January 10, 2025 • 58 mins
The Walk-In Talk Podcast explores the interconnectedness of food, ambiance, and emotional experience in dining with insights from Chef Kevin Rasberry and Tina Davis from RAK Porcelain USA. They discuss the power of colors, shapes, and tableware in enhancing culinary presentation, especially in assisted living environments, emphasizing the importance of making every meal memorable.
• Chef Kevin shares his philosophy on treating every meal as potentially someone's last
• Discussion on the significance of vibrant tableware for cognitive assistance
• Tina talks about RAK Porcelain's commitment to durable and elegant designs
• Exploration of cultural perceptions of food presentation
• The evolution of dining trends towards colorful and personalized dining experiences
• Kevin’s Momma Jean's Seasoning as a blend of personal history and culinary innovation
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Elevate your dining experience with RAK Porcelain USA! As the exclusive tableware brand for the Walk-In Talk Podcast, RAK combines exceptional craftsmanship with innovative design. Whether you’re a chef, a restaurant owner, or a food enthusiast, RAK’s high-quality porcelain products will enhance every meal. Discover the artistry of food presentation and make every dining occasion special. Visit rakporcelain.com today and see how RAK can transform your table
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The following brands and companies help us continue supporting the food industry - have a look below!
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.
Our podcast offers a behind-the-scenes look at the industry. Don't miss out on upcoming episodes where we'll continue to cook up thought-provoking discussions on important topics, including mental health awareness.
Be sure to visit our website for more food industry-related content, including our very own TV show called Restaurant Recipes where we feature Chefs cooking up their dishes and also The Dirty Dash Cocktail Hour; the focus is mixology and amazing drinks!
Thank you for tuning in, and we'll catch you next time on the Walk-In Talk Podcast.
https://www.TheWalkInTalk.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
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.
At Ibis Images Studios, wherefood photography comes alive and
I get to eat it.
Chefs and food buyers try AussieSelect's fully cooked,
(00:28):
pasture-raised Australian lamb.
Enjoy flavors like agave,rosemary, tikka masala and more,
available sliced or whole.
Discover more ataussieselectcom.
So in-house, we have twoamazing people here in studio.
Chef Kevin Raspberry is anincredibly talented culinarian
from Orlando.
(00:48):
You can find him at the Groveat Trelago.
He's cooked up a couple ofstunning dishes today.
One is mahi, the other is vealchop.
Kevin my man is on deck.
He'll explain the details.
Perfectly executed culinary iswhat leads our senses down the
path of happy moments andnostalgic memories.
Is it only the flavor profilesand aromas that we crave?
(01:10):
I think not.
I contend that the ambiance ofour dining location is just as
important as the food itself.
Elements such as plates,silverware and glassware these
essential accessories are theunsung heroes of the restaurant
experience, the aesthetics andcomfort of being seated at the
table are vital as the sweetsand savories that are served.
(01:32):
Our guest this week is TinaDavis, director of strategic
partnerships for Rack Porcelain,usa.
If you've been following theshow, you've seen their
beautiful tableware and ourphoto shoots and videography.
The folks at Rack are dearfriends and a top shelf partner
with Walk Talk Media.
Let's take a closer look at howRack Porcelain stays in tune
with culinary trends from aroundthe planet.
(01:54):
Stay tuned, tina Davis iscoming up.
People, I want everyone torealize that I'm reading this,
okay, and man is it?
Take two, sure, but it's astunner, the number one stunner.
I'm just saying I'm out there.
Chef, kevin, I mean, how wasyour day today?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Amazing, right, amazing, tell the people about
the pictures.
I had a perception on whateverything would be prior to me
coming in here, but once I camein here, prepared the dishes and
seeing the way that thepictures were bought to like
life, like I told you earlier, Iwanted to cry.
Can't cry on command, buteverything looks amazing, you
(02:38):
know he did say that.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I said Chef, how do you like it?
He said oh my God, this isgreat, I would want to cry.
And I said well, can you do it?
I said, chef, how do you likeit?
He said oh my God, this isgreat, I would want to cry.
And I said well, can you do it?
I mean, I'd like to get that oncamera.
And you know that didn't happenand you know what I'm glad for
you that it didn't.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I think my mom would be proud that I didn't cry Right
.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yeah, indeed, I'm right there with her.
Okay, you know.
And also, by the way, yousurprised us with the biscuits.
Oh yeah, of course, start withthe biscuits man, because that
was impromptu and it was likehey guys, you want to eat?
And I was like, yeah, let'sroll what?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
do?
We got here when you hadreached out to me.
You told me just two entrees Inmy mind I was going to do.
I love seafood, so let's addsome seafood to it.
So something quick, somethingsimple, something easy in
between takes of everything else.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah, and you whipped it together in seconds.
It was seconds.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
In my line of work.
You got to learn how tomultitask.
You're always thinking aboutwhat's next, what's next, okay,
what do I got to do?
It's a little different here,cause you told me to, hey, slow
it down a little bit slow itdown.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
So that was a little, took a little adjustment, but
overall I had fun.
You slowed it down and it wasstill lickety.
Split man, I'm trying to dovideo while all the cooking is
happening and a lot of the chefs, I mean, listen, you, they're,
you all are trained and your,you know your experiences bring
you to execution in a very fastway.
Correct?
Well, that doesn't work wellwith videography, right?
I mean, at the end of the day,we have to capture all this
stuff.
By the way, today wentbeautifully.
(04:13):
I appreciate you did a terrificjob and I have a feeling that
the you know.
Obviously, what john does isridiculous on a whole nother
level, but the video is going tobe great too.
All right, can't, can't wait tosee it.
Okay, so the biscuits theylooked amazing.
They're actually sitting there.
We didn't get a chance to eatthem yet and, my God, I'm like
I'm dying over here.
I think I should go have some.
We should just ditch this showand go eat.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
I wouldn't say that no, okay, okay, okay, all right,
so get into the other dishes.
Go ahead.
So the first dish ended updoing the sun-dried tomato
crusted mahi-mahi.
And the reason I picked thatdish?
Because, Carl, once you reachedout to me a few weeks ago and
invited me to be on the podcastand everything.
I was looking at the page andall the pictures and everything
(04:57):
and it was bright, vibrantcolors from the different plates
and everything like that.
One thing about me I'm a visualperson, so I have to picture
something before I make it.
So, with that being said, I waslike, all right, I know the
perfect dish.
So with the sun-dried tomatocrusted mahi-mahi, I know I
would pair that with thePeruvian mashed potatoes and the
(05:17):
citrus beurre blanc and thecharred broccolini.
I have the color from thecitrus beurre blanc.
I have the purple, the brightpurple, from the Peruvian mashed
potatoes.
I got a bright pop of the greenfrom the charred broccolini and
the color from the mahi.
It just set everything off.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
The smells that were going on in this house today
were John right Am.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
I getting a head shake.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
I am Okay.
John gave it a head shake, soyou know it's good All right.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Then you had the veal chop, the veal chop.
So yes, so that was somethingI've never done.
But I was like, eh, let's havea little fun with it today and
experiment a little bit.
So I did the blueberry kissgrilled veal chop.
So with that, I've alwayswanted to cook veal.
I have something called bluemagic, so I was like now is a
good time.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Well, wait a minute.
What do you mean?
You have something called BlueMagic.
What is that?
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Blue Magic is a seasoning blend that I created.
I was bored one day andactually made it by accident,
because I was talking to someoneelse my daughter was talking to
me, and then I was on the phone.
Some things happened andtweaked it a little bit and
added a few more ingredients,and that's how Blue Magic came
alive.
This would be the perfectopportunity to add the Blue
(06:30):
Magic to this, with theblueberry bourbon gastrique
sauce to go with it, sweetmashed potatoes and then the
asparagus, and that's literallyit, the color is pumped and I'm
going to bring Tina on in aminute.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
But so we have all these plates and you have all
these colors and together, as agroup, y'all just and with John,
you guys, the three of youfigured out the right plate
colors to go with all thesedishes and the ingredients.
I, from a consumer'sperspective today you know I'm
taking myself out of the seathere and I'm over here and I'm
(07:03):
just looking at things.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Stunning.
You, sir, did an amazing job.
I appreciate it.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
I want to thank y'all for giving me the opportunity.
Sure, you know.
And, by the way, kurt fromPeninsula.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Kurt is an amazing man.
He says I love Kurt.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
He wants to do a cook-off with you.
He told me already His feelingsare going to get hurt.
Maybe so, and I kind of want tocapture all that.
I want to get somebody crying.
Maybe we can make Kurt cry.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
I think we should set that up.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Okay, I'm not even playing either.
Let's do it Challenge accepted.
All right, let's get Tina onthe show.
Welcome to the program.
Hi how are you?
Speaker 3 (07:40):
I'm good.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
What do you think about doing like a cook-off?
You want to be part of this.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
I would love to be part of this.
Yeah, mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Okay, can you explain a little bit about the vibe
that went on in the studio today?
Speaker 3 (07:51):
The vibe was amazing.
Just from the moment that Iwalked in, I felt so incredibly
welcomed.
The photography situation thatJohn has is amazing the amount
of props, the amount ofplateware, thank you and
accoutrements that go with them.
But it's such a welcomingatmosphere and from the moment
(08:13):
that I met you guys last year atthe F&B at Sea show, I just
knew there was something thereand I was super excited to
partner with you and it's justgone beyond my wildest
expectations.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Stop it, because that makes me happy.
I know that makes John happytoo.
The whole team is happy, youknow, pooch included as well.
You know, at the end of the day, you know who knew that it was
going to.
You know, actually come to thisFirst of all, people who are in
the market for tablewares,dishwares, whatnot.
You got to check out rack.
(08:48):
Most people don't know rack andrack is R A K.
By the way, it's R A K.
You need to check them outbecause the stuff is beautiful
and it's very durable.
I feel like I can throw that onthe ground and it's not like
this wouldn't be good for aGreek restaurant.
You know they're going to.
They can't throw them in thecorner and smash all the plate.
I'm kidding.
It's great for Greek.
But yeah, at the end of the day, you guys do such a great job
(09:17):
and it translates into what youknow, for example, like Chef
Kevin today, like what he putout is just phenomenal and it's
just I don't know.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
It's wonderful Because I do a lot of product
(09:45):
development.
It's interesting to hear whatchefs want and need and how you
can change, want a certain shapeor we're missing something in a
collection.
It's usually the chefs thatpoint that out first.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
to our team.
It's a great segue into intothe question of how does a
company like Rack stay on trend?
You're a global company.
You guys are out of Dubai, yesand uh.
Relatively new to the dishwaregame, tableware game right Nine
years.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
In the US it's 2016.
So next year will be 10 yearsand for Rack Ceramics globally
it'll be 20 years this year.
So we are very new and it'sinteresting.
I've spent a lot of my careerat companies that had very, very
long legacies, and to be at acompany that is so new it almost
(10:34):
feels like a startup.
It's a smaller corporation.
You can get your hands in, youcan get dirty, you can make
changes, you can make products,you can make decisions.
Rack Porcelain owns their ownfactory.
There's no middleman.
It's very easy.
We have calls with our factoryevery other week in regards to
(10:56):
product and we're right theresaying this is what we need for
our market, because the US isvery different than the European
market.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
So today something came up which I thought was
pretty intriguing Walk and talkpodcast.
We tell stories right.
As it turns out, chef, kevin,you work in the assisted living
space.
Yes, sir, which happens to beyour.
Your company that you're withhappens to be your company that
you're with happens to be aculinary forward group.
(11:26):
Absolutely Well, as it turnsout, tina has experiences in the
tableware category with the ASLassisted living companies.
That, I think, is amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
When I heard he worked for assisted living I was
like, oh my God, because for mein some of my past lives of
working, especially in productdevelopment, that market is very
untapped.
It's increasing.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Well, here's the thing.
Wait, let me stop you for asecond, because I don't want
anyone to think that we're justgoing to talk about spreadsheets
and sales.
That's not what this is.
When we're discussing assistedliving facilities, a lot of
times you're dealing with actualpatients.
It's our grandparents, ourfathers and mothers, and it's
our families in these facilities.
So when you're talking aboutspecific tableware designed for
(12:23):
our family members to make theirlives easier, that is what kind
of sparked me to bring this upin the conversation today,
because I thought that part wasfascinating.
