Latest / The Mentor Sessions / The Mentor Sessions | Collaboration vs. Competition: A Michelin Chef’s View
Transcript
- Chef Dweh: I know back in the day when I worked in those stressful kitchens, when I made a mistake, I w I beat myself. I was like, I shouldn't have done it. I'm stupid. Like I don't I don't like doing that anymore. Like I'm like, no, I'm human. I make mistakes. Yes, I've learned all these skills and I'm at this level, but I must still make mistakes 'cause I'm a human. That's the it's normal. It's it's how you finish is what matters. BigMike Coyle: Hey, welcome back to the mentor sessions, everybody. I'm your host, Big Mike, and today we are talking with Chef Dewey. Chef is a Michelin star chef I know you have your your pop ups and your you're a private private chef as well. I was looking at your your Instagram feed and checking out your pop ups and I was getting really hungry looking at You know. Fantastic looking food. Chef Dweh: Yep. BigMike Coyle: why don't you tell us a about yourself and how you got into being a chef and and the training and and what you're doing with it now. Chef Dweh: Okay, great. Yeah, so I started cooking when I was really, really young. I I I would watch the food network at in my parents home. That we had a little T V in the kitchen and I was having on the Food Network and just watching all the shows that will be on on their schedule. Like, you know, Barefoot Contessa, Ina, like all these different people that were on there. And I was intrigued by like all the food I was seeing because, you I I'm actually Liberian, West African, first generation. And you know coming from that side that side of the world, the food is very different from what I was seeing on TV. So I would like, you know, play around with stuff and it would always be disgusting. My brothers and sisters were like, why is he d destroying the food? So then as I got a little older, my mom was like, you know, I I'm gonna put you in culinary school at at Trade Tech right here in Los Angeles. It's one of the best culinary schools in in in LA And I and I I would say the country. so there I learned pastry and also learned culinary. And then from there I went to go work at this restaurant called Everly. it's in Hollywood. It's no longer there now because of, you know, covet. They w you know, they lost their ability to Being in business. It's very hard back back then when restaurants were shut down. You know, bills still coming in and everything, so they they didn't survive that. But after that, I was able to work at a lot of great restaurants. I I I worked for Wolfgang Puck, worked for Gordon Ramsay, another another restaurant. in Orange County by a chef named Michael Mina and all these Michelin chefs, like yeah, I got that training. And then when But the last place I worked at, it kind of broke me because when I was working there for Wolfgang, they had me go downstairs to to do family meal for the for the staff. And they said, yeah, just leave your knife bag right here and you can go cook the food. So when I came back, I noticed my knife bag was not in the same spot. And I looked looked inside of it and this knife that I saved up to buy that was like six hundred dollars. It was stolen. And I'm asking around the sh the kitchen. Did anybody, you know, see who did that? Nobody said anything. So I was like I I didn't I just lost trust for everyone in the kitchen. So I stopped cooking for a while and then about almost three years ago, well actually three years ago my my nephew hit me up and said, Hey, hey uncle, can you teach me how to c make some food? 'Cause he knew I was a chef. So originally I was gonna say, Hey, just, you know, go on YouTube but then I was like, you know what, let me see if I can get back into it again. BigMike Coyle: Pretty much how you did it, through the food network. Chef Dweh: Yeah. Right. So I was like, let me actually like show him the versus him just watch something on TV, which is how I did it, but then you make mistakes. I was like, I can now he actually can have an actual chef teach him. So I started we started going every week we'll go t to the farmer's market, buy some buy some foods, buy some exotic meats. And I was like, I I wanna kinda introduce him to different type of proteins that are really exotic. Like we would get alligator, we would get rabbit, we would get just different exotic stuff you would never see. And just to kinda get him understanding that meat is comes from all types of animals. As long as you respect it, it can taste amazing. So that kinda got me excited about cooking again. I say, you what, I wanna build a business around him. So we call it the Kobe experience, in fine dining. So and then I got contacted by Airbnb And they were like, hey, we want you to to join our our our Airbnb experiences. So when people book Airbnb, they can also get a chef to cook for them. I was like, that sounds pretty fun. So I started doing that and then I said, you know, I wanna really make this actual business because I you know, I've been working in tech for a while and I I know how to build applications and websites and and marketing. So I said, Let me let me build a actual business with all my skill and make something that is not just aesthetically are pleasing with the food but also looks good, navigates well, and people can easily, you know, click through there and and and book me for however big party they're gonna throw for themselves. BigMike Coyle: So what did you learn working in those different kitchens from Wolf Wolfgang to Gordon Ramsay and and all those other di different kitchens? What were some of the lessons that you learned cooking in there in in that environment versus say, you know, when you started out or some of the smaller restaurants you had you started out in? Chef Dweh: That's a great question. so w from the smallest restaurants I worked in, like Everly, up until I got to the Bel Air, which was like a huge property, I I I learned that being consistent and having consistent work really gets you in in a position to win. And also working at Sony, I worked in the kitchen there as well. I learned quickly that what you say, people are gonna try to test it all the time. So it's best to just be quiet and just keep your head down and just do your work that that is given to you. And also it also nobody in the kitchen is your friend. Back then at least. So you have to just come in, do your job and just go home. I don't think that these are these are my pals and we're gonna like they're all competing. Everybody in there is competing to be on the good side of the chef, the the the executive chef. So they're always gonna try to throw you on their bus to try to get ahead, which is kinda crazy. 