Eric and Devon are joined by Justin Cucci, founder of some of Denver’s hippest and highly regarded dining venues, including Ophelia’s, Root Down, and Linger. What separates Cucci’s establishments from other restaurants in Denver, or in any other city for that matter, is his ability to create a uniquely sticky culture in an industry known for high turnover.
Cucci’s restaurants are known for having great food, distinctive settings and atmospheres, and unparalleled service. He talks to Devon and Eric about allowing the context of the city, food and/or neighborhood to organically influence the exterior and interior design of his restaurants. By adding a layer of purposeful misalignment, it creates a unique, memorable, and engaging design. Many of these ideas come from feedback, suggestions, and creative sparks that occur throughout the building and design process.
Cucci says remaining open to feedback continues to be a critical part of his operations, where everybody from the busboy to the executive chef has a voice in how the restaurant is run. Not every idea or suggestion is implemented, but giving his employees the freedom to fearlessly open a dialogue is an important part of the culture that gives each of his employees a sense of ownership and pride, which is evident in every interaction with restaurant guests.
The three talk about what corporate America can learn from his approach to culture, and the main advice Cucci offers is that culture is not something a company can create in a lab. It is in the DNA of the firm, existing before the doors even open. Companies that try to “create” an inviting culture are too late.
Full Transcription from YouTube:
Welcome back to SoCap Talks helping innovators build tomorrow, today. Now here’s your hosts Devon Kerns and Eric Sutfin.
Eric: Today we have the fortune of having Justin from Edible Beats. Justin is the founder of here in Denver a few years Linger, Root Down, and many other amazing restaurants in the area. We actually connected last year at Denver Startup Week. And one of the conversations that caught my attention immediately was about the unique culture that you have in an industry where there is notoriously high turnover. And a lot of people based issues when you have much larger fish to fry. That was really bad pun issues to deal with, you have developed a culture that is that is incredible. And so first, I want to give you props on what you’ve created here in the landscape. And it sounds like a lot of other cool things around recipes. And one can you share just a little bit about that, before we dive into the culture component about what you guys are currently doing? Because its innovative and it’s disruptive outside of the typical restaurant restaurant? norm.
Justin: Cool. Well, thank you very much. I appreciate that. And yeah, I think for us, the brick and mortar part is really sort of passe, it’s there’s probably 1,000 restaurants a year opening up. But we are still hungry, we’re still growing, we still have a creative team. And so we’ve started to look at other areas, not trying to be disruptive. But definitely, it might be that way. But one of them is having a self published cookbook and Xein or magazine, something we put out twice a year that really just sort of exposes recipes from the restaurants design things, because we use a lot of stuff from the trash and recycled and repurposed as well as just sort of how we source food, things that people might be interested from the restaurant. So, that thing isn’t organic piece that we haven’t we’re halfway in it. So as we do in issue, I’m sure that the issue one, issue two will evolve and become you know something contextual, to what we do.
The other thing we’re really excited about is, I really think that getting food that’s delicious, is really important that it be affordable. And I know that might be funny, because my restaurant sometimes can, you know, not be as affordable. But because, you know, sort of Vital Route took us to where everything is about, I think $12 or less and so we want to try and get some of that food out into the supermarkets. We’re really excited to try and see if we can do something that’s on the same level with the same sourcing with the same quality of food, the same recipes and get it in a supermarket where you just grab it and go.
Devon: So out of curiosity, how did you get here, what was the passion behind the food industry, and what was the story behind all these incredible innovations in the restaurant industry and food?
Justin: I I was sort of inbred in the restaurant business. I have to pause so I can have a little punch line there. But I was inbred in the restaurant business because my grandparents owned a restaurant in New York, called the Waverly Inn and they owned it for I don’t know, about 50 years, and I grew up there. And so I had just, you know, from the time I was, I think, eight, I was trying to insert myself into that restaurant. And all they were trying to do is keep me at bay, like, do not come into this restaurant, go be do something meaningful, be a lawyer, be a doctor, do something, go to college. And so, as I was going through school, I did both. I went to school and I wanted to make, this is 1986, I wanted to major in computer science. But after about one semester, I realized that writing code for computers would be a worthless endeavor, because there was no computers back then.
Eric: No one’s making money doing nobody.