You were talking about colors.
Yes, for specific needs, canyou guys?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
talk about that a little bit.
In senior living we have a lotof residents with Alzheimer's
and dementia and everything likethat, so their vision isn't the
best.
They go off of bright, vibrantcolors.
So what we use for them arelike a turquoise or a bright
yellow or bright orange orbright red, so that way when the
food is on the plate, they canidentify the food on the plate
(12:59):
so it doesn't clash with theregular, let's just say, white
plate.
So with that entwined together,I feel like it'd be so much
better for them to just grab thefood off of the plate for them.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
I've been in this food business for 30 plus years.
I've never thought about that.
I had no idea that that waseven something that was
happening.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
When it comes to shape and color particularly
shape, because a lot ofresidents and a lot of senior
citizens they have troubleeating.
And it was interesting.
I was involved in a productdevelopment project, probably
about eight years ago, with someplateware and I went through.
I have osteoarthritis and Ihave it in both thumbs.
So I had two thumb surgerieswhere they took out my trapezium
(13:43):
bone and scraped out all thearthritis and sent me back on my
way.
So I have a little bit oftrouble moving, but it was
interesting.
I was able to be one of thepeople that tested the product
that we were developing becauseof whether it be a fork or a
spoon or a knife, how doessomeone that has one hand or has
(14:06):
arthritis, how do they cutthings?
How do they eat them off theplate?
It was really eye-opening forme and I struggled immensely and
then a couple of years later Ithink my body's falling apart
but I had shoulder surgery andwe were doing another round of
development.
It's very eye-opening when youhave to eat with your
(14:26):
non-dominant hand.
Your plateware and yourflatware can definitely assist
in that.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
So utensils and plateware are used to help the
resident slash patient in manycases.
Correct, Correct.
How does that work?
Speaker 2 (14:42):
We'll have certain residents that have different
levels of care so, which meansthey need more attention and
stuff like that.
They may not be fullyaccessible to use their arm or
use all, both of their hands orall 10 fingers.
So I feel like with specialplateware and special cutlery.
Let's just say that I have aresident she can only use three
(15:03):
of her fingers on her left handand her right hand's totally
non-functional at all.
So it's like the whole timeshe's been using her right hand.
Now she's only has these threefingers to work with.
So she needs something that'scomfortable enough to where she
can still feed herself and stilldo the normal things as much as
possible that she tries to do.
(15:24):
So I feel like with the cutleryand stuff like that, with the
special grooves in them andeverything like that, to where
it's easy for them to hold andit's not pressuring them, will
make things so much better forthem.
As far as them eating and thatfalls under the kitchen yes, and
no Part of it falls under thekitchen.
As far as me making sure I havethese utensils and silverware
(15:48):
and plateware available for them, the care staff handles certain
things.
As far as feeding them,depending on the resident's
restrictions.
I always make sure that theyhave the plates, the glasses,
the cutlery, anything andincluding the food.
So anything food related allfalls under me.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Obviously, rack handles these products.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Yes, we do.
Yeah, I mean, there's so manycolored options that we have.
You know, when it comes toflatware, it could be something
as simple as choosing a flatwaregauge that's heavier so that a
guest or one of you know one ofthe patients that has tremors
can hold that flatware gaugethat's heavier so that a guest
or one of you know one of thepatients that has tremors can
hold that flatware and hold itand it feels good in the hand,
(16:31):
versus something that's verythin I mean, it doesn't
necessarily have to bespecifically designed for
healthcare something with asimple band around the outside
so that you know peopleunderstand where their food,
where it ends.
You know, people really havetrouble seeing and one of the
things when it comes tocataracts, when you're designing
a plate, if you want to seewhat it looks like, so you can
(16:51):
put Vaseline over your glassesand you look down at the plate
and you try to eat and that'swhat it is, that's what it looks
like to people that havecataracts.
So, whether you just put asimple band around the plate or
something, some kind ofdecoration so that they know
where it ends or there's,there's so much to it.
It it really is a, it's a bigpassion of mine.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I feel like this is an untapped piece of information
that I knowledge base, that weshould know.
I mean, we're all getting older.
I mean, if there's a 25 yearold listening to this, I know, I
get it, I get it, I get it.
But the rest of us, who were upin like forties, fifties and
beyond, my goodness, I meanthat's amazing.
Who knew that?
Speaker 3 (17:31):
But on the flip side of it, I think some of these
assisted livings they're alsosenior living facilities that
are attached to these you know,so it's, it's 55 and older,
which you know.
I'm almost there, but you knowthose type of places that are
connected to the assistantliving or whatever are.
(17:53):
You know, if you think about it, we're talking about
millennials, parentsparticularly and millennials
have a penchant for food andthey I mean overall, when you
look at trends, it's a big thingand it's very important.
And when they're putting theseparents into these facilities,
(18:13):
they want to make sure thatthey're eating well.
They want them to eat off ofplateware and dinnerware that
doesn't look like it came out ofa cafeteria.
You know they want that.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Paper plate.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
They want to feel like they're at home, so I think
that there's a huge opportunityin that market as well.
As we all age, we just want toeat and enjoy that dining
experience.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
You sent us some stuff last week and it was very
Mediterranean mosaic-ish sort of.
You know, beautiful, I can'timagine things getting better
than that.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
But there are just some simple.
You know, some of thedecorations we do are just a
simple band around the plate,for you know the normal
steakhouse chain that likes thatoval rim platter with the green
band.
I mean you see them all thetime in New York, things like
that.
But I mean we can do, you know,whether it be platinum or gold,
there's so many things, butthey don't necessarily have to
(19:11):
be as avant-garde as you think.
They can be very simple.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
I guess that's where my head goes, because if I had
the opportunity, I'm like, yeah,let's really do this do this.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
I mean we can do any kind of decoration on any kind
of plate.
So it really is.
It sets the standard and theones that we sent you, that that
have the kind of meta traininglook, is actually part of our
new digi collection and thoseare all digitally printed.
What's the difference?
It's screen printed on top ofthe, or it's a decal, or screen
printed on top of the plate andthen it is glazed.
(19:43):
So it's everything is in.
Or screen printed on top of theplate and then it is glazed, so
everything is in glaze.
So the glaze, the decoration,is not going to come off.
It's not going to come off fromany type of dishwasher or any
kind of care and use.
But with the digital printingit's actually printed in a 3D
dimension, so it almost lookslike it's embossed, but it's not
(20:07):
.
It's just a flat plate.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
So when I saw the pictures, that's exactly what I
thought it looks like.
It's, you know, like you'regoing to run your finger over it
and you're going to have nooksand crannies.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
let's say yeah, it has some texture to it, which is
nice.
So it's nice for us from aproduct development standpoint,
to be able to put out designs alittle bit faster because we
don't have to necessarily makemore molds.
You know, molds are not cheap.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Is this more on trend right now?
Speaker 3 (20:34):
The digital printing yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
So then, when we're talking about collections and
we're talking about, you know,digi printing yes, what's new on
the horizon?
What do you have coming up?
Are you excited?
I mean, you have to be excited.
You're always excited.
You have to have something inyour.
You know, there's alwayssomething in your pocket.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
There, there's always something in the pipeline.
Corporately, we have about 18different digital collections
and the US decided to stockthree and those are the ones
that I share with you guys touse in your podcast.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
If you were going to have one style of food creation
on your plates, all of yourplates, what would it be?
This is just a personalquestion.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
Oh, personal Thai.
Oh, I love Thai.
I went to Thailand not too longago, actually visiting a
ceramic factory, and I was blownaway.
That was one of my favoriteplaces in the world.
Chef Same question.
Same question.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
I love blown away.
That was one of my favoriteplaces in the world.
Chef.
Same question.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Same question.
I love Italian food.
It would be Italian, oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
The vast majority of chefs that I ask hey, man, what
do you love to eat?
Not necessarily cook, what doyou love to eat?
Thai.
It's always Thai, always, or itstarts with Thai, and then
it'll break down into some otherAsian-inspired cuisine, but I
have to tell you it's alwaysThai, and I'm like.
(21:54):
You know I like Thai food too.
You know it's good, but I'mItalian, my man.
Okay, now we're talking.
What's your favorite stuff,though?
Is it your pasta?
Speaker 2 (22:03):
I'm a pasta guy, I could eat pasta literally every
other day.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
I was just talking to last night actually Chef Josh
over at JetBlue.
He's a corporate executive chefat JetBlue, guy is awesome and
he calls me up.
He goes, yeah, he goes.
You know, I'm going to go home,I'm going to make some pasta.
I'm like what he goes.
Yeah, you know, I love it.
I'm like what he goes, yeah,you know, like.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I love it, Like no kidding.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
I was like we're going to do classes, we're going
to do this, you down.
He's like hell, yeah, I'm like,all right, we're going to say
I'm super excited about that,I'm going to get you involved in
this.
Sounds good, kevin, you'regoing to be, you're going.
(22:48):
Of the reasons I reached out toyou.
What?
Two reasons?
For two reasons.
Kurt spoke amazing things aboutyou, number one.
But number two, I was like man,I'm going through all of your
stuff on LinkedIn, where I thinkthat's primarily where you do
your, your, your posting.
Yes, sir, I'm just looking andit's like every dish is better
than the last one, like morebeautiful, like elevated stuff,
like you do a really great job.
I appreciate it.
No, sincerely, yeah, and Idon't hand that out.
(23:10):
Oh, let me.
Let me put it like this ifsomebody makes it here, it's
because they do great stuff.
I had somebody on social mediatell me one time.
They said, ah, carl, everything, everything's beautiful and
everything's delicious.
I'm like well, yeah, I'm notbringing bums and losers into
the place.
Truth, so yeah hardly ever isthere like something where
you're going to go.
That's no good.
(23:30):
So the fact that you're here, Ijust think you do a terrific
job.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
That means a lot to me.
Sincerely, definitely means alot to me.
So one thing you mentionedseeing all my social media posts
, my dish, whatever dish that Ipost, pretty much is a
representation of how I'mfeeling that day.
So that's why I always telleverybody you know, cook from
the heart, you know what's onyour mind, how are you feeling.
That's my way of translating mythoughts, my feelings, to the
(23:57):
plate and presenting it to you.
I always stress that and alwayscook from the heart, cook with
love, and everything else willfall into place.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
So that day, when you posted that filet with a knife
jabbed in it, like what were youfeeling?
I'm kidding, I'm kidding,that's so.
That's unique.
You know, a lot of chefs areout there.
There's a chef, jonathan Lamore, and he's from, he's from South
Florida.
He was over at the I forgot thename of the place, but giant
country club down in Key Largoarea.
(24:29):
Same thing Like.
He does a lot of Caribbeanstyle food and I'm just looking
and I'm like man, what is themotivation?
Because, listen, there's a lot.
I've dealt with a lot of chefsand a lot of chefs come through
here and everybody's good, butthen there's like.
Then there's like, another,another level up, and that level
up is the colors.
And people might say, oh,building up is 90s or whatever,
(24:54):
but it's not.
You have only so much you cando with the food, right?
So if you're building yourplate and you're making it
pretty and you're using allthese colors and obviously
plateware, all these thingsmatter cutlery, everything man,
what is the motivation?
Speaker 2 (25:07):
The motivation honestly lie to me, I'm not even
going to lie to you, I'll behonest.
So with cooking, I telleverybody cook from the heart,
cook with passion.
The motivation is to get areaction out of you, out of you,
out of her, and I just feellike, with cooking, like that,
(25:27):
it's just you want someone tofeel good and in the environment
that I work in, you never knowwhen it's a person's last meal.
So, with that being said, youtreat every and I stress this to
my team you treat every meallike it's this person's last
meal, because you never know.
You never know.
Even with us we can go out todinner, all that.
(25:50):
We don't know if we're going tomake it home.
Hate to bring the mood down inthe room, but it's true.
So it's like you always wantthat experience to be a good
experience and you want peopleto come back and be like wow,
that was so good, I want more ofit.
So that's the passion, that'sthe love, that's what motivates
me to keep going and I also wantto keep pushing the, I guess,
(26:13):
push the barrier a little bitfurther out that and just try
new things.
Some things work, some thingsdon't.
But you don't know, unless youtry it, you killed me with that.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
That was amazing.
That was a beautiful thing tosay.
You, you killed me with that.
That was amazing.
