Latest / Dishing with Stephanie's Dish / Tim Niver owner of Mucci's restaurant and Podcast Host of Niver Niver Land

Transcript

Tim Niver owner of Mucci's restaurant and Podcast Host of Niver Niver Land · Dishing with Stephanie's Dish

• 0:05
  SPEAKER_02: Hello, everybody.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's Dish,
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_02: the podcast where we talk to people in the food space,
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_02: cookbook writers,
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_02: people that are obsessed with food.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm really delighted today to speak with Tim Niver.
• 0:17
  He is the host of the Niver Niver Land podcast and also a
• 0:21
  restaurateur in St.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_02: Paul, our fine capital city.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_02: He owns Moochies, also is a friend.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I was just noticing in my calendar, we recorded about a year ago,
• 0:35
  today yeah um well i know we recorded before i don't remember
• 0:40
  the the date but um
• 0:41
  i'm glad to i'm glad to be back on it's it's a it's a good time
• 0:45
  to talk about
• 0:46
  things yeah and we um i'm gonna release this podcast on friday
• 0:51
  so it'll be timely
• 0:54
  I am moving it up in my schedule because we have been under
• 0:59
  extreme stress as
• 1:02
  restaurateurs and people in the hospitality industry basically
• 1:05
  for the last two
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: months,
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: but really increasingly in the last two weeks as ICE agents,
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: 3,000 of them,
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_02: have started roaming the streets of both Minneapolis and St.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: Paul and our surrounding suburbs and towns.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_02: asking people for papers,
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: going into restaurants,
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_02: stopping cars on the road,
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_02: doing traffic enforcement type stops,
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: going to people's homes,
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_02: taking children as little as two and five years old.
• 1:38
  And unfortunately,
• 1:40
  these actions have resulted in the shooting of Renee Good.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: Also, over the weekend on Saturday, the shooting of Alex Predic
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: And it is so interesting.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_02: I was on the air live with my radio partner,
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_02: Stephanie March,
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: on Saturday morning when the second shooting happened,
• 2:01
  which technically is the third shooting because there was
• 2:03
  another one where someone
• 2:04
  was shot in the leg in their house defending themselves with a
• 2:07
  shovel and a broom.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: What I just am so...
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_02: wanting people to hear from Minneapolis and St.
• 2:17
  Paul and Minnesota in general is that the actions that are
• 2:23
  happening here,
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: A are not legal,
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: B are not law enforcement,
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  and C are creating so much harm to a community that has been
• 2:37
  trying to recover for
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: the last five years since the COVID pandemic.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm so, it's always restaurants.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: We're the canary in the coal mine, right?
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'm listening and it's hard to refute anything you said, number one.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: Restaurants are involved in particular in moments of social change.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: We're involved in helping support,
• 3:16
  care for the community at large as a product of them supporting
• 3:23
  and caring for us
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: at large.
• 3:28
  It's a debt that we want to owe to the community,
• 3:34
  but there's a lot of pressure to act
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not always an easy decision because we're business people.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: In this state, business feels insignificant altogether.
• 3:50
  And then to continue to participate appropriately on whatever
• 3:59
  way you can is,
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think,
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: ultimately where we all need to be.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever we can do, whatever you feel like you want to do,
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  SPEAKER_01: That should be enough for people.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: But there's a lot of expectation.
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  SPEAKER_02: It's fascinating,
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  SPEAKER_02: too,
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  SPEAKER_02: because when I say that restaurants are the canary in the coal mine,
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: When these situations happen or civil unrest happens or starts to unfold,
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  SPEAKER_02: we see it in the restaurant community because it is communal spaces.
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  But then we also lean on the restaurateurs and people to
• 4:35
  provide food and community
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: and community.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: There's so much expectation,
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: not only for you to,
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_02: hey,
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_02: run your business and serve me my pizza in a timely fashion,
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  SPEAKER_02: but can you also donate and feed my whole community and show up?
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  SPEAKER_02: And it's so amazing because you guys do.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
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  SPEAKER_02: You do.
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  SPEAKER_00: We do it despite being able to.
• 5:03
  Because you are hospitalitarians in your heart,
• 5:08
  that is why you stay in this business.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: It is a level of service and leadership.
• 5:14
  Yeah,
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  I just think it's a matter of care,
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  which is what we innately provide.
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  SPEAKER_01: And when there's moments where care is especially needed,
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  SPEAKER_01: you've seen this community react in full,
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: the restaurant community and the community at large.
