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Learn how to manage the fucking 
business because nothing else 

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matters except for profit. 
You live and die daily. 

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Yeah, and that's what I'm 
saying. 

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It doesn't matter what type of 
chicken steak you can make. 

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Hello chefs. 
This is Chefs PSA and I'm your 

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host Andre Natera. 
Today I'm joined by identical 

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twin chefs Brandon and Jonathan 
Dearden, both competitors on the

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current season of Top Chef. 
Brandon is the chef and co-owner

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of Ember and Grano and a recent 
James Beard Award semi finalist 

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for Best Chef Mountains, while 
Jonathan serves as corporate 

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chef for Need Hospitality and 
Design. 

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In this episode, we're going to 
talk about twin rivalry. 

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They're very different career 
paths, fine dining, restaurant 

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leadership and marketing 
yourself. 

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Stay tuned. 
So who's a better chef? 

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Like, like, yeah. 
So who's the who's the better 

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cook between the two of you? 
I'm. 

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Going to kick his ass every day.
Yeah, every day. 

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Listen to I'm going to fight. 
Fight to the death. 

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Who? 
Would win in a real fight. 

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Well, yeah. 
It's it's, I probably win in a 

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real fight. 
But you know, the The thing is, 

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is we've been super competitive 
our whole life, right? 

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But like, you know, to go back 
to the beginning, see, Jonathan 

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was smart when he got out of 
high school, he went straight 

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into culinary school and I was 
working in a restaurant, but I 

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skipped all like, you know, I 
skipped that part. 

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So Jonathan actually we went two
different paths. 

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So he decided to go right into 
culinary school right after 

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right after high school. 
I. 

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Didn't take a year off though. 
I know when I was 19 but I 

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enrolled like when I was 19. 
I didn't. 

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I dropped. 
Out of high school. 

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And, you know, I got that good 
enough diploma and it's OK, you 

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know, it's OK, yeah. 
Hey, it gets you to culinary. 

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School. 
But to make a Long story short, 

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he was a sous chef by what? 
What age? 

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1919. 
Within my first year of culinary

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school, I was already a sous 
chef. 

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And you know, listen, it wasn't 
I got lucky because I worked my 

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ass off. 
Like it wasn't like, oh, this 

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guy's great. 
No, no, no, no. 

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I was like working the grill 
overtime. 

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So they, they hustled me. 
They put me on salary. 

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I ended up making less money 
than I did at hourly, but I 

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wanted to. 
It's that. 

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It's that classic salary trap. 
They're like, yeah, you can make

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this amount per week. 
You know, my, my, my salary, 

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I'll never forget. 
It was 550 a week, OK, which is 

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nothing, you know, it's like 
like 30, something like 28 and 

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27, you know, like so. 
And I was making more money 

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working overtime, working 2 
jobs. 

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And once I got put on that I 
couldn't even pay my mortgage, 

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you know. 
But it I wasn't. 

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You had a mortgage when you were
19. 

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Yeah, I bought a condo when I 
was 19 years old. 

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Oh yeah. 
Yeah, bro winning. 

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Yeah, but it was funny because 
after I figured out what 

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direction I wanted to go, you 
know, and I wanted to go and 

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fine dining. 
And so being a fine you're not 

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getting a sous chat position for
I mean, I work years, but I 

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went, you know, luxury resort, 
Michelin level. 

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And so I worked, I call it the 
apprenticeship, but I worked at 

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the Breakers Palm Beach for like
5 years and I worked every 

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single outlet ended up in 
Lescalier, which is the French 

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restaurant. 
And I was still a cook, you 

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know, I mean, I was still a like
a base level cook. 

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And this dude was and the. 
Breakers is a legendary. 

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And it was and, and, and for me,
I learned so much within that, 

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you know, you know, it was 8 
restaurants at the time. 

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I pretty much knew, you know, 
90% of the outlets and opened a 

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couple of them. 
But you know, for me, it was 

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like I had capped out right? 
Like I wanted a sushi 

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reposition. 
It was never going to happen. 

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And it's because I was, you 
know, addicted to drugs and 

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alcohol. 
And I went down this just 

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terror. 
I got a DY when I was 20. 

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So they looked at me as like 
trouble, right? 

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But thankfully, you know, with 
insurance and everything, I was 

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able to go to rehab and, you 
know, stay out of prison and get

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my life on track. 
And so I actually Cafe Beluta is

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right down the street. 
But I was like, OK, in Florida, 

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in Florida, Palm Beach. 
And so I actually went right 

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down the street because I was 
like, hey, if you don't have a 

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position for me, I'm just going 
to, you know, it's my time. 

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And I went right down the 
street. 

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And I learned more in six months
at Cafe Balloon then the whole 

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time at the Breakers. 
Don't get me wrong, I learned 

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professionalism. 
But when it comes to actually 

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cooking and like, you know, 
technique and misenplas and 

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French technique and all of 
this. 

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And then plus I, I, I think I 
had a, you know, it was a 

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blessing because we were opening
DB Bistro in Miami. 

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And so Danielle was there, you 
know what I'm saying? 

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And that's what changed 
everything, right? 

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Because. 
Is the is the kitchen not not to

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give all the DB secrets away? 
I'm sure it's a different vibe 

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when he's there, when he's not. 
There. 

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Oh, yeah, That was. 
Oh my God, yeah. 

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He would tell me stories, man. 
It was like, yeah. 

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And, and I and like, and this 
was back in the day, so, you 

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know, rules and regulations were
a little bit different, you 

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know, and. 
There was no cell phones. 

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No one was pulling. 
Them out, Yeah. 

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That nobody could record you. 
You had a flip phone. 

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No proof like this didn't 
happen. 

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No receipts. 
Yeah. 

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And, and what was funny is like 
I knew this kitchen was so 

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serious. 
When I walk in the kitchen and 

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then there's a piece of blue 
tape that goes stretches along 

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the kitchen. 
And guess what? 

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It was. 
It was separating pastry from 

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savory. 
So the pastry chef at the time, 

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Arnaud, I think was his name. 
You weren't allowed to go on his

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side. 
You know what I mean? 

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You couldn't touch it. 
Everything that had a piece of 

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blue tape on it was his. 
No. 

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No stealing produce, no, just 
fucking could I have that? 

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Like none of the savory in his. 
I was like, OK, I was like, 

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Dang, so like you can't even 
prep over here. 

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Don't touch it. 
Yeah. 

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And it was just, I was like, OK,
so this so. 

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I want to ask whose idea was it 
to become a chef between the two

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of you? 
Because identical twins for 

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people that haven't figured it 
out yet, right? 

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Identical twins at a certain .1 
of you had the idea. 

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The light bulb went off, said 
I'm going. 

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To be a chef, yeah. 
So that was actually me and we 

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were. 
So just a little back story, my,

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my mother and father are 
separated. 

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We used to go visit my dad on 
the weekends. 

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I know he used to be, he was a 
car, not a car salesman, but the

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service manager. 
And then on the weekends he 

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would work at this place called 
Dax Grill in Virginia and we 

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would visit him on the weekends 
and family owned restaurants. 

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So they made everything from 
scratch, but it was very simple 

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food, but everything was made 
from scratch. 

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And we were, you know, we were 
young at the time, like 12 is 

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when we started like, actually 
like sleeping the floor and 

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being part, like helping out, 
doing dishes. 

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And then, you know, I remember 
us being busboys, you know, to 

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start. 
And then, you know, I was just 

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so intrigued with, you know, 
like the yelling and the 

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screaming and the tickets and 
the short order cooking inside 

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the kitchen. 
Well, these these cooks weren't 

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cooked. 
They were like short order 

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cooks, you know, They were like.
Kitchens are brutal right now, 

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everyone knows it. 
Fewer people on the line, 

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margins tighter than ever, and 
somehow the expectations keep 

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going up. 
There's just no room to miss 

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anymore. 
I was talking to a chef recently

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who said the biggest stress 
wasn't the volume, it was the 

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mental load. 
Babysitting, food, timing, 

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everything perfectly, trying to 
be everywhere at once. 

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And that's where equipment 
matters more than people want to

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admit. 
Rationals. 

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Technology comes up a lot in 
those conversations. 

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The Icon B Pro, the Iverio Pro 
overnight roast that don't need 

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to be checked, custom programs 
for all your recipes, 

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Consistency without hovering 
completely automated cleaning, 

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monitoring everything from your 
phone, The list goes on. 

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And what really buys you the 
headspace? 

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Less standing over pans and more
time to leave the kitchen 

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instead of constantly putting 
out tiny fires when you're down 

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to cook. 
When the prep list is rough, 

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when the production ramps up, 
think rational. 

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We learn, you know, saute is 
French for deep fry. 

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This is that this, this is the 
kind of cooks we were dealing 

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with. 
They would throw a whole thing 

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of mushrooms in the fryer and 
call them sauteed mushrooms. 

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OK, this is the cooks that we 
were. 

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Yeah, the steak, well done. 
Throw it. 

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Throw it in the fryer. 
Yeah. 

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Like, well, hammered, you know? 
Yeah, but just to circle back. 

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So like, well, somebody called 
out in the kitchen, obviously, 

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and then, you know, I had a 
chance to step up and I remember

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my like, he's like, well, I just
need help cleaning this fryer. 

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And I was so excited to clean 
this fryer because I was just 

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part of it. 
And it was back, back back in 

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the day. 
We used to filter it and then 

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put it back in with like, it was
crazy contraption. 

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And you know, from that day I 
was just addicted, man. 

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Like anything that like, I don't
know what it was. 

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I was just addicted to the 
adrenaline. 

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And like, you know, the, the, 
you know, the guy yelling at the

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tickets and the food going up 
and like, you know, the banter 

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back and forth between the 
cooks. 

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And like for me, I was like, I 
got the bug, you know? 

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And it was funny because my 
brother saw how how much fun I 

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00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:31,320
was having in the back of the 
house because I remember 

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skipping homecoming to work the 
line because somebody called out

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and I was just hooked. 
But I will say I learned so many

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bad habits off the jump that I 
had to re get retrained. 

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I remember the one thing that I 
learned. 

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That when you were at cafe, did 
you Did you throw the munchies 

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in the fryer? 
Absolutely not, but I will say 

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so. 
So we had BBQ, we had wings, 

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00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:53,560
deep fried wings on the menu, 
right, Which is great. 

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But the cook taught me that you 
take the the portion bag with A 

200
00:07:57,040 --> 00:07:59,240
and wings in it and then you dip
a little bit in the fryer so it 

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00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:00,760
melts it and then the chicken 
wings fall in. 

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00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:01,880
It's a. 
Super. 

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00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:04,160
Good hack. 
And so that's the way I was 

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taught. 
And so I get to a fine dining 

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00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:09,840
steakhouse and we had a chicken 
wing app and I remember doing 

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00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:10,960
this. 
I'm like, no, you just do this. 

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00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:13,520
And then I put the bag in the 
fryer and the chef looks at me. 

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00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:16,800
He went to CIA and he's like, 
what the fuck are you doing? 

209
00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:18,640
He's like, who? 
And I was like, well, this is 

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how I was taught chef and I was 
16 at the time, right? 

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00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:24,000
He's like, great, now drop the 
fryer and put new fryer roll in 

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00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:24,920
there. 
He's like, what are you doing? 

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00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:26,720
He's like, now you're going to 
put plastic in people's food. 

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00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:30,080
He's like, he's like, Oh my God.
Like he's like, this is like he 

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00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:32,919
like he was just mind blown. 
And so I'm like, Dang, like I 

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00:08:32,919 --> 00:08:34,320
didn't know because I had no 
idea. 

217
00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:35,400
You know, same thing the way you
were taught. 

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00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:37,039
Yeah. 
Same thing with like, you know, 

219
00:08:37,039 --> 00:08:40,960
just in when you're. 
When you're a young kid and you 

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00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:44,240
have never worked in a kitchen 
before and you see these little 

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00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:47,240
tricks, Yes. 
I mean, I remember what my my 

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00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:51,200
first kitchen job, they would 
pre portion the pasta in kits. 

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00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:53,120
I pre cook it and then pre 
portion it. 

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00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:56,280
And I remember I went home, 
bought a bunch of pasta, cooked 

225
00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:59,800
it and put it in a little bag, 
had it in my fridge like that. 

226
00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:01,760
Like whenever anyone comes over 
and watch. 

227
00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:03,440
This like 11 order or two 
orders. 

228
00:09:03,560 --> 00:09:06,160
Yeah, yeah. 
So quickly, I want to go back to

229
00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:10,680
Brandon and his DUI situation. 
So let me tell you as a twin 

230
00:09:10,680 --> 00:09:12,080
brother and you know, I love 
this guy. 

231
00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:16,200
He he needed to drive to work, 
but his car got repo D. 

232
00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:18,840
They took his license from him. 
Yeah, they spent it for five 

233
00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:20,760
years. 
He convinced me to give me hit 

234
00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:24,560
my car and my license. 
OK, true story. 

235
00:09:24,560 --> 00:09:27,160
I get pulled over. 
I get pulled over and he's like,

236
00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:29,400
hey, your license is suspended. 
I'm like, what do you mean my 

237
00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:30,840
license is suspended? 
Like, no, it's not. 

238
00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:34,320
I have a clean, clean record. 
He's like, no, no, you it's 

239
00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:36,720
suspended. 
He's like, I can look at it, you

240
00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:37,760
know, let me get right back to 
you. 

241
00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:39,640
He's like, yeah, you had a 
ticket in West Palm Beach. 

242
00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:42,960
I lived in Fort Lauderdale. 
OK. 

243
00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:45,360
He rolled a stop sign, got a 
ticket, didn't pay it. 

244
00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,760
My license was suspended and I 
had to go to West Palm Beach to 

245
00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:53,040
pay the ticket and I had to tell
this cop because they they were 

246
00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:54,760
like, they gonna arrest me 
because it's a criminal offense 

247
00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:57,440
in Florida with knowledge. 
And I was like, okay, I'm going 

248
00:09:57,440 --> 00:09:59,160
to be truthful. 
And you, I hopefully you can 

249
00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:01,040
believe me. 
I have a Facebook picture to 

250
00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:02,760
prove it. 
But we're twins and I gave him 

251
00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:05,800
my license and my car. 
He's like, okay, that's crazy. 

252
00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:08,400
He gave me a warning. 
He's like, but go take this 

253
00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:09,480
tick, go take care of this 
ticket. 

254
00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:10,400
Man. 
I was so mad. 

255
00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:12,800
I was so mad. 
So to the people out there, do 

256
00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:15,040
not give somebody your license 
and your your car. 

257
00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:17,160
Like literally my car. 
We switch cars because he wasn't

258
00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:19,000
allowed to drive his car. 
So I drove his car in Fort 

259
00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,240
Lauderdale with my license and 
he drove my. 

260
00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:22,520
Car I was trying to fly, I was 
breaking the law. 

261
00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:24,960
And like, I mean, obviously, 
yeah, I feel bad for that 

262
00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:27,720
situation just so you know, but 
I, I ended up, of course it's 

263
00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:30,520
because at the Breakers Resort, 
like on Palm Beach Island, it's 

264
00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:31,960
super nice. 
But then once you cross the 

265
00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:34,440
bridge, there's what we call 
Tamron Ave., where you can get 

266
00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:36,240
crack cocaine and on all that 
stuff, right? 

267
00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:38,600
And so, like, there was always 
police, you know, stopped up 

268
00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:39,760
there. 
So like they'd be pulling over 

269
00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:41,040
people just to, you know, just 
to do it. 

270
00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:42,760
What are you doing here? 
And so, you know, I ended up 

271
00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:45,880
riding a bike for five years. 
But you know, yeah, it worked 

272
00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:47,200
out pretty good. 
But I say that story now and I'm

273
00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:48,720
like, why the hell did I do 
that, you know? 

274
00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,320
Yeah. 
So, so, so Jonathan split off 

275
00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:53,560
and he was already a sous chef. 
Then he had an opportunity to go

276
00:10:53,560 --> 00:10:56,000
to Jade Mountain in Saint Lucia 
To be well, I worked. 

277
00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:58,000
With Chef Allen first, yeah. 
And he was kind of like my 

278
00:10:58,040 --> 00:10:59,920
mentor. 
So I knew like right away, like 

279
00:10:59,920 --> 00:11:02,480
he was chasing Michelin star 
James Beard. 

280
00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:07,160
You know, he wanted like his 
caliber is fantastic. 

281
00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:08,960
You know, he worked with what 
was the first ship besides 

282
00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:11,560
Ballude. 
Then it was Charlie Palmer, you 

283
00:11:11,560 --> 00:11:14,800
know, and then you went to Vegas
and worked with Wolfgang and 

284
00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:17,080
then you made the crazy idea to 
take a nice, he had a nice 

285
00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:21,240
executive suit salary in Vegas 
to go work at Alinea for $8.50 

286
00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:22,440
an hour. 
Crazy. 

287
00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:24,080
Good bloody decision, yeah. 
It was. 

288
00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:26,160
It was worth. 
The best decision of your entire

289
00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:28,080
life. 
I I I Well, because I wanted to 

290
00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:29,960
do it, but I what? 
Year were you and Alinea? 

291
00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:34,080
So I want to say it was like 
2011 2012 2. 1012 because we 

292
00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:35,920
come to the James Beard House 
and then you went to go work at 

293
00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:36,680
Delaney. 
After Yeah. 

294
00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:39,280
And you know, I had went before,
so when I was still living in 

295
00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:41,320
Florida at Cafe Blued, we knew 
we wanted to get out of Florida.

296
00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:43,320
So I went to go STAJ at a bunch 
of places. 

297
00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:44,800
Yeah. 
Joel Robichon in Las Vegas. 

298
00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:48,920
We I went to DC, New York, NY 
Danielle Cafe Blued over there. 

299
00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:51,240
And then in Chicago, I fell in 
love. 

300
00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:54,680
I staged at True. 
I also staged at L2O which was 

301
00:11:54,680 --> 00:11:56,360
freaking. 
One of the best meals I've ever 

302
00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:57,560
had in my life. 
L2O. 

303
00:11:57,680 --> 00:11:59,720
Well, that's a great restaurant.
Listen well. 

304
00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:01,640
Kirkley was the chef when I when
I. 

305
00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:05,000
Kirkley was just stepping up 
into Laurent Gras's position. 

306
00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:06,600
But Laurent Gras was still there
when I was there. 

307
00:12:06,680 --> 00:12:08,080
He's a motherfucker. 
And dude, he. 

308
00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:09,520
Yeah. 
But it came, it came circle. 

309
00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:11,640
It came full circle because he 
remembered me. 

310
00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:13,000
Yeah. 
When I, when I was working at 

311
00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:15,040
Saison. 
And I almost, I am because like,

312
00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:17,160
if for people that don't know, 
Laurent Gras is like, he's like 

313
00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:19,360
my superhero. 
He's you know he like and he's 

314
00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:20,640
you know he. 
Yeah, he's the. 

315
00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:22,120
Chef, he's a legend. 
He's like chef, chef. 

316
00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:24,600
Yeah, and, and, and honestly, I 
get chills just thinking about 

317
00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:26,040
it. 
When I remember like a pinnacle 

318
00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:28,960
in my career is when I'm 
breaking down Hamachi and he's 

319
00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:31,800
on one side, Joshua Skeens is on
the other side and I'm breaking 

320
00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:34,160
the Hamachi. 
What's what's crazy is people 

321
00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:37,320
that listen to the show will 
have probably heard Laurent Gras

322
00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:42,600
name in a legendary status more 
more so than than people 

323
00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:45,600
realize. 
You know, I mean, Breeden talked

324
00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:47,080
about him. 
I'm trying to think who else 

325
00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:51,920
talk about, you know, one of the
we had we had people don't know 

326
00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:53,400
he was Ducas chef. 
Yeah, right. 

327
00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:54,560
He got him the most special 
stars. 

328
00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:58,880
At Louis Cons, Yeah, like when, 
when Ducas was like taking over 

329
00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:01,120
the world, like Laurent Grow was
the fucking man. 

330
00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:03,720
Yeah, yeah. 
Priscilla is like that's that's 

331
00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:04,920
a name. 
He was the first person that 

332
00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:07,800
ever had that digital cookbook. 
Yeah. 

333
00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:09,800
And you remember that blog he 
had? 

334
00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:12,560
Yes, yes, 100% yeah. 
I mean, the guy rides his bike 

335
00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:14,160
everywhere. 
He's just a legend and what he 

336
00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:16,120
does with food is amazing. 
He looked like a ninja when he 

337
00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:18,080
was in L2O. 
Like a ninja suit wasn't even a 

338
00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:19,120
chef jacket. 
It was all black. 

339
00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:21,560
But he remembers me because I 
remember Matthew Kirkley. 

340
00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:23,560
Guy was working with Ungormer. 
Ji was dodging, but he was 

341
00:13:23,560 --> 00:13:26,400
fucking up this crab salad, 
like, I mean, and it was so 

342
00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:27,720
easy. 
It was crab and avocado and 

343
00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:29,040
grapefruit segments or something
like that. 

344
00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:31,720
It was like super easy and 
Matthew's like you're fucking 

345
00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:34,760
the salad up, you know, and he's
like, you know, I don't recall, 

346
00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:37,120
but I I remember just tell him 
like, dude, I can make this like

347
00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:38,800
it's really easy. 
And I'm like, you just have to 

348
00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:40,480
follow instructions like it's 
not hard. 

349
00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:42,880
And so I started playing them up
and then, you know, Laurent 

350
00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:45,360
Gras, he saw it and he's like, 
no, this is great. 

351
00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:47,000
This is great. 
Like and he gave the the thumbs 

352
00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:49,680
up. 
But I but when circle when we 

353
00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:52,040
were open up the anglers at 
Saison and he came in to take 

354
00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:54,200
over for Joshua Skeens. 
I'm like, chef, do you Remember 

355
00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:55,720
Me? 
I was at L2O, you know, blah, 

356
00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:57,200
blah, blah. 
He's like, yeah, crab salad. 

357
00:13:57,320 --> 00:13:59,440
And I'm like. 
Yeah, dude, that must have been 

358
00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:01,600
like a Dude I fanboy moment. 
Right. 

359
00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:04,640
How did I miss how I think I'm 
in an alternate time? 

360
00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:05,720
I don't remember. 
He. 

361
00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:09,400
So him being at, I'm sorry. 
Yeah. 

