Mom’s Basement & Michelin-Starred Restaurants On Chef’s Sakari’s Journey with Noble Promise by Chris Lucero Why did you decide to start your business? I wanted to leave an impact, and I want to leave a legacy for future generations. Are you the first one in your family to do this type of work? My dad had a restaurant back in the day, but it failed and his partner ended up running away with all the money. So growing up, I was always nervous to do partnerships and stuff like that. But, as time went on, I started to have a thing for cooking. It became the thing that I was really good at and that led me to launch my provisions company. I focused on products that are scalable, that can leave an impact, that are healthy for you, and nourish the soul. And with that, there’s a lot of partnerships involved. I guess, my family did have some type of entrepreneurship in that respect. What advice would you give to someone starting their own business? I think if you’re going to start your own business, you have to be prepared to fail. And you can’t be scared to fail. Once you get in love with the idea of failing, you realize that you’re just learning and you’re getting closer to the end goal…fall in love with failure…[and] remember your reason why you’re doing it. For me, it’s my father, who passed away two years ago. He was my best friend and he inspired me a lot. Since he died from complications from health, I realized...what you put in your body actually affects your health. Once I realized that, I started going down this path. I want to create delicious food that nourishes your body and soul, and doesn’t make you feel bad. That’s my reason why, and once you find your own, hold on to that, keep it close. How would you say you deal with fear while starting your food business? I embrace it. If you feel fear, that means you’re on the track to something special. If you’re uncomfortable, you’re actually doing something really good because you’re not used to it … If I’m ever scared of something, I try to tackle it head on. Because I know that on the other side of it is something really good. Nice. What about when you dealt with doubt? There’s always some type of self-doubt but I think you just have to have confidence in yourself … Go back to the reason why. Forget the doubt, forget the naysayers, forget he said-she said, and just really attack it. Just remember your reason why.
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Was there ever a time where you thought you were not going to succeed? Yes and no. I’ve thought about failing or worried about working, but I think you have the most control over your outcome. So, as long as it’s up to you, and you believe in yourself, there is no way to fail. The only way you could fail is if you give up. That’s why pivoting, changing courses and directions, and stuff like that is so important. Where do you see your business in five to ten years? The sky’s the limit! We’re looking to open up a studio in Brooklyn. Along with the restaurant, we’re looking to have our provisions and products all over the country speading the brand. A brand takes 10 years to build. So this, to me, is my Nike swoosh. People purchase Nike because of the brand they’ve built. Once you build the brand and make it mean something to the people, well then, you have something that can live on forever. And that’s the goal. How would you say your business looks different now from when you started? When I started, it was literally just an idea and … pop-ups… We were taking apartments that weren’t being utilized, and we were introducing our restaurant experience “Noble Promise.” That’s how it started, right? We started off in my mom’s basement doing research and development on recipes. I turned the entire basement into an R&D kitchen and turned my
