Walk-In Talk Podcast
We are a Food Podcast. We are blessed to have been ranking on Apple Podcast Charts since November of 2022 in the Food Category and have been the #1 podcast spot in the United States for more than a year! Along with the podcast comes amazing food photography by John Hernandez from Ibis Images.
Powered by our partnership with brands like RAK Porcelain USA, Metro Shelving and many other amazing companies - Walk-In Talk Podcast, hosted by Carl Fiadini and team, combines culinary expertise and experiences to provide an insightful and engaging exploration of the food industry.
Our podcast is a must-listen for food industry enthusiasts, as we provide unique insights into everything from recipes to how Chefs are navigating high inflation while also discussing the importance of mental health in the industry.
Walk-In Talk Podcast offers a behind-the-scenes look at the food industry. Our show provides a fun and entertaining vibe to our podcast.
Don't miss out on upcoming episodes where we will continue to cook up thought-provoking discussions on important industry-related topics - so come uncover restaurant mayhem with us!
Check out our website for more food industry-related content, including:
https://www.thewalkintalk.com
Restaurant Recipes
Cocktail recipes
Walk-In Talk interviews
The Restaurant Life Magazine
Best beef in the business!
www.peninsulafoodservice.com
Also rate and review us on IMDb:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27766644/reference/
Walk-In Talk Podcast
Table Talk: The Art of Dining with RAK Porcelain's Tina Davis and Guest Chef, Kevin Rasberry
The Walk-In Talk Podcast explores the interconnectedness of food, ambiance, and emotional experience in dining with insights from Chef Kevin Rasberry and Tina Davis from RAK Porcelain USA. They discuss the power of colors, shapes, and tableware in enhancing culinary presentation, especially in assisted living environments, emphasizing the importance of making every meal memorable.
• Chef Kevin shares his philosophy on treating every meal as potentially someone's last
• Discussion on the significance of vibrant tableware for cognitive assistance
• Tina talks about RAK Porcelain's commitment to durable and elegant designs
• Exploration of cultural perceptions of food presentation
• The evolution of dining trends towards colorful and personalized dining experiences
• Kevin’s Momma Jean's Seasoning as a blend of personal history and culinary innovation
Introducing the SupraCut System - the automated solution that enhances safety, quality, and efficiency, cutting up to 120 perfect citrus wedges per minute, 6 times faster than manual. Patented tech delivers uniform slices, reducing waste and eliminating plastic, while the hygienic, contactless design lowers contamination and injuries, integrating seamlessly to transform your operations and improve profitability - get started at SupraCut.com and ask about risk-free trials.
Elevate your dining experience with RAK Porcelain USA! As the exclusive tableware brand for the Walk-In Talk Podcast, RAK combines exceptional craftsmanship with innovative design. Whether you’re a chef, a restaurant owner, or a food enthusiast, RAK’s high-quality porcelain products will enhance every meal. Discover the artistry of food presentation and make every dining occasion special. Visit rakporcelain.com today and see how RAK can transform your table
Get ready to innovate and organize your work space with Metro ! As the industry leader in storage & productivity solutions, Metro is here to transform and organize your kitchen
With their premium solutions, you'll experience the Metro difference. Metro's sturdy and versatile shelving units, workstations, holding cabinets, and utility carts are designed to streamline operations and maximize your productivity.
Don't settle for imitators! Metro products last lon
The following brands and companies help us continue supporting the food industry - have a look below!
Thank you for listening to the Walk-In Talk Podcast, hosted by Carl Fiadini and Company. Our show not only explores the exciting and chaotic world of the restaurant business and amazing eateries but also advocates for mental health awareness in the food industry.
Our podcast offers a behind-the-scenes look at the industry. Don't miss out on upcoming episodes where we'll continue to cook up thought-provoking discussions on important topics, including mental health awareness.
Be sure to visit our website for more food industry-related content, including our very own TV show called Restaurant Recipes where we feature Chefs cooking up their dishes and also The Dirty Dash Cocktail Hour; the focus is mixology and amazing drinks!
Thank you for tuning in, and we'll catch you next time on the Walk-In Talk Podcast.
https://www.TheWalkInTalk.com
Leave a review and rating, please!
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 Fiodini. 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. At Ibis Images Studios, where food photography comes alive and I get to eat it.
Speaker 1:Chefs and food buyers try Aussie Select's fully cooked, pasture-raised Australian lamb. Enjoy flavors like agave, rosemary, tikka masala and more, available sliced or whole. Discover more at aussieselectcom. So in-house, we have two amazing people here in studio. Chef Kevin Raspberry is an incredibly talented culinarian from Orlando. You can find him at the Grove at Trelago. He's cooked up a couple of stunning dishes today. One is mahi, the other is veal chop. Kevin my man is on deck. He'll explain the details.
Speaker 1:Perfectly executed culinary is what leads our senses down the path of happy moments and nostalgic memories. Is it only the flavor profiles and aromas that we crave? I think not. I contend that the ambiance of our dining location is just as important as the food itself. Elements such as plates, silverware and glassware these essential accessories are the unsung heroes of the restaurant experience, the aesthetics and comfort of being seated at the table are vital as the sweets and savories that are served.
Speaker 1:Our guest this week is Tina Davis, director of strategic partnerships for Rack Porcelain, usa. If you've been following the show, you've seen their beautiful tableware and our photo shoots and videography. The folks at Rack are dear friends and a top shelf partner with Walk Talk Media. Let's take a closer look at how Rack Porcelain stays in tune with culinary trends from around the planet. Stay tuned, tina Davis is coming up. People, I want everyone to realize that I'm reading this, okay, and man is it? Take two, sure, but it's a stunner, the number one stunner. I'm just saying I'm out there. Chef, kevin, I mean, how was your day today?
Speaker 2:Amazing, right, amazing, tell the people about the pictures. I had a perception on what everything would be prior to me coming in here, but once I came in here, prepared the dishes and seeing the way that the pictures were bought to like life, like I told you earlier, I wanted to cry. Can't cry on command, but everything looks amazing, you know he did say that.
