From Omelets to Prestige: Chef Lee Aquino's Culinary Evolution
Chef Lee Aquino embodies a remarkable fusion of culinary expertise and dynamic leadership, overseeing seven distinct dining concepts in the vibrant St. Petersburg area. In this conversation, we delve into his journey from humble beginnings at Shoney's to becoming a pivotal figure in the culinary scene, where he balances artistic expression with the pragmatic demands of restaurant management. Throughout the episode, we explore the intricate relationship between creativity and consistency in the kitchen, as Chef Aquino emphasizes the importance of surrounding oneself with talented individuals who contribute unique perspectives. He shares invaluable insights on mentorship, the evolution of culinary styles, and the significance of cultivating a culture that prioritizes trust and collaboration among kitchen teams. As we engage with Chef Aquino, his relentless passion for the culinary arts and commitment to excellence become evident, offering inspiration not only to aspiring chefs but to all who navigate the complexities of the food industry.
Chef Lee Aquino's culinary journey is a testament to the intricate relationship between passion and profession. From his humble beginnings at Shoney's on Amelia Island, where he mastered the art of cooking eggs to order, to becoming a pivotal figure in the vibrant dining scene of downtown St. Petersburg, Chef Aquino exhibits an unwavering commitment to his craft. His culinary philosophy is rooted in a harmonious blend of rustic French techniques and contemporary flavors, allowing him to cultivate an innovative dining experience across seven distinct restaurant concepts. Each establishment carries its unique identity, yet all resonate with Chef Aquino's signature touch. His dedication to fostering a vibrant kitchen culture and building trust among his team exemplifies the leadership qualities necessary for success in the culinary industry. As he shares anecdotes from his formative years, listeners gain insight into the resilience required to thrive in a demanding and ever-evolving landscape. Ultimately, Chef Aquino's narrative serves as an inspiration for aspiring chefs and culinary enthusiasts alike, encouraging them to embrace their individuality while contributing to the larger culinary tapestry.
In the latest episode of the Walk and Talk podcast, Chef Lee Aquino elaborates on the multifaceted nature of his work as a culinary director overseeing multiple restaurant concepts. He discusses the importance of finding the right individuals to lead each kitchen, emphasizing that successful teamwork is essential in creating unique dining experiences that cater to diverse palates. Chef Aquino's culinary creations, such as the lobster French toast and the pastrami-spiced lamb tenderloin, reflect his innovative approach to cuisine, highlighting the significance of balancing tradition with modern culinary trends. Throughout the conversation, he reflects on the invaluable lessons learned from working in high-pressure environments, underscoring the necessity of adaptability and creativity in the kitchen. The episode delves into the challenges faced by chefs in today's fast-paced culinary world, shedding light on the importance of mentorship and guidance for the next generation of culinary professionals. Chef Aquino's insights resonate deeply with listeners, offering a glimpse into the heart of a chef who not only creates exceptional dishes but also nurtures a thriving culinary community.
As the episode unfolds, listeners are treated to an exploration of Chef Lee Aquino's culinary ethos, which emphasizes the significance of building relationships within the kitchen and understanding the nuances of flavor development. He candidly shares his experiences of managing chaos, whether it be from unexpected kitchen challenges or the pressures of high-profile culinary events. Chef Aquino's perspective on leadership revolves around trust and collaboration, illustrating how effective communication fosters a positive and productive kitchen environment. The dialogue also touches on the evolving landscape of the culinary industry, including the influence of social media and evolving consumer preferences. Chef Aquino reflects on the importance of staying grounded in one's culinary identity while remaining open to innovation and change. This episode serves not only as a celebration of Chef Aquino's achievements but also as a call to action for aspiring chefs to embrace their creativity while honoring the rich traditions of culinary craftsmanship.
Transcript
You've just stepped inside the Walk and Talk podcast number one in the nation for food lovers, chefs and storytellers.
Speaker B:I'm Carl Fiordini, your host, shining a.
Speaker A:Light on the flavor, the hustle and the heart of the industry.
Speaker B:We're the official podcast for the New.
Speaker A:York, California and Florida restaurant shows, the Pizza Tomorrow Summit, the US Culinary Open at nafm and the North American Media platform for the Burnt Chef project recorded.
Speaker B:At Ibis Images Studios where food photography comes alive and I get the first bite.
Speaker B:Find out more info@thewalkandtalk.com he grew up.
Speaker A:On Amelia island, but Chef Liacrino's first taste of kitchen life wasn't in fine dining.
Speaker A:It was behind the action station at Shoney's in Ferdinanda beach making omelets to order.
Speaker A:It's where he learned people order their eggs like cocktails, precise, personal and full of personality.
Speaker A:From there, he began his chef journey into Jacksonville's country clubs and hotels before stepping into a role that would put him at the heart of downtown St. Pete's dining scene.
Speaker A:Today, he's the culinary force behind two properties and seven distinct concepts.
Speaker A:The Birch Wood Inns, Birch and Vine, the Canopy Pastry Production and the grand ballroom.
Speaker A:Plus, out on St. Pete Pier, teak Pier, Tiki and Driftwood Cafe.
Speaker A:Multiple concepts, multiple teams, all under his watch, each one carrying a distinct voice yet tethered by his touch.
Speaker A:Lee's food lives in that rare space between rustic French training and the adaptability to modernize with approachable flavors.
Speaker A:Plastic people crave a personality that's put in front of TV cameras, podcasts at the heart of Savor St. Pete, cooked at the James Beard House and in kitchens from the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buccaneers.
Speaker A:But behind the polished plates is a craftsman who weathered the grind of country.
Speaker B:Club and hotel kitchens.
Speaker A:He learned that leading is more about trust than control.
Speaker A:And before we dive in, I want to take a moment to thank our friends at the California Restaurant show for their incredible partnership.
Speaker A:Glenn Paul, Jerry lashara, Joe Amy, Tom Meck, and so many more.
Speaker A:You made last week's show an absolute success, Pooch.
Speaker A:Will and I were on the floor all three days meeting amazing people shaping our industry's future.
Speaker A:I just have to give a special thanks to Metro for sponsoring our Day One recap.
Speaker A:Your support makes it possible for us to bring these stories to life and to our remote team.
Speaker A:Glenn and Jordan, your behind the scenes production efforts kept this whole machine running.
