Marcie and Star from Anzie Blue

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01:01So we are super excited today to welcome in a brand new sponsor. Welcome Robin's Insurance Agency to Nashville Restaurant Radio. So I'm gonna start off and tell you guys that we use Robin's Insurance Company at both of our restaurants, the Green Hills Grill and Maribol, because they specialize in restaurants. It's so important, I'm telling you, if you buy insurance, in anywhere that you buy insurance, it's so important that you're buying the right type of insurance. And you know, I don't think people tell you that. They just sell insurance for what the cheapest is. But you know, sometimes you're paying the cheapest for insurance you don't need. So that is why Robin's Insurance specializes in restaurants. They identify exactly the type of insurance that you're gonna need to run your business so that you can sleep sound at night. And that's super duper important, y'all. So I would like for you, if you're curious about this, you wanna learn more, give Matthew Clements a call. His number is 863-409-9372, or you can shoot him an email at mclements, that's m-c-l-e-m-e-n-t-s at robbinsins.com.

02:10["The Tastiest Hour of Talk in Music City"] Welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio, the tastiest hour of talk in Music City. Now, here's your host, Brandon Styll. ["The Tastiest Hour of Talk in Music City"] Hello, Music City, and welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio. My name is Brandon Styll, and I am your host. I am so excited to bring this episode to you guys today. I've been teasing it for about a week and a half, but today, and it took like three months to get him on the show. But we have Marcie and Star from Anzee Blue in Hillsboro Village. They are absolutely some of the funnest people I've had on the show, and you're gonna get to listen to it, but I think my favorite thing is how their relationship is blossoming and how much they don't give a shit about the rules.

03:11Like, they just, they're making them up as they go along. There's a million rules in restaurants, and they just said, eh, whatever, we'll figure it out. And I don't know, there's something incredibly amazing about that, and these women come on today and kinda tell their story, and I cannot wait to share that. So stay tuned for that. But first, I have to tell you about my experience this weekend. I had my cousin in town, and he came in town to go see Bill Burr with me at the Bridgestone Arena, and that was Friday night. And so we get downtown, and we see the show, and the show's amazing. Just getting in there was fantastic. They had to put your cell phone in a little bag, like you weren't allowed, and my watch. I had my watch and my cell phone in a bag. And we sit down, and we're like, hey, we should take a picture. I'm like, oh yeah, we can't. No, we can't do that at all. And he got up to go get a beer, and I'm just sitting there in the seat, and I'm looking around, and it's really noisy in the building. And I'm like, oh my God, it's really like, people are really chatty. And then I realized there's like 15,000 people here, and nobody's on their phone.

04:17Like nobody, nobody in the building. Everybody had to like turn to the person next to them and actually audibly speak, and it was freaking amazing. It was so freeing, because I am absolutely addicted to my phone. I am 100%, like I get a million notifications. I'm just always looking at it. Like in the middle of the conversations, I just find myself looking at my phone, like what the hell am I doing? But I didn't, I didn't have my phone that whole show, and I was able to be present and remember it. Also it was pretty cool, because the guy that was sitting next to us was wasted, and he kept saying, can I sit on the aisle? And I'm like, no man, like I'm a giant. I need this aisle, I bought this aisle seat on purpose. And it was nice, because I didn't have to pee, like the whole show. I just got to sit there, I didn't, I'd like till I got home. It's nice when you don't drink like 14 beers. I saved a lot of money too. Anyhow, the show was really funny, and I really enjoyed it. And you know, he's one of those comedians that's very polarizing, says a lot of crazy shit.

05:18I mean, obviously it's a comedy show, and I get that. I get that it's like, hey, you're saying a lot of stuff. Like, it's entertainment, you know? It's like, it's not to be taken home literally. It's okay. So anyway, the show ends, and I'm crying tears from laughing so hard. We go outside to Broadway, and I'm like, my cousins are saying, hey man, do you want to go walk around and check this out? I hadn't been downtown on a Friday night, and it's been a long time. I haven't been to many hockey games this year. And holy shit. And there was probably 50,000 people. I have no way of guessing. They have all of the roads blocked. There's like a mile long line outside of every single honky tonk. Like, honky tonk central, I mean, it was just mind blowing how many people were downtown. They were having a blast. I mean, it was a cool scene. We did go, and we went into FGL House, and we walked downstairs to Little Red Corvette, which has always been kind of like my favorite little tiny bar inside of Nashville, because it plays like non-country music, and it's just kind of an underground thing.

06:26It's pretty neat. But we went there, and there's like, I mean, there's a thousand people in there. And the bartenders were amazing. And I'll tell you, this is what, this is kind of the part of my story. I felt like a fish out of water. Like, I didn't know where I was. I mean, the Nashville that I know, and the people that I talk to, and the things that I do every single day, are not that. Like, what I was experiencing downtown, I felt like I was on vacation. It was crazy. I mean, these bartenders, I don't know where your mindset has to come from. Because, you know, in the regular restaurant world, we have Mother's Day, you've got like Christmas Eve. We do Thanksgiving in our restaurant. But like, there's these holidays that you get up for. Like, you get a good night's sleep, and you get ready, and you go. But I don't even know how you prepare. When we're walking by at 11 o'clock at night, and there's a line outside of Honky Tonk Central, that I kid you not, is 50 yards long. And it's like three people wide.

07:28And Jason Aldean's, and Miranda Lambert's place, and Old Red Whiskey Row, like every single place with these long ass lines, and they're just assholes and elbows, but just packed. And I'm like, if I'm a bartender, and at 11 o'clock, there's that long of a line, like, what do you do? I mean, how do you stay with it operationally? How do you get that much booze in the building? Like, I have so many questions. So if you're out there, and you know somebody, or you are a bartender downtown, you run one of those bars, you can, if you can get me in touch, I wanna talk to a bartender, a bar manager, a bar back, anybody who is in operations at a Honky Tonk downtown, and I want, I just, I wanna have them on the show, because I wanna learn how the hell you do it. Like, what do you do? How do you do it? Because I was absolutely blown away as an operations guy. I was like, this is un-freaking-believable. So, hopped in a car, went home, it was great.

08:30It was nice. But man, that downtown scene is that Broadway? Wow, I'm blown away. I'm still, to this day, just like, holy cow. So again, if you know anybody, tell them to DM me, send me a message, or email me at Brandon at NashvilleRestaurantRadio.com, because I want to hear from them. All right, so that was my weekend, a lot of fun. Beautiful, beautiful weather this weekend. It is, we're going into a Monday. Here we go, another week, and then we've got Mother's Day coming up in a couple weeks, so we're getting back after it. If you would like to do so, you should go find us wherever you find us on, wherever you listen to podcasts. Hit the subscribe button so you get notifications when I put out episodes early, and go follow us on Instagram. It's at Nashville underscore restaurant underscore radio. I am at Brandon underscore N-R-R, that is my Instagram page, and I'd love for you guys to follow us, see what's going on. This week, you can go catch Star at the Iron Fork.

09:32I'm gonna be there. I will be at the Iron Fork on Thursday. It's the 28th, I think it's a Thursday. Thursday the 28th is gonna be the Iron Fork. It is at the baseball field. First, I think it's first bank. I don't know what the field is called. It's where the sounds play. The sounds play, that's where it is. So the 28th, you guys should go. It is Thursday, and Star, it's going to be there. We'll talk about it in this interview, which you're gonna listen to right now. All right, super excited today to welcome in to the show. We have Marcie, who is the owner of Anzee Blue, and Star, who is our executive chef at Anzee Blue. Welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio. Welcome. Thank you. I feel like this has been a long time in the making. Like sometimes these things don't work out all the time, and then you finally get in the studio. Like I am so excited just to talk to you guys. The stars have aligned. Yes. The stars have aligned. Yes, they have.

