'New people. New stories. New hope.' Rochester’s Best Restaurant promoters

What’s your role in the local restaurant scene?

I am a photographer and do social media for Bleu Duck Kitchen, Taco JED, and Pato Azul (in La Crosse). I also love to eat and drink!

What’s unique about Rochester’s restaurant scene?

How much collaboration there is! I love seeing all the events that we do together, the amazing beers that come from partnerships between our breweries, and other industry people eating and drinking around town.

What’s your favorite local restaurant meal—or two?

I am addicted to the bagel sandwich at Old Abe’s. (Now I have to go get one!) The veggie pizzas at Forager are a must. And any kind of soup from Thai Pop—especially on a cold day—is also a favorite.

Tell me about a memorable moment you’ve had in a local restaurant.

Last week I happened to be at Bleu Duck when one of our employees got married! I think events like that are my favorite. Whether they’re 500-person weddings or an intimate ceremony with a few friends, I love knowing that our restaurants are a part of someone’s most important days.

It’s such an honor to work in the service industry, especially in Rochester where so many people come during hard times in their lives. When I go to Bleu Duck I almost always sit at the bar because I love our regulars and our soon-to-be regulars—especially the ones coming to Mayo for appointments year after year.

What’s special about the people who work in the local restaurant industry?

Service and hospitality industry folks—whether they’re bartenders, cooks, servers, hotel maids or head chefs—are the other face of Rochester that patients see while they’re visiting. And they do such a wonderful job welcoming people to our city.

Why do you think you were voted as one of Rochester’s best restaurant promoters?

My mom probably told people to vote for me.

What’s your role in the local restaurant scene?

I am a restaurant owner and big fan.

What was your first restaurant job?

I guess that would be bartending in Beijing. I had been going to China on and off since the ‘80s. I dropped out of a study abroad program there in the early ‘90s and kind of just found odd jobs—and one of those jobs was bartending at a Russian-owned pub. It was a time when China was opening and Beijing was booming with new ideas. The social element of meeting so many people from different places was great.

What’s unique about Rochester’s restaurant scene?

The room to grow. The city contains a wealth of untapped concepts and potential for new-to-Rochester food and beverage options.

What’s your favorite meal at your own restaurant?

My favorite is an off-menu spicy peanut cold soba noodle ginger tofu sweet potato salad that I class-up by topping it with crushed potato chips. Makes your breath stink in the best way.

What’s your favorite meal at another local restaurant?

I really love the Brussels sprouts at Thai Pop, Forager nachos, and the coconut rice at Francisco’s.

Tell me about a memorable moment you’ve had in a restaurant.

This one isn’t about food—but I have a trailer, and right before they ripped down the old Zorba’s building, the owners of Middle East restaurant and I spent an afternoon moving all of Zorba’s old booths over to Middle East’s Elton Hills Drive restaurant. I love repurposing.

Why do you think you were voted as one of Rochester’s best restaurant promoters?

I’m not certain. I know a lot of other Rochesterites who do as much as I do or more: Tiffany Alexandria. Dawn Finnie. Andrew Meissner. Shari Mukherjee. But I know first-hand how backbreaking and brutal this industry can be and I sincerely enjoy when restaurants thrive in the face of the odds and I’m a loudmouth on social media. Could be either one, but it’s probably the latter.

What’s your role in the local restaurant scene?

I love food and service.

What’s unique about Rochester’s restaurant scene?

I would have to say the amount of locally owned restaurants, liquor stores, coffee shops, and bars. The love, hard work, and passion in these businesses is truly apparent. It gives me goosebumps knowing firsthand what hard work goes into making these operations work day to day.

What was your first restaurant job?

It was at the Town & Country Café in my hometown of Kellogg, Minn. I was a dishwasher there at the age of 12 and managed to learn all positions throughout my years working there. The Town & Country Café is a women-owned business that is still operating to this day!

What’s your favorite meal at your own restaurant?

