#deborah vantrece

[noticias-dos-jornais]

American Express inaugurará o maior Centurion Lounge no Aeroporto Internacional de Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson

Em 14 de fevereiro, a American Express (NYSE: AXP) inaugurará um novo Centurion Lounge no Aeroporto Internacional de Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL) , o aeroporto mais movimentado do mundo. Com quase 26.000 pés quadrados, é o maior lounge da rede Centurion Lounge . O lounge apresenta um menu com inspiração local assinado pela chef Deborah VanTrece, de Atlanta, várias opções de assentos para os…

[reasoningdaily]

How Chef Deborah VanTrece Makes Some of the Most Unique Soul Food in Atlanta

[la-maison-hubert]

The food industry, like so many, is fast becoming a place where women are stepping into the spotlight in a traditionally male-dominated profession, sharpening their skills and setting a place at the table for future generations of females.

[wineanddinosaur]

Next Round: How Wine & Culture Fest Is Amplifying Unheard Voices

On this episode of “Next Round,” host Adam Teeter and Tahiirah Habibi, founder of the Hue Society, discuss Habibi’s passion for bringing diverse voices into the wine industry. Habibi, who is a sommelier and entrepreneur, breaks down her goal of helping Black voices feel heard and validated in conversations about wine and how she’s bringing this work to life in the upcoming Wine & Culture Fest.

Wine and Culture Fest is a three-day event that will be held in Atlanta, Habibi explains. Each day will bring unique experiences, events and celebrations that recognize historically marginalized groups and their contributions to the industry. In this episode, she walks through need-to-know event details, the role of education and how she’s putting fun at the forefront.

Give the episode a listen and visit https://www.wineandculturefest.com/ to learn more about the Wine and Culture Fest.

Listen Online 

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Or Check Out the Conversation Here 

Adam Teeter: From VinePair’s New York City headquarters, I’m Adam Teeter and this is a “Next Round” conversation. We’re bringing you these conversations between our regular podcast episodes to give you a better idea of what’s going on in the alcohol beverage landscape. Today, I’m talking with Tahiirah Habibi, the founder of the Hue Society and the Wine & Culture Fest, also a sommelier and just all-around amazing wine entrepreneur. Tahiirah, thank you so much for joining me.

Tahiirah Habibi: Thank you for having me. I’m super excited.

A: So, before we talk about the Wine and Culture Festival, which I’m super excited for, let’s talk about the Hue Society. What is the Hue Society? When did you start it? Give us the rundown.

T: So, Hue Society is a curated community that serves as a lifestyle hub for all things related to wine and culture in the sense of centering the Black voice. So, we do events and educational opportunities. We create access and resources for people who have been historically excluded from the conversations in wine. I founded this in 2017. It was actually a spinoff of a smaller company that I had founded when I was working in Miami. It’s really just about community. You know, the antithesis of capitalism is community. I feel like the wine space operates very much from a place of white male capitalistic endeavors. I just wanted to create something where people could see themselves and they knew they could come and be seen and heard and loved exactly as they are. I wanted them to know that they don’t have to engage in these violent, ugly, code-switching behaviors, where “I want this part of you, but not that part of you.” Those kinds of constructs.

A: That makes a ton of sense. So, at what point when you founded the Hue Society did you then also launch the Wine & Culture Fest?

T: Immediately.

A: OK, so were they ideas that happened at the same time? Almost?

T: When I launched Hue Society, like I said, it was me expanding the original company that I had founded, which was called Sipping Socials. And when I founded Sipping Socials, I founded it on the basis that I wanted to create something that people, particularly Black people, could learn from through our own experiences, because I know that’s how we learn. I know that that is culturally relevant to us, things that made sense where we don’t have to go into this other world. When I did that, it was very successful with Sipping Socials. But it was a smaller thing. When I decided I wanted to expand, I said, OK, I want to create a society. I want this to go across the nation. I want this to go across the world at some point, you know? One of the things, as far as being able to learn and celebrate through that lens is this festival. It was originally called the Black Wine Experience. I used to do it at the Essence Festival. Now it’s the Wine & Culture Fest because it has expanded, and it’s still Black-centered, but that doesn’t mean that it’s Black-exclusive. It has expanded so far. So it’s not just about Black people. There are all kinds of people that are coming to the festival. I think that it’s incredible, and it’s an incredible connection that you get to see how people are when they’re actually in their element and not in these stuffy-ass suits and these ridiculous things. There’s a time and place for it.

A: Yeah.

T: But the Wine & Culture Fest is culture, right? Culture can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. But the wine industry lacks culture.

A: Yes, it does.

T: That is what this is. The first events that I did, like I said, were called the Black Wine Experience, and I really centered Black winemakers, brands, importers, distributors, all of that, in the very high and upscale events. But I also centered the consumers.

A: And so when you were doing it at Essence Fest, how long did you do it at Essence Fest, and when did it sort of spin out and become what it is now? Did you do it prior to Covid? Was that the last time you did it at Essence? Just trying to remember.

T: Yes.

A: So will this be the first time it’s kind of standing alone?

T: Yeah. This is the first time that it has expanded this way. So, you know, at Essence we were still doing the Rose and Rosé Awards brunch, we did the tastings and all those things. But Essence is really expensive, and it’s difficult to get there. Hue Society is all about creating access and resources, So, I said, where can I move this that will be accessible for a ton of people to come and support and just be in community? Atlanta is a very easy hub.

A: It’s one of my favorite cities.

T: Right? It’s amazing. 2017 is when the Hue Society was founded. 2018 was the first Black Wine Experience.

A: OK.

T: Like, immediately. Then we did 2019, and we had planned 2020 out. I was in the thick of planning it, and obviously everything got canceled in 2020. I said, you know what, I’m not going to go back to Essence, I want to do something different this year. Now it’s in Atlanta. This is the first year it’ll be in Atlanta. And I’m really excited about that because it is also a very culturally rich city.

A: Totally. With the festival in its form that it’s taken now, how have you conceived of it? There’s so much happening at this festival. You have this incredible cookout that’s happening on a Friday night. Then, you have this really cool event with R.I.C.E, which is also centering rice dishes from around the world and why, which I think is so super cool. Then, a crazy afterparty. Also, there’s a lot of partying going on. I don’t know, I’m coming. I don’t know if I’m gonna have the stamina. Then there’s the Roses and Rosé awards brunch. Like, there’s so much. First of all, how are you doing it all? And what was the overall vision for what the weekend has become?

T: You know, to answer your question about how I’m doing it all, I used to do this by myself. I learned very quickly that in order for me to scale as an entrepreneur and as a leader, I had to hire help. So, I hired help. That’s how I’m doing it.

A: OK. Good.

T: If I can give you one tip on trying to be a boss, hire people to do the things so that you can go and make money. That’s it. But yeah, like you said, there’s three very distinct days. I did that intentionally because, again, I think that sometimes, we get stuck into being a monolith. I wanted to show, from a cultural perspective, just how dope we are. So, Friday is the cookout. That is centered around Black wine because I needed one day for us where we can just still be able to celebrate and showcase our brands.That doesn’t just include wine brands that are made by Black people or something like that. It’s executives, brand ambassadors, these people who are very integral in making sure that brands are successful. That’s what Friday is about. This is the cookout. It’s a super-laid back, dope event. Saturday is almost like a reclamation for me. R.I.C.E. When you talk about rice, we’re talking about something that crosses cultural lines. Most cultures cook rice in some capacity. Then, we’re talking about socio economics as well. Rice is a very inexpensive dish. Even people who are in poverty to people who are affluent eat rice in some capacity. You talk about fancy sushi dishes, you talk about rice and honey for people who live in the hood, where I’m from. Right?

A: Right.

T: The most fascinating thing about R.I.C.E to me and why I really wanted to do this event, and it’s an acronym, it stands for rising in community everyday. But more importantly, rice was the first grain that enslaved people farmed when they came over here. Everyone thinks about cotton. Rice is what really put the economy on the map in America while it was forming, and through that, free labor. Also, it jumpstarted a lot of the exportation into other places. In South Carolina, we do South Carolina gold rice.

A: Yeah.

T: We’re gonna have some real conversations around that, but also, we get to see how it has expanded in the world and the different cultural dishes and their takes on rice and how they make it. I just think that it is such an incredible event. We’ll have a bubble room there, too, where we have bubbles from around the world. It’s a super-cool activation. We have a live band and we’re having an afterparty. And it’s just a super-fun event, but it’s also really educational as well.

A: Yeah. So during R.I.C.E, there’s a lot of panels that you’re doing, right? So, who are some of the people that are speaking, and what can we expect to hear from them?

