Liberty Smokehouse's Bryan Jacobs: Culinary Rehabilitation for Veterans

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Ever wondered how culinary arts can transform lives? This episode of the Walk-In Talk Podcast features Chef Bryan Jacobs, the visionary behind Tampa Bay's Liberty Smokehouse and the charitable organization Vets2Success. Bryan shares his monumental journey from military service to culinary excellence, revealing how he turned personal struggles into a mission of hope for veterans. His inspiring story of resilience and passion underscores the incredible impact of culinary training on veterans reintegrating into civilian life.

Also, get ready to tantalize your taste buds as Chef Jeffery guides us through his latest seafood creations. Imagine savoring creamy hummus with sourdough pita, indulging in spiny lobster ceviche marinated in coconut rum with a side of smoked watermelon, and relishing a Jamaican-inspired jerk grouper paired with fresh ackee. Through these inventive dishes, Jefferson showcases a del

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Thank you for listening to the Walk-In Talk Podcast, hosted by Carl Fiadini and Company. Our show not only explores the exciting and chaotic world of the restaurant business and amazing eateries but also advocates for mental health awareness in the food industry.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
hello food fam.
This is the walk and talkpodcast where you will find the
perfect blend of food fun andcooking knowledge.
I'm your host, carl fiodini.
Welcome to the number one foodpodcast in the country.
We are recording on site atibis Studios, where food
photography comes alive and Iget to eat it.
There's a lot to get into today.

(00:28):
First things first, if youmissed the last episode with
Food Network's recent winner ofChopped Chef, zachary Davila,
it's a super episode.
Go back and listen.
Today's guest is Chef BrianJacobs, owner of Tampa Bay's
Liberty Smokehouse.
All right, so the backstory ofhis outfit is humbling and

(00:48):
needed in today's ever-growingfeckless society.
I can't wait to share abouttheir 5013C Vets to Success and
really we want to kind of helpbuild the awareness to this
cause.
Chef Jacob is on deck.
Speaking of vets, please besure to check out Crab Island
Seafood and an order from ChefTom and Chef Carl, not me.

(01:11):
Seriously, they have adelicious line of dips and
spreads.
Check them out atcrabislandseafooddipcom.
Jeff, my brother, I'm soexcited today, man, I'm fed.
I'm happy you got meat sweats.
I'm fat and happy.
I'm so excited today, man, I'mfed, I'm happy you got meat
sweats, fat and happy.
I'm just all smiles.
Man, meat sweats, lobstersweats, all sorts of All.

(01:33):
Right, it's pre-shift time.
Baby, pop the clutch and rolldoggie roll.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah.
So I wanted to bring it todayjust because we haven't really
done that much with seafood andI wanted to do it today just
because, you know, we haven'treally done that much with
seafood and I wanted to do somedifferent things.
We did three different dishestoday.
We did hummus because I wasstill in that sourdough mode and
I wanted to do some sourdoughpita, and I did some hummus that
I pureed to where it was niceand creamy, and then we topped
that off with some pecans, sometomatoes, olive oil, salt and

(02:03):
then we had some Aleppo pepperthat I put in there as well.
The next dish I wanted to paytribute because I don't know if
everybody knows this, but thispast weekend was an extra day
for spiny lobster season.
It was just past one day, Ithink 14th was, and I was I
didn't know that.
Yeah, a little lobster seasondown in the Keys, okay, spiny

(02:24):
lobster tail.
So I wanted to do somethingdifferent with the ceviche.
I marinated it in coconut rumand then I blanched it and then
almost all the way done, then Iput it in so the citrus would
cook the rest of it.
The citrus was uzu orange nottangerine Sorry, still waiting
for those.
Orange not tangerine, sorry,still waiting for those.

(02:49):
We got to talk to quentin tomake sure we can get some, uh,
tangerines some.
So, like all year round, let'sjust ride out to the farm.
Yeah, I need some tangerinebourbon vanilla marmalade.
Um, is john shaking his head?
Everybody's shaking concise.
So here's really what I wastrying to think of something
different for a presentation wasthinking summer, what could go
well with it?
Um, so I went with watermelonand I smoked the watermelon and

(03:13):
I wanted to give it a an effectthat the watermelon was like a
log cooking the lobster.
So I used activated charcoal togive it like this char.
Look to it.
And john's shots.
I can't wait till they come out.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
They're just fantastic okay, the hummus
stupidly amazing.
Thank you, I really enjoyed thehummus.
Um, I think we need to put thatin a in a bucket and sell it.
Five gallon bucket, yep.
Um, and that watermelon wasright on.
I never had you, you knowsmoked watermelon before and I
have to tell you that was agreat experience and I feel like

(03:49):
summertime we should probablyimplement more of that.
Maybe, maybe, another dish withwith some other iteration of it
.
Yeah, um, cause that was stupid, also fire.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
So there's a dish I used to do Um, it was a miso
glazed fish.
We used to make a watermelon ontop and kimchi that's what we
did uh, smoking, that would addsome more depth to it as well.
And then the piece ofresistance, the last one I did.
I wanted to do a riff, like wetalked about tradition and we
were mentioning in one of ourepisodes about the, what the
true national dish to jamaica is, and it's not jerk, it's

(04:21):
actually aki and saltfish.
Uh, I didn't want to usesaltfish, I wanted to showcase
the fish that's indigenous toflorida.
Uh, grouper is the one I chose.
I did a beautiful jerk marinadeon that and then I took which
from last week's chef.
He brought in that beautiful uhmilk crumble.
I added to my recipe coconutshred to give it to the coconut

(04:44):
flavor to it.
So I was thinking a riff oncoconut shrimp, which is very
popular in Florida, obviously.
But then I wanted to go the Akiway, which is just stewed
tomatoes, caramelized onions, alittle bit of thyme, scotch
bonnet that you don't pop inthere.
It's one of those dishes.
And then Aki, when it's notripe, it can actually kill
people.
It's poisonous.
Ripe, it can actually killpeople.

(05:08):
It's poisonous when it's ripeand it opens up and buds.

Speaker 1 (05:09):
It's just this beautiful egg kind of
consistency to it and thank youfor feeding me this to me I
appreciate the experiment.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
Well, here's the thing I've never had fresh ackee
.
I've always had canned, and thefamily has been going back and
forth.
So somebody brought up someackee.

Speaker 1 (05:23):
Who was the first person that tasted this from you
?
I don't, was it me?

Speaker 2 (05:26):
no, me, I tasted it, but it's just got this really
complex depth to it.
And then they they normallyhave it with bami.
Bami is cassava.
It's pressed into this roundcylinder.
You have to marinate it becauseit's a dry product once.
Once you marinate it and thenyou sear it, it's got this like
the best thing I can compare itto is like a potato pancake, but

(05:49):
really thick.
John was comparing it to bread.
Yeah, he said it was almostlike bread.

Speaker 1 (05:55):
I was really pleased with that dish.
I'll tell you what that hockeyI think would be terrific on a
burger.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
It's good on anything .

Speaker 1 (06:06):
I mean, yeah, I like that it has a real life on there
.
In other words, you might haveto.
Somebody going specifically forsome jamaican-esque cuisine
would absolutely love that.
But I, you know you're talkingabout a small, you know fraction
, right niche.
But if you put that on a burger, you know grade a usa stuff,
usa stuff, you know what I'msaying.
I feel like that would selllike fire.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
Really funny story.
When we opened the gastropub inLake Park, I actually had Aki
saltfish on my menu for brunchand every time somebody ordered
it I knew exactly who they wereand where they were from,
because they were definitelyJamaican, Because they know.
As soon as they saw it and sawBambi on the menu, they went
right to it and we're justpaying homage Again.
It's the traditional thing thatI'm not from that culture.

(06:52):
I'm not going to do that.
I'm not going to bastardize it,but I'm going to take
attributes from it and I'm goingto twist it to my own.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
I'm going to pass you one of my dad no no, oh, okay,
I'm going to pass you one of myfather's recipes, and I want you
to do it.

