Mario Brugnoli: Family, Italian Roots, and Michelin Star Dreams

Rising celebrity chef Mario Brugnoli, fresh off his success on the Food Network's "Chopped," joins us for a flavorful conversation that transcends the kitchen. Mario shares his journey through the world of fatherhood and restaurant ownership, offering a glimpse into his creative mind with dishes like his unique soufflé pancake and Grandpa Larry's Benedict—a family recipe with roots in the 1940s. We touch on how his Italian heritage enriches his culinary craft, and the influence of his TV experience on his blossoming career. As we swap stories, the conversation also highlights our shared challenges and triumphs in balancing culinary passion with the responsibilities of family life.

Our dialogue takes an intriguing turn as we explore the demanding yet rewarding realm of the Michelin Star culinary industry. We discuss the rigorous standards and intense environments that shape chefs, taking cues from some of Tampa's visionary culinary minds. Together, we navigate the evolution of Central Florida's produce industry and its role in connecting farm-to-table concepts with fine dining experiences. These insights are paired with my own personal reflections on launching new ventures and tackling the joys of fatherhood, underscoring the diverse paths within the culinary arts and the impact of our Italian roots on our professional journeys.

Community, creativity, and culinary entrepreneurship form the backbone of our conversation as Mario and I explore how chefs can drive social impact. We highlight inspiring initiatives like urban farms and local non-profit partnerships that blend culinary artistry with community engagement. Mario delves into his meticulous entrepreneurial vision, from expanding

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Chapters

• 0:50 Chef Mario Brugnoli's Culinary Journey
• 13:25 Family, Career, and Culinary Dreams
• 18:44 Michelin Star Culinary Industry Insights
• 27:30 Community Engagement and Culinary Philanthropy
• 35:27 Culinary Entrepreneurial Vision and Growth

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:50

Oh yeah, hello, food Fam. This is the Walk Talk podcast, where you will find the perfect blend of food fun and cooking knowledge. I'm your host, carl Fiatini. Welcome to the number one food podcast in the country. We're recording on site at Ibis Images Studios, where food photography comes alive and I get to eat it. Get ready for an exciting episode.

Speaker 1: 1:11

This week we have my friend, the incredible chef, mario Brugnoli. He's joining us here. He's wow. He made it happen. Today, john, the food out of this world. He's a proud St Pete local.

Speaker 1: 1:24

Mario recently made waves on the Food Network's Chop. That was back in May, and we're diving deep into how that experience has helped to transform his culinary journey. On top of that, he's not just juggling pots and pans, he's also embracing fatherhood With the recent arrival of his beautiful baby boy. Man, I'm talking about like multitasking, yeah, big time. Big congratulations to Mario and his wife, wife ashley. With a brand new restaurant, a growing family and a national spotlight on his culinary talent, it's a whirlwind of excitement and challenges. How do they keep it all together, man? I don't know. We're gonna find out. Eager to find out how mario is handing this dynamic mix, stay tuned, tuned.

Speaker 1: 2:05

Chef Mario is on deck the food. I'm going to say it again insane. Wait till you see the pictures. They're all bangers, all of them Chefs. We've been using Metro hot boxes, shelving and even their mobile prep cart around the studio and couldn't be happier. If you're planning on reorganizing your kitchen life, be sure to contact our friends at Metro, your partner in organization and efficiency. You know, john, a lot of people really don't know what it is to do these monologues right? I mean, yeah, sure, this was take two, but it was a home run take two. You know, it's not an easy. This is not an easy life. Content creation is not an easy life. Content creation is not an easy life. Let's welcome Chef Mario to the program.

Speaker 2: 2:55

Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1: 2:55

Man, it is my pleasure. In fact, it was more my pleasure because you, if there were home runs to be hit today, you did them. Thank you, thank you. Yes, let's talk about some of these dishes before we jump into anything. Did them, thank you, thank you.

Speaker 2: 3:08

Yes, let's talk about some of these dishes before we jump into anything, what did you do here today? Yeah, so I have three dishes I did. I did my souffle pancake it's a play on an apple pie pancake a souffle batter that I put caramel, apples, salted pretzel, cinnamon, tahini, whipped cream and spearmint on top. And then, something very close to me, it was my grandpa Larry's Benedict. It's a little plant of Benedict without hollandaise, so a lot of people hate me for it. But garlic bread, garlic butter, two poached eggs, very, very runny yolks, 24-hour ragu, fresh basil off of a plant All my herbs come from plants and a fresh parmesan on top. I'm Aussie select. It's a lamb loin that's already been cured, fully cooked, and I just took that and made a cooked carpaccio out of it, so not raw. A bunch of herbs on top, pickled onions, house-made yogurt, two McFried chickpeas and nice little salt lemon, very, very acidic, nice, fresh.

Speaker 1: 3:55

So normally there's a dish that I'm like meh, Meh. Today they were all bangers Awesome.

Speaker 2: 4:02

Each and every one.

Speaker 1: 4:03

Yeah, no, listen, grandpa, larry, I'm going to probably have to go with that being my number one. Yeah, yeah, because you know, obviously we're both of Italian heritage, exactly, and that reminded me of where I come from. So you did a super job on that, thank you. So let's talk about that real quick too, because that recipe goes back to the 40s.