Speaker A:Today we're sitting down in our Lakeland studio not just to talk about recipes or menus, but to unravel the mindset of a chef who builds culture across kitchens, who sees the city skyline as his dining room, and who believes every plate is a chance to start a conversation.
Speaker A:Chef Liquino.
Speaker B:Welcome to the podcast, Chef.
Speaker B:What a day.
Speaker C:Carl.
Speaker C:It's been amazing.
Speaker B:I mean, really, right?
Speaker B:I mean, you put in like a.
Speaker B:You basically put in a full shift over here.
Speaker C:It's good.
Speaker C:You got the all hot and sweaty, which is not, you know, not known for it.
Speaker B:You, you know, I've heard that before.
Speaker B:Yeah, I've heard that before.
Speaker B:Without question.
Speaker B:In house, we have a special guest.
Speaker B:We have the chef put Rivera walk and talk.
Speaker B:Personality extraordinaire.
Speaker B:What's up, Dougie?
Speaker D:I'm well, man.
Speaker D:Well, I'm so excited to be here.
Speaker D:It was a little last minute thing.
Speaker D:We worked some things out with Monument and we're going to be at the hardware show tomorrow, which is cool.
Speaker D:And a lot of people have been asking me why hardware?
Speaker D:And it's a one billion dollar outdoor cooking industry and we're looking to tap into that industry.
Speaker D:So hit us up.
Speaker B:Beeps all right, first things first.
Speaker B:Today we have the original New Orleans old style nectar cream soda.
Speaker B:It's given me the go to make it happen.
Speaker B:Like, I'm refreshed.
Speaker B:We're in Florida, 6,000 degrees outside.
Speaker B:Everybody can attest to this in this.
Speaker B:Who's sitting in this studio space?
Speaker B:It's hot.
Speaker B:Anyhow, Lee, baby boy, we did stuff today.
Speaker B:Let's go into the first dish.
Speaker C:All right, the first dish you can find at the Birch and Vine, downtown, St. Pete, ground level.
Speaker C:It's a beautiful play on a lobster French toast.
Speaker C:So basically it's going to be a cold water lobster tail that's poached.
Speaker C:We go ahead and deep fry awesome thick cut brioche, and then we pair it with a little bit of a chive of spuma, some fresh cut scallions and some nice love on top of that.
Speaker C:For the.
Speaker B:Hold on.
Speaker B:For those people out there that don't know what a spooma is, what is it?
Speaker C:It's a pair of shoes.
Speaker D:It's a spuma sweats.
Speaker C:It's actually Spanish for foam.
Speaker C:So a spuma, you see it on packaging.
Speaker C:A spuma.
Speaker C:You know, it's like seeing fragile on your packaging too.
Speaker C:So just another term for a phone.
Speaker B:So I have my leg lamp on order.
Speaker B:It's on the way.
Speaker B:It's Amazon.
Speaker B:It's coming out.
Speaker D:It's a major prize.
Speaker B:It's a major prize.
Speaker B:It is for Gile John photography today Your dishes, it was stinking beautiful.
Speaker B:And that was the first dish.
Speaker B:You did two more.
Speaker B:What was the next one?
Speaker C:The one after that would have to be the half a chicken.
Speaker C:The half chicken we deboned, we just left in the little drumstick there.
Speaker C:That way you can just grab that little sucker when it comes to your table, and you can just twist and have, like, a little chicken drumette, little taste of what you're about to have.
Speaker C:That's been on top of a beautiful risotto, Aji panca, Peruvian pepper sauce, little bit of simple charred scallions and blistered tomatoes.
Speaker C:Simple, delicious little spice.
Speaker C:Little sweet little earthiness to it.
Speaker B:Dish 3.
Speaker C:Dish 3 was a beautiful product that came from Aussie Select.
Speaker C:It was a nice lamb tenderloin that was fabricated with pastrami spice.
Speaker C:Beautiful color on the inside.
Speaker C:Smelled amazing as soon as you opened it.
Speaker C:We paired that with a little bit of pumpkin puree with toasted rye.
Speaker C:We also shaved a little bit of goat cheese truffle over the top of that, toasted bispitas, and then we made a caper berry mustard relish over that.
Speaker C:So basically, this was gonna call it a lamb strami over pumpkin on rye.
Speaker C:If you saw it on a menu anywhere, you saw it here first.
Speaker B:True story.
Speaker B:And I'm feeling like, you know, obviously our audience consists of foodies, people who love food, and then there's a lot of industry folks.
Speaker B:So at the end of this, when they see these images of the dishes that you put out today, I feel like everybody's gonna flip.
Speaker C:Oh, man.
Speaker C:John, you're a magician, man.
Speaker C:You are a magician.
Speaker C:I mean, the first one was the lobster dish, and that literally has, like, three to four components.
Speaker C:And I was like, oh, man, I don't know.
Speaker C:But I just.
Speaker C:You.
Speaker C:It tastes great, and you make it look amazing, so kudos.
Speaker C:Appreciate that.
Speaker B:Yeah, I'm excited, actually.
Speaker B:You think you get those on tonight?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Shaking the head.
Speaker B:All right, Lee, you had this omelet station, Epiphany.
Speaker B:Oh, man.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Take us back to Shoney's, baby.
Speaker C:Oh, boy.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:High school times, man.
Speaker C:There was this chef guy.
Speaker C:His name was Chef Jeff.
Speaker C:I think we've all known a Chef Jeff in our life.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:So he actually operated a catering facility out of the back of Shoning.
Speaker C:And, well, you know, Thursday nights was breakfast for dinner, and then he had Saturday and Sunday.
Speaker C:And so I had a little omelette station out there in front of people, and you had the simple ingredients or what have you, but, man, I didn't realize how hard it was to cook eggs, especially in front of people, when you have never cooked anything before.
Speaker B:Eggs are like cocktails.
Speaker B:I mean, why.
Speaker B:How does that even work?
Speaker C:You know, you have.
Speaker C:When you get good at what you do and you're in front of your guests, like a good bartender would be.
Speaker C:People flock for their bartenders.
Speaker C:They know what they like, they know how they like it.
Speaker C:I had that kind of demand with people with breakfast.
Speaker C:People in the morning are like.
