How Chef Ryan Scanlon Went From Cape Cod to Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen | So New England #65

Chef Ryan Scanlon went from growing up on Martha’s Vineyard to cooking under Gordon Ramsay on Next Level Chef. In this episode he breaks down the reality of filming the show, how chaos in the basement kitchen REALLY works, what it’s like having Gordon as your mentor, and why New England shaped the chef he is today.We dive into Vineyard summers, wild restaurant stories, Boston food takes, private chef life, celebrity clients, and what goes into building a career in the kitchen. If you love New England, food culture, and behind-the-scenes TV stories, this one’s stacked.Chow down and enjoy, folks.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Gordon might just come up to youand be like, all right, Ryan,
what are you making? I've had this pile of
ingredients in front of me for aminute.
But then you don't want to like,look like a fool and be like,
you know, like you got to come up with something.
Like pig ears from Maine's cold coast to Connecticut.
Pride, Vermont. Green hills, take it.
All. In from Massachusetts Shouter
thing from Fenway Chance. To Rhode Island side, New

(00:35):
Hampshire's pride free or die? Good freaking morning from New
England folks and welcome back to the So New England Podcast
episode 65. We are getting up there.
We're putting in some work folks.
As always, I am your host Ian Brownhill, joined by my Co host

(00:56):
Robert Travisano, AKARJ and a few other names that his friends
have for him. Behind the lens.
We've got Vinny Chens taking care of all things life's been
in New England and of course producing our wonderful podcast.
And I brought my appetite folks 'cause we got a good one.
RJ who do we got in our studio with us today?
When you spread love and positivity, it always finds its

(01:17):
way back to you. And that's just how we met
today's guests and doing what wedo, sharing our amazing New
Englanders because that's what this podcast is all about.
One of my favorite ways to bringpeople together outside of this
pod is a delicious meal. Something you all know I love
because who doesn't love food? And our guest for today's pod
knows all about amazing cuisine and chefing up full bellies and

(01:39):
huge smiles, making a career in the kitchen and sharing his love
for food with the people all over.
It is my pleasure to welcome Chef Ryan Scaling to the pod.
Awesome, that was an introduction.
Are you ready to just chef it uparound here?
That was an introduction. You tell me what you need.
There we go. All right.

(02:00):
Thank you so much for making thetrek down.
Now. You are originally a Boston guy.
Where you from? Originally so originally I grew
up like I mainly was from the Cape Cod.
So like, oh, OK, so I grew up like mainly on Martha's
Vineyard. Oh, OK, nice was born off the
Vineyard, but spent like majority of my, my childhood and
stuff there, which was like really cool, like being that
close to seafood and like all the farms and different stuff
like that. Didn't really come from like a

(02:22):
super foodie household like per SE.
Like in my like immediate family, it was just like me, my
mom, my sister. So she obviously did the best
she could. We just, like, putting meal on
the table for us. But getting in the kitchen so
young and, like, having a chef who kind of, like, took me under
his wing and, like, really mentored me, like, showed me,
like, what it really means to like, love and care for food
and, like, making people happy. You know, It was just, like,

(02:44):
those things, like, kind of justclicked immediately for me.
And I knew I was just like, yeah, this is probably what I'm
going to do for the rest of my life.
Hell yeah, that is. Awesome.
Yeah, I got to be honest with you.
Full transparency, not a good cook.
I can confirm. Do love, do love, do love food,
but I definitely like I'm what Vin, I see you leaning over say
something. We're just going to say I can't
confirm. And I definitely I'm very I'm

(03:06):
very basic when it comes to like, you know, my palate, it's
not very expansive. So I'm going to have a lot of
questions for you guys. They like to make fun of me for
I like to say I get very curiousand they think it's funny.
I ask any questions. So, but also I've never been to
Martha's Vineyard before. I have been to Block Island.
Yep. What's give us a little bit of
like the Martha's Vineyard. I need a little bit of like the

(03:27):
lowdown. What is it like to grow up
there, live there? I mean, obviously social media
makes it look a particular way, but what's it actually like?
Like what's the real New EnglandMartha's Vineyard experience?
Like, not like, you know, the not like the tours fashion
bloggers who come in, They're like.
Like all the tourists. Yeah, exactly.
I mean, like, like the summers on the Vineyard are like, I used
to, especially growing up, like me and all my buddies would

(03:49):
just, like, die for summer on the Vineyard.
Like, it was like, just like something in the air.
Like, you could just feel like, oh, like the energy probably
from all like the different richpeople coming in town and stuff
like that. We just had like a different
aura, you know? Yeah.
But like, come winter, it was like complete and utter ghost
town. You know, it's like, so like you
felt like this huge influx of energy and just like, people and
things going on. Like, sure, there's traffic.
Sure, there's like people everywhere.

(04:09):
You got to wait in line for your, you know, favorite
restaurant or whatever it might be.
But then come winter time, it's like all stripped away.
So it's like you just feel like kind of just, it's like almost
like a like, like it's like a roller coaster of emotions
almost, you know what I mean? Because it's like it, it is
really cool. Even the winter, it's like the
fall and whatnot, It's fun there, but it's like all the

(04:29):
real fun things that you'd love to do.
Like you're not really, you know, like it's all outdoor
swimming, going to the beach, like different things like that,
hiking around and whatnot. But it's like come winter time,
like you don't want to, you don't want to be outside like
that. You know, it's like it's
freezing cold till you get like the wind chill from the ocean
from every angle too. But yeah, I mean, I definitely
cherish a lot of like memories growing up there.

(04:50):
Like my family, I didn't come from like a rich family like my
mom, like I said, like did the best she could, you know, but I
think it was still a blessing, you know, in itself to, you
know, grow up in such a beautiful place, you know, like
have, like I said before, I, youknow, just the abundance of like
fresh seafood. You know, I love cooking seafood
like my whole life, Like my grandfather, he used to have a

(05:10):
boat. So like we go out on the boat,
we catch like fluke, we catch blue fish, like like striped
bass, like whatever you can nameit.
But like, you know, we would putlike 6 or 7 lures down in a time
and like start bobbing and pull up like 6 fluke at once, you
know? And then he had a little mini
grill on the back of the boat with like a little cutting
board. It's like we just fillet them
right in the back of the boat, grill them up and just a little

(05:31):
salt and lemon juice. That's it.
You know, this is the freshest simple like, and then simplicity
is like, you know, that's another thing I've learned in
the kitchen too. You know, it's like especially
being young, I worked in a really good restaurant like from
the start. You know, some people don't have
that opportunity to like have 0 experience and like get to be
able to work around, you know, some food and in an environment

(05:52):
that's like a lot upscale, you know, it was like.
So it kind of put into perspective like the restaurant
that I started at, it's called Alchemy Alchemy.
And then there's also. The and this is on the Vineyard.
This is on the Vineyard. OK, awesome.
So Alchemy. And then there's another like
restaurant like down the way. It's called the Atlantic, like
those two in this town, it's called Egertown were kind of
like the top restaurants, like on the entire Vineyard.

(06:15):
Like there's obviously a couple other scattered through, but
like those were like definitely like the big money restaurants.
So to be able to like work in one of those was like super cool
and no. Kidding, Edgartown.
OK, so there's towns. And how big is a vineyard?
So the vineyard's not like I think, don't quote me on this.
I I might I might be wrong, but I think it's 27 miles wide like

(06:37):
lengthwise and then. That's a lot bigger than I
thought. Yeah, I mean, it's, it's got
like 5-6 different towns on it, you know what I mean?
I mean, that makes sense. It's like a New England, but
like, for us, it's just Block Island is just Block Island.
Yeah. How many restaurants are there
on the Vineyard total? Like is.
Like, I mean, there's a lot there's, there's too many like,
but. You're saying like the two are
like those are the prime ones that you want to work.

(06:57):
At yeah, like those ones like, like so Agri town, for example,
is like what they would call like the the preppy town, you
know, like that's where all likethe real, real money goes.
You know, like there's obviouslymoney in different towns too.
But like, that's like where people are going down, like
pulling their boats up to the dock, you know, getting off,
going to get dinner, getting back on their yacht, you know,
like that's like that type of almost like vibe over there.
So hell yeah. I started working at that

(07:19):
restaurant. It's called Alchemy.
And the chef who was working at like he came down, he used to
work in New York City for some like really big chefs like Jean
George, Danielle Balu, like these really, you know, these
are like Michelin star French chefs, like, you know, the best
of the best, you know, like almost like the Gordon Ramsay's
of the industry, Like not, you know, like not the famous, you
know, chefs, but they're they'revery well, well known within,

(07:41):
you know, within the industry. But yeah, it's like, so he had
like in a crazy training from these guys over like over a
decade long, like, you know, opening restaurants for him and
them and what not. And then he came down to the
Vineyard because his family usedto vacation down there when he
was a kid. So he always had like some type
of love for the island. I forget exactly how like those

(08:04):
paths align, like how he, you know, you know how he ended up
getting to that exact restaurant, but he ended up
starting there like 3 months before me.
And I just remember I used to belike, I'm like, even though I'm
a young guy, like I'm pretty oldschool when it comes to like
going to like getting jobs and whatnot.
Like I don't, I, I definitely dosome online, but I'm like the
type of person who will like print out a bunch of resumes and

(08:25):
like a little vanilla folder, like a vanilla folder and like
walk around and like knock on doors and be like you guys
looking for people to work in the kitchen and what not.
And it it's worked out for me like a lot like I've gotten my
foot into the doors that I probably wouldn't have gotten my
foot in the doors. Because like, you know, if
people meet you and they see that you're like, you know, a
well put together dude who can like put a sentence together and

(08:45):
you're out here hustling, tryingto get things going, they'll be,
you know, like you might not have exactly the experience, but
I could teach you, you know, right.
But like, you have a good attitude, like I can't teach
that, you know? That's huge, yeah.
Like that's, that's what people would really like.
You know, some people look at meand be like, dude, you're crazy.
Like why are you doing that? Just like sending out like, but
like a resume's just a piece of paper.
It's just, you know, it's just words, yeah.

(09:06):
I mean, listen, you're talking to a couple of millennials, man.
We know how it goes. How old are you?
I'm 24. You're 24.
OK, Wow. And you've already got quite the
the laundry list of stuff for 24.
That's awesome. I would imagine though, like on
a place like the Vineyard where there is the type of tourism and
people that are there when it comes to those restaurants,
you're dealing with people that do business that kind of way

(09:28):
where when they have someone coming in and putting in that
initial effort, that's like, hey, let me be personable.
Let me hand you a resume. Let me shake your hand.
Let me show you what I can do and prove to you rather than
just like going on Indeed and just like shifting through
resumes and people that are like, yes, I can cook, yes, I
can do that. But so I think that's a good
thing. So I think that's.
A great, gritty way to get started.

