Let's not beat around the bush...
2021 was a year full of stops and starts for the restaurant industry (not to mention the rest of the world). But sometimes chaos can lead to incredible moments of clarity and creativity. Shift Change celebrates the innovators in the food and drink world who expanded our concept of what a restaurant or bar can be, made the whole experience playful and fun, and kept us fed and happy. From pop-up concepts that made us laugh to viral delectables to collabs in unlikely spaces, these free spirits inspired us throughout the uncertainty of 2021, sparking joy, doing good, and shaking things up in the process.
Bad Larry Burger Club
Austin’s carnivores embraced a welcome pandemic diversion when Bad Larry Burger Club set up shop in 2020 with a race to randomly assigned locations in search of the city’s most sought-after smashburger, served safely via chute. Owner Matthew Bolick’s coveted patty and buns sell out (and thus ends the fun-time treasure hunt) in under five minutes every time he does a pop-up. “They’re not the best in the world, but they’re not the worst either,” he shrugs. “I just make cheeseburgers sometimes and tell Instagram when and where.” The modest restaurateur began flipping patties at backyard barbecues before taking his “bad Larrys” on the road. With his bandmate Travis Burton on the grill, he’s bringing meaty joy anywhere from burrito bars to rock shows at Little Brother, still sliding down 2020’s most famous chute.
Photo by Alison Narro
Austin, TX
Eat Nünchi
Los Angeles, CA
Lexie Park’s background in fashion translated seamlessly into her food business, Eat Nünchi. Park is well known for her viral jelly cakes that are not only visually stunning, but feature delectable flavors inspired by her own Korean-American identity. “Working with an ingredient is just like working with a fabric—you’re making something come to life,” she says. Although the whimsical cakes have brought Park brand deals and even graced Olivia Rodrigo’s album cover, Park is expanding her culinary empire with flower-shaped lazy susans, spiced kimchi jerky, and a new dinner concept in her home. “Everything I make has a lot of intention in it but it’s not even just about the food,” Park says. “It’s about the people I’m bringing together and the conversations that we’re having.” Park’s creations also popped up at former colleague Humberto Leon’s restaurant Chifa in LA earlier this year as well, including her now-famous purple jelly corn dessert with chicha morada syrup.
Photo courtesy of Eat Nunchi
Ekiben
Baltimore, MD
From the moment Steve Chu and Ephrem Abebe began selling their Taiwanese-style sandwiches and rice bowls out of a hot dog cart, we were hooked. Now, more than six years later, the founders have two Ekiben storefronts in Baltimore and continue to bring us moments of joy. Maybe it’s how they repurpose memes on Instagram or whatever magic they sprinkle on the tempura broccoli or stories like the one of them driving up to Vermont to cook for a terminally ill customer, but Ekiben just always warms our hearts. “We sell you happiness, that’s what we do as restaurateurs,” Chu says. “The past two years have been nuts and social media has been draining. We decided it was really important to just make people laugh.”
Photo courtesy of Ekiben
Elm Street Social Club/The Aperture
Cincinnati, OH
If the pandemic has had a silver lining for Jordan Anthony-Brown, founder of the ’80s-themed pop-up Elm Street Social Club and the Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, The Aperture, (set to open in 2022), it was the opportunity to fine tune his restaurant operation process. After the pandemic stalled plans for Aperture, Anthony-Brown pulled in two friends—Willa Pelini and Mikey Fabian—to open a nostalgic carryout sandwich shop, complete with a themed playlist and plenty of neon. Elm Street was meant to be short-lived and closed this past summer, but Aperture is poised to carry on Anthony-Brown’s culinary pursuit of simplicity and balance. “We really want to shift the perception of what can go on a plate that doesn’t have to be a steak with a starch and a sauce,” he says. “We want to showcase the Ohio Valley region.”