Speaker 1:I said Chef, how do you like it? He said oh my God, this is great, I would want to cry. And I said well, can you do it? I said, chef, how do you like it? He said oh my God, this is great, I would want to cry. And I said well, can you do it? I mean, I'd like to get that on camera. And you know that didn't happen and you know what I'm glad for you that it didn't.
Speaker 2:I think my mom would be proud that I didn't cry Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, indeed, I'm right there with her. Okay, you know. And also, by the way, you surprised us with the biscuits. Oh yeah, of course, start with the biscuits man, because that was impromptu and it was like hey guys, you want to eat? And I was like, yeah, let's roll what?
Speaker 2:do? We got here when you had reached out to me. You told me just two entrees In my mind I was going to do. I love seafood, so let's add some seafood to it. So something quick, something simple, something easy in between takes of everything else.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you whipped it together in seconds. It was seconds.
Speaker 2:In my line of work. You got to learn how to multitask. You're always thinking about what's next, what's next, okay, what do I got to do? It's a little different here, cause you told me to, hey, slow it down a little bit slow it down.
Speaker 1:So that was a little, took a little adjustment, but overall I had fun. You slowed it down and it was still lickety. Split man, I'm trying to do video while all the cooking is happening and a lot of the chefs, I mean, listen, you, they're, you all are trained and your, you know your experiences bring you to execution in a very fast way. Correct? Well, that doesn't work well with videography, right? I mean, at the end of the day, we have to capture all this stuff. By the way, today went beautifully. I appreciate you did a terrific job and I have a feeling that the you know. Obviously, what john does is ridiculous on a whole nother level, but the video is going to be great too. All right, can't, can't wait to see it. Okay, so the biscuits they looked amazing. They're actually sitting there. We didn't get a chance to eat them yet and, my God, I'm like I'm dying over here. I think I should go have some. We should just ditch this show and go eat.
Speaker 2:I wouldn't say that no, okay, okay, okay, all right, so get into the other dishes.
Speaker 2:Go ahead. So the first dish ended up doing the sun-dried tomato crusted mahi-mahi. And the reason I picked that dish? Because, Carl, once you reached out to me a few weeks ago and invited me to be on the podcast and everything. I was looking at the page and all the pictures and everything and it was bright, vibrant colors from the different plates and everything like that. One thing about me I'm a visual person, so I have to picture something before I make it. So, with that being said, I was like, all right, I know the perfect dish. So with the sun-dried tomato crusted mahi-mahi, I know I would pair that with the Peruvian mashed potatoes and the citrus beurre blanc and the charred broccolini. I have the color from the citrus beurre blanc. I have the purple, the bright purple, from the Peruvian mashed potatoes. I got a bright pop of the green from the charred broccolini and the color from the mahi. It just set everything off.
Speaker 1:The smells that were going on in this house today were John right Am.
Speaker 2:I getting a head shake.
Speaker 1:I am Okay. John gave it a head shake, so you know it's good All right.
Speaker 2:Then you had the veal chop, the veal chop. So yes, so that was something I've never done. But I was like, eh, let's have a little fun with it today and experiment a little bit. So I did the blueberry kiss grilled veal chop. So with that, I've always wanted to cook veal. I have something called blue magic, so I was like now is a good time.
Speaker 1:Well, wait a minute. What do you mean? You have something called Blue Magic. What is that?
Speaker 2:Blue Magic is a seasoning blend that I created. I was bored one day and actually made it by accident, because I was talking to someone else my daughter was talking to me, and then I was on the phone. Some things happened and tweaked it a little bit and added a few more ingredients, and that's how Blue Magic came alive. This would be the perfect opportunity to add the Blue Magic to this, with the blueberry bourbon gastrique sauce to go with it, sweet mashed potatoes and then the asparagus, and that's literally it, the color is pumped and I'm going to bring Tina on in a minute.
Speaker 1:But so we have all these plates and you have all these colors and together, as a group, y'all just and with John, you guys, the three of you figured out the right plate colors to go with all these dishes and the ingredients. I, from a consumer's perspective today you know I'm taking myself out of the seat here and I'm over here and I'm just looking at things.
Speaker 2:Stunning. You, sir, did an amazing job. I appreciate it. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:I want to thank y'all for giving me the opportunity. Sure, you know. And, by the way, kurt from Peninsula.
Speaker 2:Kurt is an amazing man. He says I love Kurt.
Speaker 1:He wants to do a cook-off with you. He told me already His feelings are going to get hurt. Maybe so, and I kind of want to capture all that. I want to get somebody crying. Maybe we can make Kurt cry.
Speaker 2:I think we should set that up.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'm not even playing either. Let's do it Challenge accepted. All right, let's get Tina on the show. Welcome to the program. Hi how are you?
Speaker 3:I'm good.
Speaker 1:What do you think about doing like a cook-off? You want to be part of this.
Speaker 3:I would love to be part of this. Yeah, mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:Okay, can you explain a little bit about the vibe that went on in the studio today?
Speaker 3:The vibe was amazing. Just from the moment that I walked in, I felt so incredibly welcomed. The photography situation that John has is amazing the amount of props, the amount of plateware, thank you and accoutrements that go with them. But it's such a welcoming atmosphere and from the moment that I met you guys last year at the F&B at Sea show, I just knew there was something there and I was super excited to partner with you and it's just gone beyond my wildest expectations.
Speaker 1:Stop it, because that makes me happy. I know that makes John happy too. The whole team is happy, you know, pooch included as well. You know, at the end of the day, you know who knew that it was going to. You know, actually come to this First of all, people who are in the market for tablewares, dishwares, whatnot. You got to check out rack. Most people don't know rack and rack is R A K. By the way, it's R A K. You need to check them out because the stuff is beautiful and it's very durable. I feel like I can throw that on the ground and it's not like this wouldn't be good for a Greek restaurant. You know they're going to. They can't throw them in the corner and smash all the plate. I'm kidding. It's great for Greek. But yeah, at the end of the day, you guys do such a great job and it translates into what you know, for example, like Chef Kevin today, like what he put out is just phenomenal and it's just I don't know.
