WEBVTT - Citizen Chef Season 2 Coming Soon! 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:03.360 I think with Biden, whether it's infrastructure or whether it 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:06.400 was a stimulus pack, is we're finally putting people first. 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:09.319 It's not enough to to sit back and say, well, 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:11.840 I don't do it, so it's okay, or I support this. 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:14.040 For that, I think we gotta get vocal, and I 0:00:14.040 --> 0:00:17.000 think we have to be not afraid to calling it 0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:19.239 some people along the way. It's going to happen, but 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:31.400 I think I'm comfortable doing it, and I'll continue doing. Hi, listeners, 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:34.479 and welcome to a special episode of Citizen Chef. My 0:00:34.560 --> 0:00:36.720 name is Christopher Osciitis, and you don't know my voice, 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:40.080 but I'm the executive producer of this show. My team 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:42.080 here at I Heart has been working tirelessly with Tom 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:44.600 Colliqio over the past year to put together a show 0:00:44.600 --> 0:00:47.200 we hope inspires you to know more about the food 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:50.520 you eat. And as we're looking forward to season two, 0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:52.839 we wanted to sit down and talk to Tom himself 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:55.960 about his plans, about how he spent the last year. 0:00:56.040 --> 0:00:58.360 This year that's been so strange for all of us, 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:00.000 but we're at a point where there is a little 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:02.200 bit of hope. But that's something that Tom also feels 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:04.520 strongly about. And so he really wanted to share with 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:07.800 you the listeners, a little bit about what's inspiring him 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:11.360 for the future. Tom is currently in his home in 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:14.560 New York. I'm in studio in Atlanta. But while we 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:18.080 can't invite you into Tom's restaurants, what we can do 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:20.880 right now is invite you into Tom's living room, into 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:25.000 his den, into wherever in his house is quietest because 0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:27.080 he's got a new puppy. Tom, thanks so much for 0:01:27.120 --> 0:01:28.880 taking the time to chat with me. I know we're 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:31.600 busy getting ready for the new season of the show, 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:35.760 and you're certainly busy keeping your restaurants afloat, but I 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:37.920 would just like to dive into what the last year 0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:40.640 has been like for you. Oh wow, it's it's been there. 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:43.160 It's been up and down. A year ago today we 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:45.080 closed all all of our restaurants and so I had 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:48.160 to lay off about four seventy people, and that was rough. 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:51.240 The last service we had was on a Sunday, and 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:53.880 I remember going into the restaurant and Bartender has been 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:56.000 with me twenty years. He was in there having dinner 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:59.080 with his family, and all I can do to keep 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:01.800 myself from losing it the table because it's terrible day. 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:04.320 Even then, I had a good idea from talking to 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:07.360 friends I have in government, that there was going to 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:10.440 be a pretty robust unemployment package. So I felt at 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:12.680 least people were going to get through. But then some 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:16.160 of my employees weren't eligible to receive unemployment for various reasons. 0:02:16.360 --> 0:02:18.040 So listen it was. It was. It was tough. And 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:20.920 then thinking about what my media plans were going to be. 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:22.720 I was out of a job. I had no idea 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:25.399 what we were going to shoot again on TV. How 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:27.160 long was it gonna take to get the restaurants open? 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:31.040 It was rough. Very Soon after closing the restaurants, about 0:02:31.040 --> 0:02:33.000 a day later, I received a phone call from a 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:36.560 friend of mine who was working for talent agency and well, 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:37.880 you know, we have a foundation and we want to 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:40.440 help restaurants. And I kind of laughed and I said, 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:43.000 I don't think your foundations are big enough to help us, 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:46.920 but let's keep in touch. Soon after that, I received 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:49.960 another phone call from a friend who when I worked 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:52.120 at Food Policy Action, he was one of our lobbyists 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:54.720 that we worked with and have joking, I said, I 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:57.720 think independent restaurants need a lobbyists. Let's make that happen, 0:02:58.400 --> 0:02:59.919 and so I called my buddy. I said, I think 0:02:59.919 --> 0:03:01.840 I know we could do with your money. And that's 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:04.600 how the Independent Restaurant Coalition was formed. We started to grow. 