(09:48):
Absolutely, because I think that's one of those things where
any anybody can throw cooking experience on a piece of paper
100%. But I think when you show that
personality, that drive, becauselike you said, how many people
do they have really walking new in restaurants saying, hey, can
I talk to the manager, the head chef, I'm trying to apply, I'm
trying to work here. Yep.
So it's like, that says a lot because that's going to

(10:08):
translate into the kitchen because you exactly work in the
industry where like that stuff is important.
Yeah, it's hospitality, you know, it's making people happy.
And you know, I was never reallylike wasn't like a super school
savvy type of guy like. You know, I was gonna ask you
that. So you started at what time?
So how old were you? You were.
I was 15 years old when I was 15.
Yeah. So I was like, in my like,
freshman year of high school. Damn.

(10:30):
I I started getting into the kitchen.
Hell yeah. Yeah, me too.
Me too. Yeah.
That's funny. The.
Seafood. Kitchen cabinet.
Yeah, I washed. Dishes.
Next thing you know, I was on the grill because I was so good.
Yeah, there you. Go yeah, I know it was, it was
really cool like even especiallylike, like I like I've mentioned
like a couple of times already, like the abundance of great
seafood and stuff there. Like we used to have like great

(10:52):
relationships with like, you know, like, like fishermen like
going out there like really getting the stuff and yeah yeah
You know we would have like tunaon our menu and these guys would
come in like a pickup truck withlike 3-4 hundred pound tunas
like whole fish. Wow.
You know I mean like me and like3 guys have to like hoist it off
the back of a truck and we put on this giant like cutting board
and me and like in the shop likeyou everyone clean up and go

(11:12):
home. But then he saw that I started
like, like looking and like, looking like, I have interest in
it. And he's like, you want to stay
back and like learn how to butcher a fish.
And I'm like, fuck, yeah. Like I'll, I'll, I'll do that.
That's like, that's dope. Yeah.
It's just like that's like you don't usually get that scale
until like you're like years into. 33 could never do it.
I would butcher it, but not the way that you guys do it.

(11:33):
I would butcher that. You mangle it.
Mangle it. That's, that's funny.
But yeah, it was just like a lotof like random cool skills that
I've learned along the way that it's just like kind of like, I
wouldn't say like fell in my lapor whatever.
It's like I, I was, you know, hungry for it.
But it's just like, I feel like just me being at the perfect
time and place kind of just mademe who I am now, which I'm like

(11:54):
super blessed up for all of it. That's great.
And now you're saying you're, you didn't really grow up in a
home that had a lot of that likefoodie lifestyle.
So then where did your inspiration come from?
Like what? What really did it for you?
Was there something that just randomly clicked or you just
woke up one day and you're like,I want to cook, I want to learn
how to do this. Well, I mean, I, I remember like

(12:15):
I, I kind of just started just to get a job at first, like I
didn't go in with like an initial because I didn't grow up
in that, that environment, you know, so I didn't know that love
and care for food yet. But then I just remember like
just being so amazed with like seeing like how you can
transform different products andlike, you know, the chef, like
who I was working for at the time, like who I consider like
one of my main mentors, you know, he would just like throw a

(12:36):
special on the menu. Like it was nothing.
And I'd be like looking at this guy.
I'm like, how do you come up with this shit?
You know, it's like, how do you know this and this and this are
going to go together and like begood.
And he just like looked over at me.
He's like, I just make food thatI'd like to eat.
And I was like, you know, because everything was like
super overwhelming and like mademe feel like, Oh, I don't know
how I'm going to do this or you know what I mean?
Because it's just like your mindjust is always just like going,

(12:57):
going, going. But then he just simply said,
like, I just cook food that I'd like to eat.
And I was like, that sounds. Yeah.
I mean, that's honestly kind of interesting because if you think
about in any industry really, Yeah, some of the most
successful brands, whether that's like restaurant, even
myself with social media or anyone that's in the fashion
industry. Or music.
Or music industry. The reality is is when you're

(13:18):
just doing something that you enjoy, it comes through a lot
more. It's.
Organic. Organic, authentic and people
tend to really, one of the things I say the most when I am
trying to coach one of my clients when it comes to the
social media stuff is if you just do something that is true
to your brand, there is a cornerof the Internet for everyone for
sure. So you might think that you're
alone and you're the only one orthere's only a few niche people.

(13:40):
I'm like, it's it may be niche by definition, but the reality
is there's hundreds of thousandsof people who enjoy the same
exact thing that you do. You just have to go and find
them. Exactly.
So in that capacity, it's like, oh, I would like this.
And you'd be surprised how many people would also like that.
Yeah, that's fascinating. I like to see that kind of
translate into other industries,so.
It's super cool and I love the creative side of it.
Like I used to like always like to draw and like do things like

(14:03):
like I said, I wasn't super savvy in school, like when it
came to like math or you know, like just like silly things, but
like a science project where I had to build like some like, you
know, some presentation or whatever.
It was like I would kill those, you know what I mean?
Just like little creative thingslike that.
I was just like, so I knew I didn't want to go to college
like in like the traditional route of just like, you know,

(14:24):
not to like knock anyone's, you know, path or whatever it was.
But for me personally, I knew ifI were going to do that, I'm
just going to like just be in debt and have some degree that's
not going to do shit for me. You know what I mean?
I'm just going to go there and party and have fun and just like
not take it seriously. So I was like, what can I do
instead, you know? So then I when the kids were
still like trying to apply to goto like college and whatnot,

(14:44):
like I was just like locked in focusing on the food.
Ended up going to the culinary program at Boston University,
which was like a cool, like kindof, it was a shorter program for
sure than like a four year degree, but it was still like a
cool opportunity. And it kind of just like made it
kind of just gave me like something that I just, I just
wanted, I just wanted a diploma for like my own like almost like

(15:06):
I would say like maybe like my ego or whatever, you know, I
just wanted that for myself, like to be like, yeah, I did
that. I paid and I paid for it all
myself and all that type of stuff.
So it's just like more of like apride type of thing to be like,
yeah, I did this. But you know, even in the midst
of me like applying to do that, like all the guys in the
kitchen, like, dude, you don't need to do that.
Like you learn so much day-to-day.
Oh. My God, yeah.
What chance on training is the best way to go?

(15:28):
Yeah, I mean, they're not wrong,but it was like I said, it was
just like something for me I just wanted to do and have for
myself. Yeah, of course.
And but I think the thing to note is that not everyone needs
to go to college. College is a very useful tool.
But if you're an individual who is kind of lost at sea and not
quite sure what you want to do, you're like, I like this, this
and this College is a great way to open up that door and Ave. do
a lot of different things. But if you're someone who's

(15:48):
already honed in on something like this is what I want to do,
a certification is great becauseyou don't need to learn
Shakespeare. You don't need to learn how to
write paragraphs. You don't need to go to that
same system. You don't need to be in debt
over the same stuff you've been learning for the last 13 years
through all of your adolescent and all these other schools.
I say 13 because I was pretty bad and I was taking classes a
little. Bit algebra in geometry.

(16:11):
Yeah, I got you anyways. Tough crowd over here tonight.
Anyways, it's a victory Monday we were at.
I mean, this won't be hopefully it's still a victory week for us
when this actually comes out. But we were at the Patriots game
yesterday, so we're all just a little bit slumped.
Yeah, if you don't mind. But oh jeez, on that sense I
was. Gonna say.
But OK, yeah, I mean, I'm right there with you.
I think it's great that you got a certification and it's really

(16:32):
good that, you know, you have that piece of paper to say like,
yeah, I did it, but I think you got some other really cool
things to say that you did it too.
So why don't we, why don't we jump in a little bit of your
career and how it started to take off and how you got onto
some TV series and stuff. I would love to hear about that.
Yeah, so with that, it was kind of something that I was thinking
about, you know, talking with friends, family, what not for

(16:53):
like a couple years leading up, but it was almost just like not
I feel like at that time of my life, you know, whatever I was
going through and what not just I don't feel like I had the
confidence to really do that at that time, you know, I mean like
that self doubt and what not. But Angelia, who you guys have
spoke to like, you know, that's that's my girl.
She's like super, super awesome,like super supportive.
Like she's helped me like open up like almost like my third eye

(17:16):
in a sense, you know what I mean?
Yeah, of. Course.
Like see myself outside of like step outside of myself and be
like, you know, have a little bit more like respect and like
pride and you know, all that type of stuff for my, for who I
am and like what I bring to the table too, you know, which is
like super cool. I feel like without like her
giving, like egging me on to do that.
I don't feel like I, I really would have.
I might have never done it, you know what I mean?

(17:36):
So I do give her a lot of props.But it was it was like a super,
super cool experience. Like even the whole interview
process and getting through and like waiting for that phone call
to be like, yeah, we're flying you out.
We ended up going to Ireland to film it, you know, just so I'm
not going to keep I guess a secret anymore.
But it was next level chef with with Gordon Ramsay.
So it was it was season 4 of that.

(17:56):
So I got a couple seasons beforeme that I studied up on before I
went out there. It was, it was a really like,
really dope experience. Like I would definitely do it
again. See, this is where the curiosity
word comes in. I didn't know that it was in
Ireland. Yeah, now you've got my
attention. Where in Ireland did you guys
film? I don't remember, honestly, I
don't remember the little town. Like if, if I'm gonna be honest,

(18:19):
when they, when they took us offthe plane, they had us like
loaded up on this bus and they just like took us to a hotel,
you know, like there was no. Like right to filming.
It was like no like roaming around or anything like that.
Like it was like, you know, evenlike leaving your hotel room to
go to like the pool or whatever it was.
They had like a little amenitiesin the hotel like you always had
like I have like an escort with you.

(18:40):
So it was like very like, you know, that was like probably in
a way of like, you know, like we're, we're like they're
obviously, you know, like we're obviously like their
responsibility, you know, in a sense, like they gotta be making
sure that we're not just gonna like go and like a walk in the
woods and break our leg. And then we can't, can't, can't
film the show level it all. You know, I mean, like it was
tough. It was tough.

(19:00):
Like that was the one thing thatwas like a little like tough
about it. I feel like any show like they,
they do it or it might even be worse.
But like, I mean, the whole production crew who was on duty
for that, like they were like super cool people.
So like they made it as good as they could, but it was just like
tough going from like everyday life, having freedom and then
having no freedom, you know, unless like every your whole day

(19:21):
is blocked out with like scheduling and what not.
But like the whole experience oflike, you know, I, I've said
this to like plenty of people when I came back, but the, the
the coolest part for me about going on the show was like
meeting like 27 different peoplewho are like, just like me in a
way. Like all have like, you know,
just like an immense passion forfood.

