David invites a friend from Maine onto the podcast to explore how the scrappy chef grinded his way onto the 2025 New York Times 50 Best Restaurants list while cooking on a glass-top home stove.

Sam Richman of Sammy's Deluxe in Rockland, Maine is candid about his wildly diverse journey from washing dishes and making cheeseburgers as a teen in New Hampshire, to working pastry at The Fat Duck in the English countryside when it topped the World's 50 Best, to Manhattan's WD-50 as the (unfortunate) molecular gastronomy craze heated up, and finally landing on a quiet corner of the New England coast where he's blossomed.

As a younger chef, Sam describes a road trip-pilgrimage up to Montréal to meet David, inspired by the first Joe Beef cookbook. This conversation is a testament to the power of mentorship in cooking; if these classical bonds between chefs remain strong, mentees become peers.

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Salt Lick is a TNKR Media Original Production.