Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lori Hassler. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Lori, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about your team building process? How did you recruit and train your team and knowing what you know now would you have done anything differently?

As we were finalizing the kitchen build out and permit process, I enlisted my friend Sarah, also a chef to organize the recipe books and help with hiring for back of house. We interviewed over a dozen cooks/chefs and chose two capable, straight forward, experienced young women to help lead the kitchen. There were many applicants with a lot of bravado and ego. It didn’t seem to be a good fit. Our first two hires are both still at The Farish House today. One of them helped bring in two more key employees from their former culinary school. My cousin agreed to manage front of house and hire. She had managed a neighborhood joint for many years, and we started with her sister and their favorite bartender. They had worked together for years. They brought in a few more people they knew and trusted, and we hired some new people as well. Our staff has grown from eight to nineteen in five years, with very little turnover. Our staff are comprised of family, friends and co-workers. There is a level of trust and appreciation for one another because of the personal history. We prefer to “stage,” or have someone spend a day or three with the staff doing the work, seeing how they interact with fellow employees and customers, actually watch them in action in the kitchen or on the floor. This gives us a good idea if someone is comfortable or familiar with the work. An interview is only part of the puzzle. Actions speak louder than words. I have chosen a few employees based on attitude, even if the experience wasn’t there. A person can be taught a job, but you can’t teach personality or integrity. This is something we look for in new team members. I’m proud to say that of our current 19, eight are still here from our opening. Many more are 2-3 years with us, and that makes me proud, because it lets me know this is a good place to be.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

The Farish House is actually my second restaurant. When I was much younger, I had always worked front of house, then in my mid 20s, began to cook and started a small private catering company, mostly serving to real estate and pharmaceutical sales people for daily meals and some wedding events. I had a degree in French literature, worked as a phone card operator in French and Italian in the afternoons, catering mornings. I traveled a lot, and worked and cooked with friends from around Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Actually, three of us from that workplace ended up owning restaurants. I just had a knack for recreating flavors I had sampled abroad, could knock out new recipes for these lunches almost daily. I consider that my culinary training. Traveling influenced me so much. My husband and I married in Tuscany, and I named my first restaurant Radda Caffe Bar after a town nearby. I so adored the European lifestyle and emphasis on gathering at meals, the constant talk and focus on food and wine, life before work. I will never have a TV in any establishment I own. Radda and The Farish House are gathering places, restaurants of the initial meaning of the word- a restorative place. I tend to honor traditional recipes and wines, classics that have withstood the test of time. We do our best to create delicious dishes in the fashion of the mothers, grandmothers, and age old bistros or trattorias of Europe and American traditions as well. Our staff truly works at spoiling our customers, treating them like familiar family or friends. The essence of The Farish House is the entire home: the setting, the people and the food and drink. It’s a total package. I’m very proud of the work we all do.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

A story of resilience. This is personal, but true. Yes, we all had to get through the pandemic of 2020. We did our best to switch within a moments notice to a to-go model, which was not our model at all! Our back of house carried those few months of closure, and our front of house returned as soon as we could reopen. My husband created a new on-line ordering system, and thought we had only been open one year and one month, so many customers went out of their way to support us. Our landlord worked with us, and we were able to successfully utilize the government programs like PPP to get through. During this time, I developed back issues, and suffered through it, thinking it was from overwork or stress. I had seen a couple doctors, PT’s, Chiro, etc. Once we reopened, I finally got to a medical facility that discovered I had stage 4 ovarian cancer, with tumors in my spine and brain. Weeks in the hospital followed with radiation, then chemotherapy, etc. The resilience I’d like to speak of here is not just my own personal situation, getting through treatments and keeping my head up. The resilience of my team, my family of co-workers and how they carried on, handled the kitchen and the business beautifully while I was away and continued to carry the business afterward, truly warms my heart. These are tried and true partners. This team handled so much, stayed steady despite the uncertainty and carried the day. They still do. I think the key to resilience is confidence in knowing you are capable, that you can get through and that there is a purpose and personal reward on the other side. Our business was resilient because our people were. It is people that make a place function and give it a special quality. No business owner should feel they are alone, nor are they the sole reason why their business is a success.

Any advice for managing a team?

I’ve learned from previous managers and my own experience that building a team is key to success. Every one is different and brings something unique to work. For example, some kitchen team members take ownership of certain recipes, as they have a knack or a love for it. Personalities have to connect, yet not all be alike. Some people look at all the caveats to a situation, some are outright Pollyanna’s. They meld together to prepare for the worst, and look for the best. Some are energized by the grind, some need uplifting to keep going while some are the cheerleaders. Creating a working balance with personalities and work styles builds a well-rounded team. I do my best to hire ‘self starters,’ people who take responsibility for their work. A person who has to be told what to do every few minutes won’t last long here. This helps a team manage itself. Guidance and quality control are provided by me, kitchen and server managers and lead cooks. We invite one another to check our work.
Trusting employees (who earn that trust, by the way) builds confidence and maintains morale, as their individual strengths are relied upon and appreciated. Of course, slow nights or crazy busy nights are hard. Music helps. So does humor. We take turns with playlists in the kitchen and there’s a lot of singing (really) and servers dance a minute when picking up food (our kitchen is a separate house behind the dining house). Allowing individuality and joy, and trusting your servers and cooks to do the right thing creates an atmosphere where the right thing is done.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://farishhouse.com
• Instagram: @thefarishhouse
• Facebook: The Farish House
• Yelp: The Farish House