourcing can defend margins whereas genuinely aligning with shopper values.
In case you weren’t working in your present area, what would you be doing as a substitute?
I’d most likely be sticking with the protection evaluation of nuclear energy plant however extra usually I’d nonetheless be working within the nuclear engineering area, engaged on some modern plant design attempting to supply my small contribution to a sustainable improvement of humanity
What do you do to have enjoyable exterior of labor?
I really like snowboarding, specifically with my daughters. I really like exploring the character in PNW. Touring can also be a part of my free time actions, normally targeted on meals and tradition, both again dwelling in Italy or Malaysia.
Are you concerned in any charitable organizations that you simply want to inform individuals about?
I prefer to preserve my charitable work private. As an organization we’re very lively within the Seattle and Dallas space however will not be one thing we boast about.
The place did you develop up and the way did your upbringing affect the particular person you’re in the present day?
I grew up in Lari, a small countryside village in Tuscany on the outskirts of the Chianti hills, surrounded by good meals, sturdy neighborhood, and a tradition that values high quality and ease. That upbringing formed how I see hospitality in the present day—meals is not only one thing you promote, it is one thing you share to deliver individuals collectively. It additionally taught me to understand laborious work and to concentrate to the main points, whether or not in a kitchen or in life.
What’s one fascinating factor about you that even the individuals you’re employed with daily most likely do not know?
Most individuals do not know that whereas I used to be incomes my Ph.D. in nuclear science in China, I additionally taught cooking there and ended up on a significant cooking TV present in China and Korea. It was an surprising detour that confirmed me how meals can join individuals throughout cultures — and doubtless gave me extra helpful expertise for operating eating places than I spotted on the time!
Is there anything you want to inform individuals about your self or your organization/group?
We began our restaurant with a easy mission: to deliver the actual style of Italy to the fast-casual world, with out shortcuts. We make recent pasta from scratch, cook dinner actual meals with actual elements, and consider hospitality ought to really feel heat and real, even should you’re simply grabbing lunch throughout a busy day. Personally, I am pushed by the concept that you do not have to decide on between high quality and effectivity—and that the enjoyment of sharing good meals is value all the trouble it takes behind the scenes.
About Bradley Cooper