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:06.959 It started with about twelve people, and we found a 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:09.840 group down south that was involved in another group out 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:13.400 of Chicago and in San Francisco, Los Angeles, all over 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:16.800 the country. And we had one goal, and that was 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:21.440 to reach out and make sure that our federal government understood, 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:24.880 you know, how bad things were, and then also get 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:28.360 them to understand the scope of how many people independent 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:31.440 restaurants employing, and just getting an idea of the general 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:36.520 economics if a percent of these restaurants closed. And it 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:38.880 worked out, and we managed to get our bill written 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:41.200 in the House, in the Senate, and the election with 0:03:41.240 --> 0:03:43.160 the new Congress, everything got thrown out the window. We 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:44.960 had to start all over again, but we got through 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:48.880 that and our bill is now included in the stimulus package. 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:50.720 So I spent the better part of the last year 0:03:50.800 --> 0:03:52.760 working on that, and then the other part was just 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:54.880 trying to figure out what I was doing with our business. 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:57.520 There's opening in the summer, closing again in the fall, 0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:00.480 reopening again, trying to figure out the best way to 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:03.800 use PPP opening a business and keeping staff safe. It's 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:05.560 just been a it's been an up and down the year. 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:09.000 Right now, I'm feeling pretty optimistic business wise. We started 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:13.480 shipping these boxes out and that's done really well so far. 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:16.280 We got by We lost out of our four restaurants 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:18.359 in New York, one of them is permanently closed, but 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:20.159 other than that, the other restaurants are opened up l A. 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:23.120 We just reopened Vegas. They're open more of a license 0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:27.080 and deal. They're open, but we're managing. Yeah, it's weird. 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:30.040 Right now is a time of I think cautious optimism 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:32.120 in the country, and there's been a lot of focus, 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:36.560 especially from the Independent Restaurant Coalition, on dealing with the 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:38.640 effects of the pandemic. But one thing that in your 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:41.680 career you've always focused on is is not just what's 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:44.800 directly in front of you, what what the apparent problem is, 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:47.680 but digging deeper, looking further down the line. So what 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:51.880 can the Independent Restaurant Coalition and groups like it turn 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:55.320 their focus to long term after some of the immediate 0:04:55.920 --> 0:05:00.320 negative impacts of of the COVID pandemic have been addressed. Yeah, Uh, 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:02.640 that's A great question, because we're struggling with that as 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:06.160 well as organization. So we're going through some changes. Number one, 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:11.440 we're moving away from a Seed four lobbying group and 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:14.360 more towards the C six, which is a trade organization. 0:05:14.880 --> 0:05:17.080 So we're doing that work. You know. After that, I'm 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:19.760 sure we're gonna end up working on whatever comes our way, 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:22.719 whether it's healthcare that can really help our industry, minimum 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:25.400 wage on a federal level or a local level. Mostly 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:28.520 will be involved in helping craft these various bills, and 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:30.479 you know, we want to get involved early on and 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:33.080 shape these programs as opposed to letting them happen to us. 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:35.120 And so that's what I think we're looking at coming up. 0:05:35.160 --> 0:05:37.400 There's not there's no one particular thing we're looking at 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:38.680 right now. Right now, we just got to get our 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:41.719 house in order. Tom. These days, you're known as much 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:45.440 for your activism as you are for appearing as head 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:48.120 judge on Top Chef for your restaurants. But I'm curious, 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:51.520 it's easy working in this industry to whether you're a 0:05:51.600 --> 0:05:53.760 line cook, a manager, front of house, back of house, 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:56.599 you know, your shift ends, you go get a drink 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:59.640 with friends, uh and co workers back when that was 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:02.840 sella thing that was easy to do, and it's easy 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:05.760 to sit there and complain about the industry, and then 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:07.080 you go to bed and you wake up and the 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:09.160 next day you just go right back to work. At 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:13.280 what point did you decide, I can't just focus on 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:15.320 the day to day and I need to address these 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:18.800 bigger pictures. When did you move from being someone who 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:21.040 was aware of the problems to someone who decided to 0:06:21.080 --> 0:06:23.760 address the problems. Yeah. Sure, let's unpack that a little bit, 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:27.040 because I think part of what you said there was 0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:29.400 really important because I was that person who would go 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:31.839 out after work with Then when I ope my own restaurant, 0:06:31.839 --> 0:06:34.919 I realized that now I can make change and what 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:36.840 I used to do not so much to go out 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:38.920 with the coworkers, but at the end of the night, 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:41.279 all the servers would sit in the private dining rooms, 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:43.719 said grammarc tavern, and that's where they would, you know, 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:45.520 do their side work and stuff like that close out 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:47.880 the end of the night, and of course everyone would 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:51.640 beach theman, you know, problems with this, problems that, and 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:54.479 I would stare and listen, and you know, I would 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:56.280 go to a meeting next day and image who meet 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:58.320 the next day and say, well, this is what I'm hearing. 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:00.400 This is some suggestions, and they're like, we're be getting 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:02.320 this like one o'clock in the morning. You get a 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:04.360 lot of information from waiters after they had a couple 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:06.760 of glass of wine. It was about taking that information 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:08.039 and then figuring out what to do with it, and 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:11.360 that's how we made some real politic changes in our restaurants. 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:13.600 They also helped, Like early on, Danny I were very 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:15.280 like minded. I mean the grammar should have and we 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:18.640 put out smoking before we were mandated to. We offered 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:21.160 insurance well before people were offering insurance. In fact, you 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:22.920 know a lot of our peers gave me a hard time. 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:25.400 But when when it came to actually trying to focusing 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:29.520 on legislation, it really started with the issue around hunger. 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:31.480 And I got to credit my wife Laurie for the shift, 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:33.240 because you know, I did a lot of work around hunger, 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:36.880 but really raising money for various organizations. Chiefs naturally gravitate 0:07:36.880 --> 0:07:38.960 towards the issue around hunger. Please we feed so many 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:41.240 people who you know, who can afford it, but we 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:43.880 actually someone a us think that that food and nutritious 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:45.680 food is should be right, but I would, you know, 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:48.280 show up in events and bring food and to help 0:07:48.360 --> 0:07:50.960 raise money for no kid hungry, our gods that we 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:54.360 deliver meals on wheels city Harvest. And I thought I 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:56.880 knew a bit about the issue. And then my wife 0:07:56.960 --> 0:07:59.880 was mentoring a young woman and so she would come 0:07:59.880 --> 0:08:02.720 to house, clearly she was hungry. We would send food home. 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:04.800 But then when she was in the school, principal call 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:07.240 and say, it's clearly this young woman is hungry. So 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:10.560 my wife started. She's a filmmaker, and she decided to 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:14.000 take on the issue of hunger. A documentary placed the 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:18.080 table and it was during that time that very quickly 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:20.680 we learned that hunger in this country is more of 0:08:20.680 --> 0:08:24.119 a political issue, lack of political will. It's not because 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:26.280 we don't have the resource to feed people. When the 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:28.200 film came out and it gave me a soap box, 0:08:28.240 --> 0:08:30.360 and you know, obviously I was on TV already, I 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:32.719 had a following, so I was able to use that 0:08:32.880 --> 0:08:36.520 following into trying to make some positive change around hunger, 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:39.800 and that led to the founding of Food Policy Action, 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:43.280 which was a lobbying group essentially set up to help 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:45.760 craft legislation. But what we did is we actually published 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:47.920 a score card. We great at Congress andally voted around 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:51.440 various food issues, and so that that put me square 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:55.679 into Capitol Hill. And we can't end hunger through charity. 