May 12, 2025 • 42 mins
Part II of Chef Ashley Brown's Culinary Journey: From Competitions to Chopped
In the season 4 premiere of Voice4Chefs, we continue diving into Chef Ashley Brown's journey in the culinary world. Ashley shares her experiences from competing in local competitions, working alongside other chefs, to finally participating in the popular TV show Chopped. She details her creative process, the challenges she faced, her emotional moments, and the support she received from her husband and family. The episode also highlights her involvement with the MAP mentorship program, emphasizing the importance of perseverance, community, and passion in the culinary industry.
00:00 Welcome Back to Chef Ashley Brown's Journey
00:14 The Missing Bacon Fat Incident
01:06 Competing Against Thomas Hensley
01:51 First Date with Brother's Themed Dinners
04:02 Applying for the Sous Chef Position
04:36 The Mystery Basket Interview
11:29 Becoming the CDC at Lucky Dumpling
11:58 Chef Mike's Passing and Returning to Four
13:19 Getting on Chopped
22:10 Regional Focus and First Course Success
23:28 The Elk Tenderloin Challenge
24:37 Kitchen Disaster: Smoking Out the Studio
26:17 Final Dish and Emotional Exit
33:25 Reflecting on the Chopped Experience
37:10 Joining MAP and Future Aspirations
Chef Ashley Brown
https://www.instagram.com/chef_browntown
Joanna James
https://linktr.ee/AFineLineMovie
https://www.instagram.com/mappimpact/
https://www.instagram.com/joannajamesfilms/
Season2
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Michael Dugan (00:00):
Welcome back to part two of Chef Ashley Brown's
incredible culinary journey.
In this episode, we diveeven deeper into her
passion, resilience, andleadership in the kitchen.
Let's continue onAshley's journey.
Chef Ashley Brown (00:14):
The competition started
the container of baconfat went missing.
where did this thing go?
I ended up losing, now Ithink I lost because, the
guy that I was competingagainst, his parents were
there, The thing was missing.
The container of baconfat went missing.
I was like, wheredid this thing go?
(00:35):
I ended up losing, now Ithink I lost because, the
guy that I was competingagainst, his parents were there
he gave his parents likea couple little bites.
So people were like,oh, that's so sweet.
And I had no one.
Michael Dugan (00:48):
Okay.
Chef Ashley Brown (00:48):
Husband.
Now,
Michael Dugan (00:50):
Yeah, but remember, you're
competing against yourself.
I learned this from you, right.
So, yeah.
Yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (00:57):
You compete against a chef or someone else.
My husband was there, but weweren't even dating at the time.
So he was the only person thatI had to kind of support me.
I compete against this guy.
his name's Thomas Hensley,
Michael Dugan (01:09):
Mm-hmm.
Chef Ashley Brown (01:10):
Tommy Boy.
later on, him and Iended up starting to
work together at the zoo,
Michael Dugan (01:15):
Oh, wow.
Chef Ashley Brown (01:16):
Hensley and I, yes, he, and he's
a great friend right now.
Him and his girlabout to get married.
she used to be partof front of house,
Michael Dugan (01:23):
Mm-hmm.
Chef Ashley Brown (01:23):
with the most, and of course
the, the cook together.
But, yeah, no, I competedagainst him and I lost.
but it was a great, itwas a great experience
and to have a relationshipcome outta that too.
And from then on, I. I lovedwhat Brother did, I loved
what he did for the communityand all the local people.
(01:43):
all the local cooks andchefs that are in town and
what he would do to help,get them exposure and help
them see where they can go.
So from then on, my husbandand I, once we started to date,
our first date was, WarnerBrothers, themed dinners.
And it
Michael Dugan (01:59):
Oh my gosh.
That's awesome.
Chef Ashley Brown (02:01):
it was a painting, it was like
a Bob Ross kind of thing.
he hired a live painter.
His name is Shaggy.
And so the live painter wouldpaint these photos while brother
would explain the dishes thathe was gonna serve us, and it
would look just like the plate.
It was amazing.
So that was my, my husband'sfirst date with brother.
(02:22):
And we would always goto his themed dinners.
That was alwayslike our date night.
And so I tried to show brother,I was like, he's not gonna
know who I am, but I lovewhat his, his ideas and how
he creates these things.
I wanna get on this level.
So, what's the best wayto get on that level
then to experience it.
I'm still definitely not on thatlevel yet, but I know how he
(02:43):
works and I'm, I'm trying to get
Michael Dugan (02:45):
Mm-hmm.
Chef Ashley Brown (02:46):
So finally, like I said, when Covid hit just
a few weeks, we, my, Bo Greenand I went to his restaurant and
collaborated with Tonya Hollandand him for the Top Chef dinner.
And so after that, I'vestarted to realize like how his
kitchens work and everything.
I really wanted establish,I want him to know who I
(03:07):
was and that I was verypassionate for him, passionate
for what I wanted to do.
Michael Dugan (03:14):
Yeah.
I get
Chef Ashley Brown (03:15):
It wasn't even in his kitchens, but
somewhere, I wanted anotherchef to know who I was in town,
even if that wasn't, brother,it could have been anybody else.
But you know, I've onlyever known the zoo.
So like, why not createthese other relationships
with chefs in town?
So that's kind of how,I guess I started to
(03:35):
figure out who brother wasand how to, how to get in that
circle, And then finally, Idon't, he trusted me enough
to, to run in one of his mostprized possessions to this day.
So, yeah.
So then after that, after doingthat Top Chef dinner with Bo
and Brother and Tanya Holland,and like I said, when I told my
chef I was bored, and him andbrother were already talking.
(03:58):
So now fast forwardto that moment.
I applied for it after Bosaid, you should apply for it.
So I remember coming
Michael Dugan (04:07):
blessing.
Yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (04:08):
and I, I go back on it conveniently, it was
still there, and I said, apply.
And I was like,what did I just do?
Oh my God, I'm giving upeverything that I just, I all
the years to this one companywho gave their years to me.
And I was like, didthat just happen?
So, so finally we get to,an interview with the, the
(04:30):
co the chef de cuisine.
His name was, Michael Noll.
so he was the chef de cuisineover there at the time.
And to the interview, hegave me a mystery basket,
Michael Dugan (04:42):
Oh my gosh.
Wow.
Very cool.
And you'd already beendoing the knife thing,
Chef Ashley Brown (04:47):
Yeah.
Michael Dugan (04:48):
oh my gosh.
That's awesome.
Chef Ashley Brown (04:50):
basket, it was, you're gonna, you're
gonna show us what you can do.
This is the interview.
You're gonna showus what you can do.
Anyone can putanything on a resume.
So it's very smartfor them to do that.
And let's see whereyour skillset is.
Let's see what yourtime management is.
Let's see your, whereyour creativity is.
I was applying to be sous chef.
All those things areneeding to be applied.
(05:11):
So that was a beautifulway to see where someone
actually is in their career.
So in that basket, it wassea bass, not Chilian, but
it was sea bass, buttermilk,peaches, and black barley.
Oh, and a whole NewYork strip to butcher.
Michael Dugan (05:34):
Surf and turf right there.
Chef Ashley Brown (05:36):
So I ended up doing a three course, a
three course meal for them.
It was for brother, chef Mike.
our gm, Matt and their,catering director, Amanda.
And so for the first course, Iended up doing ceviche with the
sea bass, and I did a buttermilkpanna for dessert with the
(05:58):
grilled peaches, the grilledpeaches, and the New York strip.
I just, I butchered, and when Isay butchered, it's not even in
a good way, like I butchered it.
I didn't know how, I didn'tknow how to break down a whole
New York strip at the time.
we, we always got ineverything, at the zoo.
We couldn't really get in wholeanimals, that's a, there's a ton
of people to be going, imagineall the timing to put into that.
(06:19):
So I didn't reallylearn butchery
Michael Dugan (06:22):
yeah.
You don't have, butyeah, that makes sense.
You don't have butchery there.
Yeah.
Chef Ashle (06:24):
like of course I can
Michael Dugan (06:25):
That's a hotel hotel's butchery.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (06:29):
bone chickens and things like that.
Not whole half animals.
So I ended up doing a grilledsteak and black barley.
The black barleywas so undercooked.
I never worked with blackbarley before, and it
was so undercooked andthis meal was just awful.
Oh.
And including with that, ourspa of four was there too.
(06:49):
And to this day, wheneverwe do dinners, I'm like,
reme, remember how badI sucked when I started?
And then now here we are, it'sso fun to see how one grows.
Michael Dugan (06:57):
The progression.
Yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (06:59):
yeah.
So, so I ended up doing, doingall that, presented it to them.
And I'm just so shaky.
And brother, whenever youpresent him something, or if
you're feeding him, like you'regiving him an experience,
he knows how to just.
Mute his face.
He's not gonna giveyou enthusiasm.
(07:21):
He's not gonna giveyou anything negative.
He's gonna be straightfaced, very monotone.
So you can't read him, likeyou, you're not gonna say
Michael Dugan (07:30):
Oh, that's hard.
Chef Ashley Brown (07:31):
Or you're not gonna be like, oh my God,
Michael Dugan (07:33):
want the feedback one way or the other, right?
I mean, you definitelywant something.
Chef Ashley (07:37):
very intimidating.
Michael Dug (07:38):
Yeah, I believe it.
Chef Ashley Brown (07:39):
he even like anything?
what's going throughwith this man's mind?
And I have, I, to this day,I have no idea what he even
thought of, of that meal.
I have no idea.
I should probablyask him sometimes.
Michael Dugan (07:51):
Yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (07:52):
Yeah.
I have no idea what,what he thought of.
but I asked them, I'mlike, okay, what's the,
what's the next steps?
And they're like, we have a fewcandidates, to, to interview.
And I'll never forget ChefMike, he asked me, what's the
most, what, what is the most,Oh, I can't remember like
the exact words, but what'sthe craziest thing that, that
(08:14):
you've done in this industry?
and I said this righthere, and by that I meant
apply for another job.
I've given all of my dedication,loyalty to SSA, I didn't know.
I've never gone anywhere.
SSA was all that I knew and I'venever applied anywhere else.
I never wanted togo anywhere else.
(08:35):
And so by me interviewingto be a sous chef at four
was the first jump off ofa cliff I've ever done.
And I, I cried and I was like,this is, this is the first
thing that I've done and I'm, I
Michael Dugan (08:49):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I totally get
Chef Ashley Brown (08:51):
no, I totally understand that.
I was like, I feel likeMike, why am I crying?
This is an interview.
Michael Dugan (08:55):
Right.
Chef Ashley Brown (08:55):
But, so we go on and then a couple days
passes by and Chef Mike callsme, he goes, Hey, I wanna.
Schedule a time for you tocome in, let's chit chat.
And so I tell my husband, I waslike, that's them rejecting me.
I, I don't, I don't got the job.
And my husband was like,they're calling you to come in.
I don't think that's meansto, they, they would probably
(09:16):
tell you on the phone thatyou don't have the job.
They wouldn't have youcome in just to tell
you don't have the job.
I was like, I don't know.
I'm just not, I don'twanna get my hopes up.
So I come in and Chef Mike,all he does was hand me a
blue binder with the keysto the building in it.
Michael Dugan (09:33):
Oh my gosh,
Chef Ashley Brown (09:34):
And I was all like, no freaking way
out of all these other peoplethat you have interviewed.
And I don't know whothey interviewed, but I
was like the one person,this is my second job.
