January 24, 2025 • 41 mins
Chef Paul Gaskins shares his culinary journey influenced by Southern roots and global flavors while navigating a major renovation at the Inn of Celebration. He emphasizes the importance of innovation in dishes while leading and motivating his culinary team to embrace change and excellence.
• Chef Paul introduces himself and his culinary background
• Highlighting innovative dishes like Lamb Benedict and Chicken Karaage
• Discussing the impact of hotel renovation on team dynamics
• Fusing California freshness with Louisiana flavors
• The role of mentorship in the kitchen
• Encouraging exploration of various dishes on the menu
• The importance of positivity and connection in culinary leadership
IG @chef.paulg
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hello Food Fam.
This is the Walk Talk podcastwhere you will find the perfect
blend of food fun and cookingknowledge.
I'm your host, carl Fiodini.
Welcome to the number one foodpodcast in the country.
We're recording on site at IbisImages Studios, where food
photography comes alive and Iget to eat it.
Here's a humble request to givea follow on Instagram at
(00:30):
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Discover this incredibleproduct at AussieSelectcom.
Okay, so today we're diving intothe culinary world with the
(00:54):
incredible Chef Paul Gaskins.
Born in Los Angeles and rootedin the vibrant flavors of
Louisiana, which is piled undersnow right now, chef Paul
embodies Southern cuisine, wheredishes like gumbo and jambalaya
are family traditions.
A proud summa cum laudegraduate of Johnson and Wales
University, chef Paul's journeyspans from New Orleans to Las
(01:16):
Vegas.
His impressive resume includesstints with Marriott and the
Patina Group, where he showcasedhis culinary talent at events
like the Emmys and Governor'sBall.
Now, as the executive chef atthe Inn of Celebration in
Orlando, florida, chef Paul hasmastered cooking while
navigating a hotel renovationand it was a big one too.
I've seen it.
With a keen eye for detail anda passion for innovation, he has
(01:38):
overseen a remodel thatredefines culinary excellence.
Today, we'll explore what it'slike to bring a culinary vision
to life amidst construction,menu planning and team dynamics
inspired by his worldly travelsand support of his lovely wife,
chef Paul, welcome to theprogram.
Thank you for having me, man,you know.
(02:00):
Look, here's the deal.
First of all, your cookingchops are off the wall.
It was good, amazing.
I mean that sincerely too, bythe way.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
You had a helper today.
I don't want to forget ChefJesse over here.
Chef Jesse, my right hand, Idon't want to.
Don't think you were gettingleft out, baby, you know what I
mean.
Okay, let's talk about thedishes.
You did two dishes todaySpectacular, talk about it.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
First dish that I did was a spinoff of a classic
Benedict.
Basically, I took the lamb.
We had a tomato, harissa, baconjam on top of a pumpernickel
toast with a poached egg,arugula, a little bit of
homemade hollandaise sauce andthen topped with a slice of a
fresno chili.
Underneath all that was thewonderful lamb that you provided
(02:49):
for us.
So that was wonderful.
That cured lamb pastrami wasamazing.
Believe me, that's going to thehotel I heard that you're gonna
tell me twice you hear thatjackie and the second dish was
our chicken karaage, which iscurrently on our menu right now,
and it's a corn.
Milk puree is the base, and wetake that corn, fresh corn, and
we steep it in the earsthemselves and milk.
(03:12):
We take the meat off the ear orthe elote, whichever version
you want to call it, and then westeep that with a wonderful
flavors of chicken stock andsome, you know, garlic, salt
pepper and some herbs.
Of course that's the base, andthen we top that with a zucchini
muffin that we make fromscratch.
(03:32):
And then on top of that we havekaraage chicken, japanese
chicken, and we kind of spin it,we pound out a chicken breast
and then fry it up, finish it uptop it, and then on top of that
is salsa criollo, which is avery popular dish down in Peru.
Basically it's peppers andonions with aya pepper and we
(03:54):
jazz it up, we put a littlefresnel chili so it has a little
bite to it.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Yeah, but it wasn't too much bite.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
No not at all.
I prefer the bite to be at theend, not in the beginning.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Is that currently on the menu?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
That dish.
That second dish is currentlyon the menu, the first dish once
I get that lamb in the door,we're on board.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
If you put that dish on the menu, is it going to look
the same way?
Is it going to be the sameportion size?
Speaker 2 (04:18):
It would look very similar.
The only difference is Iprobably would just add a little
more potatoes to it like a sideto it.
I probably would just add alittle more potatoes to it like
a side to it.
The concept of what we'rethinking about is do a five
Benedict kind of setup on themenu.
So that would be one of theBenedicts that I'll be doing,
but I'm going to add about fourBenedicts.
We currently do brunch sevendays a week seven to two
(04:39):
depending on which day it is,seven to three on weekends, of
course, and Benedicts is one ofthose top sellers.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
You can call me Benny from now on Because you know
what, if you start slappingthese things on the menu, you
can rest assured that I'm goingto do that.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
There'll be about five of them on there.
We'll do some, and every singleone of them will be different.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Pronounce the name again of the chicken Chicken
karaage, karaage.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yes, yes, what makes it a karagi?
It's the breading, basicallythe breading and the seasoning.
And the breading japanesechicken is, it's traditionally
is very plain and simple.
We just add a lot of flavor tothat.
So we have a flour mix that wemake in-house and it has about
10 different spices and flavorsto it.
So I'll leave it at that.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
I don't want to give no too much away no, don't give
it away too much, although Imean, we, we shot film of this
thing, of this wonderful dishtrue, and so everyone's going to
see it understood that okaylike, let's not get it twisted
here.
People are going to see this.
I want them to come to therestaurant.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Okay, all right, because they're not going to
make it at home, like no, okay,I get that.
Come to the hotel, come to therestaurant let me be more
specific.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
I'm not going to make it at home, so you know you're
gonna.
You can you believe I'll bethere for that?
I understand when you say fouror five.
Is there going to be a stationspecifically for this?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
correct.
That's the thought process.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
I'm gonna try to build a station, that's just I'm
the type of guy when I go outto eat and there are eggs
benedict on the menu, I get them.
I just do.
I'm into the Hollandaise sauceand I never not everyone puts
out the same sort of traditionalHollandaise sauce, and I don't
know how I feel about that,because when I go out and I and
(06:15):
I and I and I crave that.
That's what I want.
Well, now, with that said, youtry some of these different ones
that they put out there.
It's a whole new experience.
And and the flavor profiles andthe layers, you know all the,
all the, you know the tag linesof food description, they're all
there.
And then you say to yourselfyou know what?
I just expanded my mind thereyou go culinarily speaking
(06:35):
expanded my mind.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
The goal with our menu is to intrigue the guests
to come, try one dish, come backand try another dish, come back
back, and then, hey, there'ssomething new, there's something
different.
So that's our plan and that'sour goal.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
I saw the renovation happening at the property.
We met as the renovation wasstarting.
It was like in its infancy.
Yes, I've seen renovationsbefore.
There's a lot of challenges,it's not easy and the entire
staff everybody's.
You know nobody likes it,Nobody likes it.
What role did you play in thisrenovation?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Being one of the leaders in the hotel community
there, I would say that justkeeping people motivated and
keeping people busy and givingthem tasks, yes, you might have
half the hotel under renovation,but at the same time, if you
keep people informed of what'sgoing on and what's happening as
rooms were being released backto us, as areas of the hotel
(07:36):
were being released, I take mystaff hey look, this is new and
upcoming, this is what's goingto be, this is our home away
from home.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
It's 2025.
How are we motivating staffright now?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
You work right along with them, you put your hands in
there and you get just as dirty.
You put the gloves on and youcook right along with them.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
There are no more ivory tower leadership roles.
I'm guessing right?
You do have to be in the trenchwith your teammates.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yes, you have to be in the trenches with your
teammate, but at the same time,I think if you keep them
informed, it goes a long, longway.
You can get people to buy intowhat you're selling.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
You're talking about Louisiana.
You're talking about LA, and tobring those together in some
kind of culinary form is tricky.
How are you taking yourexperiences into the hotel now?
Speaker 2 (08:33):
The thought process is the fusion.
There's a lot of fusion there.
So, la, you got fresh flavors,you got obviously like avocado
movements and things of thatsort, and then Louisiana is very
homey, very, very down to earth.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
The produce bread basket is California.
Yes, that's true, and ArizonaChefs that I've worked with over
the years when they come toFlorida and they're like, oh my
God, what is this?
And I'm like, look, this isn'tlike where you're from, where
you can go outside and there's afarm and you go pick it and you
know, and the sun's out.
This isn't here and this is notthat.
(09:09):
This is Florida Farm to table.
I understand.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
It's a whole different deal.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
But you're also like salads versus grits.
