Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
You are listening to Food for Thoughtwith Billy and Jenny, brought to you
by the Box Center. For morethan fifteen years, this dining duo has
been eating their way through New England, mixing it up with top chefs,
jumping behind the line of the hottestrestaurants, and giving you the inside scoop
on where to wine, dine,and spend your time. So get ready,
it's Food for Thought giving you somethingto chew on. Hey, everybody,
(00:22):
welcome into Food for Thought, broughtto you by the Box Center.
I'm Jenny, and I'm very excitedfor the show this week. As you
all know, June is the monththat we celebrate pride in so many different
ways across the whole country, andI wanted to be able to dedicate a
program that mainly is focused in NewEngland, but we'll also do on a
couple of bits where we're talking tosomebody who's going to be taken care of
(00:46):
some big events in New York City. So this is a great opportunity to
figure out ways to celebrate, supportand honor the LGBTQ community. And when
you think of New England, thereis no more central place that you think
of that is as inclusive and ascelebratory of all things LGBTQ than Provincetown,
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right there on the tip of CapeCod And I'm so thrilled because really at
the center, at the heart ofProvincetown is a place called Crown and Anchor,
right there in the heart of Provincetown, and one of its owners,
Jonathan Hawkins, is here with metoday. Jonathan, thank you so much
for joining us. Absolutely, thankyou for having me so. Crown and
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Anchor is certainly one of the mostI guess prominent places that people think of
iconic places when they think of beingin Provincetown. But I'm sure there are
some people who are listening that maynot be familiar. So can you give
us a little bit of the history, because I know the history is very
deep and vast. Yeah, sure, absolutely so. Obviously, Provincetown was
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the country's first artist colony. Notonly was where the pilgrims landed first and
then spent three months here and said, oh no, thank you, We'll
move on to Plymouth Rock. Itbecame the first artist colony in the early
nineteenth twentieth century. UM and ithas really stayed true to those routes and
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has become sort of a refuge anda harbor for artists um And and certainly
the LGBTQ plus community U The Croninincherwas built in eighteen sixty four. It
was known as the Central Houston andit was the first hub of entertainment within
town and I believed it had seventyfive rooms at that point, a bowling
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alley and multiple performance the news andit was just the center of town and
the center of entertainment and really withinwithin provincetown. Unfortunately, that original building
did burn down, um And,so it was rebuilt in two thousand and
seven. However, fortunately the sameplot. It was really guilt on the
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same plot of land, and soit actually is about three different um plots
that go from Commercial Street to theocean, and so it really is quite
a complex of varying degreeses. Soit has multiple venues. So we're so
fortunate we have a restaurant, ahotel, an art gallery, four different
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performance to use, five different bars, and the beach clubs. So it's
a it's a it's a rather largecomplex that really has so many different offerings
for truly the entire community. Acomplex is a good way to describe it.
What one word only is missing isthe fact that it's waterfront. So
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not only is it scrawling with somany other options, but you're right there
on the water and I know it'sit's see am I correct that it's eighteen
rooms right there in that waterfront hotel, So you know, iconic is exactly
what it is. Expansive is definitelywhat it is. Um, but a
beautiful and un phenomenal place to celebrateas well. Um. I think I
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feel like one of your hashtags thatyou use, or there probably are many,
but only at the Crown is oneof the hashtags that I saw,
which I think is true because onthe summer night, these are the these
are the moments that are not tobe not to be missed. So,
um, we're going to get intomore details specifically about the hotel and the
restaurant. But but but let's talkabout June, and let's talk about this
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month and one of the things thatmakes being with you at the Crown and
Anch are so special this month ofJune. Yeah, Well, what interesting
is that Province Town actually didn't havea pride. We didn't celebrate pride up
until five years ago, and therewas. There was sort of a pushback,
to be honest, because people said, why do we need to celebrate
(04:51):
Pride where we when we celebrate Prideall year long. Um. Fortunately the
Province Town Business Skilled decided to goahead with Pride Months or a Pride celebration
regardless. UM. And it's reallyincredible because I do think it is a
perfect It is a way to trulyshow other other people who don't live within
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our community what a queer community canreally look like. UM. And you
know, when Chicago has Pride orany other city that isn't necessarily you know,
as lgbt ke friendly as as weare. Um, it's it's a
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celebration because it's so special and uniqueand it happens for one for one month
or for one weekend, where hereit happens all year around. And I
think that's the most beautiful part aboutProvincetown is that it is open and affirming
and welcoming and loving and celebrating onthe minute you cross the town line.
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I mean most of the case,well it's pretty fantastic as well, but
Provincetown, Um, you know,my biggest thing is that, and certainly
it's the Crown and anchors. Peoplenot only should feel welcomed, but they
should be celebrated. And it doesn'tmatter who you are, who you love,
or how you identify. If youcome into the Crown an anchor,
you are going to be celebrated forexactly who you are. Well, I
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love that, and I like youa little bit of the explanation, and
I can imagine that conversation of saying, we don't need to do something specific
on some specific day because this ishow we are every day. But I
do, I do agree with youthat it's nice to be able to show
the amazing things that take place inthis incredible community. You know, maybe
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on a more national spotlight for betteror for worse, there is there,
there are these different opportunities to sortof be able to showcase community and um
so I'm sure that while I imaginethere was some back and forth, it's
nice to know that there there therethere was some um, you know,
desire to be able to do somethingand in celebration during a time where hopefully
you're seeing a lot more of thecountry continue to support. So I want
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to talk about why. And that'sand that's the new thing is that it's
also you know, it's more thanIt's more than just a celebration too,
And I think that's what finally Yesallowed them to understand the importance. You
know, it's more than just acelebration. Pride started as a riot.
It is such an important story totell, and I want to come back
and talk more about it. We'regoing to take a quick break and be
back with John Hawkins in just aminute. You're listening to Food for Thought
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brought to You Buy the Box Centerand Salem Waterfront Hotel and Sweet Welcome back
to Food you Buy. Oh sorry, hold on one second. Three,
don't worry about it. Three twoone Welcome back to Food for Thoughts rocks
you Buy the Box Center. JonathanHawkins, the owner of the Crown and
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Anchor. We were talking a littlebit about the history and and and Walvi
says, while Pride or Pride Weekor living pridefully has become something that is
to be celebrated, it was notalways that. So Jonathan, can you
give us a little bit of historyand talk about why it is still so
important to be able to celebrate andto continue to celebrate. Absolutely, celebrating
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each other I think is our biggestform of descent, you know, showing
the rest of the world the beautythat is in each and every one of
us, I think is our greatestpower. Pride started as a riot,
and the fight is far from over, and we have to continue to not
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only celebrate each other, but tocontinue to fight because our rights are truly
being threatened each and every day.And that's something that here in Provincetown.
Although we live in a community thatis remarkably supportive and inclusive, we we
know how fortunate we are to behere, but we also know that the
rest of the world didn't like that. And so when we are able to
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have guests and visitors from all overthe world get to see what type of
place, community, what type ofcommunity Provincetown is, we feel like they
get to go home and hopefully theyget to take a little bit back of
that with them. And that's thebeautiful part about Provincetown and about having so
many visitors come to us each andevery year, because hopefully they take a
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little bit of that pride home backto where they're from. You're right,
it is so important to continue tocelebrate and to continue to educate and and
and yes, we have come along way since I was a child,
certainly since my parents were children.But there's still so much work to be
done. What are some suggestions thatyou give people? I mean, certainly
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coming down to Provincetown, is itexperience really unlike other any other but can
really put you in the heart ofcommunity in a way that is so important?
But but it isn't when you're talkingto people and obviously continuing to sort
of connect with folks, What aresome of the suggestions that you make.
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I mean, obviously the first andmost important is to vote. That is
our greatest privilege and our greatest right, and end is the way that our
voices are heard most powerfully. Otherthan that, I believe it's just conversation.
