Conversations with Benjamin Rine

Today we’d like to introduce you to Benjamin Rine.

Hi Benjamin, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started out as a line cook when I was 17 years old. I always had a passion for food and anything food related. Through my life I have always wondered why people eat boring bland food. Food is a necessity and it should always be enjoyed, savored and respected. My first real job in a professional kitchen was at Daniel’s Trattoria, it was a fine dining Italian Restaurant started by fames restaurateur Daniel Scoridado. After that Kitchen I worked in high volume hotels and started traveling the courtly doing large scale catering. My goal was to own my own restaurant by the time I was 30. A month before my 30th birthday, I opened my first restaurant, BrushFire BBQ Co. We were Tucson’s premier BBQ restaurant. Soon we were Zagat Rated, winning awards and ready to open our second location. After years of continued success and awards we sold the restaurant in 2017 and I went on to open my current restaurant Divine Bovine Burgers. I wanted a fun, creative, delicious burger restaurant that I could showcase my passion for flavors and creativity. Its now been 6.5 years and we are Tucson’s #1 burger restaurant. Serving thick, made from scratch burgers to Tucson hungry burger loving enthusiast.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Walking a smooth road is boring and does not help you grow. My path has been bumpy, curved and one heck of an adventure. I opened Divine Bovine Burgers a year before the pandemic hit. We just started to gain traction with the community when we were forced to close. I decided not to go down without a fight. I didn’t cut a single employees hours or pay, instead he hunkered down, promoted and got the word out that we were still serving Tucson’s best burger. After the pandemic we hit the ground running, we had solidified ourselves as the best burger in Tucson and we have not slowed down or stopped since.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I love food. I dream about food. I get so much pleasure from watching other people get excited about eating what I have created. Nothing is better than watching the excitement on someone’s face when they get their giant burger delivered to their table. The gleam in their eyes as they take there first bite and they are hit with a flavor explosion.

I come from a family of artist. I just chose food as my medium.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I feel that in order to be successful you need to be driven, passionate, humble and have the ability to persevere throughout the days no matter what is thrown at you. In business, something bad or unplanned will happen everyday. You need to have the ability to navigate those troubles without getting emotional, grumpy or discouraged. It’s a truly priceless skill.

Pricing:

• $11.99 for the best simple burger in town
• $15.99 for the most delicious burger I have ever created,
• $5.99 for a serving of scratch made tater tots.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.divinebovineburgers.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DivineBovineBurgers
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/divine-bovine-burgers-tucson

Image Credits
I own all my images. No credit needed.