Inspiring Conversations with Eric White of Reds 615 Kitchen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric White. 

Hi Eric, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I graduated culinary school in 2010, then began my journey as a chef in Nashville. Working stints at 1808 Grille, Table 3, and others. Eventually ending up as executive chef at Pomodoro East at 25 years old. After that a took a break from the restaurant scene and moved to Denver for a little over a year. Out there, I decided that I wanted to start my own thing, that thing, being my food truck. I decided to move back to Nashville and start doing Hot Chicken. 

I spent about 9 months working on our recipes while the truck was being finished. I wanted to focus on the flavor first, then the spice. In our second year of operation, we were named best food truck in Tennessee by Food Network and also had a feature on The Cooking Channels Food Truck Nation. 

In our 3rd year, we decided to expand to our first brick and mortar. We signed off on our space in January of 2020, which was obviously the perfect time to expand a restaurant, (insert sarcasm here). 

Since then, unfortunately, we’ve had to sell the food truck, but the restaurant is still here. We’re struggling like everyone else, but trying to hang in there any way possible. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The guy who built our truck did a horrible job and almost cost us the business in our first year. In the first year, I had to spend an out $20,000 on rebuilds and constant repairs on the truck. Obviously being a new small business, that blew a massive hit to us financially. Having to rely on credit cards to pay a lot of the bills, which we’re still dealing with. 

Covid has Obviously been the number 1 thing restaurants everywhere are dealing with. The food truck was actually doing decent at the start of Covid, going into neighborhoods while people were still stuck at home. However, once a few things started to reopen, business dropped dramatically. 

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We’re known for our incredible flavor and spice. 

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
If you’re going into the food truck or restaurant business, learn to do EVERYTHING! A little electric work, plumbing, fridge repair, metalwork, numbers, taxes. EVERYTHING. 

Contact Info:

• Website: Reds615kitchen.com
• Instagram: @reds615kitchen
• Facebook: @reds615kitchen