WEBVTT - Luke’s Diner: You Are Top Chef 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:04.080 I am all in again. 0:00:09.880 --> 0:00:22.520 Let's do Luke's Diner with Scott Patterson, an iHeartRadio podcast. 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:26.600 Everybody Scott Patterson, I Am All In Podcast Luke's Diner. Addition, 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:34.479 we have a really really special guest. His name is 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:44.680 Michael Voltaggio and he is a really, really, really dynamic chef, 0:00:45.720 --> 0:00:49.639 one of the big forces in modern American cuisine, Michelin 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:56.760 star chef, Acclaim Television personality, visionary entrepreneur known for blending precision, creativity, 0:00:56.800 --> 0:01:01.400 cultural relevance. Since winning Top Chef Season six, Michael has 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:05.319 built a brand that moves fluidly between high end dining, media, 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:13.240 lifestyle innovation. He has co founded Volcania, an Alpine Italian 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:17.959 an Alpine Italian. Listen to that, an Alpine Italian American 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:23.480 restaurant at Mammoth Mountain Resort. The resume is so long, 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:28.240 you know, let's get into the Mercado twenty eight, which 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:30.680 you sent me a couple bottles of. You know, I've 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:34.400 got maybe a couple of shots left on the Blanco. 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:37.600 But man, we had a time, buddy. Thank you for 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:41.640 the course, of course, and it mixes beautifully with everything. 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:43.720 You can do it straight, you can do it all 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:46.800 the rocks. You can mix it. Oh, it's just beautiful stuff. Man, 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:47.760 thank you for that much. 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:50.440 Abre this is this is the best commercial I've ever had, 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:55.040 So thank you for everything. Across the board and on screen. 0:01:56.240 --> 0:02:00.240 Michael's still on a food network. He's a fixture there. 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:04.920 He's on Bobby's Triple Threat, He's on Guys Grocery Games, 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:09.520 Beat Bobby Flay co hosting Battle of the Brothers with 0:02:09.600 --> 0:02:13.040 his brother Brian. Welcome Michael, how are you? 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:15.399 Thank you? I mean, I feel like the whole podcast 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:17.720 could have been my intro, so I appreciate that. 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:22.520 Oh well, that's it. That's all we're doing, so goodbye. 0:02:24.040 --> 0:02:27.040 Let's get into it man. Yeah, how'd your first get 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:27.600 into cooking? 0:02:28.160 --> 0:02:30.200 I mean a lot you'll hear the same story from 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:32.720 a lot of chefs, but for me, it was very similar. 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:36.239 I was young, getting in trouble, blah blah blah. I 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:39.000 needed money. I mean, I was fifteen years old. I 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:42.560 needed to buy a car. Ultimately, I was out of 0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:45.480 my house at the age of sixteen. So I was 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:48.280 in high school, paying rent on an apartment, playing full 0:02:48.320 --> 0:02:51.640 time football or working full time playing football at school, 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:55.560 and by default ended up in the kitchen. I needed 0:02:55.600 --> 0:02:57.640 a job, and then I just I didn't realize that 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:00.720 like thirty years would go by and I still have 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:04.120 the same job. So I guess it was all worth 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:07.720 it for sure. But yeah, sometimes you just get that 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:09.920 little bit of motivation to go figure out what you 0:03:09.960 --> 0:03:11.320 want to be when you grow up, and you don't 0:03:11.320 --> 0:03:13.720 realize that you're already doing it at such a young age. 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:18.919 Right, right, So you co founded an Italian American restaurant, 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:23.919 Mammoth Mountain Resort. I mean, I personally love the mountains. 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:26.920 I'm a big skier, grew up scan I grew up 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:29.000 in New Jersey where there were no mountains, so I 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:33.280 really just like pined for like real mountains, and I 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:36.880 got them and I love them. Tell me why you 0:03:36.960 --> 0:03:39.160 chose to open a restaurant in the mountains, Well, I. 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:40.720 Mean we have right now. My brother and I have 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:43.320 three restaurants. We've got Full Kanye, which is at Maamth 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:46.040 like you mentioned. We've got Voltajo Brother's Steakhouse, which is 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:48.720 going on almost ten years old now with MGM as 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:51.200 our partner in National Harbor, which is in Maryland. And 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:53.560 then we just opened another restaurant called Wyoak which is 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:56.360 in our hometown where we grew up in Frederick, Maryland. 