Speaker 3:It's wonderful Because I do a lot of product development. It's interesting to hear what chefs want and need and how you can change, want a certain shape or we're missing something in a collection. It's usually the chefs that point that out first.
Speaker 1:to our team. It's a great segue into into the question of how does a company like Rack stay on trend? You're a global company. You guys are out of Dubai, yes and uh. Relatively new to the dishware game, tableware game right Nine years.
Speaker 3:In the US it's 2016. So next year will be 10 years and for Rack Ceramics globally it'll be 20 years this year. So we are very new and it's interesting. I've spent a lot of my career at companies that had very, very long legacies, and to be at a company that is so new it almost feels like a startup. It's a smaller corporation. You can get your hands in, you can get dirty, you can make changes, you can make products, you can make decisions. Rack Porcelain owns their own factory. There's no middleman. It's very easy. We have calls with our factory every other week in regards to product and we're right there saying this is what we need for our market, because the US is very different than the European market.
Speaker 1:So today something came up which I thought was pretty intriguing Walk and talk podcast. We tell stories right. As it turns out, chef, kevin, you work in the assisted living space. Yes, sir, which happens to be your. Your company that you're with happens to be your company that you're with happens to be a culinary forward group. Absolutely Well, as it turns out, tina has experiences in the tableware category with the ASL assisted living companies. That, I think, is amazing.
Speaker 3:When I heard he worked for assisted living I was like, oh my God, because for me in some of my past lives of working, especially in product development, that market is very untapped. It's increasing.
Speaker 1:Well, here's the thing. Wait, let me stop you for a second, because I don't want anyone to think that we're just going to talk about spreadsheets and sales. That's not what this is. When we're discussing assisted living facilities, a lot of times you're dealing with actual patients. It's our grandparents, our fathers and mothers, and it's our families in these facilities. So when you're talking about specific tableware designed for our family members to make their lives easier, that is what kind of sparked me to bring this up in the conversation today, because I thought that part was fascinating. You were talking about colors. Yes, for specific needs, can you guys?
Speaker 2:talk about that a little bit. In senior living we have a lot of residents with Alzheimer's and dementia and everything like that, so their vision isn't the best. They go off of bright, vibrant colors. So what we use for them are like a turquoise or a bright yellow or bright orange or bright red, so that way when the food is on the plate, they can identify the food on the plate so it doesn't clash with the regular, let's just say, white plate. So with that entwined together, I feel like it'd be so much better for them to just grab the food off of the plate for them.
Speaker 1:I've been in this food business for 30 plus years. I've never thought about that. I had no idea that that was even something that was happening.
Speaker 3:When it comes to shape and color particularly shape, because a lot of residents and a lot of senior citizens they have trouble eating. And it was interesting. I was involved in a product development project, probably about eight years ago, with some plateware and I went through. I have osteoarthritis and I have it in both thumbs. So I had two thumb surgeries where they took out my trapezium bone and scraped out all the arthritis and sent me back on my way. So I have a little bit of trouble moving, but it was interesting.
Speaker 3:I was able to be one of the people that tested the product that we were developing because of whether it be a fork or a spoon or a knife, how does someone that has one hand or has arthritis, how do they cut things? How do they eat them off the plate? It was really eye-opening for me and I struggled immensely and then a couple of years later I think my body's falling apart but I had shoulder surgery and we were doing another round of development. It's very eye-opening when you have to eat with your non-dominant hand. Your plateware and your flatware can definitely assist in that.
Speaker 1:So utensils and plateware are used to help the resident slash patient in many cases. Correct, Correct. How does that work?
Speaker 2:We'll have certain residents that have different levels of care so, which means they need more attention and stuff like that. They may not be fully accessible to use their arm or use all, both of their hands or all 10 fingers. So I feel like with special plateware and special cutlery. Let's just say that I have a resident she can only use three of her fingers on her left hand and her right hand's totally non-functional at all. So it's like the whole time she's been using her right hand. Now she's only has these three fingers to work with. So she needs something that's comfortable enough to where she can still feed herself and still do the normal things as much as possible that she tries to do. So I feel like with the cutlery and stuff like that, with the special grooves in them and everything like that, to where it's easy for them to hold and it's not pressuring them, will make things so much better for them.
Speaker 2:As far as them eating and that falls under the kitchen yes, and no Part of it falls under the kitchen. As far as me making sure I have these utensils and silverware and plateware available for them, the care staff handles certain things. As far as feeding them, depending on the resident's restrictions. I always make sure that they have the plates, the glasses, the cutlery, anything and including the food. So anything food related all falls under me.
Speaker 1:Obviously, rack handles these products.
Speaker 3:Yes, we do.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, there's so many colored options that we have.
Speaker 3:You know, when it comes to flatware, it could be something as simple as choosing a flatware gauge that's heavier so that a guest or one of you know one of the patients that has tremors can hold that flatware gauge that's heavier so that a guest or one of you know one of the patients that has tremors can hold that flatware and hold it and it feels good in the hand, versus something that's very thin I mean, it doesn't necessarily have to be specifically designed for healthcare something with a simple band around the outside so that you know people understand where their food, where it ends.
Speaker 3:You know, people really have trouble seeing and one of the things when it comes to cataracts, when you're designing a plate, if you want to see what it looks like, so you can put Vaseline over your glasses and you look down at the plate and you try to eat and that's what it is, that's what it looks like to people that have cataracts. So, whether you just put a simple band around the plate or something, some kind of decoration so that they know where it ends or there's, there's so much to it. It it really is a, it's a big passion of mine.
Speaker 1:I feel like this is an untapped piece of information that I knowledge base, that we should know. I mean, we're all getting older. I mean, if there's a 25 year old listening to this, I know, I get it, I get it, I get it. But the rest of us, who were up in like forties, fifties and beyond, my goodness, I mean that's amazing. Who knew that?
Speaker 3:But on the flip side of it, I think some of these assisted livings they're also senior living facilities that are attached to these you know, so it's, it's 55 and older, which you know.
