Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 They say never trust a skinny chef <laugh>. But I think you should never trust a chef who doesn't know what the food they're preparing is gonna do to your body.
Speaker 1 00:00:07 100%
Speaker 3 00:00:13 No. Feel made me cry,
Speaker 1 00:00:27 Man. You know, it's uh, it's really weird too, being a chef and, um, going into people's homes and I'm there to serve you and then they're always serving me like, can I get you some water? Let me adjust. You know what I'm saying? <laugh>?
Speaker 0 00:00:40 Yeah. Well, uh, I think here in the south, especially southern hospitality, good manners are reciprocated. So I think the fact that they want to serve you means that you're serving them well.
Speaker 1 00:00:49 Yeah. Yeah. It's pretty cool though. It's pretty cool.
Speaker 0 00:00:51 Since you mentioned it, chef Daniel Knight, thank you for doing the podcast, buddy. Man.
Speaker 1 00:00:55 Thank you for having me. Excited to be here. I really am.
Speaker 0 00:00:58 Absolutely. Uh, well, you know, we, we had met once before, but it was such a short amount of time. We really didn't get to know each other very well. So I look forward to us getting able to do that here. So you asked me for some water a minute ago. Yes. And, uh, you said room temp.
Speaker 1 00:01:11 Yes.
Speaker 0 00:01:11 You don't like cold water or what? I never
Speaker 1 00:01:13 Have like cold water. I, um, even as a kid, I didn't like ice in my water. And then as I got older and I learned, you know, just about health in general, that the body actually prefers room temperature or slightly warm water over cold water. Cause you know, you drink the cold water, it shocks all your insides. So now your digestive system is slowing down, your blood flow is slowing down, your heart rate, all of these things are now changing because you went from being 98 degrees to maybe like 94 degrees instantly. Yeah. And so that's that. Just kinda, yeah. I don't ever drink cold water.
Speaker 0 00:01:47 Same. I've always preferred it with no ice as well. I like it. Room temp. I think the reason for me, other than the health reasons, because I, my wife always makes fun of me because I just chug water. Oh. I don't know if it was because I was in a frat and I got used to chugging or what <laugh>, but I just chugged the water. It's like I either chug or I don't drink it at all. So to make sure I get all my water and I chug it down quick and chugging cold water just hurts. So I always drink it. Room temp.
Speaker 1 00:02:11 I got it, man. Yeah, that's what's up man.
Speaker 0 00:02:20 And I want you guys to know that today's episode is sponsored by Better Help. Do you find yourself struggling with anxiety, depression, or just feeling stuck in life? Well, better Help is here to help. Better Help is the world's largest online therapy platform with licensed therapists available to you from the comfort of your own home. With better help, you can schedule weekly video or phone sessions with your therapist. Or you can simply message them anytime you need to. No more sitting in traffic, no more waiting rooms. Ugh. And no more feeling uncomfortable. And here's the best part. Better Help is Affordable Financial aid is available to those who qualify. And our listeners get 10% off their first month by visiting Better help.com/birmingham. Take the first step towards a happier, healthier life with better help. Visit Better help.com/birmingham today and get 10% off your first month. Thanks for listening to the Discover Birmingham podcast. Now, back to the show. Talk about the difference between what you do being a personal chef mm-hmm. <affirmative> and say a private chef and a restaurant chef.
Speaker 1 00:03:39 Oh yeah. Great question. So all chefs are, should be trained to create a menu to procure that menu. Mean go out and like source all the ingredients and then prepare it. That's really the essence, you know, of a chef. But you have restaurant chefs who literally, they are there to put out this food consistently every single time. So you may go into a restaurant and you not prefer garlic in your mashed potatoes, but the recipe calls for it. So that chef, even though he may have or she may have a vast amount of talent and a vast amount of creativity, they're limited because in the restaurant world, it has to be consistent every single time. Cookie cutter. Yeah. Has to be. So I don't care if it's, um, like a shout out to Alania in Chicago. One of the, like I've never been, I've just only seen it, you know, but it's a really cool restaurant.
Speaker 1 00:04:39 But even if it's like something like that, it's a three star Michelin restaurant, or if it's, you know, McDonald's, the consistency is all they're looking for. So then you go to private chefs and private chefs are going to be hired to work for a family or a, a business or whomever. So they're hired to be that person's private chef, meaning that they're gonna cook everything just for that family. I don't wanna be a private chef just because then I become your employee. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And nothing wrong with being an employee, but I just don't want to pigeonhole myself into only cooking for one family. So as a personal chef, we get this full range of creativity. I get to cook whatever I want for whoever I want, however you like it. Um, I get to give you my interpretations on these menus. So you may like Chilean sea bass is your favorite. So let me give you my interpretation of that. It's gonna be, you know, I get to listen to your, tell me about your food restrictions or food allergies and I get to leave those out, play around with different things. So the personal chef, you really get to explore a ton of creativity. Cuz even being a private chef, they may want lasagna every Wednesday.
Speaker 0 00:05:51 They may want it exactly how you did it last time. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I'm glad you mentioned food restrictions and food allergies and everything. I know you have a few food restrictions that I want to get into, but that's more and more common these days. And I don't know if it's that it's actually more prevalent or if it's that it's just more recognized. But so many people now have some kind of food restrictions. Like, oh, I'm gluten free, I'm vegan, I'm paleo, I'm keto, you name it. So whatever it is, you can design a meal based off whatever their restrictions are.
Speaker 1 00:06:20 100%. I, uh, I had a meal prep client. Pretty much the only thing that she could eat was Turkey, salmon and like a few vegetables because of how restrictive it was like no gluten, no dairy. And she had no idea like what any of this meant. She just knew if she ate this, she felt sick. If I ate this, I feel sick. And so to really know how to take so butter versus like plant-based butter, they function different. I mean they're the same, but if you don't have the training to know like, I can't cook this vegan butter at the same temperatures as regular butter, it's gonna burn or what have you. Yeah. There's all kind of nuances. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:07:05 What about like, Agh, is, is GH considered to be vegan? Because, you know, Agh is clarified butter. So they heated up and they clarify it by scraping off all the dairy solids. So is that considered vegan still?
Speaker 1 00:07:14 Nope. Came out of an animal. Yeah. Came from an animal. So now I can't use that. And then like, you know, you saying that like, um, all of these food things that are showing up, I think it's a combination of two things. Cuz I had, uh, I'm allergic to pork. I can't, like, I can't eat any form of pork man gummies. Certain jellies have gelatin in 'em. Jello, I can't eat. It has gelatin. Gelatin is a pork derivative.
Speaker 0 00:07:39 So it's not just pork, it's anything made from pork.
Speaker 1 00:07:42 Yes. Wow. Yes. Like when I do take any type of supplements, they have to be vegetable capsules. Otherwise, you know, that's the pork gelatin pro. Yeah. So I can't do it. I get, uh, so if I eat, consume pork, uh, within less than five minutes, it's like I've had the flu for four days.
Speaker 0 00:07:59 No kidding. So you must be reading those ingredient lists like a fine tooth comb. Yep.
