THE 9LIST 9M3NU

Read the MAR ISSUE #111 of Athleisure Mag and see THE 9LIST 9M3NU in mag.

BINGELY BOOKS

THE NEW ORLEANS KITCHEN: CLASSIC RECIPES AND MODERN TECHNIQUES FOR AN UNRIVALED CUISINE [A COOKBOOK]

Lorena Jones Books

Justin Devillier + Jamie Feldmar

James Beard Award winning chef and restaurateur of La Petite Grocery in the Garden District and Justine in the French Quarter, Chef Justin Devillier who was on Top Chef: New Orleans shares his 120 recipes in The New Orleans Kitchen: Classic Recipes and Modern Techniques For an Unrivaled Cuisine. You'll learn how to make the fundamentals of New Orleans cuisine including proper roux-making as well as classics such as Duck and Andouille Gumbo and the more casual Abita Root Beer-Braised Short Ribs, and Biscuit and Pâté Brunch Sandwiches. You'll find step-by-step instructions and gorgeous imagery.

SIMPLE SALAD COOKBOOK: 100 RECIPES THAT CAN BE MADE IN

MINUTES

Callisto

Johanna Marie Mirpuri

A classic go-to for us for lunch or dinner is a salad. We can't have enough, but we're always looking for ways to change up our salads and in Simple Salad Cookbook: 100 Recipes That Can Be Made in Minutes. This cookbook will allow us to not only have get some variety with our favorite dish, but we can learn techniques that we can put to good use when we're making our next creation!

We also like that these recipes will take less than 10 mins to make so that we can keep moving and grooving no matter how busy our schedule is!

With 100 recipes and minimal prep, you'll be able to add your favorite ingredients and grab those items that you already have to make them feel new on your plate. You'll find that recipes will include meat and plant-based proteins whether your salad is a side dish or a main one.

The salads that are included contain those that are leafy, veggie, slaws, grains, beans, pasta, tofu, seafood, and meat! You'll also find that you will be able to make substitutons based on dietary needs or what you have on hand.

BAKING FOR TWO: 200+ SMALL BATCH RECIPES, FROM LAZY BAKES TO LAYER CAKES

America's Test Kitchen

America's Test Kitchen

In Baking For Two: 200+ Small Batch Recipes, From Lazy Bakes to Layer Cakes, this cookbook focuses on sweet and savory treats and cutting them down to make small batches! You don't need to be concerned about using calculators and you won't have to worry about measuring. We're excited to try their Blueberry-Lavender Cornmeal Crumbles, Coconut Snack Cake, or Cranberry-Cardamom Muffins.

You'll learn tips on how to prepare items ahead, freezing, baking later, and more! It's definitely a cookbook you'll want to have on hand whether you're enjoying a meal along, with a special someone or your besties while watching your favorite shows.

INTEGRITY EXCELLENCE SUSTAINABILITY | CHEF FARIYAL ABDULLAHI

As the Summer comes to a close, we're looking ahead to the Fall and Holiday! We love being able to take time with friends and family and those that are in our inner circles to connect and many times, these gatherings take place in our favorite restaurants! It's within these 4 walls that memories are made, food is shared, and horizons are expanded. With the restaurant as the canvas, it is helmed by those give us the foundation for this exchange to take place.

This month's cover is Executive Chef Fariyal Abdullahi of Hav & Mar which is located in Chelsea's Art District in the Starrett-Lehigh Building. We talk about how a passion for food, fine dining, sustainability, and advancement led to a culinary career that has included phenomenal restaurants and a track record of integrity; her helming and being personally selected by Marcus Samuelsson (Red Rooster, Streetbird, MARCUS ADDIS) for this restaurant that is in the Marcus Samuelsson Group; being the Chef for and walking the Met Gala red carpet in 2021; being a judge on Food Network shows such as Chopped and Alex vs America, and being a James Beard Award 2024 Finalist! We wanted to know more about her culinary journey, her approach to food, sustainability, and changing restaurant culture.

ATHLEISURE MAG: It’s been such a fun day in being able to hangout at your baby, Hav & Mar and your cover editorial here with, a number of looks, and to see your restaurant and you in this way.

What was the first dish that you remember when you realized that you fell in love with food?

CHEF FARIYAL ABDULLAHI: Um, ok, so I grew up in Ethiopia and I am the youngest of 6 siblings. My mom would cook all of our meals herself – breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We were a family of 8, it didn’t matter. She always made it herself. You know, people say that their mom was a good cook, I can tell you objectively as a Chef that my mom was very talented and she didn’t have any formal training or anything. She was just very intuitive and very good at it. Because of that, everybody used to come to our house for food because her food was just that good! Holiday and everything, my uncles would be at the house. They were not at their wives homes with their cooking. They would be at the house and I noticed that at a very young age. I was like, “mom, you have to put me on!”

So it’s not a particular dish. But, she started me out with salad from the beginning. It was nothing that had to do with fire and stuff. I was a Garde Manger Queen (Editor’s Note: The pantry chef, commonly known as Garde Manger or Garmo is responsible for the preparation of cold dishes, salads, charcuterie, and appetizers in a commercial kitchen) when I was 6 years old. I was like, I want to do this, I want to do what you do. But it was also the process of – we’re very close to our food source. So, I have photos of me from when I was a kid making salad! We would go to the farm which was right around the corner from our house and they would grow the lettuce. So it was a whole process. I would go get the lettuce, the tomatoes, and all of that stuff and I would have the connection of seeing all of this stuff going from the soil, the farmers that grew it, and then I would go back home and it was literally a simple salad. Romaine Lettuce, Serrano Peppers, and Tomatoes – you didn’t even make a vinaigrette for it – it was just lime juice and salt.

AM: Oh wow!

CHEF FA: Yeah, that was my responsibility. It was very few ingredients, but it built my relationship that I had with food. It kind of made that first part where I had that connection with the people that grew my food. Then I turned what they did into something that was delicious to eat, and then everyone comes over - everyone pulls up. It was really that process where I was like, this is what I want. This is that thing that connects all of us.

AM: You graduated with a Bachelor’s in Clinical Child Psychology. When did you realize that you wanted to be a Chef as opposed to going down that track in terms of a graduate degree? You opted to go to the Culinary Institute of America in Nappa as opposed to staying on the psychology track.

CHEF FA: I always knew that I wanted to be in food. But, it’s the classic immigrant story where you leave your country and you go to America. The American Dream is that you are a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. Those are the 3 things. I would tell my mom when I was 14 or 16 that I wanted to cook and that I wanted to be a chef. And she would always tell me that that was a hobby and that it wasn’t a career. So when you’re a doctor, you can go home and cook as a hobby. That was your hobby, that was not a career. But I was like, “damn, that is really what I want to do!” As the youngest of 6 siblings, that’s what they did. So I have a sister that is a Neurosurgeon, my brother is an Immuno Oncologist – so he is doing cancer research, I have a brother and a sister that is doing Internal Medicine – so then it was my turn and I mean, I guess my second love is just knowing people and understanding behavior and that is why I went into Clinical

Psychology. But it never -

AM: It never really felt right.

CHEF FA: It didn’t! It really didn’t and I am a very empathetic person and so I got my Bachelor’s in Clinical Child Psychology and my sister who is in UCLA – both of my sisters are in UCLA, I went to go visit them and they said, “let’s show you the psych department.” They took me to where the children are and that’s what kind of changed me forever because I knew that I could not work with sick kids every day. I couldn’t do that and then go home with it! I knew that I would always go home with it! So that day, instead of applying to grad school, I applied to culinary school. I had my heart set on CIA because I had read 2 biographies from Grant Achatz and Anthony Bourdain and they both went to CIA and it is supposed to be the Harvard of culinary schools. I thought, hold on, if I get accepted to this school – this 1 culinary school, it’s go to be big right? So, I didn’t apply anywhere else, I just applied there.

AM: One shot!

CHEF FA: Yeah, one shot and I got accepted. So I told my mom, you have to let me do this.

AM: I used to have a teacher who felt that I should be a surgeon because in our labs when we were dissecting various animals, my precision in cutting was something that she loved. I had to explain to her many times that it wasn’t the work that I wanted to do, and that inspired me to find a piece that called back to that to bring it to this set. My mind will continue to run and replay a number of things and I can’t make my mind not work that way. I don’t know if I could take running a procedure in my head where something went wrong on that level and be ok.

CHEF FA: Yeah, I don’t know how they do it!

AM: So while you waited to hear about your application, you went to 18 countries and traveled for 3 months! What was it like to go to these places and for someone who already had an interesting palette already, how did you retrain that to take on all of these other areas that you had not previously been exposed to?

CHEF FA: So that was the purpose because I didn’t think that I had a palette. I don’t want to say advanced, but I didn’t think that I had a good palette yet. So the first 16 years of my life, I lived in Ethiopia, so I had a very high tolerance for spicy food, but also like very heavily spiced food. Things are very seasoned in Ethiopia so that is my threshold. I came to the States and my intro into American food became what I ate on campus.

I was like, “what is this flavorless, unseasoned – what is going on?” I swear that at 16, because I started college fulltime at 16, I used to walk around in my purse with Tabasco before Beyoncé said it, I swear to God that I had hot sauce in my bag! Because I was like, this ain’t it for me! It was just no flavor! It was that and the burritos, the burgers, and I’m in college. I kept thinking that there had to be an in between – hold on!

Yeah so, that was kind of the purpose behind my trip and I knew that there had to be more food out there. So it was 18 countries and now I’m on my 56th country. But in those 3 months, I did 18 countries and it was just to eat!

AM: That’s insane and amazing!

CHEF FA: It was cool because it’s like the whole 10,000 hours that Malcom Gladwell talks about (Editor’s Note: Malcolm Gladwell is a Canadian journalist, author and public speaker. He is known for his unique perspective on popular culture. He has been a staff writer with The New Yorker since 1996 and has published 7 books. He is also the podcast host of Revisionist History and the co-founder of the podcast company, Pushkin Industries. In his 2008 book Outliers, he states that, “10,000 hours is the magic number of greatness.” This theory means that to be considered elite or truly experienced with a certain craft you would need to practice it for 10,000 hours) it was the exposure of different flavors and textures that I would not have been exposed to if I had not traveled to these different countries. It became my little culinary school!

AM: Did you have a little travel journal and write down things as you navigated these countries?

CHEF FA: Yeah! I was solo too! I went by myself!

AM: Got it! Wow that’s a lot!

So what was it like to attend CIA and what were some of the kitchens that you trained in as you navigated to where you are here?

CHEF FA: So CIA, so I was responsible for my own tuition and that was the deal when I moved from Ethiopia. I did 8 hours of school a day, that’s how long our classes were – 8 hours, but then I would also work as a Teacher’s Assistant for the first 8 hours of my day. So that’s when I got into the 16 hour work day.

AM: Right!

CHEF FA: So, it was actually teaching me the work ethic that I needed honestly at the time, I didn’t know! I didn’t know how many hours people worked at restaurants. I had never worked in a restaurant before and there were no examples around me. So CIA in addition to obviously the culinary fundamentals, it was the first thing that taught me – ok, you can’t be tired. If you’re going to do this, you’re going to have to have the energy for this. I mean, it’s the Harvard of culinary schools and I do think that I got into Noma which was my first job ever – I mean Noma was the best restaurant in the world for 4 years in a row! It’s because I set myself up by going to the CIA!

AM: For sure!

CHEF FA: I felt like I was behind because when I was attending the CIA, my classmates were 18 years old and I was 25! I knew that I had to be on the fast track. Yeah, so it was essentially, a career change for me.

AM: Clearly, it all worked out as I’m sitting here talking with you in your restaurant!

CHEF FA: Yeah, I’m pretty much on a space ship and I’m on it.

AM: So, you were at Noma and I know that they are closing at the end of this year, but they will be more of a food laboratory and so that’s an interesting evolution with how they will continue their journey. So what are 3 things that you learned in your time of being at that restaurant? I mean when you hear of people who were at that restaurant, it’s no joke and it’s highly prestigious!

CHEF FA: I mean, especially with that being my first job ever! I remember when we were in culinary school getting ready to graduate and my classmates were like, we’re going to start off at this restaurant and then work our way up. I was like nah! I knew that I had to go straight to the top. They were like, you can’t do that. That’s not how the system is set up. You have to work your way up to Noma and I’m like, “cool, that’s what y’all are going to do.”

AM: But when you have a vision and you already feel like that you’re older than those that you have been with, you just can’t go at the same cadence because you have to make up for lost time.

CHEF FA: So the first thing that I learned at Noma is Integrity. Because my thing was that if I want to learn to be the best, I have to learn from the best! They were the best restaurant 4 years in a row and I was like, cool. What is it that makes them the best. It’s not always necessarily the food, what I learned there was Integrity is so high. Everybody was doing the right thing whether someone was looking or they weren’t looking. There’s no cutting corners. If this is how you’re shown how to do something, you do it. If there is something that is stopping you from doing it, you do it. Either way, you always do the right thing. That’s really powerful! So integrity!

10 years ago, the restaurant industry and kitchens are set up on this bully system I would call it. You get called all kinds of names, you get yelled at, that’s the relationship that you have with your Chef. The standard is always excellence and you will never reach that. So you're getting yelled at constantly every single day. So I was like, ok cool, this is how it is. If this is how it is, you just adjust to it. You learn how to have tough skin and you move on. But there is a changing area and I was getting ready to close out from the day and I heard René Redzepi (Editor’s Note: Danish chef and co-owner of 3-Michelin star Noma in the Christianshavn neighborhood of Copenhagen, Denmark) having a conversation with his leadership team and I guess there was this line cook that was being bullied and he just couldn’t take it anymore and he just left and he wasn’t answering anybody’s calls for 3 weeks.

AM: Oh wow!

CHEF FA: And people were like ok, whatever, if he’s gone, he’s gone. That day when I was getting ready to leave, I was in the changing area and I heard the conversation that René was having with his leadership team and he was telling them, “we have to shift the culture. How do you guys not care? What if this guy isn’t even alive right now? What is wrong with you?”

AM: That’s what I was wondering!

CHEF FA: He was really laying into them. He said, we have to be better. So he was like, “cool, you guys are going to go to his apartment, you’re going to find him and make sure that he is fed.” He was an intern so he wasn’t getting paid, but he was like, “do we need to pay him?” He wanted to find out all of this information. René’s wife was pregnant at the time and he thought that he was having a son and he was like, “if my son told me that he wanted to work in the kitchen, I would tell him no.” That’s because it is very abusive and we have to shift the culture and we need to be able to create a system where people want to come to work and that they feel appreciated and cared about. I was like, what is he talking about? That is not how kitchens run. Don't you just get yelled at and told that you ain’t shit?

AM: Yeah and you go into the corner and do a cry where no one can see you so you can get back in the game.

CHEF FA: Right? You go to the side, handle it and go right back out!

AM: Right? That’s how it was for me in fashion and that was just how it went!

CHEF FA: Yeah and I thought that it would be like that forever! But that was the first time that I had ever heard anybody talking about changing and shifting the industry! I thought, ok I guess that it could be different. So that sparked the biggest thing in me where it made me say that I run my kitchen with joy. I lead it with joy. I think that that is why we have such a high retention rate here. People want to stay working here.

AM: We have been here for a few hours and I haven’t seen anyone slacking, slinking off or even watching us do a photoshoot and having me interview you. Everyone is just focused!

CHEF FA: Yeah they have a very heavy prep list. They are super focused! They are totally fine! I am really proud of what I have built. It all stems from my Noma days. Build a workplace that people actually want to come to and I learned that from René and have integrity! Always do the right thing!

AM: You leave Noma and prior to Hav & Mar, what are some of the restaurants that you were working at between these 2 periods?

CHEF FA: Right after Noma, I went back to LA because that’s where my family lives and while I was there, I got a call from a Chef here in NYC and he was an Executive Chef at a restaurant called Caviar Russe which is a Michelin-starred restaurant and he called me and he was like, “hey, I need a prep cook." I was like, “damn, starting from the bottom. I just came from Noma!” But it made sense because there is such a huge gap in my resume because I went from culinary school to the best restaurant in the world and while I was at Noma – you know, that’s the third thing that I learned.

I learned that you determine your own growth in terms of how quickly you grow. Because I went as an intern and interns don’t really get to work the line especially prep, but I was out of the prep kitchen after a month and they put me on the line.

I remember that there was a huge symposium that they do called the MAD Symposium (Editor’s Note: René created the MAD Symposium which is considered the G20 of Food Industry Change) where they bring some of the best culinary minds and René would be on huge pins and needles and he was very anxious to make sure that service went well. Obviously, they had all the interns in the prep kitchen and he came upstairs and he said, “what are you doing here?” I was like, “Chef, this is where I was put.” And he told me that I was going to be working on the line. He put me on the line for one of the most important services that he was about to do. So I said, “got it Chef.” I just put my head down and I did the work.

AM: Inside, you must have been like, argh!

CHEF FA: Oh yeah! I mean, we’re extremely close, but he could be very intimidating. So, we always knew when he was in town because when he is in the kitchen, all you would hear (Chef Fariyal pulls her keys out of her pocket and puts her finger through the keyring and flips the keys over and over through the loop) is those keys and you would say, “Chef’s here.”

So he put me on a station with a Sous Chef from Finland and he was this massive guy! He said, ok you're going to work this station with him. The Sous Chef was like, “don’t say nothing. All you have to do is shuck these 200 year old clams and that’s it!” I mean, dude, they were the size of my palm. I’m like wow 200 year old clams, but I was like, “yes Chef.” He let me know that no matter how intense it got, all he needed me to do was to stay calm and just shuck these clams. So I said, “yes Chef.” 5mins into service, René comes around the corner and starts screaming at the Sous Chef and asking him why his station was dirty. It was not even dirty. “Why is your station dirty? You know what, stop, everyone come here. Look at how nasty his station is.” He kicks the Sous Chef out of the kitchen and now I am in the station by myself.

AM: Oh no!

CHEF FA: I said, “the Sous Chef told me to shut up and just keep shucking so I’m just going to shut up and keep shucking my clams!” So I learned to stay cool and to stay calm. So nothing gets me out of my zone.

AM: Nope!

CHEF FA: So that is my 3rd thing. You determine your growth because I was the only intern working the line on a shift that René kicked my Sous Chef off his station that I worked at and then it became mine. That was all because I put my head down and I put in the work.

AM: We also know that you accepted that job at Caviar Russe.

CHEF FA: Yes so Caviar Russe was the first job after Noma. They called me and I said sure, prep cook is kind of crazy, but sure. So I came and I moved to NY for that. Fine dining is my love and it’s what I love to do. But 6 months of doing that, making minimum wage and you’re in NYC – I was barely surviving – barely. I was like I don’t know how much longer I can sustain this. When I was in school, we always used to have job fairs and there would be this restaurant group, Hillstone.

AM: Oh yeah!

CHEF FA: They would always be in the school and try to recruit kids from the CIA. They have a few restaurants in NYC.

AM: Yeah, they had the spot at 53rd & Lex as I used to eat there quite a bit in my early days of living in NYC. That was my place at that time.

CHEF FA: I was never interested in working at a place like Hillstone. I was like, I’m a fine dining girl from CIA – what are you talking about? I’m not trying to make burger and fries! But then I was like, ok, fine dining is not cutting it. I’m literally a starving artist right now and I’m hungry and can’t even feed myself. I got recruited to Hillstone and I said, let me see what this is about. I went and I remember when I did my stage, I was like hold on, they may not be making the type of food that I am interested in, but the restaurant is run like a fine dining restaurant. So I thought hold on, maybe I can do this. They pay you a 6 figure salary right off the bat and I thought, I can do this and not be broke!

I was like, this is compromising the type of food that I love making, but it is done to the same standards. Also, the paycheck is cute and I did the switch from fine dining to Hillstone. I did that for about 5 years.

AM: That’s a long time.

CHEF FA: 5 years, 9 different restaurants, I moved 9 times to different cities, and I became the opener. That’s how I got my experience in opening restaurants. Anytime you are asked to open a restaurant as a Chef, that is a huge compliment because you’re laying the foundation.

AM: Yeah the standard.

CHEF FA: They’re saying that they want you to instill and to inject your work ethic and the trajectory of the restaurant is all based on -

AM: Your brand standard!

CHEF FA: Yeah so I opened 9 restaurants in 9 different cities with Hillstone.When I was with them, they had 53 restaurants in a number of major cities. It was a $650 million dollar restaurant. It was 1 owner, he did not go public.

AM: Oh wow!

CHEF FA: Huge!

AM: That’s a flex!

CHEF FA: That’s a flex! That is where I learned my leadership. That is 100% where I learned my leadership style. A lot of Chefs say that it is one of the best run restaurant groups in America. Hands down, easily.

So Caviar Russe to Hillstone and then I was like, I’m tired. By that time, I had been in the industry 8 years and there was never any Black women and even with Hillstone, I grew really quickly so after 9 months they gave me my own kitchen which was also very much so on the fast track. People had issues being led by a woman of color and they would make it very clear.

AM: Oh yeah.

CHEF FA: Like they would actually verbally say I’m not doing that. Why? Because you’re a woman and you’re Black. I would say, “cool, do you take a paycheck from a woman because guess who is writing your paychecks?” So if you’re cool with that, you’re going to do this task. But that was very exhausting. It felt like I was in a state of isolation. Because I was far away from my family, cities and states that I didn’t have friends or family in them. So I was very much so alone and then you go into work and they make it a point to feel even more alone. Even though I was Head Chef, you didn't really have much of a say. It wasn’t my food. I didn’t get to hire the people that I wanted. So I wasn’t making any of the changes that I wanted to make. I was tired and it was 2020 and I felt that I was done with the industry. I moved back to Ethiopia. I was like, “I’m done, this is wack and I’m not into it.”

Then I get a call from Marcus Samuelsson. “I was like, what the heck is happening right now?” He’s like, “Chef, it’s taken me quite awhile to track you down.” I was like, “what – what do you mean?“ I was so confused. He tells me about this restaurant. He told me that he was opening a restaurant in Chelsea and he wanted it to be run by me. I wanted to know more. He said that he wanted to build a sustainable menu and that he wanted it to be led by a woman of color as he felt that he had not put any spotlight on women of color.

So I was in Ethiopia for 6 months. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I was chilling. I still had my home and my brother still lives there – I was cool. There was no rush. So Marcus called and he said sustainable menu which really mattered to me a lot and having it led by women of color. I was like, “hold on, so I can make whatever food I want and I can hire whoever I want?” He was like, it’s you. It’s your restaurant. You can do what you want! So I was like, alright cool, I have to come back. Also, it didn’t feel like I was done with the industry.

AM: Right, you just needed the right fit.

CHEF FA: So this was my second chance at the industry. Then within a year and a half, we have had a stellar NY Times review, I’ve gotten my James Beard Nomination, all of this stuff and it’s like – wait, what?

AM: That’s so insane! You must have gotten off of the call and just been like – he’s been looking for me? I’m going to be working with this man?

CHEF FA: How? I mean – what? You’re looking for me? That don’t make no sense!

It was and it is and he is letting me do my thing. I’m really glad that I came back.

AM: It’s such a great story. I have had the pleasure of interviewing him before and I have also done a fun culinary video with him and seeing him at culinary events and competitions. Love his personality and his focus as well as everything about him is really amazing.

What does it mean to you for him to place you in this position and to have this massive responsibility as well as being able to chart your own path?

CHEF FA: It’s 2 things. There is that whole show that comes along with it. It’s a very public and media facing restaurant. I wouldn’t have known that I could be a voice for women of color in the culinary industry if he didn’t trust me with this you know? There is only 6% of women of color that are Executive Chefs which no wonder that we feel so lonely. I do know some women of color that are Executive Chefs, but they say that they don’t have to talk about it all the time. They feel that the more that you focus on race and all of that stuff, you’re taking away from your craft. But I’m like, people are making it a point to focus on it anyway.

AM: Exactly!

CHEF FA: Right, so why don’t you talk your shit?

AM: It’s intertwined!

CHEF FA: It is!

AM: You can’t do one without the other.

CHEF FA: People don’t want to separate it so I will talk about it. People immediately are only focused on the food. I am going to talk about it and he gave me the voice which I think really helps. Because now, so many women of color reach out to me and say, “Chef this is so inspiring. I almost gave up on the industry.”

But the other thing is that Marcus is the first and the only person to ever tell me this. When we first started opening the restaurant he could tell because I had never really worked for a restaurant where I was in charge that was this front facing. He started talking about that we would get reviewed in the first couple of months and I was like woah, “I have never had to deal with this.” I wasn’t sure if I could do it and he was the first person to ever tell me, “Chef, you’re here because you deserve to be. You know that right?” I’ll never forget those words. I’m like, “no actually. No one has ever said that to me. Not a single person has told me that you’re here because you deserve to be.” He told me that I worry about that way too much and that he brought me here because I made great food and I tell a great story. So he told me that, ”whoever walks through that door, if they don’t see you, that’s not your problem. You’re here because you deserve to be.” And that kind of felt like the shackles that I had the first 8 years of my career –“

AM: Broke.

CHEF FA: Yeah, it unlocked it. I was like, cool. I don’t have to prove myself to anyone. I’m here because I deserve to be. You know, you don’t see white men prove why they are there.

AM: No you don’t.

CHEF FA: Right, everyone just knows that that is what it is. They make the food, people see that is the chef and there isn’t anything else that has to be said or debated. So he gave that to me. He gave me the belief and the understanding that I am here because I deserve to be. He gave me that voice so it’s been very impactful. It’s the first time and I always tell my siblings that their job is important because they are literally saving lives. My job is not important and that is what I have been saying for the last 8 years, but now like I have been doing this for 12 years and it’s the first time that I have felt that what I do is important. I’m changing an entire industry in terms of how you can run a restaurant and also many people see that you need to bring more women of color into your restaurant.

AM: There are a lot of people out there in your space telling a story, but you need to also be out on platforms sharing how you’re rocking things too. To hear as you said that it’s less than 6%.

What can you tell us about this space, the ambiance, the design, and what can diners expect when they come here? I love how decadent it is when you look in. But there is a relaxing element to the space as well as whimsical with the Black mermaids which I love!

CHEF FA: Yeah! Well that’s all Derrick Adams! So when Marcus commissioned Derrick Adams to do the artwork here, he told him it was going to be a seafood restaurant and that it would be led by women of color. So immediately, Derrick Adams was like Black mermaids. He titled it, We Are From the Water Too.

AM: I love that!

CHEF FA: We Are From the Water Too! So Black mermaids. So Marcus always says, “when you lose the message of Hav, look at the mermaids.” Like, they will always bring you back to what our message is at Hav. Visually and aesthetically, the architects name is Zébulon Perron (Red Bull Music Academy, Broccolini Condo Store, Pancho) and he’s won awards for creating this space and he's actually amazing.

But I love how it looks simple, right? Which is why you can feel so relaxed and it doesn’t feel intimidating where you feel that you have to be buttoned up. But then you get into the details and it’s like woah, hold on!

AM: It’s very Matrix-y in some ways with the way that the fixtures are floating. There are sections and yet everything is still together. It’s mind trippy! A little bit like Salvador Dalí (Editor’s Note: A Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and his striking images. Major themes in his work included dreams, stretching and mixing realities, as well as the subconscious.)

There’s just a warmth.

CHEF FA: And you know, he wanted it to be an open kitchen obviously. So I always stand in the pass (Editor’s Note: This is where plates go for a final garnish or inspection before they’re sent to the dining room. It’s also where components of a dish that are prepped at different stations meet to be plated together,) so I am the first person that people see. If we’re going to have a restaurant led by a woman of color, we’re not going to hide her. We’re going to make sure that people know that she is at the helm of it all. So I take my position right there and we have guests that walk up. Sometimes people are like, “can we meet the Chef?”

AM: It’s like, hello!

CHEF FA: Haha yes, hello! Were you expecting someone or something different?

AM: Sometimes they are!

CHEF FA: Well most of the time they are!

We get so many people that come up! Little girls and they’re like, “I want to be a chef!” This space! When I first walked in, there was nothing! It was rubble – a pile of rubble! I was like, “I don’t know what y’all see!” They did it just like that – 2 months!

AM: Really?

CHEF FA: Yeah!

AM: Wow!

CHEF FA: I love it here. I spend 80 hours in this building so -

AM: You know it very well!

CHEF FA: It’s not a bad place to spend 80 hours.

AM: What is the meaning behind the name?

CHEF FA: So Marcus is both Ethiopian Swedish. Hav is Swedish for ocean and Mar is the Ethiopian word for honey. So we are from the Sweet Waters which is how he describes it. But, it’s to pay homage to both his Swedish and Ethiopian roots.

AM: So what would you say the cuisine is and what are the ingredients and the flavors that are indicative of it?

CHEF FA: So when we were first talking about how we could make a sustainable menu, we kept coming back to seafood. Initially, he wanted to do a vegan restaurant.

AM: Part of me thought that this would have been a vegan restaurant.

CHEF FA: Right because when you talk about sustainability, that tends to be the best route to go. But then we were like, gosh, it’s really hard to tell our story through just plants. So we landed at seafood. I like to describe it as seafood. When we first opened it was, seafood told through the lens of the African Diaspora because it was very heavily influenced by African ingredients. I’m Ethiopian born and raised so a lot of Ethiopian influence, but I did a lot of West African ingredients too. Then we evolved because I have a Sous Chef from the Philippines and a Sous Chef from Puerto Rico.

PF: Oooo

AM: Yeah, both of us just said ooo at the same time!

CHEF FA: Yeah as the Executive Chef, the menu is mine. One day, I was feeling under the weather and my Filipino Sous Chef made me a traditional Filipino soup called Sinigang. I was in the pass and she saw me struggling as I was saying fire for the dishes. She said, “Chef, I made this for you.” I was like what is this and why is this not on our menu? She explained that it was from the Philippines and that they have a traditional soup made with fish. I was like, “you know we have a seafood restaurant?" Then I was like, hold on, I think that we should start bringing in their voices to the menu too. I don’t have to gatekeep this.

So then we started incorporating their dishes and then I think that that’s when Pete Wells (Editor’s Note: Pete Wells was the restaurant critic at The New York Times from 2011 – August 2024) came in to do the review and I was like, oh my God, we don’t really have an identity besides the fact that we are a seafood restaurant. He was like, “Chef Fariyal uses her global influence –.“ I was like, that’s who we are - we are a seafood restaurant. Some people will come in and say this is not African and I’m like we’re a seafood restaurant with a global influence. That’s it and now it has all of their global identities.

We have Puerto Rican flavors, we have Middle Eastern flavors, Filipino flavors – we have everything!

AM: That’s amazing.

CHEF FA: But the vessel is seafood. The seafood tells our story in terms of sustainability. It’s what keeps me up at night.

So when I was designing the menu and we were creating these dishes, we need to use as much of the ingredient as possible. I want very little waste. So the thing about restaurants is that we are one of the highest contributors of the Climate Crisis because we produce so much food waste and that ends up in landfills and I’m like how can we avoid all the waste that we produce here ending up in landfills? So it’s about using as much of the ingredient as possible.

So we are getting really creative so I have something called Ash Oil. So I was like, can we do anything with all of these scraps with the skins of scallions, onion skins, scallion tops that we throw away, garlic, and all of that stuff. Things that you would throw away and I thought that there has to be flavor in here! So we just put it in the Hearth oven which goes up to 800° and it gives it a nice char and then I blended it into a salt and then I mix that with oil so it has this super...