Speaker C:They're creatures of habit, man.
Speaker C:You step out the bed, probably the first foot, the same foot every day out of your bed, put the same pant leg in.
Speaker C:And that's the parody I found between, you know, making cocktails and making breakfast for people.
Speaker B:Lee, you've been doing this a long time.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:We've actually known each other for a long time now, too.
Speaker B:Probably coming up on 10 years almost.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, solid.
Speaker B:Yeah, something like that.
Speaker B:But you started at Shoney's.
Speaker B:You started with this omelet station.
Speaker B:Is there anything that you learned then that you're applying to, you know, your today's role?
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:I got to have the face to face contact with my guests.
Speaker C:Not only that, I got to see the reactions to things.
Speaker C:I mean, don't get me wrong, I had, like, the whole setup going.
Speaker C:I would have, you know, the behind the back flips.
Speaker C:I would do all these crazy tricks, like.
Speaker C:Like a hibachi AMA guy.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:So having that front interaction with people and wanting to do better, put on a better show, knowing how they like their eggs, whether it was, like, you know, burned or just beautiful and basted with butter, I just learned quick.
Speaker C:And I learned, you know, not the hard way, but literally trial by fire, because if they didn't like it, they would tell you right to your face.
Speaker B:I've witnessed that myself.
Speaker B:I've seen it.
Speaker B:I know what happens.
Speaker B:The Amlokai gets abused, right or wrong.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:Like, hey, let's just.
Speaker C:Let's go to a Mother's Day at, like, a buffet somewhere.
Speaker C:You want to.
Speaker C:You really want to feel the heat.
Speaker C:You want to just, you know, have a bunch of very angry mothers at you, then burn their omelets and find out, you know, the omelet guy and.
Speaker D:The walk guy, those are the guys that can stand alone, especially if there's no tickets.
Speaker D:You just call them from Expo.
Speaker D:Those two guys are the guys that I would go to war with on my side.
Speaker C:There you go.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And you got to be able to talk to these people, too.
Speaker C:You know, you got to have a little bit of Banter.
Speaker C:Like you are a bartender, you know?
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker D:Definitely.
Speaker D:You know, one thing I've noticed, Chef, from.
Speaker D:From just studying you and.
Speaker D:And studying the.
Speaker D:And just seeing what you're doing.
Speaker D:Your style of cooking is now kind of continental in a way.
Speaker D:Is that you coming up with that, or is it just the fact that you spearhead so many brands that you have to kind of become continental in the way you cook?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Representing all these different types of concepts, you know, you could lose yourself.
Speaker C:Man.
Speaker C:I remember when I was a young chef, I had my executive chef.
Speaker C:I was chasing this dream of having, like, this white coat, white apron, the white tote hat.
Speaker C:You know, it's going to be like all.
Speaker C:All that stuff.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:And he sat me down and told me, that's not me.
Speaker C:That's not my personality.
Speaker C:So he told me to go find myself on a plate, and then I had to, like, really figure out what that meant.
Speaker C:And that meant, you know, figuring out what I want to do, what my perception is, what my personality is, and find that concept that I can emulate.
Speaker B:Well, there's some breadcrumbs there.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:You're talking about right now.
Speaker B:You're overseeing what, seven concepts?
Speaker C:Yes, sir.
Speaker B:And those concepts all have to separate.
Speaker B:They each have to have their own identity.
Speaker B:How are you managing that?
Speaker C:I think the first step is to find individuals that have these type of personalities and skill sets, and that's not always easy to match the certain concepts.
Speaker C:So not one of the restaurants or concepts is the same as the other, so it's hard to match and pair that up.
Speaker C:But when you find it, you know, it's like a combination to a lock.
Speaker C:It just clicks and works.
Speaker B:Yeah, but inspiration, menu inspiration.
Speaker B:Where's that coming from?
Speaker B:7.
Speaker B:Seven concepts.
Speaker B:It's not one concept.
Speaker B:It's not like, oh, we have our first unit, and we're doubling up on a second unit.
Speaker B:Same menu.
Speaker B:You have seven different concepts.
Speaker B:So, yeah, you have people in place.
Speaker B:Are you allowing them to actually, you know, put their own menu stamp on some of the stuff, or are you guiding them?
Speaker C:Yeah, that's what I'm there to do as a culinary director.
Speaker C:I've been the chef, the sous chef, the dishwasher.
Speaker C:I am entrusting these individuals, these professionals that we have decided to work together, and they're putting their own personal touches to it, and then I'm actually just guiding them to success.
Speaker C:So if it's a concept, concept forward, if it's going to be fine dining, if it's going to be fast casual, then that's their concept.
Speaker C:And then we're working together while they're building their menus and building their teams and doing some special events along the way as well.
Speaker D:If you weren't doing this, what would you be doing?
Speaker C:I'd probably be a contractor.
Speaker C:I would just be.
Speaker C:I can't have idle hands, man.
Speaker C:I got to work.
Speaker C:I can't have downtime.
Speaker C:I just like to, you know, when I found myself, pedal to the metal, I'm good with my hands.
Speaker C:I'm good mentally, and I'm good with instructing others on how to get, you know, jobs and focuses accomplished.
Speaker D:You don't burn out from it, man.
Speaker C:You know, I've seen a lot of people burn fuses, and unfortunately, some of them never came back.
Speaker C:I think I burned quite a bit of fuses in my fuse box.
Speaker C:But I'm lucky enough that if I have, I have a support from, you know, family, friends, other people, chefs that would pick me up and keep me going, you know, isn't that a choice?
Speaker B:Isn't it a choice to burn out?
Speaker B:You know, listen, I'm not.
Speaker B:I'm not.
Speaker B:I'm not.
Speaker B:I'm not from the kitchen, right?
Speaker B:But I am from the industry front of the house, starting, right?
Speaker B:And it's the same sort of vibe.
Speaker B:We're all going through the same rush.
Speaker B:We're all dealing with the same tickets that get blown.
Speaker B:You know, it's the same pass, right?
Speaker B:And in the end, we choose to go out with the cats that are going to be up, you know, until 8 o' clock the next morning.
Speaker B:That's what we do.
Speaker B:It's a choice.
Speaker B:How do you mentor somebody or guide somebody away from those choices, or do they have to just kind of go through it, learn it, so they understand it?
