1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,240 Hello chefs, this is Chefs PSA and I'm your host Andre Natera. 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,720 Today my guest is Chef Francis Pascal, chef and owner of 3 00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:12,360 Endodore, a high end private dining company based out of 4 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:14,520 Chicago. Today we're going to talk about 5 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:17,360 some advice for anyone wanting to get into the private dining 6 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:19,360 business. The importance of making sure 7 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:22,640 you have a contract, having a rhythm working with other chefs. 8 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:25,800 If you've ever thought about exploring the private dining 9 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:27,640 business, you don't want to miss this one. 10 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:43,600 Stay tuned. I came here in 2004 and it was 11 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:46,520 just my immediate family. We basically just got up after 12 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:49,120 our parents let us know and like within a week's time that we 13 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:51,280 were leaving and we got to this. Is in Albania. 14 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:53,080 This is in Albania. We got to say goodbye. 15 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:56,400 To our family, how old are you? I'm eleven at this point and 16 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:59,000 that we just basically show up to Chicago, didn't know anybody 17 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,800 here and just moved into this tiny little apartment. 18 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:05,480 My parents started going to work and all of a sudden I went from 19 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:09,160 being in an environment where I knew tons of people to all of a 20 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:11,560 sudden just like being here alone, not speaking the language 21 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:15,560 and having to basically just like start living life almost on 22 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:17,520 my own. Like I I had an older sibling, 23 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:19,000 but. So for people that don't know, 24 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:20,480 why did you guys have to leave Albania? 25 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:24,920 So obviously this is a big land of opportunity kind of 26 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:27,080 situation. But obviously there was after 27 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:29,720 the breakup of Yugoslavia, everybody was like fighting for 28 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:34,040 territory and there was a war, a genocide that was happening in 29 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:37,480 the northern part of Albania. And it was just not a good place 30 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:40,400 to raise raise kids. It was after the fall of 31 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:42,360 communism as well. So it was basically literally 32 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:43,880 anarchy. Like there would just be like 33 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:47,400 raining bullets a lot of the time, like. 34 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:49,160 You, I mean, do you remember? That yeah, yeah, yeah. 35 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:54,600 Like Albania has over something like 700,000 bunkers, more than 36 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:56,600 any other country, like per capita. 37 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:58,680 So like they were just ready for war all the time. 38 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:00,640 Obviously we're a part of like, you know, World War One, World 39 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:03,040 War 2, the Cold War, this whole situation. 40 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:07,880 And then we had a dictator and we were under a communist regime 41 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:10,600 until basically I was born. But that just carried on into 42 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:13,080 our lives still. And again, like there just 43 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:15,840 wasn't once a borders opened up, there was just like a mass 44 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,800 exodus of people and it was just anarchy. 45 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:20,400 Like there was no real political party. 46 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:21,880 People were kind of fighting for power. 47 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:25,640 And it was just a tough little environment to kind of grow up. 48 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:28,560 And or at least like from the outside perspective, when you're 49 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:30,440 a kid, you don't know any better. 50 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:33,800 And if you're like growing up, quote UN quote poor and 51 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:35,840 everybody else around you is just as poor, you don't know 52 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,200 that you're poor. So like, I wouldn't say that I 53 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:41,800 had necessarily had a bad childhood coming to the United 54 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:43,200 States. All of a sudden I realized that 55 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:45,240 there was a lot of people that had way more than you do. 56 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:48,520 And all of a sudden, like that matters, but it never did. 57 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:52,240 Then we all just like had, you know, all my grandparents come 58 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:55,200 from families, have like 15 kids, so they have a ton of 59 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:58,200 kids. So I got a billion cousins and 60 00:02:58,200 --> 00:02:59,600 aunts and uncles and all that kind of stuff. 61 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:03,760 So we were always a power, like a part of a really big community 62 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:06,200 all the time. And all the people that live 63 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:08,360 there had lived there for literally hundreds of years. 64 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:12,840 Everybody knows everybody. And it's, it's not like here at 65 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:15,920 all where you kind of like want to stay away from your neighbor. 66 00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:17,480 You might live in these communities, but you like kind 67 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:20,360 of want to stay to your own. Like they're everybody knows 68 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:21,760 everybody. They're all in each other's 69 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:25,320 businesses all the time. So that's the annoying part of 70 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:27,440 it, is that everybody's always in your business. 71 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:29,160 And then there's the really great part of it in which you 72 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:32,440 have a really large community that you can always lean to. 73 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:34,440 So you're 11 years old. Yeah. 74 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,200 And your your parents come to you and say, hey, we're we're 75 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:39,000 leaving it. Was this a very sudden decision 76 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:41,440 or was this planned out it? Was calculated on their end. 77 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:44,280 My mom literally won the lottery that that's literally what it's 78 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:46,640 called. You like apply and this happens 79 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:48,720 in a bunch of countries all over the world, but you apply and 80 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,480 then like once a year they pick out X amount of people. 81 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:53,600 And then she'd apply to a bunch of places like Canada, New 82 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,680 Zealand, Germany, Italy. And then we, we got accepted 83 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:00,680 into the US. So they, it seems like they got 84 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:02,400 their plans together, but they really didn't let us know. 85 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:04,840 We went to like our grandparents village for like that last time 86 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:05,880 that summer, just hung out there. 87 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:10,360 And then, yeah, next thing you know, it's it's time to go and 88 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:13,400 it's January and we're in Chicago and it's like freezing 89 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:15,880 cold. So you go from Albania, you 90 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:17,399 arrive in Chicago. It's freezing cold. 91 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:18,760 Yeah, fucking right now it's cold. 92 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:19,800 I mean, right now it's cold in Chicago. 93 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:22,560 We just had this. You were at -27 you got I, I 94 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:23,880 came here, people were complaining of it. 95 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:25,360 I got, it's 37. I'm like do this. 96 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:27,120 It was 44, what I came with. Yeah, it was. 97 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:30,000 Like 60° warmer here, it's nice. Yeah, yeah. 98 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:32,680 Well in in Texas when you have these these ice storms, like the 99 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:35,200 whole, the whole state shuts down. 100 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:39,800 I had to cancel like 4 podcasts. So I'm behind on a couple of 101 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:41,800 episodes. I had AI had a sorry chefs. 102 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:43,400 I know that we're supposed to come on, but we had to 103 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:46,840 reschedule a couple of episodes. But anyway, we digress. 104 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:51,720 So you're 11 years old, you arrive in Chicago and it was 105 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:53,400 just your immediate family. So. 106 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,040 So you're leaving behind everyone? 107 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:59,440 Everybody. Yeah, I have my, my parents and 108 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:03,360 my older sibling and like my parents are, they were in the 109 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:05,760 economic world back in Albania, like they went to school, got 110 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:07,720 their degrees, etcetera. Once you come here, those are 111 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:11,080 nullified, right? So now you're in your early to 112 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:13,600 mid 40s, you're going to a place where you don't speak the 113 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:16,000 language. You have to work 2 jobs and 114 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:18,440 they're like janitorial jobs. They're not like in the field in 115 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:21,360 which you're in. And so like, imagine that 116 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,160 sacrifice, you know, like all the bullshit that I complain 117 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:27,200 about or people my age, like complained about, like I'm the 118 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:29,200 first person in my family to know what it's like to pursue, 119 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:31,840 meaning, you know, my parents just survived. 120 00:05:31,840 --> 00:05:34,040 My grandparents just survived. Like they were just brought up 121 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:36,040 in these really kind of harsh environments in which you were 122 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:38,960 just required to participate and it didn't matter whether you 123 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:40,800 like the job or not, you just had to do that job. 124 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:43,920 So I think like a tremendous part of my work ethic has come 125 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:46,600 from that of just being like, dude, look, look at what my 126 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:48,800 parents would sacrifice just to make sure that I have a better 127 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,080 future. Like I have a lot riding on this 128 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:53,040 and I think about that all the time in the sense of like, I 129 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:55,680 need to give back to my community because they've always 130 00:05:55,680 --> 00:06:00,720 been there to support me. And so it's just it's always in 131 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:03,480 the forefront of of my mind and and how I lead life. 132 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:08,360 When I was younger, I, I worked in a in a restaurant in Colorado 133 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:11,920 and I want to say like 80% of the staff there was from Russia. 134 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:15,560 And I remember having conversations with some of them 135 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:19,000 and like a busser or a dishwasher specifically. 136 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:22,560 I remember one of the bussers was a doctor and saying, you 137 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:24,440 know, and I remember thinking like, you know, and I, I was 138 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:26,200 young, I didn't understand like, well, why are you a busser? 139 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:28,240 Like, why aren't you a doctor? If you're a doctor? 140 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:30,360 And I, you know, sometimes I would think, oh, these guys are 141 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:32,520 full of shit. I didn't believe them not 142 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:35,720 understanding, you know, what people were going through on the 143 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:40,160 other side of the world. How tough was it to leave your 144 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:43,200 family behind? Some assuming cousins, friends, 145 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:46,520 aunts, uncles. I think initially it was like 146 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:49,200 fun being somewhere different. Like you kind of don't 147 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:51,840 understand that you're like going away forever when you're 148 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:53,440 that young. You're like, yeah, we're moving, 149 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:55,200 but you don't really know what that means. 150 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:57,200 And we, we, we've been back. Like I go back. 151 00:06:57,200 --> 00:06:59,040 I obviously I still talk to all my family there. 152 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:02,560 But like, man, the craziest part is that you start to become 153 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:06,720 somebody that they used to know. Like, it's just like the saddest 154 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:07,800 thing. It makes me super emotional 155 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:09,880 because like, you know, like I have cousins and when you're a 156 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:13,520 kid, like you can look at somebody that's like 30 or 35 157 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:15,200 and be like, dude, like that's fucking old. 158 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:16,800 Like that person's really up there, right? 159 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,760 So I could look at like my uncles at that time or etcetera. 160 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:20,960 And now they're like getting older. 161 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:25,640 And so there's like this big long period in which you, you're 162 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:28,400 not there for this period in their life, but you know them 163 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:31,320 and then they don't get to hear from you as much and vice versa. 