I remember one of my GT Universe interview questions was “How passionate are you about food?” I was taken aback by this unusual interview question. Nonetheless, I got excited to answer because the truth is, I love food. I proceeded to tell my interviewer, now my fellow GT Universe team member – how much I love food and how I tend to explore hole-in-the-wall restaurants as a hobby.
Trying out Halo-Halo, a popular Filipino dessert
Why hole-in-the-wall restaurants? It all started when my aunt, mom and I were wandering the streets of Venice, Italy on a hot summer day, hungry and lost. We were trying to find a place to eat when we stumbled upon a small restaurant. The restaurant was a little secluded and dark inside, but we decided to give this place a chance. After eating there, I would say that this place was hands down the best restaurant I had ever been to throughout the month of my stay in Italy.
An example of what I ate every other day in Italy
I scarfed down the freshest squeezed organic orange juice and ‘Pasta Pescatore’ with scallops, crawfish, clams, and oysters (To you non-seafood lovers, this may be vastly unappealing, but this type of meal was everything to me during my time in Italy). Afterwards, I realized you don’t have to go to the fanciest or hippest new restaurant in the city to get the most amazing food. The best restaurant can be just the small place down the street from you.
From there, I got inspired to try out hole-in-the wall restaurants that catch my eye. This became a hobby that my husband Jordan and I do, where if we spot a restaurant that catches our eye, we try to go there. Afterwards, we rate our experience on a piece of pink-lined paper stuck on our fridge. The rating is out of 5 stars based on taste, atmosphere and service.
Alexander’s Cafe in Elgin – This brunch place is rated 5/5 in my book
Trying out different restaurants and foods has helped me learn about many different cultures; which is a huge part as a Project Manager with GT Universe, where we plan and execute multicultural and specialty activations at retail. When we plan out events, we research the culture and try to find recipes that would fit within the culture of the type of event we’re holding, like our Festa Italiana event, where we demoed Affogato, a traditional Italian coffee-based dessert. With eating new foods, it gives me a better idea of the type of food a certain culture may prepare, which helps make researching a lot easier.
Not only does trying out new foods help me familiarize more with the culture, but it also helps me learn about new brands. For example, we tried out an authentic Japanese ramen place about 10 minutes from us. We loved it so much that we decided to try and make a more authentic ramen dish for ourselves at home. When we were gathering ingredients, we went into our Jewel-Osco and found ingredients from brands that I’ve never tried before! This helps when we’re trying to find brands to feature at our upcoming events!
My attempt to make authentic ramen
Lastly, it can help build relationships with the brands that we work with here at GT Universe. Take the time when I went to a new Mexican restaurant, and simply ordered a piña colada. A few days later, I of course had the urge to make my own piña colada, so I went out and got ingredients from brands that we work with. Now, the next time I meet with them, it helps me relate and understand their positioning even more.
They say stepping out of your comfort zone is the best way to grow. Not only did it help me understand different cultures and learn new brands, it helped me professionally when it comes to building relationships. So, the next time you are trying to figure out where to eat, I encourage you to try out a new local restaurant, especially if it’s a hole-in-the-wall!
-Lyndsey, Project Manager