This is now officiallymy second job.
I don't know, I havenothing else under my belt.
I don't,
Michael Dugan (09:52):
But they saw, see, they saw something in you.
That's what it is.
I can tell right awaybecause I saw it in you,
like when we connected.
Honestly, there'ssomething very unique and
it probably goes back.
That's why I always askpeople about their childhood.
At seven years old, youwanted to be a chef.
I mean, how couldthat not be obvious?
(10:13):
Right, and and it's likefor me, okay, I'll just
tell you really quick.
When I got into technology,they saw something in me.
Because I brought hospitalityinto technology, right.
They didn't care that I didn'thave all the technical skills.
They knew how driven Iwas, so somebody took
a chance on me, right?
(10:35):
You don't have to haveall the skills, you have
to prove yourself, butthat's what separates you.
Chef Ashley Brown (10:41):
yeah,
Michael Dugan (10:42):
And I can tell right away, I'm pretty
good at reading people,coming from hospitality,
Chef Ashley Brown (10:46):
yeah.
You
Michael Dugan (10:47):
kind of have that skill, right?
But, that's whatI see immediately.
And I'm sure listeners arepicking up on it right now when,
when they're listening, becauseit, it's part partly charisma.
It's partly drive.
there are a lot of chefsthat have attitude, right?
And, oh, you're not trainable.
I'll bet you they ran into that.
There's a sous chef potential.
(11:08):
Oh, he's not trainable,he's gonna be a problem.
Or she's gonna be a problem.
No, no.
You're passionate.
You, you're a team player.
It's really obvious thatyou want to be here.
That's probably why.
That's what I'm observing.
So I don't know.
Chef Ashley Brown (11:23):
But
Michael Dugan (11:24):
But obviously it worked out.
'cause now you're running itand that's fricking amazing.
Yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (11:29):
Yeah.
So he had another locationat the time, it was
called Lucky Dumpling.
So I was with four as asous chef for six months,
Michael Dugan (11:38):
Yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (11:38):
and then he promoted me to become
CDC at Lucky Dumpling.
Michael Dugan (11:43):
Wow.
Chef Ashley Brown (11:44):
And so I started to run that
for nine months, no soup.
I was at, I was a sous cheffor six months and then I,
I ran Lucky Dumpling fornine months and then we
had an unfortunate passing.
Chef Mike passed away.
Michael Dugan (12:00):
Oh, geez.
Chef Ashley Brown (12:00):
Yeah.
So it was very, very, verysudden and I'm still just
kind of doing my thing overat Lucky, trying to figure out
how to become A-A-C-D-C, how torun, a restaurant efficiently.
So that's where I startedto get those skills just
Michael Dugan (12:18):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (12:19):
And I really missed the culture at four and I
really missed the, the cuisine.
I felt like I fit in atfour because it is, it
is southwestern, it isthe Four Corners region.
I Lucky Dumpling was, Asianand Creole infused two
cuisines that I couldn't.
(12:40):
Relate with.
Michael Dugan (12:41):
Right.
Chef Ashley Brown (12:41):
So it was kind of hard to, to
really dive into LuckyDumpling myself, because I
knew I fit in more at four.
And I, and I told brother, Iwas like, I wanna come back.
And, and I knew I had ab, Ihad big, big, big shoes to
fill after Chef Mike passedaway, but he, he gave me a
chance and then I moved backover to four As CDC, and I am
(13:06):
now the, the longest runningchef that he's had at four.
so I've been running four as c,d, C for the last four years.
Michael Dugan (13:16):
That's amazing.
That's really, really amazing.
So the other thing I wantto talk about is chopped.
Chef Ashley Brown (13:22):
Mm-hmm.
Michael Dugan (13:23):
tell us a little bit what you can remember.
So basically, first of all,how did you end up un chopped?
I dreamed of workingor going un chopped at
like many, many people.
Now I'm out of practice.
My wife will tell you.
All I do is talk aboutit because I'm on the
podcast all the time.
So I don't cook that much.
But what was that like andhow did you end up there?
Chef Ashley Brown (13:43):
so I post a lot on social
media, mainly Instagram.
so someone from theirproduction team reached out via
Instagram, no email or anything.
It was just the, my,my dms of Instagram.
And they're like, Hey, welove, all your content.
(14:05):
We love what you do, wesee who you work for.
And we, we'd love toset up time to talk.
this is for the show Chopped.
And so I was like, oh,no, no freaking way.
No, no,
Michael Dugan (14:18):
It's a scam.
It's a scam.
Right?
I know.
I've had those and then they'renot scams, and I'm like, what?
Oh,
Chef Ashley Brown (14:24):
ended up going with it and then having
the call, and talked to acouple of people from their
production team and they'relike, okay, well we just
wanna get like a baseline.
what do you do?
what's, oh, tell me, tell usa little bit about yourself.
And then, it was a quick,probably about 20, 30 minute
phone call and, just tell'em everything that I've
told you, but very briefly.
(14:45):
And they're like, okay, solet's go on with another,
let's go on with a Zoom.
We wanna see your face,we wanna see what kind
of character you are.
So we went on with a Zoomcall and just kind of
like, and I'm not one, Iwasn't, I'm not into tv.
I was very shy
Michael Dugan (15:02):
Oh, wow.
Chef Ashley Brown (15:03):
very timid, just kind of like, oh, hi,
my name's Ashley and andso I didn't know how to, I.
Be a character.
I didn't know what ifI envisioned myself
being a character, whatwould that look like?
I never asked myself thatquestion, but they really
kind of pull it outta you.
They're like, okay,you're competing against
(15:23):
this kind of person.
What are you gonna tell them?
Michael Dugan (15:26):
Oh, wow.
Chef Ashley Brown (15:27):
like they're, they're, they're prying
and they're poking at you.
What are you gonna tell him?
Why do you thinkyou're gonna win?
You know what,you're from Colorado.
What does Colorado have that'sthat no one else can get?
questions like that.
So I really try my absolutehardest to kind of like speak
(15:47):
a little louder and out forwardand things like that, and just
kind of see, how brother doesit, he'll do these things like
posting a lot of his socialmedias and things like that.
He's already got thattv, personality out.
Michael Dugan (16:00):
yeah.
Charisma.
Yep.
Yep.
Chef Ashley Brown (16:02):
Hold some things from him,
which I'm thankful forthat he's exposed me to it.
So, that kind ofhelped out a lot.
So then finally, just acouple more interviews passes
by, just the same things.
And then okay, we wanna do,we wanna bring out some,
some of our film crew cometo you and, interview, show
(16:24):
you where you're at, show thelocation, things like that.
Take some photos.
And I was like, okay.
And then finally I get an emailthat said, okay, so here's
everything that you need toknow about being un chopped.
It wasn't all that clear.
I was like, hold on, Ineed to know, is this real?
(16:45):
it says okay, you're,you're un chopped.
And I was like,no, no, no, no, no.
So I asked brother, I waslike, I wanna make sure
that this is not a scam.
I really wanna make
Michael Dugan (16:53):
yeah, I get it.
I totally get it.
Chef Ashley B (16:55):
different emails.
And so I was forwardinghim some of his stuff.
And so of course he stillhas some of his emails
from when he was on there.
He goes, okay, this isthe email that I have, JS
casting, anything like that.
I was like, thisisn't the people.
And so I was like, we're justgoing back and forth, back
and forth, talking through it.
this is what's goingon, this is what they're
saying, what should I do?
(17:15):
And so I was like, okay,I'm gonna email them.
He, he sends me some of thepeople that he worked with
for Chopped, and I was like,okay, my name's Ashley Brown.
This is what's going on, butI wanna make sure that this
is in fact actually happening.
And so the head personwas like, yep, you, I can
confirm you are, on you, youwill be going on Chopped.
(17:39):
Congratulations.
And I was like, oh my God.
I
Michael Dugan (17:42):
Right.
Sure.
Chef Ashley Brown (17:43):
I told my husband, and of course it's,
it's completely confidential,you can't tell anybody.
but of course, it's, it's your
Michael Dugan (17:50):
You're bursting inside.
Chef Ashley Brown (17:51):
those kinds of things are kind
of, it's a pass, you
Michael Dugan (17:54):
Right, right.
Chef Ashley Brown (17:56):
so now this is, now hit it.
No one can know about this.
And I'm like, it was, I'm oneof those people that if I bought
a gift for you or if I made agift for you, I wanna give it
to you right then and there.
Michael Dugan (18:07):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (18:09):
like someone tells me, oh,
I got a gift for you.
I'm like, Ooh, what is it?
What is it?
So holding for months andmonths and months that I am
on this TV show, I'm about tofilm this TV show was just.
Just, ah, stabbing intome every single day.
And so finally itcame all the way up.
they, some of the filmcrew came down, oh, Ashley
(18:31):
Brown, floor by Brother Luckhere in Colorado Springs.
Give us a little, eh, some, somekind of something to work with.
you got really cool hair.
We, your fingers through it,
Michael Dugan (18:39):
Oh geez.
Chef Ashley Brown (18:40):
funny things and stuff that I
would never do either.
ugh, ugh, I don't know.
It's just, it's notit, it's not me.
It wasn't me at the time.
And so it really helped pryChef Ashley to come out.
And that's why I did this, was
Michael Dugan (18:59):
I love this.
This
Chef Ashley Brown (19:00):
I wanted, I went along with it, not to
compete against the other chefs.
I wanted to see what I coulddo in the nick of time.
I wanted to see what, howmuch pressure I could go
under and see how well Ican maintain my composure.
So that's, that's themain reason why I did it.
And coming in there, they'relike, okay, this is gonna
(19:23):
be filmed in New York andhere's all the details.
And I was like, okay,this is happening.
All right.
So, and it was happeningin, and it, during winter,
I filmed it in, January.
My mom's birthdayis in December.
So she's got a friendwho lives in New York.
I've never been to New York.
So as a birthday gift, we boughther a ticket to come with me.
(19:48):
'cause I didn't wanna go alone.
And what better person tocome with me than my mom who's
been there since day one.
So I brought my mom with me.
Of course she couldn't,no one can come on set.
No one, no one isallowed on set.
so mom
Michael Dugan (20:02):
And it's long too, right?
Is it like 12 or 14 hours or
Chef Ashley Brown (20:05):
yeah, it, it was, it was an all day thing.
It, it was just like a,like a full shift, So it was
early in the morning and thestudio was about five minutes
away from my hotel room.
So I
Michael Dugan (20:16):
Hmm.
Chef Ashley Brown (20:17):
and you can't tell anyone and no one
can tell you you don't knowwho you're competing against.
So at six o'clock in themorning, it's still kind of
dark out and you see all theseother people kind of walking
towards the, the studio and thenyou're just kinda like looking
at each other are you a randomperson or are you here for chop?
We're like, chop, chop.
Michael Dugan (20:38):
Wow.
Chef Ashley Brown (20:39):
finally, we're gathering up and then
we get, we get into thestudio and we're just hanging
out, having breakfast,kind of hyping ourself up.
Okay.
Michael Dugan (20:47):
Yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (20:48):
In the studio they gave us like
our own personal hype.
Man, this guy wasfreaking awesome.
but yeah, it was, it wasjust a crazy thing like, oh
my God, I am in New York.
I'm about to film a show thateverybody knows about, even
if it's just one, but it,it's crazy just to think of.
All the places that you can go
Michael Dugan (21:08):
Wow.
