1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Hi everyone, welcome to Pot Luck Food Talks. 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:09,760 Today I'm here with David Egy. 3 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:17,200 He's a gastro diplomat, brand ambassador for some of the hottest names in the culinary 4 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:18,200 landscape worldwide. 5 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:22,640 Some of them are three Michelin star chefs, many of them are 50 best. 6 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:27,560 Many of them were listed in the Risa and top chef list that we're going to talk about. 7 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:28,560 How are you, Dave? 8 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:29,560 Welcome. 9 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:30,560 Nice to have you here. 10 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:31,560 Thank you, thank you. 11 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:32,560 Thank you for having me. 12 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:33,560 I'm good. 13 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:34,560 I'm good. 14 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:38,920 I'm ready to talk about restaurants and chefs and work. 15 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,200 So you just arrived from Dubai. 16 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:45,560 How was this list event that just happened there? 17 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:51,040 Well, what just happened in Dubai is the Best Chefs Awards. 18 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:58,840 So I think it's their ninth year and it's an organization that awards chefs, but it's 19 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:00,800 chefs voting for chefs. 20 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:01,800 So it's a little different. 21 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:09,520 Up until now, they've been, they were a ranking and they awarded the top best, 100 best chefs 22 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:10,840 in the world. 23 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,620 And this year they changed things a little bit. 24 00:01:13,620 --> 00:01:18,680 And what they did was to make it into a rating system and they give knives to chefs. 25 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:21,480 So you can either have one, two or three knives. 26 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:27,360 And they turned the list of 100 into 550 chefs worldwide. 27 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:35,280 So I think that their aim is to make it like a global thing and to be able to include more 28 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:42,160 and more chefs from maybe areas that don't necessarily have a great reach towards 50 29 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:47,080 best or Michelin or, you know, to, to make it more inclusive in a way. 30 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:52,880 For example, I mean, I'm Venezuelan, obviously Venezuela doesn't have Michelin and, and they've 31 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:57,760 also struggled to be a part of the world's 50 rest or Latin America's 50 rest because 32 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:01,040 of voters not being able to go to Caracas. 33 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:06,080 In this organization, we had five Venezuelan chefs already awarded with knives and they 34 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:11,360 can get them also by going to other places and cooking with chefs and building relationships 35 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:16,120 with them and going to other places around the world to cook and show what they do. 36 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:22,960 So that's one good example of how this, this specific list can be a little more open and 37 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:25,240 inclusive, you know, and it's, I think it's fun. 38 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:26,240 Yeah. 39 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:30,880 It's positioning itself as a third alternative after Michelin, 50 best. 40 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:38,520 And now, now I think that this one is getting a good ground, like in this kind of list also 41 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:46,040 I've heard like they, or I read somewhere like part of the criteria is, um, the, the 42 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:48,080 innovative spirit of chefs. 43 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:53,560 Like these chefs are like groundbreaking in some way or in their own context, like the 44 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:57,120 culinary scene very carefully, if I understand well. 45 00:02:57,120 --> 00:02:58,440 They award different things. 46 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:05,280 They also have a list of special awards, including awards like food experience or the best pastry 47 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:07,000 chef from the world. 48 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:12,240 They also always give a special award to a chef that stands out in this host city. 49 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:18,160 I guess as other guides and rankings and ratings, there's a lot that needs to be considered 50 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:25,440 and maybe some places are extremely conscious with sustainability, but don't have the craziest 51 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:26,440 experience. 52 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:29,980 It's like stripped back and straight into the food. 53 00:03:29,980 --> 00:03:33,440 And some other places are just like, I don't know, like alchemists that are just like a 54 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:34,440 crazy experience. 55 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:39,680 It doesn't necessarily have to have like a huge focus on sustainability. 56 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:44,720 It just like changes depending on where the chef is and what the context of the place 57 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:45,720 is, you know? 58 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:51,560 But I think that they're doing a very good job in trying to, to show a more diverse landscape 59 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:56,440 of chefs and international and including younger ones too. 60 00:03:56,440 --> 00:04:01,680 I didn't realize that they became like a 500 top list kind of like I was seeing that there 61 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:03,040 were like a lot of names. 62 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:05,200 I also saw names I wasn't expecting. 