10:33Pun intended? I know. I like that. We have a lot of inside jokes. She's my sister from another mother. Well, this is good. I've been following you guys ever since, I used to do a show called The Roundup, and I did it with Delia Jo Ramsey back in the day, and she would always talk about how amazing Anzee Blue was, and it was in a different location, and then you guys moved over to Hillsboro Village. I've heard like different stories about this. I just wanna go ahead. We'll just start off this way. Why the move from, is it Belle Meade that you were in previously? Belle Meade to Hillsboro Village. Well, first of all, I wanna know what story you heard. That you guys were a CBD store exclusively, and then when the pandemic started, to be an essential business, you had to serve food, when Haylick will start serving food and other things so that you could stay open, and then you did, and then I don't know why you moved to Hillsboro Village.

11:35Oh, well, that's actually exactly right, everything you just said. Okay. I think it's really important to take you back to January of 2019, when my husband decided, let's open up a CBD retail store, and there's a side hustle, just as a fun thing to do, kind of like this for you. It's about, you can't just work all the time. You know, Derek Owens, Derek Owens, Van Maar Restoration, I own an agency in the music industry, and so this was just something fun that we could do together, and so we opened December 1st in, I guess, about a little less than 800 square feet. In 2019? In December of 2019. Okay. At Stanford Square, across from the hospital in Belle Meade, and we were just selling our CBD that we grow in Nevada, and we have tinctures and gummies, and we were selling other female-owned CBD brands. We've always been female-focused.

12:37And then the pandemic hit, and so we'd only been open about three months, and they shut everything down, and so I went and bought a Keurig and a George Foreman Grill, and I became a coffee shop, and I started making breakfast tacos. Now, mind you, I don't cook, but I taught myself, and everyone else was shut down, if you remember, and Ainsley Blue was open. Now, we were only open curbside, but we were open, and all of my employees quit because they were scared of the pandemic, and so I hired all my high school friends, and the next thing you know, we're just literally making up ideas of things to sell, so it was like, let's do a cheese board, let's do a bagel board, let's do some sandwiches and some soups. We were just making stuff up, and then we would, we didn't know there were companies like Cisco, so we would go to the grocery store, and we would buy the food, then we would come back.

13:38Well, there's, I mean, listen, when you're talking about a George Foreman Grill, and you're talking about a Keurig, you don't need a Cisco delivery, you need to go to the grocery store. I mean, you're gonna pay way too much from Cisco for four cases of something. But the thing was, was we were selling 400 cheese boards a week. Damn. They needed Cisco. Oh yeah, oh no, yeah, that, yeah, they needed it. Cisco discovered us and showed up one day, and was like, Michael was like, I hear y'all are selling some cheese. We have a lot of that. We can make this a lot easier. We can bring it to your back door. And then luckily, we partnered up with Osa Coffee, with Lisa, she was fantastic. She's like, okay, we're gonna get rid of the Keurig. Yeah, first thing. So let's start selling some real coffee. So then everyone found out about our coffee, and then we ended up getting our liquor license in only a couple weeks. And so the next thing you know. I guess when there's not a long line in the middle of a pandemic, you can expedite that. And so I really became Tom Cruise in cocktail during COVID.

14:42That was how I kept my sanity, is I was like throwing bottles in the air and making cocktails. It's March, but I'm like, come get a strawberry daiquiri with an umbrella in it. We're in the islands. I mean, we thought we'd all lost our mind. I mean, we really had. But you kind of lost your mind at the same time you kind of found it. You know, I mean, isn't it crazy through all that insanity, how much you're forced to learn so fast. Well, and I've just got really big goosebumps because I saw a woman the other day, she came into Ainsley Blue and she came up to me and she had not been to the new location. And she said, and she got teary-eyed. And she goes, I just want to tell you, you saved me during the pandemic. I live two blocks away from Stanford Square and I would walk down every day and get coffee and bagel. And she goes, you were the normalcy in my life and the crazy. And I was like, and it was an older woman. And she said, I just wanted to come over and see what you built. And she's like, this is just so unbelievable. And I said, well, I didn't build this. I said, you did. I said, the community of Nashville built this.

15:43I mean, they really did. I mean, I didn't know what the heck I was doing then. Sure don't know what I'm doing now. That's why a star in my fabulous team run it. But it's just like, I think there is a sense of the pandemic created a world where there was no rules, where you could get into fields that you had never been in before. And I think that that's a positive thing to look at. I think there's been so many amazing positives that have come out of the pandemic and obviously a lot of sadness, a lot of sorrow, but in business, people that have been able to really take it, there's so many people out there who are thought leaders that say, I just don't have time to do all of these things. And I think now we're starting to see the fruits of labor for a bunch of people who said, I found time. I found time to do a lot of, there's a ton of innovation that's happening right now. Well, absolutely. And I think from being in the music industry for 27 years, the music industry, specifically live events were completely on hold. So I in essence did not have a job.

16:46So we just kind of put our heads down and we took it day by day. I worked seven days a week from when the pandemic kicked off until September till I got the phone call. And the phone call. The phone call. What was the phone call? The phone call. Was my- Wait, wait, wait, hold on. Yep. 100%. The phone call. And that landlord said, are you running a coffee shop out of that space? I was like, what makes you say that? Oh, I don't know. Just the fact that there's literally nowhere to park in the parking lot every single day. And you have 25 tables in the outdoor patio. It just created a full outdoor oasis with string lights and speakers. Is this where I ask for forgiveness instead of permission? And they're like, yes. The building is a zone for a restaurant. You don't have a kitchen.

17:47And I'm like, those are details. And so he goes, you have 30 days to prepare. Wow. So your landlord said you need that. There's the answer to my question. There's the real question right there. There's the real story. You got the exclusive. Hold on. Do we have music for exclusive? I have, I have. Yeah. Yeah. We're giving it ladies and gentlemen. Exclusive story right there. I like it. And our landlord's so sweet. I'm not saying anything negative. It was just, we don't have the right to sell alcohol here. Are you selling booze? Sometimes. Maybe. What do you mean booze? I mean, I'm Tom Cruise. I just a little. So my husband and I literally just started driving up and down every street looking. Everything was closed. And so we just finally found this amazing woman, Elam Freeman, who has, who's a badass.

18:49We went to the same grade school, Innsworth. And she, I called her and she was in the airport. And I was at this point, I'm in tears. We'd been looking for a month. We'd not found anything. Like I told you. You had to be out. Oh no, we were going to be on the street. I was going to literally be selling curbside from my house in Green Hills. That's what we had decided. Oh, wow. Out of my garage. You're laughing and you know that it's true star. So we, she said, oh, I know the place. It was my first phone call to Elam. And she said, it's in Hillsborough village. She goes, you're from here. It's right across from Belcourt movie theater. And I'm like, that's perfect. Are you kidding? I said, can I meet you tomorrow? So we met, it was Halloween. And we met the landlord management company. And I literally took two steps into the front door. I didn't even go and look at the rest of the place. And I looked at him and I said, I'll take it. He's like, well, do you want to know the price?

19:50I said, no, because I'll negotiate it with you. So we're good. Get you. It's a star. I want to get you involved in this conversation. I feel like we're, we're leading up to finding star. Like we've gone from, so I'm still back to the George Foreman grill. Like, what was that conversation like? I mean, they say, we're going to close down. You've been doing CBD for a couple of months. Then all of a sudden, like did you and your husband just go, what the, how did you find out that essential businesses could stay open? And they could, that thought. Mayor Cooper posted on his social media that effective immediately, all non-essential businesses. So that was all retail stores, gyms, salons. So you said, what is an essential business? And you just went and bought. It's called pivot. I mean, it's, it's what every small business has had to do and is continuing to do during this insane pandemic that will not seem to go away is you do what you do to survive.

20:50I mean, and I don't mean this negatively star and I talk about it a lot. She had a little bit different experience during pandemic cause she was traveling some, but you know, I had to, my husband and I have to put food on the table for our kids, period. Your providers, provider when you, there was a lot of people that, that stayed at home for two years. My husband and I did not have that luxury. We didn't have a war chest of money where it was just like, let's say, stay home and play monopoly and watch movies and read books. Like we worked every single day. My husband's business construction was deemed essential, never stopped. Oh, he was slammed. Music was completely dead, except radio or, you know, streaming, but all of the live events that I do, yeah, I mean, done. So I think that what really the fire inside me of like, I didn't work this hard for a year to open up Ainsley Blue, a CBD retail store, to have it shut down for three, three months later. And I think if we all remember back then, there was so many unknowns. Everything, every hour was unknown.