362
00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:15,120
So 2000, in 2017, he took so 
Joshua Skeens and This is why I 

363
00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:17,120
like, and I'll get into this 
later, but This is why this is 

364
00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:20,000
when I lost respect for a little
bit of Michelin when, when, when

365
00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:21,960
this happened. 
But Joshua Skeens was working on

366
00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:24,600
2 new angler projects. 
And so I was I was hired on as 

367
00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:28,120
the executive chef for Los 
Angeles and but I had to train 

368
00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:30,640
in at Ceisson and then also help
with San Francisco. 

369
00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:34,800
But Laurent Gras was taking over
Joshua Skeins spot at Ceisson 

370
00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:38,280
and then they lost him. 
They lost their third star and 

371
00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:41,280
only got 2 when Laurent with 
Laurent Gras. 

372
00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:43,360
Exactly. 
And I and I was like, I 

373
00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:46,120
remember, I remember talking to 
Paul, I was like, you know, it's

374
00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:49,760
so unbelievable to me that you 
know, they of course when the 

375
00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:51,040
chef leaves, they lose a star. 
I get that. 

376
00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:55,120
But like for Laurent Gras, like 
dude, that's that. 

377
00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:58,120
Literally that literally like 
took all the credibility out of 

378
00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:00,440
my soul. 
Man, the guy who's gotten three 

379
00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:04,040
stars at L2O, Luis Khan's and 
who knows where else, right? 

380
00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:06,160
Yeah, and I mean. 
I know they didn't get 3 stars 

381
00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:08,880
at Peacock but. 
Still, dude, he's like, I mean, 

382
00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:10,480
when it comes to seafood, this 
guy is the man. 

383
00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:12,440
But anyway that that that's what
happened. 

384
00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:16,240
So Laurent Kraut took over and 
they got they lost the star and 

385
00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:18,560
you know, a lot of people were 
upset, but they weren't as upset

386
00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:21,720
as like I, you know, if you're a
young cook and young chef and 

387
00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:25,280
you're looking towards Michelin 
as like the pinnacle, you know, 

388
00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:27,760
this is frustrating. 
Like I wasn't even mad about 

389
00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:30,080
like the chicken cart getting a 
Michelin star, the tacos get a 

390
00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:32,400
Michelin star. 
But like Laurent Gras is like. 

391
00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:34,320
Dude he is decorated. 
What was the? 

392
00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:37,040
I'm, I'm sure there was a 
narrative. 

393
00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:38,480
Yeah. 
And, and, and it might have been

394
00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:40,880
a real narrative, or it might 
have just been on the streets. 

395
00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:42,560
Yeah. 
What was the narrative as to why

396
00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:44,200
he lost the star? 
Was there like was? 

397
00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,280
How did people justify this? 
So what I what I was told is 

398
00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:50,040
that every time a chef leaves, 
they lose a star or something 

399
00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:52,360
like that, or they lose the 
stars, go with them and then 

400
00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:54,440
they get re awarded. 
And so yeah. 

401
00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:56,080
And so not, but I was. 
I blacked it out of my mind 

402
00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:59,280
because I was so upset. 
Did L2O not get 3 stars in their

403
00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:00,560
first year? 
I you know what? 

404
00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:03,520
I'm not sure that was so long 
ago, but I remember L2O having 

405
00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:04,400
three stars. 
Yeah. 

406
00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:07,600
And, you know, but it's just 
crazy to me, like, especially as

407
00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:10,920
Saison held 33 Michelin stars 
for, you know, it was like 2014 

408
00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:12,480
through 17. 
Per SE, got it. 

409
00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:14,840
Per SE, Le Bernadin. 
I mean, yeah, French lottery, 

410
00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:16,440
They got three stars the first 
year. 

411
00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:19,320
Yeah, 100%. 
I mean, I don't know. 

412
00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:21,520
That's what I'm saying, yeah. 
And like we could, but it was 

413
00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:24,480
Laurent Gras was the man. 
I remember I I'm used to 

414
00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:26,400
breaking down my fish with a 
slicer knife. 

415
00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:28,480
Mizzono slicer, right? 
But he's like, he's like, he's 

416
00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:29,880
like, do you have a debba debba 
knife? 

417
00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:31,720
And I'm like, I do chef. 
He's like, you should use that. 

418
00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:32,720
But I don't like to use the 
debba. 

419
00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:34,000
But he's like, it's more 
comfortable. 

420
00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:36,320
But I knew how to do it because 
I've I've learned how to break 

421
00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:38,880
down, especially Hamachi with 
with with a debba. 

422
00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:40,640
But I did it anyway. 
You know, I'm like, yeah, no 

423
00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:42,200
problem. 
I got a Masimo debba. 

424
00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:44,360
No problem. 
Like let's do the Masimoto 

425
00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:46,360
debba. 
And like, it was just funny when

426
00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:49,000
I was sitting there, like 
shaking because I'm just like, 

427
00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:50,920
dude, I can't believe both these
chefs are watching me. 

428
00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:53,960
You know, we did like, cured 
kombu and we were doing research

429
00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:55,920
development. 
But it was just like, man, like 

430
00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:59,000
walking the farmers market with 
Laurent Gras and watching him 

431
00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:01,360
get excited about, like, 
smelling vegetables. 

432
00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:03,960
Tasting. 
I think he's back in New York, 

433
00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:04,960
but I'm not sure. 
I mean is. 

434
00:17:05,079 --> 00:17:07,400
He still chefing? 
I think you know, I'm not sure. 

435
00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:09,920
I know he was working on some 
like tableware and stuff, but I 

436
00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:11,319
really haven't been following 
him, you know? 

437
00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:14,079
But great chef, man. 
So here's a hot. 

438
00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:16,599
I want a hot take. 
Yeah. 

439
00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:18,680
So you went to culinary school? 
Yes. 

440
00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:21,119
Did you go to culinary? 
School, yeah, I actually got 

441
00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:23,720
smart and I knew back in the day
you had to get you like it was 

442
00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:26,560
you supposed to go to culinary 
school, but I went I went to the

443
00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:29,000
I was smart so I didn't I knew 
that I didn't have enough money 

444
00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:31,680
to go to CIA or Johnson and 
Wales, so I went to the Florida 

445
00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:33,560
Culinary Institute in West Palm 
Beach, FL I. 

446
00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:35,760
Went to the Art Institute in 
Fort Lauderdale. 

447
00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:39,680
Yeah, right. 
So culinary school did did it 

448
00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:42,160
help you? 
Did it hurt you? 

449
00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:44,200
Did it? 
Was it just general orientation?

450
00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:46,480
So, so I think, I think 
education is important on all 

451
00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:48,720
levels. 
Do you need to go to culinary 

452
00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:49,800
school to cook? 
No. 

453
00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:54,400
But did it help me throughout my
career and push me further in my

454
00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:55,400
career? 
Yes. 

455
00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:58,680
And what pushed me further more 
was the, you know, the 

456
00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,280
marketing, the business aspect. 
You know, I knew how to cost a 

457
00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:05,520
recipe when I was, you know, 20 
years old because that's what I 

458
00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:08,200
learned at school and then I 
applied it as a sous chef in my 

459
00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:10,960
real life. 
So it helped me for my career 

460
00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:13,600
and like pushed me forward. 
And I was, you know, I was going

461
00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,000
back to what Brandon said is 
like, I knew that I wanted to 

462
00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:20,280
manage kitchens, not just be a a
great cook, you know, and I kind

463
00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:22,080
of like, you know, I was an 
executive chef by by the age of 

464
00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:24,520
22, you know, so I was, did I 
know what I was doing? 

465
00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:25,960
Hell no. 
Did I know how to cook? 

466
00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:27,760
Absolutely. 
But I didn't know anything about

467
00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:29,480
food cost, labor or anything 
like that. 

468
00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:32,760
So but I knew in my mind, my 
heart soul that I wanted to, I 

469
00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:36,640
wanted to move up the chain. 
So, you know, he's over there, 

470
00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:38,640
you know, working at Elenia and 
I'm paying his rent. 

471
00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:41,440
Yeah, that's funny. 
He like he can't even watch. 

472
00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:43,440
He's like, I gotta, I gotta 
choose between darks and whites 

473
00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:44,680
this week. 
Yeah, because I don't have 

474
00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:47,240
enough money to do 2 loads. 
And I'm like, Dang, bro, I'm 

475
00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:50,600
like, you know, So I was like 
giving him money because I was 

476
00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:53,080
supporting his dream, you know? 
But I was living vicariously 

477
00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:54,440
through him. 
I wasn't willing to. 

478
00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:56,320
Give he was making bank in Saint
Lucia, don't don't. 

479
00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:59,760
He wasn't like he was broke too.
He was making bank tax free, so.

480
00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:02,000
Yeah, tax free money, man, it 
was, it was beautiful, you know,

481
00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:04,160
but also I that's where my 
career jumped. 

482
00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:06,160
Off Have you guys ever worked 
together? 

483
00:19:07,120 --> 00:19:10,560
No, but not necessarily. 
He just not necessarily we've 

484
00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:12,640
done dinners together and stuff,
but like, you know, we're two 

485
00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:13,640
different types of chefs. 
Yeah. 

486
00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:16,000
And so for. 
But what's crazy to go back to 

487
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:17,920
culinary school, I went to 
culinary school and I already 

488
00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:20,640
had like the prerequisite to go 
to go to culinary. 

489
00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:22,720
Like I already knew how to prep,
knife work, all that, all that 

490
00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:25,400
stuff. 
What was valuable for me is not 

491
00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:27,720
spending a ton of money, right? 
Because I don't care what 

492
00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:29,520
anybody says. 
The ROI is not there. 

493
00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:31,280
When you get out of culinary 
school, you are starting as a 

494
00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:32,520
prep cook. 
You're starting at the bottom. 

495
00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:35,800
But what was valuable for me is 
I actually went back because I 

496
00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:37,840
already had all the 
prerequisites of class. 

497
00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:40,800
I went back for international 
baking and pastry and so I took 

498
00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:43,760
a nine month program that really
set me up for success in the 

499
00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:47,080
future because when it came to 
pastries and baking, like, you 

500
00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:49,240
know, I can make chocolate chip 
cookies like right now, by the 

501
00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:51,560
way, I dogged him for that. 
I was like baking and pastry 

502
00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:53,320
like you. 
That's that's stupid. 

503
00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:55,000
You know, like, why would you 
waste your time on that? 

504
00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:57,440
You know, like, and it's really 
gotten me far because I can't 

505
00:19:57,440 --> 00:19:59,880
explain it, you know, especially
at Alinea, you know, like Alinea

506
00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:01,760
like I started working the pit 
like it was, I was working the 

507
00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:03,560
hot app station. 
And this is a funny story 

508
00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:06,120
because like, the chocolate guy 
didn't show up and nobody else 

509
00:20:06,120 --> 00:20:07,520
in the everybody was savory 
chefs, right? 

510
00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:09,760
And so they're like, and I 
remember Chef Matt was like, 

511
00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:11,800
does it is our 12:00 meeting? 
He's like, does anybody know how

512
00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:13,680
to temper chocolate? 
And I'll shot my hand and I'm 

513
00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:16,560
like, yeah, chef, I do. 
I don't souvy it, but I I can 

514
00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:18,560
temper chocolate, you know? 
And he's like, well, you're 

515
00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:20,760
making the chocolate balls. 
And I'm like, OK, no problem. 

516
00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:23,680
And if you work pastry, you know
that pastries don't start until 

517
00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:26,760
mid service. 730 And so I would 
set up my station 1st and then I

518
00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:28,760
go downstairs in the wine room 
and make and make the chocolate 

519
00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:30,120
balls. 
But they had a specific 

520
00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:32,360
technique on how to temper the 
chocolate and they double double

521
00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:35,240
bagged it and then put in the 
circulator, which respectfully, 

522
00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:37,040
I thought was stupid. 
You want to keep chocolate far 

523
00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:38,880
away from water. 
And then plus like a double 

524
00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:41,440
boiler just works like it's 
just, it's, it's really easy to 

525
00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:43,880
do. 
But like, anyway, so I'm down in

526
00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:48,080
the I'm down in the, I'm, I'm 
down in the wine room making 

527
00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:49,680
chocolate because it's a 
controlled room, right? 

528
00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:51,680
And it's funny because like, you
know, the chef is like, you 

529
00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:53,440
know, like he's testing the 
ball. 

530
00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:54,600
I'm like, chef, I know it's 
going to be good. 

531
00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:56,720
Is that that was the time when 
we did like a chestnut dessert 

532
00:20:56,720 --> 00:20:58,840
where we broke the chocolate 
ball on the table, you know, and

533
00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:01,080
I know I only needed forty and 
they were with balloons. 

534
00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:04,280
Like it was easy, like for me as
you know, but nobody else knew 

535
00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:06,240
how to temper chocolate. 
And you know, I knew these 

536
00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:08,720
temperatures like the back of my
hand because I went to pastry 

537
00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:10,960
school, right? 
And so it's just really funny 

538
00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:14,240
because I, we had these little 
birthday chocolates too, and we 

539
00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:16,200
ran out and usually the 
chocolate guy makes it. 

540
00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:18,400
And so I'm in the middle of 
service, pastry guy next to me 

541
00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:19,840
is like, shit, I don't have any 
more birthday balls. 

542
00:21:20,120 --> 00:21:22,440
And I'm like, dude, it's easy. 
So on my station, I got the 

543
00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:24,360
induction double boiler, but the
sous chef comes over. 

544
00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:26,040
He's like, we don't do it this 
way chef. 

545
00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:28,600
And I'm like, I know, but chef, 
I'm not going to go set up a 

546
00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:31,520
circulator down in the basement 
to double bag chocolate and then

547
00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:34,160
run down and wait an hour and a 
half for it to be tempered when 

548
00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:37,800
I only need 1/4 of a cup, you 
know, And then, so it was funny 

549
00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:40,520
because Chef Matt, you know, he 
was like, he's like, make sure 

550
00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:43,120
you double check, make sure. 
And I'm like, it's just a ball. 

551
00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:45,680
Like it's, it's, you know, it's 
like a bonbon, but a circle. 

552
00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:49,680
And it was really, it was so 
funny because I, I just thought 

553
00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:52,440
in my head like, you know, as 
you know, coming to Elenia as a 

554
00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:55,720
sous chef, there's a lot of 
young managers that just 

555
00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:57,320
shouldn't be, they just 
shouldn't be managers. 

556
00:21:57,400 --> 00:21:59,360
You were the sous. 
Chef No, I was not, no no, I was

557
00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:03,440
just a chef to partique. 
But what I what I what I from 

558
00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:06,320
what I know now and not to, you 
know, everybody who's just doing

559
00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:08,760
the best they can there. 
But like, if I would have known 

560
00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:11,560
what I know now, I would have 
talked to Grant himself about 

561
00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,360
like my what I wanted to do 
there because there was too many

562
00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:17,200
layers, you know, and you have 
to make, you know, like when 

563
00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:20,760
when as soon as Mike Bagel got 
begal, I should say he as soon 

564
00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:23,200
as he got promoted, I knew my I 
was was over for me. 

565
00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:24,480
That right. 
I was like, OK, it's going to 

566
00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:27,120
take years because, you know, 
Chef Simon was behind him, you 

567
00:22:27,120 --> 00:22:28,800
know what I mean? 
And so I knew that, OK, well, 

568
00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:31,120
there's only next and Avery. 
And so I'm like, man, it's going

569
00:22:31,120 --> 00:22:34,160
to take years to get into a 
position, you know, and like it.

570
00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:36,120
You know, the what I learned 
there was excellent. 

571
00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:38,080
And you know I. 
And you were there. 

572
00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:41,320
I've been when Elena was. 
Like pumping #7 in the world. 

573
00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:43,200
I mean, it was dude, it was, it 
was pumping. 

574
00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:47,080
But I will admit, man, I saw so,
so much talent get chewed up and

575
00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:49,920
spit out. 
And especially 1, I remember one

576
00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:52,680
guy, Caleb, man, he's the, he's 
the chef that was in at Schwa 

577
00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:54,680
now. 
And I just saw him on Instagram 

578
00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:57,360
like oh shit, Caleb dude, I 
remember training this guy and 

579
00:22:57,360 --> 00:22:59,160
he looked at me. 
He's like, I'm not doing this. 

580
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:00,760
I can't do this. 
This is stupid. 

581
00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:03,120
And I'm like, what do you mean? 
I'm like, chef, it's OK, hey, 

582
00:23:03,120 --> 00:23:05,360
just stay with me, you know, 
because I, I appreciated stages,

583
00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:07,200
you know, I want to talk to 
people because it's a silent 

584
00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:09,120
kitchen. 
But I remember him walking out, 

585
00:23:09,120 --> 00:23:10,840
but he was talented, you know, 
and that's, I mean, he's a chef 

586
00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:13,000
that was in a straw now, but it 
was that was a, that was a very 

587
00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:15,360
difficult kitchen to, to, to 
work in. 

588
00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:17,720
And if you didn't change your 
mindset, like you're not going 

589
00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:20,720
to make it right. 
Like 100%, every single thing, 

590
00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:22,640
every decision that you made was
Alinea focused. 

591
00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:23,960
Yeah. 
And I, I worked with Brandon for

592
00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:25,240
a week because I wanted to 
understand. 

593
00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:26,840
It so I took a vacation, worked 
with him for a week. 

594
00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,040
Mommy was like, hey, this is you
bro. 

595
00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:32,640
We clean the kitchen so much, 
but it taught like, listen, I 

596
00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:35,320
haven't high level of respect. 
There's one thing to be able to 

597
00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:38,800
cook very good, but to master 
the artistry of cooking and 

598
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:42,520
deliver in a performance like 
that for a dining experience, I 

599
00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:43,640
knew right away this wasn't for 
me. 

600
00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:47,120
You know, this is I'm like, I 
don't vibe well with three 

601
00:23:47,120 --> 00:23:48,360
Michelin. 
Starbucks, it was for me. 

602
00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:50,920
Look, look, you loved it dude. 
When I when I did my 2 day 

603
00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:52,400
storage, I thought I was a good 
cook. 

604
00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:54,320
I thought I was, you know, 
because I would run circles 

605
00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:55,840
around people and I would cook 
my ass. 

606
00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:57,520
You had you had kitchen, house 
and brother. 

607
00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:00,360
I was I walked, but when I 
walked in that back door my 

608
00:24:00,360 --> 00:24:04,800
first storage day and I saw 
people moving and they were so 

609
00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:06,600
much better than me. 
Like that was the bottom line. 

610
00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:09,240
The the the girl that I was 
paired with. 

611
00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:11,080
I forgot her name, but I wish I 
could stay connected. 

612
00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:13,560
She's like, we have to get this 
Demi glass on by by noon. 

613
00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:16,720
You know how to cook. 
That's not the problem. 

614
00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:19,680
The problem is getting your team
to do what you want when you 

615
00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:21,200
want it. 
That's leadership. 

616
00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:23,880
My book, Culinary Leadership 
Fundamentals, breaks down 

617
00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:26,120
exactly how to run a kitchen 
without losing your mind. 

618
00:24:26,120 --> 00:24:27,680
Stop yelling. 
Start leading. 

619
00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:31,400
Get the book at Chefs psa.com. 
So she so she's like we have, 

620
00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:33,320
she's like, hey, suit up, we got
to get ready. 

621
00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:35,960
We have to have this Demi gloss 
on by 12:00 PM. 

622
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:37,800
And I'm like, OK, chef, like no 
problem. 

623
00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,040
She's like, so I need you to cut
this mirror pawn 6 minutes. 

624
00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:43,040
And I'm like, you know, anyway, 
I start hammering and then, you 

625
00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:45,360
know, it's funny because like, 
you know, they're everybody's 

626
00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:46,840
looking, you know, that's a new 
guy in the kitchen. 

627
00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:48,480
And I'm just like, I'm just 
doing the best I can. 

628
00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:50,960
But, you know, she's like, it's 
not fast enough, Chef. 

629
00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:52,800
You got to go faster. 
And I'm like, I'm going as fast 

630
00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:55,640
as I can in my mind. 
And it's funny because she did 

631
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:58,680
the same task the next day half 
the time. 

632
00:24:58,680 --> 00:24:59,400
Wow. 
Yeah. 

633
00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:00,760
She's like and you think you're 
a gangster. 

634
00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:02,480
Yeah, she's like, she's like, 
no, stand there. 

635
00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:04,600
You fucking watch me and I'm 
like, yes, chef. 

636
00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:06,160
And then I'm like, what's this 
girl gonna? 

637
00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:08,280
You know what I mean? 
Dude, she's smoked it, bro. 

638
00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:10,920
Like, I mean, she's like it has 
to go on by this time it has to 

639
00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:13,160
cook for six hours. 
She's like that, you know, and 

640
00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:15,440
I'm, it was so serious and I was
just like, dude, that's crazy, 

641
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:17,880
you know, And then, and it was 
just funny because that, that 

642
00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,680
was kind of the, the drive in 
the perseverance that like I 

643
00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:23,200
needed at that time and that, 
that, that tunnel vision, 

644
00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:25,880
anything in the outside world 
could have been going on and I 

645
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:27,920
would have never even known 
because there was only two 

646
00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:30,360
things that I was thinking 
about. 1, survival. 

647
00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:32,840
And two, my prep list and being 
set up on time. 

648
00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:34,760
And that was it. 
Nothing else was important. 

649
00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:38,520
Any family, any, any, anything 
family happening outside 

650
00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:40,200
couldn't make it didn't, it 
didn't even matter. 

651
00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:44,000
I was working six days a week 
to, to focus on this path and it

652
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,120
was absolutely crazy. 
And tunnel vision was like at 

653
00:25:47,120 --> 00:25:48,840
the top of the, you know, top of
the chain. 

654
00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:50,960
It was funny. 
Yeah, but I, I'm gonna, I wanna 

655
00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:53,000
go back to the, to the level of 
intensity. 

656
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:56,760
So number one, I get in there 
and I am 100% focused working 

657
00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:58,920
with him. 
And he is, I'm like his little 

658
00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:01,200
bitch, you know? 
And I'm, I'm used to running 

659
00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:03,600
kitchens right at this point. 
I'm an executive chef. 

660
00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:05,320
I'm overseeing 60 something 
staff. 

661
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:07,400
I got 5 sous chefs. 
I got 2 pastry chefs. 

662
00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:09,440
Like I am the one telling people
what to do. 

663
00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,040
He's like, hey, do this, hey, do
that, do this. 

664
00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:13,800
And I'm like moving. 
I'm running. 

665
00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:16,600
OK, running. 
Not only that, but finally after

666
00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:18,960
like day three, day four, I got 
to work the hotline. 

667
00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:20,440
OK. 
Chef Mike Bagel. 