63 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:10,040 Like, I don't know, Deborah Fadul, who I have a pending interview with her. 64 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:12,280 We've been postponing it for many months. 65 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,120 We'll have her soon here at Postdoc Food Talks. 66 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:16,120 And other chefs. 67 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,440 What's the name of this guy from El Bosque, Ivan Garcia? 68 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:21,000 Ivan Garcia from Caracas. 69 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:22,000 Yeah. 70 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:23,000 Exactly. 71 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:25,280 Like I wasn't expecting to see him there as well. 72 00:04:25,280 --> 00:04:28,720 And yeah, how did you perceive the whole gala, the whole event? 73 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:32,000 This wasn't this super seven star hotel in Dubai, right? 74 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:33,000 Yeah. 75 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:35,840 I mean, I wasn't in Atlantis at the palm. 76 00:04:35,840 --> 00:04:39,560 I mean, Dubai is very Dubai. 77 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:41,960 It's difficult to, it's difficult to describe it. 78 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:49,480 It's definitely a place that's not for everyone, but something that I really like about the 79 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:55,640 city, it's managed to somehow prove everyone wrong in terms of the restaurant and food 80 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:57,280 universe. 81 00:04:57,280 --> 00:05:01,160 Maybe some years ago, everyone thought that it was going to be like the New Vegas and 82 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:08,320 it was just like about famous chefs opening restaurants that had huge budgets and amazing 83 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:09,720 buildings and stuff. 84 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:10,880 And that's happening. 85 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:17,440 Their very own, very talented group of chefs and projects happening like Corfa Libros and 86 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:25,280 other projects that are doing a great job in creating Dubai's food and reputation. 87 00:05:25,280 --> 00:05:31,880 I guess if you ask any food writer internationally right now, maybe they're not a fan of the 88 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:36,920 idea of Dubai, but they will have to recognize that there are interesting things happening 89 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,880 there in terms of food and restaurants and chefs. 90 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:42,120 Yeah, I'm sure about it. 91 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:45,920 And so you work for Bon Vimant Communication. 92 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:51,200 First of all, if you could explain us what it is and what is your activity, but also 93 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:56,800 you have a catalog of chefs that how many, at least nine or 10 of them were in this recent 94 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:57,800 list? 95 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:01,160 In the best chefs awards, we had 17 chefs with knives. 96 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:02,880 17, wow. 97 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:08,640 One of them, Eric Vilgard from Copenhagen was in the top three. 98 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:12,320 And then we had Vaughn Moby from Amisfield in New Zealand. 99 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:18,360 He won the Food Experience Award and René Franck from COLA in Berlin, one of the world's 100 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:19,360 best pastry chef. 101 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:20,360 Yeah. 102 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:26,200 And you asked me before how I experienced the gala and it was very stressful in the 103 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:27,200 beginning. 104 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:33,720 Just like looking at all your chefs appearing on the screen and finally knowing what they're 105 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:38,240 going to get or if they are going to be awarded anything. 106 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:40,880 And then it turned into a celebration, you know? 107 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:47,700 So it was definitely a night to celebrate also on behalf of all the chefs, you know? 108 00:06:47,700 --> 00:06:51,240 And going back to this question, yes, I do work at Bon Vivant. 109 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:57,280 I've been doing so for five years already since I moved from Venezuela to Barcelona. 110 00:06:57,280 --> 00:07:01,680 And Bon Vivant, we describe it as a culinary embassy. 111 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:07,240 So it goes further than just a communications agency. 112 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:11,900 We are involved in basically every single area of the food world. 113 00:07:11,900 --> 00:07:19,920 We organize one of the most infamous dinner parties in the world called Dining Impossible. 114 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:25,440 The owner of the agency, Christian Blas, has also produced culinary movies. 115 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:31,840 There were two already premiered out of a trilogy that's dealing with Michelin as a 116 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:33,240 main subject. 117 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:39,640 The last one was shot during COVID and it was a huge project and it ended up having 118 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:44,040 to change throughout the production because of COVID. 119 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:48,560 And it ended up giving a lot of highlight to the Faroe Islands and Cox, the restaurant 120 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:50,320 that's there. 121 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:54,320 This movie was featured in the San Sebastian Film Festival a few years ago, is it possible? 122 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:58,720 In the San Sebastian Film Festival, there is always a food movie section and the chefs 123 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:03,720 that are featured in these movies come to San Sebastian and do a dinner here. 124 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:07,760 And these tickets are sold literally in three minutes. 125 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:12,440 Every year I try and I'm like, I refreshed the site and I lost my opportunity. 