April 27, 2020 • 44 mins
In this episode of Food 360 Live co-host of Food Network’s The Kitchen, Jeff Mauro joins hosts Marc Murphy and Emily Karpin. They discuss their new routines during quarantine, what’s it like to film a network show at home without a production team, life on the stage and the process of writing, shooting and publishing your first cookbook.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, it's Mark Murphy and welcome to the second episode
of Food three Live with Me. On the Mike is
Emily Carpon. She's my director of communications and co producer,
and now she's also hosting the show with me from
Surfside Studios, also known as Where We're Quarantined. I'm honored
to have as our guest today a very good friend,
chef and co host of the Food Networks The Kitchen,
(00:24):
Jeff to Morrow. Thanks for joining us, Jeff. Emily was
gonna ask the first question, Jeff, tell us, how did
you first get on Food Network? I am the winner
of season seven of Food Network Star. Anybody that's followed
my journey would hopefully know that, But it was a
(00:47):
much longer journey before that that was somewhat engineered to
get to that position, you know, And so once I
was cast on Food Network Star, it was kind of
the final round, you know, the final job interview, right,
Did you want to go into a homer start and
somebody push you into it? No, it was actually my
fourth time auditioning when I finally made it on. Wow,
(01:12):
what was wrong with what was wrong with them not
taking the first three times? You know? It was probably
a little maybe, uh maybe a little green. Honestly, maybe
I didn't have like the complete story. You know, when
I first started auditioning, I didn't have you know, I
didn't have Lorenzo. I didn't have a child that always
raises the stakes in the story. And it just wasn't
my time then, you know, I needed a little maybe
(01:33):
a couple more years of you know, honing my professional
chops before well, you just needed to marinate a little more.
Is that it? I did? I think of the timing
was right. You know, if it happened when I was
any younger, I would probably you know, squandered it. Somehow.
I was a mature man when it all happened, right,
wait for reminding us exactly. That's that's interesting obviously. But
(02:00):
you were in show business before this, if I remember correctly,
I remember some some story about Tony and Tina's wedding
or something. This is very true. Yeah, I'm not. I'm
not ashamed to admit it, um and I will talk
to you about it. I'm jealous. I'm jealous. Let's start
with that. Uh So, I was always a performer in school,
from third grade on my first time I ever got
(02:22):
on a stage, I was kind of addicted and throughout
you know, when I was young, I used to do
Second City youth programs and you know, comedy classes in
theater and anything I could to perform um. So that
carried me through you know, college, I was in bands
and everything. I always was on stage in some capacity.
(02:44):
So when I finally graduated college, I opened a Delhi
with my cousin Dave, and that same week we opened
the Delhi, I got cast in Tony and Tina's weddings.
I auditioned and I was pretty tailor made for that
to just having my Italian American background and knowing the
speak and the accents and the characters um that I
(03:06):
could draw from. You know, I got cast and worked
my way up from waiter to the start Tony after
a couple of years, and did that for four years.
So I had we had the Delhi for four years,
and I did Tony and Tina's for four years. You know,
even even even during this show, it's like you have
to start as a dishwasher and work your way up
(03:27):
on the show. Yeah, totally. Yeah, just like the restaurant industry. Yeah,
it's like the word god right, it was like, I
mean It was no different than being in like football
boot camp. You know, you have to start shoveling ship
and then you can finally throw the ball. You know,
it really was it was very it was It was
it was run by people that are not your typical
theater thespian type people. It was like neighborhood guys from
(03:51):
the streets of Chicago that kind of telling guys that
were somewhat connected and would really put the fear of
God into YouTube to extract the greatest performance possible. I mean,
I I had chairs thrown at me, I had to
do laps around the reception hall or up and down
the chapel. If I mess things up, it is like
(04:14):
I would run. I'd run like miles indoors as it is.
I know, and I've seen it in action, so you know,
it really did groom me for you know, a life
and show business. I guess that was my first taste
of But by the end of it, I mean at
the start of the show, I was only making sixty
bucks an Hour's always I always had two or sixty
bucks a show. Sixty bucks an hours is unbelievable. I
(04:35):
wish it was that. Yeah, you'd still be doing it, Yeah, exactly,
So I cooked, I cooked dur in the day. I
sported nice for four years. You said something interesting that
at the age of three or whatever it was, you
got excited and you love the idea of being on
the stage. And I've always been interested in acting as well,
my whole lot. I mean, I got into cooking when
I was young, and I thought, you know, um, I
(04:58):
don't know, I've never done it. So a couple I'd say,
what about it? What was it? Like? A year and
a half ago. About a year and a half ago,
I told everybody. I said, I'm taking Thursdays and Tuesdays
three hours a night, and I'm going to acting classes.
And I went on fifty four Street, this acting studio place.
I forgot the name of it exactly, but I went
and took acting classes for ten weeks. It was introductory
(05:18):
to Meisner. And of course I'm there with all these
young puppies. You know, they're like nineteen, eighteen, twenty years old.
These kids, they're looking at me like, what was the
old guy? And what's he doing? What's I don't know
what he's doing here? Anyway, they by the third class.
One of them looks over and taps me on the shoulder,
goes you that guy on the phone network, what are
you doing here? But anyway, it was, it was, but
I took it very seriously. I took the class. I
(05:40):
had my scene with my partner. I practiced out of class.
And you said earlier you were addicted to the stage,
and I don't know, but I didn't even get on
the stage, but just performing in front of the class,
I felt the adrenaline. I felt that like, Wow, this
is how all these kids get hooked on acting and
moved to New York and wait tables, you know, for
(06:01):
for for years and years to try to get and
make a break in the in the industry of either
being on the stage or behind the camera. And I,
I mean, it's obviously very different than what we do
now on on you know, would you do in the
kitchen or what I'm doing on a shop. We're not
We're just we're just us. But the the idea of
portraying a character, I mean, I I am a little
jealous every time I see a really good performance on
(06:23):
stage and I'm like, I really want to do that.
I would love to try to do that. Well, I
wouldn't discredit. I mean, I think you're even just performing
for your fellow classmates during that, and I remember when
you were doing that, I was so impressed in just
you know, I was so excited for you, right, just
because it's such a departure, but it's it's useful through
every facet of your life professionally and personally. I think,
(06:45):
just to put yourself out there like that. And when
you did perform for your other classmates, you were on stage.
You know, it might not have been an hundred and
fifty people of thousand people, but you've got a taste
of it. And obviously I don't think you've I mean,
are you planning on once this all? You know, and
you're gonna get back? Why no more? You know what
(07:08):
I might. I might. I'm gonna I'm gonna live my dream.
I'm gonna go out there and maybe I'll start auditioning.
I'll start doing you know, maybe I should start while
in this quarantine time, I really start walking on some
different accents and stuff. You know what I mean, you
worked as him, you know, get you know, to work
on some copy and or read some scripts. Well, it's
you guys, are both you both were interested in kind
of acting and performing and yet you both had restaurants
(07:29):
at at some time. So how do you how do
you think that leads to performing arts? And um, yeah,
well I was always you know, I mean I feel
like cooking, obviously is is a mode of performance. You know,
it's making people smile through their sensation of taste, right,
So that's the same thing as like making people laugh
(07:52):
on stage. You get that same kind of instant gratification.
But that's what I loved about the Delhi world that
I kind of grew up and I always worked in
Delhi's in high school, through college and then my own
because to me, that was the blending of the back
of the house in the front of the house, right
is that deli counter which was my stage slice and meats,
(08:13):
interacting with people, getting them that first slice, making sure
it's a quarter pal. They said that, you know what
I mean, Like there's a whole performance to it, and
that's why I was like hooked on that world. But
I don't know, Mark, I mean, you you were in
the you know, the back of the house, probably way
more than I was. But you, I mean, it's the
same you were to cooking school to correct. Yeah, correct,
(08:36):
so I mean I'm trained. Yeah, well, I mean like
because I that was to me was to get you know,
I wanted to solidify my skills, you know, get the
you know, get that under my belt to help increase
my odds of making it. You know, in food television,
I'm facebooking while it's Graham living while recording it double duty.
(09:02):
This is amazing. We're so multi talented. But just to
be clear, so you you went to college for radio
and TV? Correct? What's that? What did you learn then?
That is still the same as it is now? Is it?
Did you feel like it helped you? And then after that,
obviously you went to cooking school. So I don't I
(09:25):
don't know what I did with that degree, Like I
never did anything professionally because I really didn't, you know,
I think I just paid that loan off. Finally, I
don't know, four years into my television career, which is
not saying a lot um, but I was an average student,
you know, I did video like production, edited video for
(09:46):
news and stuff like that, and I was in a band.