Chef Ashley Brown (21:09):
chopped,
Michael Dugan (21:09):
What was your basket?
Chef Ashley Brown (21:11):
Oh, it was, it was a couple baskets.
I wasn't chopped first,that's all I asked.
I, I prayed to the universe.
I was just kind of like,whatever this comes out,
I really want to win.
Of course, everybodywants to win,
Michael Dugan (21:22):
Right, right,
Chef Ashley Brown (21:23):
but I asked even if I don't win, do not
let me get chopped first.
I did not come all this way.
I did not
Michael Dugan (21:29):
See, that's awesome.
Well, that's totally awesome.
Chef Ashley Brown (21:32):
I'm doing this for my family.
I'm doing this for me anddoing this for my family.
I wanna see what I can do.
And the, the winningmoney, it was $25,000.
This would go to my family.
So getting in there, so thefirst basket was, quail,
three sisters casserole.
And at the time I had no ideawhat it was, even though it's
in the region that I'm in, is.
(21:58):
So Quail, three sistersCasserole, oh my God.
There was something, Imade a sauce out of it.
Oh, I don't even remember.
Wow.
it was about a yearand a half ago, so I
Michael Dugan (22:07):
Okay.
Yeah, no, I get it.
I
Chef Ashl (22:09):
but, work with quail.
And so this, this episodewas around this region.
This is around, mostof the chefs come from
New Mexico, Texas.
Colorado,
Michael Dugan (22:19):
Southwest.
Chef Ashley Brown (22:19):
Southwest.
Michael Dugan (22:20):
Got it.
Yeah.
Cool.
Chef Ashley Brown (22:22):
So a lot of these things, of course,
like we play with, but so Iremember searing off this quail.
I did the spiced quailand the judges were really
impressed with how I did that.
And the three sisters casserole.
It was, it essentially waslike something that my mom
made when I was a kid called,
Michael Dugan (22:38):
Oh,
Chef Ashley Brown (22:38):
which is squash and tomatoes.
dark spices like that.
So I just took itand just ran with it.
I just reheated it up andseasoned it a bit more
than what it actually was.
And three sisters casserolehas like this biscuit
thing, so I just exitedthat, get that outta here.
And so that's, thatwas kind of the, the
first course and passed.
(23:00):
So I passed through it.
Oh my God.
It was insane.
I'm like, each, each one.
I was like, for the firstone I was very confident in.
I was like, no, Ithink I got this.
But I was like, but then again,still don't get your hopes up.
Michael Dugan (23:13):
Yeah.
Right, right.
Chef Ashley Brown (23:14):
But I was like, it was a great dish.
I was very happy with it.
Even if the judgesweren't, I was.
so then finally the wildpasses by, we're still
sitting in the room.
We have lunch and waiting on forthe next part to, to come in.
So the next part, the secondbasket was, elk tenderloin.
Biggest elk tenderloin I'veever seen in my entire life.
(23:36):
Oh my
Michael Dugan (23:36):
Elk.
You said elk?
Correct.
Oh, wow.
Very gamey.
Chef Ashley Brown (23:41):
yes, it
Michael Dugan (23:41):
Mm-hmm.
Chef Ashley Brown (23:42):
huge.
It was like a beef tenderloinand the elk tenderloin that I
actually had, I had on my menuat four and it was little,
Michael Dugan (23:49):
Oh, awesome.
Chef Ashley Brown (23:50):
little teeny, tiny medallions.
It was delicious.
I was like, okay, cool.
It had chilies, somedried chilies and
pre-made cheese tamales.
The most driest,saddest things I've ever
Michael Dugan (24:01):
That's what they do, right?
Chef Ashley Brown (24:03):
Exactly.
Michael Dugan (24:03):
crazy thing in there.
Chef Ashley Brown (24:05):
And prickly pear also was in there too.
Michael Dugan (24:09):
okay.
Chef Ashley Brown (24:09):
of course I remember this dish because
it's the one I lost to,but this is where I got cocky.
I get cocky and because I hadelk tenderloin, I got chiles, I
Michael Dugan (24:22):
You got this.
Yeah,
Chef Ashley Brown (24:24):
these are all the things that I've worked
with, No, this is no brainer.
So I was all like, oh,is this even a challenge?
And then I was like,Ashley, calm the fuck down.
Michael Dugan (24:34):
Yeah.
Right.
Sure.
Chef Ashley B (24:36):
we go through it.
And so of course we gotdried chilies between, at now
it's three chefs, me and twoothers, dried chilies that we
are toasting in the studio.
We ended up smokingout the studio.
Michael Dugan (24:50):
love
Chef Ashley Brow (24:50):
All the judges
Michael Dugan (24:51):
awesome.
that's so great.
This is priceless.
Ashley, this is priceless.
You have given me agift for the podcast.
This is really awesome.
Oh my God,
Chef Ashley Brown (25:05):
I felt more bad for the cameramen because
they have to be in your junk.
And so these poor cameramen,they're crying, they're
coughing, they're trying to holdtheir cameras straight and it.
Michael Dugan (25:19):
So it's kitchen disaster on chopped,
Chef Ashley Brown (25:21):
they're like, they're at this point,
they're probably like, neverever give dried chilies as
an ingredient ever again.
Michael Dugan (25:28):
Wow.
Chef Ashley Brown (25:31):
Oh my
Michael Dugan (25:31):
Oh man, that's, that's amazing.
I, I haven't seen it.
I confess 'cause we justkind of connected recently,
but I've gotta watch
Chef Ashley Bro (25:39):
You gotta watch
Michael Dugan (25:40):
I can't wait.
Chef Ashley Brown (25:41):
So this episode, while we're
talking about it, this
Michael Duga (25:45):
What's the number?
So that other people,we can get 'em
Chef Ashley Brown (25:47):
59, episode nine called
Southwestern Strength.
Michael Dugan (25:52):
Okay.
And I'll put it in the shownotes when, when we publish too
Chef Ashl (25:55):
Yes, please go ahead.
But yeah, finally thestudio gets kind of
cleared out a little bit.
Michael Dugan (26:02):
Did it hit any of the executives?
That's what I wanted to know.
Chef Ashle (26:05):
Oh yeah, definitely.
They're like, whatthe, what is going on?
Michael Dugan (26:10):
Wow.
Chef Ashley Brown (26:10):
God.
Because we're all three chefstoasting, chilies all at once,
Michael Dugan (26:13):
Yeah.
Okay.
Chef Ashley Brown (26:15):
so we're just continuing with it.
so I'm butchering.
I go to butcher down the elktenderloin first, while the
other two are gathering theiringredients from the pantry.
'cause this thing's huge and Ishould have reversed tiered it.
I should have, I shouldhave known better.
Michael Duga (26:31):
What's a reverse S
Chef Ashley Brown (26:32):
at least.
Michael Dugan (26:33):
What's a reverse?
S seer so
Chef Ashley Brown (26:34):
reverse searing is getting it started
in the oven, getting allyour spices and everything
on it, getting, just gettingthe temperature on it
Michael Dugan (26:42):
Okay.
Chef Ashley Brown (26:43):
to bring it up to temperature and
then you sear it at the endjust to give it that color.
Michael Dugan (26:48):
Okay.
Chef Ashley Brown (26:48):
So kind of opposite of what you would
normally do versus sear itand then get it going the
rest of the way in the oven.
Michael Dugan (26:54):
Got it.
Yeah, I've heard a lot of that.
I've never done it,but I understand it.
I mean, you wanna get thatreally good sear and, and
Chef Ashley Brown (27:01):
It is great.
I think it kind oflocks the moisture a lot
Michael Dugan (27:04):
Yeah.
And flavor.
Sure.
Chef Ashley Brown (27:06):
So I should have at least just started to
get the temperature on it, butI didn't, it was like the last
thing that I put on, I waslike, no, it's gonna be a mid
rare, it'll be perfect, but
Michael Dugan (27:16):
Your kids are so cute, by the
Chef Ashley Brow (27:18):
Oh, thank you.
I know they're s sneaking
Michael Dugan (27:20):
They're adding a lot of, a lot of
ambiance to the podcast is
Chef Ashley Brown (27:24):
I love it.
So I get that going andthen I try making a gel.
hi.
Hi.
Michael Dugan (27:30):
Oh
Chef Ashley Brown (27:31):
I love you.
You ready?
Are you going to bed?
not yet.
It's nine o'clock.
Oh, I love you.
Love you too.
Okay.
I'm gonna finish this.
Okay.
Okay.
Michael Dugan (27:38):
yeah.
We're gonna wrap upscene, so don't worry.
Chef Ashley Brown (27:40):
But, so I. I, I do a, a prickly
paired gel, and I try gettingit in the blast cooler.
That is not a blastcooler, that's just
any other refrigerator.
And it didn't set.
It's just this thin thing.
And so I ended up makinga fritter out of the, the
(28:01):
tamale, the cheese tamale.
I took the cheese out of it.
I re moistened up the, the, themasa itself, and I just take it
to a pan, like a little pancake.
Michael Dugan (28:10):
Wow.
Chef Ashley Brown (28:11):
And I did a demi gloss from the scraps
that I cut off from the elk,and I put the chilies in there.
And then there was a, aquat container of beef
stock in the pantry.
Michael Dugan (28:24):
can you make a demi glass?
Chef Ashley Brown (28:26):
I made a demi gloss in 30 minutes.
I was so impressed with myself.
They were impressed.
They like, this
Michael Dugan (28:31):
Yeah.
That's really
Chef Ashley Brown (28:32):
you would be, you, you, you
had cooking for hours.
Michael Dugan (28:35):
Yeah, I know.
That's why I was asking
Chef Ashley Brown (28:37):
When it's on your menu and someone
80 sixes it, you learn howto make something quick.
Michael Dugan (28:42):
wow.
I
Chef Ashley Brown (28:42):
So I ended up making that in, in 30
minutes, and just reducing it,reducing it the way that you
would, any other demi gloss.
So just keep it, keep it going.
And, so finally I put it upand, I plated it and it was
just absolutely hideous.
So when
Michael Dugan (29:00):
all this work and you
Chef Ashley Brown (29:02):
I know
Michael Dugan (29:02):
really creative idea and then, and then
you turn it to the judges.
That must be like,
Chef Ashley Brown (29:07):
I,
Michael Dugan (29:07):
so
Chef Ashley Brown (29:08):
this was something that you would see on
like a, like a banquet, I pouredthe DeLoss over it and then my
Michael Dugan (29:15):
they're all, but they're all smoked out.
They're all smoked out anyway,so they're not gonna notice.
Chef Ashley (29:19):
set up we're done.
And so, so I, I put it upand I, I had like nothing
to garnish it with.
I didn't think that far ahead.
And, I just chopped upsome freaking cilantro and
just threw it on there.
I'm
Michael Dugan (29:33):
Mm-hmm.
Chef Ashley Brown (29:33):
your is, so, they have this thing of
it's, it's all to a pause.
So you put up your,hands up, you're done.
Time's up.
And so they have this thingof chef looking at plate plate
looking at chef, where for 30full seconds, your plate is
up, you're standing there andyou're staring at your plates
while the cameras do a full 360.
(29:55):
you watch the show andit's just, tension.
So they do that fora whole 30 seconds.
And I'm just, this thingis just looking at me,
just kind Ugh, help me.
oh my God.
So I'm like, you.
I was like, Nope,I don't got this.
Nope, I'm done.
I'm, I'm chopped.