Photo courtesy of Elm St Social Club/The Aperture; Headshot photo by Catie Viox
Gilly Brew Bar
Stone Mountain, GA
Don’t call Gilly Brew Bar a coffee shop. The cafe was founded by Nephthaly Leonidas and Daniel Brown who wanted to reshape the culture of Stone Mountain and buck the notion of what a third wave coffee shop is “supposed” to look like. The owners bring their message outside of the shop’s four walls, like this year’s Juneteenth community party or their monthly outdoor series showcasing local musical talent. Coffee is a big part of their menu, but the elixirs are where Gilly’s innovation shines. “We’re able to tell a story based off of what’s happening around us and what we’re experiencing,” says Leonidas. An elixir with sweet corn (which contains melatonin) is part of the Tortoise and the Hare series inspired by the fable, which they relate to as opening their second location in Atlanta has been a drawn-out process. Beyond drinks, says Brown, the owners want to make the industry more sustainable and attractive to people in Black and brown communities, “letting them know that you can do it, as well.”
Photos courtesy of Mary Claire
Julep
Houston, TX
When Houston bar Julep shut down during the pandemic, proprietor Alba Huerta decided that if the people can’t come to them, they’ll go to the people. The bar launched a refrigerated delivery truck that sold freshly made, ready-to-drink bottles all over town. “We felt like we were in the hospitality business again,” Huerta says. Julep reopened in May 2021, joined by an attached shop stocked with bottled cocktails, snacks, and candles, capping off a three-pronged approach to service: on-premise drinks, delivery, and retail. Most importantly, it gave patrons the ability to interact with Julep to their comfort level. “It has been a dark time for people in the beverage business,” she says. “But being creative has really helped to maintain that energy.”
Photo by Julie Soefer
The Lipstick Lounge
Nashville, TN
To call The Lipstick Lounge a Nashville institution would be a grave understatement. The lesbian-owned “bar for humans” has been an LGBTQ+ mecca for almost 20 years, and, according to the documentarians behind the Lesbian Bar Project, is one of just 21 lesbian bars left in the entire U.S., down from around 200 in 1980. And that’s despite a harrowing past 18 months, headlined not only by the pandemic, but also by a catastrophic tornado that seriously damaged the 125-year-old building just before lockdown. Patrons sprung to action, crowdfunding nearly $20,000 for repairs, while the Lesbian Bar Project amassed over $150,000 in donations for country’s remaining lesbian bars. “The Lipstick Lounge is so fortunate to still be open,” says co-owner Christa Suppan, noting that the support not only helped financially, but also solidified their importance as a safe haven. “I adore my community and they graciously allow me to feel their love.”
Photo by Leah Epling Photography
With Warm Welcome
Los Angeles, CA
Arnold Byun originally planned With Warm Welcome to be a podcast that celebrated Asian Americans in the food space—a topic he, as a chef, felt was underrepresented. But with the rise of #StopAsianHate and the continued attacks on Asian-American communities following the pandemic, Byun felt he could do more. A bake sale was a natural progression—he’d use the proceeds to support Apex for Youth. What he didn’t know was that With Warm Welcome would spiral into a pastry box pop-up, celebrating Asian-American bakers and the communities they live in. “Fostering community starts with working with the community,” says Byun, who connects with locals in Boston, Seattle, Portland, and beyond to curate the pastry boxes. “It’s a delicious medium to spotlight emerging and established bakers and pastry chefs that identify as AAPI.”
Photos courtesy of With Warm Welcome
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5th Avenue Smokers
Chicago, IL
5th Ave Smokers is an intergenerational collective of educators and students on the west side of Chicago that brings together the community through their love of BBQ, culture, and, of course, the city itself. Although officially launched in June 2021, it was in 2019 that educators W.D. Floyd and Amon Brooks started sharing their love of BBQ (and combined 35 years experience) with youth who, for years, were already making moves and inspiring change in their community. Coming together with the kids, who are a backbone of the organization, was a natural progression. Their combined love of community has helped run a mutual aid that’s fed over 6,000 families and has converted an unsafe and empty lot to a flourishing herb garden—and it’s also the location where 5th Ave Smokers sits today.