That was a beautiful thing tosay.
You know, and I have no reasonto doubt you on that.
With that said, you haveobviously the people that you're
cooking for, they're olderseniors.
Yes, sir, right, how are they,by and large?
How do they embrace?
You know, your, because whatyou're putting out is a little
(26:45):
edgy.
It's pretty stuff, it's verymodern.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
I'm pushing the boundaries Right.
So how are they?
How are they receiving you?
At first they're a littlehesitant, until that dish comes
to their plate and literally allit takes is one resident to
order the plate and theneveryone else is looking like,
oh, what's that, what's that?
Then they order it.
Then they order it.
It just takes one person andthen everyone's loving it.
And it's like I always thinkback to where they want stuff
(27:18):
that's reminding them of theirchildhood.
So it's like I'll make that,but I'll add my twist to it.
So, like I told you earlier,I'm a visual person.
I can't make it unless I canpicture it.
Literally.
One time I did pork and beansbut I elevated it to where I'm
having fun with it and I telleverybody let's make cooking fun
again.
So it's like I feel like if Ido that, everyone else would be
(27:42):
receptive to it.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
I love that.
So basically, it's kind of likeEthel is going to see Edith
eating some kind of elevateddish and she's going to say, oh
my God, I want to try that.
And all of a sudden it spreadsthroughout the whole Wildfire.
It's wildfire, I love it, mygoodness.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
They just don't like me to stack their food.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Just don't stack it, don't stack it.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Don't stack it and don't let it touch, and give me
a to-go box.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Yeah, that's it, man.
I know the deal, I know howthat works.
My experiences in the foodindustry has always been in
front of the house and you know,my alma mater is a place down
in South Florida called BeverlyHills Cafe.
John was there too.
We were there together, andthis was a million years ago.
Obviously A lot of seniors,blue hairs everywhere and
(28:26):
awesome people, but boy, I'lltell you, they know what they
like and what they don't likeand bring the box and also bring
an extra napkin.
You know the linen to put overyour shoulders because it's
chilly.
I'm just saying like that's a.
You remember that.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
So the funny thing with that, and I had a hard time
realizing with the elderly theydon't eat like we eat, so what
I think is a full portion islike a half portion in them.
So literally everything's all.
Just give me a half portion,put it to go.
I need a box I'm going to takeit back home with.
So that is something I had toget adjusted to.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Did you actually make smaller?
Are you making a smallerportion?
Yes, oh, that's cool.
Yeah, yeah, because me.
I'm like Where's the rest?
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Where's the rest?
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Yes, Tina, we're talking about a specific segment
of culinary guest right now,but when we're talking about
tableware and different culturesand we're talking about the
globe, are you selling the sameseries of tablewares in the
States as you are in Europe orelsewhere, sometimes yes,
(29:37):
sometimes no.
How do you determine that?
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Well, I think.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
I mean, culture is a real hard thing to kind of
traverse.
How do you do that?
Speaker 3 (29:46):
It's not necessarily.
There's two different things.
There's the cultural aspect ofit, but there's also when it
comes to the US and when itcomes to sizing of things.
Our sizing of plateware is alot different than the sizing of
plateware in the Europe or theMiddle East.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
It's bigger.
It's larger, isn't it it'slarger.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so there are.
It was interesting.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
You're catering to me .
I just want you to know that.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
So we might have, you know, some certain plate sizes
that sell better in certainparts of the world where we need
to be mindful of that.
You know we have somecollections that are they might
be launched in a differentcountry and they you know
they're coming from, they mightbe inspired by our European team
and when we see them, you know,we look at them for the U?
(30:37):
S market and think there aresome things that might be
missing.
We might need to add somethings.
The cups might need to bebigger.
You really need to look at what.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Don't bring me a bread plate for anything, not
even the bread, you understand?
Yeah, I hear what I'm saying,right?
Speaker 3 (30:51):
You don't like the bread and butter.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
I love it, but put it on a big plate and give me a
lot of it.
That's what I'm trying to tellyou.
But here's the thing thoughColors, do you find that there
are different countries thatprefer very colorful plateware
or very, you know, eclectic sortof stuff Like how does it break
down?
Speaker 3 (31:08):
Well, obviously, you know, in the Eastern part of the
world and depending on whereyou are, whether it be India or
China, I think sometimes theplateware can be from just my
travels a little bit moredecorated and a little bit more
ornate.
But you know, we're gettinginto such an area where colored,
(31:30):
if I can explain it, like thisyears ago when I started
traveling to the trade showsacross the globe and I would go
to Maison Auger and Salon deMobile and I would go to the
Frankfurt Ambiente show.
10 years ago there was was a lotof white, a lot of white and a
lot of cream.
Just when it came to plateware.
You would walk around, youwould walk the show and it was.
(31:53):
It was very, very white andcream and over the last couple
years we're starting to see morecolor and more color and then
different body types.
That's when you started seeing.
You know, for the food serviceworld it really was about white
porcelain and then all of asudden we kind of got into this
trend of the retail world withtheir stoneware how exciting
(32:15):
things got in the retailmarketplace and they wanted to
bring that into food service.
The problem with that is thatit isn't the most durable
product.
It can be a beautiful pattern,but some of those patterns are
stoneware and it's it's.
It's not going to have thedurability of porcelain, which
everything at Rack is is is aporcelain material with a very
(32:36):
high alumina content.
So it's it's trying to take,you know.
So again.
So, trying to get back to your,I kind of went around your
question, but you know, lookingaround the globe, I think now
color is everywhere and forthose establishments that have a
lot of white, they're startingto get into adding color,
(32:56):
whether it be for a dessertplate or for a bread and butter
plate, even though you don'tlike that Not that long ago, we
ended up doing two shoots.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
We did it on the white and we did it again on on
one of the the the black platesman it was gorgeous, it popped,
it blew out of there, it justblew off of the plate.
So there's so many things youcan do and obviously, colors
it's not black, is black, colorsthe colors.
But at the end, of it.
It's like I don't know.
I'm going to get rid of thewhite plates.
I want to probably getsomething else.
(33:24):
I want to get something alittle bit more pizzazz, a
little bit more, somethinginteresting, some life.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
Well, and it doesn't just have to be white color.
There's so many differentglazes and things like that that
are happening that you can getthose pools of color in
different places and they canalmost look watercolor-ish.
But I mean, it's the way thatthe glaze is fired in the kiln,
so glaze is fired in the kiln soyou can get so many different
(33:49):
variations.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
I meant it in the monologue when I said that you
know, when you're talking aboutyour dining experience, it isn't
just about the sweet and thesavories on your dish, it's
about the ambiance of the wholeplace and your plate is holding,
carrying the food you're goingto eat, and it's part of the
experience, you know, and itcould potentially make your food
(34:10):
taste better because it lookscool, and if it looks cool, man,
I feel good about it.
Therefore, I'm going to go intothis just with a better frame
of mind and I'll probably likeit.
I mean, I'm just saying I don'tknow if that's accurate or not.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
Well, I think it is.
I think if you have the right Imean honestly, if you have the
right shaped soup bowl for yoursoup, by the time it gets to
your table after sitting in thekitchen for a little bit, it's
going to be hot, you know, andthat has to do with the material
that it's made of as well, andporcelain is going to hold that
(34:42):
heat Chef you're shaking yourhead.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
I agree, it will hold that heat.
The porcelain or the shape, orboth?
I guess Both, yeah, both.
What's the correct shape for?
Tell me about that.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
Well, I mean, it depends.
It depends on what kind I mean.
If you have a very shallow bowlshallow, flat bowls are very
popular right now and it'salmost like a plate with a
higher rim.
It's almost like a plate with ahigher rim If you spread a
sauce, or you spread a sauce orsoup in a bowl that's very, very
(35:13):
low, like that, it is going toget cold faster than something
that's a high bowl.
So you just need to be aware ofyou know the height, the width
and how it's going to withstandthat heat.
I think that's important.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
To add on to that.
So a little backstory.
I always wondered why my degreesaid associate's degree of
applied science, right?
Well, it wasn't until maybefive, six years ago I started to
understand the science incooking.
You're talking about culinarydegree.
Yes, sir, as she's describingeverything, all those factors
play into it to where is if yourfood's going to stay hot or
(35:49):
stay cold, or if it'll clashagainst it, and stuff like that.
That is the science, part of it.
It's like we don't think aboutfood as being a science, but at
the end of the day it's ascience.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
Yeah, I see food as a science.
Well, I've not now, but youknow, seven or eight days later
it becomes science.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Do you know what I mean?
Being in the fridge.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
If you had to pick a style of tableware for your
establishment, what would it?
Speaker 2 (36:15):
be.
As far as the colors, I likecolorful plates, but like dark
colors.
So, with the contrast, it givesme more room to work with.
Or when I'm making a dish, Ican know which sauce I'm going
to pair with it or how I'm goingto plate it, because I'm
building off of those colors,opposed to just using a just
standard white plate.
(36:36):
Not to say that there's nothingwrong with the white plate, but
it's like, in my opinion, whiteplates are outdated.
It's like we're in 2025 now.
It's like we kind of got to getwith the times.
I know it's hard for somepeople to get with the times,
but you know you don't want tobe left behind.
So that's why I prefer like thecolorful plates, well, like the
dark colored plates.
(36:57):
As far as shapes, I don't like.
I remember a few years ago likesquare plates were in.
To my knowledge, they're not inanymore.
I don't even want to see asquare plate.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
well, wait a minute though wait, I gotta say
something, and this has to dowith something that you, you
guys, sent us.
I agree with you.
Like the plates I have, I gottaget I'm.
They're gone, like we my wifeand I talked about it and and
we're gonna move on from thatwell, you have a catalog I know,
and but anyway, so listen, so,so there's a.
there's a.
There's a black plate that wehave.
(37:27):
First of all, it's giant andit's sectioned off.
It's a square plate, but it'sdope.
It's really cool.
I need to see it.
Yeah yeah, it's cool, reallycool, like charcuterie or
something like that.
I mean I could just you know,there's so many million things
you can do with it and I don'twant to get off on a tangent.
(37:49):
You're right, squares out, youhear me people.
Squares out what's in.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
I was going to say a rounded square is not the worst
thing in the world, though thereare a rounded square, a soft
square, the hell is that A softsquare plate.
A soft square plate, somethingthat has a little bit more.
I mean because the problem witha square plate is the chippage.
You know, from a back of thehouse standpoint it can be
really tough.
But there is what I'm startingto see a little bit of a soft
(38:17):
square.
Is this a new trend orsomething.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
I think I know what she's talking about.
So are there corners like morerounded?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (38:24):
rounded square.
Okay, before we leave today,we're going to show you some of
that stuff, okay sounds good, soyou can just see what it is.
Speaker 3 (38:31):
I think my favorite restaurants are the ones where
none of the plateware matcheseach other.
That comes out so that you canhave that full, immersive
experience in whatever region,whatever global cuisine you're
(38:53):
getting into.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
It's going to be like a cottage style.
Speaker 3 (38:56):
A little bit, but that can be a back of the house
disaster.
You know, and that's one of thethings we need to think about
from a food service perspectiveis what the back of the house
looks like when you need tostack everything and
stackability and durability, andyou know, do you want 15
different plates?
But you know there are ways toget around that, whether it be
finding, finding a plate youknow you might be finding a nine
(39:18):
inch plate, but getting it in afew different colors or so that
it it still stacks.
But you, you get a differentlook with, like, your dessert
versus your bread and butterplate.
How do you?
Speaker 1 (39:31):
feel about that.
Speaker 2 (39:33):
I feel good about that.
So literally and it's funnythat she mentioned that because
even with the different colorplates and everything like that,
I feel like having differentvariety, even though if they're
the same plate but differentcolors works out.
So that way, let's just say, ifI'm doing a special theme meal
for that night, I can use thosespecial theme plates for that
(39:56):
particular meal, opposed to,let's just say, if I have the
white or if I have a dark, navy,blue or anything like that, or
a black plate.
So I feel like that that couldwork.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
You know what goes with plates to spices, spices go
with plates, do you just?
Spices are colorful, right,yeah, chef, what's your mom's
name?
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Jean.
Everyone calls her Mama Jean,mama Jean, mama Jean.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
Okay.
Is there some sort of acorrelation between Mama Jean
and spices?
