Most restaurants rely on heroics. That’s why they break.
Chef calls out—everything collapses.
Staff turns over—culture disappears.
Owner burns out—nothing changes.

After 33 years in the kitchen, I’ve seen it all.
I’ve run high-volume operations, trained green teams into machines, and led groups through chaos and culture collapse.
And here’s what I know:

Culture eats talent for breakfast.
Systems beat talent when talent doesn’t have systems.

Today, I help restaurant leaders build kitchens that don’t rely on superheroes.
I work with chefs and operators to:

→ Define their way of doing business
→ Build leadership systems that teach it
→ Create operations that run consistently—even when they’re not there

It’s not theory. It’s not fluff.
One client cut turnover by 60% and grew profit by 15% in 90 days.

If your team is talented but inconsistent…
If your culture changes depending on who’s in charge…
If your restaurant falls apart when one person is out…

Let’s talk.

On the CULINARY MECHANIC podcast, I host candid conversations with hospitality's most innovative leaders. From kitchen culture to tech innovations, we blend battle-tested wisdom with modern insights that challenge 'the way it's always been done.' It's where restaurant wisdom meets real systems that work.

🎙️ Host: CULINARY MECHANIC
📩 DM me or visit culinarymechanic.com

Simon Zatyrka

I build cultures and systems that work — and I help people grow inside them.

For 30 years, every role I’ve taken — restaurants, arenas, universities, franchises, and now national cold storage — has carried the same through-line: take what’s complicated, high-pressure, and human, and design systems that make it simpler, smoother, and worth showing up for.

I came up through kitchens, where clarity, trust, and timing were survival. Those roots shaped how I lead today: people-first, hands-on, and relentlessly practical. But my real career has been about modernization — helping organizations evolve without losing their soul. I’ve guided teams through change, built programs from scratch, repaired broken ones, and led the kind of behind-the-scenes work that makes everything else possible.

Across industries and eras, I’ve led:

• national procurement restructures
• construction and transition planning
• sustainability and energy-modernization projects
• major menu, retail, and product rollouts
• operator training systems and cultural reset work
• cross-functional change through acquisitions
• consulting projects that turn ideas into operating reality

Whether I’m restructuring a vendor ecosystem, stabilizing a workflow, building a new program, or helping a team adapt to a new chapter, the work is always the same: build clarity, build confidence, and build culture.

My leadership lens is simple:
systems shape behaviour, but people carry the fire.
So I design systems that honour the people who use them — systems that feel human, not heavy.

Mentorship is the backbone of my work. I’ve coached hundreds of leaders — franchisees, chefs, managers, students, emerging operators — helping them grow with clarity, confidence, and care. Culture isn’t a slogan; it’s a daily practice. When people feel supported, informed, and trusted, performance follows naturally.

Today, I work at the intersection of modernization, operations, procurement, and culture — blending kitchen-born discipline with enterprise-level thinking. I help organizations stabilize what’s messy, structure what’s new, and create environments where people can do their best work.

If you’re building, improving, or transforming something — and you believe culture and systems should rise together — let’s connect.

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Simon Zatyrka

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