Speaker 3:I'm almost there, but you know those type of places that are connected to the assistant living or whatever are. You know, if you think about it, we're talking about millennials, parents particularly and millennials have a penchant for food and they I mean overall, when you look at trends, it's a big thing and it's very important. And when they're putting these parents into these facilities, they want to make sure that they're eating well. They want them to eat off of plateware and dinnerware that doesn't look like it came out of a cafeteria. You know they want that.
Speaker 1:Paper plate.
Speaker 3:They want to feel like they're at home, so I think that there's a huge opportunity in that market as well. As we all age, we just want to eat and enjoy that dining experience.
Speaker 1:You sent us some stuff last week and it was very Mediterranean mosaic-ish sort of. You know, beautiful, I can't imagine things getting better than that.
Speaker 3:But there are just some simple. You know, some of the decorations we do are just a simple band around the plate, for you know the normal steakhouse chain that likes that oval rim platter with the green band. I mean you see them all the time in New York, things like that. But I mean we can do, you know, whether it be platinum or gold, there's so many things, but they don't necessarily have to be as avant-garde as you think. They can be very simple.
Speaker 1:I guess that's where my head goes, because if I had the opportunity, I'm like, yeah, let's really do this do this.
Speaker 3:I mean we can do any kind of decoration on any kind of plate. So it really is. It sets the standard and the ones that we sent you, that that have the kind of meta training look, is actually part of our new digi collection and those are all digitally printed. What's the difference? It's screen printed on top of the, or it's a decal, or screen printed on top of the plate and then it is glazed. So it's everything is in. Or screen printed on top of the plate and then it is glazed, so everything is in glaze. So the glaze, the decoration, is not going to come off. It's not going to come off from any type of dishwasher or any kind of care and use. But with the digital printing it's actually printed in a 3D dimension, so it almost looks like it's embossed, but it's not. It's just a flat plate.
Speaker 1:So when I saw the pictures, that's exactly what I thought it looks like. It's, you know, like you're going to run your finger over it and you're going to have nooks and crannies.
Speaker 3:let's say yeah, it has some texture to it, which is nice. So it's nice for us from a product development standpoint, to be able to put out designs a little bit faster because we don't have to necessarily make more molds. You know, molds are not cheap.
Speaker 1:Is this more on trend right now?
Speaker 3:The digital printing yes, yes.
Speaker 1:So then, when we're talking about collections and we're talking about, you know, digi printing yes, what's new on the horizon? What do you have coming up? Are you excited? I mean, you have to be excited. You're always excited. You have to have something in your. You know, there's always something in your pocket.
Speaker 3:There, there's always something in the pipeline. Corporately, we have about 18 different digital collections and the US decided to stock three and those are the ones that I share with you guys to use in your podcast.
Speaker 1:If you were going to have one style of food creation on your plates, all of your plates, what would it be? This is just a personal question.
Speaker 3:Oh, personal Thai. Oh, I love Thai. I went to Thailand not too long ago, actually visiting a ceramic factory, and I was blown away. That was one of my favorite places in the world. Chef Same question. Same question.
Speaker 1:I love blown away. That was one of my favorite places in the world. Chef. Same question.
Speaker 2:Same question. I love Italian food. It would be Italian, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:The vast majority of chefs that I ask hey, man, what do you love to eat? Not necessarily cook, what do you love to eat? Thai. It's always Thai, always, or it starts with Thai, and then it'll break down into some other Asian-inspired cuisine, but I have to tell you it's always Thai, and I'm like. You know I like Thai food too. You know it's good, but I'm Italian, my man. Okay, now we're talking. What's your favorite stuff, though? Is it your pasta?
Speaker 2:I'm a pasta guy, I could eat pasta literally every other day.
Speaker 1:I was just talking to last night actually Chef Josh over at JetBlue. He's a corporate executive chef at JetBlue, guy is awesome and he calls me up. He goes, yeah, he goes. You know, I'm going to go home, I'm going to make some pasta. I'm like what he goes. Yeah, you know, I love it. I'm like what he goes, yeah, you know, like.
Speaker 2:I love it, Like no kidding.
Speaker 1:I was like we're going to do classes, we're going to do this, you down. He's like hell, yeah, I'm like, all right, we're going to say I'm super excited about that, I'm going to get you involved in this. Sounds good, kevin, you're going to be, you're going. Of the reasons I reached out to you. What? Two reasons? For two reasons. Kurt spoke amazing things about you, number one. But number two, I was like man, I'm going through all of your stuff on LinkedIn, where I think that's primarily where you do your, your, your posting. Yes, sir, I'm just looking and it's like every dish is better than the last one, like more beautiful, like elevated stuff, like you do a really great job. I appreciate it. No, sincerely, yeah, and I don't hand that out. Oh, let me. Let me put it like this if somebody makes it here, it's because they do great stuff. I had somebody on social media tell me one time. They said, ah, carl, everything, everything's beautiful and everything's delicious. I'm like well, yeah, I'm not bringing bums and losers into the place.
Speaker 1:Truth, so yeah hardly ever is there like something where you're going to go. That's no good. So the fact that you're here, I just think you do a terrific job. Thank you.
Speaker 2:That means a lot to me. Sincerely, definitely means a lot to me. So one thing you mentioned seeing all my social media posts, my dish, whatever dish that I post, pretty much is a representation of how I'm feeling that day. So that's why I always tell everybody you know, cook from the heart, you know what's on your mind, how are you feeling. That's my way of translating my thoughts, my feelings, to the plate and presenting it to you. I always stress that and always cook from the heart, cook with love, and everything else will fall into place.
Speaker 1:So that day, when you posted that filet with a knife jabbed in it, like what were you feeling? I'm kidding, I'm kidding, that's so. That's unique. You know, a lot of chefs are out there. There's a chef, jonathan Lamore, and he's from, he's from South Florida. He was over at the I forgot the name of the place, but giant country club down in Key Largo area. Same thing Like. He does a lot of Caribbean style food and I'm just looking and I'm like man, what is the motivation? Because, listen, there's a lot. I've dealt with a lot of chefs and a lot of chefs come through here and everybody's good, but then there's like. Then there's like, another, another level up, and that level up is the colors. And people might say, oh, building up is 90s or whatever, but it's not. You have only so much you can do with the food, right? So if you're building your plate and you're making it pretty and you're using all these colors and obviously plateware, all these things matter cutlery, everything man, what is the motivation?
