- 5/18/2025
Adrianne Calvo is a restaurateur and content creator who turned a cookbook win and a Montel Williams guest spot into a thriving hospitality brand. From dark dining experiences to heartfelt “love letters” from guests, she’s built a career rooted in bold flavor, real storytelling, and digital connection.
Watch now to learn about building confidence on national TV, turning guests into loyal customers, and the power of storytelling in the kitchen.
Watch now to learn about building confidence on national TV, turning guests into loyal customers, and the power of storytelling in the kitchen.
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00:00A judge goes and tells me, you need to write a cookbook with all these winning recipes.
00:05How old were you?
00:06I was like 18. I had just turned 18.
00:08Good enough for a judge to tell you to write a cookbook.
00:11Right.
00:16Welcome to Restaurant Influencers presented by Entrepreneur. I'm your host, Sean Walchef.
00:20This is a Cali BBQ Media production. We are coming to you from Miami, from Chef Adrian's
00:27Vineyard. This is my favorite studio on earth. And the reason that I say that is that we got
00:32the opportunity, thanks to Toast, to go around the country, hopefully around the world someday,
00:38to have interesting conversations with restauranteurs that are also storytellers.
00:43Chef Adrian has amassed over 1.2 million followers just on social. She has award-winning
00:50cookbooks, award-winning restaurants, and she's sitting right, I'm actually sitting in her
00:55restaurant. And we've created a studio. So Chef, welcome to the show.
00:58Oh, thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
01:01We are grateful for you to welcome us in. In life, in the restaurant business,
01:06and in the new creator economy, we learn through lessons and stories.
01:10Absolutely.
01:11Can you tell me where in the world is your favorite stadium, stage, or venue?
01:16Oh, that's such a big question.
01:22We start with big questions.
01:23Wow. I think that it's a kitchen, any kitchen.
01:27Any kitchen.
01:28Any kitchen, wherever like us as chefs, we get to exercise our craft and present it to people.
01:35I think it's the greatest stage to be on.
01:36Yes.
01:37I always tell people that outside of one activity, there's only one other thing that could be as,
01:45can I say as, almost like as sexy as cooking for somebody. Think about what other thing in this
01:50world can you do that you're putting something else, something that you created into someone
01:55else's body. And they're just taking it like vulnerably. And you're hoping to provide this
02:01experience, something that's going to last in their brain forever. Hopefully for a long time,
02:06long after that meal is over. So I think that aside from one other activity, cooking for somebody
02:14or dining with somebody is about as wonderful, as explosive, as intimate as it can be. So
02:21therefore that's why it's the greatest stage, the greatest arena.
02:24So which kitchen? This kitchen?
02:26This kitchen.
02:27Or your first kitchen?
02:29Specifically, bring us to a specific kitchen.
02:31If I had to bring it to be specific, it's this one.
02:33It's this one.
02:34Because we live in the moment.
02:35Yes.
02:35And I think every other kitchen has led me to this one.
02:39So give us the, how big is the restaurant? How many do we seat here at this location?
02:44This is 10,000 square feet, a little over 10,000 square feet.
02:48Because we have the outskirts, we actually have a beautiful waterfront terrace as well.
02:53It seats 287, plus outdoor dining.
02:59Yeah, we have five private, unique dining spaces,
03:02because it's not just about like the restaurant itself, but we want to tailor to,
03:06you know, like be a bespoke place where if you wanted to host anywhere from a business dinner,
03:12or you wanted to do an over-the-top proposal, you know, it can be done here.
03:17Amazing.
03:18So we're going to talk to Toast.
03:19We'll talk to Entrepreneur.
03:20We'll talk to some other sponsors.
03:22We're going to rent out the entire restaurant,
03:24and we're going to give you the microphone.
03:25We're going to put people that play the game within the game,
03:28the master storytellers, restaurateurs, hospitality professionals,
03:31and we're all going to invite them to Miami, to the restaurant.