Speaker 2: 4:25

Yeah, so, being past four generations, that was my great-grandpa, grandpa Larry. So started before, I'm pretty sure, his mother, my great-great-grandma, either his mother or somebody along that line. It started in 1940, and the earliest paper I have says 1960. On it it's his sausage recipe and he made sausage, meatballs and then also a sauce. So all three components bring alive Grandpa Larry's Benedict.

Speaker 1: 4:45

Who's going to complain about that?

Speaker 2: 4:48

Nobody. I'm sure somebody will. Somebody, somebody out there's. Oh yeah, you don't have hollandaise on a benedict. I want hollandaise, so no this is this is a different sort of a thing.

Speaker 1: 4:55

Yeah, this is a different sort of a of a deal. Exactly, I don't. Yeah, it's not traditional and and the reality is I would eat that every day. Oh yeah, yeah, you can eat it every day garlic.

Speaker 2: 5:05

It's sort of a planned breakfast, but also an entree, a lunch. Very light bread, red sauce, throwing poached egg on top.

Speaker 1: 5:13

And about the poached egg dish. You know we do all the things that we have to do the video, the photography and that that dish is waiting to be had by me and and john too, so that we're waiting to eat this dish. Finally we get to. It had to be like 30, 40 minutes later. You said, chef, nah, oh, the yolk's gotta be dried out. When I cut into that bocce, tag it, it was beautiful, it was the most beautiful sight to see.

Speaker 1: 5:57

Still runny, still yucky yeah, man, I I really enjoyed the hell out of that. Oh yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, good job, man. Your restaurant's what?

Speaker 2: 6:04

six months old now yeah, so we've been open about eight months, but we're only open 12 days a month. So my little joke is every two months we're open 24 days. But realistically, in the real world, two months is only one month. So after one year we're only going to be open for six months.

Speaker 1: 6:18

Like I'm not in the mood for like math, okay. Like everybody just shut the radio off, yeah.

Speaker 2: 6:23

You know what we're done here. So let's say, eight months yeah.

Speaker 1: 6:26

All right, so we'll say eight months. Eat art love. Where'd the name come from?

Speaker 2: 6:31

So it's actually my investor, jose's, kind of brainchild. Those were the two things that he had. He had a lease and he had an idea for a name called Eat Art Love, where he wanted to showcase local artists.

Speaker 1: 6:42

So this is interesting to me ago, and John too, actually, not that we're artists, we can't say that anymore. Huh, no, we were at one time you could say, cause we're very much into doing that. You know, I was into charcoals and pastels and stuff, and John was just a bad-ass too with everything he was doing, right? So when you told me that you actually pick the art, yeah, yeah, exactly, so it's hanging up in the dining room and everything.

Speaker 2: 7:06

Yeah, so it's me and my general manager. I call it like a two-person show. She's pretty much a jack-of-all-trades. She has to serve, she has to do everything. And then me, on the other end, I market, I sit down with the artists. They show me their art. I make sure I choose their profiles so I look for people like that to bring in and not we don't charge them to be on the wall. Their art gets hung up and if, if by chance, somebody buys a piece, then we take a small percentage. But it's a platform for for 60 days for them to sit there and have a free platform to hang their art and show their words and show their, their, their history and their art through their pieces has there been a pretty good flow.

Speaker 1: 7:48

Are people purchasing?

Speaker 2: 7:51

Yeah, so we haven't sold any pieces yet, because I feel like it's the aspect of breakfast and you're not really wanting to cap like, oh, let me take that home, but on Art Walk, every second Saturday of every month there's Art Walk, so I open up for nighttime and we showcase those pieces. So those pieces, people come in and I have small bites wine and it's all about the art instead of more about food. On a Sunday brunch these days really show the artist and I even do meet the artist, where the artist will be on site and we actually do small bites wine and that person can talk and can bring in their own guests and it's a pop-up for the artist.

Speaker 1: 8:25

I think that's spectacular. I wish there was something like that 30 years ago. The chef's life it's a rough life, oh yeah, arduous. You seem to have found a balance. Yeah, new baby, new restaurant. You were supposed to come on this show about four months ago. Yeah, three, four months ago exactly. Yeah, you were on Chopped. How are you balancing all of this?

Speaker 2: 8:50

Yeah, so it's a balancing act, obviously. What I would say is I slowed down and I really look at my dreams. My dream was to have a baby Ever since I was nine years old. My mom and dad came down with cancer when I was 10 and passed away when I was 16. So 16 years old. So these are all dreams of mine.

Speaker 2: 9:06

I wanted to have a kid because my parents were old. They were 72 and 60 when they passed away. So, anyway, very old parents, parents that couldn't do things with me. So my first dream was to have a baby when I was young. So I got into a position in my life, worked hard enough, so by 29 years old I owned my own restaurant and had my own baby.

