Latest / Chef's PSA Podcast / Chef Robert Sulatycky: Bocuse d' or, Mentoring, Coaching, Attention to Detail | Episode 114

Transcript

Chef Robert Sulatycky: Bocuse d' or, Mentoring, Coaching, Attention to Detail | Episode 114 · Chef's PSA Podcast

0:00
Hello chefs, this is Chef's PSA podcast.
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I'm your host Andre Natera. On today's episode, I have Chef
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Robert Solateki. Chef Robert, he's been a
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competitor, coach and managing director for the Bocustior.
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He's a Michelin starred chef. He's a mentor and he's a friend.
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This is an incredible episode as he breaks down what it takes to
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compete at the highest levels in the culinary world.
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And how does that translate into day-to-day operations?
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This episode is packed full of great advice that I think every
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chef, regardless of where you're at in your career, you could
0:32
definitely learn something from this episode.
0:35
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Saga. Chef, good seeing you.
1:23
Nice to see you too. What a good dinner that was.
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We just had it was food was delicious.
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It was simple delicious, the way it should be.
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The way it should be. So there's so much I want to
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talk to you about today. It's like I haven't seen you in
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quite some time. I'm trying to think back to the
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last time that I saw you. We were, we were in a test
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kitchen R&D and we you were making a scrambled egg omelet.
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I was doing a scrambled egg French omelet.
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That's right. I was showing.
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I was showing your your team how to do that.
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Yeah, so and you said you learned the you did an egg, an
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omelet competition with. Yanni Kalano, yes.
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It was a throw down. Yes.
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Yeah, He's, he's a good friend of mine.
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I I I I've known him for years. And.
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And we competed against each other in the Volcan store, which
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we'll we'll get to yeah. Back in 99 and he was visiting
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us in US in Napa a number of years, few years, few, few years
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ago. And and we're at some friends
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house and we were kind of prodding each other right.
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And and I said, come on, let's let's do a scrambled egg French
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omelet throw down and we'll have our friends judge it.
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It was great. Yeah, yeah, I was.
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I, I still have the video of that, by the way.
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And every now and again, you know, for social media, I have
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to do a montage. I'm like, what am I going to
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post date? And I see that online, just, I
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include it every now and again just because it's such a, a
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perfectly made omelette. It's a, it's a beautiful thing.
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But right now I know you got a lot going on.
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And what I wanted to talk about is you're involved in the
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organization Mentor BKB and you've been involved with that
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organization for quite some time.
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For 10 years now. For 10 years.
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So for people that don't know what it is, can you give like a
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high level overview? What is Mentor BKB?
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Yeah, Mentor is a charitable foundation that was started by
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Jerombo Coos, Thomas Keller and Daniel Bolu.
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And it it was started at the request sort of from Paul Bo
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Coos and yeah. And there's this competition
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called the Boku store. And and we we never, we never
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did that well over there. And so Paul Bokus reached out to
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Daniel Boalut and said, why can't the Americans do any
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better? This competition, right?
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You guys have such amazing chefs.
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You got to be able to do something.
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So Paul Bokus told Daniel Boku said, get it organized.
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So Daniel Boku called Thomas Keller and and so then they
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founded mentor and it was founded to to support build Team
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USA and support the team every two years for the competition
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and and mentors done a phenomenal job with that as
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well. The foundation also raises money
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and gives study grants or work grants to young culinarians to
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go work abroad or work in the best restaurants in the world.
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And the foundation pays for that young, that young culinary and
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salary, their travel expense, their, their living expense,
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everything. There's no cost to the
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restaurant that they're going to.
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And when, when, when they say they're, we send them to the
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best. I mean, we're sending them to
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the best restaurants in the world, right, Noma?
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And you know, some of them will go to French Laundry or Per SE
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or anywhere in the world. So that changes their life.
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Absolutely. It changes their life.
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You know, I know a lot of my guys have taken advantage of
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those mentor grants and gone and worked at per SE or, you know,
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wherever the case may be, and it's something truly amazing.
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But I I want to ask why? Why was Paul Bocuse so
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passionate about the Americans? So Paul Bokus, he, he fought in
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World War 2 and he was injured, he was wounded on the
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battlefield and he was taken to AUS Field hospital even though
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he was a French soldier and he received a blood transfusion
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with American blood. So he, he, he always said for
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the rest of his life that he has American blood in him and felt a
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deep, deep connection to our country.
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The fact that our field hospital and our, our, our military
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medical staff saved his life. And so it it was, it was a dream
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of his to see an American on the podium at the Boku store.
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And of course, we have amazing chefs in this country, but the
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competition is very different from from running a kitchen,
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even running a Michelin star kitchen.
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It's a different beast. So that's when you know, when,
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when he saw year over year our our candidates were challenged
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and couldn't, couldn't mount the podium.
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That's when he put the challenge back to put the call out to
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Daniel Belude and and and TK to make it happen.
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Guys, So Matt Peters, first American to ever win the Bocuse
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Dior, Philip Tessier the year or not the year before, but the
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competition before the competition before first one to
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ever get on the podium. Yeah, so Phil got silver in in
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2015 and then Matt Peters, who we just had dinner with tonight,
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Matt Mad made gold. And it was, it was an incredibly
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proud moment for obviously for American chefs, you know, and I
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was incredibly humbled and, and honored to be involved in both
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those teams and to be there and to see, you know, the, the the
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satisfaction that Paul Bokus had in seeing an American win the
7:45
Bocustor was something special. Yeah, yeah, I can imagine.
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So currently we have a a new competitor for this year or next
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year's I should say, Bocustor, Stephanie De Palma.
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Yes. And so right now she's in Napa
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training. Well, she's not in Napa
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actually, right now she's in Austin, but she's in Napa
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training, getting ready for the competition.
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What is your current role with the team?
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So my, I'm, I'm the general manager or managing director of
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the team. I, I've, I've, I've coached the
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team before and, and I was also part of the Canadian
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organization. I'm Canadian and American.
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And so I've coached, I coached the American team, I've coached
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the Canadian team. I've been a judge in Leo.
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I've been a competitor way back in 99.
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So you know, I'm putting all of those experiences together and,
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and you know, I'm, I'm, I'm managing, I'm managing the team.
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I'm, you know, I, I, I give direction, put all the, bring
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all the experts together. You know, every, every, anyone
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who's, who's successful will tell you that, you know, you
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have to surround yourself with people that are more of an
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expert than you, right? They're brighter and smarter and
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faster than you. And so that's, that's really my
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job right now is to build that support team, which is really a
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team of incredible chefs from around the country that are
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giving us culinary guidance. And then on a day-to-day basis
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to make sure that the team every day is moving, you know, a
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little bit better every single day.
