Hi.
Welcome to Best Served, a podcast about Unsung Hospitality Heroes
Welcome to Best Served, a podcast about Unsung Hospitality Heroes
What is your job title?
Wizard of Why = Chief Why Officer
What do you do for Best Served?
I inspire our team to stay focused on why we do what we do. Who we are and who we serve. And I talk a lot.
What food/drink do you always have in your house?
Soy sauce. Jasmine rice. Butter. Pickled ginger. Fuji apples. Noosa vanilla yogurt. Tangerine La Croix. A dozen different condiments, hot sauces at all times. We love sauces in our house.
If you were a potato, what way would you like to be cooked?
Hand cut Kennebec potato fried twice in duck fat, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, unabashedly flavorsome! Like me?
Jensen Cummings is a fifth-generation award-wining Chef, Public Speaker and Restaurant Industry Strategist based in Denver, CO. He is the host of Best Served Podcast and Restaurant Idea Factory.
He is committed to reflecting on his own culpability in the status quo of the industry, to reimagining restaurant culture, investing in our unsung hospitality heroes and building a better mode, what he calls a Workplace Worth Working.
He began his career at 17 years old as a dishwasher. He spent the last twenty-plus years working across the industry from cook to server to bartender, Cicerone, Fermentationist, General Manager, Owner, Consultant, Podcast host, even kitchen burnout.
Now, Cummings is innovating F&B models with his three hospitality focused businesses, Workplace Worth Working development: Best Served Creative, new restaurant consulting firm: Angry Olive Consulting, and media and event production company: Fortune Cookie Concepts.
His company mission is to amplify the worth and work of those who feed their community. His personal focus now is to empower and educate future leaders of the industry and leave it better than he found it, for his children to have an opportunity to become the sixth-generation of the family to be of service.
What is your job title?
Herald of How = Chief How Officer
What do you do for Best Served?
Understanding why we do what we do and who we serve, I dig into the nuts and bolts of how we get it done. I crave one-on-one interactions and thrive with the written word. The ability to contribute to our Read channel by penning occasional articles covering a variety of subject matter and running down rabbit holes for research quenches my desire to learn.
What food/drink do you always have in your house?
Growing up in Wisconsin, I always have Sportservice’s Secret Stadium Sauce and Silver Spring Yellow Mustard. If you haven’t had a brat with them, you haven’t had a brat!
If you were a potato, what way would you like to be cooked?
If I were a potato, I would want to be dropped skin-on into a pot of cold water and brought to a boil until fork tender with skin about to burst. Why? Because that would mean I am close to becoming the most amazing deviled egg potato salad, using a recipe that brings back a flood of family memories about backyard, summertime gatherings in north-suburban Milwaukee and Dad working our charcoal grill.
What is your job title?
Best Served Together Trailblazer = Director of the More Voices Initiative, Lead Editor
What do you do for Best Served?
I am involved in the podcast operations. I run Best Served Read, the blog, and I show run most of the episodes. My main goal is to find new ways that more people can share their voices through the Best Served Podcast.
What food/drink do you always have in your house?
I always have chai in the house (I can’t have coffee, so I live on chai). My favorite is Sherpa Chai which is local from Boulder.
If you were a potato, what way would you like to be cooked?
I’d like to be made into crisp french fries served next to a nice burger or omelette at a brunch. Hand cut, of course.
What is your job title?
The Hearty Mama = Oversight of Brand, Administrator of Contracts & Billing
What do you do for Best Served?
I ensure all client contracts, services and billing are executed as well as multitasking any other administrative needs for the team.
What food/drink do you always have in your house?
Snacks for the kids, Tangerine La Croix for the hubby and lots of dip options for ME!
What is your job title?
Chief Project Officer = Connector of People and Director of Special Projects
What do you do for Best Served?
I create synergy between the right people, brands, and organizations to amplify their voices by accomplishing mutual end goals. I combine my marketing background and chef’s skill to strategize and connect the dots.
What food/drink do you always have in your house?
Food: sriracha and “nước chấm” (marinated fish sauce). Everything tastes better with them. Drink: I start my day with hot ginger tea, every single day.
If you were a potato, what way would you like to be cooked?