Photo by Jaclyn Rivas
Blondery
New York, NY
In the world of baked goods, blondies often play second fiddle to their more popular sister, the brownie. But after your first chewy bite of Blondery’s blondies—a recipe which founder Auzerais Bellamy spent a decade perfecting—you’ll realize the most delicious brownies can be made without chocolate. But it’s not just Bellamy’s bite-sized pecan-and-salted-caramel blondies that make this virtual bakery one to watch. The chef, who staged at The French Laundry and Per Se before working at Pies ‘n’ Thighs and Bouchon Bistro, also makes decadent nine-layer cake jars and even high-end treats for your pup. She’s also an innovator in other aspects: a Black woman who was disappointed by the lack of representation in the restaurant kitchens where she worked, Bellamy is now committed to hiring people of color for her own bakery. Her goal is to be a bridge and help BIPOC chefs excel in the world of fine dining.
Photos courtesy of Blondery
Hunt + Alpine Club
Portland, ME
Working in a bar or restaurant has always been a precarious way to make a living. So over the past 20 months when it became downright dangerous, Andrew and Briana Volk doubled down on the mission they started Hunt + Alpine Club with in the first place. They wanted the Scandinavian-style bar to be a place where talented professionals feel taken care of while building a career, so they became the first bar in Maine to require proof of vaccination. Amid the pandemic, the Volks also raised the minimum wage, hosted trainings on combatting sexual harassment and assault, and offered benefits like health insurance and discounted CSA memberships, all in an effort to support staff as much as possible. Next year, the duo will introduce a profit-sharing program for all employees who stay at the bar for more than one year. “They’re the ones who make the ship sail,“ Briana says. “Not only did we want to create stability, but we wanted to give them a sense of ownership and a feeling that their contribution to our business really is valued.”
Photos courtesy of Hunt + Alpine Club
KIT
Brooklyn, NY
After three years of operating as MeMe’s Diner, a popular Brooklyn restaurant known for both its food and as a refuge for the LGBTQ+ community, owner Libby Willis reintroduced the Prospect Heights location in June with a new name and concept. At KIT, short for Keep In Touch, the transformed space continues its same legacy as a roving host to pop-ups (including Dacha 46, among others) and small businesses celebrating queer folks within the food world. With food industry collaborations and short-term residencies happening more regularly since the start of the pandemic, at KIT, guest chefs, picnic baskets, and wine markets are just some of the programming to expect, in addition to being the permanent home to the boozy jelly cakes brand, Solid Wiggles.
Photos courtesy of KIT
Miss Kim
ann arbor, MI
Miss Kim, a modern Korean restaurant translating dishes through a Michigan lens, tried just about everything during the pandemic—subscriptions, Zoom classes, meal kits—pretty much all the standard pandemic pivots, says managing partner and chef Ji Hye Kim. The spot also worked with Refraction AI to have robot vehicles to deliver food and partnered with nonprofits to provide community meals. But surviving the pandemic with the staff mostly intact is one of the things Kim says she is most proud of. The pandemic brought the inequities in the restaurant industry into stark clarity, and the restaurant leaned into its commitment to equitable business practices and the well-being of the staff, from cross-training front of house and back of house workers to being a One Fair Wage restaurant where employees are paid at least a full minimum wage with tips on top.
Photos courtesy of EE Berger
Neng Jr.’s
Asheville, NC
Silver Cousler was chef-in-residence at Palm Heights on Grand Cayman when COVID-19 hit, prompting a return home to Asheville. With a previous resume filled with Asheville’s most prized eateries—Gan Shan West, Buxton Hall, and Cucina 24, and a series of pop-ups—Cousler opening their own spot was the next natural move. Enter Neng Jr.’s, Asheville’s first Filipinx restaurant, housed in the former Mothlight music venue space, a concept set to open in winter 2022 and be anything but ordinary. Here, Cousler will create a shared community space where thoughtful food, conversation, and living wages collide. Employees will start at $20 an hour, giving Cousler the opportunity to advocate that working in a restaurant is a profession and not an intermediate job. They hope to inspire others to step outside of the box, but most importantly, not forget how joyful it is to simply cook. In the meantime, Neng Jr.’s popped up throughout 2021 and gave Asheville residents a taste of things to come.
