Chef's Roundtable: A Conversation on Local Food

 | What does it really mean to cook local — and why does it matter?
 Chefs Emily Mingrone, Arturo Franco-Camacho, and Damon "Daye" Sawyer get honest about sourcing close to home, building relationships with local farmers and fishers, and what sustainable food can look like on a Connecticut plate. Moderated by Tagan Engel of The Table Underground.
 Recorded live at the New Haven Museum as part of the 2026 International Festival of Arts & Ideas.
 Featuring:
 
 Chef Emily Mingrone, Tavern on State, Provisions on State, Fair Haven Oyster Co. and The Pearl
 
 Chef Arturo Franco-Camacho, Geronimo Southwestern Kitchen, Shell & Bones Oyster Bar, and Camacho Garage
 
 Chef Damon "Daye" Sawyer, 29 Markle Ct
 
 Moderated by Tagan Engel, The Table Underground
 #NothingWasted #ArtIdea2026 #EatLocalCT #ChefsRoundtable

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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:05

Welcome to Great Art, Big Ideas, presented by the International Festival of Arts and Ideas. I'm Tiffany Hopkins, curator of this year's ideas series for the festival. This program is part of our Nothing Wasted Sustainable Kitchens and Thriving Ocean series, and is also a part of our Gordon Jabal Environmental Series. Our event sponsor is Connecticut Public. This conversation was recorded live at the New Haven Museum as part of our 2026 Ideas Events. In this episode, titled Chef's Roundtable, a conversation on local food, we explore what does it really mean to cook local and why does it matter? Chefs Emily McGroni, Arturo Franco Camacho, and Damon Day Sawyer join an honest, delicious conversation about sourcing close to home, building relationships with local farmers and fishers, and what sustainable food can look like on a Connecticut plate. Moderated by Tegan Engel of the Table Underground. Here's Chef's Round Table, a conversation on local food.

SPEAKER_05 1:05

Thank you so much, Tiffany. I am so grateful to be here with all of you today and especially grateful that we have these three amazing chefs with us. It is not easy to get them out of the kitchen where they work really hard and here with us, especially on a Sunday. Food is such a wonderful thing, and it nourishes us, it brings us together. But our modern global food system is also really harmful to our environment and also to the people who work in it. These three chefs are manifesting their vision for food in their restaurants and doing really interesting and amazing things about trying to address those issues. And so I'm really excited you're here with us. So Emily Mingron is the owner, co-owner of two restaurants, the chef owner of two restaurants, Tavern on State, Fairhaven Oyster Company, and also runs Provision on State, which is a whole animal butcher shop. Damon Sawyer is a chef and co-owner of 29 Markle in Bridgeport, and also has the 29 Markle Food Truck. And Chef Arturo Franco Camacho has six restaurants, uh, many of them in New Haven and Connecticut, including Shell and Bones Oyster Company, Camacho Garage, and Geronimo Southwest Kitchen, which also has locations in Fairfield and Delray Beach, Florida, and also Yoshi Sushi Oyster and Ceviche Bar in Nantucket. So very happy to have you all here.

SPEAKER_03 2:34

Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 2:35

So we're gonna jump right in and talk about the local sourcing part of this. So I'm gonna invite each of you to talk about why local sourcing is important to you and maybe give an example of a way that you are working with local farmers or food producers in your restaurant. Emily, can we start with you?

SPEAKER_09 2:56

Sure. Um, local sourcing is important for many reasons. I think that as chefs and owners of restaurants, we have a bit more access to different avenues to find these purveyors, for lack of a better word, in the first place. Uh, and then also I think it's a large role for us to introduce that to the public and our clientele. Um, because as experts in our field, I think it's our duty to connect with other experts in the field and then, you know, put it out to the world. Um in my group, provisions on state is a really big purveyor of that, and actually the most difficult um because it's direct to consumer. You know, we have access to so many great products, local farm, Sepe Farm, um, down in Westport area for our lamb and then Walden Hill and upstate Connecticut for our pork. Uh, but these farmers have such large, large costs associated with running their operation. Uh, so the product is expensive for me as the purchaser, and then in turn expensive for the customer who's purchasing it on the far end. Um and as long as everyone's in an agreement with that, you know, from top to bottom, it makes the world go round. But that's the thing, the conversation that we're trying to change. And those values change, uh carry over to the restaurants as well. You know, great ingredients cost more than unfortunately than commodity ingredients in this climate. So um I think it's all of our duty to kind of be on the same page about what that looks like. Um, and we use our knowledge and expertise to portray that to the community.

SPEAKER_05 4:30

And in the restaurant, what are some examples of some other farms that you might be working with from the area?

SPEAKER_09 4:36

Um, we do a lot of work with Wellstone Farm up in Chester. Um one of my chefs, he lives out that way. So almost every day during peak season, he'll grab a haul and bring it down to the restaurants and we split it. Um, and I think it has a lot to do with flexibility as far as menu development too, uh, and creativity. So that's the big thing. To be a chef, you kind of have to, to be a great chef, you know, you deal with what is handed to you, whatever, whether it's food or situation staff, um, but operating within the seasons and whatever the farmer is really passionate about and they deliver it to you, it's like, okay, I don't care what it is, it's peak now and you have a lot of it, give it to me. And so then at that point, we're supporting their farm, they're supporting my restaurants, um, and then we're all inspired by the products that we're receiving. And then in turn, it inspires the staff and inspires the guests that are dining with us too. And that's how food tastes best, you know, when it's fresh and you know the person that's actually growing it.

SPEAKER_05 5:31

So that's great. So, Damon at 29 Markle, can you give us some examples of who you're working with and also maybe start with why this is even important to you?