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So and then manage all the dynamic and the personalities
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and, you know, keep it all, keep it all going in the right
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direction towards the podium. I think we have, I feel we have
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an incredible chance this year. Stephanie is She is a boss,
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Yeah, in the kitchen. And a talent.
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So what is a typical day-to-day look like for a as you're as
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you're getting closer to the competition, I'm sure six weeks
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out is different from three weeks out, which is different
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from a week out, which is different to competition day.
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But as you know, we're we're in July right now.
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What is a day-to-day preparation in the kitchen for the team?
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What does the day look like? So right now, I think we're 187
10:12
days out from the competition. We've got that, we've got the
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countdown in the kitchen right now.
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It's all about it it. It is early ideation we're
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developing. We're developing what we call
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the garnishes and you know those are the vegetable sides, if you
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will, that will go with the, the protein, the main protein theme,
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which we don't know what that is yet.
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And we anticipate that won't be announced until October.
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So right now with, with the team, we've, we've got
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Stephanie, we've got her comedy Bradley, we have two team
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assistants and our coach Sebastian G Brand.
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We are focused now on developing these garnishes.
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And so it's, it's a lot of trial and error.
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It's again, my, my job to keep the team motivated is every
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morning it's like throw ideas on the table.
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Most of them are bullshit, right?
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Most of them and most of my ideas, I say to them are so dumb
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and stupid. But you know what?
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I asked everybody throw their ideas out, all of them, put them
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on the table. And I from those ideas, one
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might have a little bit of legs. And then we task the assistants
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and Stephanie and and and and Bradley.
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OK, let's, let's try to put something together from this
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idea. And you know, at the end of the
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day, six months down the road, we'll have custom molds and
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tooling and all kinds of stuff made to make these things
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perfect. But this, these, this, this
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early stage is just kind of mocking it up.
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Then we look at it and we taste it.
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And then if we think it has legs beyond that, then we bring it to
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Austin like we're here today. We bring it to Matt Peters.
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We brought him 4 things to taste today.
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We spend about 5 hours or six hours with Matt today, few days
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ago on Saturday, we had Thomas Keller come to the kitchen and
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taste and we want their honest feedback and, and they and they
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are very honest like this is no good and that's no good.
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And we take notes and then we then we pivot and we just or we
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lose that idea. So that's what we're going
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through right now. Is is is ideation mock up
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tasting with with the best? Chefs.
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That we have in this country and then we'll move forward from
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there. So you said something that I
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think you know, most of the audience that listens to this is
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chefs, cooks and people that are starting their culinary career.
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And right now you're talking about throwing a bunch of ideas
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on the table. Some of them suck.
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Yeah, right. Most.
13:09
Most Most most. How important is it as a chef to
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be able to distill that information, not get your
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emotions attached to a bad idea, and be able to let go and move
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forward because you understand that this is for the greater
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good? Not only is that important in
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the Boku store, OK. Because I know when we have an
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idea, we think it ourselves. We think, wow, this is the
13:38
greatest idea ever until it gets knocked down and we're told, you
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know, somebody tells it shows us why.
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Yes, not only for the Boku store, but I'm also going to say
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for your career, for your professional development, right?
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Like, and we can get into this, you know, down the road a little
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bit, but it's there's nothing to be learned in success, right?
14:08
There's everything to be learned in failure as long as you learn
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from that moment, right? And the sooner you can as a
14:20
young cook to crave that, that feedback on the food you're
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putting up, even though you put your heart and soul into it.
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Give me that feedback. Even if it's bad, I want it if
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it's bad because then it's a failure.
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But you know what? I recognize that's an
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opportunity to learn. So it is both with the Boku
14:46
store, right? And with your development as a
14:50
young culinarian, feedback not only from your fellow cooks, but
14:56
really when you're in the kitchen from your guests, right?
15:00
Because if I cooked everything I wanted to make, like I cook
15:02
everything I love to eat, and I opened up a restaurant or I
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competed in the Boku store and I only made what I wanted to make.
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AI would finish dead last and B, my restaurant would fail.
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So learn to take the feedback and in the Boku store, you have
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to do that. You have to crave that.
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And as soon as you fall, the faster you get back up, you're
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going to get on the podium. How much of what you're doing in
15:35
the coaching aspect involves the mindset and the psychology of
15:41
being a competitor? So there's a lot of the
15:43
technical abilities that a chef needs.
15:45
You know, your knife skills got to be great, your culinary
15:49
skills, your cooking, all that has to be on point.
15:52
But how much of it is going on up here and how much of it is
15:55
the mental aspect of being ready for a competition like that?
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And what do you do to? Prepare Yeah, There's nothing
16:03
like this competition. This is, this is the F1, this is
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the F1 of the culinary world. And it is, it is so much, it is
16:18
so much of a mental game. The team that we build from the
16:24
candidate from Stephanie to Bradley the comedy, to all of
16:29
the team assistants, to all the support people around us, these
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are the best of the best. Stephanie, you know she was CDC
16:40
at Addison restaurant. 3 Michelin stars right down in San
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Diego. The only three Michelin star in
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Southern California, correct? Yeah, correct.
16:50
Amazing culinary, unbelievable. As we March closer towards going
16:57
to Leo, the pressure mounts like significantly.
17:04
And again, I've been so fortunate to have been involved
17:08
with the American team for again since since 2014.
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And you know, working with Phil and then with Matt, Matt, Matt
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Peters and, and, and every team since that.
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I see the pressure and with going back to Matt, going back
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to Matt Peters in 2017, Our, our, our comedy Harrison,
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amazing the pressure. Come November and December, we'd
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be going into doing timed runs and halfway, you know, halfway
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into the run or into the run, Harrison's like fuck, it walks
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out. What?
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Wait a minute, I didn't know this.
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Can't take it. I got to go running after him,
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you know, wrap my arms around them, so to speak.
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It's all good, it's all good. We got to just focus it.
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The pressure, the mental game is, is actually everything
18:07
because we have the best culinarians, we have the best
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advisors in the country, if not the world.
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And so to keep the team healthy mentally, that's one of the,
18:24
that's one of the roles I, I, I have to, I have to, I take on
18:28
is, is, is to ensure that. So it's not unlike, it's not
18:33
unlike working. I mean, it is unlike, it's, it's
18:35
a, it's, it's crazy, but it's not unlike working in a, in a
18:41
demanding high pressure kitchen. Everybody knows what it's like
18:46
on the line on a busy Friday night when one of the ovens goes
18:51
down. Cook walks off.
