How DV8 Kitchen Serves Up Second Chances

Approximately 100,000 Americans die each year of a drug overdose. “What if a little restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky, can solve the addiction issue in America?” asks Rob Perez, owner of DV8 Kitchen. Perez believes his restaurant might have the answer to the country’s ongoing drug crisis.

Perez and DV8 Kitchen give recovering substance users gainful employment at an organization that understands the unique challenges of substance use recovery. By providing such an environment, men and women in recovery can begin building the emotional tools, financial base, and life skills needed to build upon their sobriety and re-assimilate into society.  

Perez asks society to shift its mental model around hiring people in recovery, “Instead, think about the possibility. People in addiction recovery have an amazing capacity for excellence. We just need to give them a chance.”  

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