T: We’re doing a panel with chef Todd Richards and chef Deborah Vantrece. They’re local chefs here from Atlanta, but they are renowned chefs. They’re James Beard affiliated. They’re incredible humans as well. And we’re also bringing in Alex from Just Add Hot Sauce, and she’s an up-and-coming chef. She’s younger. She’s going to moderate the panel. I just think this is going to be such a great dynamic and conversation, really about food culture and wine culture. Right? Like, how we always leave our community to go pair wines.

A: Yeah.

T: We don’t pair wines with the things that we actually eat at home. We’re asked these questions. You don’t think about soul food and wine. You don’t think about Caribbean food with wine. We just really need to crack that conversation open.

A: I love that that’s why you’re doing it. We talk about that a lot at VinePair. Why does this wine always go with this French cheese and this steak preparation and whatever in terms of the only thing that can be paired with wine when that’s not what the majority of us eat. That’s not American food culture, right? That’s a very Eurocentric, white food culture that we’re talking about. This event, I’m probably — well, I’m actually pretty excited for the cookout, I’m not going to lie — but, I’m also very excited for this event because I think it’s so cool that you are going to not only be centering this cuisine, but also educating a lot of people about it and making it OK for people to say, I want to talk about my community and my food with wine. You know, I don’t want to have to only talk about this one community that the overall wine industry has said is the correct way to talk about pairings. I think that it’s going to be super cool. So then, how does the bubble room fit into this? Is it sort of just on top of it, where you’re going to be doing bubble education and things like that throughout the event?

T: So it’s literally a room.

A: OK.

T: It’s a glass room. When you walk in, you’re going to feel like you’re walking into a bottle of bubbles.

A: OK.

T: It’s one of my signature activations that we’ve done, and it’s so cool. First of all, it’s a great photo opportunity. But more importantly, it also tackles the misconceptions about bubbles.

A: Right.

T: That’s a big thing for people. It causes anxiety, and it doesn’t have to. Bubbles are pretty simple. It’s really geographical. Once you start figuring that out and you can see for yourself, OK, Cava comes from Spain, but Cava can also be made the same way as Champagne. Champagne is only from Champagne, France. Those things start to click. I love doing education. This is how I’ve always done education with all of the organizations that I’ve founded. I love doing education through experiences and not forcing things down your throat, particularly with wine. Wine is such an easily intimidating thing. You have all these languages, all these words you’ve never seen. No one likes to feel stupid. No one wants to put themselves out there. And then, you have somms, who are just jackasses who enjoy making people feel stupid. And it’s just like, we don’t have to do that. We can learn how to do this. You can read this on your own. You can taste these things. That’s really how you learn wine, from tasting. If I’m telling you that Cava can be made the same way in the same method as Champagne and you’re able to taste those side by side and you can see those similarities, but know that they’re from different places, that’s an easy education and it’s enjoyable.

A: Yeah, I think that’s super cool. And then the blind wine tasting that’s happening as well, is that, again, education around just blind tasting and how that works?

T: Well, you know, this is kind of me tapping into somms and our egos with, you know, who’s the champ here? Who’s getting the belt? Who’s going to win that prize?

A: So is there going to be a competition?

T: Yeah. There is actually a competition between professionals. That’s the first thing. Then, throughout the day, we made it so that anybody can jump in to compete and test their knowledge as a fun thing for the community to do. There’s a monetary prize for the competition. You know, Wine Folly is in on it. We’re giving out a scholarship from the WSET. It’s real out here.

A: That’s awesome. Then, the final day is the big Roses and Rosé awards brunch. What do we expect from that event and how long have you been doing the awards brunch now, because you started it when you were doing it at Essence Fest, correct?

T: Yeah. So this will be the third year.

A: OK.

T: I started this because, again, we didn’t see us in the space. So, I looked up and I’m like, so you’re telling me there’s not a single Black and Brown brand that deserves to be celebrated at these white awards brunches? Are you telling me that? Or, are you telling me that you get to cherry pick who you have political connections with or who’s palatable to you?

A: Right.

T: A lot of times, Black and Brown brands don’t even get through the door because you don’t like the label. It’s economics again. A lot of people are bootstrapping. We don’t get the loans. We don’t get those things. So, I really just wanted to create something where we can be celebrated and amplified, and I wanted to be able to give people their flowers while they’re here. That’s why it’s called Roses and Rosé. So the brunch is Sunday. It’s going to be amazing. We’re doing an awards show. We’re livestreaming the award show to Facebook. It has two components this year. We’re really honing in on the legends of the space — people who have been doing this work for years and years, who’ve never really been celebrated the way they deserve. So you have Dorothy Gaiter, Brown Estate. We have Iris Rideau, who was the first Black woman to open up a tasting bar in the country. These people who paved the way for us to even be here and be doing things are being celebrated as legends. Those awards, next year, will be named after them.

A: Oh, that’s really cool. That’s really awesome.

T: Yeah. Every one of them cried, and I said, I didn’t even think about it that way. I just really wanted to celebrate them. The fact that it touched them so much and they literally cried and were just like, “Thank you for seeing me,” that’s literally all I needed. Then, we’re doing fresh faces, which brings in the new group, the newcomers, the people who are coming in. These are people who just got into the industry and are trying to make a name for themselves. They deserve to be recognized because we push the trends. We push the cultures forward. We need to be paying attention to who is doing what. I’m super excited about that. And then afterwards, like you said, there’s lots of partying.

A: Yeah, I love it.

T: We’re going to the roof. We’re doing a rosé lounge up on the roof. It’s just a day party with a DJ, and we’re just gonna vibe out and celebrate with each other. This whole thing is really just a love fest. That’s just what I keep saying, because it’s a love fest. It’s not just for Black people. It’s what a community should look like. It’s the standard. This is the new standard. This is what we can look like if we come from an equitable, non-traumatic space and just celebrate each other. I think that that is incredible. I mean, VinePair is up for an award, by the way. I don’t know if you saw it.

A: I mean, I didn’t want to make it about VinePair. We’re very honored. Look, we’re coming down with five staff members. We are pumped for this. I have to tell you, I’ve never been this excited about a wine festival because, as you said, a lot of them are really boring and are just not about fun. It’s much more about pretension. Who are you going to see? How are you going to interact? I will tell you, I just got a little nervous because I was looking at the Roses and Rosé Awards brunch, and I did see the attire of nude, pink, and red and was like, I don’t know what I have. I gotta figure it out.

T: Oh, wear what you have. It’s not that serious.

A: Should I wear a tux?

T: Oh my god, I would die laughing if you wore a tux. Wear what you wanna wear!

A: I think it’s just super cool what you’re doing.

T: Thank you.

A: This entire event, it just makes so much sense. It’s so needed. Where you’re doing it makes so much sense. It’s this city that, again, we say this a lot. but I don’t get why the producers in wine ignore all these other cities that have amazing wine cultures. These cities have people who are really excited. So, putting the spotlight on Atlanta, the largest city in the South, just makes so much sense. I think this thing is just going to be amazing.

T: I’m super excited.

A: So how many people are you expecting?

T: We cut back because we want to be responsible with Covid, even if Atlanta’s still open, we cut back. Some events will only have 100 to 150 people;150 is almost the max. City Winery can hold a great amount of people and we have almost the entire space except for the basement. Even so, we cut back and we’re very conscious of Covid. We want people to be safe and comfortable. A lot of events are outdoors, which was very intentional as well. The numbers don’t really matter to me. If the numbers are not outrageous this year, that’s fine with me because at least people are safe.

A: So, how are you navigating it? Especially in the last few weeks, everything has changed so much. Probably, when you were really thinking about this in the spring, it felt like we were going to get past this thing.

T: It did.

A: And now we have Delta and people are starting to sort of freak out again. So, as an entrepreneur, how are you and your team thinking about Covid?

T: When we saw the numbers starting to rise, like I said, we put a cap on the number of tickets that could be sold. Then, we started rearranging seating and all the rest of the stuff. We put some protocols in place. So, with City Winery, for instance, everybody has to have either a negative Covid test from 72 hours prior or be vaccinated. You have to show proof of one or the other. If you get to the door and you don’t have either, we’ve made it even easier. We’re giving rapid tests.

A: Wow. OK.

T: We’re just really trying to make sure.

A: Yeah, I mean, you’ve got to, right. You’ve got to be as safe as possible. And the cookout’s outside on the roof?

T: The cookout’s outside. But even so, we’re still encouraging people to get Covid tests and, if you’re not vaccinated, at least show us that you want to be in the space with humans.

A: Right. Totally.

T: You’re entitled to whatever you think. Those are your rights, and I’m not pushing anything on anybody but safety. I am going to push safety on people because I will not be responsible for having an event that’s spreading a deadly virus. I don’t feel comfortable with that, obviously.

A: Totally. So, where are people coming from? Are they coming from all over the country?

T: Yes. This room block has sold out four times now.

A: That’s awesome.

