June 24, 2019
Guest blogger Nat Stratton-Clarke, the owner of Floret Restaurant at SEA Airport, works hard to make the restaurant a catalyst to bring people together at the airport and beyond.
Floret by Cafe Flora is a space that provides an opportunity for a tranquil and relaxing dining experience whether a traveler has five or 50 minutes at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). Being a part of the Port’s business community, my restaurant can serve as some travelers’ first impression of our region, so it remains immensely important to me to have Floret shine as an equitable, inclusive, and supportive place. This space not only acts as a haven for vegetarian and vegan eaters, but as a transgender business owner, I have made it my responsibility to create a safe and respectful environment here at SEA.
I have always been out as trans to my employees but the ability to do that comes from a place of privilege — I can’t get fired for being trans. That safety comes with the duty to do the best I can to create a restaurant that is inclusive and supportive to people in the LGBTQ community, which continues to be my mission as I expanded to Floret in the airport. Efforts to create this work environment are both big and small: from diversity training and communication workshops to including a question about a person’s preferred gender pronouns in their paperwork. Acts like these add up over time to create a culture of inclusivity and acceptance that is shared with our guests.
Creating this atmosphere at the airport amplifies our efforts, as we see so many travelers who want to share their meal with us, spare some of their precious travel time, and come together to support what we are doing. Food is an amazing catalyst: it supports life and acts as an instrument for change, even from a brief interaction in the airport. As a restaurant in SEA that sees new guests every day, along with many regulars, we have the ability to set the bar for people from all over the world. I take this very seriously. It is important for me to be vocal about my experience and about issues of equality, as I never had many examples of successful LGBTQ adults growing up and I want to pave the way for others. Utilizing the power of food in places like SEA, we can affect social change and inspire communities far beyond here to do the same.
At Floret, we strive to be a welcoming place, setting an example for the region we represent and for a community we love. I am proud to be the owner of the first exclusively vegetarian restaurant at SEA and to model a system that can help to create more opportunities to support LGBTQ folks, women, and people of color. We work hard to curate an intentional space, menu, and community that reflects these values and connects with a wide audience, all the while filling them with delicious food.
About Floret by Cafe Flora:
Floret by Cafe Flora offers SEA travelers fresh, local vegetarian fare for the journey ahead. It is the first exclusively vegetarian and vegan restaurant to open at SEA, and only one of a handful of vegetarian airport restaurants in the nation! Floret offers both a full-service sit-down restaurant and a grab-and-go counter for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Menus feature quality produce from local farms, housemade pastries, Stumptown Coffee, local beverages on tap, and much more. Floret provides a tranquil and relaxing dining experience like no other at the airport. Large conservatory windows fill the space with natural light and allow guests to view tarmac activity while drinking and dining. floretseattle.com
Location: Next to Gate A1
