- 7 weeks ago
Yara Herrera, chef and partner at Hellbender in Queens in NYC, has earned acclaim from The New York Times, Esquire, and StarChefs. Drawing from her Mexican-American roots and years in some of the country’s toughest kitchens, she’s created a restaurant that celebrates confidence and creativity.
Watch now to learn about surviving opening night disasters, finding identity through food, and turning pressure into privilege.
Sponsored by:
• TOAST - All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc
Watch now to learn about surviving opening night disasters, finding identity through food, and turning pressure into privilege.
Sponsored by:
• TOAST - All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc
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NewsTranscript
00:00Tell me about David Chang.
00:01The first day that we all met him, and he was like, who here would bet their car that they can make a French omelette?
00:09This was like five minutes into meeting each other.
00:11He hated my omelette, by the way.
00:13Welcome to Restaurant Influencers, presented by Entrepreneur.
00:32I'm your host, Sean Walcheff.
00:33This is a Cali BBQ Media production.
00:36In life, in the restaurant business, and in the new creator economy, we learn through lessons and stories.
00:42I'm very excited for today's guest.
00:44Her name is Yara Herrera.
00:46You can find her at Yara Herrera on Instagram.
00:50You can find her at Hellbender NYC.
00:54She is, Esquire just named them, best new restaurant on the list.
01:00She was just in the New York Times.
01:02But more importantly, this is a show about restaurant owners.
01:06This is a show about storytelling, and Yara is at a place where it's finally time to tell her own story.
01:13So, Yara, welcome to the show.
01:14Wow.
01:15Thank you so much.
01:16That was an amazing intro.
01:18We're really excited to have you on.
01:20I think you have an impressive background for some of the chefs and restaurant groups that you have worked with in the past.
01:27But now you are on the main stage.
01:30This is your baby, your way to share your thoughts, your ideas, your culture, your heritage with the world.
01:41Tell us about Hellbender.
01:42Yeah.
01:44Those were all great adjectives I used there.
01:47That's exactly what it feels like I'm doing.
01:49Sometimes it feels a little bit like the weight of the world in a small box.
01:54But Hellbender is an American-American concept developed by myself and my business partners who also own Rolos.
02:04We are located in Richwood, Queens, two blocks away from each other.
02:11Yeah.
02:12We're about one year old now, so just getting the hang of it pretty much.
02:17Just getting the hang of it.
02:18Well, we just celebrated our 17-year anniversary at Cali Barbecue,
02:21and I don't think we have anything figured out.
02:26I was wondering.
02:27I was like, how many years does it take before you actually know what you're doing?
02:32You know, it's a funny thing, the restaurant business.
02:35And, I mean, I want to hear your background, you know, more importantly.
02:39Like, when did you get inspired?
02:42When did you get inspired?
02:42When did you fall in love with cooking?
02:44Yeah, it's a funny story because I wish it was one of those, like, memories of me and my grandma cooking or something like that.
02:56But I was – I just kind of stumbled upon it.
03:00I had to take some elective classes in high school, and one of them happened to be a cooking class.
03:06I had no relation to it.
03:07I didn't pick it because I thought cooking was fun or it was something I wanted to do.
03:11I just really needed these, like, points to go to college.
03:16And during my time there, I had a really awesome teacher, Ms. Frederick.
03:21She was, like, a badass lady chef who would tell me stories about how she would be, like, on the hotline,
03:27and there were knives, and people would, like, cut themselves, and everyone was, like, crying and yelling.
03:31And I was, like, wow, that sounds like something I really want to do someday.
03:37But she was kind of the person to first inspire this, like, spark of possibly making a career out of cooking, you know,
03:44through the small recipes that she shared, whether it was, like – I mean, we were 17, you know.
03:48It was, like, cookies and pancakes and cinnamon rolls.
03:51But the process of having a recipe to follow and executing and getting to enjoy the product after
03:58and almost instantly was very appealing to me.
04:02So next thing you know, I'm signing up for culinary school, not really knowing what it meant to be a chef,
04:08just kind of, you know, still very young and thinking about what I should do after high school, you know,
04:15never really thinking about, like, what the job of a chef is and how a chef actually makes a living
04:22and the different fields that there are to being a chef, which I also got to explore a little bit
04:29through my career until I finally just settled in.