Speaker 1 00:08:03 Yep. And that's why I don't like eating out. Not that I don't want to eat out, man. I'd love to go eat out, but you know, it's, it's just, I just don't want to take that chance cuz So like you were saying, so these things that are starting to show up, so when I was like seven, by the time I was 10 years old, I realized like I was, something was wrong with me when I eat pork. Then I realized like, you know, I would throw up when I would drink, uh, fruit punch red dye 40. So then, um, I would feel kind of funny after eating certain breads, then I realized it's not the, it's the, it's the bleaching process of the flour that impacts me. It's not unbleached flour. I do fine bleach flour. Oh man. It's just rough. Well,
Speaker 0 00:08:47 The few things that you've named, I think are things that really nobody should be eating anyway. Yeah. <laugh>. I think it's just maybe your body is just trained to let you know like, look, this is not what we need. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:08:56 Right. So, um, so by the time I was like 10 I was cooking my own food. I mean, imagine your grandparents are sharecroppers, uh, so you you you're dirt poor and they, my grandmother is cooking this like her smothered pork chops and you're like 10, 11 years old and you like, granny, I'm not hungry.
Speaker 0 00:09:19 Yeah. Because that already sounds so good and you know, all everything she's making is something that they've grown
Speaker 1 00:09:25 Grown. Yep. Granny, I'm not hungry, I'll just eat a sandwich. Yeah. Uh, yep. And so, um, very devastating for her. Not, you know, when I look back on it, you know what I'm saying? Because like, here I am, quote unquote your favorite grandchild, <laugh>. I knew that
Speaker 0 00:09:39 <laugh>, that's an unbiased opinion, right? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1 00:09:41 Yeah. A cousin if you're watching y'all know, <laugh> <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:09:45 And, um, so, but yeah, so it was very, I, you know, just as I got older man, I just realized how tough it had to be on her for me. Like re declining your food all the time, you know, because at a young age, man, I just realized like, it's just not good for me. So as I got older, I found out that I truly had an allergy to pork. So that's when I really just cut it out toge all together. And to this day, I really, I don't eat dairy seriously. Only thing I may eat with dairy is every now and then I'll have some ice cream or a slice of cheesecake. But then for the next three or four days I'm paying for it. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:10:23 Yeah. Worth it though.
Speaker 1 00:10:24 Yes. That one. <laugh>.
Speaker 0 00:10:26 Are you, would you say you're more of a sweet or a salty type person?
Speaker 1 00:10:29 Uh, savory for sure. Okay. Um, I am not a big sweets guy at all. Um, I love sweets. Like, I love, um, sweet stuff. I would, I prefer to just eat like a bowl of fruit to get my sweet fixed than to eat like a candy bar or, you know, I love, I love baked goods, man. Like, like danishes and all. But man, it just wrecks my body so bad.
Speaker 0 00:10:51 Yeah. You're, you're speaking my language. I have a sweet tooth majorly, maybe a whole mouthful of sweet teeth <laugh>, but um, if I'm gonna go off plan Yeah. Meaning veer off of how I would normally eat somewhat healthy. It's gonna be baked goods, I think probably my favorite treats in town. Have you ever had Cookie Fix?
Speaker 1 00:11:10 No. My son loves Cookies. Cookie Fix.
Speaker 0 00:11:12 Cookie Fix. Downtown Homewood. Okay. Yeah. Uh, they have no affiliation with the podcast. This is a real opinion. They're some of the best cookies I've ever had and they have a ton of different flavors and they taste homemade. Cuz there's another one that I like called Crumble Cookies. Yep. You you've heard of that? I have. Yeah. They're good too. But they just have that little hint of a chemical aftertaste because they're more processed. They're not using real homemade ingredients. They're a national chain. So I think they're getting everything shipped in except them. Yeah. But Cookie Fix is like real like mom would make if mom was the best baker you've ever had. Okay.
Speaker 1 00:11:47 Cookie fix. All right. So my son is a, uh, huge baked goods fan. Uh, so we're gonna go to Cookie Fix or Insomnia Cookie, one of the two
Speaker 0 00:11:56 Insomnia's good too. And they'll deliver at 2:00 AM which is huge. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:12:00 So, okay. Cool. All right. Got it. That's where we're going today. Yeah. All
Speaker 0 00:12:03 Right. Speaking of cookies, there's another one that was right up there with Cookie Fix. It's called Greenhouse. It's a restaurant in Homewood as well. Okay. They have sandwiches and soups and everything else, but they have some of the best cookies too. They're huge. They're more almost like the size of a biscuit. Oh wow. And they're heavy. They're, the cookie probably weighs a pound. Ah, it's, I see.
Speaker 1 00:12:25 Yeah. That's three pounds.
Speaker 0 00:12:26 So those two recommendations right there. If you get a chance to try one of each, let me know what you think. I
Speaker 1 00:12:32 Will, I will, man. And my son, so my son is a, uh, is a hamburger purist, meaning that if we go anywhere, uh, for a hamburger, he gets only the burger and the bun. Yeah. He's, he's real funny like this. And he is a cookie enthusiast. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. He loves cookies. And so, uh, these places you're telling me, um, yeah, it'll be right up his alley. Yeah. I can't, yeah.
Speaker 0 00:12:59 Like we're talking about, you generally eat pretty healthy, it sounds like. I do. I used to be hardly, because you have to.
Speaker 1 00:13:04 Yeah. I used to be 330 pounds. What? Yeah. So when I started out, um, in this personal chef, uh, business in 2019, I had just gotten married, uh, March of 2, 20 19. And I started this in May. So when I got married I was like, okay, I, I gotta lose some weight. I mean, I think everybody goes through that. I mean, maybe not you, but No, I was,
Speaker 0 00:13:25 I was there still am
Speaker 1 00:13:27 <laugh>. And so I had gotten up to three 30. How did I get there? My grandmother passed away. And then right after that I got divorced. And so I went from about 260 pounds to three 30 and like overnight it sound felt like
Speaker 0 00:13:45 Comfort food.
Speaker 1 00:13:46 Yeah. Dude. I was just eating and depressed. And so once I figured out the depression thing, got therapy, all that, met my new wife got married. And then in May I started, um, started this business. And what went through my mind is I was watching, uh, food Network one day and I was watching, I'm not gonna name the chef though, but I was watching these, a chef compete against other chefs and he was, he was sweating and he was a larger guy and he sweated in the food <laugh>. And I was like, oh, I never want to be that chef. I was like, I don't want to do that. And so that was the only thing that went through my mind when I put on like my chef's coat for the first time. And I could just, and I was looking at how big I was and I was looking at how bad my body was hurting from carrying stuff and how I had to, you know, my back is hurting. I'm sweating all the time. I'm tired all the time. So I just decided to really understand food, how it really works at the molecular level. And then I applied that to myself and then I just make sure I serve my clients the same way. That's
Speaker 0 00:14:54 Huge. Yeah. They say never trust a skinny chef <laugh>. But I think you should never trust a chef who doesn't know what the food they're preparing is gonna do to your body.
Speaker 1 00:15:02 100%. And like, cuz like man, I even break it down to where I don't use shaker seasonings at all. And it's not because they don't taste good, it's because I know that there are fillers in here mm-hmm. <affirmative> that keep it from, from clumping together and then also preserve it. A huge, huge filler is silicone dioxide. Silicone dioxide is known to cause lung cancer. So I know this, I know that this is in these shaker bottles. So why would I buy that and serve it to you? Yeah. Yeah. Same thing with flour. I never use bleach flour. Um, at a, at a client's home or in my own home, I'm only using unbleached flour cuz I found out how it's turned into white flour, goes through a chemical bleaching process. All of the, the health benefits of that, of that grain are now gone. So that's, um, that's leads straight to inflammation. I don't use white processed sugar cuz I found out how does white processed sugar, well they u they use it, it's a bone charring method. They take the bone char of animals mostly pork and beef and they use that to whiten the sugar. So Yeah. So now it's like, okay, so that, so then now that I know this, I can't serve you that cuz I'm not eating it. So I'd never do that to you.
