Rethinking our Food System

BY CALLIE EVERGREEN

The fine dining world has arrived at a turning point, and Chef Rob Rubba is leading the charge for change.

AFTER TAKING A SUMMER JOB with his uncle and falling in love with the culinary world, Rob Rubba began chasing the best restaurants and traveled around the country. He worked for Gordon Ramsay at The London in New York to Michelin-starred restaurants in Las

Vegas, Chicago, Philadelphia, and back to New York. He then opened a restaurant called Hazel in Washington, DC which was globally inspired and meat heavy. “And I started to think about what my impact as a chef was,” Rubba told listeners on a recent episode of

FSR ’s podcast, ‘The Restaurant Innovator.’

“A long career of thinking I was doing what was considered best, and finding there’s a lot of waste, that there’s a lot of mistreatment of both the employees in these restaurants as well as the folks who bring the food to you, and I realized the food I was cooking was far from sustainable, and I kind of had this existential thing if I even wanted to cook anymore.”

Rubba’s epiphany was two-fold: not only could he use his voice and public platform to push for positive change in the industry, but he could model a different way of doing things by building a sustainable restaurant from the ground up. “I might as well use what soapbox I do have to stand on and try to flip the script and push a better world for restaurants, whether that just be with the food when we talk sustainability or the way we ourselves operate,” he says.

His awakening led to opening Oyster Oyster in June 2021, a “dining experience for the future” that relies on seasonal and local produce for its tasting menu, and ingredients that are sourced from individuals who believe in organic and regenerative farming practices. In addition to minimizing food waste and carbon footprint, Rubba and his business partner, sommelier/restateur Max Kuller, believed they could make Oyster Oyster a one-of-a-kind experience in the Mid-Atlantic region.

A creative menu that tastes as good as it looks has the world paying attention—and taking notes. Oyster Oyster received a Michelin Star in 2022, and Rubba was awarded the big prize at the James Beard Award ceremony in June: ‘Outstanding Chef,’ an honor in a national category.

“We built something that was not only more sustainable for the environment, but for myself to not burn out in,” he adds. “We built something that was holistic for both myself and the staff, which is really beautiful.”

TO LEARN MORE, CHECK OUT ‘THE RESTAURANT INNOVATOR’ ON ALL PODCAST PLATFORMS.