(19:42):
They all have like dope personalities, like just like
cool people. And I'm not like any like
weirdos or. Anything like that, it's just.
Like, just like cool people who can throw down some good food.
I'm just like, this is my group,you know?
It's like these guys are dope. At first you didn't think that
though. What with the show, Yeah.
Well, you were kind of going in there like I'm kicking dust and
taking names. Well, I did because I saw how,

(20:03):
like I said, like I just had three other seasons before me.
So I saw like like weaknesses that other people's had, like,
you know what I mean? Like just like like not to say I
saw the whole behind the scenes of like whatever happened after
filming, but just like people like buddying up or whatever is
or, you know, overthinking somebody else's stuff.
I was just going in there like I'm not making no friends.
I'm going in there to, you know,to win this.

(20:25):
Spoken like a true New Englandergoing in to win and that's it.
100%. And how old are you when you
did? This I was 22.
You were 22. This was like 2 years ago
exactly and how long was filmingfor you?
It was a whole month. It was a whole month, yeah.
And the, the toughest part aboutdoing that at that time was the
bait I got like my baby was likejust born like literally like 2,

(20:46):
maybe 3 weeks old. Like, no, like she was like
almost 3 weeks old. Like when I went out there,
yeah, it was crazy. And like I almost said no to
that whole I, I wrote this wholee-mail about like consider me
for future things as I was like,this is my first kid.
Like I can't miss the birth of my, you know, my little, my
little girl. You know what I mean?
It's just like so many thoughts.But then you got to think like,

(21:07):
this is a crazy opportunity. Like who even gets this
opportunity? Like I've had people like
friends in my life or whatever who've applied for ATV show,
never heard back, You know, I mean, it's like, doesn't matter
if you're good or not or whatever.
It's just like like, like there's thousands of people who
are trying to like get that spot, you know?
So the fact that I got the spot,I was like, this is like maybe a
once in a lifetime opportunity. I might not be lucky again,

(21:28):
right? And.
It opens up doors and opportunities so that you can be
there for your daughter too. So it's one one thing to
consider, but. No, it's true.
All right. I think the one thing that I
would love to do is kind of pullback the curtain on like, the
actual experience of these cooking shows because obviously
reality TV, yeah, kind of falls in that category in a sense.
And I feel like not everyone gets a full perspective of,

(21:49):
like, what a long, like, how long the filming days actually
are, how many it takes it is, and also how lively the cooking
is and, you know, is everything as it seems on TV.
I'm sure that there's some paperwork you've signed that can
only give you so much discretion, but I'd love to hear
as much as you're able and willing to share.
I'm willing at this point, I mean like I'm able at this point
to share a decent amount all. Right.

(22:11):
Tell us all The Dirty. Shit.
And I'm kidding, all right, yeah.
So as far as like what it looks like on on the screen, like from
like your guys's point of view, it's like the actual cooking is
live Like that's not like they're not like cut.
All right, run it back. Gotcha.
OK, so like the only thing when?There's like time constraints
and stuff that's legit. That's all like real, real time.

(22:32):
The only thing is so like you'llline up, you'll run to the
platform, gather a bunch of youringredients and then you go back
to your little station and then they'll call cut for a second
and this little team will come in like within a minute and a
half. Like they're so fast and they
gather all your stuff and they take a picture.
It's like a whole group of them.They'll just like flood and just
bum rush the whole room and they'll just put all your stuff

(22:53):
together, take a picture. So then the interviewers later
can know exactly what you grabbed.
So then they can be like, oh, did you mean to grab this?
Did this? Did this like lemon help your
dish or you know what I mean? Something, whatever it might be.
So like you have a minute after you grab your ingredients to
like come up with an idea and then they're like, all right,
guys, the time starts now. And sometimes you might be the

(23:15):
first person the judge picks andis like Gordon might just come
up to you and be like, all right, Ryan, what are you
making? I've had this pile of
ingredients in front of me for aminute and 1/2 and I'm like.
That always wondered that. But then you don't want to like
look like a fool and be like, you gotta come up with something
so. Like pig ears.
I can't, I didn't know that was edible one too.
I didn't know when I saw that I was like, okay, I'm confused.

(23:38):
I gotta ask him about this and so we'll get to that.
But you only get that one minute.
So there's like when you're grabbing these ingredients, are
you going in your mind like I'm going to start here, then go
here, here and here or? I always, and they even
encourage you to do this as wellbecause like protein wise,
there's there's enough proteins for everybody on the platform,
but then there's like obviously an abundance of, you know,

(23:58):
whatever else is on there, but it's one protein per person.
So you always grab your protein and then you work your dish
around, you know, said protein. But like you can't go in there
with like recipes in your head or whatever because like there's
even times that like I think I grabbed like, I don't even know
what it was. It was, it was either like fish
or veal or something like that. And I grabbed it and then I

(24:19):
looked over and I was like, oh, there was like an item for like,
you know, a sauce that I wanted to make.
So I had a couple other things as I'm going to grab, like I
think it was like Rosemary or something.
Someone snatches the bunch, you know?
So then you got to like pivot and like be like, OK, next, next
idea. It's like you can't go in there
and be like, oh, like I need this to make this dish.
It's like you gotta know kind ofhow flavors work.

(24:40):
Throw them together and make it happen.
No kidding. Yeah.
No talents. It's it's it's.
It was extremely stressful, you know, and especially going in is
like labeling myself as like a professional chef, like, you
know, working in the industry, like I didn't obviously want to
go in there and make a fool of myself, you know, So it's like
there was a lot of pressure on that, you know, obviously

(25:00):
pressure of me leaving, you know, my, you know, my family,
you know, with obviously the baby and whatnot and wanting to
make them proud and myself proudwas trying to come home with
some money. Yeah, of course of.
Course, like that was like the main goal.
So yeah, there was just a, therewas a definitely a lot going
through your head, like at all times.
I can imagine. Let's see if we can't try and
get a little bit of a cult following here, explain the show

(25:20):
to people who haven't seen it sothat you can kind of go through
like, 'cause obviously people are thinking about those kids.
So like, what would, what's the best way to get someone in to
understand the show itself and how it's laid out and how the,
you know, competition series of it goes and how a winner's
chosen, what the prizes are like, what's that whole thing?
I mean, I think the preface of of Next level Chef is like
pretty sick. So it's like like the whole, the

(25:43):
whole vibe of it is it's you're cooking in a tower.
So there's like 3 tiers of kitchens, like the top tiers,
like what they consider like theMichelin star kitchen, like
decked out with like the best ofthe best equipment, knives,
cutting boards, appliances and whatnot.
Then the middle floor is like what you'd see in like any
regular, like restaurant commercial style kitchen has
everything there, everything's workable.
It's like nothing's like super fancy, but everything's like you

(26:03):
can, you can make some good stuff out of it.
Yeah. Then the basement kitchen is
like the Cella. Yeah, the cella.
Exactly, exactly. So, you know, even like my first
time cooking down there, I grab like a pasta strainer that had
pasta in it. You know what I mean?
That like how like precooked pasta because it was like make a
family meal type of thing. Because like in the kitchen,
like we have this thing, it's like staff meal or family meal.

(26:24):
So like when we had our first cook of the auditions, they call
it to get into the real competition, they were like,
that was like the first challenge is like make a good
tasting family meal style type of dish.
Like nothing too fancy, like nothing like that, but just like
good hearty meal and. What did you make?
I think I made, I think I made like a bolognese or like a ragu.
I think I made like ragu, like apasta ragu with like lamb, which

(26:47):
is like I had lamb scraps. That's what I had.
I like just bits and pieces of like, just like trimmings of of
lamb that I like. And what I'm hearing is an
upscale American chop suey's kind of what I'm hearing you say
right now, which is very New England.
And I love that for. Us.
Oh yeah, dude, it was definitely.
Like you're, you're representingas well. 100 percent, 100% No,
definitely. But even even picking up that

(27:09):
pasta, like the pasta strainer had like a giant burn hole in
the side of it. So I'm picking it up off the
platform. Like half the pasta falls on the
ground. I'm like catching it.
I'm like, what the fuck? Yeah, yeah.
It was just like. Just like random hoops to jump
through. Yeah, I just out the gate, you
know, like another time I'm cooking down there, I'm trying
to make like cornbread because it had like a mid round
challenge like for like this southern style thing that they
want us to do like like, yeah, make a southern dish and they're

(27:29):
like in the middle of it. They're like surprised we need
you to make cornbread and we're like, OK, cool.
The oven down there is piece of shit leaks like does it like
it's it might, it might be 400° but it's definitely not.
Are you? In my apartment is that is that
what's happening right now? Because it sounds like you were
cooking in my. Basement.
That's funny. So that's funny as hell.
But that's great. Yeah, like it like the the

(27:51):
cornbread didn't even cook. Yeah, You know what I mean?
So then I end up just having to like, take a little bit of the
leftover batter I had and I madelike hush puppies out of it.
And I mean, and I still made thechallenge, you know, I just
fried. Yeah.
So it's just like, like little things like that.
It's just like constant, like having to pivot and think and
just make it happen. Yeah.
That's really all it is. That's great.
OK. And then who are the are there?
How many judges are there? So there's three judges, Yeah.

(28:12):
So out of the three judges, obviously Gordon Ramsay, who?
Gordon Ramsay just never heard of him.
I'm totally kidding. Yeah.
So it's Gordon Ramsay. It's Naisha Arrington.
And then there's Richard Blaze. So Richard Blaze and Naisha.
Naisha and Richard have a prettyinteresting story.
Obviously, you guys, everyone knows Gordon Ramsay.
If you don't even know what foodis, you know who that guy is.
Yeah. He's the guy that's in the back

(28:33):
of that like young girl, that's a Cook's TikTok.
She makes Tik Toks and her dad comes in and he's like yelling
all the time, right? Got the blonde hair.
Exactly. You're an idiot sandwich.
That's what you are right now. That's funny.
But but yeah, so now you show she was on.
I'm pretty sure it was Master Chef or Top Chef.
It was one of the two I forget like.

(28:54):
Master Chef? Top Chef?
How many are there? There's.
Too many. But this is the new.
This is the new one. This is the new one.
Especially Season 4. It's the best one.
Yeah, Everyone's raving about it.
Yeah, no, everyone was raving about that one.
It was really good. I wanted it like last season
they dropped the premiere like right after the Super Bowl,
which obviously got like 8 million views plus because
everyone's TV was on, right? They didn't do that this year,

(29:16):
but it still did get like obviously millions of views.
So it's still, it did show, you know, that the show is catching
on and people are like starting to like it and more and more
obviously. And then they they got approved
for like another two more seasons.
So it's gonna be like 5-6 comingsoon.
I was gonna say, and now, now our our generation.
You can if you find a show you like.
Yeah. You can go watch it and find the

(29:38):
earlier seasons. Oh yeah.
Oh yeah. I've done that for a few shows,
Yeah. So I think that's definitely
something, yeah, to look forwardto, absolutely.
Especially Season 4. Exactly.
But even from what it started asa season 1 to like what it is
now, like the show is still likeevolving even more and more, you
know what I mean? It's like, it's it's cool.