T: People are definitely traveling in. I really would love to get the locals to ramp it up because the days are almost sold out. Once they’re done, like I said, that’s kind of it until next year. Definitely lots of traveling guests, and I’m super excited that everybody gets to see and meet each other, finally, and just be in support and community together. No competition. Yes, it’s an awards brunch, but at the end of the day, we’re all validated because we’re all supporting each other, and that’s what it’s centered around. So, I’m super excited about that.

A: Very cool. Well, look, I’m really excited for this. I think we’re going to have to probably do another episode afterwards where we recap what happened.

T: Yeah.

A: People have to know what went down. I can’t wait to hang out with you in Atlanta. This is going to be so much fun.

T: Yes. Thank you so much for all of your support. I told you before, I totally respect your work and VinePair. I absolutely love what you guys are doing. You guys were ahead of the curve prior to 2020 when everybody decided, let’s jump on this bandwagon. It wasn’t a bandwagon for you. I always had a lot of respect for that and the work that you guys do.

A: Thank you so much. That really means a lot. We love supporting you and what you’re doing and all of these other amazing initiatives.

Thanks so much for listening to the “VinePair Podcast.” If you love this show as much as we love making it, please give us a rating on review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever it is you get your podcasts. It really helps everyone else discover the show.

Now, for the credits. VinePair is produced and recorded in New York City and Seattle, Washington, by myself and Zach Geballe, who does all the editing and loves to get the credit. Also, I would love to give a special shout-out to my VinePair co-founder, Josh Malin, for helping make all this possible and also to Keith Beavers, VinePair’s tastings director, who is additionally a producer on the show. I also want to, of course, thank every other member of the VinePair team who are instrumental in all of the ideas that go into making the show every week. Thanks so much for listening, and we’ll see you again.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article Next Round: How Wine & Culture Fest Is Amplifying Unheard Voices appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/next-round-tahiirah-habibi-hue-society/

[johnboothus]

Next Round: How Wine & Culture Fest Is Amplifying Unheard Voices

On this episode of “Next Round,” host Adam Teeter and Tahiirah Habibi, founder of the Hue Society, discuss Habibi’s passion for bringing diverse voices into the wine industry. Habibi, who is a sommelier and entrepreneur, breaks down her goal of helping Black voices feel heard and validated in conversations about wine and how she’s bringing this work to life in the upcoming Wine & Culture Fest.

Wine and Culture Fest is a three-day event that will be held in Atlanta, Habibi explains. Each day will bring unique experiences, events and celebrations that recognize historically marginalized groups and their contributions to the industry. In this episode, she walks through need-to-know event details, the role of education and how she’s putting fun at the forefront.

Give the episode a listen and visit https://www.wineandculturefest.com/ to learn more about the Wine and Culture Fest.

Listen Online 

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Or Check Out the Conversation Here 

Adam Teeter: From VinePair’s New York City headquarters, I’m Adam Teeter and this is a “Next Round” conversation. We’re bringing you these conversations between our regular podcast episodes to give you a better idea of what’s going on in the alcohol beverage landscape. Today, I’m talking with Tahiirah Habibi, the founder of the Hue Society and the Wine & Culture Fest, also a sommelier and just all-around amazing wine entrepreneur. Tahiirah, thank you so much for joining me.

Tahiirah Habibi: Thank you for having me. I’m super excited.

A: So, before we talk about the Wine and Culture Festival, which I’m super excited for, let’s talk about the Hue Society. What is the Hue Society? When did you start it? Give us the rundown.

T: So, Hue Society is a curated community that serves as a lifestyle hub for all things related to wine and culture in the sense of centering the Black voice. So, we do events and educational opportunities. We create access and resources for people who have been historically excluded from the conversations in wine. I founded this in 2017. It was actually a spinoff of a smaller company that I had founded when I was working in Miami. It’s really just about community. You know, the antithesis of capitalism is community. I feel like the wine space operates very much from a place of white male capitalistic endeavors. I just wanted to create something where people could see themselves and they knew they could come and be seen and heard and loved exactly as they are. I wanted them to know that they don’t have to engage in these violent, ugly, code-switching behaviors, where “I want this part of you, but not that part of you.” Those kinds of constructs.

A: That makes a ton of sense. So, at what point when you founded the Hue Society did you then also launch the Wine & Culture Fest?

T: Immediately.

A: OK, so were they ideas that happened at the same time? Almost?

T: When I launched Hue Society, like I said, it was me expanding the original company that I had founded, which was called Sipping Socials. And when I founded Sipping Socials, I founded it on the basis that I wanted to create something that people, particularly Black people, could learn from through our own experiences, because I know that’s how we learn. I know that that is culturally relevant to us, things that made sense where we don’t have to go into this other world. When I did that, it was very successful with Sipping Socials. But it was a smaller thing. When I decided I wanted to expand, I said, OK, I want to create a society. I want this to go across the nation. I want this to go across the world at some point, you know? One of the things, as far as being able to learn and celebrate through that lens is this festival. It was originally called the Black Wine Experience. I used to do it at the Essence Festival. Now it’s the Wine & Culture Fest because it has expanded, and it’s still Black-centered, but that doesn’t mean that it’s Black-exclusive. It has expanded so far. So it’s not just about Black people. There are all kinds of people that are coming to the festival. I think that it’s incredible, and it’s an incredible connection that you get to see how people are when they’re actually in their element and not in these stuffy-ass suits and these ridiculous things. There’s a time and place for it.

A: Yeah.

T: But the Wine & Culture Fest is culture, right? Culture can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. But the wine industry lacks culture.

A: Yes, it does.

T: That is what this is. The first events that I did, like I said, were called the Black Wine Experience, and I really centered Black winemakers, brands, importers, distributors, all of that, in the very high and upscale events. But I also centered the consumers.

A: And so when you were doing it at Essence Fest, how long did you do it at Essence Fest, and when did it sort of spin out and become what it is now? Did you do it prior to Covid? Was that the last time you did it at Essence? Just trying to remember.

T: Yes.

A: So will this be the first time it’s kind of standing alone?

T: Yeah. This is the first time that it has expanded this way. So, you know, at Essence we were still doing the Rose and Rosé Awards brunch, we did the tastings and all those things. But Essence is really expensive, and it’s difficult to get there. Hue Society is all about creating access and resources, So, I said, where can I move this that will be accessible for a ton of people to come and support and just be in community? Atlanta is a very easy hub.

A: It’s one of my favorite cities.

T: Right? It’s amazing. 2017 is when the Hue Society was founded. 2018 was the first Black Wine Experience.

A: OK.

T: Like, immediately. Then we did 2019, and we had planned 2020 out. I was in the thick of planning it, and obviously everything got canceled in 2020. I said, you know what, I’m not going to go back to Essence, I want to do something different this year. Now it’s in Atlanta. This is the first year it’ll be in Atlanta. And I’m really excited about that because it is also a very culturally rich city.

A: Totally. With the festival in its form that it’s taken now, how have you conceived of it? There’s so much happening at this festival. You have this incredible cookout that’s happening on a Friday night. Then, you have this really cool event with R.I.C.E, which is also centering rice dishes from around the world and why, which I think is so super cool. Then, a crazy afterparty. Also, there’s a lot of partying going on. I don’t know, I’m coming. I don’t know if I’m gonna have the stamina. Then there’s the Roses and Rosé awards brunch. Like, there’s so much. First of all, how are you doing it all? And what was the overall vision for what the weekend has become?

T: You know, to answer your question about how I’m doing it all, I used to do this by myself. I learned very quickly that in order for me to scale as an entrepreneur and as a leader, I had to hire help. So, I hired help. That’s how I’m doing it.

A: OK. Good.

T: If I can give you one tip on trying to be a boss, hire people to do the things so that you can go and make money. That’s it. But yeah, like you said, there’s three very distinct days. I did that intentionally because, again, I think that sometimes, we get stuck into being a monolith. I wanted to show, from a cultural perspective, just how dope we are. So, Friday is the cookout. That is centered around Black wine because I needed one day for us where we can just still be able to celebrate and showcase our brands.That doesn’t just include wine brands that are made by Black people or something like that. It’s executives, brand ambassadors, these people who are very integral in making sure that brands are successful. That’s what Friday is about. This is the cookout. It’s a super-laid back, dope event. Saturday is almost like a reclamation for me. R.I.C.E. When you talk about rice, we’re talking about something that crosses cultural lines. Most cultures cook rice in some capacity. Then, we’re talking about socio economics as well. Rice is a very inexpensive dish. Even people who are in poverty to people who are affluent eat rice in some capacity. You talk about fancy sushi dishes, you talk about rice and honey for people who live in the hood, where I’m from. Right?

A: Right.

T: The most fascinating thing about R.I.C.E to me and why I really wanted to do this event, and it’s an acronym, it stands for rising in community everyday. But more importantly, rice was the first grain that enslaved people farmed when they came over here. Everyone thinks about cotton. Rice is what really put the economy on the map in America while it was forming, and through that, free labor. Also, it jumpstarted a lot of the exportation into other places. In South Carolina, we do South Carolina gold rice.