03:34And I'm going to give you a mic, and I'm going to say,
03:36Chef, can you tell us the Montel Williams story?
03:40Oh, Lord, what?
03:41Tell us the Montel Williams story.
03:43I mean, does the audience even know?
03:45No, set the state.
03:47Well, I know who Montel Williams is,
03:49and I would love for you to share with the audience how you launched your career.
03:54Well, I was a psycho.
03:59We're all psychos.
04:00We're in the restaurant business.
04:02That's our shared DNA.
04:03That's right.
04:04I think that if they did a blood test, they'd know all of us.
04:07Hospitallians, culinarians, we're all psychos.
04:09Yes.
04:10Because you have to be.
04:12This is the gauntlet.
04:13I mean, so I originally wanted to be a journalist.
04:16I wanted to tell stories as a career.
04:18That was my career path.
04:20I used to do the morning announcements in middle school and high school and whatnot.
04:24And I thought that that was my path for the rest of my life.
04:28Johnson and Wales University comes in to do a demo in a cooking class
04:32that I was incorrectly placed in, OK?
04:35It was a mistake.
04:36And there they they go and do this beautiful demo.
04:41And it was as like I call that moment the lightning strike,
04:44because it was as if they were only speaking to me.
04:46Wow.
04:46From that day, I said, I'm going to be a chef.
04:49Period.
04:50The only problem was that culinary school is very expensive, right?
04:54It's just like going to medical school.
04:56So I had to raise money for college.
04:57So the only way to do that from my junior year to my senior year was to do culinary competitions.
05:03Fast forward, I started winning culinary competitions.
05:07I was just in love with cooking.
05:10And I was based.
05:11I was winning them based on flavor.
05:13And a judge goes and tells me, you need to write a cookbook with all these winning recipes.
05:18Wow.
05:19How old were you at the time?
05:20I was like 18.
05:22I had just turned 18.
05:24I took a year.
05:24Good enough for a judge to tell you to write a cookbook.
05:27Right.
05:27And I'm like, no, I'm not going to do this.
05:29But then I was like, you know what?
05:31I am going to do this.
05:32You know, again, that's probably that psycho DNA.
05:34Right.
05:35So I write this book and he says, you need to call it maximum flavor,
05:39because at the time, molecular gastronomy was at its peak.
05:44Right.
05:44So everybody was doing smoke and gases and foams.
05:47And I that was not anything that ever resonated with me.
05:50I think people still to this day eat, you know, because they crave something.
05:55There makes them salivate and dream about it.
05:57Right.
05:58And nobody's going to dream about foam or powder.
06:01No one.
06:01I'm sorry.
06:02No, it may be cool, but I'm with you on that.
06:04Not for me.
06:05Right.
06:05Not for me.
06:06Yeah.
06:06So they're like, you need to call it maximum flavor.
06:09Then a year later, now I'm 19 years old.
06:12This book is out.
06:14It's out in the world.
06:15And I get a phone call to my home like my like this is back when
06:19people called people called the house.
06:21Yeah.
06:22And I'm thinking it's my best friend calling and it's a producer going,
06:26oh, Adrian, you're the author of Maximum Flavor.
06:29Would you please want to come out to New York City and be on the Montel Williams show?
06:33Now, I grew up with Montel Williams, Oprah, huge show, huge show, huge TV phone.
06:38And this is Danny, my friend.
06:41I'm like, hang up.
06:42They call back again.
06:43I hang up.
06:44I finally get upset.
06:45I go, Danny, stop calling me.
06:46I'm getting ready for dinner.
06:48And this young lady goes, I'm sorry, ma'am, but I guess you don't want to come out to
06:52New York City.
06:52And I'm like, oh, wait, I'm sorry.
06:54I thought you were someone else.
06:57By that weekend, I'm flown out with my mom, my sister, my grandmother to New York City
07:02to the studio.