The menu changes frequently at Bleu Duck, so I’m constantly having to find a new one! I would have to say when we had our raw curried cauliflower with hummus, dried cherries, and onion salad. That was outstanding. I ate it almost every day! The roasted carrot salad was another, more recent one. For an entrée, our tofu and fried rice dish was one of my top favorite dishes—or our fresh oysters. I would eat them as a meal any day of the week! The crepe cake is to die for and I have totally eaten that for dinner.

What’s your favorite meal at another local restaurant?

Prescott’s is a hidden gem that we frequent when we can. It’s one of my favorite places to dine in Rochester. Any and all of their dishes have never let me down! And, as an added bonus, they have an insane dessert selection all made in house. Service is always top notch and they have the cleanest kitchen in Rochester!

Tell me about a memorable moment you’ve had in your restaurant.

I would have to say the night we were forced to shut down due to COVID: March 17, 2020. We played REM’s “It’s the end of the world as we know it” with all of our regulars and staff at the bar. The next day we opened with Take and Bake to-go food, which we had no experience with. And we proceeded to rock take-out on many different levels during the run of COVID. Adding to that would have to be the purchase of The Duck Truck—again at the start of COVID. We had zero idea how to drive or run a food truck, so driving this “beast” back from Winona was quite comical! We knew we were going to do everything in our power to keep the Bleu Duck afloat and try to come out on top!

Why do you think you were voted as one of Rochester’s best restaurant promoters?

That is a good question! Ha! We love to collaborate and be present as much as possible in the community.

Favorite meals in town?

I love it when Bleu Duck has the wagyu meatloaf on the menu. And, at Sorellina’s—well, it’s weird to say a salad, but they have this amazing salmon salad with greens. And of course their bread. It’s the same bread as at Victoria’s, but it’s closer to my house. And to top it off, I’ll say any beer from Little Thistle.

Why do you think you were voted as one of Rochester’s best restaurant promoters?

I don’t see myself as a restaurant promoter. I am so humbled that someone in the service industry nominated me.

Why do you think that is?

I like highlighting the people. I’m just a person who is saying, “Hey! Look at this amazing cocktail at Sorellina’s that Dakota made! Go see Dakota!” or “Look at Lucio from Espadin Food Truck. He has three jobs and I don’t think people know that!” I just want everyone in the community to know how wonderful the people in the service industry are here.

So you’re really more of a people promoter.

They live in our community. Their kids go to school with my kids. I just want to know them. This community is a weird bubble. I’ve lived here for 15 years, and I think there’s a disconnect sometimes and I wish more people would connect. Because the people who work in the service industry are truly incredible. I’ll cry while telling you this, but I had a hard time during COVID, and in the past year I had a horrible time. I was in a dark place and thinking about unaliving myself. And Jenny and Erik at Bleu Duck—they saved my life.

How? These people notice. Jenny and Erik notice. Corbin the bartender, this kid who could be my child, notices. The servers notice. And they’ve loved me like a family member. I would go and hang out with the chefs during the day to talk to them. I needed to be around people, and they were accepting and loving and saved my life. And it’s not just Bleu Duck. It’s all the small restaurants in town. You go to Sorellina’s and Nadia is like that, too.

Do you have a history with the restaurant industry?

I was raised by a single mother, and she was a server at Red Lobster. She did the best she could, but we were poor. I’ve lived in women’s shelters. I’ve had free lunch at school. A lot of times we got our groceries at the local food bank. And that staff at Red Lobster was like family. They truly helped us. From the servers sitting in a booth helping me with my homework to the kitchen guys on the line giving me cheddar bay biscuits, it was definitely a family.

And you took that away with you.

That’s how restaurants are. They are like family. They take care of each other. They also take care of the community. You ask them time and again for donations and they’re the first to give. I just can’t say enough about the small businesses in this town.

What’s your role in the local restaurant scene?

I’m the biggest fan of our local restaurants. I would support anybody who would venture into this.

How did you get into the restaurant business?