It's conversation with those who believe orthink differently than you. And it's
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also visibility. Visibility is so important, not only to change the hearts and
minds of those who don't disagree withus, but it's important for our own
selves. We talk about being inthe closet and at you know, as
a phrase before coming out, andthat really is saying that we weren't comfortable
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being visibly who we are. Andso when I think of coming out of
the closet. I think that that, really, to me is a true
acceptance of showing the rest of theworld who you are. And if people
around you aren't also showing their visibility, their true selves, their incredible individuality,
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then it's hard for someone who isstill in the closet to feel comfortable
to do so. I grew upin rural Oregon and I did not know
a single other member of the community. It was not it was there was
no one in my town. Therewas no one in my town for fifty
miles. And in order to beable to feel comfortable and safe and know
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that there are others out there,it takes visibility. And so having that
I think is probably one of themost important things, especially for younger the
younger generation, who may or maynot who may live in a home where
that visibility isn't available to them.And so for me, we have a
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responsibility not only as as an LGBTQplus community, but certainly as a business
to make sure that visibility is atthe forefront of our mission, so that
every single person who walks into thatproperty feels seen and feels loved. It's
so amazing, and the word asyou said visibility. The word that kept
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coming to mind for me was freedom. And freedom is such a word that
we can so easily throw around,and certainly is a word that was the
basis of what our country was foundedon. And yet what's so clear is
that there's still so much there's somuch work to be done for every person
that lives here to be able tofeel free. And yes, I imagine
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there's a lot more of a feelingof freedom being in Provincetown than being in
other parts of our country and theworld. And so, you know,
are everyone listening to be able toto go spend some time in Province Town
because there is such an incredible energyum whenever you're there, no matter what
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time of year. But of coursewe're we're in the height of the summer
right now, where where it's thebest weeks of living in New England and
certainly the best weeks of living onthe keats. So talk to talk to
me a little bit about if youwere planning someone to have sort of the
perfect weekends in Provincetown, walk usthrough what it would look like. Of
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course, you're staying with you andand and probably enjoying some of the restaurant
as well. But what does aperfect weekend look like to you? I
mean, the wonderful thing about ProvinceTown is that it is one of the
most walkable and or bikable places inthe world. So we have one main
street, commercial Street, and itlass. It runs about two miles long,
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UM, and it goes directly onthe ocean, and it is filled
with art galleries um, uh,wonderful shops, UM, incredible restaurants,
beautiful hotels uh. And it endsCommercial Street ends at the breakwater, which
is this beautiful one mile long umconstructed uh you know, uh rock footway
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that goes all the way out toLong Point UM. And so you know,
Provincetown is obviously known for its forits parties and for tea dance and
for for entertainment, but seventy fivepercent of Provincetown is actually National Seashore,
and so there is an incredible youcould ride your bike through the dunes forever
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and it is absolutely gorgeous. UmA fantastic And in Provincetown, you know,
our halftag is only at the Crown. However, I'm very supportive of
going to uh many many other venuesbecause there is so many other wonderful restaurants,
um and shows. However, thesort of my mission for the Crown
and Anchor is that staying there isthe quintessential Provincetown experience. We have an
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incredible restaurant, we have a beautifulhotel that was just recently Redone, we
have three different entertainment venues, wehave bars for each part of our community,
and we have a beach club.So staying at the Crown and Anchor
is truly the quintessential Provincetown experience.However, there are some other incredible hotels.
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The Land's End in was just Redone, and that I would say is
truly quintessential Provincetown. The Red End, which is a gorge restaurant right on
the West End, which is directlyon the water. That's incredible. Strangers
in Saints there are so many wonderful, wonderful experiences. And if that doesn't
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say inclusion, I don't know whatdoes. Because I do this for a
living where I interview people and rarelydo hear an owner of sort of the
iconic space in a town to talkabout so many of the other business is
just with so much camaraderie and celebration, which is awesome. I do want
to talk a little bit about yourrestaurant, So tell us what people may
experience or can enjoy eating when they'rein there. Um, for some reason,
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they're all coming for the day.Yeah, well we're thrilled this year.
So we've completely redone it. Um. We are restaurant essentially houses three
different restaurants. So we have ourour Oyster bar, which runs seven days
a week and that is run bya local um oyster company called Lucky Lips
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Oysters. And so that is inour courtyard so you're overlooking Commercial Street.
It's z place to sit and seeand be seen. And then for brunch,
we have Kelly Fields, who isa James Beard Award winning chefs and
she h as they became they becamea member of our community just a few
years ago. UM had no ideathat she was set an incredible chef or
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so, uh you know, hadhad won a James Beard Award winner.
We just became friends, asked herto become to put a brunch menu together
and it is unbelievable and we've essentiallygotten rid of drag brunch. Not to
get rid of drag brunch, butWe essentially have brunch where drag happens.
Rather than selling tickets, we haveentertainment throughout the entire day. So if
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you come to brunch to the Crownand Anchor and have an incredible meal by
James Beard Award winning Kelly Fields,you will also be entertained and get to
see the beautiful artist try that isProvincetown and that futures not only performers,
futures performers throughout the whole community.Okay, well, brunch sounds like something
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I have to be at at somepoint this summer, and then I'm sure
there's something else at the evening.We're gonna take a quick break and be
back with Jonathan Hawkins from the Crownand Anchor. In just a minute.
You're listening to Food for Thought,Brought do you buy the Box Center and
sale and Waterfront Hotel and sweets?Well, I could talk to you for
hours and we were just talking aboutbrunch, which, like my mind is
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just saying, when is the nexttime I can hop to it? So
imagine its festivities all day um duringthe weekends and probably goes right in tonight,
but what takes place at the nighttime? Yeah, absolutely so a nighttime
is just a clearly spectacular Chef RainaStefani, so she was born and raised
on the Cape, and she puttogether an incredible menu. Our restaurant then
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is called Blane now, which meanswhale in Portuguese and Italian, and my
husband is Italian's the he's the ownerwith me, and they have become great,
great friends, and they have createdthis beautiful Mediterranean Italian inspired cuisine.
It is unbelievably tasty. Um it'sit's remarkably accessible, so you know you
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read the menu when you say,oh, that's not for me, I
WoT fish and chips. However,the flavor palace they've brought together is not
only accessible, but remarkably delicious,and it is a totally different dining experience
than brunch. It's absolutely beautiful.We're so proud of it. And then
as soon as dinner service is over, the entire space turns into a piano
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bar sing along and we have hundredsof people who gather not only in the
restaurant space but the courtyard right offof it, and they get to sing
along the show tunes and whatever elseour artists want to perform until late into
the evening. I love that notonly is it such a party atmosphere,
but you're getting such quality cuisine,which I think it's it's hard to fire
on all cylinders, and certainly oneof the reasons I've heard about the commentator
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from many of my friends is thatyou do and it's a hard thing to
do. I've been doing this fora long time and it's definitely a hard
thing to do, but it's greatthat you've been able to master that.
Accessibility is something that you mentioned acouple of times for a couple of different
reasons. But sometimes people think ofProvincetown is really hard to get to.
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But certainly in the past decade orso, there's been so many other ways
to be able to get to Petownthen just driving. So what can you
share some of those with us?Absolutely so. The ferry is unbelievable and
truly of such a great asset toour community. It's ninety minutes from Provincetown.
There are two fantastic companies, BostonHarbor Cruises run by City Experiences and
then Bay State Cruises. Both ofthem leave right out of Boston. They
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pull you right into McMillan Pier.The first thing you see when you pull
into town is the Crown and AnchorsBeach Club. And I say the party
starts the minute you get on theferry. Okay, well, I say
take a ferry, but of courseyou can fly or drive. Jonathan Hawkins
has been such a pleasure having you. How do people find out all things
Crown and Anchor. Absolutely so,it's only at the Crown dot com and
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only at the Crown on Instagram andFacebook. Awesome. Well, I look
forward to seeing you at some pointsoon. Have a great month. Rest
of your Pride month, Pride year, Pride, every moment of existence.
Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you celebrate each other all year
long. We'll talk to You're listeningto Food for Thought, rot to you
buys the Box Center and Salem WaterfrontHotel and sweets Hey, everybody, well
(21:00):
back into fufort thought brought you bythe Box Center. So we started our
Pride program with Teton, which isreally the iconic place when you think of
celebrating the LGBTQ plus community. Andcoming up, we're gonna be talking to
an event planner in New York Citywho's really taking care of New York City
Pride. But in the middle.I needed to make sure that we were
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connected to Boston, and so wehave the opportunity to talk to the general
manager of the Liberty Hotel. So, if you've been inside the Liberty Hotel,
it is well, it's truly historic. It is one of the most
beautiful and ornate spaces that we havein our beautiful city. It's a great
place to go for dining. It'sso accessible to all the shopping. It's
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obviously Boston Common and it's right there, right at the head of Beacon Hill.
It's one of our favorite places toenjoy, the Liberty Hotel right on
Charles Street. And so thrilled tohave Mark Fisher, the general manager,
with us on the show today.How are you Mark, I'm doing great,
Jenny, just excited with you know, coming off of our Pride Week
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last week and you know, stillcelebrating piletha of things that we're doing for
our Pride Month here at the LibertyHotel. I love that, and I
love that it is now designated aPride Month because there's so much to celebrate
and I know you guys are doinga great job of bringing people together.