AM: Smoky

CHEF FA: Yes smoky flavor! So I was like, hold on this is edible and it gives this whole other dimension to dishes. So I was like, alright cool lets get really creative like that. Let’s use parts of ingredients that normally get thrown away. So that was Step 1.

Step 2 was how do I make sure that – obviously you can’t use 100% of everything.

AM: Right.

CHEF FA: How do I make sure that this doesn’t end up in landfills? So I did some research and found 2 different organizations one is called Afterlife. They come and pick up our compost every day. They grow mushrooms with our compost.

AM: Oh wow!

CHEF FA: I built a dish around these mushrooms so it’s like a full 360 moment. But then, the most important thing is that after they are done growing these mushrooms they take the substrate which is the compost and they turn it into soil and they create something called Biochar. So Biochar is soil, but it has the ability to sink carbon for a 1,000 years.

AM: Wow so they are a Circular Farm.

CHEF FA: Right, so I was like hold on, this is really fly! So all of our compost goes to them. I work with them a lot and they are doing a lot of really amazing things.

AM: And they are based here in the city?

CHEF FA: Yeah! They do all of that and they make Biochar by using our compost and then they donate the Biochar to farmers and it helps them increase their yield. So farmers are getting better yield while making sure that we’re not increasing the output of Carbon Dioxide to the air. They also donate it to parks and it goes to Governors Island. So they do all of these wonderful things with our compost.

AM: Wow!

CHEF FA: And then the second company, they’re called Billion Oyster Project.

AM: That’s the host of the dinner we’re going to on Thursday at Governors Island (Editor’s Note: You can read the story about this dinner from Outstanding in the Field in this issue).

CHEF FA: No way!

AM: Yeah Le Jardinier is the culinary portion and we’re very excited.

CHEF FA: Ok, that makes sense!

They are my second partner. So what they do is they collect oysters from restaurants and they are basically reconstituting the oyster population in the Hudson and all of the rivers here. What that does is it gives us a good filtration system. So they take our oysters because I’m like, let’s not get lazy with it. Technically, you could throw everything into a compost, but I’m like are there things that we can separate within the compost that makes better use? So since we have been open, Billion Oyster Project has been in the loop.

That is the most important thing to me. We can get all of the best accolades in the world. But the thing is, If you are contributing to a worse planet, what are you really doing?

AM: We have to do something and to keep researching for new innovations.

CHEF FA: Exactly!

AM: Wow!

CHEF FA: I like talking about it because for example, Afterlife they have 20 restaurants that they have partnered with in NYC. Do you know how many restaurants there are in NYC? That’s wild that there are only 20 restaurants that participate!

I eventually want to end up in policy. I do work with Save the Children. I do a lot of advocacy work and I eventually want to end up there. But for now, if you can implement the stuff while you’re on the ground, that’s a great place to start.

AM: I can see you doing Food Advocacy work as Tom Colicchio and Todd English, both of them are doing what they can and making their voices heard.

CHEF FA: It’s important! Listen, I am a mushroom fiend! They are very tasty.

AM: In looking at the menu, the flow of it is really great! What are 3 dishes from your Raw & Cured that you would suggest for those coming in?

CHEF FA: Raw & Cured, so I am a little biased with my Tuna Tartare.

AM: I love a Tuna Tartare moment.

CHEF FA: It’s so good! Tuna Tartare is a must. Hamachi has been there since we have opened. It’s a ceviche that I use called the Black Ceviche which is non-traditional and I use the Ashe Oil in there. It’s very acidic, but that Ash Oil gives it that other dimension of what I was talking about when I was saying smoky. That’s not very traditional for a ceviche. I can never get rid of that. It will be on the menu forever. There are just some things – I mean we are a seasonal menu, but there are just some things that’s just like, there will be an uproar if we take that off the menu.

AM: People will be like, wait, is it even a restaurant if I can’t get this here? Forks raised in the air – where is it?

CHEF FA: For real – picketing! The Hamachi Ceviche and there is a dish called the Swediopian. So it is something that we have had since the beginning. Swediopian is our play on words where it’s Swedish and Ethiopian. So way before this restaurant opened, Marcus and I did an event for Pepsi and it was around the Super Bowl and he wanted a dish that represented both his Ethiopian and Swedish roots and he said to play around with the cured salmon. So I cured it using Swedish techniques, but then I used berbere which is an Ethiopian spice so it’s a twice cured salmon.

AM: Oh wow so it’s punchy.

CHEF FA: Yeah very actually. You guys need to come in and eat. Seriously.

AM: Oh we will, we want to be able to try that.

CHEF FA: So those three from the Raw & Cured are great!

AM: What are 3 Small Plates that you suggest that we should enjoy?

CHEF FA: Small Plates, we do a beautiful Scallop here.

AM: I love a Scallop.

CHEF FA: Yes, we have our Fall Menu coming in 3 weeks and so the format will change again.

Yes and the Salad is a big hit too! We always bring that in every Summer. I have this formula that I use. For this particular Salad I do a purée and it’s about what ingredient is at its best during the season? So for the Summer Salad, I do a corn purée then Heirloom tomatoes because you know and then I do a compressed watermelon.

AM: Wow!

CHEF FA: What could be more Summer than that? So I always say get the Summer Salad and the Scallops – those are my 2 favorites.

AM: What is Happy Hour like here?

CHEF FA: Happy Hour is from 5-7pm. We have a separate menu that we do and our General Manager Tia, a woman of color whose Jamaican, she’s a Somm and she does the Beverage Program here.

AM: Wow!

CHEF FA: So she wears many hats! So she makes awesome cocktails. We work in tandem and she takes ingredients from the kitchen that we are processed and done with and instead of throwing it away and making waste, she makes cocktails with it.

AM: Oh that’s smart and the sustainability continues.

So that means some of your cocktails are even a bit savory as well?

CHEF FA: Yup the Hav & Martini – so I make pickled red onions that I use as a garnish and I put beets in it to make that beautiful pink color. So when we're done pickling it, we used to toss out the juice. But she uses it in her Hav & Martini.

AM: I like that!

CHEF FA: Yeah it’s this beautiful pink hued beverage. She has this really beautiful way of explaining it because I don’t drink alcohol and I’m Muslim and I have never been in that world.

The way that she explains it she’s like this cocktail uses onions and this is why. I’m like, girl I don’t know, but it sounds good!

AM: It’s smart because there are a lot of studios in this area -

CHEF FA: Art studios.

AM: So you’re open for dinner every night. Do you ever foresee a lunch service? What was the decision behind this?

CHEF FA: So one thing that I love patting myself on the back for is because when you start getting to this whole thing – James Beard, Michelin, and all of that stuff – people equate how difficult it is to get into a restaurant with how successful that restaurant is. I always tell people – it’s not a competition, but when you look at and line up all of the restaurants, I have 140 seats. We are open 7 days a week and a lot of these restaurants are not open 7 days a week. They’re not and in this post COVID climate, it’s very challenging to have enough staff to be open and operating 7 days a week and that’s a really huge deal.

AM: Yup!

CHEF FA: And most of the restaurants, I mean this is a very big operation in terms of seats.

AM: When I walked in, I thought, they’re not playing.

CHEF FA: Yeah so 140 seats, 7 days a week. I’m like, you guys don’t understand – like when you guys are like who is the best chef? Look at the operation also, you know what I mean? I could run a 12 seat restaurant that’s open 4 days a week. I could run that very easily. So it already is doing the most because we are open 7 days a week in this restaurant. But Marcus does have pipe dreams of being open for lunch and I’m like, “Chef, where are these people? Where is the staff that I’m supposed to find?” I would say that that is the biggest challenge of being open for more service – it’s just not the same. The pool of people to hire is not the same at all.

AM: So speaking to that, what is an average day like?

CHEF FA: So the operating hours is that we are open from 5-10pm.

So there are 2 shifts. The AM team gets here at 8am. They are here from 8-4pm. They prep the food that all the guests are going to eat. So our rule is, “today’s food, for today’s guests.” So everything is made fresh inhouse every day. There is no rolling over. I have a Sous Chef, I have a Pastry Chef, 2 Prep Cooks, and a Dishwasher.

AM: Wow.

CHEF FA: So that’s who’s here from 8 – 4pm.

Then at 3pm, my line team gets here. So they are the ones that cook the food. So there is an hour overlap between the 2 of them. But they will be here from 3 – 11pm. So there is the prep team and the service team.

AM: Oh wow.

CHEF FA: I have to kind of be here for both.

So I get here between 12-2 and then I stay here until the last table leaves.

AM: So on your admin day, is that when you are touching base with the group?

CHEF FA: So with the group, we have weekly meetings every Wed. So we have our meetings with our Director of Operations. The only reason why she is here today is because our General Manager is in Chicago. But we have a meeting with her, our CEO, and our CFO every Wed. about our P&L. So I have to know every single penny that comes into this building and every single penny that leaves this building. So I always give them a presentation every single Wed. This is where we’re at, this is the goal, this is what my food cost is, this is what my labor cost is, and this is our bottom line. It’s every Wed. and I have to be prepared to talk about our numbers in and out.

But when I say admin stuff, it’s like every Mon. we do payroll. Bit every day, I process invoices. So there is always something. Or there is scheduling I do that every week.

AM: You are a woman of many hats.

CHEF FA: It never ends.

AM: So obviously we were talking about the Met Gala earlier during your shoot. You looked phenomenal on the red carpet. What did it mean to you to be part of that event in addition to obviously doing the menu itself? Just being in that apex of fashion.

CHEF FA: So in the moment, I obviously didn’t grasp how big it was!

Somehow in the end it looks like I’m a fashion forward person ...

That was important for me 1 – it was kind of my debut. We had done so many shoots with Vogue and a lot of stuff and it was like, Chef Fariyal, Chef Fariyal. I was always cooking behind the scenes and now it was like, people know me as a chef now. It was cool and that’s what kind of catapulted the whole TV and media. Because that is when I got a call from the President of Food Network. They were like, hold on, who are you and why are you not on TV? I was like what do you mean because I’m a Chef? What do you mean TV? But that is what catapulted it all. It was that Met Gala, that red carpet.

AM: You were on a lot of the main pages of a number of international editions of Vogue as well as the one here. It was like Lady Gaga what? I remember thinking wow and she’s a Chef on that red carpet – wow. It’s like that’s huge because I thought that she would be in the kitchen.

CHEF FA: I thought that I was going to cook, but no!

AM: What does it mean to your brand because you are doing Chopped as a judge or you’re on Alex vs. America as a judge, or you’re on your Roku show, Celebrity Family Food Battle, and you have done different kinds of things. What does that mean to you when you look at that particular component. Because it feels like being a Chef now – although you don’t have to do this – it has become elevated where you have to have these other touch points that includes TV.

CHEF FA: So it kind of goes hand-in-hand. One of the reasons that the restaurant has been successful is that obviously we’re blessed to have Marcus and his brand behind it and now it’s 50/50. Just as many people walk into the building to meet me as they do asking for Marcus and it’s because I do so many things and when they introduce me on TV they say, that is the Executive Chef from Hav & Mar. So it really helps and my brand is very closely tied to Hav & Mar. So we keep those butts in these seats.

AM: You’re rocking those 7 nights!

CHEF FA: Yeah!

AM: And being a finalist for James Beard. What does that mean to you?

CHEF FA: Oh my gosh, that was never – to me, it was one of those things like James Beard wasn’t even a North Star for me. It wasn’t something that I thought would ever be in my world or something that I could even attain. Then when I moved to Hav & Mar and we opened this restaurant, Marcus asked me what some of my goals were.

I was like, James Beard and he said, “oh, ok.” I was like, “what you mean?”

AM: And he was like what part did you not get? The O or the K?

CHEF FA: I want to be nominated for a James Beard. The other thing was Food & Wine Best Chef. I wanted to be in that category too. And he made me write a list and he said that these were all things that we could work towards. I didn’t think that it would come so fast within my first year of opening the restaurant.

So when I got my nomination for James Beard, I was on set at Chopped and the list came out. It was like right between takes and my phone because I always have it under my leg, it was going off. I was like is the restaurant on fire? What is going on? So I kind of snuck a look and I was like what? James Beard – whatever. And then in between, I read the first text and it was like, congratulations you are a nominated and I was like, what are they talking about? So I was with my co-judges and I was like, Tiffany, I just got nominated for a James Beard and everyone was like what that’s so cool! Then it was like, “and action!”

So literally this is happening in between takes and obviously everyone on set knew how big of a deal this was and what made it really special was that at some point, somebody went out and got flowers and a card. They made the entire team come out on set – every single person that works on Chopped came to give me flowers.

They announced it and said Chef Fariyal is a James Beard nominated Chef! It was very emotional.

AM: That is very cool!

CHEF FA: It was really emotional and how cool is that moment? I’m on the set of Chopped, we’re their celebrating a James Beard nomination and then of course, everyone was like wow just to be nominated is really important and a lot of people don’t even make it to the finals. The people were making sure that I didn’t get my hopes up. But sure enough, I made that shortlist too! It was like what? This is insane. So now, we’re really pulling up. We’re pulling up to the James Beard Awards – this is amazing. I thought that up until that moment that it was just the nomination that mattered to me.

But then, I am in the first category. I sat down, there was a quick presentation. First award of the night is the Emerging Chef Category. I had this super powerful and emotional speech written. I had envisioned it, I was going to go up there and Marcus had given me a pep talk and said that not that many people get it on their first nomination. So if they don't say your name, just try to find it within you to not be disappointed. Because the fact that you made it this far is insane.

AM: Yeah, it’s huge!

CHEF FA: Right so it’s my first nomination. I just remember that they didn’t say my name. I was like woah, I want that. But I didn’t know that I wanted to win. I thought – I mean my goal that I had written down was – I wanted to be nominated. But when they didn’t say my name, it was a 2 second thing where I said, I do want to win. Next year. Then afterwards, the President of James Beard came up to me and everyone was coming up to me and everyone was shocked. They thought that I really had this one. But they told me, you know you’re going to be here many, many, many more times.

AM: Exactly! And the dress you wore was amazing!

CHEF FA: That was like full on from my tribe! Because I did a little bit of it for Met Gala with the headband. But then I wore the full attire this time. That was part of the speech too! I was like gosh, I have to wear it every year now?

AM: Well, you set a little precedent for yourself.

CHEF FA: I did! But that was really important you know because I -

AM: Well representation!

CHEF FA: That’s the thing! I represent 4 voices in America – I’m Black, I’m a woman, I’m Muslim, and I’m an immigrant. 4 of the most underrepresented voices and I think about that every day. I just can’t carry myself like that – this stuff matters, you know what I mean? People are paying attention to me and I have to be very careful about how I speak, what I say, and it’s not all fun and games.

The reason why I was disappointed that I didn’t get it is because we talk about so much about how this is – I always talk about how we need to give women of color more opportunities in the kitchen. So when I got the nomination, it wasn’t just me, I was making a case and a point for why more people of color should be nominated in these things. Then when I didn’t win I was like, gosh, did I let everybody down? I don't know.

AM: No, not at all.

CHEF FA: I got us in the room.

AM: You got in the room and like you said, you will have many more opportunities.

Do you envision having your own cookbook? I know that you had a recipe that was included in a cookbook.

CHEF FA: They are on my case every day!

AM: Haha I can imagine.

CHEF FA: It’s definitely in the pipeline. It’s just a matter of me finding the time.

AM: Last year, we had the pleasure of covering the Food Network Wine Food Festival and this year, you are going to be participating. How excited are you to be part of it, is this your first time?

CHEF FA: This is my first time!

Well I’m doing -

AM: I know that you have a sit down dinner that you’re doing right?

CHEF FA: It’s a Hav & Mar X The Musket Room Brunch with the chefs from The Musket Room. So that’s Mary Attea and Camari Mick. How much more aligned can we get? Like Camari is also killing it in the game! So we got on the phone and we came up with the menu in like 3 seconds and we knew that this was going to be so fun. But I think that that will be so powerful. That should be fun so I’m excited.

I’m also doing the Blue Moon Burger Bash: Champions vs. Challengers presented by Pat LaFrieda and hosted by Rachael Ray.

That is going to be fun, a little burger competition.

AM: We loved the spread of coverage and the fact that you could to eat a number of amazing dishes, connect with people we have covered as well as to hang out with the food community, it’s a good time.

I love that we’re living in a time right now where people are understanding more and want to get a better awareness of the restaurant industry. That’s whether you’re watching Chopped, Top Chef, or The Bear.

CHEF FA: Oh yeah.

AM: I love The Bear!

On your IG, you’ve been talking about the industry, explaining terms, and giving people an inside scoop. Why do you also enjoy sharing this aspect so that people are able to know more about you, but also the industry?

CHEF FA: It was kind of a natural progression from people developing an interest from watching these programs. There are all these Food Network shows, but it’s not an insight into how restaurants are. I think it was The Bear that started this whole thing. People would start using kitchen terms and be like, “how does the pass work?” and I was like what? How did you know about the pass? Where did you -

AM: Carmy said it!

CHEF FA: Exactly, Carmy said it. Oh my gosh! But I am glad that if they’re going to take any information from a show, it’s The Bear because it’s 1000% accurate. Now obviously, there are some Hollywood liberties that they take so that it makes it more dramatic or whatever. But it is a very accurate representation of how restaurants are. So, it came from people being so interested and asking questions. Then on my end too, it’s like it was such a huge shift when the industry was shut down during the pandemic and then opening back up. I was like, people are going to be nice. Right? Because we’re all struggling collectively as humanity.

No, we would get people that were so mean to our servers and just being super mean, just like – beyond. So I thought, well maybe if you give people insight into how tough that it actually is to get the food to your table, you’d be more grateful for this experience.

AM: Tell me about Take Care of Home, why you created it, and what does it do?

CHEF FA: So it’s a non-profit that I started with my friends from Ethiopia. Education has always been at the forefront of my philanthropy work because my mom was set in an arranged marriage when she was 16. So she had to drop out of school in the 8th grade and she was married and started having kids at 16 and her only regret in life was that she didn’t finish school. She stressed that with us. She put all 6 of us thorough private school. It was really important to her. So it became important to me. In Ethiopia, there is a huge gap where in the capitol city, there are a number of schools. But in rural parts of the country, there aren’t actually that many schools because the government only has the funds to subsidize teacher’s salaries, but there are no physical structures because no one has the money to build these infrastructures. So on paper, the schools exist, but no one is going. You’re learning under a shed and under crazy circumstances.

So we were like if this is what is going on and all they need is funding to build the schools, why don’t we do that? So we created Take Care of Home just by the first year was just asking our friends. We were like, we could build a school with $20,000 US or $60,000 US depending on the size of the school. The first year we raised money just by asking our friends. Then it becamea formal thing. We became a non-profit, and we spent an entire year raising money and we just built our 9th school.

AM: Wow!

CHEF FA: We’ve been open for 7 years. We have also expanded our initiatives as well. The first school that we completed, we always go back and visit. We noticed that it was mostly boys that were attending school, but not girls. So when we started digging into that, we learned that in that part of the country, girls don’t really get to go to school because they have house things that they have to do. Especially, when it comes to getting water. None of these homes have direct access to water so the girls have to go to the river and it’s not always close or nearby. So they can’t go to school. So I said, what if we fix that problem?

So we started a second initiative where we build water pipelines to the homes. We started doing that and that freed the girls to start going to school. So we are learning as we go. We’re adding more initiatives in addition to building schools.

AM: 9 is huge!

CHEF FA: 9 schools and I’m very proud of it!

AM: Are there any upcoming projects that we should know about that are on your radar that you are comfortable in sharing with us?

CHEF FA: Not really – obviously you know that there are always talks like TV shows.

AM: How do you take time for yourself when you’re not doing all of the things at the restaurant or are on set for TV? How do you reset especially with the amount of hours you have for work?

CHEF FA: So my reset is if I do take 2 days off like a human being, and I am doing this next week, after I get off of work here, I go straight to the airport, hop on a redeye, to go be with my family for 36 hours and then come right back. So I usually catch the red eye coming back and I come here straight to work. I’m usually suitcase out and suitcase in. So my family is my reset.

AM: What do you want your legacy to be?

CHEF FA: See that’s an Oprah style question?

AM: Yes, she was my very first interview when I was 12.

CHEF FA: No way. But it makes sense. I’m not surprised!

Ok, what I want my legacy to be is the Chef that changed the culture.

AM: Yeah!

CHEF FA: Anybody could make good food honestly. I could give anybody the recipe and they could carry it out. But to make people feel seen and that they deserve to be here the same way that Marcus made me feel that I deserved to be here regardless of your race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation – none of that stuff matters when you’re making food. None of that stuff matters at all! But we have not created that yet and I think that that is what I have done with these guys. But I want it to go beyond these 4 walls. This should be how restaurants are run.

AM: 100%

CHEF FA: I’ve had these conversations with Chefs and they’re like, nope – it would never work. Like, if you want to make this kind of food, this is how you have to run the kitchens. Ok, but then why am I able to make it work here? It’s happening here now.

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INTEGRITY, EXCELLENCE, SUSTAINABILITY COVER EDITORIAL | TEAM CREDITS

PHOTOGRAPHER Paul Farkas | FASHION STYLIST Kimmie Smith | MUA Dru Coppin/Felicia Graham Beauty Team | HAIR STYLIST Lea DeLoy |

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INTEGRITY, EXCELLENCE, SUSTAINABILITY COVER EDITORIAL | CREDITS

NIGHT OUT LOOK FRONT COVER + PG 16, 34 - 43, + 62 | NORMA KAMALI Super OS BF NK Shirt/Body/True Navy + Shirred Mini Skirt/True Navy | LAGOS Long Superfine Diamond Drop Earrings | MIGNON FAGET Banana Leaf Cuff | GOLD STORIES Rani Cuff Ring with Sapphire + Rani Cuff Ring |

WFH LOOK BACK COVER + PG 18, 21 | SCOTCH & SODA Printed Maxi Cotton Voile Dress | PONO BY JOAN GOODMAN Evelyn Necklace Starlight | LAGOS Blue Ceramic Stainless Smart Caviar Watch, 18K Gold and Blue Ceramic Hoop Earrings, Small Ceramic Dynamic Stacking Ring, Ceramic Beaded Bracelet 9mm + Caviar Skull Bracelet 9mm |

OUT & ABOUT LOOK I PG 22, 25 | TOMMY HILFIGER The Letterman Cardigan | AIR AND ANCHOR Stainless Steel One of A Kind Kinda Necklace Neutral /14K Gold + Center of the Universe Necklace Set | GOLD STORIES Rani Cuff with Sapphire + Intertwined Bangle | PARKER THATCH Cross Your Heart Sling - Leather Butterscotch + Adjustable Crossbody Strap - Modernist |

OUT + ABOUT LOOK II PG 26, 29 | SCOTCH AND SODA Short Trucker Jacket in Multi Color Stripe + Relaxed Fit Cotton Linen Chino Joggers | LNA CLOTHING Essential Cotton Kaden V Neck | AIR AND ANCHOR Stainless Steel One of A Kind Kinda Necklace Neutral /14K Gold + Center of the Universe Necklace Set | GOLD STORIES Rani Cuff with Sapphire + Intertwined Bangle | CONVERSE Chuck 70 Canvas |

FITNESS LOOK PG 30 - 32 | NORMA KAMALI Hologram Foil Mini MotoJacket + Hologram Foil Cropped Leggings | MACHINES FOR FREEDOM Foundations Bra | HAMMITT Tony SML | GOOGLE Pixel Watch 3 45mm | PONO BY JOAN GOODMAN Colette Luce Bracelet | CARRERA Super Champion Italian Style Pilot Sunglasses | LAGOS Delicate 18K Gold Beaded Bracelet 3mm, 18K Gold Superfine Caviar Link Necklace + 18K Gold Karat Pendant | ATHLETIC PROPULSION LABS TechLoom Bliss |

Read the AUG ISSUE #104 of Athleisure Mag and see INTEGRITY EXCELLENCE SUSTAINABILITY | Chef Fariyal Abdullahi in mag.

NEW JERSEY WINE AND FOOD FESTIVAL 2024

We sat down and talked with Robby Younes, founder of the New Jersey Wine and Food Festival and Chief Operating Officer of Crystal Springs Resort for their premier celebration of world renowned and highly-regarded local chefs along with prized wines and spirits on May 3-5. This event will be headed by New Jersey native, multi James Beard Award Winner, Restaurateur, and host of Bravo’s Top Chef which just launched their 21st season - Chef Tom Colicchio (our MAR ISSUE #99 cover alongside Chef Kristen Kish and Gail Simmons). On May 3rd, he will kick off 1 of 3 events that night for his Five Course Wine Cellar Dinner. The meal will be paired with Napa’s Eisele Vineyard.

Attendees will enjoy more than 200 wines, dozens of spirits, and over top 30 restaurants from NJ. From tastings, seminars, dinners, and parties, they will be able to meet the chefs and winemakers!

We wanted to find out more about this event and to hear about what we should know from Robby.

ATHLEISURE MAG: What is the purpose of the NJ Wine & Food Festival and how many years has it taken place? 

ROBBY YOUNES: The New Jersey Wine & Food Festival is a celebration of the amazing diverse talent we have here in New Jersey. More and more top chefs have been drawn to the state like Marcus Samuelsson, David Burke, Marc Forgione and coming soon Morimoto – we’ll be having a preview of his new concept at the Festival’s signature event The Grand Tasting. We also have incredible home-grown talent like David Viana and our own Crystal Springs Resort Executive Chef Aishling Stevens. We started the festival in 2009 and the restaurant scene has only grown since then. This year will be the first festival since the pandemic and we are looking forward to a great event. 

AM: With it coming back this year for the first time since 2019, what can attendees expect from this year's event? 

RY: The festival’s return has been much anticipated. People have been asking me for several years when it was coming back so now I can finally tell them it’s almost here! We have three days of events starting with our Wine Cellar Dinner by Tom Colicchio and amazing wines from Eisele Vineyard, very highly allocated boutique wines from Napa Valley. We also have a dinner featuring three former contestants from Bravo’s Top Chef – Karen Akunowicz, Sara Bradley and David Viana which has been a favorite for many years.  

AM:This event will take place from May 3-5th at Crystal Springs Resort, why is this the perfect destination to host this event? 

RY: Crystal Springs is the largest four-season golf, spa and culinary resort in the Northeast. We are setting the standard for excellence in both the culinary space and service. Our collection of seasonally driven restaurants gives us access to the finest ingredients and our two hotels offer plenty of accommodations for guests to stay overnight. Plus we get to showcase amazing features like our award-winning Wine Cellar which is the second largest in the country and our outdoor wood-fired restaurant, the Chef’s Garden. 

AM: Chef Tom Colicchio is headlining this year's festival, and his Five-Course Wine Cellar Dinner is 1 of 3 events kicking off the weekend. What can you tell us about this event? 

RY: The Wine Cellar has been a passion of mine since I started at Crystal Springs. Together with the late Gene Mulvihill, the founder of the resort, we built a one-of-a-kind collection of fine wine and this dinner showcases the resort’s wine legacy. We have two intimate dining rooms surrounded by thousands of bottles of wine so we invite in a renowned chef to create a dinner paired with wines. In the past, we’ve welcomed Daniel Boulud, Jose Andres, Thomas Keller, Gabriel Kreuther and more. This year, we are excited to welcome Chef Tom Colicchio and his team. The winery, Eisele Vineyard, produces very little wine so this is a unique opportunity for guests to taste them. 

AM: In terms of those participating in this year's event, what did you look for in terms of chefs, restaurants, wines, and spirit events that are involved? 

RY: We always look to celebrate a range of cuisines and ingredients when working with New Jersey restaurants. The scene has evolved quite impressively so I make sure to check out new restaurants and make sure we have the best of the best. I’m very interested in spirits and fascinated by the growth of agave. We have a great seminar showcasing agave beyond tequila which I think will be a lot of fun. For wines, more and more winemakers are practicing sustainable practices and things like regenerative farming like this year’s guest Eric Jensen. 

AM: Saturday May 4th is packed with a number of events! Can you tell us about some of the VIP experiences? 

RY: The VIP experience is an exclusive part of The Grand Tasting on Saturday night. Guests get access to two lounges with some amazing chefs like David Burke, Jacques Torres as well as premium wines and Champagnes. We make sure to have some fun entertainment and lounge seating as well that sets the VIP experience apart. 

AM: On Sunday May 5th, you will have a Cinco de Mayo Sunday Brunch. Can you tell us about this? 

RY: It’s a happy coincidence to have our Sunday brunch land on Cinco de Mayo! We’ve added some fun Mexican food options and margaritas — of course! 

AM: Tell us about ticketing for this event. Can you tell us what events are sold out, and what are 3 events that you are excited about that tickets are still available? 

RY: Friday dinners are already sold out but for Saturday, I’m excited about the Trailblazing Culinary Women – I love hearing the stories of how chefs and winemakers found their passion. We’ll have a discussion with two amazing chefs who competed on Bravo’s Top Chef, Karen Akunowicz and Sara Bradley. Crystal Springs Wine Director Susanne Wagner will talk about her work here at the resort. And then we’ll taste some wines from Mary J. Blige’s new project, Sun Goddess.  

Glenfiddich Tasting — this is an amazing opportunity to taste some older expressions of whiskies from Glenfiddich with a tasting of 18, 21, 23 and 26 year olds. 

The Grand Tasting of course! You can’t go wrong with dishes from 30 top restaurants and more than 400 different wines and spirits to taste. What more could you ask for? 

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

IN GOOD TASTE | CHEF TOM COLICCHIO, CHEF KRISTEN KISH, AND GAIL SIMMONS

We're excited this month's cover of Athleisure Mag is graced by Chef Kristen Kish (S10 winner of Top Chef, Fast Foodies, Restaurants at the End of the World), Chef Tom Colicchio (A Place at the Table, The Simpsons, Billions), and Gail Simmons (Royal Pains, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, The Food That Built America). We sat down with them ahead of the S21 premiere of Bravo's Top Chef Wisconsin. We talked with Kristen who is on the other side of the judging table as a host as well as her fellow judges Tom and Gail! In our interview, we spoke about the impact of this iconic food competition show, their approach to judging the dishes, what they hope viewers and fans enjoy when watching this show, and why filming is a bit like Summer Camp!

ATHLEISURE MAG: We are so excited to be able to talk to you guys as we have been fans of the show ever since the beginning! We have interviewed each of you individually over the years on various projects that you have been involved in, but to be able to have you guys as our cover for this month and to have you all together as S21 premieres on March 20th is amazing!

What was the dish that you fell in love with that made you realize that you wanted to be in the culinary industry?

CHEF KRISTEN KISH: Oh wow! Well I can tell you the first thing that I ever made when I was 5!

AM: Yeah!

CHEF KK: It was a chocolate pudding, but there was no chocolate or pudding. I saw my mom make Thanksgiving gravy and she would thicken it with cornstarch slurry and she would refrigerate it. It comes out and it looks gelatinized and so when I started watching cooking shows before I had any concept of food, flavor, or actual technique, I was like, “I could make a chocolate pudding.” So I had soy sauce, thickener, and cornstarch. I did that and it sat in the refrigerator and my dad came home from work and gave it a try and he said it was great and off I went!

