Ben Sukle has come a long way since cutting his teeth in the restaurant business as a dishwasher and bun-loader at Red Robin. Today, Sukle is lauded as one of the best chefs in Rhode Island, and he has helped elevate the local profile of food.
Sukle owns Oberlin and Gift Horse, two celebrated restaurants in Providence. They are a beacon of activity as downtown Providence still wrestles with the after-effects of the pandemic.
Sukle spoke with Ocean State Media political reporter Ian Donnis about what it takes to be successful in the notoriously difficult restaurant business, and the state of Providence’s food scene.
Interview highlights
On walking the line between making food accessible while also being creative
Ben Sukle: I think “accessible” is terminology that changes for each person. And it’s something I think about a lot.
Because these restaurants, for all intents and purposes, push what is a luxury thing, right? I employ 75 people, and that to me means a lot. And I’m willing to do whatever it takes to keep paying those people. And so accessibility becomes a little bit harder at that point, right? So the prices have to be what they are. It’s not a hotdog stand, you know, I’m not the only one who’s working at this thing that dictates how much I want to charge.
So how I stay creative is, I think, finding different ways to ingratiate myself with this state and its farmers and its growers.
On the state of downtown Providence, in the wake of pandemic closures
Sukle: I think downtown is relying too much on its business owners, as far as wanting to see this culture that comes about. Like, we can’t make public restrooms happen. We can’t make the housing crisis better with where we are, right? So it puts a lot of pressure on us.
I feel that pressure sometimes when it comes to Friday nights when there’s nothing going on downtown – like if PPAC’s season is over right now, what’s kind of going on? I think we’re missing an opportunity to allow the arts to come in. I feel there are spaces, there’s availability here, but there are no venues and nobody’s willing to put in the work to make those venues work, necessarily…It can feel like I have no idea what the direction is of downtown.
On whether Rhode Island is a difficult place in which to operate a small business
Sukle: Absolutely.
I think our taxes are insane. I think it’s hard to employ people because there’s no infrastructure to get them home when restaurants let out. I know there’s been initiatives when it comes to giving vouchers for rideshares and all of that kind of thing, but the amount of infrastructure we would need to make downtown happen would require a lot of tough calls. And it just seems like it’s so polarizing that the easiest thing to do is to not do it.
The roads are difficult, parking (is) difficult, rents are difficult. And it’s not to say that there aren’t some people trying to do it, but I feel like there’s nobody reaching out (for us to) have a direct line to people who make the changes on infrastructure. You know, I feel we could add to that. It just doesn’t seem like it’s going to be met with any sort of empathy.