07:04And there's Montel Williams and having me on as the youngest cookbook author in America.
07:10Unbelievable.
07:11This is his farewell show.
07:12It was the very last show.
07:14I had no idea.
07:15And he holds my book in the air.
07:17Well, I did a demo with him.
07:19And right before we go live, they tell me, oh, he doesn't like scallops.
07:23And that was the dish I chose to make.
07:25Of course.
07:26So now I'm dying on the inside.
07:27I'm cringing.
07:29I'm sweating.
07:29This is like one of my first national TV appearances.
07:32I'm in front of my family there in the audience.
07:35And I'm like, this is the worst thing ever.
07:37He bites into the scallop, which I kid you not.
07:40I'm cooking with my hands shaking, probably.
07:44And I'm like, this poor guy is going to bite into a scallop.
07:47He doesn't like it.
07:48I'm so nervous.
07:49He bites into it three times.
07:51And there's a moment of silence.
07:52And if you know silence on TV, it's like silence on radio.
07:58What's going to happen now?
07:59Edge of your seat type of thing.
08:01And he eats it and goes, everybody needs to buy this book because for 45 years,
08:06I've hated scallops.
08:07And this girl right here has made me now for the rest of my days like scallops.
08:13My book sold like crazy.
08:16That is unbelievable.
08:17That's the Montel Williams show story.
08:20And you took the money from that book to open your first restaurant?
08:23Yes.
08:24So it was money that I had never counted on or even imagined having.
08:30And at that time, people actually saw shows on TV.
08:34And they went and bought books.
08:36They were like, I'm buying this book.
08:38As opposed to now where you do all the marketing for your book.
08:42Yeah.
08:42So I'm like, I never would imagine my book selling this much.
08:48So I put all my eggs in one basket, literally.
08:52And I'm like, if it works out, this is going to be a home run.
08:56But if it doesn't, I never counted on this.
08:58And I'll just go be a chef like I intended to be.
09:02But here we are 18 years later.
09:03It worked.
09:04Bring me back to opening day of your first restaurant.
09:08Opening day of my first restaurant.
09:10Like actual opening day.
09:11Because we all know, like people ask, when are you going to open?
09:13I'm going to open when the health department says I can.
09:15Yeah, that's true.
09:16I would love to be open three months before.
09:19Also, this is circa 2007.
09:22So there's not like portals that you go into and see.
09:25This is where my status.
09:27No, you just had to wait.
09:29And here's your notice in the mail.
09:32Nervous.
09:33I was just so nervous.
09:34At 22 years old, you don't know what you're doing.
09:37You have no idea.
09:40I mean, I had the world on my shoulders.
09:43The pressure of the world.
09:43I'm like, so what was I thinking here?
09:45I have employees now.
09:48I have to do taxes.
09:50I have to like, I'm responsible for payroll, ordering, purchasing, inventory.
09:56And a reputation to maintain.
09:57I'm not just doing a competition recipe anymore.
10:00So opening night, we have a flood of people outside.
10:04And this is in a small shopping strip.
10:07My first location was a 3,000 square foot storefront.
10:11Location, location, location, right?
10:13Yeah, well, storefront in the middle of a neighborhood.
10:18Our story is, our restaurant is located in a beautiful community.
10:22But it's not the place that people would tell you to open up a restaurant.
10:25So we know, we know about having a challenging location.
10:28We know deeply about it.
10:29There was nothing around us.
10:31People would tell us, well, you know, if you're coming to the restaurant,
10:34you're coming to eat there because there's nothing to do around there.
10:37You can't go to a movie theater, a bar.
10:39We didn't even have a liquor license.
10:41So you can't even go have a cocktail after.
10:43No, it was none of that.
10:46But yeah, so a flood of people in the front door there.
10:50And I just remember thinking, what have I done?
10:54Yes.
10:54And I hid behind, we had a side to side counter, which was like our wine bar.
