Hello and welcome to 2022's first installment of The Burnt Chef Journal. A podcast dedicated to tackling mental health stigma, raising awareness and inspiring others. 

We kick the year of with Simon Maguire who is Managing Director of Luxury Family Hotels. Simon talks openly about his reliance on alcohol, painkillers and food as a coping mechanism whilst he continued gain weight and build his career within hospitality. 

It was inspiring listening to Simon's story and the journey he has gone through to tackle his demons and start to unlearn the above behaviours. 

Simon is taking part in an Ironman competition raising funds for Alabare Christian Care & Support. For more information on Simon's fundraising, or to donate, please check the link out below.

Simon Maguire is fundraising for Alabaré Christian Care & Support (justgiving.com)

 Jacob van't Hoff. Is a personal trainer and fully-qualified nutrition coach. His mission is to help as many people as possible transform their body. He has worked with multiple professional athletes as well as countless regular people with families and jobs

He joins us on The Burnt Chef Journal to talk about ways in which we can begin to gain some control over areas of our health and wellbeing by focusing on our environment and how we react to stress in busy hospitality settings by focusing on nutrition, psychology and fitness.

This week's guest is Andrew who founded Emilias Pasta after re-discovering his childhood love of pasta and wanting to share his enjoyment and passion with others. 

But hang on, pasta is calorie heavy carbs, of which we are supposed to be eating less, no?

“If you make it freshly and in the right way, it digests properly. When we started, we thought, if you were to eat this every day, what would happen? I did just that for three years, I didn’t get fat, I got healthier.”

After university he turned down an offer to work on Wall Street and eventually worked in the events business before travelling Italy for a year and opening 2 restaurants dedicated to serving the very best pasta London has to offer. 

In this weeks episode of The Burnt Chef Journal we're joined by Trevor Bird. A globally acclaimed chef and known in Vancouver as the award-winning head chef and owner of the popular Vancouver restaurant, Fable Kitchen.

Trevor boasts an impressive number of titles under his chef’s apron as two-time Top Chef Canada finalist and Top Chef Canada All Stars. 

Kris and Trevor talk about the role that culture has played in the behaviours we see less of in the industry today but are still present. You’ll learn that Trevor is much more than a successful business owner and world-class chef -- he is a man that has visited the depths of his own ego, worked through the past, and has taken the time to heal and lead himself to a better future.

This week's guest is Burnt Chef Project Ambassador Harry Kimberley who has recently joined the amazing team of international Ambassadors around the world to speak openly about their mental health experiences to challenge perceptions and fight stigma.

Harry joins us from London UK to talk about his journey through hospitality touching upon many different working environments and what he has learnt about himself when it comes to management and mental health. 

We're currently recruiting for Ambassadors from around the world so if you are interested in applying to become an Ambassador for where you are then please head to www.theburntchefproject.com/ambassadorlinks for more info!

Thanks to Lamb Weston for supporting this podcast on a monthly basis. To try a free sample of Dukes head to: The Dukes of Chippingdom - proper British chips | Lamb Weston

Chef Stuart Collins, 37, is owner and chef at Docket No.33, Whitchurch in Shropshire. Stuart worked with big names in the food business, from Gordon Ramsay to Michael Caines and Gary Rhodes and had the opportunity to travel all around the world with his job as a professional chef.

In this chat we talk about his experiences and the things he enjoyed throughout his career as well as what it was like to work around the world for some of the industries biggest names.

This week's guest is Mike, the founder of The Hospitality Hut.

He was working for a top restaurant group, 16 hours a day, missing out on family life, when the penny dropped… working in hospitality should not be this difficult.

Edinburgh born Roberta is a newcomer to the competition who is determined to represent her home country.

Roberta started out aged 16 doing work experience and hasn’t looked back since. She has worked for one of Scotland’s best chefs, Michelin starred Tom Kitchin, at The Kitchin and then moved to Castle Terrace with Dominic Jack.

She is Chef Owner of The Little Chartroom in Edinburgh which she runs with her husband who manages front of house. Roberta’s style of cooking is traditional Scottish in style influenced by French techniques.

She talks to The Burnt Chef Project about her time within hospitality. We cover the good, the bad and the ugly and what lessons can be learnt from our experiences in order to make our profession even better!

Celia Gaze, what can we say? This is an insightful chat with an amazing individual who has worked across different sectors including as a Director for the NHS, has written a book "Why Put a Bow Tie on a Llama?, and randomly found her way to establishing a wedding venue focused on wellbeing and stress reduction (with the odd llama thrown in!).

Celia is a true leader in the field of wellbeing and has unique personal experiences to draw on which fuels her desire for change within both her organisation and the greater hospitality profession.

There is something for everyone in this episode!

This weeks guest is Kim Ratcharoen who joins us on the podcast to talk reflectively about her journey into hospitality having studied Economics until the age of 25 before deciding that hospitality was where she wanted to concentrate her energy, passion and forge a career. 

Kim soon found her way to Gordon Ramsay's Restaurant on Hospitality Road under the mentorship of Matt Abé where she spent 6 years honing her skills both on the pass and in her leadership abilities. 

It was great to have Kim's perspective of things and I hope that you enjoy this weeks episode.