Speaker 2 (40:28):
Yes, so three years ago I started up my own
seasoning company called MamaJean Seasoning.
I named it after my mom.
Everyone that knows me knowsI'm a mama's boy to the heart.
I love my mom, even though Iget on her last nerves half the
time.
Everyone that knows me knowsI'm a mama's boy to the heart.
I love my mom, even though Iget on her last nerves half the
time, but she loves me.
She calls me baby boy all thetime, and I'm 39 years old.
(40:49):
I've been making seasoningssince 2004.
I started making my first oneand just throughout the time
friends, family would call mehey, I'm cooking chicken or
steak or something.
What do you suggest I put onhere?
List off a number of things.
They're like yeah, I don't havethat at my house, make me
something, bring it to me.
And that was it.
So just throughout the time Iwas just doing it and it kind of
(41:11):
just took a life of its own.
And yeah, now we're here.
We're in our third year of MamaJean seasonings.
We started out with 12 andright now we're at 41.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
Normally on the show, we, you know, we talk about all
the brands and social, but wedon't normally just do that.
I just feel like, based on whatyou're doing in your life and
you, you, you come off as agenuinely good person, like a
good human being, and there ashortage of of that today,
unfortunately.
So I felt it was, and john andI both felt it was important to
(41:47):
to talk about the fact that, hey, man, you're, you're an
executive chef, you're doingyour thing at chelago, you're,
you're doing it, but then you'realso doing you and and, and not
only are you doing you, but thefact is it's family centered,
and I think that should, I thinkit's commendable and I feel
like you know anybody listeningto this should check it out.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
You have a website, right yes, mama jean
seasoningcom all the socialmedias, or mama jean seasoning
facebook, instagram, threads,twitter.
I think it's called X now right.
Speaker 1 (42:21):
Yeah, All that, all that all that, all that jazz all
that stuff yes, but you canfind us at those but here's the
thing, it's good Like I wasn'tgoing to bring it.
If, honestly speaking, like ifyou know, if it was going to be
like some bunk spice or whatever, we wouldn't talking about it.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
All right, I'm just saying like I understand, we
have reputations here.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
I understand so, but it wasn't.
It was really good and yourpackaging is good.
It looks good.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
Your label.
You know the logo.
It's all good man, like,everything is good.
Yeah, I don't want to take allthe credit for that Cause.
Uh, my friend, my best friendfrom high school I've known him
for going on 25 years MichaelFarrington, he handles all of
that.
He takes care of the labels,the designs, the websites.
I only handle what's in thebottle.
Well, you're staying in yourlane, yes, literally staying in
my lane.
Okay, we're just like a two-mansmall business trying to take
(43:12):
over the world and add someflavor to everyone's house.
Speaker 1 (43:16):
So you're like Mike, what do you want to do today?
He's like the same thing I wantto do every day.
Speaker 2 (43:21):
Take over the world.
Speaker 1 (43:25):
Exactly, okay, exactly, you know what?
That is right, thinking thebrain.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
What's up?
Speaker 1 (43:29):
You know it's a Gen X thing, man, most people want to
understand, and you millennialstoo.
Hey, listen, it's all good outthere, it's good.
You know who cares?
Age is just a number, they say.
Speaker 2 (43:37):
I think I fall into the millennials.
I think you're a millennial.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
You are a millennial.
Yes, 85?
.
Yeah, millennial.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
All right.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
I'm not mad at you, you know.
Speaker 2 (43:47):
You know, if it helps , I'll be 40 this year.
Speaker 1 (43:50):
It doesn't help and it doesn't get any better.
Speaker 3 (43:53):
It doesn't Okay.
It just doesn't get any, arethey?
I'm a little scared.
Speaker 1 (43:58):
I remember I was like 28.
And I'm a man about town or Iwas, I used to be and I'm at a
bar by myself Having some drinksand having a good time.
And there's an older dude andhe was like 45.
Something like that Mid 40s,upper 40s, something like that.
We were both drinking somescotch and he's like what do you
(44:20):
?
Got there we started talkingabout single malts and all that
good stuff.
And he's like you're drinking,you're 20, you're drinking
scotch already.
I like it.
You know family, you knowgrandfather, dad, whatever.
And you're, you're in yourforties.
Man, like, let me ask you aquestion.
You know, like the people intheir twenties are looking at
you like the weird guy at thebar, like we're just talking,
(44:40):
I'm having a candid conversation, you know, and he goes let me
tell you something Twenties aregreat, your thirties are great,
your forties are the best.
And I'm like how on earth isthat even possible?
He's like, because you're,you're, you're old enough to
know and young enough to stillpull it off, whatever it may be
starting a business, enjoyingyourself out and about vacation,
(45:04):
moving.
You know, because I and now Ijust turned 50 this year, 24 and
it's over.
I mean immediately, immediately.
I'm like man my knees hurt myhands hurt my hips.
I'm like an old German shepherd.
I'm like what the hell is goingon here.
You know what I mean.
We have shows coming up.
Speaker 3 (45:25):
We do, it is show season.
Speaker 1 (45:27):
It is indeed the next couple months.
We're going to be at a showtogether.
We are, yeah.
Where is it Natham?
Speaker 3 (45:34):
It's in Atlanta this year, very exciting February.
Speaker 1 (45:38):
Yeah, the last.
It's like the last week ofFebruary.
Speaker 3 (45:41):
It is.
Speaker 1 (45:42):
Yeah, so the people out there in the food industry.
Nafm is the largest equipment,restaurant equipment trade show
in the country.
It's giant and everybody goesand it's going to be bad ass.
Now here's a cool thing aboutthis NAFM show.
So at the NAFM show there is aculinary competition and it is
(46:04):
called the U?
S culinary open and, dearfriends of ours, nick and Polly
Barrington, both chefs, createdthis, this amazing competition
that, like you have the worldfood championship.
Truth is, and it's's a greatand what they do is great.
But, tina, you and me can goand compete.
They'll accept us to compete.
(46:26):
You don't have to be a chef, youcan be, you know, home cook,
cool.
Then you have, like, the bokustore, which is the cream of the
crop.
It's like the chef's chef'scompetition, global, huge.
Well then you got the USCulinary Open.
Us Culinary Open isprofessional working chefs,
(46:47):
beard chefs, michelin chefs,like hardcore, and it's going to
be dope.
There's 12 competitors.
We're the official podcast forthis event.
How cool, so cool.
Rac will be there.
It's a huge event and I'm soexcited and we get to work
together a little bit, we do youso we're going to also have
(47:09):
somebody in our booth supra cut.
I mean, it's just, it's a, it'sa, basically it's a citrus
cutting system.
It's a piece of equipment.
It's beautiful, it looks like amercedes-benz and it basically.
So you know, john and I werefront of the house people.
We didn't really do back of thehouse stuff, but we used to
(47:29):
have to slam the lemons, cutlemon wedges, whatever, for you
know, for service, this thingdoes it and it does it
beautifully, easily and withconsistency, and it even does
the slit where you would put iton the room in a glass.
Such a very cool piece ofequipment.
(47:50):
Now it just so happens that I'mtalking about this.
They are.
Supercut is a new partner tothe show.
I want to tell you I know howmuch equipment costs inside
restaurants.
Everything is freakingexpensive, ridiculously
expensive.
Fives and tens and twenties ofthousands of dollars expensive.
(48:11):
This unit is 25, 2600 bucks andit does a lot and you can even.
It basically does it as neededper individual use.
Anyway it's an amazing piece ofequipment.
They're going to be in ourbooth.
Sorry for the sidetrackeverybody.
The ADD took over, but thetruth is they're going to be at
the booth and with us andeveryone's going to get to see
(48:31):
it.
It's going to be, really cool.
Do you know where?
Speaker 3 (48:34):
where's your booth?
I knew you were going to ask methat and I didn't write down
the number.
Speaker 1 (48:36):
You dirty Okay.
Speaker 3 (48:39):
Do you get the trade shows?
Speaker 2 (48:40):
I've never been to one.
Speaker 1 (48:42):
Ever, Ever, oh man.
Speaker 2 (48:44):
I don't leave home much and I don't leave work much
, dude, but since I'mapproaching my 40s, I'm going to
start living life and gettingout and doing what you said
You're making it happen.
Speaker 1 (48:58):
Let me tell you something.
So you're a business owner aswell, right?
So when you go to these tradeshows, what you end up meeting
are potential A, customers B.
You might find somebody whoproduces the containers you're
using cheaper and closer thanwherever you're getting them now
Less expensive, I should say,hey, cheaper.
(49:19):
Anyway, you might find a betterdeal on some of the packaging
that you use.
You have to go to these showsand chances are you'll find
somebody to buy your stuff incapacity too.
I'm not talking about like I'lltake a bottle, no, like pallets
, okay yeah, I'm gonna make it amission of mine, maybe one of
these shows.
You gotta come with us,absolutely.
(49:40):
How do you feel about that?
I'm down for it.
Okay, good, nafm.
No, you wouldn't.
What about?
Are you going to be at the NRAthis year too?
Oh, yes, where else?
Speaker 3 (49:50):
Well, we're going to do the FNB at Sea again and
we've got tons of regional showsthat we do with our distributor
partners.
So we've got I'm travelingabout once a month.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
I'm going to introduce you to some folks we
met.
They do the Pizza TomorrowSummit, but they also do the
Restaurant Show in New York.
They have, I don't know, fiveor six shows across the country,
but they're bangers.
They're all great shows, likebig, big shows, and they do a
terrific job.
I'm going to introduce you tothem and see if there's
(50:22):
something there.
I highly recommend trying tofigure something out with the
outfit.
It's an, they're up and comingand they're doing tremendous
things.
Speaker 3 (50:29):
Wow, yes, yeah, nafm and NRI are our biggest.
Speaker 1 (50:34):
Nri is great man.
Listen, I love NAFM.
This'll be my third show, youknow, attending a NAFM show, so
I'm excited about it.
I love it and plus, now we'regoing to be added in it part of
it, and it's an excitingendeavor.
Yeah, thank you, nick and Polly.
Speaker 3 (50:50):
And we'll also be at Ambiente, but from a global
presence, which is in February.
What is that Ambiente?
Yeah, I'm not familiar withthat amianti is like one of the
largest tabletop shows in theworld.
It is it's out of frankfurt,germany, and it is it's where
everyone comes together andshowcases.
(51:10):
It's interesting.
I kind of look at it as apreview for either nafum or for
nra really there's, there's alot of, there's a lot of the
same companies that showcasetheir wear.
But since it's in Europe, it's alot of European manufacturers,
and I've been going for about 10years now and it's a wonderful
(51:33):
place to go to look for trendsand to see what's happening in
other parts of the world,because there's just so much of
a global presence.
Whether it be dinnerware,flatware, glassware, gifts I
mean you can get a fabric,florals- A real quick question
before we log off here who setsthe trend?
Speaker 1 (51:57):
Who is it?
That's a good question.
Speaker 3 (51:59):
I was a trend analyst for about five years and then I
also did trends on the sidewhen I was a creative design
manager and you know we paid alot of money for a lot of
resources.
There's a really great onecalled Data Essential.
Data Essential does a reallygood job at tracking trends
across the globe, whether it belike food, food and beverage
(52:20):
primarily, you know, but when itcomes to color, there's there's
other companies out there likeWGSN and and other other smaller
trend companies, but it it isinteresting and, coming from my
background, is in fashion.
I went to school for appareldesign, you know, I went to FIT
in New York city and you know,when it comes to color,
(52:43):
everything, everything stemsfrom fashion.
So the interesting thing is howlong it takes a fashion color
when it comes to clothing toactually trickle its way down to
see it on something likedinnerware, which can take a
long time, but it's justsomething interesting.
Speaker 1 (52:59):
We're going to find out more about that.
I might have you send me someanalysis each month and we can,
we can talk about it.
All right, where do we find you?
Speaker 3 (53:08):
The best place is LinkedIn.
Tina Davis, rack, porcelain,usa.
I think that's the best.
Speaker 1 (53:13):
Instagram.
Speaker 3 (53:14):
Instagram.
I am Tina Davis.
Speaker 1 (53:17):
And Rack.
Speaker 3 (53:18):
And Rack is Rack Porcelain, usa Chef Tina Davis.
And rack and rack is rackporcelain, usa chef.