Speaker 2: 9:22

So at that same time now I'm not working, I'm not living a life that is somebody else's dream or I'm just chasing it. It's something. So the hard days, that's what gets me through it. Having a baby, having a wife, having the big dream and sitting there in the middle of your dream and saying this is my dream. You can't get upset at your dream if it's really your dream. So, waking up early, him screaming at me, changing the diapers, having guests come in him screaming at me, changing the diapers, having guests come in coming on, shows like this going on, chopped, all those little things. At the end of the day, it's very hard, it's a balancing act, but I look myself in the mirror daily and I really tell myself, dude, this is your dream, get out of it, get past it. Just work harder for it.

Speaker 1: 9:58

How long were you out of town or away from the family when you went on Chopped?

Speaker 2: 10:03

So I was only gone for one week, but it was the week before Christmas and my wife was seven months pregnant. So in the restaurant was I just got the keys to the door, my investor me and him sat down, gave me full fledged reins of everything and I told him if the restaurant, by chance, if we were going to open, I was going to be gone for chop, so went up to chop for that week, came back to Christmas, took new years and then we opened the restaurant 30 days later.

Speaker 1: 11:02

Have you been away from the family since the baby's born?

Speaker 2: 11:06

No, I have not, luckily. So that was again leading back to that dream. It was my dream to, when I had a baby, be home with him. So I'm home four days, monday through Thursday. I watch him. I take care of him from morning to night. The only three days I don't have with him are the days that my restaurant's open Friday, saturday, sunday. But that was important to spend every day at least half of the day, majority of the day, with him.

Speaker 1: 11:28

It's a hard thing, man. When I first moved up to Tampa from Miami, I had a one-year-old. She was my daughter and I was away from them. I guess she was like seven or eight months old. I moved up to Tampa without them and it took them about three months to get up here. It was brutal. I yeah the guilt I had. So I had terrible guilt, yeah, but it was. You know, it's a necessary thing, you. You sometimes you got to uproot and move on and and, and you know, deal with those sort of decisions.

Speaker 2: 12:01

Exactly, and I'm sure down the road as the like. We're in busy season right now is December. I'm already having to miss some days with them and miss mornings turning into nights. So it's already I'm sure down the road as the restaurant gets busier before I can let somebody else take control of it. There are going to be mornings, nights that I will miss school, some events, but I've gotten to a point in my life to where that's the dream. You know what I mean and I'm living how.

Speaker 1: 12:22

I want to live. Does the family, does your son, have any influence on your menu?

Speaker 2: 12:29

Oh, yeah for sure. So everything comes from family. So my scrambled eggs on the menu, they're soft scrambled eggs that I mount with cream cheese at the end. That's my father's recipe, my grandpa, larry's Benedict. So I kind of try to have a little bit of everything on the menu leading to him. So he's the fourth generation, fifth generation in some senses, so the ideas and inspirations come from.

Speaker 2: 12:50

I like to say this is the first time in my life that I'm cooking real food, that I want to cook Before working at restaurants. You just cook what they want and you're just it's a career for you. You're cooking, you're working. But now I really I taste things. I'm like, ooh, how does that taste how I make him his own baby foods. Like, ooh, how does that taste how I make him his own baby foods. So just putting stuff in that and just really tasting food and just really seeing. Like I made a squash puree the other night and I was like, oh, that'd be amazing if I could use this for him but also use it at the restaurant. So it's kind of like I found a balance of how much I love to really eat because I'm actually tasting the food and doing it for me and doing it for him, instead of just doing it on a line or at a fast-paced restaurant or doing it for somebody else.

Speaker 1: 13:26

And you're seeing that your guests are embracing this. Oh yeah, they love it.

Speaker 2: 13:30

They love the number one when you cook from the heart, when you're cooking with a story, it tastes better. Number two they love the baby aspect of things. A lot of guests my wife will be in there on Saturdays and Sundays I get to walk baby Roman up to them and I call him my little mini sous chef and everybody goes crazy over it. He's everything I do. He's right with me. Everybody says he's my little buddy. So you have a son.

Speaker 1: 13:49

He's in the restaurant. You're looking at him. You're on the line. Maybe he's with your wife. Do you want your child to stay in this sort of industry? Is the food?

Speaker 2: 14:06

industry, something that you want to continue on in your lineage? Yeah, I mean so I wouldn't be against it. My number one aspect would say no, just because of the simple fact my entire heritage was always restaurant forward and people trying to obtain this goal of a restaurant. Or, like I said, my, my grandparents, I, my father's side, everybody has a restaurant side of it. But me doing this, if I would have had to start over again, I love it. I love what I do. I wouldn't change it for the world. But I see the other side of it.

Speaker 2: 14:32

My wife has a degree and she went to UF. She has a college degree. I see the life she lives and how. I don't want to say easy, but just how. That's the life I would have loved to live. If I blinked, then I could be a genie and go back. You know just, you get a degree, you work your butt off in school, you go to a nine to five. It's a lot easier.

Speaker 2: 14:50

Like that's what I want Roman to have. I want now, if he has the blood like me and he really wants to do it, I want a business. I want that. I want that. My head's on a swivel at all times. I'm always trying to do something. He has that business aspect. I would love him to get into the restaurant industry. It's an industry that I would love people to get into. But I would love if I would have went back and had a degree and followed the path that my parents wanted me to and kind of the path I want Roman to follow. I want him to go to school, get that degree and really find a hobby that he can feel proud of and he can be a lot safer in and a lot more coddled, if that's the word I'm looking for.