Speaker C:Yeah, I think you have to.
Speaker C:I mean, you can tell somebody to do something, and I'm probably that person, or I have been that person.
Speaker C:If you tell me to do something, I'm not, I'm gonna do it.
Speaker C:I'm actually gonna do it.
Speaker C:Don't touch that handle.
Speaker C:It's hot, man.
Speaker C:I want to know how hot it is and how much I can hold on to it.
Speaker C:So, I mean, with certain individuals, you just have to read the.
Speaker C:Read the field a little bit better.
Speaker C:Let them.
Speaker C:Let them find out.
Speaker C:Let them, you know, let them try to test the water a little bit and let them find out.
Speaker C:And then I'm not gonna do an I told you so moment there, because I've.
Speaker C:This has happened to me so much in my life that, you know, I Don't need somebody there to say, I told you so.
Speaker C:I'm saying, you know, okay, so that happened.
Speaker C:So let's move forward, and let's not have that happen again.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker B:Puji.
Speaker D:Yes, sir.
Speaker C:Thoughts?
Speaker D:I think that we kind of got off the subject of that question, in a sense of where you acts like, don't we control it?
Speaker D:Can we control the burnout?
Speaker D:Yes.
Speaker D:At the end of the day, I think the pressure stacked against people aspiring to be a chef, proving to themselves, proving to their loved ones that they picked the right career path.
Speaker D:And I think.
Speaker D:I think a lot of chefs these days weren't really worried about the going out or partying till the wee hours kind of things that we did back then and there.
Speaker D:I think a lot of people now are realizing that there's AI around the corner, there's all these advancements in the kitchen, and just in.
Speaker D:In any industry, really.
Speaker D:But right about now, I think there's a lot of people that have dedicated that good 10 to 15 years that are on the cusp of saying, am I really?
Speaker D:Should I go this far?
Speaker D:And that's the decision right then there.
Speaker D:When you have to realize if you're going to burn out or not.
Speaker D:And then from that point, it's kind of luck, in my opinion.
Speaker D:It's about relationships and fostering those relationships with people that can pull you up to be in food media or be a culinary director of seven different concepts.
Speaker D:You know, those kind of places right there, it's chessboard rather than culinary skills or anything like that.
Speaker D:And some people don't have those skills to move those chessboards.
Speaker D:And those, to me, are the people that are going to say, I'm jumping off the porch head first.
Speaker D:After 10, 15 years in this industry, I could make a decision on my career.
Speaker D:I'm going to stick with this.
Speaker D:And those are the people, to me, that burn out where they don't get to the plateau they think they could get to.
Speaker D:And it's a.
Speaker D:It's a tough place to be.
Speaker C:Yeah, I don't think a lot of people understand they do have a choice, and that's very tough because we're doing the same thing over and over.
Speaker C:And that's like, in a lot of industries.
Speaker C:So you get so wrapped up in it.
Speaker C:I mean, it's always said it's just food.
Speaker C:It's not life or death, but that's not the way we handle it usually.
Speaker C:And I think nowadays with a younger generation coming in, they're talking about it, they're talking about they got choices they're different than the mentality of when you and I were coming in and that old regime of things.
Speaker C:And I think it's great, I think it's a great evolution of an industry that needed to be talked about and I'm glad there's banter out there about it.
Speaker D:It's crazy to see the newer generation and how they embrace life.
Speaker D:You know, just have a 17 year old daughter and seeing how she embraces life and then seeing how kids embrace life in this culinary industry because they're learning from us, but on a different level, whether it be social media, chef's table, Netflix, whatever it is, they're learning from there rather than learning from a book or an encyclopedia.
Speaker D:How we had to do when we were just dreaming, wanting to be this, you know, a chef as kids.
Speaker B:I think one of the biggest takeaways from all of this is if we, if you can explain to somebody who's younger coming up how time is so important because that's really what it boils down to.
Speaker B:You.
Speaker B:You know, I was, I have 10 years of restaurant and I would say the last three or middle, the middle ish to the end was debaucherous.
Speaker B:Like I was living that life and I wasted three, three years of, I don't remember half of it, you know.
Speaker A:So you come to a place where.
Speaker B:That'S way behind me, you know, wife, kids, doing all that stuff and I see younger people now who, you can tell they're on the cusp.
Speaker B:They got that, they got that little twinkle, right?
Speaker B:They got that spirit where they want to go out.
Speaker B:You know, they're going to go, you know, they're going to just suck it all down.
Speaker B:People like that.
Speaker B:I want to tell them, like, hey, you know, pump the brakes, bump the brakes.
Speaker B:You're, you're gonna waste, you're gonna look back and go, oh my God, I could have done so much to advance myself, my family, start a fan, whatever.
Speaker B:Like you waste that time, it's, you can never get it back.
Speaker D:I think honestly we've come to the point where we're all men because I think that we think that way in me trying to, you know, when I, when I say of kind council or.
Speaker D:But when I talk to young chefs just about the industry now, you know, when, when I was coming up in the industry, there was, you know, a couple of hot shots that we thought we were hot shots and we were pretty talented, what have you.
Speaker D:And then there were the, there's one or two nerds that were just in there and this was all about that.
Speaker D:And we always mocked them, but we knew that those kids were going to be execs one day.
Speaker D:They were going to be great.
Speaker D:They weren't surpass us, but they didn't want to have fun.
Speaker D:They wanted to engulf themselves in the industry.
Speaker D:These days, these kids are all engulfing themselves in the industry and they're going headfirst into it.
Speaker D:And they don't drink and they don't go out and they don't do all these different things.
Speaker D:It's just kind of a different generation.
Speaker D:And kids are influenced by way different stuff than we ever were influenced by.
Speaker D:And it's just kind of baffling to me.
Speaker D:But it's cool.
Speaker D:I hope we don't hit a brick wall.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I sit on a board for Pinellas Technical Culinary here in Pinellas or in Pinellas county, back in St. Pete, and I'm lucky enough to interact with a bunch of the students.
Speaker C:And man, you know, they.
Speaker C:They have their textbooks.
Speaker C:That's great.
Speaker C:But like, you know, they don't want to do that.
Speaker C:I had to.
Speaker C:I downloaded TikTok because that's how they told me they were learning how to cook.