You know what I mean.
Louisiana, there is no.
Can I get a light Anything?
Can I have a vinaigrette?
No, you're gonna.
Here's a ranch.
You know this is what you'regonna get.
How are you threading theneedle there?
Speaker 2 (09:28):
with every dish we try to always create something
that has a fresh element to itand then something that really,
really is kind of homey.
We have a shrimp and grid dishin the hotel but it has a kind
of a fresh element the sauce.
And not only that, but we make,I would say, 90 of our stuff
(09:49):
in-house.
I try not to buy.
I mean, we, it's fresh produce,we, we are fabricating this
stuff on our own.
We're not trying to serve,preserve food all day long or
anything of that sort I'm gonnaget you something and you're
going to freak out.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
They're soft shell crawfish already taken out.
They come that way.
I love it.
I never had crawfish in my life.
I am now a believer and I'mconnected now with the company
that does it and Boudin too.
I don't know where that's beenmy whole life.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Absolutely right, that is.
That's New Orleans.
All day you talk about crawfish.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Are these things that you were eating?
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Oh, I eat crawfish, oh yeah, and boudin too.
And boudin yeah.
The thing about the crawfish.
I grew up where you know yourip it off the back end and not
the grossing one, but you kindof suck on the head there.
So it's something different.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
I can appreciate that I don't do that.
But I'm Italian, my heritage,my, don't do that my I.
But you know, I'm italian, myheritage, my family, my
grandparents came from overthere and and they did things
like that I, I couldn't.
I don't eat tripe like.
There's a lot of stuff I just Istay away from you know, that's
one of them.
Okay, that is, that isabsolutely one of them, but I
will eat the tail all day long,man, you know the rest of it I'm
(11:00):
, I'm you.
You can count me in.
I got you 100.
Count me in.
So when was the last time youwere over there?
Speaker 2 (11:07):
last time in new orleans is about about a year, a
little over a year now a littleover a year since I've been
back to new orleans.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
My buddy's out there, our buddy putra vera.
He's a, he's a chef in the area.
He's, you know, walk and talk.
Uh, you know, contributor, gooddude, and he's sending me
pictures of this.
You know, like eight inches ofsnow everywhere and I'm like man
you know what.
I'd love to be there with mykid.
I like to think my childrenhave not seen snow yet you might
just need to go up to pensacola.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
That's all you gotta do.
It's only a couple hours up theroad.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Yeah, a few hours up the road.
I'm not gonna do that in a way,johnson and wales how?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
do you?
Speaker 1 (11:40):
I mean super comade man.
That man, that's a big deal.
You know, when I was goingthrough college I had already
done— You're going to come offwith some humble thing, aren't
you?
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
pretty much.
I started in the military, so Iwas a prior Air Force right out
of high school, did four yearsin the military and during that
stint I met a gentleman that wasa chef in San Francisco and he
was an inspiration to me.
And that inspiration led me toJohnson Wales.
He was a graduate of the one inRhode Island and he was doing
(12:13):
amazing things in San Franciscoat the time.
It inspired, inspired me somuch that I just said, okay,
I've done my service to thecountry at this point and I want
to go venture off intosomething I want to do.
So that took me to Johnson andWales, and Charleston, south
Carolina, is where I ended up.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
I've not been to that campus, but I did go.
I did a food show one time, amillion years ago at the Rhode
Island campus.
The Rhode Island campus, thatplace is beautiful.
Yes, I mean it's like acathedral.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Yeah, it's on the campus of Old Dominion.
They share campus with OldDominion, so, yeah, it's pretty
awesome.
People are always nice.
They're always nice.
Every time I've gone up thereit's always been walking down
the street.
People say hello and aregeneral.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
It's a tiny little town.
There's a hotel and I can'tremember what it's called, but
there's a clock tower with abell, yeah, and we were in that
hotel and it was just reallycool.
I felt like I was in anothertime, just 100 years ago or
something like that.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
I don't know you know , when people say, celebration
is a lot like that, or it's likegoing back in time and the
people are genuine and it's asmall town.
You know where the hotel is,it's one of a kind.
So to come visit us is you'llsee it.
It's a different environment, adifferent environment there the
(13:36):
end of celebration.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
It's a really pretty hotel.
It fits the area.
You know there's foodeverywhere.
It's a really pretty hotel.
It fits the area.
You know there's foodeverywhere.
It's a foodie little city.
How long have you actually beenover there?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
I've been there almost four years now.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
I don't want to pass by this sumo cum laude thing
that's probably so special foryou.
How many people were in yourclass, or was it just you, and
then that's why.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Well, I mean, that would be easy.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
I'm a winner.
I did it.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
No, our class was probably about 200 to 300 people
.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Yeah, that's pretty amazing.
Has that done anything for youin your career?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
During my career.
I thought, doing so well inschool being summa cum laude, I
can pick my internship.
We had to do a six-monthinternship somewhere else.
My thought was man, I'm goingto go to Arizona, camelback, one
of these nice golf courseresorts that just really knock
it out of the park, palm Springsand back to California, or
something of that sort.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
I ended up in Traverse.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
City, michigan, in the dead of winter, and I had to
drive up there too in a littleHonda Accord there at the time,
and I had to drive there in thedead of winter and I thought and
I had to drive up there too ina little Honda Accord there at
the time, and I had to drivethere in the dead of winter, and
I'm thinking why I had friendsthat didn't do as well in school
as I did and I thought, why amI going up to Traverse City,
michigan?
I don't know nobody up here, Ihave no idea.
(14:57):
It's on the border of Michiganand Canada, almost basically.
You spit and there's Canada.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
It's not cold there at all.
No, it's not cold there at all.
How old were you?
Speaker 2 (15:06):
At the time I was about 26.
Okay, but going up to TraverseCity was probably the best thing
that ever happened to me.
I had two instructors when Iwas going through Johnson Wales
One was a French instructor andmy Italian teacher and they both
had recommended me to go toTraverse City.
There just happened to be achef up there.
(15:27):
That was very, veryinstrumental in shaping my
career.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
So they weren't looking for you to find glitz
and glory, correct.
They were looking for you tolearn and learn under somebody
who knows what they're doing.
Exactly All right, so thatmakes sense to learn and learn
under somebody who knows whatthey're doing.
Exactly, exactly All right, sothat makes sense.
I was going to make fun of youa lot with this, but I'm not
going to, because you can't askfor better guidance and
direction than than something inthis case.
(15:53):
Sometimes it's not up to you.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
It's.
You know it could be up toothers.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
You've worked all over from new Orleans to Vegas.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
What are some of the coolest culinary experiences
that you've had along the wayBesides the Emmys and things of
that sort, working in Vegas?
Vegas was very interesting.
I worked at a small hotel.
It was actually my secondexecutive chef position at the
time and it was a very smallhotel and I got to learn how to
be the boss.
Be the boss and be in chargeand be responsible for
everything.
But it was right across fromthe convention center in Vegas,
(16:25):
so we would get slammed everysingle day and I had to figure
out how to manage, how to managewith minimum staff, how to
manage my time, how to dofinances and things of that sort
.
So that was another place thatreally shaped my career.
New Orleans was awesome.
New Orleans was differentbecause of its home in some
(16:46):
aspects.
I have family there, of course,but it was also home in the
sense of I was comfortable withthe cuisine there, I was
comfortable with the city, but Ialso got the chance to really
work fine dining there.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
So New Orleans allowed me to do fine dining
really worth fine dining there.
So nor does allow me to do finedining.
Pooch doesn't, you know, losethe opportunity ever to explain
to me how new orleans is one ofthe oldest culinary cities in
the country and where cocktailswere invented, and you know just
, there's so many check marks ofcool things that have to do
with food that come out of NewOrleans.
(17:23):
Definitely, definitely.
It's not just boudin, and youknow.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Jambalaya and gumbo.
Yeah, exactly Now.
Those are homey foods thatreally do well.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Supposedly we're getting king cakes shipped up
over here.
We had some folks on last yearbefore Mardi Gras and everything
that that.
You know we were talking aboutking cakes.
I've never had one.
So pooch is going to beshipping some and I can't wait
for that.
Just don't get the baby that'swhat they said, yeah, or?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
the or the king, but the baby.
Jesse gets the baby every year.
That's crazy stuff.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Go ahead and explain that real quick.
Yeah, I'm not going to do itjustice.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Explain that so tradition is january 6th, is is
all king's day, so generallyjanuary 6th and different parts
of the world, we do king cakeand what, basically what we do
and I'm taking the cake and wecut it.
Before we cut it in differentpieces, each person has to agree
that whoever gets the babythat's stuffed in the cake
(18:22):
already it's already kind ofbuilt into it would have to do a
party, and it's usually aroundright before or right after,
usually right before mardi gras.