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Sure. Um, so I think the word local kind of gets used a little loosely. Um, so you can buy local garbage, um, things that are really bad for you. Um, or you can um support purveyors that are doing practices that are actually good for the world, good for the good for the water, good for hu humanity. So it's important that we um choose purveyors that are actually doing the right thing first. Um so like Gangsta Greens in Bridgeport, uh they do their indoor hydroponic organic uh farm where we get all our microgreens from. Uh Cops Island is actually at the end of my street. Uh so we get all our oysters uh from them and sometimes our clams. Um who else is there? We're starting a new relationship with Park City Harvest, who is also uh in Bridgeport, uh, who does conventional and uh organic farming. And yeah, I mean, I think uh some of the challenges with that though is uh you need uh groups that can sustain volume. Uh and so sometimes there are small farms that can't sustain, you know, you know, the level of work, you know, that we put out from week to week. So it's you know, it's a it's a it's a you know a picky situation sometimes. But we try I try my best to support people that are doing the right thing in in in my community. So Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 7:09

How are you grappling with that with when there's not enough volume? How is it affecting who you're buying from or how you put it on your menu?

SPEAKER_01 7:16

Yeah, I mean, you know, we have a a major distributor, Baldor, which most uh eclectic restaurants in the country use. Uh, but they also have a local program in which uh they try to buy from local farms as well to make it available to a wider audience. And so we mitigate that, you know, uh footprint from using them in their local program when we can use our own uh in our own communities.

SPEAKER_05 7:43

That's great. Because then you're getting like multiple farms through your distributor, and then you can put that extra energy into those specific relationships with ones that might take a little more work, but then they're like really local, or you're supporting black farmers in your community. That's awesome. So, Franco, you're working with six restaurants in three states. Let me take a look at Como. How are you thinking about this this work at your restaurants?

SPEAKER_03 8:08

It's it's very challenging, but then thank you for the question and thank you for all being here. Um I think that um for me is um as you grow in in the responsibilities of running more restaurants or or be more hands-on and in every side of of the concept, right, in the restaurant, you you start understanding that um that uh to be able to do something like this support local farming or sustainable, you know, which is you know, we can talk about sustainability, you know, ours, but um the good and the bad, of course. But I always look into the um the the three E's for me, you know, energy, environment, and equity. You know, what why what are you gonna get out of what you're supporting and was energy's use, you know, what is the environment affected, you know, and in equity, how I can pay my guys, you know, and the providers. And it's very important to understand that as you have this um I never thought we that the group that I run in the kitchens would uh get so much uh buying power that that that you have the ability to not necessarily to say this is what I'm gonna pay for, but definitely persuade and provoke, you know, um um that gap that I just are looking for the local market. You know, the gap that uh that they can fill up that that that the local farmers can do so much for for for that for that, to fill that gap between the the mass production and and it's uh and it still sustain um environment of uh it's it's it's it's equal equal. Meaning that the farmers have so much um uh power to fill that gap. The the big companies they're leaves sometimes to to get garbage, like you say, it's not everything, you know. So um definitely it's a lot of a lot of thinking, a lot of organizing. And and it comes down to what is our commitment, you know, to our communities, you know. Uh how and comes on to how we're gonna feed our kids and are they gonna have a better world when we leave, you know. You know, they're gonna be enjoying that. So I mean for me those those three things is uh it's very deep to um to understand those three things. And you know, as um uh you know, I I can when I was Chevone two, three restaurants, you know, it was so much stress trying to want to go and buy the guy. Sometimes it's very spontaneous for me. I'll go to Wood Bo Woodbridge and grab someone that sells you know a little tomatoes and I didn't f I forgot the the farm, but I I know that I want to do something with them. But then I started organizing my my my research and now with C to Seed help us a lot because I don't have to go and look for the farmers. They they get it for us. You know, we stand in Shell and Bones and you go and just pick what you need and what is available, and they tell you it's three cases left, or mushrooms, or chipes, or and that's seasonal that that seasonal product um is very important for us just to be able to take advantage of that, the flavor that and also, you know, creates um uh the opportunity to to teach kids, you know, you know, the season of the of the product, you know.

SPEAKER_05 11:31

Yeah, yeah. I'm glad you mentioned the City Seed program. So City Seed runs the farmers markets in New Haven, and they have a recently started program that's called their farm to institution program. So wholesale buyers can sign up to purchase from farms, and then once you become a buyer, you can see the listings on the website, and then you can have a bit of an ordering process that's a little bit more similar to ordering from a wholesaler. I think you need a little more lead time on the ordering, but it's at least helping to not have to like contact each individual farm yourself.

SPEAKER_03 12:01

No, but I think the that that way to to organize ourselves as the chefs is you know helps a lot because we don't have to our time is so precious in you know cooking, dishing, and preparing stuff. And you know, uh that this important someone is behind us. And I I I think I think I'm very thankful that our program has come. They need more help, but um, you know, they're starting, you know, to deliver stuff, you know, but I think we I think we're gonna get there if you'll help, you know.

SPEAKER_05 12:32

Yeah, absolutely. So, Emily, you mentioned um sort of seasonality and and ingredients and how that sparks your creativity. And the three of you are very creative chefs, and we're at an art festival, so we have to talk a little bit more about this. So if each of you could talk about how either what you're getting from farms, what's happening seasonally, or other things that are sparking your creativity. Give us an example of like how that's influencing what ends up on your menu and maybe even what your process is to get there.