10:59And I hid down below in the sink that was underneath.
11:03And I was like, OK, breathe.
11:05Like the only way to get through this is to go through it.
11:08Like you have to finish the night.
11:10And we did it.
11:12And somehow it was a blur.
11:13I don't remember that night at all.
11:15Like the little pieces of it.
11:16I remember the beginning of it, my little meltdown.
11:19And then somehow we got through it.
11:22And many things changed after that.
11:25We went through many phases, but it was wild.
11:29So what's significant?
11:30We opened our restaurant in 2008 and something that I bring up all the time on the show is
11:342007 was actually the year the first iPhone came out.
11:38Yes.
11:38So like we, you know, everyone assumes TikTok, YouTube, Instagram,
11:43all these things were around forever.
11:45But in the beginning, we didn't have those tools when we opened up.
11:48You had to wait till the newspaper came out.
11:51Yes, correct.
11:52The food section would come out and review you or just put out.
11:56Right.
11:56Hopefully, if you're lucky, if you're lucky.
11:58Yeah.
11:58Like I wasn't because where I was located, you're.
12:02No one was coming out.
12:03No one's coming out there.
12:03No writer.
12:04No, no, because it's not a buzzy area.
12:07So they're not going to make their way out there.
12:09You know, do not skip this ad.
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12:49Do you remember when you first started posting on Facebook?
12:53Yes.
12:54It's funny, professionally.
12:55It's funny that you mentioned that.
12:56So we're so probably around 2008, 2009.
13:00And it wasn't even me.
13:01It was my marketing team.
13:03My manager at the time, his name is Mike.
13:06He goes, you need to open a Facebook.
13:08And I go, no, I don't have time for that.
13:11It's not happening.
13:12You know, I'm on the line every single day.
13:15And I'm like, who's going to look?
13:18Look at this.
13:19Who's going to be looking at what people are doing?
13:21Correct.
13:22I know, crazy.
13:23Boy, was I wrong.
13:24Now, fast forward to 2010.
13:26It's my third cookbook and it's called Maximum Flavor Social.
13:30Because I witnessed the crazy phenomenon that is social media
13:35directly affecting the food industry.
13:37Yes.
13:38And so I think it was like 2000, 2009 that he posts something about like,
13:44hi, Chef Adrian here.
13:46You know, here's my restaurant.
13:47Something very simple.
13:48Introducing me.
13:50And I see a couple of follows and likes.
13:52And I'm like, oh, is this how this works?
13:54What?
13:55And so then I got my first iPhone.
13:57And I started taking pictures of what I was doing in the kitchen because I lived there.
14:01Like, I basically lived there.
14:03And then I started to post, hey, tonight I'm doing this or that.
14:07And my servers started to tell me, hey, we have a table out there that wants this.
14:12And pointed to their phone.
14:14And that's when I first witnessed the power of social media.
14:17And I'm like, oh, no, things are going to change.
14:20And this is a big deal.
14:22Yeah.
14:22Can you share the receipts?
14:24The love letters?
14:25Yes.
14:26You did your research for real.
14:28We take the storytelling very seriously.
14:31We do.
14:31So it's funny because now 18 years later, I feel like I've had like my head kind of like,
14:37you know, you kind of like, you get to work and then every now and then you come up for air.
14:41You look up to see, wow, look what we did.
14:44Correct.
14:45And so it was right around like that 2010 era where Facebook is out now.
14:52And we're using it as posting for food and whatnot.
14:56And at the end of the night, my servers would be like, hey, this table left you this.
15:00And this table left you that.
15:02And I would read the back of these receipts that were notes to me.
15:06And these people were writing this because they knew that I was in the kitchen.
15:12They knew I was back there and I didn't have an open kitchen.
15:15Like this one's an open kitchen and whatnot.
15:17Beautiful.
15:17So and that was because I was like journaling what I was doing every day.