What what college? It was kind of give I don't know,
give me a set of balls, I guess, and learn
how to live on my own and all that. But
I learned so much more in my all, Like I
don't like even now that we're shooting the kitchen from
our house and you know, I'm doing all these setups
and like that's it's helped me with the technical side
(10:09):
of it, especially now when we're you know, we're we're
without crew. You know, there is no more crew. My wife,
I was gonna ask you because I unfortunately I Saturday,
I was I was deep involved in in my vegetable
garden and I didn't have time to see it. But
it was last week the first one that you had
remotely shot, shot remotely like you're doing no, it was
(10:30):
that was actually two weeks ago. Last week was like
our last new studio one. So the next four weeks
will be all remotely you know, shot in the home
quarantine edition. So so this so it's on Saturday's right, yep,
of course, eleven am Eastern. He's in Chicago. It's a
(10:51):
different time there, right, it's one hour earlier. It's one
hour earlier. Okay, so you're Saturday morning it's on. But
I'm excited this Saturday to watch it one because I
want to see not only the show, because I like
the show, but because I want to see the technical
aspect of it and how you guys dealt with this,
because this must be I mean, I know they do.
And they send you a bunch of a bunch of
(11:11):
wires and cameras and lights and said, go ahead, take
yourself cooking in your kitchen. What what is it like
doing this? This is crazy? It is crazy. It's it's
basically shooting an entire television show on your telephone, you
know what I mean. Then that's what we're using. iPhones.
One of them is in a handheld device called a gimbal,
and Sarah's on that getting close ups and the shot
of just me, and then the other ones are locked off,
(11:34):
so you get the food and the overhead shot. And
then I got a little microphone, I got lights, tripods.
I so I communicate with the production through my sons,
through my son Lorenzo's phone, and we're talking to that
via zoom, and then Sarah's talking through the iPad to
the director who's directing her to put the camera places.
(11:56):
It is. I am so tired at the I'm like,
I don't care what you say. How much we're all
getting used to watching, you know, newscasters from their house,
and whether people from their house and Kimmel and fallon,
nothing will ever replace a television crew, because you know it, Mark,
I know it. You get to set, you sit your
(12:18):
fat ass down, They bring you a coffee or tea
or whatever you want, and then you'll leave at the
end of the day after making stupid zingers and jokes
for eight nine hours and that's it. You can't leave
this job. And it's always in your freaking house. So
I think I think Kevin Fever just kicked in. We've
(12:39):
got Jeff Morrow crying on the other end of the phone. Here,
it's a break man. Alright, Jeff, this is the new life,
this is the new reality. No, Jeff, you're gonna be okay,
You're gonna get Meisner. That was good. That was good.
Get back to your character. I love it. I love that. Listen.
(13:01):
But what I what I'm also but you forgot to mention,
actually the one thing that we know how to do
really well. But you have to do everything yourself. You
gotta prep everything. You gotta prep to swamp out. So
you've got to do all the cooking, you gotta do
all of the all of the shopping, like, so we're
on set. There's a whole team of people that does
that for us, right, is the biggest thing. Huh, this
(13:22):
is a culinary crew. It's crazy. Yeah, we're doing each
recipe twice, two passes, so we're essentially getting four camera angles, like,
so we have to clean up and then do it again.
The addition it is quarantine. I just want I'm so
tired my hands I wish and we're you know, remember
(13:42):
that Paul Malave was it? You know, your hands get soft,
nine hands are gets off. You know. Luckily Sarah handles
most of it, she insists, but she's a she's a
trooper man. She's she's right in there with me because
the other, the other option is is not working. And
I you know, we all want to work here and
do we can too? Well, I feel like what I talk.
(14:02):
I can't feed people. I might as well entertain them. Right. Hey,
it's Mark Murphy and welcome to the second episode of
(14:23):
Food three sixty Live with Me. On the mic is
Emily Carpin. Our guest today a very good friend, Jeff
Morrow of Food Networks. The Kitchen. Well, here's the deal.
Is also, I think that you know that the public
is used to seeing your show every Saturday, and they're
they're gonna miss you if you just start. You can't
just start running reruns because times moving on and you've
(14:44):
got things to talk about, and you've got people to
talk about. It's it's interesting and and I'm interested. And
I said, you know, so where is this? Where is
this you know, quarantine thing taking us to And I'd
like to know from you obviously, Now I know one
thing you don't want to keep doing doing the show
from your house, Well, I'll do it as long as
it takes right forever. Yeah, if you're a trooper, I
(15:06):
know you'll think the ditch. You'll keep failing it until
it's until until we were allowed to go out and
do something else. But what have you learned new today
in this time, in the last four weeks or five
weeks roving? Wasn't it six months? Not that she's counting
or anything, But what have you learned that you're gonna
keep doing it when this is over? That made your life?
(15:27):
Is making your life easier? Is there anything that you
you can you can I mean, you know quantity towards
like oh this is actually why didn't I think of
this earlier. Um it is, I don't know, you know
what I mean, keep it at least from the recipe standpoint,
keep it a little from anything in your life right now. No,
(15:47):
that's I think any well, any first of all, like
is you know, let's get granular with the show. I mean,
it's if it's complicated to do it in this setting
in my kitchen twice over, it's probably complicated for the
home viewer to do it right. So keep it simple, right,
there's beauty and simplicity and cooking what you know, right,
cook what you know? Make it simple or simpler, you know,
(16:09):
I ain't in life. It's like it's shows. It's it's
given me greater patients that I think would wear thin
when I wouldn't get on a plane every five six days,
which I'm normally used to, and being in close quarters
really kind of hones that muscle that otherwise gets rest
when you jump on a plane. And I go to
(16:29):
New York every week almost you know, I'm somewhere every week.
I haven't been anywhere, I mean except around the block
with the dogs, you know, so it really has taught me,
uh some patient. I'm still working on patients, but it's
It's made me a more patient person, which I can
definitely translate to not only my home life, but also
being on set and hurrying things up like I like
(16:50):
to get I like to get moving, and television nothing's rare,
you know, things are rarely moving with with with speed.
I feel like and you guys are both part of
an ensemble cast, you know, co host right, How who
are you missing? Um? What's it been like doing it
on your own? For for both of you, I'm missing
(17:10):
I'm missing everybody collectives, being in a room with people
and riffing, you know, I think that's my That's so
much like for me, that's my I've been doing it.
My whole life is you know, a class clown in
you know, working rooms and feeding off people. And that's
what's beauty about the format. It's like I can lay
back and I wait and I throw a zinger in
there when it's appropriate or when it's not appropriate, then
(17:32):
it is cut it out. Uh. But so I'm missing
I'm missing doing that because now we're trying to replicate
it via zoom in and you know in telecommunication, you know, teleconferencing,
it's not the same. Man, I miss like human interaction live,
when you can see and smell the person. For me too,
(17:53):
it's like, you know, I, Well, first I think it's
a double edged short because I'm obviously we're doing a
lot of these cocktail hours with friends, were doing them
together ourselves, you and I and our families together. But
you know, I got to I got to have drinks
with my friend in Rome the other night, which I
never really I see her when I go to Rome.
And another friend of mine who were overheat goes in Connecticut.
We got together on on the thing and we have
(18:14):
we had a we had a drink together, so that
was fun. But I do miss the the human interaction,
the actual person standing there. I mean, I don't mind it.
I don't have to clean up after you, after you,
after we're done. I just pushed the button, you know,
and it's over. Yeah, it's always. I just don't ring
rings on the white table per usual, just various ash,
just ash everywhere exactly. Yeah, that's that's always. I mean,
(18:36):
it's also something very special that the energy you get
from people right when you're around them, the energy of
your co host energy, everybody that works there. It's been
hard to transition into this time and doing it alone. Yeah, no,
I don't. We are not shooting chopped remotely yet. I
don't know if that's ever something that it would be
able to do, but I think it would be difficult.
I don't even know how they would do that. I'm sure,
(18:57):
but you would do it if they asked you to
do I mean they if they found a way, you
do it right. Absolutely. I mean I'm gonna be doing
some I'm gonna be doing some live stuff here for
the app soon. They sent me a bunch of equipment,
which the wires as well. I'm gonna have to figure
that out. I'm telling you, I just did a I
just did three demos for partnership with a beer company,
(19:20):
and they sent everything and I am telling you three
metric ton of stuff, boxing cables, two cables to my
router in the basement, robotic camera. I mean it was
my head was spinning the last two days in our
kitchen was like as many chords as you put on
(19:41):
set a chop. So I mean, but you do it right,
I mean, because hey, I want to work. It's a
great opportunity and be It's like what else am I?
What else was I gonna do today? Honestly, I mean,
what take you know, take my fourth bath of the week,
so you are showering. That's a good I did. I
find I did shave that. The mustache last did the
(20:03):
first I don't know, two weeks, three weeks of quarantine,
and then I felt like it was like food was
getting I was like like taking SIPs of things and
going like this like Sam Elliott, you know, after a
sass barilla like and like sucking whatever. And I'm like,
oh my god, okay, we got it, we got it.
I made myself sick, I really did. It was horrible.
(20:25):
And then I bombed on my mustache, which I in
turn sucked out and then vomited. You know, it's a
vicious cycle. So that you've been playing a lot of music.
I saw you, Lorenzo jamming out the other day on Instagram.
You are you? I mean, this is such I'm so
jealous because obviously I know you're you're a musician and
you've got guitars and drums and flutes and whatever else
(20:45):
you got to the house, but playing you got harpsichord
back there too. I was I was never I was
I was never really given music lessons when I was
a kid, I was just getting yelled at all the time,
so they didn't have time to teach me anything but um,
but you got to learn all these kind of fun things.
