S1. E4 | ATHLEISURE KITCHEN WITH MICHELIN STARRED CHEF, GEORGE MENDES

On today's episode of Athleisure Kitchen, we headed to the offices of Chefs Club in Soho to sit down and talk with Michelin starred chef and restaurateur, George Mendes, who was also the cover for Athleisure Mag for the June Issue about Aldea located in Flatiron as well as his pop up concept AMAR which is in residency at Chefs Club Counter through the end of August. We talk about the importance of Portuguese cuisine in his food, his passion for food and a number of his partnerships that allow our palettes to know more about Portuguese food.

You can stay in the loop on who future guests are by visiting us at AthleisureStudio.com/AthleisureKitchen and on Instagram at @AthleisureKitchen and @AthleisureStudio. Athleisure Kitchen is hosted by Kimmie Smith and is Executive Produced by Paul Farkas and Kimmie Smith. It is mixed by the team at Athleisure Studio. Our music is "This Boy" performed by Ilya Truhanov.

REFINED RUSTICITY WITH CHEF GEORGE MENDES

We have been a fan of Chefs Club NY since 2017 when we did our interview with Chef Chris Szyjka who had a residency there and was also participating in Cochon555's NY leg then. It was in this interview that we found out Chefs Club was founded in 2012 by Stephane De Baets. This restaurant group features some of the world's top chefs in iconic locations including: NYC, Chefs Club Counter, Aspen and Taipei. Chefs enjoy being featured in these locations as well as being able to have takeovers in their space and menus.

In addition to their fine dining component of Chefs Club, in 2017 Chefs Club Counter, a fast casual brand opened as means to focus on this sector of the market. It was at a recent Michelin 4x4 dinner held at Chefs Club that we found out more about Chefs Club Counter and the current residency of Chef George Mendes with his concept restaurant AMAR! Our menswear cover rocks easy looks that Chef would wear in the restaurant as well as planning a number of tasks involving this restaurant as well as his Michelin starred Aldea in Union Square including summer's accessory - sunglasses. We talk with him about his Iberian/Portuguese cuisine, his culinary journey and how he maintains inspiration when it comes to making fantastic dishes. Whether you enjoy his offerings at Aldea or you enjoy enjoy his fast casual fare at AMAR, he's always bringing the love of Portugal in every bite.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When was the moment that you realized that you loved food and wanted to be a chef?

CHEF GEORGE MENDES: I think it – it really came in stages to be honest with you. I grew up in a Portuguese household where there was always fresh food on the table and a patch of garden even if it was in the backyard or on the driveway. My mother would always cook for my dad, my sister and I. We would always have home cooked meals 5 or 6 days out of the week. When I graduated from high school, I wasn’t pushed to go into the direction of going to college or to university. My mom and dad said that I should find something that I loved and work to make money in something that I wanted to be a part of. I took a field trip one day to the Culinary Institute of America with my marketing class and I spent the day up there and fell in love with it.

I think that I truly believed that I already had a seed planted in me from growing up around good food from my mother cooking at home, but also the holiday feasts always made a big impact. I can still smell the Portuguese table of the bounty of salt cod, rice dishes, suckling pig and filet mignon. It was kind of a mingling of Americana and Portuguese foods. So, there was filet mignon and surf and turf with lobster tails. There was this chicken rice and rabbit. I was just was planted at a very early age growing up that the the life and culture of living in a Portuguese community always had – food.

AM: Nice – it’s always food!

CHEF GM: Food there was always food. There would be Saints Day celebrations at a local Portuguese Community Club and there would be sardines on a charcoal grill, there was chicken grilling with pitti pitti sauce which has inspired recipes in my career today whether it’s a sandwich or half of a chicken grilled with the same sauce that I grew up with. It’s funny because I have come full circle now in a way!

AM: Can you tell us about your culinary experience from where you trained through restaurants that you worked with prior to Aldea?

CHEF GM: It all started with the Culinary Institute of America in the early 90’s. From there, I spent another year in a classical French restaurant at The Stonehenge Inn - classical French cook ing. Then I came to New York for the first time and took a cooking class with Chef David Bouley and then I asked him for a job on the spot because I was mesmerized by the kitchen itself and the brigade and how it reminded me of school a little bit. But the food had a big impact on me and I wanted to learn a different style of cooking.

I stayed with him for over 3.5 years and in between, there were stints in Paris at Arpège, a 3-star Michelin restaurant. I was able to do that for awhile in the late 90’s and then I came back to New York again and helped a fellow Bouley cook/chef open up his restaurant called Wallsé which was Austrian and went through the experience of what it was like to open up a business from scratch and to learn all the parts. From there, I took a job as a chef at the age of 24 at a little bistro called Le Zoo. I was very young and I was doing the kinds of things that I learned at Bouley. But I had the desire to still travel abroad and to learn from French Masters. So I moved to Washington DC which was a link to get me back to France again so I did that. I went to the South of France to work and came back to the US again and took a job working as a chef at a restaurant in Times Square with a very very heavy pre-theater business – insane!

AM: How did that feel?

CHEF GM: It was insane! It wasn’t quite scoop and serve style of cooking, but it was high volume and every thing had to be ready and get it done fast! I missed the finesse and I missed the tinkering. You know, tweezers weren’t around yet so we weren’t doing all of that yet – but 5-8 years later, I hit a point where there was a lot of noise coming out of Spain with this avant garde movement that was happening in terms of a culinary revolution. I thought, “wait a minute, Spain is a neighbor of Portugal," and I started seeing the relationship of this familiarity happening between the two countries especially with the flavors of the olive oils, garlic and the tomato. I worked with Martin Berasategui and that was a big lightbulb moment for me and that’s when I knew I wanted to create my own style and my own identity. I felt that I had trained for many years at that point and now was the time to create my own voice. He opened up my eyes to the cooking that I grew up with again. He said, “revisit those flavors that wholesomeness, rusticity the memories, those aromas and try to interpret them and put it all together. Put them all in a stock pot, mix it up and see what comes out.”

At that time, I took the Chef de Cuisine position at Tocqueville which was a French American restaurant with the agreement with the owners that I was given the opportunity to create specials and contribute to the menu and that was my first foray or first road to take the discovery of what I wanted to be as a chef and that’s what also led me to creating the style of Aldea. That’s when I realized that that was what I wanted to do and started calling it “refined rusticity.” It’s a term that I coined and we talk about it in the book a little bit as a means to really capture the rustic nature of Portuguese cooking and to finesse it all the way.

AM: How was it creating your book and how much time did it take you?

CHEF GM: Two years. Books are a fun project. They’re a lot of work, a lot of soul searching, a lot of hours, a lot of talking and writing – a lot of recipe development. Because a lot of the things that we do in the kitchen are not measured precisely unless you’re going into pastry. When we were doing the book, my author Genevieve would measure the cups and table spoons of this. It wasn’t just a drop of olive oil or a dash or a smidgen - those words didn't exist anymore. It was a fun project.

AM: Do you think you would do another cookbook?

CHEF GM: Yeah.

AM: Are you currently working on a cookbook?

CHEF GM: I’m not currently working on a cookbook as I have a number of restaurant ideas and concepts on my mind to focus on right now. But, books are a great way to put a lot of ideas together to help with your name and to expose it to the public more. It allows you to tell you story more and people can hold it in their hands and say, “I want to eat in this restaurant and I want to know more about this particular cuisine.” I really like that part of it.

AM: Tell us about Aldea and what one can expect when they are coming in to dine?

