FUELING THE CULINARY ARTS WITH RICHARD GRAUSMAN

A few weeks ago, we headed to Chelsea Piers to the Careers Through Culinary Arts Program's 30th Anniversary Benefit to enjoy a staggering amount of top chefs that included David Bouley, Marcus Samuelsson, Jonathan Waxman, Eric Ripert, Maria Loi and Sarabeth Levine. They were joined by students from C-CAP who showcased their skills to guests who enjoyed some of the top restaurants in NYC.

We wanted to know more about C-CAP and the founder, Richard Grausman who took classes with James Beard. He trained and graduated with the Grand Diplôme from Le Cordon Bleu, Ecole de Cuisine. He was also the first exclusive representative of the school who trained people across the US and Canada in order to make them proficient.

We headed to the offices of C-CAP to find out about how his career, how this organization was created, the programs that were launched and how he works with chefs and other partners.

ATHLEISURE MAG: We have had the pleasure in talking with various voices in the culinary community from Chef Marcus Samuelsson to Will Blunt of StarChefs who have shared their work and support of C-CAP. We were so pleased to see how you have ensured that the culinary community continues to thrive by attending your 30th annual event a few weeks ago and it’s so fitting that we finally get to chat with you to find out more.

RICHARD GRAUSMAN: It was a wonderful event and we have had 21 events and that was an unusual one. 2 years ago, Jose Andres was our honoree and that was unique in its style because the room was filled with appreciation for what he has done philanthropically around the world. At our benefit this year, I felt the love and warmth for the program and the guests that were coming up with appreciation when my daughter’s video (PRESSURE COOKER Directed by Jennifer Grausman and Mark Becker, an Emmy nominated documentary about one of the C-CAP teachers Wilma Stephenson) ran and with the alumni expressing themselves. And after that video, there were alumni that were in the room that I have known for years. I know what the program has done for them, but they had never expressed it to me and they came up to me empowered by what they had seen and they just opened up to me. It was just so heartwarming.

AM: You have had a phenomenal background and prior to launching C-CAP, can you tell us what you were doing prior to launching this organization?

RG: I had been the representative of Le Cordon Bleu Paris for 15 years. I had originally gone to Paris to study cooking and become a chef – hopefully in a small mountain restaurant as I love to ski. I’ve always enjoyed skiing and cooking in my life. But I found while I was in Paris that I was too slow to become a chef and I was single-minded. I wasn’t a multitasker. In the process, I taught myself skills that I saw that chefs needed and I realized that I could teach others. I told that to the school that instead of being a chef of a restaurant, I wanted to teach.

Timing is everything and when I came back from a ski trip, I was almost finished with the program and Madame Elizabeth Brassart (owner of Le Cordon Bleu) asked me if I wanted to go to Cleveland to teach a course for her. This was because the Vice President of the Higbee department store had asked for them to send a chef; however, they couldn’t send one since the chef didn’t speak English and she knew I was interested in teaching and the chef thought that I was very good. It started 15 years of teaching French cooking around the country and Canada. I never thought that I wanted to do anything else. It was so gratifying to teach and to have students – men and women, come up to me saying that their spouse loved them more because of their tartar tine or their kids ate carrots for the first time. But then I left the school and wrote a cookbook and I was traveling around the country promoting the book and a vision of what America ate, really hit me. It was fried chicken, hamburgers and pizza. I thought that I could perhaps expand that palette and thinking about the best way to do it, I felt that I had to get in with the schools and get children while they were young and to broaden their palettes, broaden their minds. Because if they leave school, I found that the average adult that if they didn’t like something, they wouldn’t try it.

I wanted to start in elementary school, and I wanted to teach sensory evaluation, and nothing is better to do that with than food, because you use all of your senses. Once you start doing that, you can teach nutrition, then in middle school I thought that you could use foods from around the world to teach geography, history and social studies and in high school, if you had a student with a palette and a passion, it would be easy to train them for the industry. I had a book that I thought was readable at the high school level and I knew that Home Economics was in terrible shape and I thought that by teaching the teachers some of the recipes in my book, to expose their students before they left high school that that would be my goal before I went into my first classroom.

I went to the Board of Education, they liked my idea and they said, “we don’t have any money.” I asked if I could go into one of their classes and they said certainly. I went into one of the classes and that day I saw that half the class was making bread and the other half were Haitian students learning English. I went around the classroom opening drawers and cabinets and they were empty. So I knew it was what the school system had said, they didn’t have any money. I talked to the teacher and said that I had been teaching French cooking for the last 15 years and asked if there was something that I could do for them, what it would be? He laughed and said, “I spent my own money just to buy the flour today for the bread.” So I knew that they needed a lot of help. That day, I went home and I called up many of the manufacturers that I had been dealing with for 15 years. I let them know that I wanted to help the schools and asked if they could help me and they said yes. They donated products, pots and pans, spices – all sorts of things.

I brought the teachers together and I taught them in the morning and then I watched them cook in the afternoon. It showed me the level of proficiency of the teachers. A few were quite competent, but the majority were not. I went to the French Culinary Institute which is now the International Culinary Center and I asked them if they would provide a training program for the teachers, which they did. I went into the classroom and started to demonstrate for the students and when I saw looking at the students – some of them were sleeping, zoning out and there were a couple of people who were bright eyed, attentive and watching me. I watched them cook and a few were very excited and would come up with their tart asking me how I liked it. I let them know it was good, asked how their parents liked it (they did) and then I would ask them what they wanted to do after they graduated and that’s when I found out that the students who were in these classes were the students that the system had failed. Most of them had D’s and F’s at best. They had no preparation for college or a career. I asked them if they had ever thought about cooking and they said, “no – can I?”. I went to a dinner at a small French restaurant on Lexington Ave and I asked the owner about jobs for high school graduates and what the opportunity would be. He laughed at me and told me to look at his kitchen. He was importing labor from South America and Asia and he’d much prefer to have a NY kid that spoke English. I asked what he needed. He said that he needed people that showed up on time and that he would teach them. I asked about knife skills. He said that if he had knife skills, he wouldn’t have to start him on the dishwasher. So that was the beginning of C-CAP.

Within the next 3 years, during the summer time, I would send a student out and a chef would say, “yes the student shows up on time, but when he gets through what I have asked to do, he goes out for a smoke and sits down. I need him to come up to me and say, ‘what’s next chef?’” They needed them to be eager to work. So I built that into the program. Then I would hear, “yes, they show up on time, they are very eager and asks what’s next, but they’re not thinking. He’s got to be inquisitive and to ask why I am using one thing versus another – he has to want to learn.” So I built that into the program. Third year, we were in Chicago. I always went to the competitions that we would have. We would have chefs as the judges and I would take them out to dinner. One night, I took out one chef that was a judge with a director from the high school program and Martha said to Richard, “why don’t you take our kids as you used to take them in the summer?” and he said, “well you’re teaching them the wrong things.” He explained that he had a boy the previous summer that there was a mess and he asked him to get a mop to clean it up. The student said that he didn’t do floors and Martha said, that he shouldn’t have to. That’s when I saw the disconnect between the school and the industry.

