October 28, 2025 • 12 mins
After 35 episodes of Fugitive Chefs, I’ve spoken with chefs who left the pass — not to quit food, but to redefine what a chef can be.
From R&D labs to classrooms, sustainability projects to storytelling and entrepreneurship — these are the five paths chefs are carving beyond traditional kitchens.
In this special solo episode, I break down what I’ve learned from voices like:
👨🍳 Dan Giusti — from Noma to school food systems
🌎 Vojtech Vegh — building the world’s first zero-waste restaurant
🌊 Ned Bell — fighting for ocean sustainability
🍫 Maximilian Bogenmann — creating chocolate without cacao🧠 Pat Clifford — leading flavor innovation at PepsiCo
We’ll talk about:
00:00 Introduction to the Fugitive Chefs Podcast
02:16 The Evolution of the Podcast
05:03 Five Paths of Culinary Innovation
07:52 Building a Community for Chefs
10:49 Engagement and Future Directions
12:10 Spotify youtube outro.mp4
If this resonates with you:
👉 Join the Fugitive Chefs Circle → [https://tally.so/r/3jOd7Y]
👉 Rate & Follow on Spotify, Youtube or Apple Podcasts — it helps others find the show
👉 Connect on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/furqan-meerza-07b9b5112/
👉 Watch the Beyond the Pass carousel on my profile
This podcast began as a way for me to learn — now, it’s a place where we all can. See you inside the circle!
🎧 Fugitive Chefs — stories and strategies from chefs redefining food, creativity, and purpose.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi all, this is Farh Khan and welcome back to Fugitive Chefs
podcast. Today's episode is going to be a
little different. There's no guest, there's no
interview. It's just me.
Because after 3435 something episodes of talking with for
hours with chefs who have walkedout of restaurant kitchens to
build something of their own, I started to see a pattern.
And I realized that we, the people who love food but don't
(00:21):
always fit inside the restaurantkitchen into the systems we are
part of. Something bigger.
So today, I want to share with you what I've learned from these
conversations, why I'm starting a new chapter of Future chefs
and how you can be a part of it.It's sort of like a summary of
the journey so far of the podcast.
And yeah, what more can we do out here, you know, with the
people who are listening? That is you.
(00:41):
So when I started this podcast, I just want to tell stories,
stories of chefs who decided to do food differently.
But over the time, the show became something else, a living
map. We've had people like Dani Lasa
in the episode one, who left Mugaritz after two decades of
working over there to start Imago and work with UN on food
projects across the world. We also had White Egwe, who
(01:02):
built the first zero waste restaurant and turned
sustainability into education, to his platform, to content
making, to storytelling, and nowwith big brands and companies.
We also had Pat Clifford, who now leads Flavor Innovation and
he's the principal research leadat PepsiCo.
He takes the chef's imagination into the world of R&D.
Somebody who came from the ranks, he rose up from the
(01:23):
ranks, worked in the cruise industry and today works at
PepsiCo. We also had recently Dan, Dan
Giusti who went from Noma being a head chef over there to school
cafeterias and showed us that feeding 1000 kids can be as
meaningful as feeding 30 guests at fine dining table.
Actually more honestly. And so many more like Eddie
(01:43):
Shepherd, Sarmeh Emron, John Regefolk from Bus Country
Center, Nabila, who used to workat Alchemist Frederick, who's
constructing an ingredients company.
We had Nick who's a forager. So all of them in their own way
said the same thing. The kitchen was never the end,
it was the beginning. And that's what Fugitive Chefs
Podcast has been from day one, the people rewriting what it
(02:05):
means to work with food. After all these conversations, I
started to see 5 clear paths that keep appearing.
They are not exits from the kitchen, they are just
extensions of it, I would say. So the first path is R&D and
food innovation. These are chefs who take
creativity into labs, tech startups, product design,
technological centers, food innovation departments.
(02:27):
So people like Johnny Drain who's translating fermentation
into science and flavour system.That's I would say path #1 I
would say part number 2 would beeducation and research.
So chefs who became teachers andthinkers, they are documenting
food knowledge for others that they can build upon them.
