Getting to the heart of the DishUp RI initiative

The Restaurateur life is not for the faint of heart, and this conversation proves it.  When we reached out to local restaurants about participating in our DishUp RI restaurant-to-retail program we didn’t quite realize the gravity of the opportunity we were offering. It has been both humbling and inspiring to witness, and a true privilege to be a part of.  We spoke with Tony Lopez (Shasteâ) and Sanjiv Dhar (Chaska/Kebab and Curry/Rasa/Rasoi) about how they leveraged DishUp RI to go from a restaurant mindset to a retail mindset without compromising the details or thoughtfulness customers enjoy in-house.  Maintaining balance and embracing the strength of community is a common theme throughout this conversation, but the future of restaurants remains uncertain. In spite of this, however, there is a beautiful sense of optimism among some of the most stressed and struggling small business owners we know. To that point, Sanjiv and Tony both are shining examples of how restaurateurs who listen, remain compassionate and are willing to make strategic changes to stay relevant will be just fine.