The Makers: The Next Evolution of Mexican Cuisine w/ Gabe Erales, Rico Torres & Diego Galicia

03/03/20 • 31 min

We’re taking a brief break from our second season to introduce you to the other project that the Copper & Heat team has been working on. It’s called The Makers - a four part mini-series brought to you by ChefsFeed in paid partnership with Maker’s Mark bourbon. In each episode of The Makers, we talk with chefs about their one-of-a-kind approaches to their craft. In this episode, Chefs Gabe Erales, Rico Torres, and Diego Galicia discuss how they are challenging their diners’ expectations of Mexican food at their restaurants in Texas. Check out more at chefsfeed.com/makers. We’ll be back in a couple weeks with the next episode in Season 2: Overhead!

Previous Episode

Tipping: Part 2 w/ One Fair Wage

In the second episode on tipping, Katy digs deeper into a different question: if the money coming into the restaurant industry is a pie, who has access to that pie and who is controlling how that pie is drawn? Turns out, there’s a lot of money being spent every year to keep wages low and to keep the tipped minimum wage at $2.13.

Surprise! The tipping system is incredibly complicated and contentious. So we want to hear how it affects you! FOH, BOH, good or bad, all stories are welcome. Send them on over to [email protected]

We are so grateful for our first ever season sponsors: Pared! They find vetted hospitality professionals to fill your shifts. Copper & Heat listeners get 30% off their first gig. Use the code COPPER when booking.

If you want to go down the same rabbit hole Katy did in researching for this episode, here are a few links:

National Restaurant Association Profile - SourceWatch
Do You Know Where Your Tip Money Is Going? - Eater
“After Years of Litigation, Tip Regulations Begin to Line up with the FLSA” - Press Release via National Restaurant Association
National Restaurant Association Opposes H.R. 582, “Raise the Wage Act” - Press Release
National Restaurant Association Influence and Lobbying Profile - OpenSecrets.org
National Restaurant Association Organization Profile and 990 tax forms - CauseIQ
Restaurant Opportunities Center United

Next Episode

Illness & Injury w/ Giving Kitchen

What happens when you get sick or injured and you work in a restaurant? You keep working. At least, that’s how it’s always been. With low wages, lack of access to benefits, and usually nonexistent paid leave, the workers living paycheck to paycheck can’t really take care of their health. Giving Kitchen, a nonprofit in Atlanta, Georgia, is attempting to mitigate those challenges in their local Georgia community by providing financial assistance and resources to workers going through a financial crisis from injury, illness, a death in the family, or housing crisis due to flood or fire.

We have been working on this episode for months, but as we write this, restaurants and their employees are facing a challenge unlike any other in the past due to the novel coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19. We’ve compiled some resources and tips for workers on our website at copperandheat.com/coronavirus.

Look into workshare programs in your city or state like this one in Massachusetts.
Many states are making applying for unemployment easier for those affected by COVID-19. So look it up in your state.
Bartenders - there’s an emergency relief fund that you can apply to through the USBG
See if your local restaurant association or any other nonprofits have an emergency financial assistance program like this one.
Some folks are starting GoFundMe pages for emergency relief like this one in Boston. Give if you can, start one in your area, apply if you need help.
Participate in telling city, state, and federal governments to announce a plan to help workers and small businesses.

And some resources:

Industry Support Groups:

If you’re not in the industry, do your part in helping them out.

Tip generously. Like 30%. Workers are relying on these tips more than ever.
Order delivery and take out from local restaurants if you’re practicing social distancing. A lot of local places are expanding their take out options. If you order through a delivery app, ask the restaurant which they prefer (some take lower commissions and some are waiving the commission fee altogether)
If you’re working through your stockpile of food, buy some gift cards from your favorite local restaurants to keep them in business until we’re on the other side of the pandemic.
Some folks are starting GoFundMe pages for emergency relief like this one in Boston. Give if you can, start one in your area, apply if you need help.
Participate in telling city, state, and federal governments to announce a plan to help workers and small businesses.