February 24, 2025 • 25 mins
This episode showcases three exceptional female chefs who have triumphed at the World Food Championships, sharing their insights on Southern cuisine, competition, and the challenges of restaurant ownership. Their stories are rich with tradition, perseverance, and the love of cooking that connects them and inspires their culinary innovations.
• Introduction of the chefs and their culinary journeys
• Discussion of their award-winning competition dish
• Insights into the challenges of restaurant ownership
• The importance of camaraderie and collaboration in the culinary world
• Reflections on the authenticity and execution of Southern cooking
• Rapid fire question segment revealing personal preferences
• Closing thoughts on the future of Southern cuisine and competition
Connect with Chelsea and her team here: https://www.instagram.com/southrngritskitchen/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, kristen, here we are, man.
World Food Championships.
Our first interview, our firstkind of podcast here today, yeah
Right, so I'm walking throughthe venue real quick and I see
these three right here.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Amazing women.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
First time I see you guys, you're actually walking.
You weren't even cooking oranything yet and I said yo.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Them, them, they're the first ones.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
We need them to fire us up and get this thing going
right, right, yeah, hell, yeah,they did.
So we're going to ask you somequestions at the end here, but
right now, what I really want tohear is and whoever wants to
start, go for it.
Right, that around your neck,okay?
Yes, you are wearing the medal,so you won yesterday's
competition.
That's going to bring you intothe finals of this thing,
correct?
But you guys worked togetherfor a long time, right?
(00:41):
You guys?
This isn't your first rodeotogether.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Well, it's our first rodeo for competing.
Oh wow, yes, so I met CJ byreviewing her restaurant.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Good reviews are shitty.
Please Tell me.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
She's still alive, isn't she?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah.
But she was like, hey, you wantto come cook some whole snapper
in my kitchen?
And I was like sure, why thehell not?
So that's how we became bestfriends.
That's the best, and then mewas her sous chef, so like all
three of us have been justfriends for about a year.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
That's amazing.
That's awesome.
So when you win this, you feelwonderful.
You're on top of the world,you're going into the finals.
You guys, as a team, pulled it,knocked it out right.
So you, you're a restaurantowner, correct?
Yes, and how's that going foryou?
What do you think of this life?
Speaker 3 (01:27):
I've only been a restaurant owner for about a
year and that first year was, um, a little bit like hell and a
little bit like heaven.
It's kind of like when you havechildren.
It's like the most wonderfulthing and the most torturous
thing in your entire life right,yeah, yeah, you're also in the
same.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
You're the sous chef there.
I'm not a sous chef anymore.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
I have my food truck now.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Oh good, oh wow, that's a whole new world.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Okay, so we do need to get the info, so introduce
yourselves each individually,and where you're at and where
the restaurant is.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
I'm Chef CJ.
I am the owner and chef at theBarrel Room in Enterprise
Alabama.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Barrel Room nice I.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I am Chelsea of Southern Grits Kitchen on
Facebook, Instagram and TikTokand I do food blogging.
I'm a columnist, I'm a chef aswell.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
And you're an ass kicker too, in the kitchen,
right.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Oh yeah, Professional .
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Right into the mic, chef B.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
And I'm Bronco Chef B .
I help keep Turkey andEnterprise Alabama called
Non-Stop Donors.
I sell the Turkish German donutkebab.
I just launched it in September, Pretty excited about that.
I love it.
All right, let's get to thecompetition.
Tell everybody what youcompeted in, how it went
yesterday, how everything waswhat you competed in.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
We're in the rice category and we brought a little
bit of salt up here and made afried rice grit cake with some
braised collards, a Cajun creamsauce, sauce, some pan seared
scallops and fried lemon wow,those combinations.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Right, there are flavors, you said it yourself.
So that's the south representedin a fucking boom in one in one
hammer.
So every aspect and every uhlevel of that, every layer, has
to be done in the traditionalsouthern way.
Right, it has, or better with alittle elevation with a little
elevation, right.
So you got to really executethat right.
So you know, when you mess witha grit or grit cake or whatever
it may be, everyone's doingthat, but there's only this many
(03:10):
people who do it right, right,and then to win the competition
you have to do it better thanthem, right, right.
So that's amazing.
The braids, collards, a lot ofpeople totally underrated, right
, I think.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Oh my god, yeah, totally underrated everybody in
the south like well, not in thesouth.
But everybody up north thinkseverybody in the south just
soaks everything in meat juice,right, like just meat water
everything.
That's the common thought, andit doesn't have to be that, like
some people soak their collardsor cook their collards for like
12 hours, I only cook them forlike 45 minutes because you want
that bite and the salty andlike the meat and the Like tang
and the like vinegar and thesugar and the spice and like
(03:41):
everything in there.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
it's not just a one hit wonder is there any meat
into roast at all in yours, oris it?
Smoked turkey smoked turkeyperfect, so that's good.
So the smoke brings it in there.
But you're absolutely right.
You know the problem with thegreens and especially on what
you were doing there.
If you do overcook, that, thatruins your whole dish anyway,
because you're gonna get thatyou know what water?
Yeah, why a crispy?
You're not gonna have nothingcrispy at that point.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Yeah, I stopped eating baby food at like two
years old.
I don't want it no more, yeahright.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
And no babies and no baby food.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
I want like texture and flavor and layers and just
like all the elements ofeverything.
You know.
Like I went to culinary school,v went to culinary school.
I don't know how she became amagician, like just everything,
like she's cooked everythingunder the sun.
She could talk to you hours,hours about like growing up and
like slaughtering animals andsome of the stuff that this
woman has eaten, so you justcook by natural default.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah, my great-grandma and my mama, which
is my grandma.
They both taught me how to cook, so I've been cooking since I
was in high-tier grasshopper.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
And what people might not know is that not only did
you cook, you're beating people,you're beating chefs right in
this thing and your Food Networkdeal you beat.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Talk about that real quick.
I was on out chef season 3,episode 2.
3 episode 2, I mean AlexGornoschelli 3 to 1.
So that's why we are iron grits, because I beat an iron chef,
nice yeah that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
So we're talking to some.
Some, I mean the talent in thisroom, the talent behind us
Mike's right here is out ofcontrol.
I look into what I do and I'malways surrounded by talented
people either way, so it keepsmy level up, right, I can't sit
here and talk to you guys if Idon't know what the hell I'm
talking about, right, so itdrives me to consistently learn
more.