So so walk us through when someof the people can enjoy still now for
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the second month of June inside theLiberty Hotel, George Jenny, Well,
we're excited to still carry on ourPride Yappy Hour and that will be taking
place on the twenty first, whichis Wednesday, and that's just something that
we continue to follow up how wehave our Yappy Hours every Wednesday here at
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the Liberty Hotel, but this onespecifically, we will be gearing it towards
Pride Month in celebrating Yappy Hour inour yards with our jest to Command as
well as our furry friends. We'realso celebrating throughout the week and we'll have
this at our Yappy Hours our PrideCocktails, So we've got three exciting cocktails
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that were what we're serving and reallya lot of excitement that that's writing going
towards these drinks this month and we'llcontinue carrying that on throughout a month.
And I know that you guys hada great fashion show. Tell me a
little bit about how that went,yees, So we had a very exciting
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fashion really late and that's something wedo at our property every Thursday evening here
at the Liberty and we did wrapup our season with our Pride Week fashion
really Late, and it was featuringBanks, which is one of the local
designers in Boston, and we alwaysfocus on celebrating our local artists and designers,
so they were able to supply ourfashioned for that evening and then also
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we had our wine dinner also partof that prior to our Fashionably Late,
and our executive chef Dan did aphenomenal job putting together great menu which you
know consists of you know, Tuna'shearts are Sturline, Stake and Progra along
with Chrispy you know main salmon whichwas great, along with the Noki.
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So we celebrated a great wind innerPride Week wind Dinner rolling into the fashionably
Late and the fashionably Late with sucha huge success uh with our DJ and
bedtick which was also provided the dancingperformances and also the Onyx groups. So
it was definitely a great fashionably latewhere we dialed it up even more for
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Pride Month. I love that andand you know, we happen to live
in um, a community where thereis so much acceptance and visibility and um
and desire of inclusiveness, but weknow that that's not necessarily the case everywhere
and we also know that in additionto a month like Pride and month,
you at the Liberty are continually tryingto do and celebrate the various months and
(25:08):
opportunities that we have to be asinclusive as possible. Why is something like
that so important to you and tothe hotel and and to being a part
of this kind of community. Well, it's just really important and this is
part of you know, what wedo in our culture with our hotel here
at the Liberty Hotel is to celebrateyou know, diversity, and with Pride
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month, being able to celebrate thosethroughout you know, the month as well
as going into our other months,because it's so important that we recognize everyone
and really celebrate each month of youknow, what everybody really you know,
cherishes and what's important to them andrecognize them for that. And like I
said, it's part of our brandas part of our culture to welcome those
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in our community as well as travelersto the Liberty Hotel and understanding the Liberty
Hotel celebrates this, which is whichis key to us. Yeah, oh
definitely. Well, you guys doa great job. Now for folks who
are interested in finding more out aboutthese cocktails and the yappier hours because why
not bring your dog to enjoy adelicious cocktail and a delicious setting. Where
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can people find out more information,Well, definitely on our website they can
find out that information. And thenalso through social media Liberty Underscore Hotel our
Instagram account. We always do allof our postings there so you can see
what's going on at our property.But those are the two areas that would
(26:40):
definitely look for. And then alsoevent Right, we do a lot of
our dinners and celebrating our activities therefor event Right as well, so that's
something else that they can look forwardto. Awesome Mark, Mark Fisher,
everybody. The general manager of thebeautiful Liberty Hotel website is Liberty Hotel dot
com. Thank you for all thatyou do within the community and certainly for
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making a big attempt in celebrating pridethis month, but celebrating inclusiveness every month.
So thanks for joining us great Thankyou Jannys for having me today and
have a great joy. Thank youtoo. We're gonna take a quick break
and we'll be back with more Foodfor Thought in just a minute. You're
listening to Food for Thought brought toyou by the Box Center and Salem Waterfront
(27:25):
Hotel and sweet welcome back into Foodfor Thought brought to you by the Box
Center. I am particularly excited forthis next segment because this person happens to
be a very dear, close cousinof mine who I have grown up spending
so much time, love and specialmoments with, and have also spent the
(27:47):
past couple of decades watching the trajectoryof a really beautiful and powerful career take
place. My cousin's name is JakeResnicau, and he is one of the
most expansive, extensive, and impressiveLGBTQ plus event promoters really in the world.
(28:07):
And he's had the pleasure of travelingthe world and supporting so many fundraising
events and a supporting so many differentorganizations, some of which we'll talk about
today, but potentially one of themost exciting is what he does in New
York City for Pride, and obviouslyon this show, we're talking about Pride
months and this year is certainly setout to be the best. So,
without further ado, looking forward tointroducing everybody to Jake Rednicou. Jake,
(28:32):
thanks so much for being here.Jenny is so great to be connected.
So, okay, you, weare going to get a little bit of
a background on you and the thingsthat you do throughout the world. But
let's this is Pride months, solet's stick with the month of June and
tell us what you are doing aweek from now in New York City.
(28:52):
Absolutely well, we have a wholeseries of events. On Friday, we're
going to be launching the official album, the Lease Party for Kim Petris really
excited about that, or New Autain'scalled Feed the Beast. And on Saturday,
we're going to be producing the largestPride event in North America. It's
called Planet Pride. Incredible lineup ofartists, including a Grammy winner Jess Glynn,
and a bunch of other amazing acts. And then Sunday we're producing the
(29:15):
very first Pride event in Central Parkwith Grammy winner Purple Disco Machine and also
as a special guest, Paris Hilton. Oh my gosh, it sounds like
an extraordinary weekend. But how longdoes it take to dream up something like
Dreamland Pride Festival. I mean,like, how long has this been in
the works? And I imagine you'restill doing a ton gearing up for next
(29:36):
week. Absolutely well, definitely yearsin the making to make Central Park happen.
This has been a really long journeyand we're really really excited. I
mean, it's the heart of NewYork and we've been really working on this
for a while. But for sureit's it's grueling hours, but it's really
the most rewarding in the end.I mean, there really is nothing like
Central Park. But for years youwere doing an give me, give us
(30:00):
a little bit of idea. I'vebeen to your events, so I know
the scale that they are, butsort of paint the picture for those who
have never been to one of yourevents absolutely well. You know, we
have multiple stages, you know,open air. It's you know, everything
from you know, drag queens toperformers, musical acts to live DJs.
It's really a fully immersive experience.We also like to incorporate the holistic experience.
(30:25):
We have Dario's Bootcamp doing an immersiveexperience on Saturday and working with Equinox
on Sunday to do a Headstrong meditationin Central Park to kick off the day.
So lots of other really cool activationsthroughout the day and the event.
You activation is a great word becausewhen you're at your your events and celebrations,
you are fully activated in every way, shape and form. And it's
(30:47):
been really cool to see how you'veevolved them just by ways of just like
you said, by bringing in mindfulnessand by bringing in fitness. And certainly
we want to we want to partyhard, but we also want to be
taking care of you can care aboutourselves as well, and you're definitely doing
that for something like the weekend that'sgoing to take place in New York City.
But if you're also taking to accountthe events that you do throughout the
(31:11):
country, how much of an economicdriver is something like this weekend, Well,
it's it's substantial. I mean,you know, over the weekend,
we have somewhere in the range oftwenty to thirty thousand guests coming through our
doors, and they're coming in fromall over the world, and it really,
you know, drives so much ofNew York City. I mean,
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the hotels are full, the streetsare full, and I think in the
end, it really is the mostrewarding for the guests because so many of
our attendees, you know, don'tnecessarily have a safe space back home,
or maybe not accepted by their friendsor their family. Back in their small
communities and the comet to New Yorkexpress themselves, be who they are.
It really is the most rewarding,not just for them, for me to
(31:52):
be able to create that environment forall. Well, I imagine that is
what keeps you going at the pacethat you do. It's about this,
um, a little bit on theshow, um already. But while you're
right, I'm here in Boston andyou're in you know, you'll you'll be
in New York, and those aredefinitely more inclusive communities. UM. But
(32:12):
it's you know, very clear andcontinually glaringly clear that that's not the case
everywhere. So so talk to usabout why events months like Pride, events
like you're doing in New York,and events that you do throughout the year
continue to be so important. Well, you nailed it. I mean it
really it's really true when you goto some of these small pockets and you
(32:36):
know, uh, Middle America,it's just it's it's it's not necessarily it's
not a sley a safe space.I mean, you have parents who don't
accept their own kids for coming out. You don't have schools that don't allow
you know, the kids to expressthemselves or use the right bathrooms. I
mean, it's it's it's it's ahuge problem and we're fighting it every day.