18:53
Cook walks off. You know shit happens.
18:57
You, you have to keep going. You you, you have to and so it's
19:02
it's the and as the chef in the restaurant where the cook walks
19:05
off or something happens, you got to keep the team going right
19:10
during service and then after service and then pre service the
19:14
next day. So it's the same thing, just
19:18
just amplified. One of the things that a good
19:22
chef knows is a good chef knows when they need to, what they
19:26
need to do to bring the best out in their teams.
19:29
Sometimes they know, hey, I need to pull back a little bit on
19:31
this guy. I need to push a little bit on
19:33
that one, right. And I'm certain for this
19:36
competition, it's a lot of that. As the coach, you're managing
19:38
personalities, you know that this one you don't, you don't
19:42
need to do much other than just say you can do better.
19:44
And sometimes that's all they need to hear because that's
19:46
going to weigh on their on the back of their mind forever and
19:49
they want to push harder. And some people like, you know,
19:51
you got to pull back and hey, you know, be nice or whatever.
19:56
How much of as you get closer to the competition is, well, let me
20:04
think how I want to ask this. But when, when the stadium, when
20:08
you're in stadium and the pressure's on and it's loud and
20:12
someone has the megaphone and they're screaming for, you know,
20:14
whoever the competitor is or they're playing war,
20:17
psychological war games, How important is it to just.
20:22
Be on autopilot as the competitor or as the people in
20:24
there. Do you have you?
20:25
Is it, is the muscle memory so good that you've done this 1000
20:31
times? You know what to do.
20:32
So you take into consideration that, hey, you know what?
20:35
You've done this 1000 times. Just do it.
20:39
Just do it. So that's it.
20:41
That's a great question. Yeah, at that point, the team
20:46
has done it over and over and over and over again.
20:52
And I always say that on the day in the kitchen, we need robots.
21:06
These recipes are dialed in. Everything is scaled to the
21:11
sometimes 100th of a gram. We don't need to taste.
21:17
That's all been done. And that stadium is electric.
21:25
The the sound is deafening. But as a competitor, and I can
21:32
speak to that, you hear nothing. It's it's, it's a wild
21:37
experience. So the team, if they've done
21:43
their job, they are like robots. There is a coaches there who is
21:48
just the conductor that is giving the direction, OK, your
21:51
next move is you're going to bone out the chicken.
21:53
OK, the oven now goes to you know, 150C or or 100 C wet 3
22:00
fan. And that's what the coach does.
22:04
The coach is doing all of the thinking what the next move is,
22:08
what every temperature should be in the oven.
22:11
Could I interrupt just really quick, Does the coach have this
22:13
all listed out on a piece of paper or an iPad in front of you
22:18
and you're just going down? It is mapped out.
22:20
Down to the second. Down to the second.
22:23
So every move, every move that is that is that has to be
22:28
performed in the kitchen, whether it is the chef, the
22:32
comedy. And on the day in France, they
22:34
give you a student, a culinary student, student comedy that you
22:41
can also utilize. Every task that each one of
22:44
those three team members have practiced, whether it is we need
22:49
30 grams of of Bruno's Shallot, we have tested that time and we
22:54
know that takes one minute and 17 seconds.
22:57
And that is on that list. And we're just reading down that
23:01
list. We have a couple iPads with all
23:04
every timer is set with the with what that task is and the coach
23:11
runs all of that and just keeps I've I've always preached and
23:15
the team will laugh. I said we need to put time in
23:18
the bank here, team, we need time in the bank means let's
23:23
let's beat some of these times we've done.
23:26
So it is, it's mapped out to the second, the chef, the comedy and
23:33
the student. They don't have any of this in
23:35
front of them, but they've done it so many Times Now that it is
23:40
muscle memory. They know where that deli of
23:43
shallots is. They know that they know their
23:47
next move is to bone out that chicken.
23:51
It's, it's, it's, it's an incredibly highly orchestrated
23:58
ballet. I remember when we were in Las
24:03
Vegas, 2018, yes. This was the year Matthew
24:06
Kirkley won. Yes.
24:08
And I remember, I think what impressed me the most, I don't
24:12
remember what he had, but he had like a green sheet with black
24:14
polka dots. Yes.
24:16
I don't remember what it was. Yes, but I just remember what
24:19
was so fascinating because there was three different competitors,
24:21
all with three different styles. You had Jeff Hayashi, Matthew
24:25
Kirkley, the third one. The gentleman from Saint Louis,
24:29
his name will come to me. And I just remember how all of
24:32
them found the quickest, most efficient way to get the result.
24:39
It's like in a, in a, in a restaurant, sometimes a
24:42
restaurant chef, we don't always think that way.
24:45
We think we got to go, you know, this is we're going to sit here
24:47
and do this, but for the competition, it's like I'm just
24:50
going to punch 1000 holes at once.
24:53
There's a really efficient way to do it.
24:54
Or, you know, he had little markings on his cutting board,
24:57
so he knew everything had to be cut right here.
25:00
What are some of those things for the for the people that are
25:04
listening? If you had to name two or three
25:07
things that people could implement that translate into
25:10
the working kitchen, what are some things that the working
25:14
chefs could learn from the competing chefs that would
25:17
exponentially enhance their way the way that they work?
25:20
That's great. So just just like I mentioned
25:23
the the Boku store is, is the F1 of cooking and just like the
25:28
real F1 you've you know, you've got Mercedes and you've got
25:33
Toyota and the development they do on those vehicles trickles
25:38
down into mass production, right.
25:43
It does. So just like that, the Boku
25:46
store, what we do trickles down into kitchens.
25:53
And so the number one thing and I, I can speak to this because
25:58
since my involvement in the Boku store, I am so much more
26:02
organized, like the detail in labeling and where things go in
26:09
the kitchen because we have to minimize, we are trying to save
26:17
every second. So every extra move, even one
26:22
step when we're setting up the timing and I have, I'm watching
26:30
and the coach is watching and the assistants are watching and
26:33
they're all timing every step. And I'll bark out saying, why
26:38
did you just walk to that side of the kitchen and back?
26:42
Why wasn't that bowl down below you?
26:47
So you you learn how to organize your kitchen because a, a clean
26:55
organized kitchen is a productive, highly productive
27:01
kitchen that produces delicious food.
27:06
That's the first thing you learn.
27:07
The second thing is standardization of recipes,
27:14
right? We live and die by consistency,
27:18
Right, Right. Yeah, right.