The next day, I was handing out scholarships and I was saying that one of the biggest complaints in the industry was that people were coming out of Culinary Institute of America and Johnson & Wales University and they didn’t want to peel carrots or chop onions – they just wanted to be a chef. I let the students know that I knew that they wanted to be Executive Chefs and own their own restaurants and even chains. I told them that if you have your own restaurant and the dishwasher doesn’t show up, then you will be doing the dishes. If your janitor doesn’t show up, you will be cleaning toilets. I let them know that if they didn’t know how to wash dishes or clean toilets, that they needed to go home that night and have their parents show them how. I wanted them to be able to be prepared for anything that would come up. Well, I was shocked that a school board member, a minister, a parent and a teacher all came to me after the scholarship breakfast and thanking me for telling the kids what I did. I asked them what they were talking about and they said, “you are telling them what life is about.” I asked why they didn’t do that. They said they were afraid to. I didn’t know what they were afraid of and I investigated it. Because of the drop out rate in Chicago and DC at that time was so high, parents and administrators were telling their kids that if they stayed in high school, they wouldn’t have to do what they did. The administration would agree with this line of thinking and tell them that they would be paid more. So students were coming out – and this is still true today as I heard about this in Chicago, they’re telling and expecting students that come from their culinary programs to have managerial jobs and not entry-level jobs. Students come out saying that they’re not going to take minimum wage, don’t want to wash dishes or chop vegetables. They want to manage. If you’re not prepared to enter the industry, you’re not going to go anywhere. So that’s the essence of what we do. We work with the teachers to train them in the few skills necessary to get started. Where the school system wants them to teach A-Z, lobster, steak, fish, eggs, salad – everything. They only need to know how to chop, dice, slice, keep things clean and neat, be safe at the workplace, show up on time, want to work, want to learn and have basic knowledge of ingredients and equipment. We try to get the teachers focused on that. They have the students from 1 – 3 years so they can work on that. They can reinforce wearing your apron, watching your hands and other things that take time for them to learn.

We see them when they come to our competitions or for our job training for summer jobs, job shadows to expose them to the industry. We have a student that is already eager, interested and inquisitive. When they leave us and go into the industry, the industry is saying wow – send us more. When Marcus came in and I encouraged him to take on the Co-Chairmanship of the program of the organization. His view was to expand upon what I started and he wanted to reach and train more students as the industry is in need of this. That’s where we are now. We’re trying to figure out how to expand on what we already do and we do well.

AM: How many people are currently in this program?

RG: It depends on how you look at it. I look at it as we have 200 teachers, each teacher has 50 students. That’s 10,000 students. I think the organization uses the number of 17,000 which may be when we’re thinking of the upper level including the 4 years. Those are 10,000 students that the teachers have and the teachers range from poor to excellent so the effect that they have on their student varies. But they all have an effect on their students. Out of that, we see the students that have expressed an interest in knowing more beyond the classroom – shadows, summer training, internships, college advice or our competitions. You go from 10,000 down to a couple of thousand to a couple hundred that get scholarships. There are many hundreds that go into the industry for summer jobs. It’s on the level of interest, focus – but we have worked with over 300,000 students in the 30 years and probably have given $60 million dollars in scholarships and then an untold number of jobs! Then we follow those students if they stay in touch with us, if they have a problem and want to change jobs or they haven’t had a raise in 3 years – what do I do? They tell us if they want to go to Spain and learn something. All of those things, we have the ability to help them with.

AM: How do you assess which high schools you go into?

RG: Initially, I had 3 areas that I was interested in. NY, Chicago and San Francisco. I started in NY and then people heard about what we were doing. I was on NBC for the first time about our program and the next night, I got a call from Washington, DC from the head of Home Economics and they wanted the program. I asked them how many schools that they had and I was looking to go to a community with at least 14-15 schools. For the manufacturers to be able to give the equipment, one school wouldn’t be enough. I went to DC next and then I heard from a teacher in Arizona and another in Norfolk, VA who had been at a teacher’s conference and had heard about it. They wanted it. As long as the school number was sufficient, I went and taught the teachers, I brought the chefs in local areas in and we started the program. It was very easy within 5 years. I had 7 programs, but it was very hard to maintain and grow the program because when I put it all together it worked. To keep it going, I needed volunteers and eventually to keep it going, the volunteers needed to be paid and then we needed a staff and then needed an office. So, the numbers that we effect year after year didn’t change much, the scholarships grew – the degree that we worked with the students improved. The level of services that we gave them grew. Initially, I thought that if I gave a scholarship to a student to CIA would change their lives. In some cases it didn’t change it for the better. I took a student out of their community and threw them into a new community, they had no way to adjust, understand, they didn’t know how to get help with their schoolwork – they’re grades dropped and they lost their scholarship. I had to find ways to mitigate that. I had students going to community college before going to the CIA because their reading and math was at a level that they couldn’t do the work easily.

I’ve had people on campus where they were the only black student that walked onto the campus. So once I had a number of students that were on campus, I got them to form a club to greet the others to work with the campus. So C-CAP students got a name and they were proud to be C-CAP students. Finding what the problem is and finding a solution for it is how my mind worked. The program has grown organically because of that. I saw a problem, I would address it and try to solve it and by solving it, I was able to move people.

AM: So who are groups or services that you work or partner with frequently?

RG: There are a number of organizations that do similar work. We’re not actively working with them. I did work with the American Culinary Federation for a number of years in the beginning because their chefs and association needed credits for them to continue in that group. One of the ways that they were able to get that credit was to provide their time in their schools and I took advantage of that and their members loved it as they were able to be judges. The organization itself, I tried to work with and I became their School to Work Chairman – I wasn’t able to get them to move in the direction that I saw necessary. So I haven’t been active with the organization for 15 years. The National Restaurant Association also wanted to work with us years ago, but they wanted us to work for them. The partnership wasn’t in the way that they saw things. They saw it their way and wanted us to work with them. They did a lot of good, their programs both the ACF and the NRA affect schools and students, but I don’t see them working with the populations that we work with. Many of them saw how effective competitions were so they did it too. When you offer nationwide competitions and you have affluent schools and affluent students in those areas, they’re competing against our students from poor schools and poor backgrounds, our students don’t make it to the top. In our competitions, our students make it to the top and beyond. We can focus on a certain population to what I think is doing important work and I don’t concern myself with the whole country, where they do.

AM: It’s an interesting point about how C-CAP focuses on the skills needed and that you serve a specific community in order to have them excel in the culinary industry. When we were at your 30th Anniversary Benefit, it was a pleasure to see C-CAP students working side by side with some of the most esteemed chefs who own their restaurants as well as being food TV personalities. Seeing the pride and how inspired they were was amazing. It had to be a boost to their confidence to see people enjoying their food and being in that environment. That’s a resume builder.

RG: Yes, I learned very early when I was teaching. The importance of teaching is to empower others. I found ways to empower housewives so that they could talk to their butcher and all of a sudden relationships were being built! They would come to me and say, “oh Mr. Grausman, what you told me about that leg of lamb – I went to my butcher and told him and he looks at me like I am a professional!” I told them just a few words and it made all the difference! That’s the same thing that I did at C-CAP. By teaching the students certain techniques, that when a professional chef saw them accomplish those things, they were impressed at their capability.

One example at a competition was that I had the Executive Chef of the Four Seasons Hotel in NY as a judge and she came to me and said, “Richard, that young man is really great! Do you think that I can have him work for me?” I told her to give me her card and we gave him a scholarship to go to the French Culinary and she hired him. He would call me everyday and say, “Mr. Grausman, I have to make a salad today and I don’t know how to do it.” I told him that in my book, there are 3 great salads and to make one of those. This went on for months and then the chef called me up and said that she had to let him go. Since they had a union, other people were complaining that he wasn’t doing what everyone else was and that was because when I knew Damien in highs school, he was taking care of 2 younger siblings and one parent had died and one was ill. He was working at Kentucky Fried Chicken closing it at 2am and mopping the floors and his teacher had taught him the skills that were involved in our competitions and he was spectacular at it. That’s why the chef wanted him and I empowered our students to impress these chefs to get into the kitchens with the exception of him because of the unions.