'Cause like, you know, I came into that world really young. You know, wide eye, bushy tail came from culinary school and some of the chefs didn't go to culin culinary school so they didn't respect, you know, that that process. But you know, I always say if you're if you have the opportunity to go to culinary school, do it 'cause it's gonna really give you a good foundation. When you go to any size of a kitchen, like you'll be able to go in there and hold your own. But also that those be be open to being moldable because some kitchens have their own systems and their own way of doing things. So be open to learning that as well. So that way you can just add those things together when you're making certain dishes or certain sauces or, you know, or even you know, baking something off. Like you having those two mindsets if you have the opportunity to go to culinary school is very important. So it really helped me like kinda be more systematic with how I do things. So I have consistency with my food applications. BigMike Coyle: So when you talked about how it's kinda cutthroat back there in the kitchen, because everybody's trying to buddy up and impress the the executive chef, what were the things that at the end really did impress the executive chef? Did it have more to do with like you said, you you were there, you're doing your job, you were going home, or did the the buddying up how much does that actually pay off when you're in those environments? Chef Dweh: Yeah yeah, the buttoning up doesn't pay off at all. Like he like the chefs I work for, they cared more about okay, can you actually do this dish from start to finish? Like do you need someone to come in to help you all the time? Are you able to handle th this amount of prep? Are you able to handle all these different things and consistently have it look the same every single time? So just having that mindset and also b are are you obsessed with the job that you're doing? Like are you doing it to the best of your ability? So if we put you in a different area in the kitchen you can still, you know, adapt quickly and understand it. Like having that mindset really gets you far with the chef versus like, I'm I'm gonna be the cool guy and try to, you know, get them to be more friendly and they don't care about that. I mean at least the chefs I work with. Like they care more about your work ethic, like g getting there on time, leaving late. i kinda how it is in the corporate world. You have to, you know, really put in your sweat equity to to move up. BigMike Coyle: Yeah. I had a very limited experience working in the kitchen. omelets. So when the chef sees you putting in the effort and working hard, does that give you more of an advantage to learn directly from the executive chef as to how to be a better chef yourself? Does that make sense or are they just in the gear mode that you're just learning on the fly? Chef Dweh: Most of the time y y y you're are you just learning on the fly. Like they want you to already know something. when they give you a task. So you have so it's up to you to be reading, doing a lot of research. I mean now it's easier because you can just go online, go on Instagram or go on YouTube and type in how do you make this dish, how you make that, and they'll show you. But back then we didn't have a lot of people weren't putting their stuff online. So you have to read books, like you know, read books from Oscafier, all these amazing chefs, and then you know and and just look at the methods and understand those methods from either working in this kitchen or going to culinary school. I was obsessed with learning stuff, even to this day. Like I love researching how something works and ripping it apart and really getting to the nitty gritty of it. 'cause, you know, you know, growing up with not too many resources you have to figure stuff out quick pretty quickly so you can survive and and and also thrive. So having that mindset really helped me learn a lot of different skills and then working in so many different types of kitchens that are completely different from each other. It really helped me have a really large Rolodex of of of skills to pull out immediately when I need to. Like like there's been times when you have to Like when you're at that level you you're really just a problem solver 'cause not every dish is gonna happen the way you have 'cause of either the temperature of the room or you might have the certain tools, so you have to pivot immediately to still get that dish out the way you want it to come out, for a for a customer because the 'cause at the end of the day the customers are paying a lot of money. That's one of my chefs said they said these customers are spending a lot of money so they want their food to look a certain way and it has to be consistent every time they come eat here. Some people are regulars to this restaurant and expecting the same dish to be the same way every single time. So you have to make sure it's always the same. So just like like constantly having that mindset it's it starts to carry over into other parts of your life. Like you're like consistent with how you deal with people like you know you know covering your builds like all these things that were basically help you build to be a better person in this crazy world we live in. BigMike Coyle: Yeah, that that consistency and also that discipline is those are like Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: key factors in in in life and my skill is with my Traeger Smoker. I'm I won't hide from that. I'm I'm pretty good on that thing. Chef Dweh: I love smoking meats myself. BigMike Coyle: Yeah. I like to be consistent in the formula I'm doing. And Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: I guess that's a good life lesson to take so that you know how to achieve those same goals going on in life. what have you learned in the difference between being a private chef now and doing like the Airbnb experience? versus working in a in a kitchen and and doing you know, where there's a set menu that this is what we're doing. Do as a private chef, do Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: you still set the menus for the guests or do you say, Hey, you know, what are some of the things you guys want and and go from there? Chef Dweh: Yeah, so I actually with every client that I book through my Airbnb experiences, I actually send them a questionnaire so I can understand their allergies, preferences, and then once I get that data then I then I build a menu around that and then you know, we go from like three courses all the way up to six courses and I just kinda build a menu around that. And even within that menu build, sometimes there's the their different guests have different dietary restrictions or, you know, health issues. So I I'll make sure the menu incorporates that and also tastes really good. And people are always like, Man, your gluten free stuff doesn't taste gluten free. Your your your meat free stuff doesn't taste like it has that meat night. They just always just shocked 'cause I'm pulling from all different s skill sets that I've you know acquired over the years. 