Speaker 2 (07:05):
I will do it to the effect of exactly what it weighs
in Correct, and then I'llprobably end up morphing it as I
go back to look at that.
Yeah, I want to do a thing withit.
Yeah, definitely, I'd love todo that.
I'd be honored.

Speaker 1 (07:16):
Thank you Very, very today, uh, I am continuing my
excitement um with uh chef brianyou know he's sitting here in

(07:36):
studio.

Speaker 2 (07:36):
I eat that short rib.
This was a brontosaurus burger.
Oh my god.
I was waiting for dino to comerunning inside the house dude.

Speaker 1 (07:43):
I mean, oh boy, it's, uh, it's quitting time.
I mean, I tell you what itwould slide me down the the
brontosaurus and, you know, offthe tail I'm, I'm eating, dude,
it was so good.
Welcome to the program,appreciate it.
Thank you, glad to be here man,I did what you guys, the three
of you today, did, all right, um.
So brian sous is is here aswell.
Jeff, jeff, justin, what you,what you guys did today was

(08:06):
spectacular.
Okay, like this was.
I feel like we should have had30 people here, you know, with
tickets.
It should have been that kindof day.
Thank you All.
Right, now we're going to getinto.
We'll get into what youactually cooked up, um, just in
a bit, but first, um.
So, chef Brian, you've studiedunder MasterChef Peter Timmons,

(08:29):
graduated from the Institute ofPaul Boucouse in Lyon, france,
cooked for presidents and nowyou own Liberty Smokehouse here
in Tampa.
You've experienced some verydeep personal losses along your
life's journey and inevitablythat gave you purpose, it gave
you direction.
Please share with us how theloss of your mother, father,

(08:53):
brother, how that guided yourpath, and how Vets to Success
was born and kind of where youlanded today, because you're
doing some really, reallyamazing things.

Speaker 3 (09:05):
I appreciate it.
You know it's purpose and pain.
You know I fell in love withcooking at a young age and it
was my grandfather that he was aWorld War II chef and really
just gave me a.
You know he chose me because mymud cakes look really good and
my rocks look well, withouthaving any culinary training.
So it was me in the kitchen outof all the grandkids.
And you know I got a real younglively earning and it was one

(09:30):
of those things that if wedidn't grow it we didn't cook it
.
My dad's side of the family isfrom southern Georgia and farms
hogs, deer, hunting catfish.
You know I mean you name it.
You know we grew it, hunted, wehad a pantry, always pickles.
And you know I mean you name it.
You know we grew it, hunted, wehad a pantry, always pickles,
and you know preserving and yeah.
So I got a really great youngculinary journey and didn't know

(09:52):
at that time that, you know,food was going to save my life.
Um, you know, myself, a combatveteran, did two tours in iraq
as a navy corpsman.
A battlefield paramedic servedalongside the Marine Corps
during my tours the 03 invasionand 05 again.
Younger brother, also a Marine,served 03 with me.

(10:13):
Both went in the same time.
Both went back a second timeand got out thinking the grass
was greener on the other sideand was sod.
It was a cover-up of the dirtthat you had to go through the
muck and I didn't realize thatit was.
I didn't have any idea who Brianwas.
I knew who HM3, fmf Jacobs wasand when you get out you don't

(10:38):
know who that person is or whoyou need to be.
It took me 32 different jobs toyou know, being homeless,
battling PTSD through my ownmedical observation, which is
alcohol, and you know it gotthis calling.
You know my grandfather used tosay something to me.
It was like you have to getyour life together so no one

(11:00):
else will for you.
And I kind of heard that I likea shot in the dark and or
someone said it to me and I wentand signed up for culinary
school while I was homeless andI said I'm just you know, I'm
going to do this.
And lo and behold, it did.
It had chosen me from a youngage and didn't realize it, did
really well in culinary school,worked for a really great chef,

(11:25):
hans Schadler, in Virginia, didsome really great things up
there, um, and it was on mycareer path.
It was in Gasparilla underMaster Chef Peter Timmons and,
uh, ended up getting a call.
I kind of changed my life,which was my brother had taken
his life and, um, you know, atthat point in time I was a
private chef, I was cooking forgreat people, I was doing some
amazing things at the time too,and, um, I just said I'm gonna,

(11:45):
if I'm gonna do this, I'm gonnado it with a purpose.
I'm gonna change lives throughfood, and that's what bore
effect to success how long didit take you?

Speaker 1 (11:55):
so when you hear this , this, this news, and you know
you're, you know you're, you'redoing your thing, you're, you're
in your grind you get hit withthat.
What do you do?

Speaker 3 (12:08):
You know I wasn't a praying man at the time.
I'll say that I had not had agreat relationship with faith.
But I look back, knowing thatGod had a place for me and that
this was my purpose in life.
And it was one of those thingslike they say, you can only
connect the dots looking back,not looking forward.

(12:28):
And I realized that had I notdone the things I did or walked
the shoes I had walked, Iwouldn't be able to be the man I
am to others and be able to mytestimony be something that
somebody can follow.
And so I know I had to gothrough everything I had to go
through and I knew that that wassomething to somebody because I
wasn't alone in that walk.

(12:54):
I have heard so many stories ofmen and women being homeless
from you know.
They didn't understand or theycouldn't find a fit, they
couldn't find service again,they couldn't find people to
feel like, they felt alone.
And I was like.
I know those feelings.
But I had found thisbrotherhood in culinary, this
sense of organized chaos thatgave me function in the kitchen,
and I figured if food saved me,it could save a few others.

Speaker 1 (13:17):
Is that where your 5013C came in?

Speaker 3 (13:19):
Yeah, it started out as a very rudimentary program.
I just wanted to give somebodysome skill and give someone some
hope.

Speaker 1 (13:28):
Go ahead and give some detail on what you're doing
.

Speaker 3 (13:31):
So it's a reintegration program designed
primarily to 16 weeks ofclassical French culinary.
My idea is, if you can teachsomeone technique, teach a man
how to fish, clean the fish,cook the fish then they can
survive.
And this is the same idea.
It's like you have to teachtechnique.
You can't just teach somebodyto do one thing and expect them

(13:54):
to be fruitful.
You have to teach themclassical technique, you have to
grind that into them.
For 16 weeks we go through areintegration of not just
culinary training but redefiningwho they are as people.
I like to use this idea of yourrecipe of life and then what
we're able to do is take andfind your bad ingredients in

(14:16):
your own life and within yourbad ingredients we're able to
look at.
You know, I ask them reallygreat questions, like if you
could be any item in the world,what would you be in this?
You know, gentlemen, he goesI'd be German chocolate cake.
All right, cool.
Well, why?
Well, I love the way it looks.
And I said, well, if you hadbad eggs, would you be able to
be German chocolate cake?

(14:36):
And he was like, no, I said sowhat's the process of getting
eggs?
Well, a lot of us go.
You go to store, you crack them, you use them.
Well, where do eggs come from?
Oh, they come from a chicken.
Where's that chicken?
Oh, it's over here.
Well, where's that chicken comefrom?
Where's that?
Oh, you got to feed the chicken, it's got a hatch.
So they start to understandthat their own personal problems
are a lot deeper, because theirrecipe for themselves can't be

(14:59):
complete unless they really goto the root of the situation.

Speaker 1 (15:04):
I think that's a beautiful approach to something
that is definitely part of wherewe are today, especially after
the last 20-plus years, with allof the Iraq and Afghanistan and

(15:25):
all our guys and gals who'vebeen doing their tours, and now
it's like an aftermath and what,how many, how many people come
through the program well, we'vehad 44 go through the program uh
, pre-covid, um.