27:21
I mean, there was there was there was a time where I'm like,
27:25
what? I got to write a recipe.
27:27
I'm just going to show everybody how to do it.
27:30
You have some salt, some pepper. You need a little bit of acid
27:32
here at the end. Go with it.
27:35
Go right. We're flying by the seat of our
27:37
pants. I mean, what a bunch of shit.
27:40
That's such that's that's the worst we I know now it's the
27:44
worst way to run a kitchen because I don't want to be there
27:50
18 hours a day because I don't trust that they're putting the
27:53
right amount of salt right. So I am such a proponent now of
28:03
like hyper standardized recipes, everything scaled to in grams,
28:09
right, with incredible detail on the method.
28:13
And I'm talking everything now in the kitchens that that I'm
28:18
involved in. I'm talking even the simplest
28:20
things, how to blanche asparagus, like how many, how
28:25
many grams of of salt in the water, how many seconds they go
28:29
in in or take them out. Then they should go into a blast
28:34
freezer, not into ice water because ice water then will
28:38
dilute the flavor to shock them. So out of the hot water into a
28:42
blast freezer for how long? Right?
28:44
So everything standardized. Once I learned that and saw the
28:51
value of that has started to implement that in my kitchens
28:57
and had my sous chefs buy in and understand, well this is
29:01
amazing, right? I could go home some nights or
29:09
you could take a day off and not think, my God, are they
29:13
seasoning the fucking food or are they not seasoning the food
29:16
today? So organization standardization,
29:21
2 incredible things that and there's nothing different, and I
29:27
say this all the time, chef, when you talk about the very
29:31
best restaurants, three star Michelin at the upper upper
29:37
level, and then you talk about fast food, McDonald's, you know
29:44
what? There's no difference in how
29:46
they're run. Do you know that there's no
29:49
difference? Both are hyper standardized
29:53
recipes and the organization is, is, is incredible.
30:00
That's why they're both successful.
30:03
So you do the Boku store, you learn about those two things.
30:07
If you're involved with the team, as a as a team assistant,
30:11
as the comedy, as the candidate, as a support member in any way,
30:14
you're going to learn that you can.
30:16
You take that back to your kitchen.
30:18
You're going to be a superstar. By the way, I got I got to
30:23
mention that you look great. Thank you.
30:25
Yeah. So thank you.
30:28
I know being a chef, one of the, one of the things that I
30:32
struggled with is I used to be one of these guys in the kitchen
30:36
that if you asked me in my 30s, my mid 20s, even when I was
30:40
like, I didn't feel it until 38. If you ask me what are you going
30:43
to do for the rest of your life? I'd say I'm going to be a chef
30:45
in the kitchen cooking. And it wasn't until things
30:49
started hurting later on, my knee started to hurt, my back
30:52
started hurting, my feet. Well, the feet always hurt, but
30:57
I also started to notice that like, hey, you know what, I
30:58
don't feel as good when I eat that anymore.
31:00
And then you get a little bit more sluggish.
31:02
I need my sleep. How important because obviously
31:05
you look great. You've done something.
31:08
How important is Wellness and and looking back on a career and
31:13
and for the audience listening, what are some important things
31:15
that we need to consider? Yeah, so, you know, I'll, I'll,
31:20
I'll start off by saying I I love food.
31:24
Yeah, I love it. You know, there's a famous
31:28
quote. There's no love greater than the
31:29
love of food. I I can't remember who said
31:31
that. Briette Savarin, maybe.
31:33
I don't know. Or Karim, I don't know.
31:37
So, but I fucking love my food. And so for years, decades, I ate
31:47
like I, you know, I thought. I actually, I didn't think.
31:53
I just ate. I just ate.
31:55
I didn't think and I love, I loved it.
31:59
Like, how do we make the most amazing mashed potatoes, right?
32:02
No more butter, more butter, more butter.
32:04
OK, I got to eat. I got to eat.
32:06
And everything, sweets, everything, right?
32:09
Pastry shop. Eat, eat, eat.
32:13
I still love it. I still love it.
32:17
And, you know, I, I put weight on and things started to hurt,
32:26
right? Things still hurt.
32:29
And around 8 years ago, you know, I, I did finally go to the
32:36
doctor maybe 6678 years ago. Yeah.
32:39
But I was, you know, I was, I was, I was avoiding it because I
32:43
knew, I knew it wasn't healthy. So I was diagnosed with type 2
32:50
diabetes. Totally self-inflicted, right?
32:53
It's all good. Totally self-inflicted.
32:56
And doctors, you know, doctors said you, you got to get this
32:58
under control, right? And so I'm like, yeah, yeah,
33:03
yeah, yeah, yeah. I got time.
33:05
Yeah, I got time right later. Famous last words.
33:10
Later, so I didn't pay attention, right, gave me some,
33:17
you know, pills and never, never, never paid attention.
33:23
Kept eating, eating, loving it, loving you and it was getting,
33:29
you know, it was I was putting more weight on and, you know,
33:34
not feeling healthy and sluggish in the morning.
33:36
And, and so I, I knew, right, I knew I had to go.
33:41
I knew I had to go into the doctor and tell him have him
33:47
tell me again, but this time I was scheduled for some knee
33:55
surgery right which the weight doesn't help.
34:00
And I went for a pre op and, and some funny stuff was in the
34:07
results and get some more tests done.
34:09
And I've got kidney disease as a consequence of the diabetes and
34:17
not and not paying attention. And so when there's damage to
34:24
the kidneys, it can't be reversed.
34:29
So the doctor, I met with my doctor and he said, OK, this is,
34:33
this is your, this is it, This is your wake up call, right?
34:40
You know, just to just to put some numbers to it, right?
34:45
If you see the ads on TV for all the drugs to control your A1C
34:49
and my A1C was at 12.9 like off the chart I had Maple syrup
34:55
going through my veins. Yeah, right, Canadian.
34:58
Canadian the best syrup. The best Maple syrup.
35:00
But it was great a dark, right? Great a dark.
35:03
So the doctor basically said, and you know, I'm, I'm not a,
35:10
I'm not an incredibly young man anymore.
35:12
I'm 60, he said. You're so that if, if, if you
35:17
continue, you're, you're going to die like this, this, this
35:20
will, this will kill you now. And, and I walked out as, as he
35:26
told me before. I mean, I, the kidney disease
35:30
wasn't in the equation before. So I walked out of the office
35:37
that day and something clicked. Well, you know, I don't want to
35:42
die, right? I, I don't want to die right.