Speaker 2:The motivation honestly lie to me, I'm not even going to lie to you, I'll be honest. So with cooking, I tell everybody cook from the heart, cook with passion. The motivation is to get a reaction out of you, out of you, out of her, and I just feel like, with cooking, like that, it's just you want someone to feel good and in the environment that I work in, you never know when it's a person's last meal. So, with that being said, you treat every and I stress this to my team you treat every meal like it's this person's last meal, because you never know. You never know.
Speaker 2:Even with us we can go out to dinner, all that. We don't know if we're going to make it home. Hate to bring the mood down in the room, but it's true. So it's like you always want that experience to be a good experience and you want people to come back and be like wow, that was so good, I want more of it. So that's the passion, that's the love, that's what motivates me to keep going and I also want to keep pushing the, I guess, push the barrier a little bit further out that and just try new things. Some things work, some things don't. But you don't know, unless you try it, you killed me with that.
Speaker 1:That was amazing. That was a beautiful thing to say. You, you killed me with that. That was amazing. That was a beautiful thing to say. You know, and I have no reason to doubt you on that. With that said, you have obviously the people that you're cooking for, they're older seniors. Yes, sir, right, how are they, by and large? How do they embrace? You know, your, because what you're putting out is a little edgy. It's pretty stuff, it's very modern.
Speaker 2:I'm pushing the boundaries Right. So how are they? How are they receiving you? At first they're a little hesitant, until that dish comes to their plate and literally all it takes is one resident to order the plate and then everyone else is looking like, oh, what's that, what's that? Then they order it. Then they order it. It just takes one person and then everyone's loving it. And it's like I always think back to where they want stuff that's reminding them of their childhood. So it's like I'll make that, but I'll add my twist to it. So, like I told you earlier, I'm a visual person. I can't make it unless I can picture it. Literally. One time I did pork and beans but I elevated it to where I'm having fun with it and I tell everybody let's make cooking fun again. So it's like I feel like if I do that, everyone else would be receptive to it.
Speaker 1:I love that. So basically, it's kind of like Ethel is going to see Edith eating some kind of elevated dish and she's going to say, oh my God, I want to try that. And all of a sudden it spreads throughout the whole Wildfire. It's wildfire, I love it, my goodness.
Speaker 2:They just don't like me to stack their food.
Speaker 1:Just don't stack it, don't stack it.
Speaker 2:Don't stack it and don't let it touch, and give me a to-go box.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's it, man. I know the deal, I know how that works. My experiences in the food industry has always been in front of the house and you know, my alma mater is a place down in South Florida called Beverly Hills Cafe. John was there too. We were there together, and this was a million years ago. Obviously A lot of seniors, blue hairs everywhere and awesome people, but boy, I'll tell you, they know what they like and what they don't like and bring the box and also bring an extra napkin. You know the linen to put over your shoulders because it's chilly. I'm just saying like that's a. You remember that.
Speaker 2:So the funny thing with that, and I had a hard time realizing with the elderly they don't eat like we eat, so what I think is a full portion is like a half portion in them. So literally everything's all. Just give me a half portion, put it to go. I need a box I'm going to take it back home with. So that is something I had to get adjusted to.
Speaker 1:Did you actually make smaller? Are you making a smaller portion? Yes, oh, that's cool. Yeah, yeah, because me. I'm like Where's the rest?
Speaker 2:Where's the rest?
Speaker 1:Yes, Tina, we're talking about a specific segment of culinary guest right now, but when we're talking about tableware and different cultures and we're talking about the globe, are you selling the same series of tablewares in the States as you are in Europe or elsewhere, sometimes yes, sometimes no. How do you determine that?
Speaker 3:Well, I think.
Speaker 1:I mean, culture is a real hard thing to kind of traverse. How do you do that?
Speaker 3:It's not necessarily. There's two different things. There's the cultural aspect of it, but there's also when it comes to the US and when it comes to sizing of things. Our sizing of plateware is a lot different than the sizing of plateware in the Europe or the Middle East.
Speaker 1:It's bigger. It's larger, isn't it it's larger.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah, so there are. It was interesting.
Speaker 1:You're catering to me. I just want you to know that.
Speaker 3:So we might have, you know, some certain plate sizes that sell better in certain parts of the world where we need to be mindful of that. You know we have some collections that are they might be launched in a different country and they you know they're coming from, they might be inspired by our European team and when we see them, you know, we look at them for the U? S market and think there are some things that might be missing. We might need to add some things. The cups might need to be bigger. You really need to look at what.
Speaker 1:Don't bring me a bread plate for anything, not even the bread, you understand? Yeah, I hear what I'm saying, right?
Speaker 3:You don't like the bread and butter.
Speaker 1:I love it, but put it on a big plate and give me a lot of it. That's what I'm trying to tell you. But here's the thing though Colors, do you find that there are different countries that prefer very colorful plateware or very, you know, eclectic sort of stuff Like how does it break down?
Speaker 3:Well, obviously, you know, in the Eastern part of the world and depending on where you are, whether it be India or China, I think sometimes the plateware can be from just my travels a little bit more decorated and a little bit more ornate. But you know, we're getting into such an area where colored, if I can explain it, like this years ago when I started traveling to the trade shows across the globe and I would go to Maison Auger and Salon de Mobile and I would go to the Frankfurt Ambiente show.
Speaker 3:10 years ago there was was a lot of white, a lot of white and a lot of cream. Just when it came to plateware. You would walk around, you would walk the show and it was. It was very, very white and cream and over the last couple years we're starting to see more color and more color and then different body types. That's when you started seeing.