So their example could be John Regerfolk who was on our
episodes and he's working in Basque Country Center chef
(02:49):
himself and then became somebodywho gives education and parts
education today. Then we had Sandhya Kumar from
Chennai in India and she's working at the Future Food
Institute, again, translating her knowledge into education,
into an academic language. I would say that's the part
number two-part number three I would say would be
sustainability and systems. So people who work on sourcing
(03:11):
waste, circular design. And over there I would put
people like Vitech, who's I mentioned earlier, Chef Ned Bell
from Canada, who's working on the whole ocean systems and so
many more who I had in the podcast, who are people who are
looking at the food chain as onebig ecosystem.
So again, starting from restaurants, starting from
cooking skills, but how that vision makes them into this
(03:32):
path, number path #3 you know, path #4 I would say storytelling
in media now that is 1 path. I think many of these chefs I've
mentioned earlier are doing it also, but I would say some of
them that I can mention are people who are basically
writing, filming, recording and turning their craft into
communication. So that I would put Eddie
Shepherd from Manchester, who has this great restaurant on the
(03:53):
podcast we shared with you. And he's been documenting all
this stuff on YouTube, sharing with people and glowing his
crowd from there. Also Chef Joseph Yuna, he'd goes
by Brooklyn bugs on Instagram and he has been a great guest
because he's teaching edible insects and, and, and, and this
very podcast is a part of that part.
You know, him spreading his story of, of, of insect eating
(04:14):
and how insect agriculture and the transparency into that whole
whole department and whole ecosystem goes through.
So I would say that would be thepart part 4, I would say, which
is storytelling in media. I would like to put that into
the part five. I would say is something very
exciting. I really like all these guests
who come from this part, which is entrepreneurship and and new
(04:34):
formats, not just entrepreneurship, you know, so
these are the builders, they arethe ones starting supper clubs,
starting products, education platforms.
So from Maria Barriga who does dinners in New York as a private
chef, to Julius who's doing his whole new language of chocolate,
coming from a generation of chocolate family on on this
whole new entrepreneurship into existing chocolate world in
(04:56):
Belgium and across. And then people like Solomon,
who I most recently had, who's building a supper club in a
place like Iran. So these are people who are
doing entrepreneurship. New formats also do not not
mention not I forgot to mention,but Andres Hara Andres is
creating this guacamole from fava beans, calling it fava
mole, getting investors from andpublic help from Amsterdam.
(05:18):
So the things he's doing is it fits into this part 5 of
entrepreneurship and new formats.
So this is going to be a very short episode, but I want to
tell you why am I doing this solo episode today?
You know, because I realized that after hearing these
stories, there's another group of people out there and maybe
that's you, the people who are listening.
So I was like, you know, this has just been a broadcast.
(05:39):
Like this has just been me interviewing people who I think
are inspirational, who have donethis fugitive chef's path and
they have lived it. And then I thought, you know,
this can't be just a broadcast. This can't be just me telling
your story, which is good because I get a lot of messages
from you guys, emails from you guys on how this content is
helping you. A lot of young chefs out there
who are listening who, who, who texts me every day saying that,
(06:02):
you know, this content is helping me or this particular
episode helped me get some tricks that I needed to, to
pivot my, my career. But I feel this has to be more
of a community. So for me, this episode helps me
to kind of breakdown like over here, I've shared you in the
past five minutes, like a small breakdown of how these five
parts that are emerging in thesepatterns.
So you can see which one fits you best and use that as a as a
(06:25):
yeah, as a categorization for yourself to see in which of
these boxes you fit. And you redefine the box itself,
you know, So, so I thought like,I have to speak to people like
you. So people who are listening and
thinking that what about me? How do I start?
I just, I'm it's good listening to these stories, but how do I
start? And that's why I'm experimenting
this new format every few weeks.I will basically drop a shorter
(06:48):
reflection like this one, Less interview, more context, and
more conversations between us. And I generally love your
feedback on it. Like, do you want more of these?
Should they go deeper? Should they be longer?