35:46
I'm not a young man, but I'm not an old man.
35:49
And so as I tell people, you know, people you know, I'm, I've
35:54
lost 50 some pounds and it's a year and a half.
35:59
And people say what, what did you do?
36:01
What did you do? I say, well, it's really 2
36:03
simple things. I stopped eating and I started
36:05
walking. So I stopped eating the bad
36:09
stuff. You know, I, I, I cut out, I had
36:13
to cut out all sugar, all carbs, pasta, rice, bread, right?
36:20
And I eat mostly veget. I try to eat mostly vegetarian
36:26
now. Fish, you know, I have fish
36:32
today. I ate all vegetarian today,
36:34
right? And so I feel so much healthier.
36:39
My A1C is down, down at 5.1. So if I went to a new Doctor now
36:48
who had never been to before and they checked my A1C, they would
36:51
say you don't have diabetes. But but I do, but I do.
36:55
I just happen to control it. So, you know, it's, it's, it's
37:02
this love, hate thing again. I, I love the food.
37:05
I absolutely love it. I still love it.
37:07
We're out for dinner tonight and everybody's having beautiful
37:09
pistachio sorbet and tiramisu and you know, I'm eyeing it.
37:15
I'm like, fucking hell, I want a piece of that, you know, but but
37:18
I won't do it. So I think it, it is so
37:25
important. It's, it's, it's so important.
37:27
And you, you see the younger chefs now you see them, you see
37:31
them on social media. They're, you know, they're,
37:34
they're, they're lifting weights and they're cycling.
37:36
And I think it's absolutely fantastic.
37:39
And I want to encourage all the young cooks, all the young
37:43
chefs. Yes, you must love your food to
37:47
be successful, like you truly need to love food, then you're
37:52
going to be a great chef. However, you have to find a
37:56
balance, right? I now I, I know now that I don't
38:01
have to eat a whole plate, a whole bowl of pump puree or a
38:05
whole bowl of pasta with whatever sauce.
38:12
I mean, now I taste, it's crazy. I taste like I taste food like
38:16
I'm tasting wine. I taste and I spit it.
38:20
I tell all the cooks in the kitchen, OK, this is going to
38:22
look like shit. It doesn't mean I don't like
38:24
your food, but I'm going to taste it and you're going to see
38:26
me spit it. And I tell them why.
38:29
So I it's, it's our industry is so great and I love food, but
38:36
you have to you, you have to find a, you have to find a
38:39
balance. And so I'm fortunate that I have
38:44
figured it out, But I, I battle that demon.
38:52
I battle that because I I, I, I say no, I'm, I'm, I'm 18 months
38:56
food sober. Do you think so?
39:02
A lot of the chefs that are coming up right now and when,
39:06
when you're 20, I mean, you feel like Wolverine, you feel like a
39:10
superhero, right? And you think it's, you feel
39:14
like it's never going to catch up and then it does.
39:17
If you could give advice to young chefs right now that are
39:21
in their 20s and and just starting out cooking that are in
39:23
their 30s, what are some things that you would tell them from a
39:26
point of experience and wisdom? So first of all, is, is, is, is
39:37
just continue to, from a culinary perspective, just
39:43
continue to look for inspiration, right?
39:45
Just just to keep your love of food alive.
39:50
Like I said, I, I, I still love it.
39:53
Nothing excites me more than getting in the kitchen and just
39:58
cooking and just cooking. Right, yeah, All the other
40:03
bullshit that goes around with managing your kitchen is I, I,
40:08
you know, isn't that. Funny, I was, I was thinking
40:11
about this the other day. It's like how when I when I was
40:14
when I was still a chef, if I had a a cutting board, like if
40:17
they said, hey, can you help me chop onions?
40:19
Yeah, absolutely. I just want to sit here.
40:21
I just want to slice onions for like an hour or two hours,
40:24
whatever, as long as I don't have to think about anything
40:26
else other than these onions right in front of me.
40:28
Or I might not even be thinking about the onions.
40:32
But isn't there something meditative Zen almost just
40:36
cooking? Like in silence and peace?
40:39
100%, you know, and, and, and to go back to your question, you
40:43
know, advice for, you know, young, younger culinarian is
40:49
find that Zen, find it. And honestly, if you don't, if
40:57
you're a chef or you're, you're a wannabe chef or a young
41:00
culinarian and you don't find that Zen in cooking.
41:04
I know what happens when you're young.
41:07
You just want to, you just want to move up, move up, move up,
41:09
move up, move up. But you know, chef, you get to a
41:16
certain point up there and all you want to do is the stuff that
41:19
has to be done down here. It's so true, right.
41:22
So as a young culinarian, if you truly don't find Zen in cooking,
41:27
like get out, like get out, it's this is not for you.
41:32
Because when you find that Zen, if it's doing the onions, if
41:37
it's just making an incredible at at the stock pot, right,
41:42
skimming stock, just skimming stock and see the beauty of it,
41:45
like, wow, it's as clear as tea. Like how exciting is that?
41:49
Right? The sooner you can find that as
41:53
a young chef, you know what, the faster you're going to get to
42:00
what your goal is. And really, to be the greatest,
42:03
the best chef you can be, It is about having mad fucking skills.
42:08
Yeah, and. I was watching this video the
42:12
other day. I don't know if you saw it.
42:13
It was a, it was a kind of the chef's name is escaping with
42:18
Nico. It's like a maybe 1980s video
42:21
and he's making. Is it Nico Latinus?
42:24
Yes, Nico Latinus out of London and.
42:26
He's making a consume of mushrooms, Yes.
42:28
And he's clarifying it with the egg whites.
42:31
And I'm, I'm looking at it and, you know, it's a time capsule
42:35
the way kitchens were. Yes, 20 years ago, 30 years ago,
42:37
however long ago that was, you know, that's when I started
42:40
cooking. And the cooks, their chef coats
42:42
don't fit. They're too baggy, right?
42:44
They have the checks on and I'm looking at that and, you know,
42:48
he's clarifying stock and he's cooking.
42:53
And for me, like I, I definitely appreciate today's modern
42:57
restaurants, all respect to that.
43:00
But I thought to myself, there's nothing more than I'd like right
43:03
now than to be in his kitchen as a saucier with a baggy chef coat
43:07
saying yes. Shefland making a consomme.
43:11
It it's the modern kitchen, the successful, the accomplished
43:17
modern kitchens of today and the kitchens of Nicoladinus back in
43:23
London, right. His restaurant, I believe was
43:29
called Lodion on Regent Street in London.
