Inside North Italia’s Culinary Engine With Chef Chris Curtiss

Chris Curtiss, Corporate Chef and Director of Culinary R&D at North Italia, breaks down how the modern Italian concept keeps raising the bar as it nears 50 locations nationwide. He reflects on his decades in the industry, his longtime affinity for pasta shapes, and what it takes to move beyond the chain-restaurant stigma. He also shares how he reads guest feedback in real time and keeps the menu current without losing the brand’s core identity.

Transcript

Callie Evergreen: 0:02

Hi everyone, welcome back to The Restaurant Innovator, a podcast from the editors of FSR magazine, where we explore the bold ideas, creative minds, and strategic decisions reshaping full service dining. I'm your host and FSR editor, Callie Evergreen, joined by my colleague and co-host Sam Danley, Associate Editor. I'm excited to welcome our special guest for today's episode, Chris Curtis, the corporate chef and director of culinary RD at North Italia, which is a neighborhood Italian restaurant concept founded in 2002 by Sam Fox of the infamous Fox Restaurant Concepts, which is Cheesecake Factory Parent Company. And since then, North Italia has expanded to 40 plus locations across the U.S. and growing. So thank you so much for joining us, Chef Chris. How are you doing first off?

Chris Curtiss: 0:51

I'm doing amazing. Thank you so much for having me on. Really appreciate it.

Callie Evergreen: 0:55

Yeah, yeah. Well, before we kind of dig into you know North Italy and what you guys got going on from the menu, I'd like to kind of rerun the clock a little bit, hear about your background, how you became a chef, how you got to North Italia.

Chris Curtiss: 1:10

That's a great question. It's been quite the journey. I grew up in the Bay Area, um, started cooking in San Francisco when I was 21, and started out as a prep cook and uh just worked my way up. I didn't go to culinary school. I was really uh methodical about the chefs that I worked with and wanted to work with and learn from, and I had some amazing mentors along the way that really helped shape my depth of knowledge and my experience, and I'm really grateful for them. Um I worked in fine dining kitchens in San Francisco before moving out to uh Arizona to be closer to my dad, who retired out here, and then my sister moved out here to Arizona, and um I ran um a little neighborhood restaurant uh that uh Sam Fox actually would come in and frequent with his uh team. And when I left that restaurant, he approached me to help him rebrand and refresh this Italian concept that he had started back in 2002 called North, and that's where I am now.

Sam Danley: 2:19

So, what was that transition like for you kind of moving from you know independent, high-end restaurants to like a large kind of multi-unit concept? Is there a a through line that kind of kept you inspired through both or big differences that you had to like adapt to?

Chris Curtiss: 2:38

You know, that's a great question. Honestly, it was just kind of the perception, you know, coming from these independent restaurants, and I'm going to work for this, you know, corporate restaurant group. And um it was it was eye-opening. You know, I had this perception of what you know the corporate restaurant group was like, and you know, when I first started meeting with Sam Fox and talking to him, you know, all that melted away. Like, you know, whatever you know, preconceived notions I had or you know, kind of walls that I had put up, you know, thinking about you know, transitioning from independent restaurants to working for corporate restaurants, what you know just really kind of was amazing for me was seeing his level of passion and attention and detail that he had from everything from the menus to the design to the training and all the things that I was passionate about in my restaurant that I was running before was totally aligned with everything that he had going and everything that you know all the people that were working for him were all focused on. So that part was super cool and it continues to be inspiring for me as well.

Callie Evergreen: 3:43

Hmm. So you recently rejoined the brand July 2020 after previously supporting the Concepts Refresh back in 2011. Is that right?

Chris Curtiss: 3:53

That's right. That's right. So it's kind of a homecoming. It was really exciting for me to have the opportunity to, you know, kind of circle back to this passion project that I had started, you know, back in 2011 with Sam Fox and to be able to, you know, lead not only the the culinary innovation for North Italia, but also to the you know the leadership of all things culinary for the entire brand. So being able to still have my hands on the creative aspect of it too, but also to the business aspect and the the mentorship and leadership uh that I get to participate in with the development of our people is something that I'm equally passionate about.

Callie Evergreen: 4:31

Hmm, I love that. And it's it's crazy. I said recently returned in 2020, and now it's already almost 2026, which is crazy. Um just the differences um from like 2020 to 2020 5, 26, but like going from 2011 to 2020, I'm curious what were some of like the differences you saw coming back to the brand that you know when you originally joined in 2011, maybe it wasn't quite as evolved yet.

