Cédric Barbier (Tadao): "Attractive concept is not enough"

INTERVIEW - Behind the image of a mastered fast-good concept, the small chain of poke bars Tadao has not escaped the very real tensions of the Horeca sector. But its founder readily shares how he learned to cope. An experience with the flavor of skills development.

"Our goal is not only to serve fast, but to serve right". This spontaneous and inspiring formula is signed by Cédric Barbier, a former director of a large group specialized in complex infrastructure projects who turned restaurateur. In 2019, he created Tadao, a "poke bowl bar" that recently expanded to three locations.

In the imagination surrounding entrepreneurship, opening new restaurants is often synonymous with success. In reality on the ground, each opening complicates the equation. Growth does not only test a concept; it puts the entire organization to the test. Where founding energy was once enough, a new requirement is imposed.

Cédric Barbier tells us about this delicate transition, from daily artisan to architect of a small network. A true school of rigor, where one must now read the numbers, refine every cost, and learn to steer without being everywhere. Interview.

GONDOLA FOODSERVICE: It is said that opening the third establishment is a symbolic test for the structure of a restaurant brand. What is the greatest logistical or managerial challenge you had to overcome to lead this expansion?

CÉDRIC BARBIER: The third establishment forces a mental change of scale. As long as you have one or two restaurants, you can still function a lot on energy, presence on the ground, and intuition. With a third point of sale, a more solid structure is required. The greatest challenge is undoubtedly succeeding in maintaining the same quality of execution without being everywhere at the same time. This requires better delegation, formalizing processes further, and increasing the responsibility of the teams. At this stage, the subject is no longer just about opening one more restaurant: it is about building an organization capable of lasting.

Sales at the Tadao in Ixelles were satisfactory more quickly than those in Waterloo. How difficult is it for an entrepreneur to stay the course and maintain the trust of commercial partners when operational growth seems to weaken profitability?

This is an entrepreneurial reality that is little talked about: growth does not always mean immediate comfort. A point of sale can take more time to reach its cruising speed, and this inevitably creates pressure, both internally and toward partners. In these moments, you must maintain a very clear vision and communicate with transparency.

What helps is having a strong conviction about the concept, but also an ability to look the numbers in the face, to quickly correct what needs to be corrected, and to remain consistent in your choices. Partners above all need to feel that there is seriousness, steering, and a capacity for adaptation.

What was the "click" that made you switch from intuitive management to a more analytical management of costs specific to the restaurant industry?

The real "click" often comes when you understand that quality alone does not protect against economic imbalance. In the restaurant business, everything counts: food cost, packaging, waste, labor costs, delivery, the pace of service, seasonality.

At the beginning, you can function on instinct, commitment, and the will to do well. But when the activity grows, that is no longer enough. You need a finer reading of every item, because small, repeated discrepancies have a direct impact on profitability. Moving to a more analytical management style is not about becoming cold or purely financial; it is about giving yourself the means to preserve the concept over the long term.

Entrepreneurship is never a long, quiet river. If you had to isolate one major challenge from the last five years, which one has most transformed your way of doing business with Tadao?

If I have to isolate one challenge, it is not necessarily a single event, but rather the succession of tensions on operations: rising costs, pressure on raw materials, the complexity of recruitment, the demand for operational consistency, the weight of delivery.

All of this forced us to become more structured, more vigilant, more precise. We learn that an attractive concept is not enough; you need real robustness of execution. This has transformed our way of doing business by making us both more ambitious in our vision and more rigorous in our management.

You had to move from a few full-time equivalents at your debut to a more considerable team. The payroll can quickly reach a critical weight and weigh on company finances. How did you adapt your management style to transition from restaurant boss to manager of a restaurant chain?

The biggest change is that you can no longer let everything rest on your own presence. At the start, you are very operational, very much in the moment, very close to every detail. Then, you have to learn to manage differently: recruit more finely, train better, transmit better, empower more.

This also requires creating a team culture, with clear standards, but also trust. The role evolves: you progressively move from the one who does to the one who structures, accompanies, and arbitrates. It is a demanding change because you have to keep the spirit of the project while accepting that you are no longer at the center of every action.

You speak of Tadao as a place designed as a true experience. How do you ensure that the customer doesn't just feel they are in a "healthier" version of a fast-food joint, but experiences a disconnection or another connection during a meal?

That is precisely where the difference is made. At Tadao, the product matters enormously, but it is not enough on its own. We have always wanted to create a coherent universe, inspired by balance, simplicity, and attention to detail. The very name Tadao, in reference to Tadao Ando, reflects this search for harmony and purity.

The experience involves several things: the visible freshness of ingredients, made-to-order preparation, the possibility of composing according to one's desires, but also the atmosphere of the place, the rhythm of the service, the impression of eating something light without sacrificing indulgence. The idea is that, even in a fast format, the customer feels they are experiencing a real moment, not just an act of consumption.

The food sector is evolving fast. How do you stay attuned to new trends without losing the essence of your original recipe?

You have to listen to trends without chasing all of them. The risk in the restaurant industry is wanting to follow every novelty and losing your backbone. At Tadao, we try instead to filter: what really brings something to the customer, to the product, to the experience?

The essential for us remains the same: freshness, personalization, quality, balance. If an evolution goes in that direction, we are interested. If it blurs the concept, we prefer to remain faithful to our DNA. Innovation must strengthen identity, not dilute it.

Between delivery platforms and online ordering, technology has also disrupted the restaurant industry. What place does it take today in the daily management of Tadao?

Technology has become essential. It plays a role in order-taking, delivery, loyalty, commercial steering, and even in reading the performance of a point of sale. Today, you cannot manage a modern restaurant network without these tools.

But you also have to maintain a form of lucidity: technology is a support, not the heart of the concept. It helps us to fluidify operations, to better understand the activity, to better serve the customer. On the other hand, it replaces neither product quality, nor operational rigor, nor the human experience on site.

Where do you see the Tadao brand in the next five years? Is Belgium your only geographical limit?

The ambition is clearly to continue growing Tadao, but in a coherent manner. The goal is not to open for the sake of opening. We want to build a solid, identifiable brand, capable of developing without losing what makes it strong today.

In the next five years, we can imagine Tadao as an even more structured brand, with a reinforced presence, a loyal community, and an ever more accomplished experience. Belgium is not necessarily a theoretical limit, but the priority remains to intelligently consolidate what exists and to grow at the right tempo. Growth only makes sense if it respects the requirements of the concept.