0:03:57.080 --> 0:03:59.640 So it's just another extension of our story. I mean 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:03.840 Anya when we were going to name that restaurant, Volcanyo 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:06.160 was the name of the ship that brought the Voltagios, 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:10.680 the first Voltagios allegedly to the US and so, and 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:14.760 it also means volcano and mammoth actually sits an a 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:19.760 dormant volcano. And so I came up with that whole 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:22.680 narrative in my head and then we just my brother 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:25.359 and I knew that it was going to be challenging 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:28.560 to get food up to the mountain given its location 0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:31.159 in the terrain. So as long as we had flour 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:33.359 and water, we could open the restaurant. And so we 0:04:33.440 --> 0:04:34.960 make all of our pasta and we make all of 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:38.000 our pizza do there. So with those two ingredients we 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:40.560 can do we can feed people. And then it just 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:43.200 became sort of a solution. I think there's a built 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:46.840 in audience obviously, but there are the challenges of the elements, 0:04:46.839 --> 0:04:48.839 and so for us, it was how do you satisfy 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:52.039 that with hospitality, And that was making sure that we 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:53.640 always had food to serve people. 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:57.800 And that's year round operation. It's just not during ski season. 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:00.000 You're open summer, You're open all year round. 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:02.240 Oh yeah, I mean people are up there mountain biking, 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:04.680 swimming in the hot springs, hiking, all that good stuff. 0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:07.760 I mean very short what we call shoulder seasons where 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:12.200 it slows down, but honestly, we need that time to reset. 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:15.720 Our team gets crushed. I mean from through the entire winter, 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:18.600 We're doing anywhere from four to four hundred and fifty 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:20.839 people to five hundred people the day up there, and 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:24.159 it's just, yeah, we're super stoked. A lot of people 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:26.640 from LA that missed the restaurants that I had here 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:31.480 drive up there and are sort of stoked because I'm 0:05:31.520 --> 0:05:33.800 not currently operating a restaurant in Los Angeles. 0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:37.960 So what's the go to dish being served up there? 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:39.680 What's the most popular. 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:44.880 We created a dish called the Voltagios. We are making 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:49.000 our own Annalidi pasta, which looks like spaghettios. We're making 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:53.080 and amlsified a rabiata sauce that has brown butter i'mulsified 0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:55.479 into it with colabory and chili. We put it in 0:05:55.520 --> 0:05:58.400 a stainless steel can and we pour it tableside, just 0:05:58.440 --> 0:06:02.599 like spaghettios back in the day, So that's become a 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:04.880 staple for us up there. But also it's just like 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:08.000 it's comforting, it's comfort food. We're serving Italian American comfort 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:10.719 food up there. We want to give people their carbs 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:13.760 during a time when I think they feel like they're 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:16.520 allowed to eat them, which is extreme sports all day, 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:20.359 carb overload at night. And then we've got meat, fish, salads, 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:22.240 things like that. But we make everything in the house 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:23.480 and it was important for us to be able to 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:24.640 do that beautiful. 0:06:24.880 --> 0:06:27.760 So you and your brother you mentioned you have a 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:31.360 steakhouse called Wyoak Tavern, and that's why Oak. 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:36.960 Is our sort of modern hubs slash chop house, but 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:40.880 a little bit more elevated. And that's built in like 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:45.600 a two hundred year old decommissioned Catholic school. The Catholic 0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:48.279 Church came and like blessed, blessed us to do our 0:06:48.360 --> 0:06:51.279 thing in there. We've got the original stained glass in 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:54.960 the restaurant itself. It's attached to a hotel, the first 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:58.039 hotel of it's kind in our hometown, the Visitation hotel, 0:06:58.040 --> 0:07:01.200 which is for us for me personally cool because now 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:02.599 I can go back and visit my mom and not 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:05.360 sleep on my brother's couch. So there's a hotel attached 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:09.560 to the restaurant. And then Voltajio Brothers Steakhouse MGM has 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:11.200 been a partner, a great partner to us for the 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:14.880 past over eight years now. And so that restaurant, which 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:18.720 sits on National Harbor right across the bridge from Washington, DC, 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:22.720 right on the Potomac River, that's like a steakhouse. We 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:25.160 built it to look like a house, so living room, 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:27.680 a dining room, kitchen, it's a steakhouse, like a like 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:30.240 pun intended steakhouse. 