Chicago's Flavor Innovator Anthony Martorina

Anthony Martorina’s culinary journey, from film editing to becoming a well known food critic, unfolds in a lively discussion about Chicago’s dining scene, memorable food experiences, and innovative trends in cuisine. Tune in to learn about the art of judging food and discover tips for aspiring creators passionate about sharing their love for gastronomy.

• Introduction of Anthony Martorina and his professional background
• Discussion on homemade pizza and the hot honey trend
• Journey from film editing to culinary expertise
• Memorable experiences while traveling through China
• Philosophy on judging food at the World Food Championships
• Exploration of current food trends in Chicago
• Hidden culinary gems in Chicago’s vibrant food scene
• Impact of social media on food culture and content creation
• Advice for aspiring food content creators focused on passion and authenticity

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Chapters

• 0:51 Culinary Journey From Film to Food
• 9:33 Culinary Judging Standards and Techniques
• 18:41 Chicago's Culinary Trends and Hidden Gems
• 24:29 Social Media's Impact on Food
• 37:02 Content Creation and Editing Evolution
• 42:26 Plans for Future Collaboration

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:51

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. Here's a humble request to give us a follow on Instagram at walkandtalkshow, and that's a big please and thank you. Are you tired of manual fruit cutting? Try Supercut System, an automated solution that cuts 120 citrus wedges per minute. With consistent slices and a hygienic design, it enhances safety and efficiency. Improve your operations at Supracutcom and ask about risk-free trials.

Speaker 1: 1:36

Today we have the pleasure of hosting friend of the show, anthony Martirina, a culinary connoisseur whose journey began in the world of film editing. His extensive travels ignited a passion for food and transformed into a vibrant career where he now shares his discerning palate with chefs and food lovers alike. As a finals judge for the World Food Championships and a familiar face on Food Network's Me or the Menu, anthony has become a respected figure in the culinary scene. Me or the menu. Anthony has become a respected figure in the culinary scene. Boy with his fingers firmly on the pulse of Chicago's dining landscape. He uncovers hidden gems and shares tantalizing dishes with his almost 20,000 Instagram followers. Join us as we dive into Anthony's incredible journey from film guru to culinary expert and discover what inspires his love for food. Big Antonucci, welcome to the program.

Speaker 2: 2:33

How are you doing?

Speaker 1: 2:35

Man, if I was any better, I'd be in Chicago with you, baby boy. What's happening?

Speaker 2: 2:38

You know, we just we had a big snowstorm yesterday, so that was fun, but we survived and it's a beautiful sunny day here in Chicago, except it's like 10 degrees.

Speaker 1: 2:51

Well, it's like 90 degrees here in Tampa and I'm not happy about it.

Speaker 2: 2:54

You're probably sweating. I feel so bad for you.

Speaker 1: 2:57

No, it's a true story. Last week or a week and a half ago, it was beautiful. It was in the 30s and stuff, 40s, whatever, which is what it should be in February.

Speaker 2: 3:07

Now it's summer oh, that's so hot, that's too hot. I like the layers. I like to be able to take off the layers I like layers too, especially in my pizza.

Speaker 1: 3:16

You know, and speaking of pizza, today, john hernandez, photographer, food photographer extraordinaire, concocted, with my help, of course, this dashing, beautiful homemade from scratch pizza.

Speaker 2: 3:33

I can verify that you sent me a photo. That is an amazing looking pizza.

Speaker 1: 3:39

Well. So I sent you the photo and you went straight into like food critic mode and you said some really good things. I'm very grateful for the critique.

Speaker 2: 3:47

I tell John he hand shredded those tomatoes and then I saw that he had must have used a torch and he charred the cheese on top of the pizza. Just give it that little like a little burnt down there. I think it gives it some nice little texture visually.

Speaker 1: 4:02

Visually and also literally on the palate. John, what were the ingredients on this pie?

Speaker 3: 4:09

Well, first thing we did is we made that marinara from scratch. It was a meat lovers. We did Italian sausage, soppressata ham, bacon, what else?

Speaker 1: 4:20

We ended up with some burrata.

Speaker 3: 4:22

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then the final touch, what really just pushes it over the edge, is hot honey on the crust.

Speaker 1: 4:30

Anthony, I don't know how you are with hot honey. I'm okay with it. I wasn't expecting you to work on this pizza, but the pizza was fantastic.