21:51We didn't know if we were gonna be in lockdown for five years. Oh, it was 13 days. We're gonna do this for 13 days was the original. Isn't that funny to think about that? And it was eight weeks that restaurants were closed to curbside. May 12th, I think it was when- I was gonna say 11th, but yeah. May 12th, I remember the day, cause it was like, we can open. And then the conversation was, should we? I mean, just because you could, doesn't mean that you should. I mean, necessarily if, what if your restaurant becomes a super spreader? And I mean, it could be the death of a restaurant. All of a sudden, the way that the news cycles, everyone's at home looking at Facebook, your restaurant opens and all of a sudden, 15 people get sick from your restaurant. That's a dangerous moment. Like, doesn't mean the idea of, should we? Some people didn't, a lot of people didn't have the choice. They had to. I mean, gosh, we're open. Let's get the damn thing open. Let's get going. I mean, it was a really weird time. It was really weird. And I mean, I still remember the day that all my employees walked out and I remember sitting on the floor in the middle of the CBD retail store going, we worked so hard.

22:56What the fuck? And how do we keep these doors open? And Star can tell you, I mean, we and I, she and I have become so close so quickly. And it's because we both have been through so much in our lives and we've always overcome adversity and we've never ever taken no for an answer, ever. I love that. Hell yeah. Star, let's get to you. Okay. Let's talk about the beginning of the pandemic for you. Where were you? What were you doing? Well, I was working at City Winery. Okay. What was your first impression of Secretary Sushif over their catering department? Thank you. Over their catering department? So I remember coming in. It was actually my son's birthday. I went in really early that day because I was gonna have a big dinner for him that night. We walked in and they were like, we're closed. Because City Winery, their home office is in New York. And as we know, New York was hit harder than anyone. So that trickled down to us very quickly.

23:57I'm like, what am I supposed to do now? I was married at the time and I told my wife and I was like, well, do you know that I speak like a million words a day and I touch like 8,000 people and I'm a hugger and a conversationalist. And I'm like, the first week I just felt, I don't even know, it was like nobody was talking. Nobody's had anything to say. And I just felt like I was in a bubble all by myself because she worked for the state. Her job never worked, never stopped. She went to work in her office every day. She went from going to an office to at home, but she still had to go in the room and shut the door and do her job. So it was like, it's just me and my dog. You know, that is exactly the reason why I started the podcast. Was because so many people who are in a community of people that see each other every day. And I talk about love languages, right? The five, but like spirit of service and needing like that human touch like people. That's what we do.

24:58We come to work. That's how a lot of people in this industry give love and receive love. And when you can't do that, I just wanted everybody to have, can we just all talk about stuff on a podcast and let's all share these ideas so that we don't have to feel like you felt. And that was the genesis of what I'm doing here. Yeah. It's crazy. Yeah, so I decided one day I woke up and I was like, my friend was like, I'm gonna lose my business. She was like, it's just, I don't know what to do. So I was like, girl, I'll be down there. I ain't got nothing to do. I don't have a job right now. They said that my job isn't essential right now. So I might as well just come help you. So that's what I need. Where was this? New Orleans, Louisiana. Oh, so you went to New Orleans. Yeah, I went to New Orleans. I went to Texas. I went to Florida, went to Alabama, Mississippi. I traveled all over helping little businesses. Wow. Stay little businesses to not turn to nothing. So you said, I'm not sitting at home. Yeah. I'm gonna stay, I'm gonna be out there doing, did your- Yeah, I turned into a cake baker, a barbecue pit master, a fried chicken queen.

26:04I did a whole bunch of fish. Now, had you done that before? Any of those things? Are these like all new things that you learned? I'm not a baker. So the baking was very interesting. She's a cake baker, but the cakes never stopped, which was interesting. She was like, just send them to me in the mail. And we don't care what they look like when they get here. We know what they taste like. So that's all they wanted. So she pivoted and had to start figuring out how to be able to send cakes to New York and Connecticut. And now it's like, okay, dry ice, do we do that? What do we do? I was like, we can figure it out. Oh, and I know how to do it because we had to figure out how to ship cheese boards. Yeah, you had to figure out how to ship- You're shipping cheese boards. We did during the pandemic because people wanted it. I figured out the dry ice thing. It's hard. It's hard. It's not an easy process. It's difficult. One person got her cheese board and she sent it to me and she said, it looks like queso. Dry ice will help that.

27:04That's for Delia. Queso, queso queen. Yeah, so that was my pandemic experience, was just like, okay, I'm not essential. So let's go find something that I can do to make myself feel essential. So that's what I did. Let's go help my friends and hang out and visit. I was like, I've been in a restaurant working 90 hours a week for 20 something years. I ain't never had this much time off. I don't know what to do with myself. So what was your wife doing during this time? Working. Just working at home and you're gone. Yeah, I'm gone. You're gone. Yeah, out of here. Okay. We did not survive the pandemic. Okay. Is that one of the reasons why you were gone all the time and she's like, well, what's going on there while you leave? Well, no, now life was great. I was working 90 hours a week. Nobody ever see me. So, you know what I'm saying? And now it's like, man, she's a bit much. Okay, I just almost choked. No, it was like, she's spending lots of time with me and she's like, you are getting on my nerves. I'm like, you know what? Okay, I can say that, it's fine.

28:05Yeah. Yeah, so we just grew apart. Okay, well it happens. Yeah, and then I think like it really expanded my mind. Like I have a lot of time to think now. And I'm like, all these people, I kept losing friends from COVID. They're in their 30s and they're in their 40s. I'm like, there's not a lot of people making it to 80 anymore. And I was like, I gotta make sure I do more with my time because I don't think I have a lot of it. So if I don't have a lot of time, I wanna make the time that I do have very quality time. So now it's like every day is a party. But you know what? That's so powerful what you just now said. Time is one of the most precious things that we have. And I think a lot of people had to be introspective about that and go, what am I spending my actual time doing? But it's also the biggest gift you can give someone. It's like, so when Starr talks about giving her time to all those small businesses that were trying to survive in pivot during the pandemic, you can't put a price tag on that. I mean, I know that. I was literally calling my friends who had never worked in a restaurant before being like, hey, do you wanna come make breakfast sandwiches?

29:11Because I didn't have, no one wanted to work. I mean, a lot of people were on unemployment then and they couldn't. Well, they're making a lot of money on unemployment. Correct, and they couldn't go take any, I didn't understand that. They would say, I'm on unemployment, Marcie. You can't pay me, but I'll come help you. I'm like, well, that's illegal. You can't come volunteer. And they're like, well, I'll just come help you. So at that point, I had all my aunts over there. I mean, it was just crazy. So you're pretty excited. How did Starr find Marcie or Marcie find Starr? F-O-H-B-O-H. Oh, really? Throw them both. Yes, so I know the owners. Early, yeah, so. They were, so I grew up with Hallie Hayes and Mary Pillow and we went to school together. And so they came to me before the pandemic, before Ainsley Blue was actually a restaurant just to get my advice as a female business owner. And so then when Ainsley Blue became a restaurant, I reached out to them and said, wait a second, that company you have.

30:14That's perfect for me. So I met Starr, I had a cook at the time. I had never had a chef and they had previously, Starr and him had previously worked together and that did not work out with him. And it was Mother's Day, remember? Oh, I do remember. Last year, Mother's Day? Mother's Day, I mean, which is so crazy that you have only been with me for a year. Yeah, I know. And look at everything you're doing. I'm sorry, we're having a little moment. It feels like a lifetime. Oh God, I know. I know, I'm with you. And so Mother's Day, I really realized I needed a chef and we were chatting in the kitchen and I said, I've gotta go find a chef. I need an executive chef. And she said, what about me? And I go, well, what about you? And she goes, I can do it. And I said, well, have you ever been an executive chef before? And she said, nope. And then remember what you said to me?