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:57.960 Charity can help it, help manage it, but we really 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:01.840 need some legislation dating the food stand program, looking at 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:04.520 school lunch, looking at school breakfast, and getting as many 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:06.559 people as possible. And there are a lot of different 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:08.120 organizations that were working on us. A lot of these 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:10.440 organizations they were doing their charity work and they were 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:13.199 afraid to get involved in politics, and we felt that's 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:15.840 where we had to move people. You know, since the eighties, 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:18.760 going back to Reagan, that was a message that government's 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:22.320 bad governments the problem. Government is not the problem. Dumb 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:25.200 governments problems, but good government and good policy really can 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:26.960 help a lot of people. You know. I think we 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:30.080 finally are seen that major shift. I think with Biden, 0:09:30.360 --> 0:09:33.360 whether it's infrastructure or whether it was a stimulus package, 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:37.080 we're finally putting people first. It's not enough to to 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:39.160 sit back and say, well I don't do it, so 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:41.600 it's okay, or I support this. For that, I think 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:43.520 we gotta get vocal, and I think we have to 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:46.920 be not afraid to handling it some people along the way. 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:49.640 It's going to happen that I'm comfortable doing it, and 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:52.040 I'll continue to do it. Can you tell me what 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:53.839 it was like the first time you actually went into 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:57.040 Congress to address the seat of power of our nation 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:00.040 in person? Yeah. So the first time I did it, 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.120 was it a hearing, It's congressional hearing on I believe 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:05.160 it was school lunch. I'd go there and I might 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:07.560 speech prepared and it went really well, and I was 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:10.480 I was more nervous giving my speech because I'm terrible 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:12.240 reading a speech. And once I got through that, the 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:14.839 Q and eight part was fine. I actually got into 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:17.360 it a little bit with one of the members. It's interesting, 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:21.440 but it was scared. So Shelley Pingry, who is a 0:10:21.440 --> 0:10:24.440 congresswoman from Maine, she had a townhouse on Capitol Hill 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:27.000 and she wouldn't buy this, say afterwards and sixty members 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:29.959 would show up, mostly Democrats, occasionally gets some Republicans in 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:32.240 as well. You know, that's when he saw when the 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:34.040 stuff really gets done. And you saw that how when 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:37.079 Republicans and Democrats got together, they were all laughing, having 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:39.040 a good time. I think a lot of that stuff 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:41.240 that you see is really for the cameras and a 0:10:41.280 --> 0:10:43.439 lot of times you can get the other and move 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:46.199 something along, but you realize that this is how stuff 0:10:46.240 --> 0:10:49.280 gets done, is by reaching out. It really works, and 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:51.520 they want to hear from people. I think that sense 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:54.080 of personal connection is is what's really valuable, and understanding 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:56.320 of that is what pulls a lot of the levers 0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:58.640 and drives decisions. One of the things we try to 0:10:58.640 --> 0:11:00.840 do on Citizen Chef is really take deeper dive, to 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:03.520 take time to dig into an issue so that you 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:06.240 have time to talk to the people that you find 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:10.360 really fascinating to really understand and unpack issues from their 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:13.080 perspectives as well as from yours. Can you tell us 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:15.280 a little bit about what you're interested in exploring on 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:18.440 this upcoming season of the show. Yes, so big changes 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:20.560 at the U S d A. And you hear the 0:11:20.640 --> 0:11:22.240 U s t A. And I think the average person 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:25.760 who clearly eats food, they don't understand how and what 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:27.080 the U. S t A does. And so I want 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:30.080 to probe that a little bit and see if they're modernizing, 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:31.680 how are they going to modernize it, how does that 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:34.440 affect people? A lot of what the pandemic sort of 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:37.600 uncovered is the fragility of our food system, and so 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:40.440 trying to figure out ways to modernize that. And there's 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:43.080 several bills to get rid of the whole KFO feed 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:46.760 lot system that's the way of feeding cattle and splittering cattle. 0:11:46.920 --> 0:11:49.680 Interested to see how that plays out. But also clearly 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:52.520 the pandemic, a lot of people weren't able to feed themselves. 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:55.760 And so now we understand the needs of what a 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:59.400 strong safety and can afford Americans. And so I think 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:03.080 probing a little deeper, we're still going to see regional 0:12:03.440 --> 0:12:06.079 storms that are going to really affect the food system. 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:08.200 I think that's not going to change. And we saw 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:11.400 the regional storm in texas As ice storm, and you 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:14.040 see the habit that's it's playing out now and ways 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:16.320 where there's shortage is a plastic and things like that. 