Speaker 1: 15:26

I'm conflicted on this. My father was an entrepreneur and I always assumed that I would take up on one of his businesses. Yeah, and that never happened, and I didn't go to school and I didn't have anything to fall back on other than my personality.

Speaker 2: 15:46

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 15:48

And that's how I got into. You know, I ended up getting into the sales industry sales business for food and it afforded me a good life and it led up to this place where we are now. I hate to just say content creation, because it really dilutes it.

Speaker 2: 16:06

You know, it's a lot more than that.

Speaker 1: 16:07

In 2024,. Yeah, I'm a content creator. It really dilutes what it is that we do here, but this is the path and this is where we are and I really love it. Yeah, my kids, I would really want them to go to school and learn something, even if it was a vocational school. Like learn a trade. Like if my son wanted to be an electrician or a plumber, that's, that's awesome. You know they're, they're going to, he's going to. You know, own your own business, own it. Don't just work for somebody else, but learn that trade. So I'm a little conflicted on that one.

Speaker 2: 16:43

Yeah, exactly, my big thing is I want him to see my life, see my wife's life, and kind of choose what he wants and if he wants to be like me and if he wants to get burned and be out there all day, and I love it. Like I said, when I wake up in the morning and the drive, the craziness, the chop, the baby, the restaurant, the, this, the that, the meetings, the podcast, all these things, that's where I dad was. I'm there with him every day. Dude, I hate this, but that's how my mom is. She gets to be home every day at five. Hell, yeah, Like that's what I want. I want to fly around the world and have my nine to five take my vacations, take my sick time. I don't. I don't want to be like dad, but if he loves that and he's like I'm hungry.

Speaker 1: 17:21

Chopped, you also got this lease for the restaurant. Now you're at Chopped and you have this restaurant and you have to compete. What are you thinking about?

Speaker 2: 17:32

I'm thinking about number one how much Chopped will help me in my career in this place that I'm about to open up and everything's kind of this path? That's it's December, my baby's going to be born in four months, my restaurant's going to open in two months and Chopped is probably going to come out in six months, so within the next six months of my life. This is where my dream is leading up to. This is where the goals are. This is what working in the industry my entire life. At this point, I've worked 12 years in the industry. Pretty much this is the pyramid of my triangle. This is everything that I've needed and wanted to go and where my next goal is going to be where the next 10 to 15 years of my life is going to look after Chopped after my baby's born and after the lights go on and kind of make my grand entrance, if you will, in the culinary industry.

Speaker 2: 18:15

You did not go to culinary school, no, and you started where I started with Michael Mina at the Sundial in downtown St Pete at Locale Market and Farm Table, cucina. Which is where we met Yep exactly you were a food rep, I'm pretty sure, for mr greens at that time. Yeah, yeah, exactly, small world.

Speaker 1: 18:32

Everybody I met, my entire staff, is from farm table yeah, so when, when that went down, by the way, you, you were naming some at and the gang over there, hi gang, you know what I mean? I haven't seen those, those people, in a long time Since probably, yeah, I was 18.

Speaker 1: 18:45

Yeah, when we first came, when I first moved up here, I was tasked with opening the Central Florida Opco for that produce company. There were three of us that opened this place. I was responsible for sales, the one guy was responsible for accounting and the other one was a warehouse you know, individual and we had to build it from zero. Farm to table was probably I don't know had to be maybe in the first handful of clients.

Speaker 2: 19:15

Well up here I didn't realize they were that small. At that point there was nothing we had we.

Speaker 1: 19:19

I was driving at three in the morning to the produce market to pick up shorts. You know, if we didn't get a load from miami, I had to go to the market to pick it up. Shorts, you know, if we didn't get a load from Miami, I had to go to the market to pick it up. It was literally an 18-hour days for 11 months for me. Yeah, it was crazy, but it was a great experience, as rough as that was a rough, you know. I look back and I'm like man, I don't know how I did that, like how did I not jump off a bridge or something?

Speaker 2: 19:44

you drag yourself through the mud, you get some experience and then you pick yourself up and you're like man, I can do damn anything I was just gonna say that's probably what made that year go by so fast, and that's that's what made you the pioneer in the industry. Now you know, you're just years going by and you're just so much is getting thrown at you. It's like you're like a sports player, you know. I mean You're, anything can get thrown at you. You're going to whack it out of the park.

Speaker 1: 20:06

So farm to table. You're there, michael Mina. It's a big deal.

Speaker 2: 20:11

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 20:12

James Kirby yeah, and he's like. His background was incredible.

Speaker 2: 20:17

Yeah, he was actually my third executive chef there. So we went through plenty of executive chefs.

Speaker 1: 20:21

And.

Speaker 2: 20:21

Michael Mina was the celebrity chef, along with Don Pintabona.

Speaker 1: 20:24

You learned a lot at that place.

