The conversation around black restaurants and service has gone viral. It was already in popular culture, but it's reached new heights, and we learned that honesty isn't always the best policy.

This is important to me for a few reasons. Professionally, I am the Director of Culture and Programming for the Thompson Atlanta-Buckhead. Which is a beautiful lifestyle-luxury hotel in Atlanta. I am also the founder of The Night Brunch, which is a pop-up dining service that started in Baltimore in 2018, and I now live in Atlanta. So when Michelin visited for the first time this year and created a guide of restaurants to celebrate, we were all excited for the accomplishment. But when Keith Lee visited and gave his honest review of some of the small black-owned restaurants, things got crazy.

We recently hosted a Thompson Talk at Tesserae, a rooftop cocktail lounge at the Thompson, with a few of the most influential figures in Atlanta's culture and food scene. Check out an article about it here.  As you would have expected, we talked about things that are specific to the culture and how they have impacted how a business operates, as well as ways the culture can contribute to the service.

So, let's talk through it all and learn about how we have to overcome some of the cultural influences that we subscribe to every day. Listen, laugh, and share. Don't forget to subscribe and rate. Thank you.

Follow along on Instagram at @aubasscity and @jasoncbass