Speaker C:And I was just like, no, I'm not downloading that.
Speaker C:And like, it's one more social media platform.
Speaker C:I had to see what the heck they were talking about.
Speaker C:Now I checked it out and whatnot.
Speaker C:But then I since have uninstalled it, by the way.
Speaker C:So don't try to find me.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:Or send me anything on TikTok at 5 in the morning with like your crappy lasagna or something like that.
Speaker C:But I have to evolve and see what this generation is doing.
Speaker C:And then I have to understand otherwise, coming from the old regime, from where we were, I mean, it's just not going to be a good result for me or my team if I'm in that position.
Speaker C:So that's very interesting.
Speaker B:Rustic French meets modern craveability.
Speaker B:That's your style, chef.
Speaker B:Tell me about how you found your place, your style in culinary.
Speaker C:Once I had that conversation with my executive chef, he, you know, pointed that to me about my dream was to have the white chef coat, white hotel hat and all that stuff.
Speaker C:I went out to California and I found a French chef that actually emulated this thing.
Speaker C:And I staged out there for about, I don't know, two weeks to three weeks out in la.
Speaker C:And he had modern techniques, but, you know, the old French, the classics never die.
Speaker C:It's like great music, but he was doing cool stuff.
Speaker C:You know, it was liquid Nitrogen.
Speaker C:It was, you know, using hydrocolloids, but, you know, not bastardizing the mother sauces and stuff like that.
Speaker C:And I thought it was really cool.
Speaker C:So after that, I kind of got the gist of whatever my process was going to be on a plate.
Speaker C:Now I could just substitute ingredients on those plates to understand who I was.
Speaker B:I mean, you're talking about California.
Speaker B:It's a great starting place, and it's a great segue into where we were.
Speaker B:Walk and talk media last week.
Speaker B:Pooch.
Speaker B:Talk about it, baby.
Speaker D:How was that, first of all, coming from Guess from central East Coast, Guess what?
Speaker D:We were all coming from this side of the world of the United States.
Speaker D:Just getting there.
Speaker D:It's a whole new world.
Speaker D:It's different time zone.
Speaker D:You're.
Speaker D:You're gaining more time when you get out there.
Speaker D:So you.
Speaker D:You leave like, you know that they're early in the morning.
Speaker D:You're adding another three to four hours to your day.
Speaker D:And it's just a whirlwind of flavors and fun out there.
Speaker D:Especially when you go to the California restaurant show and just to meet some cool things, you know, shout out to Preston Lee.
Speaker D:He's texting me right now while we're on the podcast.
Speaker D:I was like, hey, man, we're on the podcast.
Speaker D:But we met Preston Lee out there.
Speaker D:We met Sean Walshelf, who was amazing, amazing podcaster and really inspirational in what he's doing out there.
Speaker D:And it was great to meet him.
Speaker D:We had just missed each other at the NRA National Restaurant show, and we got to finally meet him out there.
Speaker D:And it's just always great to go out there and just be inspired by different, you know, I want to say different flavors, because it's the same flavors we all utilize now.
Speaker D:It's kind of cross fusion of everything, but at the same time, it's just done a little bit different and just really intrigued.
Speaker D:We got to eat some truffles.
Speaker D:We got some really cold organ truffles.
Speaker D:I've never had Oregon truffles before.
Speaker D:They were pretty good.
Speaker D:Just seeing different styles of chefs.
Speaker D:The west coast chef is influenced by so many different things.
Speaker D:And I always, you know, always was influenced in coming up in my career by Australia, because I always felt like they were doing things first.
Speaker D:And I was like, cool.
Speaker D:It's the beginning of the day in Australia.
Speaker D:But now that I go, when more and more I go out to the West Coast, I realize that they get to absorb everything and they're the last call.
Speaker D:And that fusion, to me is pretty dope.
Speaker B:I had a blast that was my first time in Cali.
Speaker B:And first of all, our Sherpa Fiona.
Speaker B:Chef Fiona, thank you just for being just cool as hell, man.
Speaker B:I can't wait to go back.
Speaker B:I didn't think I was going to feel that way, to tell you the truth.
Speaker B:As it turns out, I want to go back, but I want to explore next time.
Speaker B:I want to get out there a little bit.
Speaker B:Went to Anaheim, which was great.
Speaker B:Anaheim's awesome.
Speaker D:The O.C.
Speaker B:Yeah, we're in O.C.
Speaker B:baby.
Speaker B:But I, I want to get like a little bit past there, you know, I want to see, I want to see some of the non Disney esque art here.
Speaker D:It was very manicured.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, you know what it is.
Speaker B:So we're here in Tampa.
Speaker B:Orlando's right there.
Speaker B:And if you ask me, the Disney, Orlando area, it's the same cutout, same feel, same vibe, same look as the Anaheim Disney area.
Speaker B:I thought it was fascinating.
Speaker B:I swear I felt like I was, you know, driving through Dr. Phillips area or something like that.
Speaker B:But what a great experience.
Speaker B:And we met a lot of amazing people.
Speaker D:Speaking of Disney, the, you know, the head of culinary over there at Disneyland is John State.
Speaker D:Had a wonderful interview with him.
Speaker D:Learned so much from him and kind of just the protocol of how things go over there.
Speaker D:Pretty dope.
Speaker B:What was interesting about Chef John State is that you were doing all the interviews and I kind of butted in and I got to do something, which I'm not gonna say it was like a bucket list thing, but I thought it was cool.
Speaker B:Mickey Mouse.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So Pooch is sitting there, we're doing interviews.
Speaker B:He's got the corporate chef for Disneyland at the booth.
Speaker B:And it was, I was last.
Speaker B:It was the last question.
Speaker B:And I said, pooch, wait, wait, hold on.
Speaker B:You know, and I took the, took his card with the, with the question.
Speaker B:And I was like, all right now, Chef, go ahead and tell me what your favorite food is.
Speaker A:And I did this thing.
Speaker B: as listen, Nerd factor times: Speaker B:I get it.
Speaker B:But I enjoyed the hell out of it.
Speaker B:And so did he.
Speaker B:He put a smile on it was magical.
Speaker D:I'm just saying I think he enjoyed being able to not have to be so stiff.
Speaker D:You know, normally we go into these corporate kind of interviews.