Speaker 2: 4:36

I don't know if I'm all about this hot honey craze on pizza. Now it's to the point where they're drizzling it on every pizza. You know, and I just don't know about it.

Speaker 1: 4:49

It's starting to become my new pineapple in my life. You know we didn't do it, john, so we were going to buy some pineapple. You know, dice it up and all that stuff, and then you know just kind of look like we're going to put it on the pie and then just throw it in the trash.

Speaker 2: 5:07

That would have been funny. Yeah, we were on a time crunch today, so we didn't get to do it. I didn't know where you were going there, so I was a little worried, thinking if you put the pineapple on the pizza I might have to go.

Speaker 1: 5:15

I mean I would have left already. I mean, forget about it, I'm not down for that.

Speaker 2: 5:19

Yeah, yeah, I don't.

Speaker 1: 5:21

I am not a subscriber of pineapples on pizza.

Speaker 2: 5:29

No on pizza. No, no, it's just. It's just wrong. It wasn't even made. They call it an hawaiian pizza. It wasn't even invented in hawaii. I think it was invented in canada, that's not near hawaii.

Speaker 1: 5:36

No, not even close you know, when I think hawaii, you know I think ontario.

Speaker 2: 5:41

It always has been, it's always been like that for me, yeah well, we should have really been suspect on the hawaiian pizza when when canadian bacon was on there and we're thinking like, shouldn't have been like a pulled pork, because if it was a hawaiian pizza it would have been like this beautiful pig that was roasted. But instead they snuck that canadian bacon on there, right I'm?

Speaker 1: 6:02

not gonna lie. If there's pulled pork on some sort of bread crusted bread with cheese, I'm going to eat that, and if there happens to be pineapple on that contraption, I'm probably going to eat it. But if it's like a traditional pizza, forget about it. I'm not doing it.

Speaker 2: 6:17

Oh no, I'm with you, I think the only thing I like, I like pineapple in my cocktails and I like pineapple on a you know, a pastor, a pastor taco, and that's kind of where I draw the line.

Speaker 1: 6:29

All right, I'm with you on that. What did you do in film that had to do?

Speaker 2: 6:33

with food. So I you know it was really interesting I was running my own production company and got a visit from some people from Silicon Valley and they were talking to me about developing this. You know this, developing this piece of editing equipment Of course, went out to lunch with them, was totally brutally honest with them, basically ripping apart what their concept was, thought I would never hear from them again. And then six months later, a box showed up on my doorstep with a handwritten tag that said number three and basically said plug this in, tell us what you think. And so what happened is there was this company called Pinnacle Systems out of Silicon Valley, and I started helping them with the development from the user end, telling them what worked, what didn't work.

Speaker 2: 7:25

Then, fast forward, 20 years later, literally I was flying around the world and I would what didn't work. Then, fast forward, 20 years later, literally I was flying around the world and I would do what Steve Jobs did. I would go on stage, I'd talk for two hours, I would launch the film software, show all of the different features. Basically, my approach was so much different than the marketing team because I was showing what editors and producers wanted to see. I wasn't showing the marketing fluff. I was giving them real world situations where they could use the film equipment and the software and the editing. And it was just a fresh new approach.

Speaker 2: 7:58

What was kind of amazing? As here I am traveling around the world, I've always loved food but I had never been introduced to different, different styles and different cultures, and and it was. It was pretty amazing just that that I was finding this love for food, not knowing that somewhere down the road I'd become a culinary judge. I'd become a judge, I'd become a host of of, you know, cooking shows. You know that I would actually sit down in a restaurant and and write a review about a restaurant, or even give notes to the chef of what I thought could be improved, you know, or what was amazing. So you know that that whole film world was just a stepping stone for me moving forward and I had no idea that it was taking me into the culinary world.

Speaker 1: 8:46

Was there a specific experience while you were abroad that kind of got you thinking you know what, maybe I can actually I can do this for a living.

Speaker 2: 8:55

I spent like three weeks in China and it was my first trip to China and I'm going to tell you what a different world you know, growing up in America, there's Chinese, american food and that's all we thought was Chinese food. And going to China I was kind of like what am I eating? What is this? I had no idea. You know, I was concerned that I was going to order dog or horse off the menu, only to find out that dog and horse were on the menu. I just needed to make sure I had a translator that would not steer me in that direction, but it was really eye-opening for me.