Speaker 3:You know, for the food service world it really was about white porcelain and then all of a sudden we kind of got into this trend of the retail world with their stoneware how exciting things got in the retail marketplace and they wanted to bring that into food service. The problem with that is that it isn't the most durable product. It can be a beautiful pattern, but some of those patterns are stoneware and it's it's. It's not going to have the durability of porcelain, which everything at Rack is is is a porcelain material with a very high alumina content. So it's it's trying to take, you know. So again. So, trying to get back to your, I kind of went around your question, but you know, looking around the globe, I think now color is everywhere and for those establishments that have a lot of white, they're starting to get into adding color, whether it be for a dessert plate or for a bread and butter plate, even though you don't like that Not that long ago, we ended up doing two shoots.
Speaker 1:We did it on the white and we did it again on on one of the the the black plates man it was gorgeous, it popped, it blew out of there, it just blew off of the plate. So there's so many things you can do and obviously, colors it's not black, is black, colors the colors. But at the end, of it.
Speaker 1:It's like I don't know. I'm going to get rid of the white plates. I want to probably get something else. I want to get something a little bit more pizzazz, a little bit more, something interesting, some life.
Speaker 3:Well, and it doesn't just have to be white color. There's so many different glazes and things like that that are happening that you can get those pools of color in different places and they can almost look watercolor-ish. But I mean, it's the way that the glaze is fired in the kiln, so glaze is fired in the kiln so you can get so many different variations.
Speaker 1:I meant it in the monologue when I said that you know, when you're talking about your dining experience, it isn't just about the sweet and the savories on your dish, it's about the ambiance of the whole place and your plate is holding, carrying the food you're going to eat, and it's part of the experience, you know, and it could potentially make your food taste better because it looks cool, and if it looks cool, man, I feel good about it. Therefore, I'm going to go into this just with a better frame of mind and I'll probably like it. I mean, I'm just saying I don't know if that's accurate or not.
Speaker 3:Well, I think it is. I think if you have the right I mean honestly, if you have the right shaped soup bowl for your soup, by the time it gets to your table after sitting in the kitchen for a little bit, it's going to be hot, you know, and that has to do with the material that it's made of as well, and porcelain is going to hold that heat Chef you're shaking your head.
Speaker 1:I agree, it will hold that heat. The porcelain or the shape, or both? I guess Both, yeah, both. What's the correct shape for? Tell me about that.
Speaker 3:Well, I mean, it depends. It depends on what kind I mean. If you have a very shallow bowl shallow, flat bowls are very popular right now and it's almost like a plate with a higher rim. It's almost like a plate with a higher rim If you spread a sauce, or you spread a sauce or soup in a bowl that's very, very low, like that, it is going to get cold faster than something that's a high bowl. So you just need to be aware of you know the height, the width and how it's going to withstand that heat. I think that's important.
Speaker 2:To add on to that. So a little backstory. I always wondered why my degree said associate's degree of applied science, right? Well, it wasn't until maybe five, six years ago I started to understand the science in cooking. You're talking about culinary degree. Yes, sir, as she's describing everything, all those factors play into it to where is if your food's going to stay hot or stay cold, or if it'll clash against it, and stuff like that. That is the science, part of it. It's like we don't think about food as being a science, but at the end of the day it's a science.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I see food as a science. Well, I've not now, but you know, seven or eight days later it becomes science.
Speaker 2:Do you know what I mean? Being in the fridge.
Speaker 1:If you had to pick a style of tableware for your establishment, what would it?
Speaker 2:be. As far as the colors, I like colorful plates, but like dark colors. So, with the contrast, it gives me more room to work with. Or when I'm making a dish, I can know which sauce I'm going to pair with it or how I'm going to plate it, because I'm building off of those colors, opposed to just using a just standard white plate. Not to say that there's nothing wrong with the white plate, but it's like, in my opinion, white plates are outdated. It's like we're in 2025 now. It's like we kind of got to get with the times. I know it's hard for some people to get with the times, but you know you don't want to be left behind. So that's why I prefer like the colorful plates, well, like the dark colored plates. As far as shapes, I don't like. I remember a few years ago like square plates were in. To my knowledge, they're not in anymore. I don't even want to see a square plate.
Speaker 1:well, wait a minute though wait, I gotta say something, and this has to do with something that you, you guys, sent us. I agree with you. Like the plates I have, I gotta get I'm. They're gone, like we my wife and I talked about it and and we're gonna move on from that well, you have a catalog I know, and but anyway, so listen, so, so there's a.
Speaker 1:there's a. There's a black plate that we have. First of all, it's giant and it's sectioned off. It's a square plate, but it's dope. It's really cool. I need to see it. Yeah yeah, it's cool, really cool, like charcuterie or something like that. I mean I could just you know, there's so many million things you can do with it and I don't want to get off on a tangent. You're right, squares out, you hear me people. Squares out what's in.
Speaker 3:I was going to say a rounded square is not the worst thing in the world, though there are a rounded square, a soft square, the hell is that A soft square plate. A soft square plate, something that has a little bit more. I mean because the problem with a square plate is the chippage. You know, from a back of the house standpoint it can be really tough. But there is what I'm starting to see a little bit of a soft square. Is this a new trend or something.
Speaker 2:I think I know what she's talking about. So are there corners like more rounded? Yeah?
Speaker 1:rounded square. Okay, before we leave today, we're going to show you some of that stuff, okay sounds good, so you can just see what it is.
Speaker 3:I think my favorite restaurants are the ones where none of the plateware matches each other. That comes out so that you can have that full, immersive experience in whatever region, whatever global cuisine you're getting into.
Speaker 1:It's going to be like a cottage style.
Speaker 3:A little bit, but that can be a back of the house disaster. You know, and that's one of the things we need to think about from a food service perspective is what the back of the house looks like when you need to stack everything and stackability and durability, and you know, do you want 15 different plates? But you know there are ways to get around that, whether it be finding, finding a plate you know you might be finding a nine inch plate, but getting it in a few different colors or so that it it still stacks. But you, you get a different look with, like, your dessert versus your bread and butter plate. How do you?
Speaker 1:feel about that.