And I'm not a Southern cook,but I am a Southern eater, right
(05:18):
and when.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
I get shitty.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Southern food.
I want to ball it up andfucking throw it right at them.
Right, I hate it because it caneasily be screwed up and it's
one of them dishes everyonethinks is easy.
Southern food is not easy tocook.
You have to learn how to makeit, and the hardest part to me
about Southern cooking islearning it.
Executing it.
Okay, I get it, but you got tohave ties, man.
(05:41):
That's not something that justgets handed out.
But you gotta have ties, man.
That's not something that justgets handed out.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
You gotta have an in somewhere to get that Southern
cooking Real Southern fooddoesn't require recipes as well
Like you, season until yourancestors tell you to stop.
Right and like it's like builtinto you.
You know what the flavorpalette is supposed to be.
You know what the textures aresupposed to be Like.
Southern food isn't justopening a cookbook.
You have to pour your heart,your soul into it to make it
comforting.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
So are you guys?
Of course you are.
I already know the answer here,but let's talk about it in a
fun way.
When you go to a Southernrestaurant, you're looking,
you're critiquing, you'refucking them up, You're
automatically right away.
You're walking in that door.
Oh no, I'm a chef.
I don't critique other people'sfood, trust me.
Bullshit.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Don't send us to a restaurant together.
We're bad.
We're so fucking bad.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
So you're a monster blogger and you're a chef.
How about you when you go in?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I'm just enjoying the food.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
You don't care right.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
At the same time, I'm thinking about how I can make
this better at home.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
She's way less vocal than we are.
Like we were sitting in the bareating and people where we live
already know from like our face.
Like they always say.
Like fix your face.
Like I can't fix my face.
If I don't like, if I don'tlike something, you know that I
(06:56):
don't like it.
Right?
If I like something, then I,you know I like it.
And if I'm like completely,like in the middle on it,
there's no such thing, right?
Speaker 1 (07:05):
It's either there or not and you're like fix your
face yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
When we were sitting at the bar.
I don't remember where we'regoing, or where we're coming
from.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
I know where we were.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Yeah, but so there was a food show on the TV and
we're sitting there talkingabout it and we had so much
commentary on that show that thestaff was sitting at the end of
the bar listening to us talkabout the show and then watching
us eat the food.
And then I was like we need todo like some kind of mystery
science theater, like commentthing, like in one of our houses
somewhere.
(07:34):
Because, we bounce off eachother.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
so much you have to.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
So when I walk into a restaurant, right, my friends,
everybody I'm with, they're likeoh we got to go out with a chef
, with the chef, you know.
No, I honestly, honestly, don'tgo out critiquing or else I'll
be disappointed anytime.
I just want to eat a burger.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Yeah, so I've learned a long time ago not to do that
right we do it with each other,but when we're in a group, we
just make eye contact and weknow what our expressions are.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Yeah, yeah, this is dry.
Your face has your face right?
Speaker 1 (08:01):
yeah, exactly, exactly but here's the deal.
So last night I'm gonna tellyou you a story.
Last night I went out for asteak.
I just wanted a steak.
I'm telling you.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
I already told him about our experience last night.
Okay, I went out for a steak,right.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
So I had to literally explain to this person what the
steak reminded me of, right?
Because it was so fucking bad.
I'm not going to lie to you.
I usually don't say anything.
I never send anything back, Ijust take it for what it is.
But sometimes, if something isso bad, you got to say something
.
So there's a story.
I was a young kid, I was eightyears old.
I was riding down the railroadtracks a little trail in the
tracks, and I had a mini bikeright, and I was learning how to
(08:39):
ride the damn thing.
Something happened along theway and I crashed and I went
over the handlebars and hit myface on the front tire, somehow
right.
And I told the guy this storyright, just like this.
And I said you know what thissteak tastes like, that tire?
Okay, so you did.
This.
Cooking brought me back to myyouth.
But that's the part thatbrought me back to me when I
crashed on my motorcycle and atea tire.
That's what this tasted like tome and I don't ever say
(09:01):
something like that, but thatwas bad, I'm not gonna put them
on blast yeah, I'm gonna do that.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Was everybody's meal bad?
No, it wasn't.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
It wasn't phenomenal, it was the most ratchet
high-end steakhouse we have everbeen to at our we went to a
southern restaurant last nightin indianapolis, which was not
the best decision, but we likedthe graphics um, hey, a good
logo gets you right, it was cuteit was and I love the venue and
I'm not gonna name it yeah butI think a little bit of
(09:27):
everybody's food, and the onlything that was good was one dish
and I had some brisket meatloafthat I have never had brisket
that fucking dry in my life andI was just like, and the dude,
and if you can't cook a perfectgreen bean, if your green bean
does not snap when yes, when youcrunch on it get out then, you
(09:49):
should not be in the kitchenjust leave, yeah, just go home
and the dude asked me if hewanted me to box it or wanted
him to box it, and I was like no, oh my God, thank you.
Though, and in the back of mymind, I was like please tell
them that they need to learn howto make proper brisket yeah,
put that box, make it a casketand then the fried chicken
they're known for.
I was just like that is not.
I mean, the brine was good, thebrine was really good, the
(10:11):
brine was really good, but Idon't know what the hell they
were doing with the chickenExecution, it comes down to
execution.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
It wasn't a thick crunchy crust without the sweat
and without the crunch.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Being a restaurant owner and working in the
restaurants, right, we know thateverything had to start If they
were busy and the venue wasnice.
No, it wasn't busy, they werenot.
You got to wonder where did theexecution go wrong?
Because nobody started that andit's still around a year or two
later, three years later,correct.
Something went wrong in theexecution, somewhere where maybe
the owner left, or maybe hedoesn't care anymore.
(10:45):
She doesn't care anymore, ormaybe the staff has more power
over the owner than the ownerdoes over them, but something
went wrong.
And it's horrible to say and Idon't like that and I feel bad.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Appearance-wise, it looked like it was executed
correctly.
Appearance-wise, the disheswere gorgeous.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
So there was pride in the appearance, just lack of
education in the process?
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Yeah, so in the appearance, just lack of
education in the process.
Yeah, so, like I run myrestaurant and I have like a
staff and some of my staff hassome experience, but like my
lead right now, she never workedin a restaurant before now.
She day one she was actuallysupposed to be a server and my
front of house person wanted tofire her really and I was like,
well, let me give her a shot inthe kitchen.