31:16Yeah, I've been doing that job for many, many years and nobody ever gave me the title, but they'd like me to do the work. But who were you doing it for? The white man. That's what she said to me. I can't ever beat him. I can't never get the job. Even though I'm doing all the work and I'm better, I'm there longer, I do all the work. And I said, well, this white woman doesn't care. I said, because I don't know what I'm doing. I said, let's you and I not know what we're doing together. And I say that, because people, so many people have gotten angry that they're like, you don't know what you're doing. You shouldn't be running Ainsley Blue or they'll be like, chefs, chef star's never been an executive chef. You need a man in there. I mean, I literally had someone who- Somebody said that out loud? Oh, someone who wanted to buy the business and wanted to invest in Ainsley Blue said, well, we're gonna get a great white chef that I know in here and he can really teach star. They didn't say you can get a great white chef. Yeah, he did. White guy. He was telling me who the guy was. Oh my God. And I ended the meeting.

32:16Good. I said, thanks for playing. And I just, I don't know. I don't know what it is. I think that it goes back to the rules that I was talking about in the pandemic where there was no rules, but people were still trying to live by the rules pre-pandemic. And still to this day, they are. And I always try to tell them like, don't ever anybody. We have 36 people who work at Ainsley Blue and I always say, don't ever come in here and say, well, this is the way that it should be done. I want you to tell me what works best for you, server or you barista or you line cook. What works best for you? I don't need to know the way that it's done at every other restaurant in America, in the world, whatever, I don't care. I wanna know what works for you. We are very employee-led. Like we don't have a general manager. Wow. No. We have a front of house, like group of lead servers, lead baristas, you know. Collective. Yeah, I mean, it's a group. And then back of house, you can obviously talk about our fabulous new executive sous chef, Emily.

33:21Yes, my executive sous chef, Emily, which is my best friend of 15 years. She moved here from Pensacola, Florida to help me. And she runs the kitchen with Star. And now I just bought my tickets for the Iron Fork. And I believe we're gonna be competing. Yes, I am, yes, I am. You know, I used to be a district sales manager at U.S. Foods. And I actually created the special ingredient. I came up with the secret ingredient for a couple of years and I announced it in front of everybody at the actual Iron Fork, it's a great event. That's so much fun. Well, I think I didn't realize like how competitive it was. Oh, yeah. And then, you know, one of the chefs who won't be named, he said, well, you know, I don't even know why Ainsley Blue's here, they just do eggs. Do what? Oh, it's on. That's, you know what they call that? Just get ready. That's chalkboard material. This is trash talking and like. Bullet board, bullet, bullet board. Bullet, is that what it's called?

34:22Bulletin board, bulletin board material. Like in gym locker rooms when somebody says, I guarantee you're gonna win, like, we'll go tell that to the other team, like. Oh, no, I mean, I straight literally went to that movie, Friday Nights. No one comes into our house and pushes us around. That's right. Nobody, nobody. And like, by the way, he like, I think, thought that that was gonna hurt our feelings. Oh, that just jazzed Chef Star and I up so much. We're like, game on bitches. So one of the competing chefs said that? Yeah. Well, there's only four. I mean, I don't think. He wasn't being mean, he's just trash talking. Yeah, he's just trash talking. It's all fun and games until your feelings get hurt. Is there any, is there any ingredients that you hope that it is? Like, you're going into the challenge. Have you ever been to an Iron Fork before? No. Good. But I've been in competitions before. It's not my first rodeo. I haven't done an Iron Fork competition, but I have done competitions.

35:23And I've also been cooking in places that these people could never dream. And that's the fact, like. Well, that's a major part of it. Yeah, people get comfortable in cooking. Like, you know, you've been cooking somewhere for 20 or whatever years, but I'm like cooking fish camps in Alaska and on oil rigs. And so you have to be inventive and quick thinking on your feet in those kinds of situations. And then I'm going to work with things and be able to do things that you're not, you can't do because you didn't do it. You didn't go cook at fish camps in Alaska. You didn't even been on the oil rig. You've been in a comfortable, beautiful commercial kitchen for 20 whatever years. I have not. Sometimes I may have been out in the weirdness making fires, cooking dinner. Well, it's going to be, that's what it is. I mean, it's cooking on burners and you get to go to the pantry like one time and it's a bunch of stuff. And then you never know what it's going to be. I mean, we're prepared. We've printed the t-shirts. We are- You got t-shirts printed? Yes, I do. Oh, gosh. I forked with Chef Star. I love it.

36:28This is serious business. You need to understand we are in it to win it. There's nothing about- We are very competitive. The look in your eyes that does not make me have full confidence that you guys are going to bring in an A game. That you're coming to win this thing. You're not there just to, hey, look, here I am. I'm not there to be cute and have a female team. Like that's plus two. I'm there to win. 90% of our staff is female. So you know, the first year that I did that, like I was like in charge of it for US Foods. I did a, I said, I want to do, I wanted to partner with the Predators, but I wanted to have like a penalty box. I wanted them to bring a penalty box and put it there. And I wanted Paul McCann to be the MC, all this stuff. And I said, in the middle of it, chefs cut their fingers, things happen. So every single person at this point, we're going to do a two minute deal where their sous chef has to get out right in the middle of the whole thing. And they're like, I don't know. And I go, that's like real kitchen shit, right? You, we're going to go, all right, everybody right now, two minutes, sous chef is out.

37:32You're in the penalty box. And we actually did it. We didn't do the penalty box thing, but we said real life kitchen scenario, the sous chef right now has to stand on the side and I had to go over and pull somebody to the side and stand them two minutes while they're, the chef had to figure out what to do without them. And I was like, I want to real life things. That would be to your benefit. You'd be like, oh shit, I'm ready for that. Let's go. That's cool. Kind of like that one time that you and I ran the kitchen that one time. See, we have done, you know, thousand dollar days together, just me and Marcie. There was one time that somebody forgot to post the schedule and it was Saturdays. We do about 1300 people every weekend. And chef Star called me at 8 a.m. on a Saturday and she said, there's no one in the kitchen. I don't have any staff. Is anybody coming to work? I said, what are you talking about? And then I called the person who's supposed to post the schedule and they said they forgot. So I went over there and Star and I knocked it out. Yeah, she got fired like eight times. I did. She kept going, why are you still here? But we made it. So just to let everybody know, to give the scene some free advertising.

38:35The Iron Fork is April 28th. It is a Thursday from six o'clock to nine 30. And it is at the first Horizon Park, which is where the sounds play. That's right. So it used to be at the musician's hall of fame and the municipal auditorium. And they have moved locations. So if you're listening to this, it's over at first Horizon Park. You should get your tickets today and you can see Star whip everybody's ass. Yeah. Yeah, chef Star. Woo woo, I fork with chef Fork. You know that means a better location because they added me, right? You know, Nina's one of the four also, right? Yeah, she is. She's like one of my favorite people. She's very nice. She's got a little baby. I know. And she's, yeah. She's hilarious. She's one of the most real people. We're on the show. She goes, I eat fast food. That's food I eat. Everybody talks shit about I eat McDonald's, Burger King. She was going on. She's like, I don't need these nice restaurants. I make my food that I eat. And I was just cracking up like you were too much for me. Oh yeah. So anyhow, let's get back to the story.

39:38We're in the story. We've taken a couple of left turns. I love, by the way, I'm gonna do another left turn right now. During the pandemic, you guys are like not afraid. And I think it's so special. There was- There's nothing to lose. There's nobody breaking into buildings in Hillsborough Village and you guys just straight posted, you know, like I forget exactly what it was, but it was so raw. I can tell you it was, it was, they hit 102 business, small businesses. They're not hitting Walmart. They're not hitting McDonald's. They're hitting all the people that are struggling to stay. You're calling up the Metro police. Yeah. Yeah. And they hit our neighbors. Well, they hit almost everybody on Belcourt. They didn't hit us, but I think that- You saw them looking in the window. Well, we got it on the video camera at three o'clock in the morning and with the Jason mask and the hatchet that was in his hand. And so I thought we were out of town. My husband and I were out of town. We had, we had literally gone away for two days just to like decompress and then this happened. And I knew they were coming back the next night. I said, we need to be ahead of us. So I started calling all the local news stations and doing interviews from literally my phone and the floor of the hotel where I was in Atlanta.