04:33No matter what route and food I want to take, it somehow always brings me back to owning a restaurant
04:38and being in a restaurant.
04:40Can you share a story about working for Wolfgang Puck?
04:43A good one or a bad one?
04:46Both.
04:49Both.
04:50Both.
04:51It was a really scary place to work at, I would say, at my time for myself where I was.
04:58I was maybe 23 years old.
05:00It was the first, you know, restaurant job I had ever set foot in.
05:07And it was just like TV.
05:09Like, everyone's just yelling at you.
05:11You're a fucking idiot.
05:12You're, you know.
05:15And everyone seemed to like it, which was the crazier part to me.
05:19And it took me a while to get on that page and realize that you shouldn't take it as personal
05:27as maybe, you know, you would if you weren't in the kitchen.
05:30But it was, it was hard.
05:35I remember I had to be this, I somehow ended up the saucier here.
05:42I don't know how, you know.
05:43I was very surprised by it.
05:45But my job was to go in and break 100 pounds of bones with a cleaver and make stock for
05:52the entire restaurant.
05:53And I mean, I was, you know, 100 pounds, I, it took me hours.
06:00So I had to somehow finesse the guys, the butchers to, you know, help me out.
06:05So I would like bring them treats and so many crazy, crazy things that I had to do.
06:10But I remember I got caught getting helped.
06:14I got caught getting helped.
06:17And I was in trouble.
06:19I got caught getting helped.
06:21This, one of the chefs noticed that this guy would like help me carry my stockpots over
06:25and break my bones.
06:28My bones would be broken by the time that I would come in.
06:30And I just remember getting yelled at so hard, like, no, helping her.
06:36It's not fair.
06:37And I was like, why?
06:40But it was, it was, I learned a lot, you know, I learned how to hold my own.
06:46Tell me about David Chang working for Mama Fuku.
06:52Another good one.
06:55No, it was awesome.
06:58I mean, I, I kind of came across him.
07:01I was leaving Providence at the time.
07:06And I found out that he was opening his first restaurant in LA.
07:11He obviously already had a very big following.
07:14He had already, you know, been very well known behind Mind of a Chef and the multiple Mama
07:19Fuku restaurants that he had in New York.
07:21So it was a big LA buzz for him to come in.
07:24And I really kind of wanted to leave the fine dining world, but still be in a serious cooking
07:32kitchen.
07:32So I signed up to work for him.
07:35And I, I remember orientation day, the first day that we all met him, we all huddled in
07:41the kitchen and then he was like, I'm going to ask everybody this question.
07:47And so, you know, it was all the cooks.
07:49We were all meeting for the first time.
07:50It was like 10 of us.
07:52And he was like, who here would bet their car that they can make a French omelet?
07:59Who here can make, first he said, who can make a French omelet?
08:02So everybody was like looking in, like who can make a French omelet?
08:04And so like everyone raises their hand, like every cook in the kitchen.
08:08Yeah.
08:08And then he says, okay, who would actually bet their car right now that they can make a
08:15French omelet?
08:16Everybody raised their hands again.
08:18So like now half of the people raised their hands.
08:22And then the question was like, who will make a French omelet for me right now?
08:26And then it was just three of us.
08:28It was me and these two other dudes that raised their hands and he turned around and he was
08:33like, there's nothing I hate more than liars.
08:37Like, why would you say you would make a French omelet if you wouldn't make it for me right
08:41now?
08:42And like paraded everyone.
08:44Like this was like five minutes into meeting each other.
08:46And then he turned around and he was like, you three that raised your hands, we're making
08:51omelets.
08:52And I was like, oh shit.
08:55But like, I guess I'm making an omelet for David Chang.
09:01And he hated my omelet, by the way.
09:04He hated my omelet and he made sure that everybody knew.
09:06But a lot of what was, you know, I think charming about him is that he wasn't afraid to say how
09:14he felt at the time or really hold back at all.
09:17And you had to just kind of take it with a grain of salt sometimes.
09:20Did you know that Toast powers over 140,000 restaurants across the United States, Canada
09:26and UK?
09:28It's an incredible company.