Speaker D:He's kind of have.
Speaker D:And he was able to be himself.
Speaker D:And he.
Speaker D:I felt, it felt good to get that out of chefs.
Speaker D:And I mentioned that a lot of times before.
Speaker D:Chefs are four walls closing in on them.
Speaker D:We're able to bring things out of Them that normally most people can't at Disney.
Speaker B:Listen, if you're looking for a Mickey.
Speaker A:Mouse guy, I can do it.
Speaker B:I'm just saying I'm putting it out there.
Speaker C:Yeah, I think you waited for the right delivery to drop that.
Speaker C:That was amazing.
Speaker C:That was good.
Speaker C:Good for you.
Speaker C:It was.
Speaker B:I felt great about it.
Speaker B:I. I was representing my kids.
Speaker D:Speaking of representing my kids, I was the one doing the right side up pineapple suits in in California and that was a hit.
Speaker D:It was a.
Speaker B:You and Ian hit the home run on that.
Speaker D:Shout out to Ian, man.
Speaker B:Total shout out to Ian.
Speaker B:He's a good dude.
Speaker B:He's totally good dude.
Speaker B:Blake, you've cooked on TV at Savor St. Pete.
Speaker B:Like, you win these things.
Speaker B:You even did some stuff at the beard house.
Speaker B:How do you prepare yourself and your dishes for high, visible moments like that?
Speaker C:Basically, you can go ahead and try to mise en place out your whole mindset, but it's never going to happen that way.
Speaker C:So you just have a good idea of what you think about when you need to show up.
Speaker C:And you say that I've won competitions and I have or whatever, but I would say I just showed show up to compete no matter what.
Speaker C:So if that awards something, then great.
Speaker C:But I'm always going to be out there competing and then the results are going to be tell storytelling as well.
Speaker B:So, yeah, I mean, you just.
Speaker B:Just say what it is.
Speaker B:I just show up and.
Speaker B:And gunsling and that's cool, man.
Speaker B:That's that far.
Speaker B:But, well, it's like that.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:That's its own skill set because not everybody can do that.
Speaker B:Some people have to really.
Speaker D:Managing chaos is a.
Speaker D:The best skills that you can have in the world, and that's kind of being a shuffle and especially like Hunter in the competition world, you know.
Speaker C:So, yeah, I've been told I live in chaos and I think I do a pretty good job on managing it.
Speaker C:So do you feel like you love.
Speaker D:It and you need it?
Speaker C:You know, the silence is what's maddening to me.
Speaker C:I cannot stand silence.
Speaker C:I need to have pots and pans banging something, kicking a timer, going off or what have you.
Speaker C:The silence is maddening for me.
Speaker D:You know, in this industry, the thing that we call this industry, and I'm sure you have so many people that are subordinate to you and rules, rules, rules, rules, rules, rules.
Speaker D:What is a rule that you enjoy breaking?
Speaker C:Let's just say, you know, the people that you trained with that you were lucky enough to learn from whatever had these, like, habits they Were trying to break you of or try to develop these habits, right?
Speaker C:So I'm just thinking, like, I have this bad habit of I keep my towels always nice and folded, okay?
Speaker C:But I put them in my back pocket.
Speaker C:Now, my chefs that have trained me would do, you know, horrible things to me if they ever saw that my pockets or that I had clean towels in my pockets, because that's just an oxymoron.
Speaker C:It's a.
Speaker C:It's a dirty pocket.
Speaker C:You put money in your pocket, your pockets are dirty.
Speaker C:Da, da, da.
Speaker C:Why would you do that?
Speaker C:You're cleaning things, and you're putting it in your pocket.
Speaker C:Okay, I get it.
Speaker C:I understand.
Speaker C:So I try to do better, because if I see my guys doing that, then I'm like, damn, they learned that from me, man.
Speaker C:I gotta.
Speaker C:I gotta do better.
Speaker C:You know, I gotta get that.
Speaker C:Break my own habit there.
Speaker C:So, you know, it's like putting up a mirror reflection there.
Speaker C:And I'm sure there's other bad habits that, you know, I've adapted to or what have you, but I.
Speaker C:Trying to put the mirror up with myself and then my other people and say, man, did they do that or did they get that from me?
Speaker C:I mean, we'll see what happens here.
Speaker D:So, chef, tell me something that nobody prepares for, being a chef.
Speaker D:You know, you can prepare for all these different things in your life.
Speaker D:What being a chef, something that nobody prepares for.
Speaker C:Balance.
Speaker C:Trying to understand balance.
Speaker C:Not even in the world, but in your world, personal, professional, and everybody else's worlds that you have affected, Whether it's your team of people and guess what, your guest as well.
Speaker B:We're talking about chaos.
Speaker B:We're talking about multiple units.
Speaker B:We're talking about just this.
Speaker B:This restaurant life.
Speaker B:I remember a time a couple of years back, I showed up making a call, and I think you had an inspector there.
Speaker B:Your pipes blew, you know, the water main or whatever the hell happened there.
Speaker B:And there was like three or four other things that were happening across the.
Speaker B:Across the boundaries or borders of the restaurant.
Speaker B:So the pier is about, I don't know what, a half a mile away, things were happening there.
Speaker B:You're at Birchwood, and it's literally flooding out.
Speaker B:And I think your cooler was down.
Speaker B:I think your cooler went down, too.
Speaker B:I don't remember if that was the right time, but all of these things happen to you, and it happens to.
Speaker A:Everybody in the business.
Speaker B:How are you dealing with that?
Speaker C:You know, it's one bite at a time.
Speaker C:You know, I. Geez, yeah, I could be doing a wedding tasting in The.
Speaker C:In our grand ballroom facility.
Speaker C:And I can have so much potential clientele, guest money up there ready to, like, you know, book, if they haven't already.
Speaker C:Well, guess what.
Speaker C:The toilet's gonna overflow.
Speaker C:What's the staff gonna do?
Speaker C:Chef, we need you.
Speaker C:Okay, there's something else.
Speaker C:Awesome.
Speaker C:Okay, Maybe a fire, a pipe bust downstairs, and nobody knows what to do because there's no water cutoff.
Speaker C:And yada, yada, yada.
Speaker C:These things are not just going to happen in threes.
Speaker C:Whoever the hell brought that up, that's great.