A: Yeah.

T: We’re gonna have some real conversations around that, but also, we get to see how it has expanded in the world and the different cultural dishes and their takes on rice and how they make it. I just think that it is such an incredible event. We’ll have a bubble room there, too, where we have bubbles from around the world. It’s a super-cool activation. We have a live band and we’re having an afterparty. And it’s just a super-fun event, but it’s also really educational as well.

A: Yeah. So during R.I.C.E, there’s a lot of panels that you’re doing, right? So, who are some of the people that are speaking, and what can we expect to hear from them?

T: We’re doing a panel with chef Todd Richards and chef Deborah Vantrece. They’re local chefs here from Atlanta, but they are renowned chefs. They’re James Beard affiliated. They’re incredible humans as well. And we’re also bringing in Alex from Just Add Hot Sauce, and she’s an up-and-coming chef. She’s younger. She’s going to moderate the panel. I just think this is going to be such a great dynamic and conversation, really about food culture and wine culture. Right? Like, how we always leave our community to go pair wines.

A: Yeah.

T: We don’t pair wines with the things that we actually eat at home. We’re asked these questions. You don’t think about soul food and wine. You don’t think about Caribbean food with wine. We just really need to crack that conversation open.

A: I love that that’s why you’re doing it. We talk about that a lot at VinePair. Why does this wine always go with this French cheese and this steak preparation and whatever in terms of the only thing that can be paired with wine when that’s not what the majority of us eat. That’s not American food culture, right? That’s a very Eurocentric, white food culture that we’re talking about. This event, I’m probably — well, I’m actually pretty excited for the cookout, I’m not going to lie — but, I’m also very excited for this event because I think it’s so cool that you are going to not only be centering this cuisine, but also educating a lot of people about it and making it OK for people to say, I want to talk about my community and my food with wine. You know, I don’t want to have to only talk about this one community that the overall wine industry has said is the correct way to talk about pairings. I think that it’s going to be super cool. So then, how does the bubble room fit into this? Is it sort of just on top of it, where you’re going to be doing bubble education and things like that throughout the event?

T: So it’s literally a room.

A: OK.

T: It’s a glass room. When you walk in, you’re going to feel like you’re walking into a bottle of bubbles.

A: OK.

T: It’s one of my signature activations that we’ve done, and it’s so cool. First of all, it’s a great photo opportunity. But more importantly, it also tackles the misconceptions about bubbles.

A: Right.

T: That’s a big thing for people. It causes anxiety, and it doesn’t have to. Bubbles are pretty simple. It’s really geographical. Once you start figuring that out and you can see for yourself, OK, Cava comes from Spain, but Cava can also be made the same way as Champagne. Champagne is only from Champagne, France. Those things start to click. I love doing education. This is how I’ve always done education with all of the organizations that I’ve founded. I love doing education through experiences and not forcing things down your throat, particularly with wine. Wine is such an easily intimidating thing. You have all these languages, all these words you’ve never seen. No one likes to feel stupid. No one wants to put themselves out there. And then, you have somms, who are just jackasses who enjoy making people feel stupid. And it’s just like, we don’t have to do that. We can learn how to do this. You can read this on your own. You can taste these things. That’s really how you learn wine, from tasting. If I’m telling you that Cava can be made the same way in the same method as Champagne and you’re able to taste those side by side and you can see those similarities, but know that they’re from different places, that’s an easy education and it’s enjoyable.

A: Yeah, I think that’s super cool. And then the blind wine tasting that’s happening as well, is that, again, education around just blind tasting and how that works?

T: Well, you know, this is kind of me tapping into somms and our egos with, you know, who’s the champ here? Who’s getting the belt? Who’s going to win that prize?

A: So is there going to be a competition?

T: Yeah. There is actually a competition between professionals. That’s the first thing. Then, throughout the day, we made it so that anybody can jump in to compete and test their knowledge as a fun thing for the community to do. There’s a monetary prize for the competition. You know, Wine Folly is in on it. We’re giving out a scholarship from the WSET. It’s real out here.

A: That’s awesome. Then, the final day is the big Roses and Rosé awards brunch. What do we expect from that event and how long have you been doing the awards brunch now, because you started it when you were doing it at Essence Fest, correct?

T: Yeah. So this will be the third year.

A: OK.

T: I started this because, again, we didn’t see us in the space. So, I looked up and I’m like, so you’re telling me there’s not a single Black and Brown brand that deserves to be celebrated at these white awards brunches? Are you telling me that? Or, are you telling me that you get to cherry pick who you have political connections with or who’s palatable to you?

A: Right.

T: A lot of times, Black and Brown brands don’t even get through the door because you don’t like the label. It’s economics again. A lot of people are bootstrapping. We don’t get the loans. We don’t get those things. So, I really just wanted to create something where we can be celebrated and amplified, and I wanted to be able to give people their flowers while they’re here. That’s why it’s called Roses and Rosé. So the brunch is Sunday. It’s going to be amazing. We’re doing an awards show. We’re livestreaming the award show to Facebook. It has two components this year. We’re really honing in on the legends of the space — people who have been doing this work for years and years, who’ve never really been celebrated the way they deserve. So you have Dorothy Gaiter, Brown Estate. We have Iris Rideau, who was the first Black woman to open up a tasting bar in the country. These people who paved the way for us to even be here and be doing things are being celebrated as legends. Those awards, next year, will be named after them.

A: Oh, that’s really cool. That’s really awesome.

T: Yeah. Every one of them cried, and I said, I didn’t even think about it that way. I just really wanted to celebrate them. The fact that it touched them so much and they literally cried and were just like, “Thank you for seeing me,” that’s literally all I needed. Then, we’re doing fresh faces, which brings in the new group, the newcomers, the people who are coming in. These are people who just got into the industry and are trying to make a name for themselves. They deserve to be recognized because we push the trends. We push the cultures forward. We need to be paying attention to who is doing what. I’m super excited about that. And then afterwards, like you said, there’s lots of partying.

A: Yeah, I love it.

T: We’re going to the roof. We’re doing a rosé lounge up on the roof. It’s just a day party with a DJ, and we’re just gonna vibe out and celebrate with each other. This whole thing is really just a love fest. That’s just what I keep saying, because it’s a love fest. It’s not just for Black people. It’s what a community should look like. It’s the standard. This is the new standard. This is what we can look like if we come from an equitable, non-traumatic space and just celebrate each other. I think that that is incredible. I mean, VinePair is up for an award, by the way. I don’t know if you saw it.

A: I mean, I didn’t want to make it about VinePair. We’re very honored. Look, we’re coming down with five staff members. We are pumped for this. I have to tell you, I’ve never been this excited about a wine festival because, as you said, a lot of them are really boring and are just not about fun. It’s much more about pretension. Who are you going to see? How are you going to interact? I will tell you, I just got a little nervous because I was looking at the Roses and Rosé Awards brunch, and I did see the attire of nude, pink, and red and was like, I don’t know what I have. I gotta figure it out.

T: Oh, wear what you have. It’s not that serious.

A: Should I wear a tux?

T: Oh my god, I would die laughing if you wore a tux. Wear what you wanna wear!

A: I think it’s just super cool what you’re doing.

T: Thank you.

A: This entire event, it just makes so much sense. It’s so needed. Where you’re doing it makes so much sense. It’s this city that, again, we say this a lot. but I don’t get why the producers in wine ignore all these other cities that have amazing wine cultures. These cities have people who are really excited. So, putting the spotlight on Atlanta, the largest city in the South, just makes so much sense. I think this thing is just going to be amazing.

T: I’m super excited.

A: So how many people are you expecting?

T: We cut back because we want to be responsible with Covid, even if Atlanta’s still open, we cut back. Some events will only have 100 to 150 people;150 is almost the max. City Winery can hold a great amount of people and we have almost the entire space except for the basement. Even so, we cut back and we’re very conscious of Covid. We want people to be safe and comfortable. A lot of events are outdoors, which was very intentional as well. The numbers don’t really matter to me. If the numbers are not outrageous this year, that’s fine with me because at least people are safe.

A: So, how are you navigating it? Especially in the last few weeks, everything has changed so much. Probably, when you were really thinking about this in the spring, it felt like we were going to get past this thing.

T: It did.

A: And now we have Delta and people are starting to sort of freak out again. So, as an entrepreneur, how are you and your team thinking about Covid?

T: When we saw the numbers starting to rise, like I said, we put a cap on the number of tickets that could be sold. Then, we started rearranging seating and all the rest of the stuff. We put some protocols in place. So, with City Winery, for instance, everybody has to have either a negative Covid test from 72 hours prior or be vaccinated. You have to show proof of one or the other. If you get to the door and you don’t have either, we’ve made it even easier. We’re giving rapid tests.