40:47And just said, come on, we're waiting for you. Smile at the cameras when you come in. You know, we have no cash. If you feel that you need to be stealing from small businesses, then knock yourself out. We'll be waiting for you. And they never hit us and they hit everybody. They, I mean, they hit so many people in Hillsborough Village, saw pizza, the auto repair stuff, the dry cleaners place, nickel lettuce pasta, blow hair dry, excuse me, salon. And they hit everywhere. They never hit us. And so we put up a $5,000 reward, but no one ever turned it in. I don't think they were from here. I think that because they hit it in a cluster of about two months, I think they moved on to the next town. Because this was December. I haven't heard anything else about it yet. Right, this was December of, this was, I think January of 2020, 2021, excuse me, January of 2021. I love your playbook, which is to not have a playbook. Yeah, yeah, and not be afraid. No, I think, yeah. Because my thing is like, what's the worst thing that's gonna happen?

41:48I always say this to Chef Star, we fail. Okay, I'm gonna guess that she can get a job anywhere that she wants. And I'm in the music business. So, and now think, knock on wood, the music business is back. What do you do in the music business? What is your music business job? Marcy's gonna answer that question after we hear a word from our sponsors. Okay, so maybe you have a job. Maybe you don't necessarily need another full-time job, but you'd like to make a little bit of extra money. You need a better work-life balance, maybe? Change the way you work. GigPro can provide the opportunity for higher pay, a flexible schedule, and hopefully connect you with the right fit for a long-term employment. If you go sign up right now at go.gigpro.com forward slash pro, you can do that. Just think, you don't have to sign up and work somewhere for a long time. You can go accept gigs and see if you like it.

42:50I know, it's amazing. And once you sign up for every one of your friends you get to sign up, you will get $5. So go to go.gigpro.com forward slash pro right now. One of God's great gifts to this world was fresh baked bread. That's why Sharpies Bakery delivers six days a week to your restaurant, as they've been doing for 36 years. Erin Mosso's family has been running Sharpies Bakery, locally owned and operated right here in Nashville, Tennessee, like I said, for 36 years. Go check them out at sharpies.com, that's C-H-A-R-P-I-E-R-S.com, or Sharpies Bakery on Instagram and Facebook. Give Erin Mosso a call at 615-319-6453 to set up an appointment to talk about what fresh bread you'd like delivered to your restaurant today. You have heard me talk about SuperSource for the last two years. And in that time, Jason Ellis, I feel like he's taken over the city.

43:54It is hard for me to get a guest in here that doesn't use SuperSource. And I'm telling you, everybody loves him. When you mentioned Jason, I'm like, oh my gosh, that guy's legitimate. Now ask yourself this question. Do you feel that way about the person that provides you with your dish machine and chemicals? Because he's the real deal. And guess what? He's not gonna make you sign a five-year contract. He's never gonna say, well, you signed a contract, it's on you. He goes week to week. You never sign a contract. So he earns your business every single week. I loved it when we had Cam and Nickian from the Red Perch and they said, he's like one of our employees when he's in the building. He's that good. You should call him today. If you don't feel that way about your dish machine and chemical person, 770-337-1143 is how you get ahold of Jason. Or go to NashvilleRestaurantRadio.com, click the Sponsors tab. There's a special link on there that will get you special discounts for new customers. Call him now. And I'm in the music business.

44:55So, and now, knock on wood, the music business is back. What do you do in the music business? What is your music business job? I do brand partnerships for artists and for properties. So think Citibank, sponsoring Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden, or, I mean, I book festivals like ATL Live in Atlanta, Georgia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. So I've been doing this a long time and worked up from everyone, from Chance the Rapper to the Rolling Stones, to Keith Urban, to, I mean, Eminem, you name it. That's cool. Right? I'm like, yeah. But I look at Eansie Blue, and Starr and I talk about this a lot. You know, we're very, I'd say we're both very spiritual people, more so than necessarily religious. Starr's probably more religious than I am, but I'm very spiritual. And we were brought together for a reason. And she and I talk about failures, past failures. You know, we both have been divorced.

45:57We both have had jobs that we haven't excelled at, or we've had personal adversities in our lives. You know, her mother and grandmother passed away. My father passed away recently. We've just connected on so many levels. And we really kind of always look at us as like these warrior queens that will just take it on. And it's been difficult, too, for some people because they see how close Chef Starr and I are. And we always say, like, no one's gonna ever come between us. You know, I would love to say that she was gonna be working at Eansie Blue for the next 25 years. She's gonna have her own James Beard award-winning restaurant one day. And I'm gonna be the first person there cheering her on and supporting her. My biggest fan. It's apparent. I mean, it's refreshing. It's cool to hear. I love having people in here when you don't know a whole lot about them and to see just looking at you guys right now, looking your eyes, just how much adversity you guys have overcome and just how much you've been able to do together, like arm in arm.

47:08I don't, there's something that's incredible. And I always say my favorite quote or saying of all time is from Henry Ford, whether you think you can do a thing or you think you can't, you're right. That's essentially the quote. I think you can do a thing, you're right. Or I think you can't do a thing, you're right. You have that mentality of there's nothing we can't do. We're gonna figure this shit out. Nobody ever said you can't do this. You're like, no, I'm not gonna accept that as the answer. And you just made it happen. But also you need to understand that as women in the hospitality and in the entertainment industries, nine times out of 10, I'm not being negative. This is just facts. Yeah. Nine times out of 10, anytime you ask anyone for anything, the answer is no. Nine times out of 10. So you have to take that no and turn it into a yes. And I just wanna say one point on your favorite quote, which I love that quote, but my favorite quote is the OG Madeleine Albright. There's a special place in hell for women that don't help other women. And I truly believe that, live by that on a daily basis.

48:12And now here's the deal, Star and I, we fight. Yeah, we fight just like sisters, okay? But do you know what I like? She's open to constructive feedback and I am as well. She admits when she doesn't know something and I admit when I don't know something. But she knows when I say, no, no, Star, I know this. She's like, okay, you're right. And then vice versa, when she says something and I'm like, okay, you know what, you're right. I'm gonna shut up. And then when we both don't know, we're like, wing it. Wing it, we'll figure it out. But you know, and it's exciting. I mean, we have so much stuff coming up this year and we've just decided to go for it. Like, the restaurant is still trying to catch up and get its footing. I made a post, I do the Instagram page for Ainsley Blue and it was interesting because I posted about how, a picture of our team and about how many times we've pivoted over the past two years and how we finally have hit our stride of serving brunch all day, every day, eight to six, seven days a week with, you know, obviously CBD, coffee and cocktails and then having all of our events, which you're gonna see so many events.

49:25But we have a book coming out. Really? On Chef Star's birthday, Pride Month in June. It's a coffee table cookbook with photos by the amazing Mary Craven and Star is, I don't know, do you wanna tell them who the foreword is gonna be written by? Or is that a surprise? I would like for it to be a surprise. Okay, good. I thought I was getting an exclusive. Oh, look at that! Oh, the engineer's seat, ooh, I saw it. I was, I am. And then my best friend from high school, Shannon Simpson-Bevins is writing it for us. She's a teacher. And so that's why, is that who you typically get to write a book? Probably not, but you know what? Who cares? We have no rules. Yeah. And we do it our way. Yeah. I think that's so fantastic. That's what it, I think that's what it takes to make it. It is, and then. And honestly. And then a portion of the proceeds are going to Chef Star picked it out. Yeah, we're going to help LGBTQ suicide.