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  SPEAKER_01: We've all reacted in full.
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  SPEAKER_01: We've been there for each other.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's inspiring.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: It is inspiring and it's ongoing.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's ongoing.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's an economic occupation as well.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: It completely affects and dampens any kind of feelings of joy.
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  SPEAKER_01: The way you might want to express yourself on a birthday feels different.
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  The way you want to express yourself on an anniversary might
• 6:04
  feel different.
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  SPEAKER_01: Things that we celebrate, that we as restaurateurs try to preserve.
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  Now we're changing our language to when you walk in,
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  it's not how you're doing.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's really nice to have you here.
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  SPEAKER_01: Even the things we say prompting,
• 6:29
  it's discompassionate perhaps to ask somebody how they're doing
• 6:32
  right now.
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  So we're talking to each other in a whole new language based on
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  how things feel.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's pervasive on all levels.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: But we have to persist, right?
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  SPEAKER_01: We have to,
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  SPEAKER_01: as a business,
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  SPEAKER_01: even though it feels insignificant in the moment,
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  SPEAKER_01: you have to persist.
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  You have to do the things through austerity or what have you to
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  understand clearly
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  SPEAKER_01: what you're able to support and give.
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  SPEAKER_01: And then on the inside,
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  you have to make the decision about folks who need every single
• 7:07
  hour of work that
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: they get per week to stay afloat.
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  SPEAKER_01: Many restaurants are the same way.
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  SPEAKER_01: And so this kind of doubles down on a time that is not normally busy.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's a huge multiplier effect.
• 7:27
  It's like 20 below in January and has been for about a week in
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  the 20s with another
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: potential week ahead.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
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  SPEAKER_01: And it does keep people in the suburbs.
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  That interaction between the inner parts of the city,
• 7:45
  it becomes more of a bubble.
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  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, in understanding security, it's true.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I get it.
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  SPEAKER_01: You know, these are all real things.
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  SPEAKER_01: Overall, it's a big pill to swallow.
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  SPEAKER_02: And the weight is getting really heavy.
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  The reason I think you're uniquely qualified to speak to me
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  today is I want people
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  SPEAKER_02: to know that in 2025,
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  you were the James Beard semifinalist for Outstanding
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  Hospitality and you are known
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  SPEAKER_02: in our community
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  SPEAKER_02: For providing great food,
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  SPEAKER_02: great service,
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  but your whole being and your whole approach to care and
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  hospitality within the
• 8:26
  confines of our restaurant's four walls is what you've really
• 8:30
  done your entire
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  SPEAKER_02: career.
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  SPEAKER_02: And you've mentioned that that looks like it has to change.
• 8:37
  It has to be modernized in light of the times and the moments
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  that we find ourselves in.
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  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
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  SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
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  SPEAKER_01: yeah,
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  SPEAKER_01: you know,
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  SPEAKER_01: we began to lean more,
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  SPEAKER_01: lead more with compassion after George Floyd and COVID,
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  SPEAKER_01: trying to understand,
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  SPEAKER_01: you know,
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  SPEAKER_01: there's also a lot of...
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: A strengthened worker rights.
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  SPEAKER_01: A lot of things have been changing over the years and in good fashion.
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  SPEAKER_01: But also, I guess the thing that we we try to do is just stay with it.
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  SPEAKER_01: We've been through some of these similar feelings before.
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  SPEAKER_01: They're triggering.
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  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for saying that.
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  SPEAKER_02: Because I do think that is a uniquely Minnesota thing.
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  SPEAKER_02: Five years ago,
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  SPEAKER_02: when the George Floyd murder happened,
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  SPEAKER_02: well,
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  SPEAKER_02: the lockdowns were first,
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  SPEAKER_02: and then the George Floyd murder.
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  SPEAKER_02: When I hear a helicopter...
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  SPEAKER_02: I feel very anxious.
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  SPEAKER_02: I feel like a trauma of what is happening.
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  SPEAKER_02: I'm heightened.
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  SPEAKER_02: I'm scared.
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  SPEAKER_02: I'm looking around.
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  SPEAKER_02: I'm wondering if there's some breaking news.
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  It's hard to describe that to people who haven't lived under
• 10:00
  that complete fear of what's next.
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  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
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  SPEAKER_01: And in many parts of the world, they live like that every day.
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  SPEAKER_02: And also true.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
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  SPEAKER_01: And we certainly do gain a perspective that nobody else could have.