Speaker 2: 9:33

I went to a duck restaurant that had seven floors and they were serving like a thousand ducks a day. That was the day I fell in love. They served me a plate of deep fried duck skin. I took one bite and I said, watering another one of these. I'd never had anything like it, just the crunch factor. It was just magical.

Speaker 2: 9:55

I went to restaurants that were full aquariums, like, literally, you were sitting in the restaurant and there were aquariums all around the walls and that people would walk up and point at the fish they wanted and they would scoop it right up and they would cook it for them. And I remember telling one of my coworkers I'm like, oh, these are pets in America, they're goldfish, these are goldfish. And he looked at the translation and he goes oh yes, they are fish of gold. And I said that would be a goldfish. And he's like, do you want to eat one? And I'm like, no, I have a pet one at home in a bowl. I'm good, I'm going to leave them in the bowl.

Speaker 2: 10:28

I think one of the most amazing things for me was we went off for this very fancy dinner and we walked away from this fancy dinner and we looked at each other and we were like that was the most horrible food we had ever had. And we had met some girls who were art students in Tiananmen Square and they wanted to hang with us because they wanted to practice their English. So we called them up and we said, hey, we just had this horrible dinner. Where's a good place in Tiananmen Square to go eat? And the girls weren't far away and they're like, oh, we'll take you to a place. And so we went down this.

Speaker 2: 11:01

We went to this neighborhood and the girls knocked on the door and I saw this old lady come to the door and then she closed the door real fast and I could hear a whole bunch of scuffling and like yelling, you know. And then she opened the door again with a smile and she's like come on in. And so she invited us into her home. Her family was sitting on the other side of the paper wall. We could hear them, they could hear the TV going and she proceeded to open up her fridge. She made us dinner To this day I don't even know what I ate. This was the day before phones were cameras and so I have like no photos of this night and she just cooked for us and it was some of the most amazing food. And what I learned that day was that it doesn't have to be a good dinner to be expensive. That street food, some random lady cooking in her kitchen, could make the most amazing dish that you've ever ever had in your life.

Speaker 1: 11:56

I just have to commend you on the fact that you were able to say what you said all in an English accent, and that's amazing. I would not have been able to do that.

Speaker 2: 12:06

I will tell you that this is the first time I ever this was another night where we had hot pot. You're going to like this one. It's four in the morning, we're going out for hot pot and I'm like, oh, I'd never had hot pot in my life. So we got the pot. It's boiling in the middle and they're putting in vegetables. I'm like, oh, that's cool. And my co-workers are like, are you hungry? Because they're so excited to introduce this to me. I'm like, yeah, that looks really good. And then they start dropping in the weirdest stuff ever something called duck's blood, and they just dropped it in the boiling. And now I'm starting to think I'm not that hungry anymore. And what pushed me over the edge? They came out with a live fish with a stick on his mouth and they dropped him into the boiling hot pot, fully alive, and he's swimming around and at that moment I was like. I was like, yeah, no, I'm not hungry, I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna keep drinking beer.

Speaker 1: 12:58

I was like I totally lost my appetite well, I feel like you made the right choice, but is it actually duck's blood? Was it like the blood of duck? Is that we're talking about?

Speaker 2: 13:07

imagine, imagine, like head cheese, it was almost rectangular in shape and they just dropped the whole thing in there. So it was definitely, it was definitely solidified and to this day I don't even know what duck's blood is. But they, they definitely just dropped the whole square into the center and and I was kind of like I, I don't know I really lost my appetite, anthony, now, 2025, I'm eating the duck's blood. I'm in there. I'm so in for that. Because that's because, as you're a culinary judge, you literally have to try everything that's in front of you, because that's the only fair thing to do with a chef is, when they put that in front of you, even if you don't like it or you don't like the way it looks, you have to taste it, because if you don't taste it, you can't judge it.

Speaker 1: 13:57

I agree with that actually. So when you're judging like, for example, you're at the world food championships and in that competition you could have it could be where you know John and I come up with a dish and and we're competing, and we're competing up against you know some Michelin chef, or something like that when you're judging you're how is it that you're able to balance that out versus a professional?