So typically tamales is a bigthing for that time or some kind
of providing a party for others.
So you don't want that baby.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yeah, it's a pretty weird.
I don't want to say weird.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
It's a weird tradition.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
It's an interesting tradition that I don't
understand, not in any capacity,but I love the way these king
cakes look and I just want toget into all that.
So what will end up happeningis I'm going to eat the king
cake, probably by myself, okay,and it ain't going to matter,
okay, and I'm like no, there wasno baby here.
I don't know what you'retalking about.
Yeah, that's what's going tohappen.
Do you make pancakes?
(19:06):
No, I don't you dirty.
No, I don't.
All right.
All right, that's a lot of work.
I guess it would be right.
It's just, it's all baking.
Yes, yeah, you're not a savorykind of guy, and exactly, I get
(19:28):
you, I understand I know whatsugar is supposed to taste like,
though so you know what I'm,john.
I'm 30.
I'm 220 pounds.
Do you know that?
Yeah, I'm 30 pounds up.
Okay, from starting walk andtalk, I'm 30 pounds.
I know what sugar tastes liketoo.
(19:50):
I'm just saying all right, soyou're doing all these different
things, you're flying all overthe world, you learn new
experiences, you're you'reyou're mentoring under great, by
the way.
Who was your?
Who was your mentor?
Speaker 2 (20:03):
he's no longer with us.
He passed away.
His name was chef william funnything, his last name is mentor
so you're doing all of thesedifferent things.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
You're learning, you're growing, you're traveling
around the country.
You're traveling outside of thecountry.
Today, the inn CelebrationOrlando.
People don't understand what ittakes for a hotel to be gutted
rooms, kitchen, dining room,common areas and still remain
open.
(20:32):
People don't get it.
With your experiences, how didthat really help you get through
this renovation?
Speaker 2 (20:41):
I think, more than anything, it just keeps you
grounded.
Your experiences keep yougrounded and if, as a leader
leader of men, leader of women,leader of team out of anybody
needs to be grounded, you needto be grounded.
You need to always keep fullfaith that everything will come
out.
And it'll come out thatoptimistic kind of personality.
It goes a long ways.
If I'm optimistic, my team willbe optimistic, the hotel will
(21:05):
be optimistic.
That yeah we're going to getthrough this.
It's a matter of time.
Unfortunately, time doesn'tstop for anyone.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
So basically, you're taking positive energies,
experiences, you're putting themtogether and basically people
feel that and they go.
Ok, I'm going to subscribe tothis and I'm going to follow
suit.
People think about a kitchenrenovation in your house and how
your whole life stops.
Or think about a bathroomrenovation your whole life stops
, and that's one room or tworooms.
(21:35):
Think about a 200 or a 300 roomhotel.
Think about a kitchen that5,000 square feet with walk-in
coolers and ovens and newequipment coming out and new
equipment coming in, but youstill have half a hotel open so
you have to still, you know,provide services to the guests.
I think it's fascinating.
I think it's something whereyou're, it's, it's, it's um, I
(21:58):
don't know, like a trapezeartist act of some sort.
You know there's a big tent andyou know somebody leading lions
around the tent.
I don't know something likethat.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
If you ask me, chefs run off adrenaline and that's
our junkie.
We're junkie, adrenalinejunkies in that sense.
So challenges, multitasking,things of that sort, we run off
those things.
Those are the things thatexcite us, it makes us want to
go do what we do.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
If it's slow?
Well, first of all, if it's aslow night anywhere, nobody's
motivated and people are in therestaurant and there's three
tables and somehow your foodtook 35 minutes to come out and
you're like how does?
this even happen.
There's nobody here.
How come?
Because nobody wants to doanything.
Nobody's there, there's noadrenaline, there's no kick and
(22:48):
it's just like you get lost.
It happens to the best ofeveryone.
I fall into that category too.
I am a mirror of the people whoI am with, and if you guys are
just knuckle dragging, you know,then I'm just like yeah, you
know what.
I'm gonna take a nap, that'sright.
That's where I live with this.
I would agree with that, yeah.
But if you want to go hell,rays man, let's go.
(23:08):
What is a governor's ball?
Speaker 2 (23:11):
so technically, the emmys.
There's two parts to it.
So you have the Emmys with,obviously, all the celebrities
and then all the hoopla thatgoes along with that.
The governor's ball consists ofthe back-of-the-house staff,
that's your camera crew,everyone who's put it together,
so your stage directors andeveryone else, so you actually
(23:31):
make food for them.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
You glazed by this before earlier in our
conversation, and the reason I'mbringing up hey, what does the
governor's ball is?
Because you were working theEmmys.
That's cool.
How do you even get that gig?
Speaker 2 (23:46):
It just worked out that way that I was where were
you working?
Speaker 1 (23:48):
when you got that?
I want to know about this Emmysthing man because to me that
seems like that's not an easything to fall into.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
So I was working under Joachim.
He's a famous chef that ownedthe Patina Group at the time.
I mean, I don't believe he ownsit anymore.
He kind of sold it and wentabout his way.
So at the time I worked underhim and he would come every year
.
He would come to our restaurantevery single year and this was
in Disney Springs in Californiatheir version of Disney Springs,
(24:17):
basically and there was threerestaurants there.
We were money making, we weredoing killer things, you know,
disney.
He would come every year and hewould say, hey, chef, I want
you and I want you, you pick 15guys and you're going to do the
appetizers for the Emmys, you'regoing to do this for the
Governor's Ball and then afterthat you're going to plate up
(24:38):
3,000 plates for all theattendees and things of that
sort.
So it was an honor and it wasexciting and just like that
adrenaline conversation we had acouple minutes ago.
Yeah, that gets you hyped up.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
You get to meet the celebs too, or?
Speaker 2 (24:54):
no, I met a few.
I met a few.
So you served David Bowie.
I remember that one for sure,David Bowie.
He wanted some paella one timeso he came by and I was able to
service him some paella.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
When you get into the business, you don't think about
that, you don't think about ohman, I'm going to serve, you
know, david Bowie, you know morealong the lines like oh, I'm
going to serve the early birdspecial folks that come in,
because that's you know.
That's kind of where you startoff typically.
But when you start getting intolike celebrity stuff, celebrity
cooking and you know all ofthat like energy, energy and
excitement, that's where I'dkind of want to be you know
(25:35):
you're funny.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
You say that because earlier in my career I had a
chance to do a lot of versionsof like media and things of that
sort.
But I had a chef that told meonce before just two kind of
chefs.
There's the glamour chef andthen there's the family chef.
At the time I had a young son,so I chose the family.
So I chose family over theglamour.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
I think today there's a lot of that.
The industry has changed a lot.
You know post uh, post covidand everything.
It's not perfect, but it'schanged.
I think that in most cases, theestablishments are giving a
little bit more, maybe not withmoney, maybe sometimes with
money, but they're giving.
They're a little bit more.
(26:15):
Maybe not with money, maybesometimes with money, but
they're giving.
They're a little bit morelenient, I think, with
expectations.
Maybe it's not corporate, butthe generals, the chefs and the
F and Bs and you know the GMs, Ithink they are bearing the
brunt of of that.
You know they're gonna, they'regonna buffer it.
In other words, understood yeah, I would agree with that,
definitelyunt of that they'regoing to buffer it, in other
words, understood, yeah.
(26:35):
I would agree with that,Definitely agree with that.
Yeah, it's a good.
So listen folks, it's a goodtime to get back to the business
.
Okay, Because there are stillshortages on personnel.
Oh, most definitely.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Most definitely, please apply.
We're looking for all positions, anything from a cook to
dishwasher.
If you don't want to work inthe kitchen, we have other
positions in the hotel, so it'sthere are you yourself, big on
mentoring definitely, definitely.
I've.
I've mentored in my career asbeing a second chef, I've
probably promoted at least, Iwould say, 10 to 12 sous chefs
(27:07):
that left you eventually andsome have gone bigger and better
than I have, which is great,that's the best, that's legacy,
basically, in a sense 100%.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
I always wanted.
It'll never happen, but Ialways wanted to do, you know,
to pick like a city and then andlog the culinary lineage,
meaning you know, find theoldest, baddest restaurant
that's in that town, see whothat chef is and how that chef
(27:39):
got there, who trained that chefand who trained that chef and
the one before.
I want to go back 100 yearsbecause I'm sure it's going to
go back that far.
Oh, most definitely.
Right, most definitely, and Ithink that would make an awesome
documentary.
So if there's anybody out there, listen, you got the.
You know, just put me in the inthe credits on a good idea and
make it happen.
That sounds good.
(28:00):
Peru, greece, turkey ham andcheese no, you know turkey,
greece, peru.
You've been around cuisine.
What's your favorite?
I have to be honest with you.
Don't you dare lie to me?