Speaker 3 (15:39):
I stopped the program um at the time because I you
know what I realized is that wewere sending these men and women
out to you know units thatdidn't have the same
conventional ideals that we havewithin Liberty, which is
someone who actually cares aboutthe person left, right, front
back.
And you know it's kind ofreeducating kitchen culture and
giving you know cause we don'tput people into jobs, put them

(16:00):
into mentorships.
We want kitchens to bring onpeople.
They want to create young,energetic, new culinary talent
and we feel the best way to dothat is to reimplement it
through Liberty, where we havepeople who actually care about
your success and we want to be astepping table for great chefs.
We want people to come throughour perspective and be able to

(16:24):
go on with the foundationteachings and be able to rear a
new kitchen culture.
Instead of this idea of everyman for himself, it should be a
cohesive culture that's buildingtalent, strength in the kitchen
again to create leaders.
And I've seen countless timesin other kitchens where you know
, yeah, some chefs have been inthe business 30 years, 40 years,

(16:45):
10 years.
We've gotten to a place whereyou know, even when I was an
apprentice, that we used tocancel people quickly.
And now we're in thishospitality begging for talent
and help.
But now everybody wants to gobe an influencer or an IT person
and we're hurting for qualitypeople and the leadership in the

(17:05):
kitchen.

Speaker 1 (17:06):
And now we're in a piece where you just finding the
leaders is a hard place andit's like, okay, we've got to
re-engineer the way we treatpeople agreed and I think and,
jeff, I want you to chime in onthis um, I feel like the reason
you're not getting qualityleadership, uh, folks with
leadership skills, is becausethey're not.

(17:26):
They're not.
They're not eating, they're noteating nails like they used to
in order to learn theexperiences, to get some of that
leadership skill.
I know you'll have a differentuh take on that, jeff, but I
feel like somewhere in themiddle of what I said and what
you're going to say is probablya truth.

Speaker 2 (17:52):
Jump in.
Yeah, I think, and Chefdefinitely just pointed out and
I love that he kind of made theconnection between we're hurting
for staff now and then yet wehave vets that are serving and
sacrificing and the ultimatesacrifice but we're not putting
the two together and that'sthat's a shame on us as a
community because at the end ofthe day, we're all about
community.
We're serving food and we'renot doing brain surgery.

(18:12):
No one's passing away for thankGod, hopefully, at the end of
the day, right, and that's athat's a norm saying in our
business.
And you know, you look at oneof the biggest things and I just
wrote about this.
This is ironic.
I think what we've missed nowis family meal.
I think that when majorcompanies and you know we're
talking to big boys on the blockthat take away that right of

(18:35):
having because it's the ROI, Ithink they would actually
enhance the ROI if they hadcommunity where they actually
sat down and the chefs and theleaders of that particular
establishment learned everythingabout their, their staff how
many?

Speaker 1 (18:51):
when you're younger?
Probably more apropos, but howmany jobs in your lives did you
stay because of the people youworked with, because you built
some rapport and you had and youhad that, that deep connection
and, in spite of the fact thatyou know there was a tyrannical
ownership or whatever, youstayed right.

Speaker 2 (19:13):
I'll give you a for instance I'm sorry for
interrupting, but I was my term.
My position at the MarriottSinger Island was terminated,
right, they got rid of it.
They had too many chiefs, notenough Indians.
And I remember when they toldme I was losing the position,
and I I cried.
And it wasn't because I wascrying because I lost my job, it
was I was crying because I waslosing the team I had built and

(19:33):
I had a fantastic team.
I had seven outlets.
I had one sous chef, we had,you know, 400 plus rooms right
on Singer Island and the stuffwe did, the food cost.
We hit the food we popped out.
Every day I would walk out andI'd set a $100 bill on the
counter.
I'm like you guys can get $100extra a day if you just work
faster, more efficiently than Ican.

(19:55):
And you got $100.
And I can tell you right nownobody took it because I was not
partying with $100.
Yeah, not you, buddy.
No, no, and it was.
It wasn't, it wasn't just, andI would have given it to people.
It was just one of those thingsthat that's a great way to push
your people, to drive them to,to get to that next level.

(20:18):
It's not throwing the pot, it'snot throwing the pants.
I remember going throughculinary school.
I remember my externship.
I remember Smale coming in.
His name was Smale, a Frenchchef.
He would come into the kitchenand it was 10 o'clock, 10, 15,
drunk off his butt and just whotold you to close down and F
this?
And there goes a pan, theregoes a knife.

(20:38):
You're like holy, and that'show it was.
And I sat there and said I'mnot going to do this.
You know, we as chefs now thegeneration that are looking
around and scratching our headgoing I can't find people.

Speaker 1 (20:53):
Then you got to look at yourself.
Of course you always have tolook.
So when you're in a mentorshipor leadership role, have the
experience and you know you'reat a place where you you need to
share that experience.
All that's well and good, butif you, the people that you have
, need to crawl over coals insome way, shape or form in order

(21:16):
to really learn, if not, you'renot gonna.
How does somebody nobody isgoing to be able to just stand
up one day and be a leader?
Very, very rare is that right?
So and and and less and I'm notsaying getting pans thrown at
you.
You know I I was never in aback of the house guy, but I've

(21:37):
had pans and knives thrown at me.
I've.
I can see why we've done allthose things.
I've had the fist fights withthe guys on the line in the
cooler, in the back, you knowwhatever, done all that stuff.
But I also earned respectbecause A it was always a
handshake at the end and let'sgo get a drink or whatever, and

(22:00):
it was just like an earnedrelationships.
But the reality is I wouldn'tbe who I was unless I did all of
those dumb things and had youguys do the stupid, horrible
things that you do to us in thefront.
If that didn't happen, Iwouldn't understand to us in the
front.

(22:20):
If that didn't happen, Iwouldn't understand, and if that
didn't happen, I wouldn't beable to take that experience and
turn it into a learning momentor a teachable moment for
somebody else.

Speaker 2 (22:28):
Well, I mean, you can , there's a way to deliver it
and it's all in delivery andbeing in the middle.
And that's one of the thingsthat I look at.
The restaurant industry as awhole is that light and everyone
else that's coming to it is themoth, and the moths go right to
the light and for some reason,whether it be um, because of the

(22:49):
leadership we have, the, the,the hierarchy in the kitchen,
whatever it is I find moremilitary personnel come into the
kitchens, um, that have theirissues, that have their um,
their crutches that they gothrough.
That's one of the reasons whywe have such a problem with the
restaurant industry and thathave their crutches that they go
through.
That's one of the reasons whywe have such a problem with the
restaurant industry and themental health aspect of it.
That's why we have such anaddiction problem.
We're not number one in suicide,we're number nine, which is not

(23:12):
good still, but we're thehighest in drug use, alcohol,
everything they talk about inaddiction.
We're the highest Mental healthissues, everything you've got
they talk about an addiction.
We're the highest mental health, mental health issues,
everything you got to talk about.
And it's because we're likethis we're the misfits, we're
the pirates, we're the ones thatbring all these people together
, because we have thatcamaraderie.

Speaker 1 (23:32):
Hold on, chef brian, I want to hear you.
So traditionally it's misfits.
Yeah, I don't think it's somuch misfits today, and I could
be wrong, but I think it's lesstoday because the B and here's
why, here's my, my take on itback in the day.
I just had this conversationyesterday with another show back
in the day.
Really, the people who wentinto the kitchen it's because

(23:57):
they had a record or they had,they were hiding something.
It was like a last resort and Iended up in the kitchen.
It's because they had a recordor they had, they were hiding
something.
It was like a last resort and Iended up in the kitchen
flipping burgers and all of asudden, I actually I like this
and I want to start my career inculinary today.
You know, after 25 years of foodnetwork and 25 years of
celebrity chefs and you know the, the, the lead ups to the
celebrity chefs Now it's like,oh, I want to go to culinary

(24:17):
school because this is glamorous, this could be, could be
glamorous.
So there's a different element.
So now you're not necessarilygetting misfits, now you're
getting people who went toschool educated.
So, chef, I'd like to hear yourtake on that and then you can

(24:41):
also sprinkle in drizzle, if youwill.
The fact that the militarycomponent I is a big deal,
because so I didn't go to the, Iwas not in the service, but I
did, when I was younger, gothrough a military program,
let's say, and I and I dealtwith you know Riverside military
six foot five you know DIs, whoyou know in that initiation
night, they you know all thehorrible things that happened.
I experienced that I did a 90day thing and it was.