Speaker 2: 14:26

One of the things at the World Food Championship you're never supposed to compare dishes against each other, and so that's something I learned from them a long time ago, and so I have used this discipline in every competition that I judge. I have a palate and I know what my palate is. So if I give you what you serve me, the most horrible dish, and I give you a 10, that's on me. That was my mistake. So I already know, going into the competition of what a 10 should taste like and what a five tastes like. So I never go back. I will never scratch out. If I judged your dish first and then second dish was better, I would never scratch out your score. That was my mistake. So I don't give out 10s very easily. I've had other judges sitting to my right and left going, oh my gosh, you didn't give a 10 to anybody. And I kind of say to them I go. Well, there was nothing that was worthy of a 10. For me. I'm looking for creativity and flavors. I want to feel that goosebump tingle that goes up and down my arm. That's a 10. If you've got my hair standing over my arm and I am just having this orgasmic moment in my taste buds you're getting a 10 because there's something that I've never tasted before. It's that magic of that perfect bite that I just had.

Speaker 2: 15:48

I want chefs to give me something I've never experienced before. I want to be wowed by that first bite and know that it tastes so amazing. I've seen ugly dishes that I've bit into and went, oh my gosh, that's the best thing I've ever had. I've seen beautiful dishes that I wish I never bit into For me. I've been doing it so long and I remember the first time I judged. The first time I judged I was like I don't know what I'm doing and I'm going back like 15 years. I was like I really don't know what I'm doing. Over the course of these 15 years I can literally taste something and judge it. The same way, you sent the photo of the food for me. There's always something in my head. I'm looking at that picture Even though I can't taste it. I can almost physically taste it in my head just by looking at what you've sent to me.

Speaker 1: 16:36

As you remember, in 2023, I was able to participate as a master judge at the World Food Championships in Dallas and I wish that I didn't get to see who the contestants were, who the competitors were, from the dishes that I was eating. I would prefer it to be completely blind.

Speaker 2: 16:55

And I agree with you. I like, I like, I do like the blind judging One of the one of the times. One of the things is people say you know, what'd you think of my dish? And I'll tell them. I go, you know, these are chefs that know me and I say, well, I didn't even, I didn't even know. They said we were looking out there. When those chefs are giving the descriptions of their dishes, I'm looking over their head, I'm listening to them, but I don't even want to know who they are. You know, they say this is this is chef 208. I write 208 on my thing and I look over their heads because I don't want to see them.

Speaker 2: 17:30

I will never let a chef whether I know him, dislike him, think he's the most amazing chef in the world dictate how I'm going to score that. I've had chef friends who have chosen to not speak to me for a year because they didn't like my critique of their dish and they didn't like the score I gave them. And that's the thing is like they've all come back around and they go hey, I'm pretty sorry about that, I was pretty hurt and I said well, that's fine. I said, but I have to be honest. Once you step to that judging table, you are no longer my friend. You are somebody that is bringing your dish before me and it's my opportunity to taste it, to tell you what's great about it or give you some constructive feedback of what was missing or where you missed the mark is I get real nerdy when it comes to frou-frou sort of you know cooking, you know elevated style cooking.

Speaker 1: 18:27

I expect a lot from it. So when I know that there's a chef who's that's where they come from, you know, I'm going to be a little bit more excited than somebody who's used to cooking just at the house or just for entertainment purposes. Let's say, anthony, you're in Chicago. It's a huge foodie town. What is happening there? What's the current trend.

Speaker 2: 18:49

It's all over the place. I believe flavors have become so homogenized. Do you remember the days that you could only get calamari at an Italian restaurant and you could only get octopus at a Greek restaurant? You now find those two dishes on every single menu. I think cauliflower is having its moment. It started with the cauliflower crust for pizza, but now you walk into every restaurant, every single restaurant, no matter what kind of ethnicity they are. There's a cauliflower starter on there, there's cauliflower steak, there's cauliflower buffalo. I'm a huge fan of cauliflower, but now I'm at the point where I'm thinking, okay, it's a little too much. On all of the cauliflower. I love spice. I think spice is a really big thing. I love how Calabrian chilies have really started to make it onto menus a lot.

Speaker 2: 19:40

To kick it up a notch, especially in Italian cooking, I think that cocktails are where culinary is at right now, because you have these mixologists. They're going into the kitchen, they're boiling berries and making these syrups for these cocktails. The biggest thing that I see lately and I remember seeing this for the first time like 15 years ago one bar was doing it in Chicago, but now all of them are doing is this fat washing of alcohol to create a unique spirit. One of my favorite cocktails right now is they're making an olive oil martini, where they fat wash the olive oil right into the vodka or the gin and it just adds this silkiness to the cocktail. It's like an elevated martini.