Speaker 2 (53:22):
You can find me on LinkedIn Kevin Raspberry, r A S
B E R R Y no P.
You can find me on Instagramand Facebook at mama Jean
seasoning, or you can find me onmy website mama Jean
seasoningcom.
Speaker 1 (53:36):
folks Check out mama jeans.
Check out rack.
Check out peninsula foodservice.
Give out Rack.
Check out Peninsula FoodService.
Give Kurt a call if you're inthe Orlando area.
I got John.
I got to tell you man, dude,you kill it.
Every time, every week, I saythe same thing.
I'm waiting for you to screwthat up.
I'm waiting for it, but youdon't, you don't, and that's why
(53:56):
I appreciate you, man.
All right, you two.
Thank you for coming in.
Speaker 2 (54:01):
We sincerely appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (54:02):
Thank you for having us and thank you for Trilago to
have you come on out as well.
Speaker 2 (54:06):
I appreciate it we are out, 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.
At Ibis Images Studios, wherefood photography comes alive and
I get to eat it.
Chefs and food buyers try AussieSelect's fully cooked,
(00:28):
pasture-raised Australian lamb.
Enjoy flavors like agave,rosemary, tikka masala and more,
available sliced or whole.
Discover more ataussieselectcom.
So in-house, we have twoamazing people here in studio.
Chef Kevin Raspberry is anincredibly talented culinarian
from Orlando.
(00:48):
You can find him at the Groveat Trelago.
He's cooked up a couple ofstunning dishes today.
One is mahi, the other is vealchop.
Kevin my man is on deck.
He'll explain the details.
Perfectly executed culinary iswhat leads our senses down the
path of happy moments andnostalgic memories.
Is it only the flavor profilesand aromas that we crave?
(01:10):
I think not.
I contend that the ambiance ofour dining location is just as
important as the food itself.
Elements such as plates,silverware and glassware these
essential accessories are theunsung heroes of the restaurant
experience, the aesthetics andcomfort of being seated at the
table are vital as the sweetsand savories that are served.
(01:32):
Our guest this week is TinaDavis, director of strategic
partnerships for Rack Porcelain,usa.
If you've been following theshow, you've seen their
beautiful tableware and ourphoto shoots and videography.
The folks at Rack are dearfriends and a top shelf partner
with Walk Talk Media.
Let's take a closer look at howRack Porcelain stays in tune
with culinary trends from aroundthe planet.
(01:54):
Stay tuned, tina Davis iscoming up.
People, I want everyone torealize that I'm reading this,
okay, and man is it?
Take two, sure, but it's astunner, the number one stunner.
I'm just saying I'm out there.
Chef, kevin, I mean, how wasyour day today?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Amazing, right, amazing, tell the people about
the pictures.
I had a perception on whateverything would be prior to me
coming in here, but once I camein here, prepared the dishes and
seeing the way that thepictures were bought to like
life, like I told you earlier, Iwanted to cry.
Can't cry on command, buteverything looks amazing, you
(02:38):
know he did say that.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I said Chef, how do you like it?
He said oh my God, this isgreat, I would want to cry.
And I said well, can you do it?
I said, chef, how do you likeit?
He said oh my God, this isgreat, I would want to cry.
And I said well, can you do it?
I mean, I'd like to get that oncamera.
And you know that didn't happenand you know what I'm glad for
you that it didn't.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I think my mom would be proud that I didn't cry Right
.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yeah, indeed, I'm right there with her.
Okay, you know.
And also, by the way, yousurprised us with the biscuits.
Oh yeah, of course, start withthe biscuits man, because that
was impromptu and it was likehey guys, you want to eat?
And I was like, yeah, let'sroll what?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
do?
We got here when you hadreached out to me.
You told me just two entrees Inmy mind I was going to do.
I love seafood, so let's addsome seafood to it.
So something quick, somethingsimple, something easy in
between takes of everything else.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah, and you whipped it together in seconds.
It was seconds.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
In my line of work.
You got to learn how tomultitask.
You're always thinking aboutwhat's next, what's next, okay,
what do I got to do?
It's a little different here,cause you told me to, hey, slow
it down a little bit slow itdown.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
So that was a little, took a little adjustment, but
overall I had fun.
You slowed it down and it wasstill lickety.
Split man, I'm trying to dovideo while all the cooking is
happening and a lot of the chefs, I mean, listen, you, they're,
you all are trained and your,you know your experiences bring
you to execution in a very fastway.
Correct?
Well, that doesn't work wellwith videography, right?
I mean, at the end of the day,we have to capture all this
stuff.
By the way, today wentbeautifully.
(04:13):
I appreciate you did a terrificjob and I have a feeling that
the you know.
Obviously, what john does isridiculous on a whole nother
level, but the video is going tobe great too.
All right, can't, can't wait tosee it.
Okay, so the biscuits theylooked amazing.
They're actually sitting there.
We didn't get a chance to eatthem yet and, my God, I'm like
I'm dying over here.
I think I should go have some.
We should just ditch this showand go eat.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
I wouldn't say that no, okay, okay, okay, all right,
so get into the other dishes.
Go ahead.
So the first dish ended updoing the sun-dried tomato
crusted mahi-mahi.
And the reason I picked thatdish?
Because, Carl, once you reachedout to me a few weeks ago and
invited me to be on the podcastand everything.
I was looking at the page andall the pictures and everything
(04:57):
and it was bright, vibrantcolors from the different plates
and everything like that.
One thing about me I'm a visualperson, so I have to picture
something before I make it.
So, with that being said, I waslike, all right, I know the
perfect dish.
So with the sun-dried tomatocrusted mahi-mahi, I know I
would pair that with thePeruvian mashed potatoes and the
(05:17):
citrus beurre blanc and thecharred broccolini.
I have the color from thecitrus beurre blanc.
I have the purple, the brightpurple, from the Peruvian mashed
potatoes.
I got a bright pop of the greenfrom the charred broccolini and
the color from the mahi.
It just set everything off.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
The smells that were going on in this house today
were John right Am.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
I getting a head shake.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
I am Okay.
John gave it a head shake, soyou know it's good All right.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Then you had the veal chop, the veal chop.
So yes, so that was somethingI've never done.
But I was like, eh, let's havea little fun with it today and
experiment a little bit.
So I did the blueberry kissgrilled veal chop.
So with that, I've alwayswanted to cook veal.
I have something called bluemagic, so I was like now is a
good time.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Well, wait a minute.
What do you mean?
You have something called BlueMagic.
What is that?
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Blue Magic is a seasoning blend that I created.
I was bored one day andactually made it by accident,
because I was talking to someoneelse my daughter was talking to
me, and then I was on the phone.
Some things happened andtweaked it a little bit and
added a few more ingredients,and that's how Blue Magic came
alive.
This would be the perfectopportunity to add the Blue
(06:30):
Magic to this, with theblueberry bourbon gastrique
sauce to go with it, sweetmashed potatoes and then the
asparagus, and that's literallyit, the color is pumped and I'm
going to bring Tina on in aminute.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
But so we have all these plates and you have all
these colors and together, as agroup, y'all just and with John,
you guys, the three of youfigured out the right plate
colors to go with all thesedishes and the ingredients.
I, from a consumer'sperspective today you know I'm
taking myself out of the seathere and I'm over here and I'm
(07:03):
just looking at things.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Stunning.
You, sir, did an amazing job.
I appreciate it.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
I want to thank y'all for giving me the opportunity.
Sure, you know.
And, by the way, kurt fromPeninsula.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Kurt is an amazing man.
He says I love Kurt.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
He wants to do a cook-off with you.
He told me already His feelingsare going to get hurt.
Maybe so, and I kind of want tocapture all that.
I want to get somebody crying.
Maybe we can make Kurt cry.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
I think we should set that up.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Okay, I'm not even playing either.
Let's do it Challenge accepted.
All right, let's get Tina onthe show.
Welcome to the program.
Hi how are you?
Speaker 3 (07:40):
I'm good.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
What do you think about doing like a cook-off?
You want to be part of this.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
I would love to be part of this.
Yeah, mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Okay, can you explain a little bit about the vibe
that went on in the studio today?
Speaker 3 (07:51):
The vibe was amazing.
Just from the moment that Iwalked in, I felt so incredibly
welcomed.
The photography situation thatJohn has is amazing the amount
of props, the amount ofplateware, thank you and
accoutrements that go with them.
But it's such a welcomingatmosphere and from the moment
(08:13):
that I met you guys last year atthe F&B at Sea show, I just
knew there was something thereand I was super excited to
partner with you and it's justgone beyond my wildest
expectations.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Stop it, because that makes me happy.
I know that makes John happytoo.
The whole team is happy, youknow, pooch included as well.
You know, at the end of the day, you know who knew that it was
going to.
You know, actually come to thisFirst of all, people who are in
the market for tablewares,dishwares, whatnot.
You got to check out rack.
(08:48):
Most people don't know rack andrack is R A K.
By the way, it's R A K.
You need to check them outbecause the stuff is beautiful
and it's very durable.
I feel like I can throw that onthe ground and it's not like
this wouldn't be good for aGreek restaurant.
You know they're going to.
They can't throw them in thecorner and smash all the plate.
I'm kidding.
It's great for Greek.
But yeah, at the end of the day, you guys do such a great job
(09:17):
and it translates into what youknow, for example, like Chef
Kevin today, like what he putout is just phenomenal and it's
just I don't know.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
It's wonderful Because I do a lot of product
(09:45):
development.
It's interesting to hear whatchefs want and need and how you
can change, want a certain shapeor we're missing something in a
collection.
It's usually the chefs thatpoint that out first.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
to our team.
It's a great segue into intothe question of how does a
company like Rack stay on trend?
You're a global company.
You guys are out of Dubai, yesand uh.
Relatively new to the dishwaregame, tableware game right Nine
years.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
In the US it's 2016.
So next year will be 10 yearsand for Rack Ceramics globally
it'll be 20 years this year.
So we are very new and it'sinteresting.
I've spent a lot of my careerat companies that had very, very
long legacies, and to be at acompany that is so new it almost
(10:34):
feels like a startup.
It's a smaller corporation.
You can get your hands in, youcan get dirty, you can make
changes, you can make products,you can make decisions.
Rack Porcelain owns their ownfactory.
There's no middleman.
It's very easy.
We have calls with our factoryevery other week in regards to
(10:56):
product and we're right theresaying this is what we need for
our market, because the US isvery different than the European
market.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
So today something came up which I thought was
pretty intriguing Walk and talkpodcast.
We tell stories right.
As it turns out, chef, kevin,you work in the assisted living
space.
Yes, sir, which happens to beyour.
Your company that you're withhappens to be your company that
you're with happens to be aculinary forward group.
(11:26):
Absolutely Well, as it turnsout, tina has experiences in the
tableware category with the ASLassisted living companies.
That, I think, is amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
When I heard he worked for assisted living I was
like, oh my God, because for mein some of my past lives of
working, especially in productdevelopment, that market is very
untapped.
It's increasing.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Well, here's the thing.
Wait, let me stop you for asecond, because I don't want
anyone to think that we're justgoing to talk about spreadsheets
and sales.
That's not what this is.
When we're discussing assistedliving facilities, a lot of
times you're dealing with actualpatients.
It's our grandparents, ourfathers and mothers, and it's
our families in these facilities.
So when you're talking aboutspecific tableware designed for
(12:23):
our family members to make theirlives easier, that is what kind
of sparked me to bring this upin the conversation today,
because I thought that part wasfascinating.
You were talking about colors.
Yes, for specific needs, canyou guys?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
talk about that a little bit.
In senior living we have a lotof residents with Alzheimer's
and dementia and everything likethat, so their vision isn't the
best.
They go off of bright, vibrantcolors.
So what we use for them arelike a turquoise or a bright
yellow or bright orange orbright red, so that way when the
food is on the plate, they canidentify the food on the plate
(12:59):
so it doesn't clash with theregular, let's just say, white
plate.
So with that entwined together,I feel like it'd be so much
better for them to just grab thefood off of the plate for them.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
I've been in this food business for 30 plus years.
I've never thought about that.
I had no idea that that waseven something that was
happening.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
When it comes to shape and color particularly
shape, because a lot ofresidents and a lot of senior
citizens they have troubleeating.
And it was interesting.
I was involved in a productdevelopment project, probably
about eight years ago, with someplateware and I went through.