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:19.120 And so we're in the crossroads here and the question 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:20.640 is how is government going to deal with some of 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:23.320 these issues, How we can strengthen our food system, how 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:25.760 are we gonna make them more localized. That's something that 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:27.720 I want to continue to probe, but I think also 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:32.080 want to explore just certain restaurants as they open up, 0:12:32.200 --> 0:12:34.360 how are they doing, because we're still a long way away. 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:37.400 If I see one more America's open again, I'm gonna 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:39.640 put whatever hair I have on my head out because 0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:42.120 we're not open yet. Restaurants may be open, but people 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:44.160 are still very hesitant to come out, and I think 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:47.080 that the restaurant industry is still gonna struggling. So yeah, 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:48.920 there's a lot left to do. I think it's really 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:51.640 building on what we started season one. You know, the 0:12:51.679 --> 0:12:53.400 comments that I got back from a lot of people 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:55.360 is they didn't know. And that's why I love to 0:12:55.400 --> 0:12:57.520 hear that they learned something they didn't know about. Are 0:12:57.880 --> 0:12:59.960 they went deeper than we and they thought and people 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:02.400 I want people thinking about food in terms of this 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:05.800 system that we created and think in terms of how 0:13:05.840 --> 0:13:09.040 does food different seeds to plate, what's the process and 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:11.560 people are becoming more and more interested in how their 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:14.800 food gets there. But tom as we're sitting here recording this, 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:18.080 it's the beginning of April. Top Chef is premiering on 0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:19.800 TV and a lot of people know you through that, 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:21.600 so it would be remissing me not to ask you 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:24.120 if you could give us a little preview of no spoilers, 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:26.480 but let us know one thing that you ate this 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:28.960 season while you guys were recording in Portland, they really 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:32.400 knock your socks off. There was one dish in Particken 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:34.319 that I remember that I really enjoyed, but there were several. 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:35.920 There was a lot of great food this season. In 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:38.400 season and we shot during COVID we were in a bubble. 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:41.840 We got to Portland quarantine for ten days. We had 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:44.000 a hundred and fifty people on the crew. They were 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:46.240 all staying in a hotel. We were the only guests 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:51.240 in the hotel and mask were worn. Socially distant temperatures taken. 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:53.880 We had test taken every other day. I had my 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:56.080 puppe with me, so I would take our own walks 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:58.040 and that was about it. We you know, got through. 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:00.280 Nobody got the other cool thing. Instead of flying guest 0:14:00.320 --> 0:14:03.200 judges in once a week, we had a pod of 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:07.000 past cotestines who were the diners and the judges, and 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:09.040 that made for a really interesting perspective. It was. It 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:11.520 was a fun season's to shoot considering, you know, how 0:14:11.760 --> 0:14:14.720 how shitty the world was and time to get away 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:16.640 and we made we made great TV, and there's some 0:14:16.720 --> 0:14:19.080 really cool things that came out of the fact that 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:21.960 we were shooting, you know, under these scenarios. So the 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:25.360 restaurant wards was completely different and really worked out well. 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:28.920 We also really got into into some of the issues 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:31.520 around diversity, you know, we we we did some really 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:33.440 new things. I can't, I can't give it away. I can't. 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:35.120 I can't tell you all of you know, some of 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:36.720 the groups that we that we worked with. But it was. 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:39.720 It was a good season, really was. Tommy mentioned your 0:14:39.720 --> 0:14:42.600 new puppy and can you promise listeners that at least 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:45.280 in one episode your puppy is gonna make an appearance 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:47.960 on the podcast. Well, we usually try to keep her 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:51.400 quiet because I'm usually in a closet, but I can 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:53.080 bring her. I can bring her out if you want. 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:55.800 She's always always ready to jump in. Her name is Tiki, 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:59.080 which is the Hebrew word for hope, but her Instagram 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:03.160 site is very Tiky girl sunk to super freak. She's great. 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:05.960 She's a flat coat of retriever. Our first Flatty passed 0:15:05.960 --> 0:15:09.600 away less November, I guess it was, and so we 0:15:09.680 --> 0:15:12.520 waited a few months and tikis Tiki's got us really 0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:14.600 got us to go. But she's been great. Yeah, it's 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:16.960 been a good year for propets because we're home with them. 