In today’s episode, I talk to Chef Chris Coleman. He’s an accomplished restaurateur from the growing food scene of Charlotte, North Carolina. His restaurants, The Goodyear House and Old Town, have brought an elevated southern-style of cuisine to the expanding city. 

You’ll hear about what southern food means to him and how he’s merging the past with the future in his food. He shares his sources of inspiration and his experiences on TV cooking competition shows like Chopped, Beat Bobby Flay and Alex versus America.

Conversation with mixologist Bob Peters in Charlotte

Conversation with chef Shamil Velazquez in Charleston

My grandma had the best cast-iron dropped biscuits in the world, so there was no rolling or laminating. Just make the dough and spoon it into the cast iron; they were really crunchy on the outside and crumbly in the middle, and it’s one of my favorite things to make to this day.


If you can be on the national stage, like the Food Network, there’s no better publicity than that. I’ve always enjoyed competition. All those shows are competitions at heart. I’ve always been a bit of a ham, you know. I love entertaining people.


My brand and kind of who I’ve created myself to be is this guy who celebrates southern food and what it can be. 


Charlotte is a city of transplants. It’s a city of growing culture and a growing community. It’s inspiring to see people from Africa, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Central and Latin America move into the city and bring their food culture with them.

The guinea hen came over from Africa, right? So it was born out of slavery, which is a really terrible tradition. It’s a really terrible thing that happened but I feel like we have to talk about it. We have to learn from it as a culture and as a people. 

Chef Chris Coleman

Restaurant The Goodyear House

Old Town Kitchen

The Goodyear House in Charlotte, NC

Oldtown Rockhill in Charlotte, NC

Leah and Louise in Charlotte

Stagioni in Charlotte

Hello, Sailor

Lam’s Kitchen

In today’s episode, I talk to Chef Michael Diaz de Leon of BRUTØ. His restaurant concept is a chef’s counter based in Denver, Colorado that offers an Omakase-style tasting menu. With only 18 seats, the exposed kitchen offers diners a unique perspective on his global cuisine and the open-fire cooking process. 

You’ll hear about how he got his position at BRUTØ, the development of his cooking style based on elevated Mexican food with Asian ingredients and southern flair, and what it means to be a son of Mexican immigrants. He shares the importance of immigrants in the food cycle and why immigration policy advocacy is so important to him.

Conversation with chef Kelly Whitaker

Conversation with chef Brother Luck

I remember pretending that I was playing chef. I would set up a fake kitchen and make fake food and then right around that time, I started to make myself food at the house. And that’s kind of how I started.


I think if you have something very creative, and you serve it in a good way, the technique will fall behind it.


Immigrants feed America, but the children of immigrants will continue to feed America.


I’m obsessed with open-fire cooking. That’s going to be the next step of my career after I’m done with restaurants. I think I want to just cook outside, drink good wine and cook good food.

Chef Michael Diaz de Leon

Restaurant BRUTØ

Restaurant BRUTØ

Today, I talk to Denver-based chef Kelly Whitaker. From the midwestern plains to the pacific coast to the mountains of Colorado, his culinary influences have been shaped by many landscapes. His food has earned him the Denver Rising Star Award in 2017 and the Star Chefs Denver Mentor Award in 2022. 

You’ll hear about his cooking background, how he formed his Hospitality Group Id Est, and the unique values of the team. He shares the importance of his commercial milling operation, his work with local farmers, and why grains should be the starting point of building any dish. You’ll also hear the concept behind his restaurant, The Wolf’s Tailor, and learn what makes Dry Storage flours so special.

Conversation with chef Brother Luck

Where are we at today and where could Colorado potentially be on this map? I think it was very much there and sometimes even maybe even a little ahead of certain communities.

When we say [grain] is our medium for change, it’s a big impact crop. We grow unique varieties on an acre, but the idea is that this is a scalable thing that can have a lot of good for the planet and people and flavor.

Bakers understand a lot about flour and grains. But for cooks in general, there’s a learning curve. It took me a long time to get it in rotation in my kitchen and work with these single varietals.

Chef Kelly Whitaker

Restaurant The Wolf’s tailor

Dry Storage

Dry Storage website

id est hospitality group

In today’s episode, I talk to Chef Dennis Littley, owner of culinary blog askchefdennis.com. He’s a chef turned food blogger and his successful website Ask Chef Dennis boasts over 8.5 million views per year! His style of food is much loved by his followers thanks to his simple approach, reminding aspiring home cooks that “This isn’t rocket science. This is food.”

You’ll hear why he left the kitchen, how he took the leap into the world wide web, and what he offered in the early days of food blogging that helped catapult him to the top of search engines. He shares SEO and social media tips for anyone in the culinary realm, and explains why following the trends is such a necessary part of staying relevant. 

I have a lot of friends that are bloggers and they’re saying, ‘Well, I search keywords to see what I should write about and what’s going to be the most popular’. I just write about what I want for dinner! I don’t base what I’m going to write based on how I think it’ll do.