Speaker 2: 20:26

Yeah, I was 18 and I was there for four and a half years. I started in the little market downstairs, did all five locations little five stations there's a dry age location, fish and all their corporate chefs and, along with Michael Mina, came down and they, all their corporate chefs, and along with michael mina, came down and they would see my passion, they would see my drive and they would just really put me through the ringer and I call that like my culinary school. So for four years downstairs two of them they put me through everything, taught me dressings, taught me how to dry age, taught me this, taught me that and made me a little lead, started to teach me my management side of things, started to have me do some orders and then, all of a sudden one day they sat me down and were like we're going to bring you up to Farm Table Cucina and it had just been rebranded and it was Italian food. So it was my dream, my dream of getting out of the quicker, fast, casual food and getting to this higher-end world.

Speaker 2: 21:06

My first cooking job was PDQ, so it was Brennan Tenders and I was doing both jobs simultaneously. So finally I get to go upstairs and now it's this real fine dining world. There's lines, there's chef de parties, there's sous chefs, exec sous chefs. Michael Mina's coming and all his corporate chefs now see that I'm upstairs in this. Oh, you're with the big boys now you're not downstairs. Let's see what you got. So I was up there for another two years and made it all the way to a lead line cook until I put in my notice and I went to open up Roca, which is another heavy it was my second restaurant I had ever worked in.

Speaker 2: 21:35

And yeah, of course, two years after I was there for four years I became a second sous chef. I started as just a line cook. Same thing they put me through the ring, they ran me through every station, taught me how to butcher fish, taught me how to butcher ducks, taught me everything at that restaurant, I would say.

Speaker 1: 21:48

They do it so well. You know, listen, I've dealt with, I don't know, countless, countless restaurants and chefs and whatever, and list restaurants and chefs and whatever, and everybody has a standard man.

Speaker 2: 22:08

You know most everybody cares a lot.

Speaker 1: 22:09

Roca is probably one of the strictest establishments that I've ever worked with. Yeah, for sure. And and you know you could from a sales perspective, you can, you know, man, you know hard to hard to please, but the respect for what they do is just it, it, it doesn't end. Yeah, the respect, I mean it just goes on and on. They do such a terrific job over there.

Speaker 2: 22:26

And from the top down, like you just said, the produce every day I would order and if my tomatoes came in a little black, a little speck, a little underripe, I was on the phone with my rep calling them and they were 20, 30, 40 minutes that are coming back out.

Speaker 1: 22:38

It's funny because it was Bryce and Nick and before the place even opened we were sitting down for probably two months putting the menu together. It was pretty amazing the things that they were looking to do and the sort of products that they wanted at that time. You know Tampa is not a you wouldn't say Tampa is some culinary Mecca. It's not, especially at that time. You know Tampa is not a you wouldn't say Tampa is some culinary Mecca.

Speaker 2: 23:02

It's not.

Speaker 1: 23:03

Especially at that time, especially at that time it's getting there. You know we're starting to get some serious players here and I attribute what's happening now, culinarily speaking. You can kind of you can look their way to say that they helped usher in some talent. Oh yeah.

Speaker 2: 23:19

And that was the whole dream behind it. They came from Blanca, chef Bryce came from Blanca and Nick came from Kima and also LaBerda Den. So these guys came down here and that's literally what they told us. It was no joke, it was this kitchen will run like a Michelin star Italian kitchen from New York and that's what it's going to be. And this was when I was there and they said that Michelin wasn't even thought about in Florida. It was always a joke. Like you go to New York, california, chicago those are the places you win stars, not in Florida. And then I'm there two years later I leave and I hear stars are coming to Florida and of course, they're one of the first three restaurants in Florida to win a Michelin star. And on top of that, I believe Bryce said it was 22 restaurants in the United States that are Italian that have won a Michelin star. So it's only I worked at one of 22 restaurants in the U S that have won a Michelin star?

Speaker 1: 24:03

Yeah, you would have. I think that location would have been up for it sooner had Florida been on the map from day one. Yeah, they've, they've, they've really paved the way you. Your restaurant is small enough to where, if you put into it, you never know, yeah, as put into it, you never know. Yeah, I mean as I understand it. You know, with the whole Michelin thing, if they're aware of you, there's a chance.

Speaker 2: 24:57

Oh yeah, pretty much people. That's the thing about Michelin Chefs and people can put Michelin on the map in that area. One person can get Michelin to come to that area and it's also a lot bigger than that, like, the city has to want Michelin there and it's this big game that Michelin plays to get into cities and states. But yeah, if the culinary scene is hungry and Michelin wants to come there and they look at one person, they'll come there for you.

Speaker 1: 25:24

It's a different vibe. Man John and I were out in Orlando and we did a photo shoot at Camille. Oh yeah, chef tong he's awesome wow, I mean, you know, when you see their method, how they come up with their dishes, how they plate their dishes, how clean their restaurants are and the processes that go into them being a michelin establishment, it's mind-blowing. Oh yeah, exactly, it's a whole, it's a whole work of art.

Speaker 2: 25:48

It's not just putting food on exactly, it's a whole. It's a whole work of art. It's not just putting food on a plate, which that's what food is. Now you're taking up a whole, nother level of products that are the rarest products in the world that you have to treat right. You only have hours to maintain and treat that product the right way and also putting it on a plate in a clean environment, in a surgically clean environment, and these and that's you know what I mean. It's the same food, but you're just you're elevating it way, stretched out, and you're just putting a lot more effort and a lot more technique and a lot more talent and a lot more of your day into it.

