Kristofor Lofgren is founder and CEO of Portland, Ore.-based Sustainable Restaurant Group Inc., which includes the independent restaurants Bamboo Sushi and QuickFish Poke Bar. He discussed what sets his restaurants apart from multi-unit operators, especially in terms of sustainability and design.

“The truth of the matter is, at the end of the day, you are selling a feeling,” Lofgren said. “You are selling magic. And if you are not, you don’t understand your business.”

Customers can buy calories from groceries and other retailers, he said.

“Full-service restaurants lost their way and stopped understanding what it was people wanted,” he said. “They don’t just want calories anymore and a giant plate of food. They want to walk in and feel an experience.”

Discussing frontline leadership were general managers, from left: Meredith Doll of Shake Shack, Natalie Herzberg of Seasons 52 and Mark Allen of Houlihan’s. Herzberg said one of her more effective interview questions when hiring staff is: “What was your last random act of kindness?”

Best Practices Conference co-chairs, from left, Denny Marie Post, CEO of Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc., and Carin Stutz, Red Robin’s COO, open the event with Joni Doolin, co-founder and CEO of TDn2K. In a later discussion, Post said positioning a casual-dining brand for the future is no easy task. “I kid that the two words ‘transformative operator’ are a complete oxymoron,” she said.

Keeping employee retention rates low was the topic of the “New Strategy for Total Rewards” panel, which featured, from left: Lynne Bartusek, CEO of Bartusek Advisory Services; Mark Simpson, chief people officer of Texas Roadhouse; Amy Cohen, head of benefits and compensation of Noodles & Company and president of the Chain Restaurants Total Rewards Association; and Coley O’Brien, chief people officer of Wendy’s. “With employment rates where they are, if we’re not thinking about out-of-box ideas, we are going to fall behind,” Cohen said.

The session on employee engagement featured, from left: Gini Quiroz, director of team member engagement at Austin, Texas-based K&N Management; Chris Ebbeler, director of social media and community engagement at Chili’s Grill & Bar; and Avery Block, manager of restaurant experience at Taco Bell.

Block quoted Greg Creed, CEO of Taco Bell parent Yum! Brands Inc.: “He has what is, to this day, my favorite statement: ‘The customer experience will never exceed the team member experience.’ I think, from a business perspective, employee engagement matters because if your employees aren’t engaged, they are not going to deliver a great experience to your customer.”