15:22And they knew I was there for, you know, 12 hours standing up on that line.
15:26So they would say, hey, we know you're back there, but we love the Cebuco.
15:29Best one I've ever had.
15:32Something like that.
15:33And then I'm like, oh, this is they're coming here.
15:36They're making the drive.
15:38Then they're paying for their meal.
15:40I'm so grateful for that just in and of itself.
15:44And then they're writing to me on the back of their receipt.
15:48I mean, I've saved every single one of them.
15:50That's so cool.
15:51And they would write another one and another one.
15:53And I would post it.
15:54And because it meant the world to me.
15:56And now, I mean, 15 years later, I call them love letters to a chef.
16:02Yeah.
16:02And I post as many as I possibly can.
16:04But I say I save every single one because those are words that are a testament
16:10to all the blood, sweat and tears, you know?
16:12Do you remember the shift from Facebook to Instagram?
16:15You have over a million Instagram followers.
16:17And that's like, I don't know what the percentages are,
16:19but I'm guessing it's 0.001% of the world.
16:22There's so many users, so much content on Instagram.
16:25Instagram, I think, was so powerful when it came out.
16:30It came out at the right time.
16:31I know there's other platforms that have come out since then.
16:34But I think, I mean, I don't want to speak into the future
16:37because I've done this before and I was wrong, right?
16:39But I don't know if any other one will make as an impact as Instagram did.
16:45I think it resonated with the generation.
16:48And a wide, you know, it's not just...
16:51I think there are some platforms that are geared towards a younger generation.
16:54And there's some that are maybe more towards the older ones
16:57and more family-friendly or they get political and whatnot.
17:01But Instagram is like, it's like universal, I think.
17:04And it's like a catch-all.
17:07I don't remember really when it happened.
17:09And by then, I was more open-minded with social.
17:12And I remember at that point, I had the helm of my social media.
17:16That's one thing.
17:16I will not allow a company or anything to handle my social media.
17:20I do it all by myself.
17:23And I think that the world started turning, really,
17:26where it was influencers, media endorsements started coming in,
17:33travel endorsements, culinary travel, gourmet travel, things like that.
17:38Anthony Bourdain started to set the stage for what I call foodie travel, right?
17:45And I think that Instagram was the perfect platform for that.
17:49So it just kind of...
17:51I think it was like 2014, really.
17:53Maybe a little earlier.
17:54Yeah, a little earlier.
17:55I think 2012, maybe.
17:562012, yeah.
17:57It was around when...
17:58I could be wrong.
17:59I'll obviously get fact-checked.
18:00I know.
18:01I don't really know.
18:02But I remember being on Chopped for the first time.
18:04Yeah, what year was that?
18:06That's the thing.
18:06I don't remember.
18:07It was 100 years ago.
18:08It was really...
18:09It was a long time ago.
18:11But I remember that this is when Chopped was at its peak.
18:17People were into this competition cooking.
18:19There was no tomorrow.
18:21And yeah, it was just overnight.
18:24My Chopped episode came out and it was just like...
18:26It caught fire.
18:27And that was the first time, really, that I was like, this is insane.
18:32So people will follow you and be captivated by your content
18:38once you're on this national arena, right?
18:42Yeah.
18:42Do you remember, back to the Montel Williams,
18:45you started getting more public TV appearances.
18:48Yes.
18:48Do you remember the learning curve of leaning into who you are
18:52and being more authentic to who you are?
18:55Yeah, I remember thinking after Montel Williams, like,
18:58OK, well, you're a little nerdy and you're a little quirky
19:03and you're a little overweight and that's OK.
19:08But you know what?
19:09We're here.
19:10Was this you?
19:11Like, internal?
19:12You were internalizing that?
19:13Yeah, I was internal.
19:15Because it gave me a sense of confidence that I was...
19:18Because people were like, this was great.
19:19I'm buying the book.