'Cause I've been cooking for like twenty one years, so I've gotten a lot of time to learn how to pivot immediately when someone makes those adjustments. And then the cool thing about being a private chef, I don't have that, you know that ha that that crazy pressure you get when you're in a kitchen is like everybody's going nuts. Like now I can take my time, build the menu, think about how I wanna plate it and even play with how I want the plate to look in terms of colors and all these various things and then even the type of plates I want to use. And then I get the menus, the like actually like to print a menu that sits on the table with them and they can see what each course is gonna look like. And then, you know, and then it just kinda creates that really cool experience for them. Like they're in a restaurant, but is the re I'm bringing the restaurant to their home. Essentially. So then they come in to the kitchen and like chat with me while I'm while I'm cooking so they all get to see the process. So people really get excited about that and you know, there are some fine dinner restaurants that that do that. Like they'll bring the guests from the restaurant into the kitchen so they can kinda see what's going on and even chat a little bit with the staff so that I kinda give them that experience when they when I when I come into their home or to their Airbnb that they book or even sometimes people ha having come to their businesses to cook for them as well for their employees. So I've had a lot of great experiences doing the private chefing 'cause it's always different, different locations. Like I've been in San Diego, Santa Barbara, Big Bear, like all these cool places t to go cook with people with beautiful views. It's it's it's it's been a really cool experience. BigMike Coyle: So is that one thing you try to like incorporate is like, okay, I'm in Big Bear and I've been to Big Bear, it's been a l long time. But you know, you've got the mountain views of Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: Big Bear versus the ocean view of San Diego overlooking overlooking the bay and stuff. Are those things that you like to incorporate in into the dishes that you provide for Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I like to always add a theme that's associated with where they are so that way they like are really present with what's going on and they're like, wow, he's really intentional about the sauces. like the sauces are the most important thing to me. Like a lot of I feel like a lot of chefs are like not thinking about the sauce anymore. 'Cause that's something I I learned from culinary school and that's kind of the French brigade that that was created by Escaffier. Like having the best sauces can really make elevate the dish and and and make everything amazing. So that's something I like to incorporate as well. So that way they feel, okay, wow, I'm in Santa Barbara, and this dish is kind of making me feel like I'm in Santa Barbara. I'm in Big Bear. I really feel like I'm there eating this thing. Like recently where I was I did a pop-up this past weekend and and I did two different proteins. I did a jumbo shrimp with a lemon wedge some pea tendrils and a nice sourdough large cristini. So I did that for and then I also did a beef tenderloin with Japanese basil, a black garlic aioli and some corn shown pickles. So and then but the view of the setting like right on the beach, these amazing palm trees and then graffiti right right behind me. So it kind of like gave it this like tropical feel. So you're eating eating your skewers and then you're just like, you know, t the ocean's right in front of you. Like so really setting the food to match the scene really b puts people in a state of of nirvana. BigMike Coyle: Well, it's cool 'cause you've got the the contrast of the the ocean views and you turn around and you've got the urban graffiti view. So that's that's like a cool way Chef Dweh: Yeah. BigMike Coyle: to mix those different things, you know. So as you've grown in where now you're the chef, you're making the menus, you're deciding the dishes, and I'm sure you've got line cooks and sous chefs and stuff working underneath you. Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: First off, does your Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: nephew Kobe does he work with you as well on this? Chef Dweh: Yeah, so he works with me he he was working with me often when he was living in in in LA. Currently he's back in Texas with my s o with his mother, my sister. So But his goal is to come to to to do school here in in California. So when he's back in LA, he's gonna get more involved in the business gonna be in school and do this on the side. And then once he feels like he's ready, he'll take take on more responsibility of the business and start going to cook for people. And then also like the main goal is to have a actual brick and mortar called Kobe where people can come and get that experience that they've experienced through the through the private chefing, they can come into the restaurant and just eat there and have that experience that they've BigMike Coyle: what kind of things do you try to emphasize when you teach your your line staff and and those that are coming to you to learn it do you do it differently than the way you were brought up in the industry? Are you trying to help pivot and shift that a little bit? Chef Dweh: Yes. I am definitely doing that. So a lot of kitchens I worked at in my early early ages of cooking it was a lot of like the chefs are trying to act like Gordon Ramsay and be all like, you know, super aggressive and I don't like that type of energy. ma mainly 'cause I have epilepsy. So I don't I don't like to be around stress. I like to be always calm. So that way I can see what's in front of me and then attack it piece by piece. So that's that's the kind of a mentality that I bring into the kitchen. So recently I had a bigger job in Beverly Hills. It was like a it was