Should they be more practical? Should there be more lessons of
how to break down these these parts, you know, like R&D or
food innovation labs, how to look for jobs like these or what
(07:08):
qualifications these jobs need, which a chef just needs to yeah,
build those blocks and can compensate for the missing
diggity in food tech possibly. So should there be more
practical? Should there be more lesson
formats e-learning? What is it that that you're
looking for me. And so for that, I need you to
message me, comment on LinkedIn,e-mail, everything's in the show
(07:29):
notes. I'll leave it out there wherever
you're listening. I'm on YouTube, Spotify, Apple
podcast, and I'm also creating content on LinkedIn.
So on LinkedIn, basically this episode comes out on Tuesday and
on Friday I'll be putting up APDF about this, these five
parts that I've showed you, you know, so you have something
physically visual that you can print out and basically chalk
out your map from there. And now here's the big news.
(07:53):
And this is what it's a short episode, we're already at like
minute 7-8. And the big news is basically
out of this podcast, a communityis forming.
This started when recently, likefew months ago, I started
getting more and more DMS from people, mostly students, I would
say mostly young chef, chefs, starting in the restaurant
industry and reaching this pivotof like, oh, what's next?
(08:14):
Or this question like what's beyond restaurants or what else
can I do? And I thought the one thing that
I can share with you is create acommunity.
So we are forming a community community.
It's called the fugitive Chef Circle.
It's for chefs, food researchers, creative
professionals, basically people who feel that pull to work
beyond the past. So here's what we're building
(08:36):
together. We'll do monthly newsletters
with insights, job postings, guest stories, summaries of
lessons we learned from all these episodes.
We'll also in the future start mentorship programs, 1 to 1
coachings for chefs who are navigating these transitions.
We're also planning to chalk outoffice hours.
This is where basically we get together in small group
conversations. So for example, 5 of you who
(08:58):
want to start a private dining club, we get you into a group,
We get an expert who's done it themselves.
And we unpack these topics like R&D, creative identity, like how
do you make yourself a brand? How do you identify it
differently? Or how do you get a certain job,
as I said before. And eventually the as this path
keeps growing and the circle keeps getting bigger, we also
(09:19):
want to do courses and basicallylabs that are Co created with
some of the guests who are on the podcast, who have been on
the podcast. And the next ones, we have an
amazing lineup of honestly guests coming up.
I know until January, the ones that are coming up.
So there's an amazing lineup. And yeah, we want to Co create
these labs, these courses, you call it, and yeah, summarize
(09:41):
these learnings so that these learnings are not just a story
that you can learn on your way to work or before going to bed,
but rather something that contributes to your career of
becoming a fugitive chef. So all of this starts with a
short form. It's in the show notes and it
basically helps me understand where you're at, whether you're
early in your career, you're changing direction, you're
(10:01):
studying, you're in a course right now of hospitality
management like I was 10 years ago, or you're aspiring to study
something to do with food and you do not know what that career
would look like. So it's for people like you.
I would say that's where it begins.
You need to fill that form and and that's how we take it, you
know. So if this resonates with you,
what I would love to do is here.Firstly, join the circle.
(10:23):
The link is in the show notes. It's on my Insta bio, on my
TikTok bio, the Lincoln bio, andit will be also on the first
comment on my LinkedIn post thisweek.
So fill it out. You will get the first updates.
When we get the open pilot groups, I will possibly do some
first pilot groups where we testthese concepts.
So it's nice if you're early in there and we'd also do mentoring
(10:44):
sessions because I really want that.
This podcast, as I said, doesn'tstay a broadcast but helps you.
So secondly, it will be if you enjoy these conversations.
The second thing I can ask you for is please follow and rate on
Spotify or Apple Fugitive Chef'spodcast because this rating
really helps me out because it takes 10 seconds and really
helps more chefs to find us. The people who are in a fix like
(11:05):
you or who are in restaurants have the passion but don't
really connect with the restaurant system how it is
today and to transform their carriers.
So please do that. It takes very little.
And thirdly, I will ask you, this is the third, third favor I
ask you go to my LinkedIn. It's called, it's called Furkan
Mirza. My name is a very strange name.
So there's not many out there. It's at the rate Furkan Mirza on
LinkedIn. Go there and check out the
Caruso. I'll post on Friday.