668
00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:24,280
Yeah, and Simon Davies, you 
know, like they're on the other 

669
00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:26,160
side. 
I'm, I'm a commie cook, but on 

670
00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:27,520
the hot side. 
Brandon's on the other side. 

671
00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,280
And I'm I take, there's a little
bit of salt that fell on the 

672
00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:32,200
table. 
I wipe it onto the floor. 

673
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:34,600
Dude, Chef Mike, because looks 
at me, he's like, do we look 

674
00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:36,720
like the type of restaurant that
swipes stuff on the floor? 

675
00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:39,720
And I'm like, no, chef, it's 
like, don't ever do that again. 

676
00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:42,600
I'm like, I'm like, Dang, I'm 
like, you know what? 

677
00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:44,960
And I remember that till this 
day, because every time I see 

678
00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:47,880
somebody wipe something on the 
floor, that's a that's a, that's

679
00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:49,360
a bad habit. 
Yeah, it's a bad habit. 

680
00:26:49,360 --> 00:26:51,120
Then you're stepping. 
You're stepping in shit tray or 

681
00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:52,680
Yep, yeah, a little trailer. 
Or in your hand? 

682
00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:54,280
In your hand. 
Yeah, well, even when we when we

683
00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:57,440
scrubbed the kitchen down 400 
times a day, we had hotel pants 

684
00:26:57,840 --> 00:26:59,840
and squeegees and I'm like, I 
just cleaned the spot and then 

685
00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:01,680
Brandon's coming back and 
cleaning it right after me. 

686
00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:03,720
And you know, that drove me 
crazy because I'm like, it's not

687
00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:05,440
efficient. 
There's a certain order for the 

688
00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:06,520
scrub down, right? 
Yeah, like. 

689
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:08,840
Top to bottom, top to bottom, 
you're scrubbing your table, 

690
00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:11,080
you're squeezing it into a hotel
pan, you're putting it down the 

691
00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:13,560
drain. 
But just that experience itself 

692
00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:17,520
just opened up my mind to This 
is why we do this, because if 

693
00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:20,480
you wipe that salt on the on the
floor, you're wiping everything 

694
00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:22,640
on the floor, right? 
Doesn't matter what it is you 

695
00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:24,160
know and you. 
Have to leave it better than you

696
00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:26,880
found it, but it's. 
And the and the same thing I 

697
00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:28,920
think you know, Brandon also 
made a good .1 time. 

698
00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:32,240
We were talking like about when 
you're working a station, you 

699
00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:35,200
know, nobody should know what 
you were working on right there.

700
00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:36,560
Shouldn't like if you're 
breaking down salmon, there 

701
00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:39,600
shouldn't be salmon scales over 
here and over there. 

702
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:41,680
You know, when you're working 
with equipment in the kitchen, 

703
00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:44,480
like your RoboCop should go to 
the same spot where it's being 

704
00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:48,160
stored. 
Dude, Alinea, they had tape 

705
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:50,280
where the scale was. 
This is where the scale stayed. 

706
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:51,880
Don't move it. 
You bring, don't move it. 

707
00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:54,360
You bring whatever you need to 
measure, come over to the scale.

708
00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:58,000
Vitamix, Vitamix, Vitamix. 
And I implemented that in my 

709
00:27:58,000 --> 00:27:59,200
kitchens because I was like, you
know what? 

710
00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:02,240
It is smart and efficient and 
you're never looking for 

711
00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:03,880
something. 
You, you could learn a lot of 

712
00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:08,360
really good practices and these 
ultra high end kitchens on how 

713
00:28:08,360 --> 00:28:11,000
to work efficiently, how to 
organize yourself 1000%, how to 

714
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:13,840
make sure you know, time is of 
the essence like you were 

715
00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:15,600
talking about. 
There's so much good that comes 

716
00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:19,040
from, from, from working in a 
lot of these kitchens, But 

717
00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:24,560
sometimes there's also some bad.
And I and I've noticed, and I'm 

718
00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:28,240
curious what your thoughts are. 
Sometimes you you hire people, 

719
00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:31,040
it's based on resume and then 
they come in and it's. 

720
00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:33,160
Like they suck. 
And it they, it's hard to adapt 

721
00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:35,720
when yeah, it's, it's easy to 
adapt when everything's perfect.

722
00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:37,360
It's very difficult to adapt 
when nothing's. 

723
00:28:37,360 --> 00:28:39,080
Perfect. 
Yeah, 100%. 

724
00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:42,320
And I'll say this, and I mean 
with the utmost respect, but if 

725
00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:46,160
I see Thomas Keller on the 
resume, I'm not hiring, not 

726
00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:47,760
hiring and and here's. 
And. 

727
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:51,040
Here's now. 
Now, here's the thing, say what 

728
00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:53,360
you want, but I've worked with 
and I have so much respect for 

729
00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:55,280
that group and I have so much 
respect for Thomas Keller. 

730
00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:57,520
And obviously working at Alinea 
with Grant Hacketts, he's a 

731
00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:00,920
protege of Thomas Keller. 
But these cooks come out here 

732
00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:03,320
brainwashed. 
And I've worked with enough 

733
00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,040
Bouchon cooks and enough French 
Laundry cooks, especially in 

734
00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:09,480
California where it's like they 
can't, they're brainwashed. 

735
00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:11,960
They cannot adjust and stick and
move. 

736
00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:15,080
And like it's frustrating. 
The only one that I will say 

737
00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:18,200
Damien Evers shot out, he was at
Bouchon for 10 years. 

738
00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:20,880
But you know, he had this 
mentality and I told him so I 

739
00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,520
was like, you know, 'cause he, 
we got paired together when we 

740
00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:26,360
were open up anglers. 
And I remember telling Paul the,

741
00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:29,400
you know, the culinary director 
or his name is Jonathan, but I 

742
00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:31,360
was told Paul was like, you 
know, usually I never like I'd 

743
00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:35,200
never hire French Laundry at all
because of these, you know, of 

744
00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:36,320
the brainwashing, you know what 
I mean? 

745
00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:37,480
And I don't care what anybody 
says. 

746
00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:39,040
You can say what you want. 
And you know, I own my own 

747
00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:40,080
restaurants now. 
So like mashed? 

748
00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:41,560
Potatoes. 
They only do it that way, yeah. 

749
00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,000
So like, so like I was so sick 
of hearing. 

750
00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:46,640
So when I was at Oreo, I also 
worked with my, the two sous 

751
00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:48,560
chefs I work with, They came 
from Bouchon, right? 

752
00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:50,200
But they did things a certain 
way. 

753
00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:52,080
And that was it. 
And it's just like they couldn't

754
00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:55,360
open their mind to how to like. 
And that's the thing. 

755
00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:58,480
And so for the young chefs and 
cooks out there, if you go to a 

756
00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:02,360
restaurant to work, wherever you
worked before is wonderful, but 

757
00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:04,480
do not bring that up every 
single time you were in the 

758
00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:06,680
kitchen, that is. 
Used to do it this way, yeah. 

759
00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:09,040
Well, when I was at French 
Laundry, we did it this way and 

760
00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:10,600
it's, it's almost unbearable, 
right? 

761
00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:12,280
Yeah. 
And so, and, you know, that's no

762
00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:13,760
disrespect. 
It just is what it is, right? 

763
00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:15,600
And so like, I mean, I just went
through this recently. 

764
00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:17,600
You know, I have this, you know,
I have a lot of DMS of like 

765
00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:19,960
cooks that want to come work 
and, you know, and it's, and 

766
00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:22,200
it's funny because I saw Per SE 
on the resume and like, oh, I 

767
00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:23,360
want to get back to the 
mountains. 

768
00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:26,680
And I'm like, oh, that's nice. 
Nope. 

769
00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:28,840
Well, I will, I will say another
thing, you know, throughout my 

770
00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:31,640
career when I see culinary 
schools on resumes, I, you know,

771
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:34,960
that doesn't matter. 
Like I look for experience and 

772
00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:38,760
#1 do you pass the vibe check? 
You know, I think a lot of, you 

773
00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:41,400
know, a lot of this business is 
about who you know and the 

774
00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:44,200
relationships that you create 
over the years that you work. 

775
00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:47,160
Don't burn any bridges, you 
know, leave things better than 

776
00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:49,040
when you got them. 
Leave a job better than when 

777
00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:54,200
you, you know, got there just 
'cause you went to CIA doesn't 

778
00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:57,240
anything doesn't. 
Honestly, it's as the it's at 

779
00:30:57,320 --> 00:30:58,600
ain't where you from, it's where
you at. 

780
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:02,160
Yeah, that's that's 100%. 
None of that matters when the 

781
00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:03,600
shit hits the fan. 
Yeah, yeah. 

782
00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:06,320
Another hot take is, you know, 
like I remember I, there was 

783
00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:08,480
only one vision for me and that 
was 3 Michelin star. 

784
00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:10,440
That was, you know, that was 
five star, 5 diamond. 

785
00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:12,600
That was like it was the only 
thing I can think about. 

786
00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:16,440
And so when I started at Oreo 1 
Michelin star, Vincent Poiselle,

787
00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:18,520
one of the best chefs I've ever 
worked for a French chef, you 

788
00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:22,320
know, he's from Paris and like 
he, like, I hate to say it, but 

789
00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:25,040
he was in the French connect and
you know, Joe Robuchon and 

790
00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:27,920
Latelli, you know, and, and you 
know, the techniques he taught 

791
00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:31,400
me, I'll, I'll, I'll bring you 
know, wherever, like making a 

792
00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:35,000
large, like a large amount of 
food, 400 covers, but still at 

793
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,080
that Michelin quality. 
And that really taught me 

794
00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:39,480
production, right. 
And so The thing is, is then, 

795
00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:43,760
you know, go like working in 
this style of cuisine. 

796
00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:46,280
And I'll just say, and Charlie 
Palmer is the one who actually 

797
00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:49,240
told me, you know, listen, Lenny
is great, but that's for like 1%

798
00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:51,240
of the world. 
And he's like, you know, you're 

799
00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:53,600
going to find yourself, you 
pigeonholed yourself into this 

800
00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:56,320
three Michelin star mindset. 
And he's like, you know, so like

801
00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:59,240
if me as a restaurant or if I 
was going to hire you for this 

802
00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:02,680
hotel project, the Knickerbocker
in New York City where it's 

803
00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:05,560
catering, it's brunch, it's 
lunch, it's banquets. 

804
00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:09,680
He's like, not only will you 
fail, but also you're only going

805
00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:11,800
to make a certain amount of 
money if you can't oversee more 

806
00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:13,600
services. 
And I'm like, you know, that's 

807
00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:14,800
so true. 
I didn't really think about it 

808
00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:16,320
like that. 
And so like, that's my only 

809
00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:17,880
thing. 
I only knew dinner service, you 

810
00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:20,680
know, And so for me, it was 
really when I started working at

811
00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:23,480
the Wolfgang Puck Group that I 
started to branch out. 

812
00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:24,920
I worked Wolfgang Puck fine 
dining. 

813
00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:27,240
So I came back from millennia. 
I was going to go back to 

814
00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:30,560
Charlie Palmer in Las Vegas and 
then Wolfgang Pucks, you know, 

815
00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:32,720
Matt Hurley, the chef at 
Palazzo, He's like, are you 

816
00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:34,520
coming back, back to Vegas? 
He's like, we got to get you to 

817
00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:36,760
the group, you know? 
And so I was offered a position 

818
00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:38,480
I couldn't refuse. 
And I Yep. 

819
00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:42,800
And I was the executive sue at 
Spago at Caesar's Palace. 

820
00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:45,040
And I started working with Eric 
Klein, which is another great 

821
00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:49,240
mentor of mine. 
He's an awesome, but rightfully 

822
00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:50,520
so. 
When I came out of millennia, I 

823
00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:52,480
was hot. 
I was like. 

824
00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:58,720
Don't tell me what to do. 
First day, first day, I'm like, 

825
00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:02,320
I got big capital letters. 
Don't slam the door here. 

826
00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:04,480
Don't slam the ice. 
Put the ice scoop back. 

827
00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:07,720
I'm like, and you know, and what
I realized and Eric, I remember 

828
00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:09,160
Eric because he was just telling
me he was calming. 

829
00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:11,680
He was like, hey, listen, I know
you came out of a three Michelin

830
00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:13,360
star restaurant. 
He's like, but also you have to 

831
00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:17,080
understand, like Maria, the prep
cook is not going to be 

832
00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:19,320
receptive to that type of 
leadership. 

833
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:22,720
And I'm and that changed my 
perception and I remember and I 

834
00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:23,920
had a coach. 
You out of a lot of those 

835
00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:25,680
situations. 
And he would for the first six 

836
00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:27,040
months. 
It was very difficult for me. 

837
00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:28,520
You know why? 
Because I was working by myself 

838
00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:31,840
and we, we had four sous chefs 
and we lost all of them. 

839
00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:34,440
It was just me and Eric. 
And I would imagine that, and 

840
00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:36,600
I'm not saying that maybe you 
had this there, but I would 

841
00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:39,320
imagine like you probably got in
trouble a lot like someone, hey,

842
00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:41,800
can we, can we talk? 
Yes, yes, someone kind of like 

843
00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:43,560
who you spoke to. 
Yeah, because I would. 

844
00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:45,000
It was true. 
I would just blaze down. 

845
00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:46,360
I'd be working the grill 
station. 

846
00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:47,320
I like. 
I would be. 

847
00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:50,000
And I'd be cursed person and 
yelling in like you, you know, 

848
00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:51,640
you suck. 
But like what people don't 

849
00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:55,840
understand is not everybody has 
that same drive and passion and,

850
00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:57,880
you know, mentality. 
Yeah, exactly like we're. 

851
00:33:57,920 --> 00:33:59,520
Willing to deal with as much as 
they're willing. 

852
00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:00,400
To listen. 
Yeah, exactly. 

853
00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:02,040
And like, listen, Maria's 
leaving at 3:30. 

854
00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:04,120
She's gonna go pick up her kids 
and she's gonna, you know, and 

855
00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:05,040
that's, that's what she's gonna 
do. 

856
00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:07,600
Like good example I had, you 
know, I call it the Latino force

857
00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:10,960
on the line at Las Vegas. 
And you know, they are solo and 

858
00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:12,600
I that's what I miss in Montana,
let me tell you. 

859
00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:15,560
But careful now. 
Yeah, dude, I'm like, yo, hey, 

860
00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:17,639
if I don't want to say, I don't 
want to say, but I was like, yo,

861
00:34:17,639 --> 00:34:19,199
if ice is giving you trouble, 
come out to Montana, bro. 

862
00:34:19,239 --> 00:34:20,719
They won't see you come out 
here, bro. 

863
00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:24,120
You know what I mean? 
Like, but it's it's funny 

864
00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:28,080
because like I like I'll never 
forget when I learned how to be 

865
00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:30,239
a better leader. 
My life got better, you know, 

866
00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:32,000
and I really took, I took 
coaching classes. 

867
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:35,360
I took I did so much because I 
didn't really click for me at 

868
00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:37,800
Oriel. 
Oriel was a union environment. 

869
00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:40,280
And I remember Chef Vincent 
like, because I couldn't wrap my

870
00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:41,880
head around. 
So I'm just going back to when I

871
00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:43,239
was working at Oriel as a sous 
chef. 

872
00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:46,040
I couldn't wrap my head around 
in a union environment how the 

873
00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:48,320
cooks would just wrap up the 
food and then walk off the line.

874
00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:50,000
Oh, yeah. 
Without cleaning. 

875
00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:50,440
Yeah. 
Yeah. 

876
00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:51,960
Because it wasn't their job. 
Yeah. 

877
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:53,280
And then they're like, they're 
like Chef you. 

878
00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:55,080
It's union. 
You can't take the job away from

879
00:34:55,080 --> 00:34:56,080
the Stewart. 
And I'm like, what are you 

880
00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:57,760
talking about? 
Clean up your shit. 

881
00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:00,320
Like you can't just leave the 
line and then Vince, since like,

882
00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:02,400
hey, this is union, this is a 
union property. 

883
00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:04,320
They don't you have to 
understand that's not part of 

884
00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:05,400
their job. 
And I'm like, do you mean it's 

885
00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:06,880
not my job? 
That was my work, dude. 

886
00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:08,360
Fuming. 
And so anyway. 

887
00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:09,480
Smoke out of the ears, 
everything. 

888
00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:13,120
So here we go. 
We're in HR the next day right 

889
00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:16,480
off the bat, so and Vincent, 
Vincent was like, I remember 

890
00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:20,440
chef, he looked at me. 
We go into HR, he's like, don't 

891
00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:22,360
say a word. 
And I'm like, how am I? 

892
00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:23,640
How am I supposed to defend 
myself, chef? 

893
00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:24,880
Like they don't know. 
You don't understand the 

894
00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:26,120
standard we're trying to go for 
here. 

895
00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:28,160
We're in the HR office. 
Let me tell you something. 

896
00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:29,600
They're not there for you, 
right? 

897
00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:34,000
They will cut the manager so 
fast compared to the employee 

898
00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:38,040
and so it's funny because like I
start talking and all I feel is 

899
00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:40,720
the grip of death from Chef 
Vincent and he said. 

900
00:35:40,720 --> 00:35:41,360
Shut up. 
Yeah. 

901
00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:43,640
Yeah, yeah, yeah. 
Because she was like, well, we, 

902
00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:45,680
I want to talk about this 
situation and tell me, you know,

903
00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:47,280
blah, blah, blah. 
And she was like a lawyer, you 

904
00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:48,880
know what I mean? 
And so I'm like, well, you know,

905
00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:50,480
you know, I want to make sure 
the standard's high. 

906
00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:52,120
It's not. 
And she's like, Oh, yeah, tell 

907
00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:54,600
me more. 
And trying it out of you. 

908
00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:57,600
And so then we doing this. 
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, please. 

909
00:35:57,600 --> 00:35:58,600
Tell me, how do you feel that 
way? 

910
00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:01,440
And exactly and. 
Anything you say can and me 

911
00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:02,160
will. 
Yeah. 

912
00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:05,760
And so it was funny because I 
actually, and I will say this 

913
00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:08,120
until I'm blue in the face, 
working in a union environment, 

914
00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:10,600
managing in a union environment,
it made me a better leader 

915
00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:13,200
because, you know, your hands 
are tied, You know, you can't 

916
00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:15,400
just do what you want. 
And it teaches you how to work 

917
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:17,680
with people. 
And I think that is a super 

918
00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:21,200
important part of my career 
that, you know, that that kind 

919
00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:23,280
of sucks when you work at the 
Super high level because 

920
00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:25,760
everybody is kind of like, you 
know, they you all want to push 

921
00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:29,000
for greatness, but also that 
doesn't translate out to the 

922
00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:29,840
real world. 
Right. 

923
00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:31,480
Yeah. 
And and if I could interject 

924
00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:34,120
here, that moment for people 
that don't understand this 

925
00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:37,920
intense conversation in HR with 
you there. 

926
00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:40,360
And you're just saying how you 
feel because you come from a 

927
00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:43,560
world where the only important 
person is the chef, right. 

928
00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:45,880
And the chef's vision. 
And now you're in a place where 

929
00:36:46,160 --> 00:36:48,640
the chef is an important piece 
on the chess board amongst a 

930
00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:50,720
bunch of other important pieces.
100%. 

931
00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:54,120
And as soon as you stepped up, 
they said to the to the chef, 

932
00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:57,000
they said you stay back. 
You stepped out of the room and 

933
00:36:57,000 --> 00:36:58,600
they said that guy doesn't 
fucking get it. 

934
00:36:58,600 --> 00:36:59,240
Yeah, right. 
Yeah. 

935
00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:02,000
Are you gonna or do we need to 
start? 

936
00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:03,600
Do we need to start 
presentation? 

937
00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:04,880
Yeah, right. 
Paper trail. 

938
00:37:04,880 --> 00:37:08,120
Because at that moment the chef 
is thinking shut the fuck up. 

939
00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:10,960
He's grabbing it by the arm and 
he's thinking. 

940
00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:14,400
He's thinking to himself, I 
don't want to have. 

941
00:37:14,640 --> 00:37:15,840
To fire you. 
Yeah, exactly. 

942
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:18,680
I need you exactly. 
And, and I'll also mention this 

943
00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:22,120
like if you are working in a 
hotel partnership between a chef

944
00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:26,840
and the in the hotel, OK, it is 
super important to be a bomb 

945
00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:30,040
liaison between the partnership 
because a lot of people don't 

946
00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:31,440
understand. 
And when I worked at Wolfgang 

947
00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:34,200
Puck in at Hotel Bel Air and I 
was a chef de cuisine and I 

948
00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:36,000
remember Wolfgang saying, hey, 
why do you have to go to all 

949
00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:37,520
these meetings? 
And I'm like Chef, you don't. 

950
00:37:38,240 --> 00:37:41,080
Yeah, you need to show face. 
Chef, you have to like, I mean, 

951
00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:41,960
he's like, yeah, but it's 
stupid. 

952
00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:43,360
You guys shouldn't be in office.
You should be cooking. 

953
00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:47,080
And I'm like, Chef, I hear you 
and I respect you and I'm trust 

954
00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:50,280
me and I'm with you, but like. 
But we got to talk about the 

955
00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:52,360
employee rally. 
Yeah, yeah, yeah, like. 

956
00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:55,560
They want to know what's being 
served in the Swan Cafe at noon.

957
00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:57,800
Like, you know, And I'm just 
like, and it was so funny 

958
00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:00,320
because I, and I remember 
telling myself like, OK, this is

959
00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:02,640
important. 
And I, and I'll, I'll stress, I 

960
00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:05,320
can't stress enough, like every 
experience, you can take 

961
00:38:05,320 --> 00:38:08,280
something from every experience.
And you know, depending on what 

962
00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:10,240
type of chef you want to be in, 
for the young cooks out there, 

963
00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:15,160
what I recommend is like figure 
out what type of chef you want 

964
00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:17,520
to be as fast as possible. 
And this will change because 

965
00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:20,520
there's so like a lot of people 
think they can just put a chef 

966
00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:24,040
jacket on, hop on Instagram and 
post Tik Toks and now all of a 

967
00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:25,720
sudden they're a chef. 
Let me tell you something. 

968
00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:27,600
Yeah. 
Nah, doesn't work. 

969
00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:29,120
Chef means something. 
OK? 

970
00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:30,360
Chef means leader of the 
kitchen. 

971
00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:33,160
It, it's not like it's a, it's a
specific thing. 

972
00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:35,560
It's like saying you're electric
without having the the proper 

973
00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:36,880
documentation, you know what I 
mean? 

