Alex Belew

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01:10Welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio. The tastiest hour of talk in Music City. Now here's your host, Brandon Styll. Hello Music City and welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio. My name is Brandon Styll and I am your host. Our co-host Caroline Galzin will be with us shortly. We are powered by Gordon Food Service. Want to always say thank you to Gordon Food Service for keeping this train on the tracks. These guys are amazing. They're doing amazing things. If you need a broad line provider, you got to call Gordon Food Service because they're the best. I'm not kidding. I love them to death. They're good people. We are talking today with Alex Ballou. Alex was the former owner of Dallas and Jane in Murfreesboro and he just won Hell's Kitchen. Season 21 of Hell's Kitchen. Winner Alex Ballou is going to join us in just a moment. This interview is so much fun. We ask all the things.

02:25Hopefully we ask all the questions that you're thinking watching the show. Like is it really like that? How long is the show? When did you film it? How long does it take to film it? Were there people you knew were gonna leave immediately? Do you really not like this person? Do you really not like that person? He answers all the questions. I thought that he was about as genuine and real as you can get in a guest who was in that scenario. I don't think one time he said I can't answer that. I can't talk about that. He just went in and said it all. So I'm really excited about this conversation and I learned a lot and I really enjoyed talking with him. We interviewed Alex in April of 2020 right as the pandemic was starting and if you hear this and you're like oh wow I want to go back and listen that episode I think that you should. It's a great episode to learn a little bit more about him or stop right now and go back and listen that episode and then come back and listen to this episode. It'll be really cool. I hope you guys enjoy your weekend. Wonderful weather this weekend. Man I am ready for this spring to really just kick in. I don't need any more freezing weather. This was exactly what I needed. Went to dinner at Henrietta Red the other night and it was absolutely amazing. Big shout out to Julia Sullivan and her team. I read over at Strategic Hospitality. That was it was just a beautiful meal. There it's really really good. I still don't like oysters. I tried them again for the 725th time. Wife loved them. I am not that's not my jam. I'm sorry. I just I'll try them every time. I don't know I maybe one time I'll eat an oyster and like holy shit that's the oyster I need. But it didn't it didn't work again this time.

04:07Went and saw John Mayer this weekend. That was a lot of fun. So I got a date night in and got to go out and spend some time with the the wife and we had a blast. So I know you were wondering. I know you needed to know that but I thought I would share that just just to say thank you to the folks over at Henrietta Red for doing such an amazing job. Speaking of amazing jobs, I do want to tell you real fast about my buddy Jonathan Howe. Jonathan is over at Village Real Estate. And I just want to tell you if you are somebody out there and your dream is to home own a home that this is your time guys. I mean I know interest rates are high this and this. If you're afraid if you don't know how the home buying process works this is what you need to do. You need to figure it out because this is where you're gonna be able to help build wealth. Paying money and rent every month is just throwing it away. It's staying alive. Spending money on a mortgage is building wealth for your future and it's putting roots down and it's and you can do it. Like you can do it. It is amazing. I went through a long conversation with Jonathan. Just said what do you do? How do you do it? And he just answered so many questions because I want to I haven't bought a house in several years and I want to just as I'm talking about what he does. God the guy was sharp and just I really appreciated him taking the time and I spoke with Amanda Gardner. She is over at Foundation Mortgage. Just so amazing. So this is a this is somebody you should call right now. If you have even thought about buying a house and you don't have a realtor. John Ho. His number 615-483-0315.

05:52Telling me hey look I was listening to Nashville Restaurant Radio. I've always wanted to buy a house. I have no idea where to begin or what to do. Talk to him. He'll help. Step one. Step two. Ask you some questions. If you can't buy a house, he'll tell you can't buy a house. If you can buy a house, he'll say I can get you a house. And then start looking and and take the next step of your life and then call me and say Brandon I heard you talk about this on the show and now I own a home and I'm so happy that I listened to Nashville Restaurant Radio. That's what I really want to have happen. And Amanda Gardner is just a she's I spoke to her this weekend too and she's so helpful. If you need to get financing they have ways to figure out to get you financing. They can make it happen. So there's there's some amazing things going on. Give Amanda a call also. If you're already in the steps and you just need somebody to help finance your house, Amanda Gardner is the person. She is with Foundation Mortgage and her cell number is 865-230-1031. You can call her today. You can call her today and say hey look I found a house I need to get a loan. Can you help me? She'll make it happen. So these two are working together for the hospitality community to make this happen. So excited to be working with them. Go get your house. Go do it. Buy a house damn it. This is the time to do it. Refinance rates are high. Go refinance later. But like get the house. So anyway love them. Love this interview with Alex Ballou. Cannot wait to get it out there. I don't have to wait any longer because it is coming right now. Let's start this thing off. Brandon do your intro so I can just jump. That comes later but yeah that's a thing. Shit I've ruined the podcast already. I love it. Super excited today to welcome back to the show Alex Ballou. Alex was the former owner of Dallas and Jane in Murfreesboro and he made South Meals. The last thing I remember you really doing when I was talking to you. Blocked that

07:54from my memory. Then he disappeared for a little while and he reemerged on Hell's Kitchen and he is the winner of season 21 for Hell's Kitchen. Alex Ballou welcome back to Nashville Restaurant Radio. Thank you and congrats. Hold your applause. Thanks. Thank you. Alex Ballou. There he is. God. It's weird. Life is very I need to quit saying it because I need to get used to it I guess. Maybe it might be short-lived but while it's short-lived I can get used to it. Alex how long ago did filming wrap? 13 months ago. Oh wow it's been that long. Yeah it's strange. It's like I had a baby over a year ago but people are just now like hey congrats on your baby. I'm like oh you mean my one-year-old? That's crazy. How hard was it to not tell people? It was hard. It was harder for my kids. They really wanted to tell people because they knew I won and so I had to bribe my five-year-old with prison that I would go to prison. I was like do you love your daddy? But I mean you do have to sign a contingency like a million dollar NDA right? Five million. Wow. Not including legal fees. So if anything got out five million dollars and what's crazy is so the whole show actually leaked in Asia a month or two before the finale aired in America. So ITV sold a couple thousand hours of television to Netflix in Asia in September. I guess they got their timeline wrong and it leaked in Asia and you know how Netflix does things they drop whole seasons at once versus Hulu episode by episode. So it dropped in Asia the whole season and someone found out so all these people started changing their VPN settings to like South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and so everybody started logging on to Netflix and watching. So I woke up one Friday morning

09:57to a hundred different Instagram tags of me walking through the door and like your biggest fan in the Philippines. I'm like what the hell is going on? No. And so after like I emailed Fox and I was like hey not sure if you've seen this but the you know the whole continent of Asia has now seen the show. There's reddit there's reddit threads about who won. So it was all out there about five weeks before it actually aired. Were you freaking out like you somebody found out and it was because of you. A lot of people found out. I was actually at the gym that morning and two of my friends sent me text and they were like hey congrats. I was like all for what? I think I sent you a text and I said congrats but that was just like because a hundred percent me watching the show as a person who works in this industry and who's a leader and who hires leaders I'm looking at the entire crowd I'm watching you and I go if I was doing this show to hire my next executive chef there was no I mean no offense to any of the other contestants or some amazing other contestants for sure but really it was like well how would you not choose Alex? I mean there's no your the way your composure throughout the entire thing you had the the past and you're like no I'll stay and clean you know I'll shell English peas for seven hours versus taking this from somebody like you stayed with your team you did all of the things that leaders would do while everybody else is being caddy there's this guy AB who's just like holy shit man like stop and then there was the other guy Billy's who you know I'm talking about right yeah one had a guy who hates me. Does he really? Yeah he'll post photos from he got eliminated on like day seven he he'll post he'll still post photos on his Instagram page and he'll tag everybody but me. I'm like I feel like someone's missing from this. Was it the comment about his? It was the darn better CPAP machine. He's like bro that really hurts my feelings bro I'm just like man I can't. If you watch the last few