164 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:33,080 And there wasn't like social media, so it's not like you 165 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:35,680 could like, follow each other at this time, so. 166 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:37,080 Stale mail writing letters, right? 167 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:38,720 Yeah, man. Or like you would have to like 168 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:40,880 buy these little cards and like punch the numbers in to be able 169 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:42,600 to call. But they're like 7 hours ahead. 170 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:44,200 So you got to call at specific times. 171 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:46,960 And like, so you become somebody that they used to know and now 172 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:50,280 they're having kids and now you've never met their kids and 173 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:52,200 they're having this life. And they, they, they talk to 174 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:55,040 they talk to their kids about how this is like their cousin 175 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:58,280 that lives in the US. Like, when I was a kid, my dad's 176 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:00,200 uncle lived in Boston and he would like, send us these 177 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:03,320 packages with like, you know, clothes or whatever, right? 178 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,800 And like, that's always how I knew him was just like this 179 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:09,040 person that I'd never met. But that was over there. 180 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:15,840 And then you just become so like weirdly desensitized to not 181 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:18,320 having that around you, even though it's such a big part of 182 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:22,400 of who you are. How did that shape you as a chef 183 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,360 when you came here and you started working and you started 184 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:30,320 working at kitchens? How did your your identity being 185 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:34,679 Albanian shape your work ethic and how you approach kitchens 186 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:36,200 when you when you first got into them? 187 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:40,720 I loved every moment of it right away because of two things. 188 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:44,240 Like I played soccer my entire life, team sport, like you all 189 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:46,960 win together or lose together. And then B was just like the 190 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,840 militant aspect of it, like growing up in a place like 191 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:52,440 Albania, where obviously it was like communist, like everybody 192 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:56,160 had to be a part of the army. Like everybody had to serve. 193 00:08:56,880 --> 00:08:58,480 My parents have both had to serve. 194 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,000 And so like, I just grew up in a yes, Sir environment. 195 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:03,400 Like your parents word is just law. 196 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:04,960 Like your grandparents word is law. 197 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:06,760 Like you don't. And so like the moment that I 198 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:09,080 jumped into kitchens, I was like, yeah, this is for me. 199 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:13,920 Like I never had a single problem with like following 200 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:15,840 chefs or just like doing the things that I needed to be 201 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:18,040 doing. Like, and I freaking I I hate 202 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:19,000 authority. Like it. 203 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:23,240 It's why I work for myself. Like I, I can't stand any sort 204 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:24,760 of like authoritarian figure at all. 205 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:28,520 But like, when it comes down to, you know, following somebody 206 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:30,920 that I really respect, like I, I don't care what position I have 207 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:32,280 to play. Like as long as the team is 208 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:34,280 winning, that's all that matters. 209 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:37,560 And so those two things was, you know, playing soccer and then 210 00:09:37,560 --> 00:09:40,720 growing up in a place like that where it was super, it was just 211 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:42,200 very Shrek, man. I just grew up in a, in a 212 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:45,520 fucking tight environment. Like my parents just had a, a 213 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,600 stronghold on us at all times, like date. 214 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:50,520 It's not like here where it's just you kind of know the 215 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:52,280 teachers and you kind of go to like their parents teachers. 216 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:53,920 And it's like, no, like they went to school with the people 217 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:55,520 that end up becoming your teachers and they know their 218 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:57,400 parents. And so like anywhere you walk 219 00:09:57,400 --> 00:09:59,280 within the neighborhoods, like everybody's like watching you, 220 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:03,520 you know, so it's like it's this, it's this you, you grow up 221 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:08,000 with the, the feeling that you have to like make your people 222 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:09,760 proud. And so you constantly have to 223 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:13,320 watch how you behave and like, you want to be known as somebody 224 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:15,360 that bends over backwards to take care of other people. 225 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:17,000 And so like your reputation matters. 226 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:19,880 And so like in kitchens, I was like, I got to go hard. 227 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:21,960 Like I have to be one of the best people here just in 228 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:23,520 general. Like I've just always been super 229 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:26,080 competitive too. So that part of it, I was like, 230 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:29,320 I, I need to make sure that I'm participating. 231 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:31,520 And that's what it. And that's, I guess the biggest 232 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:34,800 difference between something like capitalism over communism. 233 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:38,080 It's like everybody's quote UN quote equal, but it's just like, 234 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:41,760 you know, in the Western world, you have to be #1 or you're not 235 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:43,080 relevant, which is just not true. 236 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:45,720 Like everybody plays a, a, a small part into making the 237 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:48,880 entire society happen. Whereas like in, in these other 238 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:51,200 places, like you just, you have to participate, You have to do 239 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:53,280 your part, but there's no such thing as you don't participate 240 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:56,800 at all. So jumping into kitchens, I was 241 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:58,840 like, OK, great. Like if I'm working Garmo or 242 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:01,320 Steam or, or Saute or whatever it is, I'm like, I just need to 243 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:03,560 do my little part here really well to make sure that like the 244 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:06,280 rest of, of, of the team is doing well too. 245 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:08,000 Like I think I I got that from the beginning. 246 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:14,800 Did did any of your identity of being Albanian now come through 247 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:17,600 and and and the food that you create and you're cooking? 248 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,400 A little bit, but I think the crazy part is that like I grew 249 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:23,160 up in a very traditional household in the sense of like, 250 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:26,040 you know, the men would go to work, the women would, would, 251 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:28,240 would stay at home. But like, you know, my parents 252 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:30,120 didn't by that time, like they were both, they both had to 253 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:31,400 work. But like the rest of the time, 254 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:34,600 it's like I never had to cook growing up. 255 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:36,960 Like I did plenty of other things, but like, I never had 256 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:38,360 to. Like, I don't have that story of 257 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:40,520 like, I grew up. I'm like my grandmother. 258 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:43,800 Like, yeah, I was around like I would peel cabbages or whatever, 259 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:45,360 but it wasn't like I was like cooking. 260 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:48,520 And so like, I never really got to learn how to do a lot of all 261 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:51,240 beta food until I got older and had to like be inquisitive and 262 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:54,200 ask my, you know, my, my people on how to do it. 263 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:56,840 But then, you know, like, even even when I was here, like we, 264 00:11:56,840 --> 00:11:58,600 we ate all beta food at home all the time. 265 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:00,120 Like my mom would still cook all the time. 266 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:01,960 Well, you've, you've worked in some really great restaurants 267 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:08,240 and you've, you've worked for the Alinea group and 268 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:12,400 specifically I, I, I mean, you posted a video I think the other 269 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:14,840 day where you maybe you were doing a lamb, right? 270 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:16,400 And you're based in slice. It looked great. 271 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:21,360 I love the traditional cooking techniques for me personally. 272 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:25,480 Now it's not that I don't like some of the more modernist or 273 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:27,280 molecular astronomy because I do. 274 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:31,280 I did that for a long time and and you know, I, I like went 275 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:34,560 down that lane and said, this is what I'm going to do for me 276 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:36,920 later on. I was like, you know what, I 277 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:38,840 know I started doing that, but I don't like it that much. 278 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:42,400 I like cooking, you know, I like the the process of making stocks 279 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:46,160 and sauces and and roasting meat and things like that, you know, 280 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:47,760 cooking more in the traditional sense. 281 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:51,760 But that's me. I want to ask you about you 282 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:54,960 because you've worked in, you know, in a lot of different 283 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:56,640 styles. How does that how did that shape 284 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,280 you and how do you cook now, having worked in so many 285 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:01,880 different styles of kitchens? I think I'd definitely prefer 286 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:04,400 more classical, traditional cooking. 287 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:09,800 I do think that there is a lot of benefit to learning how to do 288 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:12,960 things kind of the old way first and then being able to do them 289 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:16,640 and, you know, take that same kind of element and practice it 290 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:19,320 in in molecular gastronomy if that's the route that you want 291 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:23,280 to go. My philosophy is really more 292 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:25,920 around finding a really great ingredient and trying to just 293 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:29,880 not fuck it up and, and just just trying to to showcase it 294 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:31,880 and maybe a couple of different ways, but then keeping it very 295 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:35,080 simple. I just think that it's it's 296 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:40,440 always going to Trump going directly into like a three star 297 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:41,400 place. Like, and I don't know, maybe 298 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:43,640 sometimes like you do get to learn that that sort of thing in 299 00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:45,160 a three star place if you go there right away. 300 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:48,040 But I think, you know, if I look back at like the first 301 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:50,200 restaurants that I worked at, the first one that I worked at 302 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:52,160 even for a couple of months before I went to like my actual 303 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:55,320 first restaurant job was like a diner, right? 304 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:58,920 And like working the egg station at a diner is fucking crazy, 305 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:00,320 right? Because you're like these guys 306 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:02,600 will make holidays in a double boiler like this, right? 307 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:04,760 You like, that's a big batch to mess up, right? 308 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:05,880 Like you're actually streaming it. 309 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:07,840 You're keeping it in nine pans. Like anything. 310 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:09,720 You got to constantly keep up with that temperature. 311 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:11,280 Like, yeah, sure, you could add a touch of xanthem to it and 312 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:13,520 make sure or you put it in an ISI and just hold it in a bath 313 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:15,280 and just put it over your poached eggs. 314 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:17,720 Like if you're thinking about logistics like that, like, sure, 315 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:20,480 but you need to know how to make that holidays first, right? 316 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:24,800 So like I worked at that place and then went directly into just 317 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:27,160 like French Japanese fusion cuisine. 318 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:28,480 That was a really big restaurant. 319 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:31,600 We were doing probably 4 or 500 covers a night. 