974
00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:38,640
It's like and. 
And if I could go back to 

975
00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:41,840
something that you said earlier,
but I'm gonna defend Thomas. 

976
00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:44,960
I'm gonna defend Thomas Keller 
for for a minute because I feel 

977
00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:46,600
like I, I left him hanging out 
there and didn't. 

978
00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:49,960
I didn't defend him because I've
done exactly what he's done. 

979
00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:51,840
I know why he does what he does.
Yeah. 

980
00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:54,400
Because when you want to work at
that and you know this, Yes. 

981
00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:56,280
When you want to work at that 
three Michelin star level where 

982
00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:58,960
it's a Linea, French Laundry, 
L2O, whatever. 

983
00:38:59,080 --> 00:39:02,280
Yeah, you need everyone to 
fucking operate in this system. 

984
00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:05,360
You have to you. 
Do not deviate from our system. 

985
00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:08,040
1000% and I will be on. 
Let me go back to defend Thomas 

986
00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:09,680
Keller two. 
That is my superhero. 

987
00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:11,440
Don't get me wrong. 
I remember when the under 

988
00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:14,160
pressure book came out, OK, 
under pressure sous video. 

989
00:39:14,520 --> 00:39:15,880
I read that thing cover to 
cover. 

990
00:39:15,880 --> 00:39:17,280
I did everything a single recipe
in there. 

991
00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:18,840
I got sous video tattooed on my 
arm. 

992
00:39:19,560 --> 00:39:21,960
Polly Science, you know, shout 
shouted me out. 

993
00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:23,400
They use they use me in the 
demo. 

994
00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:26,720
So I will say 100% when that 
that per SE, the French Laundry 

995
00:39:26,720 --> 00:39:30,400
cookbook changed my life in, you
know, in early, late 90s, late 

996
00:39:30,400 --> 00:39:34,120
90s. 
But I will say, I will say the 

997
00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:37,040
biggest thing that I've learned 
as a restaurant operator in a, 

998
00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:38,680
you know, in managing 
restaurants and being a chef to 

999
00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:41,960
cuisine executive sous chef, you
know, demographic is everything,

1000
00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:43,960
you know. 
And so it's, it's just super 

1001
00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:46,800
important, like a good example 
of the, the, you know, the 

1002
00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:50,320
techniques and some of the stuff
that is taught at the Thomas 

1003
00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:52,400
Keller Group and you know, at 
Bouchon, you know, it doesn't 

1004
00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:54,840
translate over to. 
And that and that's the to. 

1005
00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:58,960
To Hamilton, Mt right and and 
and also it doesn't translate to

1006
00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:02,120
in in like, well, San Francisco 
maybe, but like, you know, 

1007
00:40:02,560 --> 00:40:06,600
there's certain places where you
know, you have a demographic 

1008
00:40:06,600 --> 00:40:09,280
that's a certain menu market fit
where you have to cut cost. 

1009
00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:11,400
You like it doesn't need to be a
perfect circle. 

1010
00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:14,520
Well, and, and I, I, I want to 
talk about this with you because

1011
00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:17,560
I know you have several 
restaurants that are very 

1012
00:40:17,560 --> 00:40:20,920
successful and in running a 
successful restaurant is 

1013
00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:23,600
difficult. 
And so using the example of the 

1014
00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:27,000
French Laundry or Linear or any 
of any of these really high end 

1015
00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:30,000
3 Michelin star kitchens. 
When you're a chef at one of 

1016
00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:32,200
these places or a cook at one of
these places and you leave and 

1017
00:40:32,200 --> 00:40:35,480
you say, I want to basically 
replicate this because I loved 

1018
00:40:35,480 --> 00:40:37,760
it. 
And then you go into a different

1019
00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:40,960
kitchen because they hire you 
because you have 3 Michelin 

1020
00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:43,600
stars on your resume and they 
make you the chef, but you only 

1021
00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:46,560
got 2 cooks. 
But you still wanna do the food 

1022
00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:49,400
like if you had 20 cooks, right?
And you still wanna do the food 

1023
00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:51,120
like if you had a food cost at 
this. 

1024
00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:53,200
Yeah, right. 
But then you realize, hey, the 

1025
00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:57,000
owner doesn't have that 
unlimited bank account. 

1026
00:40:57,320 --> 00:40:58,800
Yep. 
And you know what? 

1027
00:40:58,840 --> 00:41:01,920
We have to we maybe we don't 
make it all from scratch. 100. 

1028
00:41:02,120 --> 00:41:04,600
Percent and so you know I'll 
just double down just to give a 

1029
00:41:04,600 --> 00:41:07,520
quick summary I moved out to 
Montana to start a restaurant 

1030
00:41:07,520 --> 00:41:10,040
group and I wanted to create 
what Thomas Keller created in 

1031
00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:13,000
Napa Valley back in the late 90s
and let me tell you something 

1032
00:41:13,720 --> 00:41:16,480
it's not all success right at 
least try to launch five 

1033
00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:19,840
businesses at once three of them
failed I'm you know now divorce 

1034
00:41:19,840 --> 00:41:22,760
with my partners you know we own
the restaurants 100% but like 

1035
00:41:23,240 --> 00:41:27,160
the reality is. 
Is my my and, and I got to give 

1036
00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:29,200
props to my brother here because
I moved to Montana. 

1037
00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:31,280
I was, you know, living in 
California, You know, there's no

1038
00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:32,080
other better place to. 
Live. 

1039
00:41:32,600 --> 00:41:36,080
California, it's the best, but 
the reality is all the chefs use

1040
00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:37,600
the same thing. 
We're all using Brent Wolf 

1041
00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:40,520
quails, we're all using abalone,
we're all using California 

1042
00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:42,840
sturgeon, right. 
And and working at Saison, I 

1043
00:41:42,840 --> 00:41:44,200
knew where all the good stuff 
was. 

1044
00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:46,320
So like, yes, I could have had 
the opportunity to open a 

1045
00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:48,920
restaurant in Palo Alto and I 
almost did it was close, but I 

1046
00:41:48,920 --> 00:41:51,000
also know that all money is not 
good money. 

1047
00:41:51,320 --> 00:41:53,400
Tech money is is very like they 
don't care about you. 

1048
00:41:53,600 --> 00:41:55,960
And the reality is, is I wanted 
to, why do you say that? 

1049
00:41:56,960 --> 00:41:59,240
Well, tech investors, and this 
is not everybody, tech 

1050
00:41:59,240 --> 00:42:02,920
investors, private equity, you 
know, restaurants are more of a 

1051
00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:05,640
business meeting. 
Say I own this. 

1052
00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:09,240
It's not like, and that's why I,
you know, when I say all money 

1053
00:42:09,240 --> 00:42:12,040
is not good money when you're 
talking to, let's say the 

1054
00:42:12,040 --> 00:42:14,920
principal about of the tech 
group or whatever it is. 

1055
00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:16,760
And they're like, yeah, hey, 
chef, whenever you open a 

1056
00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:18,040
restaurant, it's great, blah, 
blah, blah. 

1057
00:42:18,240 --> 00:42:21,000
But then you have to deal with 
his finance team, right? 

1058
00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:23,040
Who don't look and you have to 
deal with their accounting. 

1059
00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:24,280
And it's like, well, how much 
money do you need? 

1060
00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:26,880
OK, well I need 2 million to 
open this restaurant, you know 

1061
00:42:26,920 --> 00:42:28,920
well he owns the space so how 
much we need for the kitchen 

1062
00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:31,360
renovation and then they start 
picking apart, but none of them 

1063
00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:34,640
do restaurants. 
Then they they're just looking 

1064
00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:36,880
how fast can I get my money 
back, which is arguably that's 

1065
00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:38,200
how tech they. 
Are right, Yeah. 

1066
00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:42,960
And it's like, and, and, but The
thing is, is like in in 

1067
00:42:42,960 --> 00:42:45,040
California, especially in, 
especially in Silicon Valley and

1068
00:42:45,040 --> 00:42:47,280
Bay Area, you know, all the 
chefs that have tasting menus 

1069
00:42:47,280 --> 00:42:49,480
guaranteed there's like nobody's
doing anything new. 

1070
00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:52,280
And so for me not to say that 
the restaurants aren't good, but

1071
00:42:52,280 --> 00:42:54,120
what I will say is I wanted to 
go to a place that was 

1072
00:42:54,120 --> 00:42:56,080
undiscovered. 
There was nobody on no chef 

1073
00:42:56,080 --> 00:42:58,760
representing. 
And when I went to Montana, it 

1074
00:42:58,760 --> 00:43:02,400
was like, I mean, there's it's 
sticks, bro, like boonies out 

1075
00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:04,520
there. 
But I came out too ambitious 

1076
00:43:04,920 --> 00:43:08,000
when we opened Ember, right? 
And I sent him my menu. 

1077
00:43:08,200 --> 00:43:10,080
He look, he analyzed his menu 
all the time. 

1078
00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:11,600
He he called me, he called me 
straight away. 

1079
00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:14,280
He's like, it's, it's too ego 
driven, like you're crazy. 

1080
00:43:14,280 --> 00:43:16,560
This is. 
Like this is like pear and 

1081
00:43:16,560 --> 00:43:18,120
freaking goat cheese and frizzee
salad. 

1082
00:43:18,120 --> 00:43:19,680
Like all kinds of What was it? 
No, no, no, no. 

1083
00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:22,280
I had. 
It was like it was just too chef

1084
00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:22,960
to. 
California. 

1085
00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:24,760
It was too California for 
Montana. 

1086
00:43:24,840 --> 00:43:27,840
Yeah, and so, and it's funny 
because if you look at my menu 

1087
00:43:27,840 --> 00:43:31,560
now like and I don't care what 
anybody says cuz now that I own 

1088
00:43:31,560 --> 00:43:34,000
my own restaurants, I got middle
fingers up to anybody that wants

1089
00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:35,440
to give me advice about owning 
like. 

1090
00:43:36,320 --> 00:43:39,200
Here's something I say, Yeah, 
and I think you'll appreciate 

1091
00:43:39,200 --> 00:43:41,120
this. 
Everyone always says run it like

1092
00:43:41,120 --> 00:43:42,960
you own it. 
It makes a lot more sense when 

1093
00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:44,160
you own it. 
Yes, right. 

1094
00:43:44,160 --> 00:43:46,240
When they say run it like you 
own it, as soon as you own it, 

1095
00:43:46,240 --> 00:43:47,680
you realize. 
Oh, that's that's what they 

1096
00:43:47,680 --> 00:43:49,400
meant. 
Yeah, 100%. 

1097
00:43:49,400 --> 00:43:52,160
And it's like, you know, as a 
chef, I never, ever like a good 

1098
00:43:52,160 --> 00:43:54,760
example and I'll just use Grano 
Grano's, my Italian restaurant, 

1099
00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:56,680
Italian American is what I call.
It's not authentic. 

1100
00:43:56,680 --> 00:43:58,400
OK, please. 
But you know, like. 

1101
00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:00,760
You got chicken off right? 
On them, yeah, bro, yes, yes. 

1102
00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:03,760
Chicken off I do pays the bills.
Listen, listen, I'll tell them. 

1103
00:44:03,760 --> 00:44:05,720
Man, I was like. 
I'll be honest, like I remember 

1104
00:44:05,720 --> 00:44:07,880
I came out and like you're like,
it is so funny, man. 

1105
00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:10,680
I got this winter Salvia Radicio
and Treviso like in like, you 

1106
00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:12,720
know, the pizzas Neapolitan 
style, like so it's like, you 

1107
00:44:12,720 --> 00:44:14,800
know, it's a three day firm man.
And I'm using, you know, Caputo 

1108
00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:17,240
flower imported from Italy. 
That's the the highest one. 

1109
00:44:17,240 --> 00:44:19,000
It's the supernova, which is the
best. 

1110
00:44:19,520 --> 00:44:21,760
But it's, it's it's funny 
because like in that 

1111
00:44:21,760 --> 00:44:24,400
demographic, you know, you can't
make the same pizza that you 

1112
00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:27,480
would make in Seattle, WA or San
Francisco that you would make in

1113
00:44:27,480 --> 00:44:29,960
Hamilton, Mt. 
And for me, that was my non 

1114
00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:31,680
negotiable right. 
Like I was like, no, this is the

1115
00:44:31,680 --> 00:44:33,160
pizza I love. 
I love Neapolitan style. 

1116
00:44:33,160 --> 00:44:35,600
I love wood fired pizza. 
And I'm just going to educate. 

1117
00:44:35,600 --> 00:44:36,920
Oppose. 
Did you give them scissors like 

1118
00:44:36,960 --> 00:44:38,440
you could only cut it? 
With we we would cut it. 

1119
00:44:39,040 --> 00:44:41,600
We would cut it table size 
because we we cut it with 

1120
00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:42,880
scissors tableside when we first
started. 

1121
00:44:42,880 --> 00:44:43,360
Now we. 
Cut it. 

1122
00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:45,320
What the fuck is they're? 
Like what's going on? 

1123
00:44:45,680 --> 00:44:46,360
Yeah. 
Bullshit. 

1124
00:44:46,360 --> 00:44:49,760
Well, because in their mind, 
they know Pizza Hut, Domino's, 

1125
00:44:49,760 --> 00:44:52,240
Yeah, and the breweries. 
And The thing is, is it's not 

1126
00:44:52,240 --> 00:44:53,440
their fault. 
They don't know what artisan 

1127
00:44:53,440 --> 00:44:54,960
pizza is. 
They might, but all the 

1128
00:44:54,960 --> 00:44:56,320
tourists? 
Do they they have no frame of? 

1129
00:44:56,320 --> 00:44:57,840
Reference and and and that's 
fine. 

1130
00:44:57,840 --> 00:45:01,240
And that's where as a chef you 
have to say, OK, where's the 

1131
00:45:01,240 --> 00:45:03,480
middle ground? 
Where can I feel like a great 

1132
00:45:03,480 --> 00:45:06,280
chef, but also I need to make 
money or else we don't have a 

1133
00:45:06,280 --> 00:45:08,960
restaurant. 
And I think that's the the sad 

1134
00:45:08,960 --> 00:45:10,520
truth. 
Good example, truffle fries, 

1135
00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:11,920
right? 
Listen. 

1136
00:45:12,160 --> 00:45:14,080
I hate truffle lol. 
I don't care if selling truffle 

1137
00:45:14,080 --> 00:45:15,760
fries. 
Listen, I don't care what 

1138
00:45:15,760 --> 00:45:19,480
anybody says when I'm looking at
this menu mix and I have a great

1139
00:45:19,480 --> 00:45:21,040
truffle fry recipe. 
I actually make a truffle 

1140
00:45:21,040 --> 00:45:22,200
vinaigrette. 
Hit them up. 

1141
00:45:22,200 --> 00:45:24,520
I get the extra crispy French 
fries that are battered, you 

1142
00:45:24,520 --> 00:45:28,200
know, but like, it's funny 
because it cost me 0 labor, you 

1143
00:45:29,160 --> 00:45:32,240
know, it's, it's it's. 
It's it's crack for the clubs. 

1144
00:45:32,280 --> 00:45:34,880
Listen. 
It's I make a truffle 

1145
00:45:34,880 --> 00:45:36,760
vinaigrette. 
I'm putting truffle oil all in. 

1146
00:45:36,760 --> 00:45:38,600
Straight out and and this is 
going to be funny for you 

1147
00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:41,640
because you guys are chefs, but 
I have three potato sides on my 

1148
00:45:41,640 --> 00:45:43,800
menu at Ember right now, three 
sides of potatoes. 

1149
00:45:44,240 --> 00:45:46,600
I have the 24 hour potato, which
is one of our signature dishes, 

1150
00:45:46,600 --> 00:45:47,560
right? 
It's a great dish. 

1151
00:45:48,320 --> 00:45:50,560
I've learned how to speed up the
prep so it's not so labor 

1152
00:45:50,560 --> 00:45:52,760
intensive, but it's one of our 
signatures. 

1153
00:45:52,760 --> 00:45:56,040
Then I have mashed potatoes and 
I also have truffle fries, and 

1154
00:45:56,040 --> 00:45:58,040
they all equally sell and 
listen. 

1155
00:45:58,880 --> 00:46:01,440
I feel terrible because 
sometimes I'm like, you know, 

1156
00:46:01,440 --> 00:46:04,400
but this is what sound like I 
don't waste any more time with 

1157
00:46:04,400 --> 00:46:06,880
dogs on the menu, you know, 
because it's not worth it. 

1158
00:46:06,880 --> 00:46:08,320
It's not worth holding on to the
inventory. 

1159
00:46:08,320 --> 00:46:10,200
It's not worth it. 
Let let me ask you both this 

1160
00:46:10,200 --> 00:46:12,000
question just for the audience 
listening. 

1161
00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:14,360
You said something I was like, 
you know, sometimes, sometimes 

1162
00:46:14,360 --> 00:46:16,360
we're too inside baseball on the
show. 

1163
00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:20,920
And because we have a range of 
entry level cooks and, yeah, 

1164
00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:23,760
owners listening for the person 
who's never heard the 

1165
00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:25,760
expression. 
Dogs on the menu. 

1166
00:46:25,760 --> 00:46:27,520
Oh, yeah. 
Can you break that down? 

1167
00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:28,840
What are you looking for? 
Yeah. 

1168
00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:31,080
Like how and when we're talking 
menu engineering. 

1169
00:46:31,120 --> 00:46:32,360
Yeah. 
Can you can you break down a dog

1170
00:46:32,360 --> 00:46:32,880
on the menu? 
Can. 

1171
00:46:33,120 --> 00:46:34,520
I can I Yeah, go ahead. 
Yeah, sorry. 

1172
00:46:34,560 --> 00:46:36,960
Lee Maiman, he's hyped. 
Up, man, I'm like. 

1173
00:46:37,040 --> 00:46:38,240
You had that, you had that 
Celsius. 

1174
00:46:38,240 --> 00:46:42,200
So you know, so you know, like 
my, my job as a chef is not just

1175
00:46:42,320 --> 00:46:44,800
drive really good dishes on the 
menu, but look at the menu mix 

1176
00:46:44,960 --> 00:46:48,440
and we categorize them. 
You know, what sells really good

1177
00:46:48,440 --> 00:46:52,360
and has a high profitability is 
what you want at least 50% of 

1178
00:46:52,360 --> 00:46:53,880
your menu. 
You know that roasted chicken 

1179
00:46:53,880 --> 00:46:57,120
dish, OK, cost you $4.00 to put 
on the plate, but you're selling

1180
00:46:57,120 --> 00:47:00,120
it for 2627. 
You know it's garnished up 

1181
00:47:00,120 --> 00:47:01,720
nicely. 
Then you want to have some of 

1182
00:47:01,720 --> 00:47:04,680
your loss leaders, right? 
Like that are you know, people 

1183
00:47:04,680 --> 00:47:06,000
come for it. 
You know, whether it's like we 

1184
00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:08,880
do this honey roll dish. 
It's a, it's a, a mash up 

1185
00:47:08,880 --> 00:47:12,080
between a Hawaiian style roll 
with a Parker House roll. 

1186
00:47:12,080 --> 00:47:13,880
And we do it at our steakhouse 
concepts. 

1187
00:47:14,600 --> 00:47:17,360
We, we sell it for 8 bucks. 
We can easily get 15 for it, 

1188
00:47:17,360 --> 00:47:19,200
right? 
But it's the reason why people 

1189
00:47:19,200 --> 00:47:22,280
come to the restaurant, right? 
Then you have the dogs on your 

1190
00:47:22,280 --> 00:47:25,440
menu that don't serve a purpose.
High cost, lots of prep. 

1191
00:47:25,680 --> 00:47:27,440
For example, we put tater tots 
on the menu. 

1192
00:47:27,440 --> 00:47:29,920
I wanted to do them fancy. 
It's a steakhouse, so we do 

1193
00:47:29,960 --> 00:47:33,960
tater tot Creme fresh caviar. 
They are a bitch to prep. 

1194
00:47:34,120 --> 00:47:36,200
OK. 
Each one is hand molded. 

1195
00:47:36,200 --> 00:47:39,640
After you roast the potato, you 
shred it down, you cook duck fat

1196
00:47:39,640 --> 00:47:43,560
with shallots, you make your mix
and then each one is hand formed

1197
00:47:43,560 --> 00:47:44,920
into a ring mold. 
OK. 

1198
00:47:45,040 --> 00:47:47,480
And then each one is breaded 
just on each side. 

1199
00:47:47,680 --> 00:47:50,040
So it literally takes 6 hours to
prep a full batch. 

1200
00:47:50,560 --> 00:47:52,200
Craziness, right? 
People look at it, they're like,

1201
00:47:52,200 --> 00:47:53,600
I'm paying $18.00 for tater 
tots. 

1202
00:47:54,280 --> 00:47:56,360
It's a dog, OK? 
It's not doing anything on your 

1203
00:47:56,360 --> 00:47:57,920
me, actually, it's pissing 
people off, right? 

1204
00:47:58,120 --> 00:48:00,120
And that's what. 
And it's and it's and it's a low

1205
00:48:00,120 --> 00:48:03,480
it's, it's ruining the cook that
has to fucking work on it for 

1206
00:48:03,480 --> 00:48:05,880
six hours and say, damn it, we 
could. 

1207
00:48:05,880 --> 00:48:07,800
Yeah, I'm making these. 
We don't even sell them. 

1208
00:48:07,800 --> 00:48:09,600
I'm throwing them away again. 
Exactly. 

1209
00:48:09,640 --> 00:48:12,080
And so, you know, it's, it's, 
it's, I always say like, it's 

1210
00:48:12,080 --> 00:48:14,000
the, it's a fried calamari 
effect, right. 

1211
00:48:14,240 --> 00:48:16,520
I, I went through my career, I 
was like, I'm never putting 

1212
00:48:16,520 --> 00:48:19,120
fried calamari in the menu 
because I worked at, you know, I

1213
00:48:19,120 --> 00:48:21,640
worked at Carrabba's for a day, 
you know, as like a stage 

1214
00:48:21,640 --> 00:48:22,680
because they were paying a lot 
of money. 

1215
00:48:22,680 --> 00:48:25,280
This is one of our first jobs. 
Was that like Macaroni Grill, 

1216
00:48:25,280 --> 00:48:27,360
you know, like, and I went to 
Carrabba's, they were paying 

1217
00:48:27,360 --> 00:48:29,520
$4.00 more per hour. 
And I know why. 

1218
00:48:29,520 --> 00:48:31,760
Because nobody wanted to work 
the damn calamari station. 