50:30It's a major problem that we have in the community. So I really want to put forth my best effort to be able to help. Like, I know what those feelings are. I know how that feels. I know what that looks like. So anybody I can help not feel that, or be able to learn to cope with it on for a daily basis. And that's what I want to do. I mean, a lot of people don't realize that, Chef Star is the only black female, queer executive chef in all of Nashville. Boom. Really? Boom. I'm all three. I'm waiting for another one. Yeah. Cause I haven't heard one. Nope. I don't think. It's just me. Solo, dollo. That's not good. I know. And so that's why I mean, yeah. I would like to have, you know, some friends. I'm sure you have. Yeah. The restaurant. Chef Star's single and ready to mingle. I'm busy though. So keep that in mind. I have this dream.

51:33I have this dream of doing like a dating show. Or we bring, I've got the monitor up here. I want to have three people we could have on here that you could ask them questions. The very end we have like a love connection. Chef Star's ready. I think we should do like a dating game in here and we get the questions ready. Josh Black is the moderator in here. We'll have some fun. See? Yeah. Marsha's got to help me pick. Oh, I know. I have to sign off. Sorry. You have to sign off? Yeah. Cause I don't have a good pick, bruh. I just don't. I'm busy. Oh, you have, I was like, you have to sign off on the pick. Yeah. On the pick for sure. That's what I mean. Yeah. My sister from another mister. Okay. Yeah. We're going to take one more quick break to hear a quick word from our sponsors. When talking about what chefs want, really the question is, how do they do it? No fees, no fuel charges, no surcharges, never. This allows you to order as much or as little as you need as often as you need.

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53:41The dynamic between the two of you is just, it's so fun. We literally finish each other's sentences all the time. It's so funny. That's my bestie. I was in LA last week and the president of the record label was asking me a question about the correct terminology. She was asking the difference between like pansexual and bisexual and queer and gay. And I said, let me just call Star. She didn't. It was like 10 o'clock at night. And this is the CEO of a major record label. And Star's like going on, she goes, I'm going to offend her. I said, no, no, no, no, no, no. And I think that's the thing is like, there's so many things that Chef Star has taught me. And it's like, I want to learn. I want to, we had transgender employees. We had bisexual employees. We have all of this and it's new for me. And I want to learn, I want to make sure that I'm referring to someone as she or they or whatever they want to be referred to.

54:43And I think that that is one of the things that Chef Star has really helped my husband and I with is just understanding all that. And it's been so nice because I know that I can just call her and go, I don't understand. And she'll explain it. Yeah. Well, that's really helpful. Yeah, now there's this power. Well, that's something I've learned over the whole pandemic is that I was raised a certain way. And I've learned a ton. I quit drinking at the beginning of around the time you guys opened the original ANSI Blue. So I went the whole time with all these new emotions and feelings and all this stuff throughout the pandemic. And it's just been eyeopening for me just to go, damn, there's so much I didn't know. So I mean, a lot of that's just really good to be able to have somebody to teach you or be able to tell you, hey, that's not appropriate. It's not a matter of, it's just ignorance. In my opinion, it's just a, oh, I didn't know. That's not something I learned, but I want to learn. I want to know more about it. And I want to be a hundred percent, I don't want to offend anybody.

55:46My goal isn't to say something that somebody's like, well, you, I'm so, so sorry. And I think it really all became very clear when all the controversy around our first Drag Brunch, which was Pride Month. You're taking my next one as I say, let's talk about Drag Brunch. I mean, it was interesting. Having lived in New York for 12 years, Drag Brunch was a thing. I mean, that was, it was everywhere in New York and it was amazing. I mean, you wanted to go to the Drag Brunches on Saturday and Sunday with your girlfriends and the bottomless mimosas and just spill the tea from the week. And so when we announced it, I mean, I just thought, oh my gosh, everyone's just going to be so excited. They're going to love it. And they were, except this one crazy Karen. And everyone's like, well, she was probably just really old and it's her, it's a generational thing. She's a baby boomer. I said, actually she's 31. She lives in Hillsborough Village. She comes here all the time.

56:46And she just doesn't believe in that lifestyle. And she wrote what upset me the most is that she wrote the letter to my husband. And as a woman, when everyone knows that I was at Ainsley Blue and working and you're going to write a letter to like my husband. And she's like. I don't know her or something. I need to get your wife. Yeah. Get your wife in check. It was more of the team. He was like, she said, and I never published her name because it didn't want everyone to drag her. It's not, and they would. I know, but it's just, it's honestly, it's not even worth it. And so when the letter said, oh, well, I'm sure this is something that your team did just to make money. And I just want to let you know, you can go back and see how many times I've been to Ainsley Blue, which is a lot. And she said, I won't be coming back. And so I'm the one who wrote the response. I posted a copy of the letter and wrote the response and said, you know, no, it wasn't meant the team.

57:49It wasn't my husband. It was my decision to host this drag branch. And that empty chair that you left will be filled by someone whose heart is filled with love and not hatred and judgment, which is what clearly is in yours. You're going to get a clap on that one. But that's hard to do, it's not hard to do if you're you. Well, I really, here's the thing, and I don't mean this negatively, but like, I just don't care. Like if someone does something wrong, I'm calling you out that day, period. When I do something wrong, people call me out because I mess up all the time. Yep, me too. But I mean, there's no one that's perfect, but I just think we have to hold people accountable. You know, we can't just turn a blind eye anymore. And you know, I can forgive, but I don't ever forget. Well, that's the, I think that's the premise behind being an anti-racist. And this is not just allowing something to happen and going, oh, well, that person's wrong.

58:53It's saying something. It's not just, it's either, you're just not just, I'm not racist. You're either racist or you're anti-racist. And I love that you do that. I mean, that's the most important thing is saying something and letting somebody know that this is not okay. Your behavior is not okay. And this is not something that we're gonna stand for. And I think that anyone who had been, because we really, our clientele shifted dramatically when we moved from Belle Meade to Hillsborough Village. Oh, I'll bet. Extremely diverse being in Hillsborough Village. And that is, I mean, again, warms my heart. Goose bumps, like I just, I love it. Star will take a picture of front of house, of everybody on a Saturday and text it to me. And she's like, look. Yep. I mean, it was a big goal for us to have all ages from high school to Boomers, all races, all walks of life, including dogs, which a lot of people don't realize that Ainsley Blue is named after my dog and my best friend's dog.

59:56My dog is, our family dog is Blue and Ainsley is my best friend's dog. And- Wow, that's good. That takes that question off the table. Look at there. And I don't know. I just think that we'd always been known as a community and a community melting pot. But when all of that went down last summer with the drag brunch, it took us to a whole other level. We had, I had so many restaurant owners reaching out, saying, good for you for standing up against the hate. I've received similar letters, but never thought about publishing them. And now you see a lot of people, you write a bad letter, more than likely, your ass is getting called out on social media. I started having restaurant owners read one-star reviews. The thing I did at the beginning of the pandemic is I went to all these, people were writing such terrible reviews. Poor Paul. Like we're fucking closed. And you're writing this review. Like we're in the middle of a pandemic. We are battling everything. We are underwater with a straw trying to breathe. And you're gonna write a one-star review because you couldn't order food at 10 a.m.

01:00:58when we're not even open. And you're staying at home playing Monopoly. Yeah, like that's, so I started having chefs come on and read once the shitty one-star reviews. And it was hilarious. It kind of went viral. But that was kind of my point too, was that don't be that person. Don't be the person that just, I'm angry today. So I'm gonna take it out on somebody else's dream. And these people like yourself that own small businesses, these are things that like, it's your passion. When you write a bad review and you say, so it's like you're, take it. It's hard not to take it personally. I always love what Star says. I don't wanna take it out or take the words out of her mouth. So I want her to say it, but talk about when people come and visit Ainsley Blue. Oh yeah. Yeah. It's my favorite line that she always says. Oh yeah, cause it's a real thing. Like I'm at Ainsley Blue a lot. So Ainsley Blue is my home. So when people come in, it's like they're coming to my house. So I like to greet them. I like to go and see them. I sit down with you. I might dance with you a little bit.