AM: Oh my goodness, I love that!

GAIL SIMMONS: That’s a good dad!

AM: That was sweet. And Tom!

CHEF TOM COLICCHIO: It was no particular dish. I’m actually writing a book called Why I Cook.

AM: Nice!

CHEF TC: During the pandemic I was doing a lot of these Zoom cooking classes and I kept coming back to certain themes. There were 2 things in particular, both around my grandfather that I think led me to food. One, at a young age, I used to fish with my grandfather and I was responsible for 2 things – one cleaning all of the fish and crabs and clams before my mother and grandmother cooked them and my second job was keeping my grandfather awake on the ride home. So that was always fun! That meal, because it was a larger meal, it was 20 people around the table and I think that somehow I took away from that was that’s what food does, it brings people around the table. That was probably more important than the food itself.

Then I struggled as a kid with ADHD. I wasn’t diagnosed back then and my children are all clinically diagnosed and I found that cooking was something that I could figure out very easily. It came very easily to me. Once I started working in the kitchen, all that chaos just cut through the clutter in my brain and I was able to hyper focus on my cooking.

So it’s not a particular dish, but those are the 2 sort of memories that led me to a career of cooking.

AM: I love that. Gail?

GS: Again, I also don’t think that it was one particular dish, it wasn’t that one moment. My mother was an amazing cook when I was growing up and she had a cooking school that was run out of our house and wrote a column for our national newspaper of Canada as a way to be able to stay home and also work while her children were small. I had 2 older brothers and there was a lot of noise in our house. I think that it was just watching her do this all the time! She ran these classes in our house so there were always people in our home, she was always entertaining and I just saw how much pleasure it gave her and everyone and how fulfilling it was for her to nourish people and to feed people.

I remember that this wasn’t a real dish, but my favorite thing to do as a child while my mom was in the kitchen cooking was to put my little wooden stool at the sink and she would put a big pot in the sink and let me just invade her spice cabinets and I would squirt a bit of this and drizzle a little bit of that and take a big wooden spoon and I would make soup. It allowed us to be together and it gave me such purpose in doing that with her and it was just this imaginary game where I could be a chef and I think that that was sort of that feeling where this was just something that could sustain others and make me feel great and I just sort of loved that feeling of being in the kitchen.

AM: Wow that’s such a memory.

Well, Gail and Tom, you guys have been on Top Chef for 21 seasons and just seeing everything through this food competition, what initially drew you to being part of it and what do you hope that fans are getting out of it when they are watching you guys?

GS: Drew us to be a part of it. I don’t think that either of us were drawn to being part of it because when we started, it wasn’t a thing. There was no food competition reality shows. There was Iron Chef Japan, but obviously that was a very different kind of competition. So this was a real trailblazer at the time and when they came to both of us, neither of us knew what they were talking about, nor were we that interested necessarily because it didn’t seem like a rational thing to do with your career at that moment. I was working at Food & Wine Magazine and actually Bravo came to Food & Wine to partner with them, to teach them about the restaurant and food world and to help them with sort of part of the prize and to learn about the industry. They said, well in exchange, if we like one of your editors, we’ll put them on the judging table to represent the magazine as this partnership. I was chosen to be that person, but I very clearly remember that when my publisher gave me that news, I was sort of terrified!

AM: Gulp!

GS: But I was doing it for my job and I knew that I would still have a job after even if no one liked the show. I had this totally different job with the magazine and this became a side thing to try out to sort of – as a lark. But I knew that Tom was doing it and I had known Tom for many years. But more importantly, the magazine really trusted him. He was a Food & Wine Best Chef, James Beard Award Winner, and I knew that there was going to be a moral compass to the show because of that. So we headed out to San Francisco with very little expectations and I think that that has been the greatest surprise that it exceeded anything that I could have imagined!

CHEF TC: For me, I said no 3 times before finally being coerced into saying yes. I got a call from the producer who said they were doing a show and we think that you would be great. There was a show around that time that featured a chef and it wasn’t a competition and I was like, I don’t want to do that. Then they sent me some DVDs of Project Greenlight and I loved that show.

AM: Same!

CHEF TC: So they sent someone to get me on camera and they asked if I could come in for a screen test and I said no I’m not going in for that. There was a documentary done by a producer from ABC News on the opening of Craft so I sent them that and they said, they wanted to make an offer.

Part of the reason that I said yes and my wife always says that I shouldn’t tell that story, but I will! I got tired of going to food festivals and I’m sitting next to Bobby Flay and he signs 300 books and I signed 20 and I didn’t think that it was because he had a better book, it was because he was on TV!

GS: That’s a great piece of the story! Like if you were living in NY at that moment, everybody knew Tom Colicchio!

AM: Absolutely.

GS: He was the NY chefiest chef! He was the chef-y-chef and still is to the end! But he was such a NY icon, and there wasn’t like a history or a precedent yet where there were chefs that had huge national followings except for the few that were on Food Network. You had Bobby, Emeril, Wolfgang, and that was sort of it. So I think that that sort of recalibrated things.

CHEF TC: What I hope that the viewing audience gets from what we do is that – one thing that just drives me crazy is when people think that there is some kind of game that we are playing. That we are trying to promote one person over another. We don’t care who wins. I’m not a fan.

AM: We can see that when you’re talking on the show.

CHEF TC: Right. I’m not a fan, I’m there to do a job and to be as honest as possible. I hope that that comes across. We’re not playing favorites, we’re not saying that a woman won last season so a man needs to be in this one. No, we don’t care. We judge on the food and that’s it. The only thing that I asked the producers from day one is that judges make decisions. So far, we have made every single decision.

GS: And we have never regretted one either!

CHEF TC: Right! There is that little disclaimer that they say that they help us. If we’re stuck, they’ll say, “well you said this or you said that – what do you think about this?” But they don’t make the decision.

AM: It’s more like running the tape.

GS: Yeah!

CHEF TC: Exactly! It’s kind reminding us of things that we’ve said and trying to get us to discuss. But that happens so infrequently! It happened in a few finales where we were really stuck and because also I think in the finales we pay more attention to it because there is so much on the line and some of them were so close that it would just come down to –

GS: Tiny nitpicking things.

CHEF TC: But, yeah, that’s it.

AM: Kristen, we love that you won Season 10 and it has been great to see you come back for various guest judging, but now you’re on the other side as a host! How do you feel about that and what does it feel like to know how it is on both sides of the table?

CHEF KK: I mean – it’s still a wild thing to know that this is happening! But you know, I will say that having competed, guest judging and obviously when I was done with my season, developing a relationship with these two that went far beyond then the actual show itself, like coming back into it already felt like you were coming back into a family setting. You see producers that have been there since my season and long before, these 2 obviously, I’m very familiar with and so as new as the position was, me coming in and being with these people wasn’t a new thing. So that brought a lot of comfort. I think really the main difference between competing and judging and now hosting is that I get to be part of the whole thing! I get to experience all of the chefs and all of the different variations that they are and regardless of how long that they are there, I get to be there for the whole thing which is pretty fantastic! I also get to say that, “you’re Top Chef!”

GS: For us, where we stood, filling Padma’s (Top Chef, Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi, Waffles + Mochi's Restaurant) very high heel shoes, there were very few people that we thought would fit all of that and I think that in a way, it was a very obvious choice to us. Especially because, we knew that we didn’t need to bring in for the 21st season, someone who had never been part of the show before.

AM: Right.

GS: It only made sense because we had created this massive family of 300+ chefs over the seasons who have gone on to such success that it would only make sense to bring someone in who had already been part of it and Tom and I were not the ones that were making the decision, let’s be clear about that. We were involved in the conversations, but it was just so natural and it made such great sense, because she has become such a leader in the industry because she won a season and went on to just – I mean, we have been sitting there being so proud of her for a decade watching as a friend! So, it just felt like the most natural, possible choice.

CHEF TC: I had conversations with the producers and no other name came up!

AM: There you go! We were so happy when we heard that it was you!

CHEF KK: Me too, me too!

AM: What did you guys love about being in Wisconsin for this season and where would you like to see it go for the next one?

GS: Wisconsin was interesting. We were just talking about this. We have been to every corner of this country at this point and we have been abroad, you know our last season, our 20th season Top Chef: World All-Stars was a massive milestone by being able to shoot the entire season in London and in Paris. That was extraordinary, but coming back home to the heartland, we hadn’t explored the Midwest. We were in Chicago in 2007 and that feels like it was an eternity ago especially in the life of restaurants. So I think that it was great to be able to go back to that part of the country and to explore its foodways (Editor’s Note: In social science, foodways are the cultural, social, and economic practices relating to the production and consumption of food. Foodways often refer to the intersection of food in culture, traditions, and history.), its indigenous culture, its agriculture, its history, the immigrant populations that brought so much of its food culture, and I don’t know, we had the greatest time! We ate a lot of cheese, we drank a lot of beer.

CHEF KK: There was a lot of custard!

GS: Oh yeah, frozen custard was obviously a highlight.

CHEF KK: I mean, thinking about where to go, I have only been to Milwaukee and Madison so the possibilities on my end – I mean wow, there’s so many places that we can go far and wide. But even from their perspective, they can speak to that, but after 21 seasons, there are just countless places that we can go and there are just so many options.

CHEF TC: The best parts of the show and they don’t get enough credit, the producers do such a great job. They’re on the ground 4 months before production starts, digging through, looking at different foodways, looking for interesting locations and really sort of teasing out some of these challenges. The team spends so much time doing it and yeah, we do a little bit of research. I mean, Gail does all of the research on the restaurants. I just tag along!

GS: I know where to go for dinner afterwards!

CHEF TC: But they do such a great job of researching for us and every season, it’s just beautiful because that location becomes its own character.

AM: Yeah.

CHEF TC: It becomes a real backdrop for everything that we do. Wisconsin was so great and the people were really friendly and so easy to work with.

GS: Coming from London, London was extraordinary for all the reasons that it was extraordinary, but London –

CHEF TC: Britain didn’t care about us!

GS: The UK doesn’t have Top Chef!

AM: Right.

GS: Their culture is all MasterChef all of the time.

CHEF TC: And the Queen died.

GS: Then the queen died in the middle of our season.

AM: Yes, that’s right!

GS: So then they really didn’t care about us. It was sort of refreshing, I liked that, but we were completely anonymous, no one cared, no one made a fuss over us, but sometimes you want a little fuss. I mean, you just want people to care that you’re there – just a little bit. Although I think it made us work harder and it challenged us in the best way, but coming back to Milwaukee – they were like – I mean, they were ready to welcome us with open arms! And that felt really nice.

AM: Love that!

And what about the 15 cheftestants this this season? Is there anything that we should keep an eye out for or what you were excited about or whatever you can share?

GS: I think that it’s really interesting that they’re fun, they’re all really good people, and they have great stories. Again, our casting team does the most amazing job because you think it’s just about casting the 15 best cooks that you can cast, but there are so many factors beyond that and our industry has changed so much and I think that it’s sort of a chicken and egg situation. Did we help mold the industry trends or did the industry trends help mold the show? I think that there is such an interesting interplay there, but you know, the diversity of our cast now versus 12 seasons ago in all senses right? Obviously people of color, we have always had a 50/50 women to men ratio which let me assure you is not the ratio in the real industry

CHEF TC: That’s right.

GS: It is such a massive undertaking casting people who are not only at the top of their game, but all have stories to tell and all can cook and talk at the same time, have perspectives and points of view that will carry over to our audience. It’s just an amazing thing the cast every season and the people that we meet and what we learn about them. I think that this year you will see a few really interesting things. Obviously stories from parts of the world from where they come from, their origins that we have never seen before which definitely is played out on their dishes and also, we’re talking a lot more about what it is like to cook with a disability in the kitchen. Which, this isn’t something that we have faced in a big way on this show. The chef who is actually from Wisconsin, Chef Dan Jacobs, the local chef and he has an amazing story to tell and I just think that it ups the level of appreciation for the craft.

CHEF TC: I think that this season, the chefs were somewhat a little inconsistent. One challenge, a chef would do amazing and then the next challenge it was – what happened? It was just hard to figure out –

GS: It kept us on our toes!

CHEF TC: It could have been nerves.

AM: Just looking at your face, we can see how you didn’t understand how that could happen.

CHEF TC: It was just so hard to understand because there were these ups and downs. But it was a great season and it was a lot of fun.

CHEF KK: It means that the challenges were very good though.

CHEF TC: Yeah, yeah.

CHEF KK: Because it challenged different parts of you and you couldn’t consistently be great at everything.

GS: And the same person wasn’t always on top.

CHEF TC: Yeah, it was an interesting season and there’s some fun stuff! We had a Sausage Race!

AM: When I saw that, I was like yes! Because I’m from the Midwest originally – I’m from Indiana!

GS: Oh!

AM: I was like what? They’re sharing the Sausage Race from the Milwaukee Brewers?

GS: It was the best! It was low hanging fruit. That kind of sounded dirty, but you know what I mean!

AM: Yes!

This season each episode is supersized for 75 mins. There wasn’t a Quick Fire in the first episode, the way immunity is handled – so what are the different twists that we can expect from this season?

CHEF KK: You know, I think that I’m really the most excited that I think midseason that’s after Restaurant Wars or something like that – that Tom and Gail are also part of the Quick Fire. So all 3 of us get to have the same conversation.

AM: Oh wow!

CHEF KK: Include it into the deliberation if you need it. It’s also nice to have the company and to have a little bit more time with them. So for me, that was one of the more fun changes that happened to do it with them.

AM: With the Elimination Challenge on the first episode, each of you had a task that the 15 cheftestants were divided to create 1 of 3 dishes. What was the thought behind the soup (Kristen’s Challenge), the roasted chicken (Tom’s Challenge), and the stuffed pasta (Gail’s Challenge)? Which we loved all of those.

GS: I think that we see patterns over the years right? We have been sitting in these chairs for a really long time Tom and I, longer than we want to admit and we see patterns in cooking. We see trends come and go, but even in the foundations of cooking, I feel that we and our producers have seen things that recur in good ways and bad, over and over again. There are certain foundations and techniques that every chef should have mastered long ago when they get to this stage, but amazingly, they get to the Top Chef Kitchen and it’s not that they don’t know how to make a roast chicken –

CHEF TC: Mmm

GS: And we know that they do it beautifully in their own kitchens.

CHEF TC: Mmm

GS: Or not.

CHEF TC: Mmm

GS: Some of them not.

ALL: Hahaha

GS: But it trips them up and they freeze and so we just wanted to first of all, put them in check and also, make sure that they understand that they shouldn’t be calling it in because something that seems really simple that we see so often on the show can be problematic and also for Kristen, I think that it was a great introduction for the first challenge because she had such a vivid memory in her season.

CHEF KK: We had to make a soup in order to make it to Seattle in the first place. So I cooked for Emeril in Vegas and there were 5 or 6 of us. You had to get his stamp of approval on the soup before you went on. So that was an easy choice for me!

CHEF TC: Roast chicken – if you’re a chef of this caliber and you can’t make a great roast chicken, maybe you need to rethink what you’re doing!

GS: Yeah!

CHEF TC: But also, there’s a certain maturity that you attain when you’re cooking for years, when you’re comfortable enough to leave something alone. I wanted to see who was going to over chef it.

AM: Right!

CHEF TC: Right? Versus having the confidence to just leave the roast chicken alone. I thought that it was a good way to start.

AM: Love that!

We all have our favorites whether it’s Restaurant Wars or certain guest judges that come in. What were your exciting moments of this season?

CHEF KK: Restaurant Wars was awesome! Restaurant Wars is fantastic and I love it so much. If I could ever go back in my life and redo one thing, it would be Restaurant Wars. I let it go.

GS: It ended up ok!

CHEF TC: I think you did alright!

CHEF KK: I just want to prove that I can do it! But it was nice to be part of it from the other side and now to be able to watch it when I see that episode – to see the thought process and the strategy that was played because I didn’t think about it in that way. So, throughout the season, I’m learning a lot about how to compete on Top Chef and I’m never going to do it again in terms of competing on Top Chef. But to also learn a thing or two with different perspectives and great chefs around the country who have something to teach us as well.

GS: I love all the challenges that take them out of the kitchen to cook in weird and wonderful places – on a farm, on a beach, in a baseball stadium. I think that it just changes everything and it gives us energy and it inspires us. But I also think that learning – everywhere we go as we obviously say – there are foodways, there are local traditions that we get to learn about and over the last several seasons gratefully, we have incorporated the indigenous foodways of everywhere we are – in Portland (S18), in Houston (S19), and certainly in this season in Milwaukee and I think that it really helps you take a step back from the way you think of food in the modern kitchen and in that sort of modernist way and we think that the way that we think of produce and agriculture gives us so much perspective as cooks.

CHEF TC: One of my favorite challenges was the Door County Fish Fry.

GS: Oh my God, wild!

CHEF TC: And the reason being was that there was this guy that does fish fry’s, probably 300 a year and he had a very specific way of doing it. We were all in the parking lot actually watching this happen and if you watch it with chef eyes, you’re like, “this is ridiculous. Why are you doing this?” You’re going against everything that you are taught. But the guy has been doing this a long time and it blew my mind that the chefs weren’t really paying attention to what he was doing. They were just like, I’m going to do it my way.

GS: Or I can make it better!

CHEF TC: Right, I can make it better. Yeah and it was interesting to watch.

AM: Oh wow!

CHEF TC: We also at some point, they were all calm and then you saw them all come to this realization that they really should have listened. Should have paid attention.

GS: They definitely should have paid attention in math class that day!

CHEF TC: Yeah.

AM: What can you tell us if anything about the finale that we should be looking forward to?

GS: I don’t know what we can tell you about the finale – there is a finale!

AM: There you go! There’s going to be people there.

CHEF TC: There’s people there.

GS: It’s not in Wisconsin. Every year it’s always a little different.

AM: So Tom, you always say that shooting this show is like Summer Camp.

CHEF TC: Yeah!

AM: What do you mean by that?

CHEF TC: Well I didn’t go to Summer Camp, but if I had –

AM: Neither have I.

CHEF TC: You go to Summer Camp, you have those friends. You see them for 6 weeks in the summer and you go back every summer and you see them. When we do this show, there’s probably 150 people on a crew these days. There has probably been about a quarter or 50 that have been doing this for 10+ years and so you see your summer friends. These are our summer friends and you hang out with them. You go out to dinner and a bunch of us play instruments and we get together and play so it’s fun!

GS: There are a lot of campfires!

CHEF TC: Yeah and it’s a fun get together and you fall right back into relationships as soon as you get there. It’s just immediately you’re right back into Summer Camp.

AM: What instrument are you playing?

CHEF TC: I play guitar!

AM: That’s what we thought!

CHEF KK: He’s very good!

GS: I play the cowbell! I’m joking!

AM: Kristen, what are you playing?

CHEF KK: If there was a keyboard, I would be playing.

CHEF TC: We’re going to get you a little accordion!

GS: Oh yeah!

CHEF KK: I will learn to play the accordion!

CHEF TC: Absolutely, we’re going to get you one so you can play.

AM: When we’re in the kitchen, we always love our favorite playlists while we’re making our dishes. What are 3 songs that you like listening to when you’re cooking?

CHEF KK: I don’t know if there is a particular song. But in my restaurant kitchen, there’s certain kinds of music that we go with the Beyonce, Whitney Houston vibe.

GS: Wow.

CHEF KK: Everyone loves it – it’s not politically drawn any which way.

AM: It’s just good sounds.

CHEF KK: It’s solid music. A lot of Earth, Wind, & Fire as well. At home, I listen to Van Morrison because I have great memories of my dad. My mom in the summertime in Michigan, all the windows in the house open and spring cleaning starts and my dad has like a CD player in the kitchen and it would blast through the house – Van Morrison – so for me, I always like to listen to Van Morrison.

AM: Tom?

CHEF TC: God, It all depends on what I am in the mood for.

GS: Yeah.

CHEF TC: I often cook with reggae and Grateful Dead - Anthony Bourdain just rolled over one time in his grave because he hates them, but it all depends. I do like cooking with music especially when I’m home.

We do have music in the kitchen here in NY at Craft, I stay out of it! I walk down there sometimes and I’m like, what the heck? But it’s like, do whatever you want.

AM: Gail?

GS: I would say the same. I love when I can be in my zone in my kitchen. I don’t like talking to people when I’m cooking, it's my quiet happy place. Everyone in my house knows that it’s my space. It’s not to say that I don’t speak to my family. I can also get them involved. But when I am in a rhythm with music, it really is my meditation in so many ways that that zone that you get into – but I listen to all kinds of things depending on my travels, where I have been, what’s happening in the moment. My husband actually works in the music industry. He creates playlists so there’s always playlists on my Spotify made from him. It also depends on my kids. My daughter has very strong opinions about the music so when she comes home she’ll often change it, but I just love a rhythm when I am cooking for sure.

AM: My last question has 3 parts, and is part of our feature, THE 9LIST 9M3NU, this month, it looks at: a) why you enjoy cooking in the Spring; b) what are spices that you enjoy cooking; and c) for Tom and Kristen, what are 3 dishes that we can enjoy are your restaurants and Gail, what are 3 dishes that we could enjoy if we were at your home?

GS: That’s a big 3 part question!

AM: We did this recently with Alton Brown and he got such a kick out of it!

So what do you love about the Spring when you are creating your dishes?

CHEF KK: I’m just excited to be out of fall! Because growing up in a 4 season kind of place, Austin is very different. I had to learn what food seasons there were. You had two tomato seasons – there’s a long story behind that. But you have 2 tomato seasons, 2 strawberry seasons. But I mean, for any season change that happens, by the time fall is nearing an end, I can’t do any more with squashes. I’m ready for the green fresh and the vibrancy! Now that my wife has started gardening, she has a whole Spring list that she is excited about. I’m excited about the fresh stuff at home and to be out of the fall vegetables!

CHEF TC: This time of year, morels, peas, and asparagus, fava beans, and rhubarb. I just shot photos of a book that I’m working on yesterday and it was Spring. There’s nothing happening in Spring right now although we had some great weather, but nothing is coming out of the ground yet. But in California, it’s already Spring and we had a bunch of stuff there that we shipped in. You know, it’s my favorite time to cook. I think that part of it is that it is Spring Renewal and you’re coming out of the winter, food becomes lighter, fresher, greener. The flavors are something that I really enjoy!

GS: I think that there is a reason that if you think about the rhythms of the world, like even in religion – Passover, Easter, or Eid, they all happen in the exact same time of year for a reason because it’s renewal, it’s celebration of the Earth and all of the waking up of the world again and so Spring is absolutely the best time of year to cook. All of the early berries and the rhubarb. All of the peas – I could eat peas all of the time, every moment of the year! But I don’t because they are so much sweeter and I like to eat them in the Spring and asparagus. All the fresh herbs, everything comes to life and I just feel like there is so much flavor there and you don’t realize until you get to cook with them, how much you have missed them through the cold winter months!

AM: Very true!

What are 3 spices that you like cooking with?

CHEF KK: Ooo someone else take this first so I can think about this one!

GS: Not together, but right now that I have been leading on a lot, sumac, smoked paprika, and cardamom. Again, not together!

AM: Right.

GS: But they are 3 spices that I find really add dimension to whatever I’m cooking.

CHEF TC: I love sumac! I always forget about sumac.

GS: I’m going to bring you some! I’m going to bring you some! I just received this giant pint container of the most beautiful sumac that I have ever tasted.

CHEF TC: Spice wise, pepper, black pepper, and long pepper which you don’t see a lot of. Fennel seed, I just can’t get enough of that!

GS: Oh me too!

CHEF TC: I absolutely love it, it’s one of my favorites. Gail and I are lovers of licorice, right here. The black ones, not the red stuff that’s candy. Actual licorice is my favorite.

GS: Ooo White Taragon is my favorite!

CHEF TC: Fennel – wild fennel fronds woo!

GS: Delicious!

CHEF TC: It’s the best!

CHEF KK: I agree on the black pepper! However, I like to toast my black pepper. So I toast my peppercorns before they go into the grinder. It just adds a whole other dimension of flavor. One of my favorite spice blends is Montreal Steak Seasoning.

GS: I love you for that answer!

CHEF KK: It’s so good!

GS: If I didn’t love you before, I love you now!

CHEF KK: It’s so good, so yes – Montreal Steak Seasoning.

GS: On everything? No matter what or just on meats?

CHEF KK: No, I do it on vegetables.

GS: Salty, smokey!

CHEF KK: I have it as a finishing salt on certain dishes. I don’t do it at my restaurant, I do it at home.

GS: I don’t know why it’s called Montreal Steak Seasoning.

CHEF KK: I don’t know either!

GS: It’s not particularly Montreal spices.

CHEF TC: It’s like why is that rice that San Francisco treat?

GS: That’s a really good question! It’s a mystery of the universe!

AM: Ha!

The last part of the question is for Kristen and Tom, what are 3 dishes that our readers should try at your restaurant that you would suggest for our readers to come and have?

CHEF KK: One of Arlo Grey's most popular dishes is this beautiful Malfaldini Pasta not that it was done intentionally, but I cooked these mushrooms several times and it just so happened to be a mushroom that got me my first win on Top Chef, but people love to come to the restaurant to try it. It’s like a 4 day sauce that you dehydrate and rehydrate it and it’s just humble white button mushrooms.

There’s this Crispy Rice dish which is my ode to crab fried rice in a lot of ways.

There are 3 dishes that will never change those two and the Lime Sorbet which has pink peppercorns, coconut, and people really love it and it’s like the dessert palette cleanser.

AM: Tom

CHEF TC: Well, it depends on the restaurant!

AM: Well choose your restaurant!

CHEF TC: So Small Batch out in Garden City, LI, I would say the Braised Chicken Thighs. We do it with semi-dried tomatoes, soppressata, lots of sherry vinegar, roasted garlic confit and really good.

Craft NY, the Braised Beef Short Ribs are the go-to there and any of the pasta dishes that we make are really good. We make them all by hand at Craft.

Then Temple Court, the Roast Chicken is really good! It’s a Spring roasted chicken with lots of garlic, ramps, and mushrooms.

AM: Gail, if we were to go home with you, what would we have for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner?

GS: Oh wait, now I have to give you a whole day? That’s a lot of things!

AM: Well, it’s 3 dishes!

GS: Alright, sure, ok! That’s fair!

Alright, I’m a big egg person so I would always make you eggs in the morning. I like just a simple, well I like eggs anyway that you give them to me, but one of my favorite ways is just a really simple soft scramble with some chives and a little parmesan. But I’m very particular, I hate when eggs are overcooked. I don’t want them undercooked.

CHEF TC: You hate the Spanish Fry.

GS: I hate – well I love them in a Spanish Tortilla but the fried egg with the crispy edges – I like it when the egg yolk is still runny.

CHEF TC: Ok.

GS: You know what I mean?

CHEF TC: Alright!

GS: There’s a delicate balance, but for a scramble or an omelet, it really drives me nuts when you get that brown crust on top! A soft scramble means cooking it slowly. People just want to pummel an egg and that’s not nice to the egg. So that’s what I would make you for breakfast.

For lunch, lunch is kind of random – it’s not like I’m making elaborate lunches! But maybe I would make a roasted chicken with some spring vegetables or make you a really big fresh salad with a beautiful piece of fish on top.

For dinner, my family, we love soups all year around. We make a lot of soup and braises as well as stews because it’s really great for families to eat and to make in big batches! But now that it is Spring, maybe I need to get out of that.

I’m trying to think of dinner because I don’t have a signature or a restaurant so I don’t have to cook anything ever more than once! I love that as a cook, I can make whatever I want.

AM: That’s right!

GS: So I think that it really depends on the time of year and where I’m coming from. Every time I’m coming back from a trip, I bring back with me these memories of a favorite thing that I was cooking then so I just got back from a trip from Quebec and all I want to eat now is Maple Syrup on everything. So, I might make you a very traditional Quebec Tourtiere which is a savory meat pie with a beautiful golden crust. It’s sort of like a chicken potpie, but it’s a little heavier. Or maybe a Tarte au Sucre which is a traditional Maple Sugar Tart – for dinner – just tart!

IG @bravotopchef

@kristenlkish

@tomcolicchio

@gailsimmonseats

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | FRONT COVER Stephanie Diani/Bravo | PG 16 - 39, BACK COVER + 9PLAYLIST COLLAB David Moir/Bravo |

Read the MAR ISSUE #99 of Athleisure Mag and see IN GOOD TASTE | Chef Tom Colicchio, Chef Kristen Kish, and Gail Simmons in mag.

ATHLEISURE MAG ISSUE #99 | CHEF TOM COLICCHIO, CHEF KRISTEN KISH, & GAIL SIMMONS

In this month’s issue, our front and back cover story is with the legendary, culinary trio of Bravo Top Chef's Chef Tom Colicchio, Chef Kristen Kish, and Gail Simmons. We talk with them about S21 which premiered on Mar 20th, we find out about how they came to the show, what we need to know about the upcoming season, how they approach their roles on the show, and more. 

This month, we caught up Chase Stokes of Netflix's Outer Banks. He talks about the upcoming season, being a dog dad, and upcoming projects that he is working on.

We also caught up with 90s heartthrob, Joey Lawrence to find out about various projects he's part of, his podcast Brotherly Love that he does with his siblings, and the importance of oral care.

We had a great time sitting down with Access Hollywood and Access Daily with Mario and Kit host, Kit Hoover! We have been a fan of hers since we saw her on the first season of Road Rules.! From there, she took on hosting in entertainment and sports broadcasting such as ESPN and of course, she has been at NBC for the past 14 years! We talked about her career, how she approaches interviews, and her podcast that launches Apr 5th, The Coop. 

We also chatted with Brandon Soo Hoo of Paramount+ The Tiger's Apprentice and Netflix's Mech Cadets to find out about how he got into the industry, how he approaches his roles, the importance of Martial Arts in his life, projects he's excited about, and more.

We kicked off Awards Season by chatting with Charles Joly globally acclaimed mixologist who created craft cocktails at the Emmy's as Johnnie Walker Blue Label was the official sponsor. We end Awards Season by chatting with him about pouring for the Governors Ball, the after party of the Oscars. He talks about how Don Julio has an array of cocktails that we can enjoy whether we were there or want to celebrate the red carpet moments of our lives.

We always enjoy sharing our favorite Olympians with you! In this month's issue, we have 3X Olympic Medalist Team USA Gymnastics' Suni Lee! We talk about how she fell in love with this sport, how she trains, being at Tokyo 2020, and what the qualifications process is like as she works towards being on the team for Paris 2024.

When American Rust debuted in 2021, we thoroughly enjoyed this show which looks at a small industrial town that has to navigate their reality when they see that there has been a shift in the American Dream. In S2, they continue to grapple these issues while navigating dynamics where they all see justice for what they feel that they deserve. We had the pleasure to chat with Executive Producers of the show as well as various castmembers who are back for American Rust: Broken Justice.

This month's The Art of the Snack comes from Mishik which is located here in NY's Hudson Square. We wanted to know more about this elegant restaurant, what we should expect when we come in to dine with family and friends, and more.

