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Connecticut Chefs Open Up About Wellness, Bad Habits, Mental Health, Addiction, and the 86 Challenge

Features Interview Homepage Interview Health & Wellness Mental Health Addiction Chefs Beto Ortiz Damon Sawyer Carlos Perez Dante Cistulli

Andrew Dominick

To “86” or to “eighty-six” something is a term commonly used in the hospitality industry. It’s defined, maybe best so, in the Urban Dictionary, where it’s summarized as “getting rid of something, removing it, or refusing service.” If a dish is popular for the evening, and thus, sold out, you might hear a chef say something like, “86 pasta special.” But to “reject, discard, or cancel” or to 86, has a different meaning to Beto Ortiz in the present day. Ortiz, the founder of Humans of the Kitchen (think Humans of New York for the service industry), a chef in his own right, and someone who’s open about his own struggles with mental health, substance abuse, and an overall rebellious nature, started the 86 Challenge, a wellness program for chefs and restaurant professionals.


Chef Damon Sawyer Opens 29 Markle Ct in Downtown Bridgeport

Features Interview Restaurant Bridgeport Homepage Damon Sawyer Chef Talk Opening

Andrew Dominick

“Mixing records is very similar to balancing tastes if you can imagine that. The lows of a record are like beets to me. That funk, the color of it. It’s a deep sound. You add shallots, it’s like a string session. That was a major component into my transition to being a chef. I knew what balancing sound was. Same thing as ingredients.”

A quote like that one could only come from a former musician, turned chef.