Speaker 0 00:16:13 Yeah. Seriously. Would you ever bake with something like 100% iron corn flour or something like that? Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:16:20 Yeah, definitely. Definitely. Something
Speaker 0 00:16:21 Like a healthier version of flour. Right? Absolutely.
Speaker 1 00:16:22 1%. Katie
Speaker 0 00:16:23 Will bake some treats sometimes and she'll use almond flour. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> coconut flour, she's gotten really good at it. So it's almost as good as the real thing, you know? And I appreciate that, that there are alternatives to, you know, foods that you really like Right. But you know, are not gonna do service to your body. So there's always a way to prepare something that's gonna be healthier for your body. For instance, I've been watching this show called, uh, chef versus Snack. You ever heard of that?
Speaker 1 00:16:49 Yes. Good show.
Speaker 0 00:16:50 Yeah. They made their own versions of kit cats. Mm-hmm <affirmative> Gushers, like all the foods that I was eating when I was a kid, you know, cause I went through a chubby phase when I was a kid as well. Middle school before I, before I grew tall because you know, I'd go to my grandmother's house and the first thing we do is go to the grocery store and I could get whatever I wanted. Cuz when I was at home, you know, my, uh, my parents weren't super health conscious, but they also weren't gonna just let me eat anything I wanted. So when I go see my grandparents, it was just like candy bars, cereals, anything like that. Anything
Speaker 1 00:17:21 You want.
Speaker 0 00:17:21 Yeah. So I'm watching this show and I'm thinking, okay, so there's a way to make a kit cat at homes out of real ingredients and not just the chemicals and the, the fake foods that they use in that mm-hmm. <affirmative>. I think that's pretty awesome.
Speaker 1 00:17:32 Yeah. That's, um, so that was another man. There's so many people that have influenced me in my life, but I was working at at and t probably 15, 16 years ago. And, uh, there was a gentleman, his name Sean Murphy, we were having a potluck at, um, at at and t. And I was ro I was just gonna do a roasted barbecue chicken and I wanted to, I was like, man, but I gotta go buy barbecue sauce. He was like, why don't you make your own? And I was like, what? You can make that <laugh>? And he was like, bro, he said, you can make anything on the, in a jar that's in a grocery store. They make it read the ingredients on the back. And so I was like, what? And so I, I mean, it was just mind blowing because, you know, to grow up the way I did to get a barbecue sauce, man, you just went to the store and got it. Yeah. You know, to get ketchup you would just go to the store, you know, so to know, like when he told me that, it's just been gangbusters for me. Like I'm, so, I don't, so if you, if you hire date night dining, we're gonna make the barbecue sauce. We're gonna make the, if you're gonna get ketchup, I'm gonna make the ketchup. If you got a salad dressing, I'm gonna make the salad dressing the whole nine.
Speaker 0 00:18:45 Tell us more about that. So date night dining is the name of the business. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And so what happens, so someone hires you. Do you go to the grocery store, you get all the ingredients? Do you go to their house? What, how does that process work?
Speaker 1 00:18:55 Um, so when you contact us, we, uh, we set up a consultation. So during the consultation it's anywhere from a 15 to 30 minute conversation. It's really about me finding out what the, what the event is for. If it's, you know, your anniversary, birthday, whatever the event's for. So who's the guest of honor then? So who, how many guests do you have? Is there somebody in these number of people that you really want to honor? So what does that person like? Cuz that's what, that's who we need to make this dinner about. Cuz if we're gonna make it about what you like, then we need to do this for you. Or if we're gonna make it, if you're having this huge birthday event for your wife, but you're worried about what your mom wants for dinner, well this is your mom's birthday party, not your wife.
Speaker 1 00:19:37 Exactly. Yeah. So, um, so that's how, so that's how it starts is we talk about, you know, the event, the, the person who's gonna be honored, what they actually like. And then from there I curate the menu. Then once the menu's curated, I send it over to you, you approve the menu and then I send over the deposit information. So once that's taken care of, that actually secures and books your dates. And then the day of the event, I show up with all of the ingredients and prepare everything on site. So we show up anywhere from two to six hours before the events start, just depending upon what we have to prepare, how many courses there are to prepare. So if, uh, for two people, normally it takes about three hours beforehand. It's cuz you know, normally it's four to five courses for three people.
Speaker 1 00:20:23 And so that just takes a little time to prep all that stuff. Man, chop. I'm cuz like nothing is done when I show up, I'm talking like, only thing that is done is the vegetables have grown out of the ground and been picked and the animals are in the back. That's it. <laugh>. So then, uh, once I do all of that, um, we, uh, we use the pots and pans that you have available. I think because it, um, one, it, I think it adds a little bit more nostalgia to it. Cause you know, one day you're gonna be washing that pot or your wife is gonna use this pot and she's gonna say like, babe, do you remember when he came and he, I cannot cook a steak like he did. I don't know how he did it in this pot. I don't know what he did. You know? So
Speaker 0 00:21:06 I think it's cool that you're also showing them what their kitchen is capable of.
Speaker 1 00:21:09 Yes. That part too. Yeah. Like yeah, you can do this in your kitchen. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:21:13 How if we went upstairs and went through our kitchen, I'm sure you'd be able to whip up something that it was beyond anything I could have imagined. Cuz most things I cook in the kitchen are eggs and bacon, <laugh>, you know, uh, Katie gets creative, but I'm more of like a breakfast guy. Right. If I'm responsible for dinner, we're having b f d breakfast for dinner. <laugh>. It's my favorite meal of the day. And I, I pretty much, uh, rinse and repeat the same kind of stuff. So I like scrambled eggs the most. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> with that in mind, can you gimme any recommendations for how I might be able to spice up scrambled eggs?
Speaker 1 00:21:44 100%. So, um, I always use three eggs, salt and pepper. And if you're gonna do herbs, I like di tarragon and parsley. Hmm, yep. Fresh if possible. So we're going to just really whip these eggs in a bowl and add like, for maybe one to two tablespoons of water or cream. I prefer cream. Uh, so then in the pot or or skillet, uh, you want a low heat, you don't want to really high heat, you want to melt the butter, not burn the butter. So like, literally not medium, but just a little bit below medium, add the eggs and as it, as you start to scramble, pull 'em off the heat, scramble, put 'em back on the heat scramble, pull 'em off the heat and scramble. So that on the heat off the heat, what that does is it allows you to incorporate air into the egg to give it the lift. Mm. And then you are not gonna get that really done egg. So you will get that nice fluffy, creamy, delicious scrambled egg.
Speaker 0 00:22:47 That's what I'm talking about. So there you
Speaker 1 00:22:48 Go. Yes. Thank you. I hope that helps
Speaker 0 00:22:50 <laugh>. Absolutely. Will. I'm gonna have to play this back to remember that recipe, but yes, I'll do it. Okay. And I'll let you know how it's turned out. Please
Speaker 1 00:22:56 Do, man.