These recipes I have made 1000s of times over my career of cooking, so they’re time tested. They’re not made with exotic ingredients. They’re made with simple ingredients.

I want to demystify cooking. I want you to find the joy of cooking.

The secret to success is to be flexible.

Blogging is like painting a bridge. When you get done at one end, it’s time to start at the other end again.

As a chef, I knew what sold and I knew what people wanted. I knew what they would buy night after night. So, I kind of gauge it that way as to what people want.

Ask Chef Dennis

askchefdennis.com

Charlie’s Bar in Somers Point, NJ

Manco & Manco Pizza

Gregory’s

Anchorage Tavern

I talk to Chef Nelson German, a Top Chef Season 18 Alumni turned culinary entrepreneur. He runs two popular Oakland, California Restaurants, alaMar Kitchen and Sobre Mesa Cocktail Lounge.  

You’ll hear about his deep connection to his Latin and African roots, and how the love for exploring those culinary roots keeps his restaurant menus in a constant state of evolution. He shares the story of how a drunken night out with friends shaped his career, his intense experience of being a Top Chef contestant during the pandemic, and a few of his favorite culturally inspired dishes that you can try making at home. 

Interview with Chef Joe Sasto

Conversation with Chef Kim Alter from Nightbird

Conversation with Chef Chris Cosentino

Interview with Chef Suzanne Goin

Conversation with Chef Elizabeth Falkner 

Conversation with Coffee Roaster Zayde Naquib

Interview with Chef Tim Hollingsworth

Conversation with Chef Brad Miller – Food Truck Nation

Interview with Chef Alison Trent

As a chef, it’s what we’re taught to be a Top Chef or to be someone known in the business, this fine dining style of food is what you have to cook to get somewhere.

As a chef, it’s what we’re taught to be a Top Chef or to be someone known in the business, this fine dining style of food is what you have to cook to get somewhere.

Kitchen Confidential shows you that it’s not an easy industry. My life hasn’t been as crazy as Anthony Bourdain’s, but I’ve seen so many crazy things. And it can either break you apart, where you don’t want to be in the industry anymore, or you put your head down to keep going.

I’m a big proponent of just being a motivator and someone who’s there to uplift instead of breaking you down.

Chef Nelson German

alaMar Kitchen

Sobre Mesa

alaMar Kitchen

Sobre Mesa Cocktail Lounge

In today’s episode, I talk to Joe Sasto, a Celebrity Chef, pasta expert, creator, and consultant. He has had a vibrant and fulfilling career so far, having worked at Michelin star restaurants in the Bay Area, including Quince and Lazy Bear. Today, he expresses his culinary creativity in a myriad of other creative endeavors. 

You’ll hear about the intricacies of pasta making and why he loves to break the rules of traditional Italian food. He shares his thoughts on the future of the restaurant industry, why he’ll never be a culinary master, and who really decides when someone becomes a “chef”.

Listen to my conversation with chef Joe Sasto on Apple Podcasts here!

Listen to my conversation with chef Joe Sasto on Spotify here!

Conversation with Chef Kim Alter from Nighhtbird

Conversation with Chef Chris Cosentino

You can teach anyone how to cook, you can teach anyone how to cut an onion, you can teach anyone how to make a sauce, but you can’t teach someone that inner desire to be better.


I get obsessed, almost to a fault, where I just spend all of my brain power, my waking moments, my sleeping moments, thinking about that thing and wanting to learn as much as I can about it until I feel like I can teach it to someone else.


I spent years reading [Italian cook] books and learning that you couldn’t put something on the menu unless you had that and I read the reasoning behind it. Now that I know all of those rules, I want nothing more than to just break them.


Pasta is the marriage of the noodle and the sauce.

I’m a firm believer that if someone is happy when they’re cooking, the food’s gonna taste better.

Chef Joe Sasto

Website Joe Sasto

In today’s episode, I talk to pastry chef Alyssa Gangeri from Buttermilk Ranch in Nashville. She is a passionate pastry chef who has worked with the likes of certified master pastry chefs Frank Vollkommer and Antonio Bachour. 

You’ll hear about her dedication to laminated pastry and how she bridges the gap between classic pastry and modern trends. She shares what she’s learned from her famous mentors, and her industry-shaking “cube” that’s created a new quick to-go concept in the breakfast sandwich world. 

Interview with chef Kelly English

Conversation with chef Levon Wallace from Fatbelly Pretzels in Nashville

Conversation with chef Matt Bolus from the 404 Kitchen in Nashville

Click here to download the Peach & Pecan Cake recipe

No croissant, even if it’s coming out of the same exact dough, is ever going to look exactly the same. They’re all going to be slightly different and slightly unique, which I think is amazing.


Don’t compromise on your product because ultimately, the moment you start compromising on your product, that’s when the taste is going to become different.


I do know that some people are traditionalists and are going to be appalled by stuffing a croissant because ultimately, the whole beauty of a croissant is that cross-section.

I really truly respect Asian pastry because the technique is so exquisite. And sometimes you don’t need to mask things with a bunch of flavors. It’s just the technique itself.

