Latest / Caught on the Mike... / Chef Ryan Rondeno

Transcript

Chef Ryan Rondeno · Caught on the Mike...

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities today.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_02: Representative listener discretion is advised.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_02: This is a great episode.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: Ladies and gentlemen, this is caught on the mic.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: Ladies and gentlemen, I am super excited about this next episode because my next guest is a saint, not just because he's from New Orleans, but because he agreed to do a podcast on the week of Thanksgiving, and he's a chef.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_02: He is the chef to the stars.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_02: He is cooked for the likes of Will Smith, Scarlett Johansson, Ben Affleck, Leonardo DiCaprio, and much more.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: Ryan Rondino.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: How the heck are you, my friend?
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: Great.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, how are you?
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's the calm before the storm.
• 1:53
  unknown: Yeah.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so I'm just taking in a stride.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: You got any major plans?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: I'm that's a dumb question, but I mean, gotta ask.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's Thanksgiving week.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I think that's uh pretty much my plan for the week.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: Just to, you know, cook some born and five Thanksgiving meals.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: So um definitely looking forward to that.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, absolutely.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I I imagine you do it with that Cajun flair.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_02: Always.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: Always.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know, with the Cajun flair.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you you got you gotta bring home into it.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta bring that southern aspect into what food should be all about, you know, flavor, flavor, number flavor, because that's what all everyone, that's what they uh remember at the end.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: How food taste?
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Was it great?
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: Was it flavorful?
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: Was it off the charts?
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, this is what they take, especially on Thanksgiving.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for sure.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: For sure.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: So without any further ado, why don't I kind of pass it over to you?
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: Introduce yourself a little bit, and let's kind of talk about how you got into all of this.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm Chef Ryan Ryan.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know I'm originally from uh New Orleans, Louisiana?
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: I've been cooking 24, 25 years.
• 3:09
  unknown: Wow.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: So started at uh Chef John Foes Culinary Institute.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: I went there four years.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: Then while attending school, I started my restaurant career, really started at Commander's Palace under the late Jamie Shannon.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: So within respectability, learn from so many chefs, so many talents in that, in that realm.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: Because during that time, that's where a lot of chefs started.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you had the Paw Perdomes, you had the Emir Lagossies, you had so many different talented chefs that went on to have respectful and uh phenomenal careers.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: So that's where you know you there are chefs who will come from all over, all over just to really, you know, taste this creole creole occasion creole aspect.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: So what brought you out to LA and kind of put you in this precipice where you were cooking for celebrities?
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um Bournemouth LA was uh cooking for Will Smith.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: I was it's crazy, right?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: I I mean I I never thought I I would um venture into the private chef world because I was always a restaurant guy.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: But I think during the um 2008 recession, you know, getting getting a job in the restaurant was tough.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody was really hiring.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: I was in Atlanta at the time.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: So you it really had to open up your options and you really want to see what was out there.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I applied for a job in LA, not knowing that it was a friend of mine that was putting it, putting the ad in the job, and um, she called me up, said, you know, you're hiring, you know, they want they want to fly you out, interview you, and the rest has been history.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: What's funny about that is I didn't even put two and two together, but we were joking around before I pressed record, and you started letting out those bars from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and I was like, oh, wait a minute, yeah, he's cooked for a while.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um exactly.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_02: So, what's been your favorite experience so far in the past 24 years?
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: Man, it's that's that's a hard question because there's so many, so many different experiences that I I've been able to be a part of.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um cooking with Will Smith, uh known cooking at at the Masters last year, um, Emmys, Espiees, LA Fear Harmonic, uh competing in competitions uh through it through different states and competing uh competing at a high level.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, starting my own spice line, developing my own rugs.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: So uh there's so many aspects to where you know it's not that it's your favorite, but it's your journey.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so you know, it's just the respect of you know finding finding your journey and finding what what works for you and you bet you're able to look back and say, you know, I I did that.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I'm continuing to do that as as you watch it grow.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: So when you think about all of that, what does legacy mean to you as far as like what you've created in the culinary world and beyond?
