Lauren Vied Allen On Giving Indie Restaurants A Fighting Chance

BY VICKY GU
May 8, 2020

This week, we check in with Lauren Vied Allen on how she's sustainably freelancing during these times, advocating for the hospitality industry and undocumented communities, and making her primo chicken and black bean empanadas recipe.

Lauren is a Durham-based visual creative focused on food and travel photography as a means of gaining a larger understanding of cultural identities and enriching her community. She is a co-founder of The World in a Pocket, a 2019 national winner of The Fence, and a VSCO Voices Creator. Her work can be found in VSCO, Eater, Whetstone Magazine, Garden & Gun and Bon Appetit.

Follow her on Instagram and Twitter at @viedfinder.

Tell us about what you’re working on.

Currently, I'm extremely lucky and privileged to be working on a cookbook project (shooting and styling!) and some work with recurring clients to keep their content relevant throughout this stay-at-home period. However, freelance gigs have been pretty sparse for the time, which is allowing me to catch up on a lot of marketing and personal work. Outside of this, I'm producing a lot of content for The World in a Pocket, working on a collaborative zine about wisteria (yes the wild flowering purple vine that is as elusive as ramps), releasing my daily anxieties on the piano, playing too many New York Times Crossword puzzles, snapping photos of daily life (as mundane as it is), and teaching some photography and cooking classes on Zoom. 

In these unknown times, how do you view your role & responsibility as a photographer with the food & hospitality industry?

My role is to support as much as I can. Whether it's by advocating for independent restaurants through the Independent Restaurant Coalition, allowing clients to use my photos in ways that will benefit them during this time, or just promoting their takeout and delivery options amongst my network. I've found any little thing can help right now, even if it's just chatting with chefs on Instagram or collaborating with bartenders for personal projects just to ease the stress.

What’s the biggest impact you see COVID-19 having on your community?

The biggest impact I'm seeing is all of us learning to be kind to each other and bringing us together. Too many people too close to me have lost their jobs, are struggling to get unemployment and/or PPP benefits, not to mention the unpredictability of the virus on our health and local economy. We won't take our connections for granted anymore. I also think a lot of freelancers will be changing how they do business and build their contracts (I guess pandemics can't be considered acts of God anymore). It's made us all closer to each other, despite the social distancing, because we are all struggling and have all leaned on each other for comfort, help, and hope. For the culinary industry, I hope that we will see a sustainable change in how independent restaurants and their restaurant workers are supported. These people and eateries are the backbone of our economy and social lives—they deserve a fighting chance.

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve read, watched, or listened to recently?

Read: Audra Ang's To the People, Food is Heaven
Watched: Parasite and Little Fires Everywhere
Listened: Sylvan Esso's Instagram Live concert for Levi's

What’s bringing you joy right now?

Endless cuddles with my dog; my husband making me snacks (stovetop popcorn, s'mores, coffee); FaceTiming with my family, especially my three-year-old niece; baking projects.

What’s tough about right now?

I mean, what isn't tough right now, tbh. At the end of the day, I'm so lucky to be healthy, fed, and in touch with family and friends. And, like most people I think, I'm just trying to find ways to give back and support our frontline workers, especially our undocumented communities and families experience food insecurity.

Give us a recipe.

These chicken and black bean empanadas I made for The World in a Pocket are primo right now. BONUS! You can use up all your leftovers, freeze them for future meals, or just heat one up for a snack!