Justin: So I realized early on, get out of this computer science code writing 1986 vibe, and push myself back into the restaurant. And at that time, they were retiring and I asked all right, sort of really pushed hard to at that point, I had, you know, dishwasher I had served bar tended, manage, and I was like, ready to take it over. And they were ready to retire. So I really got a crash course in restaurants. When about, I think it was about 18. And I started to take over as the GM there, I was way probably, you know, under qualified way in above my head. But I was wearing you know, like two three piece suits at 18 because I wanted that restaurant to be the center of my universe, because I loved it so much. But everybody else in my family wanted that restaurant to blow up and you know, burn to ashes.
So it was this interesting sort of dichotomy of, you know, sort of a love hate that most of the family had, I just loved it. So that just became like, I always tell people, like, my passion, overcame my intellect. And I just followed my passion and really, you know, took it over and ran it for a bunch of years, until fast forward. I went, I left New York because they sold it finally to the the editor of Vanity Fair, which became super chic, and doubly famous than it already was.
I moved to Key West and open a couple of restaurants and sold those and just made a beeline for Denver, with no idea of what I was going to do or I was going to go.
Devon: Why Denver?
Justin: Denver, you know, it’s funny, like my wife at the time, and myself, we had picked bunch of places that we knew. And we’re like, well, we can go here we go to California. We neither one of us have been to Denver. But we had always like people we met from Denver. And we just kind of joked about it, like, let’s just move to Boulder, because we hope we heard boulder was great. So we, you know, packed everything up, went to Boulder immediately, that night, ended up turning around and moving to Westminster because we couldn’t afford to live in Boulder. But we ended up loving Denver from that point forward. And just really, I think found it to be refreshingly for that time of life. It just felt like the right place to be for us at the time. And then I moved down to Highlands and that’s when my love affair with Highlands happened. I really felt like that was the the Brooklyn to New York, you know, that’s the Brooklyn to Denver and I just thought like wow, this is where people who maybe are a little older who want to have a parking spot who want to have a yard who maybe have kids and worried about school in a live and I just felt like it was sort of the you know, the 13 up crowd or maybe even the 35 and up crowd. I just thought that’s where my restaurants should be because I wanted to be pretty inclusive I know the restaurants have a thing about being hip, but that’s not a scribe by us we just try and put restaurants that hopefully feel good, and and taste good, and look good. We really wanted it to be inclusive we want families we want you know people from the burbs, we went the people from the city, but I really didn’t want to be in the city. I really, you know, after living in New York, most of my life, that was a place I didn’t want to be.
Eric: So you’ve been very conscious about that. When we look overall at your restaurants, the attention to detail is immaculate. I mean, you are very conscious about the locations you choose why they’re the interiors you develop, where does that come from? You can share just a little bit. So for those that haven’t been to Denver, what does that experience where’s that come from?
Justin: I think it comes from context, I feel like context is the thing that echoes in my mind that really drives every decision I try and make. So you know, what I would do in, you know, let’s say, New York, is that what I’m trying to do here. So the first thing when I was in Denver, I just started driving around and I wanted to find the right place, right, everything’s about the right fit, I found Root Down, originally old 1950s gas station. But the context of it of that corner in that neighborhood at that time and place it felt right and anything to me that has a story, like a gas station that’s been around for 60 years, already has, you know, just sort of bones to it.
So with Root Down, I really wanted to, like, honor the history I really just growing up in New York, it was like a shame for anybody. Or maybe its affordability, nobody tore down buildings, you took old ones, and you repurpose that 100 times. But I don’t think at least in my neighborhood, nobody really tore down buildings. So I really fell in love with, like, a building can have this life for, you know, hundreds of years, as long as it’s in, you know, the right hands, or it’s treated right, and doesn’t collapse. So we added on to that and really wanted that to feel like the addition was in context with the building. And then I wanted the whole thing to feel like it was in context to that neighborhood, so that it fit wasn’t the thing that was just dropped in. And so then it becomes this journey and this attention to like, how do we make everything sometimes be in context, but also sometimes be misaligned. And that is, I think sometimes the success of the restaurants comes from like, I call it “intentional misalignment.”
Trying to really have the process be organic, not try and get too many steps ahead. And more context comes in. Because as always building that restaurant materials would drop on my lap ideas would be thrown at me at the 11th hour after a while, was built. And so everything becomes like this, you know, sort of organic process of how do you take all these great ideas? And how do you listen to what people are saying, and when not to listen and incorporate that into the restaurant.
The simple thing for me is, at the end of the day, it could look beautiful, it could, it could have all the best architectural features. But if it doesn’t feel good, it doesn’t matter. And that’s where I feel like we really try and intentionally misalign things because sometimes that push and pull and that tension, if you do it right, I think can really make a place feel good even though tension and feeling good doesn’t always sound right.