Speaker 0 00:22:57 Speaking of, uh, of ingredients, what's your favorite ingredient to cook with?
Speaker 1 00:23:01 Um, seafood. Fish. Fish. I really love cooking fish and I really love cooking fish because most people don't know how to cook it properly. And being from Florida, I grew up eating a ton of fish. So I just, I really love cooking fish. I really do like chilan, sea bass, red snapper. My personal favorite fish is, is sheep head. So, uh, it's uh, it's uh, it lives closer to the bottom and it has teeth that looks like human teeth and yes it does. And it, and it crushes and eats oysters, clams, lobsters, shrimp, so stuff with shells on it. So it needs really hard teeth to do that. And it is a very sweet, meaty fish
Speaker 0 00:23:47 That makes sense. That it would be sweet and meaty. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, because something I learned a few years ago that I thought was so interesting is that, you know, they say that you are what you eat, right. But you're also what your food ate. Yeah. So the diet that the animals that you eat ate is gonna kind of determine how they taste Right. And how healthy they are. So that's why they recommend as far as health goes, you know, like a grass fed, grass finished beef mm-hmm. As opposed to one that was fed corn and grain and all the junk food that they were eating.
Speaker 1 00:24:17 Hundred percent. I, so for me, growing, man, I grew up on a small farm. So like literally all of our animals were grass or, you know, grain fed. And so I did not eat a store bought egg until I was 13. And so to like eat a store bought egg, I was like, Ooh, these eggs are nasty. Why do, why do they taste like this?
Speaker 0 00:24:35 The yellow parts not as yellow. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:24:37 Yeah. And so, and then like even now, um, I can't, like physically I just can't do chicken or beef that's just raised on whatever. Like, I literally can't eat anything that's like not organic or grass fed or whatnot. It's just because over the years I've just trained my sis my body just doesn't like it. So Yeah. I don't think anybody should be eating it. I don't even think they should be having it in the food production. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I don't even think we should be having clone food. I don't even think high fructose corn syrup should exist. There's so many things that happen in our like, like to to know that we live in the United States of America and like other countries in the world say you can't put these chemicals in there cause it'll give our kids, you know, A D H D or it'll give our kids depression, like mental problems. It could physically stunt their growth, all kinds of stuff. But America says it's okay. That bothers me a lot. So
Speaker 0 00:25:31 A hundred percent if you look at the ingredients list of food for, uh, in Europe mm-hmm. <affirmative> versus the ingredients list here. So take an Oreo for example. The ingredients list is twice as long for an Oreo as it is in Europe. And here's a um, kind of a rule of thumb when you're shopping, the shorter the ingredient list, the healthier it's gonna be for you. Yes sir. Like you said, the further we veer away from nature, the worst that food's gonna be for you mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 00:25:57 <affirmative>. And that that's what, that's the other thing too. Like when I started this, I was like really conscious of like, okay, I can't, I can't serve this person. Great value flower, great value, you know, this is their anniversary. There's no way I can look at this as something like, you know, every time I'm doing this it's about the profits. You know, the profits will come with the purpose. And the purpose is to give you an amazing, truly fine dining experience. And fine dining literally means you're using the least amount of ingredients. So they have to be the best. And you want to highlight the flavors, the textures of that carrot. So I can't use just a, a a $2 bag of grown with pesticide carrots. No. I gotta go pay four bucks for the rainbow organically grown carrots that, you know, did not go through that process.
Speaker 1 00:26:51 Cuz this carrot is only gonna get the heat. Maybe a little salt and maybe a little pepper. Cuz I want you to taste or the real carrot taste like, you know this, you may have never, you may never experienced that again. Yeah. So that's the, the premises behind like true fine dining, you're not supposed to fine dining is not taking, um, these low quality ingredients and then transforming 'em into something magnificent. No. It's taking this high quality ingredient and highlighting its high qualities. So it may not even be transformed in it. It might just literally be a carrot on the plate, but it's gonna be the absolute best tasting procured carrot you've ever had. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:27:32 Right. You can put lipstick on a pig, but you know, <laugh>. Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:27:35 Exactly. Exactly. Exactly.
Speaker 0 00:27:37 Yeah. So it's all about the ingredients. You gotta start with the best mm-hmm. <affirmative> and you'll end with the best.
Speaker 1 00:27:40 Yes. One makes
Speaker 0 00:27:41 Perfect sense. Yeah. Tell me about a time that you've been working with a client that things just got totally unexpected. Like something fun, something silly, something crazy happened when you were working with a client
Speaker 1 00:27:51 Man. So it's two that really stick out for me. The first one was the night of my accident. That one, it wasn't anything with the client at all. It was me and I, I'll never do this again. I went into, I remember leaving my home that night or that that afternoon and I told my wife, I was like, cuz this was like my fourth client and like four days or something, it was like back to back to back. And so I was just, I, I really, I didn't want to go. And I told my wife, I was like, I don't want to go. And she was like, why not? I was like, I just don't feel like it. And I was not thankful, I was not appreciative of that opportunity. And that night they, they enjoyed the meal, everything went well. And that night on the way back, I was in an accident and broke my head. So that one sticks out to me. Yeah. Because of my lack of appreciation, man, had I been appreciative of the opportunity to go into these people's homes to celebrate this gentleman's birthday and really, you know, cuz you get into the mono, I got into the monotony of like, this is a job, it's
Speaker 0 00:28:55 Going through the motions.
Speaker 1 00:28:56 Yes. Yeah. And so I'll never do that again. Um, and it's how how'd
Speaker 0 00:29:00 The accident happen? What happened?
Speaker 1 00:29:01 Man, I was coming back from Huntsville. My g p s did not take me interstate on the way back. For some reason it took me all back roads cuz of where they lived. It was, the interstate was like 15 miles, you know, out of the way. So it took me all back roads. So I'm from Florida, this is the last night of, uh, hurricane Ida. And man, I've driven in hurricanes. Been, I mean, I'm from Florida, man. That's what we do. Yeah. Like you're
Speaker 0 00:29:30 In Florida, man. That's what
Speaker 1 00:29:30 I'm saying. It don't matter. It's rain. Okay. Drive <laugh>. And so, um, but you are now living in Birmingham, Alabama. Uh, this is the base of the Appalachian Mountain, sir, this is not flat squares everywhere. These are, these are mountains in, in, in turn. So I'm coming down this hill. Something says slow down. So I look at my speedometer, I'm doing 65. And when I look down on my speedometer and look up, I'm going the total opposite direction. I, I totally, I don't know what happened. I'm hydro at this point. So as I'm hydroplaning I realized up, I'm like, okay, I'm hydroplaning. Let's not slam on the brakes. You know, let's like turn against this real slow, let's regain control of the vehicle. By the time I got control of the vehicle and I'm going straight again, I am now going through a church parking lot. I see a sign. I dodged the sign cuz I was like, oh, property damage. Let's not do that. <laugh>,
Speaker 0 00:30:27 Let's, let's minimize this. Yeah, let's
Speaker 1 00:30:29 Not do that. And then I see the road and I try to turn, I was like, I'm going too fast to just slam on brakes and turn back on the road. Cause if I slam on the brakes, I'm, I'm just gonna flip. So let's not do that. So, um, I see. Then as soon as I hit the road, I go across, I hit the ditch. And then on the other side of the ditch there's a, a body of water. Um, I have no idea what it is, how deep it is to the right. I see a cement culvert. So I aim for that. Oof. Yeah. So
Speaker 0 00:31:01 I guess outta the two, I think I, I'd make the same choice,
Speaker 1 00:31:04 You know, so when I hit the culvert, um, I hit it and I landed on top of it. Now I thank God that, that that happened cuz the, the body of water, it was a eight foot hole that was five feet full of water. So had I hit that, I would've, you'd
Speaker 0 00:31:18 Be underwater. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:31:19 Yeah. I would've drowned. I wouldn't have, I probably wouldn't have made it cuz I, I can't swim. So I definitely would not be here today.