126 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:15,160 You should have asked me because I was there. 127 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:16,840 We didn't talk about it. 128 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:21,880 But yeah, we went and we had the premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival for the 129 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:24,860 second one, the Spanish premiere at least. 130 00:08:24,860 --> 00:08:32,400 Then we had a little dinner and Q&A with the chef from Cox, the Bas Culinary Center. 131 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:37,640 It was very, I remember that it was very controversial because it happened maybe like a 132 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:44,080 few weeks after the whole whale situation from Faroe Islands and everyone kept asking 133 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:45,800 the chef about the whales. 134 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:51,080 But yeah, that's also one of the things that we do with 1v1, so the production of documentaries 135 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:54,080 and films related to astronomy. 136 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:55,220 Super cool. 137 00:08:55,220 --> 00:09:02,720 And then the main thing would be the work that we do with restaurant chefs and projects, 138 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:04,320 like culinary projects in general. 139 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:11,360 So it can either be a hotel that has a very big focus on gastronomy. 140 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:17,440 It can either be a country that wants to highlight tourism or culture through gastronomy, or 141 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:23,880 it can be a chef, it can be a superstar chef, or it can be a newcomer that wants to somehow 142 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:26,000 make some noise in the world. 143 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:27,840 And that's what we're doing right now. 144 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:33,980 So if I understand correctly, you take a restaurant or a chef, I understand they have to be already 145 00:09:33,980 --> 00:09:41,480 have some kind of, there has to be a selection criteria or if I understand correctly, you 146 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:45,840 don't understand like rookies or newcomers to develop them. 147 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:49,880 You take already people that are already somehow established to some degree. 148 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:51,160 Yes, yes and no. 149 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:58,480 I mean, I guess that it's been, it changes depending on the moment, you know, on who 150 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:00,640 is interested in working with us. 151 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:05,080 We definitely are very selective, not only because of the amount of clients that we already 152 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:10,040 have and the type of work that we want to do with them, but also I guess that it's a 153 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:15,160 way of somehow respecting the group that we have. 154 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:17,240 Yeah, I understand. 155 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:22,440 You need to be able to hold yourself within that group and to have something interesting 156 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:25,380 to amplify to the world. 157 00:10:25,380 --> 00:10:28,520 And then it's kind of like a holistic strategy. 158 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:33,200 The word communication is an important part, but I guess there is also like the character 159 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:40,520 to show to the world, like a persona as a chef or a story to tell or a certain time 160 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:46,480 of imagery or audiovisuals and so on, something like that. 161 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:48,720 And that also changes depending on the client. 162 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:53,960 And it's very difficult to describe in just one example, because really every single one 163 00:10:53,960 --> 00:11:00,360 is completely different and every single collaboration we do is somehow tailor-made. 164 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:08,560 We've had amazing examples of chefs with whom we work together to somehow create the story. 165 00:11:08,560 --> 00:11:13,280 Yeah, and the persona, not the persona, the image that we're going to show, you know, 166 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:17,440 not only is it in terms of the menu that they're creating or the experience in the restaurant, 167 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:20,700 but also in how we want to show that to the world. 168 00:11:20,700 --> 00:11:25,440 We've had the opportunity of developing that together with chefs and restaurants in many 169 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:31,400 cases or actually with some, we've had the opportunity to go even before. 170 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:37,760 Like, when the restaurant is just a project, they usually trust us in having some opinions 171 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:43,800 even about like the menu or how the experience is going to be held. 172 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:46,360 That part for me is actually my favorite one. 173 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:51,360 Okay, that's super cool, like an early concept development before they open a restaurant. 174 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:57,480 And maybe, just to say an example, a chef could have like a crazy idea of mixing too 175 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:04,040 many things and you orient them to create something like more direct or focused on a 176 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:10,320 specific storyline or persona or character or something that represents the environment. 177 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:13,800 I don't know, like I understand this could be infinite possibilities. 178 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:17,480 Yeah, to somehow edit. 179 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:22,240 I guess that you know this and you're in contact with a lot of chefs, but being a chef can 180 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:24,360 be a work that's very secluded. 