G6 The Boston Globe WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2019
not like it’s someoneelse’s or it’s free
money, becauseit’s not. It’s just like
personal finance. It matters what you
make, but it matters morewhat you
spend,” she says. “We don’t openan-
other [restaurant] withoutpaying the
previous one back. So the food halls
are the only exception that we’ve ever
made to that.”
Also helpful,says Faison,is a “no
[jerks]” policy.
“We have a zero-tolerancepolicy
around things. That’s not to say that
people don’t say dumb things some-
times,or don’t pop off, or don’t say
things that are disrespectful or sexist.
But we don’t let it go. We deal with it in
the moment. We deal with it in a way
that we do our best to give the person
who has madethe comment, or has
done somethingwrong, the benefit of
the doubt. But we make it very clear
that it’s unacceptable. If it happens, if
it continues, they’re gone.”
As for Orfano,“This is unabashed
Italian-American cuisine, seen
througha differentlens,” she says. “It’s
the easiest to explain of all the restau-
rants, and I have the hardest time with
an elevator pitch with it.”
She refuses to name a favorite dish
— but she does recommend the bread-
sticks.
What’sthefirst restaurantin Boston
that you everremembervisiting, and
what did you eat?
It was Durgin Park. I was going from
my freshman into my sophomore year
in college. I was living in California,
and we were on our way to UVM for
debate camp — nerdcentral. We went
to the World Debate Institute every
summer, and we stopped in Boston. I’d
never been,and we endedup in Fa-
neuilHall, of course.... I think I was
still only eating poultry and fish at that
point. So I probably ate a lot of sides.
What’sonethingyou’dlike tofix
about therestaurant industryhere?
Why don’t you guyspicka question
that literally sets humans on fire? It’s
so interesting. I mean, the question as-
sumesthat it’s broken, which it’s not.
uGETTINGSALT Y
Continued fromPageG1
... Obviously, we have a giant labor
shortage, right? There’s this huge labor
crisis. And we had,a coupleof years
ago, we had the beginnings of the
#MeToo movementstart, which prom-
ised to reallyshake up industries...
And I really thought that it would have
consequences and reverberations in
Boston. And we have been untouched
by it. We are not untouchedby abuse.
We are untouchedby any sort of trans-
parency. One of the things I find frus-
trating is the people who are running
restaurants [who] are abusive,not re-
spectful, and unkindto peoplewho
work with them.They’re workingin
abusive situations, and it makes me in-
sane. It’s like, how do you get a bull-
horn and say, “It doesn’t have to be like
this,and you don’t have to work
there!”?When it’s just competitive,
people shouldbe able to work and
should be seekingout environments
that are respectful and kind.
How doesthistakeroot? Why do
somepeople feel thatthisis anOK
way to behave?
I mean, that’s a question for a team of
shrinks. Because I thinkit’s an individ-
ual, right? I think there are some peo-
ple for whomtheir insecurity mani-
fests as abuse. Where they maybe don’t
feel like they deserve it, or they have a
problem with success. Or they weren’t
raised properly. Or maybe the converse
side of that is they feel like they totally
deserve it. They’ve always deserved it.
It’s like a birthrightfor them.So I
thinkit runs the gamut. I don’t know
that there’s one shining star of a quick
explanation. It’s as complex as people
are.Why don’tyou thinkthe#MeToo
movementhas touched Bostonas
much aselsewhere?
That’s a great question. It’s such an in-
teresting place becausewe are so liber-
al, and so conservative. And the con-
servative part of us doesnot wantto
ruffle feathers. And I think people are
deeplyafraid of saying something. I
knowthey are. No one wantsto be the
first.Ona lighter note: What other restau-rantsdoyou visitwhenyou’re not
working?
I thinkeveryoneknowsmy deeplove
for Cafe Sushi. Oleana. We go to the
Galway House in JP from time to time.
And Holly Crab. And the upstairsbar
at Grill 23.What’s yourearliestfoodmemory
that madeyou thinkyou mightwork
in restaurantssomeday?
