WEBVTT 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:10.160 You're listening to Heritage Radio Network. Hi, 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:13.119 everyone. Welcome to Potluck for Talks. I'm Eric, 00:00:13.259 --> 00:00:16.600 and I'm here with my homie, Phil. And today, 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:19.140 we don't have a topic to talk about, but we have 00:00:19.140 --> 00:00:23.179 talked in a while. So, how's it going, man? You're 00:00:23.179 --> 00:00:26.660 in Dubai now. Yes, back in Dubai. Pretty cool, 00:00:26.859 --> 00:00:29.530 pretty excited. Really happy to be back. Yeah, 00:00:29.589 --> 00:00:32.729 we haven't talked in like a month. I would say 00:00:32.729 --> 00:00:35.149 even two months, something like that. Really? 00:00:35.350 --> 00:00:39.130 That's crazy. Yeah, I've done a lot of episodes 00:00:39.130 --> 00:00:44.390 with strangers. Surrandoms, just NPCs of the 00:00:44.390 --> 00:00:50.270 street. Yeah, but oh good, man. I've been in 00:00:50.270 --> 00:00:56.179 Dubai for just about a month now. Yeah? And yeah, 00:00:56.240 --> 00:00:58.240 you know, just getting settled in, settling into 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:00.780 my new role, you know, all the usual stuff. What's 00:01:00.780 --> 00:01:02.820 your role now? You're like a research and development 00:01:02.820 --> 00:01:08.060 chef? I've rejoined the Arts Club in Dubai, where 00:01:08.060 --> 00:01:10.959 I have previously been a head chef for one of 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:14.659 the restaurants. And I've now joined as culinary 00:01:14.659 --> 00:01:18.670 development. Okay, so it's kind of like a research 00:01:18.670 --> 00:01:20.870 and development role. Yeah, it's kind of like 00:01:20.870 --> 00:01:24.129 the role didn't exist before. I've joined kind 00:01:24.129 --> 00:01:28.349 of like an executive chef to do sort of like, 00:01:28.450 --> 00:01:34.069 you know, R &D, and work on new openings also. 00:01:34.409 --> 00:01:37.969 Okay, nice, nice, nice, sounds pretty cool. Yeah, 00:01:38.010 --> 00:01:39.890 it's been really, really good. I mean, the Arts 00:01:39.890 --> 00:01:42.650 Club in Dubai, it consists of three different 00:01:42.650 --> 00:01:45.879 restaurants. And a rooftop terrace. So there's 00:01:45.879 --> 00:01:48.359 lots of stuff going on. And there's also the 00:01:48.359 --> 00:01:50.579 Arts Club in London, which has been around since 00:01:50.579 --> 00:01:54.920 1863, I think. It's super crazy. It was founded 00:01:54.920 --> 00:01:58.239 by Charles Dickens. So it's been around for a 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:00.219 really long time. And so I'm going to fly to 00:02:00.219 --> 00:02:02.060 London also to work in the restaurants there 00:02:02.060 --> 00:02:05.760 a little bit. And yeah, you know, just it's been 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:09.439 super cool because I'm just basically doing creative 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:13.080 work. I don't have the really tedious stuff that 00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:15.699 a head chef has to do, like rotoring, dealing 00:02:15.699 --> 00:02:19.020 with all the bullshit, you know? Lots of micromanagement, 00:02:19.139 --> 00:02:22.659 right? A head chef has lots of micromanagement. 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:26.240 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. I mean, in 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:28.919 an ideal world, a sous chef has even more, right? 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:32.219 Yeah. In an ideal world, the head chef can give 00:02:32.219 --> 00:02:34.599 the sous chef direction and the sous chef deals 00:02:34.599 --> 00:02:38.539 with it. Yeah. But yeah, so that's why it's been 00:02:38.539 --> 00:02:41.479 kind of nice. and to come back also like i come 00:02:41.479 --> 00:02:44.319 back to the club and so many it's three years 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:46.879 ago that i was here right and so many of the 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:49.159 same people are still there like half the kitchen 00:02:49.159 --> 00:02:52.960 team is the same and i think that's really really 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:55.280 telling also front of house and stuff like that 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:59.159 you know um it was a really nice welcome back 00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:01.860 i came in and it was kind of like such a different 00:03:01.860 --> 00:03:05.680 work attitude like if i compare to to germany 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:09.219 you know um and especially berlin Like I come 00:03:09.219 --> 00:03:11.500 in here and people come up to me to say, hey, 00:03:11.500 --> 00:03:14.719 chef, how's it going? Nice to be back. Blah, 00:03:14.740 --> 00:03:17.039 blah, blah. How have you been? And in Germany, 00:03:17.080 --> 00:03:20.520 it was like, man, you know, like waiters walking 00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:23.360 into the kitchen, like to the pass. No, hello. 00:03:23.860 --> 00:03:25.879 Like nothing, you know? And I'd be sort of like, 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:29.819 okay, who are you? Like not seeing you before. 