Timeline of Growth
Sustained Excellence
Four consecutive years of Michelin recognition with a lean 45-person team hired through Culinary Agents
Quality & Retention
Core FOH team retained for 3+ years, reflecting stronger alignment and candidate fit through Culinary Agents
Efficient & Informed Hiring
Tools like templates, resume previews, notes, and compensation data streamline decision-making and support expansion planning
Francie, a Michelin-starred brasserie in Brooklyn, blends French and Italian influences under the leadership of owner John Winterman and Chef-Partner Chris Cipollone. With ~45 employees, Francie has maintained its Michelin Star consecutively over the years and is preparing for future growth.
Hiring Without a Reliable System
Before adopting Culinary Agents to open Bâtard in 2014, Francie’s owner John Winterman had no structured platform to source or organize candidates. Recruiting relied on chance encounters and walk-ins, which made it difficult to consistently identify qualified applicants. That experience underscored the need for a trusted, proven tool when launching Francie.
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Finding the Right Fit: Many candidates overlooked role requirements, applying for positions like sommelier without wine experience.
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Lean-Team Pressure: With hiring handled by the owner and a small management team, screening applicants needed to be fast and efficient.
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Repeat Applicants: Serial candidates often reapplied, requiring clear notes/history to avoid wasted time.
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Compensation Clarity: Without benchmarks, it was hard to confidently determine fair, competitive offers.
Trusted Platform
Building on proven success from Bâtard, Francie adopted Culinary Agents as its exclusive hiring platform from day one. The tools streamline workflows for a small team, help surface the right candidates, and support efficient, repeatable practices—all while maintaining the quality needed to earn Michelin Stars for four consecutive years.
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Efficient Screening: Resume previews and quick thumbs up/down simplify applicant triage for lean teams.
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Organized History: Notes and applicant records reduce wasted time on repeat candidates.
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Reusable Templates: Role-specific postings refresh quickly, minimizing rework and speeding up future hires.
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Compensation Research Tools: Integrated benchmarking features and HospitalityCareerPaths.com data provide confidence in setting competitive, transparent pay rates.
Results & Impact
Templates cut job posting time and streamline recurring hires
Stronger applicant alignment for specialized FOH and sommelier roles
Notes and history tools improve applicant review and rehiring
Core FOH staff has remained intact for 3+ years, supported by fair pay benchmarking built into Culinary Agents tools
Strategic Value of Partnership
As a lean, single-location restaurant, Francie uses Culinary Agents to streamline a process that otherwise would overwhelm a small team. The platform has become their go-to resource for efficiency, organization, and industry-specific candidate reach.- 1Team Efficiency: Reusable job templates reduce admin work, saving hours for a small leadership team.
- 2Market Intelligence: Access to salary benchmarking and comparable job posts ensures fair, competitive offers.
- 3Organized Workflow: Tools like resume previews, thumbs up/down, and applicant notes simplify decision-making.
- 4Scalable Foundation: Provides a ready-made framework they can apply as they expand to a second location.
Notable Success Story
John Winterman has relied exclusively on Culinary Agents for his restaurants, making it their only recruiting platform for over a decade. Even as a Michelin-starred independent restaurant, they’ve been able to consistently find qualified, long-term staff and recently filled a critical service manager role directly through the platform.-
Service Manager Hire: Filled a senior front-of-house leadership role via Culinary Agents in late 2023, strengthening the management team.
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Consistent Pool of Talent: Able to generate applicant pipelines instead of waiting for walk-ins or chance encounters.
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Retention Strength: Core FOH team has remained intact for 3+ years, demonstrating quality and fit from Culinary Agents candidates.
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