Speaker 0 00:31:27 Not only not being able to swim as being strapped into a vehicle that's underwater. That's a big fear for a lot of
Speaker 1 00:31:32 People. Absolutely, bro. So I wouldn't, I don't know what I would've done, man, had I had I hit that body of water. And, uh, when the, so a lady, she witnessed the whole thing. I have no idea where this lady came from. I just heard her yelling, sir, sir, don't move. Don't move. You know. And I was like, don't move. Okay. She's telling me not to move. No move. Like, what are you doing? You gotta move. So I opened up my door. Well, first I gathered myself to like, kind of figure out what's going on. So I've been seeing I've, I, I go see a chiropractor pretty regularly and I started taking yoga. So I was, you know, I was in sh in a little bit of shape, so I knew like, okay, let's get yourself together. So I just kind of calmed myself to like do a quick analysis of like if I'm hurt anywhere. And as soon as I took that breath in and got ready to let it out, my right hip just starts screaming. Just lit up. Yeah. So I just start cussing like, ah, you know what I'm saying? I'm, I'm like, what? So I was like, okay, okay, you gotta get out of the truck. So I opened the door and I tried to move my leg and I'm like, oh God, my hip. And then the next thing that went through my mind, I was like, was Bo Jackson?
Speaker 0 00:32:41 Yep.
Speaker 1 00:32:41 Yeah. I was like Bo Jackson. He, he, he had his hip replaced Bo Jackson. He was breaking bats across his leg with a, I was like, okay, I'm getting out of this truck
Speaker 0 00:32:54 <laugh>. Heck yeah.
Speaker 1 00:32:56 And, um, so man, I tried to get out and this lady's yelling, don't move, don't move. And so as soon as I opened the door, I put my left foot out to like step out and it was just all water. And I was like, okay, don't move. I see what she's saying now. So my truck was, um, sitting on top of the, um, cement culvert and literally like, I'm two feet away from falling into the, like, wow. Yeah. So when they came, so she ended up, I all my, both of my phones were damaged, so I couldn't call anybody. There was no nine one one. Uh, when I hit two man, I see all my pots and pans and knives flying from the back. Yeah. So I I it would all went in slow motion. That
Speaker 0 00:33:39 Could have been bad. Yes. Flying knives in your vehicle.
Speaker 1 00:33:41 Yeah. I had 'em all in my case. And somehow that just, it just was all over the place. And so, um, so they got me to the hospital man pumping me full of like fentanyl and all kind of drugs. And, uh, so they, they did my hip surgery, uh, the very next day. And so, you know, then I went through the year of rehab. So that's the one I've been in. Like the second one that I really remember, I did a lady's night and, um, well it was like a lady's brunch. And all I will say is that it was very revealing, <laugh>, you know what I'm saying? <laugh>, like, it was, you know, and I, and man, honestly, I prayed to God. I was like, all right, God, listen, I'm, I want to do this personal chef thing. I really do, but I don't want those kind of clients. I don't want, I don't want to be the chef that they call like, chef, take your shirt. No. <laugh> like, no, I don't want to do that. So that was, that was, that was the other one. So that's, that, that was, that was kind of, I was like, whoa, why? Wait, wait, wait. No, please don't. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:34:43 So they were offering you some extracurricular opportunities there. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:34:46 So I was like, thank you ladies. Y'all have a great night. Yeah. See you next time. I'm flattered, but no, no, no.
Speaker 0 00:34:51 Yes. Great. Yeah. What's the food that you love to cook but hate to eat pork. Okay. <laugh>. I, I, I should have already known that.
Speaker 1 00:34:59 No, no, it's all good man. Cuz like, at one time, at one time I refused to cook pork because I had an incident where I cooked a ham for someone. And I, um, I had a small nick on my finger, just a very small nick. And I got some of the juice off of that ham, hit that nick and got into my bloodstream. And I had never, I was so cured over in pain for like an hour just sitting there, just, just like gut wrenching and pain, unable to like get off of my bedroom floor for about 30 minutes. Ooh. And I was just like, this is horrible. And I was trying to figure out, I was like, I didn't eat it. What happened? Oh my g you know, and it was that. So pork is probably the one thing that I don't enjoy cooking, but I definitely, I definitely know how to do it. I just don't. Yeah. Yeah. I just don't enjoy it. What
Speaker 0 00:35:57 About foods that you hate to cook but love to eat?
Speaker 1 00:36:01 Hate to cook. Uh, but love to <laugh> man. Um, you know, uh, anything that takes over two hours. So like if I gotta roast something or if I gotta braid something, I gotta do this slow cooking process on something. I hate that cuz I don't want to be in the kitchen for four hours cooking my dinner. Now for you I'm game. Cause you've, you've, you've solicited services yet. <laugh>. But for me personally, I don't want to be in the kitchen all day. I literally want to get in there two hours max for dinner or whatever. So if I gotta spend more than that in there, I'm really not a fan of that. Yeah. Yeah. So at home it's literally like chicken breasts, chicken thighs, steak, spaghetti and meatballs, pasta, just really quick stuff that I can do that's not gonna wreck my diet. Love you <laugh>.
Speaker 0 00:36:54 I had gotten this new grill when we moved into this house and it's one of those, it's, it is an easy bake oven. It's a Traeger grill, you know, you said it and forget it. It's almost like cheating. I can't really consider myself a, a pit master grilling on a Traeger grill. But anyway, we're having a family gathering. I committed to, um, to smoking a brisket. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I had never been a, you know, I've cooked a a million steaks, a million chicken breasts, the basic stuff, but I'd never really like long smoked a big piece of meat like that mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So I committed to it and then I researched shit and then I realized how long it was gonna take. 12, 12 hours. Yeah. It really was. So I ended up having to set an alarm for 3:00 AM mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I had to put it on and then get up every two hours, spritz the thing with apple cider vinegar and lemon and whatever else it was. And I will say the finished product was really good, but it wasn't 12 hours. Good.
Speaker 1 00:37:47 That's what I'm saying, brother. Like I I'm with you a hundred percent. I've never smoked a brisket. I don't ever plan on smoking a brisket unless like you going to pay me to do it.
Speaker 0 00:37:56 Seriously. Yeah. I'm gonna let Rodney Scott handle that for me. Right,
Speaker 1 00:37:59 Right. It's a long process. Like, um, even, even like cooking Turkey, like doing a Turkey for Thanksgiving. That's why I only do it at Thanksgiving. It's a two day process. I'm, I'm gonna brine this Turkey for at least 24 to 48 hours. Yeah. And then I gotta take it out, wash it off, and then I'm going air brine it. So that means that I'm gonna put it in the, uh, in the fridge uncovered. So some of the moisture. So all of that moisture can just really seep into the bird. Yeah. Just kinda let it dry out a little. Because, you know, when you're roasting, um, even dry brown, your steaks, just put a little salt on them and throw 'em on a, uh, cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet. Just start it in the fridge two days. You will be amazed at how much more juicy and how much more flavorful your steak is, but Mm. Yeah. It's a really cool process. It's just like, it's a quick dry age basically. So let the Turkey do that for a day after it's been briny and then I gotta roast it. Yeah. I love y'all a lot <laugh>.