Speaker 2:I feel good about that. So literally and it's funny that she mentioned that because even with the different color plates and everything like that, I feel like having different variety, even though if they're the same plate but different colors works out. So that way, let's just say, if I'm doing a special theme meal for that night, I can use those special theme plates for that particular meal, opposed to, let's just say, if I have the white or if I have a dark, navy, blue or anything like that, or a black plate. So I feel like that that could work.
Speaker 1:You know what goes with plates to spices, spices go with plates, do you just? Spices are colorful, right, yeah, chef, what's your mom's name?
Speaker 2:Jean. Everyone calls her Mama Jean, mama Jean, mama Jean.
Speaker 1:Okay. Is there some sort of a correlation between Mama Jean and spices?
Speaker 2:Yes, so three years ago I started up my own seasoning company called Mama Jean Seasoning. I named it after my mom. Everyone that knows me knows I'm a mama's boy to the heart. I love my mom, even though I get on her last nerves half the time. Everyone that knows me knows I'm a mama's boy to the heart. I love my mom, even though I get on her last nerves half the time, but she loves me. She calls me baby boy all the time, and I'm 39 years old.
Speaker 2:I've been making seasonings since 2004. I started making my first one and just throughout the time friends, family would call me hey, I'm cooking chicken or steak or something. What do you suggest I put on here? List off a number of things. They're like yeah, I don't have that at my house, make me something, bring it to me. And that was it. So just throughout the time I was just doing it and it kind of just took a life of its own. And yeah, now we're here. We're in our third year of Mama Jean seasonings. We started out with 12 and right now we're at 41.
Speaker 1:Normally on the show, we, you know, we talk about all the brands and social, but we don't normally just do that. I just feel like, based on what you're doing in your life and you, you, you come off as a genuinely good person, like a good human being, and there a shortage of of that today, unfortunately. So I felt it was, and john and I both felt it was important to to talk about the fact that, hey, man, you're, you're an executive chef, you're doing your thing at chelago, you're, you're doing it, but then you're also doing you and and, and not only are you doing you, but the fact is it's family centered, and I think that should, I think it's commendable and I feel like you know anybody listening to this should check it out.
Speaker 2:You have a website, right yes, mama jean seasoningcom all the social medias, or mama jean seasoning facebook, instagram, threads, twitter. I think it's called X now right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, All that, all that all that, all that jazz all that stuff yes, but you can find us at those but here's the thing, it's good Like I wasn't going to bring it. If, honestly speaking, like if you know, if it was going to be like some bunk spice or whatever, we wouldn't talking about it.
Speaker 2:All right, I'm just saying like I understand, we have reputations here.
Speaker 1:I understand so, but it wasn't. It was really good and your packaging is good. It looks good.
Speaker 2:Your label. You know the logo. It's all good man, like, everything is good. Yeah, I don't want to take all the credit for that Cause. Uh, my friend, my best friend from high school I've known him for going on 25 years Michael Farrington, he handles all of that. He takes care of the labels, the designs, the websites. I only handle what's in the bottle. Well, you're staying in your lane, yes, literally staying in my lane. Okay, we're just like a two-man small business trying to take over the world and add some flavor to everyone's house.
Speaker 1:So you're like Mike, what do you want to do today? He's like the same thing I want to do every day.
Speaker 2:Take over the world.
Speaker 1:Exactly, okay, exactly, you know what? That is right, thinking the brain.
Speaker 2:What's up?
Speaker 1:You know it's a Gen X thing, man, most people want to understand, and you millennials too. Hey, listen, it's all good out there, it's good. You know who cares? Age is just a number, they say.
Speaker 2:I think I fall into the millennials. I think you're a millennial.
Speaker 1:You are a millennial. Yes, 85?. Yeah, millennial.
Speaker 2:All right.
Speaker 1:I'm not mad at you, you know.
Speaker 2:You know, if it helps, I'll be 40 this year.
Speaker 1:It doesn't help and it doesn't get any better.
Speaker 3:It doesn't Okay. It just doesn't get any, are they? I'm a little scared.
Speaker 1:I remember I was like 28. And I'm a man about town or I was, I used to be and I'm at a bar by myself Having some drinks and having a good time. And there's an older dude and he was like 45. Something like that Mid 40s, upper 40s, something like that. We were both drinking some scotch and he's like what do you? Got there we started talking about single malts and all that good stuff. And he's like you're drinking, you're 20, you're drinking scotch already.
Speaker 1:I like it. You know family, you know grandfather, dad, whatever. And you're, you're in your forties. Man, like, let me ask you a question. You know, like the people in their twenties are looking at you like the weird guy at the bar, like we're just talking, I'm having a candid conversation, you know, and he goes let me tell you something Twenties are great, your thirties are great, your forties are the best. And I'm like how on earth is that even possible? He's like, because you're, you're, you're old enough to know and young enough to still pull it off, whatever it may be starting a business, enjoying yourself out and about vacation, moving. You know, because I and now I just turned 50 this year, 24 and it's over. I mean immediately, immediately. I'm like man my knees hurt my hands hurt my hips.
Speaker 1:I'm like an old German shepherd. I'm like what the hell is going on here. You know what I mean. We have shows coming up.
Speaker 3:We do, it is show season.
Speaker 1:It is indeed the next couple months. We're going to be at a show together. We are, yeah. Where is it Natham?
Speaker 3:It's in Atlanta this year, very exciting February.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the last. It's like the last week of February.
Speaker 3:It is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so the people out there in the food industry. Nafm is the largest equipment, restaurant equipment trade show in the country. It's giant and everybody goes and it's going to be bad ass. Now here's a cool thing about this NAFM show. So at the NAFM show there is a culinary competition and it is called the U? S culinary open and, dear friends of ours, nick and Polly Barrington, both chefs, created this, this amazing competition that, like you have the world food championship. Truth is, and it's's a great and what they do is great. But, tina, you and me can go and compete. They'll accept us to compete.
