Episode 13 - Lucas Owens

Hello I Am Human

I’m talking with chef and restaurateur Lucas Owens. I know Lucas from when he was a high school kid playing in a band at the bar that I used to manage in North Carolina. These days he’s living and working in Greenville, NC where he is opening his restaurant, Native. We draw some parallels between music and food and how it really all comes down to good story telling.

For Lucas, opening a restaurant isn’t just about the food. It’s about the entire community of people involved from purveyors to staff to allowing his guests the opportunity to taste something they’ve never had.

We talk about all of that and how for Lucas it all comes down to being a decent human and being able to grow and adapt. The restaurant industry is one that’s been forced to make changes over the last year and a half. Lucas gives me his take on what he thinks helped keep things going. He also shares his thoughts on how folks are raising their awareness around the abuses and mental health struggles that happen within the restaurant industry.

Lucas brings so much intention to his life. It’s in how he designs his menus and works with other chefs to make updates to theirs and it’s in the way he’s staffing his restaurant to create opportunities for chefs to grow and flourish in his city. It’s an enlightening and inspiring conversation and he even drops a tip on how to properly use green tomatoes. So sit back and allow me to introduce you to Lucas Owens.