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: Well, man, legacy goes so many different ways.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: I think I I think like when my dad passed away, like they he was a mailman and they they named the post office after him.
• 6:49
  unknown: Oh wow.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: So you look you look at that as a legacy.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: So in receiving that, you you kind of ask yourself, okay, how do you how do you step your game up?
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: How do you build from that?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and I in within the culinary career, I've been able to build build up on that and really achieve the things that I'm achieving and continue to achieve.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so um all the things we mentioned uh previously um just wanting to grow, wanting to get better, um, and really have the world, you know, at a global aspect, really uh understand what my cuisine is all about.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many southern Cajun Creole chefs, but everybody puts their stamp on every every little aspect of what they do.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_02: Why is Cajun food the best?
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's a real real simple question, right?
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: I I mean there's there's so many so many countries, the French, the Italian, the Spanish, the English, the African, the Native American, um, and not to forget the the Vietnamese.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so all these all these cultures, all these nations really combine into making uh Keny Crew for what it is.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, um growing up to build on flavor.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, when when I moved here or when I go to the United States, you know, the the question is, you know, is it or what people know they think it's spicy, I think it's spicy and fried.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: That's where I get a lot.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: Everything's spicy and fried.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: And then that's as as far from the truth.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_02: My favorite episode of Anthony Bourdain's show was when he went down to Louisiana for Mardi Gras and he toured all the restaurants and such around that area, and but really the best cooking he found was at a backyard party.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, of course.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_02: Of course.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: I I mean, you go you go into people's homes and they they just they just turn up.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: Turn up.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: There's there's no limit, you know, to what it is.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: There's no you know, the the flavor aspect, the billion of flavors that you taste through there their cooking is, you know, off the charts.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know, versus you know, the restaurants are great, but you know, there's there's a differentiation of tasting creole between a home and a restaurant.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_02: But I I think one thing that kind of gets forgotten that I think Cajun cooking and that culture that surrounds that understands more than anybody else in the United States, is that a meal used to be more of a social thing versus being a consumption thing.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_02: Because if you go to a foreign country, you uh basically reserve a table, you're there pretty much all night, you know, through every single course.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_02: What is it about our culture, uh American culture, that that's become lost?
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: I think I think everything's on go.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's quick, fast, Urbai has to be somewhere instead of you know just taking time, just just you know, relax for a minute.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, enjoy a meal, relax, get nourish yourself, and really uh take in what you're about to experience.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you you may get that for uh a lot of places for dinner time, but for uh lunch, snacks, things like that, gotta go, gotta go, gotta go.
• 10:34
  unknown: Right.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so you know, the old the old saying, time is money.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: So everybody's on that on that call.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, for sure.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_02: For sure.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_02: Well, kind of talking about the community and building community through a good meal, you have an app that's food culture, right?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yes.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: Could could you talk about that a little bit?
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so food culture is it's it's an app that's it's telling to people that you know every everyday cooking.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: You know, not not the strenuous, those, those 30 mil 30 minutes or less uh that you want you want to look into.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's give give you something different so you're not really cooking the same thing over and over.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: It was definitely developed uh during the pandemic.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: During the pandemic when I think the first two weeks everybody was calling, how would I cook with this, would I cook with that?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, how about hell out it it kind of showed you that you know um everyone's um range is is not not that big.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: So they they can try different things, try different things to really not only impress themselves, impress their friends, impress their family.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: So and really give something different to the dinner table.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_02: So, in relation to that, how did you manage in this profession through the pandemic?
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: Because I I think there's still a little bit of a ripple effect that we're dealing with now, but how did you manage in the heat of it?
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: Well, my um during during the heat of it, um my my w my whole world switched to drop-offs.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, you know, I think everybody was nervous, don't come inside my house.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, are are you uh are you safe?
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: Are you good?
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: You know, just drop it off at the door.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: That was fine for me.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you still want food?
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: We can we can drop it off the door and just um just keep it moving that way.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: I had a client, he worked for um Sony, and when this first uh all this first happened, all the lockdowns happened, uh people not knowing what they're gonna do, people just get, you know, they're just new to this, all this information.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: He calls me up and he's like, Um, still cooking for me, right?