(11:26):
It's called Beyond the Pass and it's the visual version of what
I said earlier, like it's a visual version of what we talked
about today. It's a great post to share with
someone who's feeling stuck in their food carrier.
And finally, tell me what you think about this new format.
You have comments down there on YouTube, Spotify, whatever
you're listening. Leave comments.
Let me know how you like it. Do you want more reflection
episodes like this? What topics should I unpack
(11:47):
next? And your feedback will basically
shape what comes next. The truth is, this podcast
started for me as a way to learn.
And now it's turning into a place where we can all learn
together. So we can we've heard from chefs
who have already made this this jump to being a fugitive chef.
Now it's time to build somethingfor the ones who are about to.
So I'm for Khan, this is fugitive chefs and see you
(12:09):
inside the circle.
Hi all, this is Farh Khan and welcome back to Fugitive Chefs
podcast. Today's episode is going to be a
little different. There's no guest, there's no
interview. It's just me.
Because after 3435 something episodes of talking with for
hours with chefs who have walkedout of restaurant kitchens to
build something of their own, I started to see a pattern.
And I realized that we, the people who love food but don't
(00:21):
always fit inside the restaurantkitchen into the systems we are
part of. Something bigger.
So today, I want to share with you what I've learned from these
conversations, why I'm starting a new chapter of Future chefs
and how you can be a part of it.It's sort of like a summary of
the journey so far of the podcast.
And yeah, what more can we do out here, you know, with the
people who are listening? That is you.
(00:41):
So when I started this podcast, I just want to tell stories,
stories of chefs who decided to do food differently.
But over the time, the show became something else, a living
map. We've had people like Dani Lasa
in the episode one, who left Mugaritz after two decades of
working over there to start Imago and work with UN on food
projects across the world. We also had White Egwe, who
(01:02):
built the first zero waste restaurant and turned
sustainability into education, to his platform, to content
making, to storytelling, and nowwith big brands and companies.
We also had Pat Clifford, who now leads Flavor Innovation and
he's the principal research leadat PepsiCo.
He takes the chef's imagination into the world of R&D.
Somebody who came from the ranks, he rose up from the
(01:23):
ranks, worked in the cruise industry and today works at
PepsiCo. We also had recently Dan, Dan
Giusti who went from Noma being a head chef over there to school
cafeterias and showed us that feeding 1000 kids can be as
meaningful as feeding 30 guests at fine dining table.
Actually more honestly. And so many more like Eddie
(01:43):
Shepherd, Sarmeh Emron, John Regefolk from Bus Country
Center, Nabila, who used to workat Alchemist Frederick, who's
constructing an ingredients company.
We had Nick who's a forager. So all of them in their own way
said the same thing. The kitchen was never the end,
it was the beginning. And that's what Fugitive Chefs
Podcast has been from day one, the people rewriting what it
(02:05):
means to work with food. After all these conversations, I
started to see 5 clear paths that keep appearing.
They are not exits from the kitchen, they are just
extensions of it, I would say. So the first path is R&D and
food innovation. These are chefs who take
creativity into labs, tech startups, product design,
technological centers, food innovation departments.
(02:27):
So people like Johnny Drain who's translating fermentation
into science and flavour system.That's I would say path #1 I
would say part number 2 would beeducation and research.
So chefs who became teachers andthinkers, they are documenting
food knowledge for others that they can build upon them.
So their example could be John Regerfolk who was on our
episodes and he's working in Basque Country Center chef
(02:49):
himself and then became somebodywho gives education and parts
education today. Then we had Sandhya Kumar from
Chennai in India and she's working at the Future Food
Institute, again, translating her knowledge into education,
into an academic language. I would say that's the part
number two-part number three I would say would be
sustainability and systems. So people who work on sourcing
(03:11):
waste, circular design. And over there I would put
people like Vitech, who's I mentioned earlier, Chef Ned Bell
from Canada, who's working on the whole ocean systems and so
many more who I had in the podcast, who are people who are
looking at the food chain as onebig ecosystem.