Okay, no lying Turkey, yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
When I first met my wife, one of the shows that got
us going was Amazing Race, andIstanbul is the bridge city
between Asia and Europe.
So it's always been a lifelongdream to go to Istanbul and I
made that happen with my wife.
Obviously, obviously, we tooksome family with us, but we made
(28:36):
it happen.
And the queen, the cuisine wasjust amazing.
It was just totally amazing.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
That's a major clash of culture very much so and yeah
, and with that, you, you'regonna, you're bound to find so
many.
You, you know, hidden nuggets.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
On both sides of that river, the Bosphorus, on both
sides you find it.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Yeah, I mean, frankly , these days I don't really feel
much like traveling.
Like you know, I don't have thetravel bug like a lot of people
do, but there are a few placesthat I would want to go to.
Turkey is one of them for me.
These like micro cultures thatyou know, like this, this little
town here or village orwhatever, is going to have that
specific thing, and but if yougo 30 miles, that way they're
(29:17):
separated but it's going to besomething totally different.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
And Turkey was just that.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
That's exciting to me .
Well, that's it.
I don't know.
I feel like it on a plane man.
That 16 hours, I think,something like that.
Yeah see, like I'm not, I'm notdown for that.
I mean, I went to hawaii and itwas like 9 or 12 or whatever it
was.
I was.
This is too much, like I wouldnot be a pioneer.
(29:42):
I would never be one of thesepeople who like, oh yeah, we're
gonna go and no, no, lewis andclark no, man, no, I'm like, all
right, I was.
I was born by this rock.
I'm going to just stay here.
I'm good here, man, your wifeyes.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
Backbone, backbone.
Yeah to what I do, yes, yes,she's always been the biggest
support to me, whether bouncingideas off of just someone to
come home and talk to and loveme unconditionally.
Basically, in a sense, is she afoodie.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
She is she.
When you met, was she a foodieyes, she was.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
So us getting together and you know, being
that couple, it just made iteven better.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
So she's, she's made my career so much, so much more
john, you know these jet fighterchefs, man, they get all the
chicks.
It's the truth.
Growing up, it was always like,oh, I can cook a little bit.
And you know, all the women arelike, oh, fawning over the.
You know, I know it's anotherstory.
How long have you been married?
Speaker 2 (30:44):
12 years, 12 years, all right, that's an eternity
for a chef yes, because, becausechefs have a reputation of not
being so committed to something.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
It just always happens, though, the
relationships implode becauseit's a demanding job.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
You need somebody who understands what you do.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
Well, I'm bringing that up because it sounds like
you've met somebody that canembrace that.
What kind of work was she inwhen you all met?
Speaker 2 (31:11):
When I first met my wife, she was a front front of
house manager oh, so you weredoing, you were, you were.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
That was like the uh, the forbidden fruit there.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
You weren't supposed to be doing that I would say yes
, if I if it, you know if Icomplete the fifth, but yeah, no
fraternizing man okay, you knowwhat those relationships last
forever.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Those relationships are the best ones.
They they last forever.
That's true.
That's true.
Wow, front of the house.
You went to the dark side too,man, like for front of the house
At home, 12 years.
What are you cooking?
By the way, what is your wife'sname?
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Adriana.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
Adriana, adriana, I just want to thank you
personally, you know, forallowing Chef to make it out
here today and to do all of thiswonderful content.
I just want to give you a bigshout out from Walk Talk Media,
thank you, thank you.
I appreciate that Sincerely.
What are you making at home?
What does she love?
Speaker 2 (32:03):
You know, my wife is such a foodie, she's always on
Instagram.
She's always looking for thelatest little buzz thing, so any
new dish that she sees onInstagram.
Oh, you got to make that for me, so I'm always cooking.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
But does she do it like she looks at a picture she
shows you?
Look how this look how theymade it.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
I do get that version of it.
I definitely get that versionof it.
But you know I tweak food soI'm big on fusion, big on fusion
.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Chef, I might be sending you pictures like that
too.
I might be like oh man, I gotto send this over to Chef Paul
and see if he's going to what hecan do with this.
You might be getting those picsfrom me now.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
I understand.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
We're going to keep it relegated to food.
Don't worry, the menu at theend it's a new menu.
Tell me about what theinspiration for the menu is.
Is it global?
Is it homey, hometown, local?
So?
Speaker 2 (32:58):
we have a mark for the hotel.
Our mark is basically based offof our olive trees.
They're like the staple.
We have two olive trees in theback of one of the patios there,
so it's one of the marks forthe hotel.
So that's on one of the patiosthere, so it's one of the marks
for the hotel.
So that's just one of thethings that we need to represent
.
That being said, olive oil isuniversal in a lot of ways, but
(33:21):
it is very much mediterranean.
So I've incorporated in themenu a lot of mediterranean
cuisine, or at least influences,with colors and the vibrance
and the freshness of product andproduce and things of that sort
, and then a little bit of theLouisiana influence and then a
(33:42):
little bit of other cultures.
Like, I went to Peru and, inPeru, ceviche is huge.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
I mean Peruvian food is amazing.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Is truly amazing.
So, I incorporated some ofthose in one of the dishes today
.
One of the sauces that was bornwith the chicken karagi.
The ahi paste that I use is aperuvian item the fish.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
The level of culinary with fish, seafood and for
coming out of peru is awesome.
Yeah, so if you're going totake, all right, so you're
taking, you're taking Peruvianelements of Peruvian food and
Mediterranean.
I mean, I feel like you'reliving your best life, I'm
enjoying it.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
You know going to work every day, my team.
I enjoy my team every day.
I enjoy the challenges of workevery day.
And then every three months,two months, three months or
something.
I'm looking at dishesconstantly, but every two or
three months we change.
We're looking for the nextthing to bring you through the
door, basically.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
And we are here for you on that.
And what I mean by that is,obviously, you see what we do
here at the studio, definitely.
Yeah, you see what John does,specifically John, specifically
John, like me, you know, I'm,I'm, I'm the connector,
networker guy, right, and Icould run a camera, but what
this cat does is on anotherlevel.
The idea is, when you're doingyour menu, changes come.
(35:05):
I want to come back Definitely.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
You can even bring Jesse.
Yes, you can even bring Jesse.
He was well-behaved, justsaying.
You know, let me give a shoutout to you, man, because I said
this to you earlier today If itwasn't for Jesse, you wouldn't
be here today and we would neverbe talking.
True, that's definitely true.
We walked in the door it was meand a buddy hey, chef around.
Jesse comes over.
He's like, well, chef's kind ofbusy, he's out doing his thing.
(35:28):
He goes well, what's up, whatcan I help you with?
And I was like, well, you know,walk and talk, media, podcast,
food, yada, yada.
And he entertained.
He didn't throw us out.
He was a you were a gentlemanand so polite where I've been
thrown out of a lot of kitchensin my my time and you were just
amazing.
And I just want to thank youfor that, because we get for
(35:50):
people like people like you,with your, with your demeanor
and how you handle yourself.
We get to meet a lot of amazingindividuals in this world of
culinary.
So you know, it would be wrongof me to be like come here, come
here, get out of here, jess.
No, it's like, I appreciate youvery much.
Thank you, jess.
Yeah, how does someone find you?
(36:12):
And how does somebody find theproperty?
Speaker 2 (36:15):
On Open Table.
You can definitely makereservations.
But through the Inn ofCelebration there's a website
and in the website you'll findthe restaurant.
It's Lakeside Kitchen and Barand then you can definitely
reach out.
My name is there, chef Jesse'sname is there.
You reach out to any of us.
You let us know you're comingthrough the door, we will come
(36:35):
to your table and we will greetyou with wholeheartedly smiles
and hopefully you will leavewith that same smile that's
awesome.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
But what about you?
You just started your socialmedia.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
Yeah, my wife is.
My wife is big in social media,of course, but they all are,
yeah, they all are.
So she, she started a page forme.
So, chefpaulg, and that's my,basically my, my tag, in the
sense.
So I just started a socialmedia page for myself, with the
help of my wife, of course, andI'll be posting.
(37:10):
I'll start being more activeand posting more things to it
all right, one more time again,what's your instagram?
Chef c-h-e-f dot paul g.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
That's me excellent man, thank you for coming in
today, both of you.
I am looking forward to what wecan do together and I feel like
it's going to be a lot.
Hey, the future is there, right, and?
And there's a and there's ahandful of other super chefs
that we work with that we'regoing to do things.
(37:41):
I want to do some events atyour place, set them up and we
promote them.
It's going to be really great.
I would do some Louisiana basedstuff too.
I'm looking forward to it.
Louisiana based stuff too, I'mlooking forward to it.
Okay, man, I got, we got toconnect.
So I'm just telling you I'llmake you some gumbo.