SPEAKER_09 13:06

Well, this is so funny because it's certainly evolved over the years. And when I was just starting out, it was like a lot of thought before action. It's like, okay, well, what conceptualizing and this and that. And that still happens, but now it's more of an organic process. I know what's coming into season, and I'm starting to think about it. Like right now, you know, we're just getting to the tail end, but it's snapp peas, asparagus, rhubarb. And um, I just know when those things are coming, I'll get some in, and then I'll just eat it. And I'm like, okay. Um, and I work a lot off my pantry um because in the vein of sustainability, like we really try not to waste very much. And if, like, for example, in my walk-in, I have vinegar I made from the strawberry tops from last year. Um, we use almost an and that method applies to many things. But when I get the snap peas, it's like, okay, what do I have already that can minimize my purchasing and really highlight this product and make it the best that it can be? Um and it's just simple, you know? And um for example, the snap peas are with lemons, a lemon sauce from preserved lemons that we preserved and just simple grilled. And then the asparagus is with um tonado, which is a sauce made from tuna. We have tuna raw tuna on the menu, and then I use the scrap from the raw tuna to make the sauce for the asparagus. And so sustainability and seasonality both go hand in hand for me because the ingredients are usually um, you know, they're so perfect when they're peak, I don't like to fuss with them too much. Um, and then there's no point in covering them up with other expensive, unnecessary ingredients. So if the thing is really great, how do I cook it simply to make it even better? Um, and the challenge in restaurant work is right now I'm on the line, so I I know that it's going to be just right. But the challenge is if you're training somebody else to do it, how can I make the process simple and efficient so that it can be recreated without me actually having my hands on it? Um because and to me, simplicity is really the the base. Uh so if Arturo's got his three E's, I'm just realizing now I have three S's, which is sustainability. Um forgot the other two already. Sleep. Simplicity. Simplicity, thank you so much, and seasonality. So um, and those are really the you know, the environment does the work for us. And if you use something that's in peak season, you really don't have to do too much to make it great. Um I think that was a really roundabout way of explaining my creative process. But it was awesome. This is how it goes. Totally on point. But uh yeah, just tasting something, and then that's when the synapses start firing for me at this point. It's like, oh, I have this, oh, I have that, oh yeah, I got this. And uh that's the fun way. It feels more organic than really conceptualizing when you're outside of the kitchen.

SPEAKER_05 15:52

So yeah, for sure. Damon, how about for you?

SPEAKER_01 15:55

Um, so a completely different take on what inspires food for me. Um it's always gonna be sound and music. Um, so before my passion was food, it was music. Um so keys and a little bit of trumpet and uh always engulfed in just tonality. Um so food is the same. There are there is um balance, there is tonality. Um and there's highs and lows, you know, like for instance, onions would be like a string instrument, if you can imagine that. If you can, you know, think about like a beat, you know, like an actual beat, it's like a root, you know, it's like a a thumpy-ish kind of sound, or or or or or tonality. And so for me, it started with tone and balance first. And so when I hear music, um, like say The Gypsy Kings, which is uh a group from Spain, uh, I was inspired by one of their records. And so I'll go and listen to the album and I'll say, okay, so what were they eating at the time? Um, and then I think about the seasonality and all that stuff later. Um, but um, so then you know, Romesco would come to mind, and then I'll say, I'm on the coast, so scallops, why not? Um, and so I embellish with things like, you know, lemon and citrus and all the things that make a good plate balance, which is like heat and sweetness and your acidity and all those things, and those that kind of come secondary, but first it's always gonna be tone.

SPEAKER_09 17:36

Um and what might be a quick question, I don't mean to interrupt. But I was just saying something similar the other day to one of my guys because he suggested something to put on a plate that was not it didn't fit. Right. Um, but I try to use the analogy, and I don't know music as much as you, but I want to ask. I was like, it's not the same. Like, you know, when you have certain set of chords that make a song to make it sound cohesive? I don't know what the terminology is, but I was like if a key? It's not in the same key. Yeah. Oh right, yeah. So it's like a group of notes, right? So it sounds cohesive. And so he suggested something that was not in my brain in the same key. And so I identify with that in my own language because I was like, I don't know how to explain this to you, but it does it's it's wrong, and I don't really have the language to explain why. Uh but it's in a different set of notes. Yeah. Right. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it didn't sound good. Right. That's a my pole way to think.

SPEAKER_01 18:28

Yeah, so yeah. So like I I I I wake up to music, I go to sleep to music. When you walk into the restaurant, even if the music is not on, you're probably gonna hear music. Um because it's just so much a part of my create my creative process.

SPEAKER_05 18:44

That's beautiful. Is there something on your menu right now that that like you're excited about that embodies that?

SPEAKER_01 18:51

I think the uh the album Sketches of Spain by Miles Davis is probably always gonna be represented on all of my menus from season to season. If you listen to the album, it doesn't end. Uh each song flows into the next. Um so it's like 80 minutes of just travel. Uh and so I always like to have uh seamless flow through my um my menu, whether I'm dealing with a mole from Mexico or Jolof from Africa or Ghana. Um and so everything kind of has to work together. Um so yeah.

SPEAKER_05 19:32

All right, you just gave away your uh Ghanaian Jolof person, not Nigerian. I heard that. Okay. So Franco, on your menu, what what's in you're you're working across six restaurants and you have head chefs in those restaurants. So I'm curious, like, how is your creativity interacting with your head chef creativity in each as as these menus are coming to life?

SPEAKER_03 19:56

Well, the the key factor is communications. We we talk every day with them, and if I can I get to the restaurant you know in time or meetings, um we you know I get up in the morning trying to figure it out what what is available, you know, where we buy this week and still. It's a lot of something that I never thought I had to do, but you know, because you you know, creativity comes with you know it's very emotional sometimes, you know. Uh it's it's a spark at the moment. You know, and you go in the fridge, you open it. Ah, I got a lot of mushrooms, let's let's do this, let's do that, you know. But uh I I think uh how I do this with the restaurants is uh you know because you you know with technology you you consume and I do a recipe and they follow it and when I'm doing it, and you know, or or technique, you know, I don't I don't try to step into their create creative side either, because you know that you got to also is um uh try to provoke that creativity in them, you know. Otherwise they will feel like what I'm doing here, you know, what am I doing here, you know. I'm just following recipes, you know. But um I I I think it's to understand that the the inner chef, you know, that they have, you know, they uh they they have it or not, if you they need help, you know, uh not tell them what to do but how they can see things. For me is um the biggest um source I got is nature, you know, for being creative. You know, we just cooks, you know. We just grab it, you know, nature is a beauty, it's a creative force that we had to utilize. A right perfectly ripe tomato, it's red or it's green, you know. If it's green, just fry them. If it's red, eat it with salt. You know. But um um I think for me, creativity i uh in that source is and first is to provoke that in my chefs. By bringing you know, I after that stop and in the food market or in the my farmer's market and grab a couple things and shall do something with them. And if you don't know I can tell you what you could do. Or you know, I I th I was seeing you to do these. You gonna suggest things, you know? And they oh, you know, that that is that is my job right now. But in my in my when I'm in the kitchen zone, I'm you know, I have there's a problem we I'm sure the chefs agree with me that you have so many options in one item that you know where to start. You know, should I do this? Should I that? But you you gotta see the the other ingredients you got. You know, for me, creativity starts with five ingredients, you know, protein, starch, uh, vegetable, sauce, and garnish. And I departure from those five, you know, numbers, you know. And that and then doesn't need to be that way. It could be just three. Yeah. It's like Jeff says simplicity, you know. But you know, people eat with the eyes first, you know. It's all the color combinations. Yeah, three colors, it matches the play. Uh you're interested in understanding what want to know what it is or or I was prepared. And that is the the opening for conversation. And I think I think that is, you know, creativity creates uh and provokes conversation too, you know.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

