Our November 20 Newsletter: How Chasing a Bad Idea Led to a Great Story
At Tailor, the creative environment is more like that of a band where every member plays a meaningful note.
This week, we have big news about…
Tailor’s band of chefs play their own tune — and it is one of the most memorable you will experience.
Planned Parenthood Creative Director’s mantras for hard times.
The Creative Factor 2024 Gift Guide is full of great designed-recommended tools, products, and gear.
But first…our Strategic Advisor Tucker Margulies shares his “view from here” about how chasing a bad idea led to a great story.
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The last time I wrote for this esteemed publication it was in praise of bad ideas. I am worried now on this second go-around that I am giving myself a reputation for that exact brand of idea.
In late July, Matt asked me if I would like to accompany him on a reporting trip in mid-August. There are many wonderful places to go in mid-August. Personally, I'd recommend Maine or the Pacific Northwest. Heck I'd throw most of Europe in there if you have frequent flyer miles to burn.
I would generally rule out anything south of the Mason Dixon line. So of course the trip was to Nashville. A Nashville heatwave will make you wilt faster than a neglected house plant, and you'll feel equally inhuman. If you do find yourself in Nashville in said August heat wave...say for work...you're probably more interested in a smoothie than hot chicken. I mention that last part because our destination was Indian food and Tailor chef Vivek Surti does not hold back on the heat.
I can try to blame Matt for this trip, but I know it's actually my fault. It's been a multi-year project of mine to get back to Tailor and, more specifically, for us to find our way into the kitchen to meet the people behind its incredible story.
I credit a friend of ours for the discovery of Tailor. He owns a music management company in Nashville called Good Folk and in 2020 he invited me for dinner at this cool place he'd just found (coincidentally my flight landed back in NYC a couple days before the entire city shut down for Covid). He gave us no details other than that we should wear a good shirt and come hungry.
What followed was one of the most memorable dining experiences of my life. Great stories resonate personally and that goes doubly for food. My father spent much of his childhood in the Middle East. His memories of that region in the 1960's carry an incredible reverence that in my lifetime he has only been able to share with us through the food.
Food has an unmatched ability to connect us to other places and people. Eating the Southern-Indian meal gave me the opportunity to see a bit through Vivek's eyes and to remember some of the stories my father has told me (more than once) over the years.
Great stories, as Matt would say, always have a note of the unexpected. Sitting within spitting distance of the Country Music Hall of Fame and sipping the best Chai of my life was absolutely that.
I am not proud to say I was texting during that dinner but I was... I was badgering Matt to find a way to tell this story. It took a long time to find our way back there, but I am so glad we did. Enjoy the story.
Have a great week.
Tucker Margulies, Strategic Advisor