And you're right, you know,in our in our liberal towns of
(32:57):
New York, in Boston, wedon't necessarily see it left and but it's
it's it's a reality. And wealso have a lot of international guests that
fly in from all over the worldand countries where it's not even legal to
be themselves. So, you know, more than ever, that's really what
drives me to do what I do, and I see it every day.
And you know, it's also reallybeautiful to see people come together and form
long lasting friendships and even um,you know, partnerships, you know,
(33:19):
by meeting people at these events.Well, there's so much camaraderie that I
see just through your you know,mainly through your Instagram, but when I'm
looking enough to attend some of them, there is so much joy, so
much pleasure, and so much camaraderie. And I think that it is pretty
awesome that you're giving so many peoplea safe space to be able to enjoy
and be exactly who they are.So I want to talk a little bit
(33:44):
about the rest of the events thatyou do and your company in general,
because like the common laugh amongst ourfamily is like where in the world is
Jake, because you never know whereyou will be, So share with us
some of the highlights of some ofthe great events that you've done on over
the past couple of decades throughout theworld. Oh wow, Well, you
(34:06):
know, I love to travel aroundthe world to be able to soak up
and get experiences. For several yearsthat was producing the main floor of the
Life Ball in Vienna, which wasperip's largest AIDS charity event. It was
truly an epic experience at the ViennaCity Hall with major fashion designers and major
celebrities. You know, that wasan incredible experience to kind of grow and
(34:27):
cultivate together. We've done events inBrazil, We've done events in Mexico.
We actually do a really cool retreatin Easlamharis, Mexico where we take over
one of the tips of the islandand we have a whole weekend of experience.
Community and truly family, that's thebig word. It really is a
family coming together. I mean,it is our chosen family and it's such
(34:50):
a special family. And but soone of the things I'm also often very
impressed by. Is when you goto one of your events and we're talking
tens of thousands of people in oneplace at one time, enjoying energy together
and really just like raising the vibrationof everything and everyone around you. You
would imagine that you would have hundredsof people on your team. And I
(35:14):
know you have a great team,and I know you work with great partners,
but you do the lion share LikeI was, I mean, because
we've referenced that your family. Iwas literally talking to my aunt, your
mother, and I was saying,so, okay, so how did he
manage the permits of Central Park?Like that's got to be like an insane
thing in and of itself. Iwas like, so, who does that
for him? And she was like, he does? So is that really?
(35:36):
Like so many of these components,You know, even though your company
has obviously evolved and been elevated toa pretty big extreme, you are still
really touching all components of these events. Yeah, I am very small team.
I have one amazing full time employee, Jordan, who's absolute rock star,
and a lot of other amazing partnersand contractors and team members. But
(35:58):
it really is it's a small team. That's that's making the magic happen.
And amazing partners that you know,work together, collaborate and bring the vision
to life. It's truly magical whenpeople see, as you know, what
we can do together, how muchpeople come together to make it happen.
So we're one more question before thebreak and then we'll wrap up and talk
(36:19):
a little bit more about New Yorkspecifically. So how how much thought goes
into I mean each event is verydifferent, So do you have to spend
a substantial amount of time kind oftaking yourself out of the event and you
just finish and putting your head intowhat will be created next. Absolutely,
I mean it's kind of wild.You know, we're we're gearing up for
(36:40):
our big Central Park show and wejust announced our next Central Park Show,
which is going to be September ninthfor Fashion Week in New York. And
it's it's it's wild because you kindof get these silly little dms like wait,
can we get to the first onefirst? But you really got to
know before thinking, hang and jumpingon the next one because you need to
plan and it's we're talking five tosix thousand guests. So in my studying
(37:04):
at the same time and also reallyexciting to buy, really intersect the fashion
world. We're actually going to beworking with two major fashion designers included Hitting
Marco Marco to produce the largest attendanceat a fashion show in history on September
to night. We're going to beatthat Guinness Bookle World record. So super
excited about integrating the fashion show intothe live event. Well, that's definitely
(37:25):
what your company does. It's thelargest, it's the biggest, it's the
first ever, it's the most impressive. We're gonna take a quick break and
we'll be back with Jake Resnicow ofJake Resnicow Events. Big Pride Weekend coming
up next weekend in New York City. We'll be back with more Food for
Thought in just a minute. You'relistening to Food for Thought, Rot do
you buy? The Box Center andSalem Waterfront Hotel and Sweet. This has
(37:45):
been such an exciting show, certainlycelebrating Pride for the month of June,
but as we've said many times inthe show, celebrating pride for the LGBTQ
plus community. It's three hundred andsixty five days a year, every single
year. My cousin Jake Resnicu ofJake Resnicow Events, who is one of
(38:05):
the largest event producers for this communityreally throughout the world, has a very
exciting weekend as we talked about comingup in New York next weekend. So,
Jake, you gave us some ofthe highlights paint a little bit more
a sort of a picture of whatpeople could experience, because I think is
everything sold out or is there roomfor anybody to be immersed in your presence
(38:28):
next week us? Now, severalevents I sold out, but we do
still have tickets for our Kim Petra'salbum releastuccorting on next Friday, and also
our big Planet private and on Saturday. So hope more walking comes joint.
It's going to be special. Soyou mentioned some of the headliners, and
I want you to go through thewhole list right now. But but how
so, you know, we talkedabout sort of the runway of your thinking,
and it's probably hard to be inthe moment because you're planning things for
(38:51):
a year out, a couple ofyears out. But how long have you
been in talks with some of thefolks that are going to be headlining this
weekend? Well, great question.Some of them. You know, we
work on them every year. Forexample, I think we reach out to
Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga every singleyear and I'm sure one of the years
they'll say yes. But you know, a lot of times it's also timing.
(39:12):
You know, I'm really kind ofworked out perfect timing that Jess Glenn's
coming out with a new album.We also have two major major surprises,
and if people want to check outthe hints, both of them are coming
out with new albums in the monthof June, so they can maybe read
between the lines of two of thosetwo big surprise pop stars might be.
But it's also really exciting. Sometimeswe don't we don't, we don't release
it love them to be surprised andbe wowed. Well, that's I think
(39:34):
one of the great things about yourevents is people go in knowing that it's
going to be amazing, but thenthey're wowed by things that they didn't even
know were happening. And I thinkyou really know how to captivate people,
and as just as a person whohas stood there and watched just everything from
the lights of the entertainments, tothe sounds, to the energy, to
the drinks, everything included is sospecial. So for folks who are interested
(39:57):
in learning more about you, moreabout the events that have coming up,
where's the best place for them tofind you? Absolutely um Jake resuca dot
com. We're also on Instagram Jakeresumecal or. The events are our Planet,
Pride dot com and Dreamland Pride dotcom. Also, you know,
big thing for me is also youknow, getting back all the events are
getting back to charity in a meaningfulway. One of the kind of unknown
(40:17):
facts that people don't realize is lessthan one percent of charting artists. That's
the artist that you look on Billboardand Spotify are you know. LGBTQ plus
are a part of the community,And I think that's the big problem that
we need to change and move theneedle on. And that's one of the
main beneficiaries is creating this new scholarshipprogram to create new opportunities for people in
(40:38):
our community to get on these bigstages and put music out on the radio.
Well, I'm so happy. Yeah, philanthropy has been a huge piece
of the work that you've done forso long. You know, you really
are a fixture. You are aperson within the LGBTQ plus community who inspires,
but you're also a person who kindof represents the community in a lot
(40:59):
of ways. How does that feelto you? Is it a lot of
pressure? For sure? For sure, it's humbling, but it's also it's
also what inspires me to keep workingharder. The biggest kind of thing right
now, it's all about making surethat we truly are representative of our entire
LGBTQ plus community. It's not justthe L or the G or the B.
It's really all the letters of thealphabet and making all feel included and
(41:22):
be able to participate. So that'sreally a big focus of mine right now.
Jake, you are such an inspirationto so many and as my little
yet not so little we're very closein age cousin, you are such an
inspiration to me and just have tosay I have loved watching your career grow
and thrive, and it's awesome havingyou on this radio show this week.
(41:42):
So I hope you have the mostspectacular weekend next weekend. For folks who
want to learn more, go toJake Resnicau dot com. It's j A
K. E. R. E. S nic ow. I love you
very much, thanks for joining us. Thanks Jenny and we'll have more food
for thought next week on Sunday.Have a great week, everybody,
You are listening to Food for Thoughtwith Billy and Jenny, brought to you
by the Box Center. For morethan fifteen years, this dining duo has
been eating their way through New England, mixing it up with top chefs,
jumping behind the line of the hottestrestaurants, and giving you the inside scoop
on where to wine, dine,and spend your time. So get ready,
it's Food for Thought giving you somethingto chew on. Hey, everybody,
(00:22):
welcome into Food for Thought, broughtto you by the Box Center.
