Juliet Launches a Salon Series on Hot-Button Issues
First up, a conversation about sexual harassment—and finding solutions.
Josh Lewin and Katrina Jazayeri lead a conversation on open-book management at Juliet in April 2017. / Photo by Jacqueline Cain
The debut restaurant by chef Josh Lewin and Katrina Jazayeri set out to change the typical restaurant game. Borne of the successful pop-up Bread & Salt Hospitality, Juliet had a unique origin story before it debuted as an all-day café and “immersive dining experience.” But it also eschewed traditional tipped service from the start, favoring instead profit sharing and open-book management.
Now, Juliet is using its stature to take on other big issues in the restaurant industry, beginning this month with the hot-button topic of sexual harassment. A new series of salon discussions, with three on the calendar through March 2018, is an effort to “[raise] awareness for and [crowdsource] solutions to real and immediate issues,” Lewin said in a press release.
The weekday salon on Tuesday, Nov. 21, will feature a to-be-announced panel of restaurant workers, journalists, and human resources pros alongside Lewin. Moderated by Juliet manager Katie Rosengren, the group will discuss how and why sexual harassment happens, and tangible solutions to fight it in the short- and long-term. Future topics are food waste (TBA date in January 2018), and fair wages (TBA March 2018).
From quick-service breakfast, to a French-inspired prix-fixe, to Sunday night pasta, a multi-course meal set to an original play, and more, Juliet offers many ways to experience Lewin’s food and Jazayeri’s hospitality. But it has also endeavored to be more than a restaurant, involving itself in important conversations about good labor practices and fairness to women in the workplace. The first weekday salon Juliet hosted was back in March 2017, on International Women’s Day. In April 2017, it hosted an open-book management roundtable discussion with its staff, folks from Somerville’s economic development department, and others on the occasion of its first profit-sharing distribution.
The latest salon series is free to attend, and snacks and drinks from Juliet will be available for purchase. If you are interested in understanding and working to solve issues like sexual harassment or food waste, attending one is certainly a unique way to experience this award-winning restaurant.
Sexual Harassment And Us (And It is All Of Us), Tuesday, Nov. 21, 6-8 p.m., Juliet, 257 Washington St., Somerville, 617-718-0958, julietsomerville.com.