43:34
I dined there and there's no difference between those two
43:41
highly accomplished kitchens of today and yesterday.
43:45
There's no difference. They are both incredibly
43:49
technique driven and it's about perfection and detail and
43:54
details matter. Every single detail matters.
43:58
It doesn't makes no difference if you're doing a mushroom
44:02
consummate old school clarifying it with a mushroom raft with egg
44:07
whites, or you're making some hot set gelatin, hydrocolloid,
44:13
whatever. You know what it's about the
44:16
details in order to end up with something perfect.
44:21
And again, as a young cook, the sooner that you can geek out on
44:25
that, right and realize the importance and wow, like, it's
44:31
not that hard, chef. It's not cooking stuff.
44:34
It's just a one little step. Do every one of those right and
44:39
end up with perfection and you're going to be successful.
44:42
Yeah, I mean, I I truly do miss some of those old techniques.
44:47
You don't see them anymore, but I could still flute a mushroom.
44:49
Yeah. Yeah, I could still.
44:50
Yeah, you don't see that. No, I like, I used to have to
44:52
pick one up on my station when I was a young cook.
44:54
So yeah, I had to, you know, 100 for service or whatever the case
44:57
may be. But I do appreciate, I don't
45:01
want to say they're retro techniques, but I don't know how
45:02
else to the classics, the classic techniques.
45:05
And if you gave me a lobster bisque or some something else,
45:10
I'll probably take the lobster bisque over anything in any
45:12
restaurant right now. Like, give me a lobster bisque
45:15
and give me some bread. Yeah, I'll love it.
45:16
Or, you know, the palm puree you were talking about earlier.
45:19
Yeah. I want to shift the conversation
45:23
to young chefs. Part of what you do, and you're
45:29
one of the best at it, is the mentorship.
45:33
You've mentored a lot of great chefs.
45:34
You're part of the mentor organization.
45:38
You've coached competitors. What are some things that you
45:44
look for? What is some advice that you
45:46
want to give to young chefs that are like culinary school green
45:50
right now? Get into the industry.
45:52
What are some things that they need to know that you wish you
45:54
knew when you were coming in? Number one, eyes and ears open,
46:00
mouth shut. Go work and go find the very,
46:08
very best kitchen you can work in.
46:10
Just just go knock on the doors. I know that's easier said than
46:16
done, but whatever city, whatever town you find yourself
46:20
in as a young chef, make a list. The top 10 restaurants in that
46:25
town, top 10 kitchens, and be persistent.
46:31
Go meet the chef, get yourself into the very best kitchen you
46:35
can and then eyes and ears open and mouth shut, just watch
46:39
everything listen, Take direction right?
46:45
Take direction. One of the one of the greatest 2
46:51
greatest attributes young chef can have is the ability to take
46:58
direction and apply it right and #2 is one of the the greatest
47:07
strength. One of the greatest strengths
47:09
you can have is to know your weaknesses and acknowledge them.
47:17
You get yourself into a top, top kitchen, right?
47:22
And chef, you've, you've, you've written about this, right?
47:27
It, it's, it's better to be the worst cook in a, in a, in a, in
47:33
a great kitchen, right than a great than the best cook in the
47:36
bad kitchen. You have to put yourself in
47:40
kitchens where it is you are forced to pull your your pants
47:44
up like it, it's, it is, it's pushing you hard.
47:49
Like what an incredible opportunity to learn skills and
47:55
better your skills. So go work in the best kitchen
48:01
that you can find, get close to the chef, get get right there
48:09
with the chef, with him or her, so that when it's time to go on
48:16
to the next kitchen, they'll set you up like you've done an
48:22
incredible job for that chef. And if that chef is the right
48:26
mentor, they'll actually come to you and say, you know what, my
48:33
colleague over here or down the street or my colleague across
48:36
town or across the country or across the world is looking for
48:41
somebody just like you. And I'm going to send you there.
48:45
Like when that happens, you know, you've, you've handled
48:50
yourself right. You've, you've, you've, you've
48:53
played your cards right. So listen, it's very easy.
48:59
It's easy as a young cook right out of culinary school too.
49:04
And don't worry about the money. And I know that's fucking hard
49:07
to hear. I I get it, but you, but you
49:11
know, it's hard to hear that cost of everything.
49:14
And you know, it's crazy, but the money comes with the mad
49:20
skills. Right.
49:23
With the the money doesn't come when you've been promoted up
49:27
from culinary school into sous chef within 18 months because
49:31
you have not developed any skill, you don't have management
49:36
skill and you don't have culinary skill.
49:37
And that is a House of Cards that's going to come come
49:40
crumbling down on you. Rents eventually do.
49:43
It it and yes, and so pay your dues.
49:47
I know that's hard to hear, but once those dues are paid and
49:52
you've developed those mad skills, then then you can start
49:57
to command a certain level of compensation.
50:03
So I know that's a, a long winded answer, but put all those
50:07
things together and, and be, be, be patient, but persevere,
50:15
right? And it'll it'll happen.
50:21
You've mentored a lot of great chefs.
50:23
You know, I, I think we had talked about this before, not,
50:26
not this time, but before Matthew Kirkley used to work for
50:29
you. And you had told me this when we
50:33
we talked last time that you recognized something in him
50:36
early on, even before he was, you know, a superstar.
50:41
Matthew Kirkley. How do you recognize that in
50:44
someone? What is what is that it factor
50:47
that sometimes you see sometimes like they got it.
50:50
Yeah, so there's there's there's two things.
50:54
Obviously there's there can be God-given talent, like some kid
51:00
out of culinary school or some kid that's, you know, talk their
51:03
way into your kitchen, like I just said.
51:04
And all of a sudden they're on the line and they're there, you
51:09
know, basting or auto say like a squab breast.
51:11
Like it's like they've done it for 20 years and the kids 19.
51:15
It's like, wow, there's some talent here.
51:17
OK, that's one rare, super rare #2 and more important is
51:27
attitude. So I was working in Chicago.
51:31
I was executive chef of The Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago.
51:34
This is going back more than 20 years ago, early, early 2000s.
51:41
And I hired, I hired Matthew Kirkley right out of the CIA,
51:47
right? And I saw straightaway amazing
51:55
attitude, like just yes, Jeff, like just in asking questions
52:02
and taking the constructive feedback, right?
52:07
And obviously, Matt went on to, you know, earn 3 Michelin stars.
52:15
I talk to him all the time, right?
52:17
He's in Hong Kong. I tell him every time I talk to
52:19
him. I said, my God, Matt, you are,
52:21
you are so far beyond me. You are such a, you know, you
52:25
are such a better chef than I am.
