In this part one episode with Stephan BeGardus, we discuss:

• DESIRE is going to get you way further than talent.
• How the love of learning can get you far, and learning from unlikely sources.
• When you sign up to be a chef, you essentially sign up to be a teacher.
• How building relationships with like minded professionals can bring you to incredible heights.
• How putting your nose to the cutting board and working side by side with like minded professionals will bring business to new heights.
• Taking responsibility for everything in the kitchen at all times.
• Don't try to be something you're not, just be the most authentic version of you that you can be, and what you can bring to the table.
• How the guy with crazy desire can surpass the guy with all the talent in the world.

Chef Stephan Bogardus is a rising culinary talent whose journey has brought him full circle to his native Long Island and The North Fork Table & Inn. Informed by the region's bounty and the personal relationships with local purveyors, Bogardus' progressive American menu focuses on new interpretations of familiar dishes.

Bogardus, who grew up in Cutchogue on Long Island's North Fork, began cooking at age 13 on a local food truck. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in 2009, he returned to Long Island and, armed with his resume and a set of knives, he knocked on the door of The North Fork Table & Inn. He was hired by chef/proprietors Gerry Hayden and Claudia Fleming, training directly under Hayden.

In 2010, Bogardus headed to Palm Beach to work for Daniel Boulud's Dinex Group. He returned to the North Fork Table & Inn in 2012 as Chef de Cuisine. At the time, Hayden's diagnosis of ALS meant that Bogardus would serve as the hands for his mentor's mind, forging a unique bond between the two chefs. In 2013, Bogardus left for upstate New York to serve as Executive Chef at the Locust Hill Country Club in Rochester. In the fall of 2015, feeling that Bogardus was the natural successor to chef Hayden after his passing, Claudia Fleming called him home to serve as Executive Chef.

Since his return, Bogardus and The North Fork Table & Inn have earned rave reviews from Newsday and The New York Times.

Outside the kitchen, Bogardus is an accomplished bow hunter, avid yoga practitioner, and Ducati aficionado.

Show notes… Favorite Success Quote or Mantra. "Feel the joy." Thanks for Listening!

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Huge thanks to Stephan for joining me for another awesome episode. Until part TWO!