12:00episodes you missed this guy his whole verbiage of how he spoke was so like I was baffled by it I'm just like what I don't understand this bro I don't get why you guys talking to me this way I'm like what what the hell is going on here like I didn't understand it. He was like he reminded me of like Tony Soprano's cousin who was a veterinarian but also killed people in the Lucas. That was like Billy's vibe he had this like New York style vibe to him but he also lived in Florida now he's back in New York look Billy honestly is a great guy he really is and he can cook but he's a very big personality and I within the constraints of that competition we were already sleep deprived no phones no family no comfort sleeping on a twin-size bed with no air conditioning and Billy was strapped into his CPAP machine I was like this is just it's a lot to take in and he was like night one yeah that was like the first night like how was your night those are all the promos so night one they didn't actually air this which they should have because it was hilarious night one he and another guy both plugged their seat it's like 2 30 in the morning when we finally get to sleep they both plugged their CPAP machines into the outlet and within 10 minutes the breaker trips and so they start choking because the CPAP's not feeding them oxygen but they've entered the nether realm of sleep at this point because apparently once you strap in you're just you're gone you're obliterate like he put it on and he was asleep and so he starts oh no I'm like look up and he's like dying he's ripping his mask off and he's like bro they're trying to fucking kill me bro and he just starts running through the dorms and he's like I made an extension cord and it was in and everybody was like what is happening no none of us know each other oh my this guy's just causing this guy's running around in his tank top in his box or

14:01screaming about they're trying to kill me it's now 3 a.m. we're all hot we don't know each other there's five of us to a room 18 strangers and there's this crazy man running around screaming about people trying to kill him I thought it was crazy because he would blame everybody else it was almost like if you screw up just raise your hand and go yeah chef I'll get better thank you for teaching them which is what you did yeah and this guy every time was like bro they were doing this to me it was your fault that's like you clearly cooked the dish you undercooked the dish bro but I didn't turn on the stove it's not my pan it's not it's like just own it and move forward man like bro is definitely his favorite word oh my it was great and I'm just I'm just watch this going do you think this is the actions of an executive chef of a Hell's Kitchen in Atlanta like this if you're going for that job start acting like that's the job you like just do it and he just was I can imagine him with his own show though I really can oh is there inside knowledge is that gonna happen I don't know we don't talk he he despises me to this day maybe he'll make it on kitchen maybe he is running a restaurant in New York right now I can't remember what it's called well he's doing his thing doing his thing so how long how long did the entire season take to shoot active shooting was 18 or 19 days oh that's quick yeah okay so you weren't like gone from your family for like six weeks it was like five weeks because they quarantined us in a hotel for 15 days before we started shooting in a nice hotel it was the motel six it was a hotel with like a little kitchenette in it but okay but you the kitchen that you couldn't really use it all the pans were warped and like you couldn't actually cook anything and so you only got to leave your room potentially 20 minutes a day and it was supervised if you wanted to go outside you were masked and face shielded and they like they basically babysat you for 20 minutes while you

16:04walked around the square it was it was intense like I was washing my clothes in my shower I had to buy butcher twine off of shipped and then I ran the butcher twine from my window to my kitchen cabinets to use as a like a clothes dryer whoa yeah it was pretty crazy it was a and all we had was sexy like Netflix YouTube and HBO that's it that's it brother I mean I had COVID recently I was quarantined in my home I'm like I need a way more options than that yeah I watched a like I watched all of secession I watched all of yellow jackets I watched some good TV I mean good choices yeah a lot like how to make Michelin star dishes because I've been I've been only meal prepping for a year and a half at this point so even the stuff you know cooking it's muscle memory a lot of times and so I wasn't making sauces and gastrikes and purees and cooking duck and I hadn't exercised any of those muscles in like a year and a half so I was like oh god Gordon's gonna have me you know try to make a beef wellings and I'm like what is beef wellings and I there were moments like that right it's it's it's tricky like you know I know when you're sitting at home watching it with your hand in a bag of Doritos you're like these morons can't cook scallops but it's really complicated well that's one thing you can do very well I can't cook scallops I have seen you cook scallops and you're the best I don't need scallops but I will eat Alex's scallops thanks the best scallop cookers I've ever met in my life okay so there's a little love I have a question about cooking scallops yeah and anybody who knows me knows that I am a scholar of the reality television arts and I have watched a lot of Hell's Kitchen both this season and previous seasons and you know my husband's a chef we watch it together and the number one question that we have about this show is

18:06why do they give you a nonstick pan to sear scallops in why do they give you nonstick why are all the pans nonstick you can't why are you searing scallops in a nonstick pan why don't you have a I mean that's all I use is nonstick to cook scallops really yeah interesting and now with hex clad which is what we used all season on our season it's a it's like a hybrid mix between a cast iron and a nonstick uh-huh so you get amazing sears the scallops don't stick they can flip really easily none of those proteins bind to the pan interesting you get a really nice beautiful golden sear but the scallops can still move around interesting well I guess it's just that's a type of pan I'm not familiar with them yeah he's partnered with hex clad now haven't you have I'm an ambassador I guess is the word they're great they really are they're phenomenal company they're great people own it and run it and you know the end the product is really really good really good I guess the probably the number one question you get is what's it like working with Gordon that's absolutely terrible no I'm just kidding he's a Gordon honestly is once you get past the intimidation factor he's a big man he's my height is he really is he really he's six four he's built like a brick shithouse I mean the dudes Jack well he did used to be a soccer player like somewhat professionally he's done like isn't a trap he does triathlons Iron Man's I mean he's he's very into being physically fit and so he you know you grab you're like hey chef good God you're strong and he's just like what are you doing touching me again sorry like I was shaking your hand sir that's what that's the general thing that we do in this country to say hello he you know his first he lost his first restaurant and he he does everything that he does to he really wants to help people become the best versions of themselves that's his whole goal he

20:06wants people to become better kitchen nightmares he would get so upset because he did not understand how people were doing this to themselves people were becoming their own worst enemies letting food rot and then they're like why is my restaurant failing like have you looked around and he he just genuinely cares so much and that's why the the temper flares and on Hell's Kitchen you know the things that you don't see would be the three times he comes over to your station to show you how to properly cook the halibut the salmon the scallops and then you keep sending them up raw or overcooked so he personally is coming over showing you sets wow that's amazing yeah I'm really impressed very calm at first he's like I mean it's obviously a very fast-paced environment dinner service is very very quick when he fires something he wants it sold in three to five minutes yeah so it's quick but he'll come over and be like do it like this give it some love like this one two three like this and then sell it and then the third time you send up chicken with like a bullseye pink in the middle of it he's like what are you doing and that's that's a pretty good impression that's when the chicken literally flies across the well and if you if you watch to like the um the BBC the original kitchen nightmares he has a completely different demeanor than like you know obviously there's some hamming it up I think for American audiences because we I don't know we love that we love to see people get screamed at I also think he's he's toned it down and made it a little bit more palatable for obviously we've changed as a society in the last 20 years and so it's a little bit harder to be as hard he's been called out by some pretty prominent culinary figures in the last two three years on I've seen specifically on some posts on Instagram where people just been like that's not the way you treat people how dare you treat people like that and so I do think he's he's and even on Hell's Kitchen threads on reddit you can see people like I miss the old days where he would just dog cuss him on it but I don't think

22:06he'd get away with that anymore yeah I think you're right I think that the culture has shifted and and I also think that it's a show that's been on for such a long time that you do have to switch it up you have to change some things because you can't just watch the same thing over and over you know people get bored and I think that over the course of I'm just a circle you're just a circle now sir your cameras turned off for some reason sorry okay I do think that over the course of the seasons I think he's found more talent than more drama yeah one thing that we were constantly told while we were filming was that we were not we weren't as bickery as as dramatic as immature as the other as some of the other seasons had been they really had to dig in us to get us to just to talk any shit about each other they'd be like man weren't you really mad at Billy today and I was like I mean not really he's okay like but you were mad I'm like no I wasn't quit like it's just we're just having a good time it's you know at the end of the day no matter how bad it's been I'm sorting peppercorns for Gordon Ramsay it could be worse I was messing with the camera over here did I do you have your own producer essentially there's about eight or nine on the show so each person they kind of go back and forth you kind of get switched up because you do a lot of confessionals a lot of confessionals that's like you they'll pull you before you go to bed at two o'clock in the morning they'll pull you out of a challenge they'll pull you out of a reward they'll pull you out of a punishment right before you're going to bed I mean they had me do the the Darth Vader CPAP machine that I've become a meme about that was like night one they filmed that after the finale really like I was covered with champagne and they were like okay change clothes we need to get some more footage from day one I'm like I'm so tired day one what

