Speaker 1: I Am all in Again.
Speaker 2: Oh, let's you. I Am all In Again with Scott
Speaker 2: Patterson and iHeartRadio Podcast.
Speaker 3: Hey Everybody, Scott Patterson, I Am All In Podcast one
Speaker 3: eleven productions, iHeartRadio Media, iHeart Podcast. Luke's Diner with Chef
Speaker 3: Emily Rubaker. Let me tell you a little bit about
Speaker 3: her career. She was season one winner of NBC's Yes Chef,
Speaker 3: a bold cooking competition hosted by Jose Andreas and Martha Stewart.
Speaker 3: Maybe you've heard of her. Nominated by her husband for
Speaker 3: her fiery kitchen demeanor, Emily stunned the judges with her
Speaker 3: transformation throughout the season, gaining competence. Her final three course
Speaker 3: metal featured scallup Crudo, American wagu and daring for guaB
Speaker 3: bread pudding impressed culinary icons Marcus Samuson, Kal Simmons, and
Speaker 3: Andrew Simern. She currently serves as a resort executive chef
Speaker 3: at Omni La consta resort and spawn Carlsbad, California. Classically
Speaker 3: trained French chef with expertise in American Italian French fine dining,
Speaker 3: She's passionate about quality ingredients and crafting elevated dishes.
Speaker 1: Dishes.
Speaker 3: Yes, chef not only earned her a quarter of a
Speaker 3: million dollars but marked a personal breakthrough in her culinary journey.
Speaker 3: Welcome to the show, Emily Bruce Baker.
Speaker 1: How are you.
Speaker 2: I'm great. Thanks for having me spun.
Speaker 3: It's a pleasure to have you. You mentioned that your
Speaker 3: husband nominated you to help you work through this stubbornness.
Speaker 3: What did that feel like at the time, and how
Speaker 3: to change dynamic now that you've won.
Speaker 2: Jake is one of those people who calls me out
Speaker 2: no matter what, and stubborness is something that we've been
Speaker 2: together in twenty years he's had to deal with, So
Speaker 2: having him call me out on it national TV isn't
Speaker 2: any different than him calling me out in public or
Speaker 2: person like personal. So it was good. It was good
Speaker 2: he wanted me to improve, So I appreciated his support.
Speaker 3: Right. Well, that that's very diplomatic answer.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that.
Speaker 3: You said letting go of control? Okay, yes, one of
Speaker 3: your biggest lessons. What advice would you give chefs who
Speaker 3: micro manage? I know how this is.
Speaker 1: I used to be.
Speaker 3: I used to be that way. Now I just let
Speaker 3: it go.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: Micromanaging is what kills your employees and associates drive. Nobody
Speaker 2: wants to be micro managers. They want to be trusted,
Speaker 2: they want to be believed in, And I agree with
Speaker 2: that full full like fullheartedly. It's not a good feeling
Speaker 2: when somebody is constantly checking what you're doing. So I
Speaker 2: really do try to support the growth and kind of
Speaker 2: autonomy of like what my my chefs are doing. I
Speaker 2: want them to feel like they're in charge of what
Speaker 2: they can be in charge of.
Speaker 3: Isn't it amazing the different cultures that are created my
Speaker 3: micromanagers versus really competent bosses who just trust. It's just
Speaker 3: night and.
Speaker 1: Day, right, Yes?
Speaker 3: Yeah, every time I find myself in a situation that's
Speaker 3: being micromanaged, I fight like hell to get out of it.
Speaker 3: You know, I really you really need because that's it's
Speaker 3: just pure survival and quality of life, you know. I mean,
Speaker 3: you just cannot be under the thumb of somebody like that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think that's where, like, for myself, a
Speaker 2: lot of stubbornness comes from, is like like knowing what
Speaker 2: I'm doing and being pretty skilled at what I do
Speaker 2: and then having somebody kind of second guests every step.
Speaker 2: It makes you want to fight the smaller battles that
Speaker 2: really don't matter, but you just want to fight like
Speaker 2: it puts up that guard, that shield.
Speaker 3: Since both of you and your husband or chefts, how
Speaker 3: does it play out at home? Usually end up cooking dinner?
Speaker 1: Or does he?
Speaker 3: Is there friendly rivalry in the kitchen? And would you
Speaker 3: ever a team of professionally? Is it better to keep
Speaker 3: working home, separate your kids cook? You know, all these questions,
Speaker 3: all of the above.