CHEF GM: They should expect what I like to say, “a roller coaster ride” in a way that they are able to eat in an open kitchen area with a chefs counter or chefs table or to eat in a romantic/intimate booth to the side or to go upstairs and to be able to eat in the Mezzanine or private dining where it can be more quiet. So, they’re given a lot of different dining environments. As far as the menu goes, that mark of classic Portuguese flavor but what I also like to call a free spirit that Martine and I believe in – we cook with the seasons, we cook with the farmer’s market – we cook with what’s inspiring us. There is a lot of inspiration from Japan and other former Portuguese colonies like Goa, India and Brazil and Macao, China. So there’s a lot of adventurous flavors going on there. You know I really want people to come to Aldea with an open mind. At the same time, I don’t want to over complicate it. They are coming to enjoy an anniversary or a birthday, but they are also coming in to be fed and nourished. So that's our number one responsibility.

We want to offer something that is creative and sometimes entertaining, but also making sure that you leave content, happy and satiated!

AM: You have received a number of accolades for Aldea including a Michelin star. Can you tell us what it means to receive that?

CHEF GM: You know, receiving a Michelin star is a great stamp being that I trained in Michelin star restaurants. Having a star of our own means a lot as it’s great recognition but it pushes us harder to maintain it or sometimes you get another one. It’s nice to be recognized being that the Michelin guide is French history and now that they are globalized, it’s great to have Portugal on the map. There's two Michelin star restaurants in Portugal in Lisbon and in Rocali and there’s a little Portuguese inspired restaurant here in NYC – Aldea. It means a lot to be in that book and it’s really satisfying, inspiring and it motivates us.

AM: Some people don’t know how you get one and what that process is.

CHEF GM: Yes the Michelin Guide historically and notoriously works anonymously with inspectors that come to your restaurant unannounced. They could be dining by themselves, a party of 2, 4, 6 or 8. We never know.

AM: So you have to be on your game all the day.

CHEF GM: Yeah – being on your game all of the time. It is like that!

AM: You have a pop up this summer going on with Chefs Club Counter called AMAR. Can you tell us how this came about to as well as the collaboration with international model, Sanne Vloet?

CHEF GM: You know, with Chefs Club, I have always had a relationship over the years with Stefane the founder and he has always given me opportunities to contribute to Chefs Club the brand and I have always enjoyed those opportunities. I have always had this concept of trying out or feeding a mass market with the lunch rush for what people want for lunch while also providing them something healthy and quick but also with the same stamp of flavors that we do at Aldea and in my DNA with my Portuguese focus. Stefan and I spoke for awhile and it grew into something small next door to an opportunity of the whole corner of Chefs Club Counter and here we are 2 weeks in and it’s going great. It’s great to have that opportunity in a place like Soho with foot traffic and lunch rush which is a whole different ball game for me and to feed people in an hour and a half which serves 150-200 people which is a total different direction from what we are used to doing over at Aldea. It’s taken some time to adjust and to tinker. Like food has to be plate within 10 seconds versus a minute. Things are a lot more immediate and we’re discovering new cooking techniques and combining ingredients that travel well – using online ordering platforms. So it’s been fun and it’s been a learning curve that’s challenging and a lot of work.

AM: How do you juggle running Aldea as well as AMAR – what does a typical day look like between these two restaurants?

CHEF GM: Well I’m lucky that Aldea doesn’t do lunch. So I’m lucky that I can do lunch at AMAR at Chefs Club Counter and be able to dinner at Aldea although AMAR does stay open a little later. But I am trying to split my time between the two. The month of June has been heavy focusing on AMAR right now, but it’s been going really well and Aldea is only open 5 days a week Tues – Sat and AMAR is lunch everyday haha.

I like to push myself and I like challenges and problems. Things that give me opportunities to grow because it’s very easy to become stagnant and to regress and rest on our laurels. You end up not moving so opening AMAR at Chefs Counter Club during the summer as a pop up has given me a new challenge that that’s what I really love.

AM: Why was it important to you to participate in this pop up this summer?

CHEF GM: First and foremost is to test AMAR the concept and to test the environment for fast casual and to see what that’s like. A lot of chefs these days that have fine dining restaurants want to dabble in fast casual with a quick serve environment. I was given this opportunity to do this for 3 months as a pop up so it’s an opportunity for a prototype that can be permanent afterwards. That’s the main focal point here. It’s also to make sure that we have a responsibility that the paying customers have something good to eat and quick. I think I come on board with the same standards and excellence that we have at Aldea and the reputation of Chefs Club. We’re doing a lot with Michelin and the 4x4 dinners as you know and representing that brand of Chefs Club and Chefs Club Counter in quick service is fun. It’s an interesting time!

AM: How important is it for chefs to utilize opportunities such as going on air, being on social media to showcase your brand and various projects that you are apart of?

CHEF GM: I like the opportunity to feed more people, reach a different audience precisely. Aldea is a fine dining restaurant where we have an average check average that the diner can spend about $110 to $130 per person for a number of courses and beverages. Doing AMAR, we’re now in the bracket of $18 to $20 a person. So, I really enjoy the opportunity to feed more people at a different time of day at the lunch rush for the quick serve environment.

AM: What are 3 signature dishes which can come from either restaurant that people need to try.

CHEF GM: At Aldea, it’s been 10 years but the Arroz de Pata (duck rice) has still been a signature dish that I have always enjoyed and the Hokkaido Sea Urchin toast at Aldea which I would say is a tie. Ah the Shrimp Alhinho Xerem - ah that’s good too.

AM: It’s hard to just choose a few!

CHEF GM: And then at AMAR, I’m having fun with these salads. It’s been about 2 weeks in and building a salad that is going to quench your hunger or satisfy you for running out of work for an hour etc and giving you a protein, veggies and greens to hit every food group and dancing with all of the people’s dietary restrictions – vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and nut allergies! It’s been challenging but I welcome it because this is the age we live in and there are a lot of demands and people are very food savvy and watching what they eat and that’s what AMAR is. AMAR means “to love” in Portuguese and there is this care that is involved and a care for what you are putting into your body and high quality ingredients and care into the preparation and serving it. It’s a delicate dance between producing a lot of food in a short period of time and presenting it in a beautiful way. So there is a lot to put this into the mix.

AM: What are 3 ingredients that you usually have in your kitchen that you enjoy cooking with?

CHEF GM: Really good Portuguese extra virgin olive oil, fleur de sel which is flower of salt and I think the last one has to be fresh parsley, fresh cilantro and lemon thyme. I think that those three herbs are the anchor of my cuisine and what we really do to balance the power of protein and meats and vegetables. I love citrus as well so I cook with a lot of zest of lemon and lime and like the brightness and acidity that it gives.

AM: Iberian and Portuguese cuisine are a part of your culinary style. You are participating in a culinary tour this fall in Portugal and you are also a part of TAP Air Portugal’s Taste the Stars Programs, can you tell us about this and why these are areas that are also great to include in your chef’s portfolio?

CHEF GM: I think that it’s important to bring awareness to Portuguese gastronomy and I think that we are still under the radar. I think that we’re of the level of Italy or France or even Spain our neighbors. I try to build awareness with my colleagues in Portugal as well and bringing a group of people through an itinerary all over the wine country in Portugal and to dine at restaurants and cooking and demonstrations – talking about the culture of Portugal gastronomy is just another push into calling for exposure and attention. To say that you’re this little country and you’re trying to do something well. A lot of talented chefs are there. We have beautiful landscapes, beautiful architecture and beautiful ingredients. I think that we have some of the best seafood in the world. Having the opportunity to show people there that are going on this trip as well as doing what I do here in New York and with what we’re doing on TAP Air Portugal with the airlines – in Business Classes, we’re presenting people with Portuguese flavors with an Aldea DNA. Again, along that same goal of showing travelers and people flying to Lisbon and Portugal for the first time what Portuguese cuisine is for the first time. I think that airplane food gets a bad rap. I think that initiatives like these really help.

AM: It’s great that people have that culinary opportunity by being on that flight. Clearly, you travel quite a bit, what are 3 things that you have always have in your carry on when you’re heading to the next destination?