I'm Jenny, and I'm very excitedfor the show this week. As you
all know, June is the monththat we celebrate pride in so many different
ways across the whole country, andI wanted to be able to dedicate a
program that mainly is focused in NewEngland, but we'll also do on a
couple of bits where we're talking tosomebody who's going to be taken care of
(00:46):
some big events in New York City. So this is a great opportunity to
figure out ways to celebrate, supportand honor the LGBTQ community. And when
you think of New England, thereis no more central place that you think
of that is as inclusive and ascelebratory of all things LGBTQ than Provincetown,
(01:07):
right there on the tip of CapeCod And I'm so thrilled because really at
the center, at the heart ofProvincetown is a place called Crown and Anchor,
right there in the heart of Provincetown, and one of its owners,
Jonathan Hawkins, is here with metoday. Jonathan, thank you so much
for joining us. Absolutely, thankyou for having me so. Crown and
(01:30):
Anchor is certainly one of the mostI guess prominent places that people think of
iconic places when they think of beingin Provincetown. But I'm sure there are
some people who are listening that maynot be familiar. So can you give
us a little bit of the history, because I know the history is very
deep and vast. Yeah, sure, absolutely so. Obviously, Provincetown was
(01:53):
the country's first artist colony. Notonly was where the pilgrims landed first and
then spent three months here and said, oh no, thank you, We'll
move on to Plymouth Rock. Itbecame the first artist colony in the early
nineteenth twentieth century. UM and ithas really stayed true to those routes and
(02:16):
has become sort of a refuge anda harbor for artists um And and certainly
the LGBTQ plus community U The Croninincherwas built in eighteen sixty four. It
was known as the Central Houston andit was the first hub of entertainment within
town and I believed it had seventyfive rooms at that point, a bowling
(02:38):
alley and multiple performance the news andit was just the center of town and
the center of entertainment and really withinwithin provincetown. Unfortunately, that original building
did burn down, um And,so it was rebuilt in two thousand and
seven. However, fortunately the sameplot. It was really guilt on the
(03:00):
same plot of land, and soit actually is about three different um plots
that go from Commercial Street to theocean, and so it really is quite
a complex of varying degreeses. Soit has multiple venues. So we're so
fortunate we have a restaurant, ahotel, an art gallery, four different
(03:23):
performance to use, five different bars, and the beach clubs. So it's
a it's a it's a rather largecomplex that really has so many different offerings
for truly the entire community. Acomplex is a good way to describe it.
What one word only is missing isthe fact that it's waterfront. So
(03:45):
not only is it scrawling with somany other options, but you're right there
on the water and I know it'sit's see am I correct that it's eighteen
rooms right there in that waterfront hotel, So you know, iconic is exactly
what it is. Expansive is definitelywhat it is. Um, but a
beautiful and un phenomenal place to celebrateas well. Um. I think I
(04:06):
feel like one of your hashtags thatyou use, or there probably are many,
but only at the Crown is oneof the hashtags that I saw,
which I think is true because onthe summer night, these are the these
are the moments that are not tobe not to be missed. So,
um, we're going to get intomore details specifically about the hotel and the
restaurant. But but but let's talkabout June, and let's talk about this
(04:30):
month and one of the things thatmakes being with you at the Crown and
Anch are so special this month ofJune. Yeah, Well, what interesting
is that Province Town actually didn't havea pride. We didn't celebrate pride up
until five years ago, and therewas. There was sort of a pushback,
to be honest, because people said, why do we need to celebrate
(04:51):
Pride where we when we celebrate Prideall year long. Um. Fortunately the
Province Town Business Skilled decided to goahead with Pride Months or a Pride celebration
regardless. UM. And it's reallyincredible because I do think it is a
perfect It is a way to trulyshow other other people who don't live within
(05:15):
our community what a queer community canreally look like. UM. And you
know, when Chicago has Pride orany other city that isn't necessarily you know,
as lgbt ke friendly as as weare. Um, it's it's a
(05:36):
celebration because it's so special and uniqueand it happens for one for one month
or for one weekend, where hereit happens all year around. And I
think that's the most beautiful part aboutProvincetown is that it is open and affirming
and welcoming and loving and celebrating onthe minute you cross the town line.
(05:58):
I mean most of the case,well it's pretty fantastic as well, but
Provincetown, Um, you know,my biggest thing is that, and certainly
it's the Crown and anchors. Peoplenot only should feel welcomed, but they
should be celebrated. And it doesn'tmatter who you are, who you love,
or how you identify. If youcome into the Crown an anchor,
you are going to be celebrated forexactly who you are. Well, I
(06:21):
love that, and I like youa little bit of the explanation, and
I can imagine that conversation of saying, we don't need to do something specific
on some specific day because this ishow we are every day. But I
do, I do agree with youthat it's nice to be able to show
the amazing things that take place inthis incredible community. You know, maybe
(06:44):
on a more national spotlight for betteror for worse, there is there,
there are these different opportunities to sortof be able to showcase community and um
so I'm sure that while I imaginethere was some back and forth, it's
nice to know that there there therethere was some um, you know,
desire to be able to do somethingand in celebration during a time where hopefully
you're seeing a lot more of thecountry continue to support. So I want
(07:09):
to talk about why. And that'sand that's the new thing is that it's
also you know, it's more thanIt's more than just a celebration too,
And I think that's what finally Yesallowed them to understand the importance. You
know, it's more than just acelebration. Pride started as a riot.
It is such an important story totell, and I want to come back
and talk more about it. We'regoing to take a quick break and be
back with John Hawkins in just aminute. You're listening to Food for Thought
(07:31):
brought to You Buy the Box Centerand Salem Waterfront Hotel and Sweet Welcome back
to Food you Buy. Oh sorry, hold on one second. Three,
don't worry about it. Three twoone Welcome back to Food for Thoughts rocks
you Buy the Box Center. JonathanHawkins, the owner of the Crown and
(07:54):
Anchor. We were talking a littlebit about the history and and and Walvi
says, while Pride or Pride Weekor living pridefully has become something that is
to be celebrated, it was notalways that. So Jonathan, can you
give us a little bit of historyand talk about why it is still so
important to be able to celebrate andto continue to celebrate. Absolutely, celebrating
(08:20):
each other I think is our biggestform of descent, you know, showing
the rest of the world the beautythat is in each and every one of
us, I think is our greatestpower. Pride started as a riot,
and the fight is far from over, and we have to continue to not
(08:43):
only celebrate each other, but tocontinue to fight because our rights are truly
being threatened each and every day.And that's something that here in Provincetown.
Although we live in a community thatis remarkably supportive and inclusive, we we
know how fortunate we are to behere, but we also know that the
rest of the world didn't like that. And so when we are able to
(09:05):
have guests and visitors from all overthe world get to see what type of
place, community, what type ofcommunity Provincetown is, we feel like they
get to go home and hopefully theyget to take a little bit back of
that with them. And that's thebeautiful part about Provincetown and about having so
many visitors come to us each andevery year, because hopefully they take a
(09:30):
little bit of that pride home backto where they're from. You're right,
it is so important to continue tocelebrate and to continue to educate and and
and yes, we have come along way since I was a child,
certainly since my parents were children.But there's still so much work to be
done. What are some suggestions thatyou give people? I mean, certainly
(09:50):
coming down to Provincetown, is itexperience really unlike other any other but can
really put you in the heart ofcommunity in a way that is so important?
But but it isn't when you're talkingto people and obviously continuing to sort
of connect with folks, What aresome of the suggestions that you make.
(10:11):
I mean, obviously the first andmost important is to vote. That is
our greatest privilege and our greatest right, and end is the way that our
voices are heard most powerfully. Otherthan that, I believe it's just conversation.