So again, starting from restaurants, starting from
cooking skills, but how that vision makes them into this
(03:32):
path, number path #3 you know, path #4 I would say storytelling
in media now that is 1 path. I think many of these chefs I've
mentioned earlier are doing it also, but I would say some of
them that I can mention are people who are basically
writing, filming, recording and turning their craft into
communication. So that I would put Eddie
Shepherd from Manchester, who has this great restaurant on the
(03:53):
podcast we shared with you. And he's been documenting all
this stuff on YouTube, sharing with people and glowing his
crowd from there. Also Chef Joseph Yuna, he'd goes
by Brooklyn bugs on Instagram and he has been a great guest
because he's teaching edible insects and, and, and, and this
very podcast is a part of that part.
You know, him spreading his story of, of, of insect eating
(04:14):
and how insect agriculture and the transparency into that whole
whole department and whole ecosystem goes through.
So I would say that would be thepart part 4, I would say, which
is storytelling in media. I would like to put that into
the part five. I would say is something very
exciting. I really like all these guests
who come from this part, which is entrepreneurship and and new
(04:34):
formats, not just entrepreneurship, you know, so
these are the builders, they arethe ones starting supper clubs,
starting products, education platforms.
So from Maria Barriga who does dinners in New York as a private
chef, to Julius who's doing his whole new language of chocolate,
coming from a generation of chocolate family on on this
whole new entrepreneurship into existing chocolate world in
(04:56):
Belgium and across. And then people like Solomon,
who I most recently had, who's building a supper club in a
place like Iran. So these are people who are
doing entrepreneurship. New formats also do not not
mention not I forgot to mention,but Andres Hara Andres is
creating this guacamole from fava beans, calling it fava
mole, getting investors from andpublic help from Amsterdam.
(05:18):
So the things he's doing is it fits into this part 5 of
entrepreneurship and new formats.
So this is going to be a very short episode, but I want to
tell you why am I doing this solo episode today?
You know, because I realized that after hearing these
stories, there's another group of people out there and maybe
that's you, the people who are listening.
So I was like, you know, this has just been a broadcast.
(05:39):
Like this has just been me interviewing people who I think
are inspirational, who have donethis fugitive chef's path and
they have lived it. And then I thought, you know,
this can't be just a broadcast. This can't be just me telling
your story, which is good because I get a lot of messages
from you guys, emails from you guys on how this content is
helping you. A lot of young chefs out there
who are listening who, who, who texts me every day saying that,
(06:02):
you know, this content is helping me or this particular
episode helped me get some tricks that I needed to, to
pivot my, my career. But I feel this has to be more
of a community. So for me, this episode helps me
to kind of breakdown like over here, I've shared you in the
past five minutes, like a small breakdown of how these five
parts that are emerging in thesepatterns.
So you can see which one fits you best and use that as a as a
(06:25):
yeah, as a categorization for yourself to see in which of
these boxes you fit. And you redefine the box itself,
you know, So, so I thought like,I have to speak to people like
you. So people who are listening and
thinking that what about me? How do I start?
I just, I'm it's good listening to these stories, but how do I
start? And that's why I'm experimenting
this new format every few weeks.I will basically drop a shorter
(06:48):
reflection like this one, Less interview, more context, and
more conversations between us. And I generally love your
feedback on it. Like, do you want more of these?
Should they go deeper? Should they be longer?
Should they be more practical? Should there be more lessons of
how to break down these these parts, you know, like R&D or
food innovation labs, how to look for jobs like these or what
(07:08):
qualifications these jobs need, which a chef just needs to yeah,
build those blocks and can compensate for the missing
diggity in food tech possibly. So should there be more
practical? Should there be more lesson
formats e-learning? What is it that that you're
looking for me. And so for that, I need you to
message me, comment on LinkedIn,e-mail, everything's in the show
(07:29):
notes. I'll leave it out there wherever
you're listening. I'm on YouTube, Spotify, Apple
podcast, and I'm also creating content on LinkedIn.
So on LinkedIn, basically this episode comes out on Tuesday and
on Friday I'll be putting up APDF about this, these five
parts that I've showed you, you know, so you have something
physically visual that you can print out and basically chalk
out your map from there. And now here's the big news.
(07:53):
And this is what it's a short episode, we're already at like
minute 7-8. And the big news is basically
out of this podcast, a communityis forming.