01:01:58Like, you know, it might be a competition out there. It's a vibe. It's a whole vibe. I sing, I dance. We're gonna have a great time when we come because you're coming into my home. You're my guest. You're not my customers. When she said that, I thought, you know what? There's not a writer in the world that could have said that more eloquently than you just said at Chef Star. Cause that is so true. It is her home. And so therefore, take your feet off the table. Pick up after yourself. Help me out a little bit. Help me help you. But also there's a feeling as a guest. Every time, and I say this all the time to my front door team, as I say, when people walk in the door, I want them to have a, I have secret shopper reports, right? Cause it's an easy way to tell us stuff. But I don't say, were you greeted in 60 seconds? The question I ask the shopper is, when you were greeted at the front door, how did it make you feel? Because a 60 second greet by somebody who goes, hi, how many?

01:03:00Versus, good evening, welcome. We're so excited that you're here. This is like that feeling of, I'm entering somebody's home. I'm a guest in your building. And it's not just a business. This isn't something that, I take money and I make a profit. This is a, I'm creating experiences for people. People come here to talk about after they bought their home or talk about whatever it is. Like they're remembering this moment. I want them to feel like my guest. And that's, I think what you're referencing, right? This is my home. I want to treat you as a guest, but also respect the fact that this is my home. Don't just treat it like it's just some place. And that theme has really been woven through everything that we do. I mean, people don't remember, but before we figured out online ordering, yeah, we had a rough time with that. People would message me on Instagram when they would want to order. So I would spend my whole day. Oh yeah. Doing the orders on Instagram.

01:04:01And then people would be, they would say something like, well, I didn't get the two bamboo forks. I only got one. I'm calling the owner and I'm like, well, this is the effing owner. Yeah, it's me, I'm right here. You don't have to call. You've been messaging with her. The whole time. I'll bring a bamboo fork over to you. I remember I was, cause this weekend's Easter. And I remember last year, you had only been there, I think like a week. And cause she just celebrated her one year anniversary. And oh, and I want to talk about that. And I was delivering, we probably had, I don't know, like 40 deliveries on Easter for cheese boards last year. And the delivery person called out sick. I made all the deliveries. And so a lot of people didn't know who I was. Cause it's not like I'm gonna go up and hand the cheese board. People were like, give me five bucks. And they would say, you have the best personality. You're so cute. I'm gonna message the owner and let her know. You need to have a better, a bigger job at ANC Blue.

01:05:03Right. They had no idea. You act like you own the place. I love that. You just have this aura. So, but I don't know. It's just so funny. But talking about Chef Star, just celebrating her one year anniversary, we were, my husband and I were very excited. She is now one of the owners at ANC Blue. What? You are one of the owners now. You have equity. Yeah. Congratulations. Thank you so much. I mean, they like me a little bit or something. Just a little. I love those guys. Well, it sounds like- It's your work husband. Yes. It sounds like you guys, you know, you start something, you say, we don't know what we're doing. But you're creating something that is special. Yeah. We feel it. We feel it though. I tell people, I don't like neighborhoods. I like communities. Yeah, oh yeah. It's a big difference in those two things. And at ANC Blue, we're building a community.

01:06:05We want everyone to have a safe space to come and work and hang out with your kids or, you know, a lot of people visit their children who are in college or whatever the case may be. Like, I want you to have a space where you can go, we're like, you know what? We're just gonna go hang out at the Blue today. We're hosting, like we hosted an 18th birthday party last night at ANC Blue. And I got a video of chef star dancing with the birthday girl to DJ John Lucas. And it's just nice. I mean, because we closed at six o'clock, we host so many events for politicians who are running for election or reelection. Birthday parties, you know, book clubs. We're hosting a TSU college reunion coming up. I mean, it's wedding receptions. I mean, you name it, podcasts. We had somebody do a live podcast from our stage because people don't realize we have a full PA. We have stage. I mean, we hold 125 people. Wow. Yeah, so they'd like us for a visit. And more importantly, we're above a parking garage, which people literally don't know with 200 parking spots with the first hour free.

01:07:12And people are like, where do we park? Or people left a one-star review and said, well, there's no parking. I go, and I responded back. I said, the parking is only for the smart people. Well, I mean- Because there's 200 spots below the garage with a gigantic banner by our front door that says parking below one hour free. But you get a one-star review because of parking? Like, no, no, no. If you're gonna knock off parking, that's one star that you knock off of the five. If your food was great, your food was hot, your drinks were hot or cold, service was great, but you couldn't find a place to park, you could leave a four-star because that's the main thing people look at. But not your whole business gets a one-star because of that. No, I love it where it's like, the food was great. Our server was amazing. Couldn't park one-star. Yeah, one-star, couldn't park. Oh yeah, that's right. They did say that once. I remember that. Yeah, I'm like- She was like, so wait, I just wanna make sure I understand. Service was great, food was great, atmosphere was great, but we're getting one-star because of parking because she was an idiot and couldn't find the garage by the front door.

01:08:13Got it, okay, good. Check. We're all on the same page? Fantastic. I'm gonna have y'all read a one-star review before you leave. We'll put it out there. It's gonna be fun. I like it. Yeah. It's gonna be good. Wow, you know how fast an hour goes by? Yeah, that's how I read it. That fast? Yeah. We do these conversations in an hour, but I'm like, damn, that one went by really, really fast. What else are we missing? You guys tell me what else we got going on and then at the end of this, you guys get to say, you're gonna get to take us out. Whatever you wanna say, as long as you wanna say it. So don't, if you have something to pontificate about, wait till then. But any other topics? I mean, so if we wanna get ahold of you, if I wanna book an event at ANSI Blue, how do I do that? The best way to get us always is just Instagram. DM us on Instagram. I think that's the way I got you. It's like, hey, I wanna have you guys on. She runs the Instagram. So she gets it. Yeah, so that's the best way. It's funny, sometimes people will be like, is this Marcie? Question mark. Every salesman in the whole city is now like, oh, I know what to do now.

01:09:18I know how to get to the owner of, she's like, actually delete that. No, if I don't wanna talk to you, I just say, oh, email Marcie at ANSIBlue.com. There you go. I think that's what she said to me the first time. But I did and here you are. Well, I mean, I get probably 200 DMs a day. Damn. At least. Yeah. Yeah. A popular rate. Wow. Questions, they're tagging us in a photo. They're, I mean, we are the melting pot of Nashville. We have all the Nashville transplants, the natives, the college students, the soccer moms. I mean, you name it. They're there. We got it all. I love that you bring that to Hillsborough Village because Hillsborough Village needs, I used to live directly behind you. That where your space was not there when I lived there, I guess it was eight years ago. Yeah, there was a little house. Well, there was a little house next to McDougall's then, but then I lived, if you live right behind those, like these nice brick condos. I lived in one of those that had the windows that overlooked like the parking lot behind Sam's when I used to live there.

01:10:19But Hillsborough Village is a very special place to me, just growing up in Nashville. The Villager, Sam's, Bosco's, Jackson's. I remember my rehearsal dinner was at Sunset Grill. I mean, like I have all these memories of the old Hillsborough Village and now- Iguana. Oh yes, Iguana before it was Cabana was Iguana. Yeah, it was a Jodie Faison place. Been there. So Hillsborough Village to me is a really special place. And what's happened to Hillsborough Village in my opinion is sad, but I love that you're there. I go to Fido and Andy Blue are my two things, two places I go to on a regular basis. Every time I meet somebody, it's either Fido or either Andy Blue. Well, the greenery is there. I mean, I'm such a huge fan of the grilled cheese-ery. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it just, you know, I'm there all the time. And I've been all the breakfast places. Yes. Well, and then the pancake pantry obviously is a- I just can't get in.