Every kitchen that our kids went into even though they weren’t up to the standards that the chefs thought they were after seeing them. They were capable of learning and being trained. I got them into the kitchen. Those were the little secrets that I used to focus on because you want teachers to be able to effectively teach their students these skills. You can’t ask them to do more than what is realistically achievable and that is what is the problem with our education today.

They set goals and standards that aren’t achievable because what happened before they got into the 9th, 10th and 11th grade wasn’t achieved. So, if you are reading at a 3rd grade level in the 9th grade and you’re supposed to be reading at a 10th grade by the time you’re out – kids drop out because they can’t do it.

AM: It becomes frustrating!

RG: Exactly, unless you go back down, and solve those problems at the time, you’re not going to reach them. The first year that I was doing this, I was asked to be on a council as an advisor for the Board of Ed and I ran into a situation where a student in their junior year was given a scholarship to the Natural Gourmet School here in NY. I followed up in the summer and asked how he was doing. I was told, “Richard it was very strange. In the first class, he was fantastic. I had him come up because his knife skills were so good that I had him demonstrate for the rest of the class. But then he didn’t show up the next day.” I asked what she said to the rest of the class when she let them go. She explained that she had asked them to read chapters 1-5 and that they would work on it the next day. I called his high school teacher and asked why she thought that the student didn’t show and relayed what happen at the NGS and she said, “oh that’s it. He doesn’t read.” A junior in high school doesn’t read. I wanted to know how he was able to be a junior unable to read. His teacher explained that he was able to maneuver around reading by opting out. So as I sat on this council, I asked how they could allow a student to get that far and not read. They explained that I didn’t understand how they have kids attending the schools who have various language problems and they have to move them on. I believe that after 3rd grade, if they don’t read, then before they move on you have to make sure that they do. Those on the council said that that is tough because you have to keep them with their age group and they felt that because they have to teach them math and history, it was better to continue with them moving on from grade to grade. But the answer is if they can’t read you need to keep them reading, reading, reading because they can’t learn anything regardless of the subject. I don’t know what the situation is like today – if they’re still dropping out because they can’t read. But this was back in 1990 and to me, that’s the major problem and you solve it. How do you solve it? You find all different ways that you can teach them – there’s Sesame Street – education is something that I am very interested and passionate about. I am frustrated because I don’t often see the imagination and creativity in solving problems. They identify problems and identify solutions but when those solutions don’t work, they will find another solution – find out the root of the problem and why those solutions don’t work.

Hopefully, one of the reasons why I established competitions was that teachers weren’t teaching the skills necessary to get the jobs. The curriculum was so vast, they couldn’t repeat something. You can’t learn knife skills without repeating. You can’t learn how to make a sauce properly without repeating it. There are certain things that you need in cooking competitions. Teachers that go through our competitions will tell me, “Richard, thank you so much. I never thought that I could get one of my kids a scholarship to Johnson and Wales and you gave me the other opportunity – but it was hard. I had to work with them after school." I asked why they didn’t work with them during class, and why don’t you work with all of your students and not just 1 or 2 of them? They explained that they couldn’t give knives to some of the students or that they weren’t interested. So they take the ones that are and train them. For years, I have worked on ways to get teachers to be able to focus on hard skills and soft skills. The only way that I could get them to do it is through the competitions. I have now been working on something that I called, C-CAP Approved. It’s an assessment, skills that I first gave to the teachers that they should work on. I have found that the teachers would like to do that, but the administration won’t let them. So we’re working on NY now and we’ve evaluated their benchmarks and in doing that, we cut down the things that students need to learn. Now they want us to do an assessment test and if that goes through, we’ll have the piece that I’ve been visualizing for 15 years which will be mandated to the teachers as what has to be taught. These few skills that will be meaningful to the industry. If I can pull that in NY, I can roll that out. When I look at the students that are in those classrooms now, if the teachers said we’re all chopping and who will be the fastest and to develop a bit of the sport of it by getting them excited to perfect their knife skills. Americans in today’s youth, if they don’t get it right away, they drop it. If you come to a competition, we do a dish that has turned potatoes. Chefs would ask me why I would teach it because they don’t do that anymore and if they do, they get them from Mexico. I said it was there because the average teenager will try to do something and then quit. But if they stick with it long enough to turn a potato, there is nothing that you can give them that will take more time and patience so I’m not afraid of them quitting on you. They will work. It’s a vehicle to achieve a certain result. It’s to teach repetition and willingness to do something. I have been using the same recipes for competition for a while. We changed from salmon and beurre blanc to poached chicken to a sautéed chicken that we use now. The dessert was always crepes pastry cream and chocolate sauce – it still is. The teachers will say, “Oh Richard, can’t we change the competition recipes. We’re so sick of it.” I tell them that you can’t get sick of it because the students can’t get sick of it. If they’re a chef in a restaurant and they’re making this chicken dish on their menu, It has to be made good or better each time that they make it. They can’t get tired of making it and they have to find something in it that drives them on.

When all of your students are making the chicken perfectly or the crepes perfectly, I will consider changing it. Some years the teachers focus on the crepes and they come out thin and beautiful and I’ll begin to think about changing it and then the next year, they’re coming out thick. The chefs that come to judge they see the techniques that the students have to do to create these dishes and they appreciate it. They say, “you’re old-time but it’s good because they are learning their basics.” In time, I won’t be here and somebody else will come and the skills may change because the industry is changing all the time. There may be skills that we should be teaching for those that are going into Fast Casual to other ends of the business. I want to know what those are and if they are teachable at the high school level then we should do that. Basically, what we’re doing is teaching discipline, attention, focus, sanitation safety and you can’t teach this overnight.

AM: It has to be a habit and routine.

RG: Exactly! Knock on wood, we've been lucky and our kids who have those basics and put them in the hands of a good chef who is interested in mentoring, they go from dishwasher to sous chef very quickly. Some chefs just told me that they have some of our kids and one of them is the youngest female sous chef and their corporation. They learn quickly and they’re not interested in looking at their watch. Even when they’re leaving, they’re asking if there is anything that they can do as they’re eager. That attitude and interest is golden.

AM: Clearly, you have been a mentor to a number of chefs, who are 3 people that you feel were your mentors that have shaped you?

RG: Well, I think of 2 or 3 people that come to mind and there are a lot of chefs that I respect in this industry. But Jacques Pépin when I was a teacher, he was a teacher also who taught all over the country. We would teach in the same cities, but never met each other until 10 years later. When I got to see him work and saw his books, he is one of the finest teachers that I have ever met. His ability to make things look easy is something that I use and learn to pass onto my students.

Daniel Boulud is a chef that is very dedicated to French cooking but he has adapted techniques to American tastes but has kept a level of excellence that in my mind is very important. He is a wonderful mentor. What he has done with Ment’or a non profit organization of chefs to help younger chefs – I commend him immensely on that. We have worked with him and Ment’or on a number of their projects and many of our students have gotten scholarships.

Marcus – when I first met Marcus, I saw a potential as a role model for many of our students mainly because he is African Swedish, but he has the ability to be a mentor to a number of people. He has a personality and way to inspire young people. I am hopeful that as he gets more time to focus on this that that will translate immensely.