Speaker C:That just means watch out after three.
Speaker C:Okay?
Speaker C:If you can't take three punches, then stay down.
Speaker C:All right, well, I'll tell you what.
Speaker B:Was remarkable about that day, because, you know, I was doing my thing.
Speaker B:I walked up, and you know me, I'm, you know, I'm just cool cat.
Speaker B:I'm not letting things stress me out.
Speaker B:Neither do you.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:You know, we're talking like, you gave me time.
Speaker B:You actually sat with me for a minute, and then you're like, hey, Carl, listen, by the way, look, there's a water pipe that burst, and then you.
Speaker A:Start going down the checklist of things.
Speaker B:That you're doing, and I'm looking at you, and I'm like, why did you.
Speaker B:Why didn't you kick me out like any other respectable chef would have?
Speaker B:Like, hey, not today, dude.
Speaker B:Get the hell out of here.
Speaker C:So, like we mentioned earlier, living in chaos, you know, these things are going to happen.
Speaker C:Like I said, you can't take three punches, then you just stay down.
Speaker C:And you just have to let these instances, no matter what they are, let them happen.
Speaker C:Let people figure it out.
Speaker C:Let the damage do itself, and people see how they react, and they learn.
Speaker C:Before I get into it now, you know, if it's severity, if somebody's on fire, I'm definitely going to put them out.
Speaker C:But if I'm freaking out, everybody's freaking out.
Speaker C:If somebody's freaking out and I'm not freaking out, I pull them aside, talk to them in a nice tone, and say simply, I don't know why you're freaking out, but none of us are freaking out.
Speaker C:Please take five.
Speaker B:Kids are walking.
Speaker D:I think that listening to that part, you.
Speaker D:I've learned a lot from you and that I think I realized where my take three punches and not get back up is.
Speaker D:And it was because the New Orleans system is crumbling right before our eyes.
Speaker D:James Beard award winners are losing their restaurants.
Speaker D:But when I had that epiphany that I didn't want to do it anymore was like when our third or fourth boil water advisory of that week and everything that we had cooked and everything that we had prepped had to now be disposed and done all over again.
Speaker D:And I thought at the third, couldn't be anything more.
Speaker D:We did it again and we did it again and made me realize that I was living in third world country.
Speaker D:But I, I, I just, you just haven't make me have epiphanies and realizations.
Speaker D:And for Carl to ask me how I felt about that, it's like I used to thrive on living in the chaos.
Speaker D:And I think that now we have a different type of chaos.
Speaker D:And I think that when you find people that can kind of balance the same chemistry, we come up with superb work.
Speaker D:Like California, you know, it's just, you have to be been born in the chaos, baptized in it, figure out how to crawl the hell out of there, and then now adapt that chaos and everything you've learned to a higher purpose, I guess you would say.
Speaker D:I don't know if that makes any sense, but it made sense to me 100%.
Speaker B:I come from chaos too.
Speaker B:At, from the workplace, at home, like, it's abs.
Speaker B:Abject chaos.
Speaker B:We go to California, it's fun.
Speaker B:It's not chaos at all.
Speaker B:Even with hurdles, doesn't matter.
Speaker B:Nothing compared to some of the stuff that you go through inside of a building like that, you know, inside of a restaurant, hotel, whatnot.
Speaker B:For what our deliverables have to be.
Speaker B:Obviously there's stuff going on behind the scenes that the people who run and operate the show, yeah, they have chaos.
Speaker B:Like they're dealing with the chaos, but it's different than what we have, and we just have to show up and, you know, be stars, you know, and I don't mean that in that kind of way, but just be the town, be the talent, have fun, and make great content, great media.
Speaker D:Chef.
Speaker D:Seven different concepts, obviously, all throughout your year, your years, and through your career.
Speaker D:How do you stay motivated?
Speaker D:Today I watched you, you make three dishes.
Speaker D:Everything was creative, everything was brilliant, everything tasted amazing.
Speaker D:I was just blown away by the fact that you just caraway into the pumpkin puree to like, to give that flavor of a piece of rye bread.
Speaker D:I kept wanting the bread, not really the texture, but it changed my, like, it made my brain think there was supposed to be bread.
Speaker D:When I'm actually taking, tasting a puree, you know, how do you stay creative like that?
Speaker D:Man, you know, sometimes I can't even cook a grilled cheese sandwich without saying I'm bowing out.
Speaker C:Like, how do you say?
Speaker D:I say that creative.
Speaker C:And, you know, I'm a firm believer.
Speaker C:I don't know the.
Speaker C:The back of the house, no matter what, doesn't matter what type of amenities you have.
Speaker C:If you're working with me, I am setting the toast.
Speaker C:Excuse me.
Speaker C:I'm setting the tone, and I'm setting the pace, no matter what.
Speaker C:So whoever that first chef is, that's in the morning, flicks on those lights, turn on the burners, and do all that stuff.
Speaker C:That's great.
Speaker C:But now you gotta do consistent things, bring it forward.
Speaker C:And then being creative as well, that's.
Speaker C:That's not everybody's forte, you know, when I'm balancing teams, I understand that.
Speaker C:Sometimes you just don't need a creative.
Speaker C:Sometimes you just need a production.
Speaker C:Maybe you just need something in between.
Speaker C:Maybe you need a dreamer.
Speaker C:Maybe you need somebody that's not a dreamer, you know?
Speaker C:But it's what you're gonna find out there and surround yourself with that's gonna make me do better.
Speaker C:So I've had individuals that have.
Speaker C:We've worked together, and, man, I've needed little pieces from this chef, that chef, this chef.
Speaker C:And then for me, I'm just wired differently.
Speaker C:I just keep moving.
Speaker C:I just bounce around, and I've got great ideas.
Speaker C:I'll do these ideas, things with my people or get in a circle, and I'll be like, okay, cool.
Speaker C:Banana.
Speaker C:And then pooch, you say lobster.
Speaker C:And then John, you say shallots.
Speaker C:And then Carl, you say something there.
Speaker C:And then we make a dish, right then.
Speaker C:And peppermint oil.
Speaker C:Peppermint oil.
Speaker C:Boom.
Speaker C:But then it's like throwing something at a dartboard.
Speaker C:Why not just have fun about that?