09:29I'm on the Toast Customer Advisory Board.
09:31They are proud sponsors of this show, Restaurant Influencers.
09:34We couldn't do it without their support.
09:36They power our barbecue restaurants in San Diego.
09:39If you have questions about Toast, if you're thinking about bringing Toast on to be your
09:44primary technology partner at your restaurants, please reach out to me.
09:47I'm happy to get a local Toast representative to take care of you.
09:51You can reach me at Sean P. Welche on Instagram.
09:55Once again, thank you to Toast for believing in the power of technology, the power of storytelling,
10:00the power of hospitality.
10:01Back to the show.
10:03Bring me back to opening day of Hellbender.
10:06Back to opening day of Hellbender.
10:09Oh, man.
10:12It feels like forever ago.
10:15It's only a year ago.
10:16It feels like 10 years ago.
10:19Yeah.
10:19I mean, we were so excited.
10:20It was when we originally opened, we didn't take reservations.
10:24So we opened without any platform of reserving a table.
10:29It was a come to the bar, order, find your own seat kind of concept.
10:37At that time, we still very much were leaning into the cocktail bar with a small food menu,
10:41which is what we originally opened with.
10:44And so we didn't really know how many people were going to come, who was going to come.
10:50And it just seems so crazy to think about it, because at that time, we also had a bouncer that ran the door because we were leaning so hard into this, you know, late night cocktail food vibe.
11:02And we had these, like, big window shields that were down.
11:07Hellbender is, like, all around windows.
11:10So we had this, like, big curtains that kind of, like, blocked out.
11:14And it was, like, really kind of, like, secretive and mysterious.
11:18So we couldn't see, actually, who was outside.
11:21But there was a long line.
11:24There was definitely a big hype of opening and a lot of it behind, you know, being partnered with Rolos.
11:30But also there isn't, you know, too much in that neighborhood that's really puzzling in that way or new or inventive, I would say.
11:38There's a lot of very, like, comfortable, more casual places, but I felt like Hellbender was an exciting, I think, moment for the neighborhood as well.
11:48So first, you know, 5 o'clock comes around.
11:53I'm going around and making line checks.
11:56I lean over to look at the fryer and I drop my two Sharpies and my pen into the fryer as we are opening the doors for Hellbender.
12:06And I'm just, like, I turn red.
12:11My line cooks just look at me and they're, like, what do we do?
12:15And I'm, like, we're going to have to strain this oil.
12:18Like, we can't.
12:20There's a melting Sharpie in there, you know.
12:24So I'm, like, running around.
12:26Like, the room is already filling up.
12:30We don't know what we're doing.
12:31We haven't fired one ticket at this point, but we're already draining the fryer and cleaning the oil.
12:37So I was just, like, all right.
12:38How many fryers did you have or do you have?
12:40Sorry?
12:41How many fryers do you have?
12:42We just have one.
12:44Fantastic.
12:46Fantastic.
12:47Oh, my God.
12:47It's a small one, too.
12:48So it was, I mean, it probably took, like, 25 minutes, you know, to take it out and straighten it and refill it and get it hot again.
12:59But I was, like, hopefully that's the last little mishap of the night.
13:05But it wasn't.
13:06You know, we set the salamander on fire at one point.
13:09There was just, like, there's just, like, so many little things going wrong.
13:15You just had to laugh about it at the end.
13:17It's a lot of nerves behind it.
13:19What have you learned in the last year now that you have your own?
13:26Based on, like, Hellbender itself or myself?
13:29Both.
13:30Both, actually.
13:31I mean, it's been such a growing process.
13:37I think when you first imagine opening an establishment, you are only really thinking inwardly to a certain extent.
13:46You're like, I'm going to make the best, you know, sandwich.
13:49It's going to be awesome.
13:51Everyone's going to like it.
13:52It's going to have cilantro.
13:53I love cilantro, so everybody loves cilantro, you know.
13:56And then you, it's hard to capture what other people's feelings are going to be.
14:02So once you open, it really takes a while for your establishment to build an identity and grow into what its full potential.
14:13I don't even want to say full potential, but into what I think I didn't imagine before that is still great.
14:21I never thought, you know, we had the possibility of becoming this full-service restaurant with the space and the amount of, you know, equipment we have, the power in the kitchen and things like that.