And it must be great having that father is something
(21:07):
going on, well, like my son's on and and I know,
I know Cal and your son is a tremendous athlete
and baseball player and every you know, every sport he touches.
My son is I'm not saying he's not gifted, he
just never took a shining to it. So it was
always you know, he does taekwondo and he does UH
music in the School of Rock program. And for me
(21:28):
it was like, you know, let's see how he does.
Like I never like pushed it. But it's become since
I've played music since I was a kid, now he's
doing it. It's become like our catch, you know what
I mean. So father's sons they go out back, they
throw the ball around, which we do and stuff. But
like just getting to gathering jam and for fifteen minutes,
it's fun, like it's a release for both of us.
(21:49):
It's a good hobby, just something that you could pick
up at UH. You don't really need to depend on
anything for other than whatever skills you retained that day. Uh,
And it's such a release from like I could be
fairly crabby or tense or anxious or something and I
pick up I strumped something like seeing a little tune,
you know, and not even performing just for myself, and
(22:10):
then it's just there's nothing better. You know. Last time
I was, I was, I was grateful enough to be
a guest on on on the kitchen. I noticed you
had a whole setup on set. You have guitars and
other people coming and jam with you. They give you
your own little room there. That's pretty cool. Yeah, you know,
because I I've made myself a very simple and easy
(22:32):
to work with talent on set. I don't ask I
asked for coffee in the morning, and that's it. I
don't need a chicken for lunch. I don't need the
pale chips, I don't need none of that. I just
want that. And I've I think through the years, I've
pieced together and kind of uh commandeered a room in
our studio which has turned into my music room. Right,
nobody's really said at anything yet, I guess because I
(22:54):
don't be I'm not a paint and they ask to
work with. At least in my head, that's why. But
it is like my it is my thing, like it's
how I reset in between the twelve acts. We're shooting
a day, six acts per show. Two shows a day.
Kind of keeps me fresh and keeps me tight, you know,
well now and now. But of course you know, I
guess that the production is gonna learn now because of
(23:15):
the quarantine situation, that you can get your own damn coffee. Yeah, exactly.
I just shout out commands and nobody's listening here in
my own I get a getta that chicken nut branch
blt rep and nobody is gonna come crashing over your
head if you ask me too much, I think, Oh
my god, I know it's snap snapping my fingers. That's
(23:38):
that works to market? Yeah, um, what kind of news
it do you listen to when you cook? Oh my god,
everything which I'm listening to the new Fiona Apple album
that came out last week. So I'll listen to a
new album. I'll probably listen three four times through the
course of three four meals, uh, and let it soak in.
(23:59):
But or I make a determination as to whether or
not I will listen to it again. But I'm a
fan of like just like indie music, um, hip hop,
everything from the Strokes to Willco to Frank Sinatra, you know, anything.
Just it's it's all about mood and what day of
the week. You know, if it's like Monday, Tuesday, I
might not even listen to music. So it's like, let's
(24:20):
just get through this ship and like move on, you know,
joy the meal. But it's not time to like party,
especially now since because during this quarantine, Sarah and I
have had like a zero booze during the week policy.
That's a terrible policy. It is. It's not easy, but
it's it's it is. I'm like why, um, I know why.
She's fine. She can live off one vest of wine
(24:41):
a day for the rest of it. Me, it's a
little harder trying to say something to you. Hey. You know,
we all have our ways of communicating, and we're learning
about each other's day through the quarantine. So the music
out of the week, you know, I like it. I
have outdoor speakers. I got speakers out through my house
and I have vinyl records too that I can you know,
pumped throughout the house. So I'm it's always a constant
(25:03):
in the house, especially when cooking. It's like hard to
have both, you know, one without the other. You know me,
when I come to the beach house, I'm like, it's
play some mute. You know, I'm trips together. I'm always
very in tune to to what's being played. Um. Speaking
of trips, So when this is all over the house again,
(25:24):
where's your first trip? Where are you going? And am
I going with you? There were? I think we should
all go to toloom. I think that's first replicate that. Uh,
I'd love to go uh to Cayman. I love uh
Grant Cayman, Cayman Islands. I love their food. I love
the beach. It's so small, great people. Um. You know,
(25:46):
I'm just looking for, like before that, like I'm looking
forward to going somewhere with friends obviously, just like maybe
even without the kids, just an adult trip just to get,
you know, a way from that situation. I'm sure all
the parents would agree with me. Um, but I'm looking
for like going out to dinner with like a group.
(26:06):
Wasn't it sounds fun and having people bring you think? Yeah,
but you know what, actually, I think the kids are
probably excited about going to do something with their friends too.
I mean, I got two kids at home. I can't
imagine being a teenager or being like mean, I got
a thirteen in a sixteen year old. It's like man,
being without any friends around. I mean, like being a
teenager and not having friends to hang out with. It
(26:27):
the weirdest thing it is. And it's like, how is
it going to shape the generation right now? You know?
Is that is this going to become its own unique
generation independent of whatever Generation Z or the Zennials or
whatever the hell they call them now? But is it
like all the kids from in school aged right now,
we're gonna be forever change, you know. I don't know.
(26:48):
I was just gonna shape them in the future. I'm
just I'm just hoping in the end of all this
there's something good stuff comes out of it. I think
we're all learning a good lesson right now that the
planets taken a good, big breath of fresh air. I
feel like everybody's saying that the air is better. You know,
people can do a lot more things without actually having
to travel. I think, like I was just I was listening.
(27:09):
I think I think Cuombo was saying yesterday I was
talking about you know this uh what do they call it?
When you do the medicine with it with the fall
tell the medicine. Yeah, I mean, you know, if once
you get older, whatever everywhere, if easier to call the doctor,
just have a little face time with him. You don't
have to spend the money getting in the gas and
spend it and driving to the to the doctor's like
you know what, to take two asper and go to bed.
(27:33):
You know, everybody wins. Everybody went yeah, and you know,
every everybody should win. Like you're you know, more preserved.
And who knows how long this this this this virus
will be present in the whatever and on services, on
people and everything. And if you can, uh, you know,
reduce the risk of infection. I mean that's that's in
(27:54):
the nearer few, Like I don't see that. I think
anytime an old person walks into hospital, an old person,
a senior or one of our elders, it's risky whether
they fall or cut something or whatever. And if you
kind of mitigate that risk from people from all ages,
hospitals are like and I got friends in the hospital
right now. I had a very close friend in the
hospital and he had a liver transplant. I can't see him,
(28:16):
um and for his sake, for my like, you can't
even walk in a hospital right now, and that's it's crazy.
But plea, in the future, there will be a lot
less reasons to walk in the hospital. I'm looking at
the water at a restaurant first, I want to get
walk into a restaurant with a bunch of people at
the bar. Oh my god. And guess what happens when
(28:40):
you're done dining. You give them it's it's I don't
know if you guys remember, it's like a little card
that has digits on it and it holds information in
the cloud for your banking. And you give that to
them and you don't have to do any dishes. You
just give it to them and you get and then
you walk up and you leave. Yeah, and it comes
over and takes the dish from That's what I'm saying.
(29:03):
It's there and they're not robots. They're human people that
we love. They take that we love that want to
get back to doing that. M All find new traditions,
(29:30):
but I want to go back to some some some
family traditions. So you were born, raised in Chicago, you're
from a big family, Marcus Born was born in Italy.
Um Italian American family. What is your kind of favorite
family tradition, let's say Italian American and then Mark, I
want to hear your favorite kind of family tradition that
(29:51):
you will keep. My favorite is within the same breath, arguing,
laughing and crying, um while around the dinner table. I
don't know. I think for us, it's Christmas Eve has
always been big. Um. We hosted now so we have
thirty two up to thirty two people in our home.
The meal planning goes on for a year, you know,
(30:13):
prior we switched up the menu. Every year we up
and adhere to specific themes like Mexican or Greek or
all Americans. So I just love that, and you know
I missed, you know, I've I guess the greatest tradition
I learned growing is filling your house frequently, you know,
with people in family and friends. And obviously now not
(30:33):
to put it downer on it, but that's you know,
impossible about you. Mark. We were just talking to a
friend of ours in Washington and uh, she's Greek, and
she the Greek Easter was just just Sundays and she said,
you know, usually they have thirty or forty people over
for Greek Easter and they cook all this food. And
she says, I think I saved a lot of money
this year. Anybody whole Lambs aren't. Yeah, she said, she
(30:58):
still cooked a lot because it's just traditional. I mean
for me, I think, you know, traditionally, I think with
my family, Uh here is really I thinks Giving is
my favorite. I mean it's just like and it's it's
not even just the food. It's just getting together and
being with people, and it's just you know, and bringing
in people that don't have families or can't travel as far,
(31:18):
bringing them into the table and under your roof and
having a good time, and it's just it's just it's
a real And also what I'll always say about Thanksgiving
is I love that you can all get together and
you have to worry about buying people presents because you know,
you never know what to get Uncle this or and
I think enough over it. That's what I love about
thanks Giving. That just probably hands down my favorite because
(31:40):
they we don't host it, so we get to go.