Pastry Chef Alyssa Gangeri

The Butter Milk Ranch

The Butter Milk Ranch

In today’s episode, I talk to chef Maria Mazon, a two-time James Beard Award semi-finalist and contestant on Season 18 of Top Chef. She’s also the owner of Boca Tacos and SONA Tortillas in Tucson, Arizona.   

You’ll learn her inspiration for tacos and special affinity for creative salsas, and how the flavors of her hometown in Sonora, Mexico come through in her food. She shares the lessons she learned and what she found challenging as a contestant on Top Chef, and how her life changed afterwards. You’ll also hear a special recipe that you can make at home if you’re in the mood for a taste of Mexico. 

Conversation with chef Suzanne Goin from Los Angles

Conversation with chef Masako Morishita in WDC

Interview with chef Tiffany Derry in Dallas

Interview with Pastry Chef Erin Kanagy-Loux from Brooklyn

Conversation with chefs from “her Name is Chef” documentary

Conversation with Mely Martinez

Interview with chef Elizabeth Falkner 

Interview with chef Silvia Barban from Brooklyn

Conversation with chef Misti Norris in Dallas

Conversation with chef Kim Alter in San Francisco

Little by little, I became in love with the blender. I became in love with the types of flavors that I can put together. That’s how my salsas came about.

The salsas were something that allowed me as a chef to still be creative, still cooking tacos, and not get bored. That is the number one key I think for us chefs because you don’t want to get bored. Because if you get bored, you get burned out.


I cook with my heart. I cook with memories. I cook with music, I cook with flavors with smells.

I believe that good ingredients can speak by themselves and don’t have to charge an arm and a leg.

Chef Maria Mazon

Restaurant Boca Tacos

Boca Tacos restaurant

Anello Pizza in Tucson

Cafe Desta in Tucson

Saffron Indian Bistro in Tucson

Daisy Mae’s Steakhouse in Tucson

Borderlands Brewery in Tucson

KingFisher in Tucson

In today’s episode, I talk to chef Andy Doubrava from Rustic Canyon Restaurant in Los Angeles, California. His unique style doesn’t depend on rules, but is more focused on flavor and what local farmers have on offer at the weekly markets. 

You’ll hear about the most iconic dishes on the menu at Rustic Canyon, and why he values working with local farmers and building those relationships. He talks about culinary inspiration and collaboration in his kitchen, the importance of treating one another with respect, and he shares an important word of advice for young cooks.

Interview with chef Suzanne Goin

Conversation with Chef Elizabeth Falkner 

Conversation with Coffee Roaster Zayde Naquib

Interview with Chef Tim Hollingsworth

Conversation with Chef Brad Miller – Food Truck Nation

Interview with Chef Alison Trent

Everything can be a luxury ingredient if you sell it the right way.

If you don’t like working somewhere, there’s no reason to work there. There are kitchens out there that will not treat you like shit. And I think that’s really important for people to know.

Flavor is the most important thing and how we get there doesn’t matter.

We do what we do at Rustic without yelling, without throwing things. We’re respectful and friendly. And we have fun and we still make Michelin star food. I don’t think anyone needs to put themselves through terrible work experiences.

My dad is a chemist by trade. So, I think that scientific curiosity and the analytical approach are important to me. It’s very important to me that I know why and how something works.

Chef Andy Doubrava

Restaurant Rustic Canyon

Restaurant Rustic Canyon

In today’s episode, I talk to Byron Gomez, one of the stars you might remember from Top Chef Season 18. Born in Costa Rica, he came to America as a child. Here, he formed a love for hospitality from the comfort of his own home, leading to a successful culinary career that caught the eye of the most famous cooking competition on TV. 

You’ll hear about Gomez’s difficult childhood in Costa Rica, the differences in leadership style between some of the well-known chef’s he’s worked with. He also shares his sources of culinary inspiration, his adventures in Aspen, and the details of his upcoming project in Boulder, Colorado.

Conversation with chef Sheldon Simon

Conversation with chef Tiffany Derry

Interview with chef Elizabeth Falkner

Interview with chef Silvia Barban

Conversation with chef Brother Luck

Conversation with chef David Burke

Interview with chef Edward Lee

In a Michelin restaurant, you have a team of people who will back you up and try to get you there. Because at the end of the day, it’s the reputation of the restaurant, so you have that teamwork. On Top Chef, you are on your own.


What Top Chef does is that it builds a brand for you. It tells your story.


Confidence is a tool that I’ve come to realize later on in life, but it’s helped me figure out my cuisine, my voice, who I am, and to be brave enough to be like, ‘Well, this is who Byron is. Take it or leave it.


I was a kid who came to the US as an immigrant, but I wasn’t American enough. I am from America, because I’m from Latin America, but I’m not Costa Rican enough because I wasn’t raised in Costa Rica. So I always struggle with identity.

I never went to culinary school, I went to the school of hard knocks.

Chef Byron Gomez

Chef Byron Gomez