She has to see how she doesback there and she went from not
(11:24):
knowing anything aboutprofessional cooking to being my
lead in like four monthsbecause she had the drive, she
had the execution, she had thelike she wants to learn like
anytime somebody comes in thereand shows her anything, she just
absorbs it and she always wantsto suggest dishes too.
So I'm trying to teach her thedifference between like a home,
like cooking at home, and thenrestaurant presentation and rest
(11:47):
like restaurant style cooking.
And she's picking it up alittle bit, um, but so, like at
this restaurant that we went to,it was the appearance was
gorgeous.
So if you look at it coming outof the kitchen it looks like
it's exactly what it's supposedto be, but like with the green
beans.
If you just flash fried thosethings, they'd'd be perfect, but
it really tastes like they justblanched them too long and then
(12:07):
just heated them to send themout.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
So down south, I know this Well, you're talking about
the green beans.
This is the perfect level ofwhat we're talking about the
execution.
I understand what I'm going tosay.
You're going to wince atbecause you should, but the
canned green beans with thebacon right that they do in some
of these southern places andwater on their face.
(12:29):
Look at her face.
Make sure we put something onwarning.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
So so you know that's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
There was a day, at point in time, where I know some
of these people were cookinggreen beans proper and they said
you know what?
Let's just fucking save thetime and money, because when
whoever was doing it may haveleft or something, and that's
how these places go down, and Ithink that's what happens to a
lot of these places.
That place we went last nightwas a beautiful venue.
It was packed to the fuckinghill.
The damn ratings on it wereamazing and I'm not being picky
(12:56):
this place was straight up.
I I almost think it was almostpart of the act how the service
was and it was.
I mean, these guys were goodguys, they were nice dudes and
everything, and I totally thinkthey would rock and roll in a
different environment.
They would be stellar, right,but they were just getting by on
what they knew and they knew somuch that they got by easily,
right, but if they were honed in, it would have been a nice
(13:17):
place.
Somewhere along the line.
That went wrong Somewhere alongthe line because the place
didn't start that way't.
We all didn't sit there and gothere under the assumption of
what we see.
We're seeing it right, we'renot.
This isn't a perception.
We're looking at.
You walk in this place gottheir shit together at one point
in time.
What the fuck happened on myplate?
What happened to us when?
What happened to us here?
(13:38):
You know I'm saying obviouslysomething went wrong and they're
just going in flow right.
That doesn't happen here.
You got medals on.
You guys are doing it right.
You're holding the standardhigh and that is amazing.
I cannot wait to actually gocheck you out.
I'm going to go in your area atsome point in time and I want
your restaurant to be there.
I want everything to be just aswe're talking today.
I want success for you guys.
I'm already following you andwe've already talked about it.
(14:01):
It's an amazing time and Ithink that anything that you
guys are doing to represent therestaurant industry is
phenomenal.
Like I said yesterday, when Isaw you three walking around,
right away I told her they getit, they get it, and that makes
me happy, because you don't haveto be all pretty, do you?
You know what I mean.
When you're you, it's going tocome out in your food, I can
(14:22):
tell.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Yeah, when we were talking about coming here, I was
like, what do you want to do?
Because, like my restaurant is,so I've traveled all over the
world because I was in themilitary, v's traveled all over
the world.
She was in the military, so wepulled in a lot of things from
other places that we've been.
My last overseas assignment wasitaly, so I have a lot of
influence from there.
Like fresh ingredients farm totable and that's basically how I
try to run my restaurant.
Like we're a from scratchkitchen, like I think 85% of
(14:45):
everything we put out is madein-house, like we start prep
early every day, even on ourdays that were closed and um.
So when I asked her what shewanted to do, like I was
throwing ideas out there andshe's like, no, it's not
southern enough, it's notsouthern enough.
Like I'm sticking to.
Like even like we were talkingto somebody yesterday, she was
very hard fast at sticking toher roots, like elevating it,
but bringing her here, not justbringing a dish that we think
(15:08):
will win, but bringing a dishthat represents everything that
she has built all of herreputation on.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Yeah, you guys are doing a great job and I can see
when you were cooking yesterday.
I have some B-roll and we'regoing to put that on.
I actually have that.
I stole what you posted of youwinning or being called for the
winner, so we're going to putthat B-roll on during this
segment.
Once we're on YouTube and weput this up and edit and
(15:35):
everything, we're going to putthat B-roll on there so people
can see.
We're going to love to see allthat stuff and you guys are
really doing a great job.
Thank you for what you're doingfor the restaurant industry all
of you and thank you for yourservice.
I'm a veteran as well.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
What branch?
Thank you for your service.
What?
Speaker 1 (15:50):
branch All represented, marine and the
Coast Guard will be all right,right, right.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
You got the whole thing.
Coast Guard had a bunch ofteams down there.
They had a winner.
Yeah, we're going to talk tothem.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Let's do something fun.
We got a rapid fire Questionsright.
We're going to throw them outthere.
Crystal's going to read them.
I'm going to do in.
So I mean, cj, you can go first.
Let's work our way down, sowe'll stay in a rotation, okay.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
All right.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
So first question is your go-to?
Speaker 2 (16:30):
kitchen tool, no matter what.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Chef knife.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Iron skillet Spatula.
All right, okay, chef, knife'snot allowed.
Go ahead.
Okay, chef, that's not allowed.
Go ahead One more, oh God.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Whisk?
I'm not sure it says whisk.
Taker Mine handheld chinoissmall.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Throw that whisk in a circle.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
We got it Okay, all right.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Next one.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
What puts you in the mood?
More Smell or visual Smell?
Visual Smell, all right, worworst position in the kitchen.
So that kind of position we got, went there real quick.
(17:15):
Okay, all right, not dishwasher.
We're bending over, all right.
Oh sorry, we're talking aboutthis, no it could have been.
I knew you were going to gothere, though, all right, best
position in the kitchen.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Expo yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Expo, expo, expo is good, agreed, favorite, favorite
ingredient ever Shit, shit.
That was where I was last nightwas theirs.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Right, same we're having dinner.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Oh, my favorite ingredient, oh.
That smoked salt you got waskiller.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Smoked salt is good.
I get a good one from Iceland.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
We have a local one in Alabama.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Oh, really it's called Shug's.
Okay, give me that link afterlet's plug them.
So good, okay, plug them if youwant Go ahead.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Shug's smokes salt and they do paprika and they're
ballin'.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
And they're ballin'.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Okay, bang out, I like it All right.
What method of cookingintimidates you the most?
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Intimidates me the most, oh God.