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, I'm still cooking for you.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_02: That's all people are worried about, is filling their stomachs, right?
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_02: So, how has business rebounded since for you and life rebounded since?
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, each year has has its moments, uh, even like 2024.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: Again, 2024 has its moments, but you know, as it progresses as we watch, even as we watch like inflation and things like that, it's it's still working itself out.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: But I think it's a the moment of being mindful and being being able the ability to adjust, be the ability to see how things are shipped in.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: Some things may be shipped in, some things may not be shipped in.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: So you constantly you have to adjust on the fly.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: And really um you know be the true chef that's in you.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_02: Have you noticed a big impact of shrinkflation in food costs?
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_02: For people that don't understand what shrinkflation is, it's where a package of something maybe made a little bit smaller, but still has the same cost, like that you know, 16 ounce of potato chips is 14 ounces all of a sudden, and it's got the same cost.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_02: True, but it feels like two ounces sometime.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: No kidding.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: No kidding, man.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: No kidding.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: I and the reason and the reason I ask is because uh for my day job, which I don't ever talk about on the podcast, I notice an impact on that.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: So I I tend to relate to a lot of other people that kind of see the same things.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, it's it's it's crazy because you'll sit in the grocery line and you just look around and you just kind of just question, okay.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: Since when did a Snickers bar is almost three dollars?
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like that where where where are we right now?
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: So that uh that that puts things into perspective.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: Puts things like um produce in different stores, um milk seven dollars, bread's gonna almost be ten dollars pushing, pushing more than that.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: I think people gotta reality check as they go to like even like fast food restaurants.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: There's a big abroad with like McDonald's, big Mac combos, things like that.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's costing more than I I can go to a store, buy uh a pound of ground meat, and just cook it up and feed, feed so many people and and save less than what it costs for a big Mac combo.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_02: But it's also on the upside, if I were to try and find a positive in the negative, I I think we're starting to see a swing back to farmers markets and backyard farmers and people like trying to source their own ingredients more than maybe they were even five years ago.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_02: Am I mistaken in that?
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_02: Are you noticing the same thing?
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, no, you you're absolutely correct.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's putting people into the rim of okay, I have to cook and provide provide for my family.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: You know, everything can't come quick or is it's gonna cost you so much more than actually going to a a market.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: And you you can spread your food out, spread it to where it lasts, cook things, preserve things, make sauces, freeze it.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: You so you're you're making your your your dollar go longer with farmers market um shopping versus wanting to eat out all the time.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: And and granted, we have to be, we have to go out, be sociable, and those things, those things are part of us.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: But um in the end, I think the um Americans look at at their dollar at the most.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_02: Now, I know this is gonna be asking you to pick your favorite child, but uh do you have a favorite experience serving a celebrity that you're comfortable with talking about?
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I I think the biggest surprise was cooking for um Stevie Wonder on Father's Day.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, dude.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a Stevie guy, so I love this.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: I I I love classic, I love old school music.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I I I did his um uh Father's Day brunch in LA.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_02: Oh man.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Phenomenal person, playback, easy going, big a jokester.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you yeah, big big jokester.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, just just love love the energy, love, love being around what he was bringing.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: That that warms my heart to hear that because every time this the weather starts to change, I'm in the Midwest.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: Every time the weather starts to get a little bit warmer, I put on his hotter than July vinyl on the record player.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_02: I'll listen to Master Blaster.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_02: I love Lately, I love that whole album start to finish.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_02: It's one of my most favorite albums.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_02: And the cool thing about that album is he recorded that after being on tour with Bob Marley, and he was inspired by Bob Marley, and that's what inspired all of his songwriting on that album.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_02: So, so yeah, so when I hear you know this story, this this makes me happy.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, like you say, you always grew in listening to this this artist that you never I mean in in your wildest thoughts, you never thought, okay, I'm just gonna go cook for Stevie Wander.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's the last thing you probably think of.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: But it it happened.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: It was able to uh come to fruition for me, and you know, definitely uh took advantage of the moment.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_02: Because you've had these experiences, and I'm not saying like in the sense of like uh cult of personality, so to speak, but um how important has your career been towards building relationships with people that you sustain over long periods of time?