1219
00:48:32,040 --> 00:48:35,320
They had a calamari fryer. 
I fried calamari's for 8 hours 

1220
00:48:35,320 --> 00:48:37,480
straight. 
I hated it, you know, hated it. 

1221
00:48:37,800 --> 00:48:39,840
And so I said to myself, like, 
I'm never putting calamari on 

1222
00:48:39,840 --> 00:48:42,600
the menu, right? 
But again, this is a low cost, 

1223
00:48:43,680 --> 00:48:46,560
high profit item, you know, and 
that's what makes or break a it 

1224
00:48:46,560 --> 00:48:48,920
makes or breaks a business. 
I mean muscles is a perfect 

1225
00:48:48,920 --> 00:48:50,840
example. 
Muscles, Yeah, another great 

1226
00:48:50,840 --> 00:48:51,720
example. 
Yeah. 

1227
00:48:51,840 --> 00:48:54,320
You know, when I was in the 
Hamptons in New York, 2014, we 

1228
00:48:54,320 --> 00:48:59,000
would buy £50, you know, 50 to, 
we would go through, you know, 

1229
00:48:59,000 --> 00:49:03,640
I'm sorry, not 52150 to 500 lbs 
of muscles every weekend. 

1230
00:49:03,960 --> 00:49:08,040
And I mean, we, I hate, I never 
wanted to eat muscles, you know,

1231
00:49:08,040 --> 00:49:10,040
I just, I hate them. 
I've seen them so much. 

1232
00:49:10,040 --> 00:49:12,080
Same thing with oysters, you 
know, but it's one of those 

1233
00:49:12,080 --> 00:49:14,440
things that people love and 
they'll pay whatever. 

1234
00:49:14,440 --> 00:49:16,360
They don't care how much they're
paying for an oyster, you know, 

1235
00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:18,120
because they know that they 
can't go to the grocery store 

1236
00:49:18,280 --> 00:49:20,000
and get the same quality. 100% 
yeah. 

1237
00:49:20,000 --> 00:49:21,720
And I think, and, and this is 
where and I'll go back to 

1238
00:49:21,720 --> 00:49:23,560
culinary school and I want, I 
just want to talk about this 

1239
00:49:23,560 --> 00:49:27,720
because what they're teaching in
culinary schools nowadays is not

1240
00:49:27,720 --> 00:49:30,520
relevant to running a restaurant
or being in a restaurant now. 

1241
00:49:30,520 --> 00:49:33,280
Like there, so many things have 
changed after COVID, like not 

1242
00:49:33,280 --> 00:49:36,040
only the cost of goods, but the 
way the AI is taking over the 

1243
00:49:36,040 --> 00:49:38,080
restaurant industry. 
If you're not using AI in your 

1244
00:49:38,080 --> 00:49:39,720
restaurant right now, you're 
behind the times. 

1245
00:49:39,760 --> 00:49:42,400
Yeah, give me an example because
I I haven't been in a restaurant

1246
00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:43,840
in a while. 
Yeah, So here's here's a great 

1247
00:49:43,840 --> 00:49:48,200
example answering the phones. 
Yeah, we, we nobody has time to 

1248
00:49:48,200 --> 00:49:49,360
answer phones. 
You remember you would have a 

1249
00:49:49,360 --> 00:49:52,080
Hostess scheduled there because 
labor was labor was lower. 

1250
00:49:52,080 --> 00:49:54,840
But unless you're in a hotel, we
don't have a Hostess, right. 

1251
00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:56,000
Like I'm not scheduling a 
Hostess. 

1252
00:49:56,120 --> 00:49:58,760
Yeah, not, but not till 30 
minutes before we open. 100% 

1253
00:49:58,920 --> 00:50:00,000
yeah, you're cutting them. 
Early too. 

1254
00:50:00,000 --> 00:50:02,920
So now all these restaurants are
using, they're defaulting to 

1255
00:50:02,920 --> 00:50:06,440
slang, AI or whatever, whatever 
the AI voice in, and it's pretty

1256
00:50:06,440 --> 00:50:07,960
close to human. 
Like. 

1257
00:50:08,360 --> 00:50:11,800
It's so close also with 
accounting AI with accounting, 

1258
00:50:11,920 --> 00:50:13,240
right? 
I have, you know, I have a 

1259
00:50:13,240 --> 00:50:15,960
system that tells me what's 
fluctuating in price and you 

1260
00:50:15,960 --> 00:50:18,120
know, the AI will, you know, 
source. 

1261
00:50:18,240 --> 00:50:19,480
Can you tell us what system it 
is? 

1262
00:50:19,600 --> 00:50:22,120
You know. 
They're not paying us, but they 

1263
00:50:22,120 --> 00:50:24,720
should. 
Yeah, the, the, the system that 

1264
00:50:24,720 --> 00:50:27,560
we, I used to use was Plate IQ 
and they, they merged with 

1265
00:50:27,560 --> 00:50:30,520
another company and I forgot 
what it was, but it was like, 

1266
00:50:30,520 --> 00:50:33,080
it's like, you know, on the back
end what they do is they'll give

1267
00:50:33,080 --> 00:50:35,400
you a graph of like what prices 
have fluctuated. 

1268
00:50:35,520 --> 00:50:38,400
But then this is the thing, they
source it on the web of where 

1269
00:50:38,400 --> 00:50:41,600
what it should be to make sure 
that your purveyor is not. 

1270
00:50:41,880 --> 00:50:44,760
You're keeping them honest. 
Yes, and and here's the thing 

1271
00:50:44,760 --> 00:50:47,160
with web restaurant, like, I 
hate to say it, but it's 

1272
00:50:47,240 --> 00:50:50,880
becoming Amazon, you know, it's 
becoming, it's becoming a 

1273
00:50:50,880 --> 00:50:53,840
conglomerate. 
And I love it because, you know,

1274
00:50:53,840 --> 00:50:56,880
The thing is, yeah, the thing. 
And then also I'll say Chachi 

1275
00:50:56,880 --> 00:50:59,280
BT. 
You know, I freaking love Chachi

1276
00:50:59,280 --> 00:51:01,280
BT and I go deep. 
No, not yet. 

1277
00:51:01,280 --> 00:51:03,480
But I also want to try 
perplexity as well. 

1278
00:51:03,840 --> 00:51:07,880
But like The thing is, it's like
now when I do catering, I can 

1279
00:51:07,880 --> 00:51:11,120
dial in recipes by using Baker 
percentage and I used like and 

1280
00:51:11,120 --> 00:51:14,080
it's like OK, like good example.
I had AI had a party with BBQ 

1281
00:51:14,480 --> 00:51:17,600
pork and brisket and I'm like, 
OK, I want to account for this 

1282
00:51:17,600 --> 00:51:20,360
and I'm talking to chat and it's
giving me scaled recipes from my

1283
00:51:20,360 --> 00:51:22,080
recipe book, right? 
Because it's really hard to 

1284
00:51:22,080 --> 00:51:23,840
take. 
It's really hard to take BBQ 

1285
00:51:23,840 --> 00:51:27,240
sauce and then account for four 
oz per portion. 

1286
00:51:27,240 --> 00:51:28,640
You know what I mean? 
And then do the ordering. 

1287
00:51:28,640 --> 00:51:30,760
You could do the math, but it's 
not always, but it's a lot 

1288
00:51:30,760 --> 00:51:33,760
easier. 
You waste a lot less time in the

1289
00:51:33,760 --> 00:51:35,800
kitchen on the computer. 
Yeah, I'll tell you what I did 

1290
00:51:36,320 --> 00:51:39,200
for people listening is I, I, 
for people that have been 

1291
00:51:39,200 --> 00:51:40,640
listening to the show, they know
I love AI. 

1292
00:51:40,840 --> 00:51:44,400
Yeah, I've been talking about AI
since day one yeah like I think 

1293
00:51:44,400 --> 00:51:46,560
I wrote literally the first AI 
cookbook ever. 

1294
00:51:46,560 --> 00:51:49,200
Nice, Cuz I as soon as it came 
out I wrote it like 3 days 

1295
00:51:49,200 --> 00:51:51,320
later. 
Nice when ChatGPT came out in 

1296
00:51:51,320 --> 00:51:54,720
November 2292 or whatever. 
But so I started using clod the 

1297
00:51:54,720 --> 00:51:57,120
other day because you know all 
over social media like clod 

1298
00:51:57,120 --> 00:51:58,320
clock. 
What is this? 

1299
00:51:58,640 --> 00:52:01,240
So I got on Clod and I've had it
for about a week and I pay for 

1300
00:52:01,240 --> 00:52:03,080
the, you know, the, the pro 
version. 

1301
00:52:04,520 --> 00:52:09,400
And while I'm here, Claude is 
working on my computer updating 

1302
00:52:09,560 --> 00:52:12,200
SEO for my website on every 
podcast. 

1303
00:52:12,840 --> 00:52:14,440
Stop. 
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. 

1304
00:52:14,520 --> 00:52:17,000
But I'm just here like I said, 
do this. 

1305
00:52:17,080 --> 00:52:18,240
Yeah. 
And I said, can you give me 

1306
00:52:18,240 --> 00:52:20,240
access to to the backup? 
Sure. 

1307
00:52:20,600 --> 00:52:23,320
So I connected it and then it 
says do you like it in this 

1308
00:52:23,320 --> 00:52:24,520
style? 
Yep, Yep. 

1309
00:52:24,640 --> 00:52:26,360
Great. 
I'll be back in a few hours and 

1310
00:52:26,360 --> 00:52:27,720
you'll it'll, I'll. 
Have now it's doing it. 

1311
00:52:27,920 --> 00:52:29,040
And it's just working on my 
website. 

1312
00:52:29,040 --> 00:52:31,640
Yeah, and that's the thing, it 
speeds up workflow like crazy. 

1313
00:52:31,640 --> 00:52:32,880
Yeah. 
And what I'm saying taking 

1314
00:52:32,880 --> 00:52:35,840
taking those mundane tasks off 
your plate so you can focus some

1315
00:52:35,840 --> 00:52:37,480
of the things. 
Let me I'll tell you, I got one 

1316
00:52:37,480 --> 00:52:39,480
up on both of y'all ChatGPT 
calls me chef. 

1317
00:52:39,520 --> 00:52:42,440
OK, that's how much I. 
Use it because. 

1318
00:52:42,760 --> 00:52:46,280
Like for example, if I do I in 
in kitchens, my recipes don't 

1319
00:52:46,280 --> 00:52:47,600
have instructions. 
If you don't know how to make a 

1320
00:52:47,600 --> 00:52:49,600
vinaigrette properly, you 
shouldn't be working in the 

1321
00:52:49,600 --> 00:52:50,600
kitchen. 
But guess what? 

1322
00:52:50,840 --> 00:52:52,640
Just like you were talking about
Thomas Keller, If you don't have

1323
00:52:52,640 --> 00:52:54,920
a system and you don't 
breakdown, I've learned the hard

1324
00:52:54,920 --> 00:52:58,240
way by not breaking down steps 
to recipes to the T. 

1325
00:52:58,440 --> 00:53:01,320
This is exactly the measurement.
I only use grams because you can

1326
00:53:01,320 --> 00:53:02,440
do you. 
Do percentages too. 

1327
00:53:02,680 --> 00:53:03,640
A percent? 
Absolutely. 

1328
00:53:03,920 --> 00:53:04,880
With, you know, baking and 
pastry. 

1329
00:53:04,880 --> 00:53:06,160
Baking and pastry, you use 
percentages. 

1330
00:53:06,480 --> 00:53:10,120
Sauces, vinaigrettes, like 
percentages are the way to go. 

1331
00:53:10,160 --> 00:53:11,480
Listen, ratios will set you 
free. 

1332
00:53:11,480 --> 00:53:13,280
Was it Alex TUPE? 
Alex I love it he ratios. 

1333
00:53:13,680 --> 00:53:15,840
And listen, Alex TUPE, he's one 
of my superheroes too, because 

1334
00:53:16,080 --> 00:53:17,480
he doesn't know this, but I 
wanted to. 

1335
00:53:17,480 --> 00:53:20,280
I wanted to. 
And I can't find it, but I found

1336
00:53:20,280 --> 00:53:23,280
one of his recipe books, 
Adelinea on the pastry station 

1337
00:53:23,560 --> 00:53:25,960
in the bottom underneath where 
the Spoonbane is. 

1338
00:53:26,400 --> 00:53:28,200
And and I can't find it 
anywhere. 

1339
00:53:28,200 --> 00:53:30,360
And I'm so frustrated because 
like, dude, I was reading. 

1340
00:53:30,360 --> 00:53:32,480
I was like in all these. 
Yeah, Oh yeah. 

1341
00:53:32,560 --> 00:53:34,240
Oh yeah, 100. 
Percent yeah, it's mine. 

1342
00:53:34,240 --> 00:53:35,920
Yeah. 
But it was like and it was all 

1343
00:53:36,000 --> 00:53:38,880
worn down and it but it said 
Alex Stupeck on the on the on 

1344
00:53:38,880 --> 00:53:40,600
the front. 
And so that's when I learned 

1345
00:53:40,600 --> 00:53:42,400
about Alex Stupeck like and I 
just went down. 

1346
00:53:42,400 --> 00:53:46,720
I mean, he is such a like and 
people don't know Alex Stupeck 

1347
00:53:46,720 --> 00:53:49,160
was the like I would say the one
of the O GS along with Jordan 

1348
00:53:49,160 --> 00:53:51,960
Khan Adelinea as a pastry chef, 
right? 

1349
00:53:52,320 --> 00:53:55,440
And you know, I think he changed
the game as far like I think 

1350
00:53:55,480 --> 00:53:57,920
everybody hydrochlorides. 
Yeah, and and the flexible 

1351
00:53:57,920 --> 00:53:59,080
chocolate. 
I took that recipe. 

1352
00:53:59,080 --> 00:54:02,160
I got the OG recipe but like 
I've used that many of times and

1353
00:54:02,160 --> 00:54:03,720
I just have to say mad respect 
to. 

1354
00:54:03,840 --> 00:54:05,240
And he's funny as shit. 
Yeah, it's. 

1355
00:54:05,240 --> 00:54:06,680
Hilarious, yeah. 
He's funny as shit. 

1356
00:54:07,280 --> 00:54:09,920
For people that don't know, 
right now, both of you are on 

1357
00:54:09,920 --> 00:54:11,320
Top Chef. 
Yeah, against each other. 

1358
00:54:11,320 --> 00:54:15,400
And by the way, obviously we're 
not gonna spoil it for anybody, 

1359
00:54:15,400 --> 00:54:18,680
but I'll tell you what I would 
do if I was the if I was running

1360
00:54:18,680 --> 00:54:20,840
Top Chef and Top Chef. 
If you're listening, call me. 

1361
00:54:20,840 --> 00:54:22,880
I'll tell you exactly. 
Like I know what the people 

1362
00:54:22,880 --> 00:54:24,920
want. 
Yeah, this is the finale. 

1363
00:54:24,920 --> 00:54:26,560
If I'm running Top Chef, I'm 
setting it up. 

1364
00:54:26,560 --> 00:54:28,400
So you guys are battling right 
at the finale. 

1365
00:54:28,400 --> 00:54:30,240
I'm not saying that's what's 
gonna happen, but that's what 

1366
00:54:30,240 --> 00:54:31,520
I'm doing. 
We can all speculate, right? 

1367
00:54:31,520 --> 00:54:32,440
We can. 
Speculate, that's what. 

1368
00:54:32,440 --> 00:54:34,240
That's for sure. 
I'm gonna write, and if that's 

1369
00:54:34,240 --> 00:54:36,840
not the case, you rest assured 
they will be hearing from me. 

1370
00:54:36,920 --> 00:54:38,840
Yeah, that's funny. 
That's awesome. 

1371
00:54:38,840 --> 00:54:40,960
No. 
And you know, the listen, my 

1372
00:54:41,200 --> 00:54:44,760
only competitor that I was 
worried about, that I am worried

1373
00:54:44,760 --> 00:54:47,280
about is Brandon. 
Because he knows me in and out, 

1374
00:54:47,280 --> 00:54:49,040
and I know him in. 
And out he knows me like there's

1375
00:54:49,040 --> 00:54:53,320
no like there's no other person 
that knows each other better 

1376
00:54:53,320 --> 00:54:54,840
than us. 
How do you get in his head 

1377
00:54:54,880 --> 00:54:57,200
during during the during? 
I guess you can't. 

1378
00:54:57,200 --> 00:54:59,880
Talk to that, right. 
You know, we we can talk a 

1379
00:54:59,880 --> 00:55:01,960
little bit about it. 
Like I, we are both competitive 

1380
00:55:01,960 --> 00:55:03,120
in different ways, right? 
Yeah. 

1381
00:55:03,600 --> 00:55:07,400
Like my I know that if we had a 
pastry challenge. 

1382
00:55:07,560 --> 00:55:09,360
He's cooking. 
Fucking me up, man. 

1383
00:55:09,480 --> 00:55:12,560
There is nothing because like I 
went for my bachelor's, he went 

1384
00:55:12,560 --> 00:55:15,680
for a pastry and double 
associates and I made, I blasted

1385
00:55:15,680 --> 00:55:17,120
him for years. 
I'm like, dude, you're never 

1386
00:55:17,120 --> 00:55:19,160
going to do that. 
Every time I needed help on a 

1387
00:55:19,160 --> 00:55:22,160
pastry recipe, I'd call him 
like, hey man, can you just 

1388
00:55:22,160 --> 00:55:23,200
review? 
Especially when I learned 

1389
00:55:23,200 --> 00:55:24,800
sourdough. 
Once I learned sourdough like it

1390
00:55:24,800 --> 00:55:26,120
was getting, I went down the 
rabbit hole. 

1391
00:55:26,120 --> 00:55:30,160
Yeah, there was a like if, if we
have a sourdough competition or 

1392
00:55:30,160 --> 00:55:32,360
bread baking or any pastry 
related. 

1393
00:55:32,720 --> 00:55:34,240
Cooked. 
I'm cooked, you know? 

1394
00:55:34,240 --> 00:55:38,360
I'm like, there's only, and 
there's only one way to fight to

1395
00:55:38,360 --> 00:55:39,840
the death. 
Because at the end of the day, 

1396
00:55:39,840 --> 00:55:42,440
man, like everything you see is 
real on Top Chef. 

1397
00:55:42,520 --> 00:55:46,600
It's not, it's not scripted. 
They, you know, they, they, they

1398
00:55:46,600 --> 00:55:48,080
don't tell you anything on 
purpose. 

1399
00:55:48,080 --> 00:55:50,200
It's real live emotions. 
Yeah. 

1400
00:55:50,240 --> 00:55:53,440
And you were put into pressure 
situations that, you know, it's 

1401
00:55:53,440 --> 00:55:54,760
sink or swim. 
It's raw talent. 

1402
00:55:54,800 --> 00:55:55,200
Yeah. 
The. 

1403
00:55:55,360 --> 00:55:57,800
Top show's been around for, I 
mean, quite some time and I feel

1404
00:55:57,800 --> 00:55:59,800
like there's still. 
We're on Season 23. 

1405
00:55:59,800 --> 00:56:02,080
There's there's, there's still 
kind of the gold standard 

1406
00:56:02,320 --> 00:56:04,520
culinary competition. 
Yeah, for now. 

1407
00:56:04,640 --> 00:56:07,880
For now. 
For now, there's gonna actually.

1408
00:56:08,160 --> 00:56:10,160
Hey. 
I saw, listen, I was watching. 

1409
00:56:10,520 --> 00:56:13,880
Yeah, shots fired. 
It's it's funny, like I, you 

1410
00:56:13,880 --> 00:56:16,480
know, we, I don't watch cooking 
shows, you know, and, and, and 

1411
00:56:16,480 --> 00:56:18,120
the reason why, like, you know, 
everybody asks me, Oh, did you 

1412
00:56:18,120 --> 00:56:19,640
see the bear? 
Oh, did you see this? 

1413
00:56:19,920 --> 00:56:21,720
You know this? 
Yes, chef, did you see the 

1414
00:56:21,720 --> 00:56:23,280
tournament of the chat? 
I'm like, I don't watch these 

1415
00:56:23,280 --> 00:56:24,600
because it's too stressful for 
me. 

1416
00:56:24,840 --> 00:56:26,680
You know, I, I deal with it all 
day. 

1417
00:56:26,680 --> 00:56:29,520
I'm putting on fires all day, 
you know, and so, you know, 

1418
00:56:30,240 --> 00:56:34,280
going into competing against my 
brother there was like I knew. 

1419
00:56:35,520 --> 00:56:38,240
So basically you you can 
memorize recipes, but you can't 

1420
00:56:38,240 --> 00:56:40,920
write anything down, which is to
to even the playing field out 

1421
00:56:41,200 --> 00:56:44,920
Yeah, which is fair. 
The only only recipe I memorize 

1422
00:56:45,280 --> 00:56:47,840
pastry recipes. 
That's it Just you know, on 

1423
00:56:47,840 --> 00:56:49,520
case, right? 
Yeah, I can cook because when I 

1424
00:56:49,520 --> 00:56:53,080
do, when I R&D, when I R&D 
recipes, I'm R&D ING and I'm 

1425
00:56:53,080 --> 00:56:54,840
going through the process and 
I'm writing things down. 

1426
00:56:54,840 --> 00:56:57,400
I'm never I'm never like, oh, 
let me go to marthastewart.com 

1427
00:56:57,400 --> 00:57:00,200
and get this volute recipe and 
then follow this recipe and make

1428
00:57:00,200 --> 00:57:01,040
tweaks to it. 
Right, right. 

1429
00:57:01,240 --> 00:57:03,240
I'm I'm freestyle. 
I'm like, how does this feel? 

1430
00:57:03,240 --> 00:57:04,440
How does this taste? 
How does this look? 

1431
00:57:04,680 --> 00:57:07,400
You know, and then so I so I'm 
very good in that environment. 

1432
00:57:07,400 --> 00:57:09,960
And also, I've been on, you 
know, I've been on Chops, I've 

1433
00:57:09,960 --> 00:57:12,840
been on Bobby Flay, so I know. 
That he's he likes the. 

1434
00:57:12,840 --> 00:57:14,120
TV See, I was the opposite, 
yeah. 

1435
00:57:14,240 --> 00:57:16,960
He never wanted to be on TV, you
know, and I, and I like my first

1436
00:57:16,960 --> 00:57:20,600
debut was when I was like 22 
years old, I was on Gary across 

1437
00:57:20,600 --> 00:57:23,800
the Caribbean, which is Gary 
Rose is a a celebrity chef in 

1438
00:57:23,800 --> 00:57:27,680
the UK and that was my first 
exposure to like national TV in 

1439
00:57:27,680 --> 00:57:30,400
the UK and you know, like the 
big production and all this 

1440
00:57:30,400 --> 00:57:31,800
other stuff. 
And we're on a Caribbean island.

