Chef & Rare Podcast

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion.

In this episode of Chef AF, I chat with Tim Griffin, director of culinary at SPB Hospitality about his path to becoming a chef, finding his inspiration, and driving menu innovation for several brands.

Since October 2020 Griffin has been leading SPB Hospitality Brands culinary team with over twenty years experience in fine dining, catering and hospitality. Prior to joining the SPB team he has worked for Kona Grill, Ignite Restaurant Group’s Joe’s Crab Shack and Brick House Tavern & Tap. Griffin also served as a founding Board Member of the Global Culinary Innovators Association. He attended Texas Tech University and earned a bachelor’s degree in restaurant and management finishing his education at The Culinary Institute of America.

Griffin says, while at CIA in Napa Valley, he would speak to chefs that would come through, and would have great conversations about being a multi-unit corporate chef. Ultimately those discussions helped him identify what he wanted to do with his culinary education. He was drawn to the scope and scale of managing multiple things and entities across cities, states, and the world.

I ask Griffin if he has been feeling the challenges of supply chain shortages. He says, “Yes, there's been a lot of react and adapt to current menu items as well as products, it changes daily, weekly but we have a great supply chain and I work very closely with them.” Adding, “it's a tighter relationship now than it has been in the past.” Some of the SPB brands include Logan’s Roadhouse, Rock Bottom, Gordon Biersch, Old Chicago, and more. Griffin also shares the different virtual brands that are in development with SPB.

Griffin talks about food trends and says he is seeing a lot more from Korea. But he looks for up and coming food trends by taking advantage when he travels, by visiting small restaurants and seeing what ingredients and presentations they are doing.

To hear more about the creative process in the test kitchen, get Griffin’s take on developing menus, and the story behind the Roasted Cauliflower Recipe, check out this episode of Chef AF “It’s All Food” or you can listen on Spotify!

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion.

In this episode of Chef AF, I chat with Mohamed “Mo” Alkassar, founding partner of Alpareno Restaurant Group about his extensive background in hospitality, his partnership with three-time James Beard award nominee, Chef Niven Patel, and the importance of mentorship.

Alkassar, while in Madrid waiting for his visa to go to the United States, stumbled on the hospitality industry working in fine dining at Maison Blanche. He further developed his skills by working for some of the most well-recognized hospitality groups in the Middle East. Alkassar met his mentor during this time, Michael Bonadies, partner, Myriad Restaurant Group. The group that created Nobu and many other iconic restaurants.

Alkassar moved to Miami and took a step back in his career to get experience in American style service before joining NRI, Nolan Reynolds International as chief operating officer. In addition to being the COO of NRI, Alkassar partnered with Chef Niven Patel, Charles Nolan and Brent Reynolds to form Alpareno Restaurant Group. Alpareno’s culinary portfolio of chef-driven restaurants include Patel’s Ghee Indian Kitchen, Mamey and Orno. Alkassar says, “Chef Niven is the embodiment of farm to table because he lives on this farm, it is his home in South Florida in Homestead, which he refers to as Rancho Patel, is actually his farm so he pretty much lives the food and beverage cycle right. He wakes up in the morning, he goes up on the farm, he picks the produce himself, he comes in every morning to all our restaurants with boxes.”

I asked Alkassar about his philosophy that food has the power to bring people together. He talks about opening Mamey during the pandemic and being able to be there for the community and their staff, connecting everyone through food.

Having a mentor or being a mentor in hospitality is common. Alkassar says, “we say we want to enhance the lives of all our stakeholders equally and put as much effort into doing so and you can only do so if you really mentor your team. I learned that I think I've always had it inherently since I was a kid, really to take care of people, mentor people and teach them what I know.”

To hear more about creating dishes with fresh ingredients including grilled okra, and how Alkassar’s team worked through the challenges during the pandemic, check out this episode of Chef AF “It’s All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion.

In this episode of Chef AF, I chat with Sheryn Delgado-Abalos about choosing to be vegan at an early age, why she taught herself to cook and becoming an entrepreneur.