I am on Facebook until 2 o’clock at night and my wife gets upset and will ask if I’m still on it. I let her know that I am talking to a student that I haven’t spoken to in 20 years. I have a relationship where they talk to me as an equal. I sort of try to advise them on a level that is meaningful to them and they open up to me. I am white and they may be black or Hispanic and I know what they have gone through because I read their essays and I hear about the difficult childhood that they have had and the way that they have been mistreated in their lives. I understand what they have gone through but I can’t understand exactly what they have gone through. I can picture it, I can see it many many times in many ways. I don’t know if I could have gone through what they went through. For them it was life, they survived life and when I have been able to open the door, make an introduction or point them in the right direction – it has been life-changing to them and easy for me. They have gone through the hard things and I am using things that are easy for me to do for them and it changes lives. That’s a great combination. When I thought that there was nothing else that I could do in life but to teach and get enjoyment there, what I have been doing for the last 30 years has been life-changing and is really powerful. I wish more people who get wealthy and retire would not retire from life but would use their expertise to find a way to give back. At all levels – banking, stocks, football – mentorship can change lives and if you have gone through it yourself, you have a lot to give and it’s not hard for you to do. You’re an expert at it. It’s hard to get people to that point sometimes.

I was fortunate to win the President’s Service Award and I met a lot of people and I saw a lot of people who aren’t doing much with their expertise and their money besides playing golf and that’s a shame. The gratification that one gets is better to help then to take. It’s a simple truth. But unless you do it, you won’t know.

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Read the March Issue of Athleisure Mag and read Fueling the Culinary Arts with Richard Grausman in mag.

S1. E12. | ATHLEISURE KITCHEN WITH FOUNDER OF C-CAP, RICHARD GRAUSMAN

On today's episode of Athleisure Kitchen, we sit down with Richard Grausman, founder of C-CAP - Careers through Culinary Arts Program which trains students to have careers in the culinary industry. We talk about how he trained at the Le Cordon Bleu, how he trained others to become proficient in cooking which ultimately led to his focus on hands on education. We also talk about how the organization that he founded just celebrated their 30th Anniversary as well as how people such as Chef Marcus Samuelsson are committed to the growth of this institution. 

14TH ANNUAL STARCHEFS INTERNATIONAL CHEFS CONGRESS

We headed to Brooklyn for the weekend to watch a number of demonstrations, panel discussions and meeting with a number of vendors at the 14th Annual StarChefs International Congress. We were excited to do a deep dive into its various initiatives that it presents to those in the culinary community. We took some time at the beginning of this conference to talk with StarChefs' Managing Editor, Will Blunt on what took place at the conference, what he's looking forward to as well as the issues facing those in the culinary industry as we go into the next year.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Can you tell us about your background and how you came to Star Chefs?

WILL BLUNT: I grew up in Washington DC and my parents were in politics. I graduated from Georgetown University and like most people, I didn’t know what I wanted to do so I taught high school tennis for a bit and did some work on The Hill for a while. I then decided to jump-start my career by moving to NY – it was the height of the internet exuberance in the late 90s. I was thinking about going the path of a conservative banking job and I did some interviews and I got allergic to the concept. I eventually took a minute to help a friend at what is StarChefs now. This friend had been hired as the first employee after a fundraising round and I got the bug. I’m 20 years in now.

In terms of food, I fell into it and then fell in love with the industry. I do cook and I am really into food; however, I am most inspired by the industry and the people that work within it. In the early 2000s, like most internet companies, we didn’t have a lot of direction, but we were firmly committed with my business partner Antoinette to be completely on the trade side, publish for chefs and make our mission to support chefs and other people in the industry. The idea with that is that it’s a wonderful industry opportunity, but it is also one with with a number of pains and challenges. We have a classifieds area that helps with labor which is a pain, all of our publishing is about best practices and inspirations for chefs and they are really passionate people. I have been most inspired by them in this industry and I do love food. I have gotten to know them really well, but it is truly about the people for me.

AM: What are your day to day roles in StarChefs?

WB: Fortunately we have evolved a bit – we’re still 15 full staff and for this event, we have 100 people who work on it. I do a bit of everything now and we have fortunately evolved to the point that we have great people that have different departments. I do a bit of fundraising and development, HR, I make a point to stay engaged. So let’s say in the early days there were 5 people – I learned to use a camera and my business partner Antoinette as well – there was a rule that everyone needed to be able to use a camera – classic start-up that’s boot strapping. We would do the Tastings Interviews. I didn’t mention it, but our thing that distinguishes StarChefs from any other publication is that we do 600 tastings interviews on the ground, every year across the country. We organize that to the 4 markets typically by quarter and we spend 2-3 hours with the chef, pastry chef, somm, artisan baker, coffee roaster – anyone that’s industry and doing something well. We will visit them, document them and get to know them. We share what we think is done well and would be inspiring for other people. So, all of that to say that, I still do that. It’s important because it’s something I enjoy doing, but we now have a wonderful editor, writers, full time photographer who are super capable, but I still keep my toe in the editorial. Just to stay in touch and I love the culture of the restaurant community.

AM: What’s the biggest thing that you have learned about chefs by working in this environment that still keeps you inspired to be a part of this everyday?

WB: Yes, the industry is still – despite all of the media attention in food TV and all of the exposure with celebrity chef scenarios etc – it’s very merit based and egalitarian. So at the end of the day, even if you have a Top Chef show and all that goes with it, you still face the same challenges. Many of the chefs that really early on inspired me and were early supporters, they all started at the dishwasher level. I think Jean Georges who is one of our Board of Directors he made dog food to start his career – not even human food (editor’s note: at the beginning of Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s career in Michelin three-starred L’Auberge de l’Ill in Alsace, he cooked and prepared the meals for the guests dogs)! Marcus Samuelsson who is a great friend and supporter, worked a hot dog stand, Bobby Flay scooped ice cream and so it’s very honest in that sense. There’s less patience in the industry because the demographic is such that there is such an explosion and there isn’t really a shortage. There are more opportunities that are quicker in the industry, but at the end of the day, there is still this certain base or sense of needing to work to get to where you are. I admire that and I like supporting people that are working that hard and trying to make it in an industry that has a lot of opportunity, but a lot of failure. I think 80% of all restaurants fail in the first 3 years or something along those lines. I think that my staff has had a lot of great people that have worked in the industry or gone to culinary school. We are all motivated by trying to be that extra leg up, or piece of perspective or inspiration. Folks that come to this conference – the best version for their experience of busting their ass all year is to come here to get a few days off to be inspired and to remind themselves on why they do what they do.

AM: Going into 2020, what do you think are 3 of the biggest issues that chefs are concerned about?

WB: Yeah of course! In this conference, I am hosting a session with Restaurateur Sean Feeney, his partner Chef Missy Robbins of Misi and Lilia and then Cosme’s Chef Daniela Soto-Innes – we will talk about restaurant culture and moving it forward. That was the theme of our conference last year, but it’s about being better humans. How you treat people and the culture. Everyone is on board in theory with that; however, I think that the challenge in terms of 2020 and beyond is how you walk the talk. It’s a challenge that’s easy to say in terms of providing benefits, treating employees better, more decent hours – but how do you develop the strategies to run a successful business and still do that?