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:34.560 And we have to talk about being a Michelin starred chef. 0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:40.760 What is the process like when being considered for a 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:44.040 Michelin start any does anyone give the restaurant a heads 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:45.760 up or is it a complete surprise. 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:52.120 No. When I was in my late twenties living in Hillsburg, California, 0:07:52.200 --> 0:07:55.520 working for a chef named Charlie Palmer, I had just 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:59.640 taken over the restaurant as the executive chef. Charlie gave 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:03.320 me of autonomy to recreate the menu and sort of 0:08:03.360 --> 0:08:06.119 do it my own way, with obviously his blessing along 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:10.960 the way. And after getting the menu implemented. We got 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:14.360 a great review from the San Francisco Chronicle. There was 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:17.680 this surprise that the Michelin Guide was coming out and 0:08:17.840 --> 0:08:21.640 we received a star, and I did what anyone else 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:25.560 probably shouldn't do, And at that time I sort of 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:28.040 transitioned out and went back east. I was like, well, 0:08:28.040 --> 0:08:32.199 there's only one way to go from here, So I 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:34.640 thank you for this, and I was just I knew 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:36.720 in that moment that I was going to be looking 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:40.760 for opportunities to sort of control and drive my own 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:44.840 narrative from there. And so for me when I received, 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:49.320 when we received that, as a team, I felt a 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:53.959 responsibility to then go out. And anytime you get recognition, 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:58.240 you have this pressure, this accountability to maintain whatever standard 0:08:58.800 --> 0:09:02.520 the public has created for you. And so oftentimes that 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:06.000 happens to me annually, like something will happen where now 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:08.160 I get sort of self conscious and I have to 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:12.920 go back and prove something. And so for thirty two 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:17.200 years I've been cooking, I just have this innate pressure 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:21.400 on myself to do better. And so when that happened, 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:24.000 it wasn't like, hey, great job, Michelin star. It was 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:27.160 like now what okay, Now what are you going to 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:31.000 do to get better and to do better and provide 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:33.440 more hospitality and so. And I know that sounds kind 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:36.640 of sales pitchy, but some of us got into this 0:09:36.720 --> 0:09:39.360 industry long before social media and any of that stuff, 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:42.480 and it wasn't about We weren't even talking really about 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:44.920 celebrity chefs when I started cooking. And so for me, 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:46.680 it was a job, it was a craft, it was 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:49.959 a it was a trade that I learned to support myself. 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:53.160 And every time you get those nods, it's like, oh, wow, Okay, 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:57.760 this is really super cool that I get these opportunities. 0:09:57.760 --> 0:09:59.520 But I get that recognition and it makes me just 0:09:59.559 --> 0:09:59.880 want to work. 0:10:09.840 --> 0:10:13.440 So you've been on many cooking shows. What draws you 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:13.800 to them? 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:15.920 Originally? When I did, the first one I did was 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:19.320 Top Chef, and I remember watching it. I remember thinking 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:21.640 to myself, Wow, there's some really good cooks on this show. 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:26.280 I'd never seen restaurant chefs really on TV doing what 0:10:26.320 --> 0:10:29.200 we do in our restaurants in a competitive environment with 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:31.360 cameras in their face, and so I was really intrigued 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:35.000 by that. I watched it as a fan and Marcel 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:36.800 and your own who was a contestant on the show 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.560 at the time, and I would say, like one of 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:42.800 the more recognized ones. When that show was started out, 0:10:42.880 --> 0:10:45.360 Like in the beginning, Marcel was like, I'm like, this 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:49.280 guy's famous. He applied for a job as a soue 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:51.080 chef when I was sous chef when I was opening 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:54.120 the Bazaar with Jseandres in La and I was to 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:56.200 be the executive chef of the hotel. And I was like, wow, 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:58.240 this is random. This guy just came off of the show. 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:00.640 He's applying for a sue chef job. What's the deal? 