CHEF GM: Um wipes – cucumber wipes to keep fresh. I mean, I just love the air on airplanes it’s so stale and dry. Waking up from a nap on an airplane – I like to rest and I’m not a great flier because I hate turbulence. So I always take something to calm me – a lot of homeopath herbs right now that I enjoy. I like a good pair of noise cancelling headphones, an eye pillow, an eye mask and then a good snack. I try to board with a good yogurt or a Kind Bar. Those are my top things. If it’s a really long trip, I make sure that I have good music downloaded as well as a movie or two.

AM: Who are you listening to right now?

CHEF GM: Ah Tame Impala it’s an indie band led by Kevin Parker, they’re Australian and are amazing. I’ve seen them live and I’m going to see them live again in August at Madison Square Garden. I have to be honest with you, I think I love all genres of music. I could be into hip hop one day and be into classic rock the next. Then I’m into jazz. At AMAR, our playlist is very heavy into Brazilian and Samba jazz and I think that music is very powerful. It really resonates with me and sets the mood. It makes me happy and when I’m upset, I just listen to music and it just turns me around. It takes a really happy moment and makes it even happier. So I will talk to people who will say, “music does nothing for me,” and I’m like, “oh God – how can you say that?”

AM: Everyone needs a soundtrack! What do you do to stay in shape?

CHEF GM: I run. I’m a runner. I do a lot of half marathons and marathons. Right now, I’m a little injured but I love to run and I love the exertion of it and the mental strength that it takes to do the distance running whether it takes 13 miles or 26.2 to run a marathon. I love the runner’s high and what I feel after running a 30 minute easy pace run. It builds a lot of clarity, strength and I can spend some time in my own head. It’s been a good thing for me. Then I’m on my back. I like cycling. My girlfriend, Suzanne and I, tend to find ourselves on our days off as she has an intense job as well. We use Sunday afternoons to go for nice bike rides.

AM: What keeps you inspired to continue cooking? Is it going to travel destinations, goals etc?

CHEF GM: I’m inspired by traveling and I’m inspired by visiting new restaurants and catching up with my friends to see what they are doing. I think that Lisbon with the new 2 Michelin star restaurant it has and the 1 stars with these young chefs that are coming into their own and finding their own voice. I love to go to these places in Mexico like Tulum and eating in these restaurants that have these great Yucatan recipes and ingredients and salsas. Cooking outside and open wood fire grill – these things are very inspiring. But what keeps me really motivated is just being in the kitchen and looking at fresh ingredients. Cutting them open and paying attention to the color and texture and what they taste like. What new combinations I can come up with and what wacky interpretations I can do – why not grill a cucumber as opposed to just using it raw. I like tinkering around and being in the kitchen. I can let the team take care of regular customers and I can have the opportunity to just cook what I am feeling at the moment with no menu, no guidelines, no rules. To express what I am feeling at the moment!

AM: Are there culinary areas that you have yet to go to that are on your bucketlist?

CHEF GM: I want to go to South America – Brazil, Chile, Peru, Argentina. Chile - has hundreds of varieties of potatoes for example and I want to go and experience that!

Reserve your seat for Chefs Club Presents: Côté Médi by Chef Terrance Brennan which runs from July 10th - September 28th.

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BEAUTY CREDITS

Groomer, Bamike Ogunrinu prepared the skin and styled the hair for this shoot.

MAKEUP PREPARATION PRODUCT LIST

PREP | BIODERMA Micellar Water | REBELS AND OUTLAWS Love Potion | DRUNKEN ELEPHANT B-Hydra Intensive Hydrating Serum | TWINMEDIX Pro: Refine Eye Corrector + Moisturizer | EMBRYOLISSE Protective Repair Stick Moisturizing Lip Balm |

FACE | MAKEUP FOREVER Ultra HD Cream Foundation + Pro Bronze Fusion Bronzer 20M | KETT COSMETICS Kett Set | BENEFIT COSMETICS Foolproof Brow Powder | SURRATT Expressioniste Brow Pomade |

HAIR | LAYRITE Superhold Pomade |

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FASHION CREDITS

Kimmie Smith created luxury easy casual menswear looks for this cover shoot.

LOOK 1 COVER + PG 21 - 27 | TILIT Chef's Coat | MAVI JEAN'S James Skinny Jeans | TITLE OF WORK Double Cuff with 10MM Leather Bracelet |

LOOK 2 PG 16 - 18 | HANRO V-Neck T-Shirt | MAVI JEANS James Skinny Jeans | RANDOLPH Intruder IR002 23K Gold E.P. | TITLE OF WORK Double Cuff with 10MM Leather Bracelet |

LOOK 3 PG 28 - 35 + BACK COVER | LOOK 2 + PARAJUMPERS Zipped Fleece | TED BAKER Sunglasses |

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PHOTOGRAPHY

Paul Farkas shot this editorial using Canon Mark IV; and selected Canon lenses: EF 50/1.2 L, EF 24-70 f/2.8 L II, and EF 70-200 f/2.8 L II.

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Read the June Issue of Athleisure Mag and see Refined Rusticity with Chef George Mendes in mag.

You can hear Chef George Mendes' interview this month on our show, ATHLEISURE KITCHEN which is a part of Athleisure Studio, our multi-media podcast network! Make sure to subscribe to find out when the episode drops. You can hear it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and wherever you enjoy listening to your favorite podcast.

COCHON555 2019

This month, Cochon555 returned to NYC at Weylin in Williamsburg, Brooklyn to present an epic food competition that pairs 5 local chefs, 5 heritage pig farmers and 5 sommeliers together. The chefs each have one whole heritage breed pig. Each year, Cochon555 has competitions in an array of cities. At the end of the season, the chefs that won each city compete in Chicago in order to be 2019's winner of the Grand Cochon. Since 2016, Athleisure Mag has been a proud media sponsor of this event as we're all about sustainable eating as well as being introduced to the chefs creations as well as supporting food vendors that participate in this event.

This event begins with a judging round where this year's judges included an array of food professionals that included Brady Lowe (founder of Cochon555), sommeliers, a member of the International Culinary Education, foodie personalities and even our Co-Founder/Creative + Style Director as well as Co-Executive Producer/Host of Athleisure Kitchen.

This year, Kimberly Plafke of (Executive Chef of Grand Army Bar/paired with The Piggery - Mulefoot), Christina Bartloli (Executive Chef of Gelso and Grand/paired with Spring House Farm - Large Black), Garrison Price (Chef and Culinary Director of Cafe Clover/paired with Autumn's Harvest Farms - Berkshire), Allan Walker Hodkin (VP of Culinary of The Grey Dog/paired with Dogpatch Farm - Mulefoot) and Seungjoon Choi (Executive chef of Hortus/paired with Debragga, New York's Butcher - Gloucester Old Spot) competed.

The Somm Smackdown was comprised of Anna-Christina Cabrales (General Manager and Beverage Director of Morrell Wine Bar), Wei Liu (E&J Gallo WInery), Stefanie Schwartz (Olmstead), Betsy Ross (L'Avenue at Saks Fifth Avenue) and Kristen Goceljak.

In addition to the judging of the tasting meal, there is also a panel of judges who select a winner from the Punch Kings to see who the top mixologist of the night is. Fellow foodie enthusiasts have the opportunity to try the foods that are created at this event which includes 1,500lbs of heritage breed pork whether they have a general admission or VIP ticket.

A portion of all sales will benefit Cochon555's sister charity, Piggy Bank.

NYC's winner for this leg's Prince of Pork, was Seungjoon Choi of Hortus, the winner of the Somm Smackdown was Anna-Christina Cabrales, General Manager and Beverage Director of Morrell Wine and Maison Pickle was the winner of the Punch Queen.

PHOTOGRAPHY | Paul Farkas

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Read Athleisure Mag’s April Issue and see Cochon555 2019 in mag.