I think that there is something that has developed amongst chefs and those in the industry in general, the brand image – it’s another panel we just finished. It focuses on how you manage your time and capital, what you invest in. That has been something that has built up over time. Which events do you decide to do and now it’s even more when you look at social media in how you present yourself and how much energy you put in to that. What opportunities do you say yes to and it’s pretty high level as not everyone is at that point. I think that even on a micro level, people who are starting out and opening a restaurant, they need to decide on investing in PR, social media and that’s another thing. I think there are the ongoing challenges that may not be 2020 challenges, but it’s becoming more acute with the larger companies that have bigger scale that are snatching up real estate that independent restaurateurs have harder times to access. Starting a restaurant is harder and harder and having to leverage to get the right space at the right price and to keep it once you're successful. That is a serious issue and when you look at NYC it's a great example because we have parts of Manhattan that are unattainable and all the leases are controlled by large management companies. Then you have the chains, I’m not saying that they’re all bad – they employ people and there are great ones that do home scratch cooking – but for the independent restaurant and chef that is a challenge.

AM: What are 3 panels, demonstrations, workshops etc that you are excited about for this year’s StarChefs?

WB: Our program is really strong this year and we tried to involve people that are more or less famous although our name is StarChefs, we’re not all about stardom. Some of the items I will highlight may seem like the less obvious ones. Ben and Brent from The Meat Hook will be doing an event on the main stage which they call Vintage Beef. I don’t know how much you know about them, but it’s my local butcher. They have been exploring different ways that they can be sustainable. One issue we have across the food system that we have with meat at least is a lot of our USDA and certification is centered around young animals. So they are going to be fabricating a 12 year old bull and they will serve it as a tartare. Apparently, I haven’t had it, but it tastes like an aged beef which is a cool thing to demonstrate that dairy cows, bulls etc have value if we could get to a place where we not only use the whole animal but all animals. I think that that will be a good one!

I think that an obvious one is that we have the most signups for Chef Francis Mallmann who is on Chefs Table on Netflix. He is so inspiring and I have wanted him to present for years! He is closing the show and he will be building a fire in the parking lot outside and presenting on the mainstage a vegetable roll! It will be carmelized and cooked with the fire ahead of publishing his Vegan cookbook which will be out next year. It's pretty cool as he has always been identified with a lot of meats. I think that for our chefs, one of the reasons why they are so excited for it aside from the fact that Chef Mallmann due to his great presence is that cooking with fire is really a thing that chefs find to be a bit of challenge. Everyone wants to cook with fire and it’s a trend, but how you actually harness fire, to cook consistently at different temperature points – those techniques are great takeaways for chefs.

I mentioned the panel earlier with the discussion with Daniela and Sean, they are 2 really special people that are models and examples of what the future of our restaurant industry should be and models that they should look at as one if a chef and one is a restaurateur. They have cool strategies to improving restaurant culture.

IG @StarChefs

@Will_Blunt

We sat down with James Beard Nominated husband and wife duo of Don Angie to talk about their West Village Italian American restaurant.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Can you tell us about Don Angie for our readers who have yet to swing by?

ANGIE RITO: It’s an Italian American restaurant in the West Village here in NYC. It’s more American leaning than Italian. We both grew up in Italian American families – like super passionate about red sauce and we take quite a few liberties with it. We use a lot of different ingredients and take more of a global approach to it.

AM: Why did you decide to do it like that?

AR: To be honest, there are a number of reasons and the major one being – we like to incorporate a lot of flavors that we like that aren't Italian into our food. Whether they're like Chinese or Japanese - or whatever it is. We just like to cook ingredients that we like. In NYC especially, there are a lot of Italian restaurants so we really like to set ourselves a part and this is the main way that we do that. Coming up with our own style of Italian food that we like that’s a broad perspective on what we do.

AM: As a husband and wife team, how does that work for you to cook together, work together – how does that coupleship work?

AR: We’re both super passionate about what we do and that’s what drives us. We could never work in this industry separately because we would never see each other. We tried doing it for a while. At the beginning of our relationship, we worked separately and like I said, you’re working 14-15 hour days and we wouldn’t see each other. We felt that working together was the best way to do what we loved together. It also works to our advantage. We’re typically on the same page and we can read each other’s minds because we spend so much time being together. It kind of helps because we communicate minimally when we’re at work and we’re always on the same page.

AM: What would you guys say would be your signature dishes at Don Angie?

AR: The most recognizable one is our lasagna. It’s a pinwheel style lasagna. That’s the one that everyone photographs and it’s all over Instagram. Aside from that, our Chrysanthemum Salad which is basically treated like a Caesar salad with a garlic anchovy dressing a lot of parmesan, sesame bread crumbs. The third thing would be ….

SCOTT TACINELLI: I’d say it’s a toss up between two things, the Buffalo Milk Caramelle and the Stuffed Garlic Flatbread.

AR: Oh I agree! Our Buffalo Milk Caramelle is a two tone black sesame and persimmon pasta. We just did a demo of our flatbread. This is something that is traditionally Italian, but we totally take it in a different direction by putting sesames on it, garlic, garlic chives and so it’s different than the original one.

AM: When did you guys know that you wanted to be chefs?

SC: I changed my careers as I did something else for like 9 years. I always loved cooking when I was a child and then I decided that I should try cooking and took a few classes at culinary school and then I went full time.

AR: For me, I always wanted to have a restaurant since I was a little kid. I used to play pretend restaurant when I was a kid. I wasn’t sure about what path in terms of cooking, working front of house or what that would be. I grew up in an Italian American family that had a bakery and I liked working there. I grew up in a very food-oriented family. Once I moved to NYC right after college, I was working as a waitress in a restaurant and at that moment at 21, I knew I was so passionate that I really wanted to know how to cook it. I started cooking then and didn’t go to culinary school and just asked if I could volunteer in the kitchen and I kept going.

AM: Do you guys envision another location or going to an entirely different coast?

AR: I think that the next thing that we would do is probably something in NYC, preferably something in the West Village as that’s where Don Angie is and easier for us to be present.

ST: I don’t know if it would be another Don Angie’s. AR: No, it would be another concept.

AM: How was it for you when you were nominated for a James Beard Award?

AR: I was surprised – I was like, ok! It was super exciting and I just wasn’t expecting it.

ST: I was very surprised and it was such an honor to be recognized by such an esteemed organization!

AR: Especially in NYC where there are so many other people!

AM: Do you forsee having a TV show or presenting your brand in different ways that we know chefs utilize.

AR: We are working on a cookbook right now. It won’t be out until 2021.

ST: We’re going to take it day by day and see what comes!

IG: @DonAngieNYC

When it comes to one of our favorite comfort foods, it's pizza! It incorporates a number of traditional ingredients as well as those that aren't. We chatted with Emily Hyland of Pizza Loves Emily and Emmy Squared to talk about how this food became the catalyst to this successful business.

ATHLEISURE MAG: So, pizza – why do you like pizza so much?

EMILY HYLAND: I mean, I think it harkens back to the quality of this nostalgia that all of us have as Americans. We all have this memory of pizza parties with friends or going out and have pizza or enjoying a slumber party and ordering pizza. It’s this uniting American food that lives in the state of our history. So why wouldn’t we want to have pizza?

AM: We know a few people who say that they don’t like pizza and we’re like, “really?”

EH: My dad says that and then every time he comes in he eats like a whole freaking pizza!

AM: How did you transfer this love for pizza to saying, I want to have a restaurant and make a business out of pizza?

EH: It was a dream for me and at that time, my husband as a dream for many years. We were in a moment where I had transitioned out of being a public school teacher and was a full time yoga teach – which is a next to nothing earnings for that time and space in my life. We had moved to Brooklyn and he was apprenticing at a neopolitan restaurant. I remember the day that he came home and he said, “I put my hands on the dough and this is what I want to do.” So the time and space really opened up and we took a chance and that really got us into our first brick and mortar, Pizza Loves Emily. From there, we found growth partners through our wonder partner Howard who has taken this small little baby, our first child and has helped us merge this into a growing company.