Devon: Hence the airstream trailer on top of Linger?
Justin: Just like that. That was we put an Airstream and Linger roof. It was an RV I bought for me and my family. And as a luckily as a restaurant and a successful one. The bad side is you never have time to do anything. So I had bought this RV and it was sitting actually in Utah where I had driven it out and gotten four flat tires and left it for years. And so I was like, I gotta do something with this. And then it was right about the time we were building the Linger rooftop and we just thought, I just thought like, I have this RV. Why don’t we just like crane it up and put a bar in it and make it with a food truck and make that its own sort of destination, all of which was ideas that were impossible to execute. But at least once the idea is there and it germinates it’s hard to like, say no to a really good idea. So we drove it out, gutted it we had a great contractor who really helped me like retrofit everything in it. And now we have a 1975 RV sitting on the roof of a mortuary serving, you know, street food and street cocktails on this beautiful rooftop deck. So that’s kind of the intentional misalignment. But at the end of the day, I think I mean, I think it just feels amazing up there. It’s just so unique. And so that sign is contextual, the you know, the RV now is contextual. So I hate to beat that word up.
Devon: Combined with the view. Yes.
Justin: Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah.
Eric: I hear your, you say fuel a lot. You’re you’re feeling the space, the environment, but you’re listening to your gut, you’re listening to contextual surroundings and trying to make conscious decisions about what fits and what doesn’t. The thing that I heard you say last year that sticks with me still is that you equally listen to the feedback of your employees – that everyone, whether it be a buzzer or executive chef, you are an open platform to be able to take any feedback or constructive criticism to make the establishment better. Share a little bit about the culture that you guys have created there and why that’s important, because we talked a little bit how different that isn’t just the restaurant industry, and how that can even be translated into other industries. And we can get there but share just the culture and why you have this belief.
And and what does that done for the culture internally for your employees?
Justin: Great question. Hard to answer, I’m going to just try, I feel like a part of it came from, I think questioning authority is really important. And most restaurants are set up with a really big hierarchy. There’s the executive chef who gets to do and say, and be whatever he wants. And then the expectations and everybody else are non negotiable. And having been, you know, learned in in kitchens like that. It was really like, sometimes the last thing I wanted to be. And I was like, why are we trying to model ourselves after somebody who you know, is kind of like it tyrant or a dictator sometimes, you know, that stereotypical chef. And so there was also this sort of haves and the have nots in the restaurant industry. So I think coming into it, I really wanted to be aware of that, that, you know, having been and done almost every job, it’s really alienates people when you’re not having something that’s somehow collective. And so right away, I wanted to have a sense of community and a collective and a collaboration. And it’s all to see words that nobody says in the restaurant world, the other C word you, you can always say, in the restaurant world, but communication collaboration collected, you can’t say those see words.
So the biggest C word for us became culture because I didn’t body all of that. And so trying to create a culture that was contextual to Root Down, because root down what it was. And what it became was also something I was willing to sort of let it fly a little bit, I wasn’t trying to drive it. And that’s how culture is also you can’t I don’t think you can cram culture down people’s throat, you can’t indoctrinate them to it, it’s got to be something that they kind of have to discover themselves. And so we’ve always tried to set up that culture at Root Down to work that way to be something that you want to hopefully discover you want to be a part of. And that at the end of the day, that voice that you mentioned, I feel like as another important component is that I think in this day and age, to not have a voice when I mean the internet proliferates voice so then even the people who’s you know, living in their mom’s basement as a 55 year old, you know, 7-11 worker could all of a sudden maybe an amazing talent or have amazing thoughts and get it out there. And so I think we’re just, you know, sort of part of that culture of voice is really important. And if it’s shut down, it really makes people not want to be in that place.
So voice, we encourage it, we really want people to I want to be challenged, you know, my authority and I and we have meetings where we really encourage people to fearlessly communicate, we say that a lot, just like barely communicate, know that this is a safe place to do it and that you can say, “I think this sucks, or it doesn’t make sense why we’re doing it this way.” And then we can have a meaningful dialogue about it. And I think that somehow is empowering that then the the people, the servers, the bartenders, the busboys, whatever, then the culture becomes there, and then all we have to do is make sure that we’re keeping it within the bounds and making sure when there’s any infractions, you know, but otherwise, now, culture is sort of its organic thing. And it I like to say, like, I tell my managers like, build the culture, because that’s the one thing that’s going to work when you’re sleeping.
