Arts
Our podcast team here at Fat Drunk And Happy jump in with owner/operator Leslie Nguyen and Chef Peter Petro from Bosscat Kitchen And Libations to talk shop and dive into the gritty end of opening a restaurant and most importantly staying open. Known as “Bosscat Leslie”, Leslie started out as a bartender in her early 20’s and quickly bought her first shop with tip money. There have been a lot of hard lessons learned as she has built the Bosscat empire along with her slew of other projects. She goes into opening the new location in Old Town Orange in the venerated building that Rod’s Liquor currently calls home. There are challenges in the restaurant business but being a female in the ownership role certainly has even more. Assumptions, stereotypes and plain old judgement have been things that Leslie has had to overcome. From eyelashes to donuts, she has proven her mettle under the most trying of circumstances. Bosscat nailed it in 2019 by being named Best Brunch in Orange County by the Golden Foodie Awards, a well-earned nod to their efforts. Amin Benny touches on Leslie’s background as a bartender and her own podcast and YouTube efforts. She has also embraced sobriety after more than a glancing blow with addiction, a topic that is all too pertinent in the restaurant business with recent cultural losses like Anthony Bourdain.Chef Peter Petro came from the corporate side to revive his passion for food with the rollout of the Bosscat concept. He talks food with our own Cody Storts about Tex-Mex, slice jalapeños and the understanding that people eat regionally. He also explains the concept behind the Bosscat burger and the reason they do things they way they do. There is shared understand on this episode of Fat Drunk And Happy that we are all in this together and both Peter Petro and Bosscat Leslie would never ask anyone in their shop to do anything they wouldn’t. You’ll also find out how Cody Storts, Amin Benny, Leslie Nguyen and Peter Petro all feel about Del Taco and the Double Del Burger.What does the future hold for the Bosscat team? The sky is obviously the limit and for good reason.