320 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:35,760 And it was all so traditional. Like we didn't do any like sous 321 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:37,520 video or anything like that. Like you cooked all fish, 322 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:42,240 chicken, beef, all from raw and it was just a, a long giant line 323 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:45,080 with a bunch of burners, right? So it's not even a French top. 324 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:46,920 Like you have to constantly watch your pants or your sauces 325 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:49,800 are not burning. You have 1 double Decker oven 326 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:52,760 and you throw into like friggin you're fired on 30 different 327 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:54,080 pieces of meat. You're, you're constantly 328 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:56,200 touching on all of them as opposed to just being like, OK, 329 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:57,720 cool. Like I have all these things 330 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:00,000 individually packaged in a sous video bag. 331 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:02,440 I'm dropping it at 56 for however long I'm taking it out. 332 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:04,240 I'm just getting colored and searing it, finishing with 333 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:07,360 butter, garlic, whatever you're doing and, and just being able 334 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:09,080 to send that out. But I think like, you know, 335 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:11,160 getting to the point where you can touch all the food all the 336 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:13,800 time, learning on how to do basic things like emulsifying 337 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:17,160 sauces on the fly and just getting the timing right. 338 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:19,440 You know, like being able to communicate with everybody else 339 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:22,880 in the kitchen about how long you actually need and having 340 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:24,080 these people just be on your ass, man. 341 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:26,480 I remember we all had timers on our stations that we were all 342 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:28,200 just like clicking and just dogging each other. 343 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:30,240 Like if you didn't get it. And at that time, because it's 344 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:31,320 like, I thought you were the shit. 345 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:33,280 Like because that's how you're acting, right? 346 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:35,480 Like, and that's, you know, for me and everybody else, right? 347 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:39,160 It's just like there's a level of competition in those kitchens 348 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,800 that really kind of gets you to like, you have to just like this 349 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:45,080 is one of those careers where you cannot hide. 350 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:49,320 And like it's because you're in such short time restriction. 351 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:52,480 Not not just like during service, but like leading up to 352 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:55,040 prep and just being sure that you're like good all set up to 353 00:15:55,280 --> 00:16:00,360 do a giant service. I mean, it's those skills are 354 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:02,400 going to translate to literally everything else that you do in 355 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:04,680 life because like, you know, that's the whole, that's the 356 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:07,880 whole concept behind me saying something like, you know, 357 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:10,560 practice doesn't make perfect. Practice makes permanent. 358 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:12,200 And it was at that same restaurant where like this 359 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:14,960 patient chef, she was a patient chef at Blackbird right before 360 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:17,800 that. And I'm just like, I'm young at 361 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:19,440 this point, right? Like we're, we're in pre chef 362 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:20,800 the one day. And I just remember so 363 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:24,560 distinctively her saying practice makes permanent. 364 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:26,640 And it's, it's one of these things like these concepts where 365 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:28,840 it's like, you know, it, like your entire life, you've known 366 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:32,960 it, but like you'd never heard anyone put it into words before. 367 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:34,760 In the moment that she said that, I was like, it was like a 368 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:37,520 light switch going off, right? And I was like, I knew exactly 369 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:39,600 what she meant when she said that because I'm just like, 370 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:42,320 dude, if you cut, if you cut corners, if you skip steps, like 371 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:43,920 that's going to become your practice, right? 372 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:44,920 Right. If you're just like, look, I'm 373 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:46,320 just going to pick up that thing off the floor. 374 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:47,880 I'm going to wipe my station. I'm going to make sure that my 375 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:49,960 knife is, you know, facing straight, whatever it is. 376 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:51,880 Like these little things, if you just do it all the time, like it 377 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:54,360 just becomes a habit to the point where it's like breathing. 378 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:55,920 You just don't even have to think about it anymore. 379 00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:57,840 It's like that that Aristotle quote. 380 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:00,840 We are what we repeatedly do. Therefore, excellence is not an 381 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:03,000 act, but a habit. And one of the things that I 382 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,359 used to really trained my cooks on, it's like, I want so many of 383 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:07,880 your good habits to be on autopilot. 384 00:17:08,079 --> 00:17:09,520 And they would, they would get annoyed with me. 385 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:11,240 Like, you know, fold your towel this way, put your knife right 386 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:13,720 here all the time, you know, set your, your bane right here. 387 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:16,000 Whatever the case may be, cut the fish always like this. 388 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:19,760 And it wasn't that I was that picky. 389 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:22,319 It's just I didn't want them to think about it because I wanted 390 00:17:22,599 --> 00:17:25,640 their, their habits and their work practices to be excellent 391 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,640 on autopilot. Because then, then you'll start 392 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:30,840 to notice. That's when you really start to 393 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:35,480 notice what level you're at is when you when, when your habits 394 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:39,760 are, you know, an 8 out of 10 or a nine out of 10 and you go work 395 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:42,720 somewhere else and you're like, oh, wow, everyone says, wow, 396 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:45,760 you're really good. It's, it's not that, it's not 397 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:49,480 that you have this extra extra IQ that other people don't have. 398 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:51,320 It's just like you practiced at a higher level. 399 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:53,040 So you understand things at a higher level. 400 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:56,320 And I love that practice makes permanent. 401 00:17:56,360 --> 00:17:58,280 I call it robotics man. Like you just get to a point 402 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:00,240 where you do the same movement every time. 403 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:04,200 It is, but that's, I mean, you're, you're grooving 404 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:06,720 neuropathies in your brain. You're just you just I'm just, I 405 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:08,920 want to reach for the spoon and to be in the same place every 406 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:10,160 time. I want to do the pick up the 407 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:12,440 exact same way every single time. 408 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:17,200 Like it's, I, I wish that more people kind of understood that, 409 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:19,520 especially as like young chefs, because you, you want to do a 410 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:22,960 bunch of different things, you want to try things in a bunch of 411 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:24,560 different ways, but it's like you, you got it. 412 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:26,440 Like it's like when you come onto somebody's staging and 413 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:28,320 they're like, OK, cool. Like do it in the way that I'm 414 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:30,000 teaching you in the beginning. And like, once you get it, like, 415 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:32,360 sure, you can add your own things and make it work, But 416 00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:34,320 like in the beginning you got to do it this way. 417 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:38,080 Like you're being shown this way for a reason and like, got it, 418 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:39,880 got to practice it that way. When, when people would come up 419 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:42,080 to me, especially if it's someone that I've never worked 420 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:44,200 with before, that's and I'm the chef and maybe they're helping 421 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:46,400 me and they'd come and they'd I'd say stop. 422 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,520 Let's just don't put that there. Yeah, put it here. 423 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:52,840 Here's why. Like don't hand me the deli with 424 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:54,000 the lid on it, take it off over it. 425 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:55,640 And here's why. Because it's an extra step. 426 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:58,520 And when I have a spoon and I, I don't need that, I don't need 427 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:01,360 that extra 2nd. And and then, OK, so it starts 428 00:19:01,360 --> 00:19:03,480 to click and then you start to have this cadence with the other 429 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,560 people and then your whole kitchen has that same cadence. 430 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:09,720 It's like, OK, now we could flow because we all are working off 431 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:13,000 the same system. And I don't, I don't know if 432 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:17,840 everyone fully understands how important that dance and dancing 433 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:20,360 to the same song. Yeah, I just, I, I wish more 434 00:19:20,360 --> 00:19:22,920 than anything that they would look at it and understand that 435 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:25,760 like them doing that for somebody else does not make them 436 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:29,800 lesser than like it's such a fucking skill to be able to look 437 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:31,760 like, OK, this is what chef needs and just being like, how 438 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:34,120 do I make it as easy as possible for this person to succeed? 439 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:35,920 Like that's a skill set in and of itself. 440 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:39,000 Like it doesn't make you lesser because you're like the person 441 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:40,560 opening up the delis, dude, who cares? 442 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:42,560 Like, do you need the team to win or not? 443 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:46,280 And like, it's, it's super important. 444 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:47,960 Yeah. Like, and every kitchen is 445 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:49,600 different, of course. Like every chef has, has their 446 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:53,560 own tendencies, but just a willingness to to be able to to 447 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:56,160 learn things in the way that that you were taught and how 448 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:58,120 will make you successful. Like, you don't know it in the 449 00:19:58,120 --> 00:19:59,960 moment. It's like you have to look back 450 00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:03,120 and just be like, oh, I learned all these skill sets and now I 451 00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:05,040 can apply them in the ways in which I need to. 452 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:09,000 Yeah, as we're talking, I'm thinking back to, you know, when 453 00:20:09,120 --> 00:20:11,800 I was still still active chef and, you know, I would have like 454 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:14,120 someone that was my direct report, like a sous chef or chef 455 00:20:14,120 --> 00:20:16,440 de cuisine. And they're plating at the pass 456 00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:20,480 and I happen to pop in. I'm not running service, but I 457 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:22,400 happen to be there. They're running service. 458 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:26,360 So when I step in and I see them and I see that, you know, 459 00:20:26,360 --> 00:20:28,760 they're, they're saucing and the spoon is dirty. 460 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:31,400 And, you know, I'll hand them the tray, put it there and then 461 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:32,920 I'll dip it in the Bane or whatever. 462 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:35,560 Or I noticed that and here's the plate wipe shaft. 463 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:37,880 And and they're not asking me for this. 464 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:41,360 And it's not that I'm viewing this as some things like, oh, 465 00:20:41,360 --> 00:20:43,760 I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm doing helper work. 466 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:46,200 No, no, that's, that's part of the, that's part of the game. 467 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:50,640 Like, hey, I want to be handing you the plate wipe because I, I 468 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:53,920 saw you look at it and you're going to need it in about 5 469 00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:55,640 seconds and I'm going to have it ready for you because we're 470 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:58,840 thinking about the same things. Yeah, there's there's something 471 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:02,560 beautiful about that ability to work with someone at a very high 472 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:04,480 level. And if you could just look out 473 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:07,000 like if you could just step outside of yourself and look at 474 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,040 the entire thing, like it's not that somebody's putting a couple 475 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:12,680 of herbs on the dish. Is that like somebody warms a 476 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:15,080 plate, it says somebody passes the sauce, says somebody slices 477 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:16,720 the bread, like it all comes together. 478 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:19,160 And so if you, if you look at all those touches, all those 479 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:20,760 steps of service, you can be a part of it. 480 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:22,600 It doesn't matter. Like you're all a part of it. 481 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:27,280 And, and, and the guest doesn't know, they don't care. 482 00:21:27,360 --> 00:21:29,160 Actually, I'm like, they're like, they're just getting 483 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:31,800 something in front of them and, and which is completely fine. 484 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:34,200 Like that's, that's the mysticism that I, that I enjoy 485 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:35,600 about it. I don't want them to think about 486 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:36,880 any of that. I just want them to be there. 