Speaker 1: 26:19

I was looking at a social media post and the post had a chef. It was a photo of a chef plating what seemed to be a very elevated dish and there was probably 3,000 comments and all this stuff on that post and the vast majority of them are talking about how who wants to pay all that money to not even get full, or you know who cares? I don't want three peas on a plate. I made my comment because I respect the hell out of culinary, like a real culinarian Right, because it's not just trough feeding, which is what I mentioned.

Speaker 1: 27:00

I was like listen, this isn't trough feeding. You know, this is something where there's going to be multiple courses. You're going to leave full. You're going to leave that restaurant full Right courses. You're going to leave full. You're going to leave that restaurant full right. If you go there just to have the one dish, because that's all you can do, okay, you're not going to be full and you're going to hit Mickey D's on the way home, I get it. But if you go for the real experience of it, you're going to have four or five courses, the dessert, the whole night, the whole experience, and you're going to leave full with a smile, exactly. So that was my kind of commentary. I have to say something. It's like you know, what are you guys thinking about?

Speaker 2: 27:33

Yeah, and you kind of have a balance too. Like I don't, coming from the fine dining world, that's not all I eat. You know what I mean. But I'll go to Chicago and I'll eat a hot dog on the side of the road. I'll get a deep dish pizza, and then I the people who just want to go to a linea, that they're going to look at it that way, oh, why am I here? Why am I spending a thousand dollars? It's like go to Chicago, do one or two nights at those restaurants, eat on the side of the road, eat some nachos at the zoo. You know what I mean. You have to go to these cities and find all the culinary hubs. It's not just fine dining.

Speaker 1: 28:02

You can have sloppy joes and French fries at home At home. Exactly, is my point Right? Right, you could do that at home. You don't have to like go out to eat. By the way, I love sloppy joes. I'm just saying.

Speaker 1: 28:15

Manwich, exactly yeah man, I'm all about it. So you were talking about community earlier. Right, your restaurant is special because you're bringing art into it. Food is art, culinary is art, but Food is art, culinary is art. But now you're bringing actual, classified art into this whole realm and I feel like that is special and it ties in with love. Uh-huh, absolutely your community in St Pete, which I think you're in the perfect area to do this. You picked the right spot Right, because I think the neighborhoods will embrace.

Speaker 2: 28:51

Yeah, and we're right, in the Warehouse Arts District too, which helps.

Speaker 1: 28:54

But what are you doing to actually get out?

Speaker 2: 28:56

there. So it's all these just little, tiny relationships. So I've always started, like I said, this is my dream. So my dream wasn't to be a cook or a chef, my dream was to have a business, a platform that I can do all the little things that I wanted to do and I watched my mom do as a little kid. So I just started making these relations and first, like I said, we've been open eight months I reached out to a business my mother-in-law actually runs.

Speaker 2: 29:20

It's called I shouldn't say a business, they're a shelter. It's called Casa. So it's a woman, a domestic violence shelter. So woman, man. And as a kid, my mom used to go to Publix and she would have this Christmas tree and she would reach up, she would grab scrolls off of the Christmas tree and each scroll said a kid's name on it and it said three or four gifts that that kid wished for. It wasn't just socks, it wasn't just toilet paper, things that they could generically get at these shelters, it was something that the kids specifically asked for. So I did that exact same thing and I partnered with Casa to do their holiday for the hope, hope for the holidays. And I did. Nine families, 22 kids this year. I just dropped it off this last week.

Speaker 2: 29:58

So it's just little tiny things like that, like really reaching out to the things that mean a lot to me and showing the community that I want to be the chef that does that Feeding kids, giving away free things, the holidays for the hope, again, that those are the dreams.

Speaker 2: 30:13

Why I became a chef was to have that platform and it's just really reaching out to all kinds of platforms, all kinds of businesses, all kinds of people that will. Anybody that'll listen. I'm going and I'm I'm trying to talk to them, see how I can benefit, how they can benefit, how we can all just use a chef that I know that goes to a farm that helps the farmer plant some stuff and those. Now that stuff goes back there and the farmer might not be able to use the tops but he's pickling stuff and he's he's giving that away for free. And it's just a small community and knowing what other people need and just really listening and just really seeing what your community needs, not just falling in line and oh, I'm going to, I need to make a lot of money. I need to do this. It's really looking at your community and putting yourself behind and seeing what other people need.

Speaker 1: 30:53

There's plenty of farms out there too, like urban style farms in St Pete. Right, You're friendly with some right.

Speaker 2: 30:59

Yeah, I just met. It's called 15 Street Farms. The guy's name is Emmanuel and Tony. Tony's a chef and Emmanuel runs the place but it's a nonprofit, nonprofit little tiny farm. It's pretty much a guy's house that everything's nonprofit and they're just giving back. They're having chefs come do chef dinners that they pay the chef to be there, pay for all the food, and they just, they just want to create a community. They're having days where all farmers from Tampa, st Pete, brandon, bradenton, just come and meet and hang out and drink some pickles and just literally hang out and talk.