24:10is a typical day like what is this shooting schedule because you said a couple of times you guys aren't going to bed until like 2 2 30 in the morning what then what is your call time the next morning so they would it's a strange situation I mean we got COVID tested around 7 7 30 in the morning I was usually waking up at like 5 30 in the morning cleaning up the dorms making coffee trying to get in the shower just kind of get myself mentally prepared and then we would usually start shooting around 8 8 30 in the morning and then we would do a challenge it would be over around 11 30 or noon reward or punishment for hours and then we would go into dinner service and then dinner service would let would be three hours and then elimination we'd have to you know have our little conversations would go into elimination after that someone went home and then we were doing confessionals for the next three to four hours so when you guys are getting rewards even though it's supposed to be like here's this cool amazing thing you get to do are you hover just like can I just go back to sleep for a little bit instead of going to write you didn't get any rewards I did the most punishments well fair enough pretty terrible but we're gonna take a quick break to hear a word from our sponsors when you hear that sound it's probably too late you need a guy I want to be your guy I'm Kevin with course and fire and security and I'm a restaurant territory account manager you know who's doing your inspections at your restaurant please reach out to me at six one five nine seven four two nine three two I don't be glad to come out and take a quick look and look at all your fire safety inspection needs if you're building your restaurant we can help with that too as far as kitchen suppression fire extinguishers emergency lights we do it all one stop one shop call Kevin at six one five nine seven four two nine three two let me be your guy Nashville hey this is Jason Ellis

26:15with Nashville super source we're so proud to be a sponsor for Nashville restaurant radio we would love the opportunity to discuss your chemical and dish machine program with you if you have any needs or any questions about your current program opening a new restaurant or just need a double set of eyes on that we'd love the opportunity to help you with that my number is seven seven zero three three seven one one four three we don't do any contracts no minimums weekly service to make sure that all your equipment is functioning properly make sure you have everything that you need again my name is Jason Ellis seven seven zero three three seven one one four three can I just go back to sleep for a little bit instead of going to write you get any rewards I did the most punishments well fair enough pretty terrible but yeah I mean I it was so strange we I was so sleep-deprived but I was never I was exhausted but I wasn't sleeping do you think they intentionally sleep-deprived you it's gotta be a part of it yeah yeah I mean I could I could never do it that would be the the number one reason I couldn't it's called Hell's Kitchen for a reason yeah I know that next-level chef wasn't like that like they got their phones they got their own a hotel room every night Hell's Kitchen is like it's it's boot camp yeah yeah it's tough and having to sleep it so you really have to sleep in the room with everybody oh yeah and there's two toilets for 18 people uh-uh no I just I feel like like we're all adults we deserve rooms and bathrooms like I won't even share an Airbnb with friends if I don't have like an ensuite bathroom so it really is how it to me it's a lot five to a bedroom your closet is you know this big that can just fit five shirts in it they give you a new shirt every day if you make it and it's you know everybody has like a little cubby in the bathroom for their toiletries and like after the blind taste tests our showers were just covered with marinara parmesan and alfredo sauce it was

28:16everywhere do you do you get a sense every day who's going home I mean can you you're working you know did were you how confident were you every time you get into that situation or the towards the end of the show you're like I'm not going home when you're in that when you're in that room discussing who's gonna leave when you have to nominate yeah I don't think anybody ever said your name and it was probably episode 7 or so that you could see AB and this other dude Billy Billy start plotting they both said okay Alex is our competition yeah they both kind of got together and said this is the dude we got a gun for and it's like I don't have a big enough gun well they didn't but it was like you you started to realize throughout the show oh this guy's the front-runner yeah who's going home next did you feel that you're like oh they're probably leaving to these between these three posts not me yeah I mean you could definitely sense it when we were going into the deliberations who was probably gonna go home I my name never got brought up to I was never put up for elimination so that was that was super amazing to go through that but I'll be honest like every day I there was stress every day there was like today could be it because you're only as good as your last moment and you mess up you could have six amazing days in a row you tanked dinner service that night you're going home because you're the reason dinner service tanked it would not matter if you know well Alex sent up 14 raw steaks tonight he's going home that would be it but I so every day I had pressure every day I felt stressed and at no point was I confident that I had it but every night and that deliberation table I was never worried every time we get kicked out of the kitchen I know I look sad but in my mind I'm like wouldn't me I mean I'll Gordon be like yelling at us and I was like yes that sucks for the one for you guys over there I'm not the one going on that's so funny it was wild how much of

30:22okay I'm gonna ask you a question I don't know if you're allowed to answer or answer honestly I don't know um when people are getting sent home how much of that is genuinely organic and how much of that is producers saying here's what needs to get done here's who we want to keep here's who we want to leave all of it is organic truly nobody knows who's going home it's 100% Gordon's decision nobody knows who's going to win until the door opens oh that's I mean that is really cool and I think that it doesn't feel like it's manufactured by producers to me like some other shows like Brianna and I talked talked about the Bachelor a lot I mean I feel like so much of that is obviously producers right but said that Arnold meant you know are you familiar with Arnold Arnold was on the top shelf and he was on Food Network Star and he goes one thing I recognize because we all have our own producers he goes when you sit down to do those something everybody had a notebook or there's a notebook for every single cast member so to speak and some of them were very small and some of them were very big the people with very small notebooks weren't around very long the people with the big notebooks made it to the end he's like so starting off they knew what's going on whether it's whether it's like scripted or manufactured by producers or not I think that anybody especially somebody who works in production in this type of show has a good sense from day one of like who's gonna last here and who's probably not gonna cut it and I'll say honestly I watched the first episode of your season and it's still a said he's gonna win I just I knew it I think I'm on record saying it on this podcast I think I am we followed you on the show we talked about the show we kind of followed it and I said Alex cannot tell me what happens and he never did you never did but I came on here I was like there's no way he loses I mean there's no well and I think with a show like Hell's Kitchen especially to compare to some other

32:24cooking shows I think they get a lot of really good talented people who actually have worked in restaurants and know how to cook but then there's always some people thrown in there that they're like oh I have a home catering business I'm like what chef for the Playboy Mansion or like it just have never cooked before what are you doing or just like you can tell that somebody has just never cooked professionally before I've been in a working kitchen you know yeah and there's we had a few personal chefs Daphne is a great example she's I mean she's worked in restaurant she's been a sous chef at a restaurant but now she's a private chef in Malibu and it's working on the line with that timing is so different it's incredibly different to have a team a brigade you're timing it with the meat station with garnish with apps with what with Gordon it's a totally different pace it's not a catering game you're not feeding 60 people all at once you're pushing table by table yeah and Gordon's like on order to cover stable how long and you're like uh first of all you go what did he just say and then when he goes back to the other kitchen you send someone up to the rail to read the ticket because no one understood what he said and they're like okay it's two risotto and two hang on there's so much pressure you just you don't want to screw up yeah but you do a lot wow I all this is so fascinating thank you for it's a strange world I mean just you know just the waiting part and then every week when it airs you have to play stupid you know who's gonna go home this week I could tell you're when you're posting all the stuff you're promoting a show you know what's gonna happen I mean like you're gonna drop box full of folders full of promos and is that part of your contract that you have to like post on your social media and all of that yeah well I mean we want people to tune in we want people to it's crazy throughout the whole competition minimal minimal Instagram traction right but the second the finale aired the

34:27next day 20,000 followers on Instagram 2,000 DMs whoa I spent 12 hours on Friday just responding to Instagram Facebook and text messages I was in my underwear all day long in bed just like comment thank you so much like comment thank you so much very nice of you to respond it was so insane I think it really gives people a thrill I was recently DMed by one of my favorite reality stars I got quite a thrill so I mean I said nice of you to do that well even the producers were like listen when you and get there are some real super fans of Hell's Kitchen and so when you when you engage when you like their comment when you respond to them it can legitimately make their day truly and I know like I'm a fan of things I'm a fan of people I love bands I love music I love a lot of things and so when you get a response from someone that you have followed for a long time their career has taken off they acknowledge that you said thank you you're like oh look at look at that a little dopamine burst right there hell yeah I work it's nice and then you you know you do your best to not push that too far though because the second like the second I like a comment that will open the floodgates then be like oh you're on right now so so hey how have you been doing what's been going on you're like I don't have time for all that I was just saying thank you have a great day yeah but it is super cool to see there's so much support and there's so much encouragement and you know I haven't luckily I haven't seen a lot of hate but there's obviously some out there but it's it's very it's been very fun and I feel very blessed to be where I am right now it's uh it's interesting because last I listened to our first episode yesterday March of 2020 it was April of 2000 you were the 15th guest on this show it was 2020 that right yeah it was 2020 yeah we were that was when you launched we were closed oh today yesterday