487 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:39,000 I want to create an opportunity for people to be there with one 488 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:41,120 another and just enjoy each other's company. 489 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:45,200 How do you train that in cooks? I just think you have to care, 490 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:47,760 dude. Like it's and it's, I think of 491 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:50,200 it as such a personal thing. And that, that goes back to like 492 00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:57,360 me growing up, you know, in Albania, like it's, this is a 493 00:21:57,360 --> 00:21:59,440 really difficult one for me. Like I think it's probably the, 494 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:02,120 the thing that I struggle with most because I'm so passionate 495 00:22:02,120 --> 00:22:03,360 about it. And like, I think that I've 496 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:08,280 always kind of had this desire, like to just be the best at 497 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:09,960 whatever it is that I'm doing. Like, I don't care if I'm a 498 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:11,960 plumber, I'm just going to try to be the best that I can at it. 499 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:15,640 But like, I think the, the way that you train people in that is 500 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:20,080 trying to get them to understand what their actions end up. 501 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:24,000 Like what is the causation of you taking these actions over a 502 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,520 long period of time? You know, you can work in a 503 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:29,560 restaurant where everybody is just, you know, doggy dog and 504 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:31,400 you don't have a good relationship with the people 505 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:33,920 that you are working with. But like the moment that you 506 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:36,920 start seeing that, like you do 1 little thing for for your 507 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:38,920 teammate and then it makes them feel this way and they 508 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:40,640 reciprocate it. Like you just have a better 509 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:42,960 working environment. And these, I mean, you're 510 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:45,520 working with these people 607080 hours a week. 511 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:48,520 You might as well enjoy, enjoy that. 512 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:52,840 So I think like getting people to understand from the beginning 513 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:55,000 that like they're the choices that they're making, that 514 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:58,640 they're making have impact on other people's lives, I think 515 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:01,880 we'll make them think twice about the way that they're 516 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:03,560 behaving. And I think, at least for me, 517 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:04,960 the great thing about the Russians that I've worked at, 518 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:10,800 it's like everybody was so much about the same outcome that 519 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:12,680 like, if you weren't, you would just be ostracized. 520 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:15,800 Like the rest of the team would just not jive with you. 521 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:18,400 Like it'd be very clear that we we don't gel together. 522 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:19,600 We don't think about the same stuff. 523 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,080 Well, it's interesting because, you know, and what I do, I talk 524 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:24,600 to a lot of chefs and cooks. And a lot of times when you're a 525 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:26,520 young cook, you don't understand. 526 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:27,960 Why does no one like me here? Yeah. 527 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:31,320 You think everyone hates you because, you know, for whatever 528 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:33,320 reason, you think of all these reasons that they don't like 529 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:36,000 you, but the main reason is because you're not good. 530 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:40,160 That's that's the main reason. It's not all these other reasons 531 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:41,400 that you think they don't like you. 532 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:44,680 It's that they depend on you to do a certain task and when you 533 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:47,120 don't deliver it, they have to pick up the slack. 534 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:50,000 And, and I just, and, and I wish that more people knew that, like 535 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:52,600 if you don't have the skill set, if you just had a fucking great 536 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:56,240 attitude, dude, Like I'm, I never went to culinary school. 537 00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:58,440 I literally just was willing to be there at all times. 538 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:00,880 Like whatever you need, I'll be there at all times, you know, 539 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:04,240 and like, that's the other part of where it's like, it's not, we 540 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:07,560 don't like you because we, we see that chef told you to slice 541 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:10,840 this thing with, with your knife to this thickness and I see you 542 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:13,120 using a mandolin, fucking hacking through this thing. 543 00:24:13,120 --> 00:24:16,720 Like, I know, I know you're pressed for time like me too. 544 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:20,840 Like you're, you're either going to have a shit day, you're going 545 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:24,040 to go home and, and you know, have pain and reflection and 546 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:28,480 then come back the next day and try to do it differently or, or 547 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:30,200 you're not like you're just going to be like, no, well, I 548 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:31,200 just want to be able to do this way. 549 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:33,680 OK, well, you can't. I don't. 550 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:35,080 I don't. I don't know what you're going 551 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:36,440 to say. Like there's a standard and we 552 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:39,240 all have to, like, we have to uphold that standard. 553 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:41,160 Yeah. And something else that you know 554 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:43,840 for for young cooks listening that maybe you are in a position 555 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:46,840 where your skill set doesn't match the rest of the team. 556 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:48,320 You're at a you're at a lower skill set. 557 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:50,200 There's things that you can do. You could fold everyone's 558 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:51,800 towels. You could make sure everyone has 559 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:52,900 plate wipes. You could make sure the walk 560 00:24:52,900 --> 00:24:54,440 in's clean. You could do some of those 561 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:56,240 things that they don't want to do right. 562 00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:58,600 You could, you could say, hey, look, sorry about this. 563 00:24:58,600 --> 00:24:59,960 I'm going to take care of your station tonight. 564 00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:02,400 I'm going to hear all your labels, whatever. 565 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:04,280 Like there's little things that you could do that don't 566 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:09,720 necessarily require skill, but would be emotional investments 567 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:11,040 in them. Like, hey, you know what? 568 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:12,800 They're not such, they're not such a shit head. 569 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:13,920 Like they cleaned my station for me. 570 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:15,920 They they made sure the walk in was tight, whatever, right? 571 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:19,680 But in But instead, a lot of times cooks get frustrated 572 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:22,400 because they went to culinary school or they have some 573 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:24,560 understanding or they have some experience and they think I am 574 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:26,600 good. And then they get around a bunch 575 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:29,640 of people that are on a higher level than them, better than 576 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:33,080 them, And then they think, well, you shouldn't be treating me 577 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:35,840 like this because I'm good. Like you got to be good here. 578 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:41,560 You never arrive like it's you're never there, dude. 579 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:43,760 Like there's always I'm, I'm telling you that there's levels 580 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:46,280 to this shit like in every capacity, there's levels to this 581 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:49,440 thing. Like, and you should also know 582 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:52,240 that if you're at the bottom of the totem pole, like that is a 583 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:54,320 very good thing. Like that means that there's a 584 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:57,640 really big gap from where you are and where you want to be and 585 00:25:57,640 --> 00:25:59,280 that you have a lot of room to grow there. 586 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:02,080 Like once you work every station and then you become a sous chef 587 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:04,720 and then you, you take care of the AM team and you know how to 588 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:06,560 do that. And like you can look around you 589 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:10,080 and maybe the CDC position is taken or the exact like once you 590 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:14,520 once you hit a wall, it, it becomes like the gap closes 591 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:17,760 between like you and the other two chefs and then the CDC and 592 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:19,800 the head chef. Like there's still a gap, but 593 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:21,600 that that closes not quite as big. 594 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:23,800 And maybe at that point it might be time for you to move on. 595 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:26,880 If you can look in in the future, a couple of years and 596 00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:28,520 you're like, none of these people are leaving. 597 00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:30,920 Like I'm not going to be learning anything else while I'm 598 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:32,000 here. Like I kind of know how to 599 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:33,720 operate at this level. If that's what you want to do. 600 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:36,680 Some people stay places for eight years and and if that's 601 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:39,640 what you want to do, like do it. But I think people should know, 602 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:41,200 especially if you're a young cook, like if you're in a 603 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:44,440 position where you're like, dude, like I'm at the bottom of 604 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:46,320 the totem pole here. That's a great position to be 605 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:49,600 in, even if you're in business. Like I had to like I had to join 606 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:53,400 an entrepreneurial organization because I'm just like, OK, I 607 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:55,760 know a lot about cooking, but I don't know a lot about how to 608 00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:57,600 run a business. Like I was a sous chef at 609 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:00,080 whatever, a mission star restaurant, which is cool. 610 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:02,880 And there's, you know, that there was a lot that I took from 611 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:04,640 that into like how to do my business. 612 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:07,040 But all of a sudden, like now you have to learn everything 613 00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:08,720 else about the business. And when I look at the 614 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:11,720 structure, even if it's, you know, your, your classical 615 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:15,760 kitchen structure, you're like, why is there an executive chef? 616 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:19,000 And why is there ACDC? And like, why is the CDC in 617 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:20,760 control of all food? If you're the executive chef? 618 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:24,200 And it's like, in my mind, I'm like, OK, the executive chef is 619 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:27,760 responsible for like marketing, like getting people to be in 620 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:29,640 seats. Like that's really your job. 621 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:31,760 You're looking at at all of it. And, and like there's somebody 622 00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:34,360 handling the food part and there's somebody handling the 623 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:36,720 the front of house part. But like you're there kind of 624 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:38,400 like trying to control that whole thing. 625 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:42,000 And that's also a skill set. Like you got to figure out how 626 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:44,720 do we let people know about our product and how do we get these 627 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:47,240 people to be in here? Right, right. 628 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:50,200 You bring up such a good point and, and it's actually, I was 629 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:52,600 thinking about doing a, a solo podcast on this, about the 630 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:55,840 difference in the way people view themselves and what's in 631 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:58,440 front of them 'cause you have a, a cook, the only thing that they 632 00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:00,720 see is the pans and the mees in front of them. 633 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:04,080 And then maybe you have ACDP who overseas one or two cooks. 634 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:07,040 Well, they see what they see, but they also see two other 635 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:08,680 people that are supposed to help them get the job done. 636 00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:10,960 The sous chef might oversee 5 people. 637 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:14,200 And so they have a little bit of a, of a greater scope. 638 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:16,920 The chef de cuisine might oversee 10 and they see 639 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:19,080 everything that's going on in the kitchen, the executive chef, 640 00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:23,440 chef owner overseas, everything. They, they have a different 641 00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:26,560 perspective and they're, they're viewing everything and they have 642 00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:30,480 to be able to do all those jobs, but they're also doing a 643 00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:33,840 different job. And that job is the is to make 644 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:36,440 sure the whole is running and they're making decisions based 645 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:39,400 on the whole, not necessarily where the cook is looking at it. 646 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:43,320 Like I'm making decisions based on my pan and my mesum plus and 647 00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:45,960 so your decision making process just keeps expanding outwards. 