THE ART OF THE SNACK | THE DATE NIGHT MEAL WITH CHEF MARCUS SAMUELSSON

ATHLEISURE MAG: So we’re excited to have you in Athleisure Mag and Athleisure Kitchen, our readers have loved you for a very long time. Chef, with Valentine’s Day being this month and just date night dinners in general, what should we be making so that we can always stun our significant other?

CHEF MARCUS SAMUELSSON: Oh cool. I’m excited that you guys came today. For me, I feel very fortunate that I have been lucky to partner with Pure Leaf. Pure Leaf is always looking for great flavors and unique flavors that are super delicious. I think with this collection, Pure Leaf has found something really cool and interesting. Hibiscus, being African you find this all over the Caribbean and Africa. Sometimes, it’s known as Sorel. A beautiful flower that has that beautiful floral note that has become a really big trend in restaurants. What would be more fun than to be able to bring that trend setting food back home to a cocktail or through a simple appetizer. We’re going to do both.

The collection has all hibiscus and is caffeine free. They’re herbally brewed, also all around hibiscus along with a mango, a peach and a cherry. I put some of the mango flavored hibiscus iced tea with a little gin and you can also do it as a mocktail with no alcohol. I also put in some orange bitters and some citrus juice and just give that a shake and put some ice in at and give it a little light shake. This cocktail is called the Valentine and it has this beautiful rose color. It’s light and bright. Then we will put that little bit of sprig of thyme just to add to the floral note.

Making a light bright dish that is a flavored forward dish can be simple. I am going to start with some greens – a little bit of baby arugula and then frizze. I’m searing my scallops just 3 minutes on each side so that they are golden brown. In the pan, which is a cast iron skillet, there is a little bit of olive oil but I am also adding in parsley and adding in thyme so that those herbal notes can come back out again. I said it before that Pure Leaf has this beautiful collection of hibiscus and this one is Hibiscus Cherry flavor. It has a gorgeous burgundy color and it’s light with all of the flavors that you want. We also took some sundried cherries and just soaked them over night in the iced tea which makes them nice and loose in terms of texture.

Remember those scallops?

AM: They’re beautiful.

CHEF MS: Yes, they’re golden brown. When you get scallops like this, you want them to be dry scallops and you want to ask for sushi quality grade A. When you do that, you’ll have the best seafood! You also want to buy seafood from the same person because then you’re building a relationship with them and you’re ensuring that you’ll always get the good stuff. Then garnish with a bit of parsley and nuts – which you don’t have to if someone has a nut allergy. If they don’t it’s good for crunch. Then we will use the parsley that we seared up and top off the dish with some of those fresh herbs.

AM: It’s an easy dish to make.

CHEF MS: That’s the key right? We wanted to make the dish flavor forward, but also very easy to make. Jump in!

AM: It’s one of my favorite dishes as I love scallops.

CHEF MS: Yes, it’s scallops and just that idea that it’s hibiscus with that cherry profile. It’s light, bright and a beautiful appetizer.

AM: This is so good!

CHEF MS: Today I’m serving you for free. When you come to Red Rooster, I have to charge you, this is so much better!

AM: When did you realize that you wanted to be a chef?

CHEF MS: Well I cooked my whole life! You know I grew up in Sweden with my grandmother and she was a cook and just to be here 30 years later and to do a craft that I was taught in her kitchen is an unbelievable experience and it’s not a job. It’s something that I am passionate about and feel that it’s a privilege to work with my passion. To be to work with communities and to be able to create jobs for our inner city kids, whether it is through Careers Through Culinary Arts Program, our restaurants, through our festival Harlem Eat Up! and with that, you need partners like Pure Leaf that sees those opportunities to help me create that.

AM: How do you decide what and where your next restaurant is going to be?

CHEF MS: You know those are tough questions for me. First the city has to speak to me. I love New York and you know it’s not just about the city, it’s about the part of town. You know we just opened in Newark a beautiful town that has a strong African American narrative in terms of culture, music, jazz and we felt that it was a place that we thought was important for us to contribute to for jobs and to hire locally.

We always look at the city, we opened the Red Rooster in London which has always been – I mean growing up in Europe, London is your New York. To be able to be there has been a privilege as well. But then again it has been a privilege to be able to do what I love in so many different cities and Harlem will always be home. We have our festival coming up soon and it’s something that we look forward to.

AM: As the producer of Harlem Eat Up!, how did it come about and why is its intersectionality so important?

CHEF MS: I was always a guest to all of these great food festivals whether it was Miami, South Beach, Aspen or New York. And then I thought, wait a minute, Harlem is such an incredibly rich community in terms of culture and rich history. The chefs there deserve to also be able to tell their story and the food festival has been able to tell that story!

With that, to do it because half of our Harlem Eat Up! is for free, and we can’t do it without sponsors like Pure Leaf, whether it’s to help set the table for Valentine’s Day or whether it’s to set the table for a food festival.

AM: So I’m a huge fan of Red Rooster, what are 3 signature dishes that we need to eat there and you can only choose 3 now haha!

CHEF MS: When you come to the Red Rooster you have to have as starters the Cornbread and the Deviled Eggs. It’s easy and you can have a drink and you definitely need to start off with a Brown Stoner or a Bourbon forward drink and then I love a Shrimp and Grits, which is super super delicious. It’s comforting and you have to have the Yardbird.

AM: This month is the South Beach Food and Wine Festival. Why do you love participating in that, attending and why is it so important?

CHEF MS: SoBe is one of the festivals that started the great festivals. You have SoBe and Aspen. As a chef, it’s such a privilege and you get to also see your chef friends. I’m going to be able to see and hang out with Bobby, Alex and my friend Scott – people that we work together, but we don’t always have time to hang out. That’s the time that we get to hang out. I also go over to Overtown and I get to do cooking demos. This year, I made sure that my events are always at Overtowns so I can bring that South Beach audience over to another part of town that they may or may not have been to before.

AM: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us and to make this incredible meal!

CHEF MS: Well you’re good! You’ve got your cocktail – The Valentine and you’ve got your Scallops that are beautiful and I hope that you enjoy it.

CHERRY HIBISCUS SEARED SCALLOPS with Mustard Greens, Tea Infused Cherries, Almonds

For the Cherry-Hibiscus Sauce

1 ounce dried hibiscus petals

1 quart Pure Leaf Cherry Hibiscus Herbal Tea

In a large pot, heat the tea and hibiscus until it’s just barely simmering. Remove from the heat and let sit for 20 minutes. Strain and chill.

For the Tea Infused Cherries

1 cup dried cherries

2 cups Pure Leaf Cherry Hibiscus Herbal Tea

Bring the tea to a boil. Pour over the dried cherries. Let sit at room temperature for two hours to infuse.

For the Roasted Almonds

1 cup whole marcona blanched almonds

1 tbsp olive oil

1/8 tsp salt

Toss the almonds in oil and salt and place in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Roast at 350 degrees until well browned and fragrant, approximately 5 minutes.

To Assemble

4 diver scallops (U10 size)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 ounce frilly mustard greens

1 ounce frisee

1 tbsp infused cherries

1 tbsp cherry-hibiscus sauce

1 tbsp roasted almonds

1 tbsp torn parsley leaves

Heat a sauté pan over medium high heat with half of the olive oil. Season scallops liberally with salt. When the oil is beginning to smoke, sear the scallops for two minutes on each side. Remove from pan.

In a shallow bowl, place the cherry-hibiscus sauce. Dress the mustard greens, frisee, and parsley with the cherries, rest of the olive oil, and a touch of salt. Place on top of the sauce. Arrange the scallops on top and garnish with the roasted almonds.

