FSR May 2022

Perspectives BY NICOLE DUNCAN

The Art of Doing Good Chef D. Brandon Walker perfects his philanthropy meets-business model in The Art Room.

EARLY IN HIS CAREER, chef D. Bran don Walker (often known simply as “Chef D”) had a clear goal in mind: become the executive chef of a multi-starred, fine dining restaurant. But his vision took a sharp 180 in the midst of intense, often toxic kitchen environments. “That’s the school I came up in,” Walker says. “And that was ultimately the school that burned me out.” Changing tack, Walker became the executive chef of Bread and Roses Café, a restaurant serving and training peo ple facing housing insecurity. (He often credits his 2013 “Chopped” victory to the unpredictable nature of this work.) In 2016, Walker opened his first res taurant, The Mar Vista, an elevated yet relaxed full-service restaurant that even tually spawned a smaller quick serve, the Mar Vista Grab & Go. Both concepts work with the nonprofit St. Joseph Cen ter to extend their hiring pool to histor ically overlooked candidates, including the formerly incarcerated, underhoused, and impoverished. Walker has continued to refine this operating model, as evidenced by his newest concept, The Art Room, which just opened last month. The restaurant may be fast casual, but the ambiance echoes upscale establishments, with a mini art gallery, curated playlists, and a broad, chef-driven menu, from breakfast burritos to New York strip steak.

THE ART ROOM SERVES CASUAL SHAREABLES LIKE ORGANIC OKRA FRIES (PICTURED), AS WELL AS ELEVATED ENTRÉES LIKE NEW YORK STRIP STEAK.

Walker, who got into his “fair share of trouble” as a young man, hopes he can help others overcome similar challenges through employment opportunities at The Art Room. “Cooking was certainly my pathway out of it, and I thought that it could work for others,” he says. How is The Art Room different from other restaurants? I opened my first restaurant, The Mar Vista, in 2017, but I was really interested in this intersection between social ser vice and for-profit restaurant work. So I’ve kind of been tinkering on that ever since, and this is my latest iteration. I think—I hope—I’ve gotten it right this time around with The Art Room. I think it’s really important to lead by example. I found the management style,

at least in the back of the house, could be toxic at times; the criticism was not always constructive. I think people do better when they’re being nurtured and invested in as opposed to being treated as if they were interchangeable. So we stay away from overtime and try to keep our shifts somewhere between six and eight hours. I just feel like people do bet ter when they have shorter days. The res taurant industry has been notorious for working people 10-12-14-16 hours. It’s also very important to give peo ple a clear path to promotion, to be ele vated in the work structure and the pay structure, and to create that willingness. I think instilling willingness is the most important thing that we can do for staff. Willingness comes when you feel like you’re part of a team, when the higher

THE ART ROOM

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FSRMAGAZINE.COM

MAY 2022