36:33was the three-year anniversary my first episode so today is really yesterday today is like the three-year anniversary of the pandemic I mean because it started everything closed I think on the 13th 14th like when I'm talking closed MLB they canceled March Madness SEC Championship get they canceled the world stopped everything and then restaurants closing on the 19th was the official mandated it was two days after st. Patrick's Day that you had to close and it was like oh shit so we started like but like right now three years ago you know we I had you on the show in April and you were telling the story of the Facebook video the famous Facebook video where you I don't want to say you snapped I didn't it wasn't it wasn't a snap but it was a 630 at night we're dead I've got all this stuff and then you get all the emails from your CPA and you're like how am I gonna pay $37,000 I have $42,000 in the account and there's not one person in here and you made this Facebook video that was very much a I'm a small business owner a plea for help I'm I need your help and then the community responded and showed up to your restaurant and then happened and that you the pandemic yeah I think one of my favorite comments from that interview was we talked about them the month of March and you go the month of March was the longest decade of my life yeah and I think you've had to pivot a bunch of times throughout then and then you see a chiropractor my pivoted so much yeah you go on Hell's Kitchen and then you get back like what is this bit what is the last couple years been like for you I mean what is this just the idea of going on a show doing what you love to do I'm there I'm being me this is it and then a year later almost you get to have this baby like I don't know if we're recording when you said that we weren't so it's like a 13-month pregnancy basically it's really long and now I've got this baby and it's I'm getting to celebrate it you know when did you stop shooting that's the

38:34question I mean so February the 5th of 2022 back I got back on the 6th and then on the 7th I was taking a shower and getting ready to take my boys to school it's Monday and you know the first the whole year so far I had been in LA Burbank shooting this show and February the 7th I was taking a shower you know to take my boys to school and I opened the curtain I looked at my wife and I was like this is this this is real right all that all that shit just happened because she was at the finale my mom was there I was a special moment your wife her reaction was amazing it was someone on YouTube said everybody needs someone like that in their lives like to see someone that raw that excited when you win everybody needs someone like that yeah and it was super sweet to see that and but I you know it was it was strange to snap back into reality and then I didn't know what to do with myself you can't celebrate it no no and the world doesn't know there's like 200 people inside the restaurant that were at Hell's Kitchen they know but you can't talk about it we couldn't even tell anybody we were on the show until I think the day after Labor Day that's September right yeah yeah so the day from February to September you had to act like nothing and you just won Hell's Kitchen it's not like you can leverage a new job of like hey look I just did this thing you know pay me to do something for you yeah you can't call any companies you'd be like hey I just won Hell's Kitchen you want to work out a brand deal it was just a hex clad let me tell you can't even do that so I here's what's funny I actually called when I got back I actually bought some hex clad pans and then because they were great to work with and so I was just started making videos on Instagram and because I was bored and I was like I don't know what to do with myself I'm just gonna start trying to grow my brand naturally that way when Hell's Kitchen hits I've got a little bit of a bigger audience to platform off of and so I started making content with hex clad pans and about April I just DM'd the

40:35president of hex clad on Instagram I was like hey man you got time for a phone call and he was like yeah who are you I was like I'm just a guy in Nashville you know just love to chat with you and so he called me on a Sunday and he called you back I know super great and we had like a 30 minute conversation and I didn't even tell him I was on the show he knew and then they got all they got all the episodes far before I did and I didn't even tell him I was on the show until the day after Labor Day when we were allowed to announce it he's like why didn't you tell me you're on the show I already knew I was like well I didn't want to violate my NDA or break any trust and he was like well that speaks volumes about who you are I would say that's probably a better thing because you're like that's not what I'm doing I'm not leveraging that I wasn't trying to and and then now we work together I was just with them at South Beach Food and Wine in Miami yeah we have a really good relationship I here's here's how great these guys are and they're doing pretty well as a company they've done I think they did almost 300 million dollars in sales last year they've only been around for like five years they were in their garage four years ago making more than we do here at the podcast for sure for sure so I when I was flying to Miami I left my air pods in the in the airplane and I was like oh man I left my air pods in the airplane and I told Cole who's one of the owners he came by my hotel like the next morning it was like hey man are you are you here and I was like yeah I'm getting ready getting ready to go to the tent and he said come outside I got a gift for you he he himself went to the Apple Store bought a pair of AirPod Pros and just scooted over to my hotel in Miami and gave them to me that's so nice just a nice gesture like most people would not do that yeah and that was I don't know that that speaks volumes to me just as a simple sign of appreciation it's I don't know it was really sweet nice yeah so what's going on with your phone I don't know man my cameras all messed up busted your slant you're slightly yeah you're sideways what is

42:38trying to what is happening it's a great question I don't know for those of you watching stop watching just listen nobody watches it anyway yeah sometimes I do these shows live on YouTube so that people can watch it and these are unedited you know they're fun now I'm just a circle again so yeah the last year was was weird the first you know eight months of being back I didn't know what to do with myself I started I drove for uber a little bit over the summer which did not make sense for me because I have a monstrous truck and how much fun was that it really was not really no the lies to love it man so the last guy I picked up I was so new to uber that I they wouldn't show me where I was going when I picked up a rider like until they got in my car wait isn't that all I think that's all ubers they're not supposed to know where they're taking yeah they don't didn't you used to know how far you were going no there is once you get a certain amount of rides there's no but it's like a status okay so you have to do you get you to earn points every ride you get a point and if you get within a three-month span you get like the 600 points they'll let you know you're a platinum status as a driver and you have to keep a rating of four point seven and above and you have to have all these different criteria then you can be and then when you get your request you'll say this is Sarah she's seven minutes away and she's going 72 minutes north or it'll tell you a direction and how long if you're that diamond status but it's not over it's anybody can earn it just over like a three-month span you have to earn and then you have to keep that it's their way of getting drivers to get out and drive because you can just turn an app on whenever you want maybe only do four rides a day or you're like that guy pissed me off I'm done they want you to keep going so there's a whole to have a good rating and to keep going there's perks well there was no there's not much uber business in Murfreesboro and so like at one point it made me drive it made me drive 14 miles

44:42to pick someone up who only wanted to go two miles yeah that's the thing and it was like a six-dollar fare but it took me 40 minutes to get there and back and so I was like and I don't know about this and I saw sort of coming to Nashville but the last guy I picked up the day I've said I'm not doing this anymore I picked this guy up from the pep boys in Antioch and the second he sits in my truck he goes man my fucking girlfriend just cheated on me what do you think I should do and I was like where are we going it was like a 90 mile drive and I was like oh my god and the whole time he just talked about his girlfriend and the fact that she cheated on him and I was like my favorite right I was like man maybe I should like get some counseling or something I don't I'm not the guy that I don't know I just listen and then I dropped him off and then I had to drive like 45 miles back home and I was like I'm never driving for uber again and then he didn't tip me oh that's a whole thing too I tell people I go they're like aren't you scared or what do you think about the driving over and I go it's just one of those things it's like they say you should everybody should wait tables one time in their life to understand that like I feel like it's one of those things like you should go drive over to have your car which is my car every person that's ever been in my car I have willingly invited into my car yeah I know you I trust you we're going somewhere together you're in my car the second that somebody gets in your car that you don't know and they're in your car the dynamic is crazy there's some tension I well it's not out of his tension I remember picking up picking up like three women outside of like the W right or maybe it was not the Thompson Thompson you pick up three months out of the Thompson they're having a conversation outside and then they get into your car and continue that conversation and it's like you're still in the car this is my car yeah I've had some salacious conversations and yeah and then you let three people into the

46:45car and then they continue the conversation as if you're not in the car is a crazy experience because every person who's ever been in your car up until that point you're in the conversation because they're in your car for a reason like a friend they're like a friend now these people are just and you what this fucking guy did last night he did this and you're just like and I love to throw in timely comments just to let people know that I'm a human being in a car with you like yeah I'd have left him too I'm like oh shit he's listening I'm like I'm right fucking here yeah there's no plexiglass there's no soundproofing between us I can hear everything you're saying and I'm a human being it's a it's a fun I feel like I always get the uber drive I'm like the person who just wants to sit silently look at my phone like a passenger I always get the driver who's like the door isn't even shut yet and they're like so how about that Democratic City Council I'm like oh or jumping straight into politics yeah how are you no not like the doors still like and they're like so who'd you vote for okay next what do you think about Trump yeah I'm canceling this ride it's what I think about it thank God they stopped those damn drag shows you're like okay yeah let's go yeah here's my here's my here's my uber trick though is I've quit this is so bougie but it works I have quit calling a regular uber ever I always go for the uber like the XL the XL XL XL it's so it's a few dollars more expensive worth every penny it's a nice car that's clean it's usually kind of like a little bit of an older guy professional driver vibes he doesn't want to talk to you the car is nice there's like NPR or jazz it's just a little water bottle back in the third