181 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:28,640 A lot of chefs are very focused on what they want to do and they don't even have time to 182 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:36,120 go out and eat in other places or travel or somehow have the input that they can turn 183 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:41,200 into ideas or inspiration or even just references, you know. 184 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:46,680 This has changed a lot lately, but I always, I do interview all of the chefs in the beginning 185 00:12:46,680 --> 00:12:48,680 when we have to start the collaboration. 186 00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:53,360 And it's so funny because all of them come from a different generation or most of them. 187 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:58,280 Their contact to other references used to be through cookbooks. 188 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:03,440 I remember a lot of them mentioning like El Bulli cookbooks and books like that, like 189 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:08,200 got my hands into this book from the chef and that's how it became something else. 190 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:10,160 Now that's completely changed. 191 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:18,320 Yeah, in terms of helping them develop an idea or edit it or just figure out how the 192 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:20,360 service is going to flow. 193 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:23,860 There are so many details that go into creating a restaurant like this one. 194 00:13:23,860 --> 00:13:26,100 I guess people sometimes forget it. 195 00:13:26,100 --> 00:13:30,560 It's like when design is done well, it just works. 196 00:13:30,560 --> 00:13:32,800 You know, it looks great. 197 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:37,280 The piece that you're using works so good that you're not thinking about everything 198 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:44,960 that went into making it, but when it's not done well, then you realize the mistakes. 199 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:50,100 You go into a place and you're like, well, these tables are like strange and I'm sitting 200 00:13:50,100 --> 00:13:54,680 and I'm not comfortable and it's too warm and the kitchen is too far away. 201 00:13:54,680 --> 00:14:00,040 So all those details, sometimes for a chef and especially one that's creating a restaurant 202 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:04,300 and they are so focused on what they want to do and their own food that sometimes they 203 00:14:04,300 --> 00:14:06,000 miss things like that. 204 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:09,280 Not always, but that's also something that we do sometimes. 205 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:15,440 And for me, that's very exciting because I also, it feels strange to be included in something 206 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:18,280 so personal as a project like that. 207 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:21,260 And then when you finally go and it's open and they're like, oh, we did this because 208 00:14:21,260 --> 00:14:23,760 you told us that it would work better. 209 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:29,200 You feel somehow proud of being a part of the whole project. 210 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:31,640 Yeah, that's amazing. 211 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:37,320 Because at the end, you say it's not only communication, but at the same time, I would 212 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:39,800 say everything is communication. 213 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:45,240 Like a design, like an environment, like the way the staff is dressed, the look of the 214 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:51,360 architecture of the place, like the way the menus, everything communicates something. 215 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:56,960 I was also thinking when it comes to PR, I think of two cases, like two of the, I would 216 00:14:56,960 --> 00:15:02,240 say most important restaurants in the last 50 years, I would say are El Bulli and Noma. 217 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:03,240 Right? 218 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:09,000 Dare to say that they wouldn't have become what they became without groundbreaking articles. 219 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:14,000 I think in the case of El Bulli was an article in the New York Times or Times Magazine and 220 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:15,000 Noma, same thing. 221 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,440 In the case of Noma, it was Lisa Venn. 222 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:19,680 And in the case of El Bulli, I don't know who it was. 223 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,040 I think Coleman Andrews. 224 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:25,920 But at the end of the day, they had to have like a contact who would write a piece and 225 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:30,880 put it in an important newspaper and that would call the world's attention. 226 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:34,760 And that's also part of becoming in the list of the best restaurants in the world and these 227 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:35,760 kinds of things. 228 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:41,520 I guess like this kind of process, you have a very well-interviewed with the restaurants 229 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:42,640 that you work with. 230 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:50,320 I think that this is somehow the part of the industry that people don't know about. 231 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:57,080 And it's also something that can be said about the food, the film industry or the sports 232 00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:59,120 or like music. 233 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:05,360 I think that there's this idea that the stars align and someone that's just like super talented 234 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:07,520 got lucky and somehow... 235 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:11,080 An inspector came to his restaurant that was in the middle of nowhere. 236 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:16,320 He was just passing by and had a taste of something and fell in love. 237 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:17,320 Right? 238 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:22,800 And it can be a story like the one from Massimo Bottura that's like, well, the roads were 239 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:27,640 a food rider from the New York Times didn't have a place to have dinner. 240 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:31,200 So he ended up there and then he wrote an article and everything changed. 241 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:36,320 And even that tale is the result of an agency. 