Speaker 0 00:38:54 Yeah, you must have to. Speaking of Thanksgiving, man, I've been thinking about starting a petition to make cornbread dressing not just available on Thanksgiving. I want that man, it's probably one of my very favorite foods. I want to have that part of the weekly cuisine, man. Will you sign that petition?
Speaker 1 00:39:12 I will sign that petition. So I, so I love the holidays just for the, uh, the family and the food. Um, I'm really not a big holiday person. Um, it's crazy that like, you know, during my life a lot of, uh, tragedies have happened around the holidays. Yeah. So I'm really not big in the holidays, but I love, you know, gathering with families and the food. And that's one thing that I do think like we could change is like, why do I have to do like Turkey and dressing just on Christmas or Thanksgiving? Why can't I eat this today? Or why do I have to do all these special pies Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:39:46 May 3rd. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:39:47 Who can? So what, yeah, let's do it today, why not? Yeah. So I'm with you a hundred percent. Yeah. I think it's the, the amount of time that it takes and like, you know, because, uh, to do a whole Thanksgiving dinner for like, let's say six to eight people in your family, that's, that's a three day process, you know, for the average cook. I mean, I can knock it out in a day, but the average home cook, that's about three or four days of work. Seriously.
Speaker 0 00:40:14 That's what I was gonna ask. Do you ever do holidays for people?
Speaker 1 00:40:17 I do. I do. Um, I did, um, client hired me, uh, for Christmas. Her family, her dad was in the hospital, uh, the previous Christmas. And then the previous Christmas for that, um, her mom and dad had gotten divorced. And then the previous Christmas it was just like, they haven't spent a Christmas together in like three or four Christmases. And so, um, I did a seven course dinner for their entire family. Uh, it took me, I mean, I got there like, uh, at one in the afternoon, first course went out at seven. I was out at home by like 10. Yeah. So
Speaker 0 00:40:56 A solid day.
Speaker 1 00:40:57 Yeah. Very solid day. But I, you know, I went to the grocery store, uh, that got to the grocery store that morning at, uh, let's see about 10 30, 11. And I was at their home by one and had, and I was out by, you know, it's a regular 10 hour day man. Like it's, um, a lot of people, it's a lot of work, but it's really not. I'm just grocery shopping everybody that eats grocery shops and everybody that eats should cook. And so that's all I'm doing. Plus I'm elevating the experience. That's the work for me is to make sure that I leave your house clean, make sure I'm giving you, you know, I'm crossing all the t's and dotting the i's the food that takes care of itself. But the experience is really where I, where I hone in at.
Speaker 0 00:41:42 So say there's a guy Uhhuh me <laugh>, who uh, maybe he wanted to have a special night for his lady. Not necessarily an event, not a birthday, just a special, uh, date night. A date
Speaker 1 00:41:52 Night. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:41:53 Yeah. So say this guy, maybe he didn't really know what would be the best meal to observe. Could he say surprise me?
Speaker 1 00:42:01 Absolutely. So, I mean, literally now for this guy, um, does it, is there anything that his wife likes and I only ask about her because as guys, if it's peanut butter and jelly beans and weenies a glass of water, that's dinner. All right.
Speaker 0 00:42:17 <laugh> Sure. B breakfast, right? Unfortunately
Speaker 1 00:42:19 Works for me. Yeah. Some eggs and bacon dinner of toast. Great. I'm good. Totally happy. Yeah. Yes. So, so for her, is there anything that she likes?
Speaker 0 00:42:26 Oh yeah, yeah. She would, uh, I mean, huge fan of just a good solid ribeye.
Speaker 1 00:42:30 Gotcha. I would, I would definitely do a, um, start, like my suggestion would be if she likes ribeye, let's go with a tomahawk bone in ribeye. Uh, let's do like a, um, a light grill on it just to get the smoked flavor. Then we'll finish it in the oven. Uh, make sure it's a perfect, like medium, no more than like yeah, we gonna do medium. And then, you know, I would actually slice it, leave it, present it with the bone, serve like a nice, um, aju sauce to go with that. And yeah, some really nice vegetables. Maybe like a, a true garlic smashed potato. Uh, literally we're gonna take the potatoes and bake them, let 'em cool, peel them, put 'em through a ricer with the roasted garlic, add the salt pepper butter, a little cream, perfect potatoes, and do some really nice sauteed vegetables. Yeah,
Speaker 0 00:43:22 Nice. Yeah. Nice.
Speaker 1 00:43:23 I mean, if she likes state man, cuz most, you know, she likes state. That's, we need to do a really nice state. Got to. Yeah. I wouldn't, I wouldn't want to really take her too far out of what she likes because what I've learned too is when women like things just give 'em what they like.
Speaker 0 00:43:39 It's that simple.
Speaker 1 00:43:40 It's that simple. Whether you like it or not, you still are going get what you gonna do. She like tuna fish. What you gonna do? You gonna learn to like tuna fish and eat it and shut up and be like, thanks babe. That's it. Keep moving. Like, am I hungry? Am I starving? No. So I'm good.
Speaker 0 00:43:54 So what, now that we've got the menu set, are we just gonna eat this at the coffee table in front of the tv? Or If you want
Speaker 1 00:43:59 To, or I'll serve you right there at the table. If you want to come in there and have a conversation with me. If you want to crack a bottle of wine and just, you know, just relax and just be like, Hey, the baby's gone. It's just her and I and this and this chef here tonight. Let's just make this an adult night. Then I got you. So
Speaker 0 00:44:16 You'll stay and hang out. I
Speaker 1 00:44:17 Absolutely, I mean it's so for me, man, your, it is your experience. How do you want this to be remembered? You just want somebody to come in cook. Because I've even had clients that were like, yeah, chef, you can just do your thing and we're gonna hang out over here. So they really wanted it to be private for them. It was their, uh, their anniversary. They were in the dining room, I'm in the kitchen, they're in there being totally private, like, you know what I'm saying? I'm going back to check on him. He's
Speaker 0 00:44:45 Whispering sweet nothing here.
Speaker 1 00:44:46 I love that. Like, they don't want me around just to bring the food. And then after it's all done, it give me a really, uh, a really nice tip and give me a like a hundred dollars bottle of whiskey. And like, chef, this was so amazing. And I'm like, I ain't do nothing but cook the food. And like, okay, thank you so much. This was great. You know, but, and then some people they want to just, they just want to pick your brain like, so chef, how do you do this? How do you do that? And I'm like, you know, and then other people, they want to serve me. They're like, chef, can I get anything for you? Can I do something for you? And I'm like, I just drove up here to serve you. I'm good. Thank you though. Thank you though. You know? So yeah.
Speaker 0 00:45:25 What is it that makes a chef so good at just knowing what works well with what, is it something that you learn or is it just kind of like an intuition that you have? Or do you start out following recipes and then you just take it on your own? Or how does that work?
