.png)
We Recover Loudly - Serving Essential Hospitality Conversations
Welcome to We Recover Loudly the podcast.
In season one, the mission was to spark conversations about addiction, recovery, and drinking cultures within hospitality. What we found was that these topics are closely linked to much bigger issues that we face in the industry, which truly deserve our attention and a space to be discussed. The podcast has evolved to delve into important matters surrounding addiction and recovery, as well as significant themes like burnout, sexual harassment, gender imbalance, mental health, chronic illness, stress, and eating disorders—the list goes on! This podcast isn’t just for individuals in recovery from drugs and alcohol working in hospitality; it’s for anyone who has dealt with challenges, tough working conditions, or health issues related to their experiences in this industry, who want to hear inspiring stories of strength and recovery.
Each episode features a mix of personal stories from myself and other incredible individuals who are currently in the industry or connected to the industry via a mental health space. We engage in conversations with hospitality leaders who are paving the way in providing training and resources to cultivate healthy workplace environments for their teams. This podcast aims to be a welcoming platform for everyone to share the challenges they've faced while working in hospitality and how they’ve overcome them... loudly!
So, let's turn it up and get loud, because when we recover loudly we stop others dying quietly.
We Recover Loudly - Serving Essential Hospitality Conversations
S2 Episode 017 - Gabriel Rucker - From Flying Into Addiction to Coming Home to Roost
This week's guest is the iconic, and exceptionally talented, chef Gabriel Rucker. Having started in kitchens at a young age, even though he dropped out of culinary school, Gabriel's incredible talent was there from the start. At 25, Gabriel became the chef at Portland’s iconic Le Pigeon, where he redefined French cuisine with his signature adventurous twists and carefree energy. He continued building award-winning restaurants, and he currently serves as Chef and co-owner of Canard—a French brasserie with two locations in Oregon–in addition to Le Pigeon. He is one of Portland’s most respected and decorated chefs. He has earned two James Beard awards for Rising Star Chef in 2011 and Best Chef Northwest in 2013. Over the past 10 years, he has become a leading advocate within the restaurant industry for recovery, health and fitness. In 2019, Rucker, along with fellow Portland chef Gregory Gourdet, he opened the Portland chapter of Ben’s Friends, the restaurant industry recovery group started by previous guest Mickey Bakst.
Recently Gabriel did a Ted Talk Portland about leadership, mentorship and how to keep pushing forward in life even when things are tough. He also runs a group called Bird Dog Run, which is a running club that meets in front of Le Pigeon every Friday at 9am for people of all industry's to connect and enjoy the positive effects of exercise.
We discussed -
- Being a culinary school drop out.
- How in 2007 he was the top of the culinary world, and how he nearly lost it all due to his spiralling addiction.
- How alcohol and drugs had been an issue from a young age, but the environment and pressure of the kitchen had amplified this until he felt he could not do it anymore and sort help from his father, himself in recovery.
- Priorising his wife and family over his job, and how by doing that and being a better family man he is actually able to be a better leader in the kitchen.
- The teaching and mentoring he now does about balance, presence and boundaries with his own team, so they do not repeat the same patterns he did.
Getting to speak to Gabriel was a real pinch-me moment, and it was amazing to get the chance to connect with one of the first chefs who has really taken it upon themselves to recovery loudly, to stop others dying quietly.
Check him out on Instagram - @ruckergabriel @birddogrunclub
For more information on We Recover Loudly and to reach out for speaking engagements or support email hello@werecoverloudly.com
@werecoverloudly
www.werecoverloudly.com
This episode is brought to you by our proud sponsors:
Low No Drinker Magazine @lownodrinkermagazine
www.lownodrinkermagazine.com