We go to my in laws and I help her
cook and I get we get dinner on the table
and everything. But then I get up in lane and
then I go to my my cousins where all my
family my side is at, and then we drink and
have dessert. Usually bring a nice bottle of bourbon or
tequila or something. I don't have to clean, I don't
have to cook, I don't have the menu plan. It's
very you know, really axing, and you don't have like
(32:01):
lug gifts in and out of your car or worry
about the pressure. I'm I'm over it. I keep saying that.
I'm like, I don't want anything from anybody, but just
guess what. You're not getting anything from me. I'll make
you a mail, but you know what, like I'll wind,
I will get the great wine, great beautiful meat, all
this stuff. We'll put on a beautiful party. It's not
(32:22):
even about it's not about like being frugal or anything.
It's just it's a headache. And all you end up
with is like a sea of paper, you know, like
it doesn't even want. Half the time you get stuff,
it's like I don't need this, this is the last
thing I needed. Well, it sounds like you guys need
to make better list, maybe for your love shot a
little smarter is all I'm saying. Okay, alright, this is
(32:44):
where we're gonna cut her out of the screen. Uh no,
this is this is so I was I had something
really genius to say. Oh I just remembered it. So
I don't think it's a secret. But you're working on
a cookbook, right Yeah. I actually finished the photography the
day the lockdown happened, like that Sunday before that Monday.
(33:04):
So I worked on the book the first two weeks
of the quarantine, like finished the manuscripts. So it's it's
handed in. Everything's ready to go. Now hopefully a year,
you know, less than a year from now, it will
come out. God Willing who shot the book, Ken Goodman,
love you best salt of the earth. And you know
(33:28):
what we did it? We were lean and mean. We
had a couple of people my my like Sioux chef here,
my culinary producer here that I use, uh in, one
guy from Tim Macklin, our culinary producer from the kitchen,
and Ken and that was it. Rented an airbnb about
five minutes from my house. Ken and Tim stayed there
in the airbnb. We shot the whole thing on natural light.
(33:50):
It was lean and mean and everybody was a trained chef,
so it was like, no people like mucking stuff up.
You know, the food looked real, but it looked pretty,
and we moved with purpose like you would in a kitchen.
And it wasn't like let me run this through the chain,
let me you know, like that's that stuff war on me.
I mean, it's a tremendous amount of work though. I mean,
(34:11):
you know I knew it. I need to be, but
nothing prepares you for it. It's crazy. My cookbook as well.
It's like that's still a cookbook, so much fun. And
then it's like, oh my gosh, this takes so much,
so much work. It's really amazing how much work it is.
But now hopefully it's out before Christmas. And now you
know you don't have to buy anybody at present. You
just wrap up at a bunch of your cookbooks. Is
(34:31):
Mark Murphy television genius. I love it and it's not out.
You bring him a little postcard say when it comes out,
I'm good coming. Oh it's like a free coupon there
you go to be cashed in later. And people are
lesser value of court too. But I do, I mean
I don't want to. I do think that people kind
(34:51):
of assume that writing a cookbook is easy, and that
you know, I haven't always asked us, why don't you
have a cookbook? At it had been years, you've only
had the one. This is your first one. What's one
thing that you've learned from the process that, um, that
you would tell people that that they would probably assume
is much easier than it actually is. Don't do it, Um,
don't do it. Uh, it's it's it's not cheap. Um.
(35:16):
You know you got to dip into the pocket. I
think you're you know, as good as the people you
surround yourself. I learned that trust my instincts as far
as you know, who I wanted around me to do it.
And I think that I wasn't pressured into using like
fancier like more I don't know. I mean Ken, If
(35:36):
you know Ken, I mean can Can Ken is like
a legend almost in the business. Um, and it's a
great photographer. But I learned that you know, it's not
gonna happen overnight. And I you know, I learned a
lot about like my own voice too, as far as
writing the head notes, which I really went I think
(35:57):
pretty pretty deep into and I have some very lengthy
most head notes or lengthy, so it's almost closer to
it's like a hybrid memoir slash cookbook. A lot of
great stories in there. And I don't know, dude, I
was very relieved, you know, to to hand it in.
(36:19):
It was overwhelmingly uh you know, accomplished feelings. So not
ready to repeat it anytime soon. Yeah. Right, But for
people that don't know, head notes are each recipe that
goes into a cookbook, you have to write kind of
a story about either why you chose that recipe or
why it's a warrant to you, which is in itself
(36:40):
a lot of work. Yeah, it's almost more you know,
I mean, it's almost more work than the the recipe.
I mean the recipes I either had or we developed
or whatever. And you shoot them and you know, they
tweak them and then you make them look pretty and
all that. But it's like like that's your voice, and
I feel like I kept I think one of my
problems was like painting, repainting, you know, going back and
(37:03):
painting over the camba and like you know, it's like
sometimes you gotta step away and it's unlock it in,
you know what I mean done signed the painting. It's
it's amazing though, I mean, I've had my cookbooks been
out for a while, but I love that it does,
in the end bring me a lot of joy when
I get people telling me, either on social media or something,
(37:23):
that they cooked one of the dishes from the book
and that they loved it and their family loves it.
It's it's now one of their you know, they're they're
in their rotation and their family of what they're cooking.
It's really nice to be able to take a little
bit of something that you do and give it to
them to them to share with their family, which is
what basically as a chef for is somebody that's in
the food industry. We're we're looking to do that all
the time. Anyway, what do Yeah, Well, I was just
(37:45):
gonna ask you, what's two quick questions, Best dish and
worst isssu you've made during quarantine. You must have a clunker, now,
best dish I've made during quarantine. We'll start with the best, Sarah,
what was the best dish so far? We've been rush
in it. That's a fact, she says. She's eating carrots
(38:07):
like a freaking easter bunny, right, now crunching away, ruining
my audio. Um, I either we. I did lamb chops
this Saturday before Easter, um and they were like from
this place called Purely Meats that doesn't has done lamb
for generations, and I got them and you know, like
(38:27):
wet aged meat right has like a sweet smell to it,
especially with like lamb. It was like so funky. I
was like, I dry it out over that I on
a rack and I grilled him up with just some
Greek style potatoes, just peeled and halved and like simmered
for an hour and a half in lemon juice and
stock and butter. Um. And that was it. The lamb,
(38:48):
that the potatoes um and like a salad and it
was just the lamb was so funky and charred. It
was awesome. That was my favorite. The worst one. This
is this is a good This is a good. Uh.
I don't know what was it. I don't know. Maybe
(39:11):
I made pancakes one morning for Lorenzo, and I just
think like I undercooked him, you know, so they're like
gummy in the middle, but they looked really pretty and
I was like doing a live demo for him. It
just my heart wasn't in it, you know what I
mean when you're just like churning out demos because like
duty calls, but I wasn't connected, like my my, my
(39:33):
heart and the plate weren't connected. You know. It's and
he was like you are, They're pretty good. I'm like
it happens sometimes. It's funny you mentioned lampshops because I
just butchered some lampshops earlier, and they're marinating in olive oil,
and and that's what we're happening. I saw that on
your What does that mean? I means burning the fingers
(39:56):
because you're supposed to when you grill and you pick
them up, and you did with your fingers, like like fingers.
So Jack is your dream quarantine guest, dead or alive.
They can come over for dinner. Who are you? Who
are you picking? Or no? No, they gotta be with
(40:18):
the whole time, the quarantine. Who okay, who would you
input into that family? Right now? We need a fourth person.
It's a house of cards, man. No, we can't. We're
too tight just the three of us here. If we
had one more, I mean, it's like it's like it
doesn't take much to overload this little three pack we
(40:40):
got going, Um, good question. I would say, who's always
you know, who would I quarantine with? Alive? Or dad?
Man were like, who would you do? Have you have
you answered? This? Is it? Like? It's is it? At
least no one's asked us. I don't. I'm not even
(41:03):
I'm not a sure, but I'm almost thinking that I
would think that I would want to quarantine somebody that
my kids would be able to hang out with, because
I feel bad for them being you know, there's I
mean they're there's their brother and sister. They get along
really well, but I mean a mutual friend. What happened?
(41:24):
The dog just threw up. This is what happens online,
This is what happens outside, this is what happens on live.
I'm just gonna make sure he's outside. We'll clean that up.
It's very yellow. I think he I think he ate
some of the chickpeae curry I made earlier this morning.
Well maybe that's your worst dish that didn't it didn't settle? Well?
(41:47):
You know what I would You know what I would do?
I would like a like a robot. Can the quarantine
with a robot that like a super intelligent robot. You
know that can can um not only you know, obviously
do the dishes and clean up the kitchen, but also
clean up dog vomit. That is the color of a
(42:09):
you know, Mumbai sunset that I'm looking at right now.
I think I think the answer, Yeah, of course he's
clean up. I think I picked Jim gaff again a
comedian for sure, because that tears of a clown. Tears
of a clown. There you go, listen, Jess. I want
(42:34):
to thank you so much for for joining us. I
think this was fun. I think I hope you had fun.
I wish you were here in my house with me
quarantine so we could hang out and have a drink
together for a little bit. Yes, I know I miss you.
We miss you, guys. I know we've we've been talking
a lot, probably more, you know, more than we've ever
talked before. But I think that's gonna be our first
(42:54):
trip is down to the beach. Pop in the car.