Speaker 1 00:45:39 So, uh, for me, my, my grandmother told me three simple rules when she, uh, started teaching me how to cook. Rule number one is keep your heat low and not too high. She said it's okay to cook it longer, but just don't burn it, you know? So if you're steak, you know, you cooking it on the lower heat and it takes longer to cook, that's way better than turning it up and, you know, having a burn steak. Second rule was, uh, you need, uh, seasonings and flavor for everything and they are different. So salt is a seasoning, but it tastes like salt. That's its flavor, you know, but you add this salt to something, it should help pull out the flavor of whatever you just added to. So it should really help that that carrot or that steak or that corn or whatever's going on taste more like what it is. So that's the flavor of that item.
Speaker 0 00:46:37 So it's a flavor enhancer. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:46:38 Yeah. Salt really should be. So like herbs, those are gonna add flavor, you know, that's a seasoning that's gonna add flavor to whatever it is. So it should compliment whatever you're adding it to. Um, and then the third thing she told me is put love into everything. So that's my foundation. Now, outside of that, I am a huge science person. I've always loved science, everything science. Because of that, I learned the science of food. And I'm an artist too, so I've always been into the arts. I love music, I love drawing. I love painting. I go, as a matter of fact, today, my son and I are going to the Birmingham Museum of Art. So I love the arts. And so to me, I get to put this science and artistic creativity in one platform, and it's the plate.
Speaker 0 00:47:26 That's what cooking really is, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, it's, it is kind of a, a combination of arts and science. It
Speaker 1 00:47:30 Is, it really is. Like as a chef, you know, you should have a really good foundation to know that like dill doesn't go with beef that well, <laugh>.
Speaker 0 00:47:41 Hey, that's news to me buddy. <laugh>. Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:47:43 <laugh>.
Speaker 0 00:47:43 That's why I'm not a chef. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:47:45 You know, dill is great and salads is great on fish. Dill is great in dressings. Uh, dill is great with poultry. It's just not great with beef.
Speaker 0 00:47:54 I like getting chicken salad.
Speaker 1 00:47:56 Yes, it's great. It's great there, but just not in beef or, or you know, it can even go with pork. Just don't go well with beef or lamb. Now lamb is a different animal. Lamb, you can actually, uh, man, lamb, I can put mint, cilantro, parsley, some dill, terragon, nutmeg, um, gram marsala, fennel, all these different herbs on lamb that I wouldn't even put on beef and they eat the same grass.
Speaker 0 00:48:23 How could someone develop their palate? Because, you know, a chef would have like an advanced palate and be able to taste something and say, oh, this has notes of blah, blah, blah. How can someone get better at that
Speaker 1 00:48:33 Tasting food? Literally. Um, you have to, like, for me, what got me better was literally buying all these different herbs and trying them and then combining, okay, I like the way, I like the way terragon tastes. I'm like, how would this taste if I combine it with di and paprika and mustard seed and fennel and all of these different herbs, how can I still keep a terragon highlighted in my seafood blend that I do? So that's that You really have to start tasting stuff. Yeah, that makes sense. A lot of it.
Speaker 0 00:49:06 What was the first meal that you ever cooked professionally?
Speaker 1 00:49:09 Oh wow. Okay. So first meal I ever cooked, prof <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:49:15 Oh man. Um, you know, I, I, so first, my very first booking, I was working at T-Mobile and, uh, one of the, uh, one of my peers, she hired me for her and her husband's anniversary. She was like, you do you cater date nights and stuff, right? I was like, yeah, I mean, you know, I do. Uh, it was, um, two steaks ribeyes. Hers was rare. His was medium. There was a, um, what did I do? I did a spinach and artichoke wantan cups. And for dessert I did this. Um, I found this recipe from, um, what was that? Uh, what's that big show that was on HBO o about the Dragons.
Speaker 0 00:49:59 Oh, game of Thrones.
Speaker 1 00:49:59 Yeah. Game of Thrones. I found this recipe from Game of Thrones that was like this lemon cake where you take a, take a real thin slice of lemon, you candy, the lemon, the lemon goes in the bottom, you pour the cake on top, and once it bakes the lemon kind of bakes and gets all gooey and stuff. And then you flip it out, and then you got like this nice sauce that runs down the cake and everything.
Speaker 0 00:50:22 So, wait, the recipe was from Game of Thrones. What? They had cooked it in the show, or this is like an ancient recipe?
Speaker 1 00:50:27 Yeah, it's like a, a old recipe, you know, and it was like tying Games of Thrones together and all that kind of stuff. So I was like, all right, cool. Let me, let me try this recipe man. Honestly, looking back on it, I was like, I would never, because I cooked it and then I delivered it. So it was date night catering. So I was cooking and delivering like your date night. And looking back on it, they loved the food. They were like, oh man, this is so delicious, man. You cooked the state perfect, the seasoning, blah, blah, blah. But man, it was so horrible. I showed up in like a black t-shirt. Um, I still had on the apron from where I was in the kitchen prepping this food. You know, my shoes were, um, I had on some black Nike Air Force one s I'm, I'm <laugh>. Oh my God. You were, you asked me, man. And I'm sitting here just like man critiquing
Speaker 0 00:51:21 It. Yeah man.
Speaker 1 00:51:22 I was Are you, are
Speaker 0 00:51:23 You perfectionist?
Speaker 1 00:51:24 I, I, so yeah, not really, not like perfectionist, but like I'm, I just wanna be the best at whatever I do. And, um, that it is, I just have a high level of accountability for myself in that regards. And so when um, when I look back on it and I see how much I've grown, um, I thank you for this moment though man, cuz you really have, um, helped me see how much I've grown like in this moment because now it's, now I wear like, you know, these, um, designer print shirts and I got like, uh, you know, these cool aprons and you know, I'm wearing Cole Hans in your home to cook in and you know what I'm saying? Cuz like this is a fine dining experience, man. I'm not showing up in chef's shoes. For what? Man? That's for a kitchen, not your house. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:52:10 So, so when you show up now, what, what's your attire like?
Speaker 1 00:52:13 My attire? So, uh, I have two brands of shirts that I wear. One is, uh, Paul Frederick and the other one is Paisley and Gray. Yes. I'm shouting y'all out. Um, so, um, you
Speaker 0 00:52:22 Got one of their jackets. It's
Speaker 1 00:52:23 Nice. Yeah. I love their, I love their style man. Yeah. And so, um, I just love the bold print shirts cuz I get to wear this wild funky shirt cuz I just told myself that I didn't go to culinary school. I didn't grow up, I didn't, uh, cut my teeth in the Riggs of the restaurant. You know, like having Gordon Ramsey yelling at you, throwing your food against the wall and telling you how bad you sucked. Yeah. I didn't go through any of that.
Speaker 0 00:52:48 I heard him say one time he said, this chicken is so undercooked, a skilled veterinarian could bring it back to life. <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:52:55 Yeah. Man. I didn't, I didn't go through that. And so I was like, I wanna respect all the chefs that do wear that chef's coat and did have the, um, the courage to go to culinary school or the resources and had the courage to like start from washing dishes and go and go through the ranks. Like I have all the respect in the world for you, so I don't want to tarnish, um, their hard work in putting on the chef's coat. So that's why I wear an apron.
Speaker 0 00:53:22 Are there any other chefs in Birmingham that you kind of, uh, you really like what they're doing?