AM: How does it feel to know how you started and how it has evolved into what exists now?

EH: It’s really been surreal and I haven’t digested it – no pun intended! It’s weird as the founder and the namesake to have this identity that’s so rooted in my heart and then to relinquish some of this control to this corporate structure that is developing. It’s tons of learning and really taking something that is so very much mine and making it ours in this whole team. I love it and I’m having so much fun! The people that we have brought on to help it grow like the Director of Operations, the Director of Marketing are so talented and really care so much about the concept that it has made it so much nicer to be able to go to work everyday.

AM: What would you identify as your 3 signature pizzas?

EH: Our 3 signature pies at Emmy Squared are the Colony – so that’s got pepperoni, pickled chili honey so you’ve got salty, spicy, sweet trifecta – hands down fan favorite. Not too far behind it is the Vodka Pie. It’s house made, really nice creamy vodka sauce – the way I do it is dollops of burrata on it – I do it like a Margarita and just go extra on it. Then the Roni Supreme. A classic pie with tons of pepperoni and tons of Calabrian chili on it. So it’s like an elevated pepperoni pizza and the Calabrian chili oil is not so much spicy, but warm - it really rounds out the pie really nicely.

AM: Where do you get your pizza inspiration from?

EH: That’s all from our head chef, Chef Matt. He is really talented at developing topping creations and is trained as a culinary artist and a lot of that vision is from him. He conceptually wanted Emmy Squared and Pizza Loves Emily to be fun and not rooted in the formality that so many more esoteric pizza places do when they say, “this is what pizza is supposed to be.” We just wanted to open ourselves up to the variety of toppings that we could have without judgment. What you want is what you like!

AM: What are 3 ingredients that you like to have on hand when it comes to making that best pizza?

EH: So I think it’s our cheese obviously! At our original location, we still make our own mozzarella by hand. Over at Emmy Squared, we have a chef blend which we sprinkle around on the outside of the edge of the pan and it carmelizes with the dough on the pan so you get a fried cheese which is delicious. Our Ezzo Pepperoni cups are our ronis that cup nicely on the pizza. We also use really high quality flour. We use King Arthur Flour that is here in America and not shipped over from Italy. We start from that simple ingredient and just build from there and just add yeast, water and a little bit of salt as it doesn’t take much and we’re very simple with our dough.

AM: What are your goals as we close 2019 and thinking ahead to 2020 – what are you excited about for your brand?

EH: For the brand for next year, we’re really thinking about what it means to grow on a national scale. We just opened in Philadelphia and we will be in Washington, DC by the end of the year. If not then, early 2020 and on a growth path from there. Through my lens from there, my goal is to figure out how I can maintain this genuinely robust culture as a restaurant environment for my employees as well as to ensure that the same level of warmth is available to our guests that are coming in to dine with us. That is a big goal for me and when we do openings, I try to greet every guest table the few days that I am there and to say hi and to instill that cultural feel. I think that the other facet of it is to just synthesize our team and to lean on the talent there. It’s 2019, we’re all leading full robust lives. What are the things that my team members do that they can bring in and to support the types of things that we’re doing so that we are growing. We’re very people focused!

IG: @EmilyHyland

@PizzaLovesEmily

@EmmySquared

When we chatted with Will Blunt earlier in this conference, he shared that we should catch The Meat Hook founder's session on Vintage Beef and how they are lending their craft to the sustainable movement. We sat down with Ben Turley and Brent Young to find out about this duo, their business and what the holiday season is like for them.

ATHLEISURE MAG: We enjoyed sitting in your demonstration focusing on regenerative agriculture. How did you guys decide that you would be butchers, was this always a plan?

BEN TURLEY: We were both line cooks for a long time and living in Richmond, Virginia which is where we met. A small little butcher shop opened and we started interning there on our off time and the more you learned, the more questions we had. It wasn’t a whole animal shop as that’s not what existed at the time. The more we dug into it, we realized we wanted to do this and we moved to NYC to do just that. We could only find one restaurant group on the East Coast that was doing a whole animal program and we ended up opening a butcher shop for them and very quickly, it was disorganized and if you were going to be in it, you had to know everything like the finances. We thought we had to do it for ourselves and we ended up deciding to open our own shop. But essentially, we fell into it backwards and we were genuinely super interested in it as no one was doing it and we did and that was it.

AM: How do you go about finding the different farmers and farms that you’re working with? Are you constantly rotating things in?

BT: No not really. The whole idea is to develop a relationship with someone that you are going to find at a Farmer's Market and has dedication to their their craft. We’re very lucky to have found a great network of farms when we started. The whole idea was that we wanted to work with one farm that did one thing and that way, every single week, we’re able to give them feedback and not just buying things from all over. It was about having a very structured system and it was great because people could enjoy it and say that they would like to visit us and we could let them know the farm for them to visit. We wanted complete transparency in the food chain which is a major reason why we started this.

AM: We were talking with Will Blunt earlier this morning and he was talking about how you work with age cows. We had never had one before and we wondered what a Jersey cow would taste like. What was the thought behind integrating this as well?

BT: We had been tasting this on our own and when we would go up to the farm, we knew that they were not going to go and grind an older animal. We knew that they would have it in their farm store so when we went up there, we would just make a habit of asking if they had older animals. We would take them home and I remember the first one that I had cooked. I cooked it to medium and it was tough as nails and it sucked; however, the flavor was still incredible and you could tell that there was something still there. So we just brought it home for ourselves when we were there and eventually, we realized it was something that we had learned enough about that we could bring this into restaurants and have a dinner focused around these older animals. We were always blown away by these older animals. The texture was so different then what we had always been told it would be like and we thought it was phenomenal that no one knew about and no one was giving towards.

AM: Are there various breeds of cows you tend to deal with more versus others?

BT: Because everything we do is grass fed and grass finished, only a couple of breeds do well on grass and that would be Angus, Devon – that’s the best and what the farmers raise. We’re like, you guys know the grasses and we’ll tell you how it tastes. We’re the marketers for them!

AM: With the holiday season upon us, how crazy is this time of year?

BT: Bonkers.

BRENT YOUNG: Very busy!

AM: Do people order in advance with you. Just thinking about our readers that may be interested in swinging by today or prepping for their holiday meals, how would they go about it?

BT: We do everything online. We realized that after a few years, the amazing nature of human fallibility and error, all ordering is on our website. For Thanksgiving, we have a lot of options on our website. We’ll have over 550 turkeys for Thanksgiving this year. We normally sell 450, but we decided to go for it this year so we have a lot of turkeys. Then early Nov we’re heads down and you can’t even look up until after Thanksgiving and then 3 days after Thanksgiving, Christmas ordering happens and it’s heads down through New Years.

AM: Is there a down season when the orders aren’t as frequent?

BT: March. Just because we’re in NYC and everyone leaves in March. If you can get the hell out in March, your probably should!

AM: What are 3 dishes that you guys like to make with the items that you butcher when you’re at home?

BT: Both of us shop and we use what needs to be used. My personal favorite is beef shank and we always have beef shank. I think it’s still the most delicious things – it’s a nice project and it takes a couple of hours to get to relax and cook for that time.