Speaker 1: 31:28

Champagne and pickles. You know it sounds crazy, but that's where I want. I don't want to do that right now.

Speaker 2: 31:34

Yeah, yeah exactly.

Speaker 1: 31:35

You know what I mean. I need that in my life. I do. We're going to go right.

Speaker 2: 31:39

Oh, yeah, yeah, next week, whenever you're ready, I'll make that connection and get the ball rolling Folks out there.

Speaker 1: 31:45

Mario and I were talking about this the other day on a call and we're going to go and we're going to do some introductions Because I feel like what we do at Walk Talk would fit perfectly kind of into the space that they have.

Speaker 2: 32:00

Oh yeah, You're at a line.

Speaker 1: 32:01

Perfect, yeah. And then we were talking about doing some farm-to-table dinners as well. I'd love to have you involved in that. Yeah, the energy factor is tremendous, oh yeah.

Speaker 2: 32:11

Yeah, anytime I get to go do anything for a charity, for a platform where I always tell people my time is the most important part. So I don't, I'm not the, I'm not donating a lot of things I'm not doing but I'll give you my time If you want me to help you cook something for free, if you want me to help you do an event where you're making money, where a charity is making money. I plan on next year cooking for the Ronald McDonald House, all for free, on Christmas Eve, just like my big thing is doing something that shows somebody is important. So not just donating a hundred bucks, going out and I want to be there on Christmas Eve and I want to cook for kids on Christmas Eve.

Speaker 2: 32:42

Where could I be? I could be with Rome and I could be with my wife on Christmas Eve, but I would rather go out there and cook for to me that's big. It's my time, my day that I went. The things about it. Not just giving money, not just writing a check, not just getting a bunch of gifts that somebody donated and sending it. It's me taking the gifts there, dropping the gifts off, coming up with the platform, coming up with the idea.

Speaker 1: 33:03

Where does that conviction come from?

Speaker 2: 33:05

It comes from being a child and watching my mom. My mom was huge on that. Everything my mom did was for other people, every single thing. My mom not to go down this long rabbit hole. But she owned a commercial cleaning business and she had 41 employees. Long story short, she lost this business because her partner screwed her over on money and my mom drained her entire bank account $40,000, to pay all of her employees. And I'll never forget my dad yelling at her telling her she was stupid. But she did it and she told herself I'll be good. These people are going to lose their homes, they have kids. They're all going to lose everything. I'll be good for three to six months and I'll bounce back on my feet. And she got cancer a year later and two years later she died.

Speaker 2: 33:43

So it was one of those things now like I'm not going to be dumb enough to drain my whole bank account but at the same time you have to set yourself up in your life to be there for other people. So ultimately, my mom could have been there years and four people and done it the right way, but not drained her bank account. So, again, just like Roman, I learned from my mom. I learned from my dad. I learned the good she did, the bad she did. And again, it's all about that platform and just being able to do what I can do and being here to do what I can do and being healthy enough and being listening. Where you tell me you need, I'm going to, I'm going to. I'm going to try to give you that. I'm going to try to fix that. I'm going to try to give you a platform and give you an opportunity to obtain that.

Speaker 1: 34:22

You're very introspective, you're putting yourself in a situation where you critique yourself.

Speaker 2: 34:30

All the time I'm five steps ahead of myself and it pisses me off a lot of times, because when everything's not perfect and the world's not perfect, nothing's perfect. You can never get there. So it's always something you're reaching towards. Is that carrot that's always moving? It's always the goal that's never obtainable.

Speaker 1: 34:42

But it puts you ahead of everybody else. Exactly, you're always hungry. So, with that said, what advice would you give to aspiring chefs who want to get on Chopped, who want to own their own restaurant, to go down the path that you're?

Speaker 2: 34:55

on. Do it the right way, don't rush it. When I was 18, I wanted to own my own restaurant. I wanted to be on TV, I wanted to make all my dreams true and it happened at 30. So my big advice is do it the right way. Put the work down and at the end of the day, look yourself in the mirror and when you know you're a good enough cook, you're a good enough person, a good enough business owner, do it. Don't just jump because you're hungry, because somebody pissed you off, because your day was long. You worked 12 hours and you made eight bucks an hour, nine bucks an hour. Do it when you're right, when you're ready, when your life aligns.

Speaker 1: 35:27

So are you a pull yourself up by the bootstraps type of chef?

Speaker 2: 35:33

I would say yes and no. Everything has to be in a line, everything has to be in a row. I have to be perfectly set up. They call it mise en place in our world. Everything has to be. I'm not very quick on my feet when it comes to issues and things like that. I love being set up, I love knowing what I'm doing, I love thinking about it three, four days in advance and and just priding myself on what I do is going to be the best, because I've done it to the best of my ability and I've thought about it.

Speaker 1: 35:57

So with that said, I mean, you came here today, we you know you cooked, and you cooked for the purpose of food photography. We did the video and now a podcast. Were you freaked out?

Speaker 2: 36:10

Oh yeah, we did the video and now a podcast. Were you freaked out? Oh yeah, a little bit. Definitely Like that's. I get in my head about anything. It doesn't matter if I'm pressure washing my house anything, I'm overthinking it when I get there. How's the kitchen going to be? Do I have to bring my own pans? Did I forget something? I'm always just overthinking it. From small to big, I overthink anything.

