Fixing Food, A Conversation with Dan Giusti

Daniel Giusti, 32, is founder and CEO of Brigaid, a startup foodservice company that wants to transform the way schools serve food. Brigaid partners with local schools and communities to put highly trained chefs into school kitchens alongside existing staff.

Brigaid recently announced its first pilot project at a school district in New London, Connecticut, where the startup is proving its model and studying the impact before expanding to other schools. To start, Brigaid will install two of its chefs in two New London schools (Then will place 4 chefs in the remaining 4 schools by November 1st).

Mr. Giusti is the former head chef at Noma, based in Copenhagen, and widely regarded as one of the best restaurants in the world. Prior to his four years at Noma, he was named executive chef at Georgetown’s 1789, at the age of 24. Mr. Giusti left his post at Noma to return to the United States, to launch Brigaid late last year.

Questions:

Thyme Fries: Last year you left your position as head chef at Noma, one of the best restaurants in the world, to return home and commit to improving school food. What inspired you to make this change?

Dan Giusti: When I first got into cooking, at 15, it was never about big time chefs or fine dining restaurants. As a kid, our family never ate at those places. I had an aunt who could really cook. After every meal at her home, we felt so good. We always looked forward to eating there. I became interested in food because I could see how she was able, through food, to make everyone happy. That joy spurred my interest in food.

I grew up in New Jersey but moved when I was 7 or 8. That’s when I started to miss my aunt’s food and as a result really got into trying to figure out what she was doing. By the time I was 13, I was really interested in trying different recipes.

When you go to culinary school, if you’re ambitious and motivated, the culture funnels you into fine dining. That’s the route to success. I got into it and never looked back. I was always trying to get to the next, higher level. By the time I was ready to leave Noma, I was thinking more about what I liked and didn’t like about it all. I never got into cooking for fine dining. I was never the chef that got a real rush from coming up with the masterpiece dish. That wasn’t my strong suit. I was very good at managing a team, bringing people together, and motivating them. Innovation in food wasn’t my thing. René, he’s a genius. That’s the way his mind works. I wasn’t like that. I’m passionate about the idea of taking care of people and making them happy through food.

Thyme Fries: Why school food?

Dan Giusti: For a long time, I had been thinking about how to cook for more people in a way that affects their daily lives. Fine dining doesn’t affect someone’s daily life…I wanted to wake up every morning knowing that I’m having an impact through food. I thought about doing a fast casual concept, but quickly realized I didn’t like the idea of cooking food at that volume when so much of it is being wasted. I also didn’t like that it would mean more buildings and infrastructure. So I started thinking about institutional food; places where food is already being served every day. I liked the idea that these things were already happening. I wouldn’t be making something new, but improving on what already exists. There are a lot of people doing [institutional food] but unfortunately not doing it well. Most are not being trained properly. The idea of going to schools was the most intriguing.

The more I researched [school food] and got into it the details…every time I read about or heard about a new challenge, I was excited by the potential and the challenge. If done well, we could help change the way a whole generation thinks about food. It’s also a model that could be replicated in hospitals and senior care centers.

Thyme Fries: How has the Noma experience helped with launching Brigaid?

Dan Giusti: At Noma, they hold themselves to such a high standard. The experience instilled in me the idea of not being afraid to come up with a plan and go do it. They aren’t dissuaded by a task that’s too daunting nor are they worried that it might be a waste of time. René never hesitated to do something that he wanted to do. No one there is ever saying ‘ah, I don’t know about this.’ If they decide on something, they figure out how to do it and work hard at it. I always hope to keep that spirit inside of me. I knew that whatever I did after Noma would have to have the same feeling. We were doing amazing things every day. The energy that went into it was amazing. Noma is much more than a restaurant. They have a lot more impact than just that. That influenced me to think harder about what I was going to spend my time doing.

Thyme Fries: What is the big idea behind Brigaid?

Dan Giusti: School food service programs are typically either self-operated or outsourced to a larger company (Aramark or Sodexo are two examples). These companies develop the menus, hire the staff, and manage the program and its finances. What we are doing at Brigaid is somewhere in between these two models.