VALENTHYME

1 oz Pink Gin

2 oz Pure Leaf Mango Hibiscus Herbal Tea

¼ oz Simple Syrup

½ oz Lemon Juice

6 dashes Cranberry Bitters

3 dashes Orange Bitters

¾ oz Cranberry Juice

Shake all ingredients over ice and serve in a coupe. Garnish with Thyme sprig.

Mock

3 oz Pure Leaf Mango Hibiscus Herbal Tea

¼ oz Simple Syrup

½ oz Lemon Juice

6 dashes Cranberry Bitters

3 dashes Orange Bitters

¾ oz Cranberry Juice

Shake all ingredients over ice and serve in a coupe. Garnish with Thyme sprig.

PHOTO CREDIT | PG 88 Cedric Angeles

You can catch Athleisure Studio's podcast show You can catch Athleisure Studio’s podcast show, Athleisure Kitchen and hear our conversation with Chef Marcus Samuelsson next month wherever you enjoy listening to podcasts including Spotify, Apple Podcast and Google Podcast.

Read the latest issue of the Feb Issue of Athleisure Mag and see The Art of the Snack | The Date Night Meal with Chef Marcus Samuelsson in mag.

S1. Ep 1. | Athleisure Kitchen with Chef Brooke Williamson

The latest episode of Athleisure Studio’s culinary show, Athleisure Kitchen just dropped today with Chef Brooke Williamson.

When it comes to culinary competition shows, BRAVO’s Top Chef is one of our favorites. We enjoy the quick fire challenges, restaurant wars and watching competitors navigate across the show. We also like finding out about their restaurants and often seeing them re-appear on future seasons or other shows. On season 10, we were introduced to Chef Brooke Williamson, who came in second only to come back in season 14 - to win it all! In addition to these accolades, she is the Co-Owner and Co-Chef at The Tripel, Playa Provisions, Hudson House Bar, Da Kikokiko, Small Batch Icecream and Triplikit in Southern California. We find out more about her creativity, how she got into the industry, how she keeps fit and it all together.

GRAB YOUR FORK AND KNIFE WITH JORDAN ANDINO

This month, we focused on foods and festive gathering as we begin to head into the holiday season. Our Nov cover is graced by Celebrity Chef and Owner of FlipSigi, The Original Filipino Taqueria, Jordan Andino. In addition to running his two fast casual restaurants on the UES as well as in its flagship, West Village location - Jordan is a man on the move! He has been named Zagat's 30 Hottest Chefs Under 30; was noted as one of People Magazine's Sexiest Chefs; he's hosting his second season of The Cooking Channel's Late Nite Eats; he has had numerous guest appearances on shows including: Chopped, Beat Bobby Flay, Rachel Ray, Worst Cooks in America and more. Jordan merges his world of chef, TV Personality and entrepreneur seamlessly.

We took some time out of his busy schedule (this week alone included a launch party for his pop up restaurant in Brooklyn and a dinner he is preparing in conjunction with James Beard) to talk about his career and of course to rock great menswear that is in line with his vibrant personality.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you know that you wanted to be a chef?

JORDAN ANDINO: I began cooking in kitchens since I was 9 years old with my father, as that was the best way for me to be able to hang out with him as he was always there since he was a professional chef. I remember one day when I was around 12 standing next to him and he was a man of few words, but he pointed out the other people in the kitchen that were in their 20’s and 30’s and he said, “Jordan, you are better then any of them!” I was taken aback but it really stuck with me when he said that. That's when I knew that this is what I wanted to do!

AM: Tell us about your culinary journey and what chefs/restaurants you were a part of as you made your way to launching your own restaurant.

JA: I was really fortunate to learn the business and techniques from my father. One of the chefs that my dad trained eventually went on to Jean Georges. Because of my connections there, I was able to work there and then go on to Spago with Wolfgang Puck at Spago in LA. I also went on to work with Thomas Keller at French Laundry in Napa.

AM: How would you define your style of cooking?

JA: I would say that my cooking style is Mediterranean with a French influence for sure.

AM: Tell us about FlipSigi. When it opened what was your vision behind this restaurant?

JA: I really wanted to introduce Filipino food to NYers via my grandmother’s recipes and give them tastes of the food that I love and keeping it familiar by including it in burgers, burritos and rice bowls. I wanted to bring my personality into the restaurants by being able to having fun energetic music, a vibrant mural and a high energy personality. I really wanted to kick off our first location in the West Village to show that this style of food would do well here and that's what I set out to do!

AM: Are there differences between Flip Sigi in the West Village and the one on the UES and is there a meaning behind the name?

JA: Nope the menus and the experience is the same at both locations. Well, it’s pretty simple, Flip is slang for Filipino and Sigi means ‘Go,’ so essentially it means Go Filipino.

AM: We know that you are opening up a new restaurant that will be a pop up. Tell us about this and how long will the pop up be?

JA: I’m pretty excited about our pop up that is at The Royal Palms Shuffle Board Club in Brooklyn. We have been open for about a week and we will run through the middle of Jan.

AM: What is the hope for this pop up?

JA: Well hopefully they like the pop up and we can continue to be there!

AM: How did Late Nite Eats come about and what is it about this show that drew you in to being a part of it as you are currently in your second season.

JA: I remember when I was talking with the executives at the network and we were throwing around ideas of doing a show. I knew I wanted to do a show where I could travel and introduce people to bars and their menus.

About two months later, I got a call and they were like, "do you want to host a show that focuses on bars/restaurants in the late night scene?"

I have been able to travel all over the US doing this show and being able to see whats out there and what's trending which is fantastic.

AM: Are you part of the cannabis cooking movement?

JA: I am really intrigued by it and interestingly enough, my business partners and I have been talking about it as I think that it is the next movement in terms of the culinary world.

AM: What is your style with that in terms of flavors and effects in savory and sweet specialties and will this be something that you will bring into your restaurants?

JA: Well I am still in the R&D phase and that's why I am excited about planning the menu and participating in this dinner tomorrow for James Beard. It's a great way for me to learn and try out! Since I'm still in R&D at this point, there are still a lot of legalities to figure out.

AM: We loved hanging out with you on the shoot, seeing you pop into the kitchen to make a few dishes and bringing out your inner model – you also have a great personality as evidenced by seeing you on shows like Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Beat Bobby Flay, judging on Chopped etc – how important is it to you to be able to share your brand on these shows?

JA: First and foremost, I am a chef and today, it’s important for me to be out there to be able to share who I am as well as to promote my restaurant. Being on a number of shows allows me to do that and being on Instagram and all those networks allows me to continue to amplify me to a wide audience. It’s definitely important in addition to everything else that I am doing.

AM: Tell us about your personal style as we know via your Instagram, you can definitely rock fun colors.

JA: What can I say, my personal style is vivacious, colorful and high energy and I love my clothing to reflect that vibe – I’m a pretty happy guy.

AM: With all the things that you have going on, we're struck by how humble you are.

JA: Well I'm appreciative of everything that I have. I love what I do and although I am driven and can be hard on myself, I am thankful for what I have been able to achieve.

I know what it is to work hard and to come from humble beginnings and to know what it takes in order to be successful!

AM: Where would we find you grabbing a bite/cocktail here in NYC, shopping and of course working out?

JA: I love to go out – when you think about having 21 meals in a week, I probably eat out for 20 of them! When I’m not in my restaurant and want to grab a drink, you’ll find me at dive bars - I love them! I love to exercise – I love running in Central Park when I can, I’m all about cardio and weights and work out about 5 times a week. I fucking love Equinox as it’s the best gym in the world! I also love to skate. A lot of times I skate from Flip Sigi’s UES location to my West Village location which is about 10 avenues over and about 100 streets down!

AM: With the New Year around the corner, what projects can you tell us about that will launch/be released next year that we should keep an eye out for or should we just keep an eye on your social to find out?