The old adage in the restaurant industry is in my grandparents live, then kind of died by this adage, which is, if you are not in the restaurant, things, we’re going to go wrong. And for the most part, they were true, everybody sort of turned off whatever they were doing in terms of their best selves, and they reverted to their worst selves. So to me, culture was a way to, like, create a best self environment so that the GM could be sleeping, the chef could be sleeping, I could be sleeping, and hopefully, what’s holding it together and creating, you know, the right decisions was this sense of culture, that makes sense.
Devon: It it really was, and when, and having experienced your culture, from the consumer side of things, there is so many little nuances as to why I love your locations, particularly Root Down and Linger and Ophelias. But when I think of the two places, I would go the most consistently that whether it be brunch or just a great evening meal sitting by the bar, whether I need the table or not really matter yours of the first two that come to mind. And it makes sense now hearing how you position this, both from the environment that has that push-pull, but you also allow for push-pull to happen on the human capital side of things. And that also feels like it gives them ownership because that is the number one thing I noticed all the way to the front desk, individual. When I walk in, there’s a sense of pride that isn’t arrogance but it’s also like, this is my place, and we’re going to treat you right but there’s a mutual exchange here, and they’re confident. It’s really rare to see, I think, in the restaurant industry so I definitely appreciate that for sure.
Justin: I mean, thank you, that’s great to hear. You know, that’s where I like I said, I hope I’m, you know, somewhere else, and everything is happening there to deliver it to everybody who comes in what their expectations are, whether it’s like you said, just a drink, in the bar, brunch, whatever that may be. And there’s a lot of trust there. I mean, that’s the thing, I think I’m in, like, I feel like I’m inherently risk taker, or risk taking. So a lot of my managers come into it and they, you know, that it’s really hard for them to trust people, right, and because they’re going to make mistakes. That’s exactly why I think it’s important that people make mistakes, because if you can have that trust there, and you can give them you know, sort of that slack and you can catch them if they fall, there’s a sense of ownership when they do it again. And I think that they now want to do a better they’re now vested in the results as opposed to somebody, micromanaging them, directing them, giving them no room to have, again, their self be part of the equation. And so we’re always trying to talk about in our staff meetings with the restaurants about best self, because that’s the crazy thing is like, we have people sometimes as every business that could be analyzed and say, “You know what, that person is just not going to work out there, this there late there something” and I would say, you know, “I’ve been in places and I look at maybe who their leader is, and I say, you know, let’s look at who their leadership is, who were they, you know, sort of, are they bringing their best self or their worst self?”
So I know, I could be in a situation and bring my worst self and I could be a really, you know, substandard employee who’s not very passionate, not very involved. But I know when I’m inspired and when I believe in what I’m doing and I have good leadership I could rise and excel and I think that’s a question that’s not often asked when you look at people’s fault is like, Okay, are we fostering their worst self or not that we have to say, that’s our responsibility, but are the things we’re giving them right now, just making them go to that easy place, or can we find ways to, to make them sort of see if their best self existing work, and then maybe somebody like that can become one of our best sort of, you know, sort of ambassadors of the culture and of the, you know, the hospitality that we’re trying to create
Devon: I love it:
Justin: Cool.
Eric: I think environment dictates so much of that, whether it be leadership or location, or just the way that you have some of these values and standards within your organization you have you’ve a lot of it that you’ve designed and created intentionally oftentimes I’m sure through mishaps and and blunders, but that’s what has created it, the way it is that creates that pull push pull contrast that you’re talking about. The restaurant industry is, is a unique example I think we had discussed briefly, but I’d be curious to revisit now, as some time has passed, if you were to translate or suggest to corporate America, to the rest of the world as not in this hustle bustle of the restaurant industry, some of these ideas that you have seemed to be so successful in creating this this empire you have created, what can they pull what can extrapolate, that would be the most impactful to bring into their organization, whether it be a small thing or a large, what would you say the some I’ve seen, and because you’re not in the restaurant industry, it might not be as impactful. But you just do this, you’ll see a night and day difference.
Justin: I think one thing I feel like I noticed about corporate culture is it’s become a buzzword, right. And I think a lot of corporations are trying to build it. And so I think a couple things, I’ll probably like a three parter. But I’ll try make it’s the same one is, I think there has to be a sense of organic newness and, and some gray areas. Because I just, I don’t believe any culture is going to thrive with black and white imposed on them that may be Part one is just having the, you know, sort of, I don’t know that the strength to be able to believe that gray can produce amazing results in in corporate culture, that’s hard. It’s back to the ownership of allowing employees to help decorate and trees. And I think a lot of corporate cultures, their culture is about how they do business. And it’s about how maybe we’re going to sell something, or how we’re going to, I don’t know, roll out our product, right. So they’re, they’re at least looking in the right area.