(25:03):
It was terrible.
The difference is, you guys,they beat the hell out of you
but then they build you backtogether.
Right, I didn't have thatexperience, but so anyway.

Speaker 3 (25:15):
So it's you know.
I will say the the misfitchildren still exist, thank you,
they're very much present.
But I tell you what has changed.
It's the standard that theexecutive chef, the leadership,
is setting, and in fact, I takethat approach.
I tear you down and I build youback up, but I build you back

(25:36):
in a way that gives you morepoise and more respect for
yourself and creates aself-standard, because, as I
explained to all my guys thatare coming on board is, I'm not
always going to be the persontelling you what to do and how
to get it done.
You're going to have to takeinitiative for yourself and
you're going to have to set thestandard, and if you do it wrong
, we fix it right.
That's just the way it is.
I think everybody who walksthrough that door wants it

(26:00):
better, but they have to come incontact with a leader that's
going to make them better.
That's where the rubber hits,the road is, and you know it's
walk and talk.
Are you doing what you say andsaying what you do, and are you

(26:23):
setting that leadership?

Speaker 2 (26:24):
level to those who are walking through that door,
because someone's going to beable to walk into someone who's
their executive chef andsomebody who acts like an
executive chef is two differentthings.
Amen, sorry, amen and it goesto show again in leadership is
when somebody does somethingwrong, how do you handle it?
Yep, is it?
You're going to throw the pan,you're going to yell at them.
So my take was when somebodydid something right, I used to
scare my line.
They would throw up the dish inthe window and I'm like who
made that and I was reallystarting like who made that?

(26:47):
Like I did you know, like thatreally apprehensive raising the
hand and I'm like can you do mea favor?
They're like what Can you showthe rest of the line how to make
that?
I'm like what Can you show therest of the line how to make
that?
That's perfect.
I want you to do that each andevery time you put that dish up
and I wasn't doing it likeespecially in an open kitchen
like Brio.
I was saying that so that theguest heard it, like the guest

(27:08):
would stop because I was makingsuch a commotion.
On the flip side, when somebodydid something wrong, I walked
behind the line, walked over andhanded it back to the chef or
the cook and I said would youserve this to your mother?
Right, standard, that's yourstandard.
Would you serve that to yourmother?
No, then why are you serving itto my guest?
Yeah, that's how I handled it.
If you do it that way, you'renot belittling that person.

Speaker 3 (27:31):
You're not making them.

Speaker 2 (27:34):
Right, you're giving them respect to the person
because night we're not doingbrain surgery.
No one's died Again.
I want to say that Becausethat's just something that's
always been drilled in my head.
Yeah, why are we treatingpeople like garbage Just because
they put up food that is not upto par?
Maybe they had a fight withtheir wife, Maybe they have that
drinking problem, who knowswhat's going on through their
head.
But why take them and just beatthe crap down out of them so

(27:55):
that what they what did they doLeave?

Speaker 3 (27:56):
It's always the fight with the wife, Always Look a
home problem becomes a workproblem in a heartbeat, and you
can taste it in the food, youcan see in their actions, and
that's the thing.
Even speaking of that, I'd kindof do the same thing when Chef

(28:17):
Justin was starting learning onSmoker no background he had a
really great night on doing ribsand everything I mean came up
perfectly, and I gathereverybody around I was like, and
I even I even like, did thiswhole, like smacked him in the
face.
I was like that's how you cookribs.
Don't you ever do it wrongagain.
You know like ever make this,this, this, and everybody was
like blown away.
And I was like, but at the sametime, you away and I was like,

(28:45):
but at the same time, you knowwhen someone makes a mistake, I
look at them is that how it'ssupposed to be done?
And they know.
Um, in matter of fact, I'll behonest with you.
We've had a couple guys gothrough some things where you
know they've they've never hadexpectations for themselves and
when they've made mistakes theyapologize without me even
knowing they made the mistake.
That's when you know you have astandard in place that's
character yeah well, it's notonly that, it's it's.

Speaker 2 (29:04):
Here's the thought process, right a lot of times
and we say it all the time isthe restaurant industry used to
be transient.
Right, that's what we wereknown for.
I'm going to college to do this.
I wanted to get money while I'mgoing to college.
You made a comment.
Well, I just fell into thisbecause I have a record and I
can't get a job.
Well, this schmuck sittingacross from you wanted to become
a restaurant guy since the ageof eight.

(29:25):
You know I worked in theindustry since I was 12.
I wanted to get involved inthis because I chose a job, that
was a hobby and that I lovedoing what I do.
I hate the politics in therestaurant community and I think
that when you have somebodythat has the ability to instill
what chef said, that theyrealize I messed up and own it,

(29:46):
that's ownership.
You can't, that's a hard thingto teach, and when you can
gravitate and teach that personand convey that message, here's
the thing.
One of the reasons why chefsnever like to leave their
restaurants, even if they don'town in the restaurant or not, is
because they feel that if theyleave, the ship will go down.
It's because you didn't trainyour staff the way you needed to

(30:09):
train the staff.

Speaker 3 (30:10):
Amen.
And see that's funny.
I was like I feel completelycomfortable with my guys.

Speaker 2 (30:14):
Because you're setting that standard and you're
teaching them your vision andyou have the buy-in from the
staff to have that.

Speaker 1 (30:22):
Speaking of vision, I can't wait for that short rib
photo for those pictures,because man.
I tell you just wow, everythingtoday, everything.
No, listen, listen, all of it.
Right, but you know I fancy,you know, short ribs, yes, and
so for me, I'm just, and I know,john, I can't wait, I just

(30:44):
can't.

Speaker 2 (30:45):
I just want to say this If anybody wants pictures
taken of their food and wants areally great job done, please
just contact Ibis Images forcrying out loud.

Speaker 3 (30:53):
It was amazing You're right Like it made me feel good
about my food.
I was like whoa.

Speaker 1 (30:57):
Yeah, like, oh, yeah, I mean, truth is like, uh, if
you haven't had your, uh, yourdish, photographed by john
hernandez the the celebrity,then you're nobody the celebrity
, okay, then no one knows theway it works um chef brian.
Tell me about.
Tell me what it's like umprivate chefing for the
anheuser-busch family or formerpresident bush, like what come

(31:22):
on that was cool um.
You know two we got bush andbush anheuser-busch, and then
you got president, but like okay, okay, okay, but what talk?

Speaker 3 (31:29):
about.
It was really cool.
Um, especially the I mean theformer president, was um really
interesting.
I actually tell you two coolstories about both.
Um, I was interviewing um as aprivate chef for many different
families and all extreme top 1%families and when I came to meet
the Bush family, the wholefamily stood up and said thank

(31:49):
you for your service.
Before we even talked job,anything like that, and that was
, that was a sell for meinstantly.
It was like these people justthey respect me and they want me
to be a part of their familyand that was such a big deal to
me.
And they were just.
They were all American,believed in the military,
believed in just I don't know.

(32:10):
Everything that I had stood forwanted to be, wanted to be
something.
They loved what they did, eventhough there was just beer.
I mean I got to drink all 13breweries, all different 17
varieties of beer with AugustusBush himself.
Go through flavor profiles, youknow, tell him what was off.
It was an amazing, coolexperience.

(32:31):
Former President Bush literallywalked through a house full of
senators and congressmen and ups, walked up to and said he was.
I know who you are, I know whatyou did and I want you to know.
You're a hero, and it was thefirst time that anybody had ever
called me a hero, because itwas my job to save lives.
That's what I did.

Speaker 1 (32:52):
All right.
So you sent me.
You sent me a bio.
Okay, I'd asked you to, and Idon't recall seeing what you're
referencing.
No, and you might beuncomfortable, may I ask you to
share what that was?
And if you'd say no, I'm okaywith that.