Chris Curtiss: 5:01

Yeah, well, there was a lot more of them locations. We had uh six locations. We opened the six location as kind of like the pilot restaurant in Phoenix with this new menu and the new pasta program and the new pizza dough and you know the focus on regional Italian cuisine. And then when I came back in you know 2020, I think that there were about 20 locations, 22 locations. And you know, we were you know all across the country, and you know, with that, you know, the different challenges that go with supply chain and all of those things, and obviously coming out of COVID and all of the nuances that that brought with staffing and supply chain issues and all that. So it was it was drastically different, but at the same time, like the heart and soul was still there, and that was very reassuring to me and and uh it was exciting.

Sam Danley: 5:58

Talk to us a little bit about, I guess, maybe kind of the culinary philosophy at North Italia. I know, you know, the the idea we kind of have um scratch made on a national scale. What does that look like in practice? How do you kind of maintain a hand-crafted feel or that kind of quality control component as you have a brand that's growing into new markets and getting bigger and bigger?

Chris Curtiss: 6:25

Yeah. Well, it is all predicated on training and having solid systems in place. If we don't have you know chefs and people working in our restaurants that are utilizing all of our systems and following our recipes, then we are cooked, as the kids say now. So it's like, you know, we would be so uh it would be very challenging if we didn't have you know very talented and passionate people running our running our restaurants. And you know, I'm really grateful for the the people that we have in our training departments and the regional chefs and the regional managers that really help you know keep all of our restaurants on track. But um, you know, the overarching you know kind of philosophy that I tap into when it comes to the creative aspect is just regional Italian cuisine. And you know, whenever I'm looking at a new dish or whatever, whether it's a certain ingredient that I'm inspired by from a certain region of Italy, it's like, okay, well, how can we frame this in a way that is still authentic, but also too not so esoteric or a little too outside the box of our of our guests. How can we present this in a way that still seems and feels authentic? It's delicious, but also too not scary for people, you know, that are in a market that have never been exposed to, you know, whatever this particular ingredient is. So try to try to stay very balanced, but also at the same time not so whitewashed to where it just doesn't feel just doesn't feel like it has a sense of soul or or authenticity to it.

Sam Danley: 8:03

That's interesting. The approachability, obviously, yeah, is really important for you guys. It's almost like uh you're a little bit of a translator, like a cultural culinary translator, a little bit, it sounds like.

Chris Curtiss: 8:15

We try. And you know, I never want to be, you know, come across as you know, someone that you know needs to educate our people, but at the same time, it's I think that's part of it, you know, being able to tell a story through ingredients, you know, tying into you know to the region of Italy that, you know, whatever dish is from or you know, section of the menu. Um, it's something that I love. I'm a huge culinary, you know, history nerd and something that I'm really passionate about. So, you know, being able to to to uh tell a story in an approachable way is something that I love to do.

Callie Evergreen: 8:48

I love that. Yeah, it it is a like a that fine line like you mentioned though, of like ingredients that people are intimidated by and you can't pronounce the menu item, so you just like point to them and you're like, I want that versus versus being like the whitewashed that you mentioned where it's just super generic things that you know people are so used to it becomes almost boring. And like, why like you know, why would they seek you out then, right? If they can get it at the these other places. So maybe what are some examples of menu menu items that you feel like really kind of like push the boundaries in a good way and towed that line?

Chris Curtiss: 9:25

Yeah, the the first thing that comes to mind is the the Himachi Crudo that we have on the menu right now, the yellowtail crudo. You know, obviously raw fish preparations are huge in southern Italy and coastal, you know, um areas of Italy and being able to kind of tell that story with the fish that's you know not necessarily, you know, as approachable as like, let's say, like a big eye tuna or or you know an ahi tuna. I love the fat content of the yellow tail tuna, you know, utilizing all of the delicious ingredients that are uh synonymous with southern Italy from capers and chilies and citrus and lots of fresh herbs and lemon olive oil. I think that that's a great dish to where it's not you know right down the center of the plate, but just a little bit you know off-center. And um I love that.

Callie Evergreen: 10:18

So, as kind of the director of culinary RD, I'm curious what all that role entails. How much of your time is spent like in the restaurants versus like in the test kitchens? What does that kind of break down?