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:32.060 Do you maybe want to introduce yourself or like, 00:03:32.180 --> 00:03:34.930 you know? And this whole sort of fucking like, 00:03:35.030 --> 00:03:37.150 oh, you know, yeah, I don't know. I'm just here 00:03:37.150 --> 00:03:40.069 like two days a week and block. I can't work 00:03:40.069 --> 00:03:44.229 so much. It's not like that here. The work attitude 00:03:44.229 --> 00:03:48.310 is super good in general. You know, people work 00:03:48.310 --> 00:03:51.330 really hard. Sounds great. Sounds great. And 00:03:51.330 --> 00:03:53.930 what projects can you talk about? Do you have 00:03:53.930 --> 00:03:57.129 any next openings or something? I think I can 00:03:57.129 --> 00:03:59.650 talk about it a little bit. Next year, we are 00:03:59.650 --> 00:04:03.310 planning on opening three restaurants. We have 00:04:03.310 --> 00:04:05.490 a place that we're going to open in the AFC. 00:04:05.669 --> 00:04:09.090 So I'm here in the financial district. It's like 00:04:09.090 --> 00:04:11.430 called the financial district because that's 00:04:11.430 --> 00:04:13.009 where all the banks are and loads of like big 00:04:13.009 --> 00:04:16.829 offices, kind of like Canary Wharf in London. 00:04:17.149 --> 00:04:21.550 Yeah, there is also a financial district in Manhattan 00:04:21.550 --> 00:04:26.120 and in Tokyo. Exactly like Ginza, you know. It's 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:28.560 actually a good comparison. In Ginza, there's 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:30.040 loads of good restaurants. So here in the financial 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:32.579 district, there's also a bunch of really, really 00:04:32.579 --> 00:04:34.899 good restaurants altogether. So that's where 00:04:34.899 --> 00:04:37.579 the arts club is. And in this district, we're 00:04:37.579 --> 00:04:39.620 going to open another more small -scale restaurant. 00:04:39.980 --> 00:04:43.139 We've signed a contract for a big -ass yacht 00:04:43.139 --> 00:04:47.180 club on the harbor, which is going to be massive. 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:51.100 It's going to be a place where you do 1 ,000 00:04:51.100 --> 00:04:54.279 covers a day. And then probably next year also 00:04:54.279 --> 00:04:57.639 we will launch a restaurant in London. Super 00:04:57.639 --> 00:05:00.860 cool. Super, super cool. Yeah, yeah. It's good. 00:05:00.980 --> 00:05:04.480 It's very good. I love the team, you know. I 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:07.699 mean, you know Michael Hepfel. Yes, of course. 00:05:07.959 --> 00:05:10.899 Love working with him. But also the other people 00:05:10.899 --> 00:05:13.240 involved. Like, for example, the upper management, 00:05:13.379 --> 00:05:16.120 the CEO. Like, it's a person I respect a lot. 00:05:16.220 --> 00:05:20.560 I have not many times worked with... Like, worked 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:23.019 in places where I really respect the upper management. 00:05:23.399 --> 00:05:25.399 And I'm sort of like, they know, they really 00:05:25.399 --> 00:05:29.100 know what they're talking about. Nice. Yeah, 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:32.759 sounds super cool. Yeah. So, yeah. What about 00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:35.600 you? What have you been up to? No, nothing crazy. 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:39.300 Like, just some things I could share here. I 00:05:39.300 --> 00:05:43.500 went back to Mucha. I think it's really my favorite 00:05:43.500 --> 00:05:46.449 restaurant in San Sebastian right now. And I 00:05:46.449 --> 00:05:48.189 have the same, do you remember that sparkling 00:05:48.189 --> 00:05:50.750 wine we had, the Isarlecu? Oh, yeah, that was 00:05:50.750 --> 00:05:52.649 really good. Which was like a sparkling Chacoli. 00:05:52.790 --> 00:05:55.209 I think that's my favorite wine right now, period. 00:05:55.490 --> 00:05:58.290 You know, like, it's just so incredible, like 00:05:58.290 --> 00:06:01.389 a Chacoli where they apply Champenoise method. 00:06:01.850 --> 00:06:04.350 It's so unique, and it's so much better than, 00:06:04.350 --> 00:06:07.730 you name it, like Cava or Champagne or anything, 00:06:07.870 --> 00:06:11.110 without the bullshit, you know? Like, it's just 00:06:11.110 --> 00:06:14.500 like something for connoisseurs. That is something 00:06:14.500 --> 00:06:17.720 I had recently. And besides that, I'm just coming 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:22.439 from a gastronomic society, lunch party. Nice. 00:06:22.839 --> 00:06:25.519 I was in charge of the steak, of the chuleta. 00:06:25.639 --> 00:06:28.420 Oh, nice. How did it turn out? I didn't mess 00:06:28.420 --> 00:06:31.300 up. I did it the proper Basque way. Everybody 00:06:31.300 --> 00:06:34.879 respected me for that. And yeah, so that was 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:38.199 it. Yeah, so I've only been once to a Sociedad 00:06:38.199 --> 00:06:41.060 like that. And that was in Muguritz. It was one 00:06:41.060 --> 00:06:42.620 of the team outings. We went to the one that 00:06:42.620 --> 00:06:45.160 Jorens was part of. And that was super fun. I 00:06:45.160 --> 00:06:48.959 remember Jorens was cooking, Javi, Ramon, they 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:50.759 were all kind of, you know, cooking in the background. 00:06:50.839 --> 00:06:53.339 We were just all enjoying and eating. I remember 00:06:53.339 --> 00:06:58.500 Andoni was there also. And we all got incredibly 00:06:58.500 --> 00:07:03.279 drunk. It was a good time. I already found, like, 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:06.579 I placed a request for one to see if I become 00:07:06.579 --> 00:07:11.199 a member. And yeah, so maybe I become a member 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:15.240 and next time you come, we can do a party there. 