Believe it or not, but Antonia Lofaso’s first job was working at Hot Dog on a Stick. That’s right, the renowned executive chef and restauranteur who runs not one, not two, but three successful restaurants in Los Angeles, one of the most competitive food cities in the world, earned her first dollar while working at the ubiquitous mall fast-food chain known for its striped uniforms and hand-squeezed lemonade.
Below, Lofaso, the visionary behind the beloved Los Angeles haunts Scopa Italian Roots, Black Market Liquor Bar, and DAMA and frequent personality on popular reality food shows by the likes of “Chopped,” “Cutthroat Kitchen,” and “Restaurant Startup,” tells Create & Cultivate all about her journey from Hot Dog on a Stick to “Top Chef,” including how sweat equity helped her get to where she is today.
Keep scrolling to find out what her secret sauce is, how she pivoted in the wake of COVID, and why she believes in taking what you deserve.
How did you make your first dollar and what did that job teach you that still applies today?
My favorite question! My very first job (and my most favorite job, even to this day) was working at Hot Dog on a Stick at the Sherman Oaks Galleria. I remember making my first dollar and paying my mom for my car insurance. It was a big deal! My parent bought me this 1976 Nissan Sentra for my 16th birthday and told me it will sit in the driveway until I was able to put gas in the tank and pay for the insurance. So, when I received my first check, I remember handing it to my mom and feeling so accomplished. That first job taught me independence and the idea that my hard work and doing well results in higher pay. It also gave me more freedom and more independence as a young adult.
Take us back to the beginning—what was the lightbulb moment for your career as a chef and what inspired you to pursue this path?
My love of food came from a Jell-O mold. I was a young child and watched a neighbor make a Jell-O mold and was enamored by this creation and new food that I wasn’t familiar with and had never seen before. My lightbulb moment came when I was working in New York City as a waitress in a restaurant and I was watching chefs prepare for service for the very first time. I watched the chef command his line and I thought it was the most incredible show of leadership. It was in that moment that I knew that this was what I wanted to do.
Your restaurants—Scopa Italian Roots, Black Market Liquor Bar, and DAMA—have taken Los Angeles by storm. What do you attribute to your restaurants’ successes? What is your secret sauce?
It’s about building teams and environments people can get behind. Specifically, in Los Angeles, there are so many options, great chefs, regions, and restaurants within the city that you have to create an environment where people can feel that organic love of the hospitality industry. You can walk into a restaurant and feel if it was conceived in a corporate boardroom with people thinking about their bottom line versus a restaurant that was conceived over a bottle of wine and some food with some investors who were discussing and conceptualizing environments that they would personally want to experience. I think that shows in the look and feel of a restaurant, which then influences the people that work there. Whether it’s your managers, servers, or hosts, everyone buys into the environment, which is then transferred to the guests.
It looks like so much fun on social media, but we know that’s not reality. So, let’s pull back the filter, what is it really like to own a restaurant and what advice would you give new chefs who are considering it?
I don’t think I make any of it look good on social media! I always say that the restaurant industry is the most unstable industry; the odds are better going to Vegas and betting on black. People in the restaurant industry are there because it’s a calling. Emotionally, this is the industry that they want to be in, so unless you’re one of those people, don’t force yourself into the industry.
I am the exception, not the rule. A lot of chefs before me, and even now, are in this for the pure love and joy of it. Not because they think they may get on television or become famous because of it. It is a thankless, hardworking environment, but one that comes with comradery, loyalty, and friendships that you would never have in any other scenario.
What is your number one piece of financial advice for any new entrepreneur and why?
When it comes to the finances of a restaurant, have all your ducks in a row. Know it inside and out. Do not guess. Seek the leadership and mentorship of those that have been in the business forever, from an owner of a mom-and-pop restaurant filled with heart to a corporate friend who understands the expenses of a restaurant. You must also understand that the restaurant industry isn’t all about the bells and whistles. You have to make money, otherwise, it’s just an expensive hobby.
Entrepreneurship is all about taking calculated risks. What’s the most pivotal risk you’ve taken, and how did it change your path?
The most pivotal decision I made was anchoring myself to my now business partners. It was a calculated risk, as I didn’t have to put a dollar amount to my participation, but it came with sweat equity and the PR and visibility I bring to the restaurant, but I didn’t have the option to be outside of the relationship. What that did was breed three great restaurants. Of course, there are always ups and downs, but it was securing myself to a group that had dollars, design abilities, and an operational strategy, so we could grow in the way I wanted to grow versus being directed by a large company or on my own and not having the support of a group of people.
What career mistake has given you the biggest lesson?
I worked for a restaurant group in Los Angeles right out of my culinary education. I worked for a company that was unsure of itself, had a lot of money, but didn’t have the know-how or the ability to mentor new chefs. I was given a lot of responsibility, a lot faster than I was ready for it, without support or a lifeboat. Going into the role, I knew it, but I didn’t know how to ask for help. Even though I was young, I knew when something was wrong or felt wrong, but I didn’t speak up or make my voice or opinion heard. Instead, I took a backseat, and then it failed for all the reasons I knew it was going to. I’m kicking myself in hindsight because I had the foresight to know that these things were going to go wrong yet I sat back and thought that everyone else in the room knew more than I did.