01:11:20I lived there for- I can't get in, I'm not gonna wait in line. I lived there three and a half years. I lived in Hillsborough Village for three and a half years. I went to pancake pantry one time. Only because there was, we were walking over to Jackson's or Fido and there was no line. I was like, you want to go give it a shot? Yeah. But people stand in line. No, every day. In the rain. In the rain, in the snow. In the snow. And I'm walking by like, it's just pancakes. Yeah. And then it's cool, because this feels like now we're the overflow for those places. Oh, we are. And it's like, they figure it out. It was like, they'll Google it on their phone, breakfast near me while they're standing in line. And then they were like, two minute walk. Let's just go to the two minute walk. And we come over and we don't have a line. No, well. Sometimes. We'll make your reservation. We always do reservations on ANZBlue.com. On the weekends. You have to have reservations on the weekends. Otherwise you're gonna, we have open seating at the bar. We have 16 seats at the bar. Yeah, but nobody ever wants to get up, wants to sit down. It's like, because we built that community place.

01:12:20Like, even on the weekends, people linger a little longer than normal, because they're having a good time. Well, yeah. And I think that also, I mean, we have Jazz Brunch from 11 to two on Saturday and 11 to one on Sunday. And then DJ John Lucas spends every Friday and Saturday and Sunday, three to five. Cause we have this amazing new bar menu that Executive Chef Star created for us. What's special about that menu? Tell me about the menu. The bar menu, it's really like a tapas. I want you to come in with your home girl, get a rose and enjoy the DJ. So I think of it as like, you know, a day party. So the food reflects that, like, you know, everything's shareable, you know, buy something and you and your friends eat. So that was important is to make it shareable because we are creating an experience. We are trying to build a community. So with that, you have to think of others. So I don't want you to come by yourself. I would like for you to bring someone, but it's okay if you come by yourself. You still get to talk to me. And a lot of restaurants, as you know, close between three and five.

01:13:22They're doing changeover for dinner. And since we don't serve dinner, we're doubling down on that three to five. So a lot of people come in to have cocktails, happy hour, get some CBD in their cocktails and wine from the crazy week and enjoy Chef Star's bar menu. Are you guys doing Delta 8? No, we do not. Okay, I was wondering because there's all these, you know, dab bars and places that do that. We don't. Is it a conscious decision not to do Delta 8 on purpose? Yes. Okay. And then also we have one of the best bourbon collections in Nashville. Really? Oh yeah. Thank you, Derrick. Yes. People come in and they just freak out about our bourbon collection. They're like, plantains is like no big deal. Wait, you have Weller full proof. Wait, you have Stagg. You have- Angel's Envy? Yeah, we got all that. Nice. I like that. We got the red Stagg, you know, it's hard to find that. Oh, the red Stagg. Then there's the George T. Stagg and the Stagg Jr. And then we have Stagg Jr, which is very hard.

01:14:23And we just got some Pappy. And Pappy. What? Got the Pappy. What year'd you get? 10 year? I don't drink bourbon. 23? I don't even know. We would have to ask Derrick. I cook with bourbon, but he says I can't cook with any of that. You can't cook with that. You can't cook with any, none of that. So my go-to cooking bourbon is of course, our Bell Mead bourbon. Yeah. We love to support the local brands. Yes, we do. Very nice. I like that. Bell Mead bourbon. Yeah, I mean, think about it. We have Grieve Hall Bagels. And we have Fire Pot Tea and High Garden Tea and Osa Coffee and Marigold Popcorn. And we love working with the local brands. We try to, small business help build small business. You guys are amazing people. I talk to restaurateurs all the time. And talk to people that, I was just in Phoenix this past week for three days, the Restaurant Leadership Conference, right? Where I'm hearing the CEO of PF Chains, Bill Belichick was speaking. All these people, the CEO of PF Chains is an amazing young man.

01:15:25Young African-American man. He's like 34. He's a bit, what he was saying just, but they're speaking to such these big masses. And it was a business. It felt like a business when I was there. And it bothered me because this is about hospitality. And community. This is about community. What we're doing, and it was all about, if you have 74 restaurants, you need to look at this margin and this, and it's, but it was just so, the whole time I was there, while there were some good nuggets I wrote down, most of it was, this is so cold. This is people in jackets talking about making money. And I'm like, but if you're an independently owned restaurant, this is about creating community and creating experiences for people and bringing light into people's lives. This isn't about that bottom line. Do we do it for free? Probably not. That's an aspect of it. And I'm not trying to head in the sand. We don't need to make money around here because we do, but really the driving force is, I want to take care of people.

01:16:29I want to create community on a place for people to come where they feel welcomed and they can enjoy whatever, in your situation, it's a relaxing environment that they can enjoy, have a cup of coffee, relax, do whatever it might be. And I just love both of your attitudes and the way that you guys have come together. And I can just tell that it's going to be a staple in Nashville for a really, really long time. That's what I'm trying to create. I'm so excited about it. We were named one of the best brunch places this year by Thrillist, Open Table, Eater, and Style Blueprint. And that is the thing we're probably the most proud of because we've only been doing this together for a year. I know, I mean, you guys are, you guys are the real deal. A lot's happening in a year. I know, right? So everybody stay tuned because we're going to have a big book party on. My birthday. Which is. June 23rd. June 23rd. Celebrating Pride Month. Andy Blue. Pride Month, Juneteenth. I got a lot going on in June. Yes.

01:17:30And it's my 10 year wedding anniversary. Yeah, I see. Congratulations. June 2nd, I know. Wow. Look at us. Lots happening in June. Yeah, that's my month. Well, I can't wait to talk more about it as the day approaches. I'm happy to help promote it. Let's get people over there. This is that time I was talking about, at the end of the show, and you guys both can say, I always like the guest to take us out, say whatever you want to say, speaking to the community here in Nashville. As long as you want to say it, whatever you want to say, go. I would like to say, let's continue to shop small and support local business. Not just my business, but all small local businesses. Andy Blue's here for you if you want to come hang out. See the chef. That's me. Andy Blue, we don't just do eggs. Nope. Come see us. Come dance with Chef Star, and DM me on Instagram. It's me, Ainsley Blue. And I just want to say thank you to, as a native Nashvillean, all the amazing Nashvilleans that have supported Ainsley Blue, and been patient with us as we have continued to learn, and pivot, and find a way to move forward.

01:18:38And I'm very excited the path that Ainsley Blue and our fabulous team members are on right now. Amen. I love it. And come cheer on Chef Star, April 28th, while she takes on the competition at the Iron Fork. Yeah. And wins. And wins. Exciting for that. And then come visit Ainsley Blue. It's directly across the street from the Bell Court. If you've walked in the doors of the Bell Court, walk directly across the street on Bell Court. And park in the garage. Park in the garage. To the left of our front door. For the free parking. Look for the banner. It's gigantic. One hour free parking. That's what the banner says. Looking for all literate people who know how to read. And if you can't read, I'm telling you, it says one hour free parking. Come park for free. Pro tip. I love it. Marcy, Star, thank you so much for joining us on Nashville Restaurant Radio. You guys have energized me.

01:19:38I'm gonna lead the rest of this day. I'm gonna go knock it out because I'm riding on a high right now. Thank you so much. And we gotta get this online. I'm excited. Hell yeah. Let's do it. All right, y'all. Have a wonderful rest of the day. Thanks for joining us. Thank you. Thank you. All right, wow. Marcy and Star, what a fantastic interview. What? I don't know. I just love them. And get to go have a meeting at Ainsley Blue the other day. I got to see Chef Star. Cayman gave her a big hug. And again, go check her out this Thursday the 28th at the baseball stadium where the sounds play. I still know what it's called. I haven't looked it up yet. But I will go. I think it's First Park. First something or another. First Horizon. First Horizon Park. That sounds like it. Go check it out. If you see me there, stop me. Say hi. I'd love to meet you. If you're out there, if you're a listener, stop by and say, hey man Brandon, I see you. I hate your show. Or I love your show. Or whatever. Give me ideas, tips, tricks, feedback. I'm always down for it. So I'll be the guy that's taller than everybody else. Hope that you guys enjoy this week.

01:20:40Go out there and just slay it. And we will see you on Thursday night. Hope you guys are being safe. Love you guys. Bye.