Michael Dugan (30:09):
yeah,
Chef Ashley Brown (30:09):
And so finally they get you set back
and finally they, they comeup and they're like, okay,
who's on the chopping block?
Soon as they lifted, Iwas like, yep, it's me.
I accepted my fate.
They lifted it up.
I was like, yep, chefAshley, you've been chopped.
Michael Dugan (30:24):
yeah, yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (30:25):
And, even though I, I prayed to
the universe, saying I just
Michael Dugan (30:30):
One more round.
One more round.
Chef Ashley Brown (30:32):
Yeah.
I wished man, but I, I told themlike, as long as you weren't
chopped first and I wasn't,but as soon as they go back,
they do an exit interview.
what do you think?
how did it go?
How are you feeling?
And I, I bawled, Ibawled my eyes out.
I didn't say this to anyone inthe interview, during the, of
course you're like, you're stillholding onto your pride at that
Michael Dugan (30:52):
Right,
Chef Ashley Brown (30:53):
So I cried and I was like, I wanted
this to be for my family.
I wanted to get, justa new house and just
this and that, and.
And then, so finallyI calmed down.
I was like, the camera's on me.
Like they, they, they haveme crying, but of course I
told 'em, I was like, don'tput this on, don't put this
on, it's, it's humiliating.
so, they didn't put me oncrying, but I was like, maybe
they, once they release this,they'll see like my, my red eyes
(31:17):
and things like that, crying.
But finally I calmed down,do the interview, and then,
shake hands and, I didn'tactually meet, I didn't get
to shake hands with the, thejudges or anything like that.
once you're done, you're done.
Like you, you go,you get your stuff,
Michael Dugan (31:32):
Really?
That's kind of weird.
Chef Ashley Brown (31:34):
the chef coat and that's it, So then
Michael Dugan (31:37):
Exit Door
Chef Ashley Brown (31:38):
I, my mom, she's just eagerly waiting
at the hotel, they, youhave to turn in your phones.
Michael Dugan (31:43):
she couldn't watch.
Chef Ashley (31:44):
She couldn't watch,
Michael Dugan (31:45):
That's right.
Chef Ashley Brown (31:46):
call her.
I couldn't text her.
They
Michael Dugan (31:48):
Oh my gosh.
Chef Ashley Brown (31:49):
'cause of course you can't tell anyone.
So she has no ideawhat's going on.
And so I go, I get, I openthe door to, to the hotel room
and she's just standing thereand I'm like, I was chopped.
But she was like, it's okay.
You did it.
You did it.
And I felt really good still.
There was so many emotionsjust running through and,
(32:12):
and then later on, herfriend, he, he lives in New
York, like I said earlier.
So after that went to avery nice dinner and just
celebrated, you did it.
You know how many peopleget this opportunity,
especially little townthat you, that I live in.
So it's still a win.
Michael Dugan (32:29):
yeah, for sure.
Chef Ashley Brown (32:30):
Yeah.
So
Michael Dugan (32:31):
I'm, I'm really impressed.
I mean, I was like, wow.
And the people that I talkedto, it's the same thing.
It's like one of them won,chef Ed Harris, he actually
Chef Ashley Brown (32:39):
yeah.
Michael Dugan (32:40):
and oh my gosh.
The way he described itthough, he said, it's brutal.
It's really tough.
It's, people don't realizeit's a lot of work and
Chef Ashley Brown (32:49):
it's, I mean, it's a challenge.
Michael Dugan (32:51):
but it's the challenge that you
Chef Ashley Brown (32:52):
not rough, what's the point
of putting it out?
for people to watch.
People love that drama.
They love the hectic, you
Michael Dugan (32:59):
Well, the smokiness thing, I,
Chef Ashl (33:01):
man, if you watch it.
Michael Dugan (33:02):
I I will never, I will never forget that,
that that is incredible.
Chef Ashley Brown (33:06):
was probably my favorite part.
Michael Dugan (33:08):
yeah, yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (33:10):
studio.
Poor cameraman, allthe judges dying.
Michael Dugan (33:15):
Now I forget, but I wanna make sure, did
everybody smoke 'em outor was it just you that
Chef Ashley Brown (33:19):
Everyone.
All
Michael Dugan (33:20):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's what I thought.
Because of what you had to do.
Right.
Right, right.
So any lessons that youtook away from Chopped
about yourself and
Chef Ashley Brown (33:30):
My lessons.
Michael Dug (33:30):
anything like that?
Chef Ashley Brown (33:31):
Yeah, I know the lesson that I took away was,
just set your prideoff to the side.
Like even though you say.
You hope you're, you'renot chopped first, but
even if you lose, stillhold on to what you did.
Still hold on to what youpresented and value that
(33:54):
cherish that moment because youmight not even get it again.
who knows if you get invitedback or, that could have
been my one time thing.
And so now I, I will definitelycherish the moments a, a
bit more than that, what Ido currently, even in the
hardships is still cherish,even though it's really hard.
Still cherish those moments.
Michael Dugan (34:15):
Okay.
And to prepare for Chopped,would you say you have
to have knife fights?
Is
Chef Ashley Brown (34:19):
Yeah,
Michael Dugan (34:19):
of what my takeaway is?
Chef Ashley Brown (34:21):
Even to get ready for it.
My husband, I would askhim, I was like, okay, just
randomly shout out likea few ingredients, random
times throughout the day,just completely unannounced.
He'd be like, this, this,and this, and I'd be like.
Oh, do that.
And I would do that, and I woulddo that, and so it was just
kind of become a random thing.
Michael Dugan (34:38):
Okay, well, we're gonna wrap up.
I just got a couple reallyquick questions for you.
This was amazing, and I'm sohonored to spend time with
you and to get to know you,and it's really incredible.
This, this is gonna be thelaunch of season four and
I mean, this is my fourthyear and I just saw it and
I said, this is gotta be it.
This is, this is
Chef Ashley Brown (34:58):
you for doing these, like just getting
these stories out there andfor people to, to kind of
get their experiences and
Michael Dugan (35:05):
It's so important, to inspire people
in this industry becauseit's such a tough industry.
But if, if you wanna be achef, it's hard, but it's
also rewarding and, and you'reproving that you're, you're
showing that, so for me, we met.
At this organization calledMap and Map honors women in
hospitality with advocacy,mentorship, scholarship.
(35:28):
And Joanna James is the CEO.
And I went to Las Vegas acouple weeks ago and met
her and it was unbelievable.
We had a private dinnerwith my friend, chef Mimi,
who's very close to Joanna.
The night before theconference started, the
Women in HospitalityConference, and I said,
Joanna, I want to help you.
I wanna get the word out.
(35:49):
I wanna bring MAP members on thepodcast to share their stories
and to inspire each other.
And this is, thisis the first one.
Ashley, you are the start of
Chef Ashley Brown (35:59):
really?
Michael Dugan (36:00):
You are a start of a movement
Chef Ashley Brow (36:02):
Oh, I love it.
Michael Dugan (36:03):
set my soul on fire to keep podcasting.
And that's the
Chef Ashle (36:07):
Oh, that's an honor.
Oh, I love that.
Michael Duga (36:10):
can envision this.
And what I wanna know iswe met at a, what's called
a map mentorship circle.
And there was a womannamed Missy, who is a,
sustainable farmer, and shewas giving a talk about it.
And you were there.
And the funniest thing,and you don't know this is
when I saw you, I saw, Iwas looking at different
(36:31):
people and checking out IGto understand who they are.
And I was like, wow, okay.
She's really cool.
She's from Colorado.
I'm thinking Jensen.
I'm like, brother luck.
Oh my gosh.
All these things connected.
And then chopped.
I'm like, I wannareach out to her.
And it was so funnybecause after Absolutely.
But after we got off that call.
(36:52):
We reached out to eachother about the same time.
It was like almost the samethought was going through our
head, we should connect andwe should do an interview.
And I mean, it was just reallycool, And, and that was a week
ago, a week and a half ago.
So anyway, that's howall this happened.
But can you tell me howyou ended up with In MAP
(37:13):
and a little bit about yourexperience, just briefly.
Chef Ashley Brown (37:16):
so I got involved with MAP from Brother.
Michael Dugan (37:21):
Oh, wow.
Okay.
Chef Ashley Brown (37:23):
So, he, it was for, it was for a
MAP conference and he wassupposed to attend it.
He couldn't,
Michael Dugan (37:34):
Okay.
Chef Ashley Brown (37:34):
now, it's kind of funny because Chef's
role was doing competition, theydo these competitions to where,
you can win a ticket to go toMatt to go to chef conferences
and things like that.
And I, I tried to do thecompetition, actually.
I did do thecompetition, but I lost,
Michael Dugan (37:52):
Okay.
Chef Ashley Brown (37:53):
I don't even remember what
the competition was.
It was something like alongthe lines of create a dish
that's original and send it in.
there's so manychefs that would.
Put in, a lot of these things.
And of course, some willoutshine others, which is
absolutely beautiful that theyprovide these opportunities.
And so I didn't win.
But it's funny because forthat same exact conference,
(38:16):
brother couldn't attend.
So he put me in his place.
Michael Dugan (38:19):
Oh my gosh.
Chef Ashley Brown (38:20):
even though I didn't win that competition,
I still got to go because of
Michael Dugan (38:24):
that's fantastic.
Chef Ashley Brown (38:25):
So Map was there and chef's
role and everything.
So it was thisbeautiful conference.
And so I started to, I wentto some of the seminars that
they were talking through.
some of the chefs thatwere there, Wolfgang
Puck was one of 'em.
And Joanna, and I never actuallymet her yet, I still haven't met
her outside of the conferencethat we had at least, like not
(38:46):
in person, So once I startedto realize what they stood
for and, and everything, I waslike, oh, I gotta get on this.
I gotta get on this.
And I'm a woman.
I'm in leadership.
I love empowerment,I love the industry.
It, it just, itall fell together.
So from then on, I, I'vebeen wanting to become a, a
(39:07):
legit member, which I justfinally became a legit member
just a couple months ago.
'cause I like, I wanna,I wanna be part of this.
I, and it's just to show youcan be anything, I'm gonna
give you the tools and helpyou help others do anything.
Michael Dugan (39:24):
Mm-hmm.
Chef Ashley Brown (39:25):
And that's what I really loved about it.
Michael Dugan (39:27):
Oh, see, that's how I feel too.
And being a male,she calls me an ally.
And me.
It's all Mimi's fault.
Chef Mimi, shout outto you in Florida.
She's my dear friend thatI met four years ago, and
she interviewed Joanna andI put it on my podcast.
That's the most recentepisode out there right now.
And it was an interviewthat Mimi did with Joanna,
(39:50):
and I went, wow, I've gottainterview Joanna in the future.
I've gotta meet her.
And then Mimi called me upfour weeks ago, five weeks ago,
and, or actually probably aboutthree months ago, and said,
we're having a conference inLas Vegas and you gotta go.
And it was the greatestexperience of my life to
meet Joanna and everyone inmap, and all the women in
(40:10):
hospitality, all the chefs.
It was just, I can'teven describe the
way I felt about it.
Like they were opening up to thechallenges that they have and
the struggles that they have.
And I said, Iwanna do something.
I wanna do somethingwith my podcast.
That means something, thatreally means something.
And so that's my movement now,and this is the start of it.
(40:31):
So anyway, that'show we connected.
And, and so everyoneunderstands and wanna wrap
up, but I just really wantto thank you for your time.