We know that when you hit the Spring and continue into warmer seasons, we do all kinds of traveling, and staycations are a great way to be in a different area while still getting to know your city and neighborhood in a richer way! In Spring Staycation, we focused on SoHo and stayed At NoMo SoHo which put us in the heart of fashion, art, great eateries, and more. In our interview, you can learn more about this hotel, what it offers guests, those who are traveling, enjoying staycations, or live in the neighborhood. We also know that in a staycation, just because you're in one neighborhood, it doesn't mean that you can't hop to another. We included the UES' Chola which has been in NYC for 26 years! We share more information on the restaurant, it's dedication to Indian Cuisine, and more.

Next month, The Joy of Sake will be back on Apr 11th where guests can enjoy sampling an array of sake as well as participating restaurants. We spoke with the founder of The Joy of Sake's, Chris Pearce who talks with us about why he created this event that takes place here in NY as well as Honolulu. He also shares what we need to know about attending this event. 

We first got introduced to Brooke Burke on E! Wild On. We got to learn a lot about her and enjoyed traveling alongside her through locales all over the world. Since then, she has continued to host a number of shows, and she has acted in various programs, created a fitness/wellness platform, been a brand ambassador for amazing brands, and is an author. We talked about her career, her ability to take her passions and to build the life that she enjoys living. We also talked about upcoming retreats that you will want to know more about!

This month's Athleisure List comes from Nobu Barbuda, an exclusive Beach Club where can guests can lounge and take in experiences from this well known restaurant destination. We also have Music For A While which is located in the Selina Hotel in Chelsea. This lounge is definitely for those that enjoy their music and a vibrant environment.

We enjoyed Awards Season and this month, our feature 9R3DCARP3T looks at iconic talents that hit the runway along with exclusive thoughts about the creation of their looks from them as well as their glam teams! This month’s 9PLAYLIST comes from our cover editorial, Chef Tom Colicchio, Chef Kristen Kish, and Gail Simmons as they share their songs in 9COLLAB. We also habe actor Brandon Soo Hoo share his 9PLAYLIST as well.  Lionel Messi. Our 9LIST STORI3S comes from Kit Hoover and Brooke Burke. Our 63MIX ROUTIN3S comes from Chase Stokes and Suni Lee. This month's THE 9LIST 9CH3FS and THE 9LIST 9B-L-D comes from Chef Tom Coliccio of Craft Hospitality, Chef Kristen Kish of Arlo Grey, and Gail Simmons.

Read the MAR ISSUE #99 of Athleisure Mag.

AWARDS SEASON | PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS WINNERS

The People's Choice Awards announced this year’s winners on NBC, E!, and Peacock. This awards show allowed fans to cast a vote for their favorites and celebrate the best in movies, TV, music and pop culture. The show will be hosted by Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Simulant, Barbie) who is a Movie Performance of The Year Nominee for his role in Barbie. Our predictions are in bold, the ones we correctly identified as winners are in bold italics and winners that we didn’t predict are in italics.

MOVIES

THE MOVIE OF THE YEAR

Barbie
Fast X
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Oppenheimer
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR FILM
The Little Mermaid
The Super Mario Bros. Movie

THE ACTION MOVIE OF THE YEAR

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Fast X
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
John Wick: Chapter 4
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
The Marvels
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

THE COMEDY MOVIE OF THE YEAR

80 for Brady
Anyone but You
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
Asteroid City
Barbie
Cocaine Bear
No Hard Feelings
Wonka

THE DRAMA MOVIE OF THE YEAR

Creed III
Five Nights at Freddy's
Killers of the Flower Moon
Leave the World Behind
M3GAN
Oppenheimer
Scream VI
The Color Purple

THE MALE MOVIE STAR OF THE YEAR

Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Keanu Reeves, John Wick: Chapter 4
Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon
Michael B. Jordan, Creed III
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Timothée Chalamet, Wonka
Tom Cruise, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

THE FEMALE MOVIE STAR OF 2023

Florence Pugh, Oppenheimer
Halle Bailey, The Little Mermaid
Jenna Ortega, Scream VI
Jennifer Lawrence, No Hard Feelings
Julia Roberts, Leave the World Behind
Margot Robbie, Barbie
Rachel Zegler, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Viola Davis, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

THE ACTION MOVIE STAR OF THE YEAR

Brie Larson, The Marvels
Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Gal Gadot, Heart of Stone
Jason Momoa, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Keanu Reeves, John Wick: Chapter 4
Rachel Zegler, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Tom Cruise, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Viola Davis, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

THE COMEDY MOVIE STAR OF THE YEAR

Adam Sandler, You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah
Glen Powell, Anyone but You
Jennifer Lawrence, No Hard Feelings
Margot Robbie, Barbie
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Scarlett Johansson, Asteroid City
Sydney Sweeney, Anyone but You
Timothée Chalamet, Wonka

THE DRAMA MOVIE STAR OF THE YEAR

Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Julia Roberts, Leave the World Behind
Fantasia Barrino, The Color Purple
Florence Pugh, Oppenheimer
Jacob Elordi, Priscilla
Jenna Ortega, Scream VI
Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon
Michael B. Jordan, Creed III

THE MOVIE PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

America Ferrera, Barbie
Charles Melton, May December
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
Jacob Elordi, Saltburn
Melissa McCarthy, The Little Mermaid
Natalie Portman, May December
Simu Liu, Barbie
Viola Davis, Air

TV

THE SHOW OF THE YEAR

Grey's Anatomy
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Only Murders in the Building
Saturday Night Live
Ted Lasso
The Bear
The Last of Us
Vanderpump Rules

THE COMEDY SHOW OF THE YEAR

Abbott Elementary
And Just Like That...
Never Have I Ever
Only Murders in the Building
Saturday Night Live
Ted Lasso
The Bear
Young Sheldon

THE DRAMA SHOW OF THE YEAR

Chicago Fire
Ginny & Georgia
Grey's Anatomy
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Outer Banks
Succession
The Last of Us
The Morning Show

THE SCI-FI/FANTASY SHOW OF THE YEAR

Ahsoka
American Horror Story: Delicate
Black Mirror
Ghosts
Loki
Secret Invasion
The Mandalorian
The Witcher

THE REALITY SHOW OF THE YEAR

90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?
Below Deck
Jersey Shore Family Vacation
Selling Sunset
The Kardashians
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
The Real Housewives of New Jersey
Vanderpump Rules

THE COMPETITION SHOW OF THE YEAR

America's Got Talent
American Idol
Big Brother
Dancing with the Stars
RuPaul's Drag Race
Survivor
Squid Game: The Challenge
The Voice

THE BINGEWORTHY SHOW OF THE YEAR

Beef
Citadel
Jury Duty
Love Is Blind
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
The Crown
The Night Agent
The Summer I Turned Pretty

THE MALE TV STAR OF THE YEAR

Chase Stokes, Outer Banks
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso
Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
Kieran Culkin, Succession
Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us
Samuel L. Jackson, Secret Invasion
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
Tom Hiddleston, Loki

THE FEMALE TV STAR OF THE YEAR

Ali Wong, Beef
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show
Rosario Dawson, Ahsoka
Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building

THE COMEDY TV STAR OF THE YEAR

Ali Wong, Beef
Bowen Yang, Saturday Night Live
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso
Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building

THE DRAMA TV STAR OF THE YEAR

Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us
Chase Stokes, Outer Banks
Ice-T, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Kieran Culkin, Succession
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us
Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show

THE TV PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

Adjoa Andoh, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
Billie Eilish, Swarm
Jon Hamm, The Morning Show
Matt Bomer, Fellow Travelers
Meryl Streep, Only Murders in the Building
Steven Yuen, Beef
Storm Reid, The Last of Us

THE REALITY TV STAR OF THE YEAR

Ariana Madix, Vanderpump Rules
Chrishell Stause, Selling Sunset
Garcelle Beauvais, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
Kandi Burruss, The Real Housewives of Atlanta
Khloé Kardashian, The Kardashians
Kim Kardashian, The Kardashians
Kyle Richards, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, Jersey Shore Family Vacation

THE COMPETITION CONTESTANT OF THE YEAR

Anetra, RuPaul's Drag Race
Ariana Madix, Dancing with the Stars
Charity Lawson, The Bachelorette
Theresa Nist, The Golden Bachelor
Iam Tongi, American Idol
Keke Palmer, That's My Jam
Sasha Colby, RuPaul's Drag Race
Xochitl Gomez, Dancing with the Stars

THE DAYTIME TALK SHOW OF THE YEAR

Good Morning America
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
Sherri
The Drew Barrymore Show
The Jennifer Hudson Show
The Kelly Clarkson Show
The View
Today

THE NIGHTTIME TALK SHOW OF THE YEAR

Hart to Heart
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Late Night with Seth Meyers
The Daily Show
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

THE HOST OF THE YEAR

Gordon Ramsay, Hell's Kitchen
Jimmy Fallon, That's My Jam
Nick Cannon, The Masked Singer
Padma Lakshmi, Top Chef
RuPaul, RuPaul's Drag Race
Ryan Seacrest, American Idol
Steve Harvey, Celebrity Family Feud
Terry Crews, America's Got Talent

MUSIC

THE MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Bad Bunny
Drake
Jack Harlow
Jungkook
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Post Malone
The Weeknd

THE FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Beyoncé
Doja Cat
Karol G
Lainey Wilson
Miley Cyrus
Nicki Minaj
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift

THE MALE COUNTRY ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Chris Stapleton
Cody Johnson
HARDY
Jelly Roll
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Zach Bryan

THE FEMALE COUNTRY ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Ashley McBryde
Carly Pearce
Carrie Underwood
Gabby Barrett
Kelsea Ballerini
Lainey Wilson
Megan Moroney
Shania Twain

THE MALE LATIN ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Bad Bunny
Bizarrap
Feid
Manuel Turizo
Maluma
Peso Pluma
Rauw Alejandro
Ozuna

THE FEMALE LATIN ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Ángela Aguilar
Anitta
Becky G
Kali Uchis
Karol G
Rosalía
Shakira
Young Miko

THE POP ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Billie Eilish
Doja Cat
Dua Lipa
Jung Kook
Miley Cyrus
Olivia Rodrigo
Tate McRae
Taylor Swift

THE HIP-HOP ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Cardi B
Drake
Future
Jack Harlow
Latto
Nicki Minaj
Post Malone
Travis Scott

THE R&B ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Beyoncé
Brent Faiyaz
Janelle Monáe
SZA
Tems
The Weeknd
Usher
Victoria Monét

THE NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Coi Leray
Ice Spice
Jelly Roll
Jung Kook
Noah Kahan
Peso Pluma
PinkPantheress
Stephen Sanchez

THE GROUP/DUO OF THE YEAR

Dan + Shay
Fuerza Regida
Grupo Frontera
Jonas Brothers
Old Dominion
Paramore
Stray Kids
TOMORROW X TOGETHER

THE SONG OF THE YEAR

"Dance The Night," Dua Lipa
"Fast Car," Luke Combs
"Flowers," Miley Cyrus
"Fukumean," Gunna
"greedy," Tate McRae
"Last Night," Morgan Wallen
"Paint The Town Red," Doja Cat
"Vampire," Olivia Rodrigo

THE ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Endless Summer Vacation, Miley Cyrus
For All The Dogs, Drake
Gettin' Old, Luke Combs
Guts, Olivia Rodrigo
Mañana Será Bonito, Karol G
Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va A Pasar Mañana, Bad Bunny
One Thing At A Time, Morgan Wallen
Pink Friday 2, Nicki Minaj

THE COLLABORATION SONG OF THE YEAR

"All My Life," Lil Durk Feat. J. Cole
"Barbie World," Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice With Aqua
"Ella Baila Sola," Eslabon Armado X Peso Pluma
"First Person Shooter," Drake Feat. J. Cole
"I Remember Everything," Zach Bryan Feat. Kasey Musgraves
"Seven," Jung Kook Feat. Latto
"TQG," Karol G, Shakira
"Un x100to," Grupo Frontera X Bad Bunny

THE CONCERT TOUR OF THE YEAR

+–=÷x Tour, Ed Sheeran
COLDPLAY MUSIC of the SPHERES WORLD TOUR
Love On Tour, Harry Styles
Luke Combs World Tour
Morgan Wallen One Night At A Time World Tour
P!nk Summer Carnival Tour
Renaissance World Tour, Beyoncé
TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR

POP CULTURE

THE SOCIAL CELEBRITY OF THE YEAR

Britney Spears
Dwayne Johnson
Kim Kardashian
Kylie Jenner
Megan Thee Stallion
Nicki Minaj
Selena Gomez
Taylor Swift

THE COMEDY ACT OF THE YEAR

Baby J, John Mulaney
Emergency Contact, Amy Schumer
God Loves Me, Marlon Wayans
I'm An Entertainer, Wanda Sykes
Off The Record, Trevor Noah
Reality Check, Kevin Hart
Selective Outrage, Chris Rock
Someone You Love, Sarah Silverman

THE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Coco Gauff
Giannis Antetokounmpo
LeBron James
Lionel Messi
Sabrina Ionescu
Simone Biles
Stephen Curry
Travis Kelce

PEOPLE’S ICON | ADAM SANDLER

MUSIC ICON | LENNY KRAVITZ

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

AWARDS SEASON | PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS

Earlier today, the People's Choice Awards announced their nominees which will be revealed on Feb 18th at 8pm ET which you can see on NBC, E!, and Peacock. This awards show allows you to cast a vote for your favorites and celebrate the best in movies, TV, music and pop culture. You have until Jan 19th to cast your vote. This show will be hosted by Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Simulant, Barbie) who is a Movie Performance of The Year Nominee for his role in Barbie. Our predictions are in bold, the ones we correctly identified as winners are in bold italics and winners that we didn’t predict are in italics.

MOVIES

THE MOVIE OF THE YEAR

Barbie
Fast X
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Oppenheimer
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR FILM
The Little Mermaid
The Super Mario Bros. Movie

THE ACTION MOVIE OF THE YEAR

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Fast X
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
John Wick: Chapter 4
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
The Marvels
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

THE COMEDY MOVIE OF THE YEAR

80 for Brady
Anyone but You
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
Asteroid City
Barbie
Cocaine Bear
No Hard Feelings
Wonka

THE DRAMA MOVIE OF THE YEAR

Creed III
Five Nights at Freddy's
Killers of the Flower Moon
Leave the World Behind
M3GAN
Oppenheimer
Scream VI
The Color Purple

THE MALE MOVIE STAR OF THE YEAR

Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Keanu Reeves, John Wick: Chapter 4
Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon
Michael B. Jordan, Creed III
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Timothée Chalamet, Wonka
Tom Cruise, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

THE FEMALE MOVIE STAR OF 2023

Florence Pugh, Oppenheimer
Halle Bailey, The Little Mermaid
Jenna Ortega, Scream VI
Jennifer Lawrence, No Hard Feelings
Julia Roberts, Leave the World Behind
Margot Robbie, Barbie
Rachel Zegler, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Viola Davis, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

THE ACTION MOVIE STAR OF THE YEAR

Brie Larson, The Marvels
Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Gal Gadot, Heart of Stone
Jason Momoa, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Keanu Reeves, John Wick: Chapter 4
Rachel Zegler, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Tom Cruise, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Viola Davis, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

THE COMEDY MOVIE STAR OF THE YEAR

Adam Sandler, You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah
Glen Powell, Anyone but You
Jennifer Lawrence, No Hard Feelings
Margot Robbie, Barbie
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Scarlett Johansson, Asteroid City
Sydney Sweeney, Anyone but You
Timothée Chalamet, Wonka

THE DRAMA MOVIE STAR OF THE YEAR

Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Julia Roberts, Leave the World Behind
Fantasia Barrino, The Color Purple
Florence Pugh, Oppenheimer
Jacob Elordi, Priscilla
Jenna Ortega, Scream VI
Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon
Michael B. Jordan, Creed III

THE MOVIE PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

America Ferrera, Barbie
Charles Melton, May December
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
Jacob Elordi, Saltburn
Melissa McCarthy, The Little Mermaid
Natalie Portman, May December
Simu Liu, Barbie
Viola Davis, Air

TV

THE SHOW OF THE YEAR

Grey's Anatomy
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Only Murders in the Building
Saturday Night Live
Ted Lasso
The Bear
The Last of Us
Vanderpump Rules

THE COMEDY SHOW OF THE YEAR

Abbott Elementary
And Just Like That...
Never Have I Ever
Only Murders in the Building
Saturday Night Live
Ted Lasso
The Bear
Young Sheldon

THE DRAMA SHOW OF THE YEAR

Chicago Fire
Ginny & Georgia
Grey's Anatomy
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Outer Banks
Succession
The Last of Us
The Morning Show

THE SCI-FI/FANTASY SHOW OF THE YEAR

Ahsoka
American Horror Story: Delicate
Black Mirror
Ghosts
Loki
Secret Invasion
The Mandalorian
The Witcher

THE REALITY SHOW OF THE YEAR

90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?
Below Deck
Jersey Shore Family Vacation
Selling Sunset
The Kardashians
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
The Real Housewives of New Jersey
Vanderpump Rules

THE COMPETITION SHOW OF THE YEAR

America's Got Talent
American Idol
Big Brother
Dancing with the Stars
RuPaul's Drag Race
Survivor
Squid Game: The Challenge
The Voice

THE BINGEWORTHY SHOW OF THE YEAR

Beef
Citadel
Jury Duty
Love Is Blind
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
The Crown
The Night Agent
The Summer I Turned Pretty

THE MALE TV STAR OF THE YEAR

Chase Stokes, Outer Banks
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso
Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
Kieran Culkin, Succession
Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us
Samuel L. Jackson, Secret Invasion
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
Tom Hiddleston, Loki

THE FEMALE TV STAR OF THE YEAR

Ali Wong, Beef
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show
Rosario Dawson, Ahsoka
Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building

THE COMEDY TV STAR OF THE YEAR

Ali Wong, Beef
Bowen Yang, Saturday Night Live
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso
Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building

THE DRAMA TV STAR OF THE YEAR

Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us
Chase Stokes, Outer Banks
Ice-T, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Kieran Culkin, Succession
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us
Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show

THE TV PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

Adjoa Andoh, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
Billie Eilish, Swarm
Jon Hamm, The Morning Show
Matt Bomer, Fellow Travelers
Meryl Streep, Only Murders in the Building
Steven Yuen, Beef
Storm Reid, The Last of Us

THE REALITY TV STAR OF THE YEAR

Ariana Madix, Vanderpump Rules
Chrishell Stause, Selling Sunset
Garcelle Beauvais, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
Kandi Burruss, The Real Housewives of Atlanta
Khloé Kardashian, The Kardashians
Kim Kardashian, The Kardashians
Kyle Richards, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, Jersey Shore Family Vacation

THE COMPETITION CONTESTANT OF THE YEAR

Anetra, RuPaul's Drag Race
Ariana Madix, Dancing with the Stars
Charity Lawson, The Bachelorette
Theresa Nist, The Golden Bachelor
Iam Tongi, American Idol
Keke Palmer, That's My Jam
Sasha Colby, RuPaul's Drag Race
Xochitl Gomez, Dancing with the Stars

THE DAYTIME TALK SHOW OF THE YEAR

Good Morning America
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
Sherri
The Drew Barrymore Show
The Jennifer Hudson Show
The Kelly Clarkson Show
The View
Today

THE NIGHTTIME TALK SHOW OF THE YEAR

Hart to Heart
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Late Night with Seth Meyers
The Daily Show
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

THE HOST OF THE YEAR

Gordon Ramsay, Hell's Kitchen
Jimmy Fallon, That's My Jam
Nick Cannon, The Masked Singer
Padma Lakshmi, Top Chef
RuPaul, RuPaul's Drag Race
Ryan Seacrest, American Idol
Steve Harvey, Celebrity Family Feud
Terry Crews, America's Got Talent

MUSIC

THE MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Bad Bunny
Drake
Jack Harlow
Jung Kook
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Post Malone
The Weeknd

THE FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Beyoncé
Doja Cat
Karol G
Lainey Wilson
Miley Cyrus
Nicki Minaj
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift

THE MALE COUNTRY ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Chris Stapleton
Cody Johnson
HARDY
Jelly Roll
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Zach Bryan

THE FEMALE COUNTRY ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Ashley McBryde
Carly Pearce
Carrie Underwood
Gabby Barrett
Kelsea Ballerini
Lainey Wilson
Megan Moroney
Shania Twain

THE MALE LATIN ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Bad Bunny
Bizarrap
Feid
Manuel Turizo
Maluma
Peso Pluma
Rauw Alejandro
Ozuna

THE FEMALE LATIN ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Ángela Aguilar
Anitta
Becky G
Kali Uchis
Karol G
Rosalía
Shakira
Young Miko

THE POP ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Billie Eilish
Doja Cat
Dua Lipa
Jung Kook
Miley Cyrus
Olivia Rodrigo
Tate McRae
Taylor Swift

THE HIP-HOP ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Cardi B
Drake
Future
Jack Harlow
Latto
Nicki Minaj
Post Malone
Travis Scott

THE R&B ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Beyoncé
Brent Faiyaz
Janelle Monáe
SZA
Tems
The Weeknd
Usher
Victoria Monét

THE NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Coi Leray
Ice Spice
Jelly Roll
Jung Kook
Noah Kahan
Peso Pluma
PinkPantheress
Stephen Sanchez

THE GROUP/DUO OF THE YEAR

Dan + Shay
Fuerza Regida
Grupo Frontera
Jonas Brothers
Old Dominion
Paramore
Stray Kids
TOMORROW X TOGETHER

THE SONG OF THE YEAR

"Dance The Night," Dua Lipa
"Fast Car," Luke Combs
"Flowers," Miley Cyrus
"Fukumean," Gunna
"greedy," Tate McRae
"Last Night," Morgan Wallen
"Paint The Town Red," Doja Cat
"Vampire," Olivia Rodrigo

THE ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Endless Summer Vacation, Miley Cyrus
For All The Dogs, Drake
Gettin' Old, Luke Combs
Guts, Olivia Rodrigo
Mañana Será Bonito, Karol G
Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va A Pasar Mañana, Bad Bunny
One Thing At A Time, Morgan Wallen
Pink Friday 2, Nicki Minaj

THE COLLABORATION SONG OF THE YEAR

"All My Life," Lil Durk Feat. J. Cole
"Barbie World," Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice With Aqua
"Ella Baila Sola," Eslabon Armado X Peso Pluma
"First Person Shooter," Drake Feat. J. Cole
"I Remember Everything," Zach Bryan Feat. Kasey Musgraves
"Seven," Jung Kook Feat. Latto
"TQG," Karol G, Shakira
"Un x100to," Grupo Frontera X Bad Bunny

THE CONCERT TOUR OF THE YEAR

+–=÷x Tour, Ed Sheeran
COLDPLAY MUSIC of the SPHERES WORLD TOUR
Love On Tour, Harry Styles
Luke Combs World Tour
Morgan Wallen One Night At A Time World Tour
P!nk Summer Carnival Tour
Renaissance World Tour, Beyoncé
TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR

POP CULTURE

THE SOCIAL CELEBRITY OF THE YEAR

Britney Spears
Dwayne Johnson
Kim Kardashian
Kylie Jenner
Megan Thee Stallion
Nicki Minaj
Selena Gomez
Taylor Swift

THE COMEDY ACT OF THE YEAR

Baby J, John Mulaney
Emergency Contact, Amy Schumer
God Loves Me, Marlon Wayans
I'm An Entertainer, Wanda Sykes
Off The Record, Trevor Noah
Reality Check, Kevin Hart
Selective Outrage, Chris Rock
Someone You Love, Sarah Silverman

THE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Coco Gauff
Giannis Antetokounmpo
LeBron James
Lionel Messi
Sabrina Ionescu
Simone Biles
Stephen Curry
Travis Kelce

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

ATHLEISURE LIST | PAROS TRIBECA

We always love a BRAVO Top Chef moment and this month's Athleisure List comes from Season 12 Finalist, Chef George Pagonis and his brother, Nicholas. They wanted to bring Greek cuisine to Tribeca since they had looked for the perfect space and finally found the one they fell in love with in this neighborhood.

Paros comes from memories that the brothers enjoyed when their family would visit their home in Paros, Greece as they had a summer home there. It was a no brainer to name the restaurant after the source of these great memories.

The restaurant's ambiance is warm and welcoming. As a family-owned restaurant, they treat their guests as if they are part of that family. The restaurant's interior is a direct reflection of Paros' allure, capturing the essence of Cycladic architecture and the island's streetscapes. Stepping inside, you're immediately transported to Paros' tranquility.

We suggest that 3 appetizers that you should have on your mind are their Grilled Octopus (fava, roasted peppers, onions and capers), Lamb Kleftico (slow-roasted lamb shoulder, shallots, Grecian cheese blend, wrapped in filo), and Kolokithokeftedes (crispy zucchini fritters, lemon yogurt).

For your entree when you're with friends and family, we suggest their whole fish - specifically Fagri (pink snapper from Aegean, with full flavor and firm texture), Lamb Shank Youvetsi (slowly braised lamb shank in tomato sauce, orzo and mlzithra), and Filet Mignon Kebab (marinated and grilled, harissa toast, crispy fingerlings, chimichurri).

We love the idea of pairing these dishes with Gigantes, Brussels Sprouts, and Lemon Potatoes.

To complete this meal, you can't go wrong with sharing a Baklava, Portokalopita, or Cheesecake.

We love a great cocktail and we suggest that you enjoy their Grecian-Tini (Grey Goose Vodka, Skinos Mastiha, mint, cucumber), Hellas Word (Ford's Gin, Yellow Chartreuse, vyzina cherry syrup), and The Mr Tony (Old Forester Bourbon, fig syrup, walnut bitters). If you want to enjoy Greek spirits, Mastiha, Ouzo, and Tsipouro are on the list!

Although they currently only have dinner service, in a few weeks, brunch will be available and a few weeks after that, they will have a lunch service as well!

For those that are thinking about the holiday season, they plan on being closed for Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. They will have a NYE party!

PAROS TRIBECA

211 W Broadway,

NY, NY 10013

parosnyc.com

IG @parostribeca

PHOTO CREDITS | Paros Tribeca

Read the OCT ISSUE #94 of Athleisure Mag and see ATHLEISURE LIST | Paros Tribeca in mag.

HOMAGE TO CRAFTSMANSHIP | CHEF JACQUELINE BLANCHARD

We love our meals to be fully seasoned. How we prepare them, the diversity of our ingredients (as well as knowing where they come from), the proper tools needed to create the ultimate presentation are super important. We caught up with Chef Jacqueline Blanchard, chef/owner of Sukeban an izakaya in New Orleans as well as at Coutelier NOLA which has an array of tools, cookbooks, and pantry goods that professional chefs, home chefs, and enthusiasts can enjoy when making their epic meals.

We wanted to know more about her culinary journey that took her from Southern Louisiana to noted Michelin starred restaurants including The French Laundry, Benu, and Blue Hill at Stone Barns where she continued to create dishes with a discerning eye. When she returned to her home state, this led to her taking her experience and relationships to illustrate her passion for Japanese cuisine and to showcase the ultimate crafstmanship in Japanese cutlery. We found out more about these businesses, why this Japanese artistry is one that needs to be continued to pass down for generations to come, and more.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in love with food?

CHEF JACQUELINE BLANCHARD: At a very young age. I’m from a very big Cajun family. Food is just the center of most gatherings – pretty much all gatherings from the South. I’m from South Louisiana from Bayou Lafourche – I have very deep Cajun roots. My family has been down here since the late 1700’s, so big French background. Whether it’s been crawfish boils or food in general, food has always been a centerpiece. So for me, I’ve always been cooking at a very young age, My grandparents had a small outdoor kitchen and we would always make breakfast in there. It’s probably my earliest memories. Back in the day, those houses didn’t have a lot of air conditioning so they put small kitchens outside so it was a matter of keeping houses cool and that sort of thing.

I definitely got my roots from tugging at my grandmother's aprons - gumbo, all of the Southern staples and that just kind of stuck with me my whole life. I kind of knew pretty early that I wanted to pursue cooking professionally at a pretty young age. It's kinf of been with me the whole time!

AM: Wow! Tell us about your culinary journey from culinary school to kitchens that you trained in. I know that you were at The French Laundry and were at one of our favorite places, Blue Hill at Stone Barns which is such a fave!

CHEF JB: Yeah! That’s awesome! Totally!

I was lucky enough to go to Chef John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University which has an amazing culinary school. I think that it’s still the only state school in the country that you can get a 4 year culinary degree in Bachelors Arts that is not a private university. It’s very rare that that exists. I had applied and gotten into all the fancy culinary schools: CIA, Johnson & Wales, and all of that. But when it came down to it, Louisiana would pay for my tuition if I kept my grades at a certain level – they had this program called the TOPS (Taylor Opportunity Program or Students) program, and plus I had a soccer scholarship as well. So it made sense for me to stay in state. So I was pursuing culinary arts at the same time that I was pursuing soccer at the collegiate level. I kind of kept my discipline together for sure and then I blew my knee out my sophomore year and then decided to just focus on culinary. During that period of time, I felt that it was a pretty revolutionary time in the food industry and in restaurants where things were really starting to get out there and to take hold. This was like the early 2000’s. I went to culinary school between 2002 – 2006 and then frickin’ Katrina happened my senior year in college in 2005. So by the time that I graduated, I had been working in restaurants all throughout New Orleans in college and the city was just in really bad shape in the months leading after the storms so I felt that it was a really good time for me to sort of leave and to branch out.

The French Laundry cookbook had just come out while I was in college and that was a big source of inspiration for me. I think that the reason that I decided to go to Yountville – I just graduated and got in my car and went to California. I never thought that I would come back to Louisiana - ever. I had an amazing foundation built there, networks out there, it was a great launchpad for the next phase ofmy career. From there, I went to Frasca in Boulder, I was a French Laundry alumni and the restaurant had just opened. It was definitely an amazing experience and Bobby Stuckey (The Little Nell, The French Laundry, Scarpetta Wine) is a master sommelier and I really wanted to know more about wine in the same thread in learning about food. Then I went to Blue Hill and then it was back to New Orleans around I think 2010. I worked with John Besh (Besh Steak, Shaya, Willa Jean) at Restaurant August, I was the Exec Sous there for several years. Then I took on a position as a sous chef at Benu in San Francisco where we got 3 Michelin stars while I was there which was a really exciting time. I was also kind of burned out at that point!

AM: Can definitely imagine as you were moving to so many places!

CHEF JB: Yeah, I was traveling a lot and I was around 30/31 at that time and decided that I would move back home so that I could open Coutelier NOLA which is the knife shop and it gave me kind of a break from the grueling kitchens that I had been in all of those years. I still had my finger on the pulse of what the industry needed and places around that had all of these amazing tools and accessories that we had only been able to access online and you never know what you’re really getting a lot of times. Those were the earlier days of ecommerce. I wanted something kind of tangible where you could go and hold a knife. I had been exposed to these amazing Japanese knife makers throughout my career and with people that I worked with and that was great exposure. So it made me understand why Japanese knives are something that we prefer and it’s the Japanese craftsmanship. It’s the handmade nature of them, it’s the diligence to craft that the Japanese have that is basically unparalleled – whether it’s flower arranging, sushi, ceramics, whether it’s knife making. Everything that they do is with the utmost focus and diligence. It really makes their product stand out. So, I think that that was something I really liked and the relationships for me were important and diving as deep as I could into Japanese culture and really respecting the culture and just absolutely giving in the attention to detail that it deserved as well as the reverence. It's such a deep ocean of history! It’s hard for a foreigner – even as deep as I am into it now, you still feel that you are always going to be an outsider kind of thing.