48:46row if I need to there's always been like a bottle is like hey man you got that water I'm like man how much fentanyl do you put in there I'll never take the water in your water but I always get I'll get in like I'll call it to pick me up and I'll get in like a suburban and the drivers like just you like it's just me I like when it says a little bit of a flex there I like that conversation conversation no yes minimal how do I get that option that's an option on uber update my app you can set the temperature setting for the car how do you like it cool warm or neutral or do you like conversation it's like no and cold do you know conversation I like never take ubers anymore ever I mean I quit drinking I was gonna say you quit drinking I'll just drive like I don't I'm like take them because I'm in LA all the time and they're so expensive oh they're so expensive in any city that's not Nashville like when I go to Chicago it's double the price terrible it's crazy okay and the dry the drivers in LA also do not know how to work a gas pedal it's just this speaking of LA sorry I'm gonna jump off uber chat national uber radio you said Jesus your phone you can't see Alex anymore but you can hear him you said something about filming in Burbank is it not filmed in Vegas so I thought that like the set of the restaurant was in Vegas so the set is wherever they want it they we use an old IKEA that they built out so here's what's crazy two days after so they filmed our season and then they took a week off and they filmed season 22 so they got two seasons back-to-back two three days after filming was done the whole thing was just an empty warehouse again the kitchen equipment was gone the dorms were turned that turned like everything was just gone and so when I went to LA the first time to do a pop-up

50:51I went to the gym that was close by and I didn't know where it was because I just got an uber and it was across the street from where we filmed and I was like that's crazy I'm that's that was that was Hell's Kitchen and now it's just a set they turn into whatever now interesting yeah it doesn't look like you would think it would look it's on a main road across from Planet Fitness and in and out and a Barnes & Noble okay so I got to ask about the prize and you're gonna hear all about it right after these words from our sponsors hey guys we are supported by Sharpier's Bakery and we've been supported by Sharpier's Bakery for the last year and I tell you I couldn't be more proud of this partnership guys they're a locally owned and operated bakery right here in Nashville for the last 36 years yes they deliver fresh baked bread daily to your restaurants back door and man is it good you want to know what kind of bread they make go check them out at Sharpier'sBakery.com that's C-H-A-R-P-I-E-R-S Bakery.com so they have over 200 types of bread and if you're wondering well hey look it's a special recipe that I like to use that you know we bake it in our house and it's just it's a kind of a pain but we like to do it they can take your recipe and make that bread for you without any of the hassle the mess the labor they'll just deliver it right to your door every single day it is freshly baked they'd love to give you a tour of their facility give Erin Mosso a call her number is 615-319-6453 you should do it now do you provide your team with health insurance if you work for a restaurant right now that doesn't offer health insurance do you need health insurance because Dan Maher over at Southern Health Insurance wants to change that if you're a local restaurant and you just really want to offer health insurance there are so many benefits improved employee retention you have happier team members which means longer tenures and less training time smoother shifts make everyone's lives easier meaning happier

52:54employees are more likely to stick around when employees take care of their health they're less likely to take sick days this means reduction in lost productivity and revenue for your business fewer sick days wouldn't that be great you have improved morale a healthy workplace with opportunities for growth is a happy workplace encouraging your team's well-being result in higher morale and better work performance guys all of these things Dan offers health insurance he offers visual insurance and dental well as life insurance and guys if you're out there in the marketplace is just too tough to navigate Dan can answer any question that you may have any business if you're a small business it doesn't have to be a restaurant you need to call Southern Health Insurance 832-816-8602 if you prefer to email you can email dan at southernhealthins.com we are supported by Robbins Insurance offering protection you can trust Robbins Insurance is an independent insurance agency known across the southeast for their customized insurance policies sound guidance and attentive service they're also known here at Nashville Restaurant Radio for protecting some of Music City's best restaurants look when it comes to insuring your restaurant or bar you don't want to leave the job to some strip mall insurance agency with no background in hospitality and expertise in the local market you need someone who knows the industry who understands your business who will create a policy that protects your physical space and protects you and your staff too y'all Matthew Clements is that guy he's the agent at Robbins Insurance for the hospitality industry with extensive industry experience himself Matthew has the knowledge to create a policy that'll protect you and your business no matter what comes your way visit Robbins website at robbinsins.com that's robinsins.com to get in touch with him or reach out to Matthew directly at 863-409-9372 protection you can trust that's Robbins yeah and I want to

55:00get back to and you I think you're leading question but I I have I legitimately have a hundred questions that okay we can keep going yes but no no no I don't I don't want to take up too much of your time or get off track because the questions I have are things like just very specific reality tv filming questions okay well let's let's I want to definitely get to those but I you I think we got off topic because you had a you had this baby so to speak is the the baby metaphorically in February of 2022 when did the show first air after labor in September September 27th of the 29th okay so from February to September you're in no man's land you're driving uber you're hanging out and then making content doing some odd jobs reached out to hex clad nay now we're starting this partnership the show starts yep and now people are reaching out hey man congratulations that's awesome you're promoting it yep it builds yep the day that what is the what is your mindset leading up to it because you know what's going to happen and you know the day after what's going to happen do you have like the next six months planned out no I mean no it's it's like it's like looking at the moon from here and then standing on the moon there's you can't really understand what it's going to feel like to stand on the moon until you're standing on the moon I didn't know what the day after the finale would look like I didn't think I'd be in my underwear responding to dms for 12 hours but I was what's it like when you go to Kroger and Murfreesboro not nothing nothing is fast anymore so I called uh I placed an order at and please if anybody's listening to this I'm not complaining about this I'm just simply stating a fact sure I love it when people come up to me and say loved you on the show it was so fun to watch I love it's great but I went to oscar's tacos to pick up a to-go order that I placed that was ready for pickup for my family and it took me 45 minutes to get home because there were like four different families there that wanted to talk and it's you know it's just part of it went to

57:02home depot the other day to get a butane torch I was there for an hour holy cow does that happen that's the thing I think you're like I want to be a celebrity or people people want to be famous and they want all this stuff and it's like how in real time for you do you see this getting really old real soon or do you are you like leaning into it do you love it like it's a little bit of both I mean when when you have like when you're on a time crunch it's it's you want to be kind and like I genuinely want to be kind and nice to everyone but sometimes you just don't have time for a conversation and that can come off very rude if you're like being short with someone like I was at the gym this morning a guy that I know was trying to talk to me but I only had 30 or 45 minutes to get there then to get home and shower so I could be here on time and I would have loved to talk to him for longer but I was like slowly he was talking I was like slowly putting my airpod back in I started to walk away and it's like I want to talk to you but I I have things to do right I have things to do as well so I mean I can see and again I'm like an f-list celebrity here it's like way down the totem pole and it's fresh very new just to have everybody seeing you all over social media but like still I mean you're freaking one hell big deal man I think I don't think it's as big as it is in a lot of ways like and there's a little bit of imposter syndrome I'm sure that's built up with this and that's you know I've talked to my wife about this probably too much but I've been trying to do something like this since I was like 18 years old I was a musician I've been a musician my whole life I was in bands I was trying to get on food shows I've been on the food network I shot another pilot for the food network I've tried to get I almost got a record label like we were in a studio in 2010 cutting an album all these things have almost happened in my life and now I'm 41 and something finally hits and I'm like I just this came out of nowhere it's like I don't deserve it but break you've been trying to just doesn't seem yeah but my life has been compounded with so many almost that it's like when it finally hits it's

59:06like when's it gonna be taken away how long is it gonna last that's like buying lottery tickets your whole life and winning little bits in here but then you're hitting the jackpot you're like holy shit like the next day you have a stroke well like what do you you know hey look I've got 200 million dollars now what do I do that I've been playing lottery for so long but like I don't need to play lottery anymore because I won I guess I keep playing what's the next thing I do now I buy 200 million dollars worth of lottery tickets yeah I mean so you win the show and you get to now congratulations you get to be the executive chef at Hell's Kitchen drum roll Atlanta City Atlantic City yeah do you win a cat do you get paid to be on the show is there like a cash amount that you get paid to be there did you win like a prize at the end like so there's a I mean when you're there filming you get a per diem it's very minimal it's like 75 bucks a day just to kind of help what are you gonna do with all that money pay the bills well that lottery ticket that gets paid while you're there to kind of help offset the fact that you don't you're not at your job getting paid so when you win you know there's a lot of there's a lot of articles out there that said I just won 250 000 I saw that what did you win 250 grand no that's not accurate so 237 no so there's a so there's a this is this could be a long story but there is a cash prize for winning and it's 150 000 now after taxes that's like 110 000 I've not gotten that yet I do not know when I'm going to get that the other 100 000 is your salary if and when you take the job so and that's divided into 12 months obviously I made an arrangement with Caesars to take the job on a part-time basis I could not logistically there's just so many moving parts when you're I have an ecosystem I have a wife that works from home and I have these two boys that are in a great school system and I could not imagine just selling my home just to move to Atlantic City for one year it just didn't make sense so I will be there um next week is my first