242 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:38,200 I can think of two tales like this. 243 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:40,200 One is also from El Bulli. 244 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:46,960 It was like Joel Robuchon was up to take a train, but he tried the tomato canita at El 245 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:47,960 Bulli. 246 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:51,520 This was in the mid nineties and he on purpose, he lost the train just to finish the whole 247 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:52,520 menu. 248 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:55,640 You know, this is like a story Ferran has told many times. 249 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:59,640 Also the story of the French Laundry where Thomas Keller says every day he would take 250 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:04,440 the phone and ask someone for money to open his restaurant. 251 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:09,640 I actually got a story first person from someone who met Thomas Keller when he was walking 252 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:11,280 around asking for money. 253 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:13,120 He completely looked down at him. 254 00:17:13,120 --> 00:17:17,120 Like this guy who is like, I don't know, 50 years old saying he wants to open the best 255 00:17:17,120 --> 00:17:18,120 restaurant in the world. 256 00:17:18,120 --> 00:17:20,080 Like there was like, this guy is crazy. 257 00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:21,960 You know, like that. 258 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:24,080 That would also be one of my favorite parts. 259 00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:26,320 A lot of times you sit down with chefs. 260 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:31,000 I guess there's a little bit of everything in the food world and in the restaurant world 261 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:32,880 in terms of personalities. 262 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:39,800 You have a few superstars that can combine the social skills and the personality with 263 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:43,560 the amazing talent in the kitchen. 264 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:48,440 And then you have some people that are shy and that express who they are and what they 265 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:51,300 think through their food and through their projects. 266 00:17:51,300 --> 00:17:55,640 And especially with those, it's so interesting to actually sit down and take those stories 267 00:17:55,640 --> 00:18:02,420 out of them because they don't really even see how those stories can make the whole thing 268 00:18:02,420 --> 00:18:05,520 better as an experience for a guest. 269 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:07,080 And they just focus on the food. 270 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:14,400 They have it so interiorized that they don't even see the value in these stories. 271 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:15,640 So you sit down with them. 272 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:21,080 And as I told you, I always have to have a very long interview with the chefs when we 273 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:22,480 start working with them. 274 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:27,320 What I always tell them is like, look, I've read the books, I've been through your website, 275 00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:31,360 I know everything about you, but this is going to be like a nightmare interview for you because 276 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:33,580 we're going to start from the beginning. 277 00:18:33,580 --> 00:18:37,800 So you're going to tell me like, since you were a child, everything that happened throughout 278 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:43,200 your life that got you here and in the way you see them relaxing and you see them letting 279 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:46,000 go and you start pulling stories out of them. 280 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:51,340 And that part is always so interesting because it really the moment where you can create 281 00:18:51,340 --> 00:18:55,720 a cool narrative and extract the moments in their lives. 282 00:18:55,720 --> 00:19:00,200 You know this chef's table moment that it's like the realization moment, you know, it's 283 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:04,720 always like drama and like the panning of the kitchen. 284 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:11,040 When Alex Atala took an LSD trip and realized the circle of the flower. 285 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:16,680 I always connect it when I'm having the interviews and I hear the moment where it's like, this 286 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:22,040 is where we're going to, what we're going to use to amplify this guy's work. 287 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:28,340 I always somehow go back to chef's table and to that moment of like the violins moving 288 00:19:28,340 --> 00:19:32,120 and all that movement and everything because I'm like, okay, we have it, we have it, keep 289 00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:33,400 going, keep going, you know. 290 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:39,280 I think that in terms of, I mean, in general, people don't know anything about this part 291 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:40,280 of the industry. 292 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:44,520 Like people think it's just like restaurants and they go and they, you know, and it's a 293 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:46,080 huge part of the industry. 294 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:50,840 That's why I thought it was so interesting to interview most of our audience are chefs 295 00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:51,840 and young chefs. 296 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:55,680 And I'm sure many of them don't know anything about this, that this is also part of the 297 00:19:55,680 --> 00:20:00,280 job part of creating a restaurant and making it successful, a restaurant or a personal 298 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:05,320 brand because you could also be a consultant or something else, but you will always need 299 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:13,320 to create this character to show to the world that is that the chef you are. 300 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:17,480 Or for example, in my case, I'm not running a restaurant or cooking anymore, but I do 301 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:21,720 food tours and I present myself as a character that is a specific kind of people you want 302 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:27,720 to hang out with and go out and eat and have drinks and San Sebastian, for example. 