I have osteoarthritis and Ihave it in both thumbs.
So I had two thumb surgerieswhere they took out my trapezium
(13:43):
bone and scraped out all thearthritis and sent me back on my
way.
So I have a little bit oftrouble moving, but it was
interesting.
I was able to be one of thepeople that tested the product
that we were developing becauseof whether it be a fork or a
spoon or a knife, how doessomeone that has one hand or has
(14:06):
arthritis, how do they cutthings?
How do they eat them off theplate?
It was really eye-opening forme and I struggled immensely and
then a couple of years later Ithink my body's falling apart
but I had shoulder surgery andwe were doing another round of
development.
It's very eye-opening when youhave to eat with your
(14:26):
non-dominant hand.
Your plateware and yourflatware can definitely assist
in that.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
So utensils and plateware are used to help the
resident slash patient in manycases.
Correct, Correct.
How does that work?
Speaker 2 (14:42):
We'll have certain residents that have different
levels of care so, which meansthey need more attention and
stuff like that.
They may not be fullyaccessible to use their arm or
use all, both of their hands orall 10 fingers.
So I feel like with specialplateware and special cutlery.
Let's just say that I have aresident she can only use three
(15:03):
of her fingers on her left handand her right hand's totally
non-functional at all.
So it's like the whole timeshe's been using her right hand.
Now she's only has these threefingers to work with.
So she needs something that'scomfortable enough to where she
can still feed herself and stilldo the normal things as much as
possible that she tries to do.
(15:24):
So I feel like with the cutleryand stuff like that, with the
special grooves in them andeverything like that, to where
it's easy for them to hold andit's not pressuring them, will
make things so much better forthem.
As far as them eating and thatfalls under the kitchen yes, and
no Part of it falls under thekitchen.
As far as me making sure I havethese utensils and silverware
(15:48):
and plateware available for them, the care staff handles certain
things.
As far as feeding them,depending on the resident's
restrictions.
I always make sure that theyhave the plates, the glasses,
the cutlery, anything andincluding the food.
So anything food related allfalls under me.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Obviously, rack handles these products.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Yes, we do.
Yeah, I mean, there's so manycolored options that we have.
You know, when it comes toflatware, it could be something
as simple as choosing a flatwaregauge that's heavier so that a
guest or one of you know one ofthe patients that has tremors
can hold that flatware gaugethat's heavier so that a guest
or one of you know one of thepatients that has tremors can
hold that flatware and hold itand it feels good in the hand,
(16:31):
versus something that's verythin I mean, it doesn't
necessarily have to bespecifically designed for
healthcare something with asimple band around the outside
so that you know peopleunderstand where their food,
where it ends.
You know, people really havetrouble seeing and one of the
things when it comes tocataracts, when you're designing
a plate, if you want to seewhat it looks like, so you can
(16:51):
put Vaseline over your glassesand you look down at the plate
and you try to eat and that'swhat it is, that's what it looks
like to people that havecataracts.
So, whether you just put asimple band around the plate or
something, some kind ofdecoration so that they know
where it ends or there's,there's so much to it.
It it really is a, it's a bigpassion of mine.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I feel like this is an untapped piece of information
that I knowledge base, that weshould know.
I mean, we're all getting older.
I mean, if there's a 25 yearold listening to this, I know, I
get it, I get it, I get it.
But the rest of us, who were upin like forties, fifties and
beyond, my goodness, I meanthat's amazing.
Who knew that?
Speaker 3 (17:31):
But on the flip side of it, I think some of these
assisted livings they're alsosenior living facilities that
are attached to these you know,so it's, it's 55 and older,
which you know.
I'm almost there, but you knowthose type of places that are
connected to the assistantliving or whatever are.
(17:53):
You know, if you think about it, we're talking about
millennials, parentsparticularly and millennials
have a penchant for food andthey I mean overall, when you
look at trends, it's a big thingand it's very important.
And when they're putting theseparents into these facilities,
(18:13):
they want to make sure thatthey're eating well.
They want them to eat off ofplateware and dinnerware that
doesn't look like it came out ofa cafeteria.
You know they want that.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Paper plate.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
They want to feel like they're at home, so I think
that there's a huge opportunityin that market as well.
As we all age, we just want toeat and enjoy that dining
experience.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
You sent us some stuff last week and it was very
Mediterranean mosaic-ish sort of.
You know, beautiful, I can'timagine things getting better
than that.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
But there are just some simple.
You know, some of thedecorations we do are just a
simple band around the plate,for you know the normal
steakhouse chain that likes thatoval rim platter with the green
band.
I mean you see them all thetime in New York, things like
that.
But I mean we can do, you know,whether it be platinum or gold,
there's so many things, butthey don't necessarily have to
(19:11):
be as avant-garde as you think.
They can be very simple.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
I guess that's where my head goes, because if I had
the opportunity, I'm like, yeah,let's really do this do this.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
I mean we can do any kind of decoration on any kind
of plate.
So it really is.
It sets the standard and theones that we sent you, that that
have the kind of meta traininglook, is actually part of our
new digi collection and thoseare all digitally printed.
What's the difference?
It's screen printed on top ofthe, or it's a decal, or screen
printed on top of the plate andthen it is glazed.
(19:43):
So it's everything is in.
Or screen printed on top of theplate and then it is glazed, so
everything is in glaze.
So the glaze, the decoration,is not going to come off.
It's not going to come off fromany type of dishwasher or any
kind of care and use.
But with the digital printingit's actually printed in a 3D
dimension, so it almost lookslike it's embossed, but it's not
(20:07):
.
It's just a flat plate.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
So when I saw the pictures, that's exactly what I
thought it looks like.
It's, you know, like you'regoing to run your finger over it
and you're going to have nooksand crannies.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
let's say yeah, it has some texture to it, which is
nice.
So it's nice for us from aproduct development standpoint,
to be able to put out designs alittle bit faster because we
don't have to necessarily makemore molds.
You know, molds are not cheap.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Is this more on trend right now?
Speaker 3 (20:34):
The digital printing yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
So then, when we're talking about collections and
we're talking about, you know,digi printing yes, what's new on
the horizon?
What do you have coming up?
Are you excited?
I mean, you have to be excited.
You're always excited.
You have to have something inyour.
You know, there's alwayssomething in your pocket.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
There, there's always something in the pipeline.
Corporately, we have about 18different digital collections
and the US decided to stockthree and those are the ones
that I share with you guys touse in your podcast.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
If you were going to have one style of food creation
on your plates, all of yourplates, what would it be?
This is just a personalquestion.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
Oh, personal Thai.
Oh, I love Thai.
I went to Thailand not too longago, actually visiting a
ceramic factory, and I was blownaway.
That was one of my favoriteplaces in the world.
Chef Same question.
Same question.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
I love blown away.
That was one of my favoriteplaces in the world.
Chef.
Same question.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Same question.
I love Italian food.
It would be Italian, oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
The vast majority of chefs that I ask hey, man, what
do you love to eat?
Not necessarily cook, what doyou love to eat?
Thai.
It's always Thai, always, or itstarts with Thai, and then
it'll break down into some otherAsian-inspired cuisine, but I
have to tell you it's alwaysThai, and I'm like.
(21:54):
You know I like Thai food too.
You know it's good, but I'mItalian, my man.
Okay, now we're talking.
What's your favorite stuff,though?
Is it your pasta?
Speaker 2 (22:03):
I'm a pasta guy, I could eat pasta literally every
other day.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
I was just talking to last night actually Chef Josh
over at JetBlue.
He's a corporate executive chefat JetBlue, guy is awesome and
he calls me up.
He goes, yeah, he goes.
You know, I'm going to go home,I'm going to make some pasta.
I'm like what he goes.
Yeah, you know, I love it.
I'm like what he goes, yeah,you know, like.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I love it, Like no kidding.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
I was like we're going to do classes, we're going
to do this, you down.
He's like hell, yeah, I'm like,all right, we're going to say
I'm super excited about that,I'm going to get you involved in
this.
Sounds good, kevin, you'regoing to be, you're going.
(22:48):
Of the reasons I reached out toyou.
What?
Two reasons?
For two reasons.
Kurt spoke amazing things aboutyou, number one.
But number two, I was like man,I'm going through all of your
stuff on LinkedIn, where I thinkthat's primarily where you do
your, your, your posting.
Yes, sir, I'm just looking andit's like every dish is better
than the last one, like morebeautiful, like elevated stuff,
like you do a really great job.
I appreciate it.
No, sincerely, yeah, and Idon't hand that out.
(23:10):
Oh, let me.
Let me put it like this ifsomebody makes it here, it's
because they do great stuff.
I had somebody on social mediatell me one time.
They said, ah, carl, everything, everything's beautiful and
everything's delicious.
I'm like well, yeah, I'm notbringing bums and losers into
the place.
Truth, so yeah hardly ever isthere like something where
you're going to go.
That's no good.
(23:30):
So the fact that you're here, Ijust think you do a terrific
job.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
That means a lot to me.
Sincerely, definitely means alot to me.
So one thing you mentionedseeing all my social media posts
, my dish, whatever dish that Ipost, pretty much is a
representation of how I'mfeeling that day.
So that's why I always telleverybody you know, cook from
the heart, you know what's onyour mind, how are you feeling.
That's my way of translating mythoughts, my feelings, to the
(23:57):
plate and presenting it to you.
I always stress that and alwayscook from the heart, cook with
love, and everything else willfall into place.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
So that day, when you posted that filet with a knife
jabbed in it, like what were youfeeling?
I'm kidding, I'm kidding,that's so.
That's unique.
You know, a lot of chefs areout there.
There's a chef, jonathan Lamore, and he's from, he's from South
Florida.
He was over at the I forgot thename of the place, but giant
country club down in Key Largoarea.
(24:29):
Same thing Like.
He does a lot of Caribbeanstyle food and I'm just looking
and I'm like man, what is themotivation?
Because, listen, there's a lot.
I've dealt with a lot of chefsand a lot of chefs come through
here and everybody's good, butthen there's like.
Then there's like, another,another level up, and that level
up is the colors.
And people might say, oh,building up is 90s or whatever,
(24:54):
but it's not.
You have only so much you cando with the food, right?
So if you're building yourplate and you're making it
pretty and you're using allthese colors and obviously
plateware, all these thingsmatter cutlery, everything man,
what is the motivation?
Speaker 2 (25:07):
The motivation honestly lie to me, I'm not even
going to lie to you, I'll behonest.
So with cooking, I telleverybody cook from the heart,
cook with passion.
The motivation is to get areaction out of you, out of you,
out of her, and I just feellike, with cooking, like that,
(25:27):
it's just you want someone tofeel good and in the environment
that I work in, you never knowwhen it's a person's last meal.
So, with that being said, youtreat every and I stress this to
my team you treat every meallike it's this person's last
meal, because you never know.
You never know.
Even with us we can go out todinner, all that.
(25:50):
We don't know if we're going tomake it home.
Hate to bring the mood down inthe room, but it's true.
So it's like you always wantthat experience to be a good
experience and you want peopleto come back and be like wow,
that was so good, I want more ofit.
So that's the passion, that'sthe love, that's what motivates
me to keep going and I also wantto keep pushing the, I guess,
(26:13):
push the barrier a little bitfurther out that and just try
new things.
Some things work, some thingsdon't.
But you don't know, unless youtry it, you killed me with that.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
That was amazing.
That was a beautiful thing tosay.
You, you killed me with that.
That was amazing.
That was a beautiful thing tosay.
You know, and I have no reasonto doubt you on that.
With that said, you haveobviously the people that you're
cooking for, they're olderseniors.
Yes, sir, right, how are they,by and large?
How do they embrace?
You know, your, because whatyou're putting out is a little
(26:45):
edgy.
It's pretty stuff, it's verymodern.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
I'm pushing the boundaries Right.
So how are they?
How are they receiving you?
At first they're a littlehesitant, until that dish comes
to their plate and literally allit takes is one resident to
order the plate and theneveryone else is looking like,
oh, what's that, what's that?
Then they order it.
Then they order it.
It just takes one person andthen everyone's loving it.
And it's like I always thinkback to where they want stuff
(27:18):
that's reminding them of theirchildhood.
So it's like I'll make that,but I'll add my twist to it.
So, like I told you earlier,I'm a visual person.
I can't make it unless I canpicture it.