(29:59):
Like I was, I thought it was, itwas pretty surreal to be there
because I I like I said, I studied that show and like where
people stood and what the best station was to cook on, like
close to the plot, like just like little mini things, you
know, just to like help my game out as much as I could.
And yeah, it was, it was, it waspretty surreal to like, be like

(30:19):
going up the little elevator andbeing in the kitchen and
obviously like being picked by Gordon Ramsay himself and like,
put on his team and working withhim for like a month, like.
So it's teams. That's how the show is laid out.
Yeah, sorry. Yeah, the three judges, but.
So you start out with 24 people,they come in, we do these things
called the audition. So there's three categories.
There's a professional chef category, there's a home cooks,

(30:41):
and then there's social media cooks.
So like so there we go. So.
Social media cook right there. Say, oh, I see what you're
doing. I got it.
That one went right over my head.
Chef Chens, What do you mean? Yeah, Chef, You're always
hashtagging Chef Chens. What would you be me?
Yeah, professional chef. I'm the home cook guy because I

(31:03):
just put together like these. Big yeah, I'd be.
Big, heavy meals. That's like how my mom cooks.
I'd be in there with tweezers fucking put in this.
Yeah, right. What a load of shit I've never
seen you cook before. Because your fucking palate
sucks so. You just don't cook for me.
Yeah, I'm more of a Baker now. What would you say was the
hardest thing to learn growing up?

(31:24):
Probably learning how to like you, save or spend money.
You legit worked in banking, didyou not?
You're welcome. Are you still with Dime Bank or
You 2 Hollywood? Now, okay, rude, but yes, yes I
am. Imagine your followers finding
out you're with the Connecticut based bank.
Okay, first of all, they have a branch in Wesley, Rhode Island,

(31:45):
which is where we grew up. So really, that's brownie points
because I'm sticking to my roots.
Second, I think everyone would appreciate that I'm with a bank
that knows and understands theircommunity.
Their tagline is legit. Community banking lives here.
Hey, hey. I'm not asking you to sell me on
it. I've been banking with them for
years and they know me on a first name basis.
I'm just saying I'm surprised asall I can see the headlines now.

(32:07):
Mr. Anti Connecticut actually banks with local community bank.
OK, you know what, follow along with me here.
They're FDIC insured, equal housing lenders, wicked
friendly. They take care of all my
personal needs, have expansive products to help all my
businesses, offer lending acrossthe board, merchant services.
What more could I possibly want or need?
And you know that I secretly like Connecticut so.

(32:29):
Oh, I hope you heard that folks.Dime Bank is the reason Ian
loves Connecticut, OK? Ridiculous.
Funny story though, you know howthey have like the mobile app
with like banking lifesaver you can do all the deposits.
Have you tried to teach your momhow to do the mobile deposit
yet? I was teaching my mom how to do
it and she takes a selfie instead of the check.

(32:50):
Visit dime-bank.com to learn more.
OK, so explain to me how this show is actually set up in the
challenge? Like how you're on Teams?
From the jump, you know 24 people come in, You do the
auditions with the three categories.
There's eight people in each category.
Of those eight people, you'll cook on each floor, make your
way to the top until there's topfive of each category.

(33:11):
And those 15 individuals will then go into like the big common
room, and then they'll get picked by, you know, the
mentors. Gotcha.
Yeah. So then like 5 people per team
and then windows is down until obviously the the 1 winner.
That's. Cool.
Yeah. And it's like you could go one.
Winner on the team. No, it's one winner for the
entire show. Oh, like there's one person that
walks away with all that money. So Gordon, Chef Ramsey was the

(33:36):
coach of what team? So is that?
How it works? Well, yeah, so like I said,
well, there's Gordon, there's Naisha, and then there's
Richard. They're each like mentors.
They call him or the coach, you know what I mean?
Of the team, so like he like obviously like Gordon had me
Hell yeah. He had me on his team and he had
like four other individuals. Like one girl ended up having to

(33:58):
like go home like abruptly because she had like some
medical issue or whatever. So it's like it kind of like
threw off the ratios of the teams of like how they were
supposed to like naturally dwindle down.
So like we were like 1 down. Like it would like if you, you
got to watch it back, 'cause like there was some, there was
there was one challenge then I'll spoil because I was super
proud of that one that we had tocook a 5 course menu and the

(34:21):
mentors cooked a dessert. So then there was like four
other dishes that need to be made.
So then we are obviously down that one person.
So then I end up cooking 2 dishes and the same time
everyone was just cooking their one.
Wow. And then my team won that that
challenge and. Because you're from New England,
you can be trusted. With those it was like both
seafood dishes. I did like a scallop appetizer

(34:42):
style dish and then I did like asalmon with like a fennel pure.
Yep, bunch of I was going to askyou about the puree.
That sounds perfect for that dish.
That is, you don't know. What he's I love puree.
It's a pure fancy. Sauce and you.
Don't love sauce. Yeah, I know I love sauce.
I just don't get a puree because.
I was like, get gang culture, I'll take a bottle of puree
please. Yeah.
I mean, a chef that I used to work for is like he used to tell

(35:06):
me he'd be like one in doubt. Just pure it, you know?
It's like you don't know what todo with it.
Just puree it does. Pure it.
Really say that to you all the time.
Yeah, so back to the ship puree,love.
It. That's really cool.
That's awesome. OK, so then how did the teams
get selected though? The mentors picked.
After what level? When you were in the regular
kitchen or the. So after so after you got to the

(35:29):
top five, there'll be like 5 professionals, 5 home cooks, 5
social media. Those 15 individuals go into a
big room and then the mentors stand behind like their little
whatever you want to call like table or whatever.
And then they they pick. Like so you're graded like after
all of your dishes, you're kind of like you're kind of a home
cooked person and you're like a mission.
No, you go, they they bring you in the show as such.

(35:51):
Oh, that's. OK, gotcha.
Identity. So then where?
Where did you start? What do you mean?
Like what was your identity? What was?
Your So I came in as a professional chef.
Wow like cuz I've been working hell.
Yeah, gang shit. You gotta listen, man.
You're a professional chef. Yeah, I'm a podcaster.
I need you to really explain this to me so I know you're
like, what do you. I've said this like 9 times.
I get it. Yeah.

(36:11):
I'm gonna ask a lot of questions, like my bad like.
You're a sauce thing that Yep, that's just.
Just so we know. Yeah.
Yeah. Level with us here.
No, I got you. I.
Got you. OK, so the competition starts
off the Rep that you're already on this team.
That sounds so cool. OK, I'm now I'm sorry.
But you could the The thing is with this whole audition thing,
like as you're making your way up, yeah, you could get kicked

(36:34):
off like Episode 1. So.
Like within the audition before the like.
They call it the audition beforethe actual real show starts, but
this is all on camera. So, OK, so the audition was on
camera. The audition's a part.
Of the show. That's what I was thinking
before. Yes, yeah, the audition's a part
of the show, so. But you could get like, you
could fly out to Ireland, you could do this whole interviewing

(36:55):
process and all that stuff to get there to just fuck up that
day. Yeah.
And then you're back on a plane home, you know what I mean?
So it's like a lot of pressure and.
It's embarrassing. I was going to say any reality
TV show I've ever seen the first, I would say the first two
people. Yeah.
I mean, maybe in this setting it's a little different, but I'm
always like. I couldn't imagine being one of
the first like. Like that's just.

(37:16):
That's wild. That sucks dude.
I think about that in the sense of like the American Ninja
Warrior. I was like, I would be the first
person out. There's no way.
Yeah, I would fall. That makes sense.
I'd rather be on. I'd rather be on the Wipeout
show rather than yeah, that was a funny one.
That was a funny. One.
So how far did your team make itso?
Or do we not want to spoil it? We want to get people to go
watch to see what happens. So within so like, yeah, so you

(37:38):
have your teams, right? And then like you play as a team
into a certain point of the competition.
And then at a certain point, then you all become individuals.
Gosh. And that's how they dwindle down
to that solid one person who wins.
And were you? I was.
I was. There's only two episodes that
I'm not on, so I was there damn near the entire thing.

(38:00):
Yeah, you know. And what what when you have the
time to reflect on it, what do you think about as far as like
not getting across the finish line the way that you maybe had
hoped? Yeah.
What was it that kind of did it for you?
And have you reflected on it andsaid, like, this is what I need
to do I should have done? Or is it kind of just like?
I mean, I feel like. They're just judges and that's
just, that was just their taste that night.
No, I mean like I definitely, yeah, I definitely want to put

(38:22):
it was just their taste that night.
I mean, listen, I just, these are subjective things as far as
I'm concerned. I mean, they might be judges,
but I'm also like, you know, anytime I see this and I'm like,
well, that looks, I mean, I don't know what they're talking
about. It's.
Really your palate and it's the complete opposite.
And that's their, I mean. Doesn't mean I don't know what
good food tastes. Like, I mean, your fate
definitely lies in their opinionof what good food is, right?

(38:44):
You know what I mean? But they obviously like, I feel
like they take different things into account, you know,
obviously, like they know like depending on if you're a
professional chef, home chef or whatnot.
Like they don't, I wouldn't say like if you're a home cook, for
example, and you put up something that's like, like
they're not going to just like let you slide by, you know what
I mean? Like they'll they'll, because
then there's elimination cooks too, like the, the two people

(39:07):
who make the like the worst dish, they go head to head and
then that person goes home. And that's how like every
episode goes. So every episode someone goes
home. And so this was over a month, so
every day you were cooking and doing.
Five days a week. Five days a week and you had the
weekends off. I had five days a week.
We did competitions Saturdays with straight interview days.
Like we'd sit in like a little trailer.