19:20And I'm like, OK, if I was OK enough to cook for Montel Williams, I'm OK.
19:26We can do this.
19:27So yeah, that was just like a...
19:29It was a great feeling.
19:30Do you remember the first time you did a significant brand deal?
19:34Yes.
19:36Significant.
19:38Something that was meaningful that you were like,
19:39oh my gosh, how cool is this?
19:41This brand is reaching out.
19:42Yes.
19:42I remember this was 2017.
19:46OK.
19:46And it was a multifaceted deal.
19:50And I had done several before, but this one was just, to me,
19:54all-encompassing.
19:55Because they allowed me to travel all over the country.
19:58This was Diamond Resorts International.
20:00OK.
20:00And they flew me and my team all over the country to do on a culinary stage.
20:06And they built these stages that were wild.
20:08And I do a segment called Maximum Flavor Live.
20:12I was on for 14 years on NBC on our local station.
20:14Amazing.
20:15And I would basically reenact Maximum Flavor Live.
20:20So we'll do three recipes.
20:21I would bring people from the audience, about 300 people in the audience.
20:25I would pick a couple here or there to be my sous chef.
20:28And we would tell stories, make these recipes.
20:32They would walk away feeling like, hey, they can make these recipes just like a chef.
20:36We'd listen to music, have a great time.
20:39And we did recipe development.
20:41We did meet and greets.
20:42We did all these travel things.
20:44We did golf tournaments for charity.
20:46We visited hospitals.
20:48And it was just this wonderful experience.
20:51And for me, I was like, wait, I'm just a chef.
20:55Yeah.
20:55How did I even get here?
20:56How did we get here?
20:57I'm here like side by side with Lee Bryce, Cole Swindell.
21:01I'm like, how did this happen?
21:03A bunch of NFL players that I don't know by name.
21:05Yep.
21:06And little old me.
21:07And I'm like, this is what culinary arts does.
21:09I mean, and now, you know, so many years later, I'm thinking,
21:15well, some people like a certain genre of music, right?
21:19Some people like certain sports and not others.
21:21But everybody speaks food.
21:23Everybody speaks food.
21:24We're like the bridge.
21:25A hundred percent.
21:26Absolutely.
21:26Yeah.
21:27So obviously, Toast sponsors this show.
21:29We believe deeply in technology.
21:31We implemented Toast in 2020.
21:33We were on Aloha before we brought Toast into our restaurants.
21:36You remember your Toast story?
21:39When did you on board with them?
21:40Yeah.
21:41And why?
21:42So I don't even remember the processor that I had before,
21:46because I didn't understand that really.
21:48It was just one of those things that I knew I had one.
21:50You need to have one.
21:51You need to have one.
21:52You need to have a point.
21:53But I never even knew the brand.
21:54Wow.
21:55Because it wasn't even that.
21:55It wasn't that significant.
21:57Exactly.
21:58And at the time, you still ran inventory.
22:01You did things manually, like pen and paper.
22:04And if you had a special for the night, you typed it in like that,
22:08you know, that type of thing.
22:09You know, that type of thing.
22:11And it wasn't until the pandemic hit.
22:14And that's another story.
22:16But I decided to move right before pandemic hit.
22:19Right before.
22:20Right before.
22:20Of course.
22:21I left my old restaurant that I had been at for 13 years.
22:25And I decided to take the biggest leap of my life right before the world shuts down.
22:29And the food industry is like turned over on its head.
22:34But that's another story.
22:35That's it.
22:36That's over beers on another day.
22:38That's episode two.
22:39Yeah.
22:40And so now we move.
22:42And I'm thinking, you know, 287 people, different rooms.
22:46Yep.
22:47There's we need a real processor and things that can handle.
22:50Right.
22:51And so I get with my different colleagues, different people all around Miami.
22:56And they're like, hey, have you used this?
22:58Yeah, but I don't like this thing about it.
23:00Oh, have you used this process?