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:17.519 Yeah, we were talking about the steak, you know, 00:07:17.540 --> 00:07:20.160 because it's something really, to do it the Basque 00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:23.300 way, right? Because it's not the same as you 00:07:23.300 --> 00:07:25.199 would do it anywhere else in the world. If you 00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:27.980 do it in France or in Argentina or in the States 00:07:27.980 --> 00:07:30.459 or in London or wherever, it's different. But 00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:32.600 here it's really something that where you have 00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:36.709 to do only like three or four things. the, according 00:07:36.709 --> 00:07:39.449 to how it should be. And I would say it's pre 00:07:39.449 --> 00:07:43.370 -resting the meat, high temperature, uh, quick 00:07:43.370 --> 00:07:47.569 pan searing or, or grilling or whatever. And 00:07:47.569 --> 00:07:52.589 then also very important, good knife and good 00:07:52.589 --> 00:07:57.290 salt. That's it. Yeah. Course salt. Those are 00:07:57.290 --> 00:08:00.029 the KPIs, you know, like you need. Yeah, coarse 00:08:00.029 --> 00:08:04.110 salt and a good one, not whatever crappy salt. 00:08:05.889 --> 00:08:10.269 I use aniana, which is this Basque salt from 00:08:10.269 --> 00:08:13.250 a salt bank not far from here. Nice. Just to 00:08:13.250 --> 00:08:17.389 make it more mystical. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. 00:08:17.850 --> 00:08:22.149 It's been harvested by... By a Basque nun. Of 00:08:22.149 --> 00:08:25.779 course, yeah. Other full moon, of course. They 00:08:25.779 --> 00:08:29.459 tie canaries to her forehead. The canaries, they 00:08:29.459 --> 00:08:33.759 search out the salt. Exactly. In cooking, those 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:35.580 are my favorite sort of things. The ones that 00:08:35.580 --> 00:08:38.799 are so, so, so simple. Like ridiculously simple. 00:08:38.919 --> 00:08:41.259 Like if you had to explain it to somebody, you'd 00:08:41.259 --> 00:08:43.539 be sort of like, you add salt, you put it over 00:08:43.539 --> 00:08:46.580 charcoal, you flip it, you do the same thing 00:08:46.580 --> 00:08:49.720 again, blah. But the way that you do it and the 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:52.120 like little intricacies make the difference. 00:08:52.179 --> 00:08:54.120 Like with, you know, I don't know, people are 00:08:54.120 --> 00:08:57.000 probably sick to their fucking stomach of us, 00:08:57.019 --> 00:08:59.559 of me mentioning the Spanish tortilla. Every 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:01.279 time I mentioned the Spanish tortilla, everybody's 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:04.100 like, oh my God, not again. But it's just the 00:09:04.100 --> 00:09:07.500 perfect example of simplistic cooking. You know, 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:10.720 those are my favorite sort of things. What about, 00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:13.879 I saw when you just arrived, you had like a, 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:19.500 like a private diner. to you directly by by michael 00:09:19.500 --> 00:09:22.639 oh yeah like you're yeah like you're welcome 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:25.679 there what was that that's all really amazing 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:28.559 what did it come for you i mean it wasn't anything 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:32.480 like out of the ordinary as in like just specifically 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:35.980 for me the first day i came into the office and 00:09:35.980 --> 00:09:38.519 i signed some paperwork and he was like so you 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:40.840 want to have some lunch or something and i just 00:09:40.840 --> 00:09:44.960 came in and ate off the lunch menu and then it 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:47.899 was the same i think the day after for dinner 00:09:47.899 --> 00:09:49.879 he was like hey just come by have some food but 00:09:49.879 --> 00:09:53.000 it was just off the menu you know but i had like 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:55.720 the food there is just amazing it's just really 00:09:55.720 --> 00:09:58.539 fucking good there's so many people there that 00:09:58.539 --> 00:10:02.399 do amazing work um and yeah so like when i was 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:04.559 there in the beginning what did i eat i ate like 00:10:04.559 --> 00:10:06.580 this little we make this little nori tartlet 00:10:06.580 --> 00:10:11.960 with like a tuna tartare uh like a little mayonnaise 00:10:11.960 --> 00:10:14.940 with yuzu kosho and then you put some caviar 00:10:14.940 --> 00:10:18.450 on it some chives some yoga That's it. And it's 00:10:18.450 --> 00:10:21.409 so fucking simple, but just so tasty. You never 00:10:21.409 --> 00:10:24.269 get tired of it. This little crispy nori shell 00:10:24.269 --> 00:10:26.850 looks beautiful also, right? And then you have 00:10:26.850 --> 00:10:29.950 tuna tartare, sauce, a little bit of caviar. 