Well, I'm not reallyintimidated, but I guess the
thing I don't like cooking withthe most is an air fryer that
works.
What's that thing calledPressure cooker?
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Yeah, yeah, I have an air fryer.
I collect the dust Air fryer.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Yeah, worst method.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
I don't like it.
Okay, if microwaving was amethod, I cannot.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Anything, not even reheated Worst one.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
So you're not intimidated by anything like
that.
I guess what we're looking foris French cooking.
Oh, yeah.
I mean the beans and stuff likethat, you know.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
French, for sure.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
French, yeah, or like the British stuff.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
I can't get down with the beans you can't get down
with the meat pie.
You don't need to, oh no.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
I love.
It All right, what else do we?
Speaker 2 (18:55):
got All right favorite fast food restaurant Go
.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Oh, the one where you can get like the corn dog and
the barbecue sandwich thatstarts with a C Cookout yes,
cookout yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
That's a good one.
That's a good one.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
You can get whatever you want Shelly's and Rally's.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Yeah, shelly's and Rally's, perfect.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I'm not a fast food person either, but Culver's.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Okay, I have not had that Culver's.
We saw that last night.
What is this?
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Culver's.
It's like a smash burger butterburger.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
There we have Culver's.
We saw it last night.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
It was popping last night, so alright.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Here we go.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
If your kitchen was a car, what kind of car would it
be?
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Oh God, like a 1980s pickup truck.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Yeah, perfect.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
I live in a double-wide, so it's going to be
like a Pinto.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
I love it, I love it.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
I have a little food truck, but I'm upgrading, so I'm
going from like a studio tolike a one-bedroom apartment
Nice.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
That's good, okay.
Baking, yes or no, no, hell, no, no.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
I hate baking.
That was pretty good across theboard.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Don't ask me to measure nothing Gloves or
washing your hands.
Gloves, gloves, quicker Gloves,all right.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Glove, glove.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Do you know the owner ?
What do you think of that?
I know the owner.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
I know at least one of her personalities.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Of the seven.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
So we brought that question up because you always
go into the restaurant and youalways have the people we know,
the owner.
What do you feel about that?
When someone says that Half thetimes I don't know about it.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
So my restaurant is small.
It only has at max 80 seats,including the bar, and we have a
very small staff.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
That's not that small , that At max 80 seats including
the bar, and we have a verysmall staff.
That's not that small, that'spretty good 80 seats.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
That's decent.
It's small compared to likemost of the restaurants in our
area.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Okay gotcha.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Yeah, because it's 40 inside and 40 outside.
I built a patio onto it when Ibought it.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
It was just like a little tiny place.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
So our staff is small , Like I only have like three.
We have one bartender and threeservers max.
So if somebody calls out I'mpicking up something somewhere.
So when I'm bartending andsomebody says I know the owner,
I'm like oh my god, I know theowner.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
There you go.
That's what I'm waiting to hear.
That's what?
Yeah, that's what I'm waitingto hear.
That bitch, exactly thathappens to me all the time.
One guy I was in there.
I pulled into my motorcycle,I'm outside, I'm waiting to go
in my own place.
I left my, so I'm waiting formy sous chef to show up.
He's right behind me, not far,and the guy's waiting in there
and he's like I got to come in.
I have a meeting with the owner.
I go do you what time is thatat?
(21:22):
It's any time now.
It's any time.
I got to get in.
Okay, cool, I'll let him knowwhen you get.
What's our meeting about, bro,because I am the owner.
He's like oh shit, there was nomeeting after, because he was
just he wanted to get in the barearly.
Funny as shit.
But I know the owner.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Final question All right, if you could cook with
anyone, who would it be?
These two?
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Aw, I was going to say Sean Brock but these two,
these two, I love that.
I love these bitches.
I'm going to keep them.
That was a pageant answer.
That was a pageant answer Iwant to save the world.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
I love it, I did those for 13 years.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Okay, you know, I understand.
Give me the wave, yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
How about you?
Speaker 2 (22:05):
If I was like a celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay,
gordon Ramsay, yeah, gordonRamsay, yeah, that's cool.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
He's a good chef.
I can't lie.
I think mine would be JeremiahTurner or Jamie Oliver.
Jamie Oliver, jamie Oliver,he's good, he's awesome, makes
things happen out of nothing.
I love him.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
I watched the episode where he was going into schools
and trying to make foodhealthier and stuff.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Yeah, I saw that it was good.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
My favorite one is when he makes real chicken
nuggets and the kids are likeI'd still eat it and he was like
what he's like?
This did not go how I plannedWell that's great.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Listen, it was awesome having you ladies on
here.
We really appreciate it.
Strength in representing womenin this fucking industry is huge
.
I'm a huge advocate of it.
I stand behind you.
You know what I mean.
The whole way.
I'm your biggest.
I'm the biggest cheerleader.
I love it.
Keep doing what you're doing.
I had the honor to meet youguys here.
This is the first time we meet,but not the last time we see
each other.
That's awesome and glad to bein this industry with you and
(23:00):
sharing it.
And Kristen is as well.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Exactly so, as we close it out, go ahead and
introduce you and tell everybodywhere they can find each of you
online, so they know Well we'rein Southeast Alabama.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
This is the B in Enterprise Alabama.
I'm Chef CJ, I run it withamazing staff and my partner
Tanner Kerrigan.
We're just rocking it out.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
We've been in business for about a year and a
half.
I'm working on it.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I've got to do it.
Oh, hold on the competition isstarting.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Hold on, we are live.
It got loud real quick Someonetell him to stop yelling.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Why are you hollering ?
Speaker 1 (23:37):
What's he yelling about?
Speaker 2 (23:38):
That's for sure.
Y'all can just click forkitchen.
You can talk about signing on.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
All right, go ahead.
Thanks for waiting.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
You can find me on Instagram, tiktok and Facebook.
Southern Grits Kitchen withoutthe E in Southern, oh okay.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Okay, I was drunk and playing Call of Duty when that
made it Southern Grits Cooking.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Southern Grits Kitchen Kitchen.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Southern Grits Kitchen.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
And I have a food truck I just opened in southeast
Alabama, in Enterprise Alabama.
It's Non-Stop Donor, and non isspelled like the bread N-A-A-N,
and you can find me on Facebookand Instagram, all right.
So what's next in thecompetition for you as we wrap
it up, yep.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Duck Sweet.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Okay, how are we going?