Ever since I ate the best pomme dauphine in Paris 15 years ago, I’ve been obsessed with replicating that seeming-deceptively-easy-but-complicated-to-perfect dish. As a chef, things like this interest me, to take an ordinary ingredient like potato and turn it into something extraordinary.
What is your job title?
Team Read = Assistant Editor
What do you do for Best Served?
I’m a content creator/contributor for Best Served Read and an assistant editor for the 86 86 86 writing campaign.
What food/drink do you always have in your house?
I ALWAYS have bone broth, coffee and tea, and a good ol’ box of Annie’s mac n’ cheese - because I’m sophisticated like that.
If you were a potato, what way would you like to be cooked?
I would be french-fries! Specifically, I’d be a side of fries, which are made in house, alongside a plate of the ‘Traditional Plus Eggs Benny’ at my favorite restaurant, Creekside Cafe, located in my hometown of Steamboat Springs, CO. There’s really nothing better than some classic, fresh, made from scratch french-fries served alongside a breakfast food - an unlikely but incredible pairing - with some nostalgia served on the side.
What is your job title?
Team Read = Assistant Editor
What do you do for Best Served?
I will be editing the articles written for the 86 challenge.
What food/drink do you always have in your house?
I always have coffee in my home. It is a must and I am a tad snobby about it.
If you were a potato, what way would you like to be cooked?
I have been addicted to potato salad this summer so I will go with that.
What is your job title?
Storyteller Supreme = Watch & Listen Content Producer
What do you do for Best Served?
I am in charge of creating audio and video content for the Best Served interviews and episodes. From the video and audio of full length interviews, I help create a meaningful story in content form to help inspire and help people's voices be heard in the hospitality industry.
What food/drink do you always have in your house?
La Croix and Cheez Its
If you were a potato, what way would you like to be cooked?
Gnocchi because while it seems like it’s simple it’s actually pretty complex once you get into it.
What is your job title?
Process Pathfinder = Communications Systems, Tech Support
What do you do for Best Served?
I assist with team organization programs and apps to help our team create better workflow and communication patterns. I am also helping design and build a platform to house our online courses and other educational resources. The intention behind this work is to create a conducive environment for creative energy, storytelling and elevated communication to flow between our team and the communities we serve.
What food/drink do you always have in your house?
A carton of eggs (I live on eggs) and some Organic Cafe’ Altura instant coffee (I’m a lazy coffee maker/drinker).
If you were a potato, what way would you like to be cooked?
I would like to be boiled, chilled, and then diced up into a really yummy potato salad. The homestyle kind that my mom makes with the skin still on the potatoes.
What is your job title?
Brand Connoisseur = Brand Consultant & Logo Designer
What do you do for Best Served?
I help restaurants and food & beverage companies create top-shelf visual brands. Using visionary thinking, a commitment to excellence, and a deep understanding of the industry, I create everything a delicious brand requires.
What food/drink do you always have in your house?
Some sort of chocolate & a bottle of whiskey must always be on hand in our household.
If you were a potato, what way would you like to be cooked?
If I were a potato I would most definitely be curled, fried & seasoned. For me, there’s nothing more drool-worthy & satisfying than a fresh, hot-outta-the-fryer batch of curly fries. YUM!
What is your job title?
Team Read = Assistant Editor
What do you do for Best Served?
I edit stories for the 86 86 86 project.
What food/drink do you always have in your house?
I always have some sort of dip, whether it be hummus, homemade baba ganoush, salsa, etc. and keep a stock of veggies and chips to dip in it with. I'm a very snacky person so this is a necessity!
If you were a potato, what way would you like to be cooked?
First of all, I'd be a sweet potato. And I'd be roasted as they're so tasty just on their own, but I also love putting them in curry and other soups/stews.
What is your job title?
Team Read = Assistant Editor
What do you do for Best Served?
A lightbulb for "takeaways" synopses from podcast interviews, including contributor to writing and editing vulnerable and nostalgic industry stories, and overall brainstormer from Bourdain to better business.
What food/drink do you always have in your house?
Tortillas as 'bread' for everything, coffee and Leopold Bros. whiskey for the writing all-nighters, and juice for the detox.
If you were a potato, what way would you like to be cooked?
As a baked potato. So whenever I'm sad, I still know I'll get buttered up.