00:10:29.950 --> 00:10:32.529 That's it. Also really nice, like we're making 00:10:32.529 --> 00:10:36.389 these like little ramen for lunch. Like if you 00:10:36.389 --> 00:10:37.730 want to come have a quick lunch, we make these 00:10:37.730 --> 00:10:40.529 little bowls of ramen. But it's like very thought 00:10:40.529 --> 00:10:43.509 through. So it'll be like a chicken ramen. with 00:10:43.509 --> 00:10:46.330 a sort of like slow roasted soy chicken that's 00:10:46.330 --> 00:10:49.509 like super crispy a really really nice like intense 00:10:49.509 --> 00:10:52.629 um kind of tonkatsu chicken broth like really 00:10:52.629 --> 00:10:56.789 thick and creamy homemade noodles good marinated 00:10:56.789 --> 00:10:59.590 soy egg like it's just good i love the style 00:10:59.590 --> 00:11:02.669 of cooking you know it's it's really it doesn't 00:11:02.669 --> 00:11:04.769 it can be anything you know but it's just like 00:11:04.769 --> 00:11:08.970 simple straightforward um delicious nice nice 00:11:08.970 --> 00:11:12.179 nice nice So I went to Muca again. I remember 00:11:12.179 --> 00:11:14.679 having also some dishes that were mind -blowing 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:17.519 once again, especially the vegetables. I remember 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:20.740 having the tear peas again, having asparagus 00:11:20.740 --> 00:11:24.259 again, the anchovies again. All of those things 00:11:24.259 --> 00:11:27.240 were just out of this world. The anchovies were 00:11:27.240 --> 00:11:30.179 so good, man. I still think about those. But 00:11:30.179 --> 00:11:33.799 besides that, I haven't had any new, crazy different 00:11:33.799 --> 00:11:37.340 experiences. Nothing out of the box, to be honest. 00:11:38.759 --> 00:11:43.340 being a little bit more of the same. Same old, 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:45.960 same old. Yeah, same old, same old is often good. 00:11:46.120 --> 00:11:47.440 I mean, especially when you're in the Basque 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:49.320 country, you know. I cooked a couple of really 00:11:49.320 --> 00:11:51.679 nice things these last couple of weeks. Okay. 00:11:51.779 --> 00:11:55.899 In my new role as culinary development. One of 00:11:55.899 --> 00:11:58.120 the things I did that I tried out the first time, 00:11:58.179 --> 00:12:00.059 and I've never done it before, and it was one 00:12:00.059 --> 00:12:02.080 of those things that it just worked out straight 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:04.480 away super well. So I tried to make pastrami. 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:07.590 It was kind of cool because... Like, I wanted 00:12:07.590 --> 00:12:11.809 to make pastrami for a simple reason. I needed 00:12:11.809 --> 00:12:15.090 to work on a sandwich for, like, lunch for one 00:12:15.090 --> 00:12:17.450 of the restaurants. Just super casual. Nothing 00:12:17.450 --> 00:12:20.070 fancy, you know? I don't like buying shit in. 00:12:20.230 --> 00:12:22.590 Like, I think most of the things should be made 00:12:22.590 --> 00:12:24.509 in -house. Also, so the quality is really, really 00:12:24.509 --> 00:12:26.929 high. I was like, okay, I'm just going to try 00:12:26.929 --> 00:12:29.149 to make pastrami. Also, when you buy pastrami, 00:12:29.149 --> 00:12:31.370 it's often, like, super dry and stuff. So I think 00:12:31.370 --> 00:12:34.830 there are, like, two major schools. One is that 00:12:34.830 --> 00:12:37.330 it feels like a cold cut, and it's that one that 00:12:37.330 --> 00:12:40.870 you say, like, that is more like a dry thing. 00:12:41.110 --> 00:12:43.330 And the other one that is like a cooked brisket, 00:12:43.370 --> 00:12:47.610 almost like a stewed beef cheek kind of a situation. 00:12:48.450 --> 00:12:50.610 What's the one you're doing? Like the ones from 00:12:50.610 --> 00:12:52.590 Katz, for example, in New York. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 00:12:52.590 --> 00:12:54.529 exactly. So that's the kind of the style that 00:12:54.529 --> 00:12:56.409 I went for, but I didn't want to use brisket. 00:12:56.610 --> 00:13:01.320 We have these really nice Wagyu short ribs. right 00:13:01.320 --> 00:13:04.620 big wagyu short ribs on the bone from australia 00:13:04.620 --> 00:13:09.000 super nice marbling nice amount of connective 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:12.860 tissue and so i did it with that brined it for 00:13:12.860 --> 00:13:17.019 four days did a nice brine lots of spice some 00:13:17.019 --> 00:13:19.460 kombu inside of there also give it some umami 00:13:19.460 --> 00:13:23.279 four days take it out rinse it pat it dry then 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:25.820 put it in a hosper smoke it with wood for like 00:13:25.820 --> 00:13:29.379 five hours and make like a really nice rub you 00:13:29.379 --> 00:13:31.659 know, lots of pepper, some sugar, some salt, 00:13:31.779 --> 00:13:34.600 some garlic and onion powder, a little bit of 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:37.240 MSG. The good thing. The good stuff. Yeah, the 00:13:37.240 --> 00:13:40.279 good stuff. And then just like backpack it with 00:13:40.279 --> 00:13:42.799 the rub and cook it at 80 degrees, 12 hours. 00:13:42.940 --> 00:13:48.440 Done. It comes out. It's bright pink all the 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:53.039 way through. It's so fucking fatty and so delicious 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:55.240 and so tender. It's absolutely unbelievable. 