(39:29):
Yeah. And yeah, we'd do all these.
Like, they'd be like, hey, remember you did this like, last
week? Like, can you act like you're
in, like, present, Like, like, speak like it didn't already
happen or it's about to happen? Like those kind of things were a
little bit confusing. Isn't that kind of cool how that
works? Maybe.
How they put it back together and like, you know, put the
puzzle pieces about. Yeah.
I think I thought it was cool, but it definitely was like a

(39:50):
little bit of a mind fuck, like,because you're like, I already
know what happened. You know, we already lived this.
And then, like, you got to like,it's not just like saying yell,
like kind of bring that emotion and whatever it might be or, you
know, like, oh, I'm worried I might go home.
But like, you obviously know youdidn't go home.
Yeah. You know what I mean?
It's just like things like that.You know what I mean?
But it's just like little things.
But I thought it was cool. Yeah, I mean, I coming from the

(40:11):
acting world, I think that's a lot of stuff that people don't
get the opportunity to see. And that's like doing going back
and doing the B roll footage. And what's really cool about
social media now is a lot of people are catching continuity
issues where like someone will be talking about it and then
like 20 minutes later they like won't have their makeup on,
their hair will be different. The guy's beard is like grown
out when it wasn't in the scene.And you're like, wait a minute,
what's going on? So I think it's kind of funny

(40:32):
that's coming through. And then it's like a total,
total shift in shock for you. So fun 100% How fun. 100%.
Now, let me ask you this is I probably should say this for
this New England segment, but I'm going to go for it now since
we're on the topic. If you were on the show and the
topic of what you had to cook was like a dish from your home,

(40:53):
from your region. So if they were like Gordon's,
like, all right, we need a dish that's like New England
inspired. What are you cooking new?
England inspired dish I'm. Going to get ready for this
because I'm going to enjoy it. Let me get ready for this.
I mean, for me, like even a dinner that I did recently that
I was just like kind of representing all of New England
in that menu. Something this is like kind of a

(41:17):
little bit more of like a hardier dish, but in a sense.
But I like to make a really goodChapino.
You guys know what Chipino is? Yes, absolutely.
But if you don't mind, you can just like we know.
But if you could explain it as if like the people listening or
watching. Then definitely they doesn't
know. They don't.
Know what? They don't know what a Chipino
is. So if you don't mind, Chapani
actually is the way you're supposed to say it.

(41:38):
I'll let it slide. But if you know, if you could
explain a chip patchett, whatever.
Yeah. What do you say?
French, right? Yeah.
No, no, it's Italian. That's what I said.
Italian. Yeah.
Yep. So if you don't, it's like, so
the like the origins of this is like, you know, back in Italy,
like when like they would go outand catch a bunch of fish, like
seafood, whatever it was, shellfish, whatnot, at the end

(42:00):
of like, you know, their long harvest week.
And they would have like stuff leftover from the market instead
of like throwing it away or whatnot.
Like they'd make this big like seafood Stew.
It's like got like tomatoes and like you know, like spices and
different things like that in there to kind of just like give
it like some depth in a little bit of like, but it's just like
kind of like a medley of just like a bunch of like leftover

(42:21):
seafood in a way. But you can obviously elevate on
that and not make it like scrapsand and whatnot.
You can make it like fancier, you know, OK, so it's like.
So it's like fish carcasses? No, no, right now.
Is that what you're saying to me?
I'll be honest with you. I'm not sold on the Chipa
cheese, no. The Chipa cheese no, but I like
to make I like to make that that's like something that like
I feel like speaks New England to me and like I, I like fire

(42:43):
roasted tomatoes. We'll get them from like, you
know, a local farm, you know, and like fire charm.
So you have that like, you know,smokiness into the into the soup
and like add a little bit of spice in there as well.
And then like, you know, I'll put like either like like snow
or like Jonah crab or fucking shrimp, you know, scallops, you
know, like whatever type of likewhitefish, maybe like cod hake,
you know, like something like that, you know, just like like

(43:05):
it, like it. It's really whatever you want it
to be. You know, like I even did the
one that I just did that people really liked.
I did the fire roasted with likethe the Jonah crab in there
shrimp. And then I also like smoked some
mussels, like overnight, like low and slow smoked them
overnight and people love that. That's Oh yeah, delicious.

(43:26):
That's that's a Chipa cheese, incase you guys didn't know.
Yeah. That's a chipa cheese.
No need to Google it because we got it on the so New England
pod. Yes, we.
Go if you guys didn't know that so New England podcast
officially some Chippendales cookers.
Yep, I got that correct right. Yes, you did.
It's a great. Dish from the mills of Mount
Tippidabu in Italy, Yeah. There we.
Go so outside of outside of yourfavorite New England style

(43:49):
dishes, do you have a comfort dish that you know after a long
day? Or maybe you know you just like
your comfort food style dish that you just love to make.
I mean, for me, like I love making homemade pasta at home.
Like I got, I make homemade pasta for me and my family like
all the time, you know what I mean?

(44:09):
Like just all different types, like stuffed pastas, whatever it
is, like fettuccine, you know, Pepperdale, like, you know,
rigatonis, like whatever it might be.
Like I just, I just love the taste of fresh homemade pasta,
you know, like I can't unmatched.
You can't, you can't. Like I once I first had it in
the restaurant years ago, I was like, and then I had boxed
stuff. Obviously after that I was just

(44:29):
like, this shit's trash, you know, It's not good.
It's not good. Certainly not as good, no.
My only other question to you isI would love to kind of know
what the experience was for you being a New Englander and then
being able to not only travel, but like be on a television
show. And I'm more importantly like,
you know, elephant in the room. You got to work with Gordon
Ramsay. I mean, that's from from someone
who was like, I just started when I was 15.

(44:51):
I wasn't, you know, I went and Iwas like, yeah, I got the
certification. As you said, you're definitely
very humble in the sense of whatyou've accomplished so far for
only 24. But I'd love to know kind of
what that felt like for you and,and how you've been kind of
handling it since then and knowing that you've accomplished
something so cool. Yeah, I mean, like even even
while I was still there and I'llget back to the hotel room and I

(45:12):
would call like my family or whatever, like tell them about
the day and whatnot. It was like, it just like it, it
still doesn't feel real. And like it's like it's hard to
explain. Like even watching myself on the
show, when the show finally cameout, I'm sitting there like
watching myself on TV. It's like that doesn't feel like
me. You know what I mean?
It just, it just, I don't know why, but it's like, that's just
kind of like a like the little weird feeling.

(45:34):
But, you know, even like, besides the show, like when I,
you know, 'cause at the time when I was on the show, I was
living in Los Angeles. So yeah.
So I was out there for like like3-3 years, almost four years.
Oh, wow. OK.
Yeah. So like I, I.
Yeah, little Easter egg that we missed there in your little
story, pal. You lived in LA.
How did you just not tell us that?

(45:55):
I know I forgot that. I forgot about that.
But yeah, so then I got the opportunity, you know, from the
show to move back to Boston, youknow, and then since then, you
know, I've, you know, seen Gordon in the city a couple
times, which is like really cool.
I'm like really awesome because like, besides all the TV stuff
and like seeing him yelling and screaming, what not like he he
wasn't that like person on this show.

(46:17):
Like that's like not the personahe plays, but like in real life,
he's like a super humble, awesome, really like down to
earth kind of guy, like very family oriented, like just just
good people, you know, I mean, so which I feel like people
would be surprised to hear because some people just see him
like screaming, yelling, throwing fish across the well,
that's. The click baits.
Yeah, exactly. And it's, it's TV, you know.

(46:38):
And like, that's who, that's, that's what the whole preface of
that show is, is like you're coming in to his kitchen,
working for him to win a spot, to be a head chef at one of his
restaurants, you know what I mean?
So it's like you're like, he's your boss in a sense, you know,
like on the show in Hell's Kitchen, for example.
But on next level Chef, like I've said before, like he's

(46:58):
like, like they call him mentorsor like coaches.
So like, they want you to win. They, they, they try to like
push the best out of you. That is possible.
They're not trying to have you second guess yourself or beat
you up, you know what I mean? Like if you do step out of line
in some ways, like I've seen himsay a couple things to some
people, like even on my season, which I was like, oh shit, you
know what I mean? Like there was like 1 girl who
was like, Chef would could you grab me this like, as like she's

(47:21):
like cooking and stuff like that.
And he's helping another person on the team.
He's just like, he's like, yeah,give me many.
He's like, how about I stick a broom up my ass and run along
like something like that. Like just like little funny shit
and his British accent. And I'm just like, oh, man.
And then like she said someone else had another thing like pass
me this or whatever. And he's just like, I'm your
mentor, not your bitch. And I was just like, oh, oh,

(47:42):
shit, you know what I mean? But it's just like, like little
things like that. It's just like, he still is.
Like you got like, what are you?What are you asking me?
Like, don't ask me for shit. Yeah.
Go get running. Yeah.
You know what I mean? Like this?
This is not what? This is my show.
I'm not here to like, Yeah, you're a mentor.
You're not. Do it for you.
No, exactly. So there's funny little things
that he did. But yeah, it was super cool.

(48:03):
Hilarious. Yeah.
And what's your biggest take away from the show overall?
The experience. I feel like it did give me a lot
more confidence in myself than Iknew I had.
I definitely, you know, I feel like everyone has that like
little voice in their head at times.
It like is self doubt and whatnot.
But it's like to see myself likedo the whole interview process,

(48:23):
make it on the show, do really well on the show, make myself
really proud. A lot of people have reached out
to me from the Boston area who are like rooting for me on the
show or like all New England, you know what I mean?
It was, it was, it was super cool to see like people like
from out in like my area and whatever, like rooting for me
and like wanting me to win, you know, like the restaurant I work
at now is called Pammy's. It's in Cambridge, just like a

(48:45):
really cool, like just like it'sa family owned restaurant and we
work with like some really top notch ingredients over there.
But I've even had fans who of mefrom the show come to Pammy's,
eat dinner and like ask for me to come out and what not and
just to meet. Reservation for three, pal.
Yeah, count us in. We'll be there for the chicka
peas. I'd love one.
I'd love to try that. What is it?

(49:06):
Wrong again? No, it's.
I thought that's. OK, I know it's chicka peas.
You fire up the chicken. If you're awesome, if you all
came to pammies, like you guys will love it.
Absolutely like the the menu over there changes like pretty.
I wouldn't say like all all the time, but like it.
It definitely changes like throughout the seasons, maybe a
couple times through in the season too, if you know the chef
owner over there just feels likethrowing something else new on,

(49:28):
you know, which is like really cool to see.
Just like working with new stuffall the time, like coming up
with new ideas, you know, new techniques and stuff.
Like I've learned a lot even being over there, which is like
really cool. Like working with ingredients
that like I've never even heard of, which is like surprising to
me. Like not to think like I don't
think I know everything or whatever else, but it's like
I've worked in a good handful ofrestaurants.
I've seen a lot, but like to come still like, you know what,

(49:52):
like pretty much a decade that I've been working in the kitchen
now, like obviously still learning.
Like that's the thing that I kind of love about being a chef
and being in the kitchen the most is like that you never stop
learning, you know? I mean, never gets just like
boring or whatever. Like you can still always find
something new. Even if you make a dish great,
you can always make it better, you know what I mean?