JA: I’m excited about a number of things coming up! In a few days I have a new merch line coming out under my brand Fork Knife which will include tumblers, hats, wallets etc that are in really fun vibrant colors and goes right along with my personality! I am working on a book and I am working on another show that will be coming out!

AM: What’s on heavy rotation on your playlist to cook, entertain, workout and about town?

JA: My music taste is fun and eclectic and is like what you would hear if you were in my restaurants! If you went through my playlist you'd see that I have: Drake, Miguel, Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine, Marvin Gaye - Ain't No Mountain High Enough, J. Lo - Ain't It Funny!

IG @Fork_Knife

| CREDITS - COVER, PG 22 - 25 | AVIATOR NATION Velvet Sweatshirt | MAVI JEANS Denim |

| PG 16, THIS PG + BACK COVER | PARAJUMPERS Outerwear | AVIATOR NATION Velvet Sweatshirt | MAVI JEANS Denim |

| PG 18 - 20 | ANUAR LAYON Simpsons Leather Jacket | HANRO Muscle Tank |

| PG 30 - 31 | ANZ Cardigan | MAVI JEANS Denim |

Read more from the Nov Issue of Athleisure Mag and see Grab Your Fork and Knife with Jordan Andino in mag.

ATHLEISURE MAG | #36 NOV ISSUE

We’re so excited for the Nov Issue of Athleisure Mag which is focused on Fall Gatherings! This month we are covered by Celebrity Chef and Owner of FlipSigi, host of Travel Channels Late Nite Eats - Jordan Andino where we shot our editorial at his West Village location and caught up with him to talk about his busy schedule, his vision for his restaurant and more! In addition, we have interviews with Top Chef and Restaurant Owner, Richard Blais on how we can get ready to prepare our holiday meals. When it comes to presentation, we received some great tips from Camille Styles in terms of tablescapes and ways that hosts can engage with their guests while also being able to have a great time. We also have a conversation with Tavern on the Green’s General Manager to find out about the historic restaurant, how she enhances the guest experience and what the 6 weeks of holiday means to them in terms of events.

We also have a sneak peek at the Backstage Beauty partnership with Charlotte Tilbury and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show! Before you watch it this Sun at 10pm EST on ABC, check out how Charlotte created the look for the show.

As always, we have our monthly features for you to enjoy !

Read more from the Nov Issue of Athleisure Mag.

EATALY'S CHEF COLLABORATIONS WITH CHEF ADAM HILL

The month of Sept is always a hectic time of year as it's summer's last hurrah, NYFW kicks off Fashion Month, football season begins and fall is embraced with it's transitional style and food festivities! As we finished our final show of NYFW SS19, we found ourselves enjoying Eataly's Chef Series, which is a collaboration of chefs including Chef Daniel Boulud, Chef Marc Forgione just to name a few, with Manzo's Chef Adam Hill. We took some time to talk to Chef Adam to find out about how he got into the industry, his work at Eataly's open kitchen Manzo, sourcing and sustainability and of course the Chef Collaborations.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Tell us when you knew that you wanted to be a chef.

CHEF ADAM HILL: Believe it or not, probably when I was 10 years old. I started watching this show and it was before Food Network. There was a show called Great Chefs of the USA and The World. It was a very dry show and was not at all created for a 10 year old. It wasn’t like Emeril Live and didn’t have any kind of flash to it. I remember one day in particular that my dad went out for a business meeting and he came back a little over an hour later and I was still sitting in front of the TV fascinated by it! I started cooking dinner for my family at the age of 10 or 11. My mom took a job at night and even though I was the youngest in the family, I started cooking for my 2 older brothers, my mom and my dad. From there, I just fell in love with it. I started reading cookbooks at the age of 11 or 12. It got me at a young age!

AM: That’s a huge part of your culinary journey! Where else did you go and where did you train prior to coming to Eataly?

CHEF AH: I started my Lucibello’s in West Haven, CT. I started working there at the age of 16 as a dishwasher and prep cook. I worked there for about 2.5 years while I was still in high school. I ended up working my way up to prep cook full time. From there, I did some line experience also and working the hotline – starting at a young age. I also worked at a Country Club called The Stanwich Club in Greenwich, CT and I was at The Culinary Institute of America at the Rec Center – a student run restaurant called, The Courtside Café. It was simple things for students like burgers, fries, chicken fingers and cheesesteaks. It’s things that students want to eat when it’s not part of the curriculum. Even with that, after working there a couple of months, I became Student Manager – it was a good learning experience because at the CIA every 3 weeks, you have a new class. So you might be PM for 3 weeks and then in 3 weeks you might be learning Breakfast Class which starts at midnight but ends at 8am or 9am. So every 3 weeks, our staffing would change at Courtside so I got very good at teaching people because your staff may change.

Sometimes you go from having 15 available cooks to 10 and you have to figure out how to make it work with the schedule. Maybe someone has never worked a set station and you have to teach them how to do it and to pick it up as quickly as possible. That definitely helps. When I graduated from CIA, I worked at Chipotle for 6 months and I wanted to learn how they ran their business, how they did their ordering and their overall philosophy. It was also a great experience. My whole plan was to work there as that would be the job that would pay the bills and then train at other kitchens when I had free time. But once I became a manager, they said I couldn’t do that because I needed to have open availability and if I was trailing someone when I had a day off and they needed to call me in if someone couldn’t make it – it would be a problem.

Around that same time, Eataly opened and I started working at the Flatiron location when it opened 8 years ago. I started working at Il Pesce as a line cook and became a sous chef there and then I wanted to do something new, and then about a year and a half/2 years later, I came to Manzo as a line cook and worked my way through the stations. After 2 years, I became sous chef and after about 2 years I became the chef here for 3 years. So I have been at Eataly ever since it has opened and I have been able to stay here so long because there is always something new here, a new challenge to learn and everyday, everyweek there is something new and different going on. It’s great to run your own restaurant while fitting in with the Eataly structure.

AM: What’s an average day like for you at Manzo?

CHEF AH: I don’t know if there is ever an average day especially in the restaurant business and especially at Eataly.

On average, I come in and check in with the sous chef to make sure that we’re on the same page as far as running the specials, double checking with what the line cooks are doing, always walking around and talking with everyone tasting everything to make sure it tastes right before we go into lunch or dinner service. Talking with the General Manager to make sure we’re on the same page in terms of specials and changes to the menu. As we go into service making sure that we are expediting service and that food comes together at the same time. Making sure it’s right before it goes out. As we are getting through service, making sure that we are cleaning up and that everyone is taking their breaks.

The best way to explain the difference between being a cook and a chef is that a cook is a player on the team, but when you are the chef, you have to be the coach and it’s hard for some people to make that adjustment because when you’re the chef, it’s no longer about being the best player, it’s about making sure that your players are doing the best that they can and that your cooks are as well prepared as they can be. Making sure that as a chef, we’re always teaching and always having people think about the next step and training the person behind them to make sure that they are getting ready for a new station. For example, today walking kind of slow so that the person who is on salad station is learning on veg station and maybe the person on veg station learns how to grill meat and the person on meat station begins to learn on pasta. Some of the more advanced people can do the chef thing. It’s all about teaching and making sure that the cooks know that it’s not just a job to them, but that they are learning as much as they can while they are here. In this business, when people aren’t learning, they will put in a year on their resume and they will go elsewhere. The more that you can keep them invested and buying in, it keeps them engaged and hopefully you have a good succession plan so that you have a full circle of training happening.

AM: We truly enjoyed attending a recent Chef Collaborations dinner at Eataly where the menu was created by you and Chef Gabriel Kreuther. What is the purpose of the chefs series that took place there and how did it mold the menu as you partnered with different chefs through this series?

CHEF AH: We had this idea about a year ago as we had done a renovation of Manzo’s dining room. The kitchen is now in the dining room and it was an idea to help cross promote Manzo as well as the guest chefs, with some of the proceeds going to charity. It was a great opportunity for our guest chefs as well as for me to work with them to learn different styles of cooking.

