(rhythmic drum music)
- My name is Lawrence Diguna, and I'm from Nairobi, Kenya.
Live in Atlanta, been here for about 13 plus years.
I own a small valet parking company, Park Perks Atlanta,
and I've been privileged enough
to work with some of the best restaurateurs
in the Southeast.
I was in Michigan for the first year
here in the United States.
Horrible experience to say the least.
They don't tell you anything about where to go
when you're back at home.
I have a friend, Facebook friend, he invited me over
to Atlanta.
I came down for Thanksgiving and it was 75 degrees,
so I just never went back to Michigan
and I found my home here in Atlanta till this day.
Yeah, my first job, I was a server at Cracker Barrel.
Tough, tough, tough it was.
I moved up, Spaghetti Warehouse, Dave & Busters,
finally got my break working at Van Gogh's
up in the city of Roswell,
and shortly after that, I got a job
with a South African gentleman, his name was Gary Gets.
He opened up a Mediterranean place called LaMed.
I started off as a server, bartended a little bit.
I cooked some days when Chef was too drunk to show up
for the lunch shift
and I finally got promoted to be a manager
and I don't know why.
I guess I was good at what I was doing.
The restaurant shut down but I had hired a valet crew,
who, I fed 'em everyday, right off the menu,
whatever they wanted.
And when the restaurant shut down,
they offered me a place to work with them
instead of on the low scale of the valet business,
hailing cabs, opening a lady's doors,
umbrella service and all that,
you know the change from being a valet
to being a valet company owner,
a little drastic.
The gentleman I was working for,
he got a little bit super religious to a point
where he would tithe our tips
before he paid us,
so when I brought it to his attention, he fired me,
but the establishment asked me why I was not at work
and when I explained to him what happened,
he proceeded to fire my boss
and hire me
so I had to open up a company in about a week
when that was offered to me, and I jumped on it
and that happened.
Yeah, we're here now.
I love it, though.
I love it.
You get to meet all kinds of people,
drive all kinds of cars.
Valets are the hosts and hostesses
of the restaurant industry.
You're the first person they see coming in
and you're the last person they see coming in.
If they have any grief when they're leaving,
they'll vent it out to you.
Once you create that kind of situation
and you work it in with the restaurant,
it's beneficial to both me, the valet company,
and the restaurant.
I wish more chefs or restaurateurs, for that matter,
would think about it that way.
Forget the part of ... we make sure your guests
don't have to drive around for 15, 20 minutes
looking for parking.
The valet involves way, way, way, way more than that.
Parking cars: simple.
Building relationships: not as much.
We're at a point where we should be part and parcel
of the whole restaurant.
If we don't take our time to listen to whatever needs,
whatever constraints they had at the restaurant,
we're failing the restaurant.
I teach my guys, you gotta know your food critic,
you gotta know your health inspector who comes in,
so when any of those people pop in,
you have to be on your A-game and be quick enough
to run in, tell the GM or tell the executive chef
and let 'em know, you the valet company
and the restaurant are one
and that's a reason why
I never really had to apply
to get a lot.
They call me, they know my body of work
and they believe in it.
At the end of the day, it starts with food first
then business comes a little bit later.
I know it's a very bad business model,
but I will not have
a valet operation system
at a restaurant where I do not believe in their food.
I just like good food.
I ate bad food for a lot of years.
I'm just trying to make up for the lost time.
There's no better joy than when people converge
and have food together.
It beats anything out there.
So I follow that and I believe in that
and that's probably why
my passion for food is that great
We're at a place right now
where I think Atlanta is knocking on the doors
to reckon with some of the best food cities
in the country.
I guess I'm stuck here
and it's not that bad.
It's not that bad anymore.
(upbeat music)