Speaker 1 (24:11):
with it Smoked sous vide pan fried crisp or do we
not know?
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Oh, she ain't telling you, we're changing it.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
We're gonna.
We're gonna.
You're gonna have to bribe uswith a whole lot more to get
that information.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Yes, Okay, I'm just gonna go down there and look.
I know, yeah, that's all I'mgonna do.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
I'm gonna invade your kitchen space.
All right, kristen, here we are, man.
World Food Championships.
Our first interview, our firstkind of podcast here today, yeah
Right, so I'm walking throughthe venue real quick and I see
these three right here.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Amazing women.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
First time I see you guys, you're actually walking.
You weren't even cooking oranything yet and I said yo.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Them, them, they're the first ones.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
We need them to fire us up and get this thing going
right, right, yeah, hell, yeah,they did.
So we're going to ask you somequestions at the end here, but
right now, what I really want tohear is and whoever wants to
start, go for it.
Right, that around your neck,okay?
Yes, you are wearing the medal,so you won yesterday's
competition.
That's going to bring you intothe finals of this thing,
correct?
But you guys worked togetherfor a long time, right?
(00:41):
You guys?
This isn't your first rodeotogether.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Well, it's our first rodeo for competing.
Oh wow, yes, so I met CJ byreviewing her restaurant.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Good reviews are shitty.
Please Tell me.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
She's still alive, isn't she?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah.
But she was like, hey, you wantto come cook some whole snapper
in my kitchen?
And I was like sure, why thehell not?
So that's how we became bestfriends.
That's the best, and then mewas her sous chef, so like all
three of us have been justfriends for about a year.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
That's amazing.
That's awesome.
So when you win this, you feelwonderful.
You're on top of the world,you're going into the finals.
You guys, as a team, pulled it,knocked it out right.
So you, you're a restaurantowner, correct?
Yes, and how's that going foryou?
What do you think of this life?
Speaker 3 (01:27):
I've only been a restaurant owner for about a
year and that first year was, um, a little bit like hell and a
little bit like heaven.
It's kind of like when you havechildren.
It's like the most wonderfulthing and the most torturous
thing in your entire life right,yeah, yeah, you're also in the
same.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
You're the sous chef there.
I'm not a sous chef anymore.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
I have my food truck now.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Oh good, oh wow, that's a whole new world.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Okay, so we do need to get the info, so introduce
yourselves each individually,and where you're at and where
the restaurant is.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
I'm Chef CJ.
I am the owner and chef at theBarrel Room in Enterprise
Alabama.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Barrel Room nice I.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I am Chelsea of Southern Grits Kitchen on
Facebook, Instagram and TikTokand I do food blogging.
I'm a columnist, I'm a chef aswell.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
And you're an ass kicker too, in the kitchen,
right.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Oh yeah, Professional .
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Right into the mic, chef B.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
And I'm Bronco Chef B .
I help keep Turkey andEnterprise Alabama called
Non-Stop Donors.
I sell the Turkish German donutkebab.
I just launched it in September, Pretty excited about that.
I love it.
All right, let's get to thecompetition.
Tell everybody what youcompeted in, how it went
yesterday, how everything waswhat you competed in.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
We're in the rice category and we brought a little
bit of salt up here and made afried rice grit cake with some
braised collards, a Cajun creamsauce, sauce, some pan seared
scallops and fried lemon wow,those combinations.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Right, there are flavors, you said it yourself.
So that's the south representedin a fucking boom in one in one
hammer.
So every aspect and every uhlevel of that, every layer, has
to be done in the traditionalsouthern way.
Right, it has, or better with alittle elevation with a little
elevation, right.
So you got to really executethat right.
So you know, when you mess witha grit or grit cake or whatever
it may be, everyone's doingthat, but there's only this many
(03:10):
people who do it right, right,and then to win the competition
you have to do it better thanthem, right, right.
So that's amazing.
The braids, collards, a lot ofpeople totally underrated, right
, I think.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Oh my god, yeah, totally underrated everybody in
the south like well, not in thesouth.
But everybody up north thinkseverybody in the south just
soaks everything in meat juice,right, like just meat water
everything.
That's the common thought, andit doesn't have to be that, like
some people soak their collardsor cook their collards for like
12 hours, I only cook them forlike 45 minutes because you want
that bite and the salty andlike the meat and the Like tang
and the like vinegar and thesugar and the spice and like
(03:41):
everything in there.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
it's not just a one hit wonder is there any meat
into roast at all in yours, oris it?
Smoked turkey smoked turkeyperfect, so that's good.
So the smoke brings it in there.
But you're absolutely right.
You know the problem with thegreens and especially on what
you were doing there.
If you do overcook, that, thatruins your whole dish anyway,
because you're gonna get thatyou know what water?
Yeah, why a crispy?
You're not gonna have nothingcrispy at that point.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Yeah, I stopped eating baby food at like two
years old.
I don't want it no more, yeahright.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
And no babies and no baby food.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
I want like texture and flavor and layers and just
like all the elements ofeverything.
You know.
Like I went to culinary school,v went to culinary school.
I don't know how she became amagician, like just everything,
like she's cooked everythingunder the sun.
She could talk to you hours,hours about like growing up and
like slaughtering animals andsome of the stuff that this
woman has eaten, so you justcook by natural default.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah, my great-grandma and my mama, which
is my grandma.
They both taught me how to cook, so I've been cooking since I
was in high-tier grasshopper.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
And what people might not know is that not only did
you cook, you're beating people,you're beating chefs right in
this thing and your Food Networkdeal you beat.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Talk about that real quick.
I was on out chef season 3,episode 2.
3 episode 2, I mean AlexGornoschelli 3 to 1.
So that's why we are iron grits, because I beat an iron chef,
nice yeah that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
So we're talking to some.
Some, I mean the talent in thisroom, the talent behind us
Mike's right here is out ofcontrol.
I look into what I do and I'malways surrounded by talented
people either way, so it keepsmy level up, right, I can't sit
here and talk to you guys if Idon't know what the hell I'm
talking about, right, so itdrives me to consistently learn
more.
And I'm not a Southern cook,but I am a Southern eater, right
(05:18):
and when.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
I get shitty.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Southern food.
I want to ball it up andfucking throw it right at them.
Right, I hate it because it caneasily be screwed up and it's
one of them dishes everyonethinks is easy.
Southern food is not easy tocook.
You have to learn how to makeit, and the hardest part to me
about Southern cooking islearning it.
Executing it.