And I I know that that my my uh creative process sounded like poetic and everything, but my wife doesn't like my creative process because it happens at like 3 30 in the morning. At like four o'clock in the morning, and I'm on my phone and I'm she's like, oh my God.

SPEAKER_00 23:25

So yeah.

SPEAKER_05 23:27

Yeah, absolutely. Wow. So you've mentioned a few of the challenges um to sourcing locally, and I think you know, something that you can offer is a difference between maybe the average person's experience of going to the grocery store or going to the farmer's market, and then what you all have to consider as chefs. And I'm wondering, you know, sometimes people think like, oh, just source local. It's easy. You just buy from a farm. You've said a little bit, but I want to invite you to say a little more about what some of the real challenges are to buying from small farms, to buying from local farms. And we're let's just say we're using the word local to also mean people who are using good sustainable practices, um, which is not necessarily consistent, you know, that doesn't always happen, but that's sort of what we're talking about here. So, what are some of those challenges?

SPEAKER_09 24:15

Uh well, I think I Arzuro mentioned it a little bit earlier, but it's, you know, being able to sustain the volume from smaller purveyors. And as much as we want the circle to continue, we can source as much as we want, but it it can't be the only source for like a busy or large restaurant. Uh so I think just kind of flexibility uh from the people running the kitchen and the the people that are dining for last-minute menu changes or whatever it is, it requires a lot of flexibility. Um, so that's one thing. And I think um I'm really eager to check out the City Seed website because infrastructure, as you said, is another really difficult thing to make local sourcing a full-time option. Because when Arturo said before, it's like we don't have the time, unfortunately, to call the farm. And, you know, they have opposite hours as we do as well. So it's like our purveyors, Baldur, who's great, they have a lot of local sourcing programming. Um, but we place our orders that cut off to 11 p.m. If you need to place an order with a farmer, it's probably early in the morning while they're harvesting so we can get it for the next day. And so requiring that much lead time does make it difficult to plan ahead, which is one of the most important parts of our job. So I think uh changing the conversation on a larger scale of like, you know, this is the menu today. Um, but that makes it difficult for all of us, you know, and um it really works better for one-off situations. And it's hard though, because it's a very romantic ideal to be able to operate in that way. And that's how we all wish we could. Um, but we don't yet have the answer to how to make it sustainable for real, uh, based on a bandwidth perspective. So those are my challenges. And then, you know, additionally, it is more expensive. And money is a driving force for all of us, unfortunately, whether we want it to be or not. Um, you know, I don't skimp on what I pay for ingredients, but it makes it very difficult to run a business that way. Uh, because everything is just so expensive. And now the current climate of things, prices just keep going up and on all scales, you know, the utilities, the gas. So then the gas prices are reflected in our delivery fees and our, you know, the charges for the ingredients that we're getting in. It's just, it's insane. And so we're all feeling it. And so, as business owners, when we need to raise our prices on certain things, it's not because we want everybody to pay more, and so we don't have a choice. And then the consumer is feeling the pinch in their personal lives as well. It's like, I can't afford to go out because everything's so expensive in my personal life. How do I spend time uh and money on enjoyment? And so then the cycle is broken.

SPEAKER_05 26:51

Yeah, financial sustainability is a real thing because it without that your restaurant can't exist. Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 26:58

Yeah, and we're feeling it right now. I mean, to be completely frank, it's been very hard. Um, and I know you guys understand. And so as things do, the ebbs and flows, but I'm really eager to have a larger conversation, uh, you know, as a community to figure it out. Uh, because we don't want to go anywhere, but you know, it's just it's really hard.

SPEAKER_04 27:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

Yeah, I I would say just uh having a consistent product that you uh that may make the menu and you know, um it's it's great, but then you get your thumbolina carrots and they're not thumbolinas anymore. Yeah. Just because you know, for whatever reason, you know, just uh having a consistent product that you can count on, that's gonna always be what it is, um is is a lot more difficult for smaller farms to uh have that that ability. So I think that's probably one of the the um the biggest ones for me. And some of the ways that I, you know, kind of combat, you know, the the cost thing is you have one or two of the expensive things, but then you try to embellish on the things that don't cost much and make them beautiful. Um so that's you know, one thing that we're doing is one thing that I think about often is how do I um make carrots the main star, how do I make broccoli the main thing, um, and cut my costs in those in those ways. Um but you can still get a prime. Um you know, so it's you know having a having a balance um based on what's available to you.

