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

Eric, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

In March of 2020, like most small businesses in New York City, I was forced to layoff my staff and close the doors to my fledgling cafe and bakery, The Awkward Scone, that had just opened nine months prior. I immediately turned it into a hub as part of a larger network of relief kitchens being used to distribute meals and grocery kits to families and individuals in marginalized communities throughout NYC, Queens and Brooklyn, before being able to open up a few days a week to offer 3rd-party delivery and pick-up orders from a limited menu run by myself and an ex-business partner as an ailing attempt to keep the business alive.

Unfortunately, the bulk of our revenue prior to the pandemic had been catering and that industry had been decimated. So, with so much uncertainty, the current concept didn’t look too promising, or at least not to my ex-business partner. In an unamiable dissolution, we closed the doors permanently in June 2020. Deterred, I took a soul-searching drive across the country with my dog, stopping only at campgrounds with my tent and a yoga mat. I recognized that there wasn’t a clear answer for anyone, anywhere and I’m too restless a person to sit and wait for things to reveal themselves to me, so upon my return to Brooklyn, I seized an opportunity to take a year-long sublet on a small takeout window in Crown Heights to try something kinda crazy. I was ineligible for any of the Covid-related grants or PPP loans since I had to start a new entity, so I took all the money I had left from dissolving my cafe and put some bandaids and cosmetic touches on this little space in Brooklyn. I took what was most successful at my last spot, what was most personal and uniquely tied to me, and what my ex-business partner couldn’t touch (even though she tried), and I leaned further into it, by opening a New Mexican-inspired cafe and bakery. It was a take-out only space with a big, wide sidewalk leaving us plenty of outdoor seating. It was ideal for the current state of the pandemic. New Mexican food is comforting, it’s takeout-friendly, we had lots of room for people to stand 6-feet apart, and at a time when people where looking to connect more than ever, it allowed for community to come back to the forefront as well as for people to connect through food on a deeper level by way of its connection through me to my home and heritage. I was born and raised in New Mexico and my mother’s family has been in the region for over 400 years. Ursula, was named after my maternal grandmother, whose own lifetime of resilience, pivoting and strength resonated strongly with me in the moment and 2020 was a year when history, heritage and storytelling through the POV of the people preparing the food really held a lot of importance. That and nobody was making New Mexican-style breakfast burritos in NYC at the time. It was a risk well taken. It was almost five years ago and we have indoor seating now!

Eric, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a chef, pastry chef and the owner of Ursula, a New Mexican-inspired restaurant in Bedstuy, Brooklyn. I was born in Albuquerque, NM, where most of my family still resides and have roots centuries deep in the state. I moved to New York City in 2010 as a pastry intern, with the intention of staying for only 6 months, but almost 15 years later, I’m still here.
For 10 years, I practiced pastry in restaurants, private clubs and for catering and events, with most of that time spent doing custom cakes, private dinners, experiential dessert activations and consulting.
Post-pandemic times re-aligned my path to open Ursula 4.5 years ago, when we were once the only New Mexican restaurant in NYC, and we put ourselves on the map by jumpstarting the food media conversation around breakfast burritos in NYC. We have since become known for our work, fundraising and advocacy within the queer community and for sharing and preserving New Mexican food culture on the East Coast through partnerships and collaborations with Indigenous artists, chefs and farmers, and cultural events like our annual New Mexican Chile Roast, where we haul 1500 pounds of fresh New Mexican chile to Brooklyn to roast alongside a live mariachi band and fire-roasted New Mexican food.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Being present, real and authentic. For the first four years of Ursula, I was there nonstop. The customers see that, the staff sees it and it shows people that it’s a legitimate and real small business, run by a real person. I became a full part of the identity of the brand and the space, just as much as the staff and the people inside of the restaurant. But all of those things together, make for a unique “real” experience at Ursula, something tangible.
That said….this year almost took me out physically and emotionally because I hit a wall. I hit my limit. So, what helped build our positive community reputation was also close to taking the business out. Moderation is necessary.

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

I’ve never almost missed payroll. That was a goal I have set out from the beginning to make sure never happens. Staff is core and essential to the business and should be protected at the highest level.
But, this is the first time through both businesses where I’m at high risk. And it’s due in part to the previous question and answer. I took a few months away from being full-time hands-on in the business and removed myself from payroll and implemented a new manager so that I could take a mental health break. Unfortunately, that also meant I needed to find work to pay myself and that took some of my focus away from the financials at the restaurant. Without my physical presence in the kitchen, they weren’t able to keep up the same capacity volume and it took me a few months to recognize the deficit in the bank account that my absence was actually costing us $10,000 a month in potential sales. That realization came a little too late and required me to either make the decision to close the restaurant by the end of the year, 2024, or take out another loan and try to dig us out of the hole through the new year. I took another risk and I took that loan out and we are on that 2025 survival journey as we speak!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ursulabk.com
• Instagram: @erictheawkwardscone @ursula_brooklyn