California Groundbreakers

We're running a monthly series called "Food for Thought," in-depth conversations with groundbreakers who run farms, restaurants, wineries, breweries and bars around California and are shaking up the way we eat and drink. Our second talk is with a couple of "empire builders" in the region's restaurant scene: Chris Jarosz of Broderick Roadhouse fame and Garrett Van Vleck, one of the partners in the Shady Lady crew. Neither of them are top chefs or award-winning bartenders, but they sure know how to build brands and turn concepts into drink and dining hotspots. Listen to Jarosz and Van Vleck talk about how their pasts, presents and futures, where they're rolling out the next phases of their dining empires, and how they manage all these places without losing their sanity. PODCAST TIMEFRAME * O to 4:40 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers * 4:40 min - "I'm Garrett Van Vleck and I'm an exotic dancer . . . " - the panelists introduce themselves * 9:10 min - A drifter with tattoos and "jail time" - Chris Jaros