A: Wow. OK.

T: We’re just really trying to make sure.

A: Yeah, I mean, you’ve got to, right. You’ve got to be as safe as possible. And the cookout’s outside on the roof?

T: The cookout’s outside. But even so, we’re still encouraging people to get Covid tests and, if you’re not vaccinated, at least show us that you want to be in the space with humans.

A: Right. Totally.

T: You’re entitled to whatever you think. Those are your rights, and I’m not pushing anything on anybody but safety. I am going to push safety on people because I will not be responsible for having an event that’s spreading a deadly virus. I don’t feel comfortable with that, obviously.

A: Totally. So, where are people coming from? Are they coming from all over the country?

T: Yes. This room block has sold out four times now.

A: That’s awesome.

T: People are definitely traveling in. I really would love to get the locals to ramp it up because the days are almost sold out. Once they’re done, like I said, that’s kind of it until next year. Definitely lots of traveling guests, and I’m super excited that everybody gets to see and meet each other, finally, and just be in support and community together. No competition. Yes, it’s an awards brunch, but at the end of the day, we’re all validated because we’re all supporting each other, and that’s what it’s centered around. So, I’m super excited about that.

A: Very cool. Well, look, I’m really excited for this. I think we’re going to have to probably do another episode afterwards where we recap what happened.

T: Yeah.

A: People have to know what went down. I can’t wait to hang out with you in Atlanta. This is going to be so much fun.

T: Yes. Thank you so much for all of your support. I told you before, I totally respect your work and VinePair. I absolutely love what you guys are doing. You guys were ahead of the curve prior to 2020 when everybody decided, let’s jump on this bandwagon. It wasn’t a bandwagon for you. I always had a lot of respect for that and the work that you guys do.

A: Thank you so much. That really means a lot. We love supporting you and what you’re doing and all of these other amazing initiatives.

Thanks so much for listening to the “VinePair Podcast.” If you love this show as much as we love making it, please give us a rating on review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever it is you get your podcasts. It really helps everyone else discover the show.

Now, for the credits. VinePair is produced and recorded in New York City and Seattle, Washington, by myself and Zach Geballe, who does all the editing and loves to get the credit. Also, I would love to give a special shout-out to my VinePair co-founder, Josh Malin, for helping make all this possible and also to Keith Beavers, VinePair’s tastings director, who is additionally a producer on the show. I also want to, of course, thank every other member of the VinePair team who are instrumental in all of the ideas that go into making the show every week. Thanks so much for listening, and we’ll see you again.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article Next Round: How Wine & Culture Fest Is Amplifying Unheard Voices appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/next-round-tahiirah-habibi-hue-society/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/next-round-how-wine-culture-fest-is-amplifying-unheard-voices

[bellabooks]

Five good (and gay) things that happened this week: 5/19-5/25

Happy Friday! We’ve got a jam-packed good and and gay list for you this week.   1. Charmed reboot trailer drops, is charming. After much buzz (and some controversy), the CW gave audiences a first look at the Charmed reboot that will be airing Sundays this fall. We meet the three sisters as their magical powers are being unleashed and they struggle to make sense of their mother’s mysterious death. Mel, played by Melonie Diaz, is the middle sister and an out lesbian.     2. Freelancer’s Anonymous gets its first trailer too. The new women in stem inspired film, Freelancers Anonymous, dropped its first official trailer before it premieres at the InsideOut Fest in Toronto. Directed by Sonia Sebastian (Chica Busca Chica) and written by Amy Dellagiarino and Lisa Cordileone, the film stars Cordileone as Billie, a lesbian in tech who up and quits her job right before her wedding to fiancée Gayle (Natasha Negovanlis), and creates a startup with a group of other freelancers she’s just met and recruited.   A post shared by Erika Nakamura (@thebutcherette) on May 16, 2018 at 5:27pm PDT 3. Queer chef couples gets some love from the New York Times. Out chefs Rita Sodi, Deborah VanTrece, Jocelyn Guest, Lorraine Lane, Jody Williams and Erika Nakamura were featured this week in the NYT for their groundbreaking approach to food and the service industry. These couples are changing the game and you can find out how.     4. The trailer for the Sense8 finale is action packed. We found out this week that the 2 hour Sense8 finale will be happening on June 8th, and Netflix also released the first full trailer of the event. The Sense8s (plus Amanita) become even closer as they race to save one of their own.     Source: DC Comics 5. Batwoman joins the DCTV universe this fall. At the CW upfronts, it was announced that Batwoman (aka Kate Kane) would be joining the DC superhero shows in a crossover event. In her latest comic book incarnation, Kate Kane is an out lesbian who like Batman, is inspired to take up the mantle of justice. There’s no word yet, but fans are already speculating that this could mean that Batwoman might have her own show or at least be integrated into the cast of an existing show. http://dlvr.it/QTJ9zt

[deafeninggladiatormoon]

The Twisted Soul Cookbook: Modern Soul Food with Global Flavors

The Twisted Soul Cookbook: Modern Soul Food with Global Flavors

Price: (as of – Details) Invigorating authentic Southern soul cooking with new inspiration, acclaimed chef Deborah VanTrece elevates classic comfort food into unique, surprising dishes worth celebrating. Deborah VanTrece’s Kansas City roots, wide travel, and celebrated career in Atlanta have gifted her with a uniquely rich way with food–keeping soulful recipes fresh and fun while honoring…

[foodtellsastory]

By Atlanta Chef Deborah VanTrece!

[easyfoodnetwork]

Can Restaurants Survive Shutting Down Again?

Restaurants may close again | Ben Gabbe/Getty Images

Closing dining rooms once cost a lot of money, but closing twice could be even worse

At Twisted Soul Cookhouse and Pours in Atlanta, masked servers whisk plates draped in plastic to socially distanced tables separated by plastic screens, all beneath the hum of a ventilation system upgraded with UV filtration. Excess tables and chairs, including all bar seating, have been removed. An employee at the door provides complimentary masks to customers who arrive without them.

Twisted Soul chef and owner Deborah VanTrece has gone above and beyond recommended safety measures, a stark contrast to leadership in Georgia. Gov. Brian Kemp allowed restaurants to return to full indoor capacity on June 16, and the state has since seen surges in COVID-19 cases. VanTrece has provided a safer space at Twisted Soul, but it’s come at a cost: $5,000 to sanitize the building and install filtration systems, over $3,000 on partitions, daily costs for masks and hand sanitizer, and the emotional burden of dealing with combative customers who refuse to wear masks.

Those costs have forced VanTrece to consider closing the dining room and returning entirely to carryout, but sacrificing dine-in business doesn’t seem financially feasible either. The longer she and the team can hold out, the better the restaurant’s chances of surviving in the coming months, no matter how the health crisis unfolds.

“We’re praying we can keep going with the dining room open, but we’re also trying to prepare ourselves for the possibility that that might not be the reality,” VanTrece says. While daily costs of operating a COVID-era restaurant are significant, she describes dining room service as a financial Band-Aid. “It doesn’t cover the whole wound, but we’re not bleeding as quickly.”

VanTrece is just one of many chefs and restaurant owners across the country facing a second closure, either by choice or government mandate, amid rebounding cases of COVID-19. Officials in some areas have rolled back reopening plans and closed dining rooms. Other cities and states could follow if the pandemic continues unchecked.

View this post on Instagram

Here’s a look at some of the precautions we are taking to keep you safe while dining with us! Each table has been carefully placed six feet apart and is enclosed with partitioning screens. We have also installed a UV filtration system in our air conditioning unit that will be continuously cleaning all air that circulates throughout the dining room. We look forward to seeing you soon! ❤️

A post shared by Twisted Soul (@twistedsoulcookhouse) on Jun 17, 2020 at 8:19am PDT

In New York, where Mayor Bill de Blasio nixed plans to allow indoor dining in June, Popina co-owner James O’Brien fears a second closure could be a death knell. After closing the restaurant’s dining room on March 25, he says the team tried focusing on takeout for about a week. But delivery didn’t provide enough business for the pasta-heavy outfit, especially since the restaurant operates delivery through its own website rather than a third-party platform. Like other restaurateurs turned grocers, the Popina team shifted toward offering pantry goods (including a cook-at-home pasta kit) and wine from their closed dining room.

Since the restaurant’s backyard reopened on June 24, 90 percent of business has come from outdoor dining, providing a glimmer of hope that the business can survive. If the restaurant can make enough money during the summer, before shutting down the patio sometime in the fall or winter, O’Brien says he might take a pay cut, reduce staff, and offer takeout through third parties to keep the restaurant going. But if an order to shut down comes sooner, he says Popina might close completely.

“The reality is, if we could bank enough money in the summer, when October and November come around, one of our options is close again until March of next year,” O’Brien says, though he admits that’s an emergency scenario since it would be incredibly difficult for staff laid off in the middle of winter. He considered asking his landlord to defer rent, but ultimately decided against it, since the deferred payments could land on the restaurant during an even worse period later in the year. For now, he’s maximizing profits while the sun is shining.