It's late.
You got your kids goingto bed and, and we had a
couple technology failures,which happens all the time.
It's part of technology,but, but we did it.
(40:51):
And, yeah, thanks forbeing a voice for chefs.
it's a really wonderful thing.
You're really an advocateand I hope you continue to do
Chef Ashley Brown (41:00):
Yeah, thank, thank you for, for
putting these out, like
Michael Dugan (41:03):
Mm-hmm.
Chef Ashley (41:04):
you're helping more people than you think.
Michael Dugan (41:07):
Yeah, it's, it's a lonely thing too.
People don't give youa lot of feedback.
That's as a podcaster.
Chef Ashle (41:13):
It's a lonely world.
a lot of people feellike , they're alone,
especially in this industry.
Welcome back to part two of Chef Ashley Brown's
incredible culinary journey.
In this episode, we diveeven deeper into her
passion, resilience, andleadership in the kitchen.
Let's continue onAshley's journey.
Chef Ashley Brown (00:14):
The competition started
the container of baconfat went missing.
where did this thing go?
I ended up losing, now Ithink I lost because, the
guy that I was competingagainst, his parents were
there, The thing was missing.
The container of baconfat went missing.
I was like, wheredid this thing go?
(00:35):
I ended up losing, now Ithink I lost because, the
guy that I was competingagainst, his parents were there
he gave his parents likea couple little bites.
So people were like,oh, that's so sweet.
And I had no one.
Michael Dugan (00:48):
Okay.
Chef Ashley Brown (00:48):
Husband.
Now,
Michael Dugan (00:50):
Yeah, but remember, you're
competing against yourself.
I learned this from you, right.
So, yeah.
Yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (00:57):
You compete against a chef or someone else.
My husband was there, but weweren't even dating at the time.
So he was the only person thatI had to kind of support me.
I compete against this guy.
his name's Thomas Hensley,
Michael Dugan (01:09):
Mm-hmm.
Chef Ashley Brown (01:10):
Tommy Boy.
later on, him and Iended up starting to
work together at the zoo,
Michael Dugan (01:15):
Oh, wow.
Chef Ashley Brown (01:16):
Hensley and I, yes, he, and he's
a great friend right now.
Him and his girlabout to get married.
she used to be partof front of house,
Michael Dugan (01:23):
Mm-hmm.
Chef Ashley Brown (01:23):
with the most, and of course
the, the cook together.
But, yeah, no, I competedagainst him and I lost.
but it was a great, itwas a great experience
and to have a relationshipcome outta that too.
And from then on, I. I lovedwhat Brother did, I loved
what he did for the communityand all the local people.
(01:43):
all the local cooks andchefs that are in town and
what he would do to help,get them exposure and help
them see where they can go.
So from then on, my husbandand I, once we started to date,
our first date was, WarnerBrothers, themed dinners.
And it
Michael Dugan (01:59):
Oh my gosh.
That's awesome.
Chef Ashley Brown (02:01):
it was a painting, it was like
a Bob Ross kind of thing.
he hired a live painter.
His name is Shaggy.
And so the live painter wouldpaint these photos while brother
would explain the dishes thathe was gonna serve us, and it
would look just like the plate.
It was amazing.
So that was my, my husband'sfirst date with brother.
(02:22):
And we would always goto his themed dinners.
That was alwayslike our date night.
And so I tried to show brother,I was like, he's not gonna
know who I am, but I lovewhat his, his ideas and how
he creates these things.
I wanna get on this level.
So, what's the best wayto get on that level
then to experience it.
I'm still definitely not on thatlevel yet, but I know how he
(02:43):
works and I'm, I'm trying to get
Michael Dugan (02:45):
Mm-hmm.
Chef Ashley Brown (02:46):
So finally, like I said, when Covid hit just
a few weeks, we, my, Bo Greenand I went to his restaurant and
collaborated with Tonya Hollandand him for the Top Chef dinner.
And so after that, I'vestarted to realize like how his
kitchens work and everything.
I really wanted establish,I want him to know who I
(03:07):
was and that I was verypassionate for him, passionate
for what I wanted to do.
Michael Dugan (03:14):
Yeah.
I get
Chef Ashley Brown (03:15):
It wasn't even in his kitchens, but
somewhere, I wanted anotherchef to know who I was in town,
even if that wasn't, brother,it could have been anybody else.
But you know, I've onlyever known the zoo.
So like, why not createthese other relationships
with chefs in town?
So that's kind of how,I guess I started to
(03:35):
figure out who brother wasand how to, how to get in that
circle, And then finally, Idon't, he trusted me enough
to, to run in one of his mostprized possessions to this day.
So, yeah.
So then after that, after doingthat Top Chef dinner with Bo
and Brother and Tanya Holland,and like I said, when I told my
chef I was bored, and him andbrother were already talking.
(03:58):
So now fast forwardto that moment.
I applied for it after Bosaid, you should apply for it.
So I remember coming
Michael Dugan (04:07):
blessing.
Yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (04:08):
and I, I go back on it conveniently, it was
still there, and I said, apply.
And I was like,what did I just do?
Oh my God, I'm giving upeverything that I just, I all
the years to this one companywho gave their years to me.
And I was like, didthat just happen?
So, so finally we get to,an interview with the, the
(04:30):
co the chef de cuisine.
His name was, Michael Noll.
so he was the chef de cuisineover there at the time.
And to the interview, hegave me a mystery basket,
Michael Dugan (04:42):
Oh my gosh.
Wow.
Very cool.
And you'd already beendoing the knife thing,
Chef Ashley Brown (04:47):
Yeah.
Michael Dugan (04:48):
oh my gosh.
That's awesome.
Chef Ashley Brown (04:50):
basket, it was, you're gonna, you're
gonna show us what you can do.
This is the interview.
You're gonna showus what you can do.
Anyone can putanything on a resume.
So it's very smartfor them to do that.
And let's see whereyour skillset is.
Let's see what yourtime management is.
Let's see your, whereyour creativity is.
I was applying to be sous chef.
All those things areneeding to be applied.
(05:11):
So that was a beautifulway to see where someone
actually is in their career.
So in that basket, it wassea bass, not Chilian, but
it was sea bass, buttermilk,peaches, and black barley.
Oh, and a whole NewYork strip to butcher.
Michael Dugan (05:34):
Surf and turf right there.
Chef Ashley Brown (05:36):
So I ended up doing a three course, a
three course meal for them.
It was for brother, chef Mike.
our gm, Matt and their,catering director, Amanda.
And so for the first course, Iended up doing ceviche with the
sea bass, and I did a buttermilkpanna for dessert with the
(05:58):
grilled peaches, the grilledpeaches, and the New York strip.
I just, I butchered, and when Isay butchered, it's not even in
a good way, like I butchered it.
I didn't know how, I didn'tknow how to break down a whole
New York strip at the time.
we, we always got ineverything, at the zoo.
We couldn't really get in wholeanimals, that's a, there's a ton
of people to be going, imagineall the timing to put into that.
(06:19):
So I didn't reallylearn butchery
Michael Dugan (06:22):
yeah.
You don't have, butyeah, that makes sense.
You don't have butchery there.
Yeah.
Chef Ashle (06:24):
like of course I can
Michael Dugan (06:25):
That's a hotel hotel's butchery.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (06:29):
bone chickens and things like that.
Not whole half animals.
So I ended up doing a grilledsteak and black barley.
The black barleywas so undercooked.
I never worked with blackbarley before, and it
was so undercooked andthis meal was just awful.
Oh.
And including with that, ourspa of four was there too.
(06:49):
And to this day, wheneverwe do dinners, I'm like,
reme, remember how badI sucked when I started?
And then now here we are, it'sso fun to see how one grows.
Michael Dugan (06:57):
The progression.
Yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (06:59):
yeah.
So, so I ended up doing, doingall that, presented it to them.
And I'm just so shaky.
And brother, whenever youpresent him something, or if
you're feeding him, like you'regiving him an experience,
he knows how to just.
Mute his face.
He's not gonna giveyou enthusiasm.
(07:21):
He's not gonna giveyou anything negative.
He's gonna be straightfaced, very monotone.
So you can't read him, likeyou, you're not gonna say
Michael Dugan (07:30):
Oh, that's hard.
Chef Ashley Brown (07:31):
Or you're not gonna be like, oh my God,
Michael Dugan (07:33):
want the feedback one way or the other, right?
I mean, you definitelywant something.
Chef Ashley (07:37):
very intimidating.
Michael Dug (07:38):
Yeah, I believe it.
Chef Ashley Brown (07:39):
he even like anything?
what's going throughwith this man's mind?
And I have, I, to this day,I have no idea what he even
thought of, of that meal.
I have no idea.
I should probablyask him sometimes.
Michael Dugan (07:51):
Yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (07:52):
Yeah.
I have no idea what,what he thought of.
but I asked them, I'mlike, okay, what's the,
what's the next steps?
And they're like, we have a fewcandidates, to, to interview.
And I'll never forget ChefMike, he asked me, what's the
most, what, what is the most,Oh, I can't remember like
the exact words, but what'sthe craziest thing that, that
(08:14):
you've done in this industry?
and I said this righthere, and by that I meant
apply for another job.
I've given all of my dedication,loyalty to SSA, I didn't know.
I've never gone anywhere.
SSA was all that I knew and I'venever applied anywhere else.
I never wanted togo anywhere else.
(08:35):
And so by me interviewingto be a sous chef at four
was the first jump off ofa cliff I've ever done.
And I, I cried and I was like,this is, this is the first
thing that I've done and I'm, I
Michael Dugan (08:49):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I totally get
Chef Ashley Brown (08:51):
no, I totally understand that.
I was like, I feel likeMike, why am I crying?
This is an interview.
Michael Dugan (08:55):
Right.
Chef Ashley Brown (08:55):
But, so we go on and then a couple days
passes by and Chef Mike callsme, he goes, Hey, I wanna.
Schedule a time for you tocome in, let's chit chat.
And so I tell my husband, I waslike, that's them rejecting me.
I, I don't, I don't got the job.
And my husband was like,they're calling you to come in.
I don't think that's meansto, they, they would probably
(09:16):
tell you on the phone thatyou don't have the job.
They wouldn't have youcome in just to tell
you don't have the job.
I was like, I don't know.
I'm just not, I don'twanna get my hopes up.
So I come in and Chef Mike,all he does was hand me a
blue binder with the keysto the building in it.
Michael Dugan (09:33):
Oh my gosh,
Chef Ashley Brown (09:34):
And I was all like, no freaking way
out of all these other peoplethat you have interviewed.
And I don't know whothey interviewed, but I
was like the one person,this is my second job.
This is now officiallymy second job.
I don't know, I havenothing else under my belt.
I don't,
Michael Dugan (09:52):
But they saw, see, they saw something in you.
That's what it is.
I can tell right awaybecause I saw it in you,
like when we connected.
Honestly, there'ssomething very unique and
it probably goes back.
That's why I always askpeople about their childhood.
At seven years old, youwanted to be a chef.
I mean, how couldthat not be obvious?
(10:13):
Right, and and it's likefor me, okay, I'll just
tell you really quick.
When I got into technology,they saw something in me.
Because I brought hospitalityinto technology, right.
They didn't care that I didn'thave all the technical skills.
They knew how driven Iwas, so somebody took
a chance on me, right?
(10:35):
You don't have to haveall the skills, you have
to prove yourself, butthat's what separates you.