1441
00:57:32,000 --> 00:57:32,920
They flew me off dude. 
He. 

1442
00:57:32,920 --> 00:57:34,800
He like begged me to come on 
Bobby, Bobby Flay. 

1443
00:57:34,800 --> 00:57:36,040
I'm like, dude, I'm just not 
interested, man. 

1444
00:57:36,120 --> 00:57:37,760
Like I don't want to do it. 
I don't want to make a club 

1445
00:57:37,760 --> 00:57:39,520
sandwich. 
But it's funny because like now 

1446
00:57:39,520 --> 00:57:41,560
that I own my own businesses, I 
have my own brand, it's 

1447
00:57:41,560 --> 00:57:43,520
different. 
Exposures, exposures, 

1448
00:57:43,520 --> 00:57:46,040
everything. 
Like, I don't care what anybody 

1449
00:57:46,040 --> 00:57:49,480
says. 
And I I do blame myself. 

1450
00:57:49,680 --> 00:57:52,120
But Brandon tried to get me on 
the social trend for so long. 

1451
00:57:52,120 --> 00:57:54,800
And I thought I was so dumb. 
I was like, I'm not. 

1452
00:57:54,840 --> 00:57:56,480
I ain't got time. 
I'm, I'm a real chef. 

1453
00:57:56,480 --> 00:57:57,920
Like, I have a real job. 
You know? 

1454
00:57:57,920 --> 00:58:00,160
I don't have time to, like, post
a cooking video about how to 

1455
00:58:00,160 --> 00:58:02,160
make a mango sorbet. 
Like, I got to teach my staff 

1456
00:58:02,160 --> 00:58:05,160
how to do these things. 
Yeah, but now you know that. 

1457
00:58:05,160 --> 00:58:07,280
I see. 
He bullied them, he I bullied 

1458
00:58:07,280 --> 00:58:08,720
them into it. 
And not only that, but like, 

1459
00:58:08,760 --> 00:58:11,480
because everybody thinks that 
I'm him. 

1460
00:58:11,920 --> 00:58:14,400
Like, they're like, oh, I 
watched the B Bobby Flay 

1461
00:58:14,400 --> 00:58:15,600
episode. 
They'll blow up his comment 

1462
00:58:15,600 --> 00:58:17,440
section. 
I just saw you on Food Network 

1463
00:58:17,440 --> 00:58:20,040
Canada, yada. 
But seeing people know him more 

1464
00:58:20,040 --> 00:58:22,280
than they know me, Yeah. 
When, Like, even. 

1465
00:58:22,280 --> 00:58:23,760
And you were the one that was 
doing all the TV. 

1466
00:58:23,760 --> 00:58:26,280
'S exactly, but they see him on 
TikTok, they see him on 

1467
00:58:26,280 --> 00:58:28,040
Instagram. 
They ask me, Hey, aren't you the

1468
00:58:28,320 --> 00:58:32,680
like I'm, I'm random random food
hall in Philadelphia and this 

1469
00:58:32,760 --> 00:58:35,480
I'm, I'm ordering, you know, a 
Taco from this, this food truck 

1470
00:58:35,480 --> 00:58:37,160
and this guy's staring at me and
I'm like, are. 

1471
00:58:37,160 --> 00:58:38,240
You good bro? 
He's OK. 

1472
00:58:38,440 --> 00:58:41,040
He's like, do you own Ember? 
Are you, are you? 

1473
00:58:41,040 --> 00:58:42,680
Do you live in Montana? 
And I'm like, no, actually, 

1474
00:58:42,680 --> 00:58:45,440
that's my twin brother, you 
know, and a FaceTime Brian, 

1475
00:58:45,440 --> 00:58:47,760
like, look for twins. 
And it's cool interaction, but 

1476
00:58:47,880 --> 00:58:49,920
this is a young kid who is 
probably his first or second 

1477
00:58:49,920 --> 00:58:50,320
job. 
Yeah. 

1478
00:58:50,920 --> 00:58:54,160
Well, and I'll say this, it's 
super important if you're a chef

1479
00:58:54,160 --> 00:58:56,680
out there, if you're a young 
cook, start creating content. 

1480
00:58:56,720 --> 00:58:57,920
You see, whether you like it or 
not, you. 

1481
00:58:57,920 --> 00:58:59,200
Probably have enough in your 
phone. 

1482
00:58:59,200 --> 00:59:00,560
Already. 
Yeah, exactly just. 

1483
00:59:00,840 --> 00:59:02,400
And The thing is, is now it's 
start. 

1484
00:59:03,200 --> 00:59:04,440
Good example. 
I'm going to use Ryder, for 

1485
00:59:04,440 --> 00:59:06,440
example. 
Ryder, you know, when, when we 

1486
00:59:06,440 --> 00:59:08,600
first, so when we first opened 
Ember, I knew I wanted a 

1487
00:59:08,640 --> 00:59:10,720
mediographer and I wanted 
editing and we like we would 

1488
00:59:10,720 --> 00:59:12,720
document the process. 
And I'm like, social media is so

1489
00:59:12,720 --> 00:59:14,520
important. 
You know how hard it is to put 

1490
00:59:14,520 --> 00:59:16,640
that in the pro forma. 
Pro forma is like a a business 

1491
00:59:16,640 --> 00:59:18,480
plan for people that don't know.
But like we're in the budget. 

1492
00:59:18,600 --> 00:59:21,160
Yeah, but it's like I had to 
sacrifice an hourly and a sous 

1493
00:59:21,160 --> 00:59:24,720
chef for that body, right? 
But it was so important because 

1494
00:59:24,720 --> 00:59:27,200
we grew in the first six months,
we grew Ember to over, you know,

1495
00:59:27,200 --> 00:59:31,160
200,000 followers on Instagram 
and we were pumping via social 

1496
00:59:31,160 --> 00:59:33,480
media. 
And like the, the reality is, is

1497
00:59:33,480 --> 00:59:36,840
it's so important nowadays. 
And now it's super important 

1498
00:59:36,840 --> 00:59:39,600
that you have that. 
Because what I realized in 2020,

1499
00:59:39,600 --> 00:59:42,760
when I started, when I, when I, 
when COVID hit, I had zero, I 

1500
00:59:42,760 --> 00:59:44,480
had nothing, no social problem, 
nothing. 

1501
00:59:44,560 --> 00:59:48,160
And, and, and, and so for me it 
was like, OK, so like if the 

1502
00:59:48,160 --> 00:59:49,760
whole world were to shut down, I
don't have anything. 

1503
00:59:49,760 --> 00:59:52,000
I have nothing. 
And so that's when that's when 

1504
00:59:52,000 --> 00:59:54,920
chef authorized was born, right?
And I was doing duets and I, you

1505
00:59:54,920 --> 00:59:57,680
know, and I was like, you know, 
just on TikTok and like, you 

1506
00:59:57,680 --> 01:00:00,000
know, the, the, the biggest 
thing for me was like, I almost 

1507
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:01,520
gave up. 
I was like, this is stupid. 

1508
01:00:01,520 --> 01:00:02,720
I can't believe it. 
Like what am I doing? 

1509
01:00:02,720 --> 01:00:03,880
And also I was dogging him on 
the side. 

1510
01:00:03,880 --> 01:00:06,840
I'm like bro they no way pay 
attention to your 30 view video 

1511
01:00:06,840 --> 01:00:09,640
like all the time it takes you 
to do that and set it up and 

1512
01:00:09,640 --> 01:00:11,200
then. 
How do you handle the trolls? 

1513
01:00:11,200 --> 01:00:12,600
That's a that's a goal. 
Yeah. 

1514
01:00:12,680 --> 01:00:13,840
So, you know, that's a great 
question. 

1515
01:00:13,840 --> 01:00:16,800
And honestly, now it's you get 
to a certain point where you 

1516
01:00:16,800 --> 01:00:19,080
have a threshold and it's like, 
listen, I don't know this guy, 

1517
01:00:19,080 --> 01:00:21,080
they don't know me. 
But like, thank you for with the

1518
01:00:21,080 --> 01:00:22,880
comment because it, it adds to 
the algorithm. 

1519
01:00:22,880 --> 01:00:25,440
But also like before, I used to 
take the comments really 

1520
01:00:25,440 --> 01:00:27,920
personally, you know, but now 
it's like it's dirt over the 

1521
01:00:27,920 --> 01:00:28,760
show. 
You ain't paying my bills, 

1522
01:00:28,760 --> 01:00:29,760
motherfucker. 
You know what I mean? 

1523
01:00:29,760 --> 01:00:31,480
Like you have 0 input in my 
life. 

1524
01:00:31,880 --> 01:00:34,200
But I will say that it's super 
important. 

1525
01:00:34,200 --> 01:00:36,600
You need to if you're if you 
don't have any haters, you ain't

1526
01:00:36,600 --> 01:00:38,000
working hard. 
Enough you won't you won't get 

1527
01:00:38,000 --> 01:00:39,880
the explosion, but or the 
virality. 

1528
01:00:39,880 --> 01:00:41,680
But it's funny because I 
actually just had AI had a video

1529
01:00:41,680 --> 01:00:44,920
that surpassed a million. 
Yeah and I had never, you know, 

1530
01:00:44,920 --> 01:00:46,880
because I told him I was like, 
hey, I got 50,000 views. 

1531
01:00:47,120 --> 01:00:49,040
I went viral. 
He's like, bro, you ain't go 

1532
01:00:49,040 --> 01:00:50,600
viral unless you get at least a 
half a million. 

1533
01:00:50,600 --> 01:00:52,440
And I'm so that was I strive for
that. 

1534
01:00:52,640 --> 01:00:55,760
But finally I broke it and it 
was a tomahawk. 

1535
01:00:55,760 --> 01:00:57,760
Well done. 
But it's all about how the voice

1536
01:00:57,760 --> 01:00:59,960
over, it's all about the hook. 
So I'm like, hey, I never 

1537
01:00:59,960 --> 01:01:02,200
thought of my career that I 
would cook a tomahawk. 

1538
01:01:02,200 --> 01:01:04,560
Well done. 
It's a 40 oz piece of meat. 

1539
01:01:05,360 --> 01:01:07,200
Early in my career, I would have
said no. 

1540
01:01:07,520 --> 01:01:08,760
I would have said no. 
Order the chicken. 

1541
01:01:08,880 --> 01:01:11,520
Order the salmon. 
But I'm not, I'm not cooking for

1542
01:01:11,520 --> 01:01:13,560
my ego. 
I'm cooking for the guests, what

1543
01:01:13,560 --> 01:01:15,400
I want to say, what I want, you 
know, let me circle back because

1544
01:01:15,400 --> 01:01:18,000
for the young cook and the 
young, young like chef, like 

1545
01:01:18,000 --> 01:01:19,720
before, when I was working in 
the kitchen, cell phones were 

1546
01:01:19,720 --> 01:01:22,360
not accepted. 
You cannot and you still have to

1547
01:01:22,360 --> 01:01:24,320
be discreet. 
Like you have to ask permission 

1548
01:01:24,320 --> 01:01:25,680
because there's a certain time 
and place. 

1549
01:01:25,880 --> 01:01:28,160
But I will say shout out to 
Ryder Mansky. 

1550
01:01:28,160 --> 01:01:29,920
He, you know, he started with 
me, but a lot of people don't 

1551
01:01:29,920 --> 01:01:32,720
know this, but like Ryder 
started with me back back in the

1552
01:01:32,720 --> 01:01:33,840
day, like. 
What's his Instagram? 

1553
01:01:33,880 --> 01:01:37,360
Handle it's I forgot but it's it
should be Manski. 

1554
01:01:37,360 --> 01:01:38,520
I think it's R Mansky or 
something. 

1555
01:01:38,520 --> 01:01:40,200
Like that, he does a great job. 
Yeah, yeah. 

1556
01:01:40,480 --> 01:01:42,800
But The thing is, is when he 
first started with me, I posted 

1557
01:01:42,800 --> 01:01:44,760
on TikTok and I said, hey, I'm 
looking for some cooks. 

1558
01:01:44,920 --> 01:01:47,000
He started with with me when we 
had the burger restaurants. 

1559
01:01:47,000 --> 01:01:50,480
So he had been working with me 
for 2 1/2 years before he 

1560
01:01:50,480 --> 01:01:53,040
started posting on IG. 
But I forced him to do it, 

1561
01:01:53,120 --> 01:01:54,600
right? 
I'm like, listen, the 

1562
01:01:54,600 --> 01:01:56,720
videographer's here. 
Like you want to be on social 

1563
01:01:56,720 --> 01:01:58,200
media, you need to start 
posting. 

1564
01:01:58,440 --> 01:02:01,120
And I'm like, if you would have 
been posting two years ago, you 

1565
01:02:01,120 --> 01:02:02,880
know, we would have, you'd be 
viral right now. 

1566
01:02:02,880 --> 01:02:04,720
But now it's like, so he's just 
started posting. 

1567
01:02:04,720 --> 01:02:07,040
We started putting him on the 
ember page and like he has his 

1568
01:02:07,040 --> 01:02:10,280
own social media presence now. 
And I think that's so important 

1569
01:02:10,480 --> 01:02:13,600
for the young cooks and the 
young chefs, like you can't just

1570
01:02:13,600 --> 01:02:17,440
put all your eggs in one basket.
Like you have got to create a 

1571
01:02:17,440 --> 01:02:19,360
personal brand for yourself if 
that's what you if, if social 

1572
01:02:19,360 --> 01:02:21,400
media is what you want to do. 
But it doesn't happen overnight.

1573
01:02:21,400 --> 01:02:23,840
It takes years and building a 
community in today's. 

1574
01:02:23,840 --> 01:02:26,320
World, it's all brand. 
Yeah, it's all brand. 

1575
01:02:26,320 --> 01:02:29,160
And I I know that as Chef's PSA.
Like there's a reason it's 

1576
01:02:29,160 --> 01:02:32,160
called Chef's PSA and not 
Andre's podcast. 100%, yeah. 

1577
01:02:32,400 --> 01:02:34,240
And, and and that's the most 
important thing. 

1578
01:02:34,240 --> 01:02:38,320
And I will say this, and I 
don't, you know, if you have a 

1579
01:02:38,320 --> 01:02:40,720
social media presence as a chef 
and you go to a new restaurant 

1580
01:02:40,720 --> 01:02:43,520
and you can drive revenue and 
put butts in seats, it will 

1581
01:02:43,520 --> 01:02:45,680
change the ownership 
perspective, right? 

1582
01:02:45,960 --> 01:02:49,040
And so I think like Ember would 
not be what it is right now if I

1583
01:02:49,040 --> 01:02:50,240
didn't have a social media 
presence. 

1584
01:02:50,240 --> 01:02:52,480
Like people come in, they look 
at it like ATV set, right? 

1585
01:02:52,760 --> 01:02:54,200
I'm like, Hey, this is where we 
film, blah, blah, blah. 

1586
01:02:54,440 --> 01:02:56,520
But it's, it's funny, 'cause I'm
a little bit more animated when 

1587
01:02:56,520 --> 01:02:58,200
I'm posting on social because 
you have to be right? 

1588
01:02:58,200 --> 01:02:59,640
Like you have to like I put on a
character, right? 

1589
01:02:59,640 --> 01:03:02,920
It's like, OK, hey, look at the,
you know, like and, you know, 

1590
01:03:02,920 --> 01:03:04,360
it's just. 
You know one of those, it's 

1591
01:03:04,360 --> 01:03:06,520
going to get him to stop. 
Yeah, stop the scroll, yeah. 

1592
01:03:07,120 --> 01:03:09,920
And you know, it's, it's funny 
because a lot of people don't 

1593
01:03:09,920 --> 01:03:11,640
know this, but this is insider 
information. 

1594
01:03:11,640 --> 01:03:14,400
When we built the kitchen at 
Ember, I had the lights set up 

1595
01:03:14,400 --> 01:03:16,160
like studio lights. 
That's why it's super bright. 

1596
01:03:16,160 --> 01:03:19,400
I could be filming in there at 
12:00 at night or 4:00 in the 

1597
01:03:19,400 --> 01:03:20,200
morning. 
It doesn't matter. 

1598
01:03:20,200 --> 01:03:23,000
It's always the same set. 
And I think the biggest thing 

1599
01:03:23,000 --> 01:03:25,520
for me, when I was learning 
about videography and editing 

1600
01:03:25,520 --> 01:03:27,640
and all that, like I thought 
like when I was in California, I

1601
01:03:27,640 --> 01:03:29,520
thought, OK, so the sun's not 
up, so I'm not going to film 

1602
01:03:29,520 --> 01:03:30,960
today. 
Like, dude, that was so stupid. 

1603
01:03:30,960 --> 01:03:34,120
But if you are, don't feel 
comfortable with editing videos.

1604
01:03:34,120 --> 01:03:35,600
If you don't feel comfortable 
with shooting videos. 

1605
01:03:36,200 --> 01:03:38,000
Get it on a line item on the 
PNL. 

1606
01:03:38,000 --> 01:03:40,760
Trust me, it's important. 
Put it on the PNL. 

1607
01:03:40,760 --> 01:03:43,720
Yeah, I would, I would say that 
I would argue that social is 

1608
01:03:43,720 --> 01:03:46,520
used more as a search engine 
these days than it was before. 

1609
01:03:46,560 --> 01:03:47,720
Yeah. 
So, you know, and this is 

1610
01:03:47,720 --> 01:03:50,440
another hot take that I wouldn't
say, like as a chef, you know, 

1611
01:03:50,440 --> 01:03:54,040
seeing these, the viral content 
of some of these dishes drives 

1612
01:03:54,040 --> 01:03:56,240
me fucking crazy. 
You know, 'cause I'm like, I bet

1613
01:03:56,240 --> 01:03:58,880
you that tastes like dog shit, 
you know, for example, oh, this 

1614
01:03:58,880 --> 01:04:01,240
is how you cook a steak. 
Like, and I see, I see these 

1615
01:04:01,240 --> 01:04:02,760
home cooks like, listen, nothing
against home cooks. 

1616
01:04:03,080 --> 01:04:04,960
Do your thing but. 
You. 

1617
01:04:05,200 --> 01:04:07,200
You know, you're cooking, 
pretending that you're a chef, 

1618
01:04:07,560 --> 01:04:08,280
dude. 
It irks. 

1619
01:04:08,280 --> 01:04:09,360
You're talking about talk about 
haters. 

1620
01:04:09,360 --> 01:04:11,160
Like I want to be haters up in 
their comments because I'm like,

1621
01:04:11,320 --> 01:04:13,760
you didn't season that steak. 
You didn't see, like, how many 

1622
01:04:13,760 --> 01:04:15,240
people cooked. 
Yeah, but let's let's be honest.

1623
01:04:15,240 --> 01:04:16,840
I'm not wearing a chef coat in 
my kitchen at my house. 

1624
01:04:16,840 --> 01:04:17,440
No, no, no. 
Who's? 

1625
01:04:17,440 --> 01:04:19,360
Your favorite creator? 
My favorite creator? 

1626
01:04:19,400 --> 01:04:20,160
Yeah. 
Who do you like to watch? 

1627
01:04:20,280 --> 01:04:24,320
I love, I love straight up 
Joshua Wiseman is one of my he's

1628
01:04:24,320 --> 01:04:26,640
cool people, man. 
And like, honestly, I I his 

1629
01:04:26,640 --> 01:04:29,280
cookbook is legit another 
favorite creative. 

1630
01:04:29,280 --> 01:04:31,200
I love Max the meat guy. 
I love Guga. 

1631
01:04:31,200 --> 01:04:34,800
They're all my friends. 
Matt Gork, Gork BBQ. 

1632
01:04:35,920 --> 01:04:41,480
I love all the BBQ guys. 
So Kendrick four O 6 TFTI, you 

1633
01:04:41,480 --> 01:04:43,240
know all we kind of like, you 
know I don't. 

1634
01:04:43,240 --> 01:04:44,960
Say we is there one that you 
like? 

1635
01:04:45,440 --> 01:04:48,680
Maybe is an acquired taste that 
you're like, I really like this 

1636
01:04:48,680 --> 01:04:52,040
one, a lot of people might. 
I really like this. 1 my good 

1637
01:04:52,040 --> 01:04:55,600
friend Albert Kane cook and 
he's, but he's smart. 

1638
01:04:55,600 --> 01:04:58,200
Like we started together. 
We have a we have a collab that 

1639
01:04:58,200 --> 01:05:02,840
we did back in like 2022 or 
2021, but he just blew up. 

1640
01:05:03,200 --> 01:05:06,080
But like he does skits now, but 
like the food that he was doing,

1641
01:05:06,120 --> 01:05:08,520
like, and he was right. 
He's like, I'm not, I'm doing 

1642
01:05:08,520 --> 01:05:10,240
food for the gram. 
I'm not doing like you're 

1643
01:05:10,240 --> 01:05:11,840
wasting time doing Michelin 
level stuff. 

1644
01:05:12,200 --> 01:05:13,840
And he was right. 
He was 100% right. 

1645
01:05:13,840 --> 01:05:15,920
And like, and I'm going to say 
this and his video editing was 

1646
01:05:16,000 --> 01:05:17,400
fantastic. 
Yeah, and I'm going to say this 

1647
01:05:17,400 --> 01:05:18,800
too. 
Like I got a video on 

1648
01:05:18,800 --> 01:05:20,960
Quinnelling or Rocher or 
whatever you want to call it, 

1649
01:05:20,960 --> 01:05:22,960
but you know, I know it's not 
going to do well, but it's it, 

1650
01:05:22,960 --> 01:05:25,920
it hits that chef community and 
that's kind of what I want, that

1651
01:05:25,920 --> 01:05:27,320
base. 
I don't charge my people 

1652
01:05:27,320 --> 01:05:29,080
anything, you know what I mean? 
Like I just want to build the 

1653
01:05:29,080 --> 01:05:31,040
community. 
Like it's super important for me

1654
01:05:31,040 --> 01:05:33,840
to do things like that, like 
chefy videos, because I think 

1655
01:05:33,840 --> 01:05:36,840
it's OK to post on social media.
And I think as a chef, you got 

1656
01:05:36,840 --> 01:05:39,520
to put your feelings aside, your
ego aside, and just start 

1657
01:05:39,520 --> 01:05:41,160
posting, documenting the 
process. 