Speaker 2: Jake and I met when we were interns at the
Speaker 2: Ritz Carlton, So we really started our career off together,
Speaker 2: and we've grown together. And we worked together for a while,
Speaker 2: and then as we were kind of just like really
Speaker 2: trying to prove ourselves, we realized we're trying to prove
Speaker 2: ourselves against each other, so we stopped working together, even
Speaker 2: though we support each other completely. I think in the
Speaker 2: future we would like to open something together, but our
Speaker 2: kids are ten and eleven, so we want to wait
Speaker 2: till they're a little bit older and more independent before
Speaker 2: we do that. Right, my daughter Addie loves to cook.
Speaker 2: She has her own little fake YouTube channel at the
Speaker 2: moment called chef Kids. I one, I'm not very good
Speaker 2: at how to post those things or like how to
Speaker 2: like publish. But she makes breakfast for my son almost daily,
Speaker 2: and she just loves to be involved in anything that
Speaker 2: we're doing.
Speaker 3: No, that's nice. I have an eleven year old son,
Speaker 3: and when I'm cooking, he helps me. He's my assistant.
Speaker 3: He keeps my he keeps my board clean. He throws
Speaker 3: that trash away immediately in the right bins.
Speaker 1: Wow, he knows.
Speaker 3: He knows how to olive oil and prep pans properly.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, wow, I got him gone. Yeah, I'm impressed.
Speaker 1: I mean if he's super.
Speaker 3: Busy, so he's not always available to do it, but
Speaker 3: he loves to do it.
Speaker 2: It's a great feeling. She's gotten to be a much
Speaker 2: more adventurous eater where my son likes to cook, but
Speaker 2: nowhere near as much as she does. So he's still
Speaker 2: very nicky on his food, but she's more willing to
Speaker 2: do or try things. Even if she doesn't like it,
Speaker 2: she'll still at least try it.
Speaker 3: So what are their favorite meals? What are you prepared
Speaker 3: at home right now?
Speaker 2: Like steak and like larger proteins are my son's jam
Speaker 2: Like he's constantly I think he's going about to go
Speaker 2: through some kind of crazy gross furt. He'll eat like
Speaker 2: a pound and a half of like a rabbi, Like
Speaker 2: I'll buy two and he'll eat one and a half.
Speaker 2: And he just wants it with fruit, like he doesn't
Speaker 2: want any sides, he doesn't want any sauce. He just
Speaker 2: wants protein. My daughter has gotten really into, like we
Speaker 2: like to do a lot of slow cooking, just so
Speaker 2: that way, like building a flavors. It's kind of jacob
Speaker 2: My's background, a little bit like the slower, like putting
Speaker 2: all the love in it. So she's gotten kind of
Speaker 2: into like tortilla soup or pasole or chili's or even braizing.
Speaker 2: So she's she's evolving.
Speaker 3: A lot, right, interesting, So tell me what is the
Speaker 3: difference between working in a large scale, you know, resort
Speaker 3: style kitchen compared to like, you know, a much smaller,
Speaker 3: intimate neighborhood spot.
Speaker 2: So this, this is a it's not new to me
Speaker 2: to be part of a big hotel. It's new to
Speaker 2: me to run one. I've usually my entire career has
Speaker 2: been restaurants, and this was kind of the next step
Speaker 2: of can I do it? And will I like it?
Speaker 2: And how will it work? It's it's just like running
Speaker 2: a smaller restaurant, but just like eight of them.
Speaker 4: So you're watching your food cost, your labor, You're you're
Speaker 4: constantly trying to create new dishes that will Like we
Speaker 4: have a member base here at our hotel too, so
Speaker 4: we like they are here five.
Speaker 2: Days a week and they don't want the same food
Speaker 2: every day. So it still is that like, how can
Speaker 2: we be relevant, how can we be modern? How are
Speaker 2: we not spending too much money and still being able
Speaker 2: to appease our guests. But then we also have the
Speaker 2: banquet aspect, which is a huge part of what we do.
Speaker 2: And you know, people don't want banquet food that's just
Speaker 2: like here's some chicken breasts and a chafer and some
Speaker 2: like sad mashed potatoes. They want us it's a lot
Speaker 2: about the visual and the fresh flavors, and we're trying
Speaker 2: to bring that elevated restaurant into our banquet facility. And
Speaker 2: my banquet chef also comes from a restaurant background, so
Speaker 2: the two of us are really trying to grow and
Speaker 2: exceed expectations.
Speaker 3: Right, I want to talk a little bit about you know,
Speaker 3: if you're like Luke at all, do you have any
Speaker 3: kind of rules in your kitchen. I mean he bands
Speaker 3: cell phones. He don't have patients for complicated orders. Are
Speaker 3: there things in your kitchen you just will not tolerate?
Speaker 1: I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't have a problem so much with cell phones.