Sarah actually just got tested and she's negative, so she
was positive. It's like donly test you wanna, you know,
but still exactly, I don't want to anybody exactly like
what a world? All right? Love you guys, Love you too, brother, Toodles,
(43:17):
mick doodles,
Hey, it's Mark Murphy and welcome to the second episode
of Food three Live with Me. On the Mike is
Emily Carpon. She's my director of communications and co producer,
and now she's also hosting the show with me from
Surfside Studios, also known as Where We're Quarantined. I'm honored
to have as our guest today a very good friend,
chef and co host of the Food Networks The Kitchen,
(00:24):
Jeff to Morrow. Thanks for joining us, Jeff. Emily was
gonna ask the first question, Jeff, tell us, how did
you first get on Food Network? I am the winner
of season seven of Food Network Star. Anybody that's followed
my journey would hopefully know that, But it was a
(00:47):
much longer journey before that that was somewhat engineered to
get to that position, you know, And so once I
was cast on Food Network Star, it was kind of
the final round, you know, the final job interview, right,
Did you want to go into a homer start and
somebody push you into it? No, it was actually my
fourth time auditioning when I finally made it on. Wow,
(01:12):
what was wrong with what was wrong with them not
taking the first three times? You know? It was probably
a little maybe, uh maybe a little green. Honestly, maybe
I didn't have like the complete story. You know, when
I first started auditioning, I didn't have you know, I
didn't have Lorenzo. I didn't have a child that always
raises the stakes in the story. And it just wasn't
my time then, you know, I needed a little maybe
(01:33):
a couple more years of you know, honing my professional
chops before well, you just needed to marinate a little more.
Is that it? I did? I think of the timing
was right. You know, if it happened when I was
any younger, I would probably you know, squandered it. Somehow.
I was a mature man when it all happened, right,
wait for reminding us exactly. That's that's interesting obviously. But
(02:00):
you were in show business before this, if I remember correctly,
I remember some some story about Tony and Tina's wedding
or something. This is very true. Yeah, I'm not. I'm
not ashamed to admit it, um and I will talk
to you about it. I'm jealous. I'm jealous. Let's start
with that. Uh So, I was always a performer in school,
from third grade on my first time I ever got
(02:22):
on a stage, I was kind of addicted and throughout
you know, when I was young, I used to do
Second City youth programs and you know, comedy classes in
theater and anything I could to perform um. So that
carried me through you know, college, I was in bands
and everything. I always was on stage in some capacity.
(02:44):
So when I finally graduated college, I opened a Delhi
with my cousin Dave, and that same week we opened
the Delhi, I got cast in Tony and Tina's weddings.
I auditioned and I was pretty tailor made for that
to just having my Italian American background and knowing the
speak and the accents and the characters um that I
(03:06):
could draw from. You know, I got cast and worked
my way up from waiter to the start Tony after
a couple of years, and did that for four years.
So I had we had the Delhi for four years,
and I did Tony and Tina's for four years. You know,
even even even during this show, it's like you have
to start as a dishwasher and work your way up
(03:27):
on the show. Yeah, totally. Yeah, just like the restaurant industry. Yeah,
it's like the word god right, it was like, I
mean It was no different than being in like football
boot camp. You know, you have to start shoveling ship
and then you can finally throw the ball. You know,
it really was it was very it was It was
it was run by people that are not your typical
theater thespian type people. It was like neighborhood guys from
(03:51):
the streets of Chicago that kind of telling guys that
were somewhat connected and would really put the fear of
God into YouTube to extract the greatest performance possible. I mean,
I I had chairs thrown at me, I had to
do laps around the reception hall or up and down
the chapel. If I mess things up, it is like
(04:14):
I would run. I'd run like miles indoors as it is.
I know, and I've seen it in action, so you know,
it really did groom me for you know, a life
and show business. I guess that was my first taste
of But by the end of it, I mean at
the start of the show, I was only making sixty
bucks an Hour's always I always had two or sixty
bucks a show. Sixty bucks an hours is unbelievable. I
(04:35):
wish it was that. Yeah, you'd still be doing it, Yeah, exactly,
So I cooked, I cooked dur in the day. I
sported nice for four years. You said something interesting that
at the age of three or whatever it was, you
got excited and you love the idea of being on
the stage. And I've always been interested in acting as well,
my whole lot. I mean, I got into cooking when
I was young, and I thought, you know, um, I
(04:58):
don't know, I've never done it. So a couple I'd say,
what about it? What was it? Like? A year and
a half ago. About a year and a half ago,
I told everybody. I said, I'm taking Thursdays and Tuesdays
three hours a night, and I'm going to acting classes.
And I went on fifty four Street, this acting studio place.
I forgot the name of it exactly, but I went
and took acting classes for ten weeks. It was introductory
(05:18):
to Meisner. And of course I'm there with all these
young puppies. You know, they're like nineteen, eighteen, twenty years old.
These kids, they're looking at me like, what was the
old guy? And what's he doing? What's I don't know
what he's doing here? Anyway, they by the third class.
One of them looks over and taps me on the shoulder,
goes you that guy on the phone network, what are
you doing here? But anyway, it was, it was, but
I took it very seriously. I took the class. I
(05:40):
had my scene with my partner. I practiced out of class.
And you said earlier you were addicted to the stage,
and I don't know, but I didn't even get on
the stage, but just performing in front of the class,
I felt the adrenaline. I felt that like, Wow, this
is how all these kids get hooked on acting and
moved to New York and wait tables, you know, for
(06:01):
for for years and years to try to get and
make a break in the in the industry of either
being on the stage or behind the camera. And I,
I mean, it's obviously very different than what we do
now on on you know, would you do in the
kitchen or what I'm doing on a shop. We're not
We're just we're just us. But the the idea of
portraying a character, I mean, I I am a little
jealous every time I see a really good performance on
(06:23):
stage and I'm like, I really want to do that.
I would love to try to do that. Well, I
wouldn't discredit. I mean, I think you're even just performing
for your fellow classmates during that, and I remember when
you were doing that, I was so impressed in just
you know, I was so excited for you, right, just
because it's such a departure, but it's it's useful through
every facet of your life professionally and personally. I think,
(06:45):
just to put yourself out there like that. And when
you did perform for your other classmates, you were on stage.
You know, it might not have been an hundred and
fifty people of thousand people, but you've got a taste
of it. And obviously I don't think you've I mean,
are you planning on once this all? You know, and
you're gonna get back? Why no more? You know what
(07:08):
I might. I might. I'm gonna I'm gonna live my dream.
I'm gonna go out there and maybe I'll start auditioning.
I'll start doing you know, maybe I should start while
in this quarantine time, I really start walking on some
different accents and stuff. You know what I mean, you
worked as him, you know, get you know, to work
on some copy and or read some scripts. Well, it's
you guys, are both you both were interested in kind
of acting and performing and yet you both had restaurants
(07:29):
at at some time. So how do you how do
you think that leads to performing arts? And um, yeah,
well I was always you know, I mean I feel
like cooking, obviously is is a mode of performance. You know,
it's making people smile through their sensation of taste, right,
So that's the same thing as like making people laugh
(07:52):
on stage. You get that same kind of instant gratification.
But that's what I loved about the Delhi world that
I kind of grew up and I always worked in
Delhi's in high school, through college and then my own
because to me, that was the blending of the back
of the house in the front of the house, right
is that deli counter which was my stage slice and meats,
(08:13):
interacting with people, getting them that first slice, making sure
it's a quarter pal. They said that, you know what
I mean, Like there's a whole performance to it, and
that's why I was like hooked on that world. But
I don't know, Mark, I mean, you you were in
the you know, the back of the house, probably way
more than I was. But you, I mean, it's the
same you were to cooking school to correct. Yeah, correct,
(08:36):
so I mean I'm trained. Yeah, well, I mean like
because I that was to me was to get you know,
I wanted to solidify my skills, you know, get the
you know, get that under my belt to help increase
my odds of making it. You know, in food television,
I'm facebooking while it's Graham living while recording it double duty.
(09:02):
This is amazing. We're so multi talented. But just to
be clear, so you you went to college for radio
and TV? Correct? What's that? What did you learn then?
That is still the same as it is now? Is it?
Did you feel like it helped you? And then after that,
obviously you went to cooking school. So I don't I
(09:25):
don't know what I did with that degree, Like I
never did anything professionally because I really didn't, you know,
I think I just paid that loan off. Finally, I
don't know, four years into my television career, which is
not saying a lot um, but I was an average student,
you know, I did video like production, edited video for
(09:46):
news and stuff like that, and I was in a band.
What what college? It was kind of give I don't know,
give me a set of balls, I guess, and learn
how to live on my own and all that. But
I learned so much more in my all, Like I
don't like even now that we're shooting the kitchen from
our house and you know, I'm doing all these setups
and like that's it's helped me with the technical side
(10:09):
of it, especially now when we're you know, we're we're
without crew. You know, there is no more crew. My wife,
I was gonna ask you because I unfortunately I Saturday,
I was I was deep involved in in my vegetable
garden and I didn't have time to see it. But
it was last week the first one that you had
remotely shot, shot remotely like you're doing no, it was
(10:30):
that was actually two weeks ago. Last week was like
our last new studio one. So the next four weeks
will be all remotely you know, shot in the home
quarantine edition. So so this so it's on Saturday's right, yep,
of course, eleven am Eastern. He's in Chicago. It's a
(10:51):
different time there, right, it's one hour earlier. It's one
hour earlier. Okay, so you're Saturday morning it's on. But
I'm excited this Saturday to watch it one because I
want to see not only the show, because I like
the show, but because I want to see the technical
aspect of it and how you guys dealt with this,
because this must be I mean, I know they do.