Oh, stop it, don't, don't,don't.
Okay, let's go.
John, as always, man, you'refreaking awesome.
I appreciate you.
Pooch baby out there, I knowyou.
(38:07):
Awesome, we are out.
Hello Food Fam.
This is the Walk Talk podcastwhere you will find the perfect
blend of food fun and cookingknowledge.
I'm your host, carl Fiodini.
Welcome to the number one foodpodcast in the country.
We're recording on site at IbisImages Studios, where food
photography comes alive and Iget to eat it.
Here's a humble request to givea follow on Instagram at
(00:30):
walkintalkshow, please, andthank you, chefs and food buyers
, try Aussie Select's fullycooked, pasture-raised
Australian lamb.
Enjoy flavors like agave,rosemary, tikka masala and more.
Available sliced or whole.
Discover this incredibleproduct at AussieSelectcom.
Okay, so today we're diving intothe culinary world with the
(00:54):
incredible Chef Paul Gaskins.
Born in Los Angeles and rootedin the vibrant flavors of
Louisiana, which is piled undersnow right now, chef Paul
embodies Southern cuisine, wheredishes like gumbo and jambalaya
are family traditions.
A proud summa cum laudegraduate of Johnson and Wales
University, chef Paul's journeyspans from New Orleans to Las
(01:16):
Vegas.
His impressive resume includesstints with Marriott and the
Patina Group, where he showcasedhis culinary talent at events
like the Emmys and Governor'sBall.
Now, as the executive chef atthe Inn of Celebration in
Orlando, florida, chef Paul hasmastered cooking while
navigating a hotel renovationand it was a big one too.
I've seen it.
With a keen eye for detail anda passion for innovation, he has
(01:38):
overseen a remodel thatredefines culinary excellence.
Today, we'll explore what it'slike to bring a culinary vision
to life amidst construction,menu planning and team dynamics
inspired by his worldly travelsand support of his lovely wife,
chef Paul, welcome to theprogram.
Thank you for having me, man,you know.
(02:00):
Look, here's the deal.
First of all, your cookingchops are off the wall.
It was good, amazing.
I mean that sincerely too, bythe way.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
You had a helper today.
I don't want to forget ChefJesse over here.
Chef Jesse, my right hand, Idon't want to.
Don't think you were gettingleft out, baby, you know what I
mean.
Okay, let's talk about thedishes.
You did two dishes todaySpectacular, talk about it.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
First dish that I did was a spinoff of a classic
Benedict.
Basically, I took the lamb.
We had a tomato, harissa, baconjam on top of a pumpernickel
toast with a poached egg,arugula, a little bit of
homemade hollandaise sauce andthen topped with a slice of a
fresno chili.
Underneath all that was thewonderful lamb that you provided
(02:49):
for us.
So that was wonderful.
That cured lamb pastrami wasamazing.
Believe me, that's going to thehotel I heard that you're gonna
tell me twice you hear thatjackie and the second dish was
our chicken karaage, which iscurrently on our menu right now,
and it's a corn.
Milk puree is the base, and wetake that corn, fresh corn, and
we steep it in the earsthemselves and milk.
(03:12):
We take the meat off the ear orthe elote, whichever version
you want to call it, and then westeep that with a wonderful
flavors of chicken stock andsome, you know, garlic, salt
pepper and some herbs.
Of course that's the base, andthen we top that with a zucchini
muffin that we make fromscratch.
(03:32):
And then on top of that we havekaraage chicken, japanese
chicken, and we kind of spin it,we pound out a chicken breast
and then fry it up, finish it uptop it, and then on top of that
is salsa criollo, which is avery popular dish down in Peru.
Basically it's peppers andonions with aya pepper and we
(03:54):
jazz it up, we put a littlefresnel chili so it has a little
bite to it.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Yeah, but it wasn't too much bite.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
No not at all.
I prefer the bite to be at theend, not in the beginning.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Is that currently on the menu?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
That dish.
That second dish is currentlyon the menu, the first dish once
I get that lamb in the door,we're on board.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
If you put that dish on the menu, is it going to look
the same way?
Is it going to be the sameportion size?
Speaker 2 (04:18):
It would look very similar.
The only difference is Iprobably would just add a little
more potatoes to it like a sideto it.
I probably would just add alittle more potatoes to it like
a side to it.
The concept of what we'rethinking about is do a five
Benedict kind of setup on themenu.
So that would be one of theBenedicts that I'll be doing,
but I'm going to add about fourBenedicts.
We currently do brunch sevendays a week seven to two
(04:39):
depending on which day it is,seven to three on weekends, of
course, and Benedicts is one ofthose top sellers.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
You can call me Benny from now on Because you know
what, if you start slappingthese things on the menu, you
can rest assured that I'm goingto do that.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
There'll be about five of them on there.
We'll do some, and every singleone of them will be different.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Pronounce the name again of the chicken Chicken
karaage, karaage.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yes, yes, what makes it a karagi?
It's the breading, basicallythe breading and the seasoning.
And the breading japanesechicken is, it's traditionally
is very plain and simple.
We just add a lot of flavor tothat.
So we have a flour mix that wemake in-house and it has about
10 different spices and flavorsto it.
So I'll leave it at that.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
I don't want to give no too much away no, don't give
it away too much, although Imean, we, we shot film of this
thing, of this wonderful dishtrue, and so everyone's going to
see it understood that okaylike, let's not get it twisted
here.
People are going to see this.
I want them to come to therestaurant.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Okay, all right, because they're not going to
make it at home, like no, okay,I get that.
Come to the hotel, come to therestaurant let me be more
specific.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
I'm not going to make it at home, so you know you're
gonna.
You can you believe I'll bethere for that?
I understand when you say fouror five.
Is there going to be a stationspecifically for this?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
correct.
That's the thought process.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
I'm gonna try to build a station, that's just I'm
the type of guy when I go outto eat and there are eggs
benedict on the menu, I get them.
I just do.
I'm into the Hollandaise sauceand I never not everyone puts
out the same sort of traditionalHollandaise sauce, and I don't
know how I feel about that,because when I go out and I and
(06:15):
I and I and I crave that.
That's what I want.
Well, now, with that said, youtry some of these different ones
that they put out there.
It's a whole new experience.
And and the flavor profiles andthe layers, you know all the,
all the, you know the tag linesof food description, they're all
there.
And then you say to yourselfyou know what?
I just expanded my mind thereyou go culinarily speaking
(06:35):
expanded my mind.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
The goal with our menu is to intrigue the guests
to come, try one dish, come backand try another dish, come back
back, and then, hey, there'ssomething new, there's something
different.
So that's our plan and that'sour goal.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
I saw the renovation happening at the property.
We met as the renovation wasstarting.
It was like in its infancy.
Yes, I've seen renovationsbefore.
There's a lot of challenges,it's not easy and the entire
staff everybody's.
You know nobody likes it,Nobody likes it.
What role did you play in thisrenovation?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Being one of the leaders in the hotel community
there, I would say that justkeeping people motivated and
keeping people busy and givingthem tasks, yes, you might have
half the hotel under renovation,but at the same time, if you
keep people informed of what'sgoing on and what's happening as
rooms were being released backto us, as areas of the hotel
(07:36):
were being released, I take mystaff hey look, this is new and
upcoming, this is what's goingto be, this is our home away
from home.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
It's 2025.
How are we motivating staffright now?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
You work right along with them, you put your hands in
there and you get just as dirty.
You put the gloves on and youcook right along with them.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
There are no more ivory tower leadership roles.
I'm guessing right?
You do have to be in the trenchwith your teammates.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yes, you have to be in the trenches with your
teammate, but at the same time,I think if you keep them
informed, it goes a long, longway.
You can get people to buy intowhat you're selling.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
You're talking about Louisiana.
You're talking about LA, and tobring those together in some
kind of culinary form is tricky.
How are you taking yourexperiences into the hotel now?
Speaker 2 (08:33):
The thought process is the fusion.
There's a lot of fusion there.
So, la, you got fresh flavors,you got obviously like avocado
movements and things of thatsort, and then Louisiana is very
homey, very, very down to earth.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
The produce bread basket is California.
Yes, that's true, and ArizonaChefs that I've worked with over
the years when they come toFlorida and they're like, oh my
God, what is this?
And I'm like, look, this isn'tlike where you're from, where
you can go outside and there's afarm and you go pick it and you
know, and the sun's out.
This isn't here and this is notthat.
(09:09):
This is Florida Farm to table.
I understand.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
It's a whole different deal.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
But you're also like salads versus grits.
You know what I mean.
Louisiana, there is no.
Can I get a light Anything?
Can I have a vinaigrette?
No, you're gonna.
Here's a ranch.
You know this is what you'regonna get.
How are you threading theneedle there?
