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Niver Niver Land
PRESENTED BY LAND O LAKES FOODSERVICE
Welcome to Niver Niver Land: a podcast that addresses massive change in the restaurant industry. The show is hosted by award-winning restaurateur Tim Niver – a local legend of Minnesota's Twin Cities – known for his involvement with fabled spots like Aquavit, Town Talk Diner, Saint Dinette, and Strip Club Meat & Fish. Today, he runs Mucci's Italian in St. Paul. Tim sees a major problem with industry dialogue: nobody is having realistic conversations about the ongoing, unprecedented change. Many of those who work in the industry are still trying to wrap their heads around what has happened over the last two years. Today, Tim is ready to talk about these things – through his trademark wit and foolishness – so that we can better appreciate and preserve the cultural importance of restaurants.
Niver Niver Land
Jon Murray on People-First Hospitality and How We Change the Industry Forever
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Jon Murray, founder of Noko and Kase in East Nashville, joins Tim on Niver Niver Land for a conversation about what it actually takes to build restaurants around people first.
Before Noko was ever a restaurant, Jon and his partners were already asking a deeper question: how do we take care of the people who make this industry work? In the wake of COVID, burnout, and the mass exodus from hospitality, they sat down and started naming what was broken, from paid time off to sustainability to the basic question of whether restaurant work could become emotionally and financially healthier.
Tim and Jon talk about the early formation of Noko, the influence of Jon’s time with Indigo Road, and the decision to build an employee-first company from the beginning. Jon explains how investing in people, through travel stipends, paid time off, health benefits, gym memberships, four-day workweeks, and more, became not just a values statement, but a business model.
They also get into trust, vulnerability, forgiveness, leadership, and the daily work of keeping a restaurant culture alive. Jon talks about why managers matter, why staff check-ins should be about more than work, and why taking care of employees is the clearest path to taking care of guests.
This is a conversation about hospitality after burnout, the responsibility of ownership, and the possibility of building restaurants that are not only successful, but better for the people inside them.
This episode of Niver Niver Land is presented by Land O’Lakes and supported by 36 Lyn Refuel Station in Minneapolis.
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NiverNiverLand's flagship sponsor is Land O’Lakes Foodservice.
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