Community Highlights: Meet Mary Nguyen of Olive and Finch

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Nguyen.

Hi Mary, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’ve only been in this industry for 19 years, a short period of time when compared to many of my peers. I changed my career from finance to food later in life; something that has been very useful in understanding and growing in this business. I had always loved cooking and entertaining – one day, I found myself spending more time reading books about food than learning about the financial markets, so I decided to quit my job and learn as much as I could about the restaurant business so that I could one day open my own place.

I really wanted to learn as much as I could and took on three jobs to ensure that I was successful; a barista position in a café, a cooking position in a fine dining restaurant and a sushi apprenticeship. I worked all three jobs for more than a year and realized that 4 hours of sleep a night wasn’t sustainable and I had to commit to one to learn restaurant management. I decided to pursue the sushi chef position where I moved up the ranks and became the executive sushi chef; the only female executive sushi chef in the country at that time from what they tell me. After some time there, I realized I was ready to explore my own concept.

After a lot of hard work, I opened Parallel Seventeen which I ran successfully for close to 12 years, however, events in my life and becoming a mother to twins inspired me to take a different culinary direction. That is when I decided to pursue Olive and Finch; a chef-driven, scratch-made, fine-casual concept, and now I continuously work hard to perfect and expand the concept.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Life is full of bumps in the road, and starting and growing Olive & Finch is no exception. Just in the last two years, the pandemic turned our lives upside down, and it greatly affected my business. My team has worked tirelessly to keep up with ever-changing regulations, unstable supply chains, and generally unclear futures. Every day I am thankful to my team and to the residents of Denver that we are still open and thriving!

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Olive & Finch?
Olive & Finch offers a healthy, vibrant menu that anyone can enjoy. Because of the variety, quality and affordability of our menu, our business thrives all throughout the day. Our guests seem to love that they can come in and have so many options while keeping the commitment of time and money limited. You can really make the experience what you want it to be, whether that’s a healthy lunch after a trip to the zoo or a leisurely evening with friends at our Happy Hour. I think that is what really makes us stand out.

I am most proud that our company believes firmly in helping the community. We have had the great opportunity to partner with many small and local non-profits to give back to the community that supports us. We choose to partner with smaller non-profits to ensure our partnership has a bigger impact and a bigger reach.

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I find the best resources for myself are my team and my guests. I am really engaged with my team day to day to make sure that they have what they need to operate the smoothest way possible. I also know that a happy team is critical to any success that we have, so I like to go to them as my primary resource. Our guests are a close second. I personally read every review written via Google, Trip Advisor, and Yelp, and we respond to each review–positive or negative. We learn a lot from our guests and we take their feedback to heart.

One application tool that we use is Clickup, which is our project management tool. It’s a great way to coordinate notes, tasks, and documentation with our entire team across multiple locations. I highly recommend it to stay organized!

Pricing:

• Less than $19.00/plate
• Happy Hour Specials less than $7.00

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.oliveandfincheatery.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oliveandfincheatery/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=olive%20%26%20finch