It's conversation with those who believe orthink differently than you. And it's
(10:31):
also visibility. Visibility is so important, not only to change the hearts and
minds of those who don't disagree withus, but it's important for our own
selves. We talk about being inthe closet and at you know, as
a phrase before coming out, andthat really is saying that we weren't comfortable
(10:56):
being visibly who we are. Andso when I think of coming out of
the closet. I think that that, really, to me is a true
acceptance of showing the rest of theworld who you are. And if people
around you aren't also showing their visibility, their true selves, their incredible individuality,
(11:22):
then it's hard for someone who isstill in the closet to feel comfortable
to do so. I grew upin rural Oregon and I did not know
a single other member of the community. It was not it was there was
no one in my town. Therewas no one in my town for fifty
miles. And in order to beable to feel comfortable and safe and know
(11:43):
that there are others out there,it takes visibility. And so having that
I think is probably one of themost important things, especially for younger the
younger generation, who may or maynot who may live in a home where
that visibility isn't available to them.And so for me, we have a
(12:05):
responsibility not only as as an LGBTQplus community, but certainly as a business
to make sure that visibility is atthe forefront of our mission, so that
every single person who walks into thatproperty feels seen and feels loved. It's
so amazing, and the word asyou said visibility. The word that kept
(12:26):
coming to mind for me was freedom. And freedom is such a word that
we can so easily throw around,and certainly is a word that was the
basis of what our country was foundedon. And yet what's so clear is
that there's still so much there's somuch work to be done for every person
that lives here to be able tofeel free. And yes, I imagine
(12:48):
there's a lot more of a feelingof freedom being in Provincetown than being in
other parts of our country and theworld. And so, you know,
are everyone listening to be able toto go spend some time in Province Town
because there is such an incredible energyum whenever you're there, no matter what
(13:09):
time of year. But of coursewe're we're in the height of the summer
right now, where where it's thebest weeks of living in New England and
certainly the best weeks of living onthe keats. So talk to talk to
me a little bit about if youwere planning someone to have sort of the
perfect weekends in Provincetown, walk usthrough what it would look like. Of
(13:31):
course, you're staying with you andand and probably enjoying some of the restaurant
as well. But what does aperfect weekend look like to you? I
mean, the wonderful thing about ProvinceTown is that it is one of the
most walkable and or bikable places inthe world. So we have one main
street, commercial Street, and itlass. It runs about two miles long,
(13:54):
UM, and it goes directly onthe ocean, and it is filled
with art galleries um, uh,wonderful shops, UM, incredible restaurants,
beautiful hotels uh. And it endsCommercial Street ends at the breakwater, which
is this beautiful one mile long umconstructed uh you know, uh rock footway
(14:20):
that goes all the way out toLong Point UM. And so you know,
Provincetown is obviously known for its forits parties and for tea dance and
for for entertainment, but seventy fivepercent of Provincetown is actually National Seashore,
and so there is an incredible youcould ride your bike through the dunes forever
(14:41):
and it is absolutely gorgeous. UmA fantastic And in Provincetown, you know,
our halftag is only at the Crown. However, I'm very supportive of
going to uh many many other venuesbecause there is so many other wonderful restaurants,
um and shows. However, thesort of my mission for the Crown
and Anchor is that staying there isthe quintessential Provincetown experience. We have an
(15:07):
incredible restaurant, we have a beautifulhotel that was just recently Redone, we
have three different entertainment venues, wehave bars for each part of our community,
and we have a beach club.So staying at the Crown and Anchor
is truly the quintessential Provincetown experience.However, there are some other incredible hotels.
(15:28):
The Land's End in was just Redone, and that I would say is
truly quintessential Provincetown. The Red End, which is a gorge restaurant right on
the West End, which is directlyon the water. That's incredible. Strangers
in Saints there are so many wonderful, wonderful experiences. And if that doesn't
(15:48):
say inclusion, I don't know whatdoes. Because I do this for a
living where I interview people and rarelydo hear an owner of sort of the
iconic space in a town to talkabout so many of the other business is
just with so much camaraderie and celebration, which is awesome. I do want
to talk a little bit about yourrestaurant, So tell us what people may
experience or can enjoy eating when they'rein there. Um, for some reason,
(16:11):
they're all coming for the day.Yeah, well we're thrilled this year.
So we've completely redone it. Um. We are restaurant essentially houses three
different restaurants. So we have ourour Oyster bar, which runs seven days
a week and that is run bya local um oyster company called Lucky Lips
(16:32):
Oysters. And so that is inour courtyard so you're overlooking Commercial Street.
It's z place to sit and seeand be seen. And then for brunch,
we have Kelly Fields, who isa James Beard Award winning chefs and
she h as they became they becamea member of our community just a few
years ago. UM had no ideathat she was set an incredible chef or
(16:56):
so, uh you know, hadhad won a James Beard Award winner.
We just became friends, asked herto become to put a brunch menu together
and it is unbelievable and we've essentiallygotten rid of drag brunch. Not to
get rid of drag brunch, butWe essentially have brunch where drag happens.
Rather than selling tickets, we haveentertainment throughout the entire day. So if
(17:21):
you come to brunch to the Crownand Anchor and have an incredible meal by
James Beard Award winning Kelly Fields,you will also be entertained and get to
see the beautiful artist try that isProvincetown and that futures not only performers,
futures performers throughout the whole community.Okay, well, brunch sounds like something
(17:41):
I have to be at at somepoint this summer, and then I'm sure
there's something else at the evening.We're gonna take a quick break and be
back with Jonathan Hawkins from the Crownand Anchor. In just a minute.
You're listening to Food for Thought,Brought do you buy the Box Center and
sale and Waterfront Hotel and sweets?Well, I could talk to you for
hours and we were just talking aboutbrunch, which, like my mind is
(18:03):
just saying, when is the nexttime I can hop to it? So
imagine its festivities all day um duringthe weekends and probably goes right in tonight,
but what takes place at the nighttime? Yeah, absolutely so a nighttime
is just a clearly spectacular Chef RainaStefani, so she was born and raised
on the Cape, and she puttogether an incredible menu. Our restaurant then
(18:25):
is called Blane now, which meanswhale in Portuguese and Italian, and my
husband is Italian's the he's the ownerwith me, and they have become great,
great friends, and they have createdthis beautiful Mediterranean Italian inspired cuisine.
It is unbelievably tasty. Um it'sit's remarkably accessible, so you know you
(18:45):
read the menu when you say,oh, that's not for me, I
WoT fish and chips. However,the flavor palace they've brought together is not
only accessible, but remarkably delicious,and it is a totally different dining experience
than brunch. It's absolutely beautiful.We're so proud of it. And then
as soon as dinner service is over, the entire space turns into a piano
(19:07):
bar sing along and we have hundredsof people who gather not only in the
restaurant space but the courtyard right offof it, and they get to sing
along the show tunes and whatever elseour artists want to perform until late into
the evening. I love that notonly is it such a party atmosphere,
but you're getting such quality cuisine,which I think it's it's hard to fire
on all cylinders, and certainly oneof the reasons I've heard about the commentator
(19:30):
from many of my friends is thatyou do and it's a hard thing to
do. I've been doing this fora long time and it's definitely a hard
thing to do, but it's greatthat you've been able to master that.
Accessibility is something that you mentioned acouple of times for a couple of different
reasons. But sometimes people think ofProvincetown is really hard to get to.
(19:52):
But certainly in the past decade orso, there's been so many other ways
to be able to get to Petownthen just driving. So what can you
share some of those with us?Absolutely so. The ferry is unbelievable and
truly of such a great asset toour community. It's ninety minutes from Provincetown.
There are two fantastic companies, BostonHarbor Cruises run by City Experiences and
then Bay State Cruises. Both ofthem leave right out of Boston. They
(20:17):
pull you right into McMillan Pier.The first thing you see when you pull
into town is the Crown and AnchorsBeach Club. And I say the party
starts the minute you get on theferry. Okay, well, I say
take a ferry, but of courseyou can fly or drive. Jonathan Hawkins
has been such a pleasure having you. How do people find out all things
Crown and Anchor. Absolutely so,it's only at the Crown dot com and
(20:37):
only at the Crown on Instagram andFacebook. Awesome. Well, I look
forward to seeing you at some pointsoon. Have a great month. Rest
of your Pride month, Pride year, Pride, every moment of existence.
Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you celebrate each other all year
long. We'll talk to You're listeningto Food for Thought, rot to you
buys the Box Center and Salem WaterfrontHotel and sweets Hey, everybody, well
(21:00):
back into fufort thought brought you bythe Box Center. So we started our
Pride program with Teton, which isreally the iconic place when you think of
celebrating the LGBTQ plus community. Andcoming up, we're gonna be talking to
an event planner in New York Citywho's really taking care of New York City
Pride. But in the middle.I needed to make sure that we were
(21:22):
connected to Boston, and so wehave the opportunity to talk to the general
manager of the Liberty Hotel. So, if you've been inside the Liberty Hotel,
it is well, it's truly historic. It is one of the most
beautiful and ornate spaces that we havein our beautiful city. It's a great
place to go for dining. It'sso accessible to all the shopping. It's
(21:45):
obviously Boston Common and it's right there, right at the head of Beacon Hill.
It's one of our favorite places toenjoy, the Liberty Hotel right on
Charles Street. And so thrilled tohave Mark Fisher, the general manager,
with us on the show today.How are you Mark, I'm doing great,
Jenny, just excited with you know, coming off of our Pride Week
(22:07):
last week and you know, stillcelebrating piletha of things that we're doing for
our Pride Month here at the LibertyHotel. I love that, and I
love that it is now designated aPride Month because there's so much to celebrate
and I know you guys are doinga great job of bringing people together.