When I asked her about becoming a chef, Delgado-Abalos says, “I ended up having to basically teach myself how to cook and prepare meals that were also healthy and that could sustain my new lifestyle even though I was so young and I just started experimenting in the kitchen.” She adds, “It was really myself teaching myself and when I was fifteen I had this notion, oh wouldn't it be great to have a restaurant.”

Delgado-Abalos moved to Miami from Canada at twenty-one and while working at a hotel she met an investor that funded her first project. She says about opening her first vegan concept, “It was in Miami Beach in the nineties when the fashion world was just beginning here. It was a really good learning experience. It was basically my university for how to open up a business in Miami Beach because they don't make it so easy here. There's a lot of red tape and administration, a lot of licensing fees. So I spent a lot of my time at city hall trying to figure out how to do things correctly. I had to keep going back and I pretty much lived at city hall until we finally opened our doors.”

As far as Delgado-Abalos’ education she received formal education training from Food Future Institute, Food For Health Foundation, International School of Detoxification, SunFired Foods Academy and Ecornell Plant Based Nutrition as well as other programs.

In 2010 Delgado-Abalos opened Thrive Juice Bar and in 2015, Plant Theory Creative Cuisine, a combination of her world travels and healthy, organic, gluten-free artisan-crafted food. Chef shares her recipe, Where’s The Beet!, made with roasted portobello, sunflower seeds and more.

To hear Delgado-Abalos talk about plant-based and the shift in the industry and how wellness and health will have a role in the future of food, check out this episode of Chef AF “It’s All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion.

In this episode of Chef AF, I chat with Chef Ben Ebbrell, co-founder and director at SORTEDfood, about his background as a trained chef and how a conversation at a pub with friends sparked the idea and the sentiment that got Sortedfood started. SORTEDfood began over ten years ago and their mission is to get people SORTED by empowering them with passion, knowledge, skills and tools so they can confidently cook with whatever they have available.

SORTEDfood’s youtube channel has over two million subscribers. Ebbrell says that their youtube channel started in 2010 and has changed over the years. He says, “it's changed and now it's more sort of entertainment and inspiration. First we promise that if you watch a video on youtube you'll always learn something. There's always some factual takeout but it's more about just hanging out and having fun together and there's lots of challenges and a bit of Jeopardy and some competition elements and we invite other expert guests and chefs in so that we can learn from them as well. It's kind of just one big happy family of food, drink and cooking an open invitation.”

“We've realized as with many subjects once you open that treasure chest and you start to explore and the more you learn the more you realize you don't know and I think food is one of those things that can just keep going and people's perceptions and habits and behavior around food is changing and evolving. The kind of food that we were cooking ten years ago and to be honest with the kind of food we were avoiding ten years ago are now very very commonplace and absolutely important and topical and timely. We would be stupid if we didn't kind of feature that and celebrate that now,” Ebbrell says when I asked if the possibilities are endless for SORTEDfood.

To hear how SORTEDfood was able to shine light on restaurants by highlighting their meal kits when creating video content during the pandemic, the gourmet beans on toast recipe, Ebbrell’s thoughts on sustainability and more, check out this episode of Chef AF “It’s All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion.

In this episode of Chef AF, I chat with Chef Jack Yoss, Vice President of Culinary at Hai Hospitality about his early inspiration, hands-on training, the importance of having mentors, and working overseas.

Yoss shares that his foundation for cooking came from Las Vegas and working for Wolfgang Puck restaurants for nearly eight years. He says he truly learned about people and how to work with different cultures while overseas. Yoss adds, he was in Bali, Thailand, and other countries and when working in a foreign land, managing five hundred people that all have different customs, you learn to adapt very quickly.

I asked Yoss about the culture having an impact on his culinary style, he says, “I will never say that I fully understand the fundamentals of Indonesian Cuisine. You know there's hundreds of dialects, there's hundreds of regional cuisines, there's thousands of islands right, you're never going to fully understand that as a foreigner.” He adds, “but what I did get was a good base knowledge and that's definitely inflected the way that I cook these days.”