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:04.319 Interviewed them, and similar vibes to what I'm saying now. 0:11:04.360 --> 0:11:07.439 He felt that same pressure to go back and like okay, 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:10.120 now prove all the hype. And so he came to 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:11.960 work with us, and one day we were joking around 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:14.920 and I was like, a haha, top chef that I 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:16.160 could have won that, and he's like, well, if you 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:17.679 think it's so easy, why don't you go do it? 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:20.320 And I'm like, fine, I will, And so I applied, 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:24.840 got on the show and competed and won and so 0:11:25.000 --> 0:11:28.960 from there, anytime you get a little piece of show business, 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:31.719 I would say there's a sort of addiction attached to that, 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:34.920 like you get a taste for it and you're like, wait, 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:38.319 this is really neat, this is cool. I can't believe 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:41.040 I get to do this, because not many people do 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:44.160 in the world. And now they can, obviously with these things, 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:46.920 but to be able to get pooled from society and 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:49.240 go do something like that and get recognized like that, 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:53.640 and then the opportunity is to sort of share that 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:56.160 part of yourself with people that aren't necessarily eating in 0:11:56.160 --> 0:11:58.920 the restaurants, but then drive them back to your restaurants. 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:01.719 And so now I looked at it, or now I 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:03.680 look at it as and I think back then even 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:07.240 more so as another discipline, another thing I could learn 0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:09.360 how to do. I was this introverted like I'm a 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:11.560 serious chef and I'm going to keep my head down 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:13.640 and no one needs to talk to me and I'm 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:16.880 so cool and blah blah blah. To like, wait a second, 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:21.280 that's not hospitality, And I think food television actually became 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:25.080 a conduit to extend more hospitality to more people. So 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:27.120 then I was like, Okay, I want to do more 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:30.280 of this, and I mean, who doesn't. Food network is 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:34.079 ultimately the goal for every I feel like it's called 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:37.560 the Food Network, Like what do people watch that to see? 0:12:37.600 --> 0:12:41.000 They seek food and cooking. So my goal was to 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:44.720 get onto the Food Network. And They've been so good 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:47.000 to me over the years, and I've gotten to get 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:49.560 mentored by the best I mean from Bobby to Guy 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:54.440 to I mean everyone to Amberell who we just lost yesterday, 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:57.400 and the list goes on and on and on of 0:12:57.440 --> 0:13:01.280 the people that within that network. I got to learn 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:03.199 under no different than I learned under a lot of 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:05.600 the executive chefs and chefs that I worked for, just 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:07.800 learning how to cook, and so it was another skill set. 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:10.800 So what was it like competing against your brother on 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:14.200 top chef the chef? Did it cause some family tension? 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:17.199 Was he happier or was he a little salty? When 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:17.640 you want? 0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:19.480 It was a little It was a little awkward. It 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:23.319 was a little awkward for a while there. It divided 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:25.920 us for sure. I mean I think that not not 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:28.920 by intention or design. It just our goal was to 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:30.760 get each other to the end or get to the end, 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:33.319 and it happened and that was all real, Like there 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:36.840 was nothing produced about it. We just both you know, 0:13:36.960 --> 0:13:39.800 sort of fought our way through that entire competition, and 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:41.360 then when it came down to the two of us 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:46.800 and a third Kevin Billss there my boss Sam and 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:50.119 Azarian who owned the SLS Hotel that I had left 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:53.360 to go to top chef to do uh. He was 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.600 sitting at the table while I was cooking. So there 0:13:56.640 --> 0:14:00.040 was a lot of pressure. And did it divided? I 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:01.920 did us for a long time that it sort of 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:05.200 inspired this separation where my brother and I ran different 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:09.600 professional directions I would say secretly, like rooting for each other, 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:13.240 but not publicly and not to each other. To fast 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:15.160 forward to today, that was the dumbest thing we could 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:19.480 have done. We immediately realized, I think immediately a few 0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:22.560 years later, we should be partners and we should do 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:25.920 this together, and wouldn't it be cool if we could? 