Speaker 2: 20:23

Even though we're talking food, cocktails have become more of a food thing. The other day we had a mixologist you ready for this. He infused Italian cheese with vodka to make their version of an espresso martini, and so in my mind I'm thinking, oh my gosh, this is gonna taste cheesy. The cheese really didn't even factor into it, but it did bring in that kind of dairy that mixed in really well with the whole espresso martini for sure. But yeah, so I think cocktails are kind of the new culinary trend. You know everyone's trying to up their level. Not only is the food elevated, now your cocktails are elevated.

Speaker 2: 21:04

It's more than just vodka. You know vodka and soda. You know it's some kind of infused fat and in fact so when I said I had this 15 years ago, the chef that did made this. So every week there would be a. It was called the smoke of the week. So we would take the drippings from the actual meat and infuse it into an alcohol spirit. And that week was St Patrick's Day and they had made, they had smoked corned beef. They took the corned beef fat from the drippings, mixed it with a bourbon and made a cocktail and I drank that. Hold on, a second Hold on.

Speaker 1: 22:18

About a year ago. Hold on a second. Hold on About a year ago. No, I have to stop you because about a year ago we did a show somewhere and we had bacon, freshly cooked bacon, bourbon, and we were dipping the bacon in the bourbon eating drinking, and it was a wonderful podcast. So what you're talking about, you're speaking my language. Essentially, what you're saying is a fat wash is basically infusing. Is that correct?

Speaker 2: 22:51

Yeah, so basically what they do is they'll take the fat, they mix it with the spirit, they will throw it in the freezer overnight and then the next morning they will take, they will skim the top layer of that fat off and then they'll strain it. So they'll strain it through a real fine strainer and what happens is that flavor of the fat is now infused with the spirit, and then you can make any cocktail you want with that. I love it, I love it. I know I just opened a whole new show there for you somewhere down the line.

Speaker 1: 23:21

I mean, I'm going to invite you to the studio and we can do this, man.

Speaker 2: 23:24

You know what I'm saying. I know I will have to take naps afterward, but I'm fine with that.

Speaker 1: 23:30

Are there any hidden gems in Chicago for culinary right now?

Speaker 2: 23:37

Chicago. The whole city is a hidden gem. If you love food, chicago is your place to come to. We have so many restaurants from around the world. Before I had ever started traveling, I was just happy with what I was eating. Now that I've traveled the world, we have food in Chicago that is sometimes better than eating it in that country. We have so many ethnic chefs that are bringing their flavors and their spices ethnic chefs that are bringing their flavors and their spices.

Speaker 2: 24:06

We just recently ate at a brand new restaurant that opened on the River North area of Chicago. It's called Yasame and it's supposed to be a Mediterranean restaurant, but it has a real big emphasis on Greek. The chef is from Santorini. His name is George I'm just so going to butcher his name George Zirkovakis, and he is from Santorini. I know that I hope I did it well, but I'm gonna tell you right now. His flavors are just magical.

Speaker 2: 24:30

One of the things that my wife and I noticed like on every plate there was like this neon green liquid, and so we called chef over and I'm like, okay, what is that? And he was making a homemade parsley oil, and I had parsley oil in my life and and it seemed to be on every plate, like he did this raw. He did this raw fish dish which was kind of his ceviche take on ceviche, but he had this parsley oil right next to chili oil. So you had this neon green and this red and you're eating this raw fish and you're like, oh my gosh, this is so amazing. It kind of blew our mind. We were really just fascinated with everything that he was creating.

Speaker 2: 25:16

And we went on the fourth day of them being open and I looked at my wife. I said this is day four. I feel nervous for them. I'm so worried because on day four sometimes you don't have all your ducks in a line and every single dish we had was better than the next. I remember telling chef I said you know what? For day four, you guys have this in the bag To be that tight and to have every single dish be a hit. I was impressed.

Speaker 1: 25:47

When you have all your duck blood in a row, I can tell you that things are going to go great. I've never heard of parsley oil. I want to use that, I want to consume that, I want to taste that.