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:58.529 So that after we did this. We tried it the first 00:13:58.529 --> 00:14:00.889 time and I was like, shit, man, this is like, 00:14:00.929 --> 00:14:03.610 this is way too good for just a sandwich, you 00:14:03.610 --> 00:14:07.610 know? And so we came up with this thing where 00:14:07.610 --> 00:14:09.470 it's kind of like you get like a set of bao buns. 00:14:09.950 --> 00:14:12.269 So freshly steamed bao buns and you get like 00:14:12.269 --> 00:14:15.289 a couple of thick slices of pastrami and then 00:14:15.289 --> 00:14:16.870 you just get condiments to make like your own 00:14:16.870 --> 00:14:20.029 bao. So you have like yuzu pickled daikon, you've 00:14:20.029 --> 00:14:22.669 got like a miso mustard sauce, some like fresh 00:14:22.669 --> 00:14:24.669 cucumber, a little bit of like a cress salad. 00:14:25.549 --> 00:14:27.250 You know, just like little steam buns. You put 00:14:27.250 --> 00:14:29.850 this like fatty, juicy meat in, put your condiments 00:14:29.850 --> 00:14:32.110 in, just eat it. It's fucking delicious. What 00:14:32.110 --> 00:14:35.230 about, I saw something you posted that was like 00:14:35.230 --> 00:14:38.169 a croissant, like a square croissant kind of 00:14:38.169 --> 00:14:40.590 burger or sandwich. What was that? Oh yeah. That 00:14:40.590 --> 00:14:42.570 was also the pastrami. So that was in the end, 00:14:42.570 --> 00:14:46.570 the sandwich that I made. Ah, you fucking pervert. 00:14:46.669 --> 00:14:55.360 Yeah. You know, like, um, So basically, we took 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:58.340 croissants, though, because we bake croissants 00:14:58.340 --> 00:15:02.299 in -house also. And we put them into little rings. 00:15:03.700 --> 00:15:06.679 You put a lid on it and then bake it so it stays 00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:09.799 flat and compact. And it's perfect because it's 00:15:09.799 --> 00:15:12.379 really light. So you have like a hockey disc 00:15:12.379 --> 00:15:17.250 kind of. croissant thing exactly it's perfect 00:15:17.250 --> 00:15:19.710 because it's really light it's buttery it's flaky 00:15:19.710 --> 00:15:22.750 it toasts really nicely you can freeze it you 00:15:22.750 --> 00:15:25.590 can defrost it super easy and then like what 00:15:25.590 --> 00:15:28.789 did i do i just put like thin slices of pastrami 00:15:28.789 --> 00:15:30.970 so when it's cold you just like you put it in 00:15:30.970 --> 00:15:33.710 a steamer just gets back warm then you like flame 00:15:33.710 --> 00:15:36.870 it a little bit and then super simple like i 00:15:36.870 --> 00:15:41.610 made like a an onion cream so you just cook down 00:15:41.610 --> 00:15:44.360 onions for a really long time until they're really 00:15:44.360 --> 00:15:46.600 soft and caramelized. And then I seasoned that 00:15:46.600 --> 00:15:48.519 with just some butter, some water, and a little 00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:52.139 bit of miso to make this like onion jam. Then 00:15:52.139 --> 00:15:57.299 I made like a mustard tarragon mayo. So lots 00:15:57.299 --> 00:15:59.580 of herbs, you know, and then just like lettuce, 00:15:59.659 --> 00:16:02.659 tomato, homemade cucumber pickles. That's it. 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:06.200 Some cheese, you know. It's fucking banging, 00:16:06.200 --> 00:16:09.559 man. It's so like, so simple, but so nice. Nice, 00:16:09.559 --> 00:16:11.960 nice, nice, nice. I like it. I like it, like 00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:15.070 it. We started doing this like chef's table thing. 00:16:15.190 --> 00:16:18.490 So once a week, we was in a restaurant there 00:16:18.490 --> 00:16:20.389 and one of the restaurants, the Japanese restaurant, 00:16:20.529 --> 00:16:22.649 well, the Nikkei restaurant, I should rather 00:16:22.649 --> 00:16:26.909 say, at the sushi section, they have a counter 00:16:26.909 --> 00:16:30.129 for six people. So once a week, we do like a 00:16:30.129 --> 00:16:33.590 tasting menu of like 10 courses that we do couple 00:16:33.590 --> 00:16:35.409 style. You know, I mean, we talked about couple 00:16:35.409 --> 00:16:38.190 style in Japan where you sit in front of, you 00:16:38.190 --> 00:16:40.769 sit on the counter and you watch the chef. prepare 00:16:40.769 --> 00:16:43.809 the stuff basically. So we do that. That's also 00:16:43.809 --> 00:16:46.090 a large amount of the work that I do at the moment 00:16:46.090 --> 00:16:48.029 is kind of make dishes for that and like cook 00:16:48.029 --> 00:16:53.269 there also. So we have this message from Chef 00:16:53.269 --> 00:16:58.690 Ryan, probably our most active listener. Shout 00:16:58.690 --> 00:17:02.549 out to Chef Ryan, yeah. I think I have a good 00:17:02.549 --> 00:17:05.690 idea for the podcast. Where do you find your 00:17:05.690 --> 00:17:08.470 identity in cooking? For me personally, I feel 00:17:08.470 --> 00:17:11.349 lost as a chef sometimes. Maybe imposter syndrome? 00:17:11.710 --> 00:17:13.950 I've been born and raised in California, but 00:17:13.950 --> 00:17:16.289 have no real tangible connections except what 00:17:16.289 --> 00:17:19.269 is expected as far as what a chef on the West 00:17:19.269 --> 00:17:22.089 Coast means. Thomas Keller helped define that 00:17:22.089 --> 00:17:26.089 and bred the farm -to -fork movement, which is 00:17:26.089 --> 00:17:28.430 essentially what Basque Country is for California. 