Elcio Zanatta built Aubergine Kitchen on a simple test most restaurants never apply: how do you feel after you eat? The founder joined Sean Kelly on the Digital Social Hour for episode 1910, a conversation about real food, energy, and what it takes to scale a restaurant brand without losing the standards that made it work.
Elcio shares how a single seminar changed the direction of his life, why his menu dropped seed oils and refined sugar long before either was a talking point, and why the company refused to sell soda. From there the conversation widens into purpose, family, AI, and why most restaurants do not survive their first five years.
About Elcio Zanatta
Elcio Zanatta opened the first Aubergine Kitchen as one small cafe and grew it into a fast-growing healthy restaurant brand largely on word of mouth — customers who felt the difference and came back. The rules were set early: real ingredients, no seed oils, no refined sugar, and no soda, even when those choices made the business harder to run.
He runs the company alongside his wife, and the episode digs into how they keep roles clear while building culture inside a growing team. Elcio also talks about using AI thoughtfully in the business and why asking better questions matters — though he keeps returning to the foundation: health, family, and contribution over money.
What Elcio Zanatta and Sean Kelly Talked About
- Why Elcio Zanatta says the best test of food is how you feel afterward
- How Aubergine Kitchen grew from one small cafe with almost no marketing
- Why he cut seed oils and refined sugar from the menu before it was trendy
- The reasoning behind refusing to sell soda in his restaurants
- Why most restaurants fail within five years — and how he built differently
- How working alongside his wife taught him to keep roles clear
- Where AI fits in his business and why asking better questions matters
- Why health, family, and contribution define success more than money
Why This Conversation Matters
Plenty of founders talk about purpose; fewer let it constrain the menu. Elcio Zanatta's story shows what it looks like when conviction about food quality becomes a durable business advantage rather than a limitation. If you care about nutrition, longevity, or building something meaningful, this episode earns its runtime.
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube
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About Sean Kelly & the Digital Social Hour
Sean Kelly is an entrepreneur and the host of the Digital Social Hour, one of the fastest-growing interview podcasts in the world, where he sits down with entrepreneurs, athletes, creators, and cultural voices for candid, long-form conversations. The show draws over 100 million views a month across platforms. Explore more guest features on SeanKelly.io.
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