2020 presented everybody around the globe with new, unprecedented challenges. How did you #FindNewRoads + switch gears towards your new version of success?
I love 2020. Thank god for 2020. To be clear, I lost money this year, but 2020 has been the best year for a multitude of reasons.
When you get comfortable in your every day, and you assume that everything is just hunk-dory and smooth sailing, and your survival skills are not tested, that’s a problem.
During this time, it was sink or swim. We were thrown out into the middle of the ocean with no buoy and no swimmies, and we’re waiting to see who is going to make it back. It’s very empowering having done what we did this year, which was pivoting in the business, not letting go of the idea that we can still create money and jobs during this time, no sour-faced, “I can’t do this. Let me climb into the closet and cry,” kind of attitude. It was just, “What can we do next?”
Also, the teams in all three of the restaurants behaved in a manner that, if someone asked me the question, if I would be stranded on a desert island, who would I take with me? I’d take all five hundred people from DAMA, Scopa, and Black Market.
It was a culmination of building these teams, and then seeing what they did in our most dire hour and constantly asking both ourselves and others what people needed, then strategizing and executing a plan to fulfill those needs.
Going after what you deserve in life takes confidence and guts. Does confidence come naturally to you or did you have to learn it? What advice can you share for women on cultivating confidence and going after their dreams?
I never use the phrase, “Certain things are harder for women than they are for men,” but this is one of them. I don’t know if it’s a DNA thing, or if its historical generational karma or mental attitude, but, “taking what we deserve” is not a phrase that most women are comfortable with because we’re nurturers, have maternal instincts to mother, give away before we receive, do things for free, and doing them alone, instead of leaving the heavy lifting to someone else.
It took me a very long time, and multiple mistakes—both financial and emotional—to learn that I would be able to take care of the people that I want to take care of at the level and position that I’m in now. If I want to take care of and nurture (which is my instinct) servers and managers and line cooks, and a multitude of other people, I have more power to do that because I have taken control of it.
Confidence was not given to me, it was built, and honesty, I still waiver with it. During an action or task, I’ll be confident that in what I’m doing, but make no mistake, even though every year has gotten better, most of the time I think I’m going to fail or someone’s going to hate it, but I do it anyway because my track record shows me differently.
Confidence is something you have to earn and comes from doing really hard things, being successful at them, and then repeating them. I don’t think you’re born with confidence. I believe confidence is a byproduct of working hard at something, seeing success coming from that hard work, and then the feeling of confidence that you can continue working hard.
My advice is, do not let fear run the show. We’re all fearful and afraid of failure, rejection, and being told “no.” Do it anyway. You will hear “no” once in a while. There will be a chip in your ego or a punch to the gut. Do it anyway and don’t stop doing it. Even if you fail miserably, get back up and do it again.
When my first restaurant closed, I almost stopped cooking and was going to go back to school to pursue another profession. If I had stopped, I wouldn’t have these three restaurants and wouldn’t be doing the things that I’m able to do today.
Failure and fear happen. Don’t let it stop you.
It’s easy to celebrate the wins, but how do you handle failure or when something hasn’t worked out for you?
Failure is the most important part of our lives. It is where we grow and where we feel the most of everything. Failure is just another thing that happens, but it is SO important to feel failure and the pressure of it—because you never want to feel it again and will do everything in your power to stop it from reoccurring. Failure is taking responsibility, then waking up the next day and starting over.
There is something to be said about someone who has failed and rebuilt themselves versus someone who has never failed. Failure is in every successful person. You will never meet a successful person who has not felt severe, gut-wrenching failure.
With success comes opportunity, but that also means you have your hands full. What keeps you inspired and motivated to keep going even on your most challenging days?
What keeps me inspired and motivated is knowing we’re not done yet. There’s been a ton of success that has already happened, and people love what we do, but we’re not done yet. So what keeps me motivated is discovering what could be the next thing; what is going to be the next high of the restaurant industry.
The other part to it is striving for consistency. There is a lot to be said about places that live with a ton of consistency; that is both the most boring part of what we do, but the most important. We have restaurants now that have been open for almost ten years here in Los Angeles, which is one of the biggest feats.
If you could go back to the beginning of your career journey—with the knowledge you have now— what advice would you give yourself?
Don’t doubt yourself. Everything is going to happen for reason. Just keep going.
Fill in the blanks:
To be successful, you need to be…
Determined, passionate, honest, and hardworking.
I turn bad days around by…
Exercising and taking ice baths.
Three qualities that got me to where I am today are…
Strong character, thick skin, and a giant sense of humor.
The change I’d like to see in my industry is…
Everyone should be nicer and more supportive of each other. And more supportive, not just on paper, but truly support each other when they need it, whether it’s PR, words of wisdom, etc.
The craziest thing I’ve done for work is…
I did “Top Chef”... twice.