Speaker 2: 25:58

The color alone will make you look at the dish in a different way, because it was almost like a neon green and it just stood out. And that's the great thing is, there's a lot of Greek chefs in Chicago and I find their flavors fascinating because Chicago has a Greek town. I find their flavors fascinating because Chicago has a Greek town and the problem with Chicago's Greek town is most of these families didn't come from a culinary world, so our Greek town has been focused on gyros and saganaki, the flaming cheese. They haven't gotten creative and I feel bad for our Greek town because it's stuck. It's stuck in the 1970s, but we have so many great Greek restaurants that have opened where it's opened my eyes and one of the Greek chefs said to me he said those restaurants haven't kept up with the times. He goes. The dishes I'm making for you in Chicago today are the same dishes that if you flew to Greece today you would be having this in a Greek restaurant and and I just, I, just, I just find that fascinating and my palate loves it.

Speaker 1: 27:06

What's it like to be the social media person of the year in Chicago?

Speaker 2: 27:11

Now, that was a. That was a. That was definitely a long time ago. I mean, what was crazy about that was is everyone prior to me winning that award was some type of Chicago celebrity, whether they were on television or whether they were a big time restaurateur. And so when they announced my name, and I was standing in the audience.

Speaker 2: 27:33

I didn't know I won. I didn't even know, I don't even think I knew I was nominated. I was like I was kind of like oh my gosh, because, like it was such an amazing feeling. Kind of like oh my gosh, because it was such an amazing feeling. And social media? You know, social media wasn't really a thing yet. This was about nine years ago. One of the local radio hosts in Chicago, when he was introducing me, he introduced me, as we have Anthony Martirina. This guy was doing social media before anyone ever called it social media, and I had to take a step back and go oh my gosh. Yeah, I didn't know what I was doing, I was just being social.

Speaker 2: 28:13

At one point with my travels around the world, I had 20,000 photos of food up on Google. I would add restaurants onto a map. There know, there's this place in Panama and they make the most amazing Venezuelan empanadas I've ever had in my life and there's a line down the street they're frying them right there in the street. You'll usually find 100 people in line. Well, my second time I was in Panama, I was like I got to put them on the Google map. So there's an actual pin on the Google map and and I cannot tell you the hundreds and thousands of people that have gone there to eat just because I pinned it on the Google map. A street vendor, and you know people will write me every once in a while go, oh my gosh, that was the best empanada I ever had.

Speaker 2: 29:02

And so you know, for me it was always about being social. I'm always about wanting to share that dish, share that restaurant, share that chef's story. You know, I don't ever really want to make the story about myself, which I think some people do. You know they want to. They think social media is about them and what outfit they're wearing and and you know how much food they can shove in their face. I think it's got to be about the restaurant, about the food and about being social. There are chefs that reach out to me going oh, you like my food? I'm so honored. And I'll be like, yeah, but it looks amazing and I'm judging it with my eyes and I hope it tastes as good as it looks. And so that's the biggest thing about social media is be social. I think people have forgotten the social part. They look at it more like a business. I'm just, you know, I pinched. I pinched myself to say, hey, I'm very lucky to be part of this world.

Speaker 1: 29:55

Social media has changed everything about food and how we consume it, where we go out to eat. The entire, the entire aspect of food has changed, and it's mostly and it's mostly because we're all taking pictures at the dinner table and everybody wants to see Whoa.

Speaker 1: 30:15

Well, you know what. I was going to go to that. I was going to go to that pub. I was going to go to that restaurant oh, look what they have. Oh, you know, i'm'm gonna go. As it turns out, you're an influencer, you know we fall into that, but we're not like, I'm not a social media influencer. We happen to have a great podcast and a great team that you know helps to, you know, propel the food media aspect of what, who we are. But, man, I'll tell you, it's really great when people like yourself, who do have a great following and you've been doing this for a long time that you entertain what we're doing, you know, on our socials. I think that's, that's what it's all about. I think that's great. I think that's we need to all work together when we're in this whole content creation world.

Speaker 2: 31:03

A heart is so easy to give you know a comment, a comment just saying that looks amazing. You know, and again, you just said that to me and I did. You know, I do like your stuff and I was. I didn't even realize it, so you brought it up that I do like your stuff. I've liked your stuff since I met you for the first time, like a year and a half ago, and and you know I've actually your stuff since I met you for the first time a year and a half ago. I've actually seen a progression on your Instagram page. You guys have gone to another level, especially with a lot of the videos you're producing. I just think you've done an incredible job and I want to give you some accolades that. You're doing an amazing time. You're presenting it in such a way that it's fun to look at, it's fun to watch. I can't wait to see what you're going to post next.