SPEAKER_05 28:31

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:33

No, I I think my intake is that is is is is similar. And I of course is is is interesting, you know, that that we should understand that the food industry is the is the biggest industry in the world. But it's the most wasteful. We waste so much food. Uh if we now waste as much as we waste, we all the gaps will be filled up. People have to pay more money for for an apple or for a lime or lemon or or or what we're going through the world, you know, right now with with you know trying to get avocados from Mexico or limes and we we pay more than ever, you know. But but um more so I think their responsibility as a as a society is um avoid waste. You know, how many things in your fridge right now they're not being used. And uh because you don't use them, they're gonna be wasted. So that that creates also a price that we have to pay. You know, so if we understand, you know, that um how to preserve food, how to how to ferment food, you know, I think Chef, you know, they really need fermentation. It's a it's a big thing right now. And um I'm all in charge to ferment and stuff like that, but uh it that creates an another area that we uh that we can save food, you know, and get the best out of out of the food, you know. But um, you know, that that is that is that is um something that as a community we had to create those systems, you know, where how we can utilize you know 95% of the product if it's not a hundred, you know. One thing that I see in the chef's world, you know, I have this uh rule and in and every ingredient that is in the kitchen has to be utilized five times at least. That that five states to me, you know, you get a carrot, you know, you do mirepoi, you do stocks, you do carrot juice, you do a sauce with it, you know, you do uh carrot puree, you know, and just put in a carrot cake. Why not? Use five things, you use that carrot, you know. But if you can create that, you know, that that is the creativity that we we had to um um, you know, I mean what we do with the the peels, put them in the ground, you know. You know, it's it's all those things that we had to, you know, work together with that. You know, I just as a guy in where I live, um, he makes his own bread and grinds his own flour and then I stopped by like a month ago and I buy the first love and and he was so proud that he grind his own you know, flour and does this. He has like three different types of bread for f so I buy five, the ones I have one of each. So, you know, so how much is this sixty dollars? I said you're like sixty dollars, you know, it's you know that it that you know in that moment you realize that that that it's that we you pay that because it's it's it's good, it's you know, it's sustainable, it's fresh and all that. And and but everybody that I that I have, I was like, God, this is this is phenomenal. Yeah. You know, but you know, I I think we had to understand, you know, the effort of everyone um that comes as a community, how we can, you know, you know, how we can get the supermarkets to donate what they don't use, you know, all that stuff. But I mean I know it's a lot a lot of people working in that, and I hope that that would create a better chance for us to buy products less expensive.

SPEAKER_05 31:59

Yeah, yeah. And I appreciate each of you giving these details because the food system that we're working in is really governed by a lot of corporate interests and a lot of like crop subsidies and insurance and these things that really incentivize the opposite of what you're trying to do. And so you're really working within this system, trying to do good things, but the the economic and agricultural system and our infrastructure system is really like doing the opposite. And so the the challenges that you're talking about are because of this existing system, which is reinforced, you know, by policy and money.

SPEAKER_03 32:33

So you said one more thing, you know. If every glass of milk um, unfortunately, has an agenda behind, you know. And if you know that uh that is one thing, but if if helping a farmer is helping their families and to sustain that family, yeah, you know, or that farmer, you know, that's was where Orbadis has to come down to. Yeah. You know?

SPEAKER_09 32:54

That's a perfect oh go ahead. Oh, sorry, I was just gonna piggyback on what you said about the corporate agenda. Not only that, but it's the consumer generally has been trained by this for decades and decades. And it's like it it's this expectation of what things cost, and it's skewed. Um, and so it's an uphill battle trying to re-educate. And hey, there's another education. Uh both our for our employees and you know, clientele. It's it's for what things actually really cost from a small producer. And and I consider myself a small producer, and the farmers are small producers, and the operations cost so much for these people who need to, you know, just till their land. Or I mean, and if you need to produce more, you need more land, you need more, and there's no subsidies for small farms or small business.

SPEAKER_05 33:44

So yeah. I mean, our agricultural system is founded on, especially in this country, on enslaved labor. So you don't have food that costs what it actually costs if you paid people fair wages to grow it, right? So that is still the foundation of the economics of our food system. So I'm glad the the conversation has come here because I wanted to lift up that often when we talk about the environment and sustainability, we're talking about how our animals are raised, how our plants are raised, what we might be doing to the soil. We don't usually talk about the people. And without the people, we have none of this, including all the things you do in your restaurant. So I want to turn our conversation to for a moment to how are you all working with the people in let's just say in your restaurant, we don't have to touch this whole supply chain right away, but in your restaurant, um, you know, the restaurants are a very usually highly exploitive uh industry. And I know you all do a lot of things to move away from that. So can you talk about like how is how is your staffing set up, your pay structure? How are you, what does the relationship look like in your restaurant where you're trying to really care for your people in your restaurant as much as you're caring for the food on the plate, maybe more.

SPEAKER_09 34:59

Yeah, exactly. Um when Arturo was talking moments ago about the carrots being utilized multiple different ways. That's part of how I feel when I'm guiding cooks and chefs that work for me uh is the educational part. So, you know, getting them to understand how to not waste, uh, how to preserve, how to, you know, order minimally and then use it. Cross-utilization is the term that we use on our menus. Um, menu mix is another one to piggyback off what Damon said about, you know, you can have an expensive item, but you the rest of your menu can be within a certain percentage point. So the whole thing makes sense as a large picture. Um, but education is big for me, respect, mutual respect. Um and I think everything else kind of follows those two things. Well, and the leading factor being leading by example. Um, you know, I don't expect anybody to operate in a way that I wouldn't or do anything that I wouldn't. And like, you know, we take out the trash, we mop the floor together, we I, you know, jump in the dish room, it doesn't matter. Um, everyone is a peer um as far as, you know, ethically, I guess is the best way to describe it. You know, there's certainly a hierarchy with management structure, but nobody's better than anybody else. And that's really important to me. Um, and I pride myself on, you know, paying people fairly. And there's just a layer of respect that drives um output, but not in a corporate sense. It's like we're we have camaraderie, we like producing together, we love what we do, and you can see it in the food, you can see it in the way that somebody will clean their station when I'm not paying attention, you know. And if uh one thing I was taught years ago was, you know, lead with respect. So people respect you and not fear you, uh, because if they end up fearing you when your back is turned, they're not going to continue in the same value set. So it's like they respect me, they respect the work, they respect the restaurants, they respect the values. Um, and that carries over to me as far as you know, relationships with the farmers, distributors, even the delivery drivers. If it's late, I'm not gonna, you know, yell at you. It's like it's not your fault. Um, and thank you for being a human being. That's being kind. It's just lead that way, and everything else would follow. Um, but um politically, you know, the the ice situation has been very scary and difficult. Um, I have multiple people that, you know, come to work scared when there's uh something on the news about ice spotted in New Haven. We have a secret thread. I don't know if I should even say this out loud. It's for him, but it's like we're all looking out for each other. Um, and that's something that I really value about my people and my work. And um we look out for each other. And so but it's a scary place right now, and man for many different reasons. Um, so I just wanted to briefly call attention to that. Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 37:49

People are the main ingredient period.

