Hospitality Design - October 2018 - 64

interview restaurateurs

Dale Talde

The Wimberly Interiors-designed Rice &
Gold inside the 50 Bowery Hotel in New York

When Dale Talde opened his namesake
restaurant Talde in 2012, he brought a
bustling energy to Brooklyn's quiet Park
Slope neighborhood, with a small-plates
concept based on bringing people together over
a good meal. Since then, Talde and partners David
Massoni and John Bush have created a food empire under Three Kings
Restaurant Group with Rice & Gold and Massoni in Manhattan and
another Talde outpost across the river in Jersey City. As he continues
to diversify his portfolio, Talde is taking stock of his past as a child of
immigrants to help forge his legacy.

Earliest food memories

It was a foggy summer day in San Francisco, and we were visiting my
mom's friends in Chinatown when I was 8 or 9 years old. We were
going into this Chinese restaurant that had 400 items on the menu, and
my mom said, 'You can order whatever you want.' It was a poignant
moment-the freedom of choice. It always stuck with me. I love the idea
of sharing [food]. I never take that for granted. That's the most important
thing. You grab a wok and start cooking, and it invigorates the passion.

On growing up in Chicago

Gritty Italian restaurant Massoni, designed by
Workshop/APD, is housed in the Arlo NoMad

I'm the son of immigrants. My mom is a registered nurse and came here
from the Philippines in the late '60s, early '70s. There was a program
that gave you a work visa if you were a registered healthcare practitioner,
and that's how [my parents] were able to get into the country. My dad
was a merchant marine. He was a chief engineer on a ship, and he ended
up joining the Boilermakers union. My mom worked the graveyard
shift from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., and she had to take care of her husband,
the house, three kids, and cook dinner. She cooked what she wanted
to eat-Chinese long beans, bok choy-and I didn't want to eat that. I
wanted apple pancakes. She said, 'If you want to eat that, you have to
make it,' and it wasn't that hard. After that, my friends would come over
and I would make breakfast for everyone. That was my thing, and I had a
knack for it. My mom was excited that I was excited about something.

On looking to the future

A large mural on a brick wall defines
Massoni's intimate dining room
Photos by ALL GOOD PHOTOGRAPHY and DONNA DOTHAN

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October 2018 hospitalitydesign.com

You talk about what's changed in the industry, and for me, it was having
a child. You're not doing it for yourself anymore. You see a lot less egodriven food. Accolades go right out the window. I want to make sure that
my son is proud of me. I want to do good by him. I want to be a better
person because now I have kid. The new hospitality group, the challenges
of running a restaurant-having a child centers you. There's a bigger goal
now. There's something to leave for my kid. Hopefully, he can be proud of
his old man. Hopefully, there's a talent I can teach him.

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Hospitality Design - October 2018

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