0:14:26.600 --> 0:14:28.680 You know, some people would look at this as an 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:31.400 opportunity to work half as hard. We saw it as 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:34.080 an opportunity to accomplish twice as much, and so we 0:14:34.160 --> 0:14:37.240 became business partners. And as much as people like to 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:40.720 see us go against each other, that's not real for 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:45.360 us now, like where we share our recipes, we collaborate, 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:50.000 we cook together. We support our families by doing this 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:54.080 and so he's my family, so I'm indirectly and vice versa, 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:55.760 we're supporting each other's families. 0:14:56.280 --> 0:15:01.280 Beautiful, Beautiful, you have a tequila brand, So, and thank 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:03.440 you very much for sending me with Top of the Show. 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:07.960 I let everybody know you sent me two bottles. I 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:14.800 took them with me Saturday on our golf scramble tournament 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:21.680 at our local country club and we were so, what's 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:29.120 the word faced? I think that's the word. That all 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:32.000 of our first four shots all went into the water. 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:36.080 How much to kill it? Did you guys drink. 0:15:37.280 --> 0:15:41.200 A little too much? Probably? We're very happy with the flavor. 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:49.000 Tell us about that, Marcado Marcado twenty eight. How'd that 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:49.640 come about? 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:54.560 So? Initially it was like I feel like when the 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:56.680 opportunity came across the table was more of like a 0:15:56.720 --> 0:16:00.000 marketing collaboration. This company reached out to us. These guys, 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:02.720 they're responsible for Winds that Rock. They now have Spirits 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:05.000 a Rock, and they do a great job at bringing 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:09.880 sort of lifestyle brands together and decorating the Spirits world 0:16:09.880 --> 0:16:13.760 and telling their stories through these different spirits. So when 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:17.920 I met with them to potentially be their their partner 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:22.120 in Marcato twenty eight, which means Marcato means mark, So 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:25.480 Marcato twenty eight. The twenty eight refers to Leviticus twenty eight, 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:28.480 which is a Bible verse that says don't basically, don't 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:32.560 mark your body too late for that so too like 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:35.320 you're in the club and you drank the tequila already. 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:40.560 So it started as this brand narrative about defiance, and 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:43.080 I said, well, if we're going to be defiant in 0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:47.560 this industry, and you know, I'm sort of a public 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:50.120 face in my own right, I guess some people would 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:53.840 say that, what if we made a really good tequila 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:56.200 and didn't charge a lot of money for it, and 0:16:57.160 --> 0:17:00.080 I was given the opportunity to go to Mexico so 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:03.400 meet the people that were growing the agave, go through 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:05.439 the process with the family that's going to make it, 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:09.560 and we make something really good so that it doesn't 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:13.160 come out like, oh, here's this tequila and there's this 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:16.119 chef guy that's involved in it, but it's probably not 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:18.919 any good. What if we were like, well, yeah, but 0:17:19.000 --> 0:17:22.000 this is really really good tequila, and I can tell 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:23.800 you who made it, and I can tell you about 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:27.600 the family's lineage and I can tell you about every 0:17:27.680 --> 0:17:31.080 part of it, down to I was involved in the 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:34.159 process of making it. What if we did that? And 0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:37.639 then fast forward to today our scores from wine enthusiasts, 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:40.120 we got ninety four on the Blanco and a ninety 0:17:40.119 --> 0:17:42.679 three on a Repisodo, and we continue to sort of 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:46.960 get decent scores within our category, and we've managed to 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:50.119 keep our price point down low enough for everyone that 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:53.400 wants to feel like a little bit defiant when they're 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:56.959 shopping and making their decisions, like get behind a brand 0:17:57.080 --> 0:18:00.280 where I can tell you every single person involved in 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:03.119 the process. And so we collectively as a group decided 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:06.919 to maintain that discipline, to have a family sort of 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:10.679 environment behind this brand, and ultimately down to even like 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:13.840 the tattoo artists that did the labels. I know Billy 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:16.680 Baka and I know Elsando. I've been tattooed by both 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:19.320 of them, and they gave they were given the opportunity 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:21.560 to tell their stories through the art that's on the label. 