23:02Yeah, I love it.
23:02I've had it for years, but it doesn't really do all of this.
23:05And then at the time, I'm also opening up a restaurant.
23:08And about 20 minutes away from here, a seafood restaurant.
23:11And I have somebody from the industry who not a restaurant owner or anything goes, hey,
23:17this restaurant that I worked at before, they use toast.
23:20And I just picked I just picked that up.
23:23So I like toast.
23:25I had no idea that that was the name of the processor.
23:27I'm thinking this is anything else.
23:29So I Google what is toast?
23:32And I never had this toast.
23:34Yes.
23:35And I never follow up the conversation with the person or anything.
23:39And now I'm like, what?
23:41They do this.
23:42This they do all the things that toast does.
23:45It's that easy.
23:46So wait, hold on.
23:47I could have it on my phone.
23:48Yeah.
23:48Also, I can be credible.
23:50Now I'm I'm six cookbooks in and I'm traveling the country and whatnot.
23:55And I'm thinking I'm still like have separation anxiety if I'm not in the building.
23:59Right.
24:00Like if you could save the right now, you know, you have to be OK to step away.
24:04Right.
24:05So now I'm like, oh, hold on.
24:08So with an app, I can monitor real time sales, real time sales, real time labor.
24:12Yes.
24:12Unbelievable.
24:13Labor percentage, SPLH.
24:15You know, I can see who's voiding and who's discounting what which employee is doing that.
24:21So it's not so not just processing.
24:23You're you're taking care of that just in case.
24:27Right.
24:28You're seeing your peak hours.
24:30You can tell the flow of business.
24:33So it's an educational tool.
24:35It's not just a processor.
24:37Yeah.
24:37And so then I got it.
24:39And now there's no turning back.
24:40It's amazing.
24:41Can you share a little bit about stadiums?
24:44Stadium?
24:44We started with the stadium question.
24:47You're doing some exciting things with stadiums.
24:49Yes.
24:50So Cracked by Chef Adrian.
24:51It's my what I call fine, casual concept.
24:54Awesome.
24:54So we do like fried chicken sandwiches.
24:57We do it's like fun food, but elevated.
25:01And where is this?
25:02This is at Hard Rock Stadium right now.
25:06We're going to be in stadiums all across the country and arenas.
25:10Really?
25:11Yes.
25:11That's exciting.
25:12We partnered with Channing Crowder and his wife, Asia Crowder.
25:16And they they see the same the same mission that I do, which is why?
25:21Why go have a good time, right?
25:23You're going to go to a game or you're going to a concert or one of these major like we're
25:27going to be part of Formula One.
25:28I saw that.
25:29That's a huge deal.
25:30It's huge.
25:31That is a huge deal.
25:32I mean, I can't believe it.
25:34Yeah, we're part of the U.S. Open and all of that.
25:39But why do you have to have mediocre food or why do you have to have stuff that's overly
25:44processed?
25:44So like if we're using chicken, we're using free range chicken, no hormones, no, you know,
25:49things like that are our burgers.
25:51They're grass fed, no antibiotics.
25:54So you don't really have to like go.
25:57You could have fun, fun food, right?
25:59When you're going to a fun event, it doesn't have to destroy you.
26:02Share a little bit about what you've learned about podcasting.
26:07I've listened to your podcast.
26:08It's fantastic.
26:09Really?
26:10Patton Oswalt.
26:11He's hilarious.
26:12Come on.
26:13He's a great guest.
26:14Yeah, he was wonderful.
26:17So my podcast Searching for Maximum Flavor.
26:20So I bring on guests and then we we talk a little bit storytelling.
26:25I ask them about themselves.
26:28They'll share with me some really funny anecdotes or maybe something serious.
26:32Something that they bring to the proverbial table, right?
26:36The third part of the podcast, I blindfold them and we do dark dining.
26:42So I feed them a couple of dishes.