Speaker 3 (33:08):
Yeah, I was in the Battle of Nasria.
It's in the history books.
It's one of the first majorconflicts the Marine Corps had
been in since Vietnam and I didmy job, even though it wasn't my
unit I did it for and just, youknow, saved Marines and it was

(33:29):
a.
Really it was just something,you know.
It was what I did, it was whatI was trained to do and it was
something out of that, you know,on papers.
You know some foreign place nowhas got accommodation for and I
guess he got his hands on it.
So it was really great.

Speaker 2 (33:47):
So most of the time you listen to chefs talk and I
think we were here one time andwe were asking somebody to give
a bio and I walked up and I saidnow's not the time to be humble
.
A really great chef is humble.
They don't need accolades.
You know, and that's what youknow.
I see from him and I'll behonest with you.
He gave me the uh, the bio lastnight and then I went on the

(34:10):
your website to go find out whoyou were and I the first picture
I saw, um, you had some pastrybackground, yeah, I knew right
away.
You see that I didn't even tellyou about that one.
I'm looking at justin, and thedifference is when and I was
talking to justin about thiswhen you have somebody that goes
from pastry to savory, they'rea weapon.

(34:30):
There is this they have flavorprofiles, they have an eye for
things, that the tenacitythey're just, they're just an
impeccable machine.
And when I saw that I'm likethis guy's got some culinary
chops, and then I read the bioyou know MasterChef and where
you were from.
How did you go from the aspectof being with the MasterChef and

(34:51):
working for the Anheuser-Buschand all this to going huh
barbecue?
I kind of did the same thing.
So I want to know your story.

Speaker 1 (35:00):
We actually were all asking each other that question
about like how did that happen?

Speaker 3 (35:05):
You know it's, it's.
It's funny, I got and man, thisis going to be an awful thing
to say I got bored.
I got bored cooking molecular.
I got bored cooking the sousvide.
I think those are part of yourarsenal, right?
The thing I did not have, havenot ever and probably will never
, ever conquer, is live fire andand smoke.
And it's just because everycook is so different, every

(35:26):
piece of wood is so different,every piece of meat is so
different, and I'm like man,this is going to be the greatest
challenge for rest of my life,and I said this is like I will
never master this, and I thinkthat's what the the greatest
like thing in my heart is aboutit.
And there's just something sobeautiful about that knowing
that you're never going tomaster it, that you're always

(35:47):
going to chase this perfectionbehind it.
Because I consider myself acook, I don't consider myself a
chef.
I love chasing knowledge and Iwas like every fire is so mean
and vulgar and resentful, butthen it's such a good lesson and
that's kind of what I look at.

Speaker 1 (36:07):
That is the, that's everybody's ex, that's
everybody's ex-wife.
Great lessons, great lessons,and you never master it, and
that's just the way it works.
Man, my goodness man, these aresome real truth bombs going on
here today and it's primal yeah,right it's yeah and it can be
unforgiving, but it can be soforgiving what?

Speaker 2 (36:27):
what happened?
What was the catalyst?
For you to say?

Speaker 3 (36:31):
I'm going barbecue.
You know, I I look at ouramerican food just been so
bastardized, um, and it's beenso washed to the side of the
greatness that it had used to be, um, and yeah, you know,
refrigeration, all this advent,electricity and all this.
But we, we as a culture, youknow, we're still really
defining our food culture.

(36:52):
But barbecue is, um, fire andsmoke is our food culture.
We've just gotten really awayfrom it and, being overseas and
living these different places,you know, they really embrace
the, the rudimentary aspects ofwhere their food came from.
And I was like man we have justwalked away from it.

Speaker 1 (37:09):
What would your classmates at at boku's say
about this?

Speaker 3 (37:13):
they would actually agree because they my nickname
was the cowboy and they werelike, say, cowboy uh, they was
the cowboy going to cook it'spretty good, that was awesome.
He actually sounds like JohnPaul oh my goodness yeah, and it
was funny because I you justtouched my ass.
Yeah, you just touched my ass.
Nothing's there and but theywould.
There was because I always, oh,you're a grand cuisine, like

(37:36):
everything I did was just sogrand and bright and big and fun
.
And then, when I started toplay with fire and smoke over
there and it was not until I gotinto Finland and Norway, where
I was just like, yes, like thistook me back home to being eight
, nine years old my dad in thebackyard building a pit, cooking
on an old school Weber kettle,and it's just like my heart was

(37:57):
like that's where I belong.
Finland.
And how come Norway?
A part of the culinary journeyin Bocuse, we go there for
months to work with great chefsand study in the food science
labs, and we would go throughinnovation schools.
How long is that program?
Two years.
How old were you when you didthis?

(38:18):
30 years, 2015.
So you kind of started this alittle bit late.
Yeah, I started.
I didn't go to culinary schooluntil 2009,.
But had been cooking since Iwas eight years old and first
restaurant job was at 14.
Man, you know, dishwasher guycalls out saute and you walk in

(38:39):
and you're able to saute and thechef's like how do you know how
to do that?
And I'm like, uh, my granddad'sa chef and he was like come
back tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (38:47):
It's funny how it's funny, how a lot of a lot of
chefs, a lot of kitchen folk, umyeah, 14, 15, uh, dishwasher.
And then they, they called mein for one of you know to fill
in or whatever on the line andthen, like me, I I started at 15
also, but I was like a busserright and I started that way and

(39:08):
then you, you know, I kind ofprogressed through the front of
the house, yeah, even thoughthey tried to pull me in yeah, I
didn't do good in front of thehouse.

Speaker 3 (39:16):
I was not I have torrents yeah, my my language,
my, my language was.
My dad was a sailor and, um, Iwasn't wasn't foul mouth, but I
wasn't, wasn't refined.
Yeah, I wasn't refined enoughfor the front of the house.
I was very rough.

Speaker 1 (39:31):
I was very rough yeah , well, that's a, it's a learned
skill, though.
Oh it is, you know what I meanI've learned.

Speaker 3 (39:37):
I've learned it now.
Now I can interact with anybodyand it's great because but
that's what you know four yearsof being a thespian, you know
not a lesbian, but thespian,whatever you like have a kid and
watch how it changes your life.

Speaker 2 (39:49):
Cause my kid goes, can I say it?
And I'm like yeah.

Speaker 1 (39:56):
I'm sure you're going to probably use carrots or
whatever and I'm like I feltlike it was punishment.
I felt like I was literallypunished, like man, what are you
?
I don't want to do this.
I'm like I'm staring at a wall.
I'm just sitting, like what isthis?
Is it dirty?
Like what is it?
I don't know.
I want to go to the front ofthe house.

Speaker 3 (40:15):
I want to see the pretty girls walking through
when I became a Sioux.
Now you get to interact withthe guests and you're beating
the people who some of thefamilies I met, some of the
Adams Golf they're daughters,ridiculous.
You're meeting all these peoplewith just buku's of money.

(40:39):
Their daughters are 12, know,and they're like.
The daughters are like 12s, youknow, and they're like, you're
like 20.
Some you're like 30, young 30,you're young 20 and you're like,
yes, this is definitely my joblike this is a great job.

Speaker 1 (40:51):
I will tell you this um, you chefs, when it comes
down to it, um, when it comesdown to the accolades, you guys
are the fighter pilots.
No offense, of course, to theMarine Corps and whatnot, but
you guys are like the fighterpilots of the industry.
Everybody looks at you guyslike the action, who's in charge

(41:13):
?
Hey, we're calling in the.
You know what I mean.
It's just what it is, and Ithink that's kind of cool.

Speaker 3 (41:19):
Yeah, I think you know it's funny.
I run our kitchen like themilitary, but everybody has an
assigned role and they knowtheir role.
They know what they can do best, and then they also can call in
support when it's their time tocall in support.
You know, that's the thingabout being part of the Marine
Corps when I was Every Marine'sa rifleman first.

(41:41):
But they also had a second job.
They knew, like you know, justbecause you could be a forward
observer or you could be callingin.
You know airstrikes or you knowthese things.
Like you were still a riflemantoo, you know.
So you had other jobs,responsibilities, but your main
goal was to fight the fight inall aspects.
And so that's what I thinkwe're rearing up in our kitchen
is like people they know theirjobs, but then they know what

(42:03):
else they can bring to the tabletoo.

