Communal Table Podcast: Adrian Lipscombe

Chefs and restaurant workers take great care of everyone else, but often they need a little help themselves. Each week,Food & Winesenior editor Kat Kinsman talks with hospitality pros about they manage their business, brain, and body for the long haul. Is there a topic you'd like to know more about or a guest you'd love to hear from? Tell us at fwpro@foodandwine.com or tweet to Kat @kittenwithawhip, and subscribe to the weeklyFood & Wine Pro newsletterso you never miss an episode.Catch up on previous episodes here.

Episode 96: Adrian Lipscombe

When city planner and architect Adrian Lipscombe visited a cafe in La Crosse, Wisconsin for a business meeting, little did she know she'd end up moving her family up all the way from Austin, Texas, running the cafe herself, and revitalizing a whole section of the city. And if running a restaurant during a pandemic isn't a full-time-plus job, Lipscombe also developed an initiative—40 Acres and a Mule—to preserve, research and celebrate Black foodways and support Black land ownership, makes hundreds of free meals for families in need, and got certified as a sake expert. Lipscombe took time from her busy schedule to talk about all of that, as well as what's going on in her native Texas (spoiler alert: plenty), what farmers are up against, and how she ended up with 40 avocado plants in her home.

Visit:Uptowne Cafe and Bakery

Read:This Juneteenth, Chef Adrian Lipscombe Aims to Preserve Black Foodways

Read:Texas Restaurants, Bars to Reopen at Full Capacity; Workers Not Yet Eligible for Vaccine

Help:The 40 Acres and a Mule Project

Follow:@adi_eats

Learn:The Food & Wine Pro Guide to Mental Health and Sobriety Resources

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Previous episode:Chef and cookbook author Matt Jennings talks sobriety, pivots, flextaurants, and how chefs can evolve.