The relationship that evolved out of this that has grown and the networks are really incredible because that’s how it works. That’s just such an important part of the business relationship to them. That’s why I travel there a lot. I really do everything that I can to dive deep in heavily at first into it as I possibly can. You know, along that wave, my food preferences definitely shifted and what I wanted in a restaurant started to shift. I had this idea that I wanted for so long and that completely morphed into what I hadn’t expected, and I decided that I really wanted to open Sukeban which is temaki based you know, doing 1 or 2 things really well like sashimi and temaki. It’s definitely something that everyone thought that it would be a high end tasting restaurant, but it’s certainly a little more casual than that. I’ve been able to bring all of my experience and my focus in that from a Michelin level to the food which makes it stand apart a little bit more in this town. It certainly isn’t the kind of sushi that most people are used to, but that all kind of evolved from the Japanese relationships. The nori, the seaweed that we get, I have a very close relationship with a seaweed farmer in the Southern part of Kyushu in the Ariaki Sea and you know we’re the 3rd restaurant in the US to get their seaweed as a non-Japanese person for our restaurant. We couldn’t get that kind of access to those products without those relationships unless I was going out there and doing those meetings with people. That’s why it is so important to have this access because of the relationships. It’s amazing ingredients from these small producers that do 1 thing really well their entire life. Like, that focus, they have been doing this for generations.

I have a knife maker down in that area that actually helped me link up with this seaweed farmer and they have been around since the 1200’s and their story and their history is just insane. It’s hard for us to wrap our heads around that, especially Americans being so young as a country. It’s just the kind of stuff that blows your mind! The soy sauce makers, the brewers, the sake producers, the people that make miso - every time I go out there, I’m doing a workshop with somebody. I’m making miso, I’m learning how to brew, learning soy sauce. Not that I am doing it over here, but I’m learning that process, and I’m really happy to be able to explain that process to customers and my staff which I think is really important in the long run.

AM: The first time that I went to Japan a few years ago, I was struck exactly by what you just said. I would see modern buildings and then nearby, I’d see a building or structure that had been around so many centuries ago. You’re really struck by how we’re little babies compared to all this history!

CHEF JB: Yeah, it’s so silly!

AM: It is! It makes you think that when we’re here in the US, it’s only been x amount of years.

CHEF JB: Oh yeah, it’s just a blip.

AM: I love the fact that you have really immersed yourself into this and bringing that heritage so that people can have an opportunity to see it. When I think of Blacksmiths, I think of Paul Revere types.

CHEF JB: Yeah!

AM: What are the Blacksmiths of Japan – how are they different, are they using different techniques?

CHEF JB: Yeah I mean, there are different techniques that you see in different parts of Japan and that’s one of the biggest things that I have noticed. Because certain areas have older traditional methods that have been passed down. Certain areas do it one way while others may do it in another way. They all sort of source their steel from 2 similar companies. So steel a lot of times is the baseline and the common denominator, but the forging technique is certainly the difference. It’s like giving 5 different chefs a tomato and then to tell them to make something with it, you’re going to get 5 different products. So it’s the same kind of thing in knife making: heat treating, approach – everyone is an expert in there area. There’s a guy that forges the blade out. There’s a guy that grinds the blade down to its shape, there's someone who sharpens it, there's someone who puts a handle on it, and it's definitely more of an efficient process.

These guys are doing it on their own from start to finish. People ask here in America why knives are so expensive and it’s because they are importing Japanese steel. In Japan, the process is more efficient. You get more production level out of it even though it’s still very handmade and piece by piece.

We ended up in this town a few years ago that was our last trip before COVID. We met a sword maker who was part of this area that is very historically relevant in katana sword making for the shogunate during the time when feudal lords were running the country. This area was very prolific in sword making for that kind of stuff. So, because the river itself had a lot of iron sand in it, they would extract it, melt it down, and then make a steel called tamahagane and that tamahagane steel is very dense and very heavy. It almost feels like a meteorite when you hold it. That was the steel that was originally used, I mean Japan doesn’t have a lot of resources when it comes to steel. So that’s how they made it, they extracted it from the river. There’s a guy there that we met who is making his own tamahagane steel in the old way and you don’t see that any more. You can’t really even buy that steel.

You can in a very sort of limited allotment be part of a family heritage to get it. The fact that this guy is doing that and we were able to watch him and we had dinner with him, he was an unassuming guy who we met when we were going to our knife makers and they let us know about this sword maker who was going to hang out with us. From him randomly joining us, it ended up being a huge highlight of our trip. He only makes a certain amount of chefs knife’s a year, and now we have access to those. That’s where that stuff is born out of. He trusts us and we have a mutual relationship with one another. We have been buying knives from him. It will be the first time that I have seen him from that drip before COVID. So that will be really Exciting! His method of forging is so different than anyone else’s and it’s really hard to describe because he’s a sword maker and that’s the method that he was taught. It wasn’t necessarily meant for culinary style knives in the tradition of sword making. That’s how it was so interesting to see him forged.

These knives are incredibly well made which makes them pricey. People get disgruntled about the price points of some of these. They wonder why the knives that they see in their IG ads are $14.99 and these are $40. We have to create an incentive for this next generation to keep making knives. These knives makers weren’t really making a good living and they weren't charging enough for what they were doing. So we’ve come into this new era where we’re telling them that they have to charge more if they want to make a living as well as to encourage the next generation to be able to keep making knives. A lot of these guys are very old and their sons, because of the time frame when the Japanese economy was booming because of cars, electronics, and plastics – post war WWII, there wasn’t a market for culinary knives from Japan. It just wasn’t a market. Everyone was buying German steel and French knives. That was in the 70’s/80’s/90’s – it wasn’t until the last 20 years where people began paying attention to Japanese cutlery in a lot of ways. It’s not to say that they weren’t making these, they definitely were and there was a market for it in their own country, but they were not exporting. So, a lot of their sons, because there was no – I mean many of these families for 8 generations had these makers, but their son decides to go to off to Tokyo or Osaka to get a salary job because that’s where the money was and that’s where the market and the economy were shifting. So there’s this lost generation right now where the grandfather’s or just that much older and they don’t have the patience to teach. At this point, they should have been with them for their whole life to learn the trade. You’ve got this new group of people who are the younger generation in our age group that are in their 30’s/40’s where this group is trying to revive it and to continue it on.

Some of these guys die and it dies with them. We want this to continue on and we want for people to understand that that’s part of the deal and that they’re handmade, imported, there is a level of craftsmanship that is unparallel, and you have to support a reason for this industry to continue. If they’re not going to be able to make a living, then why will they continue? So that's the kind of shift that we have been noticing too. A lot of times, it takes us to be able to say, you should be charging more for these. I don’t mind paying more for them because I know that I will be able to get it on our side on the retail end and at the same time, we need to make sure that they are supported and continue on. We don’t want to lose this craft.

AM: What are the trends that you’re seeing in cutlery, in the knives right now and are there 3 knives that everyone should have in their home kitchens?

CHEF JB: Yeah! I think that the trend is definitely towards Japanese and I see a lot of marketing towards big Japanese products that are actually not made in Japan and produced in maybe a factory in China. It’s just a Japanese name so it sounds like you’re getting what you’re looking for. Education to us is the most important thing because a lot of that exists out there that you would not otherwise know. I think that the biggest trend is Japanese knives. I think that more and more people are catching on to it. It’s more like, we have to do our diligence to the educational part because you can get lost in the sauce if you really don’t know sort of what you are getting into.

That being said, I think that the 3 knives I would say in everyone’s kit, which even that changes because everyone is so different and knives are so personally. You definitely want to keep in mind what you cook the most of. It may not be the same as what I use or what I cook the most of. So those knife preferences shift and a lot of the Japanese knives are very task centric and they are not limited to those tasks, but they are very specific to the task. So I would say for sure, a Petty Knife and that name derives from the French – petite so it’s a small knife. It’s kind of an everyday utility, it’s a little more utilitarian. I think a lot of people got used to Pairing Knives. To me Pairing Knives, they have their role, but I think you can get more utility out of a Petty Knife and those come in anywhere from 4”-6”. They’re a little slimmer and you can do all of the daily tasks. They’re the ones that you keep on your cutting board.

Another one would be a Santoku - san means 3 and toku means virtues in Japanese. So the 3 virtues in the kitchen are fish, meat, and vegetables so that knife is kind of like the everyday for everything kind of knife. I don’t really use the Santoku a lot, but I think that the bulk of people know that name and they understand that shape. It’s a very approachable size and style.

Then the third one can really be a mixture of a few things. For me, instead of a Santoku, I would use a Bunka. Bunka is just a similar shape, but Bunka Bocho means like everyday house knife in Japanese. It’s got a more extreme tip that I would say verses a Santoku that has more of a rounded off tip and it kind of slumps off. But a Bunka, has more of a very sharp top drop point. So you get a lot more precision in the tip when you’re doing fine scallions. Those little things to me are important and that’s just me over analyzing it – ha! I enjoy a Bunka and that would be my second one and I think for a lot of people the Santoku is a lot more approachable.

The 3rd one could be an 8” chef knife, a Gyuto – gyu is cow in Japanese and uto means cow cutter, so that comes down to what they slice beef with traditionally. This knife is a traditional chef’s knife that’s 8.5” for the everyday.

That third knife could also be a Nakiri that boxy flat edged vegetable knife. It’s the shape of a small cleaver, but it’s not a cleaver for meat. It has a thinner blade meant for vegetable chopping and it has a flatter edge. It’s a more scaled down version of what you would see in a Chinese Cleaver. The Chinese Cleavers are used in Chinese cooking a lot for everything! The Nakiri is more of a very stealthier, scaled down version, more wieldy and easier to use. It’s not as big and it has a flatter edge. It’s better for chopping up and down, not meant for rocking. If you’re a rocker, rocking back and forth, everyone cuts differently.

So it could be one of those, or it could be a slicer. That third knife is kind of a variable within what you do.

AM: Whatever you lean towards in what you’re cooking.

CHEF JB: Exactly. Not to over complicate it!

AM: In addition to knives being offered, what are other items that are carried at Coutelier NOLA whether in your brick-and-mortar or online?

CHEF JB: We’ve got a myriad of products for everyday cooking at home, for professionals, and we wanted home cooks in South Louisiana who are very serious and fancy themselves as professionals at home, they wanted access to these same sort of things. So it’s really nice aprons, the knife rolls, the tool rolls, all of the very curated small tools that we use – the peelers, the microplane, etc. The things that I have used my entire career in the kitchens that I have worked in – everyone is using the same tools and that’s what we wanted to be able to bring people. We wanted a curated scaled down version, because you couldn’t necessarily find it in a one stop shop. You could find the spatulas and these small tools and accessories and items for your everyday kit. We have beautiful hand carved walnut spoons and spatulas from my buddy Kylee Thatcher up in Kentucky, she does Boothill Kitchen and I designed a Roux Spatula Paddle for making Gumbo with her, several years ago. That’s been one of our bestsellers especially down here. We packaged that with Mosquito Supper Club Cookbook which has been one of the bestselling Cajun cookbooks that have come out of South Louisiana in years! Melissa Martin, she has won several awards for it. So we’re catering to our culture in general and of course the overall scope of the tools that we have used. We also have Konro Grills, the Japanese firebox grills that everybody is using now in kitchens. We’ve got a whole pantry section filled with amazing ingredients and Japanese pantry items from very small producers all over Japan and some in the US. We have a lot of tinned seafood and I think that COVID made us pivot to have this pantry section because people were starting to cook at home more and have better ingredients, cooler snacks, and things like that. We try not to get too crazy into it and to still be very diligent about our selections. Like the sesame seeds and the sesame seed products that I use at the restaurant, the Wadaman family in Osaka, I just visited them this past May. They’re 5th generation sesame family who make these wonderful products and we sell it at the shop and we use them in our restaurant. Those are very intentional type of things and we have an incredible cookbook section as well and very dialed in.

AM: I know and myself included, a lot of people enjoy watching Top Chef and 5 Star Chef and all of these different competition shows. It seems like the one thing in addition to flavors and putting it together and that’s plating! The use of plating teasers is always something that we see. What are your tips that we should know when we’re using these tools?

CHEF JB: So I think it’s to the task. Like we have several different ones, we have 4 different sizes. Some are straight, some are offset so whatever is kind of comfortable for you. I have always used them in professional kitchens because you’re dealing with delicate products and delicate placement. I still use them everyday at the restaurant when I am doing sashimi dishes. The larger ones I use on the grill because I don’t like to use big tongs as they’re bulky and clunky. They can also kind of indent your food with the big teeth on the front. So we have these really cool 30mm Tweezers that you can use. I use them on the grill exclusively, but you can also use them for pasta making when you're making spaghetti or anything like that. I use them a lot in just my everyday approach to cooking and grilling. Sometimes they’re not going to be as practical, but you can use them to get into the pickle jar and all of those kinds of things. I use them to prune some of my houseplants. They really do have a good span of use. I keep them in kind of a ceramic crock with the rest of my tools at home and in the kitchen as well as work. I think that they are extremely utilitarian. You don’t want to get your hands too dirty and when you are dealing with delicate ingredients and their placement, they’re great so that your fingers aren’t smudging everything. Especially in a post COVID world, we try to keep our fingers out of things as much as possible and to still have a delicate touch to things.

AM: We talked a little earlier about your restaurant that recently opened. What does the name mean and what can people expect when they are coming in to dine?

CHEF JB: We opened July of last year, so it’s a little over a year now. Sukeban roughly translates to “woman boss” or “girl boss” because there used to be this time in the 70’s/80’s in Japan where there were these women that kind of formed these girl gangs around Tokyo and Osaka. They would meet up after school and women weren’t allowed to be in the male group of anything. So it was a time when women were forming their own independence. Japan is very patriarchal and set in tradition and social roles as well as social norms. So this was a time in Japan where women were coming out of their shell and it was almost like a women’s lib movement that was happening. The Sukeban was the leader of the gang and they formed these little motorcycle groups and they were just these little after school groups. Everybody in Japan wears the same school uniforms and it’s like a little navy sailor attire. After school, they would put these little pieces of flair to distinguish themselves in their group. They were not violent and I thought that it was a cool part of Japanese culture and it sort of died out. It’s represented in films they’re known as Pinky Grindhouse or Tokyo Grindhouse films. The Sukeban has definitely been taken to a fictional level in certain ways. I don’t know if you have seen Quentin Tarantino's (Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Once Upon a Time in ... Hollywood) Kill Bill, but the scene where Uma Thurman is trying to get to Lucy Liu and kill 200 people in that room, and she gets to that girl right before her, that’s a Sukeban with the ball and chain.

AM: I was thinking that when you said it. She’s my favorite!

CHEF JB: Yes! So one of my dear friends, she’s a Japanese chef and a woman of many things. She’s a renaissance woman. She’s a graphic designer, she’s a fashionista, she’s a chef and she’s amazing. We met when she stajed with me in New Orleans probably 15 years ago and we became immediate friends. She was a large part of me getting deeply into Japanese culture as I am. She had her café and she wondered what it was that I was going to do? I mentioned this thought and felt that the name was kind of cool and she said that it absolutely made sense. Sometimes the older Japanese people give you a weird reaction, but the younger generation thinks that it totally makes sense. I wanted to make sure that it was kosher and I certainly didn’t want to piss anybody off. Then she ended up designing my logo and really helped me with that process and it kind of represents me in all of the things that I have done and she felt that it was me incarnate. Just like breaking the norm, a lot of times, I was the only woman in the kitchens that I worked in. I took it upon myself to open these businesses. It was kind of born out of that.

What you can expect from us is a really high level and it’s infancy, it’s a Japanese handroll bar. It’s an izakaya and an izakaya literally means, a stay drink place so people have an izakaya that comes in thousands of iterations. It’s usually a pretty late night kind of situation. It’s a bar where you get snacks and things like that. When I go to Japan, we go izakaya hopping at night. We bounce around and everybody kind of does their one thing well and then you go to the next one. The common denominator is that there are drinks involved and it’s a small and calmed down atmosphere and I wanted to create the aesthetic of a lot of the places that I had experienced and to work with my architect on that. It came out to this beautiful space with an L shape bar and very much so the aesthetic that I have been experiencing.

Louisiana is such a huge seafood area and I thought that the parallel between Japan and South Louisiana with the seafood and the rice, and the drinking culture – these are like 3 pillars in a lot of ways. We are a huge rice producing region here, I don’t use Louisiana Rice because we haven’t quite developed the right one yet for sushi, but I do work with a Japanese American family in California, the Koda family at Koda Farms, we use their rice. They’ve just got this amazing story as well. For me, that was the draw. I have always been a big seafood head. Rice growing up as a Cajun is as much a staple as someone who grew up in Japanese culture. We would just eat buttered rice sometimes and we would have these cravings. It was kind of silly, but in a lot of the same ways, it was as important to a Cajun table as it would be to a Japanese table. I’ve always been obsessed with rice and all rice is different and cooks differently and then you look at how to really dial that in. So I wanted to feature that, I wanted to feature seafood besides gulf and Louisiana seafood, we do fly some stuff in from Japan once a week from the Tokyo fish market. We use other amazing domestic fishermen and fisherwomen around the US, sustainable products all over. So our scope on the fish purveyors is pretty wide. Bringing that level and quality of seafood with that nori, that we went to the bottom of Japan for – it’s harvested for us, it’s baked for us, it’s shipped for us. It’s incredibly crunchy and crispy and is good for you. It’s a superfood as well. This food is incredibly healthy as well as premium quality. I really wanted to focus on doing those things well and letting those ingredients speak for themselves. That was the biggest part for me. I didn’t want to over complicate it by putting in too many sauces because oftentimes, you can’t taste the fish or what the star of the dish is. So for me, that is the biggest part of what I wanted to do and to do that really well – sashimi and temaki rolls. That can sound very simple, but when you take the attention and the time to source those things and to make sure that all of these hyper quality ingredients are all in one bite, that for me is everything.

We’ve got a few little apps and starters and things like that. We wanted to have a place where you could get great sake and it’s hard to find great sake down here. Whether it hasn’t been sourced well or whatever, a lot of people would say that they didn’t really like sake because so many people have had bad sake here. Or maybe it’s always served warm and that’s not the only way to consume it. Warm sake does exist, but oftentimes here, it’s a mass shitty sake. So cold sake, we exclusively do cold sake here and I’m constantly going to sake breweries in Japan to understand the process and to better source better sake. I think that in the next 5 years, we’re going to see a mega wave of sake hit the way that we kind of see it coming. You know, there’s a certain kind of underground where a lot of us have this idea in mind of what we’re helping to shape as far as that. It’s like when Natural Wines started having its moment.

It's a similar thing. My friend Shawn Williams, she’s a sake aficionado here in town and we do a lot of small events together. She and I went to a sake event in NY, a few weeks back and went to Le Bernardin and we wanted to see the kinds of sake that they had on the menu. We decided to just drink sake with the whole meal. They had 2 bottles on the menu and that was it. It blew my mind. They were really good and we had both of them and then the somm ended up talking to us for awhile and then he ended up coming as he was off the next night and he went to the event with us.

AM: Yeah, you’re talking about the Joy of Sake?

CHEF JB: Yes, the Joy of Sake. Yeah and that was Brendan Kimball, one of the somms at Le Bernardin. So he came with us and we ended up tasting all night and enjoying sake and then we went to dinner after and now he’s saying it’s ridiculous that they only have 2 sakes when there are so many amazing ones out there. It’s the little stuff like that where I’m excited to see where it goes. There are some sake breweries in Brooklyn, and it’s happening. I think that the biggest part of it is water and that’s number 1 when it comes to sake. That’s why Japan has such great sake – the great water. Here, it’s hard because if you’re not sourcing directly from well, an aquafir or spring water, it’s really difficult when you’re just using filtered water to make sake. It’s kind of creating dead sake without much flavor profile and that’s the difficult part in America that we’re going to have to get over as we’re used to just turning on the faucet. I think that that’s the thing that I learned in Japan. All of these places I visited, there were 300/400 year old sake breweries that are all lined along a river watershed and there’s a reason for that. It’s rice #2 – so it’s water quality and rice quality. The biggest consumer of sake is the Japanese people. If it’s small batches or if they limit out what they can produce a season, the Japanese will consume it all. Oftentimes, we’re left with what’s left and I think that that’s all changing. I think that that besides the temaki and that we did that well, I wanted to make sure that we had an incredible sake selection so it can change people’s ideas on what sake is.

“Louisiana is such a huge seafood area and I thought that the parallel between Japan and South Louisiana with the seafood and the rice, and the drinking culture - there are like 3 pillars in a lot of ways ... For me, that was the draw. I have always been a big seafood head. Rice growing up as a cajun is as much a staple as someone who grew up in Japanese culture ... [I]t was as important to a Cajun table as it would be to a Japanese table.”

— Chef Jacqueline Blanchard

AM: I totally agree and I love drinking it with so many different things!

CHEF JB: Right, same! Pizza!

AM: For sure! Pizza, tacos, chicken wings, steak, there are so many amazing pairings that are perfect for it beyond what many believe to be the fit. I’ve had friends raise an eye when I had it with something that they didn’t think it was meant to be paired with it. Here in NY, there are a lot of options and yet there aren’t.

Right before the pandemic, I feel that 2 or 3 years right ahead of that, people were really big here in NY on cider and cider production and it was having an entire moment and I went to a few places in Brooklyn that were focused on that.

CHEF JB: Right!

AM: I kind of agree with you that sake is the next one that will have that really big effort I hope.

CHEF JB: Exactly! I hope it's not fleeting!

AM: With so much that you do with your restaurant, you have your store, you have these amazing buying and research trips that you’re doing, are there other projects that you're doing that are food event oriented or a cookbook or any of these kinds of things that we should keep an eye out for?

CHEF JB: Not right now. I think that I have mellowed out a lot. I think right now just focusing on the knife shop and the restaurant and not getting myself into too much, too fast – it’s about balancing and that whole dichotomy. Right now, my focus is on travel so I think that the next thing that I would want to do is to host trips in Japan. I think that’s a big part of what I see coming up next for myself and I know that every time I go, people say that they want to go to the next trip and the next trip. You just have this line of people that want to go with you. That’s awesome, but you can’t bring huge groups, but certainly a smaller handful of people. You want to share it with people and it’s hard for me to articulate it to people if they’re not there to experience it. You want to definitely have some shared experience with that. For me, that’s the next big thing. I don’t have a book in the works right now, but maybe down the line. It would be cool to see another location of Sukeban somewhere. I think it’s built to be able to replicate in that way, but not in a franchisee situation. To be able to bring that to another town or another city and that experience is pretty special. My focus is to continue to dial in my relationships and to find more incredible ingredients, more incredible makers. I’ve already been twice this year and I’ll be back a third time in Oct.

I think that for me, that’s the biggest thing. I would like to and I think with the travel aspect, it’s a huge part of it and a bit more immersive for people that don’t know how to access a lot of the things that I have had the privilege of accessing through the years of doing it. I’m more of a simple girl. But now that the restaurant has been there for a year, people are always reaching out for projects and things like that. So local food events like I’m going to do Oyster South out in Georgia this Oct when I get back from Japan. It's a really cool event with a bunch of chefs about sustainable oyster production in the South and things like that. More awareness about sustainable seafood and I’m trying to be more about that conversation and movement a little bit more.

AM: If we were to come to your home, what are 3 spices or ingredients that you have always at the ready at home that can make the most versatile dishes that you enjoy making?

CHEF JB: I definitely think that furikake is one of those – the rice seasoning. It’s sesame, seaweed, a little salt, a little sugar, a little katsuobushi flakes, and bonito flakes. I think that that’s something that I put in a lot of stuff. I go through a lot of it. Definitely chili crisps for sure. Japanese chili crisps are absolutely my favorites and there are a million in one of those things out there now. There’s one in particular that I really love and use and it’s a huge staple that I kind of roll through. I think that tamari, tamari is more on the gluten-free style soy sauce. To me, it's kind of almost a thicker consitency - not syrupy – but thicker than what you use for soy sauce. But it’s this sweet umami packed flavor. You can use it on anything. I use it dress tomato salad, cucumbers, you don’t have to even with just Japanese things. It can be a marinade for chicken, fish, or whatever. It’s just one of those incredibly versatile ingredients. We have it in the shop and the same one that we use in the restaurant is the one that I use at home. It's incredible and I think that it’s one that people don’t think to use a lot. It doesn’t have a dark nature soy sauce or color scheme to it. It’s lighter, but it’s also gluten-free so if you have gluten issues, I’m not, I don’t have them – I just prefer that. Of course the Wadaman sesame seeds just to throw in a fourth. I use them on everything. I roll through that stuff!

AM: I’m sure you do! I would love to have a plate at your house to see what you’re making!

If we were coming over for brunch as we’re still in summer, what would be the meal that you would cook?

CHEF JB: Hmm brunch! It would probably be a crawfish étouffée just to be real. As that’s a very frenchy sort of thing. It’s on the stove all morning and by the time you look at it, it’s ready to go! That or man, that could shift! It could be a crazy bagel and lox spread with Ikura, the Japanese Salmon Caviar or like Trout Roe, stuff like that. I would probably do something along those lines.

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@barsukeban

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Chef Jacqueline Blanchard

Read the AUG ISSUE #92 of Athleisure Mag and see HOMAGE TO CRAFTSMANSHIP | Chef Jacqueline Blanchard in mag.

TRUE HOSPITALITY | CHEF MICHAEL VOLTAGGIO

We're really excited about this month's cover, Bravo's Top Chef Season 6 Winner, and Titan Judge on Food Network's Bobby's Triple Threat, Chef Michael Voltaggio. He also makes a number of guest judge appearances on Guy's Grocery Games as well as Beat Bobby Flay! When he's not on set, you can find him taking his dishes and experiences to the next level alongside his brother Chef Bryan Voltaggio whether it's at Voltaggio Brothers Steakhouse, Vulcania, Retro, Volt Burger and other projects! As someone who we have admired in terms of his culinary point of view, technique and keeping hospitality at the forefront of all that he does, we wanted to sit down with him to talk about how he got into the industry, where his passion comes from, how he has navigated the hospitality space, his approach to his concepts, working alongside family, Season 2 of Bobby's Triple Threat and how he has taken a number of opportunities to connect with guests and viewers as well as to stay sharp in and out of the kitchen!

ATHLEISURE MAG: So, when did you first fall in love with food?

CHEF MICHAEL VOLTAGGIO: Oh wow, I don’t think that I have ever been asked that!

AM: We ask the tough questions around here!

CHEF MV: I think that it happened around necessity. I would say that I first fell in love with it when I understood the creativity that went into it. Because, I was a very, very picky eater as a kid and when I got my first job cooking, I started to look at ingredients as a kid meaning that things like cauliflower for instance – I remember thinking to myself that if I could make this, in a way that I like it, then people who actually like cauliflower will love it. So for me, I started seeing how creativity could sort of, not only like give me a chance to artistically express myself, but also be a chance for me to maybe make ingredients more accessible for more people because it made the ingredients more accessible to me. So I think that realizing that the creative part was as important as the technical part, I think that was the moment that I fell in love with it.

I always knew that I wanted to do something creative, but up until I was 15 or 16 years old, which is when I started cooking, I wasn’t being creative yet. Like, I was playing sports in high school and I wasn’t the best student and I was sort of interested in a lot of things that were creative, but I didn’t have a creative discipline that I could focus on myself.

AM: What was the moment that you realized that you wanted to be a chef? Taking something that you just enjoyed and then making it as a professional.

CHEF MV: I mean, I think that it happened as sort of a default. Like, I was doing it to just sort of survive. I was one of those people that started cooking – because when I did it, it wasn’t like it was today where it was like, “oh, you’re going to be a chef!” It was more like, “yeah, I figured that you would end up in the food industry.” I sort of feel like I woke up and 25 years later, I still have the same job and I’m just like, “wow, how did this happen?” I’m in my profession prior to even graduating high school. My career has started already, but I didn’t know that at the time. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was already on my path. I’ve loved food ever since I could remember like 4 years old and I have had this job since I was 15. Not many people can say that. I’m approaching 30 years of experience and I feel like I am just getting started.

I would say that my career, after my apprenticeship, that I did at The Greenbriar Hotel when I went there when I was 19 years old to start that program, that I really felt like that, “ok this is what I am going to be doing for at least a substantial amount of time.” I had never gotten to experience any form of luxury in my life at that point, either because I grew up sort of pretty humble or in humble surroundings I would say. When I got to work in luxury, I knew that not only did I want to do that because I wanted to take care of people at that level, but I knew that at some point in my life, I wanted to feel it myself as a guest. So I knew that the only way that I would be able to experience luxury is if I understood how to work in it at the highest level and then hopefully one day, get to sit down at the table for myself.

AM: I can understand that feeling!

How do you define your style of cooking?

CHEF MV: It’s weird because if you had asked me that question 10 years ago, I would have answered it differently than I would today. The reason being that I think that I have obviously matured a lot as a person, but more specifically in my professional career, I think that I have matured a lot in the sense that I don’t know if I have a style and I think that that is interesting about the way that I like to cook now. I’m really still obsessed with learning the things that I haven’t learned how to do yet. So for me, it usually starts with something that I want to learn and then I build something off of that, that I can then offer to my guests.

So, let’s say for instance that I want to study a specific cuisine, I’ll go and study that cuisine and then figure out how that fits into one of our restaurant concepts. Now that we have different concepts, it forces me to study different kinds of cuisine.

I would say that the style that we communicate in the restaurants on our menus is that we like to sort of under offer and over deliver. We like to write descriptions of menus that are familiar to people and that almost seems not that exciting so that we get that chance to sort of surprise them and wow them. I think that that’s oftentimes how we approach a lot of the things that we do is to sort of under offer and over deliver.

AM: I really like that.

Who are your culinary influences?

CHEF MV: Wow, that is a tough one because I mean, I would say the one culinary influence that I have had in my career and this is a direct influence, because I have worked with him is, José Andrés (The Bazaar by José Andrés, Mercado Little Spain, Nubeluz). For someone that made me look at food completely differently, it would be him and I think that a lot of people who think of José, they think of the modern things that he has done in restaurants and that’s a big part of it, but when you talk to José, the thing that he is the most passionate about outside of feeding the world and helping people right now which is incredible, is actually the traditional food of Spain. Seeing him communicate to me that without a foundation like that, you can’t really do all this modern stuff because at the end of the day, the food has to be delicious. Learning that from him was probably a sort of pivotal moment in my career, because I was doing a lot of things then because I wanted to learn all of these modern techniques and I want to do all of these modern things. I think that often, people get caught up in the exercise of that and lose touch of the hospitality or the make it taste good aspect of it. I would think that I really settled into a level of confidence where I worked with him that would sort of influence me for the rest of my career.

AM: I first became aware of you on Season 6 of Bravo’s Top Chef. I’m a huge fan of that show and seeing you along with competing with your brother on the same season, what was that like for you and why did you want to be part of that show?