Literally.
One time I did pork and beansbut I elevated it to where I'm
having fun with it and I telleverybody let's make cooking fun
again.
So it's like I feel like if Ido that, everyone else would be
(27:42):
receptive to it.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
I love that.
So basically, it's kind of likeEthel is going to see Edith
eating some kind of elevateddish and she's going to say, oh
my God, I want to try that.
And all of a sudden it spreadsthroughout the whole Wildfire.
It's wildfire, I love it, mygoodness.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
They just don't like me to stack their food.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Just don't stack it, don't stack it.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Don't stack it and don't let it touch, and give me
a to-go box.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Yeah, that's it, man.
I know the deal, I know howthat works.
My experiences in the foodindustry has always been in
front of the house and you know,my alma mater is a place down
in South Florida called BeverlyHills Cafe.
John was there too.
We were there together, andthis was a million years ago.
Obviously A lot of seniors,blue hairs everywhere and
(28:26):
awesome people, but boy, I'lltell you, they know what they
like and what they don't likeand bring the box and also bring
an extra napkin.
You know the linen to put overyour shoulders because it's
chilly.
I'm just saying like that's a.
You remember that.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
So the funny thing with that, and I had a hard time
realizing with the elderly theydon't eat like we eat, so what
I think is a full portion islike a half portion in them.
So literally everything's all.
Just give me a half portion,put it to go.
I need a box I'm going to takeit back home with.
So that is something I had toget adjusted to.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Did you actually make smaller?
Are you making a smallerportion?
Yes, oh, that's cool.
Yeah, yeah, because me.
I'm like Where's the rest?
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Where's the rest?
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Yes, Tina, we're talking about a specific segment
of culinary guest right now,but when we're talking about
tableware and different culturesand we're talking about the
globe, are you selling the sameseries of tablewares in the
States as you are in Europe orelsewhere, sometimes yes,
(29:37):
sometimes no.
How do you determine that?
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Well, I think.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
I mean, culture is a real hard thing to kind of
traverse.
How do you do that?
Speaker 3 (29:46):
It's not necessarily.
There's two different things.
There's the cultural aspect ofit, but there's also when it
comes to the US and when itcomes to sizing of things.
Our sizing of plateware is alot different than the sizing of
plateware in the Europe or theMiddle East.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
It's bigger.
It's larger, isn't it it'slarger.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so there are.
It was interesting.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
You're catering to me .
I just want you to know that.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
So we might have, you know, some certain plate sizes
that sell better in certainparts of the world where we need
to be mindful of that.
You know we have somecollections that are they might
be launched in a differentcountry and they you know
they're coming from, they mightbe inspired by our European team
and when we see them, you know,we look at them for the U?
(30:37):
S market and think there aresome things that might be
missing.
We might need to add somethings.
The cups might need to bebigger.
You really need to look at what.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Don't bring me a bread plate for anything, not
even the bread, you understand?
Yeah, I hear what I'm saying,right?
Speaker 3 (30:51):
You don't like the bread and butter.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
I love it, but put it on a big plate and give me a
lot of it.
That's what I'm trying to tellyou.
But here's the thing thoughColors, do you find that there
are different countries thatprefer very colorful plateware
or very, you know, eclectic sortof stuff Like how does it break
down?
Speaker 3 (31:08):
Well, obviously, you know, in the Eastern part of the
world and depending on whereyou are, whether it be India or
China, I think sometimes theplateware can be from just my
travels a little bit moredecorated and a little bit more
ornate.
But you know, we're gettinginto such an area where colored,
(31:30):
if I can explain it, like thisyears ago when I started
traveling to the trade showsacross the globe and I would go
to Maison Auger and Salon deMobile and I would go to the
Frankfurt Ambiente show.
10 years ago there was was a lotof white, a lot of white and a
lot of cream.
Just when it came to plateware.
You would walk around, youwould walk the show and it was.
(31:53):
It was very, very white andcream and over the last couple
years we're starting to see morecolor and more color and then
different body types.
That's when you started seeing.
You know, for the food serviceworld it really was about white
porcelain and then all of asudden we kind of got into this
trend of the retail world withtheir stoneware how exciting
(32:15):
things got in the retailmarketplace and they wanted to
bring that into food service.
The problem with that is thatit isn't the most durable
product.
It can be a beautiful pattern,but some of those patterns are
stoneware and it's it's.
It's not going to have thedurability of porcelain, which
everything at Rack is is is aporcelain material with a very
(32:36):
high alumina content.
So it's it's trying to take,you know.
So again.
So, trying to get back to your,I kind of went around your
question, but you know, lookingaround the globe, I think now
color is everywhere and forthose establishments that have a
lot of white, they're startingto get into adding color,
(32:56):
whether it be for a dessertplate or for a bread and butter
plate, even though you don'tlike that Not that long ago, we
ended up doing two shoots.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
We did it on the white and we did it again on on
one of the the the black platesman it was gorgeous, it popped,
it blew out of there, it justblew off of the plate.
So there's so many things youcan do and obviously, colors
it's not black, is black, colorsthe colors.
But at the end, of it.
It's like I don't know.
I'm going to get rid of thewhite plates.
I want to probably getsomething else.
(33:24):
I want to get something alittle bit more pizzazz, a
little bit more, somethinginteresting, some life.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
Well, and it doesn't just have to be white color.
There's so many differentglazes and things like that that
are happening that you can getthose pools of color in
different places and they canalmost look watercolor-ish.
But I mean, it's the way thatthe glaze is fired in the kiln,
so glaze is fired in the kiln soyou can get so many different
(33:49):
variations.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
I meant it in the monologue when I said that you
know, when you're talking aboutyour dining experience, it isn't
just about the sweet and thesavories on your dish, it's
about the ambiance of the wholeplace and your plate is holding,
carrying the food you're goingto eat, and it's part of the
experience, you know, and itcould potentially make your food
(34:10):
taste better because it lookscool, and if it looks cool, man,
I feel good about it.
Therefore, I'm going to go intothis just with a better frame
of mind and I'll probably likeit.
I mean, I'm just saying I don'tknow if that's accurate or not.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
Well, I think it is.
I think if you have the right Imean honestly, if you have the
right shaped soup bowl for yoursoup, by the time it gets to
your table after sitting in thekitchen for a little bit, it's
going to be hot, you know, andthat has to do with the material
that it's made of as well, andporcelain is going to hold that
(34:42):
heat Chef you're shaking yourhead.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
I agree, it will hold that heat.
The porcelain or the shape, orboth?
I guess Both, yeah, both.
What's the correct shape for?
Tell me about that.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
Well, I mean, it depends.
It depends on what kind I mean.
If you have a very shallow bowlshallow, flat bowls are very
popular right now and it'salmost like a plate with a
higher rim.
It's almost like a plate with ahigher rim If you spread a
sauce, or you spread a sauce orsoup in a bowl that's very, very
(35:13):
low, like that, it is going toget cold faster than something
that's a high bowl.
So you just need to be aware ofyou know the height, the width
and how it's going to withstandthat heat.
I think that's important.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
To add on to that.
So a little backstory.
I always wondered why my degreesaid associate's degree of
applied science, right?
Well, it wasn't until maybefive, six years ago I started to
understand the science incooking.
You're talking about culinarydegree.
Yes, sir, as she's describingeverything, all those factors
play into it to where is if yourfood's going to stay hot or
(35:49):
stay cold, or if it'll clashagainst it, and stuff like that.
That is the science, part of it.
It's like we don't think aboutfood as being a science, but at
the end of the day it's ascience.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
Yeah, I see food as a science.
Well, I've not now, but youknow, seven or eight days later
it becomes science.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Do you know what I mean?
Being in the fridge.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
If you had to pick a style of tableware for your
establishment, what would it?
Speaker 2 (36:15):
be.
As far as the colors, I likecolorful plates, but like dark
colors.
So, with the contrast, it givesme more room to work with.
Or when I'm making a dish, Ican know which sauce I'm going
to pair with it or how I'm goingto plate it, because I'm
building off of those colors,opposed to just using a just
standard white plate.
(36:36):
Not to say that there's nothingwrong with the white plate, but
it's like, in my opinion, whiteplates are outdated.
It's like we're in 2025 now.
It's like we kind of got to getwith the times.
I know it's hard for somepeople to get with the times,
but you know you don't want tobe left behind.
So that's why I prefer like thecolorful plates, well, like the
dark colored plates.
(36:57):
As far as shapes, I don't like.
I remember a few years ago likesquare plates were in.
To my knowledge, they're not inanymore.
I don't even want to see asquare plate.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
well, wait a minute though wait, I gotta say
something, and this has to dowith something that you, you
guys, sent us.
I agree with you.
Like the plates I have, I gottaget I'm.
They're gone, like we my wifeand I talked about it and and
we're gonna move on from thatwell, you have a catalog I know,
and but anyway, so listen, so,so there's a.
there's a.
There's a black plate that wehave.
(37:27):
First of all, it's giant andit's sectioned off.
It's a square plate, but it'sdope.
It's really cool.
I need to see it.
Yeah yeah, it's cool, reallycool, like charcuterie or
something like that.
I mean I could just you know,there's so many million things
you can do with it and I don'twant to get off on a tangent.
(37:49):
You're right, squares out, youhear me people.
Squares out what's in.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
I was going to say a rounded square is not the worst
thing in the world, though thereare a rounded square, a soft
square, the hell is that A softsquare plate.
A soft square plate, somethingthat has a little bit more.
I mean because the problem witha square plate is the chippage.
You know, from a back of thehouse standpoint it can be
really tough.
But there is what I'm startingto see a little bit of a soft
(38:17):
square.
Is this a new trend orsomething.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
I think I know what she's talking about.
So are there corners like morerounded?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (38:24):
rounded square.
Okay, before we leave today,we're going to show you some of
that stuff, okay sounds good, soyou can just see what it is.
Speaker 3 (38:31):
I think my favorite restaurants are the ones where
none of the plateware matcheseach other.
That comes out so that you canhave that full, immersive
experience in whatever region,whatever global cuisine you're
(38:53):
getting into.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
It's going to be like a cottage style.
Speaker 3 (38:56):
A little bit, but that can be a back of the house
disaster.
You know, and that's one of thethings we need to think about
from a food service perspectiveis what the back of the house
looks like when you need tostack everything and
stackability and durability, andyou know, do you want 15
different plates?
But you know there are ways toget around that, whether it be
finding, finding a plate youknow you might be finding a nine
(39:18):
inch plate, but getting it in afew different colors or so that
it it still stacks.
But you, you get a differentlook with, like, your dessert
versus your bread and butterplate.
How do you?
Speaker 1 (39:31):
feel about that.
Speaker 2 (39:33):
I feel good about that.
So literally and it's funnythat she mentioned that because
even with the different colorplates and everything like that,
I feel like having differentvariety, even though if they're
the same plate but differentcolors works out.
So that way, let's just say, ifI'm doing a special theme meal
for that night, I can use thosespecial theme plates for that
(39:56):
particular meal, opposed to,let's just say, if I have the
white or if I have a dark, navy,blue or anything like that, or
a black plate.
So I feel like that that couldwork.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
You know what goes with plates to spices, spices go
with plates, do you just?
Spices are colorful, right,yeah, chef, what's your mom's
name?
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Jean.
Everyone calls her Mama Jean,mama Jean, mama Jean.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
Okay.
Is there some sort of acorrelation between Mama Jean
and spices?
Speaker 2 (40:28):
Yes, so three years ago I started up my own
seasoning company called MamaJean Seasoning.
I named it after my mom.
Everyone that knows me knowsI'm a mama's boy to the heart.
I love my mom, even though Iget on her last nerves half the
time.
Everyone that knows me knowsI'm a mama's boy to the heart.
I love my mom, even though Iget on her last nerves half the
time, but she loves me.
She calls me baby boy all thetime, and I'm 39 years old.
(40:49):
I've been making seasoningssince 2004.
I started making my first oneand just throughout the time
friends, family would call mehey, I'm cooking chicken or
steak or something.
What do you suggest I put onhere?
List off a number of things.
They're like yeah, I don't havethat at my house, make me
something, bring it to me.
And that was it.
So just throughout the time Iwas just doing it and it kind of
(41:11):
just took a life of its own.
And yeah, now we're here.
We're in our third year of MamaJean seasonings.