The style of food and chefs definitely brings a different flavor each time. We recently changed the format because when we first did it we had the guest chef’s dish and a dish from Manzo’s menu, but as we continued through the series in the next round – we changed it to be a 4 course menu. So it was a dish of ours, either on the menu or off, a dish from the guest chef, the main course was a collaboration between the 2 chefs and then having the dessert course. This way was much better for the series to run for example at the dinner you attended, Chef Kreuther and I had a great overlap as he is from Alsace and there is some overlap with Alsace cooking and Italian cooking. One of my favorite things on the menu is Testa (it translates to Head Cheese in English, but it’s Pig Head) and I wanted to showcase this as it’s about responsible sourcing and eating sustainably and sometimes using just the pork chop or just the pork tenderloin – everytime an animal dies – the whole animal should be used. To utilize pigs head, it goes along with that ethos. If an animal is going to lose its life, no part of the animal should go to waste. That’s a big part of Alsatian cooking and Italian cooking. For the first course, I wanted to do a mix of Alsatian style and Italian style so the Testa was already Italian and Italian cooking uses a lot of sweet and sour components, which is also true for Alsatian cooking with the German influence. So I wanted to do the sweet and sour cherries and then for the main course, it was a similar idea. We wanted to a trio of pork – the braised pork is kind of Alsatian by braising it in beer which is also common in Northern Italian cooking. The polenta and green tomato sauce was a little sweet and a little sour. When you ate it, it didn’t feel forced there was enough of an overlap between the Alsatian and Italian cooking that it comes together naturally. That’s what those dishes should feel like and if you do a little digging into it – it makes sense historically and the customer finds it enjoyable, accurate and traditional.

AM: What was it like for you to create and work with these chefs throughout this series?

CHEF AH: There have been different challenges. It’s interesting to see the chef’s different styles and influences. Like, Chef Marc Forgione’s influence was a late night French Dip, but deconstructed so there was a carpaccio of dry aged rib eye and there was an au jus component – there was a horseradish sour cream component to it and it still felt natural together. But when you heard the story behind it, it was like cool that makes sense. Culinary-wise there is always a different technique, so there was a dish with Chef Daniel Boulud that was made with clams and andoulie which was very popular. We did a pork belly with kimchi that was pretty successful – so it was interesting to see the techniques and sometimes when we would get the recipes, they were more informal, where others were more precise down to the gram. Overall, it has been fun to learn about the chef’s history, their inspiration for the dish and their style of cooking. In every one, there has been a different learning experience.

AM: For you dishes that you created, how did you go about deciding what it was going to be and what ingredients that you would be using? Do most of them come from Eataly that can be purchased there?

CHEF AH: For the most part, yeah! I would say that when I do a dish, you can purchase the products here at Eataly, but it also depends on the flow of the guest menu that the chef wants to do. If they want to do an antipasta, then maybe we do a pasta. If they want to do a pasta, then it doesn’t make sense for us to do a pasta for the four course tasting, so we will try to do an antipasta. The collaboration is always the main course and it’s about finding that balance and that the flow of the menu is natural.

For this month, the whole menu had a country feel to it. Chef Kreuther’s dish had the apple cider braised rabbit with saffron butter, so we liked this idea of refined rustic cooking, and I love Testa so I thought that would work and he loved it too. So we agreed on this dish which flowed well with the rabbit and then for the main course, pork 3 ways was simple and elegant and continued the sweet sour play.

When we did the collaboration with Chef Akshay Bhardwaj from Junoon it was very natural. We tried to incorporate some thing that were very common in Indian cooking and in Italian
cooking. Naturally, you wouldn’t think that they would go together, but we did a Saffron Risotto with yellow lentils and lamb cooked two ways and this was really successful and I liked the dish a lot. It was because the lamb that we did, one part of it was Sicilian style and the other way was an Indian style where we had marsala and chili peppers and a lot of depth of flavor. We had Sicilian style lamb belly was cooked with garlic and herbs. The risotto was obviously Italian, but with the saffron in there it had the Indian approach along with the yellow lentils. When you ate it all together, it didn’t feel forced, you just loved the taste
playing well together.

AM: Although this series has come to an end, will there be another?

CHEF AH: I’m not sure. I mean, I know that the rest of the year maybe not, but perhaps next year. I know there is an Eataly launching in Las Vegas so maybe this is something that we could do there. It will be a new concept in Las Vegas so maybe getting people to be aware of this location, they can bring in other chefs that are established in Las Vegas through this series. Overall, we loved the concept and I think that going into the end of the year, we will be more focused on truffles and getting our menu ready for the winter.

AM: How many times a year does the menu change at Manzo?

CHEF AH: Constantly ha! It’s an organic thing. You change the menu based on seasonality, availability, for example we recently took off summer squash because it’s fall and even though it’s a bit early to put winter squash on the menu, we can’t call out to summer squash because it’s not summer. Tomato season is winding down so even though we love selling heirloom tomatoes and caprese, we can’t run it all year and it’s not true to the Italian cooking philosophy.

Somethings that are on the menu are mainstays and they don’t change too much like some of the steaks we have – it doesn’t go out of season. But it’s the garnishes that might change and as we go into the winter, we want to make our menu more comfort friendly, so tomato based pastas aren’t so friendly with truffles so we do more butter and cheese sauces because it goes great with truffles. Just keeping the menu flexible for things like that is key.

AM: What are your favorite dishes that you like to create at Manzo?

CHEF AH: Well that’s a tough question! I like doing something that is traditional but a little bit different. A good example of this is the lamb shank that’s on the menu right now. In the spring
time in Italy, much like we do a barbeque here in the US with a whole roasted pig on a spit, they will do lamb in the same way over an open fire. You eat it as soon as it comes off the fire.
You dig into it when it is so hot that it burns your fingers and it’s so hot, but you eat it any way because it is so delicious. The dish translates to “lamb that burns your fingers” – we do a version of that, but it’s not the whole lamb because we’re not going to sell a whole lamb. So we do lamb shanks and it’s marinated with white wine and olive oil, thyme, rosemary, lemon zest and a little anchovy. These are all traditional flavors and we slow cook the lamb for 24 hours and then we cool it down. When the customer orders it, we coat it with salt and sugar and we roast it so it gets crispy on the outside and when you cut into it, it’s crunchy and juicy
and falls off the bone. When you dig into it, it burns the roof of your mouth or your fingertips and it pays homage to the original. There's a story to it and it’s kind of modernized in a way that makes it appropriate to sell into a restaurant. You might sell 10 a day or 2, but if you cooked a whole lamb everyday, that wouldn’t be sustainable.

AM: That sounds really good – we’ll have to try it!

CHEF AH: Well you should come in soon as we’ll be taking it off of the menu soon as it is more of a spring or summer dish.

AM: Oh no!

CHEF AH: Realistically, we probably could change the garnish on it to make it feel more wintery, but the overall story of eating lamb in the spring or the summer time outside in the piazza where people gather around – is just like having a suckling pig for a barbeque – you think of it as more of a summery thing.

AM: Are you constantly thinking of different dishes and coordinating with the sommelier as well as your pastry chef?

CHEF AH: Yeah usually for pastry, there is some sort of collaboration between the party chef and myself, but I try to leave Chef Rebecca to have more creative freedom there and just make sure that it is something that we can execute consistently. As far as coming up with a new menu, we work with Central Kitchen. It’s like a group of chefs that oversee all restaurants at Eataly. I’m the Chef at Manzo, but then there are a team of 5 chefs at Central Kitchen which oversees all the restaurants as another set of eyes. If we weren’t all under one roof like Chef Wolfgang Puck who has 10 restaurants, Wolfgang isn’t in every restaurant every day, but he has a trusted team of people he meets with I’m sure that make sure things are going to plan, food costs are looked after and that the menu makes sense. The same can be applied here with our Central Kitchen, as they are not in everyday but they are making sure things are ok.