CHEF MV: So, when I went on Top Chef, this was sort of a moment in the industry where that was really the beginning of how you had the legends like Julia Child (Mastering the Art of French Cooking, The Way to Cook, The French Chef Cookbook), you had Emeril (Emeril’s, Emeril’s Coastal, Meril), you had Wolfgang (Spago, Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, CUT) and the list goes on and on – Yan Can Cook, Ming Tsai (Bābā, Mings Bings, Simply Ming) – they were cooking on television and the list goes on and on and on. They were a handful of real chefs that were cooking on TV and then there was sort of the entertainment side of it. I think that when Top Chef came out, I think that that was the first show or competition that was pulling chefs from kitchens that were really grinding and really after it and giving them a platform to sort of go out and come out from being those introverts in the back of house to like these big personalities!

So I think that when the opportunity came, I was like, I wonder if there is a bigger way to sort of bridge this gap between people that are actually chefs and people that are just sort of chefs on TV. Can we really tell this story in a bigger way and connect to a bigger audience and through that, grow the interest and the curiosity in a higher level of cooking or a different level. Whether it’s making people culturally more aware for those that are interested in cultural cuisine or demographics of cuisine or whatever it is, can you educate people by entertaining them? So I didn’t see it as, I want to be on TV and I think that there were certainly a few of those even on my season on Top Chef that were there for that reason. I signed up to do that competition because I really believed that I could win it. I think that some people get involved in programs like this not necessarily thinking that, “hey, I can really win this thing.” For me, I thought, “I could win this thing and this could create an opportunity.” I couldn’t predict what you’re seeing today where every chef at every level or cook for that matter is in some way trying to communicate what they do through some form of social media or entertainment. Back when I did Top Chef, it was like there was this line in the sand – these are the chefs, the real chefs and these are the ones that are on TV, but not everyone was doing television or some form of visual media to tell their story. Then you look at today and everyone is doing it. I think that the risk that I took was worth it, but I also wanted to learn a different kind of skill set, like I wanted to learn.

I think that I was doing this ad for I think Vitamix and I remember going up to the set and I had a teleprompter in the camera and I was reading my lines off the lens while doing my little demo and I was with the blender that came with it and it was like, “welcome to your new Vitamix.” They kept telling me, “Michael, we can see your eyes reading the words in the lens – we can see you doing it off the teleprompter. Can you try and memorize at least part of it?” Again, in that moment, I was like, ok if I’m going to do this, then I need to get good at it. By getting better at television or getting better at sort of some of these visual mediums, I felt that I was getting better at communicating with my guests too. I think that as somebody who works in hospitality, it started to pull another part of myself out that would allow me to want to communicate with my guests even more. I felt like that moment and all of it I can credit back to the opportunity that I had on Top Chef. I think that outside of the exposure, outside of the money, and outside of the study that I had to put into the food, I learned so much going through that process. Even I think as a company owner, how to better and more effectively communicate - I think that that is something that I was missing at that time of my life.

“I think that I have obviously matured a lot as a person, but more specifically in my professional career, I think that I have matured a lot in the sense that I don’t know if I have a style and I think that that is interesting about the way that I like to cook now. I’m really still obsessed with learning the things that I haven’t learned how to do yet. So for me, it usually starts with something that I want to learn and then I build something off of that, that I can then offer to my guests.”

— Chef Michael Voltaggio

AM: What was the moment that you realized that you wanted to open up your own restaurants as that’s such a big step!

CHEF MV: So I was in Pasadena and I was running a restaurant there called The Dining Room at The Langham. They were actually super supportive and that’s where I was when I won Top Chef. I had left The Bazaar and left José. I was working at this restaurant in Pasadena when this show started to air. They were super supportive and they were like, this is your project, this is your room. We’ll grow you here, you’ll grow something big with the hotel and all of that. In my head I was like, do I need to go and do this on my own before I can go and do this in somebody else’s environment?

So they were very supportive in saying, “hey, we’ll renovate a restaurant and conceptualize something around what your goals are.” I was like, “this is super incredible and I think that I would want to do that.” But then I got a phone call and somebody said that they had a restaurant space and they were interested in meeting me and investing in me. At that moment, I was like, “oh, it can happen that easy!” They had read and heard about some of my accomplishments and they genuinely wanted to invest in me. And so I was like, now I need to see if I can do this. So, I took the meeting, we negotiated the deal and this person, his name is Mike Ovitz he started CAA. I don’t know if you are familiar with them.

AM: Very much so!

CHEF MV: He basically said, “what do you need to open the restaurant?” I have the space. I said that, “I really wanted someone to get behind whatever vision I have because this is the first chance that I have to do this and I kind of want to figure out how to do this on my own. What I really just need is money.” He gave it to me. He got behind me, we were partners for over 7 years and we still remain friends to this day, and he was a really good partner in the sense that he was there, but he wasn’t in my face with expectations. He built his career as somebody who supported artists or somebody who supported creatives. As someone who supported creatives, I think he did just that. I think that as a restaurant partner, it was the best scenario that I could find myself in because this was a person that built his career supporting creatives. So then, the money was there and it was time to start opening the restaurant. As you can imagine, I had to learn everything. I had to learn the legal side of it, I had to learn the human resources side of it, I had to learn the accounting side of it – I had to learn how to become a president of a company – not just how to run a menu. That’s the part that I hadn’t realized that I had signed up for at that time. You don’t know all of the nuance of starting a business until you start a business and then it’s, wait a second, I have 10 full-time jobs now!

AM: Pretty much!

CHEF MV: And so, I think again, if you look at that experience, it’s very similar to what happened on Top Chef. Here I was not realizing that I was now going to acquire a whole new set of skills that I didn’t have yet and so for me, you have this trajectory where you’re building on top of previous successes and you’re combining those successes to get more than you have to put yourself in a situation where you are learning. Then you have to retain that information and then you have to be able to teach that to other people, because it's the only way that you can grow your team around you. If you don’t have the tools to give them to be successful in your role or if you don’t know the expectation of the people that are going to work with you, then they’re not going to have a good experience and neither are you and neither is your business. So, for me, it was really important that I really understood everything and every layer that I was responsible for.

AM: You and your brother back in 2016 opened Voltaggio Brothers Steakhouse together which was your first venture together. What was that like doing that especially as siblings?

CHEF MV: I think that at that point, we had gone in separate directions from each other and I think that we realized that we could accomplish a lot more if we worked together so we started flirting with the idea, and so when MGM called and said, "we have a restaurant in the Maryland/DC area and we’re building this hotel, we think that you should be involved in that," at the time I was living in California and I had Ink – it was still open. My brother was living in Maryland. The reason that the call came in was that somebody who had previously been my boss was the one that was making that call. They had called me saying that they had been watching my career since we had worked together. We'd be interested n potentially doing the restaurant project together at the MGM National Harbor and I was like, in that moment, my brother still lives there, I live in California this story makes the most sense that Bryan and I are both locals from that area and we should do this together. So that became the pilot for how we work in perpetuity. Bryan and I are now business partners in pretty much everything that we do in the restaurant space. So creatively, logistically, work wise – everything involved, it just made more sense. If we work together, we can work half as harder or accomplish twice as much. Just having that support system and having something that you trust as a partner, we didn’t realize how beneficial that was going to be for us moving forward. Because here we are this many years later and we haven’t broken up yet. I think that speaks volumes for how you can do it the right way. There is nothing wrong with family getting into business together.

AM: I love that! We also cover a lot of EDM artists, we enjoy going to music festivals and you guys have Volt Burger which has been in various festival circuits and Live Nation venues. Why did you want to be part of this experience in this particular way?

CHEF MV: I think again back when I talked about entertainment as a medium or a discipline that would be a great tool to connect more people, I think that when Live Nation came to us with the opportunity of getting Volt Burger put together and being in multiple venues across the country, I think we’re in 30+ venues at this point. I think again, we get to connect to that many people that fast. So, for us and Tom See who is the President of Venues for Live Nation, when he called, he really – you could hear it in his voice and see it in his face, that he had a real commitment to elevate just not the food and beverage experience, but the hospitality experience at the venues, I think that when you look at companies that are willing to invest in the safety and the overall experience of their customer base, like I could feel it and I could feel his commitment to where they wanted to do something bigger and do something better. A lot of people call with sentences and statements like that, but they don’t really get behind it.

AM: Right!

CHEF MV: Then you get passed off to somebody else and then it sort of dilutes itself. I think that with Tom and his team, and Andy Yates, Head of Food and Beverage – they’re both personally up to Mr. Rapino the President of Live Nation – they’re personally committed to making sure that what they’re going to do is going to happen. I think that for us, we have learned just as much from them as they have learned from us. I think that again, it’s all about that learning aspect of it. When you can be in multiple cities at once, and I’m not saying physically. We are sometimes physically present at these venues, but it’s a chance for people who don’t necessarily have a direct access to us to sometimes go back to that surprise moment that I talked about when we can under offer and over deliver.

Imagine a fan – or somebody that has always just wanted to try something from the Voltaggio Brothers – they go to a concert to see their favorite artist and then they’re walking through and they see this big banner of Bryan and I on the side of a burger stand and I can only imagine in that moment from them that they have that reaction again! It's like, "oh wait, I'm here to see this musician and there’s the Voltaggio burger!” In my head, I’m envisioning people having an even better time. This point in my career, if you were to ask me what my most important part of my career is, it's hospitality. I genuinely still get excited when I see someone’s reaction on their face when they taste something that I have made. I’m not like, “yeah I knew it was going to be that good,” I’m more like, “wow, thank you! It means so much to me that you like it that much!” It makes me want to go and do more. I genuinely feed off the energy of the people that I take care of. I think that a lot of chefs and a lot of restaurateurs lose touch with that.

AM: This year, you opened Vulcania at Mammoth Mountain. What can guests expect when we’re going there?

CHEF MV: Mammoth Mountain made a commitment to elevate the food and beverage experience. It’s one of the best outdoor recreational mountains in the whole country and in all four seasons. In the summer time, we're going into that now, they still have snow – people are still snowboarding there until like August 1st or 2nd – skiing as well. But again, here’s an opportunity to connect to a whole different demographic that I have yet to really have a chance to get to.

I think that the most unique food markets to elevate the food right now are in markets where there aren’t huge saturation of other restaurants. 1, because there isn’t that much competition and 2, that means that there is probably a need for it right there. So getting to sort of pioneer and go into an area that there isn’t a lot of chef-driven sort of concepts in Mammoth and them wanting to bring that there, to me meant that there was a need for it. Their guests were asking for something different or maybe more and again they made that commitment to hospitality to provide that.

So, that’s when we were like, how do we create a concept that is appropriate for families, appropriate for a very transient sort of guest, but also please people that need fuel to go out and do all of these extreme sport activities. That’s when we were like, we’re Italian and our last name is Voltaggio, we haven’t really done an Italian American concept together, let’s use this as an opportunity to now study this and to do that cuisine together and expand on our repertoire and our portfolio of what we can offer moving forward. So, we dug deep and dove deep into the research. We have always made our own pastas and sauces, and pizza at various different opportunities, but never brought it all together in one restaurant concept.

Then we got to dig deep into even naming the restaurant. Vulcania actually means volcano. Mammoth sits in a volcano more or less. That mountain is a volcano. And the first ship that brought our family to the US was the Vulcania!

AM: Oh wow!

CHEF MV: Yeah, so Voltaggio’s that traveled from Italy to NY, came on a ship called the Vulcania. So, the whole thing just came together. You can never say that something is your favorite restaurant. I just love the restaurant, I love the location, I love our partners, and I think that being part of a destination like that, the restaurant itself becomes a destination too. That’s a pretty special thing!

AM: That’s insane and I love the story involved in that!

I also love the idea of Retro. I like that it is kind of feeding into that 80s/90s feel with fashion and entertainment and its confluence. Can you tell me more about the concept and what the vibe of this restaurant is?

CHEF MV: The goal – well 1, it was a very fast turnaround. We had to come up with a really strategic way to sort of redecorate or revamp a room if you will. When MGM came to us with the opportunity and as you mentioned, we already had a restaurant with them at MGM National Harbor and so my favorite thing about our partnership with MGM is the only reason we don’t do something is because we haven’t thought of it. Any idea that you have, they have the resources and the ability to bring it to life as long as it makes sense you know?

I look at that space and Charlie Palmer (Charlie Palmer Steak, Sky & Vine Rooftop Bar, Dry Creek Kitchen) is one of my mentors as well, how do we take this iconic space at the Mandalay Bay and how do we make it enough ours so that it doesn’t feel like what it was while not taking away from what it was. Meaning, Aureole which was one of the first restaurants in Vegas that really told the story of these chef partnerships.

So we approached it with, what if we like – we moved around a lot as kids – what if we treated it like we did as kids where our parents had us in a new house and we got to decorate our new room. That’s effectively what it is. We call restaurants the room – the dining room is the room. So, let’s go decorate our room. We started down this path of what that would look like and I always had this in my head. I used to work with this chef named Katsu-ya Uechi (Katsu-ya, The Izaka-ya by Katsu-ya, Kiwami) and we talked about a concept that would be retro modern meaning that you could start with retro dishes and modernize them a little bit. I remember having to call Katsu-ya and say, “hey, I know that we had this conversation together and I know that this was something that you were really big on and wanted to do one day. Is it ok if I sort of do this concept, but in a much different way than what we discussed?” We had both nerded out on this back in the day and this opportunity came up where I could bring it to life. He was like, “yeah, go for it. If anyone could do it, it’s you.” So my brother and I decided to noodle on the idea and using that as the foundation to build this whole concept on top of.

What if everything that was important to us in our childhood through our personal and professional careers, what if we could tell that story through a restaurant. So down to the white CorningWare pots with the blue flowers on the side of it, we’re serving food in that. To the décor, Keith Magruder, if you look up BakersSon on Instagram, he’s an artist that did a lot of the art in there. So there’s a lot of painted album covers that throw back and tribute to the music in the 80s and 90s. He did things like make 2 scale 3 dimensional water color paintings of Nintendos and Blockbuster Videos and he made these cool paintings of gummy bears. He did an Uno Table and these 3 dimensional donuts and things like that. So what we did was we went into this room and just like when we were kids, it was kind of like, I’m going to hang up my favorite poster on the wall and I’m going to put up a couple of tchotchkes in the space and it's going to be mine.

What we didn’t realize was going to happen is that all the creative people in the company that worked for the company got behind it in such a big way that everyone started to contribute to the process! Down to Tony Hawk sent us one of his skateboard decks and wrote, “Go Retro” on it so that we could hang it up inside the tower. It was just one of those things where it was like, you have to be so careful when you have an idea because you don’t know how fast it can go and how many people will embrace it and get behind it. Before you know it, you can wake up and have something as incredible as Retro.

The food, we have Pot Roast and Mac & Cheese. But our Mac & Cheese, we make the noodles ourselves, we make this cloud of cheesy sauce that sits on top of it that’s sort of feels like the sauce that would come in a package of Velveeta, but we’re making it from really good cheddar cheese, we’re making a bechamel, we’re emulsifying the cheese into it and aerating it with a whip cream siphon – we’re making our own Cheez Whiz more or less!

“Then we got to dig deep into even naming the restaurant. Vulcania actually means volcano. Mammoth sits in a volcano more or less. That mountain is a volcano. And the first ship that brought our family to the US was the Vulcania!”

— Chef Michael Voltaggio

AM: Oh my God! It’s the best Cheez Whiz ever though!

CHEF MV: Yeah! It’s like, how do we start with this idea and then turn it into something that can be appropriate in an elevated dining experience? We’ve got a lot of that sprinkled throughout the menu. We also have things that are comforting too.

It’s not just like kitschy or trying to do something for the sake of doing it. Our Caesar Salad is just a Caesar Salad, but then we serve it with a little bag of churros that we make out of Parmesan Cheese. Our Mozzarella Caprese is a piece of cheese that we dip in a Pomodoro skin that creates a skin of tomato on the outside of it so that it looks like a tomato, but it tastes like a tomato sauce and it’s on the outside of a piece of cheese.

AM: Oh wow! Earlier this week on your IG Stories, I want to say that you had an avocado, but it was a pit that looked like a gelee – what was that?

CHEF MV: So, we had a dish and once again, this was us reacting to guest feedback, we had a dish that I called back, we had a dish that I called Chips and Guacamole on the menu. So, we did this giant rice paper wafer and put a confit of avocado in the middle of it. But the problem was when it went out to the guests, they said, “well, that’s not Chips and Guacamole. I don’t know what that is.” I think that some chefs, their egos would not allow them to say, “ok, do I listen to the guests and do I make a change?” So, when I hear stuff like that and it’s consistent, I’m like, “ok, I need to change this dish!” It’s not living up to the guest’s expectations. So, then I was like, Avocado Toast, bread would be more appropriate to eat with this. I wonder how I could make this retro. I learned the technique of spherification from José Andrés. It was created by chefs, Ferran Adrià and Albert Adrià (Tickets, Enigma, Little Spain) back in El Bulli back in the early 90s. It’s not retro. We’re in 2023! Can I pay homage to it without saying, “oh that’s such a dated technique, that I can’t believe that you’re doing it.” It was such an important technique that it changed like, José, the Adrià Brothers, they made a global impact on how chefs looked at food. So for me, I was like, I think that I can make a black garlic purée and spherify that the way that I learned how to do it when I was working with José and put that in the middle of an avocado that I’m putting in the oven and put that on a plate and put a couple of other seasonings on it and put it with some really good crusty bread and serve it as an Avocado Toast.

AM: That looked so ridiculously good!

CHEF MV: But you know what’s so crazy? Some people today, like the next generation of people that are out eating in restaurants, they never saw spherification. Like let’s say that someone who is 19 or in their 20s or whatever, they missed that whole thing. We have this obsession with trends and we program our brains to say if it’s trendy, then eventually, it will go out of style. Therefore, you have to forget about it.

Where kale had its moment, like last year, or 2 or 3 years ago that the Kale Caesar Salad became so popular people were like it’s so popular, you can’t put it out because it is on everyone’s menu. Or like Pork Belly, it disappeared! Like Pork Belly was on every single menu and then all of a sudden, one day you woke up and you’re like, “where’s all the Pork Belly?” Every chef was cooking it, but I think that people got it to be trendy because they liked it and that’s what they wanted. We have this innate desire for change when change isn’t necessary. I think that spherification got trendier and then people were like, what’s the next cool thing? But then when we do that, we forget that the cool things that we have and that these chefs have sort of put forward to learn, we feel this pressure to not embrace it or to not do it anymore because now we have to create the next big thing.

AM: Yup!

CHEF MV: Why not just keep it around? So we brought that back and not only as a nod to the Avocado Toast, but a nod to the individuals that were behind that technique. I thought that it was so cool when we first learned it and I didn’t think that it needed to go anywhere.

AM: I love how you approach food like that. As someone who in addition to being the Co-Founder of Athleisure Mag is a fashion stylist and a designer, there are many times when I’m like, “yeah, this is a great look, we don’t need to lock it as a trend that has an expiration or pause around it. We can still use this.” I love that you’re talking about something that I fight about on the fashion side all the time.

CHEF MV: I think that there are a lot of similarities between fashion and food too! When you think about the sustainability aspect, when you think about again – in your world, and I think that that’s why I love fashion as much as I do. But now, even in buying my clothes, I go look for old things. Like, I don’t want the newest trendiest thing, I want the old trendy thing, why did it go away? Where did it go? I think that when you look at some of the most successful brands now, they’re the ones that can continue to just bring it back whether it’s recycled with an actual item or an idea, it’s that storytelling that I think that people actually gravitate towards.

AM: I totally agree! I always tell people it’s about going back to the archives!

CHEF MV: Yeah!

AM: There’s so many things that you can spring back from it. You can put a twist on it and do whatever. But the archives are the archives for a reason! They’re going to be here much longer than some of these other things that are going to be a flash in the pan.

CHEF MV: I feel like people can go shopping in their own closet. If you’ve saved stuff from 3 years ago that you haven’t worn and then all of a sudden, you’re like, “wait a second, I’m going to look back at that.” Maybe you got something as a gift that you would have never worn when they gave it to you and then you rediscovered it again in your closet and I think that any creative could recognize that with whatever kind of discipline that they have. Just go back into your closet and try something old.

“But now even in buying my clothes, I go look for old things. Like, I don’t want the newest trendiest thing, I want the old trendy thing, why did it go away? Where did it go? I think that when you look at some of the most successful brands now, they’re the ones that can continue to just bring it back whether it’s recycled with an actual item or an idea, it’s that storytelling that I think that people actually gravitate towards.”

— Chef Michael Voltaggio

AM: Exactly!

Since being on Top Chef, you have been on so many TV shows judging and guest hosting and even doing series, why did you want to add these into your portfolio?

CHEF MV: I think it’s because I don’t want to become complacent. I think that my biggest fear in life was going to be that I would get stuck doing the same job every single day. Although that’s great for some people, and it’s necessary to have those who are committed to that, it didn’t work for me. I never had the attention span to do just that. And so, as I get those opportunities, I think that it make me better for what I do. For instance, if I go and I have 4 days where I can work on this television show, after the 4 days are done, I’m excited to go back to my restaurant. Maybe in those 4 days while I was gone, I learned something while I was there that I could bring back to my restaurant. For me, again, it’s about learning. I’m learning. I get to do something that I would have never had the opportunity to do. When I started cooking, if you told me that I would be doing dozens of episodes of television a year or any television at all, I remember when I was doing some local television and how nervous I was. I was like, wait, I didn’t sleep and I was telling everyone and it was local news! I thought it was the coolest thing on the planet for me to able to get to do. Then, fast forward to now and I’m a show that can reach millions of people. So, not only did I see the opportunity, but I feel a sense of responsibility to use that platform the right way and I think that I just love the fact that I get to communicate with that many people at once. I think that it’s an opportunity for me to tell my story, but also to continue to contribute to this commitment of hospitality that I signed up for. I’m not just making people feel good, I genuinely do this because I love the fact that what I do that maybe I can make someone else smile or whatever. I know how that sounds, but I genuinely believe that! The fact that I do that and I get to call it work is so important!

AM: Well, I know that you always bring so much energy when I see you on different shows like Bobby’s Tripple Threat, we’ve had interviews with Chef Brooke Williamson (Playa Provisions, Top Chef Season 14 Winner, Tournament of Champions Season 1 Winner) a number of different times. When I saw that you were on there, I couldn’t wait to see what you would do. Or, if I see you on Guy’s Grocery Games – it’s really cool to see your point of view when you're doing all of these different things.

CHEF MV: Yeah, when you look at the competition side of cooking too and what I learned very quickly is that it’s a very different discipline. A lot of super talented chefs who are in restaurants struggle with the competition side of it, especially if there are a lot of different cameras and stuff around them. So again for me, I thought, if I could become good at that, then that’s another level of chef that I can become good at and I think that what’s interesting about that is that I do it so much that the first time I competed, I took it so seriously. I still do! I get so much anxiety every time that I’m about to go. But then I do it so much and I started to look at competition cooking like the sport of cooking.

AM: Yup!

CHEF MV: It really is and it’s not for me as much about entertaining and doing a demo of what you’re doing. It’s more so that people can watch it and cheer for their favorite athlete and I think that that's what culinary competition really is.

So now, we win some and we lose some. You have to learn from those losses and I think that those losses are the ones that I have learned the most from. I think that anyone that competes in any competitive setting would say the same thing. You have to experience those losses to then go back and say, how can I be better so that I can get more of those wins. I think that it became a personal obsession because I wanted to continue to learn and win! Because it really is a sport – it’s a sport!

AM: Are there any projects that you have coming up that you can share that we should keep an eye out for? I feel like you’re always doing something!

CHEF MV: One thing that I can say is that Season 2 of Tripple Threat will start airing in August! I think that that’s the next big thing that we’re excited about. Then it’s about just getting back to work with Bobby Flay (Amalfi, Bobby’s Burgers, Brasserie B), Brooke and Tiffany Derry (Roots Southern Table, Roots Chicken Shak, Top Chef Season 7 Fan Favorite). I think that there is more to that than what everyone has seen so far! I think that for me, that is really one of my favorite projects that we're doing right now. Myself, Brooke, and Tiffany - Bobby included, we’ve all become so close to one another through this project and I think that more of that – I want to be able to keep my knives sharp and my brain sharper. I think that the best opportunity for me to do that is growing my relationship with Live Nation, Bryan and I are really sort of excited about the amount of support that we’ve gotten from MGM with every project that we have in the works with them. I think that for now, honestly what I’d like to focus on is focusing on what I have going on. I think that right now is a good point to say that I am satisfied with everything that we have our hands around right now. Let’s just focus on doing the best job that we can at that and then maybe next year, pivot and start focusing on some other stuff. For now, I have a lot of responsibilities and I have a chance to make a lot of people happy and I’m going to focus on that!

AM: As someone who is so busy, how do you take time for yourself so that you can just reset?

CHEF MV: I mean, I think that you have to force it. I have a tendency to say yes to everything and I think that I grew up working more 7 day weeks then I did 5. I would say that I did that for a good part of my life. I wanted to do it, but I did it because I had to as well. I mean, I had 2 daughters when I was young and I remember when I was doing my apprenticeship, on my days off I was standing in a deer processing plant at a local butchers house processing meat and stuff to pay the bills you know? I think that my work ethic is something that is really important to me and it’s something that I don’t want to lose touch of. I think that it’s a super valuable asset, but at the same time, I’m allowing myself to do that, to take a couple of things and to just go do something. Like yesterday was my daughter’s birthday and it’s a little extreme, but my brother flew me here from Vegas, we were at our restaurant doing an event and I was like, “I need to get to my daughter, it’s her birthday.” She’s down here in medical school, she’s going to become a doctor.

AM: Oh wow!

CHEF MV: Not only is it like a Voltaggio going to college which is one thing! But a Voltaggio becoming a doctor is another! My other daughter is here as well and she’s like also doing her own thing and so when you have those moments to spend time with family, my brother flew my wife and I down here just to spend 2 days with my daughters here. I think that family time is so key!

AM: Your smile is so big right now!

CHEF MV: Well because I think that as much as I hate that I am going to say this, I really neglected my family for a long time because I had this path that I had to do these things so that I could be better for them. So now, I think that at this point in my life, as much as I provided for them, I think that I could be more present for them and that’s something that I am really trying to carve out time for.

AM: If we were invited to your house for brunch, what would be something that you would cook for us? I always love knowing what people’s brunch menus are.

CHEF MV: I mean as much as I hate to say it, I would have to have something with caviar on it because I think that, I don’t know, to me brunch is caviar. I think that that’s really weird to say, but when I worked, no one wanted to work brunch at the luxury hotel. If you got scheduled to work brunch, you were getting punished. I think that that was the first time that I tried caviar. Working brunch at The Greenbriar Hotel or at The Ritz Carlton or something like that and I was like, “hmm, I like this stuff.” Then when I was in charge of running things, there was Caviar Eggs Benedict, caviar this and caviar that! I just really liked it. There’s a restaurant that we have here in LA called Petrossian, you have one in NY as well.

AM: We literally lived around the corner from them!

CHEF MV: So, they do this Caviar Flatbread there and I had it once, I’ve had it a lot actually, and I’m going to go home and recreate my own version of this. Every time I have a brunch, I am going to do this. You can do this with smoked salmon like the Wolfgang Smoked Salmon Pizza that Wolfgang Puck makes. But you buy the flour tortillas, and you brush them with a little olive oil and season it with a little salt and bake those in the oven. You pull them out and you have a crispy flatbread.

So now, you can build this breakfast pizza on whatever you want on top of it. So, now you grab crème fraiche, capers, grab some chopped red onion, parsley, a little hard-boiled egg, and whether it’s smoked salmon or caviar, you cut it into pizza. It’s easy, it looks beautiful –

AM: Wow!

CHEF MV: You said wow, I only described it to you and you said wow! I used to get that a lot when I went to Petrossian for brunch and I would always order the Caviar Flatbread. So, a smoked salmon version or whatever, I just think that the idea of using a flour tortilla is something that everyone should have in their repertoire!

IG @mvoltaggio

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 16 - 27 CREATIVE DIRECTION Dominic Ciambrone, PHOTOGRAPHY Bryam Heredia, PHOTO COURTESY of SRGN Studios | PG 28 + 31 Food Network/Guy's Grocery Games | PG 32 - 35 Food Network/Bobby's Triple Threat |

Read the JUL ISSUE #91 of Athleisure Mag and see TRUE HOSPITALITY | Chef Michael Voltaggio in mag.

ATHLEISURE MAG #91 | CHEF MICHAEL VOLTAGGIO

In this month’s issue, our front and back cover story is with Bravo's Top Chef Season 6 Winner, Titan Chef on Food Network's Bobby's Triple Threat, countless appearances as a judge on Beat Bobby Flay, Guy's Grocery Games, and trailblazing Chef/Restaurateur, Michael Voltaggio. We have been a fan of his since he appeared on Top Chef and we love seeing his passion for food, guest experience and hospitality as well as he continues to increase his brand and portfolio by working his brother, Chef Bryan Voltaggio as well as their partnerships with Live Nation and MGM Resorts. We wanted to know what he was working on now, the upcoming 2nd season of Bobby's Triple Threat and how he navigated the industry. We also caught up with Chef/Founder Philippe Massoud of ilili here in NY as well as its DC location.We have attended this Lebanese restaurant since 2008 and we have a number of dishes that we enjoy there. We wanted to know more about how he brought the cuisine of his home in Lebanon to NY and elevated it! He gave us his culinary story that is filled with passion, memories, and the need to continue storytelling with each guest that comes to his restaurant. He also talks about how he got into the industry as well as an the importance of connection through his food. We sat down with decorated Team USA Swimming Olympic Medalist, Nathan Adrian. We enjoyed watching him as he participated in the Summer Games of Beijing, London, and Rio. He talked about being a freestyle swimmer, having teammates that included: Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Matt Grever, Cal Dressel and more! He also told us what he has been up to since then as well as the importance of safe sun! When it comes to haircare, Chaz Dean, Hairstylist, Colorist, and Founder/Creator of WEN which is a hair system that revolutionized the industry by removing lather from your hair routine. He talked about how he became a hairstylist, how creating products became part of his role, the fundamentals of Chaz Dean Studio, and his line, WEN. If you have yet to watch Netflix's The Deepest Breath, we highly suggest that you do. In our conversation with its director, Laura McGann, she talked about creating this documentary that focuses on a world champion free diver and her safety diver. In this story we learn about the sport, the incredible kind of training that takes place when competing and participating in this sport, the beautiful locales around the world, and the relationship of these roles and this duo specifically. You can stream this now.

This month’s 9PLAYLIST comes from DJ Mia Moretti which we have seen perform a number of times here in NY and EDM DJ's Kris Kross Amsterdam. This month's 9DRIP comes from Chaz Dean. Our 9LIST STORI3S comes from FAST X's Jordana Brewster and The Bachelorette contestant, Jason Tartick. Our 63MIX ROUTIN3S comes from Chef Michael Voltaggio, and EDM DJ/Producer John Newman.

Our monthly feature, The Art of the Snack shares a must-visit to Jiwa Singapura in Tyson’s Corner. This month’s Athleisure List comes from Ritz Carlton, Bacara Santa Barbara and Ichibantei. As always, we have our monthly roundups of some of our favorite finds.

Read the JUL ISSUE #91 of Athleisure Mag now.