And they send you a bunch of a bunch of
(11:11):
wires and cameras and lights and said, go ahead, take
yourself cooking in your kitchen. What what is it like
doing this? This is crazy? It is crazy. It's it's
basically shooting an entire television show on your telephone, you
know what I mean. Then that's what we're using. iPhones.
One of them is in a handheld device called a gimbal,
and Sarah's on that getting close ups and the shot
of just me, and then the other ones are locked off,
(11:34):
so you get the food and the overhead shot. And
then I got a little microphone, I got lights, tripods.
I so I communicate with the production through my sons,
through my son Lorenzo's phone, and we're talking to that
via zoom, and then Sarah's talking through the iPad to
the director who's directing her to put the camera places.
(11:56):
It is. I am so tired at the I'm like,
I don't care what you say. How much we're all
getting used to watching, you know, newscasters from their house,
and whether people from their house and Kimmel and fallon,
nothing will ever replace a television crew, because you know it, Mark,
I know it. You get to set, you sit your
(12:18):
fat ass down, They bring you a coffee or tea
or whatever you want, and then you'll leave at the
end of the day after making stupid zingers and jokes
for eight nine hours and that's it. You can't leave
this job. And it's always in your freaking house. So
I think I think Kevin Fever just kicked in. We've
(12:39):
got Jeff Morrow crying on the other end of the phone. Here,
it's a break man. Alright, Jeff, this is the new life,
this is the new reality. No, Jeff, you're gonna be okay,
You're gonna get Meisner. That was good. That was good.
Get back to your character. I love it. I love that. Listen.
(13:01):
But what I what I'm also but you forgot to mention,
actually the one thing that we know how to do
really well. But you have to do everything yourself. You
gotta prep everything. You gotta prep to swamp out. So
you've got to do all the cooking, you gotta do
all of the all of the shopping, like, so we're
on set. There's a whole team of people that does
that for us, right, is the biggest thing. Huh, this
(13:22):
is a culinary crew. It's crazy. Yeah, we're doing each
recipe twice, two passes, so we're essentially getting four camera angles, like,
so we have to clean up and then do it again.
The addition it is quarantine. I just want I'm so
tired my hands I wish and we're you know, remember
(13:42):
that Paul Malave was it? You know, your hands get soft,
nine hands are gets off. You know. Luckily Sarah handles
most of it, she insists, but she's a she's a
trooper man. She's she's right in there with me because
the other, the other option is is not working. And
I you know, we all want to work here and
do we can too? Well, I feel like what I talk.
(14:02):
I can't feed people. I might as well entertain them. Right. Hey,
it's Mark Murphy and welcome to the second episode of
(14:23):
Food three sixty Live with Me. On the mic is
Emily Carpin. Our guest today a very good friend, Jeff
Morrow of Food Networks. The Kitchen. Well, here's the deal.
Is also, I think that you know that the public
is used to seeing your show every Saturday, and they're
they're gonna miss you if you just start. You can't
just start running reruns because times moving on and you've
(14:44):
got things to talk about, and you've got people to
talk about. It's it's interesting and and I'm interested. And
I said, you know, so where is this? Where is
this you know, quarantine thing taking us to And I'd
like to know from you obviously, Now I know one
thing you don't want to keep doing doing the show
from your house, Well, I'll do it as long as
it takes right forever. Yeah, if you're a trooper, I
(15:06):
know you'll think the ditch. You'll keep failing it until
it's until until we were allowed to go out and
do something else. But what have you learned new today
in this time, in the last four weeks or five
weeks roving? Wasn't it six months? Not that she's counting
or anything, But what have you learned that you're gonna
keep doing it when this is over? That made your life?
(15:27):
Is making your life easier? Is there anything that you
you can you can I mean, you know quantity towards
like oh this is actually why didn't I think of
this earlier. Um it is, I don't know, you know
what I mean, keep it at least from the recipe standpoint,
keep it a little from anything in your life right now. No,
(15:47):
that's I think any well, any first of all, like
is you know, let's get granular with the show. I mean,
it's if it's complicated to do it in this setting
in my kitchen twice over, it's probably complicated for the
home viewer to do it right. So keep it simple, right,
there's beauty and simplicity and cooking what you know, right,
cook what you know? Make it simple or simpler, you know,
(16:09):
I ain't in life. It's like it's shows. It's it's
given me greater patients that I think would wear thin
when I wouldn't get on a plane every five six days,
which I'm normally used to, and being in close quarters
really kind of hones that muscle that otherwise gets rest
when you jump on a plane. And I go to
(16:29):
New York every week almost you know, I'm somewhere every week.
I haven't been anywhere, I mean except around the block
with the dogs, you know, so it really has taught me,
uh some patient. I'm still working on patients, but it's
It's made me a more patient person, which I can
definitely translate to not only my home life, but also
being on set and hurrying things up like I like
(16:50):
to get I like to get moving, and television nothing's rare,
you know, things are rarely moving with with with speed.
I feel like and you guys are both part of
an ensemble cast, you know, co host right, How who
are you missing? Um? What's it been like doing it
on your own? For for both of you, I'm missing
(17:10):
I'm missing everybody collectives, being in a room with people
and riffing, you know, I think that's my That's so
much like for me, that's my I've been doing it.
My whole life is you know, a class clown in
you know, working rooms and feeding off people. And that's
what's beauty about the format. It's like I can lay
back and I wait and I throw a zinger in
there when it's appropriate or when it's not appropriate, then
(17:32):
it is cut it out. Uh. But so I'm missing
I'm missing doing that because now we're trying to replicate
it via zoom in and you know in telecommunication, you know, teleconferencing,
it's not the same. Man, I miss like human interaction live,
when you can see and smell the person. For me too,
(17:53):
it's like, you know, I, Well, first I think it's
a double edged short because I'm obviously we're doing a
lot of these cocktail hours with friends, were doing them
together ourselves, you and I and our families together. But
you know, I got to I got to have drinks
with my friend in Rome the other night, which I
never really I see her when I go to Rome.
And another friend of mine who were overheat goes in Connecticut.
We got together on on the thing and we have
(18:14):
we had a we had a drink together, so that
was fun. But I do miss the the human interaction,
the actual person standing there. I mean, I don't mind it.
I don't have to clean up after you, after you,
after we're done. I just pushed the button, you know,
and it's over. Yeah, it's always. I just don't ring
rings on the white table per usual, just various ash,
just ash everywhere exactly. Yeah, that's that's always. I mean,
(18:36):
it's also something very special that the energy you get
from people right when you're around them, the energy of
your co host energy, everybody that works there. It's been
hard to transition into this time and doing it alone. Yeah, no,
I don't. We are not shooting chopped remotely yet. I
don't know if that's ever something that it would be
able to do, but I think it would be difficult.
I don't even know how they would do that. I'm sure,
(18:57):
but you would do it if they asked you to
do I mean they if they found a way, you
do it right. Absolutely. I mean I'm gonna be doing
some I'm gonna be doing some live stuff here for
the app soon. They sent me a bunch of equipment,
which the wires as well. I'm gonna have to figure
that out. I'm telling you, I just did a I
just did three demos for partnership with a beer company,
(19:20):
and they sent everything and I am telling you three
metric ton of stuff, boxing cables, two cables to my
router in the basement, robotic camera. I mean it was
my head was spinning the last two days in our
kitchen was like as many chords as you put on
(19:41):
set a chop. So I mean, but you do it right,
I mean, because hey, I want to work. It's a
great opportunity and be It's like what else am I?
What else was I gonna do today? Honestly, I mean,
what take you know, take my fourth bath of the week,
so you are showering. That's a good I did. I
find I did shave that. The mustache last did the
(20:03):
first I don't know, two weeks, three weeks of quarantine,
and then I felt like it was like food was
getting I was like like taking SIPs of things and
going like this like Sam Elliott, you know, after a
sass barilla like and like sucking whatever. And I'm like,
oh my god, okay, we got it, we got it.
I made myself sick, I really did. It was horrible.
(20:25):
And then I bombed on my mustache, which I in
turn sucked out and then vomited. You know, it's a
vicious cycle. So that you've been playing a lot of music.
I saw you, Lorenzo jamming out the other day on Instagram.
You are you? I mean, this is such I'm so
jealous because obviously I know you're you're a musician and
you've got guitars and drums and flutes and whatever else
(20:45):
you got to the house, but playing you got harpsichord
back there too. I was I was never I was
I was never really given music lessons when I was
a kid, I was just getting yelled at all the time,
so they didn't have time to teach me anything but um,
but you got to learn all these kind of fun things.
And it must be great having that father is something
(21:07):
going on, well, like my son's on and and I know,
I know Cal and your son is a tremendous athlete
and baseball player and every you know, every sport he touches.