In the summer of 1992, I was an unemployed college student. My dad knew the owner of a metal craft factory and they employed college kids for summer work. It was considered a great job and the pay was great … however, there was no air, and we had to wear safety goggles and steel-toed boots. It was not my idea of fun. Victoria’s of Green Bay was steps away from the university I was attending. My mom, grandmother, and I went there for dinner one evening and saw a sign on the door that they were hiring. I applied that evening and was hired a few short days later. The rest is history. I am grateful to have found a passion for this industry. While there are downsides, the upsides far outweigh them.

What’s unique about Rochester’s restaurant scene?

I love the “community” feeling in this city. World-class health care steps away. New people. New stories. New hope. I cannot tell you the stories we hear daily from our guests of the medical miracles happening right here in Rochester. The guests who stay here LOVE this town. It makes me appreciate Rochester all the more.

What’s your favorite meal at your own restaurant?

Anyone who knows me knows I can eat pesto sauce by the pound, so that would be my favorite at Victoria’s. At The Tap House, the steak nachos are my fav. And I eat breakfast at Tap House West End all the time!

What’s your favorite meal at another local restaurant?

We love the local food scene in this town. It is too hard to choose one favorite! But you can find us at The Thirsty Belgian for drinks and at Pannekoeken or the Canadian Honker for breakfast a few times a month. And the iced tea at Café Steam or Dunn Bros. are daily treats.

Why do you think you were voted as one of Rochester’s best restaurant promoters?

I have been around Rochester’s restaurant scene so long I feel like a dinosaur. But in all honesty, I am lucky I found my passion with this industry. I will always offer support and lend an ear. We are always better together!

What’s your role in the local restaurant scene?

I’m a food photographer, connoisseur, cook, and supporter of all things local. Promoting the increasing diversity of foods and restaurant ownership is incredibly important to me. Supporting local growers, small food businesses, and regional suppliers is how we can all help to develop Rochester’s unique culinary identity.

What was your first food service job?

It was a Mexican fine dining restaurant in Taipei. I was a bartender/server. But in Taiwan, where I’m from, food is such an integral part of the cultural identity that it’s part of everything—it’s a lifestyle!

What’s unique about Rochester’s restaurant scene?

The resilience of the people making it happen. Restaurant work is very challenging—something that’s often taken for granted. The margins are slim, and the regulations are abundant and complex. Even just starting up a small, independent restaurant is out of reach for so many. There is so much hard work and creativity required to introduce something new.

What’s your favorite meal at a local restaurant?

It’s hard to pick just one! My favorite thing at any food establishment (not just restaurants) is enabling the chef to cook meals that they’re most passionate about. Food is culture. I love it when chefs’ faces light up when they see you enjoy a piece of their memory and they’re excited to tell you the story behind it. The Night Market was built for that—meals that tell the story of who they are.

Tell me about a memorable moment you’ve had in a local restaurant.

Honestly, the fact that Old Abe (from Old Abe Coffee Co.) speaks some Chinese. And whenever I find new items that hit close to home on their menu, such as salmon onigiri, Japanese kare raisu (curry and rice), and the perfectly cooked and fragrant brown rice.

Why do you think you were voted as one of Rochester’s best restaurant promoters?

I think more and more people are looking for someone to champion that more diverse and inclusive city we are moving towards being. Being a food photographer and obsessed about food definitely helps with the storytelling, too. Getting to showcase food as part of the story of who we are and where we have been and come from is such a joy and privilege.

What’s your role in the local restaurant scene?

My role is really as an Italian-born chef and a Culinary Institute of America graduate. I’m very passionate about providing our guests with 100% authentic, true Italian products of the highest quality—with clean-label ingredients and knowing where our food is made, produced and shipped from.

What’s unique about Rochester’s restaurant scene?

We are fortunate to have visitors from all over the world. And these visitors make up 50% of our new customers. So we are an extension of the Mayo Clinic to people who come to Rochester for care. The restaurant scene here has the opportunity to continue that care, and provide exceptional quality to give these visitors the total experience.

What’s your favorite meal at your own restaurant?

A simple cheese slice that is true to our authentic flavors—like our bread, made with the highest quality flour, and our sauce which is made from tomatoes we grow in Italy and then import and share with our guests, and the highest grade of cheese made from whole milk in Fond du Lac, Wis. We break bread with sauce and cheese. And that’s what I love.

