Communal Table Podcast: Eric Rivera

Chefs and restaurant workers take great care of everyone else, but often they need a little help themselves. Each week, Food & Wine senior editor Kat Kinsman talks with hospitality pros about they manage their business, brain, and body for the long haul. Is there a topic you'd like to know more about or a guest you'd love to hear from? Tell us at fwpro@foodandwine.com or tweet to Kat @kittenwithawhip, and subscribe to the weekly Food & Wine Pro newsletter so you never miss an episode. Catch up on previous episodes here.

Episode 78: Eric Rivera

When COVID-19 sent the hospitality industry into a tailspin, Eric Rivera had already charted a course to the next destination. His restaurant, Addo, has always been a venue for innovations both cultural and culinary, so a sudden shutdown of indoor dining was a chance to explore new ways of serving their customers and their community. First items on the menu: caring for the wellbeing of workers, and making sure the most vulnerable people are fed. Rivera joined Food & Wine from Seattle to talk about how he structured Addo like a business rather than a restaurant, offering a mail-order alternative to Goya products, and what a more equitable and sustainable industry might look like.

Links and Resources

Follow: @ericriveracooks

Learn: ericriveracooks.com

Order: spices, hot sauces and pantry staples

Buy: plant shop

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Previous episode: Erick Williams of Virtue restaurant in Chicago talks about faith, real estate, and the better future he's building.