Speaker 2: We are using a program for our recipes called Opsy
Speaker 2: and it's digital, so I as long we're buying tablets
Speaker 2: right now, so we'll have tablets and all the kitchen.
Speaker 2: That way, the recipes are like, I can get rid
Speaker 2: of the cell phones. But at the moment it's not
Speaker 2: so bad as long as it's not like Facebook or
Speaker 2: Instagram or texting and they're actually looking at recipes. That's
Speaker 2: not the biggest thing for me. It's about not standing
Speaker 2: around and wasting time. It drove me nuts in the
Speaker 2: independent restaurants, and it drives me like it's in a resort.
Speaker 2: You have peaks and like eggs and flows and and
Speaker 2: you just see people standing around and I can't stand that.
Speaker 2: That drives me nuts. So if something needs to get done,
Speaker 2: I expect our teams to come together and get.
Speaker 1: It done right.
Speaker 3: There's always something needs to be done, always, always. Something
Speaker 3: needs to be cleaned, something needs to be stored, something
Speaker 3: needs to be pulled out, something needs to be prepped.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, standy reorganized anything. I even tell my people
Speaker 2: like if I'm like if you're if your bored, create something,
Speaker 2: show me something new, like even for my life, like
Speaker 2: you know my liing cooks, I'm like, play, like play
Speaker 2: with some food because that food in your well is
Speaker 2: it's not going to last another seven days or another.
Speaker 2: I'd like I'd rather it be fresher, So like, make
Speaker 2: me something, show me something new. Right, And I think
Speaker 2: they're really starting, Like I've been here for a little
Speaker 2: over a year, and I think they're really starting to
Speaker 2: enjoy that because when they show me something and like
Speaker 2: we critique it and we talk about it, and it's
Speaker 2: it's it's something they might not have had before.
Speaker 3: Mm hmmmm. You know word on the street, Emily, is
Speaker 3: that Martha Stewart owes you a dinner visit. What would
Speaker 3: you cook for her if she actually showed up tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Let's say, Oh my goodness, there's like so many things
Speaker 2: I would want to cook either again for her or
Speaker 2: like focus on for her. I know the thing she
Speaker 2: doesn't like, so I know what to stay away from.
Speaker 2: But coming to California, I definitely am We're like so
Speaker 2: close to the coast in San Diego. We have amazing
Speaker 2: fish vendors. I would definitely do some kind of very
Speaker 2: fresh fish out of the ocean, whatever seasonal. She loves lenons,
Speaker 2: so that kind of works towards our property. We're very
Speaker 2: citrus b we have orange trees everywhere and lenons everywhere.
Speaker 2: So but yeah, I mean, I almost like I even
Speaker 2: want to do a risotto because, like now that it's
Speaker 2: not a competition, you know, that's like the death the
Speaker 2: death dish on like every show. I would love to
Speaker 2: actually be able to take the time and make her
Speaker 2: a risotto because I think she would appreciate it, Like
Speaker 2: go back and try to do a perfect chicken for.
Speaker 3: Right, did you get then? Ort all? I mean what
Speaker 3: she like, She's fascinating.
Speaker 2: She is fascinating. She was my judge on Chopped when
Speaker 2: I was in Chopped twenty eighteen, and she remembered me
Speaker 2: when I walked in. When she walked in to the
Speaker 2: studio the first time, we didn't know who our judges were,
Speaker 2: and she walked in and she pointed at me and
Speaker 2: she said Chopped, and I was like, oh no, she
Speaker 2: remembers me. But she was funny and kind and She
Speaker 2: had some really inspiring conversations with us about just like
Speaker 2: not like you're a great person and you're going to
Speaker 2: do this, she said those things, but like how to
Speaker 2: be how she got to where she is. She made
Speaker 2: jokes about it, She talked about her kind of her
Speaker 2: team around her a little bit, and she really was.
Speaker 2: It was interesting because she gave us it like as
Speaker 2: a powerful woman, how she got there, Like, you know,
Speaker 2: some things might seem a little harsh that she you know,
Speaker 2: she mentioned like not showing a lot of emotion in
Speaker 2: certain situations and like being a stronger woman, And it
Speaker 2: was as much as we don't want to hear those
Speaker 2: things because it's very unpc like everybody should be able
Speaker 2: to cry or show emotions. There's a reason she has
Speaker 2: these Like she's come up in a much different time
Speaker 2: than when we are right now. And I understand it
Speaker 2: because I feel like when I started in the kitchens, Yeah,
Speaker 2: you have to suck it up and like you had
Speaker 2: to find a corner too if you really quickly how
Speaker 2: to like freak out, but like not let anybody know
Speaker 2: it because for women in the kitchen, And I think
Speaker 2: Martha was kind of hitting this like we are looked
Speaker 2: at it in a different way, and she really that
Speaker 2: really came out and like the way she talked to us,
Speaker 2: which was awesome.