Okay, I get it, but you got tohave ties, man.
(05:41):
That's not something that justgets handed out.
But you gotta have ties, man.
That's not something that justgets handed out.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
You gotta have an in somewhere to get that Southern
cooking Real Southern fooddoesn't require recipes as well
Like you, season until yourancestors tell you to stop.
Right and like it's like builtinto you.
You know what the flavorpalette is supposed to be.
You know what the textures aresupposed to be Like.
Southern food isn't justopening a cookbook.
You have to pour your heart,your soul into it to make it
comforting.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
So are you guys?
Of course you are.
I already know the answer here,but let's talk about it in a
fun way.
When you go to a Southernrestaurant, you're looking,
you're critiquing, you'refucking them up, You're
automatically right away.
You're walking in that door.
Oh no, I'm a chef.
I don't critique other people'sfood, trust me.
Bullshit.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Don't send us to a restaurant together.
We're bad.
We're so fucking bad.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
So you're a monster blogger and you're a chef.
How about you when you go in?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I'm just enjoying the food.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
You don't care right.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
At the same time, I'm thinking about how I can make
this better at home.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
She's way less vocal than we are.
Like we were sitting in the bareating and people where we live
already know from like our face.
Like they always say.
Like fix your face.
Like I can't fix my face.
If I don't like, if I don'tlike something, you know that I
(06:56):
don't like it.
Right?
If I like something, then I,you know I like it.
And if I'm like completely,like in the middle on it,
there's no such thing, right?
Speaker 1 (07:05):
It's either there or not and you're like fix your
face yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
When we were sitting at the bar.
I don't remember where we'regoing, or where we're coming
from.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
I know where we were.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Yeah, but so there was a food show on the TV and
we're sitting there talkingabout it and we had so much
commentary on that show that thestaff was sitting at the end of
the bar listening to us talkabout the show and then watching
us eat the food.
And then I was like we need todo like some kind of mystery
science theater, like commentthing, like in one of our houses
somewhere.
(07:34):
Because, we bounce off eachother.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
so much you have to.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
So when I walk into a restaurant, right, my friends,
everybody I'm with, they're likeoh we got to go out with a chef
, with the chef, you know.
No, I honestly, honestly, don'tgo out critiquing or else I'll
be disappointed anytime.
I just want to eat a burger.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Yeah, so I've learned a long time ago not to do that
right we do it with each other,but when we're in a group, we
just make eye contact and weknow what our expressions are.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Yeah, yeah, this is dry.
Your face has your face right?
Speaker 1 (08:01):
yeah, exactly, exactly but here's the deal.
So last night I'm gonna tellyou you a story.
Last night I went out for asteak.
I just wanted a steak.
I'm telling you.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
I already told him about our experience last night.
Okay, I went out for a steak,right.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
So I had to literally explain to this person what the
steak reminded me of, right?
Because it was so fucking bad.
I'm not going to lie to you.
I usually don't say anything.
I never send anything back, Ijust take it for what it is.
But sometimes, if something isso bad, you got to say something
.
So there's a story.
I was a young kid, I was eightyears old.
I was riding down the railroadtracks a little trail in the
tracks, and I had a mini bikeright, and I was learning how to
(08:39):
ride the damn thing.
Something happened along theway and I crashed and I went
over the handlebars and hit myface on the front tire, somehow
right.
And I told the guy this storyright, just like this.
And I said you know what thissteak tastes like, that tire?
Okay, so you did.
This.
Cooking brought me back to myyouth.
But that's the part thatbrought me back to me when I
crashed on my motorcycle and atea tire.
That's what this tasted like tome and I don't ever say
(09:01):
something like that, but thatwas bad, I'm not gonna put them
on blast yeah, I'm gonna do that.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Was everybody's meal bad?
No, it wasn't.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
It wasn't phenomenal, it was the most ratchet
high-end steakhouse we have everbeen to at our we went to a
southern restaurant last nightin indianapolis, which was not
the best decision, but we likedthe graphics um, hey, a good
logo gets you right, it was cuteit was and I love the venue and
I'm not gonna name it yeah butI think a little bit of
(09:27):
everybody's food, and the onlything that was good was one dish
and I had some brisket meatloafthat I have never had brisket
that fucking dry in my life andI was just like, and the dude,
and if you can't cook a perfectgreen bean, if your green bean
does not snap when yes, when youcrunch on it get out then, you
(09:49):
should not be in the kitchenjust leave, yeah, just go home
and the dude asked me if hewanted me to box it or wanted
him to box it, and I was like no, oh my God, thank you.
Though, and in the back of mymind, I was like please tell
them that they need to learn howto make proper brisket yeah,
put that box, make it a casketand then the fried chicken
they're known for.
I was just like that is not.
I mean, the brine was good, thebrine was really good, the
(10:11):
brine was really good, but Idon't know what the hell they
were doing with the chickenExecution, it comes down to
execution.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
It wasn't a thick crunchy crust without the sweat
and without the crunch.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Being a restaurant owner and working in the
restaurants, right, we know thateverything had to start If they
were busy and the venue wasnice.
No, it wasn't busy, they werenot.
You got to wonder where did theexecution go wrong?
Because nobody started that andit's still around a year or two
later, three years later,correct.
Something went wrong in theexecution, somewhere where maybe
the owner left, or maybe hedoesn't care anymore.
(10:45):
She doesn't care anymore, ormaybe the staff has more power
over the owner than the ownerdoes over them, but something
went wrong.
And it's horrible to say and Idon't like that and I feel bad.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Appearance-wise, it looked like it was executed
correctly.
Appearance-wise, the disheswere gorgeous.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
So there was pride in the appearance, just lack of
education in the process?
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Yeah, so in the appearance, just lack of
education in the process.
Yeah, so, like I run myrestaurant and I have like a
staff and some of my staff hassome experience, but like my
lead right now, she never workedin a restaurant before now.
She day one she was actuallysupposed to be a server and my
front of house person wanted tofire her really and I was like,
well, let me give her a shot inthe kitchen.
She has to see how she doesback there and she went from not
(11:24):
knowing anything aboutprofessional cooking to being my
lead in like four monthsbecause she had the drive, she
had the execution, she had thelike she wants to learn like
anytime somebody comes in thereand shows her anything, she just
absorbs it and she always wantsto suggest dishes too.
So I'm trying to teach her thedifference between like a home,
like cooking at home, and thenrestaurant presentation and rest
(11:47):
like restaurant style cooking.