Photo courtesy of Neng Jr.'s
Paradis Books & Bread
miami, fl
Five friends with years of New York hospitality experience came together in South Florida with a concept that not only blends their expertise, but makes a difference in North Miami’s community by providing free sanitary products in bathrooms and rideshare money to those who need it. Brian Wright, Audrey Wright, Bianca Sanon, Ben Yen, and Sef Chesson saw the wave of popular New York restaurants make their way south and decided to follow suit, but in a way that inspired them and gave them the freedom they were looking for. Serving a specially curated wine list and sourdough inspired dishes (think: pizzas, breads, and spreads), Paradis Books & Bread is the hangout spot the North Miami area was seriously lacking packaged into a cozy restaurant doubling as a book consignment shop with a friendly lending program.
Photo by James Jackman
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Anajak Thai
Sherman Oaks, CA
When the pandemic threatened the livelihood of his family’s long-running Thai spot in Sherman Oaks, Justin Pichetrungsi leaned into the unknown and launched several unique concepts to keep the restaurant afloat. What began as a Thai-influenced take on Taco Tuesday has since evolved into a thrilling pop-up series featuring some of the most acclaimed chefs and restaurateurs across Los Angeles. Dubbed Thai Taco Tuesday (TTT), the pop-up often serves as a menu preview for chefs preparing to launch brick-and-mortars, including a raw bar collaboration with chef Brad Matthews ahead of his Central Coast debut over the summer. A Thai Omakase now takes place at Anajak every Wednesday through Sunday evening, featuring 8-10 seasonal plates. The wine list also changes by the week, featuring natural wines from small producers. “We were able to reassess everything and ask ourselves: what food do we truly want to cook? What kind of experiences do we truly want to give diners?” says Pichetrungsi. “So I was like, ‘All right, let’s nuke the whole thing and do what we want to do.’”
Headshot photo by Eric Ng,
Transparent Sea Shrimp by Carter Hiyama
Bar George
Charleston, SC
Hot dogs, oysters, Peruvian chicken, and cocktails—that’s the “concept” behind Charleston’s Bar George, the off-the-wall brainchild of Alex Lira and his partners. Lira’s schtick is the unorthodox—he earned a James Beard nomination for Bar Normandy, a pop-up inside a bakery—but opening an uncategorizable restaurant becomes even trickier when you launch during a pandemic. Forced to close the doors within weeks of launch (a “clopening,” Lira jests), the chef loaded a Hungarian baby tub with oysters, secured it in the bed of his 1978 Ford Ranchero, and brought the raw bar to the people. Graduations, birthdays, and anniversaries were salvaged by Car George and the suspendered, wise-cracking Lira’s driveway oyster service. The brick-and-mortar Bar George is back to tiki happy hours and a daily fresh catch, but on Saturday nights, Lira still fires up the Ranchero and takes Car George wherever duty calls.
Photo courtesy of Bar George
Bell’s
Los Alamos, CA
On a quaint street in the Central Coast of California sits a model for the future of restaurants. Chef Daisy Ryan and her husband Gregory opened Bell’s in March of 2018, but it was two years later when the shutdown really clarified things. “We realized that not giving our staff healthcare was so dangerous,” Gregory says. “Daisy and I at a certain point were like, ‘F*ck it, we’re going to pay for everyone’s insurance.” Not only that, but they abolished the tipping model, so back- and front-of-house employees are paid more comparably, adding a 20 percent service fee to their ticketed prix-fixe dinners. “The staff knows that our customers are excited and interested to be here every night—that’s a world of difference,” Gregory says. “We don’t have all the answers, but we are diligently trying to find them.”
