PeasOnMoss Podcast

When you ask your friends for restaurant recommendations for an upcoming visit to the PNW, you're probably expecting a list of restaurants that showcase cedar-planked salmon, coconut cream pies, and coppery oysters. But the restaurant you should add to your list is almost too easy to miss - true Central Texas-style barbecue smoking restaurant Jack's BBQ is hidden in Seattle's SODO neighborhood among industrial warehouses and the bus depot.

Having spent a few years in Texas, I had to hear for myself whether Jack was legit, so this podcast episode is Jack's opportunity to prove that he really brings it. Find out why Sir Mix-a-Lot twitter-stalked Jack during his pop-up dinners, and make plans to visit!

Ragozzino Foods Executive Research Chef Barton Dewing says that the measure of successful R&D is in the product's successful scale up - going from benchtop sizes to large manufactured sizes. Practically anyone can make a delicious dish or item when you've got ample time, direct control over all the elements, and the budget to make it. But can anyone make it in the quantities desired within the cost targets? Chef Barton has worked in restaurant kitchens, front-of-the-house, corporate restaurant management, online grocery, and manufacturing. He's also an active member in the Research Chefs Association and is the commissioner of the RCA certification committee.

Find out more about the RCA certification programs and which one fits your career: http://www.culinology.org/Education/Certification.aspx

http://www.ragozzino.com/

Chef Ryan is passionate about sharing food and cooking techniques, and we first met when I was writing for the Pike's Place Market newspaper. He had founded the Community Kitchens at the Pike Place Senior Center, and I wrote an article about his mission for the classes. We bonded at Seattle Coffee Works talking about food security and what chefs can do about it. After several years growing the Community Kitchens, Ryan eventually found a great fit for his mission at the FareStart program, one that focuses on providing practical skills training to disadvantaged men and women to help them change their lives. Hear how FareStart makes a difference in the Seattle community and his passion for the new Teen program.

Frisch's Big Boy's R&D Chef Greg Grisanti is one of the original members of the Research Chefs Association, and he tells the story of his career as it happened. From restaurant cooking to QSR menu development, Chef Greg has been around the block a few times. Hear his thoughts about moving towards clean label product development and advice he has for younger culinologists.

http://www.frischs.com/

http://www.culinology.org/

Just days to go before the close of his kickstarter campaign, Chef Gavin is working hard to get the word out about the fundraising. There's quite a bit of distance to go, but he's not giving up yet and has gotten some great lessons and plans for the future.

Help fund his project at Kickstarter

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/glutenfreerepertoire/a-gluten-free-repertoire

http://glutenfreerepertoire.com/

In this inspiring, chef-driven podcast interview co-hosted alongside RCA Student Committee President Philip Saneski, world renown culinary scientist Ali Bouzari talks about the importance of having the lenses of a chef when approaching the bench, how understanding Ingredients gives cooks the "X-ray vision" to fix any culinary problem or make food crispier, and where to contact with him with any food question. Hear more about some of his favorite projects as Co-Founder, CSO of Pilot R+D, a northern California-based food innovation research and development company founded by chefs who have built and run R&D labs in some of the world's best restaurants. Here are links to his website, http://www.pilotrd.com, and Amazon book page.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ali-bouzari-culinary-science-speaker-forum-rca-networking-event-tickets-28061236915?utm_term=eventurl_text

Former Director of Admissions at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Shawn Wenner has spent years watching hopeful students enter the school with dreams of starting their own food businesses. However, so few of them open and run successful businesses. Knowing that many of the issues faced by chefs go beyond their ability to cook and prepare fine menus, Shawn created Entrepreneurial Chef to provide the tools and training needed to help chefs conceptualize, plan, and execute food businesses. From online publications, training modules, and mentorship, Entrepreneurial Chef is a platform designed for food industry folks.

Get more information: http://entrepreneurialchef.com/

Research chef Barbara Zatto earned her chef stripes in New York City before coming to Seattle to cook. She quickly realized that the training made her a unique chef in Seattle, which hadn't quite started the culinary revolution that we enjoy today. After several years in hotel and restaurant food service, Chef Barbara transitioned to R&D. In this interview we discuss her transition to R&D and compare big city kitchens and research kitchens. An active member of the RCA, Chef Barbara is a volunteer Director of Social Media for the Research Chefs Association. Find out more about the RCA at www.culinology.org.

Chef Erik Jones started as many of us did - Front of House and cooking through the different stations in the kitchen - and he has just graduated with a degree in Culinology. Now he's on a mission to get culinary arts students to think bigger than the textbook careers for them and to consider corporate R&D. As a co-founder of the RCA Student Committee, Erik is passionate about his industry and shares examples of other ways to use a culinary background.

Get information about The Culinologist at www.theculinologist.wordpress.com

Contact Erik about speaking to your culinary arts program: [email protected]

Chef Subra Balakrishnan has a firm background in hotel food service, and when he took a food science basics course for chefs in Vancouver, he decided to start planning to move into research and development. There wasn't a Culinology course available at the time - there still isn't yet, in Canada - so he studied Applied Culinary Arts. Now that's he's a corporate chef at Griffith Foods, Chef Subra is working with the Culinary Institute of Canada to bring Culinology north.