Washington, DC, Restaurant Fuses Food and “Gastroadvocacy”

Former think tank director Peter Schechter and award-winning chef Enrique Limardo, owner of Esquire’s Best New Restaurant in America, opened Immigrant Food, one block from the White House, 4 months before the pandemic. In their unique model, they celebrate America’s immigrant heritage and work with 5 local nonprofits to advocate for immigration by inviting customers to engage directly, and by donating their mezzanine floor to the NGOs for meetings and trainings. Schechter and Ivanovic talk about the impact of the pandemic not only on their new restaurant but on the entire hospitality sector, Immigrant Food’s ‘layered’ business model that includes advocacy components such as a monthly magazine, and their plans to scale the Immigrant Food restaurants to multiple locations including other major US cities.