Welcome to In the Weeds, a new publication covering the business of independent restaurants.
Avoiding triggers has long been considered a first step in addiction recovery. But as with many aspects of addiction and recovery, it’s not that simple, Andry Rakotoniaina, a longtime mixologist and beverage manager, told me.
Andry recently became director of operations at Ben’s Friends, the support group for food and beverage industry workers struggling with substance abuse. I spoke with him about how recovery has evolved alongside the restaurant industry and why recovery doesn’t have to mean the end of a career in hospitality.
Also in this edition: a look at the industrial pop-up complex, a call for a mutual-review system for diners and restaurants, and how to project value in the context of fine dining.
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Andry Rakotoniaina
Andry Rakotoniaina has been in the hospitality industry since he was 15, starting in Western Kentucky, where he grew up, and later in Louisville. He helped lead beverage programs for years and developed a love for beer and bourbon. About eight years ago, Andry got sober and started the Louisville chapter of Ben’s Friends, the support group for members of the food and beverage industry struggling with substance abuse, and he is now the organization’s director of operations. The organization holds 24 in-person groups at restaurants around the country, as well as daily online groups.
Andry is helping to grow the organization by connecting more restaurant owners, operators, and human resources teams to Ben’s Friends. In partnership with OpenTable and local restaurants, Ben's Friends has hosted several luncheons this year in different cities to share advice on how to help restaurant employees who may be struggling with addiction or substance abuse.
“One thing that we really rely on is help from owners and operators that have teammates that are struggling, and having those trusted leaders point to us as a resource is really helpful,” he said.
Restaurant work has always been a viable career, and it's important to include it in the recovery conversation, Andry told me.
“It’s not just some job that’s going to hold you over until something bigger comes on; there’s compounded learning and sharing of ideas, and that’s what I think we really try to lead to, if that’s what the person wants,” he said.
While recovery used to mean avoiding people, places, or things that are triggering, recovery has evolved, along with how the industry understands and handles addictive substances.
“Our in-person Ben’s Friends meetings are held within bars and restaurants themselves, so it’s not so much the matter of being in proximity to alcohol. In the end, it is about taking personal responsibility,” he said. “It is just as much about substances as it is about learning what works for living. It’s ‘I make better decisions when I’m well rested and when I’m well fed, and when I feel grounded and can trust myself.’ So much of recovery comes down to those fundamentals.”
While the knee-jerk reaction that anyone recovering must leave the hospitality industry is shortsighted, Ben’s Friends is open to folks who need to move on from restaurants temporarily or permanently, Andry said.
“We stay open to everybody that wants to be part of the conversation, because recovery isn’t about staying stagnant or being locked into something,” he said. “We’re not just telling people, ‘You’ve got to stay in the industry,’ because the truth is each of us makes our own decisions … but figuring out what it is to be in that room — lining up glasses and setting up tasting sessions for other people as one is sober — that’s part of it.”
For the folks who want to stay in the industry, they might look to alter their jobs. That’s the journey Andry took. Tastings were “problematic for my recovery,” he said. “I learned that the hard way over a period of time. So, as much as I loved selling craft beer and being around those people, it was irresponsible for me to continue.”
Andry moved to a beverage manager position and excelled there. “I really shine as a manager, like dealing with escalated issues and handling all those things.”
Recovery in the hospitality industry is all about asking questions, he said. “How do I feel when I’m working at this place? How do I feel when I’m presented with opportunities to drink or use? What does a healthy environment look like for me?”
Through Ben’s Friends, “we meet those people when they have questions, and then as different folks are looking for a way to stay in this career track, we help refine what those questions look like through our own experiences.”
As Ben’s Friends grows, members are having more conversations about translating sobriety to different parts of the industry. Continuing in a beverage-focused career looks different than continuing in a culinary career. “What works in fine dining versus what works in a place that slings chicken tendies?” Andry asked.
The stress, though, is fairly universal across all roles in all types of restaurants.
“Navigating stress is inherently part of our conversations,” he said. Thinning margins, staffing issues, fluctuating markets, and long hours add to that stress. “We have really varied responsibilities and roles within our groups. We have operators, owners, bartenders, servers, line cooks, hotel specialists, and sales folks, and we’re all looking at the same elephant from a different angle.”
Thank you, Andry, for sharing your story.
Side Dishes:
How does a restaurant that “salts” its fries with sugar, serves a rare lamb dish, and spills water on a guest receive a two-star-review from the New York Times? “Any restaurant can have a tough night,” Ligaya Mishan, the chief restaurant critic for the Times, writes. “I also appreciate the humanness of error, which may be inextricable from a certain strain of brilliance. You aim high, you sometimes miss. Better to have tried.” Perhaps this should be required reading before a diner submits a Yelp or Google review.
Does the new “Skip the Stuff” law in New Jersey, which aims to curb single-use plastics, mean that restaurants can’t offer diners straws unless they ask for them first? Some restaurants seem to think so.
Over on Caper, Chris Crowley digs into the “industrial pop-up complex.” It’s increasingly common to see reservation platforms support pop-ups. (It’s something Gabe Pascuzzi and I discussed a few months back for In the Weeds.) While there’s a debate over whether we’ve hit peak pop-up, most restaurant folks agree that getting sponsorship from the likes of Resy and OpenTable is beneficial. Of course, with reservation platforms being intertwined with credit cards, sponsorships are a bit like “a brand awareness war for processing fees,” one chef said.
I spoke to Columbus-based Chef Avishar Barua about bringing humor and value into fine dining for the Extra Serving Podcast on Nation’s Restaurant News. Value hits a bit different in the fine dining context, Avishar told me: “It's not always going to be how much food is it for the price. It's ‘How can I make your experience better?’ You know, you go to a concert, and you get nicer tickets. You get the same experience, right, but you're closer. So it's a different sort of thing. We want everybody to feel hooked up.”
Deirdre Auld of Coda Group in Boston advocates for a mutual review system along the lines of Airbnb and Uber on her Substack. “We have put the entire burden of hospitality solely on the restaurant workers for decades. But any relationship that actually works requires cooperation, give and take, mutual accountability.” Diners could be rewarded for good behavior, she writes. “For example, every time a guest earned five stars from us, they could accumulate points toward a gift card, a discount, something with real value. They have reason to treat our team with respect, arrive on time for their experience, not linger two hours past a reasonable dining time, maybe even be adventurous in their ordering. We have even more reason to continue delivering on food, beverage, and hospitality that makes them want to come back. That feels like a genuine win on both sides.” Anyone working on this??
InKind has raised more than $1 billion in the past six months to invest in independent restaurants without taking equity or charging interest, Kristen Hawley reports for Fast Company.
Front of House:
We got the best seat in the house at Canard in Portland, Oregon.
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—gloria