Workers invested in wine bar

ALTERNATIVE ROUTE: Fortnight Wine Bar co-owners, from left, Elizabeth McDonnell, Christopher Norris-Leblanc and Mike da Cruz join Leigh Ranucci, second from right, of Wine Traditions, a wine importer, during a champagne event hosted at the bar by Ranucci. The trio opened the workers' cooperative in December. / COURTESY S. WINDOW PHOTOS
ALTERNATIVE ROUTE: Fortnight Wine Bar co-owners, from left, Elizabeth McDonnell, Christopher Norris-Leblanc and Mike da Cruz join Leigh Ranucci, second from right, of Wine Traditions, a wine importer, during a champagne event hosted at the bar by Ranucci. The trio opened the workers' cooperative in December. / COURTESY S. WINDOW PHOTOS

A new wine bar on Dorrance Street in Providence is shaking up the capital city’s popular foodie scene with its egalitarian management style.

Fortnight Wine Bar, a workers’ cooperative opened in December, is co-owned and operated by friends Elizabeth McDonnell, Mike da Cruz and Chris Norris-LeBlanc.

Da Cruz, who led the push for the workers’ cooperative, attended law school and clerks at a local law firm. He said exploitation is common in the food-service workplace, but it doesn’t have to be.

“If you want that kind of establishment, where people are invested personally and emotionally, having ownership is a good way for that to happen,” he said. “Working for someone else’s vision and bottom line is not a particularly motivating way for people to spend a large portion of their lives.”

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It can be hard for restaurants to remain true to their sustainability goals and ethical values, he added, in a “traditional model with a lot of staff and still … be successful.”

Da Cruz hopes people see Fortnight as an alternative route to success.

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