This started when recently, likefew months ago, I started
getting more and more DMS from people, mostly students, I would
say mostly young chef, chefs, starting in the restaurant
industry and reaching this pivotof like, oh, what's next?
(08:14):
Or this question like what's beyond restaurants or what else
can I do? And I thought the one thing that
I can share with you is create acommunity.
So we are forming a community community.
It's called the fugitive Chef Circle.
It's for chefs, food researchers, creative
professionals, basically people who feel that pull to work
beyond the past. So here's what we're building
(08:36):
together. We'll do monthly newsletters
with insights, job postings, guest stories, summaries of
lessons we learned from all these episodes.
We'll also in the future start mentorship programs, 1 to 1
coachings for chefs who are navigating these transitions.
We're also planning to chalk outoffice hours.
This is where basically we get together in small group
conversations. So for example, 5 of you who
(08:58):
want to start a private dining club, we get you into a group,
We get an expert who's done it themselves.
And we unpack these topics like R&D, creative identity, like how
do you make yourself a brand? How do you identify it
differently? Or how do you get a certain job,
as I said before. And eventually the as this path
keeps growing and the circle keeps getting bigger, we also
(09:19):
want to do courses and basicallylabs that are Co created with
some of the guests who are on the podcast, who have been on
the podcast. And the next ones, we have an
amazing lineup of honestly guests coming up.
I know until January, the ones that are coming up.
So there's an amazing lineup. And yeah, we want to Co create
these labs, these courses, you call it, and yeah, summarize
(09:41):
these learnings so that these learnings are not just a story
that you can learn on your way to work or before going to bed,
but rather something that contributes to your career of
becoming a fugitive chef. So all of this starts with a
short form. It's in the show notes and it
basically helps me understand where you're at, whether you're
early in your career, you're changing direction, you're
(10:01):
studying, you're in a course right now of hospitality
management like I was 10 years ago, or you're aspiring to study
something to do with food and you do not know what that career
would look like. So it's for people like you.
I would say that's where it begins.
You need to fill that form and and that's how we take it, you
know. So if this resonates with you,
what I would love to do is here.Firstly, join the circle.
(10:23):
The link is in the show notes. It's on my Insta bio, on my
TikTok bio, the Lincoln bio, andit will be also on the first
comment on my LinkedIn post thisweek.
So fill it out. You will get the first updates.
When we get the open pilot groups, I will possibly do some
first pilot groups where we testthese concepts.
So it's nice if you're early in there and we'd also do mentoring
(10:44):
sessions because I really want that.
This podcast, as I said, doesn'tstay a broadcast but helps you.
So secondly, it will be if you enjoy these conversations.
The second thing I can ask you for is please follow and rate on
Spotify or Apple Fugitive Chef'spodcast because this rating
really helps me out because it takes 10 seconds and really
helps more chefs to find us. The people who are in a fix like
(11:05):
you or who are in restaurants have the passion but don't
really connect with the restaurant system how it is
today and to transform their carriers.
So please do that. It takes very little.
And thirdly, I will ask you, this is the third, third favor I
ask you go to my LinkedIn. It's called, it's called Furkan
Mirza. My name is a very strange name.
So there's not many out there. It's at the rate Furkan Mirza on
LinkedIn. Go there and check out the
Caruso. I'll post on Friday.
(11:26):
It's called Beyond the Pass and it's the visual version of what
I said earlier, like it's a visual version of what we talked
about today. It's a great post to share with
someone who's feeling stuck in their food carrier.
And finally, tell me what you think about this new format.
You have comments down there on YouTube, Spotify, whatever
you're listening. Leave comments.
Let me know how you like it. Do you want more reflection
episodes like this? What topics should I unpack
(11:47):
next? And your feedback will basically
shape what comes next. The truth is, this podcast
started for me as a way to learn.
And now it's turning into a place where we can all learn
together. So we can we've heard from chefs
who have already made this this jump to being a fugitive chef.
Now it's time to build somethingfor the ones who are about to.
So I'm for Khan, this is fugitive chefs and see you
(12:09):
inside the circle.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.