52:28
Honest to God, truth, right? Honest to God, truth.
52:31
But if we've done our job right, right.
52:35
It's supposed to happen. That's what's supposed to
52:36
happen, is that these young, the young talent that comes through
52:41
your kitchen, if you have nurtured that and you have
52:47
mentored that, then they should go on and they should be better
52:52
chefs than we are. And I am so happy and proud and
52:58
deeply satisfying when that when that happens.
53:04
When you think about proud moments and achievements that
53:07
you've had, so you you've been a competitor for Bocustior, you've
53:09
coached Bocustior, you've garnered a Michelin star, you've
53:14
worked with some amazing projects.
53:19
What is 1 moment that you look back fondly and say, you know
53:22
what, that's the best day I've ever had in the kitchen.
53:25
When I when I competed, there's a couple when I competed in the
53:29
Boku store 1999 long time ago, I competed for Canada and there
53:41
was no expectation. There's there was no expectation
53:44
for Canada, right? And I competed, you know, I was
53:50
fortunate enough to win the national selection in Canada.
53:54
I I came second the first time I tried and then two years later
53:57
tried again and, and made it. So I go to the Booker store and
54:00
I just wanted to know for myself.
54:04
Of course I'm representing the country, but like, can I cook
54:08
with the, can I cook with the best of them?
54:11
Like can I get up there with the best of them, Right.
54:14
Yeah, I, I didn't know, had had no idea.
54:20
And when we sent the last food out, I, I could have finished
54:29
24th like last. And I was because I, I put it
54:34
all up there and I actually fell on the ground in the kitchen.
54:40
Not fell. I got on the ground and it was
54:41
just crying like it was over. I, I, I, I did the best I could
54:48
and we finished fourth. We finished fourth.
54:55
And which, you know, kind of sucks because it's like first
54:58
loser because we missed 3rd place.
55:01
You know, I was bitter at first, right?
55:04
Wow. Why, why, why?
55:06
You know, it wasn't until years later when I judged, yeah, there
55:09
is a difference between 1st and 3rd and 2nd and 4th.
55:11
There's a difference. But in hindsight, to finish
55:17
fourth in the world. In the F1 of culinary.
55:21
In the F1 of culinary for some kid born in Edmonton, AB,
55:25
Canada. How old were you at that time?
55:29
I think I was, I was 36. I was 36.
55:36
That was that that that was a huge accomplishment.
55:40
Looking back on it, you know, and, and I will say that I've
55:49
had moments my my comedy. His name was Dan Olson in the
55:53
Boku store. Dan, when we were practicing,
55:59
tragically, he lost his father in a in a auto accident when
56:03
we're preparing for the Boku store.
56:05
And you know, that challenged him and us, the team and Dan
56:11
this I was working in Vancouver, Canada.
56:14
He followed me to Toronto. He followed me to Chicago.
56:17
He followed me to Beverly Hills. Dan is now back in Vancouver.
56:23
He owns 5 restaurants. Good for Dan owns 5 restaurants.
56:28
Years later, I saw his mother. His mother came to me.
56:32
I saw her at an event somewhere. Years later, he came to me and
56:36
said, I want to thank you for raising my son.
56:42
I mean, what's what's more important than that?
56:46
Like, you know, unbelievable. And then and then, of course,
56:51
you know, a few years back, we, we, we, we made a Michelin star
56:55
at Madeira restaurant in the Rosewood Inn in Silicon Valley.
56:59
So that, you know, that was that was a lifelong accomplishment.
57:02
Only took me 30. I don't know, you know, 37 years
57:06
to make that happen. And and so that was just one
57:10
that was another one of those things like can I cook with the
57:13
best of them? Like can I can I?
57:16
And so there was a couple affirmations there in my career
57:19
right at the poker store and then and then, you know, 11
57:24
measly Michelin star and and so. Michelin's coming to Texas.
57:29
Michelin's coming to Texas. Michelin's coming to.
57:31
Texas, it's so it's, it's, it's, it's pretty exciting, right?
57:34
Yeah, there's a lot of buzz right now.
57:36
There's. A lot of speculation.
57:37
My goodness. You know, they've announced that
57:39
they're coming. It's it, it, they've already
57:42
done inspections. Yeah, it's happened already.
57:44
Yeah. So.
57:46
It's funny, the day that it was announced, I was probably like
57:48
20 group chats or or more than that with chefs.
57:51
Like, who do you think? There's always speculation
57:53
behind the scenes. And I think the the best quote
57:55
on one of those group chats that was like, what's your
57:58
prediction? I predict a lot of hurt
58:00
feelings. Yeah, that's my prediction.
58:02
There's gonna be a lot of hurt feelings of bruised.
58:04
Ethos I think it's it's it's fantastic for Texas.
58:07
Oh, it is it is it it it it really is and and and look it's
58:12
it you know, for for a chef for a chef of any decent caliber
58:18
right. I mean, that's that that's
58:21
always been, it's always going to be in in the forefront of
58:23
their mind. It's like, you know, can I get a
58:25
Michelin? Star so I'm I'm almost three
58:27
years now out of the kitchen. I say retired, right, but
58:32
sometimes the side quest makes me want to get back in.
58:35
I retired Michelin wasn't even thinking about coming to Texas,
58:38
but maybe it's for a side quest. But the reality is I don't know
58:41
if I want to give it that much attention at this point, but
58:44
I'm, I'm happy for the rest of my chef friends, you know, my,
58:48
you know, that I think will get the Michelin stars.
58:50
But we know who all of them are, at least who we think are the
58:53
potential candidates. So couldn't be happier.
58:56
Last two questions I have for you, chef, is we're wrapping up
59:00
being Canadian and American. If you had a Mount Rushmore of
59:05
chefs, and I've, I've asked this question, who would your
59:10
Canadian Mount Rushmore be? And then who would your American
59:13
Mount Rushmore be? So 4 of each. 4/4 of each.
59:18
Wait, there's four? I'm on Rush 4 isn't?
59:19
It Yeah, yeah, yeah. Putting me on the spot.
59:22
So in, in Canada, I mean, there's, there's some amazing
59:29
chefs up in Canada now. Now I, I, I did leave Canada,
59:32
you know, 24 years ago, something like that.
59:39
There's a chef in Canada. He has he has since passed.