Speaker 1:You don't have to be a chef, you can be, you know, home cook, cool. Then you have, like, the boku store, which is the cream of the crop. It's like the chef's chef's competition, global, huge. Well then you got the US Culinary Open. Us Culinary Open is professional working chefs, beard chefs, michelin chefs, like hardcore, and it's going to be dope. There's 12 competitors. We're the official podcast for this event. How cool, so cool. Rac will be there. It's a huge event and I'm so excited and we get to work together a little bit, we do you so we're going to also have somebody in our booth supra cut.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's just, it's a, it's a, basically it's a citrus cutting system. It's a piece of equipment. It's beautiful, it looks like a mercedes-benz and it basically. So you know, john and I were front of the house people. We didn't really do back of the house stuff, but we used to have to slam the lemons, cut lemon wedges, whatever, for you know, for service, this thing does it and it does it beautifully, easily and with consistency, and it even does the slit where you would put it on the room in a glass. Such a very cool piece of equipment. Now it just so happens that I'm talking about this. They are. Supercut is a new partner to the show. I want to tell you I know how much equipment costs inside restaurants. Everything is freaking expensive, ridiculously expensive. Fives and tens and twenties of thousands of dollars expensive. This unit is 25, 2600 bucks and it does a lot and you can even. It basically does it as needed per individual use.
Speaker 1:Anyway it's an amazing piece of equipment. They're going to be in our booth. Sorry for the sidetrack everybody. The ADD took over, but the truth is they're going to be at the booth and with us and everyone's going to get to see it. It's going to be, really cool. Do you know where?
Speaker 3:where's your booth? I knew you were going to ask me that and I didn't write down the number.
Speaker 1:You dirty Okay.
Speaker 3:Do you get the trade shows?
Speaker 2:I've never been to one.
Speaker 1:Ever, Ever, oh man.
Speaker 2:I don't leave home much and I don't leave work much, dude, but since I'm approaching my 40s, I'm going to start living life and getting out and doing what you said You're making it happen.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you something. So you're a business owner as well, right? So when you go to these trade shows, what you end up meeting are potential A, customers B. You might find somebody who produces the containers you're using cheaper and closer than wherever you're getting them now Less expensive, I should say, hey, cheaper. Anyway, you might find a better deal on some of the packaging that you use. You have to go to these shows and chances are you'll find somebody to buy your stuff in capacity too. I'm not talking about like I'll take a bottle, no, like pallets, okay yeah, I'm gonna make it a mission of mine, maybe one of these shows.
Speaker 1:You gotta come with us, absolutely. How do you feel about that? I'm down for it. Okay, good, nafm. No, you wouldn't. What about? Are you going to be at the NRA this year too? Oh, yes, where else?
Speaker 3:Well, we're going to do the FNB at Sea again and we've got tons of regional shows that we do with our distributor partners. So we've got I'm traveling about once a month.
Speaker 1:I'm going to introduce you to some folks we met. They do the Pizza Tomorrow Summit, but they also do the Restaurant Show in New York. They have, I don't know, five or six shows across the country, but they're bangers. They're all great shows, like big, big shows, and they do a terrific job. I'm going to introduce you to them and see if there's something there. I highly recommend trying to figure something out with the outfit. It's an, they're up and coming and they're doing tremendous things.
Speaker 3:Wow, yes, yeah, nafm and NRI are our biggest.
Speaker 1:Nri is great man. Listen, I love NAFM. This'll be my third show, you know, attending a NAFM show, so I'm excited about it. I love it and plus, now we're going to be added in it part of it, and it's an exciting endeavor. Yeah, thank you, nick and Polly.
Speaker 3:And we'll also be at Ambiente, but from a global presence, which is in February. What is that Ambiente? Yeah, I'm not familiar with that amianti is like one of the largest tabletop shows in the world. It is it's out of frankfurt, germany, and it is it's where everyone comes together and showcases. It's interesting. I kind of look at it as a preview for either nafum or for nra really there's, there's a lot of, there's a lot of the same companies that showcase their wear.
Speaker 3:But since it's in Europe, it's a lot of European manufacturers, and I've been going for about 10 years now and it's a wonderful place to go to look for trends and to see what's happening in other parts of the world, because there's just so much of a global presence. Whether it be dinnerware, flatware, glassware, gifts I mean you can get a fabric, florals- A real quick question before we log off here who sets the trend?
Speaker 1:Who is it? That's a good question.
Speaker 3:I was a trend analyst for about five years and then I also did trends on the side when I was a creative design manager and you know we paid a lot of money for a lot of resources. There's a really great one called Data Essential. Data Essential does a really good job at tracking trends across the globe, whether it be like food, food and beverage primarily, you know, but when it comes to color, there's there's other companies out there like WGSN and and other other smaller trend companies, but it it is interesting and, coming from my background, is in fashion. I went to school for apparel design, you know, I went to FIT in New York city and you know, when it comes to color, everything, everything stems from fashion. So the interesting thing is how long it takes a fashion color when it comes to clothing to actually trickle its way down to see it on something like dinnerware, which can take a long time, but it's just something interesting.
Speaker 1:We're going to find out more about that. I might have you send me some analysis each month and we can, we can talk about it. All right, where do we find you?
Speaker 3:The best place is LinkedIn. Tina Davis, rack, porcelain, usa. I think that's the best.
Speaker 1:Instagram.
Speaker 3:Instagram. I am Tina Davis.
Speaker 1:And Rack.
Speaker 3:And Rack is Rack Porcelain, usa Chef Tina Davis. And rack and rack is rack porcelain, usa chef.
Speaker 2:You can find me on LinkedIn Kevin Raspberry, r A S B E R R Y no P. You can find me on Instagram and Facebook at mama Jean seasoning, or you can find me on my website mama Jean seasoningcom.
Speaker 1:folks Check out mama jeans. Check out rack. Check out peninsula food service. Give out Rack. Check out Peninsula Food Service. Give Kurt a call if you're in the Orlando area. I got John. I got to tell you man, dude, you kill it. Every time, every week, I say the same thing. I'm waiting for you to screw that up. I'm waiting for it, but you don't, you don't, and that's why I appreciate you, man. All right, you two. Thank you for coming in.
Speaker 2:We sincerely appreciate you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for having us and thank you for Trilago to have you come on out as well.
Speaker 2:I appreciate it we are out, we are out.