648 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:48,440 Yeah. Hard for people to understand 649 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:50,560 that super because a lot of times when you're the cook you 650 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:53,280 think why is chef making this decision to screw me over? 651 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,560 It's like he's not. He or she is not making that 652 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:57,520 decision to screw you over. They're usually making a 653 00:28:57,520 --> 00:28:59,040 decision on what's best for the whole. 654 00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:03,640 It's yeah, I think you just have to be able to step out too. 655 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:07,160 You got to get to that point, man, where it's like you're, 656 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:09,840 you're responsible for people's livelihoods. 657 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:13,320 It is a different conversation. Like, you know, even being on a 658 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:15,880 chef podcast, I'm like, this is so much more than just cooking. 659 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:18,680 Like cooking is just like you could do this stuff with your 660 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:20,320 eyes closed at this point, right? 661 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:22,480 Like you do this thing for long enough. 662 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:27,200 It, it's not that difficult to, to, to cook at at a high level 663 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:29,880 if you work with good ingredients and use proper 664 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:33,440 technique. But dude, like you, you do 665 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:36,240 leadership stuff. I'm like, why is that such a big 666 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:37,680 thing? Like why are so many people 667 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:39,320 reach out about leadership stuff? 668 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:42,080 Because like that's a really critical skill set of trying to 669 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:45,000 get a bunch of people to see one vision and align them towards 670 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:46,680 that vision on an everyday basis. 671 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:50,400 When you're dealing with 30 different personalities and like 672 00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:52,640 where they're at in their lives and the things that they need, 673 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:56,600 right? Like it's you, you have to be 674 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:58,080 that person even even when you're a cook. 675 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:00,160 Like I, I think like that's kind of like one of the blessings 676 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:03,040 that I had is that like I kind of understood that from the 677 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:05,840 beginning where I'm just like, I play a small part into this very 678 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:08,600 big thing. Whereas like I don't think a lot 679 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:10,720 of people kind of see that the moment that they're like, well, 680 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,400 I don't feel like I'm advancing enough or I or quickly enough 681 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:14,960 for to my own standard. Like now all of a sudden, like 682 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:17,240 you want to leave, but I'm like, you got to put in that time. 683 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:22,160 Like if you only work there for six months to a year, you get to 684 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:24,280 a certain level and then you go to the same place and then you 685 00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:26,560 start at the bottom again. Like you, you might as well just 686 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:29,200 have stayed somewhere for three years and try to figure out 687 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:31,960 exactly that, that just getting your lens to be a little bit 688 00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:34,840 wider, right? Leadership your, your culinary 689 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:38,440 skills get you so far, but leadership allows you to become 690 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:40,160 a force multiplier with your culinary skills. 691 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:44,960 If you're able to pass that on to a larger group where business 692 00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:47,320 acumen now allows you to scale your leadership skills to 693 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:49,200 multiple, multiple restaurants or whatever. 694 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:51,880 I want to ask you about your business because it's it's an 695 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:55,000 interesting business model and not a lot of people that I've 696 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,880 actually, you might be the first guest I've had on the show that 697 00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:00,000 kind of does what you do. Can you explain to people kind 698 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:01,960 of what your business is and what your business model is? 699 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:03,160 Yeah. So it's called Aventador. 700 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:05,960 We're essentially we're a luxury private dining company. 701 00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:08,120 What that really means is like we're a moving restaurant. 702 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:10,520 We provide all plateware, glassware, silverware, linen, 703 00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:12,560 napkins. We have sommeliers on a team, 704 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:15,760 mixologists on a team. So it's all-encompassing as far 705 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:19,480 as, you know, dining experience and anything food and beverage 706 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:20,800 we do. We don't really do any like 707 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:22,920 corporate catering or drop offs or, or stuff like that. 708 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:26,320 Like we'll do parties for corporate companies, but nothing 709 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:28,440 like that. So we'll do, you know, smaller 710 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:31,280 weddings that are like 80 to like 100 people very much kind 711 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:35,320 of cater towards people that are foodies, if you will, like 712 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:37,080 people that really care about their food at their wedding as 713 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:39,840 supposed to decor. Like, I'm not saying like these 714 00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:41,560 people are super well off. They have it all, but I just 715 00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:43,280 mean like food is really important to them. 716 00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:46,680 So stuff like that. And the rest of it is, you know, 717 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:47,840 private dining in people's homes. 718 00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:49,520 And so we're just doing tasting menus and. 719 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:51,000 And how did you get started doing that? 720 00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:53,480 It was and you didn't have a background in that. 721 00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:55,000 Right, No, no, it was, it was COVID. 722 00:31:55,000 --> 00:32:00,240 I, I was, I was, I hit up my, my, my show from the Ellenia 723 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:03,160 group at the time. I was like, well, anyway, as I 724 00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:08,880 was leaving the Ellenia group, I was like, I want to move to Napa 725 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:11,000 or like, you know, somewhere else and I wanted to work at 726 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:13,200 another three star place. So, you know, he set me up with 727 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:16,800 a bunch of stages. I went and staged at a bunch of 728 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:22,080 places and I got a job at, at a restaurant in, in Napa. 729 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:25,520 And then they're like cool, like in a, in a couple of months, 730 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:27,680 like you'll move out here, like, you know, etcetera, etcetera. 731 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:31,240 And so like I move back where I go back to Chicago, I'm, I'm 732 00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:36,880 hanging out and COVID hits it. It just, I mean, I don't know, 733 00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:38,960 like it felt weird, right? Like all of a sudden everybody's 734 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:42,840 like furloughed and, and like anybody else, I thought this 735 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:44,160 thing is just going to blow over, right. 736 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:46,880 We're just like, here, here's another whatever hoax like. 737 00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:48,480 Everything. Everything's going to go back to 738 00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:49,440 normal. And. 739 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:53,200 So like, but I, I got so bored, like I was just hanging out at 740 00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:55,440 the house for like a week and a half and I was just used to 741 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:59,080 working 607080 hours a week. And I was like, dude, I'm, I'm 742 00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:00,840 bored out of my mind. And people were like supporting 743 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:03,640 small businesses at the time. And you know, that was kind of 744 00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:07,320 like the, the central focus. And so I just like started 745 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:09,920 cooking meals out of my house. I was like, look, I'll take 746 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:12,080 orders today. This is what I'm cooking. 747 00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:14,640 Like on Friday or Saturday, I'll either come drop off or you can 748 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:17,480 come pick it up literally just to stay busy. 749 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:21,560 And the first week I got like 60 orders and I was like, all 750 00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:23,720 right, like I did that. It did that for a couple of 751 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:24,640 weeks. It just kept growing. 752 00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:26,280 It kept getting bigger. And one of my purveyors hit me 753 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:27,880 up and was like, hey, do you want to do a private event for 754 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:31,320 somebody? And I said, yes, I did that. 755 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:33,800 And I was like, well, I just made in one day what I would 756 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:36,320 otherwise make in a week. And so I kind of started 757 00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:39,200 shifting that attention to doing more of those. 758 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:42,800 And it's been crazy because it's all been organic in terms of 759 00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:45,120 like growth, Like people just keep coming to us like this is 760 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:47,360 the first time that I've hired somebody full time. 761 00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:49,680 So you don't do any like marketing ads or anything like 762 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:50,320 that? No. 763 00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:52,320 Everything is organic word of mouth. 764 00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:55,360 Yeah, I just, I just hired somebody and I'm in, I'm in year 765 00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:57,760 4 now. I just hired somebody to be full 766 00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:02,160 time outreach salesperson. So we can start focusing on some 767 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:05,720 more like kind of global stuff, like start going in other places 768 00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:08,760 of the world or just like the wedding industry and even the 769 00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:10,960 country, just just doing more, more things. 770 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:14,840 So I want to ask you about your business acumen and and how you 771 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:19,280 got there because you were going from predominant cooking 772 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:22,199 positions right into predominant. 773 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:24,199 You still have to cook, but you also have to run a business now. 774 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:27,080 Everything. How much did, how much did you 775 00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:29,600 know going into it and how much did you have to learn? 776 00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:32,639 And what were some of the the big learnings that we could give 777 00:34:32,639 --> 00:34:34,320 the audience? Like, hey, if you're going to do 778 00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:36,159 this, here's some things that you might want to think about. 779 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:40,280 I would say I probably knew zero about it because I like this is 780 00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:42,360 not something that I really was going to take seriously. 781 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:44,280 Like I was like, I'm doing this just in the in between. 782 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:47,560 And then at some point I, I started to see it really kind of 783 00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:51,239 take off to the point where I was like, OK, now I'm 784 00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:52,760 reinvesting all into the business. 785 00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:55,000 Like I started out of my house and then a friend at the time 786 00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:57,240 was doing something similar and he was like building out a 787 00:34:57,240 --> 00:34:58,560 kitchen. So I got to work with him there 788 00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:01,120 and you don't pay partial rent and blah, blah. 789 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:04,120 He helped me out a lot in the beginning there until I like, I 790 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:05,760 literally just saved every dollar. 791 00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:07,960 Like I was like not paying myself for the first few years. 792 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:09,600 Like I don't, I don't even care about money like that. 793 00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:11,960 Like, not to say I really love investing, like I love playing 794 00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:14,280 the game, but like, as far as like me, like I wasn't even 795 00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:16,240 paying myself on like I just want to keep playing this game. 796 00:35:16,240 --> 00:35:19,080 So I was just taking all that money buying, you know, 797 00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:22,560 plateware, glassware, silverware, saved all the money 798 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:25,760 to, you know, buy, buy a space built out of kitchen space. 