What an inspiring story we have to share with you this week! Chef Eric Levine is a five-time cancer survivor who has made a name for himself over the last couple of decades of working in the hospitality industry. With humble beginnings, he worked for and was mentored by chef David Burke in the early days, but has since opened up his own restaurants, appeared on various national TV programs and published two cookbooks - all while fighting through personal challenges unlike any more of us will ever face. You definitely don't want to miss this inspiring conversation with a super talented chef and stand-up guy!

In this conversation we discuss:

• What it was like dealing with and getting through the most challenging parts of his career (both personally and professionally)
• The importance of taking care of your health and what that looks like
• How to create a plan of action in order to prioritize and focus on getting the important things done
• AND A LOT MORE!

Be sure to check out Chef Eric Levine's website, www.chefericlevine.com.

Many thanks to Le Cordon Bleu for sponsoring this episode of the podcast! Le Cordon Bleu is the largest network of culinary & hospitality schools in the world – since 1895. To learn more, stop by www.cordonbleu.edu/usa

On this episode of the podcast we interview restaurateur and chef, Adam Fleischman, who doesn't waste any time cutting to the heart of his success - he makes it sound pretty fricking easy!

If you aren't familiar with Adam, he is the founder and creative source of Umami Burger and 800 Degrees Neapolitan Pizza - the concepts have over 40 locations throughout the U.S. and across the world founded by Fleischman. Most recently,  In 2016, Fleischman opened PBJ.LA a peanut butter and jelly concept in Grand Central Market in Los Angeles.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• How he has used his previous careers to propel him into restaurant super-success (careers in physics, as well as wine).
• Fleischman has created a number of successful brands - we discuss how he decides to move forward with certain concepts and what differentiates their business from those of others.
• What food entrepreneurs need to think about if they want to scale their operations to more than one location.
• AND A LOT MORE...

Learn more about Adam Fleischman's main brand, Umami Burger by clicking HERE. Let him know you enjoyed our conversation over on Twitter: @MrAdFleishman

MANY THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS EPISODE OF THE PODCAST, LIBBEY FOODSERVICE & LE CORDON BLEU!

 

Chef Rich Rosendale is a Certified Master Chef, was a competitor in the world-renowned Bocuse d'Or and has since become an incredibly successful entrepreneur. Chef Rosendale sat down to talk with us about his humble, small-town beginnings, his hunger for greatness and what it takes to truly become successful in the hospitality industry. Some key points from this conversation are:

• Where Rosendale's hunger and drive came from and advice for anyone out there looking to tap into theirs.
• The importance of thinking about achieving goals as a "series of steps" instead of what we typically here as it relates to goal setting.
• How he balances his business and personal life and advice for those struggling to do so.
• Why you should treat your business assets like a stock portfolio.

You can connect with Chef Rich Rosendale on: Facebook, Instagram and on his website: www.richrosendale.com MANY THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS EPISODE OF THE PODCAST, LIBBEY FOODSERVICE & LE CORDON BLEU!

Michelle Bernstein is an award-winning celebrity chef, restaurateur, author, and television personality, having been on numerous shows on Food Network and currently still hosts her own show on PBS.

Chef Bernstein is incredibly impressive - when she opened her first restaurant, Azul, it was dubbed "Best New Restaurant" in 2006 by Food & Wine Magazine and then two years later she was awarded the "Best Chef Southeast" from the James Beard Foundation.

We talk through Michelle's journey thus far - the ups and the downs and the lessons she's learned along the way - which of course is the advice she has for you today, including these three things:

• What it was like to open her first restaurant and what chefs/want to be restaurateurs need to do before "taking the leap".
• The most powerful way to market your business (and yourself) this day and age.
• How Michelle, being such an incredibly busy and motivated person is able to balance work and life.

You can connect with Chef Michelle Bernstein on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or stop by her website!

Please share, tag and let her know how much you enjoyed hearing her stories and lessons.

If you enjoy the Making the Cut Podcast, please stop by your favorite medium to listen and leave a review - it takes one minute and it would mean a lot to us.

Many Thanks to Libbey Foodservice and Le Cordon Bleu

Be sure check out their top notch flatware, glasses, plates and more at their website.

Le Cordon Bleu - the standard bearer of culinary excellence for over a century. To learn more, stop by their website.

 

 

 

 

This week on the show we had the privilege of chatting with Erik Oberholtzer, the co-founder and CEO of the rapidly growing restaurant group, Tender Greens - a plant forward, chef-driven, season and sustainably sourced restaurant group. Erik is a former executive chef who joined forces with two friends and colleagues from work to open the first Tender Greens location back in 2006. Since their humble beginnings back in Culver City, they've expanded from locations solely in California to the east coast and will pass the 100 million dollar mark in annual revenue this year. We had a great time chatting with Erik and he offered a ton of great insights, including: 

• The challenges associated with stepping out on their own, what it took to open that first restaurant, and some important lessons he and his business partners learned along the way.
• What the mission was for Tender Greens, why they had a long-term strategy for growth, and how they've been able to scale their business in such a dynamic way.
• What Erik has learned about leadership - from the early days where he was very hands-on, to where the company is now, requiring a different set of skills and leadership from him.