Chef Ashley Brown (10:41):
yeah,
Michael Dugan (10:42):
And I can tell right away, I'm pretty
good at reading people,coming from hospitality,
Chef Ashley Brown (10:46):
yeah.
You
Michael Dugan (10:47):
kind of have that skill, right?
But, that's whatI see immediately.
And I'm sure listeners arepicking up on it right now when,
when they're listening, becauseit, it's part partly charisma.
It's partly drive.
there are a lot of chefsthat have attitude, right?
And, oh, you're not trainable.
I'll bet you they ran into that.
There's a sous chef potential.
(11:08):
Oh, he's not trainable,he's gonna be a problem.
Or she's gonna be a problem.
No, no.
You're passionate.
You, you're a team player.
It's really obvious thatyou want to be here.
That's probably why.
That's what I'm observing.
So I don't know.
Chef Ashley Brown (11:23):
But
Michael Dugan (11:24):
But obviously it worked out.
'cause now you're running itand that's fricking amazing.
Yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (11:29):
Yeah.
So he had another locationat the time, it was
called Lucky Dumpling.
So I was with four as asous chef for six months,
Michael Dugan (11:38):
Yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (11:38):
and then he promoted me to become
CDC at Lucky Dumpling.
Michael Dugan (11:43):
Wow.
Chef Ashley Brown (11:44):
And so I started to run that
for nine months, no soup.
I was at, I was a sous cheffor six months and then I,
I ran Lucky Dumpling fornine months and then we
had an unfortunate passing.
Chef Mike passed away.
Michael Dugan (12:00):
Oh, geez.
Chef Ashley Brown (12:00):
Yeah.
So it was very, very, verysudden and I'm still just
kind of doing my thing overat Lucky, trying to figure out
how to become A-A-C-D-C, how torun, a restaurant efficiently.
So that's where I startedto get those skills just
Michael Dugan (12:18):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (12:19):
And I really missed the culture at four and I
really missed the, the cuisine.
I felt like I fit in atfour because it is, it
is southwestern, it isthe Four Corners region.
I Lucky Dumpling was, Asianand Creole infused two
cuisines that I couldn't.
(12:40):
Relate with.
Michael Dugan (12:41):
Right.
Chef Ashley Brown (12:41):
So it was kind of hard to, to
really dive into LuckyDumpling myself, because I
knew I fit in more at four.
And I, and I told brother, Iwas like, I wanna come back.
And, and I knew I had ab, Ihad big, big, big shoes to
fill after Chef Mike passedaway, but he, he gave me a
chance and then I moved backover to four As CDC, and I am
(13:06):
now the, the longest runningchef that he's had at four.
so I've been running four as c,d, C for the last four years.
Michael Dugan (13:16):
That's amazing.
That's really, really amazing.
So the other thing I wantto talk about is chopped.
Chef Ashley Brown (13:22):
Mm-hmm.
Michael Dugan (13:23):
tell us a little bit what you can remember.
So basically, first of all,how did you end up un chopped?
I dreamed of workingor going un chopped at
like many, many people.
Now I'm out of practice.
My wife will tell you.
All I do is talk aboutit because I'm on the
podcast all the time.
So I don't cook that much.
But what was that like andhow did you end up there?
Chef Ashley Brown (13:43):
so I post a lot on social
media, mainly Instagram.
so someone from theirproduction team reached out via
Instagram, no email or anything.
It was just the, my,my dms of Instagram.
And they're like, Hey, welove, all your content.
(14:05):
We love what you do, wesee who you work for.
And we, we'd love toset up time to talk.
this is for the show Chopped.
And so I was like, oh,no, no freaking way.
No, no,
Michael Dugan (14:18):
It's a scam.
It's a scam.
Right?
I know.
I've had those and then they'renot scams, and I'm like, what?
Oh,
Chef Ashley Brown (14:24):
ended up going with it and then having
the call, and talked to acouple of people from their
production team and they'relike, okay, well we just
wanna get like a baseline.
what do you do?
what's, oh, tell me, tell usa little bit about yourself.
And then, it was a quick,probably about 20, 30 minute
phone call and, just tell'em everything that I've
told you, but very briefly.
(14:45):
And they're like, okay, solet's go on with another,
let's go on with a Zoom.
We wanna see your face,we wanna see what kind
of character you are.
So we went on with a Zoomcall and just kind of
like, and I'm not one, Iwasn't, I'm not into tv.
I was very shy
Michael Dugan (15:02):
Oh, wow.
Chef Ashley Brown (15:03):
very timid, just kind of like, oh, hi,
my name's Ashley and andso I didn't know how to, I.
Be a character.
I didn't know what ifI envisioned myself
being a character, whatwould that look like?
I never asked myself thatquestion, but they really
kind of pull it outta you.
They're like, okay,you're competing against
(15:23):
this kind of person.
What are you gonna tell them?
Michael Dugan (15:26):
Oh, wow.
Chef Ashley Brown (15:27):
like they're, they're, they're prying
and they're poking at you.
What are you gonna tell him?
Why do you thinkyou're gonna win?
You know what,you're from Colorado.
What does Colorado have that'sthat no one else can get?
questions like that.
So I really try my absolutehardest to kind of like speak
(15:47):
a little louder and out forwardand things like that, and just
kind of see, how brother doesit, he'll do these things like
posting a lot of his socialmedias and things like that.
He's already got thattv, personality out.
Michael Dugan (16:00):
yeah.
Charisma.
Yep.
Yep.
Chef Ashley Brown (16:02):
Hold some things from him,
which I'm thankful forthat he's exposed me to it.
So, that kind ofhelped out a lot.
So then finally, just acouple more interviews passes
by, just the same things.
And then okay, we wanna do,we wanna bring out some,
some of our film crew cometo you and, interview, show
(16:24):
you where you're at, show thelocation, things like that.
Take some photos.
And I was like, okay.
And then finally I get an emailthat said, okay, so here's
everything that you need toknow about being un chopped.
It wasn't all that clear.
I was like, hold on, Ineed to know, is this real?
(16:45):
it says okay, you're,you're un chopped.
And I was like,no, no, no, no, no.
So I asked brother, I waslike, I wanna make sure
that this is not a scam.
I really wanna make
Michael Dugan (16:53):
yeah, I get it.
I totally get it.
Chef Ashley B (16:55):
different emails.
And so I was forwardinghim some of his stuff.
And so of course he stillhas some of his emails
from when he was on there.
He goes, okay, this isthe email that I have, JS
casting, anything like that.
I was like, thisisn't the people.
And so I was like, we're justgoing back and forth, back
and forth, talking through it.
this is what's goingon, this is what they're
saying, what should I do?
(17:15):
And so I was like, okay,I'm gonna email them.
He, he sends me some of thepeople that he worked with
for Chopped, and I was like,okay, my name's Ashley Brown.
This is what's going on, butI wanna make sure that this
is in fact actually happening.
And so the head personwas like, yep, you, I can
confirm you are, on you, youwill be going on Chopped.
(17:39):
Congratulations.
And I was like, oh my God.
I
Michael Dugan (17:42):
Right.
Sure.
Chef Ashley Brown (17:43):
I told my husband, and of course it's,
it's completely confidential,you can't tell anybody.
but of course, it's, it's your
Michael Dugan (17:50):
You're bursting inside.
Chef Ashley Brown (17:51):
those kinds of things are kind
of, it's a pass, you
Michael Dugan (17:54):
Right, right.
Chef Ashley Brown (17:56):
so now this is, now hit it.
No one can know about this.
And I'm like, it was, I'm oneof those people that if I bought
a gift for you or if I made agift for you, I wanna give it
to you right then and there.
Michael Dugan (18:07):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (18:09):
like someone tells me, oh,
I got a gift for you.
I'm like, Ooh, what is it?
What is it?
So holding for months andmonths and months that I am
on this TV show, I'm about tofilm this TV show was just.
Just, ah, stabbing intome every single day.
And so finally itcame all the way up.
they, some of the filmcrew came down, oh, Ashley
(18:31):
Brown, floor by Brother Luckhere in Colorado Springs.
Give us a little, eh, some, somekind of something to work with.
you got really cool hair.
We, your fingers through it,
Michael Dugan (18:39):
Oh geez.
Chef Ashley Brown (18:40):
funny things and stuff that I
would never do either.
ugh, ugh, I don't know.
It's just, it's notit, it's not me.
It wasn't me at the time.
And so it really helped pryChef Ashley to come out.
And that's why I did this, was
Michael Dugan (18:59):
I love this.
This
Chef Ashley Brown (19:00):
I wanted, I went along with it, not to
compete against the other chefs.
I wanted to see what I coulddo in the nick of time.
I wanted to see what, howmuch pressure I could go
under and see how well Ican maintain my composure.
So that's, that's themain reason why I did it.
And coming in there, they'relike, okay, this is gonna
(19:23):
be filmed in New York andhere's all the details.
And I was like, okay,this is happening.
All right.
So, and it was happeningin, and it, during winter,
I filmed it in, January.
My mom's birthdayis in December.
So she's got a friendwho lives in New York.
I've never been to New York.
So as a birthday gift, we boughther a ticket to come with me.
(19:48):
'cause I didn't wanna go alone.
And what better person tocome with me than my mom who's
been there since day one.
So I brought my mom with me.
Of course she couldn't,no one can come on set.
No one, no one isallowed on set.
so mom
Michael Dugan (20:02):
And it's long too, right?
Is it like 12 or 14 hours or
Chef Ashley Brown (20:05):
yeah, it, it was, it was an all day thing.
It, it was just like a,like a full shift, So it was
early in the morning and thestudio was about five minutes
away from my hotel room.
So I
Michael Dugan (20:16):
Hmm.
Chef Ashley Brown (20:17):
and you can't tell anyone and no one
can tell you you don't knowwho you're competing against.
So at six o'clock in themorning, it's still kind of
dark out and you see all theseother people kind of walking
towards the, the studio and thenyou're just kinda like looking
at each other are you a randomperson or are you here for chop?
We're like, chop, chop.
Michael Dugan (20:38):
Wow.
Chef Ashley Brown (20:39):
finally, we're gathering up and then
we get, we get into thestudio and we're just hanging
out, having breakfast,kind of hyping ourself up.
Okay.
Michael Dugan (20:47):
Yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (20:48):
In the studio they gave us like
our own personal hype.
Man, this guy wasfreaking awesome.
but yeah, it was, it wasjust a crazy thing like, oh
my God, I am in New York.
I'm about to film a show thateverybody knows about, even
if it's just one, but it,it's crazy just to think of.
All the places that you can go
Michael Dugan (21:08):
Wow.
Chef Ashley Brown (21:09):
chopped,
Michael Dugan (21:09):
What was your basket?
Chef Ashley Brown (21:11):
Oh, it was, it was a couple baskets.
I wasn't chopped first,that's all I asked.
I, I prayed to the universe.
I was just kind of like,whatever this comes out,
I really want to win.
Of course, everybodywants to win,
Michael Dugan (21:22):
Right, right,
Chef Ashley Brown (21:23):
but I asked even if I don't win, do not
let me get chopped first.
I did not come all this way.
I did not
Michael Dugan (21:29):
See, that's awesome.
Well, that's totally awesome.
Chef Ashley Brown (21:32):
I'm doing this for my family.
I'm doing this for me anddoing this for my family.
I wanna see what I can do.
And the, the winningmoney, it was $25,000.