And she's picking it up alittle bit, um, but so, like at
this restaurant that we went to,it was the appearance was
gorgeous.
So if you look at it coming outof the kitchen it looks like
it's exactly what it's supposedto be, but like with the green
beans.
If you just flash fried thosethings, they'd'd be perfect, but
it really tastes like they justblanched them too long and then
(12:07):
just heated them to send themout.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
So down south, I know this Well, you're talking about
the green beans.
This is the perfect level ofwhat we're talking about the
execution.
I understand what I'm going tosay.
You're going to wince atbecause you should, but the
canned green beans with thebacon right that they do in some
of these southern places andwater on their face.
(12:29):
Look at her face.
Make sure we put something onwarning.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
So so you know that's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
There was a day, at point in time, where I know some
of these people were cookinggreen beans proper and they said
you know what?
Let's just fucking save thetime and money, because when
whoever was doing it may haveleft or something, and that's
how these places go down, and Ithink that's what happens to a
lot of these places.
That place we went last nightwas a beautiful venue.
It was packed to the fuckinghill.
The damn ratings on it wereamazing and I'm not being picky
(12:56):
this place was straight up.
I I almost think it was almostpart of the act how the service
was and it was.
I mean, these guys were goodguys, they were nice dudes and
everything, and I totally thinkthey would rock and roll in a
different environment.
They would be stellar, right,but they were just getting by on
what they knew and they knew somuch that they got by easily,
right, but if they were honed in, it would have been a nice
(13:17):
place.
Somewhere along the line.
That went wrong Somewhere alongthe line because the place
didn't start that way't.
We all didn't sit there and gothere under the assumption of
what we see.
We're seeing it right, we'renot.
This isn't a perception.
We're looking at.
You walk in this place gottheir shit together at one point
in time.
What the fuck happened on myplate?
What happened to us when?
What happened to us here?
(13:38):
You know I'm saying obviouslysomething went wrong and they're
just going in flow right.
That doesn't happen here.
You got medals on.
You guys are doing it right.
You're holding the standardhigh and that is amazing.
I cannot wait to actually gocheck you out.
I'm going to go in your area atsome point in time and I want
your restaurant to be there.
I want everything to be just aswe're talking today.
I want success for you guys.
I'm already following you andwe've already talked about it.
(14:01):
It's an amazing time and Ithink that anything that you
guys are doing to represent therestaurant industry is
phenomenal.
Like I said yesterday, when Isaw you three walking around,
right away I told her they getit, they get it, and that makes
me happy, because you don't haveto be all pretty, do you?
You know what I mean.
When you're you, it's going tocome out in your food, I can
(14:22):
tell.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Yeah, when we were talking about coming here, I was
like, what do you want to do?
Because, like my restaurant is,so I've traveled all over the
world because I was in themilitary, v's traveled all over
the world.
She was in the military, so wepulled in a lot of things from
other places that we've been.
My last overseas assignment wasitaly, so I have a lot of
influence from there.
Like fresh ingredients farm totable and that's basically how I
try to run my restaurant.
Like we're a from scratchkitchen, like I think 85% of
(14:45):
everything we put out is madein-house, like we start prep
early every day, even on ourdays that were closed and um.
So when I asked her what shewanted to do, like I was
throwing ideas out there andshe's like, no, it's not
southern enough, it's notsouthern enough.
Like I'm sticking to.
Like even like we were talkingto somebody yesterday, she was
very hard fast at sticking toher roots, like elevating it,
but bringing her here, not justbringing a dish that we think
(15:08):
will win, but bringing a dishthat represents everything that
she has built all of herreputation on.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Yeah, you guys are doing a great job and I can see
when you were cooking yesterday.
I have some B-roll and we'regoing to put that on.
I actually have that.
I stole what you posted of youwinning or being called for the
winner, so we're going to putthat B-roll on during this
segment.
Once we're on YouTube and weput this up and edit and
(15:35):
everything, we're going to putthat B-roll on there so people
can see.
We're going to love to see allthat stuff and you guys are
really doing a great job.
Thank you for what you're doingfor the restaurant industry all
of you and thank you for yourservice.
I'm a veteran as well.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
What branch?
Thank you for your service.
What?
Speaker 1 (15:50):
branch All represented, marine and the
Coast Guard will be all right,right, right.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
You got the whole thing.
Coast Guard had a bunch ofteams down there.
They had a winner.
Yeah, we're going to talk tothem.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Let's do something fun.
We got a rapid fire Questionsright.
We're going to throw them outthere.
Crystal's going to read them.
I'm going to do in.
So I mean, cj, you can go first.
Let's work our way down, sowe'll stay in a rotation, okay.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
All right.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
So first question is your go-to?
Speaker 2 (16:30):
kitchen tool, no matter what.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Chef knife.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Iron skillet Spatula.
All right, okay, chef, knife'snot allowed.
Go ahead.
Okay, chef, that's not allowed.
Go ahead One more, oh God.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Whisk?
I'm not sure it says whisk.
Taker Mine handheld chinoissmall.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Throw that whisk in a circle.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
We got it Okay, all right.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Next one.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
What puts you in the mood?
More Smell or visual Smell?
Visual Smell, all right, worworst position in the kitchen.
So that kind of position we got, went there real quick.
(17:15):
Okay, all right, not dishwasher.
We're bending over, all right.
Oh sorry, we're talking aboutthis, no it could have been.
I knew you were going to gothere, though, all right, best
position in the kitchen.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Expo yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Expo, expo, expo is good, agreed, favorite, favorite
ingredient ever Shit, shit.
That was where I was last nightwas theirs.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Right, same we're having dinner.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Oh, my favorite ingredient, oh.
That smoked salt you got waskiller.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Smoked salt is good.
I get a good one from Iceland.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
We have a local one in Alabama.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Oh, really it's called Shug's.
Okay, give me that link afterlet's plug them.
So good, okay, plug them if youwant Go ahead.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Shug's smokes salt and they do paprika and they're
ballin'.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
And they're ballin'.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Okay, bang out, I like it All right.
What method of cookingintimidates you the most?
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Intimidates me the most, oh God.
Well, I'm not reallyintimidated, but I guess the
thing I don't like cooking withthe most is an air fryer that
works.
What's that thing calledPressure cooker?
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Yeah, yeah, I have an air fryer.
I collect the dust Air fryer.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Yeah, worst method.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
I don't like it.
Okay, if microwaving was amethod, I cannot.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Anything, not even reheated Worst one.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
So you're not intimidated by anything like
that.
