Work & Class has been a real labor of love

Every start-up is a labor of love. But in the case of Work & Class, which I review this week, the term has a whole new meaning. Despite the old adage about not getting involved with someone from work, owner/executive chef Dana Rodriguez is engaged to sous chef Vicente Sosa,...

By Gretchen Kurtz

May 29, 2014

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Every start-up is a labor of love. But in the case of Work & Class, which I review this week, the term has a whole new meaning. Despite the old adage about not getting involved with someone from work, owner/executive chef Dana Rodriguez is engaged to sous chef Vicente Sosa, whom she met while working at Rioja. What's more, co-owners Tony Maciag and Delores Tronco, who overlapped at Euclid Hall, are also dating.

Risky? Yes. But as individuals, they're "calculated risk takers," Tronco says. See also: Review of Work & Class

Indeed, they applied the same critical thinking skills to their romantic situation as to any other challenges they've faced along the way on the path to opening Work & Class this past January.

"What if our relationship fails? What if the business fails? What if one works and the other doesn't?" Tronco says she and Maciag asked themselves. "The hope is that both are going to work," she adds, "but we came to a place early on that if one or the other failed, that didn't mean that everything was a failure."

But if the restaurant's early success is any indication, failure isn't an option for the talented -- and together -- crew at Work & Class.

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Gretchen Kurtz has worked as a writer for 25 years; during that time she's stomped grapes in Napa, eaten b'stilla in Fez, and baked with Buddy Valastro, aka the Cake Boss. Her work has appeared in publications including Boulevard (Paris), Diversion, the New York Times and Westword. Our restaurant critic since 2012, she loves helping you decide where to eat and drink tonight.

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