799 00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:30,880 And so like, I was just kind of guessing the entire way until I 800 00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:33,000 started like I joined this entrepreneurial organization a 801 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:37,480 couple years ago because I was like, OK, man, like I don't know 802 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:38,680 enough about business. Like you. 803 00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:41,680 What ends up happening is that you are a generalist in the 804 00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:43,840 beginning. It, you're wearing all the hats 805 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:45,840 and you're a generalist and, and everything, whether that's 806 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:48,640 marketing or sales, like you're doing it all. 807 00:35:48,640 --> 00:35:51,360 Like the first person I I hired full time was an accountant. 808 00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:53,880 So like, I just need like somebody to bounce ideas about 809 00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:55,280 this money thing. Like I need to kind of like 810 00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:56,800 understand the cash flow of this thing, all the. 811 00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:59,560 Time you pay your taxes. Yeah, yeah, for sure. 812 00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:02,880 I mean, and so like I, I wish that. 813 00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:06,040 I wish that if I had to do it all over again, I would have had 814 00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:09,040 a Better Business plan. Like I would have known who my 815 00:36:09,040 --> 00:36:11,200 avatar is. Like who am I trying to target 816 00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:13,640 and just how much market cap is there? 817 00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:15,880 Like how big can this thing actually get and what would it 818 00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:18,480 actually take? Like I'd, I'd just at least do 819 00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:22,680 like mock numbers being like realistically like how big is my 820 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:25,200 pool of people that I can actually feed into this thing 821 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:28,160 all the time? Do you enjoy this business more 822 00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:30,560 than restaurant business? Yeah, 100%. 823 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:34,440 And the only reason I, I, I say that is because I get to be my 824 00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:40,000 own boss, which I just man, like I, I, I think that people might 825 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:41,800 be listening to this thing and they're like, I can do that. 826 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:43,000 Like I can look at it as Instagram. 827 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:46,880 I'm telling you, like it is, it is not that like we do the stuff 828 00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:49,240 on Instagram and it's beautiful and it's, and it's really great. 829 00:36:49,240 --> 00:36:52,200 It's, it's awesome cooking. But do like the majority of it 830 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:56,600 is, is, is is business like you just it, it's the people 831 00:36:56,600 --> 00:36:59,640 component, it's the cash component, it's the execution 832 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:03,360 component like. I'm sure there's also a big 833 00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:05,240 logistics. Component there is a big yeah, 834 00:37:05,240 --> 00:37:08,200 you're, you're in a different space doing a different menu 835 00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:13,040 with different pairings almost. We have pretty similar staff, 836 00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:15,280 but like you, you have different stuff like these. 837 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:16,880 Some of these people are contractors, some of them are 838 00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:18,800 full time, right. So you're like, how? 839 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:22,800 Like, how do you get people that work with you once or twice a 840 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:25,600 week to believe in the dream the same way that the people that 841 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:26,440 are there? Yeah. 842 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:29,440 And a really scary component that people don't think about. 843 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:31,520 You can't fuck up someone's wedding. 844 00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:35,400 No, dude, and it's for sure, for sure, like you're not do like 845 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:41,080 every event that we do is like a 50th birthday, like a graduation 846 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:42,400 or, or whatever. Like it's something really 847 00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:43,840 important. And not to say that that's not 848 00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:46,120 the same thing in restaurants, but you know, some people are 849 00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:47,840 just like we're, we're going to go out to this restaurant and 850 00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:51,480 spend 200 bucks and we're going to have dinner. 851 00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:54,160 We'll, we'll grab a couple of sides, whatever, 1 main and have 852 00:37:54,160 --> 00:37:56,360 a glass of wine or two a piece and like it'll be like 200, two, 853 00:37:56,360 --> 00:37:58,240 150 bucks, whatever. Like it's not that big of a 854 00:37:58,240 --> 00:37:59,960 deal. It's a Wednesday night when 855 00:37:59,960 --> 00:38:03,800 people are spending 10 grand, 20 grand, 30 grand. 856 00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:05,960 Like it's a, it's a different conversation. 857 00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:08,280 And I will say at the same time, like, man, if I've learned 858 00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:11,480 anything about like the way that wealthy people behave, I'm like 859 00:38:11,640 --> 00:38:15,160 try to sell expensive products to people that have the money, 860 00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:18,600 like trying to get people to be satisfied with like going to a 861 00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:20,280 restaurant. They're like, the bill was $80. 862 00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:23,560 I'm like, you have no fucking idea how much time and effort it 863 00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:25,040 took for you to get this food in front of you. 864 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:28,080 And this restaurant is actually making like 2 to 3% in margins. 865 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:33,320 So, but still, I mean, it's, it's, it's just coming to terms 866 00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:35,000 with how the actual machine works. 867 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:37,840 Like, I think you should try to have an idea and you might not 868 00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:41,320 get it right the first time, but just have an idea of like, where 869 00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:44,360 is this money coming from? Like how many people am I going 870 00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:46,080 to need to make this thing happen? 871 00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:47,720 And like, what are the logistics of it? 872 00:38:48,200 --> 00:38:50,600 You know, like, and I can go really deep into that kind of 873 00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:52,440 stuff because I'm such a nerd about it at this point. 874 00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:57,720 But it's it, it's almost like the bigger you get, the more it 875 00:38:57,720 --> 00:38:59,440 becomes like this monster in a way. 876 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:01,320 Like there was a point where I was like, OK, this thing is a 877 00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:03,440 monster that like I created. They're like, I almost can't 878 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:05,080 stop. Like once you look at your 879 00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:07,880 monthly bills, you're like, oh, OK, this is different than like 880 00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:09,720 me cooking out of my house with my buddies. 881 00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:13,760 Now you're like, I have people on salary and health insurance 882 00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:15,920 and all this stuff, right? You're like, I'm responsible for 883 00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:18,840 people's livelihood and like nobody cares at the end of the 884 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:21,080 day. Like you got to look at this 885 00:39:21,080 --> 00:39:23,080 list and you'll be like all these bills got to get paid and 886 00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:27,560 that you go from having 2 grand to 5 to 10 to 50 and you're 887 00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:29,640 like, it's crazy, right? Like. 888 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:32,920 How, what are the margins like? So you, you had mentioned like 889 00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:35,960 restaurant margins, sometimes you know, 1% sometimes negative, 890 00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:38,800 right, depending on the restaurant you're putting money 891 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:41,280 in, you're taking no money to the bank or you're not getting 892 00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:43,720 paid. How are the margins different in 893 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:46,760 in your business? From, from my, from my, my 894 00:39:46,760 --> 00:39:49,680 understanding at least is like most restaurants have anywhere 895 00:39:49,680 --> 00:39:52,560 between like three to 10 and that's pretty average. 896 00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:55,160 And that's if you're doing like 15, like that's pretty good. 897 00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:56,720 Like that's. Pretty. 898 00:39:56,840 --> 00:40:00,680 Pretty, pretty solid for us. It's anywhere between like 22 to 899 00:40:00,680 --> 00:40:02,080 25%. That's great. 900 00:40:02,160 --> 00:40:03,320 Yeah. And like my food glass is 901 00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:06,680 generally like 11%. And can you explain why that is? 902 00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:13,720 Well, I get to quote UN quote charge a lot more because of how 903 00:40:13,720 --> 00:40:17,640 much goes on in the back, right? Like we're not opening of a 904 00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:21,440 restaurant to cook for tons of people where it's like once I 905 00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:24,240 buy this product, like I have to cook it for you, all these 906 00:40:24,240 --> 00:40:27,000 things are done just for you. It's personalized just for you. 907 00:40:28,160 --> 00:40:30,000 You're not buying for 20 different menu items, you're 908 00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:31,520 buying for what you ordered. Yeah, exactly. 909 00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:34,080 And like, and it's, and it's a lot of, it's a lot of work 910 00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:38,600 because OK, like I can also like I can only I might not need a 911 00:40:38,600 --> 00:40:42,640 case of tomatoes, like I might not need a case of whatever. 912 00:40:42,640 --> 00:40:45,200 So like I, I can't necessarily have everything delivered to me 913 00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:46,440 all the time. Now I got to run to the store 914 00:40:46,440 --> 00:40:48,400 also. So like once a week on Monday, 915 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:50,080 it's like I'm going to the store, I'm hand picking up a 916 00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:55,240 bunch of this stuff like I don't get, you know, seafood from like 917 00:40:55,240 --> 00:40:56,640 the grocery store. Like I have to go to my 918 00:40:56,640 --> 00:40:58,040 prepares. And thankfully, like the whole 919 00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:01,560 system is really well set up to where I like I live and work 920 00:41:01,560 --> 00:41:04,240 really close to. And it's right next to like the 921 00:41:05,720 --> 00:41:07,920 like the food District in Chicago where I can go pick up a 922 00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:09,040 lot of this stuff, which is great. 923 00:41:09,040 --> 00:41:12,560 But like, it's, it's just a totally different experience. 924 00:41:12,600 --> 00:41:14,600 And like, we're only doing one of these a night. 925 00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:18,640 Like not everybody can have the the experience, right? 926 00:41:18,640 --> 00:41:19,440 We're not. Yeah. 927 00:41:19,840 --> 00:41:22,800 I'd imagine during the holidays you probably our spread per. 928 00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:27,800 We did 30 events in 23 days. Biggest month to date. 929 00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:29,960 I mean just crazy and like it just didn't feel hard. 930 00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:32,480 No, no. You have a good team around you, 931 00:41:32,680 --> 00:41:34,400 Super. So when you're looking to hire 932 00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:37,600 people to work with you specifically in this, what are 933 00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:42,240 you, what are you looking for? We're looking for we, we, we 934 00:41:42,240 --> 00:41:46,520 have company values, which is not like most restaurants that 935 00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:50,320 are just like you've been so inundated and, and everybody's 936 00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:52,040 just like, so ride a die or at least like in the kind of 937 00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:54,520 restaurants that I've worked at where it's like nobody ever 938 00:41:54,520 --> 00:41:56,880 talked to you about company values. 939 00:41:56,880 --> 00:41:59,400 That sounds really corporate. But like the further that I've 940 00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:02,720 gotten along, the more I've been like, OK, here's the actual 941 00:42:02,720 --> 00:42:05,440 issue is like when you, when you when I first started, I would 942 00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:07,200 just hire my friends and being like all these people I've 943 00:42:07,200 --> 00:42:10,640 worked at 1-2 or three Mission Star restaurants, like they know 944 00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:12,480 what's going on. They know how to do this until 945 00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:14,920 you realize everybody has different systems. 946 00:42:15,440 --> 00:42:17,600 So it's like now you're getting frustrated because you haven't 947 00:42:17,600 --> 00:42:19,040 communicated anything to anybody. 948 00:42:19,280 --> 00:42:23,200 And like you think that they're doing certain things because 949 00:42:23,200 --> 00:42:24,320 they don't give a shit or whatever. 950 00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:26,760 And you're just like, yeah, bro, you need to actually just like 951 00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:29,680 be clear communicating. That's my issue, right? 952 00:42:30,760 --> 00:42:33,120 Or, or was, and it's something that I had to like look back at. 953 00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:36,040 And so like now we have very specific, you know, they have 954 00:42:36,040 --> 00:42:38,840 their handbook when they come in, like we have company values 955 00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:42,480 and, and most of them are fairly basic, like, you know, 956 00:42:42,480 --> 00:42:45,760 hospitality, humility, preparedness is another one. 957 00:42:45,760 --> 00:42:48,120 And then the last one, which is kind of the bigger one is 958 00:42:48,560 --> 00:42:54,640 devotion, which is I just, this is, and this is one that we 959 00:42:54,640 --> 00:42:59,480 played with a lot because you know, people, it's people, it's 960 00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:01,440 just a very intense work for a lot of people. 961 00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:02,960 They're just like, do you mean commitment? 962 00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:04,520 Like do you mean like involvement? 963 00:43:04,520 --> 00:43:05,840 And I'm like, no, I mean devotion. 964 00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:09,160 Like I just, I, I need you to be all in and I need you to be all 965 00:43:09,160 --> 00:43:11,120 about the things that we're doing. 966 00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:14,280 And I don't mean I need you to be in all in on me or my vision. 967 00:43:14,280 --> 00:43:16,440 I need you to be the kind of person that's all in on 968 00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:19,320 themselves. Like I don't want to babysit and 969 00:43:19,320 --> 00:43:22,080 I don't want to do any hand holding. 970 00:43:22,080 --> 00:43:25,640 I need you to take personal accountability that you just 971 00:43:25,640 --> 00:43:28,280 want to do a good job. Like I, I just don't care. 972 00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:30,000 I don't want a pat on the back from anybody. 