((PKG)) CONTENTO - A RESTAURANT FOR EVERYONE
((TRT: 09:00))
((Topic Banner: Access for All))
((Reporter/Camera: Aaron Fedor))
((Producer/Photography: Kathleen McLaughlin))
((Map: New York City, New York))
((Main characters: 2 female; 1 male))
((Sub characters: 1 male))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Lauren Faraino
Visitor to New York City))
All right. Good here?
((Lauren’s Friend))
Oh, he’s already here.
((Lauren Faraino
Visitor to New York City ))
Yeah.
((Lauran’s Friend))
Okay.
((Lauren Faraino
Visitor to New York City))
Oh. And look, I can actually pull up to the tables. Ah, a first.
((Lauren Faraino
Visitor to New York City))
Every time I travel to a new city, there's always a question about how accessible it will be, whether it's restaurants, storefronts, public transportation. And I think what I've found is that although the U.S. is viewed as being more accessible than other places across the world, that's not always the case.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Yannick Benjamin
Beverage Director/Managing Director))
The ethos here for our Contento restaurant is barrier-free. We welcome everybody. Obviously, what started off as an agenda to really welcome people with disabilities is not just limited to that. It's from people from all different backgrounds and that's what Contento is all about.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((George Gallego
Managing Partner))
We are in East Harlem, 88 East 111th street and we're literally two blocks away from Central Park.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Yannick Benjamin
Beverage Director/Managing Director))
Both myself and George, we’re both paraplegics and I was really blessed to have met him. I met him in 2003 when I had my car accident and I was assigned to him as a mentor. But not only was he a mentor in my adjustment from being able-bodied to having a disability but he was there to really kind of coach me through what it takes to be an entrepreneur.
((George Gallego
Managing Partner))
Yannick was one of the toughest cases I've dealt with. Yes, you were a tough case, just in case you didn't know it.
((Yannick Benjamin
Beverage Director/Managing Director))
Yeah, I didn’t know it. I'm hearing about this for the first time.
((Yannick Benjamin
Beverage Director/Managing Director))
One day, he actually found this location and said, “Yannick, you need to work for yourself. You need to stop working for other people.” And I said, “Wow, this is a great location.” And, you know, he told me the rent. And I said, “Wow, this is unbelievable. What a dream come true.” He said, “Can I be a partner?” I said, “You want to be in the restaurant business?” He said, “I would love to. Yes.” Besides the fact that
((Courtesy: Contento))
((Yannick Benjamin
Beverage Director/Managing Director))
we both had this love of food and wine and cocktails and most importantly people, we knew that this was an opportunity to really create something special and unique and really be the ones to say, “Hey, we're not trying to be the
first ones
((Courtesy: Contento))
((Yannick Benjamin
Beverage Director/Managing Director))
that are incorporating a culture of accessibility and awareness but we certainly don't want to be the last ones.”
So, if other restaurants and other businesses see the benefits of why it's important to be a barrier-free business, then that's great. Then we've already done our job. The 61 million Americans that actually have a disability, they have over $500 billion dollars in spending power.
((Yannick Benjamin
Beverage Director/Managing Director))
Those are numbers you can't ignore. But yet we seem to be doing that.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Yannick Benjamin
Beverage Director/Managing Director))
I never see people with disabilities go out. I'm like, “Yeah, people with disabilities don't go out because nobody wants to deal with the hassle and the unnecessary obstacles, right?”
((George Gallego
Managing Partner))
This space used to have a 10-foot [3m] step leading into it. It’s a huge undertaking because we had to completely demo the floor.
((Yannick Benjamin
Beverage Director/Managing Director))
Yeah.
((George Gallego
Managing Partner))
Once we demo-ed the floor, we realized that all the beams had to be replaced. They were rusted out. Steel beams. But then, we had the opportunity to, as Yannick said earlier, to start with a blank canvas, right? So, we demo-ed the floor and made the entire space level to the sidewalk, right. I mean, you feel the incline when you're rolling in. So, there's a slight incline and then you have the space.
((George Gallego
Managing Partner))
So, there's a lot of things that you don't see, right? I mean, we have adaptive flatware upon requests which they're absolutely beautiful. You know, stainless steel so people can eat with dignity. It's not an afterthought. We have menus in braille. We have QR codes.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((George Gallego
Managing Partner))
But I think the one thing that you don't see, I know we live in this world of like everything has to be tangible, right? It's the culture. Really proudly say that everybody that works here is incredibly empathetic and just loving and they believe in the mission and the ethos of what we have here at Contento.