SPEAKER_06 37:54

That's true.

SPEAKER_01 37:57

Full stop. So however you treat you're treating that ingredient um is gonna determine who walks into your restaurant and do they stay or not. Um I get really emotional about about this part because um cooks go through very rigorous lives outside of work. Um difficulties outside of work, and they come and they try to be perfect for strangers, uh, which is very difficult. So you don't know when somebody's fighting cancer or somebody just had a death in the family, and they're on the line blanking all that stuff out to make sure that our guests have an experience. I've seen it.

SPEAKER_00 38:51

Sorry. There's no replacement for that level of I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 39:11

It's the people. It doesn't exist without them.

SPEAKER_09 39:15

The dishwasher, the the person that's sweeping the floors full stop so there's something so interconnected about the shared stress and the shared excitement and like you're you're a team, you're in battle together every day. You have my back, I have your back, let's go. Uh and then the people that don't work out for whatever reason, it's usually just because it's a different value set. And uh that's hard, but it it very rarely comes down on for myself make needing to make a decision whether they're going to be employed. They're like, eh, this isn't really what I'm looking for. I'd rather not be connected to my work. I'll move on.

SPEAKER_01 40:01

Um I don't have a staff, I have a family. Um whatever they need. They got it.

SPEAKER_09 40:12

To our own detriment sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 40:13

Yeah. It sucks. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:16

I I g I guess you're you're as good as your as your staff, you know, as your team. I mean, it does I think that's a key. Uh you cannot be a good leader if you're not a good person. And and I and that is that is very uh I can say that very with a lot of conviction. You cannot be a good leader if you're not a good person. Um you don't care, you have empathy, you don't care about what they're going through. I mean, you anyone can be a boss, you know. Being a leader is is helping to get out of the hole. And how you can make someone come back next day when they know they're gonna break their backs again for you or you know. And it's a lot of it's a lot of um mentoring, it's it's a lot of educating, you know, and it's a lot of uh authenticity in how you how you talk to them, how you feed them. It's time for to eat. It's you know, family meal is very important, you know, restaurants, you know.

SPEAKER_05 41:10

Can you explain for those who don't know what family meal is?

SPEAKER_03 41:14

Yeah, you know, most restaurants they don't do this anymore. Um it's before service. It all depends. In Chelma is very hard because we work just stats but we put a family food so they can eat, they can take a break in 15, 20 minutes, you know. So but when you have the opportunity to sit down all together, you know, it's uh magic happens there, you know. They all talk, you know, has your station, you know, I I need to do this and to do that, and everyone is understanding that with that in saying someone they already finished their preparation, their missing place, they go and help them. Uh but more so is the is the connection that you create. That is that is called family meal, you know, it's you're not unclogging the the workload you connecting with them and that that creates that transparency, honesty. And more so is you know the teaching to care. And that's very important because if you don't know if if you don't teach them to care, they're not gonna last in your restaurant because your value is nurturing and care taking care of people when they come into the door. But if you don't create that energy in the and in in in the kitchen, uh you s you wouldn't know the first day today is the person is gonna make it or not right away, you know. Yeah, but it is is you know, we we go through a lot.

SPEAKER_05 42:39

Yeah. So you're working across six restaurants. So can you give an example? Like, how are you doing that? You're you're going to visit a restaurant. How are you doing that mentorship and building that relationship?

SPEAKER_03 42:51

You you gotta get well, you you get there and uh and coffee's ready, or I I have a cedo and I get in the kitchen and I yell in Spanish, I'm here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it is and I just announced that I'm there. Not not for them to clean better, you know, just I'm here available, whatever you guys need. You know, and and I often remind them that it's my my approach to that is it's not that um I want you to do things better, of course, you know, but you know, I think you you have to create or that creates um uh leadership by influence. You don't have to put salt and or season in the fish just by you being there, but know that they they know your standard, you know what you're looking for, you know what's expectation. And I think it's very important that that the way you create that trust is to under to make and understand why it's expectation. And it's like I say it's not easy, but you know, once they get it, that then it's easier. And how we can get to that is it's time. You you have to spend time with them. At least, you know, I don't go and I go and prep You know, it's I see someone is struggling in a station, you go right next to them and start helping them and and you talk to them about how you doing or how's your family, and then they start open up to you. And then eventually they they create that um you know you create that that communication, you know, the the trust that they can tell you. And most times they're gonna ask you for a race when they get a trust.

SPEAKER_08 44:22

That's true.

SPEAKER_03 44:23

But then then you're gonna tell then you're gonna teach them how to ask for a race too, because you don't know. I want more money. Everyone wants more money. But it's it's um I think what I enjoy that is that this the process of um teaching someone to cook, to care, and then and they're ready to be independent. When they leave the kitchen, they can they can go to a better kitchen and or become their own bosses too. You know, I I have um a lot of chess in Canada in New Haven, they work for me. And I, you know, I often I I said, if you go in and ask for a child, you know, if you're gonna tell me work for me, you you better get your act together, you know, because they know my standard. But it's it's good to know that a lot of this, you know, they they they are higher because they went through my kitchens too, you know. And it's it's very important to me they leave ready, you know.