a eight party and they were all from Taiwan and I had a chef there with me and he was just kept saying, like, man, you're a very chill dude, like the whole time we're doing this, you're like super relaxed. I'm like, Yeah, we have to be because things will come up that we don't know about And we have to, you know, meet it with calmness. We can't meet it with craziness 'cause then it's just gonna snowball into what we don't want. my goal is always stay calm 'cause we did have some things that happen while we were there. I was cooking on a yakatori grill, which I d my first yakatori grill I I I got and the chef I brought with me, he's done yakatori before, so I brought him on to kind of teach me as well how to use the yakatori grill. And I realized it's not it's not that difficult at all. It's just a grill, but the only difference is the bachatan which is the type of wood they use. it's highly compressed wood and it burns very slowly. So like just seeing how set that up I was like cool I could do a lot of applications with this I could even use a little bit of the American barbecue style with the Japanese style where we offset it where half the grill has coals and the other half doesn't you can I can't play with the temperature because the temperature on that thing gets really really hot because it's it's it's so compressed that when it finally gets when you add heat to it it just radiates so much heat from it. So learning how to control that is something that I'm gonna get better at as I play with it. Now and and I love h working with other chefs when they come work with me because I don't want them to feel like, Yes, I'm your boss, but at the end of day, we're we're here to collaborate to make sure we get this task done for the customer. And then the customers were like super excited 'cause they they never met me before. They're from also they're from a different country. So first time meeting me They don't they they just saw photos of my food. They've never had it before. They were so shocked. They're like, my God, this is amazing. Like I and then I did six six courses for them. First time meeting me, six courses. So that's a lot of pressure. Like you you know what I'm saying? And every dish has to come out the same. So and me, I don't mind it. Like I like I love complicated things because cause you know, it's all about having your system down, having your components down, and then knowing when to execute them and and when to, you know, put things where they have to go. So it's following the following those. That basic system, we just knocked it out. and then the chef recently he texted me and said he said, Yeah, that that way you made the chicken, I've never seen it done like that before. And he's incorporating that now into his stuff. And he says his clients were happy. I'm that's what I'm saying. Like we're here to teach each other, so we all grow. And then at the end of the day, the client that we work with, they're gonna have an amazing experience every single time. So it'll be consistent and you'll always get five stars on on your Airbnb or or or or whatever business you're doing, you're always gonna get those five stars because they're gonna taste it. They're gonna taste it, gonna feel it from the from the when they come to the room to see you, they're gonna see it and how it's played. Everything will be done with consistency and the client's gonna be so happy every single time. BigMike Coyle: let's talk about the collaboration, how how important that is and and you know, one of my the key mantras of the show and of the mentor sessions is that you may be the the teacher at one point, but that doesn't mean you you stop learning. And you know, you talked about how you still go to books, you still have resources, you still look online, but then finding another Chef that has different skills and saying, Teach me, bring, bring me that knowledge, and and let's work together to build that. And we're in a very ego-driven world, you look at some of the the chefs that we see on on Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: you know the food network or online and and you can see they're still very ego-driven. And and I'm not trying to throw shade, but this is the way I've been doing it. Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: This is the one that's got me in my Michelin stars, this is the way to do it. I would bet behind the scenes they're still wanting to learn different aspects. Maybe how to make it maybe how to change the Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: presentation to make it even more appealing. Or how to bring different flavors out, you know, and and change Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: the meal up a little bit to to reignite the passion for that meal. so I think that that's really important to see that like Even here you are with all your years of experience and stuff like that, you found a chef that had a skill you didn't have. One, you wanted to provide for your your customers, but two, you wanted to learn those skills yourself and you know how important that is. And then the other thing I I really thought I really liked and reflected on is how, you know, the the other chef was like, Man, it's so calm back here. I like I said, I've been in kitchens. And I've seen the chefs that are running it like everybody's running around. One, they're trying not to piss off the chef. And two, they are just Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: stressed out. They're they're just stressed out trying to get everything out online. And like you said, that's when you make the mistakes. And I know that in in my own life, when I try to go through things too fast, that's when I catch making the mistakes. I I bet that's how you can avoid a lot of cut fingers in a kitchen if pe because people are trying to cut faster than their their mind can let and they see that fingertip, you Chef Dweh: Yes. Exactly. BigMike Coyle: know, after the fact, laying there in the puddle of blood with the rest of the the produce. Chef Dweh: Yep. Yep. yeah. And that's something that and it's funny you say that as you were talking, I was thinking about something else that happened when we were worked with that client in Beverly Hills. I was I was I was prepping lobster tails. And he said, hey, let me show you this method that I like to use when when the lobster toes are too frozen. Because the ones I was used, they were like very frozen still, even though I thought them out the night before. They still weren't at the temperature I needed to be at. So he said, hey, even if they're frozen, this