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:18.360 You know, they're gonna freak out next year and all 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:20.000 of a sudden, their home by themselves, they're like, where there, 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:23.640 free go, thank you. So it's gonna be a big 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:26.480 change for them next year. I think after this past year, 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:28.280 one thing we can agree on is that we need 0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:32.160 both more puppies and we need more hope. And it 0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:35.400 sounds like with her you got both at the same time. Yeah, 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:38.240 I think so. I think so. What I'm really hopeful 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:40.480 right now, I think you know, it's it's more shots 0:15:40.480 --> 0:15:43.880 and arms and more people that are vaccinated, and there's 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:46.200 a lot of pent up demand out there, and every 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:49.160 week we're hiring more people. Hopefully that continues and we'll 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:51.520 get people back to work and eventually we'll get through. 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:53.400 We'll learn a lot from it, and hopefully we're better 0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:55.880 for it. Tom, I just wanted to say congratulations, not 0:15:55.920 --> 0:15:57.800 only on all the work you're doing, but also it's 0:15:57.920 --> 0:16:01.000 it's Crafts twenty year anniversary. I'm sure this is not 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:03.440 the way you imagine you'd be celebrating twenty years of 0:16:03.480 --> 0:16:08.160 your flagship restaurant. But well done nonetheless. Thanks. Yeah, it's 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:11.880 twenty years and we really didn't celebrate it. We did. 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:14.880 I did some zoom cooking classes around it, and we 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:17.240 shipped out some of our favorite dishes and stuff like that, 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:19.920 and that was great. But we're gonna celebrate our twenty 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:21.920 first year. We're gonna call it our legal age and 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:24.480 we'll have a party around that. But yeah, twenty years 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:26.320 old and we're gonna we're gonna make it to twenty one. 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:29.000 Luckily for us, we got through partly because we had 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:30.920 a great landlord and we've been there twenty years and 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:33.800 they appreciate us, and so they really worked to get 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:35.920 through this. You know, Tom, you've mentioned on this called 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:38.040 landlords a couple of times, and I think a fifteen 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:41.840 dollar cocktail, it's not fifteen dollars because of the of 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:43.960 what goes in the glass. It's everything else around that. 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:46.680 And one of those big things is real estate. Yeah, 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:49.200 you're absolutely right. Real estate, especially in New York and 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:52.200 some other big cities, and really driving our cost. Rent 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:54.000 is so much higher. You see, rent is like eight 0:16:54.040 --> 0:16:58.320 percent of our cost now it's four. So yeah, rent 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:00.600 is it's just been it's been tough, and we're starting 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:02.120 to see them come down a little bit, and I 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:04.600 think there's gonna be some opportunities there, but it's been 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:06.800 really driving our costs. You know. The good thing is 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:08.679 a lot of chefs who came and trained in New 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:11.640 York are leaving the city and they're opening up great restaurants, 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:14.000 and so in a way, we're seeing great food in 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:17.239 secondary and terchary cities, and because that's where you can 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:19.280 afford to open up a restaurant, we're seeing a big shift. 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:22.320 There's some benefits to it. But retail left New York 0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:26.120 when you have uh Ralph flam Paulo closed Flagship Store 0:17:26.119 --> 0:17:28.760 and Madison Avenue because the rent was too high, and 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:30.119 I just felt, I don't need to be there anymore. 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:31.439 I don't I don't need to lose money in the 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:33.480 store to be here anymore. I think that's what's happening 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:35.600 in food too. I think a lot of people are 0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:38.080 maybe you did your first restaurant in New York, but 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:39.879 your next two or three or four are not going 0:17:39.920 --> 0:17:41.920 to be in New York. Tom, thanks so much for 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:44.320 taking the time to chat with us today and anything 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:47.200 you want to let listeners of Citizen Chef. Know there's 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:49.800 gonna be a season two and I'm looking forward to it. 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:52.680 I've been heard from so many listeners that that they're 0:17:52.680 --> 0:17:55.200 ready for more so and yeah, pready to dig in perfect. 0:17:55.520 --> 0:18:00.360 Thanks so much, So that's it. That was a chat 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:04.560 with Tom. I really enjoyed diving into this conversation. Tom 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:06.439 already has a great idea of what he wants the 0:18:06.520 --> 0:18:09.760