00:17:28.930 --> 00:17:31.089 Where do you find your passion in the culinary 00:17:31.089 --> 00:17:35.130 industry? That's a good question. What do you 00:17:35.130 --> 00:17:37.009 think? What are your initial thoughts to this? 00:17:37.309 --> 00:17:39.569 It has to be autobiographical, I think. I mean, 00:17:39.589 --> 00:17:41.869 unless... I think there is no way around that. 00:17:41.990 --> 00:17:46.369 It has to be... For example, I, myself, I have 00:17:46.369 --> 00:17:49.309 this mixture of cultures where my parents are 00:17:49.309 --> 00:17:52.490 Spanish and German and I grew up and was born 00:17:52.490 --> 00:17:54.980 and raised in Venezuela. I think I... belong 00:17:54.980 --> 00:17:58.299 to the three cultures. I think I'm entitled to 00:17:58.299 --> 00:18:00.759 open a German restaurant or a Spanish restaurant 00:18:00.759 --> 00:18:02.779 or a Venezuelan restaurant. And I think that 00:18:02.779 --> 00:18:06.480 that's okay. But even apart from that, if I feel 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:08.740 I wanted to open an Italian restaurant or a Japanese 00:18:08.740 --> 00:18:11.619 restaurant, I feel I can also do that as long. 00:18:12.089 --> 00:18:14.829 as whatever I'm cooking resonates with me. As 00:18:14.829 --> 00:18:17.069 long as I feel that I'm expressing something 00:18:17.069 --> 00:18:19.829 or telling a story with the stuff I'm putting 00:18:19.829 --> 00:18:22.569 on the plate, I do feel that that's the whole 00:18:22.569 --> 00:18:25.170 point. It's like, I don't know, if you're a musician, 00:18:25.450 --> 00:18:27.690 you have to feel what you're playing, right? 00:18:27.930 --> 00:18:33.390 I guess that's the whole point of cooking and 00:18:33.390 --> 00:18:36.430 delivering something on a plate, in my opinion. 00:18:37.069 --> 00:18:40.390 Yeah, I totally agree. It's autobiographical 00:18:40.390 --> 00:18:44.130 for sure. you know i feel like we're still in 00:18:44.130 --> 00:18:48.210 a mindset where we separate cultures a lot but 00:18:48.210 --> 00:18:51.250 i feel like we live in a time where information 00:18:51.250 --> 00:18:53.950 is so widely spread that you can't make this 00:18:53.950 --> 00:18:59.029 differentiation differentiation that much anymore 00:18:59.029 --> 00:19:03.230 like of course you can there's very clear cultural 00:19:03.230 --> 00:19:06.769 differences but if you're in a in a subject like 00:19:06.769 --> 00:19:10.140 say you're a painter right You're a painter in 00:19:10.140 --> 00:19:12.539 a certain area and people around you paint in 00:19:12.539 --> 00:19:14.180 a certain way. But at the same time, you go on 00:19:14.180 --> 00:19:16.859 the Internet and you see all the fucking different 00:19:16.859 --> 00:19:19.779 painting styles from all over the world. And 00:19:19.779 --> 00:19:21.559 you see things that you really like, that you 00:19:21.559 --> 00:19:24.359 look at and you're like, man, I love that. You 00:19:24.359 --> 00:19:27.700 know, maybe I love the choice of color or I love 00:19:27.700 --> 00:19:30.440 the, you know, the technical aspect or I love 00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:32.819 the abstract aspect of it. It's something that 00:19:32.819 --> 00:19:35.160 very emotionally resonates with you. I think 00:19:35.160 --> 00:19:38.440 it is very normal to be inspired by that. I think 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:41.500 it's kind of the same with cooking. I think you 00:19:41.500 --> 00:19:43.940 have to be careful with saying, oh, this is traditional 00:19:43.940 --> 00:19:46.759 this, this is authentic that. But I think that 00:19:46.759 --> 00:19:50.039 if you are inspired, which you unavoidably are 00:19:50.039 --> 00:19:52.700 going to be in this day and age with all the 00:19:52.700 --> 00:19:54.359 information and all the input that you're getting 00:19:54.359 --> 00:19:59.559 these days, as long as you absorb things and 00:19:59.559 --> 00:20:03.279 maybe replicate things out of a place of appreciation. 00:20:04.269 --> 00:20:07.569 then i think you're good and it's authentic i 00:20:07.569 --> 00:20:10.609 think it is a big part of food and cooking is 00:20:10.609 --> 00:20:14.730 way beyond what it used to be like 20 years ago 00:20:14.730 --> 00:20:18.670 right it's cooking is evolving in a in a as an 00:20:18.670 --> 00:20:20.950 expression and as an art form in a way that's 00:20:20.950 --> 00:20:24.890 incredible and um i think that's part of the 00:20:24.890 --> 00:20:27.029 reason why you know because people have a very 00:20:27.029 --> 00:20:31.789 widespread treasury of information and When you 00:20:31.789 --> 00:20:34.210 are apprenticing, when you're starting in something, 00:20:34.390 --> 00:20:38.609 replicating the masters or the people that you 00:20:38.609 --> 00:20:43.970 admire and that you respect is undoubtedly one 00:20:43.970 --> 00:20:47.230 of the first steps of improving yourself. Replicating 00:20:47.230 --> 00:20:51.630 and repeating that and absorbing. You have to 00:20:51.630 --> 00:20:54.369 do that before you are even able to express something 00:20:54.369 --> 00:20:56.890 of yourself. Additionally, to close what I'm 00:20:56.890 --> 00:21:00.720 saying. You know, Chef Ryan taking the example 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:05.059 of Thomas Keller, who, Thomas Keller, forefather 00:21:05.059 --> 00:21:07.839 of American cooking and Californian cooking, 00:21:07.980 --> 00:21:11.900 no? For example, the donut, you know, donut and 00:21:11.900 --> 00:21:15.140 coffee, you know, like that's nothing. It's one 00:21:15.140 --> 00:21:18.579 of his signature and most iconic dishes. And 00:21:18.579 --> 