My son is I'm not saying he's not gifted, he
just never took a shining to it. So it was
always you know, he does taekwondo and he does UH
music in the School of Rock program. And for me
(21:28):
it was like, you know, let's see how he does.
Like I never like pushed it. But it's become since
I've played music since I was a kid, now he's
doing it. It's become like our catch, you know what
I mean. So father's sons they go out back, they
throw the ball around, which we do and stuff. But
like just getting to gathering jam and for fifteen minutes,
it's fun, like it's a release for both of us.
(21:49):
It's a good hobby, just something that you could pick
up at UH. You don't really need to depend on
anything for other than whatever skills you retained that day. Uh,
And it's such a release from like I could be
fairly crabby or tense or anxious or something and I
pick up I strumped something like seeing a little tune,
you know, and not even performing just for myself, and
(22:10):
then it's just there's nothing better. You know. Last time
I was, I was, I was grateful enough to be
a guest on on on the kitchen. I noticed you
had a whole setup on set. You have guitars and
other people coming and jam with you. They give you
your own little room there. That's pretty cool. Yeah, you know,
because I I've made myself a very simple and easy
(22:32):
to work with talent on set. I don't ask I
asked for coffee in the morning, and that's it. I
don't need a chicken for lunch. I don't need the
pale chips, I don't need none of that. I just
want that. And I've I think through the years, I've
pieced together and kind of uh commandeered a room in
our studio which has turned into my music room. Right,
nobody's really said at anything yet, I guess because I
(22:54):
don't be I'm not a paint and they ask to
work with. At least in my head, that's why. But
it is like my it is my thing, like it's
how I reset in between the twelve acts. We're shooting
a day, six acts per show. Two shows a day.
Kind of keeps me fresh and keeps me tight, you know,
well now and now. But of course you know, I
guess that the production is gonna learn now because of
(23:15):
the quarantine situation, that you can get your own damn coffee. Yeah, exactly.
I just shout out commands and nobody's listening here in
my own I get a getta that chicken nut branch
blt rep and nobody is gonna come crashing over your
head if you ask me too much, I think, Oh
my god, I know it's snap snapping my fingers. That's
(23:38):
that works to market? Yeah, um, what kind of news
it do you listen to when you cook? Oh my god,
everything which I'm listening to the new Fiona Apple album
that came out last week. So I'll listen to a
new album. I'll probably listen three four times through the
course of three four meals, uh, and let it soak in.
(23:59):
But or I make a determination as to whether or
not I will listen to it again. But I'm a
fan of like just like indie music, um, hip hop,
everything from the Strokes to Willco to Frank Sinatra, you know, anything.
Just it's it's all about mood and what day of
the week. You know, if it's like Monday, Tuesday, I
might not even listen to music. So it's like, let's
(24:20):
just get through this ship and like move on, you know,
joy the meal. But it's not time to like party,
especially now since because during this quarantine, Sarah and I
have had like a zero booze during the week policy.
That's a terrible policy. It is. It's not easy, but
it's it's it is. I'm like why, um, I know why.
She's fine. She can live off one vest of wine
(24:41):
a day for the rest of it. Me, it's a
little harder trying to say something to you. Hey. You know,
we all have our ways of communicating, and we're learning
about each other's day through the quarantine. So the music
out of the week, you know, I like it. I
have outdoor speakers. I got speakers out through my house
and I have vinyl records too that I can you know,
pumped throughout the house. So I'm it's always a constant
(25:03):
in the house, especially when cooking. It's like hard to
have both, you know, one without the other. You know me,
when I come to the beach house, I'm like, it's
play some mute. You know, I'm trips together. I'm always
very in tune to to what's being played. Um. Speaking
of trips, So when this is all over the house again,
(25:24):
where's your first trip? Where are you going? And am
I going with you? There were? I think we should
all go to toloom. I think that's first replicate that. Uh,
I'd love to go uh to Cayman. I love uh
Grant Cayman, Cayman Islands. I love their food. I love
the beach. It's so small, great people. Um. You know,
(25:46):
I'm just looking for, like before that, like I'm looking
forward to going somewhere with friends obviously, just like maybe
even without the kids, just an adult trip just to get,
you know, a way from that situation. I'm sure all
the parents would agree with me. Um, but I'm looking
for like going out to dinner with like a group.
(26:06):
Wasn't it sounds fun and having people bring you think? Yeah,
but you know what, actually, I think the kids are
probably excited about going to do something with their friends too.
I mean, I got two kids at home. I can't
imagine being a teenager or being like mean, I got
a thirteen in a sixteen year old. It's like man,
being without any friends around. I mean, like being a
teenager and not having friends to hang out with. It
(26:27):
the weirdest thing it is. And it's like, how is
it going to shape the generation right now? You know?
Is that is this going to become its own unique
generation independent of whatever Generation Z or the Zennials or
whatever the hell they call them now? But is it
like all the kids from in school aged right now,
we're gonna be forever change, you know. I don't know.
(26:48):
I was just gonna shape them in the future. I'm
just I'm just hoping in the end of all this
there's something good stuff comes out of it. I think
we're all learning a good lesson right now that the
planets taken a good, big breath of fresh air. I
feel like everybody's saying that the air is better. You know,
people can do a lot more things without actually having
to travel. I think, like I was just I was listening.
(27:09):
I think I think Cuombo was saying yesterday I was
talking about you know this uh what do they call it?
When you do the medicine with it with the fall
tell the medicine. Yeah, I mean, you know, if once
you get older, whatever everywhere, if easier to call the doctor,
just have a little face time with him. You don't
have to spend the money getting in the gas and
spend it and driving to the to the doctor's like
you know what, to take two asper and go to bed.
(27:33):
You know, everybody wins. Everybody went yeah, and you know,
every everybody should win. Like you're you know, more preserved.
And who knows how long this this this this virus
will be present in the whatever and on services, on
people and everything. And if you can, uh, you know,
reduce the risk of infection. I mean that's that's in
(27:54):
the nearer few, Like I don't see that. I think
anytime an old person walks into hospital, an old person,
a senior or one of our elders, it's risky whether
they fall or cut something or whatever. And if you
kind of mitigate that risk from people from all ages,
hospitals are like and I got friends in the hospital
right now. I had a very close friend in the
hospital and he had a liver transplant. I can't see him,
(28:16):
um and for his sake, for my like, you can't
even walk in a hospital right now, and that's it's crazy.
But plea, in the future, there will be a lot
less reasons to walk in the hospital. I'm looking at
the water at a restaurant first, I want to get
walk into a restaurant with a bunch of people at
the bar. Oh my god. And guess what happens when
(28:40):
you're done dining. You give them it's it's I don't
know if you guys remember, it's like a little card
that has digits on it and it holds information in
the cloud for your banking. And you give that to
them and you don't have to do any dishes. You
just give it to them and you get and then
you walk up and you leave. Yeah, and it comes
over and takes the dish from That's what I'm saying.
(29:03):
It's there and they're not robots. They're human people that
we love. They take that we love that want to
get back to doing that. M All find new traditions,
(29:30):
but I want to go back to some some some
family traditions. So you were born, raised in Chicago, you're
from a big family, Marcus Born was born in Italy.
Um Italian American family. What is your kind of favorite
family tradition, let's say Italian American and then Mark, I
want to hear your favorite kind of family tradition that
(29:51):
you will keep. My favorite is within the same breath, arguing,
laughing and crying, um while around the dinner table. I
don't know. I think for us, it's Christmas Eve has
always been big. Um. We hosted now so we have
thirty two up to thirty two people in our home.
The meal planning goes on for a year, you know,
(30:13):
prior we switched up the menu. Every year we up
and adhere to specific themes like Mexican or Greek or
all Americans. So I just love that, and you know
I missed, you know, I've I guess the greatest tradition
I learned growing is filling your house frequently, you know,
with people in family and friends. And obviously now not
(30:33):
to put it downer on it, but that's you know,
impossible about you. Mark. We were just talking to a
friend of ours in Washington and uh, she's Greek, and
she the Greek Easter was just just Sundays and she said,
you know, usually they have thirty or forty people over
for Greek Easter and they cook all this food. And
she says, I think I saved a lot of money
this year. Anybody whole Lambs aren't. Yeah, she said, she
(30:58):
still cooked a lot because it's just traditional. I mean
for me, I think, you know, traditionally, I think with
my family, Uh here is really I thinks Giving is
my favorite. I mean it's just like and it's it's
not even just the food. It's just getting together and
being with people, and it's just you know, and bringing
in people that don't have families or can't travel as far,
(31:18):
bringing them into the table and under your roof and
having a good time, and it's just it's just it's
a real And also what I'll always say about Thanksgiving
is I love that you can all get together and
you have to worry about buying people presents because you know,
you never know what to get Uncle this or and
I think enough over it. That's what I love about
thanks Giving. That just probably hands down my favorite because
(31:40):
they we don't host it, so we get to go.
We go to my in laws and I help her
cook and I get we get dinner on the table
and everything. But then I get up in lane and
then I go to my my cousins where all my
family my side is at, and then we drink and
have dessert. Usually bring a nice bottle of bourbon or
tequila or something. I don't have to clean, I don't
have to cook, I don't have the menu plan. It's
very you know, really axing, and you don't have like
(32:01):
lug gifts in and out of your car or worry
about the pressure. I'm I'm over it. I keep saying that.