Speaker 1 (42:06):
Did your military experience, did that help you in
any way with some of those uh,you know personal losses?

Speaker 3 (42:17):
Yeah, it's.
It's probably a bad thingthough.
Because, um, yeah, it'sprobably a bad thing though,
because, being a Navy corpsman,death is the second thing you
see in life and unfortunately, Iwas emotionally numb, probably
still am quite a bit.
I mean I lost my brother, lostmy mom a year later and just
lost my father two years ago,and you grieve different.

(42:39):
You look at loss of lifedifferent.
Um, it's, it's.
Have I cried?
Yeah, I've cried.
I mean I still have bad days.
I mean PTSD is one of thosethings I live with, and
sometimes you know even the, therealizing the loss of a loved
one, when you you don't overlythink about it and then it hits
you that they are gone, yougrieve a little bit differently.

Speaker 1 (43:02):
Yeah, yeah, you know, I, I can appreciate that.
Yeah, I lost my mom, like,let's say, four years ago, three
and a half years ago, and thenmy dad last year, yeah, and then
it was odd losing one of them.
Yeah, but you still had theother.
Yeah, and I was like, okay,this is not great, this is
terrible, but you got the otherone.
But when you lose both, it's adifferent feel and there is a

(43:29):
numbness.
I experienced with that, yeah,where I'm not surprised by
anything in terms of deaths andthings of that nature.
I'm not surprised by anythingand it kind of is what it is.
I don't know if I'm right orwrong for feeling that way, but
that's a real thing.

Speaker 3 (43:44):
Yeah, chef Justin unfortunately has lost his
father too, and so it's not towant to be in part of the
lost-year family members club,but it's a reality of—I hate to
say it's a life check.
My dad truly believed in whatI'm doing.
My mom believed in what I wasdoing.
My brother loved to eatwhatever I cooked, um, and so

(44:06):
it's this.
You know, he also lost hisuncle, which was a chef and
someone who inspired him deeply,and so it's.
You know, it's almost likethese little things happen to
reassure you that you're on theright path, and it's a part of
that process of you becoming theperson you're supposed to
become, to get closer to yourpurpose and your calling.

Speaker 2 (44:26):
Do you have resources set up for your employees for
mental health?

Speaker 3 (44:30):
Obviously, that's a big kicker for you as well.
It's actually really cool, chefJustin, and his wife actually,
and both my wife both aremedical professionals, um, and I
have resources through the vaand mental health, but his wife
actually works with a lot of, uh, local health, um, and so these
are things that we we do, whatwe have to do to make sure that
our employees have what theyneed to have from basic needs

(44:53):
food, shelter and clothing,gotcha, um, because why, if
you're looking for one of thosethree needs, you're not
educatable and you're nottrainable and you're not going
to be willing to be part of ateam.

Speaker 2 (45:02):
But you also have the excuse, the pun, but you have
the baggage that comes alongwith somebody that has all those
issues Exactly.
So obviously they have somemental issues.
So there's some culinary uhburnt chef ben's friends, fair
kitchens.
You can contact carl and myselfum I can definitely get you

(45:23):
some resources, anybody thatneeds it.

Speaker 3 (45:24):
Yeah, we'd love to have some extras well yeah, yes,
yes to everything jeff justsaid.

Speaker 1 (45:30):
And while we're talking about it, and I'll put
it in the uh, in ourdescriptions and whatnot how do
we, how does how do people findout about what your 503, 513c is
, so it's a pretty much a directcontact.

Speaker 3 (45:42):
It's going to be vettstosuccessorg.
We're going through a revamp onwebsite right now.
501c3 will be back up in kindof organizing and running once
Liberty gets a little furtheralong.
Because as it is, you know whatI've realized in we want to be
that first step and there's somework to do with some other
programs the ACF being one ofthem trying to get in focus with

(46:07):
them to get other chefsinvolved, because you know it's
what my greatest thing learningas a young chef was.
I didn't stick with one chef.
I had a round robin of chefsthat educated me in different
places.
That's why I do have the pastrybackground.
You know they made me morelethal and I want that.
We have to rear other chefsthat same way, because not

(46:27):
everybody is going to want to bea cook in a savory kitchen.
They may have a better fit inanother place and you know these
other businesses that arehiring for a fit.
I think kitchens shouldn't kindof take on that same
perspective, because you mayhave great catering personnel,
you may have great pastrypersonnel, you may have great
line cooks, but you don't knowthat until you get them into

(46:49):
those fits, because that's whatI've learned from.
We want to stick somebody intoplace and that's where they get
stuck.
Then they get burnt out andthen they hate that job and the
food sucks and then your ratingsgo down and it's like why?
Well, because they're not a fit.

Speaker 2 (47:04):
Or they're such a fit you just don't want to move
them.

Speaker 1 (47:07):
And that's the biggest.

Speaker 2 (47:09):
I think that's the biggest downfall of any leader,
any boss, any chef is when youhave that, oh man, he's a rock
star, she's a rock star.
They chef is when you have that, oh man, he's a rock star,
she's a rock star.
They could just get out there.
When she's on pantry or she'son saute, I don't have to worry
about nothing.
Problem is they have dreams andaspirations.
They don't want to be stuck.

Speaker 3 (47:25):
Exactly, and that's, and that's one thing we want to
do with Liberty.
I want you to take chefJustin's job.
I want you to take thisperson's job.

Speaker 1 (47:38):
You hear that, justin , not my job.
You hear it, not his job, nothis job, jay and Brian's job,
because I want.

Speaker 3 (47:41):
Chef Justin to step up.
I want him to.
I want to step into an evenbetter role.
I want to work on my businessnot in my business and be able
to develop liberty so my guysand girls can have more.
And I can't do that, beingpresent 24 seven within the
business, doing the things thatthey can be great at, and so

(48:02):
that's what I want them to do isbe great at those positions and
want.
I mean, even we have a guywho's like, if I could learn to
smoke her, I know I could, youknow, give chef Justin a break.
And I'm like, yeah, go, go doit, learn to smoke her.
Yeah, but that's theaspirations that we have.
They want that next stepbecause they feel like, and I'm
like, well, and this is what Iwas just reminding me Are you
doing, could you teach somebodyto do what you're doing and

(48:25):
trust them to do it?
But like, well, I didn't thinkabout it.
Like that, I said, well, what'sgoing to happen to the standard
?

Speaker 1 (48:33):
Well, I'm going to have to teach them that there,
there you go.
George W Bush.
George W Bush, he's cool, right.
So when you would speak withhim, is it like he speaks like
yeah?

Speaker 3 (48:46):
He's the same.
He's actually quite comedic.
He was really just down toearth, spoke just as.

Speaker 1 (48:55):
He's a funny guy, right.

Speaker 3 (48:56):
Yeah, he's funny, there's no, I don't know.
I guess a lot of right yeah,he's funny, there's no, like I
don't know.
I guess a lot of people think,oh, it's the president.
How do you act?
I'm just like he's just a dude,you know, put a pants right leg
, left leg or left leg, rightleg, Doesn't matter.
Yeah, virginia Bush.
She was like you know, thepresident's coming tonight, and
and she was like how do you feel?
I was like, well, the same guysent me to combat, you know,

(49:16):
like Touché.
I mean, I was like I mean, andyou know he loves the Mansion on
Turtle Creek is actually hisfavorite restaurant, and so I
ended up making his favoritedish, which was the chicken
tortilla soup.
And you know, they were likehe's like, well, he's going to

(49:37):
come back to dinner for the soupand I'm like, oh, is that so?
And I was like I was like, yes,I keep my job, you know, like
it's funny, funny.
They're like, yes, chef, youknow, you're good, you know so,
and it was, it was a really coolexperience, I mean because I
mean we had, I mean likebaseball legends would come to
dinner.
You know, you know people thatwere just like people you never
thought you would meet, you know, and but they're all normal,

(49:58):
humble, just down-to-earthpeople Like I met the guy who
created the artificial heart,what, yeah?