303 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:33,160 You can even like take it to something as basic as describe your food. 304 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:37,920 For some of them, it is so difficult to express what they do in words. 305 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:42,160 Even though they have three stars and they've been cooking and doing interviews and books 306 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:47,680 and things for years and years, you sit down with them and you ask them like about their 307 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:52,080 culinary style or to describe what they're doing in the menu. 308 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:53,640 Why do you like this dish? 309 00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:56,240 Yeah, but that's a difficult question. 310 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:58,680 If you ask someone, why do you like this? 311 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:00,460 You just like things, right? 312 00:21:00,460 --> 00:21:03,360 You don't rationalize why you like things. 313 00:21:03,360 --> 00:21:07,560 And the moment you start like to degrading and deconstructing these kinds of things 314 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:13,340 is where the interesting messages to communicate come out. 315 00:21:13,340 --> 00:21:18,960 But somehow for someone that's done therapy, it can feel like when you go to therapy and 316 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:20,320 they're like, okay, how do you feel? 317 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:22,920 And you're like, well, I don't know. 318 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:23,920 I'm happy. 319 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:24,920 And why are you happy? 320 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:26,280 It's like, well, because I am. 321 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:28,880 Like, no, no, no, let's find out. 322 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:35,000 So when you sit down with a chef, for me, it's super exciting when I see them verbalizing 323 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:39,560 something for the first time that they were never able to before. 324 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:41,760 And it's like, okay, this is what you're going to say. 325 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:45,520 Someone asks you this question because it's the truth. 326 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:47,000 And this is also important. 327 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:52,080 I don't know about other agencies or other offices, but we're not making anything up 328 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:53,440 here. 329 00:21:53,440 --> 00:22:00,200 The idea is to be as authentic as we can and to help them figure out where it's all really 330 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:01,600 coming from. 331 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:06,740 That's really interesting what you just said, because also as a tour guide, I started realizing 332 00:22:06,740 --> 00:22:10,920 that there were very frequent questions that people ask. 333 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:15,000 And these are frequent questions that I would say any chef will be asked. 334 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:17,840 For example, what's your favorite dish to cook? 335 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:22,400 Anyone who's a chef, that's something the taxi driver will ask you if you tell them 336 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:23,800 you're a chef. 337 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:27,560 And it's good to have prepared answers for these things. 338 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:31,360 Even like, it's not a good answer to say, I don't have any. 339 00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:33,560 Like I love cooking everything. 340 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:40,360 Find a story that tells something interesting about your work and put it as an answer for 341 00:22:40,360 --> 00:22:43,280 these kind of questions. 342 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:48,040 And the thing is, like I just said, it's not about making things up, but the thing is that 343 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:50,880 it's usually, it's just like not true. 344 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:55,080 Like if you are a chef and you love to cook, there's polo, it's something that you're leaning 345 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:57,840 more towards that you love and enjoy cooking. 346 00:22:57,840 --> 00:22:58,840 You have to find out. 347 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:01,200 You're just simply not thinking about it. 348 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:04,120 You're like, whoa, I love everything. 349 00:23:04,120 --> 00:23:06,920 That to me, it's like a nightmare. 350 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:12,400 That type of, when I'm sitting, even if I'm doing the interview, because I used to be 351 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:17,280 a food writer before, or if I'm organizing an interview between a group of writers and 352 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:23,760 a chef or one journalist and a chef, and I'm sitting there and I just see them giving nothing 353 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:28,080 and the writer or the journalist trying to get something out of the chef. 354 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:33,120 And they're just like, well, no, I don't really know how to describe my food and I don't have 355 00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:36,000 any like restaurants that I particularly like. 356 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:37,280 I just eat at home. 357 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:38,280 Exactly. 358 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:42,000 You just have to see the face. 359 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:46,360 You can see the face of the journalist like, okay, this was a waste of time. 360 00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:51,240 So this is, I think that when we do this first interview, it's also a good exercise for the 361 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:56,080 chefs to realize a lot of things that they've never said out loud. 362 00:23:56,080 --> 00:24:00,320 And I always tell them at that moment, like, okay, remember the story because this is a 363 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:02,120 good one. 364 00:24:02,120 --> 00:24:05,640 Maybe this one doesn't really like, don't say this again. 