Connect with Erik and Tender Greens and let them know what your takeaways were from this episode: www.tendergreens.com www.facebook.com/tendergreensfood www.instagram.com/tendergreens www.twitter.com/tendergreens Many Thanks to Our Sponsors: Libbey: One of the largest suppliers of tableware products in the world. Be sure to check out their wide array of products that are sure to fit your style at www.foodservice.libbey.com. Le Cordon Bleu: One of the richest traditions in the culinary industry, Le Cordon Bleu has all the education and tools needed to help you succeed as an entrepreneur in the culinary industry. We encourage you to stop by their website to learn more: www.cordonbleu.edu/usa.

Back in 2007, Bob Burg co-wrote The Go-Giver, a poignant business parable with acclaimed best  John David Mann. It didn't catch on at first, but after a couple years of being published, it became an absolute sensation in the business world - it hasn't slowed down since and has sold over a million copies. The Go-Giver discusses five principles that will help you get everything you want in the business world, which all starts with giving first in any transaction - providing value to those with whom you interact, and how it will indeed come around to positively impact your business, many-fold. In the newest book of the series, The Go-Giver Influencer, Burg and Mann breakdown one of the five principles addressed in the book - influence and they do so once again in a beautiful parable. This conversation is for anyone in the business world who is looking to have more influence in their business as it relates to - customers, employees, building a brand or getting anyone to buy into an idea. Bob Burg is an outstanding guy and we had a blast sharing some time with him. He's very responsive on Twitter, (@BobBurg) so shoot him a tweet with the link to this episode, and let him know how much you enjoyed the conversation. You can check out his website here. Click here to grab a copy of Bob's book, The Go-Giver Click here to grab a copy of Bob's newest book, The Go-Giver Influencer Many Thanks to Our Sponsor, Le Cordon Bleu Become part of a great tradition of culinary excellence! With over 120 years of teaching experience, Le Cordon Bleu is well-established as the global leader in culinary, wine and hospitality education. Learn from a team of classically trained teaching chefs with years of experience working in Michelin-star restaurants and the industry’s finest kitchens. Earn the most respected culinary qualifications and live a truly unique cultural experience in one of their 35 institutes around the world! Your culinary journey starts today. Apply now at www.cordonbleu.edu. Download Episode!

When I think of inspiring Food Entrepreneurs, Andris Lagsdin is someone who certainly comes to mind. We've been connected with Andris for a couple years now and it's been neat to see him grow his brand, Baking Steel into something really special. He's had two successful Kickstarter campaigns, has created a number of successful products and as he explains in our conversation, it all comes from very humble beginnings. In this conversation, we discuss:

• Andris' background, from going to culinary school, to work in the family business, completely unrelated to the culinary industry and how he came to be a food entrepreneur.
• How he combined his past experience in the family steel company with his passion for the culinary industry.
• How he was able to come up with and go to market with his first product, the Baking Steel.
• Why Andris chose Kickstarter as the platform to launch the product (hint, it wasn't just about the money).
• How to get influential people to support your mission and endorse your products.
• The secret to using social media to grow sales.
• How he has grown the Baking Steel brand from just one product to a portfolio of products that all fill different needs in the marketplace.
• How the Baking Steel company has been able to leverage Kickstarter as a way to validate their newest idea, a 72-hour pizza dough delivered right to your doorstep
• Advice Andris has for an up and coming food entrepreneur about what it takes.

At the time of the release, the Baking Steel company's second Kickstarter campaign is at 275% of their original goal for the 72-Hour Pizza Dough. You can learn more about their campaign here. If you aren't familiar with the original Baking Steel, here's a link to it (literally one of the best kitchen tools on the market). Check out the Baking Steel on Instagram and Facebook - they do a stellar job. Many Thanks to Our Sponsor, Le Cordon Bleu Become part of a great tradition of culinary excellence! With over 120 years of teaching experience, Le Cordon Bleu is well-established as the global leader in culinary, wine and hospitality education. Learn from a team of classically trained teaching chefs with years of experience working in Michelin-star restaurants and the industry’s finest kitchens. Earn the most respected culinary qualifications and live a truly unique cultural experience in one of their 35 institutes around the world! Your culinary journey starts today. Apply now at www.cordonbleu.edu.

You've seen him as a guest judge on Chopped, maybe you've eaten at one of his restaurants around the United States, but you probably haven't seen this side of Scott Conant, the chef and entrepreneur. We dive into the personal side and get real on how he's been able to create success - which is about much more than just him. Chef Scott Conant grew up in an Italian family in Waterbury, CT before jumping into restaurants as a teenager, first washing dishes. He went of to the Culinary Institute of America where he honed his skills and craft before going to New York City where he would start to create a name for himself. Fast forward a couple of decades, Conant now has restaurants across the country, has appeared as a guest judge in every single season of Food Network's most successful show, Chopped and continues to put his culinary stamp on the world. In this conversation we discuss:

• How Scott decided on becoming a chef and what his path has looked like so far.
• How Scott has been able to persevere through challenging times in his business.
• What success looks like to him and how he feels about success
• How success is more than just him or any given person and how he's learned that lesson the hard way.
• Advice he has for young culinarians and entrepreneurs.
• AND A LOT MORE....