Speaker 2 (09:28):
with every dish we try to always create something
that has a fresh element to itand then something that really,
really is kind of homey.
We have a shrimp and grid dishin the hotel but it has a kind
of a fresh element the sauce.
And not only that, but we make,I would say, 90 of our stuff
(09:49):
in-house.
I try not to buy.
I mean, we, it's fresh produce,we, we are fabricating this
stuff on our own.
We're not trying to serve,preserve food all day long or
anything of that sort I'm gonnaget you something and you're
going to freak out.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
They're soft shell crawfish already taken out.
They come that way.
I love it.
I never had crawfish in my life.
I am now a believer and I'mconnected now with the company
that does it and Boudin too.
I don't know where that's beenmy whole life.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Absolutely right, that is.
That's New Orleans.
All day you talk about crawfish.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Are these things that you were eating?
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Oh, I eat crawfish, oh yeah, and boudin too.
And boudin yeah.
The thing about the crawfish.
I grew up where you know yourip it off the back end and not
the grossing one, but you kindof suck on the head there.
So it's something different.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
I can appreciate that I don't do that.
But I'm Italian, my heritage,my, don't do that my I.
But you know, I'm italian, myheritage, my family, my
grandparents came from overthere and and they did things
like that I, I couldn't.
I don't eat tripe like.
There's a lot of stuff I just Istay away from you know, that's
one of them.
Okay, that is, that isabsolutely one of them, but I
will eat the tail all day long,man, you know the rest of it I'm
(11:00):
, I'm you.
You can count me in.
I got you 100.
Count me in.
So when was the last time youwere over there?
Speaker 2 (11:07):
last time in new orleans is about about a year, a
little over a year now a littleover a year since I've been
back to new orleans.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
My buddy's out there, our buddy putra vera.
He's a, he's a chef in the area.
He's, you know, walk and talk.
Uh, you know, contributor, gooddude, and he's sending me
pictures of this.
You know, like eight inches ofsnow everywhere and I'm like man
you know what.
I'd love to be there with mykid.
I like to think my childrenhave not seen snow yet you might
just need to go up to pensacola.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
That's all you gotta do.
It's only a couple hours up theroad.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Yeah, a few hours up the road.
I'm not gonna do that in a way,johnson and wales how?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
do you?
Speaker 1 (11:40):
I mean super comade man.
That man, that's a big deal.
You know, when I was goingthrough college I had already
done— You're going to come offwith some humble thing, aren't
you?
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
pretty much.
I started in the military, so Iwas a prior Air Force right out
of high school, did four yearsin the military and during that
stint I met a gentleman that wasa chef in San Francisco and he
was an inspiration to me.
And that inspiration led me toJohnson Wales.
He was a graduate of the one inRhode Island and he was doing
(12:13):
amazing things in San Franciscoat the time.
It inspired, inspired me somuch that I just said, okay,
I've done my service to thecountry at this point and I want
to go venture off intosomething I want to do.
So that took me to Johnson andWales, and Charleston, south
Carolina, is where I ended up.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
I've not been to that campus, but I did go.
I did a food show one time, amillion years ago at the Rhode
Island campus.
The Rhode Island campus, thatplace is beautiful.
Yes, I mean it's like acathedral.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Yeah, it's on the campus of Old Dominion.
They share campus with OldDominion, so, yeah, it's pretty
awesome.
People are always nice.
They're always nice.
Every time I've gone up thereit's always been walking down
the street.
People say hello and aregeneral.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
It's a tiny little town.
There's a hotel and I can'tremember what it's called, but
there's a clock tower with abell, yeah, and we were in that
hotel and it was just reallycool.
I felt like I was in anothertime, just 100 years ago or
something like that.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
I don't know you know , when people say, celebration
is a lot like that, or it's likegoing back in time and the
people are genuine and it's asmall town.
You know where the hotel is,it's one of a kind.
So to come visit us is you'llsee it.
It's a different environment, adifferent environment there the
(13:36):
end of celebration.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
It's a really pretty hotel.
It fits the area.
You know there's foodeverywhere.
It's a really pretty hotel.
It fits the area.
You know there's foodeverywhere.
It's a foodie little city.
How long have you actually beenover there?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
I've been there almost four years now.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
I don't want to pass by this sumo cum laude thing
that's probably so special foryou.
How many people were in yourclass, or was it just you, and
then that's why.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Well, I mean, that would be easy.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
I'm a winner.
I did it.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
No, our class was probably about 200 to 300 people
.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Yeah, that's pretty amazing.
Has that done anything for youin your career?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
During my career.
I thought, doing so well inschool being summa cum laude, I
can pick my internship.
We had to do a six-monthinternship somewhere else.
My thought was man, I'm goingto go to Arizona, camelback, one
of these nice golf courseresorts that just really knock
it out of the park, palm Springsand back to California, or
something of that sort.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
I ended up in Traverse.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
City, michigan, in the dead of winter, and I had to
drive up there too in a littleHonda Accord there at the time,
and I had to drive there in thedead of winter and I thought and
I had to drive up there too ina little Honda Accord there at
the time, and I had to drivethere in the dead of winter, and
I'm thinking why I had friendsthat didn't do as well in school
as I did and I thought, why amI going up to Traverse City,
michigan?
I don't know nobody up here, Ihave no idea.
(14:57):
It's on the border of Michiganand Canada, almost basically.
You spit and there's Canada.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
It's not cold there at all.
No, it's not cold there at all.
How old were you?
Speaker 2 (15:06):
At the time I was about 26.
Okay, but going up to TraverseCity was probably the best thing
that ever happened to me.
I had two instructors when Iwas going through Johnson Wales
One was a French instructor andmy Italian teacher and they both
had recommended me to go toTraverse City.
There just happened to be achef up there.
(15:27):
That was very, veryinstrumental in shaping my
career.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
So they weren't looking for you to find glitz
and glory, correct.
They were looking for you tolearn and learn under somebody
who knows what they're doing.
Exactly All right, so thatmakes sense to learn and learn
under somebody who knows whatthey're doing.
Exactly, exactly All right, sothat makes sense.
I was going to make fun of youa lot with this, but I'm not
going to, because you can't askfor better guidance and
direction than than something inthis case.
(15:53):
Sometimes it's not up to you.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
It's.
You know it could be up toothers.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
You've worked all over from new Orleans to Vegas.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
What are some of the coolest culinary experiences
that you've had along the wayBesides the Emmys and things of
that sort, working in Vegas?
Vegas was very interesting.
I worked at a small hotel.
It was actually my secondexecutive chef position at the
time and it was a very smallhotel and I got to learn how to
be the boss.
Be the boss and be in chargeand be responsible for
everything.
But it was right across fromthe convention center in Vegas,
(16:25):
so we would get slammed everysingle day and I had to figure
out how to manage, how to managewith minimum staff, how to
manage my time, how to dofinances and things of that sort
.
So that was another place thatreally shaped my career.
New Orleans was awesome.
New Orleans was differentbecause of its home in some
(16:46):
aspects.
I have family there, of course,but it was also home in the
sense of I was comfortable withthe cuisine there, I was
comfortable with the city, but Ialso got the chance to really
work fine dining there.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
So New Orleans allowed me to do fine dining
really worth fine dining there.
So nor does allow me to do finedining.
Pooch doesn't, you know, losethe opportunity ever to explain
to me how new orleans is one ofthe oldest culinary cities in
the country and where cocktailswere invented, and you know just
, there's so many check marks ofcool things that have to do
with food that come out of NewOrleans.
(17:23):
Definitely, definitely.
It's not just boudin, and youknow.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Jambalaya and gumbo.
Yeah, exactly Now.
Those are homey foods thatreally do well.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Supposedly we're getting king cakes shipped up
over here.
We had some folks on last yearbefore Mardi Gras and everything
that that.
You know we were talking aboutking cakes.
I've never had one.
So pooch is going to beshipping some and I can't wait
for that.
Just don't get the baby that'swhat they said, yeah, or?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
the or the king, but the baby.
Jesse gets the baby every year.
That's crazy stuff.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Go ahead and explain that real quick.
Yeah, I'm not going to do itjustice.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Explain that so tradition is january 6th, is is
all king's day, so generallyjanuary 6th and different parts
of the world, we do king cakeand what, basically what we do
and I'm taking the cake and wecut it.
Before we cut it in differentpieces, each person has to agree
that whoever gets the babythat's stuffed in the cake
(18:22):
already it's already kind ofbuilt into it would have to do a
party, and it's usually aroundright before or right after,
usually right before mardi gras.
So typically tamales is a bigthing for that time or some kind
of providing a party for others.
So you don't want that baby.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yeah, it's a pretty weird.
I don't want to say weird.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
It's a weird tradition.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
It's an interesting tradition that I don't
understand, not in any capacity,but I love the way these king
cakes look and I just want toget into all that.