FOOD IS MEDICINE | CHEF TODD ENGLISH

This month, we're kicking off our transition into the Spring! It's always an exciting time to find more reasons to be out and about with friends, travel to new destinations and to have the best meals at new and treasured restaurants. When it comes to the culinary industry, there have been a number of luminaries that elevated this space and showcase how they interpret and infuse their passion in this field.

Our March cover is an innovator and trailblazer in this field. We're pleased to have 4X James Beard Award winner, Emmy nominated, Las Vegas Food & Wine Festival's 2022 Chef of the Year, restaurateur, entrepreneur, food advocate, best-selling author, philanthropist, and Host/TV personality, Chef Todd English. We enjoyed eating at his restaurant Olives, here in NY back in the 2000s as well as eating at his restaurants in Las Vegas.

His passion for his love of cooking rustic Mediterranean, creating an immersive ambiance when you're at his establishments and having that Todd English aesthetic when you're at his properties is something that we enjoy. He has blown our collective minds, palettes and senses with such utter delights over the years - with so much more coming!

We caught up with Chef Todd to talk about his culinary background, how he got in and navigated the industry, providing insight into what it meant to be in the indsustry when there weren't the resources that we have access today, English Hospitality Group (its portfolio includes Olives, Figs, The Pepper Club, Bluezoo at Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort, The English Hotel to name a few), an array of projects, luxury in hospitality, cannabis and food advocacy. In this interview, we get an inside look on how he approaches food, the state of food and the power of relevancy as a brand.

ATHLEISURE MAG: It is such an honor to be able to talk with you and to you have you as this month’s cover of Athleisure Mag. We used to go to Olives here in NY quite a bit, it was definitely our hangout quite a bit, it was definitely our hangout spot! So to be able to have you and to talk about your background, all the things that you have been involved in and what you're working on is a great moment. It’s been inspiring to see what you have done in the culinary scene and how you have pushed boundaries.

CHEF TODD ENGLISH: Well thank you very much and the honor is mine as well. Thank you for being a patron of mine over the years and we will have to continue that down the road with all of the new stuff that’s going on.

AM: I know I saw that you are doing a lot of amazing things that’s coming down the pipeline, we definitely want to check out your restaurants. For me personally, when I first came to NY in 2002, you kind of showed me what being a Celebrity Chef was like in terms of having the restaurants, having the programs that you were on, the cookware, cookbooks and so on. It’s really interesting to see where the industry has gone and how you continue to do these really amazing things.

CHEF TE: Yeah, it’s fascinating you know? I was talking to somebody else yesterday and it’s somebody that I actually cooked with who was one of the first people that I worked with when I got my amazing cooking jobs when I got out of culinary school. It was in 1980!

AM: I was 1 year old then ha!

CHEF TE: Haha it’s crazy where the world has gone as far as in the cuisine. There was no Food Network at that time, there was no Internet, there was no Instagram. I remember that when you wanted to learn something about cooking, you went to the library for culinary or you went and read a book or that was pretty much it! There was no Internet or Google!

AM: Versus now, where everything is so much at your fingertips. This issue marks our 87th, and when we first started, food has always been a big category for us in our coverage, you were always someone we'd love from the beginning to have share your story. So to be chatting with you now 7 years later with all of this comingi up is a thrill for the Athleisure Mag team.

CHEF TE: Well thank you and that’s so cool. I will first and foremost say that I still really love what I do. I’m always working on different categories of things that interest me. My sons, Oliver and Simon, they did a documentary called Feeding Tomorrow that just won a bunch of awards at the LA film documentary and they were just invited to Sundance. It talks about sustainability, regenerative soils and etc. etc. and all of the things that we’re starting to pay attention to here. So I have been working with one of my cool – because I have gotten into working with cannabis as well mostly from medicinal standpoints from my sister way back when it wasn’t legal.

So having to work through this all these years I found that there all sorts of interesting things that are coming out of that whether it’s the hydroponics (editors note: hydroponics is the technique of growing plants using a waterbased nutrient solution rather than soil) and the way that they grow it and etc. Now, we’re learning to do that and I’m working with one of my good friends who has one of the leading hydroponic companies in North America, not to mention the world. I was talking to them about sustainability, hydroponics and how we’ve been working on a project to make wine and to do it in a hydroponic way and wild stuff like that.

So, I’m always interested in what is the future. I worked in Dubai with the Museum of the Future on a project there. What is the future of food, how are we going to provide food for 10 billion people in 20, 25 years or whatever that number is going to be? How do we produce healthier food that’s not full of GMOs. One of my first cookbooks was Alice Waters' cookbook, Chez Panisse and her dedication to local farms and obviously, being in California that was a lot easier than when I was in Massachusetts at the time. I mean, we went local, but in the summer. I would buy exotic seeds, sometimes legal and sometimes not, but we would buy stuff from all over that was not being grown and so it was fun. To me, that’s the beauty of what we do. Not to get sidetracked, but that’s what I do and why I love it.

AM: Well that’s the thing that I have seen about the different projects that you have been involved in. You continue to trailblaze and really dig deep into these areas. I find it fascinating!

When did you first fall in love with food?

CHEF TE: Well, if you ask my mother, my mother tells a story where I grew up part of my life in Georgia and I was 8 or 9 years old and I wanted to figure out how to make ice cream. Again, there’s no Internet, so we went and bought a White Mountain hand churned ice cream machine. I figured it out, once again, it was a hot August day in Atlanta. We went to the Farmer’s Market and I bought a bunch of peaches and I made Georgia Peach Ice Cream!

AM: Wow!

CHEF TE: I was so young and it was handmade! There was no Food Network. My family were pretty good cooks, but where the hell that came from, I had no idea!

AM: That is crazy and it takes a long time to! We used to have one as a kid that had salt in the tumbler and you had to keep churning it and churning it and my dad loved doing it. It was great ice cream, but as a kid, I was like, “can’t we just buy it out of the tub?”

CHEF TE: It’s definitely a real labor of love.

AM: Exactly.

CHEF TE: It’s worth it in the end when it comes out of there and it’s delicious and the Georgia peaches were super ripe.

AM: At what point did you realize that your passion for food and you’re love for it would be a career path that you wanted to take?

CHEF TE: You have to remember that when I got out of the Culinary Institute of America, it was 1982 and I started working in French restaurants, then Italian and I ended up going to Europe and cooking just because I had just met with someone who said, “here, I will give you a letter,” it was Tony May (founder of San Domenico NY, SD26, Palio) – I don’t know if you know, but Sirio Maccioni (Le Cirque), Tony May, they were the super Tuscan guys that came over from Italy and opened restaurants in NY. Tony May had a restaurant called San Domenico and he was a wonderful mentor to me because again in those days, I went over in the 80s and knocked on someone’s door and said, “can I have a job?” with a letter in my hand! They ended up giving me a job and one thing led to another and I worked in Italy and it was the 80s. I don’t know, there was something about it - it was amazing. You’d go to the markets to cook, you’d make fresh bread, fresh pasta and you did all those great things and that’s what I did. The same with the French, you’d make sauces and I think that that’s one of the things that I was most fascinated by – learning about flavors, learning about extractions of flavors, sauces, technique and there’s nothing easy about it! It’s 14 hour days and I was also going to school. So, I’d go to French school, bakeries and it was pretty crazy.

AM: I didn’t even think about that. That’s crazy so you must have slept for 4 or 5 hours in a day, but you were either training or working.

CHEF TE: Pretty much!

AM: Wow!

CHEF TE: Luckily, I was born with a lot of energy. I was also studying music, I love music – I was studying the classical guitar at the NY Guitar Institute in NY. So I would go home and practice guitar and classical guitar is a lot of practice. It was fun!

AM: Who were some of the people that you trained under when you were coming up?

CHEF TE: In NY, it was Jean-Jacques Rachou at La Côte Basque and he was like a papa to me he was very very encouraging to young American chefs although he was still an old school chef where you really didn’t want to mess up, let’s put it that way. So that’s the old school. He would invite me in and he was from Toulouse and they are famous for their cassoulet. I would have these obsessions with certain types of food. So cassoulet, he found out that I wanted to know more about it and he brought me in early and he came in early and he taught me cassoulet. To this day, I still think that I make the best cassoulet - learning from Jean-Jacques Rachou. Then he also spent a lot of time in Provence and he talked about Bouillabaisse and I was obsessed with it. I did a whole thing on Martha Stewart when she had me on and we went through the whole process. You can Google it – it’s crazy!

AM: I remember that!

CHEF TE: She didn’t want to skip one step!

I guess I try to teach the glamor of this which is interesting how it has obviously become so glamorous. You have Food Network, Instagram stars, TikTok stars that do food. I watch all of these Instagrams where you have these people and they just go out and cook food and they have millions of followers. It’s wild! I think it’s great! With my chefs when we have menu writing sessions, I tell them to go out and find me your 10 top Instagram moments on food and bring those to the table because I want to see the perspective of everybody out there. Everyone follows different people, what are people eating, what makes them excited? What is the entertainment of food now? That’s something where I think that you have to stay modern and to keep your finger on the pulse to see what’s out there and I’m constantly always out there researching that and we try to always stay ahead of the curve. It’s not easy because it moves so fast now.

AM: Exactly!

CHEF TE: I think it’s great. I think it’s wonderful what’s going on and I’m very encouraged. The only thing that concerns me is the cost of goods. We need to figure that out and do better because at some point, where is luxury defined? I have always felt like food is our greatest democracy.

AM: Yup.

CHEF TE: If we don’t continue to look at our democracy of food, we are not going to and you know – when I go to Italy, food is very reasonable in most cases and in most restaurants. You can pretty much have the most incredible pasta in the world that you could ever have for not a lot of money. I find that is something that is concerning. I feel that we can grow more vegetables nearby or on our own gardens and let's do things that aren’t going to be so prohibitive as far as what we eat. That is one of the things that is so important to me. It really really bothers me that the biggest aisle in a big grocery store in a big chain one, not like a Whole Foods, is the cookie aisle and the sugary aisle! It’s disgusting!

AM: Absolutely, the sodas!

CHEF TE: Yes. Sugar pumped up foods that people eat. It’s just, what? Unfortunately, a lot of bad things are happening out of that from diabetes, obesity, etc. I find that I always like the 5 or 10lbs that I

lose when I go to Italy because you’re just eating good food. How did all these allergies come about? Being allergic to celiac and these other things. Maybe they have always been there, but why is it worse than ever?

No one ever really wants to admit it, but it’s the way that we process food.

AM: Absolutely.

CHEF TE: It’s pretty simple and yet Big Agra and the government are not going to ever admit it –

AM: That’s their bread and butter.

CHEF TE: That’s their bread and butter. It’s how they make their money, no pun intended. I think that there’s a much bigger awareness out there for sure and that’s what my sons are doing and I think that that’s why their docu is getting so much attention because it’s actually calling out these people. Not necessarily by name, but it’s saying that we have 50 years and we won’t have any more soil that has the nutrients that we need etc. etc.

AM: But that is a big part of it. As I said earlier, I’m originally from the Midwest. Although I was from a large city, we would talk about soil, supporting local farms as opposed to factory farms that were moving in and you grew up knowing about food sourcing and the importance of being able to know about the environment and how your food supply was affected. There are a lot of people walking around not understanding that the labels on their food don’t really say all the things to say and so you could be eating things that are contributing to an allergy or other underlining particular conditions.

CHEF TE: I don’t even know if we know!

AM: Yeah!

CHEF TE: I think that it has gotten to the point, and I preface this by saying that I don’t think that it is everyone’s intention to do this, there are those people who do have these intentions. It’s troublesome!

AM: Exactly! When did you realize that you wanted to own your own restaurants and what was that point that you said that this was something that you wanted to take on? Did you think it would be as large as it is today?

CHEF TE: Not at all. No, no, no. I was working at a job, that I was like, oh ok. I had been there for a while and being a little bit wild I guess I could put it and feeling like I wanted to prove something else and my ex-wife and I had a baby die at birth in 1986 and it was shocking, I was young and 25 years old. I was like, ok well what is the meaning of life? Trying to get a different perspective and at 25, you think you’re really old.

AM: This is true!

CHEF TE: We had a baby and it was very traumatic and it was a very complicated process. So I had to make the decision on whether we were going to try to save her from a very – what would have been a very terrible existence from what we were told.

Anyway, so I remember sitting there on a mountain top looking out over the valley and I went out on a journey through Italy and I’m by the ocean and I go, “you know what? It’s time to do my own thing.” I ended up leaving the job, I didn’t have anything set up. I did a little catering here and there with the clients that we knew about. Long story short, we opened the restaurant and never looked back!

AM: That’s amazing!

CHEF TE: Yeah, it was the original Olives and we did 50 people I think the first night, 100 people the next night and then there was a line around the corner for 16 years.

AM: Tell me about English Hospitality Group and the brands that make up this portfolio?

CHEF TE: Yeah, yeah, I mean that’s – it’s really about us – I mean incorporating my family, incorporating what I think that the business is very much about not just the food, but the whole hospitality world that we’re in. Hospitality to me, I like to have a good time and have people over as I’m more than just the food. It’s a whole ambiance.

AM: As someone who has had a number of different restaurants, how do you go about deciding which one it will be, what location you want to take on as it seems like it would be a strategic situation when you’re thinking about this.

CHEF TE: Right. I don’t know I just kind of like exploring a lot of different things. I look at it like, I like music in the same way. I love exploring different types and genres of music and I find that it’s really the same kind of thing. It is the same thing – to me. Truly, the food end and the music are the most when it comes to emotions, energy and synergy – all of those kinds of things. I think that when you put on a song that you can listen to, it reminds you of something or whatever that moment may be in your life as well as aromas or something that you might eat – it evokes the same kind of things. So that’s why I like to explore different genres of things and it’s kind of one of the most exciting things and why I love what I do!

AM: Why did you want to open The English Hotel. It looks stunning in the pictures.

CHEF TE: Haha – thank you! For all the same reasons!

AM: I thought that you would say that!

How do you define the Todd English aesthetic?

CHEF TE: It’s pretty simple. I don’t like for it to be too complicated or uptight. It’s come in and have a good time, let your hair down, be in the moment. That’s what I try to evoke and it’s like those are the special memories that will hopefully come out of it. It’s those simplest things that are the fondest memories.

AM: Pappas Taverna, what can you tell me about this? It seems like a very exciting project and I know you’re working with Stratis Morfogen (Jue Lan Club, Brooklyn Chop House Steakhouse, Philippe Chow) on this.

CHEF TE: That has been a great project. I’ve spent a lot of time in Greece over the years and I have always loved and have a lot of really great Greek friends. I have spent a lot of time traveling the country and enjoyed the amazing food. So it’s been a great project to work on and what I want to do, I call it Greek Unplugged and I have been working on a couple of other projects that the English Hospitality Group is working on with that and actually, exploring Greece as an outlet for us to do something in Mykonos over the summer as a pop up.

“I mean incorporating my family ... the business is very much about not just the food, but the whole hospitality world that we’re in. Hospitality to me, I like to have a good time and have people over as I’m more than just the food. It’s a whole ambiance.”

— Chef Todd English

AM: Oh wow!

CHEF TE: It’s like you can create songs out of 3 notes like The Beatles have done. A lot of great rock songs are only 3 or 4 chords. Food is the same thing, it's how you mix it up, you know? What’s your interpretation of it, how you change the notes or the ingredients around it just a little bit to make it something that is unique to you and makes your own song. So that’s how I kind of always look at it.

AM: Very cool.

Are there other projects coming up that are here in NY?

CHEF TE: Yeah! I’m working on doing my sort of revised version of Figs which I opened up 30 years ago. I’m very excited about that. I think that pizza is having its moment again. I’m very excited to dabble back into that. With Figs, it’s always been over the years, Lobster and Corn Pizza, Peking Duck Pizzas, Foie Gras and Confit Duck Pizza! We’ve always pushed those limits and taken it out of the tradition and that was always happening in the beginning. So my outlook on food is the same way. I always say that it’s common things and uncommon ways. When I do cooking seminars or classes and I’ll say, well you know, let’s look at this for a second here. As an example, we all have a beautiful Hen of the Woods Oyster – Oyster Mushrooms, there’s 10 of us at the table and we’re all going to make our own version of whatever this is, but it’s the one ingredient. How does one take that ingredient and how do we make it special? How do you make it different or is it just the technique? How do you grow? So that is always what I am looking at.

AM: I love how you get into different kinds of details and how you challenge yourself basically. Looking at something in a different way, taking that same item and having various variations out of it. I think that that is very interesting.

CHEF TE: Well, it certainly is what it is. You have to challenge yourself every day. You don’t have to, but I believe that’s what keeps me coming back. We always say in the business that you’re only as good as your last dish, but in retrospective, that is true! Life changes and things move on. I don’t cook things that we used to cook when I first started cooking you know? Veal kidneys – have you ever eaten them?

AM: Um no, I don’t think so.

CHEF TE: Right? You’re the generation – what about sweetbreads?

AM: No, I’m not a sweetbread person, no.

CHEF TE: What about brain?

AM: No just no! I had sweetbread once I believe – but still no.

CHEF TE: See, if I made it for you and you were sitting at my table, you may go, “eww gross” or you may go, "I have no idea!"

AM: Right!

CHEF TE: Yeah, because I’m the generation that if you kill an animal, you eat it head to toe. Early on in my career, that’s what you did and not so much anymore. I would seek small farms with lamb that they would raise like I would see in Rome. They would be 35lbs and you would roast it and it would be the most delicious thing that you ever ate in your life. That appreciation for killing an animal, one of the things that I have always loved about my roots in the Mediterranean diet is not only are they finding that it is actually one of the healthiest ways to eat and live, only 20% of the diet is protein, meat or fish. Again, that’s very localized and eaten head to toe whether it’s rabbit, lamb or something that’s freshly caught that day, It’s a highly based vegetable diet and also very legume oriented. So that’s where a lot of the protein comes from. Again, I’m not getting on my stumping stool here, but it’s something that I believe in and I believe in it in a sense of eating it for animals as well.

AM: I can appreciate that, but I will pass on the sweetbreads.

You have a private restaurant at the Bentley Residences.

CHEF TE: Yes!

AM: It sounds amazing. Can you tell me about that and why did you want to be part of that?

CHEF TE: You know what it’s going to end up being? First of all, I like the idea of – it doesn’t have to be that the food is exclusive or the exclusivity of it, but I do like the specialization or the exclusivity of have something that I hope can be a very interesting experience – it’s different than what you normally might have. Luxury is being defined in very different ways, now. This to me is a fun way to look at luxury and it will actually be more of a test kitchen. Even though Gil Dezer, the developer is a good friend of mine, he said, “Todd do whatever you want. It’s fine.” I said, ok I may be down there being like a mad professor in there, people will come in and try – it’s some mad professor stuff! He said it was cool and that he loved that.

AM: He’s like, whatever you want to do!

CHEF TE: Yeah, whatever I want to do!

It’s not going to be just one genre of cuisine and cooking. I’m hoping that people will use it as their daily basis to and to create stuff that they can place in their fridge, we’ll run it up to your condo and give you instructions on how to throw it into the Todd English Air Fryer that we’ll sell to you and will come along with it!

AM: Nice!

CHEF TE: It’s so often that in these large condos, nobody even knows where there kitchen is.

AM: And very clean because it’s not used.
CHEF TE: The design is a very cool kitchen. It gets kind of put away behind a cabinet.

AM: You’re also in the Ghost Kitchen space. Why did you want to be part of that as I love that concept.

CHEF TE: I think again, those people that don’t know their kitchens and have busy lives as you do, there’s just different ways to be able to get people their food. I look at it like another outlet. As an example, Figs delivery, our pizza delivery is over 35% - it’s a lot and it’s the kind of food that transports very well.

AM: For the Ghiost Kitchens, is that just for your restaurants and brands in your portfolio or can others partner with you in this as well?

CHEF TE: It will be other people as well, yes. I don’t try to take all of the glory or to pretend that I could do it better than some places where that’s what they do. I respect that and I would never – I may try to mimic it and do my best to be –

AM: Right!

CHEF TE: It’s always to pursue things and to have different goals and perspectives of things.

AM: We were talking about cannabis earlier in our conversation and I love Mac & Cheese, you have this Mac & Cheese from LastLeaf that is cannabis infused. What was that process like?

CHEF TE: I actually changed it. The name is no longer LastLeaf, it’s actually called Bougie.

AM: I like that even better!

CHEF TE: We’re going to be making that out of Nevada now with some very prominent doctors out of that field that are pretty cool. One of the things that I got a call on was from St. Jude. I used to do a lot of stuff on HSN and during the holiday season, I would have a certain pot during Breast Cancer Awareness, we can talk about that too as a I do a lot of charitable stuff. With St. Jude’s Hospital, we always had that we would sell and the proceeds of that would go to St. Jude’s. In Oct., we would manufacture these hot pink pots that were really cool and we would sell those for proceeds going to my sister’s foundation, Wendy English Breast Cancer Research Foundation as she passed away from that. So that was another motivating factor for me to get into my own business too.

Having said that, so with Bougie and its Mac & Cheese, we’re going to be creating this and also at St. Jude’s Hospital, I don’t know if they have cleared it yet, but they called me and asked if we would be willing to donate the Mac & Cheese to their terminally ill kids. And I said yes, without me crying, I would certainly be willing to do that. I know we’re following up on that and they will be following up with us, but I’m very very excited to have the ability to do this for these poor kids that are amazing.

AM: Wow, that’s amazing.

CHEF TE: Food is our medicine, baby!

AM: Absolutely!

CHEF TE: It is our medicine, and we can’t ever forget that. Any legacy that I would want to live by in my life is – let’s look at this in a different way and let’s think about how we can provide healthier food to people in the world. I think especially because I’m doing something as well with a super food group that is pretty interesting called BOKU Superfood that are friends of mine that I met through the shopping channels when they would sell their products. I used to joke with them that I loved that they had 75 different types of mushroom powders, but the taste, I can’t drink it. I have to choke it down! We joke about it. They laugh about it too and I told them that I get it, but here’s the thing, let's make it taste good, because that's what I do and I will do my best to make it taste good. Let’s talk about the nutritional contents of what it is that makes it. During the pandemic, I actually ended up staying with them on their ranch in Ojai, California for a little bit of time. We were working on some stuff there and we’re looking to put those things out there as well.

AM: That’s exciting!

CHEF TE: Yeah, that’s what I love.

“Food is our medicine baby!”

— Chef Todd English

AM: Do you think, as I remember watching you on your show Food Trip on PBS, do you think that you would come back and do a series?

CHEF TE: Yes! We’re working on that now!

AM: Yay! There are so many awesome food shows like Top Chef and different things like that, but I thought that you would have to come back to a network or whatever streaming platform.

CHEF TE: Yes, probably a streaming platform. I’m very excited about it. I think that people really love and most of my friends, they travel for food.

AM: I do as well! So yeah. I love knowing where things come from.

CHEF TE: I’m sure you do, yeah. What restaurant you’re eating in is a pretty big on the agenda right?

AM: Absolutely and even if it’s something that we’re doing in work as I’m also a fashion stylist, if I’m pulling, I need to know the different things that we can try if I’m in a certain neighborhood or other city.

CHEF TE: You’re also in fashion?

AM: Yes! I am also a fashion stylist. I’ve designed a number of lines and I was also on HSN and I had a collaboration with Sebago shoes so I did that for 3 years. There’s a lot of things from my background and everytime you’re talking about music, my great uncle was a jazz artist and I used to see him and Herbie Hancock.

CHEF TE: Oh my God!

AM: Yeah my great uncle was Joe Henderson.

CHEF TE: Oh wow! See, I’m old enough to know all of those names! That’s great!

AM: Yeah, I loved his music, continue to play it. I do like how music, food and fashion – all of these things, come and play together which is why we created Athleisure Mag. We shoot a lot of our active lifestyle wellness content in luxury residences here in the city. We just love having that blend together. Food with me is huge. Even on our sets, we have to have something tasty. I’m not satisfied if I’m not happy with what I’m eating.

CHEF TE: Right, I love that!

AM: Absolutely and in this industry, it’s great to know so many people and in food, it was an honor and super fun to have had Cat Cora, we shot with her right before the pandemic and I’m always interested in the space and thinking in the mind of a chef.

CHEF TE: I love Cat, she’s great! Well tell her I say hi!

AM: I will for sure! I think that one of the things that we enjoy about the magazine and our podcast equivalent for Athleisure Kitchen was just hearing the stories of the why and the how. Seeing it on one side, like going to your beautiful restaurants is one thing. But now, being able to talk with you and to see how you sketch things out, I find that highly impactful.

CHEF TE: It’s crazy!

AM: What are some other projects that you’re tackling that we should know about?

CHEF TE: One of the things is that I have my charity called Hunger Pains. Hunger Pains is about figuring out ways to get food to people in places so that we can set up commissaries for people so that we can actually feed the 1 million kids that go hungry every day. This happens even in NYC where people only have 1 meal a day and that’s kind of crazy how we live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world – what’s the deal here? That’s a big movement on my side right now.

AM: We were speaking with Tom Colicchio last month and he was talking about the Food Bill and other initiatives that he is involved in to drive awareness to the government, do you do things like that where you’re partnering with local or the federal government to push these initiatives along?

CHEF TE: Yeah. That’s certainly the goal. My son was showing me a clip where there is a place that they grow these beautiful melons, but they only grow them for their seeds. So they have a way of extracting the seeds and then they throw out the meat. Wait a second?

AM: Wait what? That’s so strange.

Our readers always like knowing what ingredients or spices that you love using and is in your kitchen? If you could only have 3 spices that would be the main theme in a dish that you’re creating, what would it be?

CHEF TE: If it’s a fresh herb, it’s usually a rosemary, not to sound boring.

AM: I love rosemary it’s also great in cocktails.

CHEF TE: I’m pretty much a rosemary guy. Not to mention basil and all the sweet herbs, but sometimes, depending on what I’m making, I like some dried herbs. Dried herbs, I mean I remember growing up that on the Italian side, tomato sauce would be made, it had to have dried oregano. Only dried! You’re talking about flavors and blooming flavors, essential oils and bringing things to their peak flavors, learning how to work with herbs and how to extract flavors out of them. I definitely love aromatic spices and there’s no question! I’m also a salt freak!

AM: Me too! I’m obsessed with various kinds of salts.

CHEF TE: Yeah, there are times when I have over 40 or 50 kinds of salt in my cabinet. I’m always picking one up whether I’m in the desert of Ibiza or I’m in Sicily or wherever, I’m getting salt and bringing it home.

AM: Absolutely, I like sauces, spices and I like salt. Those are my things.

CHEF TE: Good, there you go. We’ll get along really well then.

AM: Yes!

If we were coming over for brunch which is my favorite meal to have, what would be the meal that you serve and what cocktail would you pair with it?

CHEF TE: Brunch to me is a fun all day meal.

AM: Exactly.

CHEF TE: I like it to be ever so evolving. Let’s say we were in the Hamptons over the summer, which is one of my favorite places to do a Sunday Brunch kind of thing. Obviously, you want to go over to the Farmer’s Market which is amazing out there and so you say, ok, they just harvested those beets, those beautiful tomatoes just came in or peaches for example or fennel. Whatever all the amazing stuff there is that comes out of the ground over there. Sometimes what I will do is courses that are about 1 topic.

AM: I love that.

CHEF TE: So, if it’s a topic. Today is going to be tomato day and what are we going to do with these tomatoes? We're going to have various courses that are about tomatoes. We’ll be doing tomato shots with fresh tomato juice that I have squeezed with a knife and then we would do a Clear Bloody Mary.

AM: Oh, that’s awesome!

CHEF TE: So we’ll start you with a Clear Bloody Mary so it’s just the tomato juice that is infused with horseradish and all the things that make a little bit of spice like black pepper and that kind of thing. So that’s sort of where I would go with that and that’s kind of fun because I’d serve them chilled – they’d be shaken and chilled and placed in martini glasses and then I’d float tomatoes in the glass.

AM: Oh wow!

CHEF TE: So that’s fun and it’s a fun little experiment for you!

AM: I love that ok, I thought I was doing something when I had Green Bloody Mary, but this sounds fantastic!

CHEF TE: And to me, I just go back to the beauty of tomatoes – tomato sauce – however that would be interpreted. My Sicilian grandmother used to make tomato sauce with Italian tuna or it might be with poached eggs. So, it’s not one particular item, but you might have a beautiful harvested tomato day with me including dessert!

IG @cheftoddenglish

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | FRONT COVER/BACK COVER + PG 16-47 Chef Todd English

Read the MAR ISSUE #87 of Athleisure Mag and see FOOD IS MEDICINE | Chef Todd English in mag.

CHEF'S PLAYBOOK | CHEF TOM COLICCHIO

We've enjoyed eating at Tom Colicchio's restaurants in NY as well as hearing his wisdom as the Executive Producer, host and judge of BRAVO's Top Chef. Our favorite episodes are when he creates a dish to share with the chefs. Right before the Big Game, we took some time to talk about how you can prepare your dishes, how we can include sustainable brands within our menu and getting the scoop on Season 20 of Top Chef: World All-Stars that premiers on Mar 9th!

ATHLEISURE MAG: Before we get into the Big Game and all of the good food that we’re going to talk about. When did you realize that you wanted to be a chef?

CHEF TOM COLICCHIO: Oh, when I was about 15, I always cooked at home and my dad suggested that I become a chef. Actually, if you look in my yearbook, circa 1980, on the bottom of my photo, it says, “plan to be a chef.”

AM: Love that!

Clearly we’re all excited for the Big Game coming up on Sunday. It’s all about people coming together and the foods that we’re all going to eat. What are you excited about when it comes to watching the game and who are you cheering for?

CHEF TC: I’m an NFC guy so I guess I’m cheering for the Eagles. Also, the owner of the Eagles, Jeffrey Lurie, did us a great favor, he and his ex-wife at the time, they were our first investors in a film that my wife made about hunger in America, so I have a soft spot for the Lurie family.

AM: Noted!

CHEF TC: Yeah, we’re just going to enjoy the day with kids, some family and maybe some friends will pop by. We keep it pretty simple around our house and you know, it's the typical stuff that you would want to find around game day – nachos. There is this little steak dish that I do that’s almost like a salad and of course, there's wings. They're a favorite in my household almost every night and not just reserved for game day.

AM: Same!

CHEF TC: This particular recipe has a barbecue sauce that’s a little bit different which has sour cherries. So there is some garlic and some ginger, there’s onion, serrano chilies for some spice, lime juice and a little bit of vinegar for some acid and then the sour cherries provide a little bit of sweetness. Since it’s sour cherries, there’s a little bit of tartness as well. So it’s really well balanced.

More importantly, is the chicken that we’re actually using. This is a new company called, Do Good Chicken and it’s in your market, you can find it. What we do is that we take food from supermarkets that would normally go in the garbage and end up in a landfill and create methane, which then creates greenhouse gases and hurts our environment, we take all that surplus food on a massive scale, process it and turn it into an odorless, flavorless powder that we then turn into pellets and in turn, feed our chickens. We give them to our growers who are growing our chickens for us. So you can actually help save the environment by simply just buying a different chicken. So when you’re in the supermarket, you have a lot of different choices that you can make in chickens. You can just buy Do Good Chicken knowing that you can help the environment. So people, I think that they want to be able to do things whether they’re buying electric cars or maybe something else. But this is very simple, buy a different chicken! You can help save the environment! In fact, every chicken that you purchase from Do Good Chicken, takes about 4 pounds of carbon out of the atmosphere.