SPEAKER_06 45:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:16

So on sustainability, um just speaking from my own personal um um point of view is that being an alcoholic and running a restaurant is not sustainable, right? Which is part of the culture of most restaurants. Um I used to drink a lot. I haven't drank in two years now. Um so that that um that move or that decision created other staff members that had that same issue to then um stop drinking or reduce or change their habits. So um sustainability is very much leadership as well as buying the right carrot from a local um farm. So there's all types of ways of being sustainable.

SPEAKER_05 46:08

Yes. Thank you for that.

SPEAKER_09 46:10

Well, and that's the crazy thing that a lot of people may not realize, and I'm glad you brought that up because substance abuse in general is rampant in restaurant work. Um, and sometimes people it gives me chills because I've had multiple people come through and you know, we actually lost somebody a couple years ago, which was devastating. Um, but a lot of people use restaurant work and you know, competent and compassionate leadership as a beacon and the pride that you feel when you see somebody kind of turn their life around uh on behalf of their work. And it's not even that, you know, I lean by example, I'm alongside these people. It's a kind, respectful working environment. I'm not sometimes there's active, you know, uh mentor or like, you know, you're going through it, okay. You know, I'm not someone's therapist, but sometimes we are. Um, but sometimes just by having them exist in the space, taking pride in something and being respected and valued, I mean, you've seen we've I've seen people come out of a hole and blossom on their own accord. Um, you know, and I don't take responsibility for it, but it fills me with so much pride to see that someone coming into my world can change their behavior just by learning to love what they do and learning how to do it well. Um it's really, really cool. But these are the things I agree completely with that's another part of the sustainability of restaurant work is making sure your people are healthy and sustained and um just having resources available.

SPEAKER_05 47:49

Yeah. Um I'm wondering if you could speak very briefly about how this current political climate is affecting, you've already spoken about it, Emily, but how it's affecting your restaurants, whether it's about ice or tariffs or other things, just to give people a sense of how it's impacting your people and your your businesses.

SPEAKER_01 48:13

Honestly, I try to create so much love in our in our walls that we don't even think about it. You know, it's it's you can do what you want when you when you leave here, but when you're here, we're gonna play music, we're gonna cook, and we're gonna laugh, and we're gonna serve our guests. It's not it's not something that is, I'm just being honest, it's not something that's uh a major component in our restaurant.

SPEAKER_09 48:37

So we I wish unfortunately I'm on a different side and I um we have to lock the door before service at Tavern, um, because you know, ice has been spotted on State Street periodically and around the corner in East Rock and people get scared because, you know, uh it nobody really knows if it's baseless or not. Nobody really knows what you know the uh I don't know, the structure or the like what what is even going on?

SPEAKER_05 49:09

Like any people are being kidnapped who are here legally there's no there's no accountability, there's no there's no humane legal process. So people are just terrified.

SPEAKER_09 49:18

It's horrible. And like when it first started happening, you know, we locked the door, I put a curtain in front of the door, and uh we had to put uh employees-only signs on certain areas of the restaurant, thinking about um a plan of action. If somebody were to come in, what do we do? What I never thought a manager meeting would involve being like, okay, well, if Ice opens the door, you don't have to, you know, just teaching people. Yes, yeah. And we printed out little cards for the people that might be ESL or you know, non-English speakers, give this, you know, do you have a lawyer? And like just another part of mentorship that I never thought that I would have to do. You know, I thought COVID was going to be the hardest global thing that I would have to go through. And then this is certainly harder. Um when there's a protector energy uh sorry, I'm getting all forced here. But as a uh business owner and a leader, you have a protective uh instinct, you know, your people are your family. And so knowing that these people are going through their own personal stressors with this, you know, seeing ICE, one of my guys takes the bus and he's like, Chef, Ice was in on Lombard yesterday. He's like, it's bad. I'm like, it's just like heart wrenching, you know? And so I don't really know there's not many resources available and we're just kind of it's it's scary, is the short answer. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 50:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 50:39

It is um it's scary because you you as a being from another country from Mexico, you you see that um you feel it more personal, I would say, you know. Um what you guys personally too, you know. Um it's not what what um this is the thing that you don't know if doesn't matter if you if you back are completely or 100% American, they they just snap you out. And and and you know, when you're in a set of fear, you know, creates a lot of uncertainty. And and that is very hard to to go to work and and be happy and put the best food and but affects every day, um, you know, psychic, you know. Um how we handle this is is you don't you know you don't have to worry about anything. But I I worry because you don't know. You don't have this guy, you know, a couple guys and my, you know, they didn't show up and one was able to to leave the other one we don't know where it is, you know. But um it it definitely creates a lot of pain, you know. You're trying to deal with the families too, because they come to you. Yeah, you know, usually you're selling up speaking Spanish to them and try to figure out HR and what we're gonna do, you know, or legal stuff. But um it's definitely hard times for the industry and I think overall to everyone. You know, uh but um you know going back to Chef here, you know, it's think about it how our leadership uh changes every second. Uh based on uh rigorous thinking, uh emotional, which is very hard, you know, and and collectively, uh how I can help everyone here. You know, if you don't do one thing, oh they shouldn't care. Or if you don't do that, oh they only care about the money, you know, all that stuff. Because, but um it's very important that we have that everyday dialogue. Yeah. Do you care? You know, I mean, first of all, you know, we're dealing with uh addictive personalities in our industry. They come into the restaurant and you're like, you hire a guy and so what is his deal? You know, it doesn't gonna appear in the first month or the first week, but then you know it we all carry something. Yeah. And it's you know, it's not perfect chef, it's not a perfect worker. But um how we can integrate that and make sure that if they feel at home, they can be the best thing they the best employer they can be. It's not easy, it's always it's always something, but you just gotta take it one thing, one day at a time. Yeah. And do your best. You know, get up in the morning and says it's another opportunity to do good food and help someone if you can. If you can, if you can, you know, help yourself.