Speaker 2 (50:04):
Yeah, chefs, we get to meet a lot of interesting
people.

Speaker 3 (50:06):
Yeah, I met Tia.
What's her name?
From Bad Boys?
Tia, from the first Bad Boys,not Carrera, no, tia Malone.

Speaker 2 (50:15):
Marie.

Speaker 1 (50:18):
No, that's a drink.
Maybe that's what I need rightnow.

Speaker 3 (50:19):
No, you need bourbon.
I forget her name, but she was.

Speaker 1 (50:24):
Oh, I know who you're talking about.
She had the short hair.
Yeah, the blonde.
Oh, what is her name?
I forget.
We used to have a producer thatwould look that stuff up, but
we don't have that anymore.
He's silent I'm kidding, he'sdoing his duty, I'm kidding over
there no, he's actually takingpictures.
You know, he legit is mad.
That I said when you see thatface.

Speaker 2 (50:45):
That's mad, yeah.
So I want to bring it back toreal quick.
It's funny and ironic, and doyou realize where barbecue comes
from?

Speaker 3 (50:51):
um, it's, there's a little bit of.
There's multiple variations ofhistory to it.
It's I mean, it's a lot ofindigenous culture actually.
Where from Well Africa andYou're going to get some out of
the islands, mostly out of theMiddle East.
There's going to be a lot ofNorth African into it, a lot of

(51:15):
slave culture.
So Barbacoa.

Speaker 2 (51:16):
Yeah, you know where that word comes from?
Yeah, it's latin from where'syour wife from?

Speaker 3 (51:21):
yeah, puerto rico, and those indigenous people of
indian, those indians from, yeah, yeah, from that's where
barbacoa comes from, barbecueswhere it comes from so that's
kind of ironic that your wife ispuerto rican and you got into
barbecue yeah, well, it's uh,it's funny, she and we.
What's really funny about thatis how much of the Latin
community loves barbecue.
We have a huge Latin followingand I did not think it was such

(51:44):
a thing, because you go toPuerto Rico and you're not
eating any barbecue, but it'ssuch a big thing that we have.
And they love the twists andplays, like stuffed totones and
our version of a rose concondules and you know, like
playing with some acroporias andsome other pieces, but adding
our smoked and charred meats andstuff like that is like they're

(52:08):
, they're all about it so I gota news flash.

Speaker 2 (52:10):
We've we've interviewed um.

Speaker 1 (52:11):
I have a news flash the beard guy tia leone yeah,
thank you, john, thank you.

Speaker 2 (52:17):
So, um, fred, right from the bearded.
Uh.
So he's in the arab emiratesand he's saying to us you would
not understand the fever overamerican barbecue, it's so
around the world yeah, it's abig deal.

Speaker 3 (52:32):
Like we, I was like it's mind-blowing that I I did
not realize this.
Like we get.
We had people flying from fromPortugal the other day just to
eat with us because they werelike we heard we're in our
layover in Tampa and we heardyou were the best and we wanted
to come eat this beef rib.
And that's what they did Tooktheir hour-and-a-half layover
came, grabbed beef rib, got backon the plane and flew to

(52:53):
Washington.
I need friends like that.

Speaker 1 (52:57):
I got you two.

Speaker 3 (52:58):
I mean they were a husband and wife.
I mean they were on a barbecuehomage and they said we had to
have it.

Speaker 1 (53:06):
That's what I want in my life.
I just realized it.
That's my goal in life.
Here's the thing, yeah.

Speaker 2 (53:15):
No one wants to come to him to eat.
Trust me 100%.

Speaker 1 (53:24):
As it turns turns out , this is the best business move
I ever made, you know, becauseI get, I get really jeff spoiled
the hell out of me and I loveit.
But then the chefs that comethrough, you know, I've been in
the business now 25 plus years.
I know this is his family mealyeah great family meal, yeah
like what the camaraderie isreally listen when somebody's,

(53:44):
when, when there's a guest, aprospective guest, and we're
talking and like well, what timeshould we come in and like
listen?
If you really want to get thefull experience of what we do,
you need to be here a little bitearlier.
Yeah, because the truth iswe're doing the cooking jeff is
usually so doing the cooking,right?
Um, we're doing the photographyand it's not like fake food,
but it's like the real food andthen we eat the food and it's

(54:07):
the camaraderie of it.

Speaker 3 (54:09):
You know it's breaking bread together and
that's what it's all about andit's and it's.
And so funny you talk aboutthat because that's the
fundamental aspect of likebehind liberty is like we, at
one time we used to impact yourcommunity and your neighbors
through your gifts, and likebreaking bread together was such
an important thing for acommunity and it made all the

(54:29):
difference.
And you know, we talk aboutlike just impacting lives from
that little, just that littlepiece of giving.
It's crazy.

Speaker 1 (54:41):
Like Thursdays, you know, production, production
days for me is uh, it's a, it'sa getaway.
It's not just filling my belly,as what jeff was it would be
believing.
It's a getaway for me to bewith cool people doing cool
stuff and it really is buildinga.
You know I hate the term, youknow the family thing is a very

(55:03):
overused term, but it's a familythat is being extended every
single week for the guests thatcome here, and I think that's, I
think that's what makes what wedo special right, because it's
not just like hey, we're talkingheads, there's microphones and
hey, thank you for coming on.
No, it's none of that, it'slike hey, we're breaking bread.

Speaker 3 (55:20):
Yeah, we're real people talking real things and
haven't gone through real lifeissues.

Speaker 2 (55:25):
Yeah, Well, I think that's the problem with society,
especially with mental health.
It's men should not discusstheir emotions.
Men should sequester it.
They should push them down.

Speaker 1 (55:42):
And we were grown up that way.
Suck it up buttercup.
Well, I'm okay with that.
I think I nobody's ever goingto change my mind if men should
be around other men to talkabout those things I, I am a
firm believer that there'scertain things you you don't
bring up to your, your spouse oh, oh, I'm not.

Speaker 2 (55:56):
I'm not saying that, I'm saying, in general, the rule
of thumb the society is.
When you saw that one video ofthat man on the side of the road
calling nine one one because hewas going to commit suicide and
the officer came oh that wasbeautiful.
Right and he that that, to me,is what that should happen.
Yeah, because that person heldthose emotions so deep inside

(56:18):
themselves that that they neededthat help.
We should never get to thatpoint.
Yeah, and that, and that whenyou sit down and you're with
your staff and you're breakingbread and you're having that
meal, that's the perfectopportunity.
I mean, anthony Bourdain mayrest his soul was the pillar of
that you know image of breakingbread with leaders from around
the world, people, common folks,about what their cuisine was,

(56:41):
and he was, you know, asked tocome to their house but yet the
whole time we sat there anddidn't really kind of digest
that he had his demons, yet hewas the epitome of what we need
to do today as far as talkingabout things.

Speaker 1 (56:55):
You can't look at anybody and understand or know
or guess what is in their heador their spirit.
Yeah, never.

Speaker 2 (57:03):
I mean, how many times do you go out to somewhere
and you just look at somebodyand they have that bubbly
personality and you walk up tothem and like I love your energy
.
Yeah, how many people do that?

Speaker 3 (57:10):
Yeah, we well, we forgot.
I mean, I was like you know youhave a girl, you're going to go
far because of the way youcarry yourself and the way you
treat people.

Speaker 2 (57:18):
But there's so many times where you're like, oh,
you're a piece of, you're justtoo high, strong.
Yeah, because here's theproblem.
They have the person sayingthat to them deflecting is
having their own issues.
Yeah, for whatever reason itmight be, but as a society, why
can't we just be what we need tobe as humans?
Yeah, and I think that's whatwe need to talk about.
Well, that's a community thingI had a.