Speaker 1: 31:48

Thank you.

Speaker 1: 31:48

I mean I'm you know the fact is, you know, john and I, pooch, you know few of the others who are in our circle. Man, people don't realize and I know you do people do not realize the efforts. When you try to do this thing the right way, when you try to bring quality and you try to bring something entertaining and knowledgeable or fun, it's really difficult to pull off and there's so many obstacles along the way, hurdles, you know we had. You know we've had times when guests are scheduled to come into the, into, onto the show, and then they show up. They don't show up in the last minute. They, you know there's a change of plans and you got to scramble and figure things out.

Speaker 1: 32:32

It's not an easy, easy thing. Nobody understands when you're doing real film, the editing, the photography, the editing the hours, the creative process. It's insane. So I'm glad, I'm really appreciative of what you do and your show, because all what you do helps to propel all of us. I mean it's, it's really it. It really is all about everyone doing something that's bigger than themselves.

Speaker 2: 33:01

And I want to give a little shout out to my wife and daughter. You know, between my wife and myself we both came from the film media world and people don't understand is when we walk into film, something between the both of us we have probably over 60 years of in front of the camera, behind the camera and editing experience, just between my wife and myself. So when we walk in we're all business. You know, we want to make sure we grab the perfect shot. Our daughter, who's 18, she literally she'll come to me with an editing question. I show her once. She edits, she writes, she loves it.

Speaker 2: 34:09

I remember three years ago she goes dad, I don't want to do what you want to do. You know, the other day she's like this is the best job ever and she's only 18. And she's producing videos for the Chicago Public Library. She's producing videos. She's been working for them for two years now, making videos for the actual teen Instagram. And she said, dad, this is the best job I ever had and it's because she comes from me and my wife. She has that creative side to her man. She does it Like it's so funny.

Speaker 2: 34:43

Her and I will film the same experience and I don't want to look at her edit and I don't show her my edits and we're both done and we'll look at it and I'll be like that PR agency is going to think I edited your video and she goes is that a bad thing? And I go. No, I go because you've got your own style. But wow, you're really good. She's really really good at what she does. So, you know, big shout out because it does take a team. You know, it's not just always me and I'm very fortunate that I have, like the, the star studded. You know, social media team of my family, of my wife and daughter too.

Speaker 1: 35:18

That's really a great story. My daughter's nine and when she sees me editing she'll sit down next to me and she'll, you know, and I, I know she's there but I I'm not paying. You know, I'm in the middle of editing and I can see her looking at my face and then looking at the screen and then looking back up at my face and then she'll say daddy, daddy, what if you, what if you did that? And she's pointing at like a transition. You know she's like what if you use that? I'm like, okay, baby, you know. And then a lot of times it looks good.

Speaker 1: 35:51

I mean, I don't know it's, it's just, it's interesting when your children yeah, it's interesting when your children want to be involved with anything that has to do with their parents.

Speaker 2: 35:59

I want to share a funny story about my daughter, probably when she was like seven. You know, I've always been editing, so I remember she was sleeping in her back bedroom maybe she was six or seven and so I was sitting in complete darkness. I had the headphones on, I'm in front of the laptop, I was doing an edit for a client, and she walked up next to me and she touched me on the arm. You know, and and and that was the thing is like there was always editing happening and it was just such was one of those moments where where, like they, they see what you do, you know what I mean and and you know, I think editing and stuff, it's just a creative, it's just a creative outlet. It's so much fun. And look, look at, look at our world about the tiktok videos and the instagram. You know, it's like I can't imagine, when I started out, you know, editing film, that every single person could say, hey, I make films too.

Speaker 1: 37:03

I don't know if it's good or bad. I started editing. Well, let me just first preface with had probably a 12 year hiatus from any editing. Had probably a 12 year hiatus from any editing. But I, in the early two thousands maybe oh four, oh five, something like that I started messing around with final cut pro and you know, this was like really in the infancy of all this stuff and it was really interesting, it was really cool and you had a lot of power and control and if you had software like that, you were different than everyone. You were different. Today you can edit right from your phone.

Speaker 1: 37:42

You can edit right in the app that you're using Instagram or TikTok, whatever it is and it's great, but then it kind of dilutes and waters down. It waters it down for everyone as well. I don't know.