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_02: Because it it I imagine it does get pretty surreal at times when you do have those moments with a Will Smith or a Stevie Wonder.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, well, it it does.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I think, but you have to stay in stay in your zone, understand why you're there.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, um really really really be uh professional about it.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: And understand that, you know, let let your food speak.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: You you you let the food speak, everything everything else gonna take care of itself.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so that's um that's all that's always my approach to a Stevie Wonder, a Will Smith, um and any other event that I do, um, whether it's a uh corporate event, uh Amy's ISPs, they feel harmonic, you know, just let the food speak.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: Understand.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: Let let them feel not just that night, but let them feel that 20 plus years of experience.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so and that's that's my approach to it.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_02: Before we started recording, you mentioned that there is a cookbook in the works.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_02: Let's talk about what goes into that.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, how how over are cookbooks in a digital age where everybody's doing things online?
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_02: Are you are you excited or nervous about it?
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: Or I I think I think cookbooks are still a phenomenon.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: I think people like you said, uh we're in the digital age, but I think anyone can read a book digitally.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: But as far as a cookbook, it's something you have to have in your hands.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yes You know, you being being digital, kind of scroll, it just it just doesn't cross over the same.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: So um having that physical physical copy in your hand, scroll through it, take your notes, write your notes throughout through throughout the whole book, if you know, whatever your favorite recipes are.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: Those are key.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: Those are long-lasting keys that that just won't go away.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, I mean, I look at it as like comfort fruit, you know, you have all these trends, you know, now we're in the vegan age, now we're in the missing star age, all these trends that people all go through, but they always come back to comfort fruit.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, it doesn't go away.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, I was just talking about the Stevie Wonder record.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_02: Like I could Could put on the same exact album on Spotify, but it's the ritual of taking the vinyl out of the sleeve, putting it on the record player, dropping the needle down.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: That's I was hoping you would answer that way because I know cookbooks are the same way.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: I think we all have some form of memory of going through our mother's or our grandmother's cookbooks and like marking the things we want them to make.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: It never turned out like the picture, but marking the things that we wanted them to make as kids.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_02: True.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we we we write right on memory.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: And when you take notes, when you write down notes, you retain that information a lot better than reading something digitally.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: So and that's the thing about really being able to retain our recipe.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know, write it down.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's you know, for this generation, it's prehistoric, it's old school, but it you you retain it a lot better.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_02: I've got three daughters that uh that are all about to finish high school, and I will tell you, and this is I think encouraging to me, and I think it should be encouraging to anybody from our generation and above, they are very much old school in the way that they approach things.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_02: This this group of kids that are in high school right now, they give me a lot of hope because my daughters, they look at cookbooks, they buy records, they go, they would rather go to, you know, they they go thrift, they go do cool things that like I don't know.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_02: I I I think the generation in between maybe a f has forgotten about, but uh, but it's very encouraging to see that.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's that's very encouraging that you know you you can't forget what what got what got you to this point.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: Right you know, where where we are today, you know.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um you mentioned music, you mentioned Stevie Wonder, you look at people like that.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um classic, classic music that just doesn't go away.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: Timeless.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: Timeless um hits, hits after hits.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: You can s you can go anywhere, you can just pick it up just like that, you know, versus like a music today, you know, you may remember it for a time.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: Then after that it's gone because I was out your memory.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so um you know, you take you take care of those classes in the food food realm of it, those classics that really got you through childhood, got you through college, you know, hated times, tough times, you know, you really hone into those recipes that really took you to those places.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_02: So in an industry that can sometimes feel crowded, what do you do to set yourself apart from your contemporaries?
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, just stay true to myself.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, that's that's the bottom line.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you're not trying to really fit in, fit into a certain realm, but uh no know what got you there.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and stay home that, you know, take different pieces from people that you learn from and really developing your your own identity.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_02: Does Chef Ryan have a signature dish that he uh he likes to surprise people with?