BY: Chicken! Chicken in all forms. Last night was Chicken and Rice with scallions and a really simple sauce that was perfect for me. A real chicken and rice dish. I think that chicken to this day is so versatile and could be used in so many ways. It’s worth twice the price that you can pay for it.

AM: Why did you guys want to participate in this year’s congress?

BT: First year and I mean we were asked. We jumped on the opportunity. Talking about local meet is our mission and super fun and doing demos is fun too – no brainer!

IG: @TheMeatHook

@BenjaminStephen

@BrentonYoung

PHOTO CREDITS | Paul Farkas

Read the Nov Issue of Athleisure Mag and see 14th Annual StarChef’s International Chefs Congress in mag.

S1. E8. | ATHLEISURE KITCHEN WITH STARCHEF'S WILL BLUNT

We attended the 14th Annual StarChefs International Chefs Congress a couple of weeks ago in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. This 3-day event focused on chefs and restaurateurs that we enjoy eating in their restaurants or seeing them on an array of TV programs, to supporting chefs rising in their field and some top appliance, cooking and food producers in the market. Throughout the event, we were able to enjoy a number of sessions that included pairing wines with the iconic Dinosaur BBQ, a Fried Rice Smackdown which was judged by Chef Marcus Samuelsson, Chef Edward Lee, Chef Nicole Ponesca and Christine Lee with participants that included BRAVO's Top Chef - Chef Sheldon Simeon, a discussion on West African food and educating listeners on its flavors and importance via Kith and Kin's Chef Kwame Onwuachi and a number of hands-on culinary classes as well as being able to walk the floor to try a number of treats by brands in the space. 

On today's Athleisure Kitchen, we sit down with Will Blunt, Managing Editor of StarChefs in one of the breakout rooms on the floor of the event to talk about how he came to being a part of the publication StarChefs as well as the annual event, the purpose behind StarChefs, speakers and participants he looked forward to especially seeing at the event and more. Make sure you keep an eye out for the November issue of Athleisure Mag which will drop the week of Thanksgiving which will have a number of interviews and images from the 13th Annual StarChefs International Chefs Congress held in Brooklyn. You can see this interview as well as additional conversations in the Nov Issue of Athleisure Mag.

You can stay in the loop on who future guests are by visiting us at AthleisureStudio.com/Athleisure-Kitchen 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. Our ad segment music is EQUALS performed by Dural.

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

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

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

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

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

Remember those scallops?

AM: They’re beautiful.

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

AM: It’s an easy dish to make.

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

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

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

AM: This is so good!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For the Cherry-Hibiscus Sauce

1 ounce dried hibiscus petals

1 quart Pure Leaf Cherry Hibiscus Herbal Tea

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

For the Tea Infused Cherries

1 cup dried cherries

2 cups Pure Leaf Cherry Hibiscus Herbal Tea

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

For the Roasted Almonds

1 cup whole marcona blanched almonds

1 tbsp olive oil

1/8 tsp salt

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

To Assemble

4 diver scallops (U10 size)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 ounce frilly mustard greens

1 ounce frisee

1 tbsp infused cherries

1 tbsp cherry-hibiscus sauce

1 tbsp roasted almonds

1 tbsp torn parsley leaves

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

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

VALENTHYME

1 oz Pink Gin

2 oz Pure Leaf Mango Hibiscus Herbal Tea

¼ oz Simple Syrup

½ oz Lemon Juice

6 dashes Cranberry Bitters

3 dashes Orange Bitters

¾ oz Cranberry Juice

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

Mock

3 oz Pure Leaf Mango Hibiscus Herbal Tea

¼ oz Simple Syrup

½ oz Lemon Juice

6 dashes Cranberry Bitters

3 dashes Orange Bitters

¾ oz Cranberry Juice

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

PHOTO CREDIT | PG 88 Cedric Angeles

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

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

S1. E2. | Athleisure Kitchen with Chef Marcus Samuelsson

We’ve been a fan of Chef Marcus Samuelsson for over a decade starting with enjoying his Deviled Eggs at Red Rooster in Harlem! We’ve enjoyed seeing him on Food Network when he’s judging Chopped or seeing him on BRAVO’s Top Chef. Whether he’s releasing a cookbook, or opening additional restaurants, we know that Marcus is always creating innovative dishes that are focused on phenomenal taste, dynamic flavors and comfort foods that we need. In today’s episode of Athleisure Kitchen, Marcus cooks us a meal that we should make for date night, talks about his formula in opening as well as finding the perfect locations for his restaurants and the importance of Harlem Eat Up, his food festival that highlight his city, chefs and music of the neighborhood.

To see the meal that Chef Marcus Samuelsson prepared, check out the video below check out the interview in Athleisure Mag’s Feb issue!

ATHLEISURE MAG | #39 FEB 2019

This month Athleisure Mag is covered on both of its covers by Brandon King, Jonathan Jones and Obi Melifonwu of the New England Patriots Super Bowl LIII Champions and the shoot took place at Serafina Tribeca. We interview them about the win as well as their passion for the game. This issue also includes interviews with Boston Celtics' Al Horford, producer and entertainer Drumma Boy, Celebrity Chef and TV Personality Marcus Samuelsson of Red Rooster, WE TV Marriage Bootcamp's Dr. V and fashion designer, Christopher Raeburn.

Read the latest issue here.

SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW | SMOOTH SKIN

Skin is always an essential no matter the season, and this time of year makes us think even more so about soft, smooth and hair free skin. We chatted with Carrie LaMarca, Celebrity MUA and Skincare Expert who has worked with a number of celebrities from Ashley Graham, Bethenny Frankel, Emily Ratajkowski, Marcus Samulesson, Millie Bobby Brown, Olivia Culpo, Wolf Blitzer and Ronda Rousey. We wanted to know what we could do to find out how we can meet our goals in this manner as well as how to get that summer glow with a little help with cosmetics.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Smooth skin is an essential, what are your recommendations for your face to keep the little peach fuzz that we get away?

CARRIE LAMARCA: When I have a new model or celebrity in my chair, one of the first things I do is analyze their skin. If there is any peach fuzz I quickly remove it using my clio beautytrim personal hair trimmer. It is so quick and easy to use and doesn't irritate the skin at all. Removing that excess peach fuzz is key so that skincare and makeup go on smoothly and evenly.

AM: For the face, what are your recommendations for minimal makeup looks that appear as if its makeup-free but give you a sun-kissed glowing look for Spring and Summer?

CL: I love using Glossier's stretch concealer only in the places that need coverage and kind of buff it out to blend with your natural skin. Next, I use a cream bronzer like Benefit Hoola Creme Contour stick. Cremes melt into skin and look more natural, rather than powders, which tend to sit on top of the skin. If you do use a powder, make sure to use a heavy moisturizer or face oil under to help it look more natural. Most importantly though, is that you blend!

AM: As we sleep at night, what moisturizers should we focus on that work on our skin at this time?

CL: Serum is your hero at night! Depending on what you are looking to correct, will help you pick a serum to use. For example, Retinol is great for fine lines, while Vitamin C works for evening skin tone. And then, moisturizer is important to layer on top of the serum. It will seal everything in, while hydrating and plumping your skin as you sleep. One with Hyaluronic Acid is great!

AM: With swimsuits being in our very near future, what is a routine that we can do for our bikini line and legs to ensure soft skin and of course - hair free!

CL: The biggest thing you can do to start getting your bikini line ready is exfoliate! That is step one before hair removal. For a smooth bikini line, I love using the clio bikini trimmer. Because it’s an electric trimmer, it’s so much more gentle on the skin and will help prevent any irritation or ingrown hairs. The best part is that you can use it wet or dry, making it perfect to throw in your beach bag for on-the-go touch-ups!

