Quick Quotes (and One Hot Take)

Dek goes here…

Sometimes the best quotes stand alone. Here are a few from hospitality professionals we interviewed that didn’t make it into recent stories but have stuck with us—and are too good to stay on the cutting-room floor.

On keeping (and losing) staff during shutdowns…“When the pandemic hit, I let everyone live on unemployment and did a hard shutdown. I did the math and it was the fairest deal for everyone. Everyone else was doing takeout at half wages. A lot of long-term people decided to leave. We had people who had been here for 20 years who were burned out. We lost a lot of institutional knowledge.”—Kevin Daly, founder, Mountain Sun Pubs & Breweries restaurant group

On DoorDash delivery…“More people would rather come and pick up stuff than have it delivered. I thought DoorDash would be big. But I love that people want to come.”—Beth Ginsberg, co-owner, Zaidy’s Deli

On how one order led to three ghost kitchens…“It all started with fettuccine! The thought was that I didn’t want to just make dinner for one, so I decided to put it out on social media as a “pop-up” dinner. First we did five orders…it grew quickly and that’s when we decided to go all in and started Bet On Me.”—Francisco Quintana, chef-owner, Bet On Me (30Fourth Kitchen, Somos Vegetarians, and Linda Hermosa)

On indoor agriculture…“I met this guy who is growing bananas in greenhouses in Canada; he has four acres under glass. We’ve damn near depleted and run through bananas as a crop; one day they’ll be a delicacy. When I think of someone raising bananas indoors, I’d put my money behind that. [And] people are starting to grow almonds indoors because we can’t grow nuts outdoors anymore (granted, they are GMO). Throw money at that; that’s a hard problem. Lettuce isn’t hard.”—Sally Herbert, co-founder and CEO, Altius Urban Farms

Talk to us! Email your experiences (and thoughts, opinions, and questions—anything, really) to askus@diningout.com.