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  It also provided ample levels of already set types of
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  organizations in times of need.
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  SPEAKER_01: People had done this before.
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  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
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  SPEAKER_02: And it mobilized quick how fast people.
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  Well,
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  you know,
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  we're trying to we're all trying to protect somebody here.
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  SPEAKER_01: We're all trying to protect somebody.
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  SPEAKER_01: So I really feel like having had experience like that,
• 10:46
  you have a new generation of restaurateurs and thinkers like
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  Rectangle Pizza.
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  SPEAKER_01: They lead with love, but they'll fight for it.
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  SPEAKER_01: Just such heart and fearlessness.
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  SPEAKER_01: That's fearlessness.
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  SPEAKER_01: I don't contain that.
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  SPEAKER_01: I don't contain that.
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  SPEAKER_01: Thank God they do.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: Thank God they do.
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  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
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  SPEAKER_01: They're thrust into it too, like being where they are.
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  SPEAKER_02: To give some context, Rectangle Pizza put out a mutual aid fund.
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  SPEAKER_02: And I think they raised that last count over $100,000 of over two.
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  SPEAKER_02: I believe it's over two.
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  SPEAKER_02: through selling pizzas and collecting donations,
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  SPEAKER_02: and that money is going back into their communities.
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  And we've seen a lot of that,
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  these mutual aid funds that people have just started on their
• 11:45
  own.
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  And they were visited the following day after they did that by
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  ICE2,
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  perhaps recognizing
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  SPEAKER_01: that they were part of some resistance by helping take care of people.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, it just, how is that imaginable?
• 12:10
  What do you,
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  it's hard to describe the,
• 12:16
  it's hard to describe the impact that
• 12:21
  the diverse population and immigrant population has had on the
• 12:26
  restaurant business as a whole.
• 12:28
  I think some people believe that everyone who works in a
• 12:32
  restaurant that is a black
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  SPEAKER_02: or a brown person is somehow an illegal person.
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  SPEAKER_02: And it's ignorant, and I'm not sure people fully know, but
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  SPEAKER_02: There is this sort of idea too,
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  SPEAKER_02: like,
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  SPEAKER_02: well,
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  SPEAKER_02: these owners,
• 12:46
  these owners are employing these people without papers and
• 12:51
  we're just getting the
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  SPEAKER_02: bad guys.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_02: You've been in this industry a long time.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_02: This industry is made up of a lot of people.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, honestly, you hire somebody, you have to do the paperwork.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's the only way they can get paid.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I am not an ID expert.
• 13:10
  I do not run this through some sort of machine that tells me
• 13:15
  exactly where the documents are.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: We've been very, very...
• 13:19
  fortunate just for a matter of retention that we've done so
• 13:23
  little hiring um it
• 13:26
  made moochies in particular but in general that you know it's
• 13:29
  just part of the
• 13:30
  first day packet uh um but you have to take care of it it's
• 13:36
  it's immensely
• 13:37
  important to the infrastructure of a business to be organized
• 13:40
  in such a way
• 13:42
  um and still mistakes can be made but uh for me in particular
• 13:46
  it's never a question
• 13:47
  it's like you have to have this to work it's so easy either you
• 13:51
  do or you don't um
• 13:52
  and when you pay someone and and give them a paycheck there is
• 13:57
  employment tax
• 13:58
  that's attached to that paycheck yeah oh yeah their own and
• 14:02
  then we match yeah we
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: um
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody gets around that.
• 14:10
  There's no way for them not to pay taxes unless somebody's
• 14:12
  doing something illegal.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: But everybody's got to do the same paperwork.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: They get the same I-9, W-4, and W-2 at the end of the year.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's all stated.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: That doesn't make somebody legal either.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: But in terms of when you hire somebody,
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: You go through and you do what you can to do everything right.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: And hopefully they stay for a long time, whoever they are.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: But we are made up of the community at large.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: Any city is going to be made up of a cast of characters.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: And we certainly don't want them to be the same character over and over.
• 14:58
  The diversity speaks loudly to the depth of the culture that
• 15:04
  you exist in.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: So we benefit.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_02: It's also...
• 15:13
  When we look at the diversity of the food culture that's
• 15:16
  offered in the Twin
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_02: Cities,
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_02: I mean,
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_02: you're making Italian food.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_02: Italian-American, yeah.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_02: Someone else is making Somali food, Ethiopian food, Vietnamese food.