((NATS))
((Lauren Faraino
Visitor to New York City))
This is where we're going in. Yeah?
((Contento Host))
Hi, there.
((Lauren Faraino
Visitor to New York City))
Hi, how are you? Thank you. We have a reservation for 7:30.
((George Gallego
Managing Partner))
When we created Contento and this bar specifically, first of all, Yannick and I have been to tons of different places where we were either not allowed to enjoy a drink at the bar because the bar was too high, right? That's the average height of a bar, over on that end. Or we just have to sit at a regular table away from the bar and just enjoy our drinks in a segmented fashion. So, what we want to do here at Contento is create a space where anyone, right, whether you have a disability physical, you don't have a disability, we wanted every individual to be able to just enjoy the moment, the conversation and everything that a bar has to offer. So, we lowered it.
((Yannick Benjamin
Beverage Director/Managing Director))
For such a small space, we've got six people that are involved that have a disability here, how much is a very high number considering that we’re such a small staff. On average, we're talking about 3% of the clientele that comes here has a disability, which may not seem like a big number but it really is a big number. The other night actually George came here with a dear friend of his. They were having dinner. We had a gentleman who was with his guide dog who’s blind. We had another person, you know. And so, this motley crew of different personalities, this mosaic of different personalities and different human beings, this is what Contento is all about.
((George Gallego
Managing Partner))
That's what it's all about.
((Yannick Benjamin
Beverage Director/Managing Director))
That's what it's all about, exactly.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Courtesy: Contento))
((Oscar Lorenzzi
Executive Chef/Managing Partner))
Our most popular dishes are the ceviche, for sure, the yuca, the crispy yuca, the panisse, the octopus, the short ribs, the katsu.
((Oscar Lorenzzi
Executive Chef/Managing Partner))
I always wanted to cook. My family's big, very big family and everybody has to contribute something when we get together. My mom is the 20th out of 20 siblings.
((Courtesy: Contento))
((Oscar Lorenzzi
Executive Chef/Managing Partner))
And saw how cooking brings people together.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Yannick Benjamin
Beverage Director/Managing Director))
Wines of Impact are wines made by people from underrepresented populations. We have wines made by people with disabilities, wines made by the BIPOC [Black, Indigenous, people of color] community. We have a wine that we represent here at the restaurant that's made by a Native American. But also, they're also having a social impact.
((Yannick Benjamin
Beverage Director/Managing Director))
Did you feel that there was this culture of welcoming? Did you feel comfortable? Did you, yeah?
((Lauren Faraino
Visitor to New York City))
Absolutely.
((Yannick Benjamin
Beverage Director/Managing Director))
I'm just curious about your perspective from your dinner.
((Lauren Faraino
Visitor to New York City))
Just the atmosphere. So, normally when I go out to eat at restaurants, I get someone to help me.
((Yannick Benjamin
Beverage Director/Managing Director))
Right.
((Lauren Faraino
Visitor to New York City))
And last night I figured if there's anywhere that I can do it myself, the way that I eat if I were at home, it would be here. And it's just, it feels very welcoming, accepting. And, as you were mentioning, the servers were just so warm and, yeah, it's really something special that you've created.
((Yannick Benjamin
Beverage Director/Managing Director))
Hopefully that doesn't stop just here in East Harlem but that'll come with you all the way down to Alabama, right. And hopefully that becomes contagious. What it means to create an accessible space? First off, you have to be willing to say, “I don't know everything and I'm willing to learn.”
((Courtesy: Contento))
((Yannick Benjamin
Beverage Director/Managing Director))
It's been a very humbling experience to see all the accolades, all the attention that we've been getting. And I can tell you as someone with the disability, just because I’m a paraplegic doesn't mean that I know what a person that's blind is going through or who’s hard of hearing or who has a developmental disability. I listen to them. We talk about it as a team and we say, “How can we make this experience better the next time they come?” And that's the bottom line.
((George Gallego
Managing Partner))
The future of Contento…
((Courtesy: Contento))
we put together a dream team here. And we've had so much success in this little bit of time, right? I think that moving forward, what we will need to do is create more spaces like this, not only throughout New York but hopefully, throughout the US and beyond. We would love to be able to see a more inclusive world within the hospitality industry. And I think that we've started something that could be a trend in America and in the world in general.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Text-over-Video:
In memory of Donna McGwinn, advocate for the disabled))
((MUSIC))