(50:13):
Like it's just like that. Like drive to perfection, as
close to perfection as possible,which is like really fun.
Love that, really fun. Do you find yourself having
like, New England inspiration inhow you decide to cook?
Like, in the sense that like, we're kind of like a seafoody
community in a way. I'm huge into seafood.
Like I love seafood. Yeah, I love like the story
you're talking about going out with your your grandfather.
You said right where you're on the boat and you're you know,

(50:34):
that's that's I I thought of that and I was like, wow, this
is going to be. I would imagine that there's got
to be a lot of inspiration there.
Oh. Yeah.
Like, I love, I love good seafood.
And like I said, like even in those memories, just like
grilling on the back of the boata little salt and lemon, like
just so simple, but like so delicious and so fresh.
Like just those things. It's like you don't need to.
And that's another thing that I've like kind of remembered

(50:56):
even in myself because over the years of especially still being
young too, you know, like all the information that's like kind
of been dumped into my brain of like techniques and different
things like that. Like you kind of like almost
want to like overachieve at times and like just do too much.
But then it like, it makes like,it's almost like a painting.
Like instead of just it being like nice and elegant, it's
like, it almost makes it kind oflike muddy, you know what I

(51:17):
mean? Like the flavors aren't like
very like bold anymore because like you're just adding shit on
top of shit on top of shit, you know what I mean?
It's like it still tastes good, but it's like you could probably
take like five of those elementsout of that and then just have
it be what it is and then be delicious, delicious.
If it's just like fresh, good, delicious food, Like you don't
need to like doctor it up with like all these fancy little
sauces and whatever the hell, you know what I mean?

(51:38):
Just do a couple like clean, easy techniques and just have
the food like speak for itself. You know what I mean?
Which is like I think like. That's why why a chef that I
used to work for you should be like.
Simplicity is is key. You know, and how many chefs
have you worked for now? I mean, from, you know, being
out here on the East Coast and then obviously moving out to the
West Coast, yeah. Like I've worked for definitely

(51:59):
a handful of chefs, you know, that, you know, all have a lot
of passion for what they've doneand different walks of life and
different inspirations on their own.
So it's like kind of just cool to see, you know, what people
get out of doing this everyday. Like it's a, it's we're all
doing the same thing. Like we're all cooking food.
We're all trying to make people happy.
It's it's a, it's a hospitality industry, but it's like people

(52:21):
can all like find their own way of getting to that end goal, you
know what I mean? It's, it's not just like a where
we're a bunch of like SIM characters or something just
like walking in line, you know, it's just like we all have our
own way, our own path. That's like, that's, that's what
I'm looking for, which is like really cool.
And I would imagine that there'sgoing to be a lot of different
experiences and learning that occurs when you are working with

(52:42):
a chef from the East Coast versus the West Coast.
Yeah, yeah. Let's talk about the West Coast
because you kind of just breezedover that, but what brought you
out to LA? Were you cooking out there?
So I was, I was cooking out there.
So like, like I've always been cooking, you know, I had like
like a couple of my buddies, girl I grew up with like we used
to like make music and stuff like we used to like I used to

(53:02):
like live out in lol. So we used to like make music
out there. One of my good friends, like he
ended up getting opportunity like kind of got like signed to
this like smaller record label out in LA and he moved out there
like ahead of us. And then I was getting into
videography at the time because there was a dude who like, kind
of had a partnership in the studio space that we, like,

(53:24):
worked in that he used to do videography and like, I used to
just like go there after work and like hang out with them and
whatnot. But then like, he was like, hey,
you want to like, help me out? Like I'll get pay you some money
if you come help me, like shoot this video where I just, I need
an extra pair of hands for like,lighting and whatnot.
And I was like, yeah, like, why not?
Yeah. And then I got kind of got into
it and I was like, this is pretty cool.
Like I could do this. You know what I mean?

(53:44):
It's like I didn't never have like a a want or anything kind
of just like came to me. It was just like, yeah, like,
and but I was like, this is cool.
Like gotta try it, right? Yeah, why not?
So I was still cooking, obviously, but then doing music
video stuff on the side. And then my buddy who moved out
to LA, that same like little management company that he was

(54:04):
working with them were like, hey, we need a videographer.
And he's like, oh, my buddy, he does this.
And I had a whole camera set andgimbal and all that stuff and
what not. So moved out there, sold my car
and like all my stuff and just moved out to Los Angeles and
like, me and him lived in like this little apartment together
for some time until some things fell through with that whole,

(54:25):
like, working with that particular group of people that
we went out there for, which is totally fine.
Things happened. Yeah, things happened exactly.
But then. So you weren't cooking out
there, though I was still cooking.
Oh, you were still cooking? So you were working in a
restaurant as well? I was, I was working in a
restaurant that was like a kind of like a Mediterranean, almost
like, yeah, Mediterranean style restaurant.
The really cool part about this one that I liked, it was like

(54:48):
everything was cooked on like anopen flame.
So there was no gas. And then like there was gas
burners in the back for like bigstock pots and whatnot,
obviously. But like all your food would be
cooked on like an open flame, you know, I mean, that's sweet.
It was, it was badass. It was badass.
It was like a lot of it was obviously a lot more work to
like, you know, get the fire ready, do all that stuff and

(55:08):
like, you know, just manage thatthroughout the whole night.
It's not like just like turning a knob and, you know, even it's
right there. Cooking's hard as it is.
But that just made it a little bit harder, you know, I mean,
but it was a really, really coolskill to learn, like, how to,
like, manipulate food with, like, with fire, you know what I
mean? Like, it was it was sick.
It was. No kidding.
Yeah. So bring us now you've gone

(55:28):
through all of these experiences.
You've you've learned from so many different chefs.
Now let's get you to present day.
What do you've got going on withyour cooking night?
You said you're working at Pammies, right?
Yeah. Pammies.
Pammies. And then you're also doing some
private chef stuff, correct? Yeah, so my whole goal, you
know, coming out of the show andwhatnot was to definitely, you
know, kind of like skyrocket my own like private chef business,

(55:52):
which has like been doing reallygreat, like throughout the
summer, even this this past summer, you know, was doing a
lot of travelling going across the country, you know, working
with. Some travelling to do it too.
Yeah, I was travelling to do it,yeah, which was like really
awesome because some of the people that I was on the show
with also are involved in and whatnot.
Like even even I think it was inJune or July.
It was in June. No, July went out to Chicago and

(56:14):
did like a big of like a big, big event for like NASCAR.
Like they had a whole NASCAR. I don't know if you guys heard
about that. It was like a they shut down a
lot of the streets in the city of Chicago and they do like they
turn into a whole NASCAR track. Oh, no kidding.
Yeah, I didn't know that. It was really cool.
So then they have like obviouslylike vendors everywhere, but
then they have like the VIP section where like we were, we
got a, we got a booth in there. So then we were just like

(56:37):
slinging up like big asada ribs and like things, things like
that. It was just like it was cool, it
was fun, a lot of work. We were like up that night for
the past like 2 nights that we were doing it before the event.
We were up to like 5:00 in the morning the first night.
Then the next day we pulled an all nighter, didn't sleep at
all. Or just like in the prep kitchen
like prepping all night long. I went and got us some beers or

(57:00):
just like drinking a couple beers, prepping all night long.
And then like, like, slept in like in the little prep area.
Yeah. And then just like went down the
street in the morning to like, unload, offload all the food.
And then we went back home. I took a nap.
I was like, I got to take a nap.Yeah.
This is this is a lot, you know,I mean, like, we've been up for
like 48 hours damn near already.So.

(57:20):
Yeah, it was, it was, it was a lot.
But it was grind, baby. Yeah.
No, it is. It is all about the ground, I
think of Bill's character. Absolutely.
So yeah, I did that. Well, as they say, success is a
journey, not a destination. 100%I heard that somewhere once.
Once I think it was on the side of a stripper.
But. I read it.
I read it in a bathroom, Yeah. Shit, wait a minute, he's got a

(57:41):
tattoo on his ribs. Cut that out.
Cut this bullshit out. Sorry, I had to.
I had to do that to him. That's funny.
So awesome. So but the private chef stuff in
general, that's so you'll travelanywhere people can just hire
you to. What like is it specifically
events? Is it homes?
Like, yeah, I mean, I kind of did like a little bit of like a
hybrid, honestly. OK.
That type of thing. Like I've done like, for
example, like people who are fans of me from the show, like

(58:03):
they hired me to come into theirhouse and do like a private
dinner for like 2 of like, it was like a couple.
Yeah. Like Hoffman and wife went in
there, did like a three course menu for them, paired it with
wine and and they loved it, you know, and then like finish them
with dessert. So it was it was really cool.
And then, you know, then I've done like bigger things like,
you know, I done like birthday parties for this other client
that was like 50. It was like anywhere from like

(58:25):
50 to 65 people like, you know, worth of people.
I did it just a bunch of prep bymyself and then just went there
and cooked a bunch of food day of like all the proteins
obviously. But you know, just just hustling
as much as I can on my own as ofnow until it's like too big for
it to like it just doesn't make sense to do that.
Like I'm going to have to bring people in obviously, yeah to
expand. But yeah, I mean I I've been

(58:48):
kind of doing like whatever likethis.
I think in no in December, like 13th or something like that.
I'm doing another, another like 30 person like kind of catered
style event, like making a bunchof fresh pasta and like some
hors d'oeuvres and stuff like that and desserts and like just
like whatever people really want.
Like I could do weddings. Yeah, like, you know, it's fun

(59:09):
and it's like I get, I love working in the restaurant
because the whole camaraderie ofworking with people and whatnot,
it's like the whole atmosphere. But definitely for me, I feel
like I get more out of obviouslydoing my private chef stuff.
Like I get to like use, I get touse like my own creative juices
and you know what not, and then obviously get to structure my
own schedule, which is like really, really good for the

(59:30):
family. Yeah.
But until that's like my full time thing, like I'm kind of
like in between doing restaurants and then in my free
time or my days off, I'm doing private chef stuff just to like
add a little extra money to my monthly income type of thing.
Absolutely. Do you ever aspire to open up
your own spot? Yeah, yeah, one day.
Yeah, one day I do. I don't.