00:21:22.859 there is nothing disruptive about it. It's quite 00:21:22.859 --> 00:21:26.390 the opposite. It's something. as classic and 00:21:26.390 --> 00:21:29.690 straightforward as it gets but he's doing his 00:21:29.690 --> 00:21:32.750 own take and putting it in the right moment at 00:21:32.750 --> 00:21:35.069 the right place and telling a story with it and 00:21:35.069 --> 00:21:38.750 that's what makes it uh extraordinary basically 00:21:38.750 --> 00:21:43.430 absolutely yeah and um like to get there he for 00:21:43.430 --> 00:21:45.630 a very long time cooked predominantly french 00:21:45.630 --> 00:21:49.170 food right like you don't just start with something 00:21:49.170 --> 00:21:51.819 authentic It becomes authentic, you know, and 00:21:51.819 --> 00:21:53.960 Thomas Keller nowadays has his own style because 00:21:53.960 --> 00:21:57.019 it evolved. He started somewhere, maybe predominantly 00:21:57.019 --> 00:22:00.279 cooking French food and like Mediterranean food 00:22:00.279 --> 00:22:04.599 in California. And that at some point he developed 00:22:04.599 --> 00:22:08.019 his own style, you know, and now we don't even 00:22:08.019 --> 00:22:09.839 question it. You know, it's French laundry style. 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:11.539 You can look at a dish and you can be like, oh, 00:22:11.539 --> 00:22:13.299 that's, you know, that's very French laundry 00:22:13.299 --> 00:22:16.319 -esque. That's very birthday -esque. And like 00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:18.779 the donut, you know, coffee and donuts is something 00:22:18.779 --> 00:22:22.750 so. american in a way with his own style of cooking 00:22:22.750 --> 00:22:25.809 that was formed by a different style so i think 00:22:25.809 --> 00:22:29.809 that people need to i feel like americans have 00:22:29.809 --> 00:22:31.390 this a lot where they're like very they have 00:22:31.390 --> 00:22:34.670 imposter syndrome we need to maybe look at these 00:22:34.670 --> 00:22:37.369 sorts of things in a much more organic way that 00:22:37.369 --> 00:22:42.269 everything's a process um there's a constant 00:22:42.269 --> 00:22:45.269 osmosis of information and different cultures 00:22:45.269 --> 00:22:50.240 in our day and time there's no sort of real like 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:52.960 segregation anymore sort of like oh my people 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:56.019 here your people there that's not really happening 00:22:56.019 --> 00:22:59.420 anymore right and i think that's that's nice 00:22:59.420 --> 00:23:04.099 that's the zeitgeist yeah i have a i have also 00:23:04.099 --> 00:23:07.460 something to add on top of that um so on one 00:23:07.460 --> 00:23:09.200 side this is something i've talked with with 00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:13.339 xander the producer a million of times he told 00:23:13.339 --> 00:23:17.710 me once one of his drama teachers while he was 00:23:17.710 --> 00:23:23.750 in film school, he said, all stories have already 00:23:23.750 --> 00:23:27.869 been told, but not by everyone. Because if you 00:23:27.869 --> 00:23:31.630 break apart the structure of a story in, let's 00:23:31.630 --> 00:23:35.950 say, in a novel or in a movie, there is a limited 00:23:35.950 --> 00:23:40.990 amount of story structures that work, and those 00:23:40.990 --> 00:23:44.309 structures are 99 % of all of the movies that 00:23:44.309 --> 00:23:46.650 are being published. except for the very, very 00:23:46.650 --> 00:23:49.430 experimental one. But it's either a character 00:23:49.430 --> 00:23:52.730 that is transformed by his environment or his 00:23:52.730 --> 00:23:55.670 or her environment, or the opposite, the character 00:23:55.670 --> 00:23:59.690 transforms his or her environment. And from that, 00:23:59.849 --> 00:24:02.809 you can make millions of variations, right? Yeah, 00:24:02.869 --> 00:24:06.150 but not by everyone. That means, like, even the 00:24:06.150 --> 00:24:08.230 same movie, you know? Like, even, let's say, 00:24:08.309 --> 00:24:13.519 Romeo and Juliet, you know? There are a hundred 00:24:13.519 --> 00:24:16.599 versions of that same story, and these are completely 00:24:16.599 --> 00:24:19.019 different movies. On that same line of thought, 00:24:19.339 --> 00:24:22.200 I bring a lot of people to places, for example, 00:24:22.259 --> 00:24:25.579 like Bar Antonio, to try their tortilla. And 00:24:25.579 --> 00:24:27.880 I've heard more than once people that have no 00:24:27.880 --> 00:24:30.579 idea about tortilla, of what a tortilla is, and 00:24:30.579 --> 00:24:32.759 they tell me, yeah, that's amazing, but it's 00:24:32.759 --> 00:24:37.000 not that traditional tortilla. And I'm like... 00:24:37.720 --> 00:24:40.480 That's a very traditional tortilla. It's a tortilla 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:43.359 that follows all of the rules of what a tortilla 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:46.339 should be, but they have their own personality 00:24:46.339 --> 00:24:48.420 and character, and that's what makes it different. 