- Welcome back everybody.
These past 10 months have been brutal
on the restaurant industry.
As chefs try to hang on,
many are getting savvy
and shifting their approach to attract customers.
That's why this week we are hosting
our very own restaurant week
shining a light on places that could use our support.
Today we are heading to Oakland, California
where you can find a specialty food business
called Truffle Shuffle.
All right everybody let's say hi to the founders
husband and wife, Sarah and Jason.
Give it up.
Hello.
First of all, I have to say
isn't it called the Truffle Shuffle in Goonies
when he has to do the dance the truffle shuffle to get in?
Okay it's the best--
- Yeah it totally is.
- Okay it's the best idea,
is that what's happening?
No way.
Yes.
Is that his autograph?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- That is my favorite thing that's happened today.
Okay, well explain what Truffle Shuffle is.
- So Truffle Shuffle is a honest truffle company.
And we started the business by helping chefs source truffles
directly from truffle hunters.
Truffles are an ingredient they're very magical,
they're very special, right?
They're very delicious
but they also are the most expensive ingredient
that restaurants will buy
and the hardest
for chefs to know where they're really coming from.
And so me and Sarah both met
while working together at a three Michelin star restaurant.
I was a chef, Sarah was in front of the house
and we wanted to start this business
to help chefs tell the same story
that they were telling about their butchers,
about their farmers, right.
Let them tell that story about their truffle hunters.
- Yeah so Sarah you took a big hit
at the start of the pandemic, right?
- Yeah, absolutely we did Kelly.
So it was actually a really hard spot for us
but essentially what had happened is
we imported thousands of dollars worth of truffles
right at the start of the pandemic.
Yeah, pretty much the equivalent
of what we have here in the briefcase today.
And basically the day they landed,
the shelter in place started in San Francisco.
And so all of the restaurants
any sales avenues we had were completely shut down
and truffles are super highly perishable.
So you only have about five to seven days
to really utilize them before they go bad.
And we had just increased our team for the first time
from three people, Jason, myself
and our business partner, Tyler
to six people.
So we were very nervous to say the least.
- Oh my gosh, I bet.
And Jason you had to make a business shift, right?
- Yeah. Basically we pulled these truffles out
and we're just staring at them, right.
We're just staring at these truffles
just trying to figure out some sort of inspiration.
Cause if we didn't sell all these truffles
by the end of the week,
we were going out of business.
And as we're staring at these truffles,
we got a phone call from a private social club
in San Francisco
and they wanted to know who would do a virtual cooking class
for some of their top members.
And basically we're on the phone,
you know kind of listening to this idea,
staring at these truffles
and we're like,
well what if we sent everyone everything they needed
to cook with us step-by-step
including the truffles.
They agreed to it, right.
And the next day they sent an email out
and within three hours,
we completely sold out all the truffles.
- All the truffles. - What?
- We did the cooking class.
- That's crazy cool.
- Yeah it was absolutely unbelievable.
But the coolest part truly was
after we did the cooking class
and we saw people at home posting pictures
about their dishes that they had just made,
truffle risotto,
truffle gnocchi,
these dishes they just made
we started to launch the next one,
and that was back in March,
and since then we've been completely sold out
every single week.
- Yeah and since then actually,
so we've cooked with over a hundred thousand people
virtually since March,
since we started this,
totally changed our business model
and Jason and Tyler will cook and lead the class
and then I do wine recommendations
and go through a little mixology lesson as well,
but it's a ton of fun.
- I actually know someone who's taken your class
and they loved it and said that I should do it
and I really want to.
And Sarah you also found a way
to give back through this, right?
- Right yeah
it's always been a really important part of our company
and the culture at Truffle Shuffle is
regardless of how we were doing,
we wanted to find a way to give back
to really anyone in need.
And so at the height of the shelter in place
when this started,
we realized it was taking off really fast.
So what we did was for every ingredient kit we would sell
we would cook and donate a meal
to at the time frontline healthcare workers
because the hospitals were so overrun
and so we were donating to hospitals.
And now what we do is for every ingredient kit sold
we donate a meal to you know,
someone in need in our local community
and we work with smaller charities and organizations
here in the Bay area
to really just donate a meal to anyone that needs it.
And on top of that, we've actually,
I mentioned we grew our team from three to six
at the start of this,
now we're actually at 30 employees
and all of those employees are from the hospitality industry
and everyone that's been laid off or furloughed
since the pandemic began.
- I mean that is incredible
that you've taken your good fortune
and then passed that upon others and paid it forward
because the industry has been hit so hard
and those people are probably so excited you know,
at the opportunity to have work
and be a part of something that's successful on top of that
is incredible.
And Sarah and Jason actually sent me
one of the Truffle View's dishes
they teach others to make
and I'm very excited that this is my job Justin.
I'm very excited that you've brought those out here
cause I want to taste it
and this looks amazing.
So what is this?
Jason what am I eating?
- So Kelly in front of you,
you have our pasta Primavera.
And this is a dish that we're launching
to actually teach people knife skills, right.
So they log on with us,
we're going to teach them
how to do all these different knife skills
and then at the end of it
they get to enjoy a delicious pasta dish
with truffles.
And Kelly you know, a lot of people wait a moment,
wait a lifetime for a dish like that.
- I knew you were going Jason.
This is amazing
I am still eating it.
It's so good.
I cannot wait to take your class.
And for you Sarah
to tell me which glass of wine I should be having right now.
But we actually,
I got to eat this.
I couldn't talk at the same time, it's so good.
All right well we actually have one of the people
Sarah and Jason recently hired on the line
now what's up Rachel?
- Hey Kelly, how's it going?
- It's going so well.
And like right now you look like the coolest video right now
because you have a streak of the sun
going across the front of your jacket
and it looks super cool.
But Rachel, how did getting hired by Truffle Shuffle
change things for you?
- Well I was working at a catering events company
and when the pandemic hit
the catering industry became super uncertain
and I really didn't know
what the future was going to hold for me
and when I found Truffle Shuffle
they originally hired me on as a culinary assistant
and I wanted to learn more about cooking.
And I'm learning so much
and Jason and Sarah are amazing teachers.
And I'd love to take a moment to thank them.
Sarah and Jason, thank you for seeing my potential
and taking a chance on me
and trusting that I was going to work hard
and care about your company the way you do.
I have so much gratitude for you, both.
- Wow. Really well said.
And Sarah and Jason,
you guys are doing amazing things
and we want to see you keep growing
and hiring even more people.
Because like I said,
this paying it forward thing
it's a beautiful domino effect
that I think we need more of.
So that's why we're just going to give you $5,000
just because we think you're doing so awesome.
Is that sound all right?
- Oh my God.
- That is awesome. - Awesome thank you.
- Absolutely.
We love you guys.
I seriously cannot wait to take your class,
I'm not joking.
It's time for a quick break everybody though.
We'll be right back with 'What I'm Liking'.
(applause)