A restaurant owner who thinks differently

By Ben Trefny,

Todd Whitney

Published March 10, 2015 at 5:36 PM PDT

Jennifer Piallat of Zazie, with some of her employees

Jennifer Piallat has worked in most every aspect of the restaurant industry – dishwasher, waitstaff, chef, manager – and those experiences have informed her decisions as owner of Zazie, a popular bistro in San Francisco's Cole Valley. Her employees receive a living wage, and benefits, and she's testified about her philosophies and process before the U.S. Department of Labor.
"We put in health insurance, established a 401k with a four percent match. We have dental insurance, chiropractic, all those sorts of things I never received in 30 years in the restaurant business." - Jennifer Piallat

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Crosscurrents

Ben Trefny

I joined KALW in 2004. As Executive News Editor and then News Director, I helped our news department win numerous regional and national awards for long- and short-form journalism. I've also helped create numerous training programs — for teenagers, incarcerated people, and early-career journalists — and have taught hundreds of audio producers. I served as interim Executive Director for nearly two years. My work is currently focused on creating original live events, programming, and building partnerships with like-minded organizations.

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Todd Whitney

Todd is a radio producer from Chicagoland. Before arriving at KALW in 2013 he produced works for NPR's Tell Me More. He currently roams the Bay Area searching for stories and super sonics.

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