Speaker 2: 38:00

And I have a similar story to that. You know, you can imagine I was, I was on the road, I was, I was producing stuff and editing and I was traveling on the road for 20 years and I'd gotten to that. I'd gotten to that point where I was literally we had our Avid software on a mobile device and I'd walk into NBC and we were selling it for I think we were selling it for like $99 a copy. And I'd walk into NBC and I'm like, okay, we'll take a thousand copies. And then I'm thinking in the backside of my head we were selling like million dollar boxes. I'm thinking on the backside of my head like we were selling, like we're selling like million dollar boxes.

Speaker 2: 38:34

You know, now all of a sudden everyone in the newsroom has an ability to do a rough edit of a news story because everything was on. You know, they had all of the video on the cloud and anyone could get into it at any time. So when I that was kind of one of the last things I launched I was kind of burnt out from editing and I literally was so focused on my photos of food. I just I love taking photos of food and I thought I'd probably never edit again. And what was interesting was Instagram stopped promoting photos and they said we're only going to promote you if you make a reel. And I was like I have to shoot video of my food.

Speaker 2: 39:15

And what was incredible was I remember filming my first I think it was an omakase place and I remember filming this dinner and editing it and I was just like. It was just like a newfound love for me. It was like riding a bicycle. You know, taking off that for me, taking off those six years from editing, it was just a whole different world and I think that's that's one of the differences is I was able to jump right back into it and I know all the tools because I've edited for so many years. You know like it's fun for me again, you know, and so I'm glad I had that six years off because the creativity is is is still there.

Speaker 1: 39:57

What advice would you give someone looking to get into content creation that revolves around food?

Speaker 2: 40:02

I would tell people to first of all have a love of food. You know, make sure that you love food. If you don't love food, if you're just doing it because because you, you know everyone else is doing it, that's not the right reason. Make it about the food, make it about the chef, make it about the restaurant. These people work so many hours creating and they miss family holidays and they miss evenings with their kids because they're out there cooking for you. So make it about them. Give them a little accolade. That's their trophy. When you put together a great video and it's showcasing their food, it just makes them so much more happier. So if you're really aspiring to do it, make sure you have a love of food. Make sure that when you go in and say, if you're filming and having dinner, film it. You know, like, like there's.

Speaker 2: 40:58

There's so many times, oh, we don't even eat hot food anymore. You know, for me it's about making sure we get the best looking shots. I'll have chefs come over and be like are you gonna eat that? And I said, once we get the shot, we're gonna eat it. You know. And then they're always like but it's gonna be cold and I'm like I go, I'm a culinary judge. I go I've never, I never eat anything hot. I said, as long as the flavors are there and I can taste the flavors, I said it doesn't have to be hot to me, I can still taste everything that's there. So yeah, so if you really want to get into it, just make sure you have a love for food.

Speaker 2: 41:38

Make sure that you put food first, and then everything else will fall into place. What are you shooting with? Are you using your phone or you actually have a camera? I mean, I've got professional cameras in my studio but at the end of the day, my iPhone 13 Pro is so amazing. Actually, I haven't upgraded. Our daughter has the 16 and there are times when my daughter will take my phone because she can't get the shot, because she said she tells me and I agree with her it still looks better on the 13 than it does on the 16. I you know. So until my, until my 13 breaks, I'm not upgrading.

Speaker 1: 42:13

Well, I'll tell you what. I have a whole studio of cameras. John has his whole studio of cameras. We use our iPhones for, you know, back of the house, sort of behind the scenes stuff. It's super cool. I got to tell you something, man. I'm so glad that you were able to get on this episode today. How do we get you? I want to get you in studio, brother. I think that we can do a lot of cool stuff and we got to put it on the schedule. What do you think?

Speaker 2: 42:37

I would love that. Oh my gosh, that would be so much fun.

Speaker 1: 42:41

Maybe we'll catch up at a competition coming up here one of these days as well.

Speaker 2: 42:45

Yeah, thank you so much for having me Dude your brother.

Speaker 1: 42:50

how do we find you?

Speaker 2: 42:52

Easiest way to find me is on Instagram. It's just my full name, so it's at Anthony Martirina A-N-T-H-O-N-Y-M-A-R-T-O-R-I-N-A.

Speaker 1: 43:02

Beautiful, my brother. Thank you very much for being on the show, John. As always, you're awesome and we are out Out.