I think culture is sort of what happens before you even open your doors. And that’s where I think a lot of times when I hear or see people talking about culture, it’s it has to happen before you even talk about what you do and what you sell. And it’s just a matter of like, what do you want this place to be for humans, right? And it’s like, at the end of the day, we’re all in the human business, you know, to some degree or another. And that’s what I always tell people. It’s like, yeah, we sell food but it’s really we’re in the human business where humans serving other humans really dealing in the commodity of hospitality, and feelings. And if we’re lucky, we can fill your stomach and, and get you to like, you know, have other emotions through that way. But at the end of the day, it’s all about the sort of human factor. And I think if corporations stop looking at the products they sell, and the things they’re trying to achieve, and start looking at the human factor, knowing that people are really unique, and there really needs to be sort of guided, oftentimes to their best habits and best selves. And I think a lot of corporations don’t have a high threshold for that learning curve. And I get it right, because everything costs money. And if you have somebody who’s not in the right place, doing the right job, that could be a very expensive thing.
I think if there was more proactive systems in place, whether its leadership growth, whether it’s, you know, best self things, I even think just teach people that work as another relationship. Like, I spend a third of my life with my wife, I spend the other third of my life with my restaurants, shouldn’t I give the same energy to solving problems and talking about the hard things and going through the hard moments at work as I do with my wife? And I think the answer is yes, but most leave your shit at the lead your stuff at the door, you know, and I think that’s the thing we’re like, we don’t talk about these things at work, because it’s, it’s just work, man, just drop it. So I think that would be number two.
The last thing I’d say, I think there was something I heard recently about, like, the four sort of things that everybody is looking for when they go to work somewhere, right. And, you know, everybody needs to pay a bill. Everybody wants to be successful, of course. But I think if you boil down what culture can give people in a corporate environment, I think it’s really simple. I think if it can give Hope, Trust, Stability, and Compassion, all for things that don’t make anybody money by the books. There’s no balance sheet of hope. There’s no P&L that has compassion on there. And so it’s foreign. But if I just think if those are the human capital, and those are the four things that probably is, you know, humans, we want more than anything, when we enter into a place and give of ourselves, I think, then, you know, corporate culture would be a lot more successful in identifying how to instill those values. So sorry, I was wrong. But it was a three parter.
Devon: I think it was perfect on the I mean, those are three walkways that I think if you just digest that and execute on that, you can get your culture a lot further. And so what I love to do in wrapping up is here a little bit more about the direction you’re going, what is next for you?
Justin: That’s a hard question because we, we love, I think, as a group, and as a culture, I mean, there wouldn’t be more than a Root Down, if there wasn’t a culture, I had no interest in anything more than a restaurant where I could, you know, pay my bills, maybe get my daughter through college, and not worry about money. So that it never became this, you know, sort of vision of having an empire, or this big, colossal restaurant group. What it was to me was that the culture and, and how we looked at our food system, and how we tried to be as, you know, the best footprint as possible and, and how we looked at the creativity process, and all those things became so dynamic that we had to do it another restaurant, cuz the walls of Root Down work became limiting, we can only do so many, many changes, we can only do so many things of design. And it became like, “Let’s do this again.” and send it just grew from Linger. And so the whole process going from a Root Down to where I am today was completely organic as well. And always driven by just like decisions of like, Sure, let’s do it, it was never a p&l, there was never a business plan, there was never any talk about how we’ll get the money, it was just like, let’s sign the lease, and we’ll figure it out.
So with that very irresponsible point of view, towards business, it’s worked for me, which is great. But now I trust to try and do things a little bit more strategic, I have a little bit more on the law, you know, before I thought, if I, you know, lose a restaurant, so I’ll figure it out, I’ll take another loan or mortgage Root Down or do whatever. But now that there’s five of them, and they’re all five hungry kids in a very competitive very, you know, sort of, I think I mentioned earlier labor, the labor pool is disappearing. So there’s a lot on the line. And I want to be strategic at this point. So for me, I really want to continue to look at the the restaurants that exist in my group, and find ways to just grow the people that are in them, and try and find this next group of people who are going to, you know, sort of take over as I grow the people who have already put in the time and are now part of the operations team. And so part of it is like, how do we do this and maybe impact the whole and the way I’m looking at it as maybe my big picture plan. And this is actually where I’m going at Linger today is to talk to an Aesop specialist, because any stop is this employee stock ownership program, where you can build you know, sort of this when when culture where the ownership and the employees can both share and some benefits of owning as you know, the longer you’re there, and the more you commit, probably the more responsibility you have, the more that you can maybe have big picture take away.