method works. So he went we flipped it around, we cut under the belly and went all the way up to the tail and then cut all the way around. And it came out beautifully. And I was like, wow, that's a really cool method. So I use that now going forward and my and the lobster toes, they come out way cleaner than how I was doing it before. So just little stuff like that can save you time and then keep your keep your keep the products that you're putting out to the customers looking beautiful because I'm all about how my food looks on the plate because people eat with their eyes first. Like if they see something beautiful on the plate, they're gonna want to eat it. lately I've been really obsessed with with the with lobster tails. I've been wanting to make the the best looking lobster tail dish that that I've ever made before. So I'm always like, how do I get this to look? good So that way these tails come out beautiful and they and they love how they look. I actually feature them on my page now. Like if you if if if someone was to s go to my Instagram they'll see I have like like eleven lobster tails sitting out there and they all look the same because of that technique he showed me. And I'm and it's all consistent because when fine dining it has to look the same. It cannot be can I have something looking off cause everybody's looking around like do we all get the same thing? Yeah, we did. and also it's expensive. Lobster toes are expensive right now. So I want to make sure I don't mess this mess this up and the client is happy. So like the like client and and staff, how they feel is very important to me. So if the client and the staff are happy everything else will go smoothly. And then if something else come up that's out is out of control, because you've you've you've kept yourself reserved, that issue that comes up is not gonna be that big of a deal. BigMike Coyle: Yeah. Talk to me about keeping your staff happy and how that relates to keeping your clients happy and your customers happy because I think that's a a very important component. The joke is that, you know, management is just providing a a a pizza dinner for for morale, you know? But like that's not the morale fix. But I think sometimes we as the Chef Dweh: Hmm. No. BigMike Coyle: employees, we forget like sometimes those little things are the best that they can do with like maybe the budget they have, the time that they have. And Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: it doesn't mean that they're not trying or they're just kind of blowing you off. obviously some corporations not has very limited means to bring a chef like yourself in to make lobster tells for anyone. That would be the ideal, but that the likelihood Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: and ability of that, but I think sometimes we forget that it is a a small gesture that we're trying to be seen. How important is it for you to make sure that the customer knows the love and the backside, you know, between the staff and like you said, it's very cutthroat, but there there has to be a level of maybe not love but trust and respect to make sure that you guys are all on the same page. Chef Dweh: No, you're that's a good that's a good question. And it and it becomes cutthroat when you don't have a good foundation for your staff to be able come to you with ideas and to even help even come to you with to say, Hey Chef, let's try it this way. If they don't feel like they can do that then yeah, it's gonna always be a cutthroat environment where they're like, Okay, I'm gonna one up the other chef that's on the line with me versus if I know the chef wants us to make this a teaching environment, I'm gonna help the chef next to me. on the line if something's going down, I'm gonna come in and help out and it's not gonna be a big deal. Like that's the environment that I've always wanted to work in. I said, Well, if I want that environment I gotta make I gotta do that myself. So that's what I do. Like I I like to not just make sure that the kitchen's running smoothly, but even how the day starts. Like every time I go do a job with the another chef, I make sure I bring a bunch of hydration. Like I like I bring like these drinks that are l like these they're like ginger shots and also bring a bunch of electrolyte drinks to keep make sure that you don't because you lose a lot electrolytes in the kitchen 'cause you're sweating so much. Man, I've never I've never thought about doing that. He said I'm gonna start doing it for my people too. I'm like, Yeah. We gotta take care of our bodies and take care of people's bodies that we're working with. So that way we can deal with whatever comes our way 'cause we don't know it's gonna come our way in the kitchen. You know what I'm saying? Like like like something may fall on the floor That you've been prepping for a long time and then you gotta reprep it again. And you gotta make sure that's not gonna make you mad. I mean you may get a little irritated, but you say, okay, no b no big deal. I can pivot something else. Like l like recently, I made two different components for a dish that I had for a client in in in in Santa Barbara. Left them in LA. That's like a two hour drive. So I I literally had to contact DoorDash and have them go to the grocery store and grab those the things for those two components and make them on the fly. And if I wasn't calm and had all my had my drinks there to get me ready, I probably would have been like, this is gonna be a downhill service like no it just made a mistake things happen I I quickly made those things and then I had enough time they were coming in chatting with me he was seeing certain methods. He likes to cook too. So he was like, I didn't know I could do that. And then he was learning stuff while I was cooking. And it was in and it didn't end up giving me five stars. They tip me really well. I was like, exactly. I could have met let the fact that I left those two components at my kitchen freak me out. But I'm like, no, that happens a lot. So don't let that be the the tone for the rest of the evening. Like just look at it as a its own individual situation and then move on. And I knew that when that happened that I wasn't the same person that I was when I first started in this industry. I know back in the day when I worked in those stressful kitchens, when I made a mistake, I w I beat myself. I was like, I shouldn't have done it. I'm stupid. Like I don't I don't like doing that anymore. Like I'm like, no, I'm human. I make mistakes. Yes, I've learned all these skills and I'm at this level, but I must still make mistakes 'cause I'm a human. That's the it's normal. It's it's how you finish is what matters. So how I finish is what I cared about. BigMike Coyle: You know, I I like the point that you made there that like, okay, you realize you left those components and you're like, Okay, I can still access this and I can still carry on. It this isn't the end of the day, and I'm sure you're a good enough chef that if they couldn't have provided those, you could have figured something out to make it work. But you recognize that you're recognizing now versus in the past, and this is this is where age and maturity comes from. Okay, it's just a mistake. Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: I can move forward from a mistake where as kids, especially when we're in high stress environments where we're trying to grow and learn, I think part of what allows you that freedom now is you're not afraid of being punished or or mocked or anything like that for making a mistake because you're at the top now and you're like, okay. But that also Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: that's such a great teaching moment for those that are watching you, like, crap, you know, sh we don't have this and this and and they're gonna be stressing out and be like, it's all right, we got it taken care of. And and seeing that change in mentality Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: that like I don't judge you for making a mistake, I judge you for how you go forward afterwards. Chef Dweh: Exactly. BigMike Coyle: you've brought up a couple of times and I'm interested to learn. So you can be my mentor for a moment. You s you talked about like Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: the the room temperature and how that affects food. Did you teach that to me a little bit? Chef Dweh: Yes. Yeah, so especially when you're baking. So I've that's why that's kinda world I started in first is in pastry. And w the first business I d I did was a cookie a cookie business. And I learned early on before I went to pastry school when I was making these cookies that if the room is too hot and you're making dough with yeast or any or or anything that's eating on sugars is going to affect the finished product. So making sure that if you are in a room like that, okay, what can you do? you rest the dough in the refrigerator more so it gets to the right temperature before you throw it in the oven. Like all these little things you have to think about. when you're cooking food. I make a lot of brisket. That's something that I started doing a lot four years ago to teach myself because they don't teach barbecue in culinary school. So I said, Well let me from the skills I know about, you know, cooking with pro different proteins, let me try to apply apply that, watching videos on YouTube and everything. And I learned When to pull the brisket, bring the brisket to room temperature. All these little things I didn't realize that are important. So that way that those collagen, the fats break down at the right consistencies that need them to be at. So when I slice into it, it's nice and tender and have a nice, you know, nice color to the meat and and nice pull and put on your finger, it starts to hang over. Like all these little things that very important to get that brisket to the right consistency you want it to be at in terms of flavor and and taste. Like learning that early on is so important so that way you don't you don't obviously waste money on what you purchased and that you're always getting that consistent product w when you put it out there. So that was very important to me and I'm glad I learned that skill in culinary school early and pre pastry school. 'Cause pastry school is all about you have to be consistent. You have to be accurate, 'cause if you change something, it's not y y like you're not making a cookie anymore. Now you're making a scone because you added too much flour, you are you didn't add enough water, like all these little things that you have to do, That's why I'm glad I went through patient school first prior to culinary because it I brought a lot of that mindset over to cul c culinary and it really helped me like be mindful with what I'm using. And also, one thing that irritates me too is wasting. Like I hate in culinary a lot of waste. Like they over over make something. and they over give it to customers and the customers end up not eating it and goes in the trash. Like I hate that so much. That's why I like fine dining because I'm I'm I'm getting better at controlling my yield and I know how and I'm giving a customer an amount of food I know that they're gonna be satiated with because some people think, your food's so small, how how people g get fooled with that? I'm like, they do get full. Every single pe you know when clients working with me like, I thought I wasn't gonna get full with your food. I'm like, like I'm upset over here, I don't want any more BigMike Coyle: as you can tell, I'm I'm a big guy and I like to eat big food. And when you look at fine dining, you just Chef Dweh: Same here. BigMike Coyle: Yeah. I I eat a lot of brisket, man, and ribs and pulled pork and stuff. you see, you know, this plate and it's a very beautiful plate, and then it's like a a small piece of whitefish or something that's all d decorated. And then you're like, Well, that's not gonna be enough, but you don't realize that that's just one course. And when you start getting to like course four, Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: five and six, you're you're ready to throw in the towel. And I think that's part of that beautiful experience of fine dining is like every piece, Chef Dweh: Right. Yeah. BigMike Coyle: when you eat at a normal restaurant, you you're consuming it all at once. So you're blending those flavors, which at times can be fun. But when you get Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: you get to enjoy your entree. And you get to enjoy and have that Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: moment and be present in the moment with that entree versus having your entree and your potatoes and stuff like that all mixed in together. You're enjoying Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. Yep. BigMike Coyle: that moment and and I think that's such an important thing to enjoy. you want the customer to enjoy that moment right then. Or so I assume. Chef Dweh: Yeah, I want them to feel like No, you're right. So I I I typically like to have people like be transported with every every course. So I want them to feel like wow, this course made made me feel like this. This course r this course