59:44
His name is Marcel Kretz. He had a restaurant, a small inn
59:49
and restaurant, you know, in the style of like the French country
59:53
Inn where the chef owns the inn and the, and the restaurant, it
59:56
was called La Sapignere. And although I, I, I never dined
1:00:01
there, I, I, I had the pleasure of him coming to the culinary
1:00:07
school that I went to and I and I watched a few of his
1:00:12
demonstrations and one was Berblanc, right?
1:00:16
Back in the 80s when like what is this do?
1:00:21
You have shallots in the country.
1:00:25
Marcel Kretz had a tremendous influence on on cuisine in
1:00:31
Canada. And then more recently as a good
1:00:36
friend of mine, his name is Rob Feeney and I've known Rob for a
1:00:42
long time and he's he, he's an accomplished chef.
1:00:46
He's he's had a number of great restaurants in, in, in
1:00:48
Vancouver. He was.
1:00:50
Legendary in Vancouver. Yeah, and he's, he's got a new
1:00:54
restaurant called La Crocodile that he, he took over from his
1:00:59
mentor chef. He just took it over.
1:01:02
And so, you know, and, and Rob's written a couple books up there
1:01:05
and, and he was on iron. He was an Iron Chef on Iron Chef
1:01:08
Canada and and, and, and and very accomplished.
1:01:11
So I've, I've got tremendous amount of respect for him and
1:01:15
he's, he's been in the game for, you know, 3030 plus years.
1:01:23
One of the chefs that I mentored, his name is Alex Chen.
1:01:28
And Alex started with me in Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago, Los
1:01:36
Angeles. He competed in the Boca store
1:01:39
for Canada in 2013. Alex now has two very successful
1:01:45
restaurants in Vancouver. One is called Blvd. and the
1:01:49
other one is called Wild Blue up in Whistler.
1:01:52
Alex is a Alex is a culinary star up in Canada.
1:01:55
Super proud of him. And I, you know, he's going to
1:01:58
be on that, on that, on that Mount Rushmore now.
1:02:02
Anyone out in Toronto? Yeah, Sousser Lee.
1:02:06
Sousser Lee's been around a long time very groundbreaking chef
1:02:11
back in the late 80s and 90s in Toronto still still still has
1:02:16
restaurants in Toronto sisterly. Did you know I when I lived in
1:02:21
Toronto, I ate his restaurant number of times incredible
1:02:24
flavors, very, very Asian performed flavors and technique,
1:02:29
but delicious food. And so I think Susur, you know,
1:02:32
has has pushed the boundaries and and you know, he's he's he's
1:02:39
now, you know, he's been in the game probably 40 years or more.
1:02:43
So he would he would certainly be up there, Sir.
1:02:47
Yeah. Now in in the USI mean, I, I got
1:02:52
to start with two. That's going to be Thomas Keller
1:02:56
and Daniel Bolut. I have such tremendous respect
1:03:04
for those two chefs and I'm humbled and fortunate to work
1:03:09
very close with them with mentor and, and, and Team USA.
1:03:17
And obviously Thomas being American is even greater, right?
1:03:25
Even even even greater now here, here, here's an American chef
1:03:30
recognized around the world. You know Eric repair Le
1:03:38
Bernadin, right? You know he's he's been he's
1:03:41
been there for I mean, I don't know how many years now.
1:03:43
Le Bernadin 3030 plus right maintain three stars.
1:03:50
Amazing, amazing feat right. I I had to, I had to honor and
1:03:58
pleasure to be at the French Laundry 30th anniversary party a
1:04:03
couple Saturdays ago. I saw that.
1:04:04
I was jealous. It looked like a great time.
1:04:07
Unbelievable. I mean, it was, you know, I was
1:04:09
pinching myself because it was, it was the who's who in the
1:04:12
culinary world from around the world, right.
1:04:17
And I, I had, I had never met Patrick O'Connell from the in a
1:04:24
little Washington and have admired what he's done there.
1:04:32
Legendary chef, legendary and just slowly built his business
1:04:38
right, just based on quality and that's it.
1:04:44
And so it was, you know, it was, it was such a, it was such a
1:04:49
honor to meet him and I and I, he doesn't, he doesn't know me
1:04:53
from Adam. Like no idea, right, But I went
1:04:55
up to him. I introduced myself and I, I
1:04:59
told him that, you know, the amount of respect I, that, that
1:05:03
I have for him and, and to have watched his success from afar
1:05:08
and how he built his business and, and, and the, the, the
1:05:14
mentor that he is, is, it's so admirable.
1:05:18
So I mean, that's 4 of dozens and dozens in in, in the US,
1:05:26
right? Great, great list.
1:05:31
Last question, the show is chef's PSA.
1:05:35
If you had a chef's PSA to either stop doing or start doing
1:05:40
in the kitchen, what's it going to be?
1:05:41
What's what's the one thing that's kind of grinding your
1:05:43
gears right now? Stop doing this or chef start
1:05:45
doing this. So stop talking.
1:05:56
Stop talking. Yeah, eyes and ears open, Right.
1:06:03
And start focusing on detail and perfection because perfection is
1:06:12
just a lot of little things are a lot of little detail.
1:06:15
We're done, done right or, or or done properly.
1:06:18
And I know that, you know, that is so simplistic, but it is so
1:06:25
elusive in the kitchen. And as a chef, to get to have a
1:06:31
brigade of maybe you're just one kitchen, 10 people, maybe you
1:06:36
have multiple kitchens in a big hotel and you have 100 cooks and
1:06:41
20 sous chefs to get them all on that page, that perfection.
1:06:50
It's that strive for perfection. It's very we never, we rarely
1:06:53
find it what that strive that the, the joy is not in the in
1:06:59
the end, the joy is in the strive.
1:07:04
And I, I want the young cooks, I want everybody.
1:07:09
I want all the cooks in my kitchens, all the chefs to I, I,
1:07:14
I encourage and motivate them to find the joy in this, in the
1:07:19
strive for perfection and the joy in the details.
1:07:23
And you know what? What comes out at the end is
1:07:24
going to be good. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
1:07:27
It's it's it's going to be good. So there we go.
1:07:31
Well, if people want to follow you, if they want to follow your
1:07:33
journey, where can people find you?
1:07:35
They can find me at on Instagram, at Chef Roberts,
1:07:38
Sladecki and and at the same same on on Facebook.
1:07:44
But it's all, it's all. It's all Instagram.
1:07:47
Yeah, Chef, it's good to see you.
1:07:48
It's great to see you and thank you for the awesome
1:07:52
conversation. We got we got to do it again and
1:07:54
I'll be cheering you on. Thank you, chef.
1:07:57
Well, I hope you. Enjoyed that show as much as I
1:07:58
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1:08:37
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