Three years and almost 100 interviews ago, we launched Henry In The Hub right here on WGBH. One of our first guests was local chef and restaurant owner, Tiffani Faison. As part of our three-year anniversary celebration, we asked Tiffani back to check in. Her restaurants Sweet Cheeks and Tiger Mama are Boylston Street staples. She recently opened a third, Fool's Errand, an adult snack bar also on Boylston Street. WGBH Radio's Henry Santoro sat down with Faison to discuss her newest restaurant. The interview below is slighted edited for clarity.
Henry Santoro: If you keep this up, they're going to be naming Boylston Street, Tiffani Faison Street!
Tiffani Faison: I don't think that's likely, not going to happen.
Santoro: If I remember correctly you are a self-confessed Army brat, and you grew up on both coasts. You spent a lot of time here in Boston and a lot of places in between, as well. But what was it about Boston that made you want to settle here?
Faison: It's such a great question. Much to my mother's chagrin because I think she really thought I would settle in the Bay Area. There was a quality about Boston. When I first moved here, it was such a tough year and a half. I didn’t really make many friends that I could speak of and was just feeling lonely and alone, and it was right after Sept. 11th. I think for me, I had this idea that I didn't want to be beat. I didn't want to leave here feeling like I'd been, not beat by the city, but that I hadn't tried hard enough or whatever. So, I remember thinking, 'When I don't dislike it here, I'll leave.' You know, when I'm through this. But by the time I looked up, I realized it was never the city, but something within me. I'd fallen in love with it and made some of my best friends and some lasting relationships. And so, every time I wasn't here, I missed it deeply, in a way that didn't retain itself for California. I love California, but it doesn't feel like home anymore. This feels like home. And then I met my wife.
Santoro: And you worked in some great kitchens and then Sweet Cheeks happened, and the rest is history.
Faison: The rest is indeed history.
Santoro: Over the past few years, so much has happened with women and with the LGBTQ community, and there were times when you found yourself in the forefront of that. What changes have you witnessed since then?
Faison: Not enough, to be honest. I mean this past year has for sure been eye-opening for a lot of people. It has been eye-opening for people outside of the communities of women that lead, and outside of the LGBTQIA community. We all have experiences. We know, we understand the discrimination that happens all the time. We live in a lot of ways intersectional lives outside of that privilege. So, I think this past year has been eye-opening for a lot of other people. In some ways, as hard as it's been, it's been affirming. I think for a lot of people, for women, for people of color, for queer people, that the world is now being invited to see it as it is, as we see it, as we live it. So, while I’m willing to say a lot of things are beginning to change, I think I always live wanting more and wanting better. And so, while I'm willing to say things are starting to change, I also think if I'm asking for more advocacy, I’m asking for people who do not live in intersectional communities to really understand what the world is like for queer people, what the world is like for women, and start to just maybe entertain the thought that there's a different experience and that people have had to work differently under different circumstances to achieve similar success.
Santoro: You've competed several times on food shows. You're now a judge on “Chopped” on TV. Would you rather cook or judge?
Faison: Oh judge, hands down, no question. Yeah, I'm pretty done running around competing with 20-pound Kitchen Aid mixers under each arm. Once you see yourself looking like that on TV, you are done.
Santoro: Well all you need to do is take a stroll along the Fenway Park side of Boylston Street and you will see where Tiffani Faison hangs her hat. Tiffani, so great to see you again. And in the words of Julia Child. Bon Appetit.