So I’m trying to create a system so that when this all morphs into whatever it is next, that there’s some way that there can be a collective win. And Aesop is one of those ways and I don’t know enough about it to tell you if it’s amazing idea or a really, you know, bad idea. But I know it’s intriguing, because it’s about the win-win.
Devon: Yeah.
Justin: And so now everything I’m doing, I’m trying to ask, what is the win win, right? Because at the end of the day, there’s a lot of people who put a lot of time there’s a lot of teams there that, you know, just they open those restaurants, I don’t, I don’t do that anymore. You know, they do that hard work every day, I just try and, you know, fuel them up and wipe their windows, make sure the oils change and send them around the track a few dozen times, but they’re the ones driving that, you know, fast, chaotic car around those turns. And it’s hard work, you know. And so, I think other than growing responsibly, and making sure that we’re looking at our impact in terms we want to become a B Corporation as well, which I don’t know much about it. But I know it’s about being a pretty sort of high standard of sustainability. It’s about the wages you pay all being living wages, not just subscribing to them, and minimum wage. So we’re just trying to have more awareness about everything we do and how we do it.
And the last part of that of what’s next is, I think, to me, the food system is probably something that, you know, I’ve been trying to chase ways that we can affect the food system in maybe a preachy way by, can we go into schools? Can we do at vital root, I’ve been wanting to do a happy meal for like three years now. And the Happy Meal is simply whatever a Happy Meal cost that McDonald’s we’re going to do a happy meal at Vital route, but it’s going to be completely organic, it’s going to say, she ate kids will make sure that it’s not like, you know, a veggie burger. And, you know, parsnip fries, no, kids gonna eat that. So how do we design a happy meal for the same price so that families can see for the same dollar or $2, you can make choices that are going to feed yourself, they’re going to be better for the food system, and ultimately, hopefully make you feel better than going through, you know, no offense, Mr. Donald MacDonald, then going through McDonald’s and making some of those choices that are often based on time and money.
And so I’m obsessed with like, how do we get more delicious food quicker? And how do we make it less expensive, and that’s something I think we’re trying to find ways to have our experience and our restaurant group start to affect that, and it either schools or, you know, hospice care, like the kids and the elderly get the worst food in the country.
Devon: Yeah
Justin: There’s no doubt about it. So, how do we affect that and not just the people who can afford to go to down or link or any of the restaurants that I’m happy there’s people who can afford it, but what about the people who can’t and so that to me, is maybe the other what’s next is trying to infiltrate the food system in a non nefarious way to do good, the preachy part
Devon: I don’t think it’s pretty at all I think it’s brilliant and I would love to see that occur and I know we would be 100% behind you in any way we could make those connections.
Justin: It takes a village, it does yeah.
Eric: Well I love the vision and I know our listeners love it too if they want to get more involved whether it be in person when they’re here in Denver or online if they don’t have the ability to travel year how can they get in touch How can they see a little bit more what you guys are doing Edible Beats?
Justin: Yeah, I think ediblebeats.com is our sort of mothership umbrella so in other words that’s our restaurant group’s name and then all the restaurants and which spell lover which is nice because this Linger is vital Root Down, El Five and Root Down so easy to remember but you can go to any LingerDenver.com, RootDownDenver.com if you want to see this specific restaurants l five Denver calm and, you know, we’re doing a lot of things. And I’m always opening it up to, you know, anybody who approaches me or contact me, like I’m all about that collaboration. Not that I want to encourage, because just because of time, I have limited resources to do all these cool things. But with the magazine with people who are interested in like, those kind of food system changes. Yeah, I mean, contact me. And if you have something that we can sort of bring to the table and make some of these things happen.
I’m all for that collaborative process and figuring out how it happens or if people just want to, like have a dialogue about it. Because I’m, I think being my team are usually pretty passionate about just talking about it so that people understand some of the pitfalls that are probably below the surface and kept that way so that people don’t ask as many questions so I really encourage like, ask him any questions of anybody. So wonderful.
Eric: Well, thank you for your time.
Justin: Thank you guys. I appreciate it.
Devon: Thank you.
Eric: And thank you for your services, it is wonderful to have you here.
Justin: Thank you.