We started out with 12 andright now we're at 41.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
Normally on the show, we, you know, we talk about all
the brands and social, but wedon't normally just do that.
I just feel like, based on whatyou're doing in your life and
you, you, you come off as agenuinely good person, like a
good human being, and there ashortage of of that today,
unfortunately.
So I felt it was, and john andI both felt it was important to
(41:47):
to talk about the fact that, hey, man, you're, you're an
executive chef, you're doingyour thing at chelago, you're,
you're doing it, but then you'realso doing you and and, and not
only are you doing you, but thefact is it's family centered,
and I think that should, I thinkit's commendable and I feel
like you know anybody listeningto this should check it out.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
You have a website, right yes, mama jean
seasoningcom all the socialmedias, or mama jean seasoning
facebook, instagram, threads,twitter.
I think it's called X now right.
Speaker 1 (42:21):
Yeah, All that, all that all that, all that jazz all
that stuff yes, but you canfind us at those but here's the
thing, it's good Like I wasn'tgoing to bring it.
If, honestly speaking, like ifyou know, if it was going to be
like some bunk spice or whatever, we wouldn't talking about it.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
All right, I'm just saying like I understand, we
have reputations here.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
I understand so, but it wasn't.
It was really good and yourpackaging is good.
It looks good.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
Your label.
You know the logo.
It's all good man, like,everything is good.
Yeah, I don't want to take allthe credit for that Cause.
Uh, my friend, my best friendfrom high school I've known him
for going on 25 years MichaelFarrington, he handles all of
that.
He takes care of the labels,the designs, the websites.
I only handle what's in thebottle.
Well, you're staying in yourlane, yes, literally staying in
my lane.
Okay, we're just like a two-mansmall business trying to take
(43:12):
over the world and add someflavor to everyone's house.
Speaker 1 (43:16):
So you're like Mike, what do you want to do today?
He's like the same thing I wantto do every day.
Speaker 2 (43:21):
Take over the world.
Speaker 1 (43:25):
Exactly, okay, exactly, you know what?
That is right, thinking thebrain.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
What's up?
Speaker 1 (43:29):
You know it's a Gen X thing, man, most people want to
understand, and you millennialstoo.
Hey, listen, it's all good outthere, it's good.
You know who cares?
Age is just a number, they say.
Speaker 2 (43:37):
I think I fall into the millennials.
I think you're a millennial.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
You are a millennial.
Yes, 85?
.
Yeah, millennial.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
All right.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
I'm not mad at you, you know.
Speaker 2 (43:47):
You know, if it helps , I'll be 40 this year.
Speaker 1 (43:50):
It doesn't help and it doesn't get any better.
Speaker 3 (43:53):
It doesn't Okay.
It just doesn't get any, arethey?
I'm a little scared.
Speaker 1 (43:58):
I remember I was like 28.
And I'm a man about town or Iwas, I used to be and I'm at a
bar by myself Having some drinksand having a good time.
And there's an older dude andhe was like 45.
Something like that Mid 40s,upper 40s, something like that.
We were both drinking somescotch and he's like what do you
(44:20):
?
Got there we started talkingabout single malts and all that
good stuff.
And he's like you're drinking,you're 20, you're drinking
scotch already.
I like it.
You know family, you knowgrandfather, dad, whatever.
And you're, you're in yourforties.
Man, like, let me ask you aquestion.
You know, like the people intheir twenties are looking at
you like the weird guy at thebar, like we're just talking,
(44:40):
I'm having a candid conversation, you know, and he goes let me
tell you something Twenties aregreat, your thirties are great,
your forties are the best.
And I'm like how on earth isthat even possible?
He's like, because you're,you're, you're old enough to
know and young enough to stillpull it off, whatever it may be
starting a business, enjoyingyourself out and about vacation,
(45:04):
moving.
You know, because I and now Ijust turned 50 this year, 24 and
it's over.
I mean immediately, immediately.
I'm like man my knees hurt myhands hurt my hips.
I'm like an old German shepherd.
I'm like what the hell is goingon here.
You know what I mean.
We have shows coming up.
Speaker 3 (45:25):
We do, it is show season.
Speaker 1 (45:27):
It is indeed the next couple months.
We're going to be at a showtogether.
We are, yeah.
Where is it Natham?
Speaker 3 (45:34):
It's in Atlanta this year, very exciting February.
Speaker 1 (45:38):
Yeah, the last.
It's like the last week ofFebruary.
Speaker 3 (45:41):
It is.
Speaker 1 (45:42):
Yeah, so the people out there in the food industry.
Nafm is the largest equipment,restaurant equipment trade show
in the country.
It's giant and everybody goesand it's going to be bad ass.
Now here's a cool thing aboutthis NAFM show.
So at the NAFM show there is aculinary competition and it is
(46:04):
called the U?
S culinary open and, dearfriends of ours, nick and Polly
Barrington, both chefs, createdthis, this amazing competition
that, like you have the worldfood championship.
Truth is, and it's's a greatand what they do is great.
But, tina, you and me can goand compete.
They'll accept us to compete.
(46:26):
You don't have to be a chef, youcan be, you know, home cook,
cool.
Then you have, like, the bokustore, which is the cream of the
crop.
It's like the chef's chef'scompetition, global, huge.
Well then you got the USCulinary Open.
Us Culinary Open isprofessional working chefs,
(46:47):
beard chefs, michelin chefs,like hardcore, and it's going to
be dope.
There's 12 competitors.
We're the official podcast forthis event.
How cool, so cool.
Rac will be there.
It's a huge event and I'm soexcited and we get to work
together a little bit, we do youso we're going to also have
(47:09):
somebody in our booth supra cut.
I mean, it's just, it's a, it'sa, basically it's a citrus
cutting system.
It's a piece of equipment.
It's beautiful, it looks like amercedes-benz and it basically.
So you know, john and I werefront of the house people.
We didn't really do back of thehouse stuff, but we used to
(47:29):
have to slam the lemons, cutlemon wedges, whatever, for you
know, for service, this thingdoes it and it does it
beautifully, easily and withconsistency, and it even does
the slit where you would put iton the room in a glass.
Such a very cool piece ofequipment.
(47:50):
Now it just so happens that I'mtalking about this.
They are.
Supercut is a new partner tothe show.
I want to tell you I know howmuch equipment costs inside
restaurants.
Everything is freakingexpensive, ridiculously
expensive.
Fives and tens and twenties ofthousands of dollars expensive.
(48:11):
This unit is 25, 2600 bucks andit does a lot and you can even.
It basically does it as neededper individual use.
Anyway it's an amazing piece ofequipment.
They're going to be in ourbooth.
Sorry for the sidetrackeverybody.
The ADD took over, but thetruth is they're going to be at
the booth and with us andeveryone's going to get to see
(48:31):
it.
It's going to be, really cool.
Do you know where?
Speaker 3 (48:34):
where's your booth?
I knew you were going to ask methat and I didn't write down
the number.
Speaker 1 (48:36):
You dirty Okay.
Speaker 3 (48:39):
Do you get the trade shows?
Speaker 2 (48:40):
I've never been to one.
Speaker 1 (48:42):
Ever, Ever, oh man.
Speaker 2 (48:44):
I don't leave home much and I don't leave work much
, dude, but since I'mapproaching my 40s, I'm going to
start living life and gettingout and doing what you said
You're making it happen.
Speaker 1 (48:58):
Let me tell you something.
So you're a business owner aswell, right?
So when you go to these tradeshows, what you end up meeting
are potential A, customers B.
You might find somebody whoproduces the containers you're
using cheaper and closer thanwherever you're getting them now
Less expensive, I should say,hey, cheaper.
(49:19):
Anyway, you might find a betterdeal on some of the packaging
that you use.
You have to go to these showsand chances are you'll find
somebody to buy your stuff incapacity too.
I'm not talking about like I'lltake a bottle, no, like pallets
, okay yeah, I'm gonna make it amission of mine, maybe one of
these shows.
You gotta come with us,absolutely.
(49:40):
How do you feel about that?
I'm down for it.
Okay, good, nafm.
No, you wouldn't.
What about?
Are you going to be at the NRAthis year too?
Oh, yes, where else?
Speaker 3 (49:50):
Well, we're going to do the FNB at Sea again and
we've got tons of regional showsthat we do with our distributor
partners.
So we've got I'm travelingabout once a month.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
I'm going to introduce you to some folks we
met.
They do the Pizza TomorrowSummit, but they also do the
Restaurant Show in New York.
They have, I don't know, fiveor six shows across the country,
but they're bangers.
They're all great shows, likebig, big shows, and they do a
terrific job.
I'm going to introduce you tothem and see if there's
(50:22):
something there.
I highly recommend trying tofigure something out with the
outfit.
It's an, they're up and comingand they're doing tremendous
things.
Speaker 3 (50:29):
Wow, yes, yeah, nafm and NRI are our biggest.
Speaker 1 (50:34):
Nri is great man.
Listen, I love NAFM.
This'll be my third show, youknow, attending a NAFM show, so
I'm excited about it.
I love it and plus, now we'regoing to be added in it part of
it, and it's an excitingendeavor.
Yeah, thank you, nick and Polly.
Speaker 3 (50:50):
And we'll also be at Ambiente, but from a global
presence, which is in February.
What is that Ambiente?
Yeah, I'm not familiar withthat amianti is like one of the
largest tabletop shows in theworld.
It is it's out of frankfurt,germany, and it is it's where
everyone comes together andshowcases.
(51:10):
It's interesting.
I kind of look at it as apreview for either nafum or for
nra really there's, there's alot of, there's a lot of the
same companies that showcasetheir wear.
But since it's in Europe, it's alot of European manufacturers,
and I've been going for about 10years now and it's a wonderful
(51:33):
place to go to look for trendsand to see what's happening in
other parts of the world,because there's just so much of
a global presence.
Whether it be dinnerware,flatware, glassware, gifts I
mean you can get a fabric,florals- A real quick question
before we log off here who setsthe trend?
Speaker 1 (51:57):
Who is it?
That's a good question.
Speaker 3 (51:59):
I was a trend analyst for about five years and then I
also did trends on the sidewhen I was a creative design
manager and you know we paid alot of money for a lot of
resources.
There's a really great onecalled Data Essential.
Data Essential does a reallygood job at tracking trends
across the globe, whether it belike food, food and beverage
(52:20):
primarily, you know, but when itcomes to color, there's there's
other companies out there likeWGSN and and other other smaller
trend companies, but it it isinteresting and, coming from my
background, is in fashion.
I went to school for appareldesign, you know, I went to FIT
in New York city and you know,when it comes to color,
(52:43):
everything, everything stemsfrom fashion.
So the interesting thing is howlong it takes a fashion color
when it comes to clothing toactually trickle its way down to
see it on something likedinnerware, which can take a
long time, but it's justsomething interesting.
Speaker 1 (52:59):
We're going to find out more about that.
I might have you send me someanalysis each month and we can,
we can talk about it.
All right, where do we find you?
Speaker 3 (53:08):
The best place is LinkedIn.
Tina Davis, rack, porcelain,usa.
I think that's the best.
Speaker 1 (53:13):
Instagram.
Speaker 3 (53:14):
Instagram.
I am Tina Davis.
Speaker 1 (53:17):
And Rack.
Speaker 3 (53:18):
And Rack is Rack Porcelain, usa Chef Tina Davis.
And rack and rack is rackporcelain, usa chef.
Speaker 2 (53:22):
You can find me on LinkedIn Kevin Raspberry, r A S
B E R R Y no P.
You can find me on Instagramand Facebook at mama Jean
seasoning, or you can find me onmy website mama Jean
seasoningcom.
Speaker 1 (53:36):
folks Check out mama jeans.
Check out rack.
Check out peninsula foodservice.
Give out Rack.
Check out Peninsula FoodService.
Give Kurt a call if you're inthe Orlando area.
I got John.
I got to tell you man, dude,you kill it.
Every time, every week, I saythe same thing.
I'm waiting for you to screwthat up.
I'm waiting for it, but youdon't, you don't, and that's why
(53:56):
I appreciate you, man.
All right, you two.
Thank you for coming in.
Speaker 2 (54:01):
We sincerely appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (54:02):
Thank you for having us and thank you for Trilago to
have you come on out as well.
Speaker 2 (54:06):
I appreciate it we are out, we are out.
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