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's a tough one.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's the tough one.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: Everything's always changing.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, meet me's always changing.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, sometimes I want to show him um where I'm from, and sometimes I just want to, you know, get in French, give them Italian, give them so many different things.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so um I always try to just keep it open and allow the food to be a signature to itself.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_02: A little dodgy.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_02: But that that is such a safe answer, but uh that but it's a good answer.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_02: That's a good answer.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_02: You gotta let it speak for itself, I'm sure.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_02: And and that personal touch and that that personal love, you know, going back to you know, talking about things like the old cookbooks and what have you.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: And then like you said before, I I'm definitely looking forward to um the more we can really put out, you know, it's um the Creole Cali Kitchen.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: So it talks about obviously Creole cuisine, that my upbringing, you know, some of the um dishes I've been able to put my perspective on.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: Then, you know, because Louisiana food, it's a melting pot.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: But we don't we don't really consider other states of it being a melting pot.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: So so many people, so many ethnicities move to into certain different cities, big cities like that, like here in the Midwest, so many different ethnicities, you're a melting pot within yourself.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: Same thing out here in uh LA.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's a melting pot within itself, so you kind of learn those things, learn those styles, learn those styles of cooking, but in a different region.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so you mesh the regions, you have a whole different style of food.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_02: Do you have a release date for the book?
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh our release date is June 3rd.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, nice.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: June 3rd, but we'll be ready for uh pre-sale in December.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_02: Through all these experiences, what is the biggest thing that you've learned about yourself through this journey?
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: There's no there's no quit.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's like um it's it's like um I get I guess when you watched um The Last Dance.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: I watched The Last Dance during the pandemic with Michael Michael Jordan and both.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: You know, his his his level of focus was off the charts, and that's where I try to keep it at.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so he had no quit.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what you know I try to take it to, you know, teach those things for myself.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: You can't have no quit.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: Because you could be close to something if you quit, you don't know what you're capable of of.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_01: So keep the grind, keep the focus.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_02: And that's very similar to Michael Jordan's passion of basketball.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_02: Food is a very passionate thing, it's something that everybody needs, everybody's got an opinion about, and everybody is passionate about.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_02: So I I I appreciate that idea that uh that there's no quit.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: All right, Ryan.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_02: Here's the magic closing question.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_02: And uh uh and man, I've enjoyed sitting and hanging out with you.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we're gonna have to do this again.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_02: But uh my magical closing question is what's your advice for making the world a better place tomorrow than what it is today?
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_02: It's a deep one.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's a tough question because there's so many characters out there, so many characteristics.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um so many people's hearts are moving different places uh nowadays.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean to answer that question, it just um love your neighbor, you know, no matter what, no matter, you know, differences and differences, you know, get to know them, get to know them for for who they are, and just build like like we used to, like you used to back in the day, like you seen your grandparents, you know, like they had a community within itself, you know, and that's what it should be about.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you're not gonna always agree on everything, but you're always gonna come together and uh create a better world.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_02: All right, my friend.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_02: Tell my audience where they can find you online.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: So you can find me on on Instagram at NoLeChef212.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh website is Rondino Culinary Designs.com.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you can find me on Facebook at uh Rondino Spice Collection.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm on TikTok, uh underscore food culture.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody that's watching or listening to this, make sure you give this man a follow.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's it's really important to uh to celebrate uh good food and good people.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_02: Ryan, man, it's been a pleasure talking to you.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_02: The world's a much better place with you and it, my friend.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_02: Likewise.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_02: Once again, I'd like to thank my friend Jeff Ryan Rondino for joining me on the podcast today.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_02: Make sure you visit his website, Rondino Culinary Designs.com.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_02: Give him a follow on social media.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_02: He's got that cookbook coming out soon.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_02: We're all excited to share in those delicious Asian recipes that he and I talked about.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_02: While you are being generous with those social media follows and website visits, make sure you follow Caught on the Mike on all social media platforms.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_02: I appreciate the engagement, the comments, the likes, whatever you can do, it helps the algorithm go around.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_02: Make sure you visit me at www.cotonthemic.com.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_02: This has been Caught on the Mic with Michael Clark.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Michael Clark.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: Until next time, thank you.