So so walk us through when someof the people can enjoy still now for
(22:29):
the second month of June inside theLiberty Hotel, George Jenny, Well,
we're excited to still carry on ourPride Yappy Hour and that will be taking
place on the twenty first, whichis Wednesday, and that's just something that
we continue to follow up how wehave our Yappy Hours every Wednesday here at
(22:51):
the Liberty Hotel, but this onespecifically, we will be gearing it towards
Pride Month in celebrating Yappy Hour inour yards with our jest to Command as
well as our furry friends. We'realso celebrating throughout the week and we'll have
this at our Yappy Hours our PrideCocktails, So we've got three exciting cocktails
(23:12):
that were what we're serving and reallya lot of excitement that that's writing going
towards these drinks this month and we'llcontinue carrying that on throughout a month.
And I know that you guys hada great fashion show. Tell me a
little bit about how that went,yees, So we had a very exciting
(23:33):
fashion really late and that's something wedo at our property every Thursday evening here
at the Liberty and we did wrapup our season with our Pride Week fashion
really Late, and it was featuringBanks, which is one of the local
designers in Boston, and we alwaysfocus on celebrating our local artists and designers,
so they were able to supply ourfashioned for that evening and then also
(23:59):
we had our wine dinner also partof that prior to our Fashionably Late,
and our executive chef Dan did aphenomenal job putting together great menu which you
know consists of you know, Tuna'shearts are Sturline, Stake and Progra along
with Chrispy you know main salmon whichwas great, along with the Noki.
(24:21):
So we celebrated a great wind innerPride Week wind Dinner rolling into the fashionably
Late and the fashionably Late with sucha huge success uh with our DJ and
bedtick which was also provided the dancingperformances and also the Onyx groups. So
it was definitely a great fashionably latewhere we dialed it up even more for
(24:44):
Pride Month. I love that andand you know, we happen to live
in um, a community where thereis so much acceptance and visibility and um
and desire of inclusiveness, but weknow that that's not necessarily the case everywhere
and we also know that in additionto a month like Pride and month,
you at the Liberty are continually tryingto do and celebrate the various months and
(25:08):
opportunities that we have to be asinclusive as possible. Why is something like
that so important to you and tothe hotel and and to being a part
of this kind of community. Well, it's just really important and this is
part of you know, what wedo in our culture with our hotel here
at the Liberty Hotel is to celebrateyou know, diversity, and with Pride
(25:33):
month, being able to celebrate thosethroughout you know, the month as well
as going into our other months,because it's so important that we recognize everyone
and really celebrate each month of youknow, what everybody really you know,
cherishes and what's important to them andrecognize them for that. And like I
said, it's part of our brandas part of our culture to welcome those
(25:56):
in our community as well as travelersto the Liberty Hotel and understanding the Liberty
Hotel celebrates this, which is whichis key to us. Yeah, oh
definitely. Well, you guys doa great job. Now for folks who
are interested in finding more out aboutthese cocktails and the yappier hours because why
not bring your dog to enjoy adelicious cocktail and a delicious setting. Where
(26:19):
can people find out more information,Well, definitely on our website they can
find out that information. And thenalso through social media Liberty Underscore Hotel our
Instagram account. We always do allof our postings there so you can see
what's going on at our property.But those are the two areas that would
(26:40):
definitely look for. And then alsoevent Right, we do a lot of
our dinners and celebrating our activities therefor event Right as well, so that's
something else that they can look forwardto. Awesome Mark, Mark Fisher,
everybody. The general manager of thebeautiful Liberty Hotel website is Liberty Hotel dot
com. Thank you for all thatyou do within the community and certainly for
(27:03):
making a big attempt in celebrating pridethis month, but celebrating inclusiveness every month.
So thanks for joining us great Thankyou Jannys for having me today and
have a great joy. Thank youtoo. We're gonna take a quick break
and we'll be back with more Foodfor Thought in just a minute. You're
listening to Food for Thought brought toyou by the Box Center and Salem Waterfront
(27:25):
Hotel and sweet welcome back into Foodfor Thought brought to you by the Box
Center. I am particularly excited forthis next segment because this person happens to
be a very dear, close cousinof mine who I have grown up spending
so much time, love and specialmoments with, and have also spent the
(27:47):
past couple of decades watching the trajectoryof a really beautiful and powerful career take
place. My cousin's name is JakeResnicau, and he is one of the
most expansive, extensive, and impressiveLGBTQ plus event promoters really in the world.
(28:07):
And he's had the pleasure of travelingthe world and supporting so many fundraising
events and a supporting so many differentorganizations, some of which we'll talk about
today, but potentially one of themost exciting is what he does in New
York City for Pride, and obviouslyon this show, we're talking about Pride
months and this year is certainly setout to be the best. So,
without further ado, looking forward tointroducing everybody to Jake Rednicou. Jake,
(28:32):
thanks so much for being here.Jenny is so great to be connected.
So, okay, you, weare going to get a little bit of
a background on you and the thingsthat you do throughout the world. But
let's this is Pride months, solet's stick with the month of June and
tell us what you are doing aweek from now in New York City.
(28:52):
Absolutely well, we have a wholeseries of events. On Friday, we're
going to be launching the official album, the Lease Party for Kim Petris really
excited about that, or New Autain'scalled Feed the Beast. And on Saturday,
we're going to be producing the largestPride event in North America. It's
called Planet Pride. Incredible lineup ofartists, including a Grammy winner Jess Glynn,
and a bunch of other amazing acts. And then Sunday we're producing the
(29:15):
very first Pride event in Central Parkwith Grammy winner Purple Disco Machine and also
as a special guest, Paris Hilton. Oh my gosh, it sounds like
an extraordinary weekend. But how longdoes it take to dream up something like
Dreamland Pride Festival. I mean,like, how long has this been in
the works? And I imagine you'restill doing a ton gearing up for next
(29:36):
week. Absolutely well, definitely yearsin the making to make Central Park happen.
This has been a really long journeyand we're really really excited. I
mean, it's the heart of NewYork and we've been really working on this
for a while. But for sureit's it's grueling hours, but it's really
the most rewarding in the end.I mean, there really is nothing like
Central Park. But for years youwere doing an give me, give us
(30:00):
a little bit of idea. I'vebeen to your events, so I know
the scale that they are, butsort of paint the picture for those who
have never been to one of yourevents absolutely well. You know, we
have multiple stages, you know,open air. It's you know, everything
from you know, drag queens toperformers, musical acts to live DJs.
It's really a fully immersive experience.We also like to incorporate the holistic experience.
(30:25):
We have Dario's Bootcamp doing an immersiveexperience on Saturday and working with Equinox
on Sunday to do a Headstrong meditationin Central Park to kick off the day.
So lots of other really cool activationsthroughout the day and the event.
You activation is a great word becausewhen you're at your your events and celebrations,
you are fully activated in every way, shape and form. And it's
(30:47):
been really cool to see how you'veevolved them just by ways of just like
you said, by bringing in mindfulnessand by bringing in fitness. And certainly
we want to we want to partyhard, but we also want to be
taking care of you can care aboutourselves as well, and you're definitely doing
that for something like the weekend that'sgoing to take place in New York City.
But if you're also taking to accountthe events that you do throughout the
(31:11):
country, how much of an economicdriver is something like this weekend, Well,
it's it's substantial. I mean,you know, over the weekend,
we have somewhere in the range oftwenty to thirty thousand guests coming through our
doors, and they're coming in fromall over the world, and it really,
you know, drives so much ofNew York City. I mean,
(31:32):
the hotels are full, the streetsare full, and I think in the
end, it really is the mostrewarding for the guests because so many of
our attendees, you know, don'tnecessarily have a safe space back home,
or maybe not accepted by their friendsor their family. Back in their small
communities and the comet to New Yorkexpress themselves, be who they are.
It really is the most rewarding,not just for them, for me to
(31:52):
be able to create that environment forall. Well, I imagine that is
what keeps you going at the pacethat you do. It's about this,
um, a little bit on theshow, um already. But while you're
right, I'm here in Boston andyou're in you know, you'll you'll be
in New York, and those aredefinitely more inclusive communities. UM. But
(32:12):
it's you know, very clear andcontinually glaringly clear that that's not the case
everywhere. So so talk to usabout why events months like Pride, events
like you're doing in New York,and events that you do throughout the year
continue to be so important. Well, you nailed it. I mean it
really it's really true when you goto some of these small pockets and you
(32:36):
know, uh, Middle America,it's just it's it's it's not necessarily it's
not a sley a safe space.I mean, you have parents who don't
accept their own kids for coming out. You don't have schools that don't allow
you know, the kids to expressthemselves or use the right bathrooms. I
mean, it's it's it's it's ahuge problem and we're fighting it every day.