I guess what we're looking foris French cooking.
Oh, yeah.
I mean the beans and stuff likethat, you know.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
French, for sure.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
French, yeah, or like the British stuff.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
I can't get down with the beans you can't get down
with the meat pie.
You don't need to, oh no.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
I love.
It All right, what else do we?
Speaker 2 (18:55):
got All right favorite fast food restaurant Go
.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Oh, the one where you can get like the corn dog and
the barbecue sandwich thatstarts with a C Cookout yes,
cookout yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
That's a good one.
That's a good one.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
You can get whatever you want Shelly's and Rally's.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Yeah, shelly's and Rally's, perfect.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I'm not a fast food person either, but Culver's.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Okay, I have not had that Culver's.
We saw that last night.
What is this?
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Culver's.
It's like a smash burger butterburger.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
There we have Culver's.
We saw it last night.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
It was popping last night, so alright.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Here we go.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
If your kitchen was a car, what kind of car would it
be?
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Oh God, like a 1980s pickup truck.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Yeah, perfect.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
I live in a double-wide, so it's going to be
like a Pinto.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
I love it, I love it.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
I have a little food truck, but I'm upgrading, so I'm
going from like a studio tolike a one-bedroom apartment
Nice.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
That's good, okay.
Baking, yes or no, no, hell, no, no.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
I hate baking.
That was pretty good across theboard.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Don't ask me to measure nothing Gloves or
washing your hands.
Gloves, gloves, quicker Gloves,all right.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Glove, glove.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Do you know the owner ?
What do you think of that?
I know the owner.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
I know at least one of her personalities.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Of the seven.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
So we brought that question up because you always
go into the restaurant and youalways have the people we know,
the owner.
What do you feel about that?
When someone says that Half thetimes I don't know about it.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
So my restaurant is small.
It only has at max 80 seats,including the bar, and we have a
very small staff.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
That's not that small , that At max 80 seats including
the bar, and we have a verysmall staff.
That's not that small, that'spretty good 80 seats.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
That's decent.
It's small compared to likemost of the restaurants in our
area.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Okay gotcha.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Yeah, because it's 40 inside and 40 outside.
I built a patio onto it when Ibought it.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
It was just like a little tiny place.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
So our staff is small , Like I only have like three.
We have one bartender and threeservers max.
So if somebody calls out I'mpicking up something somewhere.
So when I'm bartending andsomebody says I know the owner,
I'm like oh my god, I know theowner.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
There you go.
That's what I'm waiting to hear.
That's what?
Yeah, that's what I'm waitingto hear.
That bitch, exactly thathappens to me all the time.
One guy I was in there.
I pulled into my motorcycle,I'm outside, I'm waiting to go
in my own place.
I left my, so I'm waiting formy sous chef to show up.
He's right behind me, not far,and the guy's waiting in there
and he's like I got to come in.
I have a meeting with the owner.
I go do you what time is thatat?
(21:22):
It's any time now.
It's any time.
I got to get in.
Okay, cool, I'll let him knowwhen you get.
What's our meeting about, bro,because I am the owner.
He's like oh shit, there was nomeeting after, because he was
just he wanted to get in the barearly.
Funny as shit.
But I know the owner.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Final question All right, if you could cook with
anyone, who would it be?
These two?
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Aw, I was going to say Sean Brock but these two,
these two, I love that.
I love these bitches.
I'm going to keep them.
That was a pageant answer.
That was a pageant answer Iwant to save the world.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
I love it, I did those for 13 years.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Okay, you know, I understand.
Give me the wave, yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
How about you?
Speaker 2 (22:05):
If I was like a celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay,
gordon Ramsay, yeah, gordonRamsay, yeah, that's cool.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
He's a good chef.
I can't lie.
I think mine would be JeremiahTurner or Jamie Oliver.
Jamie Oliver, jamie Oliver,he's good, he's awesome, makes
things happen out of nothing.
I love him.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
I watched the episode where he was going into schools
and trying to make foodhealthier and stuff.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Yeah, I saw that it was good.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
My favorite one is when he makes real chicken
nuggets and the kids are likeI'd still eat it and he was like
what he's like?
This did not go how I plannedWell that's great.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Listen, it was awesome having you ladies on
here.
We really appreciate it.
Strength in representing womenin this fucking industry is huge
.
I'm a huge advocate of it.
I stand behind you.
You know what I mean.
The whole way.
I'm your biggest.
I'm the biggest cheerleader.
I love it.
Keep doing what you're doing.
I had the honor to meet youguys here.
This is the first time we meet,but not the last time we see
each other.
That's awesome and glad to bein this industry with you and
(23:00):
sharing it.
And Kristen is as well.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Exactly so, as we close it out, go ahead and
introduce you and tell everybodywhere they can find each of you
online, so they know Well we'rein Southeast Alabama.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
This is the B in Enterprise Alabama.
I'm Chef CJ, I run it withamazing staff and my partner
Tanner Kerrigan.
We're just rocking it out.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
We've been in business for about a year and a
half.
I'm working on it.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I've got to do it.
Oh, hold on the competition isstarting.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Hold on, we are live.
It got loud real quick Someonetell him to stop yelling.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Why are you hollering ?
Speaker 1 (23:37):
What's he yelling about?
Speaker 2 (23:38):
That's for sure.
Y'all can just click forkitchen.
You can talk about signing on.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
All right, go ahead.
Thanks for waiting.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
You can find me on Instagram, tiktok and Facebook.
Southern Grits Kitchen withoutthe E in Southern, oh okay.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Okay, I was drunk and playing Call of Duty when that
made it Southern Grits Cooking.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Southern Grits Kitchen Kitchen.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Southern Grits Kitchen.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
And I have a food truck I just opened in southeast
Alabama, in Enterprise Alabama.
It's Non-Stop Donor, and non isspelled like the bread N-A-A-N,
and you can find me on Facebookand Instagram, all right.
So what's next in thecompetition for you as we wrap
it up, yep.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Duck Sweet.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Okay, how are we going?
Speaker 1 (24:11):
with it Smoked sous vide pan fried crisp or do we
not know?
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Oh, she ain't telling you, we're changing it.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
We're gonna.
We're gonna.
You're gonna have to bribe uswith a whole lot more to get
that information.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Yes, Okay, I'm just gonna go down there and look.
I know, yeah, that's all I'mgonna do.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
I'm gonna invade your kitchen space.
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