AM: Oh wow!

So obviously, you just shared with us this chicken recipe that looks amazing. What tips do you have for people that are entertaining their friends or family for the Big Game and how they can make it easy for them and enjoyable as well.

CHEF TC: Yeah, you have to start a couple of days in advance. Make sure that your shopping is done by Thursday. Make sure that your prep, you’ve started on Sat at least! Don’t wait until Sunday morning where you’re running around. Get all of that chopping out of the way. So if you’re doing this sauce, you can make it on Thursday or on Friday – it’s going to hold. Get your chicken wings. This is really important when you’re making chicken, you want it to be really really dry. So buy it a couple of days in advance, take it out of the package, keep it open, do not cover it in your refrigerator so it dries out. That’s how you get crispy crispy chicken. So that’s really important. But anything that you’re chopping, if you’re making salsas and things like that, just do it ahead of time. You don’t have to wait until the last second. Typically, when I’m cooking, if I’m making a dinner party at home, I want to get all of the chopping, the cutting and the prepping out of the way early. When I’m cooking, I’m not using a knife anymore, I’m just cooking and you can really just focus on that. Also, you want to keep this really simple because you want to spend time with your friends. The worst thing that you can do is have a bunch of people at your house and you’re stuck in the kitchen the entire time. You want to get out there and to enjoy the game as well.

AM: We couldn’t agree more and those are great tips! It’s kind of like Thanksgiving – prepping in advance!

CHEF TC: Absolutely! You’ve got to prep in advance and sometimes, a couple of days in advance! I think the other thing is that too often, I don’t think that we think about what we’re doing ahead of time. By now you should have your plays written out, you should know what your moves are going to be. You don’t want to call an audible the day of!

AM: Well, we’re sure that you have an awesome playbook coach!

CHEF TC: Haha you’ve got to read the defense too!

AM: Without a doubt!

We’re so excited for Top Chef to come out next month! It’s always exciting and we love when we get to talk to people that have been part of that universe. We’ve talked with Gail Simmons, Chef Justin Sutherland, Chef Kristen Kish and other people that have been cheftestants and Chef Nyesha Arrington is our cover for the JAN ISSUE #85.

CHEF TC: Oh yeah, she’s great!

AM: We love her to pieces!

So what can we expect for the All Stars, next month in London?

CHEF TC: Well, what’s really cool about this one is that it’s International All Stars. So, there are Top Chef productions all over the globe and so we’re taking the best over those regions – either winners or runners ups and bringing them all together. So we have contestants from Poland, Germany, Thailand, France, Brazil, Mexico, Canada and of course, the United States. It’s a great competition, it was a lot of fun shooting in London and it’s going to be fantastic!

AM: We’re definitely looking forward to that! Are there any other things that we should keep an eye out for because you’re always doing so many positive things and using your platform to let people know what you think about the state of things.

CHEF TC: Yes, I will continue to work on things for issues that revolve around hunger. There is the Farm Bill which is where all the hunger policies are contained. That’s happening and every 5 years, it’s debated so that’s coming up and I’m focusing on that and I am working on a new restaurant in Washington, D.C. that will hopefully open around Nov.

AM: That’s exciting, I always love when I go by Craft as we’re based here in NY. It’s amazing to be able to connect with you and to see what you’re doing and to watch Top Chef as well as to try out this chicken recipe.

SOUR CHERRY BBQ WINGS

• 4 lbs Do Good Chicken Party Wings

• 2 tablespoons salted butter

• ½ yellow onion, finely chopped

• 1 serrano chile, seeded and minced

• 2 garlic cloves, smashed

• ¾ cup sour cherry preserves

• 1/3 cup lime juice about 2 limes

• 1 lime, zested

• 1 tablespoon ketchup

• Salt and Pepper

• Flavorless oil, such as avocado or vegetable

Preheat the over to 450F and Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, toss the chicken wings in 2 tablespoons oil and season with salt and pepper.

Transfer the wings to the baking sheets skin side up and bake for 45 minutes, until cooked through and crisp.

While the wings are baking, make your BBQ sauce. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until softened and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add half of the minced serrano pepper and smashed garlic and cook for 1 minute, until softened and garlic is fragrant.

Add the onion and pepper mixture to a blender along with the sour cherry preserves, lime juice, and ketchup. Blend until smooth.

Return the cherry BBQ sauce back and to the pan and stir in the remaining serrano pepper. Bring it to a boil over medium-high heat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the BBQ sauce to a bowl.

Remove the wings from the oven when finishing baking and add them to a large bowl. Toss with one third of the cherry BBQ sauce.

Return the tossed wings back to the baking sheet and bake for an additional 5 minutes until sticky and caramelized.

Transfer the glazed wings to a serving dish, sprinkle with lime zest, and serve with the remaining glaze on the side.

If you’re looking for a sauce to cool you down, mix some cherry glaze with mayo for a cooler dipping sauce!

IG @tomcolicchio

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Tom Colicchio

Read the FEB ISSUE #86 of Athleisure Mag and see CHEF’S PLAYBOOK | Chef Tom Colicchio in mag.

S3. E1. | ATHLEISURE KITCHEN WITH RESTAURATEUR, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, HOST + FOOD ACTIVIST CHEF TOM COLICCHIO

On today's episode of Athleisure Kitchen, we kick off our 3rd season with Restaurateur/Executive Producer + Host of BRAVO's Top Chef and Food Activist, Chef Tom Colicchio! We've enjoyed eating at his restaurants in NY as well as hearing his wisdom on Top Chef. Our favorite episodes are when he creates a dish to share with the chefs and we see what drives him to bring your senses together on a plate. Right before the Big Game, we took some time to talk about how you can prepare your dishes ahead of an event you're hosting at home, how we can include sustainable options such as Do Good Chicken which he partnered with in our menu and getting the scoop on Season 20 of Top Chef: World All-Stars that premiers on Mar 9th! You can also see him in the FEB ISSUE #86 of Athleisure Mag.

Athleisure Kitchen is part of the Athleisure Studio Podcast Network and is a member of Athleisure Media which includes Athleisure Mag. 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 theme music is "This Boy" performed by Ilya Truhanov.

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

S3. TEASER | ATHLEISURE KITCHEN

We're back for the 3rd season of Athleisure Kitchen! Our past seasons have shared incredible stories of how chefs and culinary enthusiasts connect with food and allows them to showcase their personalities. Last season we chatted with chefs that included Justin Sutherland, Duff Goldman, Kristen Kish and Jordan Andino! We had a pop culture meets foodie moment with Brian Baumgartner who played Kevin Malone in The Office.

This season, the stories continue as we dig into how chefs and those in the culinary industry embrace food and maintain their creativity. We will kick off this season with Chef Tom Colicchio right before the 20th season of BRAVO's Top Chef World All Stars which takes place in London. We also talk with our JAN ISSUE #85 cover, Chef Nyesha Arrington who is currently hosting FOX's Next Level Chef alongside Chef Gordon Ramsay and Chef Richard Blais.

Athleisure Kitchen is part of the Athleisure Studio Podcast Network and is a member of Athleisure Media which includes Athleisure Mag. 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 theme music is "This Boy" performed by Ilya Truhanov.

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

ATHLEISURE MAG #86 | CARISSA MOORE

In this month’s issue, our cover story is 5 X World Surf League Women’s Champion and Team USA Surfing Olympic Gold Medalist, Carissa Moore. We talk about how she got into the sport, her passion for surfing, talks about the season, upcoming tournaments, traveling to exotic locals to do what she loves, her organization Moore Aloha and the importance of self-care. We also caught up with the first female snowboarder to win back-to-back Team USA Snowboarding Olympic Gold Medalist in Half-Pipe, 5 X Gold Medalist in of the Super Half Pipe in the X Games and ESPY Winner, Chloe Kim. We talk with her about her love for snowboarding, the importance of paying it forward to the next generation so they can have the thrill of competing her partnership with Mucinex Fast Max which supports YMCAs. We enjoyed having Leah Van Dale as our cover for our SEP ISSUE #45 in 2019 where we hung out with her during her cover shoot. This WWE star who wrestles under the name Carmella has won a number of accolades was on E! Total Divas and brings energy to the stage. We catch up with her to find out what she is up to as she is back to as she is back in the ring, how she prepares and comes down after her matches, upcoming tournaments, married Matt Polinsky/WWE’s Corey Graves, hearing how she navigates entrepreneurial opportunities as well as the importance of self-care in her life. We caught up with Restaurateur/Chef Tom Colicchio to find out we could focus on the Big Game in terms of creating dishes that we can all enjoy while also being sustainable with the use of Do Good Chicken. He also talked about when he realized he wanted to be a chef and of course he gave us the inside scoop on BRAVO’s Top Chef: World All-Stars which drops Mar 9th.

We are always excited to know more about our favorite DJs from how they started, their process and of course what we need to listen to next. We took a moment with DJ/Producer Martin Jensen to find out more about him and what we can look forward to. Elaine Welteroth is a trailblazer as the former Editor-in-Chief of Teen Vogue, Journalist, NY Times Bestselling Author, and Co-Host/Judge of BRAVO’s Project Runway, we talk about how she recently moderated an engaging panel for CIROC Stands For Black Excellence which was held at NFL House during the Super Bowl in Arizona. We talked about her takeaways from this event, how we continue to support Black journalists, the importance of NABJ and what she is working on. Whitney Cummings makes us laugh whether she is in front of the screen or behind it. She shared how her partnership with Baileys and comedy is a full circle moment, how she is celebrating St. Patrick’s Day and her upcoming shows that we should keep an eye out. When you think about nutrition that we eat for energy, fitness and to get the essentials that we need, an energy bar is our go-to. In this month’s issue, we met the OG who created this category. Jennifer Maxwell and her late husband Brian created POWERBAR in 1985 and even after selling it in 2000, her passion for staying in this category and innovating it led to her creating her latest venture, JAMBAR. We talk about how she went about starting this category, what led her to come back and how this bar combines her love for fitness, nutrition, community and music!

This month’s 9PLAYLIST comes from EDM DJ/Producer Martin Jensen. Our 9LIST STORI3S comes from Chloe Kim. Our 63MIX ROUTIN3S comes Founder of 8Greens which we have featured in a number of issues, Dawn Russell. Our 9DRIP, 9LIST STORI3S and 63MIX ROUTIN3S are 3 pages for each person’s spread.

Our monthly feature, The Art of the Snack shares a must visit to The Oval. This month’s Athleisure List comes from La Pulperia and The Juicy Lounge. As always, we have our monthly roundups of some of our favorite finds.

Read the FEB ISSUE #86 of Athleisure Mag.

TOM COLICCHIO + THE BIG GAME

This Sunday, the Big Game will be here and that means cheering for our favorite division and or team! We love the fact that we can come together over food, sports and a great story! We’ve been collecting a number of recipes and we caught up with Chef Tom Colicchio, 5 X James Beard Award winner, Emmy Award Winner, Executive Producer and Host of BRAVO’s Top Chef, the Restaurateur and Founder of Crafted Hospitality. He talked with us about what he’s serving, what our playbook needs to be for getting prepared for the Big Day and of course getting to hear about Top Chef World All Stars which premiers on March 9th!

ATHLEISURE MAG: Before we get into the Big Game and all of the good food that we’re going to talk about. When did you realize that you wanted to be a chef?

CHEF TOM COLICCHIO: Oh, when I was about 15, I always cooked at home and my dad suggested that I become a chef. Actually, if you look in my yearbook, circa 1980, on the bottom of my photo, it says, “plan to be a chef.”

AM: Love that!

Clearly we’re all excited for the Big Game coming up on Sunday. It’s all about people coming together and the foods that we’re all going to eat. What are you excited about when it comes to watching the game and who are you cheering for?

CHEF TC: I’m an NFC guy so I guess I’m cheering for the Eagles. Also, the owner of the Eagles, Jeffrey Lurie, did us a great favor, he was actually, he and his ex-wife at the time, they were our first investors in a film that my wife made about hunger in America, so I have a soft spot for the Lurie family.

AM: Noted!

CHEF TC: Yeah, we’re just going to enjoy the day with kids, some family and maybe some friends will pop by. We keep it pretty simple around our house and you know, it’s the typical stuff that you would want to find around game day – nachos. There is this little steak dish that I do that’s almost like a salad and of course, there’s wings. They’re a favorite in my household almost every night and not just reserved for game day.

AM: Same!

CHEF TC: This particular recipe has a barbecue sauce that’s a little bit different which has sour cherries. So there is some garlic and some ginger, there’s onion, serrano chilies for some spice, lime juice and a little bit of vinegar for some acid and then the sour cherries provide a little bit of sweetness. Since it’s sour cherries, there’s a little bit of tartness as well. So it’s really well balanced.

More importantly is the chicken that we’re actually using. This is a new company called, Do Good Chicken and it’s in your market, you can find it. What we do is that we take food from supermarkets that would normally go in the garbage and end up in a landfill and create methane, which then creates greenhouse gases and hurts our environment, we take all that surplus food on a massive scale, process it and turn it into an odorless, flavorless powder that we then turn into pellets and in turn, feed our chickens. We give them to our growers who are growing our chickens for us. So you can actually help save the environment by simply just buying a different chicken. So when you’re in the supermarket, you have a lot of different choices that you can make in chickens. You can just buy Do Good Chicken knowing that you can help the environment. So people, I think that they want to be able to do things whether they’re buying electric cars or maybe something else. But this is very simple, buy a different chicken! You can help save the environment! In fact, every chicken that you purchase from Do Good Chicken, takes about 4 pounds of carbon out of the atmosphere.

AM: Oh wow!

So obviously, you just shared with us this chicken recipe that looks amazing. What tips do you have for people that are entertaining their friends or family for the Big Game and how they can make it easy for them and enjoyable as well.

CHEF TC: Yeah, you have to start a couple of days in advance. Make sure that your shopping is done by Thursday. Make sure that your prep, you’ve started on Sat at least! Don’t wait until Sunday morning where you’re running around. Get all of that chopping out of the way. So if you’re doing this sauce, you can make it on Thursday or on Friday – it’s going to hold. Get your chicken wings. This is really important when you’re making chicken, you want it to be really really dry. So buy it a couple of days in advance, take it out of the package, keep it open, do not cover it in your refrigerator so it dries out. That’s how you get crispy crispy chicken. So that’s really important. But anything that you’re chopping, if you’re making salsas and things like that, just do it ahead of time. You don’t have to wait until the last second. Typically, when I’m cooking, if I’m making a dinner party at home, I want to get all of the chopping, the cutting and the prepping out of the way early. When I’m cooking, I’m not using a knife anymore, I’m just cooking and you can really just focus on that. Also, you want to keep this really simple because you want to spend time with your friends. The worst thing that you can do is have a bunch of people at your house and you’re stuck in the kitchen the entire time. You want to get out there and to enjoy the game as well.

AM: We couldn’t agree more and those are great tips! It’s kind of like Thanksgiving – prepping in advance!

CHEF TC: Absolutely! You’ve got to prep in advance and sometimes, a couple of days in advance! I think the other things to is that too often, I don’t think that we think about what we’re doing ahead of time. By now you should have your plays written out, you should know what your moves are going to be. You don’t want to call an audible the day of!

AM: Well, we’re sure that you have an awesome playbook coach!

CHEF TC: Haha you’ve got to read the defense too!

AM: Without a doubt!

We’re so excited for Top Chef to come out next month! It’s always exciting and we love when we get to talk to people that have been part of that universe. We’ve talked with Gail Simmons (listen on Athleisure Kitchen), Chef Justin Sutherland (listen on Athleisure Kitchen), Chef Kristen Kish (listen on Athleisure Kitchen) and other people that have been cheftestants and Chef Nyesha Arrington is our cover for the JAN ISSUE #85.

CHEF TC: Oh yeah, she’s great!

AM: We love her to pieces!

So what can expect for the All Stars, next month in London?

CHEF TC: Well, what’s really cool about this one is that it’s International All Stars. So, there are Top Chef productions all over the globe and so we’re taking the best over those regions – either winners or runners ups and bringing them all together. So we have contestants from Poland, Germany, Thailand, France, Brazil, Mexico, Canada and of course, the United States. It’s a great competition, it was a lot of fun shooting in London and it’s going to be fantastic!

AM: We’re definitely looking forward to that! Are there any other things that we should keep an eye out for because you’re always doing so many positive things and using your platform to let people know what you think about the state of things.

CHEF TC: Yes, I will continue to work on things for issues that revolve around hunger. There is the Farm Bill which is where all the hunger policies are contained. That’s happening and every 5 years, it’s debated so that’s coming up and I’m focusing on that and I am working on a new restaurant in Washington, D.C. that will hopefully open around Nov.

AM: That’s exciting, I always love when I go by Craft as we’re based here in NY. It’s amazing to be able to connect with you and to see what you’re doing and to watch Top Chef as well as to try out this chicken recipe.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Do Good Chicken

SOUR CHERRY BBQ WINGS

·        4 lbs Do Good Chicken Party Wings

·        2 tablespoons salted butter

·        ½ yellow onion, finely chopped

·        1 serrano chile, seeded and minced

·        2 garlic cloves, smashed

·        ¾ cup sour cherry preserves

·        1/3 cup lime juice about 2 limes

·        1 lime, zested

·        1 tablespoon ketchup

·        Salt and Pepper

·        Flavorless oil, such as avocado or vegetable

1. Preheat the over to 450F and Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, toss the chicken wings in 2 tablespoons oil and season with salt and pepper.

3. Transfer the wings to the baking sheets skin side up and bake for 45 minutes, until cooked through and crisp.

4. While the wings are baking, make your BBQ sauce. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chipped saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until softened and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add half of the minced serrano pepper and smashed garlic and cook for 1 minute, until softened and garlic is fragrant.

5. Add the onion and pepper mixture to a blender along with the sour cherry preserves, lime juice, and ketchup. Blend until smooth.

6. Return the cherry BBQ sauce back and to the pan and stir in the remaining serrano pepper. Bring it to a boil over medium-high heat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the BBQ sauce to a bowl.

7. Remove the wings from the oven when finishing baking and add them to a large bowl. Toss with one third of the cherry BBQ sauce.

8. Return the tossed wings back to the baking sheet and bake for an additional 5 minutes until sticky and caramelized.

9. Transfer the glazed wings to a serving dish, sprinkle with lime zest, and serve with the remaining glaze on the side.

If you’re looking for a sauce to cool you down, mix some cherry glaze with mayo for a cooler dipping sauce!

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

HOMAGE TO FOOD & CULTURE | CHRIS SCOTT

This month, our cover features Chef Chris Scott who was a finalist in Season 15 of Top Chef in Colorado and brought his technique and culinary view to the show. From that season, he continued to be on our radar as we saw him appear on a number of shows and food-oriented festivals and more. He's always focused on the food, making sure that it educates us on the cultures and regions it comes from as well as ensuring that he continues to reach back and assist chefs that are coming up by sharing knowledge where he can! We caught up with him ahead of the holiday season to dig a little deeper into his background, what he is focusing on with his restaurants, what it's like when you're going through the Top Chef process and his cookbook Homage: Recipes and Stories from an Amish Soul Food Kitchen. His insights on the intersectionality of foods he grew up with as well as how he has created impactful James Beard Foundation dinners is a conversation that we truly enjoyed!

ATHLEISURE MAG: We’re excited to have you as this month’s cover. We have connected via in the past and it’s always great to see you and your food, and what you’re working on!

When did you fall in love with food and when did you know that you wanted to be a chef as a career?

CHEF CHRIS SCOTT: I would say that I fell in love with it when I realized that early on in my career. It was sort of when it became more than just cooking and it became more so a way of life and the way that I understood the power from within the food and what it could do. Not only to sustain our bodies and everything, but what it could do culturally and things of that nature. It became more of a revolutionary kind of platform for me.

AM: How do you define your culinary style?

CHEF CS: My style, it changes from time to time. When you first start out, you're busting out all of your best moves in the beginning. You see that a lot in younger chefs and they really want it to be more about them than it is about the food! So you kind of go through those phases – the up and down and through the ebb and flow. But the older that I get, I understand that it is about the food and it was never really about me so you try really hard to highlight those things as far as food and everything is concerned. It’s about the farmers, it’s about the growing aspect and it’s about all of those things!

My cooking, some of the styles of it, I have been trained in fine dining and I have been doing that for 30+ years. You know I’ve worked in some very high-end spots. Right now, I’m kind of focused in on the food of my ancestors, but I do it all! The focus is really about the food and not about me, you know?

AM: Right!

Tell us about Butterfunk Biscuit Co. I’ve looked at the IG posts over the past few months or so and it’s some drool worthy pictures!

CHEF CS: Yeah! I don’t do the social media on there! I’ve seen it here and there. Butterfunk Biscuit Co is heritage biscuits at its finest. You’re going to be experiencing biscuits that have been passed down for 4 generations and it’s the biscuit that I did on Top Chef that got a lot of notoriety and people were lined up outside of the doors and they still are! But it’s where you can really come and it emphasizes more on Black bakers because I actually do a lot of pastries out of there and I’m going to be expanding into a lot of Rotis and Jeera and everything. So really focusing on chefs that bake from Brown countries. Just really trying to emphacize breads that are made by Brown hands.

AM: We enjoyed your season of Top Chef Season 15 in Colorado. Why did you want to compete on the show? You were a finalist on that season which was amazing and it was great to hear your story!

CHEF CS: It’s funny because that particular season, I did not want to compete! I applied 5 times onto the show and just didn’t get onto it and everything. I read somewhere that over 200,000 chefs apply to the show every year and they choose anywhere from 12-15 people and after awhile, the process is very long. Not only do you have to fill out this intense application – sometimes you hear back and sometimes you don’t. To only have to go through a bunch of Skype calls, to doing tastings, to be flown to different locations around the country – it’s a pretty long process and I didn’t want to have to go through that process for a 6th time!

AM: That’s understandable!

CHEF CS: At that time, my wife and I, we had our youngest kid, so we had a 1 year old and a baby. When I got the call, I turned them down at first and I told my wife, “hey listen, Top Chef called, they wanted me to come and try out for this season, but I told them no.” She said, “call them back and tell them yes!” I said, “how are we going to do this? How are you going to run 2 restaurants and 2 small children if I get on the show?” She said, “don’t worry, we’ll find a way.” So I got on and we found a way.

AM: Well you found a way!

Shortly after that season aired, Cochon 555 happened and that’s where we first met you in person as we were media sponsors of that event here in NY. It was cool to see you as well as other cheftestants from your season there as well. We know that you support other chefs, you do other types of foodie events – why is that so important to you to be able to participate and to present yourself in those spaces with all of those people?

CHEF CS: You know, it’s always good to be able to keep yourself out there and to show people what you’re out there do show people what you’re out there doing and to use that platform sometimes for a bit more than just food. It’s also about talking about how the industry is moving, what’s new or even some new dishes that you might want to be able to highlight. But it’s also important to want to uplift the ones that are coming up behind you as well. I think I did that event with Tyler Anderson (Millwright's, Ta-Que, Bar Piña) and Bruce Kalman (Soulbelly BBQ, BK Brinery) you know back in the day. Actually, there was a Cochon in Aspen while we were filming and we were at the finals and we weren’t supposed to leave the cast house, but we snuck out and went to the Cochon party back then. Not only was it fun, but you get to rub elbows with your colleagues from different parts of the country, but it’s good to kind of lift up the other chefs that are coming up behind you to give them that experience to be there and to also see what’s happening so that in the following years, they can be involved.

AM: We recently saw you on Bobby’s Triple Threat! Love that episode and how was it to be on the show and to taste 2 great chefs going head-to-head and then having to score them and to figure out a winner?

CHEF CS: Right! I mean for that day, it was some good eats for sure!

AM: It looked so good!

CHEF CS: I knew I was going there so I didn’t eat breakfast at all and I went in there ready! But that whole experience was pretty surreal! I knew of Bobby (Amalfi Las Vegas, Bobby’s Burgers, Beat Bobby Flay: Holiday Throwdown) back in the day in my Philly days. He started out on Food Network doing a show called Grillin’ and Chillin’ with Jack McDavid who’s a Philly chef back in the day and they tried to have Jack McDavid who was this country bumpkin dude wearing a farmer’s outfit and Bobby was supposed to be a city boy coming on the scene. Now here we are 20 some years later, he’s still doing it and I’m still doing it and we were just kind of talking about the old days and having the opportunity to be on the show was a great time!

AM: We love that!

We’re excited to learn more about Homage: Recipes and Stories from an Amish Soul Food Kitchen. I live in NY now, but I’m originally from Indianapolis, so I grew up around Amish communities although they were not in my town per se. I never thought about Amish and Soul Food having a connection until I saw you on Top Chef and you were talking about it. Can you tell us why you wrote this book and what that connection is like?

CHEF CS: So the book was written for a bunch of reasons. I think that the first and foremost is that I look at it like it is a love letter passed down from the women that have raised me to my children and their stories kind of run through me. My mother and grandmother passed away before my children were born and there always comes a time in anyone’s life when they kind of want to know where am I from, who are my ancestors, what did they do and what did they eat? So this book really touches base on that, but also with the intermingling of the food and everything. Soul Food to me, is regional and is based on where you are. So wherever you are in the country, is certainly where some of the ingredients will be available to you. For example, my people are from Virginia – tidewater people so you have a lot of that Virginia agriculture a little bit of that coastal stuff with the shad, the shad roe, the blue crab so on and so forth. You keep on going down South - the Gullah Geechees in the Carolinas. It’s more of a rice culture and more African flavors. Keep on going further South, now you’re in the panhandle of Florida, more Creole. Up where I’m from, there are German, Dutch and Amish, so after Emancipation happened, with the Great Migration and everything, by the time I was born, the Southern culture and the Amish culture were already intermingled so that was the only food that I knew. But that happens everywhere because Black people are everywhere!

AM: So what foods are considered Amish foods?

CHEF CS: It’s more of a flavor as opposed to Black Amish. You know the flavors that we bring with us from Africa, through the Caribbean, through the American South and so forth. But once you intermingle it with some of that German technique and flavors, you have acidity and sugars and vinegar and that sweet and sour aspect really plays its role. For example, that Lemonade Fried Chicken that I did on Top Chef and which is also in the book, everybody and their mama is doing some form of tea brined chicken, but I chose to do a lemonade brine. Now it’s not like Country Time, but it is lemon juice, it is hot sauce, it is buttermilk, it is fresh spices and everything. So, it’s more or less, a savory lemon like a marinade like that which is on the border of sweet and savory.

So you have all of those aspects and flavors that are into it as well. So when I talk about the Amish Soul Food, again, it’s not Black Amish food. It’s more like flavor profiles and stuff like that.

AM: You’ve cooked at 9 James Beard Foundation dinners, 5 of them as the lead chef and you also created the first Juneteenth Dinner at the Beard House with Brother Luck (Top Chef Season 15, Beat Bobby Flay, Chopped), Tanya Hopkins (Kwanzaa Menu, James Hemings: Ghost in America’s Kitchen, Savory & Sweet) and Andrea Cheatham (Top Chef Season 15 Runner Up, Alex vs America, Live! with Kelly and Ryan). This dinner is now an annual event. What is it like to cook at Beard House and what was it like to create that iconic meal on Juneteeth?

CHEF CS: It was super special! I also got invited back today and I am going back on Dec 5th.

AM: That’s exciting!

CHEF CS: So it will be #10 which blows my mind, but every single time I walk through those doors, I always intentionally get there first. I always want to be the first person in the room because I remember all of the legendary chefs that came through before me that stood in that same kitchen and I always like to be their first, put my hands on the table and kind of get a feel and play my music, start prepping and just kind of really set the mood and the vibe for everyone that comes through because tonight is my night! That has always been what’s going on and for chefs of color that might be coming through, I always say, “hey, listen. Before you go, call me and I’m going to tell you how you can really make this night special. I kind of have them follow through. As far as Juneteeth, it was special to be the first to do that and I’m really glad that they continued to do so. Like I’ve said, we always want to be able to pull all the others up and there’s a lot of really amazing chefs from generations that are behind me and that are up and coming and that they are already here! For them to be able to have their moment there is special too!

AM: Well, you’re also the chef at the Institute of Culinary Education. Why did you want to add this to your resume as you have done so many things that are so amazing. What was about that that you wanted to be part of it?

CHEF CS: Well, they asked me to come through. It more so started on the ambassador level, where they said here you’re doing great things – why don’t you use our space and we’ll pay you for it. So whenever we have an idea to do something creative, they want to be part of it. So they tell me to come through, use their kitchen, use their food and all I have to do is to document it and kind of teach that to the students. So that’s what we do. But again, it’s always paying it forward and really showing that next generation what it's all about. Again, it's not ever about me. There was a time when it was and when I needed the whole world to know what Chris Scott was doing. But that is so not important. What’s important is that I’m taking all my wisdom, all my experience, all my know how and kind of giving that to the next generation. Even when it’s how to navigate the way through the kitchen as a chef of color – all of those things. It’s so much experience that needs to be passed along.

AM: Couldn’t agree more with this. My background coming from fashion and being the Co-Founder of Athleisure Media, to navigate as a person of color in these spaces it’s not easy. Anytime I can go back and tell people that this is how they need to do it or how to be on set – giving that knowledge is going to help that person who may not have known anything about that. You have to know what you know and how to actually interact with other people.

CHEF CS: Absolutely!

AM: Are there any upcoming projects we can keep an eye out for?

CHEF CS: Well, we’re currently looking for a brick and mortar spot that’s a standalone for Butterfunk Co all over again. We left Brooklyn back in 2019 and we’re sort of looking to get back into it. I’m currently on the 8 city/19 event book tour. I’ll be down at the BayHaven Food & Wine Festival in Charlotte Oct 19th – 23rd for a second time in a row. As you know, that’s pretty much the mecca of Black chefs like all of the who’s who kind of goes there. We’re doing a dinner that Fri and I will also be there on Sat. On Fri, I am doing a seafood dinner with some of my colleagues and on Sat morning, I am doing a book signing and then I’m back on the plane.

IG @chefchris512

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Front Cover, 16-25, 27 + 29 Courtesy Chris Scott | PG 26 + Back Cover From Homage, ©2022 Chris Scott. Photos © Brittany Conerly |

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see HOMAGE TO FOOD & CULTURE | Chef Chris Scott in mag.

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S2. E7. | ATHLEISURE KITCHEN WITH CHEF NICK WALLACE

On today's Athleisure Kitchen, we hop into the kitchen with Chef Nick Wallace who we enjoyed seeing his passion and love for Jackson, Mississippi. In addition to being the Founder and Executive Chef of Nick Wallace Culinary, Nick Wallace Catering and Nissan Cafe by Wallace, we enjoyed seeing him as a finalist in Top Chef Season 19 in Houston, Chopped episodes, winner of Food Network Canada's Fire Masters and he appeared on CNN's Nomad with Carlton McCoy. We talk about the importance of Mississippi when it comes to creating his dishes and bringing awareness to the culinary scene there. We also talk about why giving back to others is an essential and also how we can focus on creating great meals when we're busy that still have love and full flavors!

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 theme music is "This Boy" performed by Ilya Truhanov.