Conversations with Eileen Warthen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eileen Warthen

Hi Eileen, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in the Hudson Valley of New York state, about an hour north of the city. I got my first restaurant job in high school at a French restaurant called Maxime’s as a dishwasher / busser… and I fell in love with hospitality. I went to New York University and was fortunate to have an incredible restaurant job throughout most of my college education, working my way up from host to server and learning all about service, food, and wine. I graduated from NYU with a degree in urban planning and architectural studies which I think still informs my decision-making on a day-to-day basis. I worked at several restaurants during my 20s while living in New York City, eventually going back to school to get my Master’s Degree in early childhood education from Brooklyn College. I met my partner working at a neighborhood restaurant in Brooklyn, and instantly we knew we wanted to own a restaurant together. My partner and I decided to move to rural Virginia where I worked on a vineyard for 2 years, learning the ins and outs of vineyard work and showing the wines in the tasting room. This reignited my passion for wine and education. Upon returning to New York City, I studied and passed my sommelier certification with honors from the Sommelier Society of America. My partner got an opportunity to move out to Denver, and we both decided it was time. I started researching restaurants in Denver, and Potager kept coming up on my list: best neighborhood spot, best farm-to-table, best wine list… I interviewed for a server position the week I moved out here, got the job, and within 6 months, I was running the wine program. My partner was offered the chef de cuisine position at Potager and accepted it gladly, with the condition that some day we would purchase the restaurant from Teri Rippeto, the original chef owner. In April of 2019, we bought Denver’s oldest farm-to-table restaurant, and the rest as they say is history!

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?
It hasn’t always been easy, but I am fortunate to be a hard worker and also to not care what others think of me and my choices. People still don’t take the front-of-house side of the service industry as seriously as they take the culinary side… so often people would say, “But you’re so smart, why are you just serving in a restaurant?” Being a server is an incredibly challenging job and not everyone can do it. (But everyone should try at least once so they could show a little empathy!) I am fortunate to have a partner who supports me fully and understands my passion. Additionally, within 11 months of buying Potager, the entire world shut down and experienced a global pandemic which was not something we were prepared for, so admittedly, that was an obstacle we never expected but luckily, with hope and quick pivoting and positive thinking and a tremendous work ethic, we were able to survive restaurant shutdown when a lot of other places could not. Being a female boss, I believe you have to be firm, compassionate, confident, intelligent, gutsy, patient, empathetic, and fearless all at once.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I own Potager Restaurant with my husband, the incredible Chef Paul. I don’t really have a job title… I consider myself a doer. I am the director of operations and sommelier / wine list curator for Potager Restaurant, but I do so much more. I do the invoicing, the scheduling, the beverage directing, the FOH managing, the peacekeeping, the social media, the cleaning, the planning, the organizing, the wine educating, the marketing, the wrangling of personalities… I am a mom to an incredible 4 year old son who has grown up in the restaurant, but I also feel like a sort of mom to the staff that I manage. I am also proud to say that our wine list follows the ethos of the restaurant in that we focus on true farmers, people who care about the planet while making great wine, and the goal of the beverage program is to be as intentional as the food.

What were you like growing up?
As a kid, I was shy but clever, extremely smart (almost too smart at times), and always observing the world around me. I was fortunate to grow up in a very tight-knit family and community. I participated in tons of activities – sports, dance, scouts, etc. – and I performed well in school. As I grew up, I began realizing I wanted to experience more outside of my town and school, so my high school years were a little tougher with more rebellion than my parents would have liked. But those years made me realize I wanted to live in a more urban environment… I was a go-getter, not necessarily an extrovert, but I was always someone who was good at communicating with people and getting stuff done. The funny thing is a lot of people who have careers in hospitality are kind of born into it, maybe they grew up in a restaurant family or on a farm like my husband. I did not grow up in restaurants; in fact, I did not even like food until I got my first restaurant job when I was a teenager. My dad worked for IBM full-time and my mom was a teacher. Sadly, my mom was not the best cook (she knows I tell everyone this, but I still feel bad about it!) and therefore I just did not realize that food was interesting and different and good. However, we did have a family ritual to go out to eat at least once a week, and I loved dining out at restaurants! I loved the environments, I liked the energy, and I really enjoyed interacting with the service staff. In fact, I can name at least 4 of the servers’ names at one of our favorite spots in my hometown, and the place doesn’t exist anymore and I haven’t been there in 25 years! (Jackie was my favorite, and then there was Lynn, Rita, and Barbara.) Something about how they treated my family as guests in the restaurant really stuck with me…

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.potagerrestaurant.com
• Instagram: @potagerdenver

Image Credits
Eileen Warthen