Speaker 1: 36:24

Well, you did.

Speaker 2: 36:25

Thank you.

Speaker 1: 36:25

Yeah, and then we had a couple of I wouldn't say hurdles. We had a couple of little like hiccups or whatever.

Speaker 2: 36:30

Making my pancake in a cast iron, but that's what the culinary industry is about, you know Are you going to hold that against me?

Speaker 1: 36:36

No, no, no, all right, because she's like hey, do I have to bring any pans or anything like that. I said nah, we got everything you need, don't worry about it. You know it was like that. Wow, that pancake was special, mario. What's the next step for you? What do you got coming up?

Speaker 2: 36:52

so next step is just honing in this restaurant. Like I said, we've only been open eight months, which translates into those four months, like I was saying, four to six months really honing in and focusing, doing everything the right way uplifting my staff, making sure my staff has a brighter future. Most of my staff right now is I only have two of them and they're both part-time, so big goal is making both of them part-time. I just opened up Wednesday, thursday, friday, so now we're open five days a week. I just brought on a coffee shop, so we're partnering with Sage's Playground. Really good buddy of mine, his name's Roy. He's going to come on and do a little coffee shop in the front and my 30-seater breakfast cafe will still be in the back five days a week.

Speaker 2: 37:27

Getting my staff full time, like I said, and just really making sure this first year is good. We still have we just hit a hundred reviews and we have five stars, so I stride and pride myself on having five stars on all platforms. Every day we talk, we manage, we get better. We don't even have a reservation platform right now, so we're looking at getting a resi. We're looking at getting online orderings. We just got a website built, just painted the front of my cafe. So it's all these little tiny things. It's literally building every single day from the ground up and just seeing a year at a time. So 2025 is opening up five days a week, getting my staff full time going harder on art, more art in there, and the left side of my cafe is going to be more fast casual.

Speaker 2: 38:09

So Wednesday, thursday, friday, you'll come in and I love the guys at Supernatural here in Tampa or over in Tampa, so I'm trying to model my place a lot more of their vibe and their feel Throughout the week work vibe, fast vibe. You come up, you get a bacon, egg and cheese, you get a matcha latte and you're on your way to work by 830. Also, you can come back at 2 and get something else to go for that lunch feel. And then Saturday and Sunday will always be our sit-down brunch service, high-end feel, served water service, alcohol services, mimosas, all that kind of stuff. Special dishes too, yeah.

Speaker 2: 38:39

So Wednesday, thursday, friday will be more salads, sandwiches, all my big Grant Polari's not going anywhere. My poached egg's not going anywhere. The pancake will only be the weekends and the weekend menu will always be my higher end sit down fine dining plates and throughout the week will always be your crank, your grab and go, very specialized eight 15. I want my bacon, egg and cheese and my latte by eight 30. I need to get to work, so you swoop in, we're right downtown, you get your food, you're to work by eight 30,. But then Saturday and Sunday, when you have time for reservations to drink two, three mimosas, maybe even a bottle of wine, you can do that.

Speaker 1: 39:12

Any more competitions on the horizon.

Speaker 2: 39:14

Yeah, so I have a couple of things coming out in 2025 that I can't really mention.

Speaker 1: 39:19

Very mysterious.

Speaker 2: 39:20

Yeah, yeah. Well, it's all the NDAs and stuff. You know how it is, even for Chopped. I couldn't tell anybody about it for six, seven months. Even my own wife I couldn't tell her and she's like you're really not going to tell me if you want? But yeah, it's one of those things. But yeah, I'm always pushing and people are always reaching out to me trying to get me to do some things. But again, I always try to do things the right way and I have a lot on my plate right now. So the next three months is just getting us through busy season and taking that's admirable because you know wives have a way of getting the information out of you.

Speaker 2: 39:49

Yeah, yeah, exactly, and I did not tell her up until the day it came out.

Speaker 1: 39:54

That's awesome. All right, how do people find you on?

Speaker 2: 39:58

the socials. Eatartlove underscore St Pete and my personal is MrBrognoly84, Mario Brognoly.

Speaker 1: 40:04

We're in downtown.

Speaker 2: 40:05

St Pete, Spell it baby EatArtLove E-A-T-A-R-T-L-O-B-E underscore St Pete, Excellent. Dude, I don't know about you, but I want you to come back. Oh yeah, Anytime.

Speaker 1: 40:18

The food was amazing. Actually, I think we should take a trip over to his restaurant.

Speaker 2: 40:24

What do you think?

Speaker 1: 40:24

You shaking your head, John. He's confirming yes, All right, we're going to do that. Aussie Select Wow, the pastrami lamb was terrific Chef good.

Speaker 2: 40:37

Oh yeah, that dish came out really good with the asparagus and everything Just, yeah, great product juicy From it being fresh or frozen. Yeah, it was awesome, awesome.

Speaker 1: 40:45

I loved it. Can't wait to do some more of that stuff. All right, john. As always, man, I love you. Freaking photography is amazing. We are out.