365 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:07,840 Yeah, that's also important. 366 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:08,840 Of course. 367 00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:09,840 Yeah. 368 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:14,880 Like what to be quiet about is as important as what to talk about. 369 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:21,880 The work ends up becoming so much bigger than even people that know about communications 370 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:22,880 would imagine. 371 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:26,960 We were just saying for someone that doesn't know anything about this world, everything 372 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:32,240 is new, but there are some people that do understand that there's a lot of work behind 373 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:37,880 in terms of communications and PR and representing chefs and connections and everything. 374 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:43,880 But even for people like that, some of them would be amazed at the things you end up doing 375 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:45,980 with and for chefs. 376 00:24:45,980 --> 00:24:47,760 So yeah, it's very dynamic and fun. 377 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:51,160 So something I wanted to ask you about, because this is something we love here at Potluck 378 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:57,640 Food Talk, is like fuck up situations or things that went wrong or crises or these kinds of 379 00:24:57,640 --> 00:24:58,640 things. 380 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:02,600 Do you have any story, of course, without revealing names or anything? 381 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:03,600 Like, I don't know. 382 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:07,160 Did you have like a chef that started crying in front of you because you found out like 383 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:10,360 a trauma in the middle of the... 384 00:25:10,360 --> 00:25:11,360 Or a crisis? 385 00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:12,360 That happens. 386 00:25:12,360 --> 00:25:13,360 I don't know. 387 00:25:13,360 --> 00:25:15,480 Like maybe I can share one. 388 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:24,280 In this regard, I was working at a restaurant and the sommelier was sent to a different 389 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:26,320 city for a wine event. 390 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:28,840 Two days later, the guy got fired. 391 00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:32,680 He did almost like an orgy in his hotel room. 392 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:38,080 He peed on the mayor's car, the mayor of the city. 393 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:39,840 He peed on his car. 394 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:44,440 He did like a huge mess completely in one day. 395 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:46,640 And it was crazy firing him. 396 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:48,280 He got fired right away. 397 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:51,260 But this guy was an important piece in the restaurant. 398 00:25:51,260 --> 00:25:56,200 So this really became like a big shock for the whole thing. 399 00:25:56,200 --> 00:26:05,760 I mean, this one's tricky because my job goes against revealing these things. 400 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:14,040 And even if it's with chefs or with food writers or with clients or during Dining Impossible, 401 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:15,480 that's even more private. 402 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:18,920 Like what happens in Dining Impossible stays there. 403 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:19,920 But I've definitely had... 404 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:23,080 I mean, I didn't see it as a crisis or a bad thing. 405 00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:30,320 I've had chefs crying during interviews because the interview becomes very personal. 406 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:32,600 I don't necessarily see it as a bad thing. 407 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:37,360 The few moments that it's happened, it's been very real and vulnerable. 408 00:26:37,360 --> 00:26:42,800 And that's something that depending on who's listening, it can be appreciated or even used. 409 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:46,160 I guess it's part of opening the Pandora box. 410 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:50,360 Something that will come out eventually if you're sharing your personal story. 411 00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:53,840 It's part of any personal story. 412 00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:58,480 I mean, I guess that's something that's tricky. 413 00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:00,520 No, I understand. 414 00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:01,520 I understand. 415 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:04,480 But you mentioned Dining Impossible. 416 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:05,520 What about that? 417 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:07,520 What is Dining Impossible? 418 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:11,120 And can you share a little bit about it? 419 00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:14,800 How was the last edition and what is it in the first place? 420 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:16,040 Okay. 421 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:23,120 So Dining Impossible, we like to describe it as the world's most famous dinner party. 422 00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:30,240 So the creator of Om Viva Ant, Christian Brasch, he's from Denmark. 423 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:34,400 And he started doing dinner parties in Copenhagen. 424 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:35,400 Good city. 425 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:38,160 Those dinner parties when Noma... 426 00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:41,520 Well it still is a place that's impossible to get a reservation in. 427 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:47,600 But they had like a private area, like a private room that they were not using. 428 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:50,440 And he got access to dinner parties there. 429 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:54,200 So that also made it become even bigger. 430 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:56,440 And at that time it was called the dinner party. 431 00:27:56,440 --> 00:28:02,920 And then he started thinking, okay, how can I make this even cooler? 