801: Bill Taibe Chef/owner of The Whelk, Kawa Ni, and Don Memo

<p><a href= "https://restaurantunstoppable.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/bill-taibe-website.png"> <img class="alignnone wp-image-14595 size-large" src= "https://restaurantunstoppable.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/bill-taibe-website-1024x1024.png" alt="Bill Taibe Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast" width="1024" height="1024" /></a></p> <p>With Excitement allow me to introduce to you today's guest Executive Chef/Owner of <a href= "https://www.thewhelkwestport.com/">The Whelk</a>, <a href= "https://www.kawaniwestport.com/">Kawa Ni</a> and <a href= "https://www.donmemowestport.com/">Don Memo</a>, Chef Bill Taibe.</p> <p>Today's guest Chef Bill Taibe began early on while working after school at the local butcher shop. As a young chef, both at Two Moons in Port Chester, NY and Wildfire in Greenwich, CT, he quickly advanced from Sous Chef to Executive Chef.</p> <p>In the years to follow he would help to develop, design and run many successful restaurants in Fairfield County, including G/R/A/N/D, Napa & Co., and his own, Relish in Norwalk before settling in Westport and opening LeFarm in 2009.</p> <p>In 2012, he partnered with Massimo Tullio to open The Whelk and Kawa Ni in 2014, both located in Saugatuck, CT.</p> <p>The newest addition to the group, Jesup Hall, opened in the early spring of 2017. However it rebranded in 2020 to Dom Memo</p> <p>All restaurants are guided by Bill’s belief in sourcing the best possible ingredients and supporting our local farms and community.</p> <p>Since 2009, his restaurant group has evolved from staff of 6 to over 80 employees.</p> <p>He has created employment opportunities and programs, such as “Kitchen Share”, to increase the quality of life for his employees. The “Kitchen Share”, a 3% surcharge on all food sales, is directly dispersed to all kitchen employees on a weekly basis. Since it’s implementation in early 2017, numerous other restaurant groups are adopting his program across the tri-state area.</p> <p>His success has led to appearances on The Martha Stewart Show, the Today Show