What’s your favorite meal at another restaurant?

As a family we enjoy sushi, and Ichi Tokyo is our go-to. They’re authentic, they make it fresh, and they deliver quality.

Tell me about a memorable restaurant moment?

In Rochester, we do have homeless people, and we have families who come to Mayo on budgets—and we get to meet these people from all over. They’re children and adults and seniors. And it breaks our hearts that not only are they worried about their results and the path they’re going through here—but also of being able to eat. So we created the Common Table, where we can join our customers in purchasing meals for these people who need it and say to them, “It’s been taken care of.”

How does that work?

The Common Table is a “pay-it-forward” concept for those who would like to give back. We have a sign up, and these guests might say, “I’d like to donate $10 to the Common Table.” And then when someone in need comes in, we take care of them—so everybody feels like they are a part of our family.

Why do you think you were voted as one of Rochester’s best restaurant promoters?

We really love our community and the people who come here to get care. Rochester is a city of care, and we love to be a part of it. We love to give back. And we love to make sure everyone succeeds.

What’s your role in the local restaurant scene?

I’ve been doing this forever—this is my 39th year, and if you count my early dishwashing years, it’s 45 years. And I really enjoy our industry. I truly care about the restaurants in this community—each and every one of them. And more than anything, I eat out a lot. I go to the different restaurants in town because, of course, I enjoy seeing them and getting to know them, but it’s also just my lifestyle now.

What was your first restaurant job?

I was a dishwasher at the Holiday Inn South when I was 15 years old. And I had no problem doing the dishes. But four or five months into the job, the chef walked back and said, “How’d you like to work over in the salad area? Over in the line?” I said, “Yeah, I’d be very interested.” And that became my career. That’s where it all started.

What’s unique about Rochester’s restaurant scene?

People don’t understand that in most cities our size, the number of chefs and local people who’ve gone into business is pretty astronomical—and they’ve been successful. The Zubays, the Curries, Natalie Victoria, Christine Stahl and that crew, Murphy. There’s a lot of them, and they’re all local. The other unique thing is that the majority of them give back to community. And a lot of them that come into the market from outside—like the guys at Chester’s—they came into this market, but they give back to the community, too.

What’s your favorite meal at your own restaurants?

It’s the walleye at both the Honker and Hubbell House. That’s really a Midwest thing.

What’s your favorite meal at another local restaurant?

It’s so difficult to answer that, because there are so many great restaurants and so many great meals. But if I have to answer, I’ll say that these are the ones where I go out to eat the most often: At Victoria’s—and you’ve got to be hungry—it’s the veal portabella linguine. And that is a meal to split! If I’m not splitting it, I’m getting three meals out of it. Next, at Terza, I love the tortelloni rosa. Love that item. At Five West, I have the blackened quinoa salad. They do really good salads there.

Tell me about a memorable “restaurant moment”?

For years, I worked the door at the Honker. And we meet people from all over the world there. One that sticks out is a little boy from the New Orleans area who came to our door. He was eight years old. He said, “I need a table for four,” but his Southern drawl was so strong, I couldn’t understand him. I asked him to say it again. And he says, “Come down here! I. need. a. table. for. four.” I still could hardly understand him, but we hit it off! His name is Bailey, he’s now about 24 years old, and he still comes to see us once or twice a year. We’ve had him over for Christmas. And we’re not the only ones with stories like this. In this industry, in this town, you engage, you get to know them, and you feel like you have to help them. They become close friends. To this day, Bailey texts me, I text him, and we get together and have lunch or dinner. And he always tells me the story: “Remember that time I came in?” Yes. I’ll never forget it.

Why do you think you were voted as one of Rochester’s best restaurant promoters?

I really do care about each and every one of the restaurant owners in town. There’s not one I dislike—not a one of them. I’ve never looked at other restaurant owners as my competition. I look at it as we’re all in this industry, and we’re all in this together. And I would do anything for any of them. We can help each other out. And, honestly, we all do. It’s a pretty tight-knit group. It really is.