26:45And I love putting my guests from all walks of life, whether they're like Patton Oswalt,
26:48a stand up comedian, actor, director, writer, all of that to somebody who's just a comedian
26:56or somebody who's in reality TV.
26:58And I blindfold them, put them in this vulnerable situation and do something that they do every day.
27:04Eat, right?
27:04Yeah.
27:05But can they really pinpoint flavors, textures?
27:08And I never give them anything weird.
27:10It's great.
27:11I give them common foods.
27:12And you wouldn't believe these reactions.
27:14These reactions are just hilarious.
27:18So, yeah, I mean, we're we were five time Telly Award winning Emmy nominated.
27:22It's just been it's just been a wonderful ride.
27:25That's incredible.
27:25And the dark dining.
27:27Dark dining, dark dining.
27:29I started in 2008 back in my old spot.
27:32Awesome.
27:33Where I blindfold guests once a month at the restaurant and we started it because I had
27:39like I had to have a reason besides just a dish for people to come out to my restaurant.
27:44Yeah.
27:45That was out in the boondocks.
27:46I love it.
27:46Story.
27:47They came for the story.
27:48And yes.
27:49Imagine the stories that they told after they did that experience.
27:51Exactly.
27:52I always I tell them, we gave you a reason to let your freak flag fly.
27:56That's what we just had people from all over.
27:59I'm like, so all of a sudden we're again in like the suburbs of Miami, but we had people
28:06driving from the Florida Keys, which are about two to three hours away from us, from up two
28:11to three hours north to be blindfolded.
28:14This was on a Tuesday or Wednesday, but this was not a weekend or smart.
28:18Yeah, that's fantastic.
28:20So we still do them.
28:20We still do them now.
28:22And we sell out.
28:22Now we use social media to launch.
28:25And we sell out in about 30, like 30 minutes.
28:29That's amazing.
28:30Well, if you guys are listening to the show, we want you to be a part of our live show.
28:33It's called Rising Tides Live every Wednesday, every Friday.
28:35You can go to be the show dot media slash rising tides.
28:38It's a chance for you to be a guest.
28:40We want to learn about your restaurant.
28:42If you're in the hospitality game or storytelling game, we want to learn about you.
28:46Chef Adrian, we're going to put links to all the socials, to the cookbooks, to the
28:49restaurants, into the article.
28:51But where is your primary digital playground?
28:53Is it Instagram?
28:54Yeah.
28:55OK, perfect.
28:56Well, we'll we'll make sure that you guys follow her.
28:59And if you want to connect with me, it's at Sean P.
29:01Welch at S.H.A.W.N.
29:02P.W.A.L.C.H.E.F.
29:05Please come to Miami.
29:07Please come to this beautiful restaurant.
29:09And thank you so much.
29:10We can't wait to see the stadiums and all the cool things that you're up to.
29:13Thanks for having me.
29:14We appreciate the hospitality.
29:15As always, stay curious, get involved.
29:17Don't be afraid to ask for help.
29:19Talk to you guys next week.
29:21Thank you for listening to Restaurant Influencers.
29:24If you want to get in touch with me, I am weirdly available at Sean P.
29:28Welch at S.H.A.W.N.
29:30P.W.A.L.C.H.E.F.
29:33Cali Barbecue Media has other shows.
29:36You can check out Digital Hospitality.
29:38We've been doing that show since 2017.
29:41We also just launched a show, season two, Family Style on YouTube with Toast.
29:46And if you are a restaurant brand or a hospitality brand and you're looking to launch your own show,
29:52Cali Barbecue Media can help you.
29:54Recently, we just launched Room for Seconds with Greg Majewski.
29:59It is an incredible insight into leadership, into hospitality, into enterprise restaurants
30:06and franchise, franchisee relationships.
30:09Take a look at Room for Seconds.
30:11And if you're ready to start a show, reach out to us, betheshow.media.
30:16We can't wait to work with you.
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