Chris Curtiss: 10:34

Well, we don't have a test kitchen per se yet. Um, I think you know, once we get you know a little bit larger, we'll be able to you know plead a business case to have a dedicated test kitchen, which would be amazing. Um, but in the meantime, I just will work out of you know one of our restaurants that are close. I am based in uh Gilbert, Arizona, and there's a restaurant that's like six minutes from where I live. Um there's another restaurant uh in Tempe, Arizona that I like to work out of as well. So I'll spend time in those restaurants, you know, working and and you know, ideating there. And also, too, I love just being able to have you know chefs and cooks there to kind of bounce ideas off of and have them taste and and interact with that. That's something that really helps fuel um the creative spirit uh for me. And I really think that it's important to have a collaborative approach when it comes to you know creating things. I think that it can be kind of dangerous for the creative process to kind of lock yourself in an echo chamber and you're just like, no, this is you know, this is this is the idea, this is the dish, and not bounce this, you know, whatever flavor profiles or combinations off of other people. I just think can really stymie you when it comes to the creative process.

Sam Danley: 11:48

You know, I I'm curious when it comes to the creative process, the RD for you, do you usually start with kind of something you know that are you know exists, a regional cuisine, a regional ingredient or dish, you know, from Italy that you're interested in and you want to figure out how you could apply it to your menu? Or do you kind of start with we have a white space on our menu, we have an opportunity for something that we need to fill, like a box maybe that isn't checked yet, and kind of work from that angle? Or or is it a mix of both sometimes?

Chris Curtiss: 12:22

It's a mix of both. It's you know, we really, you know, something that um you know, Sam Fox really instilled in me was how important it is to really listen to our guests and to make sure that we're you know paying attention to what they're saying or how they're voting, so to speak, you know, with their money and looking at the product mix and seeing, you know, which dishes are you know not performing as well as we think they might be. Also, to you know, we have very clear and open channels where guests can provide feedback uh about their experiences or menu items. And so, you know, we'll look at that. Um, we'll look at you know, maybe some low-performing dishes, and okay, well, that creates an open space for us, a white space for us. And you know, there's this you know particular, you know, pasta that I think that we need to get on the menu. I think that it might be a great way to fill that slot and provide our guests something that that obviously were lacking. And you know, it can work that way. And then conversely, you know, we just brought back a pasta or a version of a pasta that we had on the menu about three, four years ago that had been on the menu for you know quite some time, about 12 years. We took it away and we we thought that you know the pasta that we put on was an improvement and but a little bit more elevated. But you know, our guests kept saying, bring this pasta back, please. So we brought back of uh I think of uh an improved version, but still true to that original pasta, and our guests are super stoked about it. So that's how that works sometimes, too.

Callie Evergreen: 13:57

Yeah, no, that's a great example of just like not only listening to the guests, but then acting upon upon it. Because it's one thing to just do a bunch of surveys and be collecting all of this data, but then it's like, what do you actually do with it? How does it inform your decisions? Um, and it's it's hard to tell sometimes too, if like how many people is enough people when they're asking for something that you're like, we have to listen to them and like bring this back. Like what I guess how do you kind of let data inform your decisions like that? What does that process look like?

Chris Curtiss: 14:30

Oh, that's a great question. I think, well, one, you know, our servers are a great conduit, you know, to with the guests, you know, providing feedback to us. Um, also to like, you know, we have the you know, the contact forms to where you know guests can email us directly. And when when the guest feedback and the analytical you know data line up, you know, it that just like screams to us like we need to act on this, we need to do something. And that makes it very easy. And then there's other times where you know it's hard not to get reactive to certain guest feedback, but sometimes you know the feedback could just be you know the guest preference, or you know, maybe in this market, you know, this dish isn't landing great, but the other markets our guests are super excited about it and it's performing really well. So it's a fine balance of not being too reactive, but at the same time, you know, reacting quick enough and and with um the sense of urgency that that we know our our guests are are asking us to do.

Callie Evergreen: 15:37

Hmm. I know that North Italia, you you guys do a really good job of kind of just making sure each restaurant feels like it's kind of centered in their community with like your your the art in the restaurants, the local like inspired mural by local artists, things like that. Um are there also regional menu differences too?