The situation is even bleaker for bars that drive business through drinks, like Cuban-inspired cocktail bar Palomar in Portland, Oregon. Owner Ricky Gomez began seating guests on the building’s rooftop on June 2, but for him, the economics don’t make sense for takeout. Unlike Oregon’s neighboring states, a state statute prohibits bars from selling to-go cocktails, and the Oregon Liquor Commission can’t override the law with a temporary measure. A solution would have to come from the state legislature in a special session, followed by Gov. Kate Brown’s signature.

“We do only 35 percent food revenue compared to alcohol revenue,” Gomez says. “With third-party vendors taking a large portion, we didn’t think it was financially viable for us to open up for to-go food solely.”

He’s currently relying on a PPP loan, which will see the business through until August. “If we’re shut down after that time, we would have to go back to our landlords to see about having them waive rent. If they did not, we would close for good,” he says. He points out that if he had spent his loan money immediately, the bar would already be closed. Like O’Brien, Gomez fears winter will be especially devastating without further assistance. “You’re going to see a second wave of closures in January and February. There’s a lot right now, but I think the second wave is actually going to be much worse because there isn’t the buffer of the PPP as well.”

Courtesy of Palmoar

Palomar rooftop seating

That fear is already guiding Gomez’s decisions, including about how many staff members to employ. With limited capacity on the rooftop, he could only bring back a fraction of his workers in order to remain profitable and build a financial buffer against closing outdoor seating in the future.

“I basically had to call staff members a second time and tell them we did not have a position for them. It felt like we had to lay them off twice,” he says. “Personally that’s the biggest gut-wrencher: laying people off twice that have done nothing wrong.” That experience could foreshadow what’s to come for many managers and owners if they have to shut dining rooms or outdoor dining.

Across town, the situation looks significantly different for Deepak Kaul, chef-owner at Bhuna. Pre-COVID, much of the Indian restaurant’s business came from downtown office workers during lunch. That business has dried up completely, Kaul says, and the restaurant hasn’t seen much interest since opening an outdoor dining area in late June.

“We’re not seeing any massive change here on our revenue. Maybe it’s too soon to tell, but there’s no ‘Holy smoke, we’re back in the game.’ We’re still down 50 percent if not more,” Kaul says. His customers remain wary about dining out, and he blames a few cavalier people who refuse to wear masks for scaring off would-be diners.

“I’m kind of hoping they do shut us down again, honestly. It’s a waste of my money and my time [to offer outdoor dining],” Kaul says. He would rather focus on delivery, where the restaurant has always had a strong presence.

Takeout is murkier for a restaurant like Riel in Houston, where Gov. Greg Abbott recently scaled back reopening following a virus surge. Following COVID-19 outbreaks at nearby restaurants, Riel recently closed temporarily to test the entire staff. (All the tests came back negative.) Yet even for a team willing to close to ensure customer and staff safety, shuttering the dining room for months isn’t an option as long as other businesses remain open to seat guests.

Ryan LaChaine, executive chef and partner, says Riel saw booming takeout business right after the state shut dining rooms in March. But as more restaurants pivoted to delivery, competition increased and sales dropped. When Gov. Abbott allowed restaurants to reopen at 25 percent indoor capacity, the Riel team held off, waiting until they could seat 50 percent inside. Others leapt to open as soon as they could.

“A lot of restaurants did open at 25 percent and then that hurt the to-go business even more because people could go out,” LaChaine says. “We don’t have the luxury of shutting down and waiting this out. We have rent. We have taxes. I have a staff that depends on a paycheck.”

The recent temporary closure at least proved the Riel team could shut down safely and quickly without too much waste, since the restaurant has operated with tighter inventory since reopening. Other owners also feel better positioned to close should they need to do so. O’Brien admits that when the team was cleaning out the Popina dining room during the first shutdown, he threw away a lot of inventory that could have been sanitized, a mistake he won’t make again.

Courtesy of Popina

Popina take-home pasta kits

Still, shutting down again could be just as frenetic as the first time if the order comes suddenly, as it did in California, or is complicated by conflicting statements, as happened in Miami-Dade County. Owners can monitor news to stay ready, but it’s ultimately impossible to fully prepare.

“We’re trying to be proactive, but it’s tough when there’s not a lot of leadership and a lot of guidance,” LaChaine says. “You want to know how to cook something? I can tell you that. You want to know what to do in a pandemic? I really have no idea.”

That unpredictability is causing a lot of anxiety for restaurant owners, even those like Mashelle Sykes, who foresaw the possibility of closing down again after reopening for indoor dining. Sykes runs Fusion Flare Kitchen and Cocktails in Detroit, where rising numbers of COVID-19 cases make it tough to plan for the future.

“People are a little afraid now because the numbers have gone back up,” she says. “They are confused. A lot of them are choosing not to eat in because of the risks.” Businesses may lose even more customers to confusion as cities and states rapidly announce new changes to public health policy.

That foreboding atmosphere only adds pressure to make the most of indoor and outdoor dining while they’re still available. As O’Brien puts it, “With all this uncertainty, how do we make the most money right now in the most responsible way?”

Rather than wait for the situation to change further, Kaul is considering getting ahead of the devastation. He doubts many downtown Portland offices will ever return, with employees working remotely for years to come, so he may drop lunch service altogether and stick to takeout in the evenings. “If you run lean, you survive. If you can’t run lean, you’re done,” he says. Gomez also foresees long-term problems for restaurant business. While the PPP program provides a short-term fix, he’s hoping government officials can get together on long-term tax breaks and other financial aid, as well as loosening regulations like those on to-go alcohol that prevent the industry from evolving.

As restaurants stare down a winter season that could foster another wave of COVID-19 cases, which may force even the most unwilling states to close dining rooms, most owners and chefs focus on the day-to-day. They need to squeeze the summer season for all the revenue they can.

“Right now, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel if I can keep the dining room open,” VanTrece says. “With each day, with each month we’re still here, we consider ourselves blessed we’ve done the right thing.”

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/32J85Bd https://ift.tt/3hqW07T

Restaurants may close again | Ben Gabbe/Getty Images

Closing dining rooms once cost a lot of money, but closing twice could be even worse

At Twisted Soul Cookhouse and Pours in Atlanta, masked servers whisk plates draped in plastic to socially distanced tables separated by plastic screens, all beneath the hum of a ventilation system upgraded with UV filtration. Excess tables and chairs, including all bar seating, have been removed. An employee at the door provides complimentary masks to customers who arrive without them.

Twisted Soul chef and owner Deborah VanTrece has gone above and beyond recommended safety measures, a stark contrast to leadership in Georgia. Gov. Brian Kemp allowed restaurants to return to full indoor capacity on June 16, and the state has since seen surges in COVID-19 cases. VanTrece has provided a safer space at Twisted Soul, but it’s come at a cost: $5,000 to sanitize the building and install filtration systems, over $3,000 on partitions, daily costs for masks and hand sanitizer, and the emotional burden of dealing with combative customers who refuse to wear masks.

Those costs have forced VanTrece to consider closing the dining room and returning entirely to carryout, but sacrificing dine-in business doesn’t seem financially feasible either. The longer she and the team can hold out, the better the restaurant’s chances of surviving in the coming months, no matter how the health crisis unfolds.

“We’re praying we can keep going with the dining room open, but we’re also trying to prepare ourselves for the possibility that that might not be the reality,” VanTrece says. While daily costs of operating a COVID-era restaurant are significant, she describes dining room service as a financial Band-Aid. “It doesn’t cover the whole wound, but we’re not bleeding as quickly.”

VanTrece is just one of many chefs and restaurant owners across the country facing a second closure, either by choice or government mandate, amid rebounding cases of COVID-19. Officials in some areas have rolled back reopening plans and closed dining rooms. Other cities and states could follow if the pandemic continues unchecked.

View this post on Instagram

Here’s a look at some of the precautions we are taking to keep you safe while dining with us! Each table has been carefully placed six feet apart and is enclosed with partitioning screens. We have also installed a UV filtration system in our air conditioning unit that will be continuously cleaning all air that circulates throughout the dining room. We look forward to seeing you soon! ❤️

A post shared by Twisted Soul (@twistedsoulcookhouse) on Jun 17, 2020 at 8:19am PDT

In New York, where Mayor Bill de Blasio nixed plans to allow indoor dining in June, Popina co-owner James O’Brien fears a second closure could be a death knell. After closing the restaurant’s dining room on March 25, he says the team tried focusing on takeout for about a week. But delivery didn’t provide enough business for the pasta-heavy outfit, especially since the restaurant operates delivery through its own website rather than a third-party platform. Like other restaurateurs turned grocers, the Popina team shifted toward offering pantry goods (including a cook-at-home pasta kit) and wine from their closed dining room.