I'm like, I don't want anything from anybody, but just
guess what. You're not getting anything from me. I'll make
you a mail, but you know what, like I'll wind,
I will get the great wine, great beautiful meat, all
this stuff. We'll put on a beautiful party. It's not
(32:22):
even about it's not about like being frugal or anything.
It's just it's a headache. And all you end up
with is like a sea of paper, you know, like
it doesn't even want. Half the time you get stuff,
it's like I don't need this, this is the last
thing I needed. Well, it sounds like you guys need
to make better list, maybe for your love shot a
little smarter is all I'm saying. Okay, alright, this is
(32:44):
where we're gonna cut her out of the screen. Uh no,
this is this is so I was I had something
really genius to say. Oh I just remembered it. So
I don't think it's a secret. But you're working on
a cookbook, right Yeah. I actually finished the photography the
day the lockdown happened, like that Sunday before that Monday.
(33:04):
So I worked on the book the first two weeks
of the quarantine, like finished the manuscripts. So it's it's
handed in. Everything's ready to go. Now hopefully a year,
you know, less than a year from now, it will
come out. God Willing who shot the book, Ken Goodman,
love you best salt of the earth. And you know
(33:28):
what we did it? We were lean and mean. We
had a couple of people my my like Sioux chef here,
my culinary producer here that I use, uh in, one
guy from Tim Macklin, our culinary producer from the kitchen,
and Ken and that was it. Rented an airbnb about
five minutes from my house. Ken and Tim stayed there
in the airbnb. We shot the whole thing on natural light.
(33:50):
It was lean and mean and everybody was a trained chef,
so it was like, no people like mucking stuff up.
You know, the food looked real, but it looked pretty,
and we moved with purpose like you would in a kitchen.
And it wasn't like let me run this through the chain,
let me you know, like that's that stuff war on me.
I mean, it's a tremendous amount of work though. I mean,
(34:11):
you know I knew it. I need to be, but
nothing prepares you for it. It's crazy. My cookbook as well.
It's like that's still a cookbook, so much fun. And
then it's like, oh my gosh, this takes so much,
so much work. It's really amazing how much work it is.
But now hopefully it's out before Christmas. And now you
know you don't have to buy anybody at present. You
just wrap up at a bunch of your cookbooks. Is
(34:31):
Mark Murphy television genius. I love it and it's not out.
You bring him a little postcard say when it comes out,
I'm good coming. Oh it's like a free coupon there
you go to be cashed in later. And people are
lesser value of court too. But I do, I mean
I don't want to. I do think that people kind
(34:51):
of assume that writing a cookbook is easy, and that
you know, I haven't always asked us, why don't you
have a cookbook? At it had been years, you've only
had the one. This is your first one. What's one
thing that you've learned from the process that, um, that
you would tell people that that they would probably assume
is much easier than it actually is. Don't do it, Um,
don't do it. Uh, it's it's it's not cheap. Um.
(35:16):
You know you got to dip into the pocket. I
think you're you know, as good as the people you
surround yourself. I learned that trust my instincts as far
as you know, who I wanted around me to do it.
And I think that I wasn't pressured into using like
fancier like more I don't know. I mean Ken, If
(35:36):
you know Ken, I mean can Can Ken is like
a legend almost in the business. Um, and it's a
great photographer. But I learned that you know, it's not
gonna happen overnight. And I you know, I learned a
lot about like my own voice too, as far as
writing the head notes, which I really went I think
(35:57):
pretty pretty deep into and I have some very lengthy
most head notes or lengthy, so it's almost closer to
it's like a hybrid memoir slash cookbook. A lot of
great stories in there. And I don't know, dude, I
was very relieved, you know, to to hand it in.
(36:19):
It was overwhelmingly uh you know, accomplished feelings. So not
ready to repeat it anytime soon. Yeah. Right, But for
people that don't know, head notes are each recipe that
goes into a cookbook, you have to write kind of
a story about either why you chose that recipe or
why it's a warrant to you, which is in itself
(36:40):
a lot of work. Yeah, it's almost more you know,
I mean, it's almost more work than the the recipe.
I mean the recipes I either had or we developed
or whatever. And you shoot them and you know, they
tweak them and then you make them look pretty and
all that. But it's like like that's your voice, and
I feel like I kept I think one of my
problems was like painting, repainting, you know, going back and
(37:03):
painting over the camba and like you know, it's like
sometimes you gotta step away and it's unlock it in,
you know what I mean done signed the painting. It's
it's amazing though, I mean, I've had my cookbooks been
out for a while, but I love that it does,
in the end bring me a lot of joy when
I get people telling me, either on social media or something,
(37:23):
that they cooked one of the dishes from the book
and that they loved it and their family loves it.
It's it's now one of their you know, they're they're
in their rotation and their family of what they're cooking.
It's really nice to be able to take a little
bit of something that you do and give it to
them to them to share with their family, which is
what basically as a chef for is somebody that's in
the food industry. We're we're looking to do that all
the time. Anyway, what do Yeah, Well, I was just
(37:45):
gonna ask you, what's two quick questions, Best dish and
worst isssu you've made during quarantine. You must have a clunker, now,
best dish I've made during quarantine. We'll start with the best, Sarah,
what was the best dish so far? We've been rush
in it. That's a fact, she says. She's eating carrots
(38:07):
like a freaking easter bunny, right, now crunching away, ruining
my audio. Um, I either we. I did lamb chops
this Saturday before Easter, um and they were like from
this place called Purely Meats that doesn't has done lamb
for generations, and I got them and you know, like
(38:27):
wet aged meat right has like a sweet smell to it,
especially with like lamb. It was like so funky. I
was like, I dry it out over that I on
a rack and I grilled him up with just some
Greek style potatoes, just peeled and halved and like simmered
for an hour and a half in lemon juice and
stock and butter. Um. And that was it. The lamb,
(38:48):
that the potatoes um and like a salad and it
was just the lamb was so funky and charred. It
was awesome. That was my favorite. The worst one. This
is this is a good This is a good. Uh.
I don't know what was it. I don't know. Maybe
(39:11):
I made pancakes one morning for Lorenzo, and I just
think like I undercooked him, you know, so they're like
gummy in the middle, but they looked really pretty and
I was like doing a live demo for him. It
just my heart wasn't in it, you know what I
mean when you're just like churning out demos because like
duty calls, but I wasn't connected, like my my, my
(39:33):
heart and the plate weren't connected. You know. It's and
he was like you are, They're pretty good. I'm like
it happens sometimes. It's funny you mentioned lampshops because I
just butchered some lampshops earlier, and they're marinating in olive oil,
and and that's what we're happening. I saw that on
your What does that mean? I means burning the fingers
(39:56):
because you're supposed to when you grill and you pick
them up, and you did with your fingers, like like fingers.
So Jack is your dream quarantine guest, dead or alive.
They can come over for dinner. Who are you? Who
are you picking? Or no? No, they gotta be with
(40:18):
the whole time, the quarantine. Who okay, who would you
input into that family? Right now? We need a fourth person.
It's a house of cards, man. No, we can't. We're
too tight just the three of us here. If we
had one more, I mean, it's like it's like it
doesn't take much to overload this little three pack we
(40:40):
got going, Um, good question. I would say, who's always
you know, who would I quarantine with? Alive? Or dad?
Man were like, who would you do? Have you have
you answered? This? Is it? Like? It's is it? At
least no one's asked us. I don't. I'm not even
(41:03):
I'm not a sure, but I'm almost thinking that I
would think that I would want to quarantine somebody that
my kids would be able to hang out with, because
I feel bad for them being you know, there's I
mean they're there's their brother and sister. They get along
really well, but I mean a mutual friend. What happened?
(41:24):
The dog just threw up. This is what happens online,
This is what happens outside, this is what happens on live.
I'm just gonna make sure he's outside. We'll clean that up.
It's very yellow. I think he I think he ate
some of the chickpeae curry I made earlier this morning.
Well maybe that's your worst dish that didn't it didn't settle? Well?
(41:47):
You know what I would You know what I would do?
I would like a like a robot. Can the quarantine
with a robot that like a super intelligent robot. You
know that can can um not only you know, obviously
do the dishes and clean up the kitchen, but also
clean up dog vomit. That is the color of a
(42:09):
you know, Mumbai sunset that I'm looking at right now.
I think I think the answer, Yeah, of course he's
clean up. I think I picked Jim gaff again a
comedian for sure, because that tears of a clown. Tears
of a clown. There you go, listen, Jess. I want
(42:34):
to thank you so much for for joining us. I
think this was fun. I think I hope you had fun.
I wish you were here in my house with me
quarantine so we could hang out and have a drink
together for a little bit. Yes, I know I miss you.
We miss you, guys. I know we've we've been talking
a lot, probably more, you know, more than we've ever
talked before. But I think that's gonna be our first
(42:54):
trip is down to the beach. Pop in the car.
Sarah actually just got tested and she's negative, so she
was positive. It's like donly test you wanna, you know,
but still exactly, I don't want to anybody exactly like
what a world? All right? Love you guys, Love you too, brother, Toodles,
(43:17):
mick doodles,
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