Speaker 3: That's awes, that's great. Yeah, I will watch the documentary
Speaker 3: on her on somewhere. What a story. I incredible story,
Speaker 3: what a story. She was inevitable, She was absolutely inevitable. Yep, Hey, everybody,
Speaker 3: make sure to catch me on the convention circuit on
Speaker 3: September fifth, sixth, and seventh.
Speaker 1: I'll be it.
Speaker 3: Smoky Mountain fan Fest in Kingsport, Tennessee, a Weekend in
Speaker 3: the Life in New Milford, Connecticut, September twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth. Yes,
Speaker 3: I will be there on the thirteenth that Saturday, New Milford, Connecticut.
Speaker 3: Destination Stars Hollow in Brighton, Michigan, September twenty and possibly
Speaker 3: the twenty first. Hope to see everybody there. Let's talk
Speaker 3: about you a little bit and your prize money, your
Speaker 3: quarter of a million dollars and a title. So what's
Speaker 3: the one Okay, here's the thing. Here's what's the one
Speaker 3: intangible thing that you took away from Yes, chef and
Speaker 3: your title.
Speaker 2: That I mean like personally that I could do it.
Speaker 2: I didn't expect a win. I wanted I kind of
Speaker 2: try to manifest to win, believing it just so much
Speaker 2: more belief in myself and uh, just just like the
Speaker 2: idea that I can do a lot more than I
Speaker 2: ever thought I.
Speaker 3: Could, right, which was incredible, Right, that is incredible. All right,
Speaker 3: Let's say you were unlucky enough to cater for Emily Gilmore. Okay,
Speaker 3: what would you make to wow her? And and uh,
Speaker 3: what do you think would be the most difficult part
Speaker 3: about being employed by her?
Speaker 2: Oh Man, I think to wow, I'd want to do
Speaker 2: something that was a little more I know it sounds silly,
Speaker 2: but like rustic and family style and like something that
Speaker 2: would like fill a table scape. I think that's something
Speaker 2: that might just get that wow if you could just
Speaker 2: escape something, you know, something you'd almost see in like Hollywood,
Speaker 2: that would just be the whole table picture perfect steaming
Speaker 2: smells light like almost like a fall vine, like I
Speaker 2: would I would definitely go in that direction to just
Speaker 2: have that kind of grandness of it food what I know,
Speaker 2: and like specifically, I think it would just have to
Speaker 2: hit a lot of very fresh, very clean, very just
Speaker 2: like beautiful like flavors things that just go together like
Speaker 2: I'm thinking like raising like some big nice like a
Speaker 2: brisk but like a braised brisket with those like deep
Speaker 2: root vegetables.
Speaker 3: Mm hmm.
Speaker 2: You know, even now that we're like kind of end
Speaker 2: of summer, I'm like grilled peaches with like stratchia, tulla
Speaker 2: and arugula and just like things that are just they
Speaker 2: make you want to like they kind of make you drool,
Speaker 2: but visually you see it too.
Speaker 3: Okay, all right, So how do you deal with her
Speaker 3: when she gets upset?
Speaker 1: What if she gets in your face?
Speaker 3: What if somebody screw forgets something, screw something up and
Speaker 3: she blames it on you and she gets in your face?
Speaker 1: How do you deal with that?
Speaker 3: You face to face with Emily Gilmore, what are you doing?
Speaker 2: I mean, I like the amount of people who have
Speaker 2: yelled in my face and blamed me for things. I
Speaker 2: feel like I've grown so much in my career, my
Speaker 2: life and through the show that just taking a step
Speaker 2: back and taking a breath and listening and then just
Speaker 2: being like, Okay, I hear you, you're heard, but let's
Speaker 2: move forward instead of backwards. And what can we do
Speaker 2: to rectify and what can we do to make this
Speaker 2: so you don't feel like she wouldn't feel embarrassed or
Speaker 2: that it's still her vision, but she can pivot in
Speaker 2: a way that it still works out the way she
Speaker 2: wants it. Like I definitely have let rage go, and
Speaker 2: it's more of how do we move together at a
Speaker 2: forward motion?
Speaker 3: Right? That's that's you know, Wow, that's zen. You've achieved
Speaker 3: a zen. You're the Zen chef?
Speaker 1: Right, Okay, well, I think yeah, chef.