Photo by Carter Hiyama
Canlis
Seattle, WA
Mark and Brian Canlis inherited Canlis in 2007 as a fine-dining institution. But when the pandemic hit, the brothers redefined the restaurant into a burger joint, drive-in movie theater, crab shack, yurt village, and community college. In 2021, they continued this innovative energy with the opening of Camp Canlis, featuring everything from a BBQ canteen to a tasting menu in a treehouse. Through these combined efforts, Canlis raised $250K for charity. “A lot of what we did was really vulnerable,” says Mark. “We said, ‘Look, we’re not perfect, and we don’t know what we’re doing, but also, ‘Does anyone want a burger?’” After 471 days of being closed, the restaurant is finally returning to fine dining, but it’ll start a new chapter with Aisha Ibrahim as its first female executive chef.
Photo courtesy of Canlis
Dakar
New Orleans, LA
After lighting up New York’s restaurant scene and cooking at Commander’s Palace, chef Serigne Mbaye started his pop-up, Dakar after moving back to NOLA during the pandemic. Named after the capital of Mbaye’s home country, Dakar serves Senegalese food with a New Orleans twist—like Yassa with poached redfish. “When I moved to New Orleans I realized how similar the food was,” Mbaye says. “I wanted to highlight that connection with the food that I grew up eating.” He collaborated with local chefs and created small events in order to safely feed the community and, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, Mbaye joined the New Orleans FEMA culinary team to cook for workers rebuilding the area’s power grid. Now he’s bringing his unique point of view to the Mosquito Supper Club, where he is the chef de cuisine.
Photo courtesy of Dakar
Disco Mary
Washington, DC
Disco Mary is a bar all about “mindful drinking.” Founder Maria Bastach and her partner Derek Brown converted the dark and moody Columbia Room into an effervescent, glittery bar for no to low ABV cocktails. “I grew up in a herbalist household, and I have been exploring alternatives to alcohol,” Bastach says. She is also a recovering Catholic and believes there is transcendence in the bedazzled statue of Mary, which greets you at the door. Drinks promise transcendence, too. The Dope Kaleidoscope is a riff off a piña colada, served with hemp oil, pumpkin spiced syrup, and coconut milk aquafaba, garnished with a hemp leaf, and there’s an option to spike it with dark rum. “We are trying to offer something for everyone,” Bastach says. “Disco Mary is the idea that you can take care of yourself and party, too.” In the process, it’s redefining the notion of what a bar can be.
Photos by Jennifer Chase
OKO Supper Club
Oakland, CA
After learning the African origins of everyday food products like coffee, watermelon, okra, yams, and black-eyed peas, classically trained chefs Solomon Johnson and Mike Woods opted to break tradition in pursuit of a new culinary standard that celebrates the global impact of the African Diaspora. They first launched The Bussdown, an Oakland-based takeout and delivery concept that highlights soul food, Caribbean, and West African dishes in 2021, but when they failed to receive any of the grants or assistance they applied for, the duo needed additional income to stay afloat. A monthly supper club became their medium to translate ideas into a fine dining format while also attracting new customers. Named after the African god of farming, fertility, and agriculture, OKO debuted over the summer with the intention of honoring pan-African cuisines and traditions through a multi-course menu that features Swahili translations, fresh California produce, and natural wine pairings. After months of kitchen takeovers across different Bay Area restaurants, the pair are now hunting for a brick-and-mortar location.
Headshot photo by Jason Perry,
Food photo by Dana Plucinski
Three Taverns Imaginarium
Atlanta, GA
Georgia-based Three Taverns’ success crafting Belgian-inspired ales and lagers with an American twist provided brewmaster and CEO Brian Purcell the opportunity to open a second location in Atlanta in late 2020 called the Imaginarium. Simply stated, it’s stunning. Pointing out intricate details inside his two-story creation, Purcell explains, “Unlike our taproom in Decatur which draws heavily from the old-world atmosphere of craft brewing, we wanted the Imaginarium to have a modern vintage aesthetic that was equal parts laboratory, brewery, and tasting room.” Purcell, along with his wife Susie, the Metaleap Creative design firm, and architect Square Feet Studios have, in many ways, designed what feels like the brewery of the future—with a giant outdoor footprint that includes firepits, rail seating, tons of green space, and a pandemic-friendly walk-up window for on-premise or to-go beer.