973 00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:32,680 I don't care if I had a service and people were like, that was 974 00:43:32,680 --> 00:43:34,880 the best meal of my life, which I've had people tell me that, 975 00:43:34,880 --> 00:43:35,680 right? They're just like, that was 976 00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:36,720 literally the best meal of my life. 977 00:43:36,720 --> 00:43:38,880 I'm like, if I'm not happy with it, I'm not happy with it. 978 00:43:39,320 --> 00:43:43,440 So I, I'm looking for these, I'm looking for these kind of 979 00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:45,800 qualities to begin with. And then everything that's 980 00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:49,040 around that is, is basically like that's how we hire, fire, 981 00:43:49,040 --> 00:43:51,120 train a reward. It's just based on those things. 982 00:43:51,120 --> 00:43:53,960 So like we know from the beginning, like when I'm hiring 983 00:43:53,960 --> 00:43:55,720 these people, like they're meeting with three of us. 984 00:43:56,160 --> 00:43:58,080 Like all like I've never used a staffing agency. 985 00:43:58,080 --> 00:44:00,680 They're either people that I've personally worked with or people 986 00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:04,920 that we have that have come highly recommended by somebody 987 00:44:04,920 --> 00:44:06,520 else. Or even when we've done like 988 00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:09,160 interviews, like if they're not trying to meet with, you know, 989 00:44:10,080 --> 00:44:12,200 three people on the team and see what they all think about then 990 00:44:12,200 --> 00:44:13,640 that you're not coming to hang out with us anyway. 991 00:44:13,640 --> 00:44:15,000 And is your business all in Chicago? 992 00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:17,200 It's primarily in Chicago. We'll do like the surrounding 993 00:44:17,200 --> 00:44:18,600 states. And then we've been, you know, 994 00:44:18,600 --> 00:44:20,480 starting to fly around to different places and stuff too, 995 00:44:20,480 --> 00:44:23,600 but. You gotta get get on the F1. 996 00:44:24,120 --> 00:44:26,480 Yeah, Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's we'll see, man. 997 00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:27,800 We'll see where, where this thing takes us. 998 00:44:27,800 --> 00:44:30,840 But yeah. So I'm just curious and I, and I 999 00:44:30,840 --> 00:44:33,840 don't know the answers because I've only done a handful of 1000 00:44:34,080 --> 00:44:37,760 private catering. And what I have noticed in the 1001 00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:42,560 handful that I've done is that the menus that people select are 1002 00:44:42,560 --> 00:44:45,040 usually like, I mean, I, I always listen to a podcast. 1003 00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:46,960 The chef's cut shout out to to those guys. 1004 00:44:47,280 --> 00:44:50,000 They had Michael Anthony on from Gramercy Tavern and he was 1005 00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:54,760 talking about how when he took over at Gramercy, he wanted to 1006 00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:57,920 take off the filet mignon with the saboline onions, thinking 1007 00:44:58,000 --> 00:45:01,600 like, I don't want to cook this, but people revolted because 1008 00:45:01,640 --> 00:45:03,640 that's what they went for. That was their favorite dish. 1009 00:45:03,640 --> 00:45:07,400 I would imagine that it's probably not always what you 1010 00:45:07,400 --> 00:45:10,360 want to cook. I would say probably 95% of the 1011 00:45:10,360 --> 00:45:13,680 time it is. And and then I would say the 1012 00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:17,480 other 5% is me just being kind. You know, the, the one thing 1013 00:45:17,480 --> 00:45:19,680 that I will say is that like, I actually don't care that much 1014 00:45:19,680 --> 00:45:23,920 about feeling like I'm being creative or like I'm doing my 1015 00:45:23,920 --> 00:45:25,520 food. It is more important to me that 1016 00:45:25,520 --> 00:45:30,280 these people are really enjoying their time, but I think that 1017 00:45:30,280 --> 00:45:33,440 we're positioned in a way where people are looking at us as the 1018 00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:35,800 experts and I hold all the consultations like. 1019 00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:39,960 When when you're designing menus is do you have like a set menu 1020 00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:42,240 and you present or do you go? Is everything custom with a 1021 00:45:42,240 --> 00:45:43,480 guest? Everything is custom with a 1022 00:45:43,480 --> 00:45:44,840 guest. Like of course I'll repeat 1023 00:45:44,840 --> 00:45:46,240 dishes. And if it's morale season, like 1024 00:45:46,240 --> 00:45:48,520 I'm going to have morale season. Like put it this way, like let's 1025 00:45:48,520 --> 00:45:50,640 say February 17th or something, right? 1026 00:45:50,640 --> 00:45:53,120 Like I have an event that day and then you hit me up and say, 1027 00:45:53,120 --> 00:45:54,600 hey, I need something for February 18th. 1028 00:45:54,920 --> 00:45:58,400 I'm going to try to give you that menu if it aligns right and 1029 00:45:58,400 --> 00:46:00,440 if you say no, but that's completely fine, then we'll do 1030 00:46:00,440 --> 00:46:02,200 something different. But like I'll I'll try to use 1031 00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:03,800 that as a way to just be like, OK, cool. 1032 00:46:03,800 --> 00:46:06,280 Then I can just do this menu or like at least components from 1033 00:46:06,280 --> 00:46:10,160 this menu two days in a row. But like I said, I host all the 1034 00:46:10,160 --> 00:46:11,560 consultations. So when I'm on the phone with 1035 00:46:11,560 --> 00:46:13,360 people, I'm just like, you know, what direction do you want us to 1036 00:46:13,360 --> 00:46:14,480 go in? You're like Mediterranean, 1037 00:46:14,480 --> 00:46:16,720 Asian, Latin flavors. Are there any do not likes? 1038 00:46:16,720 --> 00:46:18,240 Is there anything that you absolutely hate? 1039 00:46:18,240 --> 00:46:19,880 Are there things that you absolutely love? 1040 00:46:20,040 --> 00:46:21,600 Right. And, and people will kind of 1041 00:46:21,600 --> 00:46:25,120 give you a lot of this information and then basically I 1042 00:46:25,120 --> 00:46:26,880 tell them I'm like, look like nothing to set in stone. 1043 00:46:26,880 --> 00:46:28,840 I'm going to send you over a menu, take a look at it, say we 1044 00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:30,760 really like this, we want to make a change on that, and then 1045 00:46:30,760 --> 00:46:32,000 we'll work on it until we get it right. 1046 00:46:32,240 --> 00:46:33,600 What? What do you notice most clients 1047 00:46:33,600 --> 00:46:34,680 want? I. 1048 00:46:35,200 --> 00:46:37,680 I'm the reason I'm asking is because I think a lot of people 1049 00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:40,320 that want to get into your business might not know where to 1050 00:46:40,320 --> 00:46:41,880 begin when they start writing menus. 1051 00:46:41,920 --> 00:46:44,000 For sure. I think for me it's it's just 1052 00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:46,160 about having a little bit of a progression, right. 1053 00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:49,320 So like IIA, lot of my background is in French, 1054 00:46:49,320 --> 00:46:52,560 Japanese Mediterranean. So like I, I, I really like that 1055 00:46:52,560 --> 00:46:54,120 flavour profile, but that doesn't mean that we're not 1056 00:46:54,120 --> 00:46:59,320 doing Latin flavours or Asian etcetera like I want it to be. 1057 00:46:59,560 --> 00:47:03,400 I want them to have a variety or I guess enough of a variety. 1058 00:47:03,400 --> 00:47:08,080 So usually we're doing anywhere between like 5 to 7 courses. 1059 00:47:08,080 --> 00:47:10,760 And if they want more like 810, like we'll do that as well. 1060 00:47:11,200 --> 00:47:14,280 And obviously like that all changes on how large all the 1061 00:47:14,280 --> 00:47:16,440 bites are or how much they get per course. 1062 00:47:16,440 --> 00:47:20,640 But I love doing something like a crudo by a vegetable by like a 1063 00:47:20,640 --> 00:47:24,120 pasta or a grain by, you know, a main protein dish and then 1064 00:47:24,120 --> 00:47:29,240 dessert, right? So what percentage of the, of 1065 00:47:29,240 --> 00:47:31,880 the events that are you're that you're doing are, are plated, 1066 00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:33,960 coursed out dinners versus, you know, maybe they just want 1067 00:47:33,960 --> 00:47:35,720 family style or a buffet or something like that. 1068 00:47:35,880 --> 00:47:40,240 I'd say yeah, 95% of them are all tasty menus. 1069 00:47:40,720 --> 00:47:42,000 And sometimes that's actually good. 1070 00:47:42,040 --> 00:47:44,440 Yeah, yeah, sometimes they want to do family style and then like 1071 00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:47,280 I think they think that it'll be easier, but it's not easier 1072 00:47:47,280 --> 00:47:49,200 'cause now I got to bring all the plates plus the platters 1073 00:47:49,200 --> 00:47:52,480 plus the utensils and we're changing silverware in plates 1074 00:47:53,400 --> 00:47:55,640 and, and, and we're, and we're changing silverware in between 1075 00:47:55,640 --> 00:47:57,720 every course, right? Like we're, we're flipping 1076 00:47:57,720 --> 00:47:59,880 constantly. So and like there's literally 1077 00:47:59,880 --> 00:48:01,680 somebody like washing dishes the entire time, right? 1078 00:48:01,680 --> 00:48:03,480 Like it's, it's really like a, a whole operation. 1079 00:48:03,480 --> 00:48:06,320 Like we're not doing rentals. Like we bring the stuff, right? 1080 00:48:06,320 --> 00:48:08,720 Like we work with local corymicis that we have a lot of 1081 00:48:08,720 --> 00:48:11,640 beautiful plate wear all Rito glassware, right? 1082 00:48:11,640 --> 00:48:13,760 Like working with level 2-3 sommeliers, like. 1083 00:48:14,200 --> 00:48:19,080 And so yeah, I think their that their experience is like they, 1084 00:48:19,080 --> 00:48:21,480 they know that and the way that we're positioned. 1085 00:48:21,480 --> 00:48:24,560 So the majority of the time, like I'm almost never revising a 1086 00:48:24,560 --> 00:48:25,800 menu. Like I kind of just shoot them 1087 00:48:25,800 --> 00:48:28,480 something the first time they might say something like we 1088 00:48:28,480 --> 00:48:31,760 don't like duck, fine. Like do the chicken, the beef, 1089 00:48:31,760 --> 00:48:34,280 whatever it is. Like these things are fairly 1090 00:48:34,280 --> 00:48:37,720 interchangeable. I'm also at a point and you 1091 00:48:37,720 --> 00:48:40,040 know, I'm not not saying that people should be like this. 1092 00:48:40,040 --> 00:48:43,040 Like it's it's probably better if you do write a bunch of this 1093 00:48:43,040 --> 00:48:44,800 stuff down. But like I'm not really cooking 1094 00:48:44,800 --> 00:48:47,280 with recipes like because I'm so heavily involved. 1095 00:48:47,280 --> 00:48:49,200 Like I was just with Ron, like we just did this popping 1096 00:48:49,200 --> 00:48:51,080 together. Like we don't use recipes. 1097 00:48:51,080 --> 00:48:52,680 We're like, we're talking about that like. 1098 00:48:54,080 --> 00:48:55,600 You just not a cook. You just not a cook. 1099 00:48:55,680 --> 00:48:57,280 And when you're a small team like that and not a cook? 1100 00:48:57,280 --> 00:48:59,160 Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. There's three of us. 1101 00:48:59,160 --> 00:49:01,560 We're doing it all the time. Like there's repeat kind of 1102 00:49:01,800 --> 00:49:03,400 menus and I, I got my eyes on everything. 1103 00:49:03,400 --> 00:49:04,600 It's just, it's a little bit different. 1104 00:49:05,360 --> 00:49:07,120 But you know, for the people that are listening and, and 1105 00:49:07,120 --> 00:49:09,560 they're trying to do this thing, like, I mean, just just shoot 1106 00:49:09,560 --> 00:49:12,880 your shot, like send over a menu, see if they like it and if 1107 00:49:12,880 --> 00:49:16,240 they don't like change it. I think, you know, my my take on 1108 00:49:16,240 --> 00:49:21,040 recipes is the further out you go with people, the more you 1109 00:49:21,040 --> 00:49:23,160 need recipes. The tighter it is, the the less 1110 00:49:23,160 --> 00:49:25,480 you need, especially depending on how involved you are. 1111 00:49:26,120 --> 00:49:28,160 And even, I mean, sometimes I might need a recipe because I 1112 00:49:28,160 --> 00:49:29,600 want it to come out exactly the same way. 1113 00:49:30,120 --> 00:49:32,200 But for the most part, when you're just cooking, you're just 1114 00:49:32,200 --> 00:49:34,920 cooking. Yeah, interesting. 1115 00:49:35,480 --> 00:49:38,040 Your business is really fascinating for me because I 1116 00:49:38,120 --> 00:49:39,960 like, I don't, I never lived in that world. 1117 00:49:41,000 --> 00:49:46,040 But it seems, it seems like a lot of fun is if someone was 1118 00:49:46,040 --> 00:49:49,400 getting into the business and they were relatively new and you 1119 00:49:49,400 --> 00:49:52,080 said, hey, before you go on any event, here's some contingencies 1120 00:49:52,080 --> 00:49:55,320 that you always have to have before you go to any event. 1121 00:49:55,320 --> 00:49:56,960 What are some of those contingencies that you built? 1122 00:49:56,960 --> 00:49:58,440 Yeah, you, you got to have a contract. 1123 00:49:59,160 --> 00:50:01,440 Just just just have the contract. 1124 00:50:02,520 --> 00:50:04,680 Make sure that people are always signing the contract you. 1125 00:50:04,720 --> 00:50:06,000 Ask for half upfront or anything like. 1126 00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:08,840 That we, we do, we do a a 25% down payment. 1127 00:50:08,840 --> 00:50:11,520 The rest of it is due four days before. 1128 00:50:11,520 --> 00:50:17,320 No, yeah, four days before and don't just just don't go like if 1129 00:50:17,440 --> 00:50:18,800 and, and I've never had to do this. 1130 00:50:18,800 --> 00:50:21,840 Like fingers crossed. Like thankfully, like I would 1131 00:50:21,840 --> 00:50:24,160 say 100% of my clients have been really amazing. 1132 00:50:25,680 --> 00:50:27,040 And I've been very fortunate in that way. 1133 00:50:27,040 --> 00:50:29,520 But like, I've heard plenty of horror stories, like have a 1134 00:50:29,520 --> 00:50:33,800 contract just, you know, years ago, like I had to pay somebody 1135 00:50:33,800 --> 00:50:36,080 to do all this stuff for me. Like now you can have Chad GBT 1136 00:50:36,080 --> 00:50:40,840 do it or whatever, but the other thing is to have them send you 1137 00:50:40,840 --> 00:50:45,280 pictures of what you're cooking out of like their kitchens. 1138 00:50:45,280 --> 00:50:47,800 And the majority of the time, these people have beautiful 1139 00:50:47,800 --> 00:50:49,480 kitchens that they've never cooked out of. 1140 00:50:49,480 --> 00:50:51,920 Like you turn on the oven that you smell that it's never been 1141 00:50:51,920 --> 00:50:55,040 used, you know, but it's good for them to send you pictures. 1142 00:50:55,040 --> 00:50:56,880 And the reason I started having people do that is because like 1143 00:50:56,880 --> 00:51:00,920 I, I went to an affluent neighborhood in Chicago to do a 1144 00:51:00,920 --> 00:51:03,880 dinner one time, but it's just like a historic neighborhood. 1145 00:51:03,880 --> 00:51:06,280 So like you actually can't get permits to like make a lot of 1146 00:51:06,280 --> 00:51:08,160 changes. So in my mind, I'm thinking 1147 00:51:08,160 --> 00:51:09,640 they're probably going to have a beautiful space. 1148 00:51:09,640 --> 00:51:12,200 I go there. She lives in this high rise that 1149 00:51:12,200 --> 00:51:15,840 doesn't have a hood, super old, just smoked her house out, You 1150 00:51:15,840 --> 00:51:16,720 know what I mean? Like this. 1151 00:51:17,920 --> 00:51:20,600 And so just stuff like that, like always have a contract. 1152 00:51:20,600 --> 00:51:22,240 Always be very clear on the contract. 1153 00:51:22,240 --> 00:51:25,340 If there's if there's anything in the beginning of the quote UN 1154 00:51:25,340 --> 00:51:27,080 quote sale, like, you know, for me, it's not really a sale. 1155 00:51:27,080 --> 00:51:28,400 I'm just having a conversation with somebody. 1156 00:51:28,400 --> 00:51:30,560 But if there's anything that you think will blow up later, do 1157 00:51:30,560 --> 00:51:34,680 just say it now. Like you, you don't want to show 1158 00:51:34,680 --> 00:51:37,840 up and they thought that you had these terms and all of a sudden 1159 00:51:37,840 --> 00:51:40,600 you have these different terms like say it right, right in the 1160 00:51:40,600 --> 00:51:43,640 beginning. Do you go in with a lot of like 1161 00:51:43,640 --> 00:51:48,200 soup eater precision cooking to like a like a lot of the pre 1162 00:51:48,200 --> 00:51:50,840 work done, assuming you're going sauces are made, purees are 1163 00:51:50,840 --> 00:51:54,680 done, heat up, maybe finish some meat and go Yep, Yep. 1164 00:51:55,160 --> 00:51:57,640 Yep, at this point, like because I have my own kitchen, so like 1165 00:51:57,960 --> 00:52:00,600 it's just like prep in a regular restaurant, except I pack it up 1166 00:52:00,800 --> 00:52:03,160 and I just show up there and, and I just set up my station and 1167 00:52:03,160 --> 00:52:07,280 I just run service 10 top 12 Top 14 top whatever it is. 1168 00:52:07,280 --> 00:52:09,920 Like I think if I'm good at anything, it's like the 1169 00:52:09,920 --> 00:52:11,880 operational side of, of that sort of thing. 1170 00:52:11,880 --> 00:52:15,280 And again, like I've been cooking for so long that I have 1171 00:52:15,280 --> 00:52:19,400 a really good base of fundamental cooking to where now 1172 00:52:19,400 --> 00:52:22,520 I can like do stuff like sous video and whatever like. 1173 00:52:23,760 --> 00:52:26,400 And those things are really helpful, super helpful. 1174 00:52:26,400 --> 00:52:31,240 Like you just, you can either have the meat rest for 20-30 1175 00:52:31,240 --> 00:52:34,400 minutes or you can have a rest for 6 minutes like because you 1176 00:52:34,400 --> 00:52:35,720 already did the circulation of it. 1177 00:52:35,800 --> 00:52:40,800 So these tools are just just there for, for, for you to use. 1178 00:52:40,800 --> 00:52:45,960 But I, yeah, I think if, if you're, if you're somebody 1179 00:52:45,960 --> 00:52:49,800 that's just starting, dude, the other part of it, man, dude, 1180 00:52:49,800 --> 00:52:51,680 just just spend the money on the labor. 