Chris Curtiss: 15:58

There are, you know, and that's something that's really important to us is to not become this large, you know, kind of bland, uh homogenous chain. We really want to have the feel to where you know guests would come in and feel like we're like an independent restaurant, you know, until they start traveling and they see us around in other markets. But we want to have a level of of sincerity in regards to the location, um, and just have a very you know hospitable um feel to all of our restaurants through design and and service and food. Uh we do have some regional items on our cocktail menu and our food menu as well.

Callie Evergreen: 16:47

Does that make like training a little bit more challenging? Or like are there any challenges that come with that like a sacrifice of like making sure that it feels local?

Chris Curtiss: 16:58

It just creates more work for us. And you know, I think that you know that that is totally worth it. And you know, obviously we have to create unique training documents and training systems for those regional dishes. Um, but I think that it's totally worth it. And you know, everybody is aligned on on expending that extra effort for those, you know, extra lifts, so to speak.

Callie Evergreen: 17:21

Absolutely. Well, can you give us kind of a taste of like your seasonal menu right now and maybe a couple highlights that would be on you know the menu at any location?

Chris Curtiss: 17:33

Absolutely. I'm super excited about this new lasagna that we just launched. Um, we're serving them in little individual graton dishes that I think are very nostalgic and and just reinforces just the overall you know experience that I wanted to create, you know, for these guests. I think that there's nothing more special or comforting for me, personally speaking, is you know, sitting down and enjoying a piece of lasagna that was you know made and and breaking bread with the family. It just it's very nostalgic for me. And the way that we're presenting it, I I love. Um we use these little made-in gratin dishes that are beautiful. Um, it's a a kind of a tip of the cap to like the Sunday night gravy you know traditions of the Northeast and Italian Americans and all of that. So we use our uh egg pasta dough that we make uh layered with our um ragu that has some braised short rib, sausage, um our bolognese base, and then there's some layers of ricotta, some mozzarella, a little bit of provolone, and some herbs, and it's delicious, super comforting. Um another new item that I love is uh an appetizer with burata, and it has some roasted butternut squash and some caramelized apples with this sage hazelnut bread crumb over the top, and then a Calabrian chili agri dolce just to kind of provide some balance and a little bit of spice. And in the dessert category, again, uh we listened to our guests. We had this uh salted caramel bodino on the menu uh for quite some time, and we took it away and we just brought back a I think it's a huge improvement, but it has our salted caramel bodino on the base, some sliced bananas, espresso fudge over the top of that, with some Chantilly cream, and then this pecan toffee on top for some texture and crunch. So those are just some of the the new the new flavors that we have on the menu right now.

Callie Evergreen: 19:39

Oh, that sounds delicious.

Sam Danley: 19:41

Yeah, making me hungry. It's about lunchtime where I yeah. Yeah. Good. Oh my god, I'm I'm curious, Chris, as somebody who you know spends so much time thinking about pasta and Italian food and all this culinary, you know, research and creativity, uh, do you have a favorite pasta shape out there, or do you have any you know hot takes on the the pasta shapes that are available, or maybe what you want to see more of out there?

Chris Curtiss: 20:11

Oh boy, I you know what I absolutely love, you know, just from the time when I started with North Italia to where we are now, like seeing the explosion of handmade pasta that's being executed across the country and how much people are leaning into that. I love it. It is so exciting for me to see it become you know much more prevalent. And I think that that opens the door for us, you know, with our pasta program. The fact that we make all of our pasta in-house from scratch, we extrude seven different shapes of pasta, we do a handmade tortellone, we do our uh sheets of lasagna pasta. So being able to execute handmade pasta across the country, I think that it's resonating more with people now, and they appreciate that extra effort because you know, pasta is you know, I think having its time right now, and um it's it's it's really exciting to see those two things aligned, our efforts with the the guests' uh kind of knowledge and exposure and willingness to try some different things.

Sam Danley: 21:16

Yeah. Yeah, I definitely think the the average person's knowledge of pasta shapes d does seem to be kind of increasing. And I've also been hearing, you know, interesting stuff of people like going over to Italy and you know, finding all these like historical recipe books and whatever, of these pasta shapes that you know no one's seen for 300 years or whatever. It's a really fascinating kind of thing.

Chris Curtiss: 21:39

I I totally agree. You know, one of my favorite pasta shapes is Corzetti, and it's just these little coins that are punched out and then stamped with this like hand-carved tool from up in the northeast of Italy and Lomb Lombardy. And um that's my favorite. I mean, would that be practical for our restaurants that are high volume and you know across the country? Certainly not, but for a special occasion, you know, like wine dinner or something, that's something that I would love to execute and have done. Um, but I I just love it. I love the the passion, the history, and the effort that goes into handmade pasta. And it's it's fascinating to me.