So what will end up happeningis I'm going to eat the king
cake, probably by myself, okay,and it ain't going to matter,
okay, and I'm like no, there wasno baby here.
I don't know what you'retalking about.
Yeah, that's what's going tohappen.
Do you make pancakes?
(19:06):
No, I don't you dirty.
No, I don't.
All right.
All right, that's a lot of work.
I guess it would be right.
It's just, it's all baking.
Yes, yeah, you're not a savorykind of guy, and exactly, I get
(19:28):
you, I understand I know whatsugar is supposed to taste like,
though so you know what I'm,john.
I'm 30.
I'm 220 pounds.
Do you know that?
Yeah, I'm 30 pounds up.
Okay, from starting walk andtalk, I'm 30 pounds.
I know what sugar tastes liketoo.
(19:50):
I'm just saying all right, soyou're doing all these different
things, you're flying all overthe world, you learn new
experiences, you're you'reyou're mentoring under great, by
the way.
Who was your?
Who was your mentor?
Speaker 2 (20:03):
he's no longer with us.
He passed away.
His name was chef william funnything, his last name is mentor
so you're doing all of thesedifferent things.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
You're learning, you're growing, you're traveling
around the country.
You're traveling outside of thecountry.
Today, the inn CelebrationOrlando.
People don't understand what ittakes for a hotel to be gutted
rooms, kitchen, dining room,common areas and still remain
open.
(20:32):
People don't get it.
With your experiences, how didthat really help you get through
this renovation?
Speaker 2 (20:41):
I think, more than anything, it just keeps you
grounded.
Your experiences keep yougrounded and if, as a leader
leader of men, leader of women,leader of team out of anybody
needs to be grounded, you needto be grounded.
You need to always keep fullfaith that everything will come
out.
And it'll come out thatoptimistic kind of personality.
It goes a long ways.
If I'm optimistic, my team willbe optimistic, the hotel will
(21:05):
be optimistic.
That yeah we're going to getthrough this.
It's a matter of time.
Unfortunately, time doesn'tstop for anyone.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
So basically, you're taking positive energies,
experiences, you're putting themtogether and basically people
feel that and they go.
Ok, I'm going to subscribe tothis and I'm going to follow
suit.
People think about a kitchenrenovation in your house and how
your whole life stops.
Or think about a bathroomrenovation your whole life stops
, and that's one room or tworooms.
(21:35):
Think about a 200 or a 300 roomhotel.
Think about a kitchen that5,000 square feet with walk-in
coolers and ovens and newequipment coming out and new
equipment coming in, but youstill have half a hotel open so
you have to still, you know,provide services to the guests.
I think it's fascinating.
I think it's something whereyou're, it's, it's, it's um, I
(21:58):
don't know, like a trapezeartist act of some sort.
You know there's a big tent andyou know somebody leading lions
around the tent.
I don't know something likethat.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
If you ask me, chefs run off adrenaline and that's
our junkie.
We're junkie, adrenalinejunkies in that sense.
So challenges, multitasking,things of that sort, we run off
those things.
Those are the things thatexcite us, it makes us want to
go do what we do.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
If it's slow?
Well, first of all, if it's aslow night anywhere, nobody's
motivated and people are in therestaurant and there's three
tables and somehow your foodtook 35 minutes to come out and
you're like how does?
this even happen.
There's nobody here.
How come?
Because nobody wants to doanything.
Nobody's there, there's noadrenaline, there's no kick and
(22:48):
it's just like you get lost.
It happens to the best ofeveryone.
I fall into that category too.
I am a mirror of the people whoI am with, and if you guys are
just knuckle dragging, you know,then I'm just like yeah, you
know what.
I'm gonna take a nap, that'sright.
That's where I live with this.
I would agree with that, yeah.
But if you want to go hell,rays man, let's go.
(23:08):
What is a governor's ball?
Speaker 2 (23:11):
so technically, the emmys.
There's two parts to it.
So you have the Emmys with,obviously, all the celebrities
and then all the hoopla thatgoes along with that.
The governor's ball consists ofthe back-of-the-house staff,
that's your camera crew,everyone who's put it together,
so your stage directors andeveryone else, so you actually
(23:31):
make food for them.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
You glazed by this before earlier in our
conversation, and the reason I'mbringing up hey, what does the
governor's ball is?
Because you were working theEmmys.
That's cool.
How do you even get that gig?
Speaker 2 (23:46):
It just worked out that way that I was where were
you working?
Speaker 1 (23:48):
when you got that?
I want to know about this Emmysthing man because to me that
seems like that's not an easything to fall into.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
So I was working under Joachim.
He's a famous chef that ownedthe Patina Group at the time.
I mean, I don't believe he ownsit anymore.
He kind of sold it and wentabout his way.
So at the time I worked underhim and he would come every year
.
He would come to our restaurantevery single year and this was
in Disney Springs in Californiatheir version of Disney Springs,
(24:17):
basically and there was threerestaurants there.
We were money making, we weredoing killer things, you know,
disney.
He would come every year and hewould say, hey, chef, I want
you and I want you, you pick 15guys and you're going to do the
appetizers for the Emmys, you'regoing to do this for the
Governor's Ball and then afterthat you're going to plate up
(24:38):
3,000 plates for all theattendees and things of that
sort.
So it was an honor and it wasexciting and just like that
adrenaline conversation we had acouple minutes ago.
Yeah, that gets you hyped up.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
You get to meet the celebs too, or?
Speaker 2 (24:54):
no, I met a few.
I met a few.
So you served David Bowie.
I remember that one for sure,David Bowie.
He wanted some paella one timeso he came by and I was able to
service him some paella.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
When you get into the business, you don't think about
that, you don't think about ohman, I'm going to serve, you
know, david Bowie, you know morealong the lines like oh, I'm
going to serve the early birdspecial folks that come in,
because that's you know.
That's kind of where you startoff typically.
But when you start getting intolike celebrity stuff, celebrity
cooking and you know all ofthat like energy, energy and
excitement, that's where I'dkind of want to be you know
(25:35):
you're funny.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
You say that because earlier in my career I had a
chance to do a lot of versionsof like media and things of that
sort.
But I had a chef that told meonce before just two kind of
chefs.
There's the glamour chef andthen there's the family chef.
At the time I had a young son,so I chose the family.
So I chose family over theglamour.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
I think today there's a lot of that.
The industry has changed a lot.
You know post uh, post covidand everything.
It's not perfect, but it'schanged.
I think that in most cases, theestablishments are giving a
little bit more, maybe not withmoney, maybe sometimes with
money, but they're giving.
They're a little bit more.
(26:15):
Maybe not with money, maybesometimes with money, but
they're giving.
They're a little bit morelenient, I think, with
expectations.
Maybe it's not corporate, butthe generals, the chefs and the
F and Bs and you know the GMs, Ithink they are bearing the
brunt of of that.
You know they're gonna, they'regonna buffer it.
In other words, understood yeah, I would agree with that,
definitelyunt of that they'regoing to buffer it, in other
words, understood, yeah.
(26:35):
I would agree with that,Definitely agree with that.
Yeah, it's a good.
So listen folks, it's a goodtime to get back to the business
.
Okay, Because there are stillshortages on personnel.
Oh, most definitely.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Most definitely, please apply.
We're looking for all positions, anything from a cook to
dishwasher.
If you don't want to work inthe kitchen, we have other
positions in the hotel, so it'sthere are you yourself, big on
mentoring definitely, definitely.
I've.
I've mentored in my career asbeing a second chef, I've
probably promoted at least, Iwould say, 10 to 12 sous chefs
(27:07):
that left you eventually andsome have gone bigger and better
than I have, which is great,that's the best, that's legacy,
basically, in a sense 100%.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
I always wanted.
It'll never happen, but Ialways wanted to do, you know,
to pick like a city and then andlog the culinary lineage,
meaning you know, find theoldest, baddest restaurant
that's in that town, see whothat chef is and how that chef
(27:39):
got there, who trained that chefand who trained that chef and
the one before.
I want to go back 100 yearsbecause I'm sure it's going to
go back that far.
Oh, most definitely.
Right, most definitely, and Ithink that would make an awesome
documentary.
So if there's anybody out there, listen, you got the.
You know, just put me in the inthe credits on a good idea and
make it happen.
That sounds good.
(28:00):
Peru, greece, turkey ham andcheese no, you know turkey,
greece, peru.
You've been around cuisine.
What's your favorite?
I have to be honest with you.
Don't you dare lie to me?
Okay, no lying Turkey, yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
When I first met my wife, one of the shows that got
us going was Amazing Race, andIstanbul is the bridge city
between Asia and Europe.
So it's always been a lifelongdream to go to Istanbul and I
made that happen with my wife.