432 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:09,800 He started doing it in different cities around the world and making it somehow like a tour. 433 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:16,640 So like you do tours, this would be like the tour on asteroids or something like that. 434 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:23,640 So I remember when the first Dining Impossible that I went to as a writer and food photographer, 435 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:24,860 it was in Barcelona. 436 00:28:24,860 --> 00:28:28,680 We went to dinner the first night at Disfrutar. 437 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:32,640 Then the second day we went to dinner at Sallet Can Roca. 438 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:33,640 Wow. 439 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:37,040 And the third day we went to lunch at Tickets. 440 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:38,640 And we went to dinner at La Sarte. 441 00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:40,440 Wow, incredible. 442 00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:45,080 Complete this with like a crazy group of people from all over the world. 443 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:48,540 Everyone's there because they enjoy it and they want to have fun and they appreciate 444 00:28:48,540 --> 00:28:50,600 food and they appreciate wines. 445 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:56,320 And then you mix in a little bar visit here and a party here and that becomes Dining Impossible. 446 00:28:56,320 --> 00:29:02,720 So it is, I guess the name describes it very well because it is impossible in many different 447 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:04,360 ways. 448 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:09,120 Sometimes it's impossible to eat all that food in three days, but people manage to do it. 449 00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:13,640 It is kind of impossible to replicate that on your own too. 450 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:14,640 Absolutely. 451 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:15,640 Yeah. 452 00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:18,920 If you're just like a couple that's coming to Barcelona, it's very difficult for you 453 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:23,600 to be able to do that in three days and also to have the experience that you're going to 454 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:25,100 have with that group. 455 00:29:25,100 --> 00:29:32,500 So that somehow evolved last year into the IJET, which was like even more insane version 456 00:29:32,500 --> 00:29:33,500 of that. 457 00:29:33,500 --> 00:29:38,880 So it was, for example, the whole group meets at the Eiffel Tower and then they go to a 458 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:41,280 three-mission restaurant in Paris. 459 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:48,120 Then the morning after they fly on a private jet to San Sebastian, eat at Mugarritz. 460 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:53,840 And then the day after they fly to Girona, dinner at Selle Can Roca. 461 00:29:53,840 --> 00:30:02,600 And the last day they went to Nice, helicopter to Monte Carlo and then drive to Mirasul. 462 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:03,600 Wow. 463 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:04,600 That's insane. 464 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:08,520 So that was four days of insane eating and traveling. 465 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:09,520 That's crazy. 466 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:12,360 And obviously like in the plane, it was also like champagne. 467 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:13,360 I would like possums. 468 00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:15,800 If I wouldn't make something like that, I wouldn't like that. 469 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:16,800 I don't know. 470 00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:19,320 To spend a day in each city at least. 471 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:22,620 You don't get any free time or recovery time. 472 00:30:22,620 --> 00:30:26,760 We did one in Faroe Islands that was crazy too. 473 00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:37,560 That one was not the IJet, but dining impossible and it was, I would say, more adventure. 474 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:46,440 So yeah, it's just like a super cool event for real food lovers. 475 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:53,080 This year we didn't do one because we've been growing a lot in terms of actual restaurant 476 00:30:53,080 --> 00:31:01,320 clients and the team, but the demand is really there and we're thinking about some places 477 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:03,200 that can be cool for next year. 478 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:04,920 I think we're going to do two. 479 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:05,920 Okay. 480 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:06,920 But it's still not... 481 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:08,920 Anything to reveal there or not yet? 482 00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:09,920 No, not yet. 483 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:10,920 Not yet. 484 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:11,920 Okay. 485 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:12,920 Okay. 486 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:13,920 Cool. 487 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:18,520 I mean, it happens like what you said with the dinners at Bas Culinary Center during 488 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:20,680 the film festival. 489 00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:25,760 With dining impossible, it's something that we publish and like a week later or like two 490 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:28,840 days later, it's full. 491 00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:34,080 We really wait until everything's ready and we're sure that we have all the bookings and 492 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:40,440 all the restaurants and all the program ready to reveal it because then it's not easy to 493 00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:45,480 take it back. 494 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:48,640 That's it for this week's episode of Potluck Food Talks. 495 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:52,480 If you like what we're doing, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss 496 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:53,740 an episode. 497 00:31:53,740 --> 00:31:57,760 You can also find us on Instagram and TikTok as Potluck Food Talks. 498 00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:19,360 The show airs every Monday.