Meet Danielle Leoni of The Breadfruit & Rum Bar in Downtown Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle Leoni.

Danielle, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The inspiration for opening The Breadfruit & Rum Bar in downtown Phoenix came as a solution to our seemingly never answered the question “where are we doing to eat?” In 2008, Dwayne Allen and I scoured the streets for the perfect place to land our answer – a Jamaican restaurant. Running a yoga school at the time I only thought that I’d get the restaurant going and help out here and there. Instead, we built out our restaurant hanging our drywall, laying bricks, and becoming intimately acquainted with the ins and outs of the first of many complicated tasks in front of us.

We did everything ourselves-  built the restaurant, figured out how to operate it, prepped the food, cooked, served and cleaned it all up every day for a long time. Neither one of us had worked in or ran a restaurant. Soon we realized we were in over our heads and I committed full time. I figured out how to cook by watching YouTube videos and trying to improve every night at the restaurant. The road to becoming one of Arizona’s top restaurants was long and filled with nights when nobody would show up to eat.

I attribute our success to the folks who are vested in shaping a unique downtown Phoenix, the farmers I met on Saturday mornings at the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market, the education via the James Beard Foundation Impact Programs, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program and our overall willingness to see problems as opportunities to grow.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There is no smooth path for a Chef or restaurateur. No matter how much money or experience you have, there is no clear path to success. Instead, success is something that has to be carved out the rock you see as an obstacle. In 2008 when we opened, nobody in Phoenix was waking up craving Jamaican food or looking for a rum bar. We didn’t have enough money to hire staff let alone for a marketing budget. We handed out flyers, wore A-frame signs and walked the streets to bring people in. It took years before we had a steady business and figured out how to manage our space. While figuring out how to run a restaurant, I also had to figure out how to cook professionally and what it meant to lead a kitchen.

Once we had restaurant basics under our belt, then a whole host of other issues popped up. Our relationships with local farmers and ranchers made us think hard about where we were getting our food. Before the restaurant, I didn’t consider where food came from. I knew that there was bad factory farming, but didn’t know that there was good farming right in my community. Now knowing where the chicken for our Jerk Chicken plate came from, who raised it, how it was raised, what it was fed and all that goes into growing and bringing us a chicken became then next learning curve. To this day, it is being responsible for bringing our guests the best food possible and helping them understand what good food is what takes the most time and energy.

Please tell us about your business.
The Breadfruit & Rum Bar specializes in bringing Phoenix sustainable seafood, daring new rum cocktails along with a meticulously curated collection of premium rums and fine cigars. We are known for having the highest integrity in sustainable gastronomy with a perfectionist approach to genuine hospitality. Our grounding philosophy is to champion good food that promotes a deliciously sustainable planet and still have dinner ready by 5 PM. We are committed to serving certified sustainable seafood, zero waste, recycling, composting, and supporting local agriculture.

As the Chef, it is my responsibility to be the change I want to see in our food system. I want us all to keep enjoying delicious food that we can trust to cause no harm or strife for our pleasure. I work to inspire people to treat the world as if we planned to stay.

We serve good food, which is more than just delicious. Good food creates a world where we are allowed to reach our full potential in harmony with each other and our planet. It’s food that has taken into account its full cycle; from the health of the land and sea, the people that produce it, how it provides a community with nutrition and economic well-being, to how it ensures access that which enriches our lives. At The Breadfruit and Rum Bar, we redefine what the “best “ means and serve it up to a room full of lucky guests nightly.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I learned to treat the planet as if I intended to stay. It’s by helping others to understand that the power to create the change we want to see in our lives starts with the food we buy. This was a revelation that first came to me by years of talking to our local farmers, ranchers and folks in our neighborhood about what brings joy to their hearts and what causes stress in their lives. When it comes down to it, we all want to have happy, healthy lives. Food is the cure for what ails us – our physical and mental health, economic disparity and even having a safe place to live.

Food can be complicated once you take a deep dive, but I’ve had the good fortune of having mentorship through the James Beard Foundation Impact Programs, Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program and through the friendships I’ve made as I pursued my Master’s degree in Sustainability Leadership at ASU.

Contact Info:

• Address: 108 E. Pierce Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004
• Website: www.thebreadfruit.com
• Phone: 602-267-1266
• Email: info@thebreadfruit.com
• Instagram: @thebreadfruit
• Facebook: @thebreadfruit
• Twitter: @thebreadfruit

Image Credit:
Foskett Creative for the one personal photo. All other photos by Dwayne Allen

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