In this episode, I interview Elena Besser, a Brooklyn-based, Chicago-bred Chef and TV Host.

She hosts live cooking classes on Food Network Kitchen, and can be seen on The Cooking Channel's "Best Thing I Ever Ate" as well as Food Network's "Beat Bobby Flay".

She firmly believes food and entertainment should be intertwined and makes some strong points behind this.

Just in the way that Elena describes food and her dishes made me so hungry I ran to our office kitchen directly after this podcast to go devour my lunch early. I can't exactly explain what she did but it was insane.

She's also host of the new show Breakfast with Besser, a celebrity cooking show, where she chats with celebrity guests, including some of Hollywood's hungriest stars as she guides them in cooking breakfast dishes specifically crafted for them.

Elena's passion for spreading accessible and exciting cooking and culinary tips to others shines through everything she does.

We had such a great conversation and there's so much value punched into this episode so let's get into it!

In this episode, I interview Stephen Yen, the executive chef of Tao Downtown in New York City

Stephen has been with Tao for about a year now and has been a killer addition to their team.

As for his experience, Stephen was on the opening team for Fatty ‘Cue in Williamsburg, where he worked with Eddie Huang and later worked with Eddie at Catch. For those who don't know Eddie, he was a Top Chef Season 3 winner and proved to be not only a great Chef to learn from for Stephen but also a stepping-stone

As a nicer, sit-down concept, Tao has had to make some major adjustments to their business model in order to stay competitive and thrive during this year.

In this episode we will address those changes on what they have done as a business overall but also the specifics on what Stephen has done as the Executive Chef, in collaboration with the brand and marketing team, to help Tao succeed!

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In this episode, I interviewed Michael Chernow. He's a restauranteur, entrepreneur, TV host, Podcast host, Fitness personality, and family man,  who is dedicated to inspiring the world through positivity, hospitality, and service.

He currently runs two multi-location restaurant concepts: one called Seamore's - a sustainable seafood concept founded in 2015 and the other is called The Meatball Shop, which he founded with a friend in 2010.

Michael was born and bred in NYC and has been in the restaurant space since he was just 13 years old. He's been a speaker on multiple panels, featured in numerous publications, and has so much to share from his experiences and lifestyle and is just a killer guy to follow and learn from for any spiring business owners and entrepreneurs.

In this episode, Michael and I discuss the importance of having a solid staff as well as his passion for the restaurant industry, his superpower as a business leader, and a variety of other interesting topics!

In this episode, I interview Chef JJ Johnson.

He's a restauranteur, Award-winning chef, Author, and Host on numerous media platforms.

He opened his Restaurant, "FieldTrip" in July of 2019 and despite this crazy year has still managed to thrive on through.

JJ is best known for his barrier-breaking cuisine connecting the food-ways of West Africa and Asia to the Americas.

His signature style of combining culturally relevant ingredients with his classically trained cooking and global point of view was inspired by the Caribbean tastes he grew up with, combined with inspiration from his travels.

In this episode, we explore his struggles and successes as a restauranteur primarily through this last year and touch on the COVID-19 Pandemic, the impact of potential inequalities he's faced as a black restauranteur, and the opportunities he see's to become a better leader and business owner.