Speaker 2: Really, Like during the finale, I had Chef Jake as
Speaker 2: one of the contestants, was one of my sous chefs,
Speaker 2: and he had sliced the fua and he had overcooked
Speaker 2: all the flowgra before the dessert, like where we still
Speaker 2: had enough time to figure something out, and just watching
Speaker 2: how much he was beating himself up, like I hadn't
Speaker 2: even said anything. I definitely my heart rate went up
Speaker 2: and I got a little sweaty, and I definitely was like,
Speaker 2: what am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?
Speaker 2: But like, watching how just distraught he was made me,
Speaker 2: And it's like, and I've noticed that That's where I've
Speaker 2: gone in my life, is like you watch somebody beat
Speaker 2: themselves up so hard and it's it's just food. And
Speaker 2: I mean, yes, it was a quarter of a million
Speaker 2: dollars on the line, but is it worth it? Like,
Speaker 2: I'm not going to blame somebody. And we pivoted, like
Speaker 2: we found enough wall, we were able to fix the dish,
Speaker 2: and ultimately I think it was a whow. It wasn't
Speaker 2: enough wall for Jose, but at least it was a
Speaker 2: it was a way, And I mean like I talked
Speaker 2: to him through the whole time, and at the end,
Speaker 2: I was like, do you feel better? It was still
Speaker 2: the competition still going. We weren't done, and you just
Speaker 2: kind of looked at me and he was like yeah.
Speaker 2: I was like, okay, let's keep going, like we're good,
Speaker 2: Like that's it.
Speaker 3: Well, let's say you had to design a tasting menu, okay,
Speaker 3: inspired by Gilmore Girls characters. What dish would represent?
Speaker 1: Laurel I Laurel I m hmm.
Speaker 2: I don't know why. I'm like thinking like spaghetti, but
Speaker 2: that's not much of a tastingment you So I'm like,
Speaker 2: I don't.
Speaker 3: Know what different pasta? Sure?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean like not even like but not like spaghetti,
Speaker 2: man narrow like spaghetti, and like lemon and like fresh
Speaker 2: herbs and just like brightness.
Speaker 3: What about Luke?
Speaker 2: Oh does it tasting men? You have to make sense? No, Okay,
Speaker 2: I would say Luke, it would be some kind of
Speaker 2: crazy insane just giant like Burger something it gets like
Speaker 2: your hands on you know what I mean, like just
Speaker 2: just like big.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 1: The one I really want to know about is Kirk.
Speaker 3: What would you do? What would you make for Kirk?
Speaker 2: Oh? What would I make for Kirk? I think something
Speaker 2: that would take like a while, like that would take
Speaker 2: that would be like you need it for a while,
Speaker 2: so may or like maybe it takes a long time
Speaker 2: to make it just to be in each other's company.
Speaker 2: I think I would probably do something like almost like
Speaker 2: a Wellington. Right, So then it's like really there and
Speaker 2: then you have to like explain and discuss and like go.
Speaker 3: Through right, Okay, all right, So here's a big question.
Speaker 3: Right you're walking into luke S diner. Okay, what does
Speaker 3: Emily brew Baker order and where does Emily Brew Baker sit?
Speaker 2: I sit at the counter? Yes, Oh what would I order?
Speaker 2: I mean like it would either be like the like
Speaker 2: the regular old no matter what time of day, if
Speaker 2: I can get it, like pancakes, eggs, hash browns, and
Speaker 2: like sausage just because I want to sit at the counter.
Speaker 2: I want to eat that breakfast kut kind of thing,
Speaker 2: even if it was like eight o'clock at night, and
Speaker 2: just enjoy that seat and watch. Otherwise it might be
Speaker 2: like a giant slice of pie.
Speaker 3: There you go, yeah with Lukes Diner, Bland Coffee. Yes exactly,
Speaker 3: Emily brew Baker, You're a winner, You're a champion, you're
Speaker 3: a title holder. Yes, you're a you're an expert chef.
Speaker 3: Thank you for your time, you and good luck with
Speaker 3: everything going forward. We've had a blast with you and
Speaker 3: uh the best fans on the planet. Keep those cards
Speaker 3: and letters, comment and remember, where you lead, we will follow, right,
Speaker 3: Emily will.
Speaker 1: Follow them exactly. We will follow, and you're gonna make
Speaker 1: food for him, absolutely.
Speaker 3: We're gonna fatten some people up man. Yeah, and uh,
Speaker 3: where you lead, we will follow. Remember everybody stays safe, hey, everybody.
Speaker 1: And don't forget.
Speaker 3: Follow us on Instagram at I Am all In podcast
Speaker 3: and email us at Gilmore at iHeartRadio dot com.