reminded me of this. Like I wanna always take them somewhere with every single dish. there's a restaurant I always want to work at called La Belladin. it's located in New York, it's a three mission star restaurant. The chef there, he always stresses sauce, sauce, sauce. So the the like the most important job in the kitchen is a sauce Like saucier makes all the sauces for every dish in the kitchen. So they get there early and they're prepping these massive pots of different components to make these sauces. And it's so beautiful because when the sauce is finally completed, and they're and and they're going through their tasting, their their their test tasting. And they're like, okay, add this pinch of this, add a pinch of that, change this here. And then they're just refining it even more. Then when it finally gets to the plate, the customer's like, Whoa, what is this? Like I love that reaction like to to a sauce. Like this past weekend, I I I did the black garlic aioli sauce. When I tried it, I was like, Whoa, this is gonna this is gonna be amazing. And they were trying, they were like, Whoa, what is this? then recently I've been mi messing with a Middle Eastern flavor, so I added a little Middle Eastern flavor into the black garlic sauce and it made sense. Like it it just those that like that marriage was so beautiful. BigMike Coyle: I'm sure these are marriages that were made long before and we just kind of forgot you know, back when the the spice roads Chef Dweh: Correct. BigMike Coyle: were open, you know, and and we forget Chef Dweh: yeah. BigMike Coyle: to put those things back in and stuff. as Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: you're you're taking on an apprentice, you know, a new line cook and stuff, when they come to you with a dish that like, hey chef, I've been working on this. How open are you, to try it to see if you can work it into the menu or to Chef Dweh: I'm open to different ideas 'cause at the end of the day I want the customer to have i an amazing experience and I'm I I don't know everything on the planet about food. I know what I know and I'm open to learning more. So if a chef that works for me is able to bring in an idea that will elevate what we're doing already, I wanna know about it. Like let me know so we can take this to the next level. I want to produce the best food that I've ever produced every single time I cook. I don't want to just be doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Like I'll never get to the level I want to get to unless I'm pushing myself and then I have people around me are pushing me as well. And then through that they're pushing themselves. We have to c constantly try to do the best we can do it each day we do it. BigMike Coyle: so have you ever like introduced a an a menu item that one of your your students shared with you and you guys worked on it and and then introduced it to a menu? Chef Dweh: Yeah, so in past, so I used to work for this agency and they would put me in different places and then it got to the point where they had me be the executive chef on certain jobs. It was one job I was doing. It was at a it was like a main course dish and one of the chefs there that I was managing He said, hey, let's add these few things to it. Let's see how it works out. And then I did it and everybody was raving about it. we would love this dish. And they wanted to keep it on the menu at the university. I was like, wow. If I didn't take his advice, probably would have been good still, but but now they're raving because he's adding something I didn't even think about to the dish to make it amazing. And that let me know. It's better to collaborate with people versus trying to be I'm the executive chef, I'm I'm I'm I'm the guy in charge. All I all ideas come from me and that's that. Like no, that's not what it's supposed to be like at all. BigMike Coyle: Yeah. So as as we start wrapping it up here, what has been the greatest life lesson you've taken from the kitchen? Chef Dweh: When when things get hard, keep your head down and keep your ears open so that we can get through it. BigMike Coyle: Okay, now I wanna flip that. What's been the greatest life lesson that you've put into the kitchen? Chef Dweh: I would say keeping the environment calm, like always staying calm and level headed throughout the service. From prepping and not just being calm and level headed, also being fun, like playing playing some really good music and keeping it light and And, you know, cracking jokes. Like that's all keeps the environment calm as well. Not just literally sitting there like a monk. Like, no. Literally, like doing all these things that keep the kitchen really nice and calm. Like, you know? that's b really important to me. Like bringing that in has been been exciting. Cause I learned that when I w last we worked at the Bel-Air, the chef that was there, he was very calm. And I was kind of like I was shocked by that. Like he was super calm. Stuff was going wrong. He was like, Okay, we're gonna pivot to this. I was like, Wow. I saw it on certain shows I would watch on YouTube, with certain chefs. But to actually work with a chef like that, I was like, wow, this is different. And his food was beautiful. Massive banquets for like last banquet we did was for Al Gore's birthday party. It was probably close to 300 people and it's all plated and we were doing it and it was calm and I was like, wow, this is nice. Versus I worked other places and we're like yelling. I'm just like, yo. It's like you're like scared and then you like BigMike Coyle: Yeah. Chef Dweh: you know you don't want to shake, put it on a plate. I've learned to have like even kills so my hands don't don't shake and everything. So I wanna be able to have that throughout the entire service. So learn that from him and now I bring it into the kitchens that I work in, it it it makes the environment a lot a lot better to work in for everybody. And for myself. BigMike Coyle: I am a big audiophile. I love all sorts of music. and I love the vibes certain music's put me into, you know. just this morning while I was having coffee out on the patio and just enjoying the sunrise, I was listening to Grateful Dead, you know, that really put me in that moment How much of having that kind of vibe in the atmosphere affects the final product that goes out to the customer? Chef Dweh: massively. I love house music, so I usually start off the service with like 'cause I actually like to make beats too and as a way and also like putting playlist together. So I have a playlist I've been working on for poof like nine years now. So it starts off