Yoss spent time working with Hai Hospitality before going overseas, and on his return he joined the group again. Hai Hospitality is a restaurant group from Texas, their restaurants include, Uchi, Uchiko, Uchiba, and Loro an Asian smokehouse and bar by James Beard award winners Chef Tyson Cole and Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue.

Yoss is known for his in the trenches work style, he says, “you can't lead through email and you can't lead through text, first of all the very first and foremost is you have to get to know and build relationships with your teams and your team doesn't only mean your chef de cuisine or your sous chefs. You need to get to know the line cooks, you need to get to know the prep cooks and you need to be visible.” Adding, “getting out, getting on the road, and getting in the restaurants.”

To hear Yoss talk about the importance of mentors, his story behind the recipe for pork shoulder satay, his thoughts on the labor shortage, and what the future holds check out this episode of Chef AF “It’s All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion.

In this episode of Chef AF, I chat with Chef Paul Griffin, chief culinary officer at BurgerFi about his training, his experience of over twenty years, and his road to BurgerFi.

Griffin, born and raised in New Zealand, talks about being classically trained and how it gave him a foundation in French European cuisine with a foundation of sauce technique. When Griffin finished school, he took the traditional path and went gourmet, working for some of the best restaurants in the country and the world, he says.

Griffin says he spent many years honing his culinary skills at the top hotels in the world and small restaurants, including The Breakers in Palm Beach. He came to South Florida and that’s when Griffin began to build BurgerFi.

I asked Griffin how he became a founding member of BurgerFi and he says, “being a chef in south florida we made some acquaintances in the industry that worked front of house, that were entrepreneurs and you know over the years we had crossed paths and and back in 2006 we kind of joined together.” He adds, “We were running high-end full-service Italian restaurants here and in Delray Beach. Delray Beach is a very young and vibrant little town right on the beach here and we had several restaurants that were doing lunch and dinner at super high volume.”

Griffin had found a niche item on the menu, it was an antibiotic free beef burger. He says, “The burgers really became the star and then it took a few years of that and we realized that we hadn't played in the QSR field ever.” Griffin adds, they took a product that they were already selling and it became the burger brand BurgerFi.

I chat with Griffin about the size of the BurgerFi opening team and he says, “we've been consistent with the plan, again coming with operational strength. We have a five-person team based on the 5 positions that they train. We have a grilled person, we have the front of the house, we have you know the assembly person. Well, it's not an overly complicated system. So the training team today is leaps and bounds over what I started back then, I mean we've introduced amazing technology.”

Griffin says when asked about the industry, “I would love to see hospitality bounce back.” He adds, “It's more important than the food I agree with you, it's all about going out talking to someone and you know being treated pleasantly. It's becoming a lost art.”

To hear Chef Griffin talk about supply chain disruptions, his recipe for the BurgerFi Spicy Wagyu Burger better known as the SWAG Burger, technology, and more check out this episode of Chef AF “It’s All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion. 

In this episode of Chef AF, I talk with Greg Pryor, known to his instagram followers as Caster Azucar, a cook with no formal training about social media, his cooking that comes from his love of creating and why he sees food as an adventure. 

Pryor talks about the amazing feeling of trying something sensational in a restaurant and says he has had those experiences in New Zealand. He chats about eating at Michael Meredith’s restaurant saying it was incredible and couldn’t believe what he had done with a potato and cabbage dish. Pryor adds, “there’s something that is my drive to try and get people to experiment more at home and appreciate food more when they go out, but also appreciate the adventure that is food.” 

Pryor shares with us his recipe Burnt Butter, Pistachio, and Potato Soup, which he says came from looking for something that was hearty, warm and fall-like. This recipe comes with an option to add grilled salmon. Pryor talks about creating echoes of the foundational flavors, saying that the dish is about bringing layers of flavor and texture to something as simple as a soup. 

Tune into the podcast to learn more on how Pryor feels about following recipes, what he has to say about cooking with sous vide, and his thoughts about the industry on this episode of Chef AF “It’s All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion.