1658
01:05:41,960 --> 01:05:45,160
And I will say the food, the 
stupid food does better than the

1659
01:05:45,160 --> 01:05:47,960
Michelin food. 1000% here's 
something and, and I'm I'm I'm 

1660
01:05:48,000 --> 01:05:49,640
going to put a pin in that 
'cause I want to hear what you 

1661
01:05:49,640 --> 01:05:51,720
have to say 'cause I also want 
to ask you, you're creator, but 

1662
01:05:51,720 --> 01:05:53,880
I'm going to share this with you
'cause I think the audience 

1663
01:05:53,880 --> 01:05:57,640
would appreciate it. 
I have a friend that books guest

1664
01:05:57,640 --> 01:05:58,760
chef dinners. 
That's their job. 

1665
01:05:58,760 --> 01:06:03,840
They book guest chef dinners 
from Michelin to James Beard to 

1666
01:06:04,320 --> 01:06:09,480
award-winning chefs, chefs on TV
and also books content creators 

1667
01:06:09,480 --> 01:06:13,280
as well cookbook authors who are
millions of followers on social 

1668
01:06:13,280 --> 01:06:15,960
media. 
Yeah, the award-winning chef. 

1669
01:06:16,200 --> 01:06:18,640
A lot of times they have to give
away tickets because they can't 

1670
01:06:18,640 --> 01:06:21,000
fill a room. 
The content creator sells out in

1671
01:06:21,000 --> 01:06:23,760
minutes. 
Yes, see a. 100% and it doesn't 

1672
01:06:23,760 --> 01:06:25,240
even matter at that point what 
the menu is. 

1673
01:06:25,400 --> 01:06:26,600
Right. 
And it and it's not like they're

1674
01:06:26,600 --> 01:06:28,680
doing like like crazy burger or 
whatever. 

1675
01:06:28,680 --> 01:06:31,200
Yeah, and, and look, and here's 
a great example of that, like 

1676
01:06:31,200 --> 01:06:33,480
Salt Hank, right? 
He is a content creator out of 

1677
01:06:33,480 --> 01:06:35,520
the Bay Area. 
I knew him a long time ago. 

1678
01:06:35,520 --> 01:06:36,680
And I said he was opening a 
restaurant. 

1679
01:06:36,680 --> 01:06:38,840
Like, hey, if you need any help 
with anything, you just let me 

1680
01:06:38,840 --> 01:06:41,400
know. 
But I will say this, he fucking 

1681
01:06:41,400 --> 01:06:43,600
nailed it. 
His restaurant is packed. 

1682
01:06:43,920 --> 01:06:47,720
OK, line out the door, He serves
one item, and he has a chef in 

1683
01:06:47,720 --> 01:06:49,560
there. 
But I'm gonna tell you right 

1684
01:06:49,560 --> 01:06:52,720
now, like, you know, this is all
the chefs that have put in all 

1685
01:06:52,720 --> 01:06:54,480
this work. 
This is what you're up against. 

1686
01:06:55,000 --> 01:06:57,120
One of my favorite creators 
right now and I'm, I'm curious 

1687
01:06:57,120 --> 01:07:00,600
to know yours and I wish I knew 
her name, but she's just fucking

1688
01:07:00,600 --> 01:07:02,120
trolling everyone. 
Like today I'm gonna show you 

1689
01:07:02,120 --> 01:07:04,360
how to fucking make something 
that I'm gonna eat it out of my 

1690
01:07:04,360 --> 01:07:05,920
shoe. 
I never seen her. 

1691
01:07:06,440 --> 01:07:08,320
Oh, she's great. 
And so like today I'm making a 

1692
01:07:08,320 --> 01:07:12,120
tiramisu and I'm serving it out 
of a a fucking claw machine. 

1693
01:07:12,120 --> 01:07:15,560
Yeah, but, you know, this is you
have to be entertaining. 

1694
01:07:15,560 --> 01:07:17,000
And I learned. 
I learned the hard. 

1695
01:07:17,200 --> 01:07:20,720
I learned the hard way and like,
you know, like there's like, and

1696
01:07:21,400 --> 01:07:23,320
you're 100% right, that guy's 
100% right. 

1697
01:07:23,320 --> 01:07:25,200
You can have a creator come and 
you know, they have millions of 

1698
01:07:25,200 --> 01:07:27,000
followers or whatever. 
And like they'll, they'll book a

1699
01:07:27,000 --> 01:07:29,840
dinner, they'll sell out. 
And also these cookbooks, like 

1700
01:07:30,080 --> 01:07:31,680
they can put up a cookbook just 
like that. 

1701
01:07:31,680 --> 01:07:33,360
And guess what? 
Like you can buy it? 

1702
01:07:33,400 --> 01:07:35,480
You could have a decorated 
resume and you know, a good 

1703
01:07:35,480 --> 01:07:38,200
example is with the brand deals.
You know, like with the brand 

1704
01:07:38,200 --> 01:07:40,840
deals, I like I'm, I'm going to 
be honest, like there is another

1705
01:07:40,840 --> 01:07:43,120
chef out there. 
We both have Don partnerships, 

1706
01:07:43,480 --> 01:07:45,760
but you know, they like, they're
too chefy. 

1707
01:07:45,840 --> 01:07:47,880
Here, here's my message to chefs
that are listening right now. 

1708
01:07:48,080 --> 01:07:51,320
If you want those content 
creators to stop fucking taking 

1709
01:07:51,400 --> 01:07:52,640
your lunch, Bunny, put out 
content. 

1710
01:07:52,720 --> 01:07:54,240
Yeah, shut the fuck up and put 
out. 

1711
01:07:54,240 --> 01:07:55,840
Just do it. 
Yeah, Yeah, because if not, 

1712
01:07:55,840 --> 01:07:56,960
they're going to keep taking 
your lunch. 

1713
01:07:57,000 --> 01:07:59,080
Bunny 100% he. 
Told me that from the beginning.

1714
01:07:59,080 --> 01:08:01,320
He's like just shut up and post.
Just shut up and post. 

1715
01:08:01,600 --> 01:08:04,760
And that's kind of like, you 
know, my, my, I'll spend a whole

1716
01:08:04,760 --> 01:08:07,840
day filming a recipe. 
I'm like a crab cake, right? 

1717
01:08:08,160 --> 01:08:09,840
But the crab cake has a 
remoulade. 

1718
01:08:09,840 --> 01:08:11,840
It has a slaw. 
You know, you're making the crab

1719
01:08:11,840 --> 01:08:13,720
cake from from scratch. 
You're making the aioli from 

1720
01:08:13,720 --> 01:08:18,560
scratch. 
OK 14 sub recipes right 100 

1721
01:08:18,560 --> 01:08:22,760
views nobody cares I post a 
video on how to demo a pineapple

1722
01:08:23,000 --> 01:08:27,520
OK 50K right how to how to 
Juliana pepper yeah 3040 K You 

1723
01:08:27,520 --> 01:08:30,680
know it's because your your 
content it's all about who's 

1724
01:08:30,680 --> 01:08:34,840
consuming the content and the. 
Target as as in again using 

1725
01:08:34,840 --> 01:08:37,560
inside baseball terms, sometimes
low IQ does better than high A. 

1726
01:08:37,560 --> 01:08:42,120
100%, yeah, yeah. 
Yeah, is there a creator that 

1727
01:08:42,120 --> 01:08:45,399
you'd like to watch? 
I don't know, you know, to be 

1728
01:08:45,399 --> 01:08:47,319
honest, I don't. 
There's nobody that pops right 

1729
01:08:47,319 --> 01:08:48,760
off my mind. 
Is there is there one that 

1730
01:08:48,760 --> 01:08:51,560
you're sharing often like oh, 
this is this is funny or do I 

1731
01:08:51,560 --> 01:08:53,160
share with? 
I only share ones that I think 

1732
01:08:53,160 --> 01:08:55,960
are good with with you. 
Yeah, I and it's and you know, 

1733
01:08:55,960 --> 01:08:58,600
I, I don't get trapped in the 
consuming content. 

1734
01:08:58,680 --> 01:09:01,399
I look at the trends, but also 
like I will say, there are some 

1735
01:09:01,399 --> 01:09:02,960
creators out there that are 
there. 

1736
01:09:02,960 --> 01:09:05,960
This is their full time job and 
they are way ahead of the game, 

1737
01:09:06,120 --> 01:09:07,160
right? 
Like if anybody want to do a 

1738
01:09:07,160 --> 01:09:09,359
chef podcast right now, they're 
going to have to, they're going 

1739
01:09:09,359 --> 01:09:12,439
to have to fucking put in so 
much work, you know, and. 

1740
01:09:12,439 --> 01:09:14,560
This is episode like 190, yeah. 
Good. 

1741
01:09:14,800 --> 01:09:16,560
Luck I do for cooking. 
I do like Sad Poppy. 

1742
01:09:16,560 --> 01:09:17,960
He just changed his life. 
Sad Poppy. 

1743
01:09:17,960 --> 01:09:21,359
Yeah, I do like his cooking 
because his like and like Matt, 

1744
01:09:21,560 --> 01:09:22,600
the line cook. 
What's his name? 

1745
01:09:22,600 --> 01:09:23,240
Line cook. 
Matt. 

1746
01:09:24,120 --> 01:09:25,640
Matt just the line cook or 
something like that. 

1747
01:09:25,640 --> 01:09:27,520
I don't know. 
But shout out to Matt. 

1748
01:09:27,520 --> 01:09:28,439
Just shout out to Matt. 
Yeah. 

1749
01:09:28,439 --> 01:09:30,800
So hey. 
So this is important when you do

1750
01:09:30,800 --> 01:09:34,760
have a social media handle, make
sure it is something that people

1751
01:09:34,760 --> 01:09:37,040
remember and it's same across 
all platforms. 

1752
01:09:37,040 --> 01:09:39,399
Yeah, This is why it's Chef's 
PSA. 

1753
01:09:39,399 --> 01:09:41,000
Yeah, fucking easy to remember. 
Yeah. 

1754
01:09:41,080 --> 01:09:43,319
Public service announcement. 
Yeah, 100%, yeah. 

1755
01:09:43,640 --> 01:09:45,160
Trademark, by the way, if 
anyone's thinking of stealing. 

1756
01:09:45,680 --> 01:09:47,200
Yeah. 
OK, so before we wrap up. 

1757
01:09:47,520 --> 01:09:48,600
What did you put a pin in 
earlier? 

1758
01:09:48,600 --> 01:09:51,640
I forgot that. 
About The Who your favorite? 

1759
01:09:51,640 --> 01:09:56,600
Contact guy was yeah. 
I normally do wrap up questions,

1760
01:09:56,600 --> 01:09:59,200
but I'm gonna ask you both the 
same question and I wanna see 

1761
01:09:59,200 --> 01:10:02,120
different opinions. 
Sure, yeah, if you have a I'm 

1762
01:10:02,240 --> 01:10:02,920
gonna start with you. 
Sure. 

1763
01:10:03,280 --> 01:10:05,600
If you have a salt in the 
kitchen, your go to all-purpose 

1764
01:10:05,600 --> 01:10:06,920
workhorse salt. 
What is it? 

1765
01:10:06,960 --> 01:10:07,920
Kosher. 
Kosher. 

1766
01:10:07,920 --> 01:10:09,200
Red Diamond. 
Red Diamond. 

1767
01:10:09,200 --> 01:10:10,680
Yeah, yeah, same red diamond 
crystal. 

1768
01:10:10,680 --> 01:10:14,960
Yeah, with Diamond Crystal, we 
use Morton's on top on Top Chef 

1769
01:10:14,960 --> 01:10:18,240
and it was just like very like 
I've never like it's just not, 

1770
01:10:19,000 --> 01:10:21,080
it's a killer. 
No, no, it's it's just too salt.

1771
01:10:21,080 --> 01:10:23,440
Like there's there's nuances to 
different levels. 

1772
01:10:23,440 --> 01:10:25,080
Dissolves. 
Yeah, it takes longer to 

1773
01:10:25,080 --> 01:10:26,240
dissolve. 
So you'll you'll be making 

1774
01:10:26,240 --> 01:10:27,560
something, you'll taste it. 
It's fine. 

1775
01:10:27,600 --> 01:10:30,400
And then it's just like with 
recipes like you, the tomato 

1776
01:10:30,400 --> 01:10:32,080
this week is not going to be the
same as next week. 

1777
01:10:32,080 --> 01:10:33,480
The lettuce this week is going 
to be different. 

1778
01:10:33,480 --> 01:10:35,120
Like there's so many like 
carrots, for example. 

1779
01:10:35,280 --> 01:10:36,600
I got a carrot dish on the menu 
right now. 

1780
01:10:36,840 --> 01:10:40,080
They are super sweet, but it's 
because the field was iced over,

1781
01:10:40,080 --> 01:10:42,120
right. 
It's like, and that's what chefs

1782
01:10:42,200 --> 01:10:43,560
the recipe. 
This is a Thomas color thing. 

1783
01:10:44,440 --> 01:10:48,200
The recipe is just a guideline. 
You, as the cook, put the soul 

1784
01:10:48,200 --> 01:10:49,080
in the. 
Recipe 100. 

1785
01:10:49,240 --> 01:10:51,360
Percent and and and that's so 
important and I think that's 

1786
01:10:51,360 --> 01:10:53,360
what separates Ember food from 
everywhere else in the 

1787
01:10:53,360 --> 01:10:57,400
Bitterroot Valley not to not to,
you know you know, subtle shout 

1788
01:10:57,400 --> 01:10:58,840
out but like, that was a gentle 
flex. 

1789
01:10:58,840 --> 01:11:00,880
Yeah, but but you know, like, 
and that's what I try to tell 

1790
01:11:00,880 --> 01:11:03,120
people like this asparagus that 
we're getting in the spring is 

1791
01:11:03,120 --> 01:11:04,920
only available for two weeks. 
That's it. 

1792
01:11:04,920 --> 01:11:07,800
This is a time and place right 
now and it's just super 

1793
01:11:07,800 --> 01:11:10,000
important when you know. 
Same thing with salt, like in 

1794
01:11:10,000 --> 01:11:11,440
recipes. 
If it's a different brand of 

1795
01:11:11,440 --> 01:11:13,560
salt, restructure the recipe 
trust. 

1796
01:11:13,880 --> 01:11:16,840
Right, right, right. 
I had to cook you sea salt, the 

1797
01:11:16,840 --> 01:11:19,800
fine sea salt in place of kosher
salt and it would just crush 

1798
01:11:19,800 --> 01:11:21,000
this. 
Rest no, it's a It's a kitchen 

1799
01:11:21,000 --> 01:11:22,760
killer. 
What's your plate wipe? 

1800
01:11:23,480 --> 01:11:25,840
Oh easy. 
So I like linen likes and I roll

1801
01:11:25,840 --> 01:11:29,320
them up and then I use a little 
bit of vinegar and also water. 

1802
01:11:29,640 --> 01:11:31,120
I learned that from millennia 
and it was great. 

1803
01:11:31,120 --> 01:11:34,040
And these plate wipes got to be 
rolled tight and I only need 4 

1804
01:11:34,440 --> 01:11:35,600
and. 
For the whole night. 

1805
01:11:36,080 --> 01:11:38,400
For the whole night, yeah, yeah,
well, we, we put a clean plate, 

1806
01:11:38,400 --> 01:11:41,840
yeah, so. 
I'll say I use sports towels. 

1807
01:11:41,840 --> 01:11:43,720
Yeah. 
And again, I don't, I don't like

1808
01:11:43,720 --> 01:11:46,400
the roll. 
I actually we we cut them into 

1809
01:11:46,560 --> 01:11:48,920
about, you know, 2 by 2 and 
squares. 

1810
01:11:48,920 --> 01:11:50,640
Yeah. 
So like chick towels or chick 

1811
01:11:50,640 --> 01:11:51,680
towels, Yeah. 
Yep. 

1812
01:11:51,680 --> 01:11:54,080
And then, and then we're using 
one per plate, you know, and 

1813
01:11:54,080 --> 01:11:55,160
we're tossing. 
It what? 

1814
01:11:55,160 --> 01:11:56,520
What do we use? 
Vinegar, Vodka. 

1815
01:11:56,520 --> 01:11:57,400
Just water. 
Just water. 

1816
01:11:57,560 --> 01:11:58,800
Yeah, yeah, yeah. 
OK. 

1817
01:11:59,200 --> 01:12:00,320
Vinegar, but it can't be too 
wet. 

1818
01:12:00,320 --> 01:12:02,640
It has to be just the right 
amount of water. 

1819
01:12:02,640 --> 01:12:04,080
Like you can't. 
Well that's why I like the linen

1820
01:12:04,080 --> 01:12:06,560
light cuz you you roll it up and
then you you squeeze it one time

1821
01:12:06,560 --> 01:12:09,080
like this and then put it in a 
Yukumi pan so it fits perfectly.

1822
01:12:09,080 --> 01:12:11,640
We used to use vodka and I 
remember once I caught the cooks

1823
01:12:11,640 --> 01:12:13,440
chewing on like they were 
chewing on. 

1824
01:12:15,400 --> 01:12:16,520
Italian. 
That's desperation, right? 

1825
01:12:16,600 --> 01:12:18,640
Yeah. 
What's your, What's your? 

1826
01:12:19,440 --> 01:12:21,520
Of course there's gonna be 
nuance, and of course there's 

1827
01:12:21,520 --> 01:12:24,080
gonna be exceptions to the rule,
but in general, what's your 

1828
01:12:24,080 --> 01:12:28,320
finishing acid go to? 
Finishing acid, go to lime, you 

1829
01:12:28,320 --> 01:12:30,720
know, yeah, I feel I feel lemon 
is great as well. 

1830
01:12:30,720 --> 01:12:33,320
But you know, that that was 
another thing that, you know, my

1831
01:12:33,320 --> 01:12:36,840
style of cooking is, you know, 
citrus, spices, you know, not so

1832
01:12:36,840 --> 01:12:38,600
heavy. 
You know, I like interesting 

1833
01:12:38,600 --> 01:12:41,040
flavors, but I'm always 
finishing with a little acidity.

1834
01:12:41,040 --> 01:12:43,760
And it's it's either a squeeze, 
a lime or a lime zest is my go 

1835
01:12:43,760 --> 01:12:45,520
to. 
And also I oversee a bunch of 

1836
01:12:45,520 --> 01:12:47,560
Mexican restaurants. 
So, you know, it's a it's a 

1837
01:12:47,560 --> 01:12:49,000
different level. 
You know, it's a differently 

1838
01:12:49,000 --> 01:12:50,840
mole. 
Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

1839
01:12:51,240 --> 01:12:53,880
You know Limon Verde. 
What about you? 

1840
01:12:53,880 --> 01:12:55,800
What's? 
Your pension assets so, so I'm a

1841
01:12:55,800 --> 01:12:58,920
big fan of having both I'll have
like I really love vinegars and 

1842
01:12:58,920 --> 01:13:01,960
I like homemade vinegars as well
but The thing is is for me 

1843
01:13:01,960 --> 01:13:03,800
especially at number right now 
'cause I'm kind of like on the 

1844
01:13:03,800 --> 01:13:07,080
other side of the Expo pass I'll
bring everything like seasoned 

1845
01:13:07,080 --> 01:13:08,840
to perfection. 
But I, I think what a lot of 

1846
01:13:08,840 --> 01:13:11,440
people need on the Expo station,
which they don't have is like a 

1847
01:13:11,440 --> 01:13:14,640
squirt bottle of water, like, 
because you know, in my steam 

1848
01:13:14,640 --> 01:13:18,600
well, and like this trick and, 
and some people might disagree 

1849
01:13:18,600 --> 01:13:20,880
because it's plastic, but in the
steam well, I keep the sauce in 

1850
01:13:20,880 --> 01:13:22,920
the deli cup, but sometimes it 
reduces. 

1851
01:13:22,920 --> 01:13:26,040
We've tried to hold it 135. 
But people need to understand 

1852
01:13:26,040 --> 01:13:27,480
that sauces change every single 
day. 

1853
01:13:27,480 --> 01:13:30,000
Yep, you know, and, and you, you
like when they say, good 

1854
01:13:30,000 --> 01:13:31,400
example. 
I just taught my new cook. 

1855
01:13:31,480 --> 01:13:33,320
Lucky shout out, lucky he, you 
know, I was like, look, the 

1856
01:13:33,320 --> 01:13:34,680
burblock's not going to be the 
same today. 

1857
01:13:34,960 --> 01:13:37,040
Is that can we can we, can I 
make a public service now and 

1858
01:13:37,040 --> 01:13:39,440
then go for it. 
Why the hell was I throwing out 

1859
01:13:39,440 --> 01:13:41,520
Burblonc every day? 
It's not necessary. 

1860
01:13:41,960 --> 01:13:43,320
Man. 
With the cost of butter now in 

1861
01:13:43,320 --> 01:13:46,240
this economy, in this economy, 
bro, we don't need, we don't 

1862
01:13:46,240 --> 01:13:47,440
need to make fresh Burblonc 
every day. 

1863
01:13:47,440 --> 01:13:49,960
I'll die on that hill. 
No, but you do you make the base

1864
01:13:49,960 --> 01:13:52,000
and then with butter into it 
every day or do you make the 

1865
01:13:52,000 --> 01:13:53,520
full sauce? 
No, I used to it. 

1866
01:13:53,600 --> 01:13:55,080
I you OK? 
Shout out some people. 

1867
01:13:55,160 --> 01:13:58,920
I hate this but I use I make a 
stable base right with xanthan 

1868
01:13:59,600 --> 01:14:02,720
with xanthan and then I season 
that base for what I need in a 

1869
01:14:02,720 --> 01:14:04,760
deli cup. 
So I make my batch for the week 

1870
01:14:04,800 --> 01:14:06,720
and then when I'm reheating. 
It. 

1871
01:14:06,720 --> 01:14:08,720
I didn't know that. 
When I, when I reheat it, I let 

1872
01:14:08,720 --> 01:14:11,560
it split, I buzz it and then I'm
hitting it with salt, a little 

1873
01:14:11,560 --> 01:14:14,320
bit of lemon and then I hit the 
fish with lemon before it goes 

1874
01:14:14,320 --> 01:14:15,840
out. 
But you know, the, the reality 

1875
01:14:15,840 --> 01:14:19,200
is sauces are sexy and you know,
like our bacon jam, for example,

1876
01:14:19,200 --> 01:14:20,760
that bitch ain't going nowhere. 
It's the same flavor every 

1877
01:14:20,760 --> 01:14:22,840
single time. 
But when you have butter based 

1878
01:14:22,840 --> 01:14:26,000
sauces or you know, wine based 
sauces, for example, fat, red 

1879
01:14:26,000 --> 01:14:28,360
wine, Demi, gloss, whatever it 
is like it's not going to be as 

1880
01:14:28,360 --> 01:14:31,080
vibrant as it was day one. 
The second day it's different 

1881
01:14:31,080 --> 01:14:32,960
than the first day you have. 
Just a little squeeze bottle of 

1882
01:14:32,960 --> 01:14:35,320
water on your station. 
Well, so sometimes if the water 

1883
01:14:35,320 --> 01:14:39,080
like if like the sauce is, you 
know, it just it it reduces too 

1884
01:14:39,080 --> 01:14:41,240
much, it gets too thick 
sometimes a little hot water 

1885
01:14:41,800 --> 01:14:44,880
just to just to make it so it's 
nice in that pay and not like a 

1886
01:14:44,880 --> 01:14:46,520
clunk on the plate, right. 
Good example. 

