Cooking as a family and eating together is a lost tradition that many of us have restarted during the pandemic. I had no idea that my daughter Marisa had become such a great cook; her addition to our kitchen has been a huge positive to the Acosta clan. She loves sashimi and vegan dishes and I swear her Hamachi and jalapeno appetizers rival the world famous Nobu restaurant. That said, I do love restaurants and while one in five is expected to close permanently, I also anticipate a lot of new innovation for both food and service, which will be exciting. I never liked buffets, so I won’t miss them if they never come back. However, there will be some downside. New safety regulations will make it more expensive for neighborhood restaurants to get started and survive, so chain eateries with deep pocket parent companies may take over many communities – which will suck. More people will eat at home, at least for a few years, so online cooking classes will probably flourish and hopefully the institution of families eating together will stick around for a while.
I believe deeply in taking the high road; it is rarely good to lose your cool, especially in business. It’s part of what we call emotional intelligence…However, it’s not always best to walk away from a fight. There are some things worth fighting for, and for the right reasons…Historically, NAHREP has been friendly with consumer groups. We have not always agreed on everything, but I respect them and have worked hard to have a good relationship with them. But…
I believe deeply in taking the high road; it is rarely good to lose your cool, especially in business. It’s part of what we call emotional intelligence…However, it’s not always best to walk away from a fight. There are some things worth fighting for, and for the right reasons…Historically, NAHREP has been friendly with consumer groups. We have not always agreed on everything, but I respect them and have worked hard to have a good relationship with them. But…
I am a big believer in being authentic and original…Last year, I started playing with an idea about how entrepreneurship can close the minority wealth gap in America. I floated an audacious idea that the wealth gap poses an existential threat to America’s leadership in the world economy. That was an attention-getter! To develop my thesis on how to close the wealth gap, I thought about my observations in the housing industry. I realized that…