at like seventy four BPM and it goes up to like a like almost two hundred and two BPM. So I always start the service at like seventy four or it's really and the c customers love the music this is some good house music. So it's just like kinda keeps it chill and as a service and I I have a time when it's time for service the the the BPM goes up a little higher and we're like really grooving and you know plating the food and pushing the food out. that's how kinda how I've done it so since I, you know, got into this position now. Like I like to always keep that I kinda gl gradually raise the temperature but keep but we're still having fun as the temperature goes up. And then when service is over, you know BigMike Coyle: That Chef Dweh: we're cleaning up and everything, we're just like just reflecting. BigMike Coyle: Chef, that's like an awesome way to look Chef Dweh: on on how everything went. BigMike Coyle: when you're working out and you're doing the warm up, you know, you kind of slowly loosen the body up. And then as you get going and further, Chef Dweh: Right. BigMike Coyle: you do want those beats ramped up, you know, to help keep you grooving. And and I don't think I ever thought of that Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: in a kitchen or some of those other industries where like, okay, we're gonna start out slow, we're just gonna get loose. And then when it's go time, we're we're pushing those beats and and getting it going I'm sure that really does help Chef Dweh: yeah. BigMike Coyle: the vibe back there and and kinda keeps people on the same mind. Everybody knows like, okay, we're you know, we're at a hundred and sixty BPMs, this is where we should be, I know beats and I know how important beats are to music Chef Dweh: Right. Moving and grooving. BigMike Coyle: too. then you're jumping up to you know, one seventy, one eighty beats and it's like, all right, we're getting stuff that's probably when Chef Dweh: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: you're about ready to start getting stuff out the door, you know, 'cause it's it's go time. We're we're we're rocking this now. So Yeah. That that's cool. Chef Dweh: Yeah, quickly. Yep. Exactly. And then also We played it the first course, this these were the components of that course. Now move out, move the next one's in, we're just like, okay, now go boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. It's just like doom doo doo doo doo. So that's the best feeling when you know, okay, the music is matching the tempo of the kitchen. Because it's too it's those tempos have to be in sync. So everybody's feeling it, having it smiling, cracking jokes here and there, getting getting serious when it's time for certain stuff, and we just got boom, boom, boom, boom, go, go, go. It's the best thing ever. BigMike Coyle: I'm sure that's something that site subconsciously we we realize as we're enjoying those meals. Chef, I've enjoyed talking to you and having you on the show with me. thanks for what you're doing, for for using your skills as a mentor opportunity for your nephew and for a lot of people. you know, as long as there's humans, there's gonna be a food industry. And I'll tell ya As someone who likes to eat, I love when the food comes out looking like the picture. you go to a lot of restaurants and you're Chef Dweh: yeah. BigMike Coyle: like, yeah, I'll have that. And it comes out looking nothing like what it just presented to me. So when a a good chef and a good cook takes opportunity and Chef Dweh: Yeah, you're like, what is that? BigMike Coyle: and says, Okay, this is the match, you know, and I that that says to a lot to a customer. As we sign off is Are there any mentors in Chef Dweh: yeah. BigMike Coyle: your life that you want to take a moment to give a shout out to and and thank publicly for the effect that they've had on your life? Chef Dweh: Yeah, so a few people come to mind. So my my teacher from high school, Pam Woodleaf, like she really showed me through enthusiasm that life is about taking risk and being good while you're taking these risks. Like don't just take a risk but don't do your research. So you have to do your research, get get get as prepared as you can and then take that risk. It's like calculated risk. So she really got me in that mindset since I was in high school. And I even to this day we I still stay in contact with her and she's still her spunky self and likes to take risks and takes life and pushes it to the limit. and then my next person I would say never met this person, it's i it's it's actually a scaffier. just seeing how he created the brigade system that we n still use to this day in culinary and he kind of made being a chef something that's honorable 'cause back then before that system was in place, like chefs were just like they weren't they weren't important. They were just you're just a cook. You're making food for ro royalty. I BigMike Coyle: Yeah. Yeah. Chef Dweh: didn't really give a b give a crap about us. And like things weren't sanitary and they were just like, you know. So he said, no, fish should be on fish station. Beef on this station. Like don't cross contaminate. Like that's and that, you know, really made it where even the guests had a better experience, like less people getting sick, all these other things. So have like really being conscientious of your environment and make sure that it's a safe environment is very, very important. And then working for Wolfgang, I learned how to be able to do large b banquets for lots of people that are played it and some people that sound scared. you wanna play all that food for all these people? Like yes. As long as you have your systems down, you can push out a thousand plates, two thousand plates. And they're all look the same because you you prepped every component consistently. It's all the set like all the carrots cut the same. All these all the potato puree is the same. Everything's the same. And then you already know where you're putting on the plate. It's gonna go in that same spot on every all two thousand plates. I mean it's exact same spot with exact amount of ounces of that particular product on the plate. It all looks the same. Some people don't like that, but I love being in a mindset of pushing out consistent food. It's it just puts me in a rhythm. And then like I said, as the music starts to heat up, you start going a little faster and you're like really watching everything you're doing is always the same. So having those those three mindsets from those three different people, they really help me on a daily basis be better at getting tasks done.