Callie Evergreen: 22:20

That's so fun. I love it. Um, you know, you kind of mentioned just the importance of listening to your guest and kind of changing consumer preferences over the years. And I'm curious, kind of, yeah, like zooming out a little bit, what kind of menu trends you're seeing in the past few years and maybe what you're predicting for 2026 and beyond.

Chris Curtiss: 22:43

Well, I wish I had a crystal ball, but I think you know, right now, I think that there is a huge uptick on um beef consumption. I think that a lot of people are you know kind of focused on more of a protein-rich diet, which is which is pretty cool to see and to see that kind of working its way into the the larger kind of uh I guess the larger playground, so to speak, of the restaurant community. Um, we're seeing, we just put a new steak on the menu. It's a prime New York strip, and we're serving it, you know, very traditionally, tacoyata style, so it's sliced on the plate with a simple arugula and shaved grana pedano salad, and that's performing really well. Our brace short rib uh dishes are having a huge resurgence. So seeing that, I think paying attention to that and looking at the product mix trends on that has been really cool. Um, but I think, you know, and I don't know if I'm just skewed, I'm definitely a little partial, but just seeing, you know, everybody's kind of fascination with with Italian cuisine and regional Italian cuisine is is pretty cool to see. I think that that'll continue for a while.

Sam Danley: 23:58

Is there a particular region within Italy that you think uh is maybe gonna be bubbling up to the surface here or uh that you would like to see kind of more uh awareness, like you know, more instances of out there in the world?

Chris Curtiss: 24:16

Yeah, I think I think southern Italy has such a dynamic cuisine from you know Sicily to Sardinia to Puglia. And what's unique about that is just the ingredients that are used in those different regions, even though they're so close to each other, and the impact that you know the different cultures migrating from you know North Africa into those parts of Italy and the ingredients and flavors that they brought with them and how they impact the cuisine there is fascinating. And I would love to see people you know kind of get more familiar with some of the nuances of southern Italian cuisine outside of just tomatoes and chilies. Um, but there's some unique spices and pasta shapes and um braises that's really cool, and also seafood, and I love seafood, so um I think that that uh southern Italy is where it's at.

Callie Evergreen: 25:12

Italy is definitely on my bucket list. I haven't had a chance to visit yet, but Sam, you were just there.

Sam Danley: 25:17

I was just there. I was there for work, but but I was covering coffee, gelato, and baked goods. It was a hard job. Someone had to go over and eat a bunch of gelato. He took the bullet first.

Chris Curtiss: 25:28

Yeah.

Sam Danley: 25:28

What a trooper. What part of Italy were you in? Uh I bounced around a little bit. So I was the the expo I was at was in Milan. Um, and then I also went to Florence, Tuscany, and Rome. Just awesome. Awesome. Yeah.

Chris Curtiss: 25:43

I I was at the same expo in Milan, uh, that giant uh the host Milano. Yeah.

Sam Danley: 25:49

It was crazy. It was massive.

Chris Curtiss: 25:52

I've never seen anything like that. I thought that the Chicago show was big, but that put it to shame.

Sam Danley: 25:57

That's exactly what I was about to say. I was like, I thought that I had seen a massive trade show before. Little did I know.

Chris Curtiss: 26:04

Yeah, just that the scope was it it was nuts. Um, but we made some great contacts with some flour mills in Italy that we're gonna tap into and use. Um we looked at some gelato equipment and uh a handful of other things. But it was it was great. It was it was a cool experience.

Sam Danley: 26:23

My my two biggest takeaways, I will say, was uh gelato is the the brighter the colors, the less an Italian person will want to eat it or tell you to eat it. So you don't want the bright-colored gelato, and don't even think about asking for a cappuccino after 12 p.m.

unknown: 26:41

No.

Chris Curtiss: 26:42

Yeah, you'll get you'll get side-eyed pretty hard.

Sam Danley: 26:45

Yeah.

Chris Curtiss: 26:46

Pretty hard.

Callie Evergreen: 26:51

That's so funny. I love that. Do you um, Chris, do you travel to Italy a lot for your job, or how often are you traveling in general?