• 15:29
  The irony is we have all these diverse cultures all coming
• 15:34
  together over this common...
• 15:37
  tradition of breaking bread,
• 15:39
  of communally spending time in community together at our
• 15:42
  tables.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_02: And
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_02: It just saddens me that this is this schism that is going to happen.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_02: It happens in restaurants first.
• 15:54
  And then we're going to be the last ones to be able to pick up
• 15:57
  the pieces when all
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_02: these creeps leave.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: And all of this is,
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 16:02
  the bad guys and the murders and the rapists and whatever
• 16:05
  excuse you want to use
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_02: for this complete brutality that's happening to our community.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: then the restaurateurs will again, pick it up.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, food costs will probably increase.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_02: I would imagine none of these things that are happening are inexpensive.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_02: We have a somewhat broken food system nationally.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_02: You know, when you think about.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's a rough year of tariffs.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: It was a rough year understanding.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: The more in price increases,
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: insurance costs,
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: healthcare costs,
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: whatever you're involved with,
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: uh,
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: I, you know, I'm my little business.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: You would be so shocked to know what we pay for insurance a year.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_02: I just wrote my $1,000 check for the month.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a freelance person.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: No support.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of money.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it is.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: And those things have been ongoing.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: And then this obviously, again, is, like I said, a multiplying factor.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_02: So how do you keep, I mean, we've painted a pretty gloomy picture.
• 17:10
  So how do you keep waking up every day and coming into your
• 17:14
  restaurant and finding joy?
• 17:15
  Because I think a couple of months in and two weeks of really
• 17:20
  acute persecution
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_02: here,
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: people are feeling really beleaguered.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, weighted.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: I guess what I'd say,
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: and I haven't necessarily found it totally in myself,
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: but we talk about preserving joy and pieces of it.
• 17:40
  You shouldn't think of joy being some all-encompassing kind of
• 17:47
  a thing that just
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: washes over you completely.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: You really have to parse it out and be deliberate.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: with how you preserve your joy right now.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: That may be in a restaurant.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think I'm just starting to get my feet, kind of how I feel personally.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: But the last few days kind of forced myself into tons of conversation.
• 18:14
  Even though that doesn't always feel comfortable,
• 18:16
  I feel like staying at home.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: So I think...
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: That conversation,
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: there's maybe you're commiserating or whatever,
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: but there is a unity when you don't hole up,
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: when you don't sacrifice joy because of it feels wrong in this time.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: I do believe my message to anybody would be is,
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: and I am intent on this,
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: is just where you see joy,
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: like stop.
• 18:47
  and engage with it and or force it and make sure that you're
• 18:52
  trying anyway.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: Get out.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: Go where you want to go.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't have to be Moochies.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: That's not it.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: But that's part of it too.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, we're giving a lot of money, not just restaurants.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: People are giving a lot of money and resource.
• 19:10
  to feeding people or staying safe or doing what they need to do
• 19:14
  right now.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: I mean,
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: I understand dining out may not be your priority,
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: but preserving a little bit of joy,
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: if you could consider that,
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: I think there's a little tiny pot of gold,
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_02: right?
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: I thought I would start out this year talking about like food trends.
• 19:37
  Hmm.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: Because I love to talk about food trends.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's like one of my favorite things to talk about.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_02: But, you know, that feels a little like we're not doing that today.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_02: How are your colleagues feeling?
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_02: Like you have a unique ability because you have people on your podcast.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_02: You are behind the scenes in the hospitality business.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_02: How are your colleagues doing?
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: Believered.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: Believered.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: Same boat.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the tides are out.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's not, and saying that is unattractive.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I get it.
• 20:16
  Like saying that things are hard is kind of an unattractive
• 20:19
  thing or unhospitable
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: thing,
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: but we're all feeling it.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of hard anyway.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'm empathic,
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: so like I'm just like sponging energy and it's really hard to like,
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: continue to hear it.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 20:39
  I also think something that has come to me over the years of
• 20:45
  working in this
• 20:46
  business is we think about artists and musicians as these very
• 20:51
  creative beings,
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_02: right?
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_02: And their art is their song or their poem or their story.
