Chef Ben Daitz Talks Tips for Successful Collaborations
Chef and founder of Num Pang Kitchen in New York, Ben Daitz, sat down with Digital Trends’ Brenda Stolyar on DT Daily to talk about his latest collaboration and the secret to successful mashups, whether you’re working with an established company or someone like The Beastie Boys’ Ad-Rock to make a sandwich for charity.
“I think it really starts with a healthy, mutual respect for each other,” Daitz said. “That’s the foundation for everything, and what’s really fun about collaborations in general, is when you’re working really hard on building a company, you’re sort of locked into these four walls and hyper-focused on what you’re doing. It’s such a breath of fresh air to be able to reach out to somebody you respect and say, ‘Why don’t we take both of our brands and put them together and see what comes from that.’”
Num Pang (which means sandwich in Cambodian) is a small chain of restaurants with locations in Boston and New York that aims to bring southeast Asian flavors to the masses. Daitz is currently in the midst of a collaboration with condiment company Sir Kensington’s that will combine the flavors that are integral to Num Pang’s business model and create something unique.
Since most of Num Pang’s food comes with some kind of sauce, it seemed inevitable that there would be some kind of sauce collaboration. The plan is to combine lots of lemongrass and Thai basil (with a few secret ingredients as well) to Sir Kensington’s avocado mayo and create a product that is the best of both worlds.
The new mayo will be available in Num Pang stores in the first part of 2019 and a bottled version, which will be available wherever you can buy Sir Kensington’s products, is in the works as well for consumers to be able to use at home.
DT Daily airs Monday through Friday at 9 a.m. PT, with highlights available on demand after the stream ends. For more information, check out the DT Live homepage, and be sure to watch live for the chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card, among other prizes.