01:01:11weekend there have you been to Atlantic City yet I've never been to Atlantic City I have seen it from um where I've seen New Jersey from New York before we'll talk but I a lot of people have told me it's not it's not the best it's just it's not a nice town I hate to say it but it's just not that's what I've been told if you like to gamble if you like a casino environment it is a lot of fun I've had a ton of fun there but it is not a nice place I could imagine you living in Murphy's bro with two children culture shock would want to live necessarily but also it doesn't make sense like if I'm watching this before I know a thing I look at just my own logic in my brain I don't hope I don't get trouble for saying this dude is he's a guy who's got a lot of talent he now has fame that goes along with this he's very marketable he's an attractive guy he can do all these things what's your venmo we're gonna go well it's like now I'm gonna move to Atlantic City to try and run a restaurant like your opportunities are way more than it's going to be the executive chef at Hell's Kitchen Atlantic City moving your family going to do it to work in a kitchen I feel like you're now marketable like go be a face for a brand and go do other things that aren't 75 hours in a kitchen yeah I will say though like that I guess part of my downfall in life is that I always want to learn I mean I'm 41 and I still go stage in restaurants and I'll do it for free just so I can learn I want to absorb knowledge from everybody everybody can teach me something there's more ways to make pizza there's more ways to make pasta there's more ways to to butcher a chicken there's always a new way to do things and the amount of knowledge that you can come away with from putting yourself in a new environment and gaining new perspectives to me that's just immeasurable and I want to do that and so for me to be able to stay in Gordon's ecosystem there's a lot of knowledge that comes with that I think

01:03:12it's got to be a cool experience too to work in something that I have to assume is such a well old machine as a casino restaurant 600 covers a night I mean that's a that's got to be an invaluable learning experience to be able to see operations from that level that's why that's part of my reasoning for being there's I've never seen anything done on such a massive scale four to 600 covers a night is wild that's a lot of beef wellingtons yeah it has and so to be able to to be in that environment and to learn but to also it's more exposure for me it's better exposure for the restaurant when I posted on my Instagram story that I was going to be there this one weekend they got hundreds of reservations booked for that weekend just that day and there's people messaging me there's people from Murfreesboro and Nashville flying to Atlantic City next weekend to eat in Hell's Kitchen because I'm going to be there that's so cool feels very surreal because I look in the mirror and a lot of pressure yeah but I mean it's I'm not running that restaurant that restaurant has a phenomenal chef they've got a great brigade they have a great food and beverage director it is a machine that's running I'm like a piece of dry-aged beef that's just going to be standing there in the dining room like hey well that's what that's what I'm saying I mean like what did the chef the the chef there think how long has he been the chef there if I'm the chef there they do a show and they go okay so it's brand new it's brand new and they're crushing it though like Caesars has been renovated it's beautiful there Hell's Kitchen is brand new it's beautiful inside there so I can't speak to the city itself but I know that that property is gorgeous all of the casinos all of the casinos in Atlantic City are very very nice they are Vegas style casinos they the gaming floors are great and huge and there's nice restaurants and all of that it's just the whole kind of city vibe scene you and you really it's look it's a casino it's like when you go to Biloxi you know there's some nice stuff

01:05:14Biloxi I don't know it's kind of shitty it's like well like sorry sorry I don't know it's like Tunica yeah what's in Tunica yeah well listen it's better than Tunica Lenox City is better than Tunica well that's the only I've only been to Tunica and I have such a bad history with gambling in that I've done it once and I lost seven hundred dollars in 45 minutes that I don't ever want to gamble again and I'm definitely not going to put my six-year-old on a craps table because he's gonna be a dead cow snake eyes he'll be an addict and he can roll snake eyes all the time he could be a lucrative addict you should see him he's six and he bowled a 156 last time we went bowling wow six that's impressive blind as a bat bowls him right down the middle don't even look just man oh my god he's crazy he's so you're gonna be going there monthly yes to do a couple days I'm setting the rest of the year schedule next week when we go I'll probably do some sort of summer residency for two or three weeks when I'm there they want me to do like a tasting menu one week so you know seven to nine courses sell it for 200 ahead and then do that for tables of 12 and that'll probably sell out so we're looking at doing that and you know just to still be involved with again Gordon's phenomenal his team is great like Christina's I couldn't I could not say anything negative about them if I tried so to be able to still be in that bubble in any capacity is great that's awesome heard and I'll take you know I couldn't do it full-time because of my family and again if my family falls apart then what does a career matter at all I'm not gonna leave a job at a casino and go to an apartment with no paintings on the wall and not no family and just be like well this is my life now that's not worth it well it's not worth it at all no your wife's name is Sarah right Sarah blue Sarah blue and she's from home unfortunately oh she's amazing we've I've got

01:07:17to spend a little time with her um she really is how she's taking all this I mean obviously there's an excitement for you but when you I have our boys are kind of the same age yeah it's a lot of pressure on her I know that if I was to be gone for a month or two months or all these trips to LA and Miami and I'm going all over the place like I'm still raising two boys over here like how's it how's this transition been for her it's not been without its bumps and sacrifices for sure I mean she's a champ and our boys you know they're eight and six they're crazy they're crazy just like every other eight and six year old nothing wrong with them they're just crazy and to wrangle that you know she's working full time trying to maintain the house getting them up fed to school projects homework you know trying to go to the gym exercise and take care of herself it's a lot it's you know and then I come home and I'm like swooping in like yeah let's go for a hike let's go have fun and she's like I'm gonna go take a nap now that you're home and you know it's I know it's hard for her we've we've had those conversations to prepare like it's gonna hit it's gonna hit hard she had a year to kind of yeah but again like looking at the moon talking about talking about being gone is not the same as being gone and so it's it's hard on her she's doing a great job you know it's but I know it's exhausting and I mean I wouldn't be where I am without her it's all she's she's allowed me to chase my dreams as crazy as they've been and I wouldn't be here without it so I'm a very blessed man well I had to give a shout out because I there was a moment when you first got to see and he called you to his office and he said I've got something for you and said turn around and your mom and your wife were there and you're sitting on that couch and he goes how's everything been has it been okay and she there's a she has a look she's like she's like well and their mom's like anyway let's there's like this look as she was

01:09:19like it's been a challenge yeah I mean and I could I saw that my wife and I were watching together and I was like oh did you feel that you felt that little moment she just said because she's I'm gone a lot not out of town but like I do this in the mornings I'm at the restaurant I come home at night time and it's like well I've had an entire day here without you and now you're home or I go to a meeting at night time because I go to these you know I don't drink any more meetings you know what those start to play into well when are you going to be home because I'm struggling and I you have to find that balance and it's just difficult I just I felt that in that moment where she was like um no everything's fine well Mason's very emotional and so he had a very hard time while I was gone when COVID hit he and I did not know each other at all because the whole time he had been alive I had been working 90 hours a week at a restaurant and then COVID sends me home and he thinks I'm this six foot tall monster walking through the house and now we're thick as thieves and so I go from being home all the time to going to LA for five weeks and he basically has a meltdown every single night he's sleeping in bed with her it's very hard on him my oldest Raya he's totally fine he's like yeah we can go on I'll see you when you get back but my youngest is like that too yeah he's you know they've gotten a little bit more used to it now but Sarah is a gentle pushover and my children are cute and so they get away with murder and Mason's like my belly hurts can I sleep in your bed tonight and she goes all right and then he he sleeps like a tornado so she gets no sleep but he sleeps like a champ she wakes up exhausted he's like all right what's for breakfast she's like oh I don't know and that's that that's it that's the moment I get the text message from my wife by the way when you come home Williams in our bed or Williams in the in the room and I'm like why that his tummy hurt is that it's like the same sort of a deal and it's like okay a mother's love man you can't you can't replace it but it's you know she's a champ and our house is running on eight cylinders because of her