Since the restaurant’s backyard reopened on June 24, 90 percent of business has come from outdoor dining, providing a glimmer of hope that the business can survive. If the restaurant can make enough money during the summer, before shutting down the patio sometime in the fall or winter, O’Brien says he might take a pay cut, reduce staff, and offer takeout through third parties to keep the restaurant going. But if an order to shut down comes sooner, he says Popina might close completely.

“The reality is, if we could bank enough money in the summer, when October and November come around, one of our options is close again until March of next year,” O’Brien says, though he admits that’s an emergency scenario since it would be incredibly difficult for staff laid off in the middle of winter. He considered asking his landlord to defer rent, but ultimately decided against it, since the deferred payments could land on the restaurant during an even worse period later in the year. For now, he’s maximizing profits while the sun is shining.

The situation is even bleaker for bars that drive business through drinks, like Cuban-inspired cocktail bar Palomar in Portland, Oregon. Owner Ricky Gomez began seating guests on the building’s rooftop on June 2, but for him, the economics don’t make sense for takeout. Unlike Oregon’s neighboring states, a state statute prohibits bars from selling to-go cocktails, and the Oregon Liquor Commission can’t override the law with a temporary measure. A solution would have to come from the state legislature in a special session, followed by Gov. Kate Brown’s signature.

“We do only 35 percent food revenue compared to alcohol revenue,” Gomez says. “With third-party vendors taking a large portion, we didn’t think it was financially viable for us to open up for to-go food solely.”

He’s currently relying on a PPP loan, which will see the business through until August. “If we’re shut down after that time, we would have to go back to our landlords to see about having them waive rent. If they did not, we would close for good,” he says. He points out that if he had spent his loan money immediately, the bar would already be closed. Like O’Brien, Gomez fears winter will be especially devastating without further assistance. “You’re going to see a second wave of closures in January and February. There’s a lot right now, but I think the second wave is actually going to be much worse because there isn’t the buffer of the PPP as well.”

Courtesy of Palmoar

Palomar rooftop seating

That fear is already guiding Gomez’s decisions, including about how many staff members to employ. With limited capacity on the rooftop, he could only bring back a fraction of his workers in order to remain profitable and build a financial buffer against closing outdoor seating in the future.

“I basically had to call staff members a second time and tell them we did not have a position for them. It felt like we had to lay them off twice,” he says. “Personally that’s the biggest gut-wrencher: laying people off twice that have done nothing wrong.” That experience could foreshadow what’s to come for many managers and owners if they have to shut dining rooms or outdoor dining.

Across town, the situation looks significantly different for Deepak Kaul, chef-owner at Bhuna. Pre-COVID, much of the Indian restaurant’s business came from downtown office workers during lunch. That business has dried up completely, Kaul says, and the restaurant hasn’t seen much interest since opening an outdoor dining area in late June.

“We’re not seeing any massive change here on our revenue. Maybe it’s too soon to tell, but there’s no ‘Holy smoke, we’re back in the game.’ We’re still down 50 percent if not more,” Kaul says. His customers remain wary about dining out, and he blames a few cavalier people who refuse to wear masks for scaring off would-be diners.

“I’m kind of hoping they do shut us down again, honestly. It’s a waste of my money and my time [to offer outdoor dining],” Kaul says. He would rather focus on delivery, where the restaurant has always had a strong presence.

Takeout is murkier for a restaurant like Riel in Houston, where Gov. Greg Abbott recently scaled back reopening following a virus surge. Following COVID-19 outbreaks at nearby restaurants, Riel recently closed temporarily to test the entire staff. (All the tests came back negative.) Yet even for a team willing to close to ensure customer and staff safety, shuttering the dining room for months isn’t an option as long as other businesses remain open to seat guests.

Ryan LaChaine, executive chef and partner, says Riel saw booming takeout business right after the state shut dining rooms in March. But as more restaurants pivoted to delivery, competition increased and sales dropped. When Gov. Abbott allowed restaurants to reopen at 25 percent indoor capacity, the Riel team held off, waiting until they could seat 50 percent inside. Others leapt to open as soon as they could.

“A lot of restaurants did open at 25 percent and then that hurt the to-go business even more because people could go out,” LaChaine says. “We don’t have the luxury of shutting down and waiting this out. We have rent. We have taxes. I have a staff that depends on a paycheck.”

The recent temporary closure at least proved the Riel team could shut down safely and quickly without too much waste, since the restaurant has operated with tighter inventory since reopening. Other owners also feel better positioned to close should they need to do so. O’Brien admits that when the team was cleaning out the Popina dining room during the first shutdown, he threw away a lot of inventory that could have been sanitized, a mistake he won’t make again.

Courtesy of Popina

Popina take-home pasta kits

Still, shutting down again could be just as frenetic as the first time if the order comes suddenly, as it did in California, or is complicated by conflicting statements, as happened in Miami-Dade County. Owners can monitor news to stay ready, but it’s ultimately impossible to fully prepare.

“We’re trying to be proactive, but it’s tough when there’s not a lot of leadership and a lot of guidance,” LaChaine says. “You want to know how to cook something? I can tell you that. You want to know what to do in a pandemic? I really have no idea.”

That unpredictability is causing a lot of anxiety for restaurant owners, even those like Mashelle Sykes, who foresaw the possibility of closing down again after reopening for indoor dining. Sykes runs Fusion Flare Kitchen and Cocktails in Detroit, where rising numbers of COVID-19 cases make it tough to plan for the future.

“People are a little afraid now because the numbers have gone back up,” she says. “They are confused. A lot of them are choosing not to eat in because of the risks.” Businesses may lose even more customers to confusion as cities and states rapidly announce new changes to public health policy.

That foreboding atmosphere only adds pressure to make the most of indoor and outdoor dining while they’re still available. As O’Brien puts it, “With all this uncertainty, how do we make the most money right now in the most responsible way?”

Rather than wait for the situation to change further, Kaul is considering getting ahead of the devastation. He doubts many downtown Portland offices will ever return, with employees working remotely for years to come, so he may drop lunch service altogether and stick to takeout in the evenings. “If you run lean, you survive. If you can’t run lean, you’re done,” he says. Gomez also foresees long-term problems for restaurant business. While the PPP program provides a short-term fix, he’s hoping government officials can get together on long-term tax breaks and other financial aid, as well as loosening regulations like those on to-go alcohol that prevent the industry from evolving.

As restaurants stare down a winter season that could foster another wave of COVID-19 cases, which may force even the most unwilling states to close dining rooms, most owners and chefs focus on the day-to-day. They need to squeeze the summer season for all the revenue they can.

“Right now, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel if I can keep the dining room open,” VanTrece says. “With each day, with each month we’re still here, we consider ourselves blessed we’ve done the right thing.”

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/32J85Bd via Blogger https://ift.tt/2OIJ94G

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An Old, Handwritten Recipe Keeps This Chef Inspired and Focused https://ift.tt/2ElkwW2 Her mother's cookie recipe reminds Deborah VanTrece that she is strong and capable. (And yes, the cookie is on the menu at her restaurant.) from Entrepreneur: Latest Articles Her mother's cookie recipe reminds Deborah VanTrece that she is strong and capable. (And yes, the cookie is on the menu at her restaurant.) https://ift.tt/eA8V8J March 01, 2019 at 05:00PMhttps://https://ift.tt/2T9qNhF

[naturalbabydol]

CHEF'S DINNER AT BUTTERMILK KITCHEN WITH FEEDFEED AND HANDSOME BROOK FARM

Hey Darlings! Are you having an Egg-cellent day? I had the opportunity to spend the evening at the Buttermilk Kitchen located her in Atlanta, Georgia off of Roswell Rd. The Buttermilk Kitchenis a breakfast and lunch concept created by chef Suzanne Vizethann. The brands mission is to nurture people through food by use of sustainable, local ingredients. I was excited to learn that mostly everything…

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Can Restaurants Survive Shutting Down Again added to Google Docs

Can Restaurants Survive Shutting Down Again

 Restaurants may close again | Ben Gabbe/Getty Images

Closing dining rooms once cost a lot of money, but closing twice could be even worse

At Twisted Soul Cookhouse and Pours in Atlanta, masked servers whisk plates draped in plastic to socially distanced tables separated by plastic screens, all beneath the hum of a ventilation system upgraded with UV filtration. Excess tables and chairs, including all bar seating, have been removed. An employee at the door provides complimentary masks to customers who arrive without them.

Twisted Soul chef and owner Deborah VanTrece has gone above and beyond recommended safety measures, a stark contrast to leadership in Georgia. Gov. Brian Kemp allowed restaurants to return to full indoor capacity on June 16, and the state has since seen surges in COVID-19 cases. VanTrece has provided a safer space at Twisted Soul, but it’s come at a cost: $5,000 to sanitize the building and install filtration systems, over $3,000 on partitions, daily costs for masks and hand sanitizer, and the emotional burden of dealing with combative customers who refuse to wear masks.