(59:51):
I would. I've always really wanted to do
that. I mean, like, you know, I've, I
even had like a chef that I usedto work for, for in LA, he left
LA and opened up a like a new, anew restaurant.
And like, obviously with openingup like any restaurant or like a
space like that, there's a lot of like trials and tribulations

(01:00:13):
that come with it, you know whatI mean?
It's not just like, Oh yeah, like you have a building like
let's make some food like this, right?
Right. A lot of shit that comes with
that, you know what I mean? Which is like just trying to way
out to see if that's like totally the route that I want to
go. But like, that was more or less
like my overall, like, dream, like, you know, coming up.
And the kitchen was like, yeah, I want my own spot one day.
That's awesome. Even thinking about now, like, I

(01:00:33):
have a little girl, almost 2. Like, I think it'd be really
cool to like, have her be able to like, come to like her dad's
restaurant, like sit down, bringher friends.
We're manifesting it, baby. That's gonna happen, don't you
worry. I'll be sick.
We will get there. That's what I'll be sick.
Now this is more of a curiosity question that I have.
Here one of those. Two, can you explain the courses
to me, 'cause I gotta be honest with you.
Oh yeah, I never would understood.

(01:00:54):
Like for a second, Great. Yeah, Like, I don't understand.
Like, 'cause now 'cause you saidthat you.
You it was like a six course meal at one point with one of
the I'm like, yeah, there's six courses like so explain to me
how many, how many can there be total?
And walk me through like why it's done this way.
Rookie. I mean, you can really do
whatever you want, if I'm going to be honest with you, so.
There's no limit. I could do like 20-4 courses.

(01:01:16):
I've seen like restaurants that have like done like 15 course
menus. That has to take hours to get.
Through, yeah, I mean, well it, it's definitely like so like.
Experience. Exactly like that's exactly what
it is like with the smaller plates, the like more courses.
It's like it's everything. It's the service, it's the, the
food is like almost like an addition to some extent.

(01:01:39):
Like obviously the food's super important.
People are coming there for it, but it's like people are coming
for the ambience. People are coming for the
service like the whole all around 360 experience, you know,
So it's like that's what you're paying that money for.
It's not just like if you look at it just as like in like
you're not going to those spots to get full.
Like you said earlier, like I like to go to a spot and feel
like, if I feel like I'm full, like if you want to then just go

(01:02:02):
to like a, a mom and pop type ofspot, you know?
Yeah, I think it's just for me that if I'm going to like spend
the money, like obviously havingthe experience is absolutely
like worth it, but it's also like, I think it's a social
media thing where everyone's like, you have to go here.
The food, the food, the food. I feel like there's millions of
food vloggers. It's really hard to decipher
like which one is authentic. And yes, like I agree, like

(01:02:23):
getting paid and coming in and do the exposure is wonderful.
But how manipulated is that system?
Because I've worked with restaurants, I know how
difficult it is to explain to the person like, Hey, I have to
give an honest review. I might not like what you're you
I'm going to put out there and you have to pay me for it.
But I guess I'm just trying to say that when I go to these
places, as much I love the experience, I do need to feel

(01:02:44):
like if I'm going to pay X amount of dollars, I I don't
want to leave there feeling like, OK, let's go get a slice
of pizza now so that like I can feel that I ate tonight.
I, I, I totally understand that,you know, there's a lot of
you're definitely not the first person I've heard that from.
It's like there's. If you rave about the tuna and I
come in, I can only have one bite, I'm gonna be pretty
pissed. OK.
I want the whole pole, yeah. I want the whole bowl.

(01:03:05):
Yeah. Yeah.
Of Chacuterie, yeah. Or no, That one made sense.
Chip charcuterie. Chipati.
Good. Chipati.
Yeah, Chipati. I'm getting there, yeah.
OK, so now that I've distracted you, how many courses is the
right courses? Explain it all to me.
So for me, like, for example, like this past summer, I did a
really cool dinner. It was like for Seth Meyers and
like Amy Schumer on the venue, which was like super sick, like

(01:03:27):
very cool, really, really cool. But for them, I did like A5
course venue, you know, including a dessert.
So it's like a like a starter and then like, you know, you
like it. It can be structured kind of
whatever way you want it to be, but you got to like the way I
think about it is like obviouslyon the front end of the of the
menu, you're not trying to like fill people up.
So then on the back end they're like, Oh my God, like I can't

(01:03:48):
eat this right, right. Like you want them to like still
be hungry enough to keep eating the next course got you.
So it's like you don't want to put that like that dense, heavy,
whatever it might be in the front half.
Like you want to put that towards the tail end, if you,
you know what I mean. But it's like then me and a
couple of my friends from the show, we did this like little

(01:04:08):
dinner series that we were travelling around and it was
called the 7th course. And that had like 5 like staple
courses. And then there was like a thing
called like an amuse bouche, which is like a kind of like A1
biter that you would just like, it's like, almost like something
just to kind of like get your, get you ready for the meal in a
sense. It's like, it's not like a, it's
like a very quick kind of just like, like.

(01:04:31):
Pre workout. Yeah, like, yeah, exactly.
Pre workout. And then there's another thing
called like an intermezzo, whichis like a what they call like a
palate cleanser. So like you'll have a bunch of
food and then you'll have like alike a sorbet or like a Gelato
or something like that. Like something in the midst of
like something that kind of justlike clean your palate clean.

(01:04:52):
So then you can keep enjoying the flavors of the rest of them,
of the rest of the menu, if thatmakes sense.
No, that does make sense. Yeah.
And you structure it out in a way that does the food advance.
So you're a mush tush that starts.
What's in that? A must tush so the way that I

(01:05:13):
personally structure those is iflike I'll come up with a theme
like an overall theme for them. OK, cool so like it'll like
there'll be flavors that will like play on each other.
You know it might not might not just be like an Italian menu or
a French menu like it might be like French style cooking
techniques and certain flavors or ingredients.
But then I might throw in like an Asian style way of like

(01:05:34):
preparing something, you know what I mean?
Or like marinating something, you know what I mean?
In a sense of like, you know what I mean?
It's like you can kind of fuse things.
But then like a funny thing thatChef used to say to me is like,
he's like, you can do infusions,but don't make it confusion.
You know what I mean? Don't make it like a fucking.
Chef's a music guy cuz he soundslike a rapper.

(01:05:55):
That's awesome. That's my.
He's like, that's a bar. Yeah, that's a fire.
Right, that's a bar. That's funny.
But yeah, it was just like little things like that, you
know what I mean? It's like you don't want to
like, and like kind of go back to what I was even saying
earlier. It's like simplicity is the
best, you know what I mean? It's like when you're doing too,
too much of a bunch of stuff, it's like then like people are
like, yeah, that was good, but like, what?

(01:06:17):
What was that? You know what I mean?
It's like you want people to be like, oh man, like that scallop
was like, you know, you can really taste that.
Like, you know, whatever, like whatever components that you put
alongside it, like it just, theyall serve their purpose, you
know what I mean? Like everything is like meshing.
Well, it's like a perfect marriage, so to speak.
All right, so then in your idealworld, what's the sweet spot you

(01:06:37):
gotta have? Or is it not really matter to
you? As far as?
How many courses? I feel like for me I think like
5 courses is like manageable I mean depending on the parties.
But those courses, dessert is not considered in the five
courses. It's like the five courses and
the dessert. No, the dessert would be the
5th. Oh, the dessert would be the
5th. OK, I wasn't.

(01:06:58):
So it'd be like a it'd be like something light, like, you know,
I like for example, summer menus.
I love starting them with like crudo, something light, you know
what I mean? Like, like, like citrus, you
know, I. Love those.
I put those on all my salads. Yeah.
Crudo. Yeah, yeah.
Is he saying the right? No.
Oh, I'm thinking of croutons. Oh, my fault, my fault.
It's on me. So I put those on my salads.

(01:07:19):
That's on me. My fault with a.
Button. Just throw a button in there.
I need fucking hands. That's gonna be my next from
the. Bear.
I was OK. That's from the bear.
That's a cooking show, right? Yeah.
I thought that was you for a second.
I. Thought it was for a second.
So I was like, what the what wasthat?
Betty just does those little things.

(01:07:41):
So croutons to start. Yes, croutons to start and then
no. So yeah, like crudo which is
like. I don't know.
OK. So crudo's like very like thinly
like shaved or like sliced pieceof like fish, for example.
Gotcha. OK.
I mean like you could get salmoncrudo.
You could get like, you know, you could make like the the word

(01:08:01):
crudo is like, you know, very it's like thinly, thinly sliced,
you know what I mean? Or like for example.
Like I'm gonna use that all the time.
Yeah, crudo. I'm gonna go deli.
I'm gonna take the salami. Crudo style.
Crudo style. They'll probably slap you with
this salami. Definitely get the fuck out of
here. Yeah, I love it.
That's hilarious. But yeah, you know what I mean?

(01:08:21):
Like something light, you know, then maybe like a small like
kind of like soup style, you know, to kind of like a little
warmer, a little hardier, like something that's like, you know,
getting you ready for the rest of the meal.
And then I usually either do, you know, like I usually always
do like 1 fish, like course and then like a like a like a
protein course as far as just like either like lamb or like

(01:08:44):
veal or, you know, whatever venison.
I've done some venison ones, which are like really cool, you
know, some type of game meat in a way, but like, and then finish
off with like a nice dessert depending on like the season.
Like all those things are like interchangeable.
Like, you know, I don't really have like set menus that I can
like I send to people. I'd probably make my life a lot
easier in a way. I'm just like having like

(01:09:05):
structured menus and just being like here, here's five options.
Pick whatever 1 you want. But it's like I I feel like I
just. Yeah, but you're still young.
That's the exciting part. That's the exciting part.
Of it that takes away the creativity portion that you
enjoy 100. Percent.
When you're a little bit older, you're like, I've done every
dish that I can think of. So now, now I'll tell you which
ones. I need to write this shit down.
Yeah, right. No, it's, I do, I do repeat some

(01:09:27):
dishes that like, people really do like though, you know what I
mean? Because I just know it's like,
like I know I can execute it well.
And I know it's like a fan favorite, you know?
Same. Yeah.
I'm telling you, dude, I make a crazy good bowl of cereal.
Yeah, can't be topped. All right, let's get into the so
New England segment. We have 6 beautiful states here
in New England. Have you been to all of them?

(01:09:49):
Yeah. Actually I have.
Awesome. Why don't you do me a favor and
rank them in order. But here is the caveat.
Here is the caviar. I would like you to rank them
based on their culinary experience.
Rank them on culinary experience.
Like if you were going to tell someone, hey, if you're coming
to New England, here is the beststate to have food and which

(01:10:10):
one's the worst? OK.
I mean, to be honest with you, Ihaven't spent as much time out
here in Rhode Island, but I definitely know.
Which is funny because we are #1just putting that out there.
The Rhode Island food scene is pretty unreal.
Like, you guys do have a lot of,a lot of banging food, even,
like, from, like, really nice restaurants to like, even like,
you know, a spot that all my buddies tell me it's like Pizza

(01:10:31):
Marvin's. Yeah.
Like, people are always like, oh, you got to get out there,
dude. It's like the best, Yeah.
Be from Marvin Smacks. Yeah, like they're just like
best pizza, like Sicilian slice,you know, you can get a beer in
there and it's just like, I was like, that sounds like my
perfect like afternoon. Yep.
You know what I mean? So there's like, I can't speak
to all the great spots out here,but I definitely know there's a
great food scene. I love Boston food scene.