AM: How do you define your cooking style and how does that marry with the ethos of Eataly?

CHEF AH: That’s a good question. I like simple food that is well prepared. I like making something that is the best version of something that you have had before. Like, finding what it is that people don’t like about food or something that they could potentially like. A lot of people say that they don’t like mushrooms and when I was younger, I had a lot of bad mushroom – just thrown on pizzas with no seasoning and they got squishy and it’s a texture thing that grosses people out. I love mushrooms now and what changes them is when you get them a little crispy and mix them with a little garlic and butter and thyme. There are only 3 or 4 ingredients but it makes a lot of difference. Eggplant is another one if you eat it and there isn’t enough salt and you roast it – again, it’s a texture thing. If you get it a little bit crispy and roast it in a really hot oven, a good amount of garlic and oregano – people will eat it and the hugest compliment to me is when people tell me that they don’t even like eggplant but they ask me what I put in it to make it taste so good. I like to keep it simple as you don’t need to throw the kitchen sink on eggplant but if you find the right flavors to highlight it and to make sure the texture is correct – people can change their minds about it.

At home, I would say that I don’t cook strictly Italian. I cook some different things. The other day, I was kind of sick so I made some noodles with a lot of garlic, sesame oil and soy sauce – because when I’m sick I want to eat a lot of garlic which is good for your immune system. That’s not traditional anything – just ingredients that I like to cook with. My style is very simple and focuses on seasonality and it matches up with Eataly because our whole style of cooking is about paying respect to the traditions of Italian cooking.

“The best way to explain the difference between being a cook and a chef is that a cook is a player on the team, but when you are the chef, you have to be the coach and it’s hard for some people to make that adjustment because when you’re the chef, it’s no longer about being the best player it’s about making sure that your players are doing the best that they can an that your cooks are as well prepared as they can be.”

— Chef Adam Hill

AM: When you’re not cooking, how do you take time for yourself?

CHEF AH: I like watching football a lot and now that it’s football season, I’m very happy! I’m a Steelers fan. I like to go out with friends and it’s tough in the restaurant business as we don’t all have the same time off. Usually, when we get out of work at midnight, we’ve been cooking all day so we want to eat now because we haven’t all day. Sometimes we’ll go out for late night drinks and to grab a bite and since we're close to Koreatown, we go there as it’s open super late. A lot of people who don’t work in the industry are surprised that when we get out of work we don’t want to cook fancy food, we want comfort food. Like a pot of rice and bulgogi is great. Different kimchis and vegetables that are just stripped down and it’s not messed with too much. You want to be full and happy. I love Bonchon late night with their fried chicken wings. We try to go out once a week to go to the bars which turns into going to Koreatown for some Hot Pot or Korean barbeque. Late night tacos are a go to for me as I love Mexican food.

If I have a day off, I’m just doing laundry and relaxing. I’ll clean the house and if it’s on Sunday, then I am going to be a lazy couch potato and watch football!

IG @ChefAdamHill @EatalyFlatiron

PHOTO COURTESY | Eataly Flatiron

Read more from the Sep Issue of Athleisure Mag and see Eataly’s Chef Collaborations with Chef Adam Hill in mag.

OLIVE OIL ROAD WITH CHEF SEAMUS MULLEN

A few weeks ago, we met Chef Seamus Mullen at the Olive Oils from Spain where he kicked off the Olive Oil World Tour. Known for Spanish cooking and his love of olive oil, we talked with this restaurateur of Whirlybird + Greens and El Colmado and author of Real Food Heals. He shared why olive oil is so important to him, being a fitness enthusiast and his commitment to giving back via Chefs Cycle to ensure that he fights child hunger.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Tell us about how you got into cooking and decided this was a field that you wanted to work in.

CHEF SEAMUS MULLEN: Growing up on a farm I was always around really good ingredients, in fact both of my grandmothers were excellent cooks and I started cooking at a really young age with them. When I got into high school and needed a Summer job to earn money, I started working in a pizzeria and that was really the beginning of being around food for me professionally. After college, I threw myself into professional cooking and I’ve been doing it ever since.

AM: We love olive oil - tell us about how you embraced it from a cooking perspective?

CSM: Olive oil was something that we always had in the house, growing up, but we only used it for vinaigrettes. When I was 17 I went to Spain for a year abroad and lived with a Spanish family that was totally food-obsessed. Being in the kitchen with my host mother really turned me on to how fundamentally important olive oil is to Spanish cuisine and I totally fell in love.

AM: How did you connect with Olive Oils from Spain?

CSM: I’ve spent a fair amount of my career in Spain and I think it would be fair to say that Olive oil is really the foundation of Spanish cuisine. My early love for the olive oils of Spain has stayed with me throughout my career and I really can’t imagine cooking without it.

AM: What are the benefits of utilizing olive oil for health reasons?

CSM: There are so many health benefits of cooking with olive oil, from its anti-oxidant properties, to its naturally anti-inflammatory qualities, it’s a fundamental ingredient in the healthy kitchen. As an oil that is high in monounsaturated fat, olive oil helps the body produce healthy cholesterol. And most importantly, it’s incredibly delicious!

AM: Tell us about your restaurant in NYC and what are some of your favorite dishes that are perfect for the summer.

CSM: Summer in NYC is all about the produce. We get some remarkable fruits and vegetables this time of year. Lately I’ve really been into a very simple salad of sliced peaches with herbs, fresh ricotta cheese, a sprinkle of sea salt and a healthy dose of extra virgin olive oil from Spain.

AM: We have done various interviews with Chefs Cycle and know that you participated in this - how important is it for you to be involved in philanthropic/wellness events of this nature?

CSM: I think it’s really important to give back. As a chef, our job is to feed people and with 1 in 3 kids facing food insecurity in the US I feel compelled to work to fix what is a solvable problem. It also has the added benefit of getting chefs out and moving and healthier!

AM: What is it about cycling that you enjoy and what other workouts do you enjoy doing in addition to this?

CSM: Cycling has been a part of my life for a really long time and there’s so much I love about it. First and foremost, riding a bike is fun! It’s also a great way to get around, in fact I go pretty much every where in the city by bicycle. If I’m riding my mountain bike, it’s my meditation, I’m focused just on the moment, taking the woods, the trees, the outdoors. On the road bike it tends to be a bit more social, riding with friends, taking a break from the hectic pace of the city. And, of course, it’s the best way to see another country! I love cycling in Europe, riding through vineyards and olive orchards.

AM: If we were planning a culinary trip to Spain - where are 3 regions that we should go to and where/what should we eat?

CSM: I would definitely go to Catalunya, and not just Barcelona, but check out La Costa Brava, some of the most beautiful coastline in the world and delicious, delicious food.

Then head up into the Pyrenees for a completely different experience, it’s very alpine, the mountains are gorgeous and the food is hearty and delicious. And then I’d head down to the coast and take a trip west. Skip the Basque Country (because everyone knows how great the food is there) and head to Galicia for the best seafood in all of Spain.

AM: You made a simple dressing that was olive oil based, can you share this recipe with us?

CSM: I always make my dressings in this ration: 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 Olive oil. For this vinaigrette I whisked together 1/3 cup of sherry or red wine vinegar with the juice and zest of 1 lemon. Added a drizzle of honey, 1 clove of garlic grated on a micro plane, some sea salt and pepper. Then drizzle in 2/3 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Spain and you’ve got a delicious vinaigrette that is perfect on a simple salad or drizzled over some grilled vegetables.

IG @SeamusMullen

Read more from the Aug Issue of Athleisure Mag and see Olive Oil Road with Chef Seamus Mullen in mag.