Photo courtesy The Imaginarium
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Credits
Project Leads: Kelly Dobkin, Jess Mayhugh
Writers: Amber Love Bond, Danielle Dorsey, Tim Ebner, Kevin Gray, Meredith Heil, Dorothy Hernandez, Courtney Iseman, Juliet Izon, Stratton Lawrence, Jess Mayhugh, Shelli Nicole, Lia Picard, Liz Provencher, Jenn Rice, Ned Riseley, Ale Sharpton, Leyla Shokoohe, Marielle Songy, Jessica Sulima, Kat Thompson, James Wong, Tae Yoon
Editor-in-Chief: Helen Hollyman
Senior Copy Writer: Ned Riseley
Special Thanks: Pete Dombrosky
Creative Director: Audra V Pace
Senior Designer: Grace Han
Director of Photography: Drew Swantak
Photo Editor: Joleen Zubek
Director of Audience Development: Kisai Ponce
Audience Development Manager: Hassan Spruill
Social Media Manager: Abby Maddigan
Social Media Producer: Dee Williams
Audience Development Coordinator: Kierra Hearne
Bow & Arrow Brewing Co.
Albuquerque, NM
When Bow & Arrow opened in 2016, it became the first Native American woman-owned brewery. CEO Shyla Sheppard is a member of the Three Affiliated Tribes from North Dakota and creative director Missy Begay was raised on the Navajo Nation in Arizona. Through its convivial space, striking label art, and eclectic brews, Bow & Arrow became a way to celebrate both the New Mexico landscape and the owners’ heritages. In 2021, the duo created Native Land, an IPA recipe that breweries nationwide are invited to brew to help push for awareness of ancestral lands, bolster Indigenous visibility, and raise funds for this work. “There is still some work to be done in Native communities,” Begay says. “Craft beer relates to our communities. You can put those stories out there and teach people your perspective on land, and on life.”
Photo courtesy of Bow & Arrow Brewing
Taste the Diaspora
Detroit, MI
A Thanksgiving meal for 5,000 Detroiters in need was the catalyst for Taste the Diaspora, a series of pop-ups and dinners co-founded by chefs Ederique Goudia and Jermond Booze, along with entrepreneur Raphael Wright. Wright’s upcoming community-based Neighborhood Grocery was one of the distribution sites for the holiday meals that Goudia helped oversee as part of the nonprofit, Make Food Not Waste. Seeing the need in the community for high-quality meals and a way to help hard-hit restaurants, the two teamed up with Booze to start Taste the Diaspora, offering shoebox lunches featuring produce from Black farmers and cooked by Black chefs during Black History Month in 2021. The month's worth of meals sold out in three days. Since then, they’ve held events during Juneteenth and raised thousands for hurricane relief in Goudia's hometown of Wallace, Louisiana.
Photos by Valaurian Waller
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25 Food & Drink Innovators Who Inspired Us in 2021
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Does
They Paid it Forward
Good
Bad Larry Burger Club
Eat Nünchi
Ekiben
Elm Street Social Club/The Aperture
Gilly Brew Bar
Julep
The Lipstick Lounge
With Warm Welcome
5th Avenue Smokers
Blondery
Bow & Arrow Brewing Co.
Hunt + Alpine Club
KIT
Miss Kim
Neng Jr.’s
Paradis Books & Bread
Taste the Diaspora
Anajak Thai
Bar George
Bell’s
Canlis
Dakar
Disco Mary
OKO Supper Club
Three Taverns Imaginarium
Sparks Joy
Does Good
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