(01:10:52):
I don't love the food too, too much in the city as much like I
feel like it's like sometimes a little like there's, there's
some good spots, don't get me wrong, but I feel like overall
it's like slightly overrated in a way.
Hot take. Yeah, although it's becoming not
that hot. We've got it's gotten pretty
popular. There's a Boston food scene is a
bit overrated. Oh, I'm just saying, in the
city, city. In the city.
You know, in the actual city of Boston, like it's like it's kind

(01:11:14):
of a pain in the ass to get downthere.
Then you get down there, the food's like, it's not bad, but
it's like. Listen, OK, we've had a multiple
food bloggers come in here, vloggers and bloggers come in
here and say like the best food is not in the city city.
It's kind of more on the. Outskirts like that it's in the
burbs like outside and. Now we've got a chef saying the
same exact thing. So it's got that comment

(01:11:35):
section. It's got to be that.
It's got to be right, OK, But bystate.
So you're going to go. Who are you going to go #1 with?
I mean, I got to go with Massachusetts.
Massachusetts #1. That's home.
So, so Mass first. Rhode Island, I would say, I'd
say me, I don't know, it's like either a toss between like

(01:11:57):
Vermont or Connecticut for me. I feel like Connecticut's got
some good pizza. Like Connecticut, like they got
some good stuff out there, like good delis and stuff when I've
been out there for like baseballgames and stuff in my, in my
past. But yeah, I would say OK,
Connecticut third, I just go Vermont.
I haven't really, I can't reallyspeak to Vermont food scene.
Like I haven't really been out there like eating wise, you

(01:12:18):
know, So I, I don't, I don't know, I might be wrong, but
maybe like Vermont 4th. New Hampshire and main left.
Oh, New Hampshire. New Hampshire does have some
banging food though too. I think it.
It's just kind of difficult because both of, I mean, the
northeastern corridor of New England as a whole, it just like

(01:12:42):
there isn't a ton of city life. So that's usually what attracts
like higher end restaurants and really good food.
So I think that's why. Yeah, it would say New
Hampshire, Maine, They're just somewhere at the bottom.
Yeah. I don't know they they can find
their own spot. So I don't, I don't know too
much to be honest with those two.
You a big sports fan? I wouldn't say big, but like I,
I used to play baseball growing up, OK, that was my big, big

(01:13:04):
sport. You know, play football a little
bit too. But like baseball is like my,
my, my thing. All right.
Well, we'll, we'll follow your lead.
Give us a ranking on the New England sports teams.
Favorite to least favorite? New England sports teams.
I'm assuming Sox won. I'm hoping Sox won since you're
a baseball guy. I.
Think they won? Yeah, Yeah.
You're gonna give, Sox won. Yeah, I would say Red Sox, Pats,

(01:13:26):
Bruins. Red Sox, Pats.
Bruins. Yeah.
I like Bruins games too, you know?
No Celtics too. I kind of fucking forgot this.
I love the Celtics. I love going to Celtics games
too. I would say, OK, let's go, let's
go, Sox pads, Celtics, Bruins. Gotcha.
And then we'll put the Revs underneath, which is our the New
England Revs. It's our soccer team, actually.

(01:13:48):
Yeah, that's OK. We're always just trying to shot
him out and put him on the map alittle bit.
If there was a dish that could represent each state.
All right, so I think mass pastalike a banging pasta dish.
I would say New Hampshire. New Hampshire would probably be,
I mean, this isn't really a dish, but I think New Hampshire,
I've had some really good oysters up in New Hampshire, so

(01:14:11):
all. Right, we'll do it.
That's actually the second time,right?
Do you think so, Oysters? Matt said the same.
Thing I've had some really good oysters up in New Hampshire,
Maine. Obviously lobster.
Let's go lobster roll hotter. Colder.
I like cold, OK? I like cold.
I like cold. Came down a little bit of a
notch for me, but whatever, it'sOK, I still trust you as a chef.
But you like you like the hot butter.
I gotta get the hot butter. Yeah, I like the only thing I

(01:14:32):
like about Connecticut, but I like, yeah, the hot butter
lobster. Yeah, I like the hot butter too.
But I kind of, I feel like I grew up on like the, the cold,
the the Mayo. Yeah, I think that's the most
traditional. It's just that for me, I prefer
like warm lobster. Cold lobster.
I'm kind of like, yeah, I'm the fence about.
OK, I feel that. So Maine and then Vermont.

(01:14:53):
What's Vermont got going on up there?
I don't know. Vermont feel like I've, when
I've went up there, Vermont, I actually had some really good
pizza. I'm not going to lie.
That's my second. Time we've heard the second time
we've heard that, that Vermont'sgot which.
Was like a total curveball, you know, because it's like just
doesn't feel like that fits, youknow, But it's like it was it

(01:15:15):
was actually pretty good. It didn't it didn't look as good
as you would. You don't think it would taste,
but then you get in there, you're like, do.
You remember what it was called?Like the the spot I went to.
No, this is like years ago. OK.
But I remember it was like a small pie.
It was like a small like square pie.
It's the spot. Right, I think so.
What was it? Pizza Ida.

(01:15:36):
Oh, it could have been. What else?
I think we have one more, no? You got?
Yeah, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
OK, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Rhode Island, What you guys got out here, that's like known.
I think we need to come down andhave a little bit.
We do got a good calamari dish. I'll take you a little round.
Kamal style. Yeah.
Little banana pepper I think youneed.
Like Spain. I mean, everyone likes Spain.

(01:15:58):
Spain's delicious but. Yeah, no, I mean, I don't know
the food scene out here, so I don't know.
I'll give y'all. Yeah, I don't know.
What, like a good dish? I mean, obviously probably
something Italian too. I don't know.
Yeah, seafood could work you like.
Seafood. Seafood here is good.
I would say it's probably betterin the main area because I just
think you probably get fresher fish up there.
Yeah, we do have a heavy Italianand Portuguese influence, so

(01:16:22):
there's a ton of really good Portuguese food if you're into.
I love Portuguese. Portuguese style food, but you
know, we got like stuffies too. That's really only a Rhode
Island thing. We do clam cakes again, clam
cakes and chowder. Clam cakes are really only a
Rhode Island thing. A lot of people don't really
have clam cakes in other parts of New England.
Even so. But I mean, if I, if I were

(01:16:44):
going to choose, I would probably go with the calamari
personally. But just because it's like.
We give Rhode Island calamari. There we go.
And then Connecticut, usually pizza.
So I don't know what you're going to go with now.
Connecticut can get like a I'd probably do like a for them.
I don't know, do like a good like salmon dish, probably for
Connecticut. Cool.
You know what I mean? Awesome.
Probably. Bang.
That sounds good. All right, is there anything

(01:17:09):
when it comes to the? Sorry.
OK, yeah, What would you say is the most overrated thing when it
comes to the food scene in New England?
Oh, food scene in New England? Overrated.
And like, all of New England, I feel like, I feel like, I don't

(01:17:29):
know, like I've had some really banging Italian food in New
England, of course. But then I feel like there's
like such an influx of Italian food everywhere across New
England. Yeah.
It's like, you think like, it's like hard to find those little
small, like spots that are really, like banging out, you
know what I mean? It's like authentic.
Yeah. So many people are like, just
like calling themselves Italian food, but it's like, this isn't
an Italian. Like, you guys are making shit

(01:17:49):
out of fucking cans. Yeah.
What Not. It's like, this isn't, you know
what I mean? But then there's like the old
school, like the Nonas and whatnot, like really came from
like Sicily or whatever and coming over here and like
bringing like hundreds of years of tradition, like on a plate
for you to eat, you know, like those spots, like I love those.
And like there's a, there's a couple of them in the North End
that I like. But then like even in the North

(01:18:11):
End, there's like the whole street is obviously full of
them, but then like there might be like one or two in the whole
North End that are like actuallylike throwing down, you know,
And then the rest of them just like some generic shit.
You know, I gotcha. Feels like it always like comes
from the same box. Yeah, it probably does.
Probably does. Cisco's exactly exactly.
And what would you say is the most underrated thing about the

(01:18:32):
food here in New England? Underrated underrated food in
New England. A good?
I've never thought about that one.
Honestly, I don't know. Underrated.
Something to ponder on. Underrated food in New England.

(01:18:54):
Doesn't have to be like a particular dish, but like the
food scene in general, Like if there's, if there's something
that you think like people should really try more or it's
like, oh, this is like a very underrated thing that New
England offers food wise that people aren't really consuming
enough. Hypothetically speaking, we
could say the reverse of your underrated and be like, if we
were in Utah, be like, hey, you'd be surprised how good our

(01:19:15):
Italian food is here in New England.
We're gonna have a lot of reallygood Italian food.
Yeah, I feel like I don't know if it was just me that I was
surprised by it, but obviously there's a lot of a lot of
Brazilian people in New England.So I started getting going to
Brazilian steakhouses and whatnot.
Some of the sides and different things that they got, I don't

(01:19:37):
even know how to pronounce half of them, but they are banging
some of the Brazilian steakhouses and little almost
even when I was living in Lowell, there was like just like
some old, like like like Venezuelans tile, like you know,
just like old, like old school, like just like Spanish style
food. That was just like it didn't, it
wasn't nothing fancy. It was just like rice and
chicken and whatever else, but like it was banging.

(01:19:59):
So the most underrated thing about New England?
I think like someone culture like yeah, I would say like
maybe like like Brazilian food for I'll just like generalize it
for that love. It feel like Brazilian food is
probably a little under, just maybe not seen as not as much,
but you know, maybe some, at least in my opinion in my
circle, like I don't, I know toomany people who are out there
eating Brazilian food like that.That's yeah, it's a good.

(01:20:19):
One, I love it, OK. Thank you so much for coming on
this on doing a podcast. Thank you for being here.
Thank you for hanging out with us.
No, it's been awesome. Where can everyone find you
online? So Instagram wise, you guys can
find me at like chef of the day,that's what my tag is.
And then all of my links for, you know, my website, you know,
different, different ways that you guys can kind of get in, get
in touch with me. Yeah, it's all, it's all that

(01:20:42):
right, right there. Fantastic.
Oh yeah, that is going to conclude episode 65 of the So
New England podcast. Please remember folks, life's
better in New England. Red Sox crack in the Celtics fly
Patriots fights in the Bruins grind from six great states.
We raised this down New England,strong, homeward bound, So New

(01:21:04):
England. Lithium Brown Hill.