Speaker 1 00:53:28 Yeah, um, chef Time Randall at, um, oh man, I forgot the name of the, uh, um, the place. Oh my, it's in, it's in Avondale, so it's a really cool, uh, gin bar. So time, uh, really helped me get over the whole like, I'm allergic to pork and I'm not gonna cook pork thing because he's a vegan. Mm.
Speaker 0 00:53:50 Okay. And he,
Speaker 1 00:53:51 He hasn't, he has never consumed, uh, animal products. Like he's been a vegan from birth.
Speaker 0 00:53:59 No kidding.
Speaker 1 00:53:59 Yes, man. So he's never had a, he's like, he, he's like, I've tasted chicken one time, and he was like, that's it. He was like, but he knew like he just knows how to cook. I hired him to, to cook for my wife's birthday party. I wish I could Juniper. Juniper Birmingham. Oh
Speaker 0 00:54:16 Yeah. Yeah. We like Juniper.
Speaker 1 00:54:17 It's good. Yeah, so she had a head chef. His name is Time, right? Oh, I
Speaker 0 00:54:20 Know, I I've met him. Yeah, dreads, right? Yep.
Speaker 1 00:54:22 Yep. Good. Yeah, so good guy. There's, uh, so when Highland Bar and Grill, they're, they're head chef. I can't remember his name, but, um, just to, I ate there once.
Speaker 0 00:54:33 Is that pranks did or is that the other? Chris Hastings one of those two, I think. Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:54:37 I haven't, and I haven't eaten Chris Hastings food, but I've heard all kinds of great things about him. Um, and then, uh, chef, uh, the tasting table, chef Tyler, uh, Lynn, I actually went to his supper club and he did a, uh, seven course dinner, me and my wife and uh, man, I was just, I was blown away by a freaking cauliflower. I was like, bro, what did you do? <laugh>,
Speaker 0 00:55:06 Cauliflower? You gotta do something to it. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:55:08 I was like, wow. He did a uh, he did a five day bowling. Nay. So anytime a chef tells you like, this is a a a 72 hour, um, ribeye, or this is a five day bologna, that's how long it took 'em to take all the preparation steps to, for it to be on your plate. Wow. So they cooked a bologna sauce for five days. Okay. Um, the melding of flavors in that was so phenomenal. The smoothness of the sauce was, was beyond anything that I had ever eaten in my life. And so then they took and made a, um, pasta sheet and then they put the sauce in the pasta sheet and then they rolled it. Okay. Like, you, like, instead of layering lasagna, they rolled it.
Speaker 0 00:56:01 Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:56:01 Okay. And then they cut it in the sections, round sections, and then they baked those round sections. So each section got what everybody likes about lasagna, the crispiness of it. And then that went on top of a vodka sauce on the plate. And then that got topped with a little bit more vodka sauce, the fresh basil and um, some Parmesan cheese that had been aged for like five, six years or something like that. Some crazy expensive cheese. And that was it with a basil leaf on top.
Speaker 0 00:56:39 Man, you're, you're inspiring me to try some new things with food because, you know, you get into the same patterns of just the same things. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So whatever's easy, whatever, uh, whatever is efficient, whatever takes the least time. That's kind of how I've operated in the kitchen, but now you're making me want to try some new things in there. So I'm looking forward to that
Speaker 1 00:56:55 Man. That's what's up man. I, I'm, I'm glad to know that. And like, even with myself, I'll tell you man, every chef will tell you that when they're at home you grab a sandwich cuz it's there I some boiled eggs in the fridge. Okay, I'll just eat that, you know, chop it up, eat that, whatever. Um, chefs really don't spend a lot of time caring for their own meals the way they care for other people's
Speaker 0 00:57:18 Meals. Just like being married to a massage therapist. Yeah. People are like, oh man, you must get all the massages you want. And they're like, no, never actually. Cause that's the last thing what they wanna do when they get home.
Speaker 1 00:57:28 Right, right, right, right. So today it's at, when I get home today we're gonna, I'm gonna, um, I'm gonna do a, a basil pesto chicken pasta really easy though, man. I've got, I've got chicken breasts. See, this is the other thing too. So at my house I've got frozen chicken in my fridge. I've got, um, some frozen steaks in a, in a Ziploc bag, you know, so they don't get freezer burned in my fridge, but I'm never bringing that to your home. You understand what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I still live just like everyone else does. I don't go shopping every day. Um, but it's just, it's just unrealistic in today's, today's world. So, but yeah. I'm gonna, so just take the, the chicken breast, I'm gonna butterfly it so it cooks a little quicker. Once it's done. I'm just gonna do a pan syrup on it, salt pepper. And my favorite go-to is Herb de Provence over an Italian blend. I just think the, so the French and Italians don't like each other. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, the French has pasta, the No, the Italians have pasta. The French don't, uh,
Speaker 0 00:58:29 The Yeah, croissants
Speaker 1 00:58:30 Croissant. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. And, and and, and the Italians have pizza. You know, somebody, you know, they got these foreign cars. The French has this foreign car, they got this clothing, they got that clothing. So they really don't like each other. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 0 00:58:44 Culture, a lot of competition there.
Speaker 1 00:58:45 Yeah, yeah, yeah. It really is. And so, uh, but I'm just gonna do a really quick pasta night. A basil pesto chicken pasta, uh, panter chicken breast. Slice it up, uh, add a little pesto, basil, pesto sauce, A little heavy whipping cream to that. Take that and then add the fresh pasta to it and boom, there's dinner.
Speaker 0 00:59:04 That sounds good. Do you like venison?
Speaker 1 00:59:06 I do, I do. I really do, man. I love, I like venison. I like, uh, bison. I've never tried elk, but I really would like to,
Speaker 0 00:59:13 I found it to be pretty chewy. Maybe I didn't have it prepared the correct way, but it was a little bit tough. But I'm gonna send you home with some Venice and I got a freezer for, so. Oh,
Speaker 1 00:59:21 Nice.
Speaker 0 00:59:21 Did you like it? Yeah, got a couple pounds. Thanks.
Speaker 1 00:59:23 All right. Cool. I'm gonna have to like, figure out something to do and hook it up and like we're gonna have to break bread over that.
Speaker 0 00:59:31 Let's do it. Yeah. Sounds good. Seriously. Well Daniel, thank you so much for doing the podcast man. I really enjoy getting chat with you. And once again, how can people find you? Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:59:40 So you can visit me at, uh, date night dining.com. That's k n I G H t. So date night, it's a great name. Yeah. Thank you man. Thank you. And then, uh, I have a direct, uh, business number, which is 2 0 5 2 2 3 2 3 0 9. You can also google date night dining and you will find all of my socials, my Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
Speaker 0 01:00:06 I'll also link to those in the show notes so people can just scroll down on this podcast on Apple or Spotify and then click it and they'll get right to you.
Speaker 1 01:00:12 Sounds good.
Speaker 0 01:00:13 Good deal. We'll have to do it again soon, man. We
Speaker 1 01:00:15 Do. Next time I come you gotta let me cook
Speaker 0 01:00:19 <laugh> done. Gotta let me cook. Sounds good, man. Enjoy the art museum with your son. I'll soon
Speaker 1 01:00:25 Appreciate
Speaker 0 01:00:25 It. Thanks everybody.
Speaker 3 01:00:40 I can't let cry.