This would go to my family.
So getting in there, so thefirst basket was, quail,
three sisters casserole.
And at the time I had no ideawhat it was, even though it's
in the region that I'm in, is.
(21:58):
So Quail, three sistersCasserole, oh my God.
There was something, Imade a sauce out of it.
Oh, I don't even remember.
Wow.
it was about a yearand a half ago, so I
Michael Dugan (22:07):
Okay.
Yeah, no, I get it.
I
Chef Ashl (22:09):
but, work with quail.
And so this, this episodewas around this region.
This is around, mostof the chefs come from
New Mexico, Texas.
Colorado,
Michael Dugan (22:19):
Southwest.
Chef Ashley Brown (22:19):
Southwest.
Michael Dugan (22:20):
Got it.
Yeah.
Cool.
Chef Ashley Brown (22:22):
So a lot of these things, of course,
like we play with, but so Iremember searing off this quail.
I did the spiced quailand the judges were really
impressed with how I did that.
And the three sisters casserole.
It was, it essentially waslike something that my mom
made when I was a kid called,
Michael Dugan (22:38):
Oh,
Chef Ashley Brown (22:38):
which is squash and tomatoes.
dark spices like that.
So I just took itand just ran with it.
I just reheated it up andseasoned it a bit more
than what it actually was.
And three sisters casserolehas like this biscuit
thing, so I just exitedthat, get that outta here.
And so that's, thatwas kind of the, the
first course and passed.
(23:00):
So I passed through it.
Oh my God.
It was insane.
I'm like, each, each one.
I was like, for the firstone I was very confident in.
I was like, no, Ithink I got this.
But I was like, but then again,still don't get your hopes up.
Michael Dugan (23:13):
Yeah.
Right, right.
Chef Ashley Brown (23:14):
But I was like, it was a great dish.
I was very happy with it.
Even if the judgesweren't, I was.
so then finally the wildpasses by, we're still
sitting in the room.
We have lunch and waiting on forthe next part to, to come in.
So the next part, the secondbasket was, elk tenderloin.
Biggest elk tenderloin I'veever seen in my entire life.
(23:36):
Oh my
Michael Dugan (23:36):
Elk.
You said elk?
Correct.
Oh, wow.
Very gamey.
Chef Ashley Brown (23:41):
yes, it
Michael Dugan (23:41):
Mm-hmm.
Chef Ashley Brown (23:42):
huge.
It was like a beef tenderloinand the elk tenderloin that I
actually had, I had on my menuat four and it was little,
Michael Dugan (23:49):
Oh, awesome.
Chef Ashley Brown (23:50):
little teeny, tiny medallions.
It was delicious.
I was like, okay, cool.
It had chilies, somedried chilies and
pre-made cheese tamales.
The most driest,saddest things I've ever
Michael Dugan (24:01):
That's what they do, right?
Chef Ashley Brown (24:03):
Exactly.
Michael Dugan (24:03):
crazy thing in there.
Chef Ashley Brown (24:05):
And prickly pear also was in there too.
Michael Dugan (24:09):
okay.
Chef Ashley Brown (24:09):
of course I remember this dish because
it's the one I lost to,but this is where I got cocky.
I get cocky and because I hadelk tenderloin, I got chiles, I
Michael Dugan (24:22):
You got this.
Yeah,
Chef Ashley Brown (24:24):
these are all the things that I've worked
with, No, this is no brainer.
So I was all like, oh,is this even a challenge?
And then I was like,Ashley, calm the fuck down.
Michael Dugan (24:34):
Yeah.
Right.
Sure.
Chef Ashley B (24:36):
we go through it.
And so of course we gotdried chilies between, at now
it's three chefs, me and twoothers, dried chilies that we
are toasting in the studio.
We ended up smokingout the studio.
Michael Dugan (24:50):
love
Chef Ashley Brow (24:50):
All the judges
Michael Dugan (24:51):
awesome.
that's so great.
This is priceless.
Ashley, this is priceless.
You have given me agift for the podcast.
This is really awesome.
Oh my God,
Chef Ashley Brown (25:05):
I felt more bad for the cameramen because
they have to be in your junk.
And so these poor cameramen,they're crying, they're
coughing, they're trying to holdtheir cameras straight and it.
Michael Dugan (25:19):
So it's kitchen disaster on chopped,
Chef Ashley Brown (25:21):
they're like, they're at this point,
they're probably like, neverever give dried chilies as
an ingredient ever again.
Michael Dugan (25:28):
Wow.
Chef Ashley Brown (25:31):
Oh my
Michael Dugan (25:31):
Oh man, that's, that's amazing.
I, I haven't seen it.
I confess 'cause we justkind of connected recently,
but I've gotta watch
Chef Ashley Bro (25:39):
You gotta watch
Michael Dugan (25:40):
I can't wait.
Chef Ashley Brown (25:41):
So this episode, while we're
talking about it, this
Michael Duga (25:45):
What's the number?
So that other people,we can get 'em
Chef Ashley Brown (25:47):
59, episode nine called
Southwestern Strength.
Michael Dugan (25:52):
Okay.
And I'll put it in the shownotes when, when we publish too
Chef Ashl (25:55):
Yes, please go ahead.
But yeah, finally thestudio gets kind of
cleared out a little bit.
Michael Dugan (26:02):
Did it hit any of the executives?
That's what I wanted to know.
Chef Ashle (26:05):
Oh yeah, definitely.
They're like, whatthe, what is going on?
Michael Dugan (26:10):
Wow.
Chef Ashley Brown (26:10):
God.
Because we're all three chefstoasting, chilies all at once,
Michael Dugan (26:13):
Yeah.
Okay.
Chef Ashley Brown (26:15):
so we're just continuing with it.
so I'm butchering.
I go to butcher down the elktenderloin first, while the
other two are gathering theiringredients from the pantry.
'cause this thing's huge and Ishould have reversed tiered it.
I should have, I shouldhave known better.
Michael Duga (26:31):
What's a reverse S
Chef Ashley Brown (26:32):
at least.
Michael Dugan (26:33):
What's a reverse?
S seer so
Chef Ashley Brown (26:34):
reverse searing is getting it started
in the oven, getting allyour spices and everything
on it, getting, just gettingthe temperature on it
Michael Dugan (26:42):
Okay.
Chef Ashley Brown (26:43):
to bring it up to temperature and
then you sear it at the endjust to give it that color.
Michael Dugan (26:48):
Okay.
Chef Ashley Brown (26:48):
So kind of opposite of what you would
normally do versus sear itand then get it going the
rest of the way in the oven.
Michael Dugan (26:54):
Got it.
Yeah, I've heard a lot of that.
I've never done it,but I understand it.
I mean, you wanna get thatreally good sear and, and
Chef Ashley Brown (27:01):
It is great.
I think it kind oflocks the moisture a lot
Michael Dugan (27:04):
Yeah.
And flavor.
Sure.
Chef Ashley Brown (27:06):
So I should have at least just started to
get the temperature on it, butI didn't, it was like the last
thing that I put on, I waslike, no, it's gonna be a mid
rare, it'll be perfect, but
Michael Dugan (27:16):
Your kids are so cute, by the
Chef Ashley Brow (27:18):
Oh, thank you.
I know they're s sneaking
Michael Dugan (27:20):
They're adding a lot of, a lot of
ambiance to the podcast is
Chef Ashley Brown (27:24):
I love it.
So I get that going andthen I try making a gel.
hi.
Hi.
Michael Dugan (27:30):
Oh
Chef Ashley Brown (27:31):
I love you.
You ready?
Are you going to bed?
not yet.
It's nine o'clock.
Oh, I love you.
Love you too.
Okay.
I'm gonna finish this.
Okay.
Okay.
Michael Dugan (27:38):
yeah.
We're gonna wrap upscene, so don't worry.
Chef Ashley Brown (27:40):
But, so I. I, I do a, a prickly
paired gel, and I try gettingit in the blast cooler.
That is not a blastcooler, that's just
any other refrigerator.
And it didn't set.
It's just this thin thing.
And so I ended up makinga fritter out of the, the
(28:01):
tamale, the cheese tamale.
I took the cheese out of it.
I re moistened up the, the, themasa itself, and I just take it
to a pan, like a little pancake.
Michael Dugan (28:10):
Wow.
Chef Ashley Brown (28:11):
And I did a demi gloss from the scraps
that I cut off from the elk,and I put the chilies in there.
And then there was a, aquat container of beef
stock in the pantry.
Michael Dugan (28:24):
can you make a demi glass?
Chef Ashley Brown (28:26):
I made a demi gloss in 30 minutes.
I was so impressed with myself.
They were impressed.
They like, this
Michael Dugan (28:31):
Yeah.
That's really
Chef Ashley Brown (28:32):
you would be, you, you, you
had cooking for hours.
Michael Dugan (28:35):
Yeah, I know.
That's why I was asking
Chef Ashley Brown (28:37):
When it's on your menu and someone
80 sixes it, you learn howto make something quick.
Michael Dugan (28:42):
wow.
I
Chef Ashley Brown (28:42):
So I ended up making that in, in 30
minutes, and just reducing it,reducing it the way that you
would, any other demi gloss.
So just keep it, keep it going.
And, so finally I put it upand, I plated it and it was
just absolutely hideous.
So when
Michael Dugan (29:00):
all this work and you
Chef Ashley Brown (29:02):
I know
Michael Dugan (29:02):
really creative idea and then, and then
you turn it to the judges.
That must be like,
Chef Ashley Brown (29:07):
I,
Michael Dugan (29:07):
so
Chef Ashley Brown (29:08):
this was something that you would see on
like a, like a banquet, I pouredthe DeLoss over it and then my
Michael Dugan (29:15):
they're all, but they're all smoked out.
They're all smoked out anyway,so they're not gonna notice.
Chef Ashley (29:19):
set up we're done.
And so, so I, I put it upand I, I had like nothing
to garnish it with.
I didn't think that far ahead.
And, I just chopped upsome freaking cilantro and
just threw it on there.
I'm
Michael Dugan (29:33):
Mm-hmm.
Chef Ashley Brown (29:33):
your is, so, they have this thing of
it's, it's all to a pause.
So you put up your,hands up, you're done.
Time's up.
And so they have this thingof chef looking at plate plate
looking at chef, where for 30full seconds, your plate is
up, you're standing there andyou're staring at your plates
while the cameras do a full 360.
(29:55):
you watch the show andit's just, tension.
So they do that fora whole 30 seconds.
And I'm just, this thingis just looking at me,
just kind Ugh, help me.
oh my God.
So I'm like, you.
I was like, Nope,I don't got this.
Nope, I'm done.
I'm, I'm chopped.
Michael Dugan (30:09):
yeah,
Chef Ashley Brown (30:09):
And so finally they get you set back
and finally they, they comeup and they're like, okay,
who's on the chopping block?
Soon as they lifted, Iwas like, yep, it's me.
I accepted my fate.
They lifted it up.
I was like, yep, chefAshley, you've been chopped.
Michael Dugan (30:24):
yeah, yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (30:25):
And, even though I, I prayed to
the universe, saying I just
Michael Dugan (30:30):
One more round.
One more round.
Chef Ashley Brown (30:32):
Yeah.
I wished man, but I, I told themlike, as long as you weren't
chopped first and I wasn't,but as soon as they go back,
they do an exit interview.
what do you think?
how did it go?
How are you feeling?
And I, I bawled, Ibawled my eyes out.
