Restaurant food cost control + private local AI automation
Gerry Kent Consulting
I’ve worked every position in restaurants and owned them. I help operators cut through the noise, simplify what matters, and only use tools that reduce work.
No bloated systems. No hype. Just practical ways to protect margins while keeping your team effective. If it won’t work for your operation, I’ll tell you.
No bloated systems. No hype. Just honest, practical ways to protect margins while keeping your team effective. If it won’t work for your operation, I’ll tell you.
45% → 20%
Real operator results
Toast + POS
Works with Toast & leading POS systems
Tom
Built by an operator, for operators
Services
See How Gerry Helps
Practical profit improvements, built around how restaurants actually operate..
Rapid Food Cost Audit & Quick Wins
A focused review to quickly identify the biggest margin leaks in inventory, invoices, PMIX, and purchasing habits — then deliver fast, practical wins.
Operations & Team Efficiency Support
Simple, practical fixes that reduce kitchen stress and waste — without adding complicated systems. Focused on ordering discipline, communication, and processes your team will actually use.
Custom “Tom” AI Agent Setup & Training
A private AI agent that starts simple and gets smarter over time. Built specifically for your operation and trained on your menus, recipes, and workflows. Staff can text Tom directly for help with food cost, ordering, and inventory questions. I handle the setup and ongoing training so it becomes more useful as it learns your business.
Ongoing Profit Partner Retainer
Monthly support to keep food cost and COGS visible, catch problems early, and continuously improve ordering, menu decisions, and team routines.
Proof
Real results from operators who actually run restaurants.
Better decisions start with clearer numbers. Here are examples of what becomes possible when food cost, inventory, and operations are actually under control.
45% → 20%
Food cost reset through inventory + PMIX analysis
One-week focused work on inventory discipline, invoice accuracy, and menu engineering to quickly identify where margin was leaking.
COGS visibility
Tom cleaned invoice data and surfaced variance
Invoice uploads and simple tracking created a clean, weekly view of food cost without adding extra software or complexity.
Less waste
Low-stock alerts before rush-service stress
Automated inventory signals helped operators make calmer purchasing decisions, reduce panic ordering, and tighten prep expectations across the team.
About Gerry
Built by a real operator — not a software vendor.
With over 35+ years across every position in restaurants and ownership, Gerry understands the real pressure of hitting numbers while managing people, stress, and daily chaos. He combines that experience with simple, practical systems (including local AI) that actually get used.
What makes Gerry different
Deep understanding of both the numbers and the people side of the business
Builds simple systems that reduce stress instead of adding more work
Personally sets up and trains everything — minimal onboarding for you
Quick Food Cost Assessment
Takes about 60 seconds. I'll send you personalized insights on potential quick wins.
FAQ
Straight answers before you book.
Gerry’s process is designed for operators who need clarity quickly: know what is leaking margin, fix what is practical, and automate what should not be manual.
How quickly can we see results?
Some food cost issues can be identified in the first conversation through a general discussion about invoices, inventory counts, and POS data. The goal is to find quick wins first, then build simple controls that protect the gains.
Do we need Toast?
Not necessarily. Many restaurants don’t fully use — or even know about — the tools already built into their current POS. Gerry helps you get more value out of what you already have, instead of adding more systems to manage.
What exactly is Tom?
Tom is a custom local AI agent built specifically for your operation. It can help with invoice processing, COGS tracking, variance detection, inventory visibility, and simple alerts. It starts basic and gets more useful over time as it learns your menus and workflows.
Is this enterprise software?
No. The work is intentionally lightweight and practical. The focus is on improving visibility and reducing friction — not rolling out complicated systems that create more work.
What happens on the qualifying call?
We’ll look at your current food cost, inventory process, and biggest pain points. Gerry will share what’s realistic and whether a quick audit or Tom setup makes sense. If it’s not a fit, he’ll say so directly.
Is our data private?
Yes. Tom is designed to run locally and privately. Gerry handles the setup and works within your comfort level around data access and system integration.
Client words
What Operators Are Saying
Chad: "Gerry took one look at our walk-in and prep stations and immediately saw we were over-ordering and over-prepping out of stress and anxiety. That extra labor was actually making our food cost problem worse. He gave us a clear, practical plan we could actually follow — and it made a real difference.”
Owner / Operator, independent restaurant
Andrew Misner (GM):" Tom helped us calculate pars and prep lists based on our actual sales data instead of guesswork. It made our inventory and ordering process feel much more manageable and less chaotic. We’re catching issues earlier and wasting less.”
General Manager, Pub concept
Hotel Restaurant Owner: “Gerry reviewed our operating systems and suggested minimizing the number of programs we were using because some were duplicative. His suggestions were specific, realistic, and based on how our kitchen actually runs. We finally have better visibility without paying for tools that don’t work.”
Owner, hotel restaurant