Speaker C:And, like, not talking about food in the kitchens drives me nuts.
Speaker C:I know when it's football season, man, I get it.
Speaker C:I like football, right?
Speaker C:But, like, I don't need to see all my people out on their phones doing the things.
Speaker C:Whatever.
Speaker C:I don't care.
Speaker C:It's about, like, what you had for dinner last night.
Speaker C:I don't give a shit.
Speaker C:I need to hear that.
Speaker C:I need to hear about, like, food.
Speaker C:That's why we're there.
Speaker C:We're getting a.
Speaker C:We're there to get paid to do something, a service for other people, okay?
Speaker C:And if we're not excited about food and we're just talking about, like, you know, whatever else out there.
Speaker C:And I just use football as an example, because that's seasonal, and I get it every time.
Speaker C:So we just need to stay focused and the topics that motivate us, because that's what we're there to do, we're due to.
Speaker C:We're there to do the culinary, the food and be consistent.
Speaker D:I think you touched on something that I think every aspiring chef or even aspiring leader needs to hear about being in the kitchen, is that it always does not have to be creative.
Speaker D:If we have a mission, we have something to do.
Speaker D:I don't need to know about this new technique that I saw.
Speaker D:Well, it may make things faster, but showing everyone how to do it is going to slow everything the F down.
Speaker D:So, like, it just.
Speaker D:I think people get themselves blackballed in those type of situations where people never want to actually create with those people ever again or be in the kitchen or be on a team with those people ever again, because they're always trying to be this creative, impressive person.
Speaker D:A lot of time, it's just about consistency in getting the job done.
Speaker D:And that's what's going to go far than.
Speaker D:Farther than any of your creativity.
Speaker D:You know, you.
Speaker D:You will have the opportunities to be creative if you just shut up and do what you got to do.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Too many moves on a plate.
Speaker D:If that's your pickups.
Speaker C:Oh, my God.
Speaker C:If that's one of your indications there, the pass of the expo and you got more than, like, four moves on the finished plate, man.
Speaker C:Power to you, because that's not going to feel like plate.
Speaker C:You cut all night on a Friday, Friday, Saturday night.
Speaker C:So count your moves.
Speaker C:Count your moves, and then understand if that end result is actually there.
Speaker C:I mean, when I do these huge banquet parties and stuff like that, I'm like, lining up my team.
Speaker C:You right handed?
Speaker C:And the web.
Speaker D:One of the moves, the white.
Speaker C:Oh, my God.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker D:That's got to be one of the moves in this place and that.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:I'm like, are you right handed, left handed?
Speaker C:Are you whatever?
Speaker C:Like, these are important things.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, I count, man.
Speaker C:I have that.
Speaker D:No, most people can't count.
Speaker D:Like, I thought we were at 62, nowhere at 63.
Speaker D:We need to know exactly what number we're at right now.
Speaker D:We have so many of this garnish, so many of that.
Speaker D:Yeah, it's just a good war story.
Speaker D:Shop good to be here.
Speaker C:Yeah, absolutely, Chef.
Speaker B:You're the mayor of St. Pete, culinarily speaking.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:You've done it all.
Speaker B:You're doing a ton of stuff out there.
Speaker B:I would say greater Tampa Bay area.
Speaker B:Don't argue with me.
Speaker B:I'm just saying 20 years from now, young chefs, insane.
Speaker B:Pete, they're going to mention your name.
Speaker B:What do you hope that they're gonna say about you.
Speaker C:Relentless.
Speaker C:Just relentless about this craft.
Speaker C:I'm wired differently.
Speaker C:I don't understand why, but whether it's creative outlook or on my feet for X amount of hours in a day, but leading by example, you know, I was there.
Speaker C:I showed up every day, and maybe I had a cook tell me that Chef Lee was composed of IPA beers in the refrigerator, different flavors of hummus and dull knives and dusty cookbooks is what he told me.
Speaker C:Now, that was only, like, 10 years ago, so I hopefully have evolved from, you know, the hummus and the IPA beers and stuff like that.
Speaker C:Getting older, man.
Speaker C:They don't go well together.
Speaker C:But hopefully in 20 years, I'm not even sure what people would say about me as my craft.
Speaker C:I mean, I wear my.
Speaker C:I wear my legacy in my apron, man.
Speaker C:You know, I'm single, dude, whatever.
Speaker C:You have no children.
Speaker C:What have you.
Speaker C:So what I do is, you know, I hate to say it, I'm selfish, but I do it for me.
Speaker C:But then I do it for my guest as well.
Speaker D:So, Chef, I got to give you your flowers, man.
Speaker D:You really have opened my mind up.
Speaker D:I haven't been back.
Speaker D:I haven't been on the podcast in a while, and I'm glad I came back to able to be here when you're here, because you really opened my eyes and made me think, and that's really why I enjoy being a part of this and meeting new chefs and learning from.
Speaker D:Appreciate you coming back.
Speaker C:Yeah, Chef, it's been good getting to cook for you guys and chat and shop and all that, and, you know, it just feels kinetic, man.
Speaker C:So thank you for the day.
Speaker C:That was really nice.
Speaker B:All right, so look, first of all, I appreciate the fact that you and wifey drove all the way from New Orleans to come out a day early.
Speaker B:We got stuff to do tomorrow, but day early to be on the show.
Speaker B:Lee, you're a freaking monster.
Speaker B:Appreciate you, dude.
Speaker B:John, as always.
Speaker B:Pictures are freaking stupid.
Speaker B:We did have guests today and other guests in the house.
Speaker B:We had Alexia.
Speaker B:We had her mom, Lourdes, and Joanne from Gala group, and stay tuned for that.
Speaker B:I put it at the end because for the real ones who listen to the end know that big things are coming.
Speaker B:And I know who some of you people are who listen to to the end.
Speaker D:I want to give a shout out to Fiero Group, the Fiero Rainmaker, and Pete over at Fiero.
Speaker D:Love the.
Speaker D:Love you guys.
Speaker B:All right, guys.
Speaker B:Oh, hey.
Speaker B:So how do we find you people?
Speaker C:Instagram.
Speaker C:Bad Leroy Brown.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah.
Speaker D:And I'M at foodie patootie.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:Hey, guys, again, appreciate y'.
Speaker C:All.
Speaker B:We are out.