Chris Curtiss: 27:00

I traveled well to Italy. I don't travel to Italy for work very often. That was like the first like real big kind of trip. And then, you know, the trips that I've taken to Italy have been, you know, selfishly, you know, for inspiration, um, but also too just to experience it. I just love being in Italy and uh was in uh Emilia Romagna earlier this year in February. So was in Bologna, was in Modena, got to spend time with the granddaughter of the founder of the uh facility that produces our prosciutto in Parma. Uh so that was amazing to take a tour and see the whole process firsthand and you know, see, smell, and taste, you know, the prosciutto that that we have used for years uh was was super cool. So any opportunity I get to do that, I jump on it.

Callie Evergreen: 27:47

Absolutely, gosh. And I would say I feel like anything that inspires you doesn't necessarily mean it's selfish, right? Like because ultimately you're bringing that back to your team, and then like you know, thousands and thousands of people are getting to benefit from that inspiration. So I'd say it's pretty selfless for my.

Chris Curtiss: 28:04

All right. Well, I appreciate that.

Callie Evergreen: 28:06

You'll take it, yeah. Oh my gosh. Um, kind of kind of the going back to like your roots and zooming out. I'm curious just about some of the lessons over the years that you've picked up, whether it was from your time with like Michael Mina, um, just Fox restaurant concepts in general, what you've kind of absorbed from those environments.

Chris Curtiss: 28:29

Yeah, I think that you know, the common threads that I can you know pull from my time in San Francisco to you know working with Michael Mina and Sam is there's it's really simple. I mean, we have to focus on quality, we have to focus on consistency, and we must do everything we can to develop and train the people around us to make our jobs easier, but also to ultimately to elevate the guest experience. So I think that that's been you know the most the most common, you know, kind of lesson that I've learned and keep getting reminded of, you know, as my career continues.

Callie Evergreen: 29:15

What would you like go back and tell your 21-year-old self if you could, like any nuggets of advice or like things to watch out for or something?

Chris Curtiss: 29:23

I would say, you know, I wish that I had learned more on the business end earlier in my career. Um that came, you know, kind of later in life. And to have I was so focused on just learning the craft and being creative. And if I had had a little bit more of a balanced approach to the business end of it and the creative end of it, I think that that would have been really beneficial. Um I'm very grateful for where I am now and having you know that depth of knowledge for for both, I I think was great. But I don't know, I just would you know, remind myself to to take care of yourself and you know stay healthy and still work hard, but it's it's good to have a balanced approach, I think, in in most things in life. Yeah.

Sam Danley: 30:13

Yeah. So, you know, looking ahead uh here a little bit, whether it's on the menu or growth and expansion, um, what's on the horizon for you guys coming up? Anything on the radar uh in the the short term that you want to highlight?

Chris Curtiss: 30:29

For sure. Well we just opened in Omaha, Nebraska, which is a brand new market for us. And we're about to open in Greensboro, North Carolina, which will be our fourth location there. And then we have, I think, 10 restaurants slated to open next year, which is super exciting. One of them happens to be about 10 minutes from where I grew up in Northern California. So that's going to be wild to have a restaurant in my old backyard. And you know continuing to push the needle with our development and menu ideation is something that is always exciting and looking forward to that as well.

Callie Evergreen: 31:07

Yeah, gosh, well congrats on that. That's awesome. That's so exciting. And how like how much of a full circle moment it'll be like opening one in your old like hometown. Do you have any like friends or family that still live there that you'll be able to tell them to go check it out?

Chris Curtiss: 31:22

Absolutely. Absolutely it's gonna be it's gonna be wild to see them in our in our dining room up there.

Callie Evergreen: 31:28

I bet. Oh my gosh. Fantastic well is there anything else that listeners should know about you know you and your journey North Italia anything we didn't cover?

Chris Curtiss: 31:39

No I think I think that we touched you know all the bases so to speak. I can't thank you enough for having me on and you know giving us an opportunity to to spread the word about our our restaurants and we're excited to to have you all in our dining rooms so you guys will be hitting uh 50 the iconic 50 unit benchmark it soon right yep just after the first of the year early next year is when we'll kind of cross that threshold so we're right on the cusp of it right now.

Callie Evergreen: 32:10

Fantastic well congrats that that is a huge milestone and definitely something to to be celebrated. So yeah fantastic well we appreciate you coming on and sharing your journey your lessons and what you got going on and thank you to all of our listeners out there as well stay tuned for more thank you