0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:24.680 So it was less about a quick like oh, let's 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:27.520 started to kill a brand, and more about again every 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:29.560 part everything that I do in my life, like I 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:32.040 feel like I'm held accountable to be able to tell 0:18:32.080 --> 0:18:35.159 that story. And if there's such thing as legacy, you know, 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:38.120 I feel like my legacy one day could be that 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:41.199 I was somebody who had a trade, but that I 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:44.240 was a storyteller through my craft and through my trade, 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:48.080 and I was willing and able to sort of emotionally 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:51.160 share that part of myself along with the physical acts 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:54.600 of what I was doing. And so everything that I do, 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:57.439 I try to make sure that there's a story of 0:18:57.520 --> 0:19:00.680 authenticity that's linked to it, because I think enough there's 0:19:00.760 --> 0:19:03.040 enough bullshit out there right now that I don't need 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:04.520 to jump into that, right. 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:17.919 Yeah, Yeah, the story is all, It's everything. What's the 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:21.760 best way to drink Marcato twenty eight is cocktail straight? 0:19:21.840 --> 0:19:22.560 How do you like it? 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:24.679 So you just said you went to play golf and 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:26.840 you were lit by the time you teat off right, 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:29.919 So to me, what that suggests is that it was 0:19:30.000 --> 0:19:33.399 very easy to drink. You probably felt that it was smooth. 0:19:33.400 --> 0:19:35.560 And I'm not doing a tequila ad right now. It 0:19:35.720 --> 0:19:40.040 was I'm using your words, So I would say, try 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:42.920 it like that. I like a little bit of ice, 0:19:43.040 --> 0:19:45.560 one cube, one big cube that doesn't felt too fast. 0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:51.480 That's my vibe. But one thing specifically about tequila, whether 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:55.679 it be blanco, reposoto, and jeho mescal even which is 0:19:55.760 --> 0:20:01.480 not tequila, but it's an agave spirit. Obviously, to swap 0:20:01.560 --> 0:20:05.719 out any sort of spirit in any classic cocktail with 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:10.840 inappropriate toe quill it. Now, what does that mean? Reposado 0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:13.080 would lean more towards Scotch and things like that, I 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:16.240 would say, and yahoe would lean more towards bourbons, and 0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:19.400 the blanco could replace any sort of gin in vodka. 0:20:19.520 --> 0:20:21.960 So I feel like, if you're able to have one 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:24.720 spirit behind your bar, let's say you live in a 0:20:24.760 --> 0:20:28.520 two hundred square foot apartment with a two foot little 0:20:28.520 --> 0:20:32.400 corner for your bar, tequilo would be a great spirit 0:20:32.480 --> 0:20:35.280 to always have. In having those three, with the various 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:39.000 ages levels of age, you could almost make any classic 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:42.639 cocktail just by having tequila or a gave spirit. So 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:47.640 I would say, try anything at all. I mean, even 0:20:47.680 --> 0:20:49.320 in the groni if you have a little kompari and 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:51.239 some vermouth. Now I know, I just added two more 0:20:51.280 --> 0:20:54.400 bottles to your bar at home, But tequila and Negroni 0:20:54.480 --> 0:20:58.159 and mezcal and negroni, you know those It works basically 0:20:58.280 --> 0:20:59.920 in any sort of cocktail. 0:21:01.720 --> 0:21:05.120 If there's one thing that you wish people knew more 0:21:05.160 --> 0:21:09.120 about how tequila should be made or enjoyed, what would 0:21:09.160 --> 0:21:09.439 that be? 0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:13.200 I want to be careful how I answer that. Honestly, 0:21:13.280 --> 0:21:15.800 I feel like the best way for us has been 0:21:16.160 --> 0:21:18.119 educating the people that are selling it for us, Like 0:21:18.240 --> 0:21:20.720 I go to Total Wine and Spirits, or I go 0:21:20.800 --> 0:21:23.520 to ABC. When I went to ABC Lickuers in Florida, 0:21:23.600 --> 0:21:27.440 I met with everyone there and we told them our story. 0:21:27.520 --> 0:21:29.040 And I think a lot of times when you go 0:21:29.160 --> 0:21:34.800 to a beverage supplier or a store, oftentimes you can 0:21:34.880 --> 0:21:37.840 tell if the product is good or the story is 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:41.080 authentic by how the employees interact with you when you 0:21:41.119 --> 0:21:45.040 start asking questions. Also, bottleneckers are a good sort of 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:47.560 indication as to whether or not you're getting something good. 0:21:48.240 --> 0:21:51.520 We did wine enthusiasts gave us that those ratings, but 0:21:52.040 --> 0:21:53.919 we didn't know we were going to get those ratings. Well, 0:21:53.920 --> 0:21:56.120 now that we have those ratings, we have those those 0:21:56.160 --> 0:21:58.680 neckers that we can go and put on the bottles 0:21:58.680 --> 0:22:01.439 that say And I was at at Albertson's grocery store 0:22:01.640 --> 0:22:03.440 two days ago. We were having people over. I needed 0:22:03.440 --> 0:22:04.880 a bottle of piano Nora. I didn't want to spend 0:22:04.920 --> 0:22:06.960 a ton of money, and so I just looked for 0:22:07.000 --> 0:22:09.520 those neckers and I used wine enthusiasts as my as 0:22:09.520 --> 0:22:12.280 my guide to Like, I don't know if I'm answering 0:22:12.280 --> 0:22:16.840 the question, but I feel like asking questions and doing 0:22:16.880 --> 0:22:19.760