SPEAKER_05 53:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 53:23

Yeah. Thank you all for just the vision that you have for your food, for how you're serving your community, how you're treating your workers. It's really, really beautiful to hear the details of how you're manifesting that. So thank you so much. Thank you for having us, but we have a couple minutes for questions. Our timer uh stopped, which I didn't realize, so that's why we ran a few minutes. I just realized. But um, we can have about maybe one or two questions, and then there'll be a little bit of time to chat afterwards. And we have a mic, let's see, coming through right here.

SPEAKER_09 54:06

Hi. Um, so whenever I'm in a room with people that clearly are doing something that they love to do for work, um, I'm just always curious how you found your way to the profession and if there was like an early mentor for you that inspired you to get into doing what you do the way that you do it.

SPEAKER_01 54:27

Hmm. Um like I all right. So I I was a vegetarian at one point and I started that that journey. I was like 14, which I don't know what happened. Uh I think I had like a friend or something who was talking about vegetarianism. My parents are from the south, and they were like, dude, I don't know what that is. Uh so you're gonna have to figure something out. And that figuring something out led me into uh studying herbology and foraging and having a love affair with food uh that I never knew existed in in me until uh my parents said they ain't cooking for me no more. So I think that's where it the the seed was planted for me. Uh and then I, you know, found my way into like uh management in Whole Foods um years a long time ago. I I actually opened Fairfield Milford uh as a manager, and uh that showed me like um the margins and all the costs associated with doing business in large scale in food um and how uh it affected everybody's lives around like the holidays and how serious it was. Um and so it just kind of just ballooned my interest in all of it. And I left all those things and started a catering company uh because I was that much in love with the process and I never looked back. No. I did it for 13 years. Yep, yeah. So I still eat tons of vegetables. Vegetables is very prominent on my menu, but I also have uh a couple of meat options and some some uh fish.

SPEAKER_09 56:22

Um for me, my dad was a chef my whole life. Um, and every time I tell a story like this and I say my dad was a chef, he says, I still am a chef. Like once a chef, always a chef. Um, you know, he's retired now, but anyway, I grew up eating really well and like just eating the food that he cooked. We would go out to dinner and um so that got me curious about how to cook really well because I like to eat well. Um, but then I never thought I would make a career out of it. I worked after he left restaurant work, he opened a couple different delis in the area. So I worked there in high school, and then I was like, I'm leaving the family business, I'm going corporate. You know, I'm like, I thought that's what you're supposed to do. So I worked for like Verizon, I worked for Wells Fargo and things that just made my soul die. And so I was like, I miss so I would like work in restaurants in the front of house, like serving and bartending after my work in corporate America. And then I'm like, this is where my heart is, but I didn't yet identify that it was in cooking. Um, because I am a creative person and I just didn't connect the dots until later in life. I mean, I didn't start my professional cooking journey until I was 27. Um, and then from there on the rest is history, I bounced around locally to see, you know, worked at the best restaurants around here just to learn uh as much as I can as quickly as I could. Um and now here I am. But yeah. A bridged version.

SPEAKER_03 57:49

For me, you had two hours. I'm just kidding. Um, no, for for me it was very um uh organic, I would say. My at a restaurant in Mexico, a little shop with my grandmother, and she never let us work there. Uh I'm one of the 11 kids, and she no, no, you gotta go to school. You can't do this, you know. And but I was, you know, I was I was the revel of the family, so I was sneaking in the kitchen and I was very interested in the life. Literally, I was one in the kitchen. My mom's water broke when she was working on the kitchen. She was run to the hospital because she was like, hold on, I gotta finish this book. Um I didn't resist it. Um uh in my um when I was younger, I went to dental school in Mexico and graduated, but um I was cooked for the family. I was, you know, what I try to reproduce was what my mom ate, my grandmother. And I was read by two strong women. And um shout out to all the women to cook, you know. And um then um I came to the States, I worked my well up and dishwashing and to cook, and then one day I was asked to go to Maui, Hawaii, and got a job there, and then I got into the big hotels and I said, this is what we're gonna do. But I started putting saying going back to that. It's just all how you choose to do this is putting all the dust together. What is very emotional. Um uh, you know, I was sharing this once that, you know, the best memories you have when in childhood or the most, you know, happy moments is in the kitchen, right? So you as you're growing up and you have those sad moments or those moments that you know what you're gonna do with your life, you always uh find yourself in the kitchen cooking something and and re trying to reproduce those moments, right? And then you eventually try to reconnect to to that and try to reproduce them through what you do and and kind of like understand your nature, you know. You know, what is what is what are you passion about, you know, what is your commitment, you know, what is what you promised to yourself, you know, when you come to this country or just to choose a path, you know. And I and I think it's deeper than than than than just going open a restaurant. It's all the dots that you accumulate, you know, once one day you say, what is uh what is intention to, you know, you know, to unite people to celebrate life, you know, it's like success, success, and all that stuff. So uh it's it's a whole bunch of circumstances to make you do what you do, and then you choose to, you know, uh make it a career. And you know, I have no regrets, you know. No regrets. I'm sure the chiefs agree with me.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:40

Well, I'm grateful each of you followed your heart into the kitchen. I did the same thing years ago, and and you're still doing it, so thank you.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:59

Thank you for listening to this episode of Great Art, Big Ideas, presented by the International Festival of Arts and Ideas. If you like this series, make sure you subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. And you can show your support by making a donation at artidea.org slash donate. The International Festival of Arts and Ideas thanks the hundreds of individuals whose support is foundational to our work, as well as our marquee sponsors. Yale University, the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, the City of New Haven, the State of Connecticut, and the Seedlings Foundation. We are also grateful for the leadership support of the Sassafras Foundation, Rosalind Milsteinmeyer and Jerome Meyer, and Alexander Clark. Credit goes to audio editor Nike Connors, our stage manager Genevieve Peters, and our production manager, Kelsey Carboni. Other members of the media team include Quinn Bassett, Cliff Baird, and Dante Houghton. Thank you for listening.