I remember eating wild boar with my
father at an Oktoberfest in Germany
and thinking, “What is this?” But as a
profession, I remember working at the
Fountain Grill.I made milkshakes for
people, as my first job in a restaurant,
when I was like 14. I remember havingcans of whipped cream that I would
put on this really terrible sundae, and I
wouldjust overdo it to the nines.Just
all the way, as high as I couldstack that
whipped cream. And then put cherries
on, extra of everything. And I would
deliverit to the tableand therewould
just be this, “ooh” and “aah.” It was so
addictive, making people happy, just
the sheer joy in their faces.How could theBostonfoodscene get
evenbetter?
Interesting. I’d like to see morehigh-
profile food from people who are clear-
ly living here. We have one of the larg-
est CapeVerdean populations in the
country, and nameone.Name me aCape Verdean restaurant. We have a
significant population from Trinidad
and Tobago. So I’d like to see that cele-
brated in a way that becomes a little bit
more mainstream.What’stheworst restaurant experi-
ence you’ve ever had?
I’ve never had one that I’m like, “Jesus,
this is just like a dumpster fire. I’m
leaving.” But we took our teamto New
York last weekend. We were eight,
right? And so we had madesomeres-
ervationsin some places and we were
just popping into others. And it was as-
tounding how poorly we weretreated
because we werea large party. People
didn’t wantto touch us with a 10-foot
pole.At one point, we walked into a
restaurant and [were told], “There’s no
way.” We just wantedto stand at the
bar and have a drink.They said,
“There’s no way I can accommodate
the eight of you.” OK, so then we went
outside, and then we walked in two by
two. Andeverythingwas fine.But
there wasjust so muchattitude
thrown our way.Name threeadjectivesfor Bostondin-
ers.
This is a hard one. Somewhat dubious,
rightin the beginning. Boston diners
will try you out for a second, and then
they needto knowthat you are going
to be consistently good. They’re smart
that way. And then I would say in-
formed. Smart. And loyal.What isthe most overdonetrend
right now?
I feel like the restaurant situation here
is very much like the housing bubble,
right? There’s so much opportunity,
and sometimes people find themselves
in restaurants that they’re not readyto
run, or they don’t have the experience
to run. Like, we didn’t have the money
to buy the house. You weren’t ready to
buy the house,but you endedup in
this giant house.I think that’s being
mirrored here a little bit. It’s great that
there’s so much opportunity, but we’re
in a time whenyou used to really work
on your craft for sometime,and can’t.
I ran a few restaurants before I ever
took my first real gig. And I worked fora longtime. If we want to call it a
trend, it’s the idea of jumping into the
pool too soon.What are you readingrightnow?
It’s so funny. We were on vacation. I
read one book from cover to cover, and
I haven’t doneit in so long. “Between
The World AndMe,” by Ta-Nehisi
Coates. And “Good and Mad,” by Re-
beccaTraister.How’syourcommute?
Depends on whenI leave. It can be as
quick as six minutes. If I leave at the
wrong time, I mightas well walk.What’s onefoodyou never wantto
eat again?
Stinky tofu with fermented crab dip, in
Hanoi. Never again. It tookhoursto
get it out of my mouth, off my palate,
and to stop thinking aboutthrowing
up. Never again.What’syourmostmissedBostonres-
taurant?
Olives, becauseof the sense of commu-
nity that was therewith the regulars.Whowas yourmost memorable cus-
tomer?
I can namethem.It’s Steve Mantelli,
Cary Lynch, and Dominick Doyle.
They were regulars at Olives, and I was
a line cook.I had no means. I had no
money. I showed up for staff meal on
my days off. And they wouldtake me
out to restaurants that I could not have
gone to withoutthemin my life. The
exposure level that they allowedfor me
was huge. They are nowfriends of
mine. They’re 20-yearfriends of mine,
and they’re now investors.If you hadto eat your lastmeal in Bos-
ton, where would you go?
Oh, that’s so hard. I would start at Cafe
Sushi,thenOleana,and thenI would
go somewhere for copious amounts of
caviar. I wouldgo to Sweet Cheeks and
have them pile tons of caviar on a fried
chicken sandwich.Kara Baskin can be reached at
[email protected]
on Twitter@kcbaskin.From making milkshakes to remaking restaurantsBARRY CHIN/GLOBESTAFF‘Bostondinerswilltryyououtfora second,andthenthey needtoknowthat youaregoingto beconsistentlygood.They’resmart thatway. And thenI wouldsay informed.Smart.Andloyal.’