01:11:22not because of me all right Caroline this is your time reality show Caroline oh my god I just have like so many random questions okay here's my first question okay are you on cameo no I don't even know what that is you got to do that you make a bunch of money I am not kidding when I say to you right now I am about to change your life okay hey I am not kidding okay you're gonna call me or text me in a couple weeks and you're gonna tell me 10% that I have changed your life I'm not kidding what is cameo oh that's the thing where you uh like send birthday messages yes they can hire you to do that okay you we need to end this podcast right now so you can go get on cameo because your income is about to you well currently I have none so I'll take any income we'll talk we'll talk about that okay um oh god okay now now I'm put on the spot I had so many questions and now I'm I'm blanking reality show questions general questions about the reality show you said I've got so many questions I want to ask about reality shows in general I did and now I got distracted and now I'm now she's what was the hardest thing for you about being on the show what was the thing that you were just like oh my god I can't fucking take this anymore like we didn't ready for this to be over we didn't have air conditioning in our dorms why I don't know it was broken or they couldn't find the remotes or something they found it when it when it got down to me Daphne and Alejandro the top three we walked into the dorms and there were the remote controls for the air conditioning we like immediately turned down to 60 degrees I was like I'd rather freeze to death because it was LA it's like 85 degrees in the dorm and I'm a very regimented person I sleep with blackout curtains a sound machine and our house is 65 degrees oh that's how I am too I like we have this joke about don't let me wake up hot yeah and I have to have a blindfold silence the whole thing all of these conditions yeah and that was the opposite of hell's kitchen all of the lights stay on pretty much all night long and you're like set lights not just regular lights bright ass sun sun style lights and then cpap machines

01:13:26different people snoring a twin size bed that was very uncomfortable and then it was hot oh and it was like I just could never fall asleep I was taking melatonin nothing misery misery that so that was one of the hard parts for me was the sleep oh god um okay what was my next I did have another question oh how much coaching did you have to get to pretend like you were excited when someone came in the restaurant that I'm assuming you have no idea who it is like hey this is Joe Schmo and he has 40 million followers on tiktok and you had to be like wow I can't believe Joe's dining here tonight we didn't get any we got no coaching for that like we were could you just be like I don't know who the fuck that is yeah I mean I would be like all right yeah who who uh yeah they said someone some tiktok star was there uh Uncle Roger ate there one night he's like a tiktok instagram guy did you know who that was yes but I didn't actually know he was there okay he was like a hi yeah he's that guy um and then like Tia Mowry was there from Tia and Tamara like a sister sister yeah that was cool uh but then there were so Danny Trejo did you talk about that yet yeah Danny was that wasn't out Danny was cool Trejo's really making the reality show rounds lately he was just recently on an episode of RuPaul's Drag Race as well so I don't know what he's resurging he's got a he's got a coffee and donut place he's got Trejo's tacos in LA oh yeah he's he's doing the thing man he's a super nice guy okay very short love to hear that very short are all the guests is there are all the guests from like casting like all the regular guests uh so they you have to it's very hard to get to eat at Hell's Kitchen I think most of them are known by the producers in some way you I think you can fill out an application to get there but it's incredibly complicated to get a rest like a reservation there interesting see that's that's why I thought it was in Vegas because I thought it was actually a mix of regular diners who had reservations plus like obviously the VIP

01:15:31yeah celebrity area I mean some of them are regular people but it's really hard to get on that wait list yeah interesting yeah he says the hardest ticket in town it is I mean it's hardest reservation the city the I'll never forget the one couple that we screwed up and got kicked out of the kitchen though it was like their 40th anniversary they flew over here from England they waited like four months spent all this money and then we couldn't cook their steak right so are there some people that just don't eat yeah oh god if the kitchen gets kicked out you're you leave without being fed luckily there's an in and out across the street oh my god damn can you imagine having that reservation like we're gonna get to be here for like six months and then all of a sudden it's like I guess we're not gonna eat here I mean instead of dinner and a show you're getting a show with a possibility of dinner yeah I was gonna say because it's not the reason to go is like I mean I'm sure the food is great but it's not like experience it's not like oh the catbird seat like you're something innovative and you know what I mean it's like it's you know it's not one of Baxter's dishes right exactly it's a it's a risotto exactly have you got to meet just I mean Stephanie Iser these people that are on the show I mean just your your circle now is there any like buddy's cell phone number that you've got recently that you're just like holy shit I have this person's cell phone number uh yeah there's a few um I was a big fan of a band called Need to Breathe for a long time I shot a tv show with Bo Reinhart who was the one of the founding members and guitar players who's now solo artists I did a thing with him in my first episode with you I say what's your favorite band I did rapid-fire questions and you said Need to Breathe and then you got to cook for them yeah yeah the next the next year I was doing their caverns tour yeah and then last week I shot a tv show with Bo and uh now I'm um doing something with a band called Shinedown they're pretty big yeah I've heard of Shinedown are you kidding me yeah oh yeah they're huge they sell out the brimstone arena I mean like they're yeah so I yeah we talk and um I'm doing something with them very soon wow so that's kind of exciting

01:17:32it's very strange I'm not it's very strange so it's interesting because like you win the chef thing and the most the number you're excited about it or bands musicians musicians I mean so that's an interesting kind of a there's not really a lot of there's not really a lot of chefs I want to meet like you know I like regular people we're all at the end of the day we're all just people yeah and some of the chefs that I've met kind of douchey they're a little they're a little arrogant I met some people at the South Beach Food and Wine Festival nah I'm good I'd rather I'd rather just sit in my hotel alone than be than be in those situations very interesting you gotta tell me when we stop recording I'll tell you when we stop recording I'll trade you for cameo career advice last last time you're on the show um I asked you were one of the first people that I kind of asked like for a final thought I said so what do you want to say to the people out there what's your final thing I want to play that for you oh lord your final thought from I don't know what this is April like 17th 2020 I wonder if it'll play that's why I was queuing up back there let's see if it'll work servers cooks y'all just try to hang on it's the next two weeks are supposed to be pretty pretty wild and crazy but I do believe that this industry will bounce back it may look different but I would say take this time to figure out what you want to do and who you want to be and what the kind of place as I get a phone call seriously playing this I want to work for and if you feel like you've not been challenged enough go find somewhere that's going to challenge you life is too short to work somewhere that you don't want to be and so go find where that is and for the general public I think we've understood how important restaurants are and I don't know who said this I think Gavin Cason reposted it but if the kitchen is the heart of the house what does that mean restaurants are to the community I think people

01:19:32are starting to figure out how important restaurants are and it's not just about eating to live we're trying to create experiences and moments and our goal is that when you leave you're in a better headspace than when you showed up and we miss taking care of people we miss seeing people we miss community and I think people are starting to realize how important restaurants are it was not about just going in there and grabbing a quick bite and leaving we miss interacting we miss relationships and it's it's so much more than just a meal I love that you said that okay so it's still terrible to hear yourself it's still the worst I think that's not it but like your take in April I feel like there's so much in that because there's realness of raw scared what's happening right now people will come back to restaurants I mean just this two weeks remember that was the thing we were all like two weeks two weeks a couple weeks whatever happens it's like two weeks here we are what do you think about what you said there I think a lot of people figured out what they wanted to do what they didn't want to do I think a lot of people left the industry and our previous guest did some of them didn't look back you know it was I don't know it's I mean some people held on a lot of people pivoted a lot of people sold businesses a lot of people a lot of people got to use COVID as the reason to change you know I was miserable but as you should be able to yeah but I mean it's it's hard you know a lot of a lot of times people think that you owe them something and you know you can't close your restaurant you owe us it's like I don't owe you anything I'm not happy so I don't know I think did you listen to your own advice there yeah I challenged myself I wasn't challenged I was miserable I June of 2021 I've been doing the meal prep thing for a year and I was miserable