And you're right, you know,in our in our liberal towns of
(32:57):
New York, in Boston, wedon't necessarily see it left and but it's
it's it's a reality. And wealso have a lot of international guests that
fly in from all over the worldand countries where it's not even legal to
be themselves. So, you know, more than ever, that's really what
drives me to do what I do, and I see it every day.
And you know, it's also reallybeautiful to see people come together and form
long lasting friendships and even um,you know, partnerships, you know,
(33:19):
by meeting people at these events.Well, there's so much camaraderie that I
see just through your you know,mainly through your Instagram, but when I'm
looking enough to attend some of them, there is so much joy, so
much pleasure, and so much camaraderie. And I think that it is pretty
awesome that you're giving so many peoplea safe space to be able to enjoy
and be exactly who they are.So I want to talk a little bit
(33:44):
about the rest of the events thatyou do and your company in general,
because like the common laugh amongst ourfamily is like where in the world is
Jake, because you never know whereyou will be, So share with us
some of the highlights of some ofthe great events that you've done on over
the past couple of decades throughout theworld. Oh wow, Well, you
(34:06):
know, I love to travel aroundthe world to be able to soak up
and get experiences. For several yearsthat was producing the main floor of the
Life Ball in Vienna, which wasperip's largest AIDS charity event. It was
truly an epic experience at the ViennaCity Hall with major fashion designers and major
celebrities. You know, that wasan incredible experience to kind of grow and
(34:27):
cultivate together. We've done events inBrazil, We've done events in Mexico.
We actually do a really cool retreatin Easlamharis, Mexico where we take over
one of the tips of the islandand we have a whole weekend of experience.
Community and truly family, that's thebig word. It really is a
family coming together. I mean,it is our chosen family and it's such
(34:50):
a special family. And but soone of the things I'm also often very
impressed by. Is when you goto one of your events and we're talking
tens of thousands of people in oneplace at one time, enjoying energy together
and really just like raising the vibrationof everything and everyone around you. You
would imagine that you would have hundredsof people on your team. And I
(35:14):
know you have a great team,and I know you work with great partners,
but you do the lion share LikeI was, I mean, because
we've referenced that your family. Iwas literally talking to my aunt, your
mother, and I was saying,so, okay, so how did he
manage the permits of Central Park?Like that's got to be like an insane
thing in and of itself. Iwas like, so, who does that
for him? And she was like, he does? So is that really?
(35:36):
Like so many of these components,You know, even though your company
has obviously evolved and been elevated toa pretty big extreme, you are still
really touching all components of these events. Yeah, I am very small team.
I have one amazing full time employee, Jordan, who's absolute rock star,
and a lot of other amazing partnersand contractors and team members. But
(35:58):
it really is it's a small team. That's that's making the magic happen.
And amazing partners that you know,work together, collaborate and bring the vision
to life. It's truly magical whenpeople see, as you know, what
we can do together, how muchpeople come together to make it happen.
So we're one more question before thebreak and then we'll wrap up and talk
(36:19):
a little bit more about New Yorkspecifically. So how how much thought goes
into I mean each event is verydifferent, So do you have to spend
a substantial amount of time kind oftaking yourself out of the event and you
just finish and putting your head intowhat will be created next. Absolutely,
I mean it's kind of wild.You know, we're we're gearing up for
(36:40):
our big Central Park show and wejust announced our next Central Park Show,
which is going to be September ninthfor Fashion Week in New York. And
it's it's it's wild because you kindof get these silly little dms like wait,
can we get to the first onefirst? But you really got to
know before thinking, hang and jumpingon the next one because you need to
plan and it's we're talking five tosix thousand guests. So in my studying
(37:04):
at the same time and also reallyexciting to buy, really intersect the fashion
world. We're actually going to beworking with two major fashion designers included Hitting
Marco Marco to produce the largest attendanceat a fashion show in history on September
to night. We're going to beatthat Guinness Bookle World record. So super
excited about integrating the fashion show intothe live event. Well, that's definitely
(37:25):
what your company does. It's thelargest, it's the biggest, it's the
first ever, it's the most impressive. We're gonna take a quick break and
we'll be back with Jake Resnicow ofJake Resnicow Events. Big Pride Weekend coming
up next weekend in New York City. We'll be back with more Food for
Thought in just a minute. You'relistening to Food for Thought, Rot do
you buy? The Box Center andSalem Waterfront Hotel and Sweet. This has
(37:45):
been such an exciting show, certainlycelebrating Pride for the month of June,
but as we've said many times inthe show, celebrating pride for the LGBTQ
plus community. It's three hundred andsixty five days a year, every single
year. My cousin Jake Resnicu ofJake Resnicow Events, who is one of
(38:05):
the largest event producers for this communityreally throughout the world, has a very
exciting weekend as we talked about comingup in New York next weekend. So,
Jake, you gave us some ofthe highlights paint a little bit more
a sort of a picture of whatpeople could experience, because I think is
everything sold out or is there roomfor anybody to be immersed in your presence
(38:28):
next week us? Now, severalevents I sold out, but we do
still have tickets for our Kim Petra'salbum releastuccorting on next Friday, and also
our big Planet private and on Saturday. So hope more walking comes joint.
It's going to be special. Soyou mentioned some of the headliners, and
I want you to go through thewhole list right now. But but how
so, you know, we talkedabout sort of the runway of your thinking,
and it's probably hard to be inthe moment because you're planning things for
(38:51):
a year out, a couple ofyears out. But how long have you
been in talks with some of thefolks that are going to be headlining this
weekend? Well, great question.Some of them. You know, we
work on them every year. Forexample, I think we reach out to
Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga every singleyear and I'm sure one of the years
they'll say yes. But you know, a lot of times it's also timing.
(39:12):
You know, I'm really kind ofworked out perfect timing that Jess Glenn's
coming out with a new album.We also have two major major surprises,
and if people want to check outthe hints, both of them are coming
out with new albums in the monthof June, so they can maybe read
between the lines of two of thosetwo big surprise pop stars might be.
But it's also really exciting. Sometimeswe don't we don't, we don't release
it love them to be surprised andbe wowed. Well, that's I think
(39:34):
one of the great things about yourevents is people go in knowing that it's
going to be amazing, but thenthey're wowed by things that they didn't even
know were happening. And I thinkyou really know how to captivate people,
and as just as a person whohas stood there and watched just everything from
the lights of the entertainments, tothe sounds, to the energy, to
the drinks, everything included is sospecial. So for folks who are interested
(39:57):
in learning more about you, moreabout the events that have coming up,
where's the best place for them tofind you? Absolutely um Jake resuca dot
com. We're also on Instagram Jakeresumecal or. The events are our Planet,
Pride dot com and Dreamland Pride dotcom. Also, you know,
big thing for me is also youknow, getting back all the events are
getting back to charity in a meaningfulway. One of the kind of unknown
(40:17):
facts that people don't realize is lessthan one percent of charting artists. That's
the artist that you look on Billboardand Spotify are you know. LGBTQ plus
are a part of the community,And I think that's the big problem that
we need to change and move theneedle on. And that's one of the
main beneficiaries is creating this new scholarshipprogram to create new opportunities for people in
(40:38):
our community to get on these bigstages and put music out on the radio.
Well, I'm so happy. Yeah, philanthropy has been a huge piece
of the work that you've done forso long. You know, you really
are a fixture. You are aperson within the LGBTQ plus community who inspires,
but you're also a person who kindof represents the community in a lot
(40:59):
of ways. How does that feelto you? Is it a lot of
pressure? For sure? For sure, it's humbling, but it's also it's
also what inspires me to keep workingharder. The biggest kind of thing right
now, it's all about making surethat we truly are representative of our entire
LGBTQ plus community. It's not justthe L or the G or the B.
It's really all the letters of thealphabet and making all feel included and
(41:22):
be able to participate. So that'sreally a big focus of mine right now.
Jake, you are such an inspirationto so many and as my little
yet not so little we're very closein age cousin, you are such an
inspiration to me and just have tosay I have loved watching your career grow
and thrive, and it's awesome havingyou on this radio show this week.
(41:42):
So I hope you have the mostspectacular weekend next weekend. For folks who
want to learn more, go toJake Resnicau dot com. It's j A
K. E. R. E. S nic ow. I love you
very much, thanks for joining us. Thanks Jenny and we'll have more food
for thought next week on Sunday.Have a great week, everybody,
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