1181 00:52:52,800 --> 00:52:55,480 Like in the beginning, I would do crazy stuff, do like an 8 top 1182 00:52:55,480 --> 00:52:57,760 by myself. And now you're like cleaning all 1183 00:52:57,760 --> 00:52:59,280 the dishes you're doing. All of a sudden you just pay for 1184 00:52:59,280 --> 00:53:00,440 it. They'll have a better time to 1185 00:53:00,440 --> 00:53:02,160 like there. There's somebody out there that 1186 00:53:02,160 --> 00:53:05,000 just like loves to be a front of house person and just like do 1187 00:53:05,000 --> 00:53:07,440 all these touches and like and just having somebody there. 1188 00:53:08,040 --> 00:53:12,320 That's the other part of it is, is definitely just use, use the 1189 00:53:12,320 --> 00:53:15,160 labour. I think you know what the point 1190 00:53:15,160 --> 00:53:17,920 that I'm at now, like it's, it's so big that I'm just dealing 1191 00:53:17,920 --> 00:53:21,000 with a really big numbers to where like, you know, your 1192 00:53:21,000 --> 00:53:22,640 decisions matter a little bit more. 1193 00:53:22,840 --> 00:53:25,720 But even when you don't have a lot of it, like do that, you 1194 00:53:25,720 --> 00:53:27,720 don't have that much to lose. Like that's the other part of 1195 00:53:27,720 --> 00:53:30,720 where I'm like, just use it like try to like if I, if I could 1196 00:53:30,720 --> 00:53:33,000 start over again, like I would just pump way more money into 1197 00:53:33,000 --> 00:53:35,280 this thing way faster because I just know so much about the 1198 00:53:35,280 --> 00:53:38,160 things that would work, you know, but a part of it is just 1199 00:53:38,160 --> 00:53:39,440 you. You got to be able to make that 1200 00:53:39,440 --> 00:53:41,920 investment. It's not about the money. 1201 00:53:42,000 --> 00:53:43,720 Like you have to understand, it's not about the money. 1202 00:53:43,720 --> 00:53:47,480 Like the money will come you, you have to obsess about the 1203 00:53:47,480 --> 00:53:49,480 client experience. You're like, how how good of a 1204 00:53:49,480 --> 00:53:50,800 time is this person really having? 1205 00:53:51,240 --> 00:53:54,280 Like if you the other, the other thing is right when people hit 1206 00:53:54,280 --> 00:53:56,000 me up all the time, they're like, how do you get clientele? 1207 00:53:56,000 --> 00:53:58,360 I'm like, well, thankfully I've been blessed enough to where a 1208 00:53:58,360 --> 00:54:01,160 lot of this comes before me and I have a really awesome resume 1209 00:54:01,560 --> 00:54:04,760 that people can trust and we get tons of referrals. 1210 00:54:04,760 --> 00:54:06,920 Like especially because, you know, one person hired you, 1211 00:54:06,920 --> 00:54:09,360 there's nine other people there. Like they all get to try your 1212 00:54:09,560 --> 00:54:11,560 product first hand. But the other part of it, if 1213 00:54:11,560 --> 00:54:15,360 you're just starting out, do hit up everybody that you know, like 1214 00:54:15,360 --> 00:54:17,960 you're a third grade teacher. I don't care, Everybody that you 1215 00:54:17,960 --> 00:54:21,200 know, and just say, look like I'll cook for you for like 30 1216 00:54:21,200 --> 00:54:23,480 bucks a person. Like, and all I want from you is 1217 00:54:23,480 --> 00:54:25,480 for you to leave me a review at the end of it or tell me what I 1218 00:54:25,480 --> 00:54:28,440 could have done better. Like you need reps You just, you 1219 00:54:28,440 --> 00:54:31,360 just need to do it. Like, and, and, and that's it. 1220 00:54:31,360 --> 00:54:33,800 I'm like, start there. And then once, once these people 1221 00:54:33,800 --> 00:54:35,440 get in, they reach out to you next time. 1222 00:54:35,440 --> 00:54:37,920 Like now it's 50 bucks a person. Now it's 100 bucks a person. 1223 00:54:38,280 --> 00:54:42,640 Now it's $500 a person, right? Like it's just, it's just a 1224 00:54:42,640 --> 00:54:45,400 different experience. You're like, I, I go to these 1225 00:54:45,400 --> 00:54:48,040 restaurants like I know what it's like to spend a couple 1226 00:54:48,040 --> 00:54:49,560 grand on dinner and you're like, this is fucking crazy. 1227 00:54:49,560 --> 00:54:53,840 Like people will do that for you, like you, you just have to, 1228 00:54:54,000 --> 00:54:57,680 you have to believe in the fact that somebody out there can 1229 00:54:57,680 --> 00:54:59,920 spend 10 grand on dinner and they just don't care. 1230 00:55:00,560 --> 00:55:05,080 Like it's just nothing to them like so, but they do. 1231 00:55:05,080 --> 00:55:06,560 You know what these people do expect? 1232 00:55:07,320 --> 00:55:09,120 They're my favorite people to work with because they're just 1233 00:55:09,120 --> 00:55:10,920 like, I trust you, handle everything. 1234 00:55:11,640 --> 00:55:13,280 Fucking don't bother me about nothing. 1235 00:55:15,160 --> 00:55:17,400 But you have to be the kind of person that can actually let 1236 00:55:17,400 --> 00:55:19,920 them do that. You have to be able to to figure 1237 00:55:19,920 --> 00:55:21,440 all the rest of the stuff out to work they. 1238 00:55:21,440 --> 00:55:23,440 Expect to not worry. Exactly right. 1239 00:55:23,440 --> 00:55:26,360 Like they can like something that we say a lot within our 1240 00:55:27,040 --> 00:55:29,200 messaging is like you can be a guest at your own party. 1241 00:55:30,960 --> 00:55:33,000 And, and it's true. Like we have clients that are 1242 00:55:33,000 --> 00:55:34,960 just he's like, he's like, yo, like I'm going to be like 10 1243 00:55:34,960 --> 00:55:37,000 minutes late, like I'm just getting off the private jet 1244 00:55:37,280 --> 00:55:38,600 because that because that's the life that they live. 1245 00:55:38,600 --> 00:55:39,800 Like he just flew in from Mexico. 1246 00:55:39,800 --> 00:55:42,040 Like he just landed and he's being brought to his home and he 1247 00:55:42,040 --> 00:55:44,360 has a couple of people that he's like eating dinner with that 1248 00:55:44,360 --> 00:55:46,720 night. That guy doesn't have time to 1249 00:55:46,720 --> 00:55:48,040 figure out like any of this stuff. 1250 00:55:48,040 --> 00:55:50,200 Like don't bother these people like you, you're the 1251 00:55:50,200 --> 00:55:52,240 professional. You have to own the fact that 1252 00:55:52,240 --> 00:55:54,280 you're, you're the professional. You you've got to know all these 1253 00:55:54,280 --> 00:55:57,160 things. Chef, as we get closer to 1254 00:55:57,160 --> 00:55:59,080 wrapping up the show, I have like some standard questions 1255 00:55:59,080 --> 00:56:03,440 that I want to ask you. So if you if you're in your 1256 00:56:03,440 --> 00:56:05,760 kitchen, yeah. What what is everyone using for 1257 00:56:05,760 --> 00:56:06,920 tape? Is it the green tape or is? 1258 00:56:06,920 --> 00:56:08,720 It the blue we use, we use green tape, but I think that's 1259 00:56:08,720 --> 00:56:12,880 partially just because of like company colours, I guess the 1260 00:56:12,880 --> 00:56:14,440 blue tape, like I think I always use the blue tape. 1261 00:56:14,440 --> 00:56:16,600 Sometimes it would be too dark and you're like, I can't fucking 1262 00:56:16,600 --> 00:56:19,200 see this thing. And it depends on the Russians 1263 00:56:19,200 --> 00:56:21,760 that we worked at. Some of them we use white, some 1264 00:56:21,760 --> 00:56:24,800 blue, some green. But currently. 1265 00:56:24,880 --> 00:56:26,400 Currently we're using green. What about? 1266 00:56:26,400 --> 00:56:29,000 What about your all-purpose workhorse salt? 1267 00:56:29,600 --> 00:56:34,320 I mean, I feel like like diamond salt is is solid, right? 1268 00:56:34,320 --> 00:56:38,920 Like just classic, like I, I like it. 1269 00:56:38,920 --> 00:56:40,560 I I don't like it to be super fine. 1270 00:56:40,560 --> 00:56:42,000 I think that's that's a little too much. 1271 00:56:42,000 --> 00:56:46,080 But then I'm not going to like use super crunchy, flaky sea 1272 00:56:46,080 --> 00:56:47,880 salt all the time. Like sometimes I see fucking 1273 00:56:47,880 --> 00:56:50,880 like Adam Biet do it right and he's just like seasoning with 1274 00:56:50,880 --> 00:56:52,560 just straight up sea salt. I'm like that fucking bad ass. 1275 00:56:52,560 --> 00:56:54,000 I'm like this guy, like he's got, he's got. 1276 00:56:54,000 --> 00:56:55,400 Like the Super fine sea salt or no no. 1277 00:56:55,400 --> 00:56:57,680 No, like the like Malden, like just straight up like giant 1278 00:56:57,680 --> 00:56:58,880 crystals. Like he's using it for 1279 00:56:58,880 --> 00:57:00,120 everything. Like, Oh my God, it's fucking 1280 00:57:00,200 --> 00:57:01,760 bad ass because this guy's got bread like that. 1281 00:57:03,080 --> 00:57:05,160 Yeah, but. What do you use for finishing? 1282 00:57:05,920 --> 00:57:09,800 Murray River, yeah. What about do you have a general 1283 00:57:10,480 --> 00:57:12,600 finishing acid that you use? Is it lemon as a vinegar? 1284 00:57:12,600 --> 00:57:14,000 As a type of vinegar. I would say it's probably 1285 00:57:14,000 --> 00:57:16,000 vinegar. It's like we work with a company 1286 00:57:16,000 --> 00:57:18,320 called Rare Tea Seller. What's the name of him? 1287 00:57:18,320 --> 00:57:19,520 Rare Tea Seller? Rare Tea? 1288 00:57:19,520 --> 00:57:21,720 Yeah. Yeah, His name is Rod Marcus and 1289 00:57:21,720 --> 00:57:25,000 just has incredible infused vinegar. 1290 00:57:25,000 --> 00:57:26,400 So like literally anything that you could want. 1291 00:57:26,400 --> 00:57:27,840 I'm telling you, like this guy, he's the guy. 1292 00:57:30,440 --> 00:57:31,760 Yeah. I mean, I think it, it depends 1293 00:57:31,760 --> 00:57:34,360 on what it is, right. But like for darker sauce and 1294 00:57:34,360 --> 00:57:36,640 stuff like that, like Sherry's like that kind of thing, it 1295 00:57:36,720 --> 00:57:39,000 depends on how you started the sauce as well, right? 1296 00:57:39,000 --> 00:57:42,480 Like did you start it with a with a vinegar or was it a wine 1297 00:57:42,480 --> 00:57:44,480 or whatever, right. Like, so trying to keep it 1298 00:57:44,480 --> 00:57:46,480 adjacent like that. I wouldn't say that I have like 1299 00:57:46,600 --> 00:57:49,360 a go to, you know, just depends on what the dish is. 1300 00:57:49,360 --> 00:57:52,880 Got it. And if if you had something that 1301 00:57:52,880 --> 00:57:55,720 you do in the kitchen that you think could make people's food 1302 00:57:56,240 --> 00:57:59,560 better that a lot of people don't do, like is there a 1303 00:57:59,560 --> 00:58:01,720 certain technique or is there, is there something that you 1304 00:58:01,720 --> 00:58:04,000 always when you meet new cooks like, hey, let me let me save 1305 00:58:04,000 --> 00:58:05,800 you a bunch of time. This will make your food or your 1306 00:58:05,800 --> 00:58:09,520 life easier. I don't know that it has so much 1307 00:58:09,520 --> 00:58:13,080 to do around food as opposed to like cleanliness and 1308 00:58:13,080 --> 00:58:17,960 organization. Do I just I like I you just got 1309 00:58:17,960 --> 00:58:20,720 to be the kind of person that's so fucking bothered by anything 1310 00:58:20,720 --> 00:58:23,880 not being square and like, you know, and like, and I've always 1311 00:58:23,880 --> 00:58:25,760 been that way and start twitching. 1312 00:58:26,320 --> 00:58:29,080 I do, man. I just, I just, I just needed to 1313 00:58:29,080 --> 00:58:31,360 be tight. Like, you know, like the station 1314 00:58:31,360 --> 00:58:34,800 just has to look a certain way. And my favorite part about 1315 00:58:34,800 --> 00:58:36,880 working in some of these restaurants is that like at 1316 00:58:36,880 --> 00:58:39,680 every hour, like you just stop and do a line scrub. 1317 00:58:39,880 --> 00:58:41,760 Like it just, it just looks good. 1318 00:58:41,760 --> 00:58:45,720 Like I can't sweep the floor and do like I don't like every time 1319 00:58:45,720 --> 00:58:47,400 I drop something on the floor, I'm like, I have to pick it up 1320 00:58:47,400 --> 00:58:49,080 right now. Like I don't want to wait 30 1321 00:58:49,080 --> 00:58:52,120 minutes later. So to me, like that's, that's 1322 00:58:52,120 --> 00:58:55,920 everything. Just just be clean like work. 1323 00:58:56,800 --> 00:58:59,400 And you know, this is a multitasking kind of job, like 1324 00:58:59,760 --> 00:59:02,080 in a way like you have to do a lot of, you have to keep at a 1325 00:59:02,080 --> 00:59:04,040 lot of things, but like your, your, your stuff has to stay 1326 00:59:04,040 --> 00:59:05,960 clean and then otherwise gets way too crowded. 1327 00:59:06,120 --> 00:59:09,360 If if you had a Mount Rushmore 4 chefs that deserve to be on 1328 00:59:09,360 --> 00:59:12,520 Mount Rushmore, who are the four chefs that to you and should be 1329 00:59:12,560 --> 00:59:15,560 out there? That's like the hardest question 1330 00:59:15,560 --> 00:59:16,760 of all time. I'm like, who are yours? 1331 00:59:16,760 --> 00:59:19,320 It's like it's. Mind change like I'll I'll say 1332 00:59:19,320 --> 00:59:21,520 one thing that ask me, ask me next week and it's going to 1333 00:59:21,520 --> 00:59:24,440 change. Man, that's so tough. 1334 00:59:26,000 --> 00:59:29,080 I mean, I feel like you have to give credit to people like 1335 00:59:29,080 --> 00:59:34,360 Bokus, right? Like, yeah, OK, So like I'd, I'd 1336 00:59:34,360 --> 00:59:35,880 go with that. I don't, I just don't want to be 1337 00:59:35,880 --> 00:59:38,320 all French chefs. So that's so that's it's. 1338 00:59:38,720 --> 00:59:42,520 Your personal. One, No, I know I'm like chefs 1339 00:59:42,520 --> 00:59:46,480 that I really like probably over the last like 10 years, I think 1340 00:59:46,480 --> 00:59:50,360 I've really liked like Sean Brock just does amazing stuff as 1341 00:59:50,360 --> 00:59:57,520 far as like the US places that I also really wanted to work at. 1342 00:59:57,520 --> 00:59:58,960 Like those are the kind of things that I'm thinking about. 1343 00:59:58,960 --> 01:00:01,040 I'm thinking about like David Kinch, like memories of like I 1344 01:00:01,040 --> 01:00:03,040 was like, dude, I would have given an arm to have worked 1345 01:00:03,040 --> 01:00:05,680 there if I could do life over, like I probably would have gone 1346 01:00:05,680 --> 01:00:08,280 to work there. And then maybe like Mario Cola, 1347 01:00:08,280 --> 01:00:11,360 Greco at Mirazor, like that was just, again, another place that 1348 01:00:11,360 --> 01:00:17,000 I would love to have worked at. And as I as I'm thinking about 1349 01:00:17,000 --> 01:00:18,560 it, like all they all have the same thing in common. 1350 01:00:18,560 --> 01:00:19,960 Like they just put the ingredients first. 1351 01:00:20,040 --> 01:00:22,960 Yeah. It's it's all about that. 1352 01:00:22,960 --> 01:00:28,600 And all their food is generally fairly simplistic and not none 1353 01:00:28,600 --> 01:00:30,480 of it feels like the art got in the way. 1354 01:00:30,680 --> 01:00:34,560 Yeah, yeah. Last question, chef, if you in 1355 01:00:34,560 --> 01:00:37,680 your kitchen when you're running it, is it a herd or is it a yes 1356 01:00:37,680 --> 01:00:38,960 chef or a Wii chef? What's? 1357 01:00:39,680 --> 01:00:42,800 I think, I think we could just say, we could just say herd like 1358 01:00:42,880 --> 01:00:44,240 I like, I like the yes chef thing. 1359 01:00:44,240 --> 01:00:50,640 It doesn't have to be, I say it, but you know, I don't think that 1360 01:00:50,640 --> 01:00:53,720 it needs to be as serious. But again, like going back to my 1361 01:00:54,320 --> 01:00:56,320 thing of like, I don't like to micromanage or anything like 1362 01:00:56,320 --> 01:00:57,600 that. Like, I think as long as we have 1363 01:00:57,600 --> 01:01:01,320 a good understanding of, of what this is like, I don't need you 1364 01:01:01,320 --> 01:01:04,600 to call me chef, but I, I do want you to understand like that 1365 01:01:04,600 --> 01:01:08,400 this is what this job is so. Well, awesome brother, where can 1366 01:01:08,400 --> 01:01:12,760 people find you? All over social media, our 1367 01:01:12,760 --> 01:01:15,040 Instagram is a is a great place that we're super active in all 1368 01:01:15,040 --> 01:01:18,240 the time or TikTok, Aventador Chicago or aventador.com if you 1369 01:01:18,240 --> 01:01:21,560 want to just kind of see how this thing works in general. 1370 01:01:21,560 --> 01:01:24,320 And then we do have like chef mentorship, like if you guys 1371 01:01:24,320 --> 01:01:26,600 just want to hit me up on Instagram, like I, I respond, 1372 01:01:26,600 --> 01:01:29,680 I'm the one responding to all DMS and all the comments and 1373 01:01:29,680 --> 01:01:30,240 stuff. So. 1374 01:01:31,000 --> 01:01:33,280 Yeah, I appreciate it, you giving people a peek behind the 1375 01:01:33,280 --> 01:01:34,680 curtain of what you do. Please. 1376 01:01:34,680 --> 01:01:36,800 Yeah. I, I love to see it, man. 1377 01:01:36,800 --> 01:01:41,000 It's, you know, sometimes I, sometimes people are like asking 1378 01:01:41,000 --> 01:01:43,160 questions that they know the answer to, but just want 1379 01:01:43,160 --> 01:01:45,080 somebody to validate it. And I just wish that I could 1380 01:01:45,080 --> 01:01:48,240 give more empowerment to those people and just be like, you 1381 01:01:48,240 --> 01:01:50,640 just just take a chance. Like, life is risky. 1382 01:01:50,640 --> 01:01:52,800 It's so risky that you're not getting out of here alive. 1383 01:01:52,880 --> 01:01:55,240 So, like, just fucking go for it, yeah. 1384 01:01:55,240 --> 01:01:56,120 Awesome brother. Thank you. 1385 01:01:56,280 --> 01:01:58,000 Thank you. Well, I hope you enjoyed the 1386 01:01:58,000 --> 01:01:59,360 show. If you want to support the show, 1387 01:01:59,360 --> 01:02:01,160 you know what to do, make sure you leave five stars, not the 1388 01:02:01,160 --> 01:02:04,080 less than five stars. If you list on Apple, Spotify, 1389 01:02:04,080 --> 01:02:07,520 if you're watching on YouTube, like and subscribe, comment, Let 1390 01:02:07,520 --> 01:02:08,920 me know what you think of this episode. 1391 01:02:08,920 --> 01:02:12,040 Go to chefspsa.com where you get everything, the books, the 1392 01:02:12,040 --> 01:02:13,680 merch. Go buy a book. 1393 01:02:13,680 --> 01:02:15,400 Go buy a T-shirt. Go buy a hoodie. 1394 01:02:15,400 --> 01:02:18,160 Go buy this hat. Beautiful and nice. 1395 01:02:18,160 --> 01:02:19,960 Go get it. If you want early access to 1396 01:02:19,960 --> 01:02:21,840 episodes, subscribe to my sub stack. 1397 01:02:21,840 --> 01:02:23,240 I'm a link them in the show notes. 1398 01:02:23,440 --> 01:02:25,280 We'll see you next week. Hit the porno music. 1399 01:02:25,440 --> 01:02:26,920 No small Andre in the