1887
01:14:46,520 --> 01:14:48,080
Bacon jam is a perfect example 
of that. 

1888
01:14:48,080 --> 01:14:51,200
When bacon jam is like where you
could quinell it, it's hard for 

1889
01:14:51,200 --> 01:14:53,800
the guests to really wrap their 
head around on the pork dish 

1890
01:14:53,800 --> 01:14:55,720
that we have. 
So I like to thin it out just a 

1891
01:14:55,720 --> 01:14:58,840
little bit, but you don't want 
to add those ingredients because

1892
01:14:58,840 --> 01:15:01,200
it's already concentrated. 
So a little squirt of water, 

1893
01:15:01,360 --> 01:15:02,720
yeah, it makes a huge 
difference. 

1894
01:15:02,720 --> 01:15:05,600
Ambro, Montana really changed. 
You, you, you don't use Flesh 

1895
01:15:05,920 --> 01:15:07,240
Bird Blanc every day. 
No. 

1896
01:15:07,440 --> 01:15:08,440
Hell no. 
No. 

1897
01:15:08,520 --> 01:15:09,480
Yeah, I. 
Never thought I would hear a 

1898
01:15:09,480 --> 01:15:11,480
lot. 
Of words come out of hey, hey, I

1899
01:15:11,480 --> 01:15:12,680
pay for the motherfucking 
groceries. 

1900
01:15:13,720 --> 01:15:15,240
Ain't nothing wrong with that 
bird Blanc dude. 

1901
01:15:15,480 --> 01:15:16,720
Yeah, that bird dude. 
Butter. 

1902
01:15:16,720 --> 01:15:19,360
Butter like. 
Going from going from, you know,

1903
01:15:19,440 --> 01:15:21,320
chef to operator, yeah, you 
know. 

1904
01:15:21,320 --> 01:15:22,160
It's a different. 
World. 

1905
01:15:22,280 --> 01:15:24,480
You looking at every penny, you 
know, dude, he told me. 

1906
01:15:24,480 --> 01:15:26,360
Like he's like, yeah, during the
season we turn off all the 

1907
01:15:26,360 --> 01:15:27,840
fridges. 
We only have one fridge. 

1908
01:15:27,960 --> 01:15:29,920
We're consolidated. 
Oh, my damn, bro. 

1909
01:15:29,920 --> 01:15:31,360
You you bootstrapping it, You 
know? 

1910
01:15:31,520 --> 01:15:32,920
Yeah. 
Well, listen, what's your money?

1911
01:15:32,960 --> 01:15:34,880
Let me tell you something. 
Every dollar counts. 

1912
01:15:34,880 --> 01:15:37,600
I don't care what anybody says. 
If you're, if you're managing a 

1913
01:15:37,600 --> 01:15:40,200
restaurant for somebody else, 
you know, listen, like there's 

1914
01:15:40,200 --> 01:15:41,920
some health standards that need 
to be followed. 

1915
01:15:41,920 --> 01:15:43,960
But like, you know, good 
example, I have 3 fridges in 

1916
01:15:43,960 --> 01:15:45,200
Ember. 
I got two of them shut down 

1917
01:15:45,200 --> 01:15:46,120
right now. 
We're using one. 

1918
01:15:46,200 --> 01:15:47,360
Yeah. 
You know, I'm looking at the 

1919
01:15:47,360 --> 01:15:48,160
electricity bill. 
Yeah. 

1920
01:15:48,320 --> 01:15:49,800
Yeah. 
And I'm like, OK, do we really 

1921
01:15:49,800 --> 01:15:52,200
need 7 Slim Jim trash cans in 
the kitchen? 

1922
01:15:52,200 --> 01:15:53,520
No, I just need 2. 
Right. 

1923
01:15:53,520 --> 01:15:54,320
And. 
When do you throw away the 

1924
01:15:54,320 --> 01:15:55,120
trash? 
When it's full. 

1925
01:15:55,240 --> 01:15:58,320
Yeah, well, right, dude, That's 
right, dude, I'm telling you 

1926
01:15:58,440 --> 01:16:00,680
like 1. 
And like, you know, and I hate 

1927
01:16:00,680 --> 01:16:03,400
to say it, but supplies, you 
know, supplies are so out of 

1928
01:16:03,400 --> 01:16:04,160
control. 
Crazy. 

1929
01:16:04,520 --> 01:16:07,480
Of it like gloves, trash bags. 
For me, it's the chemicals, 

1930
01:16:07,480 --> 01:16:09,040
right? 
So like the chemicals are just 

1931
01:16:09,120 --> 01:16:11,400
what's what's killing. 
I'm like damn, do I really need 

1932
01:16:11,400 --> 01:16:14,000
like, 'cause I use Ecolab, which
is I shouldn't shut him out, but

1933
01:16:14,480 --> 01:16:16,800
I, you know, it's. 
Just got rid of his dishwasher 

1934
01:16:16,800 --> 01:16:18,080
everything man. 
He's like if it's hooks are 

1935
01:16:18,080 --> 01:16:20,080
washing, but listen. 
I used Don, Yeah. 

1936
01:16:22,000 --> 01:16:25,280
He's done great, the manual pot 
and pan, but like I, I can't 

1937
01:16:25,280 --> 01:16:27,040
tell you enough, like all of 
that matters, man. 

1938
01:16:27,040 --> 01:16:30,080
When you see that, when you see 
that PNL statement or like you 

1939
01:16:30,080 --> 01:16:33,120
know, you do your mid mid month 
check like chefs. 

1940
01:16:33,120 --> 01:16:36,120
You don't need to see the end of
the month PNL to know your 

1941
01:16:36,120 --> 01:16:38,800
numbers. 
You place the order, OK, you can

1942
01:16:38,800 --> 01:16:41,200
see your total sales. 
You can you can look at your 

1943
01:16:41,200 --> 01:16:42,640
prime cost. 
You can do it. 

1944
01:16:42,960 --> 01:16:46,560
Don't make excuses. 
Learn how to manage the fucking 

1945
01:16:46,560 --> 01:16:50,160
business because nothing else 
matters except for profit. 

1946
01:16:50,160 --> 01:16:52,320
You live and die daily. 
Yeah, and that's what I'm 

1947
01:16:52,320 --> 01:16:53,600
saying. 
It doesn't matter what type of 

1948
01:16:53,600 --> 01:16:57,880
chicken, steak you can make you 
the like profit is the only 

1949
01:16:57,880 --> 01:16:59,520
thing that matters, Man, I I 
don't care what anybody says. 

1950
01:16:59,520 --> 01:17:00,560
Or else you don't have a 
restaurant. 

1951
01:17:00,560 --> 01:17:04,280
And if you are not? 
If you are not, you know, 

1952
01:17:04,400 --> 01:17:06,800
putting money in that owner's 
pocket, guess what? 

1953
01:17:06,800 --> 01:17:09,400
He's going to look, he or she is
going to look at every single 

1954
01:17:09,400 --> 01:17:12,040
line item and they're going to 
start dissecting your operation 

1955
01:17:12,080 --> 01:17:14,960
and it's 100% they will find 
that money. 

1956
01:17:14,960 --> 01:17:17,000
So it's just super important a 
lot. 

1957
01:17:17,000 --> 01:17:19,480
I grew up as a chef like, oh, 
the food is the most important, 

1958
01:17:19,480 --> 01:17:20,840
this is the most important, 
blah, blah, blah. 

1959
01:17:20,840 --> 01:17:22,600
No, you know what is occupancy, 
but. 

1960
01:17:23,200 --> 01:17:24,800
But to the chef it is. 
Yes. 

1961
01:17:24,800 --> 01:17:26,360
To the chef it is. 
It is the most important when 

1962
01:17:26,360 --> 01:17:28,080
you're in that position. 
Yeah, when you're in the next 

1963
01:17:28,080 --> 01:17:29,400
position. 
Yeah, it's. 

1964
01:17:29,440 --> 01:17:31,000
It's a different. 
You're looking at efficiency, 

1965
01:17:31,000 --> 01:17:35,880
yeah. 2nd to last question, if 
you had to put 4 chefs on Mount 

1966
01:17:35,880 --> 01:17:37,880
Rushmore, who's who's your 4 
chefs? 

1967
01:17:37,880 --> 01:17:40,160
And then I'll ask you, OK. 
OK, this is a good one. 

1968
01:17:40,160 --> 01:17:42,760
So I got it. 
I tend to lean more towards the 

1969
01:17:42,760 --> 01:17:46,560
celebrity chef. 
So Emeril Lagasse was who got me

1970
01:17:46,560 --> 01:17:48,880
into cooking. 
Brandon was like, hey, watch 

1971
01:17:48,880 --> 01:17:51,040
this show. 
And I watched Emeril Lagasse 

1972
01:17:51,280 --> 01:17:55,920
religiously because not only was
he fun, he made cooking fun, but

1973
01:17:55,920 --> 01:17:57,440
also he was like a little bit of
an entertainer. 

1974
01:17:58,200 --> 01:18:00,400
That was that was that. 
I'd say that's my first one. 

1975
01:18:02,280 --> 01:18:06,320
Second one would have to be, Oh,
this is tough, man, this is 

1976
01:18:06,320 --> 01:18:07,880
tough. 
I would have to say Bobby Flay. 

1977
01:18:07,880 --> 01:18:09,600
And I know I'm I know I'm going 
to pay for this. 

1978
01:18:09,600 --> 01:18:15,360
I know The thing is that I know,
but again, I grew up where I 

1979
01:18:15,360 --> 01:18:17,680
look towards celebrity chefs and
that's why I wanted to do TV 

1980
01:18:17,680 --> 01:18:20,520
because I wanted to do that, you
know, but I also wanted to cook 

1981
01:18:20,520 --> 01:18:22,960
really good. 
And then, of course, you're a 

1982
01:18:22,960 --> 01:18:28,080
Michelin star. 
So I would say Grant a chats, 

1983
01:18:28,200 --> 01:18:30,920
you know, and also Thomas 
Keller, you know, and they 

1984
01:18:30,920 --> 01:18:33,760
shouldn't be on the same. 
But if I had to choose, Thomas 

1985
01:18:33,760 --> 01:18:36,560
Keller would be first. 
And then Grant took what he 

1986
01:18:36,560 --> 01:18:39,880
learned from Thomas Keller and 
completely blew up the culinary.

1987
01:18:39,880 --> 01:18:42,840
Game. 
So Emeril, Grant, Thomas, Bobby.

1988
01:18:42,880 --> 01:18:45,440
Yeah, yeah. 
So for me, it's a little bit 

1989
01:18:45,440 --> 01:18:47,600
different, but I'm going to go 4
to 1. 

1990
01:18:48,120 --> 01:18:51,360
Joshua Skeens, he's one of my 
favorite chefs in the United 

1991
01:18:51,360 --> 01:18:52,520
States. 
I really wish we could have 

1992
01:18:52,520 --> 01:18:55,320
worked longer, but you know, 
small little story and I won't 

1993
01:18:55,320 --> 01:18:59,400
go too long, but I knew he has 
the palette of a fucking 

1994
01:18:59,400 --> 01:19:01,320
magician. 
And we were doing these tastings

1995
01:19:01,320 --> 01:19:03,360
for him and he tasted the sauce,
right? 

1996
01:19:03,360 --> 01:19:08,000
And he's like, the garlic is 
sprouted in the sauce. 

1997
01:19:08,000 --> 01:19:09,280
And I'm like, what are you 
talking about, Jeff? 

1998
01:19:09,720 --> 01:19:12,920
And then and I'm like, I'm like,
he's like, he's like, it's go 

1999
01:19:12,920 --> 01:19:14,200
check the garlic. 
I think it's sprouted. 

2000
01:19:14,200 --> 01:19:16,920
And I mean, there is no chance 
on this God's green earth that 

2001
01:19:16,920 --> 01:19:19,440
anybody would know like he did. 
He wasn't there for the 

2002
01:19:19,440 --> 01:19:21,280
Miesenplas. 
I'm like Damien, Go. 

2003
01:19:21,280 --> 01:19:22,680
Check. 
Go grab super Taser. 

2004
01:19:22,880 --> 01:19:25,600
He, he, he's like Chef. 
It's, it's just like a little 

2005
01:19:25,600 --> 01:19:27,640
sprouted and I'm like, fuck 
yeah. 

2006
01:19:28,080 --> 01:19:30,120
And so that blew my mind. 
Well, anyway, the conversations 

2007
01:19:30,120 --> 01:19:32,000
that we had, we've now I think 
we still have unfinished 

2008
01:19:32,000 --> 01:19:33,560
business. 
That's number four for sure. 

2009
01:19:34,400 --> 01:19:38,640
Grant hacketts #3 for sure. 
You know, he's just, he was 

2010
01:19:38,720 --> 01:19:40,760
like, I read the linear book and
I, you know, I followed him for 

2011
01:19:40,760 --> 01:19:44,320
a long time. 
Great chef awesome story all the

2012
01:19:44,320 --> 01:19:48,080
above for on Adria is going to 
be #2 for me because you know I 

2013
01:19:48,080 --> 01:19:51,120
went on this molecular tear 
where everything was foam and 

2014
01:19:51,120 --> 01:19:54,000
this and that and like you asked
me yeah listen you, you asked me

2015
01:19:54,000 --> 01:19:56,040
anything about hydros and I got.
You, bro, you know, like I got, 

2016
01:19:56,040 --> 01:19:58,560
I got to switch Bobby for Jose 
Andreas, Yeah. 

2017
01:19:58,960 --> 01:19:59,440
Dang. 
Nice. 

2018
01:19:59,440 --> 01:20:00,880
Yeah, yeah, my bad. 
I totally missed. 

2019
01:20:01,440 --> 01:20:02,440
Yeah, sorry, Bobby. 
Well. 

2020
01:20:03,200 --> 01:20:03,840
You're. 
Sorry, Bobby. 

2021
01:20:04,360 --> 01:20:07,480
Yeah, and then I think the most 
influential chef for me. 

2022
01:20:07,520 --> 01:20:08,520
Wait, so I did. 
I did. 

2023
01:20:08,520 --> 01:20:13,080
So I have Joshua skins Grenakitz
that I do a number then for on 

2024
01:20:13,080 --> 01:20:17,400
Audria right, because him and 
the Ebony was it right it's. 

2025
01:20:17,520 --> 01:20:20,960
Just as what it is, yeah. 
And then the number one spot, 

2026
01:20:20,960 --> 01:20:24,080
I'm gonna have to split between 
Alan Ducas and Joe Rochon, but 

2027
01:20:24,320 --> 01:20:27,800
I'm gonna lean. 
I had a conversation with some 

2028
01:20:27,800 --> 01:20:29,960
of the other day that I was 
like, I split them as well. 

2029
01:20:29,960 --> 01:20:33,240
Yeah, yeah, cuz like, cuz like 
for me, they were just so, so a 

2030
01:20:33,240 --> 01:20:35,280
lot of people don't know this, 
but I went to go work at Joel 

2031
01:20:35,400 --> 01:20:36,960
Rochon. 
It went, it was the reason why I

2032
01:20:36,960 --> 01:20:39,520
went to Vegas and three mission 
started. 

2033
01:20:39,520 --> 01:20:41,800
Yeah and my background check 
didn't go through whatever MGM 

2034
01:20:41,800 --> 01:20:44,840
Grand was cuz I didn't claim my 
tinted windows or whatever. 

2035
01:20:45,080 --> 01:20:50,640
But you know that that for me 
was, you know, Joel Roche, like 

2036
01:20:50,640 --> 01:20:52,840
doing all that research and 
going down the rabbit hole, you 

2037
01:20:52,840 --> 01:20:55,080
know, was was very influential 
for me for my fine dining 

2038
01:20:55,080 --> 01:20:56,800
career. 
I do want to say honorable 

2039
01:20:56,800 --> 01:20:59,200
mention Thomas Keller. 
I love like French Laundry 

2040
01:20:59,200 --> 01:21:01,000
changed my life, man, That book 
changed my life, that book. 

2041
01:21:01,480 --> 01:21:04,920
Changed my life I I I often say 
is like Thomas Keller will 

2042
01:21:04,920 --> 01:21:07,640
probably go down in. 
In history as one of the. 

2043
01:21:07,760 --> 01:21:09,680
Greatest American chef 100%. 
I don't. 

2044
01:21:09,680 --> 01:21:11,600
I don't know if anyone could 
compete with that title. 

2045
01:21:11,760 --> 01:21:13,360
Yeah, in the United. 
States will I hire any of a 

2046
01:21:13,360 --> 01:21:13,920
stat? 
No. 

2047
01:21:14,960 --> 01:21:17,720
Right, right. 
And that's no disrespect, but 

2048
01:21:17,720 --> 01:21:20,080
like, it's just. 
I think the greatest American 

2049
01:21:20,080 --> 01:21:22,360
fine dining chef, yeah. 
You know, yeah, yeah. 

2050
01:21:22,480 --> 01:21:25,120
Is important. 
Where can for people that want 

2051
01:21:25,120 --> 01:21:28,200
to follow along go to your 
restaurants or follow you on 

2052
01:21:28,200 --> 01:21:29,360
social media? 
Or can people find you? 

2053
01:21:29,840 --> 01:21:33,480
So chef authorized across all 
platforms and my restaurants are

2054
01:21:33,480 --> 01:21:35,680
in Hamilton, Mt, the Bitterroot 
Valley. 

2055
01:21:36,520 --> 01:21:38,880
We're out in the sticks. 
But if you're if you like 

2056
01:21:38,880 --> 01:21:41,720
hiking, hunting or skiing and 
you ever find yourself in 

2057
01:21:41,720 --> 01:21:43,800
Missoula, Mt, come on down, 
come. 

2058
01:21:44,000 --> 01:21:46,560
On down there, brother. 
The last best place in the 

2059
01:21:46,560 --> 01:21:48,240
United States. 
You know, there's one thing I 

2060
01:21:48,240 --> 01:21:49,880
love about Montana. 
Freedom. 

2061
01:21:51,760 --> 01:21:54,320
So I'm Chef Jonathan Dearden 
across all platforms. 

2062
01:21:54,760 --> 01:21:58,280
I'm actually based in DCI 
oversee need hospitality and 

2063
01:21:58,280 --> 01:22:00,880
design as a corporate chef. 
So we have, we're going to 

2064
01:22:00,880 --> 01:22:03,200
actually have about 13 
restaurants here. 

2065
01:22:03,200 --> 01:22:05,600
Most of them are in DC, but we 
have two in Virginia Beach and 

2066
01:22:05,840 --> 01:22:08,920
one in Philly. 
So yeah, I, I stay busy, but if 

2067
01:22:08,920 --> 01:22:11,680
you ever, you know, reach out 
and we'll get you hooked up if 

2068
01:22:11,680 --> 01:22:13,600
you're in the DC area or Philly 
or Virginia Beach. 

2069
01:22:13,680 --> 01:22:15,560
And on the current season of Top
Chef. 

2070
01:22:15,760 --> 01:22:19,080
Yes, season 23 make sure you 
watch us battle it out yeah, 

2071
01:22:19,120 --> 01:22:20,840
watch us battle it out. 
It's going to be look the I'm 

2072
01:22:21,360 --> 01:22:24,880
I'm so excited to watch and see 
what made it in the edits, 

2073
01:22:24,880 --> 01:22:27,040
because you know we're we're 
we're filming all day. 

2074
01:22:27,040 --> 01:22:29,120
We are miked up all day. 
Don't say you can't talk about 

2075
01:22:29,120 --> 01:22:31,680
the edits bro. 
Well, because we, well, we can 

2076
01:22:31,680 --> 01:22:35,000
talk about what we were there, 
we experienced it, but what's 

2077
01:22:35,000 --> 01:22:36,680
going to be on? 
OK, there's a process. 

2078
01:22:37,240 --> 01:22:39,560
Well, we'll find out when all 
when all the the 20 lawyers that

2079
01:22:39,560 --> 01:22:42,760
are at Bravo. 
One thing, one thing, I'd say. 

2080
01:22:42,760 --> 01:22:45,040
Cease and desist. 
One thing I will tell you is 

2081
01:22:45,040 --> 01:22:49,440
that Brandon and I went, we went
in with the intention of going 

2082
01:22:49,440 --> 01:22:52,280
at each other's throats, you 
know, and that's because we have

2083
01:22:52,280 --> 01:22:53,600
something to. 
Prove here yeah, yeah, you know 

2084
01:22:53,600 --> 01:22:54,360
we. 
Have something to prove? 

2085
01:22:54,360 --> 01:22:58,080
So TuneIn on Peak streaming on 
Peacock and also on Bravo. 

2086
01:22:58,320 --> 01:22:59,360
Awesome. 
Thank you, Jensen. 

2087
01:22:59,360 --> 01:23:00,800
Yeah, thank you. 
It was a pleasure. 

2088
01:23:01,720 --> 01:23:03,720
All right, that's the show. 
If you liked it, make sure you 

2089
01:23:03,720 --> 01:23:05,880
leave five stars. 
Nothing less than five stars. 

2090
01:23:06,240 --> 01:23:08,800
If you want more chefs PSA, go 
to chefspsa.com. 

2091
01:23:09,120 --> 01:23:11,480
Get yourself some books, get 
yourself some merch, including 

2092
01:23:11,480 --> 01:23:14,200
Culinary Leadership Fundamentals
and the Line Cook Survival 

2093
01:23:14,200 --> 01:23:15,680
Manual. 
If you want early access to 

2094
01:23:15,680 --> 01:23:18,960
episodes, you can get them on 
Spotify and Substack by becoming

2095
01:23:18,960 --> 01:23:20,720
a paid member. 
The link is in the notes. 

2096
01:23:20,880 --> 01:23:22,880
We'll see you next week. 
Hit the porno music.