14:33But little by little, the neighborhood and the people that come in and, you know, what we naturally like to make from day to day with our resources has just kind of expanded into growing what Hellbender has become now.
14:46And I felt, you know, like I never saw this before.
14:50I never saw it turning into what it is now.
14:53One of your recent Instagram posts, you quoted Billie Jean King, which is one of my favorite quotes of all time, and that's, pressure is a privilege.
15:03Yeah.
15:04Why is pressure a privilege?
15:07I think a lot of times I like to tell myself that because I like to complain.
15:11I get stuck.
15:15It's hard not to, right?
15:16There's just like, everything wants to go wrong.
15:19Everything wants to go wrong.
15:20There's this pressure of-
15:21What if he's wrong or restaurant business?
15:23A hundred percent.
15:24Everything.
15:24There's so many things that you don't think about.
15:26It's not just food.
15:27It's like, you know, the infrastructure, the plumbing, especially in New York, it's a nightmare.
15:31We're like, in a flood every day, or, you know, the power's out, or, you know, the three upstairs neighbors left their bathtub on, and we're all underwater.
15:42But apart from that, you know, you need permits, you, all these licenses, purchasing, and you, at the end of the day, have to make enough money to pay your staff and keep the doors open.
15:57And I feel like, as a first-time business owner, I have really had to handle pressure in such a larger scale than I really imagined.
16:10And so, every time I get stuck in my head and feeling like, you know, I'm really hard on myself, I like to, you know, tell myself that I did a really bad job sometimes.
16:21And I take those moments to remind myself that pressure is a privilege, and if I, you know, wouldn't have done something to quote myself in this position, I wouldn't have been able to handle it.
16:33So, it brings me back to reality.
16:37It gives me a little pat on the back.
16:39That's a really important thing to do as somebody that we've had pressure for 17 years to keep.
16:44And my chief operating officer, Howard Solomon, he recently shared, when he introduces himself, you know, to new people that we're meeting with, new vendor partners, he's like, I'm in charge of survival and growth.
16:58And I'm like, that's a really good way to put it, because that's basically the state of restaurants is like, we're in charge of surviving, keeping the doors opening, and somehow finding a way to eventually grow and find our fit.
17:11Recently, you were in the New York Times, a Queen's bar becomes a beacon for inspired Mexican American food.
17:18What did it mean to be in that article?
17:21Oh, man, I, I'm still in shock that it was as good as it was.
17:28It means, it means so much to me.
17:30It means everything.
17:31It sometimes makes me even feel like, you know, I have to dream bigger because my dreams are coming true.
17:37As corny as that sounds, you know, but I remember coming to New York for the first time and working at Momofuku Co.
17:46And Pete Wells came in one day, and it was like the biggest deal, you know, like everything had to be perfect.
17:53I didn't really understand too much of, you know, what it meant at that time.
17:59I was very new to New York, it wasn't, you know, the, I wasn't as involved in the food culture as I am now, I wouldn't like read up on things, I wouldn't, you know, follow writers or anything like that.
18:13So to see how much of a influence he had coming into a room where everybody wanted him to have, you know, the best dining experience and everybody was like, you know, he comes two times, three times, and then, you know, his opinion means everything and it kills or makes a business.
18:30So that was my first kind of eye-opening to the power of publications in that way.
18:37And I didn't really think that it was something that would happen at Hellbender.
18:43I definitely was not expecting it to happen as quickly as it did.
18:49I always dreamed of it, of course, I used to have nightmares that P-Wells would come into my restaurant and I wasn't wearing shoes that day.
18:58And he would like immediately look at my feet and think like, wow, she couldn't even put shoes on today.
19:03And he just like walked out the door, you know, so I, it was an emotional second for me, for sure, when I first found out that we were going to be reviewed.
19:14We kind of just got this call that was like, hey, this is the New York Times, you were being reviewed, we'd like to set up a photo shoot and an interview.
19:25And that was really it.
19:26At that point, you don't really know like what the actual rating is, if they're going to write something that are bad at that point.
19:33But I teared up, I definitely teared up.
19:36And I had this moment of kind of like, wow, is this like, is this happening?