Speaker 1 (57:40):
I'm different oh, I know you are.
Well, I'm a mirror of who I'mwith.
I'm a mirror, you know.
I have my own thoughts, my ways, you know my ideas and I'm
pretty rock solid and all ofthese things.
But in terms of socialsituations, I am a mirror of who
I'm with.
So if I choose to hang out withsomebody who's, you know, not

(58:02):
awesome, then I'm not awesometoo, or you know, so it really
matters on who you associatewith and who you bring into your
circle, who you hire, you know,and over the years, I'm, you
know, 50 years old now, right?
So I've learned that my gutinstincts on people are pretty
right on Right, and because ofthis whole thing, it's I, I, you

(58:25):
know like, see this guy andwhat I'm getting at he's, he's a
lunatic, but he's, he's we, we,we love him, but he's insane.

Speaker 3 (58:34):
He's the right kind of lunatic.

Speaker 1 (58:35):
He's the right lunatic.
You know, we were introduced bya very dear friend, coco, who
passed last year and you know,rest her soul.
She's like oh man, you got tomeet this guy, carl, and she
said the same thing to him andwe met.
I was like immediately, I waslike I love this guy.

Speaker 2 (58:52):
It was like a date, it was almost like yeah, it was
most, most heterosexual dateever.

Speaker 1 (58:58):
It was really awesome and, um, yeah, but meanwhile,
uh, fits right in.
Even with different ideas,different thoughts, different
things, we click, him, him, weclick.
So now, when we bring peopleinto our sphere, into this walk
and talk media sphere, man, Itell you what.
Um, you see how, when we metpeople into our sphere, into
this walk and talk media sphereman, I tell you what, you see

(59:21):
how, when we met a couple ofmonths ago, yeah, we hung out
for an hour and a half, twohours actually.

Speaker 3 (59:25):
Actually we talked about that.
We were like that was not yournormal like passerby.
Let me see what you're up toLike.
I mean it was reallyinteresting.

Speaker 1 (59:37):
If we got together and did that and I felt that you
guys were stiffs or you guyswere disingenuine or something
like that, this would never takeplace.

Speaker 3 (59:50):
No, no, I understand.
I mean same thing with ChefJustin when he came on board.
It was interesting.
He came and ate my food and Iwas, like you know, had my meat
in his mouth you know, and uhwas.

Speaker 1 (01:00:06):
And next thing, you know he's got a job.
You know he's like I want towork, I want to do this to have
you, so you chose I'm gonna stop.
You know I uh, I just want togo on record.
This one didn't say a word.
No, I know, and it's funnybecause you talked about fred,
you remember you're talkingabout fred.
He said that on air.
He literally said that he goes.
This one didn't say a word.
I know, I know, and it's funnybecause you talked about Fred.

Speaker 2 (01:00:20):
You remember you were talking about Fred.
He said that on air.
He literally said that he goes.
Carl, you had my meat in yourmouth.

Speaker 1 (01:00:24):
Yeah, so I was last.
Last November I was the.
I was really really blessedwith, you know, being a master
judge of the world foodchampionship.

Speaker 2 (01:00:31):
I trained him very well.

Speaker 1 (01:00:33):
And Fred was one of the contestants in the actually
in the in the open live fire.
And he was the only one whotook this approach, where he was
going to cut everything up andmake a show out of it here,
taste it, taste it, taste it.
And when we, when we had him onthe program, I brought that up
and he's asking me, he's likeyeah, you know, you had the meat
, my meat, in your mouth.

(01:00:54):
I was like walked right intothat one.

Speaker 2 (01:00:56):
You know it's funny you just said that and not the
funny part about him saying that.
What's funny is when you havesomebody that loves and has a
passion for cooking, like Freddoes and like Chef does.
They don't mind giving you thefood here.
Come taste this, yeah, yeah,yeah.
They want you to experience itbecause they want to see that
light, that twinkle, that oh myGod moment of the food being

(01:01:17):
Dude.

Speaker 1 (01:01:17):
if you stuff your fingers near my face anymore
with samples of what you cook, Idon't know what I'm going to do
with myself.
Holy, my goodness.

Speaker 2 (01:01:24):
But that's what we do .
I know I embrace it.
I'm only kidding.
Yeah, but poor John, I broughtout the bami.
It was like sizzling hot.

Speaker 1 (01:01:32):
I just put it on the oven.
I forgot to tell them Onpurpose, because that's what
chefs do.
That's what chefs do.
You put down like a sizzleplatter or whatever.
Yeah, a stir fry or somethinglike this, and then you don't
say anything.

Speaker 2 (01:01:45):
No, it's not that.
It's because we can actuallypick it up with our bare hands
and not hurt us.

Speaker 1 (01:01:51):
I don't have any fingerprints anymore, neither do
we, yeah, I literally openedthe smoker, barehanded and like.

Speaker 3 (01:01:57):
People are like what's wrong with you and I'm
like it's passion 350 degrees inthe oven.

Speaker 2 (01:02:04):
Today I was taking the tray out with no towel and
he's looking at me like, uh,it's weirdos what do you want
from me?

Speaker 1 (01:02:09):
you chose this life.
You know we're pirates, you,you did.
You all chose this well, I didyeah, 100.
Well, the life chose me, thelife chose you it because you
know you did a second chancesomewhere.

Speaker 2 (01:02:19):
So my grandfather wasn't in the war.
He was actually older whenWorld War II happened.
He was a military police officerin Nassau County in New York,
so he actually you know, had todeal with the soldiers when they
came back on leave and hecooked and I just remember this
image of me being like threeyears old and I, I said, well, I
want chicken parm.
It was like four o'clock in theafternoon, three o'clock, maybe

(01:02:40):
it's 12 o'clock in theafternoon.
That's what I was gonna havefor lunch.
And he just whipped this dishup and and he's like, okay,
we're gonna take the eggs and,you know, put the breadcrumbs in
.
I'm like what magic is this?
Yeah, you know sorcery.
It was a hush puppy and that'show I was introduced to chicken
parm and the hush puppy andbecause he was from that, he had
to drop out of um elementaryschool in the fifth grade to

(01:03:01):
start working.
Yeah, because of the greatdepression, and he never went
back to school.
So you talk about a generationof you know the people that did
things I mean my grandfather wasone of those things and when I
grew up, my mom had that passiontoo and she cooked five days a
week and that's something I gotinto.
I love to doing and playing andbeing creative and it's where I
went to.

(01:03:21):
I mean, school for me was Ihated school.
Yeah, culinary school.

Speaker 3 (01:03:25):
Second, my class, yeah, but they great, they great
and culinary really great chef,what's your?

Speaker 1 (01:03:35):
what's your favorite social that people should find
you?

Speaker 3 (01:03:38):
um, you know, just you know, instagram, um,
instagram and tiktok.
We're getting bigger on tiktok,which is great.
Um the liberty smokehouse um oninstagram, and both uh, tiktok,
and then chef brian jacobs onboth um instagram, tiktok.
We got some facebook thingsgoing on here and there, but uh,
we post um all our fun andwhere we're going to be at,
we're going to be doing and whowe'll be doing it with, all on

(01:04:00):
those socials excellent, um.

Speaker 2 (01:04:03):
Thank you for your service no, thank you, yes,
thank you and your sacrificesand we appreciate you sincerely.

Speaker 1 (01:04:08):
You know you guys both coming out here.

Speaker 3 (01:04:10):
Your food was amazing , thank you I mean chef, and I
love what we do you know youguys are studs for John.

Speaker 1 (01:04:17):
I hate saying it every week, but you come through
every week.
Jeff you're a little short.
I love you guys man.

Speaker 3 (01:04:27):
Honored to be here.

Speaker 1 (01:04:28):
Thank you all Sincerely we, oh, we're not Not
out.
What are you doing?

Speaker 2 (01:04:35):
You've got to stay tuned because we've got my book
coming out too.

Speaker 1 (01:04:38):
We're going to do a whole thing on your book.

Speaker 2 (01:04:39):
Don't worry, we're going to have a launch party too
.

Speaker 1 (01:04:41):
We're going to do it A launch party.
Just make sure there's somebourbon dude, we are, and bacon
yes, we're out.
We'll see you next time.