Obviously, obviously, we tooksome family with us, but we made
(28:36):
it happen.
And the queen, the cuisine wasjust amazing.
It was just totally amazing.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
That's a major clash of culture very much so and yeah
, and with that, you, you'regonna, you're bound to find so
many.
You, you know, hidden nuggets.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
On both sides of that river, the Bosphorus, on both
sides you find it.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Yeah, I mean, frankly , these days I don't really feel
much like traveling.
Like you know, I don't have thetravel bug like a lot of people
do, but there are a few placesthat I would want to go to.
Turkey is one of them for me.
These like micro cultures thatyou know, like this, this little
town here or village orwhatever, is going to have that
specific thing, and but if yougo 30 miles, that way they're
(29:17):
separated but it's going to besomething totally different.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
And Turkey was just that.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
That's exciting to me .
Well, that's it.
I don't know.
I feel like it on a plane man.
That 16 hours, I think,something like that.
Yeah see, like I'm not, I'm notdown for that.
I mean, I went to hawaii and itwas like 9 or 12 or whatever it
was.
I was.
This is too much, like I wouldnot be a pioneer.
(29:42):
I would never be one of thesepeople who like, oh yeah, we're
gonna go and no, no, lewis andclark no, man, no, I'm like, all
right, I was.
I was born by this rock.
I'm going to just stay here.
I'm good here, man, your wifeyes.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
Backbone, backbone.
Yeah to what I do, yes, yes,she's always been the biggest
support to me, whether bouncingideas off of just someone to
come home and talk to and loveme unconditionally.
Basically, in a sense, is she afoodie.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
She is she.
When you met, was she a foodieyes, she was.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
So us getting together and you know, being
that couple, it just made iteven better.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
So she's, she's made my career so much, so much more
john, you know these jet fighterchefs, man, they get all the
chicks.
It's the truth.
Growing up, it was always like,oh, I can cook a little bit.
And you know, all the women arelike, oh, fawning over the.
You know, I know it's anotherstory.
How long have you been married?
Speaker 2 (30:44):
12 years, 12 years, all right, that's an eternity
for a chef yes, because, becausechefs have a reputation of not
being so committed to something.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
It just always happens, though, the
relationships implode becauseit's a demanding job.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
You need somebody who understands what you do.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
Well, I'm bringing that up because it sounds like
you've met somebody that canembrace that.
What kind of work was she inwhen you all met?
Speaker 2 (31:11):
When I first met my wife, she was a front front of
house manager oh, so you weredoing, you were, you were.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
That was like the uh, the forbidden fruit there.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
You weren't supposed to be doing that I would say yes
, if I if it, you know if Icomplete the fifth, but yeah, no
fraternizing man okay, you knowwhat those relationships last
forever.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Those relationships are the best ones.
They they last forever.
That's true.
That's true.
Wow, front of the house.
You went to the dark side too,man, like for front of the house
At home, 12 years.
What are you cooking?
By the way, what is your wife'sname?
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Adriana.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
Adriana, adriana, I just want to thank you
personally, you know, forallowing Chef to make it out
here today and to do all of thiswonderful content.
I just want to give you a bigshout out from Walk Talk Media,
thank you, thank you.
I appreciate that Sincerely.
What are you making at home?
What does she love?
Speaker 2 (32:03):
You know, my wife is such a foodie, she's always on
Instagram.
She's always looking for thelatest little buzz thing, so any
new dish that she sees onInstagram.
Oh, you got to make that for me, so I'm always cooking.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
But does she do it like she looks at a picture she
shows you?
Look how this look how theymade it.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
I do get that version of it.
I definitely get that versionof it.
But you know I tweak food soI'm big on fusion, big on fusion
.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Chef, I might be sending you pictures like that
too.
I might be like oh man, I gotto send this over to Chef Paul
and see if he's going to what hecan do with this.
You might be getting those picsfrom me now.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
I understand.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
We're going to keep it relegated to food.
Don't worry, the menu at theend it's a new menu.
Tell me about what theinspiration for the menu is.
Is it global?
Is it homey, hometown, local?
So?
Speaker 2 (32:58):
we have a mark for the hotel.
Our mark is basically based offof our olive trees.
They're like the staple.
We have two olive trees in theback of one of the patios there,
so it's one of the marks forthe hotel.
So that's on one of the patiosthere, so it's one of the marks
for the hotel.
So that's just one of thethings that we need to represent
.
That being said, olive oil isuniversal in a lot of ways, but
(33:21):
it is very much mediterranean.
So I've incorporated in themenu a lot of mediterranean
cuisine, or at least influences,with colors and the vibrance
and the freshness of product andproduce and things of that sort
, and then a little bit of theLouisiana influence and then a
(33:42):
little bit of other cultures.
Like, I went to Peru and, inPeru, ceviche is huge.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
I mean Peruvian food is amazing.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Is truly amazing.
So, I incorporated some ofthose in one of the dishes today
.
One of the sauces that was bornwith the chicken karagi.
The ahi paste that I use is aperuvian item the fish.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
The level of culinary with fish, seafood and for
coming out of peru is awesome.
Yeah, so if you're going totake, all right, so you're
taking, you're taking Peruvianelements of Peruvian food and
Mediterranean.
I mean, I feel like you'reliving your best life, I'm
enjoying it.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
You know going to work every day, my team.
I enjoy my team every day.
I enjoy the challenges of workevery day.
And then every three months,two months, three months or
something.
I'm looking at dishesconstantly, but every two or
three months we change.
We're looking for the nextthing to bring you through the
door, basically.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
And we are here for you on that.
And what I mean by that is,obviously, you see what we do
here at the studio, definitely.
Yeah, you see what John does,specifically John, specifically
John, like me, you know, I'm,I'm, I'm the connector,
networker guy, right, and Icould run a camera, but what
this cat does is on anotherlevel.
The idea is, when you're doingyour menu, changes come.
(35:05):
I want to come back Definitely.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
You can even bring Jesse.
Yes, you can even bring Jesse.
He was well-behaved, justsaying.
You know, let me give a shoutout to you, man, because I said
this to you earlier today If itwasn't for Jesse, you wouldn't
be here today and we would neverbe talking.
True, that's definitely true.
We walked in the door it was meand a buddy hey, chef around.
Jesse comes over.
He's like, well, chef's kind ofbusy, he's out doing his thing.
(35:28):
He goes well, what's up, whatcan I help you with?
And I was like, well, you know,walk and talk, media, podcast,
food, yada, yada.
And he entertained.
He didn't throw us out.
He was a you were a gentlemanand so polite where I've been
thrown out of a lot of kitchensin my my time and you were just
amazing.
And I just want to thank youfor that, because we get for
(35:50):
people like people like you,with your, with your demeanor
and how you handle yourself.
We get to meet a lot of amazingindividuals in this world of
culinary.
So you know, it would be wrongof me to be like come here, come
here, get out of here, jess.
No, it's like, I appreciate youvery much.
Thank you, jess.
Yeah, how does someone find you?
(36:12):
And how does somebody find theproperty?
Speaker 2 (36:15):
On Open Table.
You can definitely makereservations.
But through the Inn ofCelebration there's a website
and in the website you'll findthe restaurant.
It's Lakeside Kitchen and Barand then you can definitely
reach out.
My name is there, chef Jesse'sname is there.
You reach out to any of us.
You let us know you're comingthrough the door, we will come
(36:35):
to your table and we will greetyou with wholeheartedly smiles
and hopefully you will leavewith that same smile that's
awesome.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
But what about you?
You just started your socialmedia.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
Yeah, my wife is.
My wife is big in social media,of course, but they all are,
yeah, they all are.
So she, she started a page forme.
So, chefpaulg, and that's my,basically my, my tag, in the
sense.
So I just started a socialmedia page for myself, with the
help of my wife, of course, andI'll be posting.
(37:10):
I'll start being more activeand posting more things to it
all right, one more time again,what's your instagram?
Chef c-h-e-f dot paul g.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
That's me excellent man, thank you for coming in
today, both of you.
I am looking forward to what wecan do together and I feel like
it's going to be a lot.
Hey, the future is there, right, and?
And there's a and there's ahandful of other super chefs
that we work with that we'regoing to do things.
(37:41):
I want to do some events atyour place, set them up and we
promote them.
It's going to be really great.
I would do some Louisiana basedstuff too.
I'm looking forward to it.
Louisiana based stuff too, I'mlooking forward to it.
Okay, man, I got, we got toconnect.
So I'm just telling you I'llmake you some gumbo.
Oh, stop it, don't, don't,don't.
Okay, let's go.
John, as always, man, you'refreaking awesome.
I appreciate you.
Pooch baby out there, I knowyou.
(38:07):
Awesome, we are out.
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