19:41Like, is it, what is it going to say?
19:44What is it going to say?
19:46Luckily, I only had to wait 10 days after that call to find out the final verdict.
19:54You were quoted saying, Hellbender isn't just a restaurant.
19:57It's a love letter to every place that has shaped me, every flavor that has stayed with me,
20:02and every rebel who's ever felt like they didn't belong.
20:08Yeah, that's very true.
20:12I think, you know, anyone that works in a restaurant can relate to feeling a little bit like an outcast or, you know, feeling like it's so hard to draw.
20:25Like, there's just such a thin line in being a cook between just being like, dirty and grungy and, you know, staying up late and smoking cigarettes all the time.
20:34And then there's just like this other such professional picture that is painted.
20:39And it's so difficult to go in between those two things that I feel, you know, a lot of people get stuck on the other side of feeling like maybe they aren't good enough to take those steps.
20:49And why should you and, you know, you get comfortable.
20:53But I've just met so many people throughout my career and all the different places that I've worked at that have inspired me to do what I'm doing now, honestly.
21:04How does storytelling play a part in the dishes and the cocktails that you create at Hellbender?
21:10I wish we had more time to tell the story verbally, honestly.
21:14I wish there was more of a space for people to really try to understand Mexican food in America outside of, you know, a taco or a quesadilla.
21:29But we do our best to, you know, source these like fun ingredients and keep it fun and not keep it so serious and not make it so political and make everybody feel welcome to walk into a restaurant.
21:43Where maybe you don't know every ingredient and maybe you don't know what the playlist is saying, but you feel comfortable enough to come in and have fun.
21:54How do you use social media?
21:56I think I use it definitely for my advantages, but also in that way, I want to mean like to be able to share, you know, what I'm thinking in a along with pictures.
22:13I think the fun part is all around.
22:15I think it's fun above anything.
22:17I think that there is a lot of like, hmm, let me see, let's start over.
22:24So when I first started doing pop-ups, it was a way of obviously promoting myself where I would post, you can find me here and these are the dishes that you may be able to find, you know.
22:38And that's when I really used it for where I felt like I had to use it.
22:44There was no other way of really telling people where to find me or what to do.
22:49Like, you know, maybe in 1995, you would print a poster and, you know, stick it all over the wall and stuff like that, but or pass out flyers on the street.
22:57But I don't know if that really works in that way anymore.
23:00And I don't know if I have time to walk around all of New York sharing these flyers.
23:06So I think it has that advantage where you do get to, you know, reach so many people and share time and have this reminder, you know, but also share pictures and be able to use captions that give you that platform to share the story that maybe you didn't have time to share because, you know, you were busy cooking.
23:27And things like that.
23:28And every now and then I just use it to post a silly meme or to, you know, make a little photo dump of how awesome my week was, because sometimes it's okay to celebrate your victories and, you know, show the world what you just did.
23:46So speaking of memes, I know you hung out with our friend, Eli Sussman, who is talking in Milwaukee.
23:56If you're not following Eli Sussman, he was a guest on this show, but you had the talking in the walk-in episode.
24:03Tell me about the episode and then when are you starting your show?
24:07I love that.
24:08The episode was so funny.
24:10I love Eli.
24:11He, apart from being meme king, is such a nice person and so hospitable.
24:18I love Gertrude's.
24:19We also made a burger together there.
24:22Talking in the Walk-In was just such a fun series.
24:24I'm very proud to say, I don't know if I'm proud or I'm a cheater, but I was the only person who didn't have a working walk-in because Paul Bender was still under construction.
24:36So the walk-in was off.
24:37And I feel so bad.
24:41All of the other interviewers, all the other chefs were freezing their ass off and I was just comfortably rolling around in this computer chair.
24:50But I love Eli and he, I think, really gets the culture so well that he just has built this sense of humor behind all of the possible bad things that can go bad in a restaurant at any moment.
25:07So I really admire him for that.
25:09I don't know when I'm going to have a show.
25:12What kind of show should I have?
25:14Your show.
25:15The Yara show.
25:16Come on.
25:17When did you start, you know, your...
25:20We started, so the media company's eight years old and it started 2017.
25:25So I was a good, I mean, yeah, we were, it was nine years into running the restaurant before we added the meat.