I didn't say this to anyone inthe interview, during the, of
course you're like, you're stillholding onto your pride at that
Michael Dugan (30:52):
Right,
Chef Ashley Brown (30:53):
So I cried and I was like, I wanted
this to be for my family.
I wanted to get, justa new house and just
this and that, and.
And then, so finallyI calmed down.
I was like, the camera's on me.
Like they, they, they haveme crying, but of course I
told 'em, I was like, don'tput this on, don't put this
on, it's, it's humiliating.
so, they didn't put me oncrying, but I was like, maybe
they, once they release this,they'll see like my, my red eyes
(31:17):
and things like that, crying.
But finally I calmed down,do the interview, and then,
shake hands and, I didn'tactually meet, I didn't get
to shake hands with the, thejudges or anything like that.
once you're done, you're done.
Like you, you go,you get your stuff,
Michael Dugan (31:32):
Really?
That's kind of weird.
Chef Ashley Brown (31:34):
the chef coat and that's it, So then
Michael Dugan (31:37):
Exit Door
Chef Ashley Brown (31:38):
I, my mom, she's just eagerly waiting
at the hotel, they, youhave to turn in your phones.
Michael Dugan (31:43):
she couldn't watch.
Chef Ashley (31:44):
She couldn't watch,
Michael Dugan (31:45):
That's right.
Chef Ashley Brown (31:46):
call her.
I couldn't text her.
They
Michael Dugan (31:48):
Oh my gosh.
Chef Ashley Brown (31:49):
'cause of course you can't tell anyone.
So she has no ideawhat's going on.
And so I go, I get, I openthe door to, to the hotel room
and she's just standing thereand I'm like, I was chopped.
But she was like, it's okay.
You did it.
You did it.
And I felt really good still.
There was so many emotionsjust running through and,
(32:12):
and then later on, herfriend, he, he lives in New
York, like I said earlier.
So after that went to avery nice dinner and just
celebrated, you did it.
You know how many peopleget this opportunity,
especially little townthat you, that I live in.
So it's still a win.
Michael Dugan (32:29):
yeah, for sure.
Chef Ashley Brown (32:30):
Yeah.
So
Michael Dugan (32:31):
I'm, I'm really impressed.
I mean, I was like, wow.
And the people that I talkedto, it's the same thing.
It's like one of them won,chef Ed Harris, he actually
Chef Ashley Brown (32:39):
yeah.
Michael Dugan (32:40):
and oh my gosh.
The way he described itthough, he said, it's brutal.
It's really tough.
It's, people don't realizeit's a lot of work and
Chef Ashley Brown (32:49):
it's, I mean, it's a challenge.
Michael Dugan (32:51):
but it's the challenge that you
Chef Ashley Brown (32:52):
not rough, what's the point
of putting it out?
for people to watch.
People love that drama.
They love the hectic, you
Michael Dugan (32:59):
Well, the smokiness thing, I,
Chef Ashl (33:01):
man, if you watch it.
Michael Dugan (33:02):
I I will never, I will never forget that,
that that is incredible.
Chef Ashley Brown (33:06):
was probably my favorite part.
Michael Dugan (33:08):
yeah, yeah.
Chef Ashley Brown (33:10):
studio.
Poor cameraman, allthe judges dying.
Michael Dugan (33:15):
Now I forget, but I wanna make sure, did
everybody smoke 'em outor was it just you that
Chef Ashley Brown (33:19):
Everyone.
All
Michael Dugan (33:20):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's what I thought.
Because of what you had to do.
Right.
Right, right.
So any lessons that youtook away from Chopped
about yourself and
Chef Ashley Brown (33:30):
My lessons.
Michael Dug (33:30):
anything like that?
Chef Ashley Brown (33:31):
Yeah, I know the lesson that I took away was,
just set your prideoff to the side.
Like even though you say.
You hope you're, you'renot chopped first, but
even if you lose, stillhold on to what you did.
Still hold on to what youpresented and value that
(33:54):
cherish that moment because youmight not even get it again.
who knows if you get invitedback or, that could have
been my one time thing.
And so now I, I will definitelycherish the moments a, a
bit more than that, what Ido currently, even in the
hardships is still cherish,even though it's really hard.
Still cherish those moments.
Michael Dugan (34:15):
Okay.
And to prepare for Chopped,would you say you have
to have knife fights?
Is
Chef Ashley Brown (34:19):
Yeah,
Michael Dugan (34:19):
of what my takeaway is?
Chef Ashley Brown (34:21):
Even to get ready for it.
My husband, I would askhim, I was like, okay, just
randomly shout out likea few ingredients, random
times throughout the day,just completely unannounced.
He'd be like, this, this,and this, and I'd be like.
Oh, do that.
And I would do that, and I woulddo that, and so it was just
kind of become a random thing.
Michael Dugan (34:38):
Okay, well, we're gonna wrap up.
I just got a couple reallyquick questions for you.
This was amazing, and I'm sohonored to spend time with
you and to get to know you,and it's really incredible.
This, this is gonna be thelaunch of season four and
I mean, this is my fourthyear and I just saw it and
I said, this is gotta be it.
This is, this is
Chef Ashley Brown (34:58):
you for doing these, like just getting
these stories out there andfor people to, to kind of
get their experiences and
Michael Dugan (35:05):
It's so important, to inspire people
in this industry becauseit's such a tough industry.
But if, if you wanna be achef, it's hard, but it's
also rewarding and, and you'reproving that you're, you're
showing that, so for me, we met.
At this organization calledMap and Map honors women in
hospitality with advocacy,mentorship, scholarship.
(35:28):
And Joanna James is the CEO.
And I went to Las Vegas acouple weeks ago and met
her and it was unbelievable.
We had a private dinnerwith my friend, chef Mimi,
who's very close to Joanna.
The night before theconference started, the
Women in HospitalityConference, and I said,
Joanna, I want to help you.
I wanna get the word out.
(35:49):
I wanna bring MAP members on thepodcast to share their stories
and to inspire each other.
And this is, thisis the first one.
Ashley, you are the start of
Chef Ashley Brown (35:59):
really?
Michael Dugan (36:00):
You are a start of a movement
Chef Ashley Brow (36:02):
Oh, I love it.
Michael Dugan (36:03):
set my soul on fire to keep podcasting.
And that's the
Chef Ashle (36:07):
Oh, that's an honor.
Oh, I love that.
Michael Duga (36:10):
can envision this.
And what I wanna know iswe met at a, what's called
a map mentorship circle.
And there was a womannamed Missy, who is a,
sustainable farmer, and shewas giving a talk about it.
And you were there.
And the funniest thing,and you don't know this is
when I saw you, I saw, Iwas looking at different
(36:31):
people and checking out IGto understand who they are.
And I was like, wow, okay.
She's really cool.
She's from Colorado.
I'm thinking Jensen.
I'm like, brother luck.
Oh my gosh.
All these things connected.
And then chopped.
I'm like, I wannareach out to her.
And it was so funnybecause after Absolutely.
But after we got off that call.
(36:52):
We reached out to eachother about the same time.
It was like almost the samethought was going through our
head, we should connect andwe should do an interview.
And I mean, it was just reallycool, And, and that was a week
ago, a week and a half ago.
So anyway, that's howall this happened.
But can you tell me howyou ended up with In MAP
(37:13):
and a little bit about yourexperience, just briefly.
Chef Ashley Brown (37:16):
so I got involved with MAP from Brother.
Michael Dugan (37:21):
Oh, wow.
Okay.
Chef Ashley Brown (37:23):
So, he, it was for, it was for a
MAP conference and he wassupposed to attend it.
He couldn't,
Michael Dugan (37:34):
Okay.
Chef Ashley Brown (37:34):
now, it's kind of funny because Chef's
role was doing competition, theydo these competitions to where,
you can win a ticket to go toMatt to go to chef conferences
and things like that.
And I, I tried to do thecompetition, actually.
I did do thecompetition, but I lost,
Michael Dugan (37:52):
Okay.
Chef Ashley Brown (37:53):
I don't even remember what
the competition was.
It was something like alongthe lines of create a dish
that's original and send it in.
there's so manychefs that would.
Put in, a lot of these things.
And of course, some willoutshine others, which is
absolutely beautiful that theyprovide these opportunities.
And so I didn't win.
But it's funny because forthat same exact conference,
(38:16):
brother couldn't attend.
So he put me in his place.
Michael Dugan (38:19):
Oh my gosh.
Chef Ashley Brown (38:20):
even though I didn't win that competition,
I still got to go because of
Michael Dugan (38:24):
that's fantastic.
Chef Ashley Brown (38:25):
So Map was there and chef's
role and everything.
So it was thisbeautiful conference.
And so I started to, I wentto some of the seminars that
they were talking through.
some of the chefs thatwere there, Wolfgang
Puck was one of 'em.
And Joanna, and I never actuallymet her yet, I still haven't met
her outside of the conferencethat we had at least, like not
(38:46):
in person, So once I startedto realize what they stood
for and, and everything, I waslike, oh, I gotta get on this.
I gotta get on this.
And I'm a woman.
I'm in leadership.
I love empowerment,I love the industry.
It, it just, itall fell together.
So from then on, I, I'vebeen wanting to become a, a
(39:07):
legit member, which I justfinally became a legit member
just a couple months ago.
'cause I like, I wanna,I wanna be part of this.
I, and it's just to show youcan be anything, I'm gonna
give you the tools and helpyou help others do anything.
Michael Dugan (39:24):
Mm-hmm.
Chef Ashley Brown (39:25):
And that's what I really loved about it.
Michael Dugan (39:27):
Oh, see, that's how I feel too.
And being a male,she calls me an ally.
And me.
It's all Mimi's fault.
Chef Mimi, shout outto you in Florida.
She's my dear friend thatI met four years ago, and
she interviewed Joanna andI put it on my podcast.
That's the most recentepisode out there right now.
And it was an interviewthat Mimi did with Joanna,
(39:50):
and I went, wow, I've gottainterview Joanna in the future.
I've gotta meet her.
And then Mimi called me upfour weeks ago, five weeks ago,
and, or actually probably aboutthree months ago, and said,
we're having a conference inLas Vegas and you gotta go.
And it was the greatestexperience of my life to
meet Joanna and everyone inmap, and all the women in
(40:10):
hospitality, all the chefs.
It was just, I can'teven describe the
way I felt about it.
Like they were opening up to thechallenges that they have and
the struggles that they have.
And I said, Iwanna do something.
I wanna do somethingwith my podcast.
That means something, thatreally means something.
And so that's my movement now,and this is the start of it.
(40:31):
So anyway, that'show we connected.
And, and so everyoneunderstands and wanna wrap
up, but I just really wantto thank you for your time.
It's late.
You got your kids goingto bed and, and we had a
couple technology failures,which happens all the time.
It's part of technology,but, but we did it.
(40:51):
And, yeah, thanks forbeing a voice for chefs.
it's a really wonderful thing.
You're really an advocateand I hope you continue to do
Chef Ashley Brown (41:00):
Yeah, thank, thank you for, for
putting these out, like
Michael Dugan (41:03):
Mm-hmm.
Chef Ashley (41:04):
you're helping more people than you think.
Michael Dugan (41:07):
Yeah, it's, it's a lonely thing too.
People don't give youa lot of feedback.
That's as a podcaster.
Chef Ashle (41:13):
It's a lonely world.
a lot of people feellike , they're alone,
especially in this industry.
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