AM: Post hair removal, what should we add to our routine from apparel, beauty products etc?

CL: Right after shaving your legs and bikini line you just want to make sure to wear breathable cotton clothing and underwear to allow your skin to heal. And always moisturize your skin to prevent any drying out that shaving can cause.

AM: To get a glow all over, what beauty products should we use and how should it be applied?

CL: I absolutely love all of the St. Tropez tanning products. They give such a great natural color and don't have the strange odor that most do. Just make sure to exfoliate and moisturize before applying. And remember that less is more when it comes to self-tanner. Definitely, wait a day or two before applying another layer because the tan usually develops more after 24 hours.

Read more from the April Issue and see Something You Should Know | Smooth Skin in mag.

FIND YOUR DELICACIES | FOOD X JEWELRY

Food has always been an essential; however, the culinary scene has truly exploded after the last few years with the recognition of celebrity chefs, pop up restaurants and the cross over of this space into other areas.

Our favorite meals are components of dishes from meats, fruits, vegetables, and spices. We took a moment to chat with the Co-Founder of Delicacies Jewelry, Nicolle Nelson, which brings our love of food and jewelry together with this fine jewelry, which has a portion of the line curated by Chef Andrew Zimmern who brings notable chefs to Chef's Table as collaborative portions of the line.

We talked with Nicolle about the line, how she stays inspired, how Chef Andrew Zimmern was involved with the line and what we can expect with the upcoming line. 

ATHLEISURE MAG: Nicolle, tell us about your background and how you came into the jewelry business.

NICOLLE NELSON: I did media relations for about 18 years when I (quite unexpectedly!) got into the jewelry business. I was winding down my media relations career, living in Merida, Mexico, trying to figure out what came next — and was struck with dengue fever. (As were my husband and 5-year-old daughter simultaneously. Not so fun.) While sick and feverish one afternoon, I “awoke” to a vision of a bracelet featuring a single, tiny, gleaming garlic bulb on my wrist. As soon as I recovered, I set about to create that tiny bracelet I had seen, so clearly.

That original "fever-dream" bracelet now exists as the Delicacies Garlic bracelet!

AM: Tell us about the epicurean line Delicacies Jewelry and how this came about?

NN: Delicacies is the first ever full-line of jewelry for food lovers. My husband (and partner in Delicacies) has worked with Andrew Zimmern since 2001, so we’ve definitely experienced in the full-throttle growth in the food world in the past 15 years. Food has exploded! Food personalities are TV stars and chefs have rockstar status. Why not jewelry for food lovers?

Also, people are more conscious of what they are putting in their bodies each day. But besides simply sustaining us, food has other qualities as well that we have tapped into. Food carries memories for people, and can be used to bring certain “energies” into ones lives. (Think aphrodisiacs.) 

Some of our customers have gifted pieces for loss; an onion to remind a loved one that “sometimes in life, you cry” or a tomato pendant to remind his wife of her father, who had recently passed away and planted over 60 tomato plants in their yard every year. And some pieces are bought as tokens of luck, fertility, protection from evil, and my own personal favorite, perseverance. (Check out our ingredient “mythology" on our website to see what ingredient brings what energy into your life, and why.) 

AM: What is Chefs Table and what is Andrew Zimmern's involvement with this? 
 
NN:Delicacies’ Chef’s Table is our conduit for charitable giving. Andrew, a dear friend and longtime client and now business partner of my husband’s, agreed to serve as our Chief Giving Officer, and he helps identify and contact the chefs we want to make up our Chef’s Table. Each chef chooses an ingredient to represent them and a hunger-related non-profit organization. We then donate a percentage of proceeds to these charities (10 percent of ALL proceeds and 50 percent of each of the “chef’s ingredient” pieces sold.) 
 

AM: Tell us about the chefs who have collaborated with this line and are there others on the horizon that we should keep an eye out for?

NN: We are currently reaching out to chefs now, and finalizing our year two Chef’s Table. We don’t have any names set in stone currently, BUT look for all women to be on this year’s Chef’s Table. We feel a homage to women chefs and food personalities is most definitely in order for 2017. 

Last year, we had the following chefs join us on our Chef’s Table: Chef Dominique Crenn of Atelier Crenn (ingredient: tomato; charity SF-Marin Food Bank), Chef Gavin Kaysen of Spoon & Stable (ingredient: shrimp; charity: Appetite for Change) and Chef Marcus Samuelsson of Red Rooster (ingredient: chicken; charity: Three Goats).

AM: Tell us about your new addition of avocado into the line!

NN: Ever since we launched, there has been an overwhelming (excuse the pun) hunger for an avocado piece. And who are we to leave food lovers wanting? It took us awhile to get the avocados right; we realized the pendant had to be a 3D piece to show both sides of this delectable fruit. The avocado comes in the Delicacies bracelet, the sterling silver pendant, the 14K gold pendant and the pave gold pendant. We've already sold out of the pave avocado pieces - we are thrilled that people like their avocado with a little sparkle.

AM: What are your favorite Delicacies that are currently available in the line?

NN: I have two! I cannot pick just one. My favorites are the ginger and the octopus. 

The ginger because I simply love the ingredient itself and use it in my Thai curry pastes that I make from scratch. 

Second, I’ve worn the octopus pendant since the first one was created. The octopus represents perseverance and it is the energy which I have needed most since I started on this entrepreneurial journey. I never could have imagined the moments of doubt that I’ve faced in this journey, and each time doubt creeps in, I feel for my octopus around my neck and it reminds me that I have overcome setbacks before and that I will continue forward.

AM: What new ingredients can we expect to be introduced in the line that is not available yet?

NN: Look for rosemary in the next couple of months. I’m excited about this one because it stands for remembrance, and is just so beautiful cast in silver and gold. 

AM: Where do you get your inspiration from?

NN: I’m a bit strange, I think, because I love walking around farmer’s markets the world over. I find them so beautiful, brimming with colors, food stalls — and piles upon piles of produce. I think fruits and vegetables are the most beautiful shapes ever created by nature, which is why our jewelry line focuses on whole, simple ingredients. 

AM:  When you're not making jewelry, do you workout - if so where, and what foods do you enjoy eating for energy versus splurging?

NN: I love working out and try and do something about 3-4 days a week. (Some weeks I’m better than others…) When I’m in the States for the summer months, I do yoga with weights. When I'm in Mexico, I do CrossFit — more recreationally than serious, I enjoy the variety of the workouts. I also take a day every so often to just run a few miles.

I love food. (I created a line of food jewelry; of COURSE I love food!!) We cook a lot at home, and do a lot of Asian foods (Thai being my specialty; I make my own paste which is quite the production!)  We also do a lot of oven-roasted meats, stuff that goes stove top to oven all in the same cast iron skillet. And of course living most of the year in Mexico we eat our fair share of tacos, which would definitely be my guilty pleasure. 

AM: What's your personal style when you're out and about versus when you're going to brunch with friends?

NN: In the daytime, I’m in jeans all day long. I’m tall, so I prefer something a bit longer on top. And I love my shawls to combat overly air conditioned spaces, most of which I’ve found in my travels throughout Mexico. At night, I prefer simple (either classic or kinda flirty) dresses, a shawl, always heels, and my Angela Damman clutch handmade from beautiful natural fibers from the Yucatan. 

Read more from the Mar Issue and see Find Your Delicacies Food X Jewelry in mag.