You can connect with Scott Conant on Social Media everywhere at ConantNYC Many Thanks to Our Sponsor, Le Cordon Bleu Become part of a great tradition of culinary excellence! With over 120 years of teaching experience, Le Cordon Bleu is well-established as the global leader in culinary, wine and hospitality education. Learn from a team of classically trained teaching chefs with years of experience working in Michelin-star restaurants and the industry’s finest kitchens. Earn the most respected culinary qualifications and live a truly unique cultural experience in one of their 35 institutes around the world! Your culinary journey starts today. Apply now at www.cordonbleu.edu.

What an awesome conversation we had with Chef Aaron McCargo Jr. Shawn first connected with Aaron for a feature in Entrepreneurial Chef Magazine and knew that when we started the podcast he wanted to have him on - today was our lucky day! Chef McCargo Jr. is a top-notch, energetic and authentic guy and we had an absolute blast chatting with him - getting real with him. If you aren't familiar with Aaron by name, you have most likely seen him on Food Network, where he hosted his only show, Big Daddy's House for 7 seasons, after winning season 4 of Next Food Network Star. Before earning his way into the limelight, Chef Aaron Mccargo Jr. did what a lot of chefs do - he started cooking and baking at a very young age. A short stint in culinary school didn't seem like the right fit for him and decided to learn the ropes of the kitchen in the trenches, on the line in a variety of restaurants. He then followed his dream of opening his own restaurant - that soon turned into two. Chef Aaron learned a number of lessons through this experience and shares what his entrepreneurial journey has been like, how he finds balance in his life, and how he's been able to handle the pressures of media, publicity and all the attention that comes with being a celebrity chef. In this conversation we discuss:

• How Aaron got started in the kitchen and how he's gotten to this point in his career.
• How he learned the ins and outs of the kitchen and how the learning curve seems a bit different for the current generation.
• What it was like going from executive chef to becoming the owner of not one, but two restaurants.
• The unexpected challenges that McCargo Jr. had to face as both the owner and operator of two different restaurants.
• How he was able to not only get on Next Food Network Star but actually win it.
• What it was like being thrust into the limelight, garnering a lot of attention and how he's learned to best deal with it.
• The importance of managing his time and how he has learned how to decide hat opportunities to say "no" to.
• What drives Aaron in his life and career.
• The advice he has for you, the listener.

Connect with Aaron at his website (where you can also check out "The Sauce", learn about his charity, "Play to Win", and link up with him on social media.

We've connected with a lot of folks over this first year and a half of the podcast, but Rich Aurilia is the first incredibly successful athlete we've had the chance to interview. He's also an entrepreneur and one of the founders of Red Stitch Wine. Rich Aurilia grew up in Brooklyn, NY went off to play college baseball at St. John's University and was then selected in the 24th round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Texas Rangers. After a few years in them minors, Aurilia worked his was up to the Majors, which began a long, successful career for a number of teams, though he is most known for his tenure with the San Francisco Giants where he was an All Star shortstop. After 15 years in the MLB, Aurilia retired and started his second career - as a wine entrepreneur. He and former teammate and the current manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Dave Roberts started Red Stitch Wine. Rich Aurilia is now 10 years into his entrepreneurial journey in wine, and in our conversation we discuss:

• The key to Aurilia's success as an underdog - going from 24th round fringe draft pick and creating a successful career as a 15 year MLB veteran.
• How he handled dealing with the limelight and advice for those starting to get attention.
• The advice he would go back and give his younger self when he was just starting out.
• Aurilia discusses what that transition was like going from All-Star to wine entrepreneur
• How he has been able to create a reputable brand in the wine industry and how Red Stitch Wine has carefully crafted their brand story.
• The advantages of moving "slow and steady" vs. fast.
• AND a lot more!

Check out Red Stitch Wine: www.redstitchwine.com Instagram: @redstitchwine and @richaurilia Facebook: @RedStichWine LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE: iTunes Stitcher Enter Entrepreneurial Chef's contest in collaboration with Oneida, "Plate it Like You Mean It" where you can win up to $24,000 in product from Oneida. Many Thanks to Our Sponsor, Le Cordon Bleu Become part of a great tradition of culinary excellence! With over 120 years of teaching experience, Le Cordon Bleu is well-established as the global leader in culinary, wine and hospitality education. Learn from a team of classically trained teaching chefs with years of experience working in Michelin-star restaurants and the industry’s finest kitchens. Earn the most respected culinary qualifications and live a truly unique cultural experience in one of their 35 institutes around the world! Your culinary journey starts today. Apply now at www.cordonbleu.edu. Download Episode!