Fostering a greater ownership role for blacks in D.C.’s restaurant scene

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Fostering a greater ownership role for blacks in D.C.’s restaurant scene

Getting at the roots of why African-Americans are underrepresented in the ranks of D.C.’s restaurant owners. And learning about the benefits of setting aside...

October 28, 2018 1:09 pm

2 min read

Hosted by David and Nycci Nellis.

On today’s show:
• Between 1939 and 2015, Montgomery County lost 71 percent of its farmland. That loss was slowed in 1980, when citizens, farmers, politicians, and planners created the Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve, recognizing the value of land set aside for the environment, farming, history, and community. Claudia Kousoulas and Ellen Letourneau are in to discuss “Bread and Beauty: A Year in Montgomery County’s Agricultural Reserve;”

• Mission Navy Yard, the enormous bar and restaurant, is now open across from Nats Park.
Fritz Brogan and chef Roberto Hernandez are in with tastes and talk of Mission Navy Yard;

o Meggrolls founder and food truck entrepreneur Meghan Baroody. Meggrolls was named a Top 25 Food Truck in Washingtonian Magazine’s Ultimate Food Truck Guide in 2014, was featured in Southern Living Magazine as offering “some of the South’s most Inventive meals” and voted “Best Food Truck” this past summer in Northern Virginia Magazine;

• According to the National Restaurant Association, African-Americans make up only 8% of restaurant owners and the same share of restaurant managers. So the industry, the community and patrons across the board need a wake-up call: from Nov. 4 to 11, D.C. celebrates Black Restaurant Week and, with it, the city’s top talent in food and drink.

In with us today for a roundtable discussion are:

o Two of the event’s three cofounders; (1) Dr. Erinn D. Tucker, director of Georgetown University’s global hospitality leadership master’s program; and (2) Chef Furard Tate, who provides training, mentoring, and teaches job skills;

o Grey Goose Ambassador and Cultural Curator Earlecia Richelle. Living and working in New York City, she developed a distinct conceptual style, fusing culture, history, and cocktails to open new avenues of communication and creative expression;
• And then there’s our drinks segment. Eric Kozlik is a D.C.-based cocktail entrepreneur, educator, and podcaster. He is the CEO of the Modern Bar Cart, a cocktail platform helping home bartenders and industry pros make better drinks. And… he’s gonna make some for us!