00:24:48.599 --> 00:24:50.500 But they're not breaking any rules. They're not, 00:24:50.539 --> 00:24:53.160 like, adding flour to the tortilla or something 00:24:53.160 --> 00:24:55.579 like that, you know? Like, that would make it 00:24:55.579 --> 00:24:58.779 untraditional or even take it apart from the 00:24:58.779 --> 00:25:02.789 definition of a tortilla. Once you add... Flour 00:25:02.789 --> 00:25:04.430 is not a tortilla anymore. It's something else, 00:25:04.470 --> 00:25:07.789 right? Like your break. But they're not doing 00:25:07.789 --> 00:25:09.450 that at all. They're just doing it like their 00:25:09.450 --> 00:25:12.829 own way. And I think that's very important. And 00:25:12.829 --> 00:25:16.069 it's also like you talked about, for example, 00:25:16.109 --> 00:25:18.829 what now is new Californian cuisine or this kind 00:25:18.829 --> 00:25:22.930 of things. What now is Latin American fine dining? 00:25:23.089 --> 00:25:26.289 Now you will find Peruvian or Mexican restaurants 00:25:26.289 --> 00:25:29.329 that are Michelin star. But there were no Peruvian 00:25:29.329 --> 00:25:33.109 or Mexican Michelin stars 20 years ago. Only 00:25:33.109 --> 00:25:36.750 20 years ago. And the restaurants that were Peruvian 00:25:36.750 --> 00:25:39.849 or Mexican fine dining weren't Peruvian -Peruvian 00:25:39.849 --> 00:25:43.089 or Mexican -Mexican. These places were French 00:25:43.089 --> 00:25:46.690 -Peruvian or French -Mexican. And if you go back 00:25:46.690 --> 00:25:48.910 in time, you will see the same thing. It's pretty 00:25:48.910 --> 00:25:51.509 much the same story, what happened with French 00:25:51.509 --> 00:25:55.679 Laundry. First, they took French technique. And 00:25:55.679 --> 00:25:59.140 then they did French -French, and then French 00:25:59.140 --> 00:26:01.900 -Californian, and now California -Californian, 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:03.839 right? Like, same thing happened with Brazilian, 00:26:04.180 --> 00:26:07.480 first French -Brazilian, then Brazilian -Brazilian, 00:26:07.480 --> 00:26:10.619 and so on. Like, and the same thing with the 00:26:10.619 --> 00:26:12.279 Basque cuisine, you know? Like, the new Basque 00:26:12.279 --> 00:26:15.119 cuisine, what happened here in the late 70s. 00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:18.400 Basically, these were chefs that were all French 00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:21.039 trained and they started taking recipes from 00:26:21.039 --> 00:26:23.940 their grandmothers or from farmers or fishermen 00:26:23.940 --> 00:26:27.759 or producers and transformed that into a fine 00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:30.799 dining setting, applying French technique. And 00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:32.940 at the end of the day, everything is a remix. 00:26:33.140 --> 00:26:35.380 Everything is a combination of what you've seen 00:26:35.380 --> 00:26:38.420 and experienced yourself. And you're kind of 00:26:38.420 --> 00:26:41.599 like a melting pot that puts all this stuff together 00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:48.039 and you just... Deliver whatever only you can 00:26:48.039 --> 00:26:50.740 express. For me, that's what it's all about in 00:26:50.740 --> 00:26:55.039 any art form. It could be writing, singing, making 00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:57.779 movies, telling stories, telling jokes, dancing, 00:26:58.000 --> 00:27:02.039 whatever. You should look for something that 00:27:02.039 --> 00:27:06.619 only you can do. Something even that is difficult 00:27:06.619 --> 00:27:09.619 to explain. For example, in my case, imagine 00:27:09.619 --> 00:27:12.059 I do a restaurant that is 100 % myself. It would 00:27:12.059 --> 00:27:16.059 probably be... German, Spanish, and Venezuelan. 00:27:16.059 --> 00:27:17.900 And people would be like, what the fuck? Just 00:27:17.900 --> 00:27:24.380 line after line. And it's like, well, that's 00:27:24.380 --> 00:27:27.160 my identity. These are my cultures. This is my 00:27:27.160 --> 00:27:29.900 heritage. And it's just what I'm putting together. 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:35.099 Yeah, for sure. I had somebody ask me the other 00:27:35.099 --> 00:27:39.559 day, how come a German chef is cooking Japanese 00:27:39.559 --> 00:27:46.339 food? And I was like, well... um because i fucking 00:27:46.339 --> 00:27:50.539 want to yeah yeah it's just like i am yeah like 00:27:50.539 --> 00:27:52.680 i was i've been fascinated with it since i was 00:27:52.680 --> 00:27:56.660 a kid and like went to japan cooked like i mean 00:27:56.660 --> 00:27:58.920 maybe other days somebody said something like 00:27:58.920 --> 00:28:01.740 that i was sort of like oh i never i never pictured 00:28:01.740 --> 00:28:03.559 you like cooking japanese food and i was like 00:28:03.559 --> 00:28:05.279 man i've been like i've cooked japanese food 00:28:05.279 --> 00:28:07.839 for like at least a quarter of my career if not 00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:11.589 a third you know like It's definitely a good 00:28:11.589 --> 00:28:15.089 question. So thanks to Chef Ryan for prompting 00:28:15.089 --> 00:28:18.450 it. People can always get in contact with us. 00:28:18.470 --> 00:28:19.910 I mean, with me. I don't know about you, but 00:28:19.910 --> 00:28:22.529 if you guys feel like reaching out, you can always 00:28:22.529 --> 00:28:26.230 message me. Yes, of course. Yeah, we're happy 00:28:26.230 --> 00:28:29.650 to read your questions and discuss them here. 00:28:29.789 --> 00:28:36.069 Absolutely. That's it for this week's episode 00:28:36.069 --> 00:28:38.670 of Potluck Food Talks. If you like what we're 00:28:38.670 --> 00:28:40.789 doing, Make sure to subscribe to the podcast 00:28:40.789 --> 00:28:43.769 so you never miss an episode. You can also find 00:28:43.769 --> 00:28:46.549 us on Instagram and TikTok as potluckfoodtalks. 00:28:46.710 --> 00:28:48.289 The show airs every Monday.