25:32But, I mean, technology has changed so much that, like, literally, we're, I mean, you can live stream a show from, you know, your kitchen, you know, running, running the line.
25:42Yeah.
25:43Like, that is a show.
25:46I don't know.
25:47I feel like I'd want to have, like, a silly show.
25:54Yeah, I don't know.
25:55Maybe, like, fun activities.
25:57I don't know.
25:58I don't know if I also have the patience for recording.
26:00I feel like you have to have, you know, a lot of patience, technical difficulties and things like that.
26:08I'm really bad at computers, too, so...
26:11No, you're good.
26:12I'm going to have to think about it.
26:14Well, speaking of dreaming big dreams, when we look back at this, I mean, that's what I love about digital content is that it lives on the internet.
26:22And we'll be able to look back on this, you know, interview for Entrepreneur, one-year anniversary of Hellbender.
26:28What are big dreams for you?
26:30What is dreaming big?
26:33I really hope that Hellbender just becomes so financially stable that I can take a vacation.
26:40I know that sounds like a little dream, but right now it's a big one.
26:45It's a big dream.
26:47That's fair.
26:48That is totally fair.
26:50That's my short-term one.
26:53But I don't know.
26:54I would eventually love to open some other type of related, close enough establishment in LA, in the San Fernando Valley, where I grew up.
27:06I would love to open a tortilleria, tortilla shop in that neighborhood.
27:12I feel like I've learned so much about caring for corn and different corn seed varietals and preserving them and, you know, buying the right type of corn products that I feel.
27:27I was wondering, you know, why didn't I think of this sooner or why wasn't I inspired by this before?
27:33And, you know, growing up, I didn't really have access to too much of this, too many of these resources.
27:40So I think it would be super nice to have something like that.
27:44That's awesome.
27:45If you guys are watching this, we just recently launched a restaurant technology sub-stack newsletter.
27:50So send me a message on Instagram at Sean P. Walcheff.
27:55I'll send you a link to that.
27:56We're trying to build our restaurant community there on that platform.
28:00Yara, what is the best place for people to follow Hellbender and you?
28:05You can follow Hellbender at HellbenderNYC.
28:09And you can follow me at Yara Herrera Yara.
28:13There it is.
28:14We'll put the links in the bio.
28:16I can't wait to visit your restaurant one day.
28:18We do trips all over the country, but NYC, I'm going to have to come see you and Eli on the same trip.
28:25Please come by.
28:26We can do a triple collab.
28:28There you go.
28:29We'll do it for sure.
28:30And if you ever make it to the West Coast to San Diego, please let us know.
28:33And that goes for anybody listening.
28:35As always, stay curious.
28:36Get involved.
28:37Don't be afraid to ask for help.
28:39Yara, any parting words for somebody that is listening to this and they're thinking about going out on their own?
28:45They're thinking about taking that that rest, that blind leap of faith into owning their own restaurant.
28:51Just do it.
28:52Just do it.
28:54You won't regret it.
28:55There it is.
28:56Yara, we appreciate it.
28:57You keep crushing it.
28:58Thank you so much for your time.
29:00Have a great day.
29:06Thank you for listening.
29:07If you've made it this long, you are part of the community.
29:10You're part of the tribe.
29:11We can't do this alone.
29:12We started.
29:12No one was listening.
29:13Now we have a community of digital hospitality leaders all over the globe.
29:17Please check out our new series called Restaurant Technology Substack.
29:22It's a Substack newsletter.
29:23It's free.
29:24It's some of our deep work on the best technology for restaurants.
29:27Also, go to YouTube and subscribe to Cali BBQ Media.
29:31Cali BBQ Media on YouTube.
29:33We've been putting out a lot of new original content.
29:35Hopefully, you guys like that content.
29:37If you want to work with us, go to betheshow.media.
29:41We show up all over the United States, some international countries.
29:44We would love to work with you and your growing brand on digital storytelling.
29:48You can reach out to me anytime at Sean P. Welchef on Instagram.
29:51I'm weirdly available.
29:53Stay curious.
29:54Get involved.
29:55Don't be afraid to ask for help.
29:56We'll catch you next episode.
29:57Bye.
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