01:21:39I was depressed I came home and I said there has got to be more to life than this I can't keep doing this I'd rather be anywhere why were you miserable because I my restaurant was dead it was there were no people there it was me and a lady cooking meal prep we were doing well in sales like really well in sales but I was mass manufacturing macro labeled chicken teriyaki and salmon and sweet potatoes there was no creativity there was no team there were no guests it was just me in a room alone cooking the whole point of a restaurant was did not exist in that space anymore it was depressing standing in that dining room remembering what it looked like when it was full having the team there okay I can't I relate a really good night of service to being in a band they're very similar feelings to me when you're in a band and you're playing on stage and you're playing a show and you're not thinking about the notes you're playing you're not thinking about the notes you're singing you don't have to think about the words and everybody is just humming the band is on fire it's a great feeling you get off stage you're like holy shit that was a good show it felt great you're playing with the a team that's what a good night of service feels like on a friday night everybody in the dining room is happy they're humming there's a vibe there's a vibration in the room you can feel it the servers are happy which is rare the cooks are happy which is rare the bartender's happy which is rare and everybody's happy that feeling of tonight we crud the sales were great the tips were great the that was such a great feeling that had been sucked out of my life it's gone and I needed something to massively shake me up or I was going to get stuck in a very very scary place and hell's kitchen happened at the exact right time and it was the exact right thing to give me

01:23:41that wake up call we almost moved to Montana oh wow I was like we're selling the house we're going to bozeman like we're out of here it's cold weather Yellowstone's 45 minutes away it's a 60,000 person community with the food and music scene of Nashville but it's a smaller tight-knit community John Mayer lives there doesn't he everybody lives in Montana or Austin Texas that's like where the place to go but I I was like I just need something to change my life and I got it you really got it yeah you did really got it and I remember just sitting in the restaurant on just like a regular day and I was on Facebook and a guy that I went to culinary school posted the Hell's Kitchen application link and he was like what the hell I might apply and I was like well I'm not doing anything so I clicked it and applied and five minutes later my phone was ringing and then six months later I got told I was going to be on the show what did you have to what did you have to do to get on the show a lot a lot a lot probably nine hours of zoom interviews different levels of producers first it's just like a casting agent and then bottom level producer to up to like the people that actually created and run the show and then a heart a heart evaluation EKG like a 30-page background check going back to like fifth grade who was your best friend in fifth grade where did they live what's their email address I'm like you're my fifth grade friend oh yeah because they like there's so many people now that like after the fact there was a recent winner of Top Chef who basically the day after he won not last season but maybe this season before all these women that used to work for him came out with these allegations about him and it's just like wow it turns out this guy's a real scumbag so I mean anything is possible and so blood tests alcohol tests drug tests full physical psychological evaluation you have a conversation with a psychologist and then and Billy still

01:25:44was on the show and then she you open another screen she stays on camera and she watches you take 130 psychological question test and she's like watching to see how you're answering how your eyes move and like the first question was like do you enjoy farting in public and it's like yeah sometimes yeah my kids are there I'm blaming on them but it was just you know weird you enjoy farting in public weird and then um just those different and then I so I got the phone call and you'll go weeks weeks without hearing anything and you're like I guess I guess it's not happening and then you'll wake up on a Monday there's like four emails hey we've got this doctor's appointment scheduled for you tomorrow wow and then December 23rd they called and said you made the show you're leaving in 10 days so I had 10 days to find someone to buy my restaurant holy cow yep and you made it happen you that's been a nightmare a kitchen nightmare very much so oh look at you very much so uh that's that's gonna have to be for the next time um because I know there's a lot there because I've known you for a couple years and I've known some of the things that are going on with that space and yeah it's been tough the last year has been you know a lot of really not great things happened to me over the last year um I got I don't want to say I got swindled but I got into an agreement with some people and basically basically all my winnings from hell's kitchen are gone legal fees a line of credit that I took out based on some promises that were made that never came to fruition and so 90 000 has to be paid back to a lot of credit yeah so it's it's been a rough it's been a rough road and then wound up suing the guy that bought my restaurant and it was

01:27:45he's not open right now it's it's a disaster like it's it's been a weird year it's covered by a lot of really great things and blessings and I'm not upset about it but it's not been it's not all been fun and fireworks there's obviously been things to battle through just like everybody else in life I'm not alone no all right and I think you I think that's vulnerable talking about that I mean you can stand up here and say I'd like to talk about hell's kitchen and my win and let's talk about all the things that are ahead for me and let's promote this and let's promote that I think you've been incredibly vulnerable just talking about all of the different things so thank you yeah for that I mean I'll try to be honest and I think that's that's valuable in life I mean I've I've never been one to shy away from that I think people people find reality in that I'm not hiding from the truth my life is not perfect just like anybody else's and when you are able to freely talk about even the shit in your life it frees other people up to know that they're not alone and it's it's okay to be depressed it's not for but it's not forever you know it's and it's that whole like that whole saying of trust the process it's really hard when you're in the process oh it's really fucking hard because it's really easy to get bogged down and in the weeds and feel like this is just gonna last forever but it probably won't but it can really feel like it it's hard trusting the process is very easy to say when you've on when you're on the other side of the process so I don't know that I could tell people that just trust the process I mean you just gotta keep persevering it's just really hard I mean that's my not drinking I mean that's the you know when I first stopped drinking and I went to my first meeting and you know I'm like well I wanted to just trust the process trust the process this is what you need to do stop talking just listen and do you know it's like all these different things which is why I have my your bracelet on the bracelet that says listen more talk less but it's a matter of okay there's people that have done this a long time

01:29:51and they know what it is so trust the process and the again this serenity prayer you know grant me this for me to accept the things I cannot change if I can't change something if it's out of my control I'm not going to stress about it it's not going to ruin my day that's probably a lot of what you're dealing with is that there's a lot of shit that's out of your control that you can't change that directly affects you and decisions that you're going to make about what you can change that's got to be difficult because at some point you have to accept that and go okay well whatever you got this is my plan the subtle art of not giving a fuck is a great book I would recommend just bought it it's a great book because you've only got so many fucks to give in life and some things just aren't worth giving a fuck about and you can't you can't lose sleep over that kind of stuff but you know I've had an analogy about running into a brick wall that's kind of like finding your success or whatever that is and it really is it's trust the process is one thing but it's just it's moment by moment day by day just keep waking up and putting everything in you've got into it and every day you know I've used the analogy there's this wall in front of you and that wall is success or fame or family or whatever that wall is on the other side of that wall is what you're looking to get and every day you've got to run full speed and you've got to slam your face and your whole body into the wall and it's gonna hurt a lot and every day you do it and you do it and you do it and you keep smacking your face up against this wall and then one day there's a little bit of crack and the other day there's another little crack and another day a brick falls out and one day the whole wall falls down you might be mangled and need some botox and have a few broken bones but that's perseverance it doesn't come with a light switch I really like that analogy a lot I do that's a good one thanks it's a good one Alex we've kept you here a long time thank you for making the trip down from Murfreesboro uh pleasure to talk with us I'm gonna do like we did back in the day Gordon food service is our title sponsor and they sponsor the Gordon

01:31:53food service final thought which is on you you get to kind of like I just played for you your final thought my first interview you get to now have the and you don't have to give anything motivational you'd say whatever you want you can be like I always say nib high football rules whatever you want to say trust the process all right and wonderful Alex Blue trust the process uh the mic is yours man whatever you want to say as long as you want to say it uh you're not on camera anymore so yeah well that that broke a long time ago I did man I would just say this life is short and the world is big don't feel like you're ever stuck in one place you've got you know you've got air an opportunity to do whatever you want there's always a way to get out of whatever situation you're in it might not be easy it might not be fun but you can do a lot with a little bit of creativity so screwed him up right in the middle of his thing thinking of it he's like yeah I don't know what to say with my hands Alex Blue thank you so much man and um I wish you nothing but the best of success and all this newfound fame and enjoyment and I I wish patience and everything for your wife uh we're thinking about her too um thanks for joining us today my pleasure thank you there it is Alex Blue god that was a fun episode I'm telling you it's just fun talking to him we got done with that episode and I was like man that would that just that's why we do this that is why we do this again thank you Alex for joining us in studio hopefully we can get an update from him again here real soon two final thoughts in the final 10 minutes of that show hey if you're out there and you are you know maybe you drink too much maybe you don't drink too much maybe you're wondering if you drink too much there is a place locally you can go it is called Ben's friends and it is uh they meet every Monday morning at uh 11 o'clock and it is at the oak steakhouse so this is a group of is for the restaurant industry it's not AA but it's a it's

01:33:57a meeting where you can come in and you're not alone you're with people that care about you that want to see you succeed uh I would love to see you there 11 o'clock at oak steakhouse Ben's friends go check them out at Ben's friends international.org I think that's the website but uh good buddy Jamie Pruitt is the co-chair over there and uh we'd love to if you if you are questioned you're just curious you're sober curious any kind of way if you know you need help free to come in we'd love to uh join the group it's great great thing to do so hope you guys are being safe out there we'll see you again real soon with a new episode of the roundup coming up this Friday uh love you guys bye