Why Food?

Vincent Mazeau recently traded his successful career as an artist and set designer of 15 years to start a new life, owning and operating his own restaurant, Cherry Point, in Greenpoint, with his partners, Chef Julian Colcott and Garrett Smith.

Vincent is a graduate of Sculpture from Yale who progressed in to the world of set design with his company, Big Room. During Vincent's fifteen years in the industry he collaborated with brands such as Calvin Klein, Yves St. Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Dolce & Gobbana. As an artist, Vincent’s work has been shown in galleries and museums all around the world as well as some of the worlds most-acclaimed publications.

Vincent left the industry to enroll at the French Culinary Institute, after graduation he did a stage at Michelin-starred Corton where he met Cherry Point’s chef Julian Colcott.

In this episode we will be discussing why Vincent left a successful career behind him to re-establish himself in the notoriously fickle New York restaurant scene, along with the trials and tribulations of opening a restaurant. I’m also curious to understand how a “Brooklyn restaurant’ is created in his eyes, along with the global trend to seek inspiration from Brooklyn’s bar and restaurant scene – some say Brooklyn is the new Paris.

After falling out of love with finance Matt dipped his toe in hospitality as an investor in one of the most revered cocktail bars in New York City, Employees Only. He then went on to make a name for himself with The Beatrice Inn but has now moved to a quieter part of town and is integrating in to the Tribeca neighborhood with four restaurants to his name.

From finance and fashion, Hannah and Marian Cheng left successful careers to bring traditional and healthy Chinese dumplings to New York City. In this episode Hannah Cheng comes on the show to chat about her childhood, her fathers unusual love for juicing onions, the stress and joy of opening a restaurant and what makes Mimi Cheng's dumplings so special.

Join us for a conversation with Andre Springer, Founder of Shaquanda Will Feed You. Andre was born in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY, and is of Barbadian descent. Andre began performing in the streets and bars of NYC at the age of 20, with much of his art being the creation of his drag alter ego, Shaquanda Coca Mulatta. The body of Andre's work has been in performance, sculpture, and film. While manifesting his creative side he also spent 18 years in the restaurant industry as a waiter, bartender, manager, and maitre d'. Shaquanda’s Hot Pepper Sauce was created at Bushwig in 2014, a drag festival that happens every year in NYC. Shaquanda’s Hot Pepper Sauce can be found in specialty shops across the United States and most recently in whole foods at all the North East region locations. The brand was featured in popular food publications like Bon Appetite, Edible, Serious Eats, Delish, Buzz Feed, NY Times Gift Guide, and was a favorite in season 9 and 13 of the popular hit youtube series “Hot Ones”.

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"If you have a genuine passion for something, why not go for it?"

I'm back home in Galway, Ireland this week and while I was home I wanted to meet the guys who have set the restaurant scene a light with their warm hospitality and sensational Neapolitan pizza.

Galway is the major food destination in Ireland, recently awarded the European Region of Gastronomy 2018 and Dough Bros are the restaurant that perched themselves as the number one restaurant on TripAdvisor for 14 consecutive months among 345 restaurants.

Dough Bros is founded by two brothers Eugene and Ronan Greaney. Eugene was laid off from his sales and marketing job during the recent recession and spotted an opportunity to go into business with his brother by starting up a food truck selling Neapolitan style wood fired pizza. The food truck quickly moved on to a pop-up restaurant with a 10 week lease, which extended to 18 months, and four weeks ago the brothers moved in to their first permanent space. It has been a rapid success story for the Greaney brothers with the future looking brighter than ever.

In this episode I had an opportunity to speak with Ronan, who takes the mantle of Head Chef. Their vision is simple - quality ingredients and quality service, a restaurant should feel like a home. A place where diners can relax, socialize and feel acknowledged.