• 20:57
  And what I have learned in this business is that my fellow
• 21:01
  hospitality people are
• 21:04
  are also artists it is the food that they are putting on the
• 21:07
  plate it is the care
• 21:08
  with which they are putting there it is the farmer who's
• 21:12
  growing his heirloom seed
• 21:13
  to get that tomato to bring to you to make that perfect caprese
• 21:18
  salad and artists
• 21:21
  as a class tend to be fairly sensitive people they have a lot
• 21:26
  of empathy a lot of
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_02: emotional capacity and
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_02: It is just crushing sometimes to see what's happening.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know,
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: going back just a bit to the last piece about Joy,
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: a story I got reminded of something after I said my bit.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: Last week,
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: earlier last week,
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: like Tuesday,
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: before anything happened with Alex Preddy,
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: I was at the door.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: A father and son walked in the door.
• 21:59
  And I'm at the host stand,
• 22:03
  and I see that they have a birthday designation.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, hey, welcome in.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: I see one of you is having a birthday today.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: And they both kind of stopped in their tracks.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, hey, I don't mean to get too personal or whatever.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: I just see it listed here.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: And they're like, well, my wife, his mother, she died 30 days ago.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: And today's her birthday.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's why we have to be here.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's that's what we have to preserve.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what people should should still celebrate.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, thanks.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: No, it's it.
• 22:47
  It's interesting because I'm one of those weirdos that gets
• 22:50
  together with friends
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: in January and does tarot card readings.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I love it.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_02: And my you know, you can pick like career adventure.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I picked joy as my like category.
• 23:04
  And I've been feeling kind of joyless and you really hit
• 23:10
  something on the head when
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_02: you talked about joy,
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_02: which is something I'm working on.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um,
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_02: but it's recent, so I'm not doing well at it yet.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_02: But this idea that,
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_02: I really,
• 23:23
  I was working on a project that wrapped up at the end of the
• 23:26
  year and I pushed
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: myself so hard.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: By the time I got done, I just was an empty, depleted cup.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_02: I had nothing left.
• 23:34
  And I had this trip planned and I was going to go on this trip
• 23:37
  and I was going to
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_02: rest and read and I was going to get my joy back and re-energize.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_02: And on that trip,
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_02: all this thing,
• 23:46
  these things were happening at home and I haven't been sleeping
• 23:49
  and it's been just
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_02: constant cortisol rushing.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I didn't get that joy in that way that I felt.
• 23:59
  And what my tarot cards said was exactly what you said,
• 24:03
  which is it's not a huge wave.
• 24:06
  It's the moments within the wave and you have to intentionally
• 24:11
  seek them out,
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_02: look for them,
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_02: create opportunities for them to happen.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 24:15
  For me as a person who loves restaurants,
• 24:18
  it does happen a lot in restaurants.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's not a manufactured feeling either.
• 24:25
  When you come in here and there's a genuine desire to uphold
• 24:31
  whatever you're there
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: to be doing in whatever form,
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: whether it's a funeral or an anniversary or a birth.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: And we want to be able,
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: when you walk in the door,
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: we want to be able to make sure we're taken care of wherever you are.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: Be compassionate to that moment.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why memories are made in restaurants.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's where people get together.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: You hear other voices, and you don't have to listen to them.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: it's a din.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: It kind of makes you feel comfortable.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's an outside world that's not affecting you.
• 25:05
  And there's a lot of beauty in finding a place that gives you
• 25:08
  that sort of peace
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: for a little while and visiting it.
• 25:11
  Oh,
• 25:12
  and I just,
• 25:12
  I think about Town Talk Diner,
• 25:14
  which was one of your original spots.
• 25:17
  And so many people still talk about that place and Nick
• 25:22
  Kosovich and you,
• 25:23
  and just this idea of,
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_02: what that place meant to so many people.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_02: And you've had a number of places like that because then you had St.
• 25:34
  Dinette and I'm trying to think of the,
• 25:37
  I'm trying a total blank of your place.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_02: It's all good.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's a lot of years.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_02: It's a lot of years.
• 25:45
  So many of these places that have meant so much to people as we
• 25:51
  move forward.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_02: Cause we're really in it right now.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_02: We're sort of stuck.
• 25:56
  What would you like to see moving forward and how can people
• 26:00
  listening to this
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_02: podcast be supportive of restaurants in general?
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_02: If you're their spokesperson.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: If I was a spokesperson and,
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: and I,
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: and I kind of am sometimes,
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: I don't try not to speak for the whole industry at large,
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: but I would just say,
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: mind,
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: Mind what you are spending on and what you aren't spending on.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: And a business is doing the same.
• 26:31
  And I'm just looking for moments of unity between everybody
• 26:38
  that we can to kind of
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: find some sort of momentum back into pushing towards joy.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: But for business folks right now, we understand we have a little bit of
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's more time to consider that this might be happening.