What I learned as I traveled around the country visiting schools is that every school is extremely different. The leadership, the focus (or lack of focus) on food service, the kitchen facilities, the demographics…Therefore, having a static model to impart on the school just doesn’t make sense. The role of the school food service director can vary too. He or she can be in charge of 1 school or 100 schools. Then there’s the cafeteria manager, who might make around $25k/year. He or she has to supervise and maintain the kitchen, organize the team, and manage all the efficiencies of the program. The ability to do any and all of these things stretches the job of that manager. It’s not that he or she is not capable, it’s that they aren’t trained and paid properly.

I also learned about the difficult economics and requirements of serving school food. There are strict USDA nutritional guidelines to follow and there’s typically not enough money available to produce good food. It’s impossible for a cafeteria manager, at that pay scale and working part-time often — to come up with ways to serve good food at such a low price point. As trained chefs, we are spending all day now looking at these guidelines, studying the costs, working with purveyors, and coming up with menus. You can’t expect food service directors and cafeteria managers — given everything that is already on their plates and the budget constraints they operate under — to come up with these answers.

For all of these reasons, I believe the idea of bringing a trained chef into the school kitchen is an important change. A chef who believes in the idea of healthy school food can train the school cafeteria staff in the nuances of preparing good school food and how to operate and maintain an effective kitchen. The chef can train the staff to cook food that meets the necessary guidelines and is good and healthy, while at a low price point. It made tons of sense to me to have a chef in the kitchen all the time. You can’t just focus on one of these components. You need to attack all of them at once

We are mostly going into schools with self-operated food services and collaborating with them. We aren’t coming in to save the day. In New London, for instance, the food service director does a great job but she’s limited by all the things I mentioned. All the decisions we’re making now, we’re making collectively with her and the rest of the staff.

Thyme Fries: What else is unique about the Brigaid model?

Dan Giusti: When a company like Aramark finishes a school food services contract, they leave and don’t leave anything behind. Our goal is not to leave. The whole point is that the chefs will stay with the school and the program. They might move around to other schools and trade places with other chefs, but they stay plugged into the program.

The whole company revolves around chefs and their ability to go into schools and make something happen. Nothing really matters unless your customer is happy though. That’s what we aim to do.

Thyme Fries: You are not only training the schools and cafeteria staff, but you’re also training the chefs. Tell us how that process is working.

Dan Giusti: Culinary schools don’t teach institutional cooking. There isn’t a lot of instruction about cooking for hospitals or senior care centers, for instance. You’re taught to do one type of cooking at culinary school and there isn’t much offered on the alternate routes one could take.

At Brigaid, we are looking for chefs with a certain temperament and character. A chef needs the right mix of intelligence and patience. He or she has to be able to go to different schools and be flexible collaborating in different environments. It’s much more than just good cooking. We have to work in a professional way and set an example for the kids.

Thyme Fries: There have been some complaints from parents about the cost of the new program. You’ve stated all along that there will be opportunities for schools to generate additional revenue from this program. What revenue-generating initiatives will Brigaid eventually explore at the partner schools?

Dan Giusti: The complaints are understandable. I can come into a district and think everyone is going to be excited, but that would be naïve. It’s change. It’s going to cost schools more money. Unfortunately, our program is portrayed in the media as a luxury. They don’t think of chefs as belonging in schools. That’s something we understand. But we also understand that our intentions are correct and genuine, so we can’t worry about that. We have to keep a smile on our face and do our job.

The only reason people blink an eye is because it costs money. That’s why we’re paying attention to how to use the space more efficiently. You have to understand that in school kitchens and cafeterias, there’s usually no one there after 1:30pm. And we know that there are moments during the day when a meal being prepared is less prep intensive. There are going to be opportunities to sell food to the public…sell to UberEats or make something for sale at a local farmers’ market. We might be able to keep the cafeterias open later so that if parents come to pick up their kids and want to sit down for a healthy meal (or take one to go) and save the time from having to make a meal themselves at home, they can do that. These are the times too when the kitchen won’t have to adhere to the same strict nutritional guidelines.

When any of these revenue-generating initiatives are put in place, we are signing contracts that ensure that money is going back to the food service program. There will be no financial incentives that deter us from focusing on our job and mission. We see this as an extension of the opportunity and impact for the schools.

The chef in each school will be the point person for these efforts. They will run the school kitchens as if they are their own. These initiatives can also be an exciting creative outlet for the chefs.