In this episode of Chef AF, I chat with Gerard Craft, executive chef and owner of Niche Food Group about his snowboard photography days, his introduction to the kitchen and being named Food & Wine Best New Chef.

Craft talks about how he started out washing dishes, doing some basic cooking and how he loved the camaraderie of the kitchen. He says about cooking at that time, “being able to come in everyday, produce something, make people happy. Clean up at night and you’re done. I think it was kind of just what I needed and I really enjoyed.” Adding, “restaurant people are just different and I gravitate towards restaurant people.” Craft through a recommendation of a career counselor talks about opting for culinary school.

Craft shares his experiences from working in Bistro Toujours in Park City, heading to Los Angeles for a run at Chateau Marmont with trips to farmers markets, and a stop at Ryland Inn in New Jersey. Now Craft’s Niche Food Group has several restaurants.

Chef Craft takes us on his journey through opening Niche, his first restaurant in Saint Louis, he talks about the growing pains of opening a business, and how a visit from Kate Krader and being named Food & Wine Best New Chef was a game changer.

We talk about feijoada, this incredibly delicious recipe that has a sentimental connection to Craft, it’s Brazilian origin, and making farofa to top off this stew.

To hear Craft speak openly on mental health, the importance of changing the culture in restaurant management and becoming an employee first restaurant group, tune in to this episode of Chef AF on iTunes now.

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion.

In this episode of Chef AF, I talk with Derek Kaplan from Fireman Derek’s Bake Shop. Kaplan, a former football player and City of Miami fireman, shares how his love for baking came about, getting started with a key lime pie recipe, and how Fireman Derek’s Bake Shop came to fruition.

Kaplan talks about being exposed to an extensive array of foods at an early age and its impact on how he saw food. When asked about selling pies in the beginning, Kaplan said, “I used to think I was going to change the world, selling pies in a cup.” He adds, “I had this idea I was going to revolutionize the way people ate pies.”

I asked Kaplan about a little space in Wynwood between the dance club Electric Pickle and a barbershop, he said it was his first Fireman Derek’s Bake Shop. He also shares how he had a food truck and utilized a commissary kitchen to get his business started. We talk about how Kaplan built his name, brand, and customer base before opening this location. He goes on to say “I always looked at the store as access points.”

Kaplan offers up the recipe for White Chocolate Guava Cookies and how he invented this deliciously decadent cookie that you can find at his Bake Shop. You can get Kaplan’s cookie recipe here.

Tune into the podcast to learn more about Fireman Derek’s Bake Shop’s plan for the future, Kaplan’s advice for aspiring food entrepreneurs, and the importance of caring about your brand on Chef AF “It’s All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!

The next generation of culinary artisans are changing up the industry. These artisans have a whole new approach to reaching and satisfying the next generation consumer. In this podcast we will explore chefs and artisans from around the world diving into their story and passion.

In this episode of Chef AF, I chat with Chef Josh Mouzakes from ARLO San Diego. Mouzakes shares how he discovered he had a passion for culinary arts at just thirteen years old and his colorful introduction to the restaurant industry in Eastport, Long Island.

Chef Mouzakes talks about his extensive professional training starting at vocational school in tenth grade and then he headed to Johnson and Wales University. He says that his path changed there and in regards to culinary school you will get out of it, what you put into it.

Mouzakes was very involved with the American Culinary Federation, while at school. During that time Chef was able to build relationships and work on his craft, also adding an internship in the United Kingdom and at The French Laundry.

Chef Mouzakes was working at JW Marriott in downtown Houston before landing ARLO, a new restaurant in Town and Country Resort in San Diego. He talks about menu development, ARLO being innovative, and changing the menu every season. You can listen to this episode to find out how the Floating Crudité came about.

Chef shares with us his recipe for Thai Carrot Pasta, one of the first vegetarian dishes that they tried at ARLO. It was developed by Mouzakes when he was in need of something satisfying while getting healthy.

Tune into the podcast to learn more about Chef Mouzakes' belief in creativity in the restaurant, thoughts on plant-based food, and the importance of using local ingredients on Chef AF “It’s All Food” or you can listen at iTunes Now!