• 26:58
  So to those business folks,
• 27:00
  I'd say,
• 27:01
  you know,
• 27:01
  consider your austerity now.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: What keeps you there for your community?
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: What keeps you there for your employees?
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: What keeps you there for the right reasons?
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: But also,
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: folks,
• 27:14
  I know they're in general acting so generously and putting
• 27:19
  emotion on things.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: But I would say, you know, to preserve that joy,
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: make a reservation somewhere and go out and eat.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: Do whatever you can.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't have to be a full-blown meal.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: It could be a short visit.
• 27:33
  It could be go in and have a drink and hug the person you
• 27:35
  really like there.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_01: But I think you have to kind of get everybody working in the space that,
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: yes,
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: there may be some time here for operators,
• 27:46
  but also for folks that are out there feeling a lot of
• 27:50
  different ways that
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: There is a lot to be said for visiting and being out in your community.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not a fearful place all the time.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: And restaurants and businesses need you to continue to visit.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's really that important.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: And that's all there is.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's a business that's in service of others.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: And without them, it's hard to continue.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: And it feels so much better to,
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_02: after ruminating in my house for days,
• 28:23
  then today I went to two coffee shops and I sat down with a
• 28:27
  friend who's turns out
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_02: starting a business.
• 28:31
  She's an immigrant herself and scared and trying to figure out
• 28:35
  what the way forward is.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_02: Just spending time hearing her, hearing her concerns.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 28:40
  Introducing her to some new people that maybe she hadn't
• 28:43
  thought about that might be resources.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 28:45
  I just feel your community and expanding your community and
• 28:51
  bringing people in,
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: bringing people in,
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_02: And we have so many young people.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I mean, we've been around the block.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: We're sage and... Oh, no, the youngs are really strong here.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_01: You can see it in their dedication to their craft.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_01: You can see it in the dedication to their employees.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: You can see it in their dedication in whatever way they were able to show
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: solidarity during a day of strike.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's really insanely cool group of people were...
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: hoping for rooting for desirous of their success.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's what we want.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_02: We do because we had the,
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_02: the Phil Roberts and we had our everyone's mentor,
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_02: Tim McKee.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_02: But we have this new group of really committed and passionate folks.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_02: And it's nice to be able to share wisdom with them,
• 29:51
  but also to create and be absorbed in their energy of how they
• 29:56
  want to move this
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_02: industry forward.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_02: It's pretty neat.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_01: During these times, during these times.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: Well,
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: you said it,
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: and I feel that this industry has been nothing but supportive,
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_01: if not led the way in a lot of ways.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'm proud to be a part of it.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: I would like to do just what I do.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um,
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: but I understand that,
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: uh,
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: times are different and,
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: uh,
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: we all need to stand up and in the way that we need to stand up,
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: but we do need to stand up and,
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: uh,
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_02: show ourselves for everyone.
• 30:31
  If all you can muster is to go to a new business and have a cup
• 30:35
  of coffee,
• 30:35
  then do that.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_02: If you have the time or the capacity to be a protester, do that.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_02: There's not everyone showing up in different ways.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_02: I just want people to hear that you show up.
• 30:47
  And even if you didn't vote for who I voted for or you voted
• 30:52
  for someone and that
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_02: wasn't what you thought you got.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's past that.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's humanity, man.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: This is humanity.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: This is treating each other appropriately.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's it.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like basic stuff.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_01: And then respecting our rights.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_02: And agreed.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I think, Tim, I'm going to wrap it up.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_02: I really I love spending time with you today.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_02: I'm farther away from the restaurant now, so I don't get in as often.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, we're here.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_01: We're here anyway.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we're here.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you feel us.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: You feel us.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_02: I do.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_02: And I really appreciate the leadership.
• 31:33
  Also the respect that you have garnished in this community and
• 31:37
  the leadership that
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_02: you provide for other restaurant tours.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_02: I'll keep trying to earn it.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: I'll keep trying to earn it.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you do every day.
• 31:46
  And just the ability to be able to hear your story and to help
• 31:49
  people understand
• 31:50
  what it feels like on the ground as a small business person
• 31:54
  who's just trying to
• 31:56
  keep their people employed their family fed and yeah exactly
• 32:02
  thanks tim yeah my
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_01: pleasure always okay we'll talk to you soon thank you okay bye-bye bye