Those costs have forced VanTrece to consider closing the dining room and returning entirely to carryout, but sacrificing dine-in business doesn’t seem financially feasible either. The longer she and the team can hold out, the better the restaurant’s chances of surviving in the coming months, no matter how the health crisis unfolds.

“We’re praying we can keep going with the dining room open, but we’re also trying to prepare ourselves for the possibility that that might not be the reality,” VanTrece says. While daily costs of operating a COVID-era restaurant are significant, she describes dining room service as a financial Band-Aid. “It doesn’t cover the whole wound, but we’re not bleeding as quickly.”

VanTrece is just one of many chefs and restaurant owners across the country facing a second closure, either by choice or government mandate, amid rebounding cases of COVID-19. Officials in some areas have rolled back reopening plans and closed dining rooms. Other cities and states could follow if the pandemic continues unchecked.

View this post on Instagram

Here’s a look at some of the precautions we are taking to keep you safe while dining with us! Each table has been carefully placed six feet apart and is enclosed with partitioning screens. We have also installed a UV filtration system in our air conditioning unit that will be continuously cleaning all air that circulates throughout the dining room. We look forward to seeing you soon! ❤️

A post shared by Twisted Soul (@twistedsoulcookhouse) on Jun 17, 2020 at 8:19am PDT

In New York, where Mayor Bill de Blasio nixed plans to allow indoor dining in June, Popina co-owner James O’Brien fears a second closure could be a death knell. After closing the restaurant’s dining room on March 25, he says the team tried focusing on takeout for about a week. But delivery didn’t provide enough business for the pasta-heavy outfit, especially since the restaurant operates delivery through its own website rather than a third-party platform. Like other restaurateurs turned grocers, the Popina team shifted toward offering pantry goods (including a cook-at-home pasta kit) and wine from their closed dining room.

Since the restaurant’s backyard reopened on June 24, 90 percent of business has come from outdoor dining, providing a glimmer of hope that the business can survive. If the restaurant can make enough money during the summer, before shutting down the patio sometime in the fall or winter, O’Brien says he might take a pay cut, reduce staff, and offer takeout through third parties to keep the restaurant going. But if an order to shut down comes sooner, he says Popina might close completely.

“The reality is, if we could bank enough money in the summer, when October and November come around, one of our options is close again until March of next year,” O’Brien says, though he admits that’s an emergency scenario since it would be incredibly difficult for staff laid off in the middle of winter. He considered asking his landlord to defer rent, but ultimately decided against it, since the deferred payments could land on the restaurant during an even worse period later in the year. For now, he’s maximizing profits while the sun is shining.

The situation is even bleaker for bars that drive business through drinks, like Cuban-inspired cocktail bar Palomar in Portland, Oregon. Owner Ricky Gomez began seating guests on the building’s rooftop on June 2, but for him, the economics don’t make sense for takeout. Unlike Oregon’s neighboring states, a state statute prohibits bars from selling to-go cocktails, and the Oregon Liquor Commission can’t override the law with a temporary measure. A solution would have to come from the state legislature in a special session, followed by Gov. Kate Brown’s signature.

“We do only 35 percent food revenue compared to alcohol revenue,” Gomez says. “With third-party vendors taking a large portion, we didn’t think it was financially viable for us to open up for to-go food solely.”

He’s currently relying on a PPP loan, which will see the business through until August. “If we’re shut down after that time, we would have to go back to our landlords to see about having them waive rent. If they did not, we would close for good,” he says. He points out that if he had spent his loan money immediately, the bar would already be closed. Like O’Brien, Gomez fears winter will be especially devastating without further assistance. “You’re going to see a second wave of closures in January and February. There’s a lot right now, but I think the second wave is actually going to be much worse because there isn’t the buffer of the PPP as well.”

 Courtesy of Palmoar Palomar rooftop seating

That fear is already guiding Gomez’s decisions, including about how many staff members to employ. With limited capacity on the rooftop, he could only bring back a fraction of his workers in order to remain profitable and build a financial buffer against closing outdoor seating in the future.

“I basically had to call staff members a second time and tell them we did not have a position for them. It felt like we had to lay them off twice,” he says. “Personally that’s the biggest gut-wrencher: laying people off twice that have done nothing wrong.” That experience could foreshadow what’s to come for many managers and owners if they have to shut dining rooms or outdoor dining.

Across town, the situation looks significantly different for Deepak Kaul, chef-owner at Bhuna. Pre-COVID, much of the Indian restaurant’s business came from downtown office workers during lunch. That business has dried up completely, Kaul says, and the restaurant hasn’t seen much interest since opening an outdoor dining area in late June.

“We’re not seeing any massive change here on our revenue. Maybe it’s too soon to tell, but there’s no ‘Holy smoke, we’re back in the game.’ We’re still down 50 percent if not more,” Kaul says. His customers remain wary about dining out, and he blames a few cavalier people who refuse to wear masks for scaring off would-be diners.

“I’m kind of hoping they do shut us down again, honestly. It’s a waste of my money and my time [to offer outdoor dining],” Kaul says. He would rather focus on delivery, where the restaurant has always had a strong presence.

Takeout is murkier for a restaurant like Riel in Houston, where Gov. Greg Abbott recently scaled back reopening following a virus surge. Following COVID-19 outbreaks at nearby restaurants, Riel recently closed temporarily to test the entire staff. (All the tests came back negative.) Yet even for a team willing to close to ensure customer and staff safety, shuttering the dining room for months isn’t an option as long as other businesses remain open to seat guests.

Ryan LaChaine, executive chef and partner, says Riel saw booming takeout business right after the state shut dining rooms in March. But as more restaurants pivoted to delivery, competition increased and sales dropped. When Gov. Abbott allowed restaurants to reopen at 25 percent indoor capacity, the Riel team held off, waiting until they could seat 50 percent inside. Others leapt to open as soon as they could.

“A lot of restaurants did open at 25 percent and then that hurt the to-go business even more because people could go out,” LaChaine says. “We don’t have the luxury of shutting down and waiting this out. We have rent. We have taxes. I have a staff that depends on a paycheck.”

The recent temporary closure at least proved the Riel team could shut down safely and quickly without too much waste, since the restaurant has operated with tighter inventory since reopening. Other owners also feel better positioned to close should they need to do so. O’Brien admits that when the team was cleaning out the Popina dining room during the first shutdown, he threw away a lot of inventory that could have been sanitized, a mistake he won’t make again.

 Courtesy of Popina Popina take-home pasta kits

Still, shutting down again could be just as frenetic as the first time if the order comes suddenly, as it did in California, or is complicated by conflicting statements, as happened in Miami-Dade County. Owners can monitor news to stay ready, but it’s ultimately impossible to fully prepare.

“We’re trying to be proactive, but it’s tough when there’s not a lot of leadership and a lot of guidance,” LaChaine says. “You want to know how to cook something? I can tell you that. You want to know what to do in a pandemic? I really have no idea.”

That unpredictability is causing a lot of anxiety for restaurant owners, even those like Mashelle Sykes, who foresaw the possibility of closing down again after reopening for indoor dining. Sykes runs Fusion Flare Kitchen and Cocktails in Detroit, where rising numbers of COVID-19 cases make it tough to plan for the future.

“People are a little afraid now because the numbers have gone back up,” she says. “They are confused. A lot of them are choosing not to eat in because of the risks.” Businesses may lose even more customers to confusion as cities and states rapidly announce new changes to public health policy.

That foreboding atmosphere only adds pressure to make the most of indoor and outdoor dining while they’re still available. As O’Brien puts it, “With all this uncertainty, how do we make the most money right now in the most responsible way?”

Rather than wait for the situation to change further, Kaul is considering getting ahead of the devastation. He doubts many downtown Portland offices will ever return, with employees working remotely for years to come, so he may drop lunch service altogether and stick to takeout in the evenings. “If you run lean, you survive. If you can’t run lean, you’re done,” he says. Gomez also foresees long-term problems for restaurant business. While the PPP program provides a short-term fix, he’s hoping government officials can get together on long-term tax breaks and other financial aid, as well as loosening regulations like those on to-go alcohol that prevent the industry from evolving.

As restaurants stare down a winter season that could foster another wave of COVID-19 cases, which may force even the most unwilling states to close dining rooms, most owners and chefs focus on the day-to-day. They need to squeeze the summer season for all the revenue they can.

“Right now, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel if I can keep the dining room open,” VanTrece says. “With each day, with each month we’re still here, we consider ourselves blessed we’ve done the right thing.”

via Eater - All https://www.eater.com/2020/7/22/21331524/can-restaurants-survive-second-covid-19-shut-down-pandemic

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