Burnt Hands Perspective
This is a raw and unfiltered look into the pu$$ification and state of the restaurant industry as a whole, powered by longtime friends Chef/Owner Antonio Caruana and former bartender turned News Anchor/TV Host Kristen Crowley.
Representing all aspects of the industry from the front to the back of the house we will dig into the juiciest stories and pull from decades of experience in one of the sexiest and most exciting industries in the world...the food and beverage industry.
From international chefs, sommeliers, industry pros, and so much more, this show will cover all of it without a filter. You turn up the volume; we'll turn up the heat.
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Burnt Hands Perspective
Ep 31 - From Steakhouses to James Beard: Chef Thomas Melvin's Restaurant Evolution in Indy
Chef Thomas Melvin's culinary evolution represents the transformative power of rediscovering creativity after years of corporate style restaurant management. Chef Melvin shares how his journey through high-end steakhouses both built his technical foundation and temporarily dampened his creative spirit.
We go behind the scenes of managing a 12-foot open flame grill during peak service, where two chefs might prepare 200+ steaks with precision across four temperature zones. Melvin's meticulous approach to quality control extended beyond cooking to sourcing, aging protocols, and maintaining consistency across multiple restaurant locations. This high-pressure environment taught him invaluable lessons about business operations while simultaneously creating a hunger for more personal expression.
When Melvin eventually took over Vita in Indianapolis, something remarkable happened. The James Beard semifinalist (recognized in both 2022 and 2024) found his authentic culinary voice. As Chef Tony notes, it's the smallest details—like a perfectly crisp, expertly seasoned leek—that reveal Melvin's exceptional talent and renewed passion. This attentiveness extends beyond the plate to the restaurant's clockwork service patterns and overall atmosphere.
Throughout our conversation, Chef Melvin emphasizes the importance of respecting culinary traditions while finding your own path. He passionately advocates for mentorship through organizations like the American Culinary Federation, lamenting how many young chefs miss opportunities to learn from established professionals. His story reminds us that mastery requires both technical discipline and creative freedom—a delicate balance he's now achieved at Vita in Indianapolis.
Have you experienced a moment when your professional journey required rediscovering what originally sparked your passion? We'd love to hear your story.
If you are in Indy Vida is a MUST DO on the list! Make a reservation and learn more here: https://www.vida-restaurant.com/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/vida.restaurant
https://www.instagram.com/thomas.e.melvin/
You will not regreat the experience of dining in this amazing establishment and the attention to detail and service is amazing. ENJOY!
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Listen up here. The restaurant industry is grueling and unpredictable, just like this show. From the front of the house to the back of the house and all in between, we will turn up the heat, you turn up the volume. I'm Chef Antonio Caruana. Welcome to the Tell All Podcast at Burnt Hands Perspective. Alright, chef Thomas Melvin, thank you for being here with us.
Speaker 1:We are here at Burnt Hands Perspective to come back to Indy. We had to come back to Indy because Indy brought us so much freaking joy and we had this opportunity to come back. The ACF brought us back here. Actually, your restaurant brought us back here meeting you. The initial time we had a very short conversation, as most chefs do. So here it is. This is what I do. We spoke about this earlier, so the fun part is we go into another city. Of course it's a chef podcast or a restaurant industry podcast. So what I do first as a chef whether I'm coming here or not, right, and I'm looking for where the hell am I going to go eat? Bottom line, I will base a whole vacation around where I'm going to go eat right?
Speaker 2:Yes, I'm trying to. I'm trying to train my family to do the same thing. So when I travel solo, it's easy.
Speaker 1:But like so for real, like if I go to jamaica, for instance, I don't know nothing about really what's going on in jamaica. They could be rock climbing, zip lining cool, we'll figure all that out. Yeah, first we got nowhere to eat. Yeah, usually as people go, let's go rock climbing, zip lining and maybe we'll find a restaurant. Nah, is that how you?
Speaker 2:are too. As a chef, I am exactly like that cool. Um, we, we took a vacation to saint martin with a group of friends, right, and I got kind of some flack because I was doing just that. They were like stop trying to look at our next meal.
Speaker 1:We haven't even eaten breakfast yet, yes, but that's the way, man, you got some Italian in you, I think Somewhere along the line.
Speaker 1:Irish-German. Okay, well, there's Italian in there somewhere. I don't care what anybody says. So you eating habits of that. So I'm always looking for the next meal before. So, okay, I got. Breakfast was situated yesterday. Now breakfast, I'm going to take my time and think about lunch, right, so you have a tremendous history behind you. You've worked at some of the best places, opened some of the best places one of the chop houses, the prime saga, right, yeah, how big is that chain? How big is that? I don't even want to call that a chain, that network. How big is that chain?
Speaker 2:how big is? I don't even call that a chain, that network. How big is that network? So that was an interesting time of my career. Um I joined, uh, what originally was moza place for steaks, um based out of milwaukee. Um they opened a location in indy. Um I I came aboard in the location in indy. My time in milwaukee has now been I thought about this the other day um it's been now probably 15 years since I've been here.
Speaker 1:Oh okay, I love this. So a lot has changed. Have you spent a lot of time in Milwaukee? No, I have not spent any. You need to go to Milwaukee. So I have an employee that works for me, Patrick, what's up? Patrick Big shout out. He's actually standing there as a manager scene. I guess there's a good little Italian scene there as well. However, carry on. So you go back to the Milwaukee?
Speaker 2:Yes, so I joined this group. The original owner branched out, opened a location in Indy in a beautiful building, old building. That was a majestic building built in 1898. A lot of history. It was an old oxygen company. Anyway, opened it beautiful restaurant. Like it was exciting I had just separated from somewhere else and took the opportunity. And when I did I took it and I ran and I was given opportunity to either fail or succeed.
Speaker 1:Where were you in your career at this point?
Speaker 2:So I had just left a chef de cuisine position at a hotel, okay, and so I came over and they didn't think I could do it because it was. I mean, it's a steakhouse we all in with our private rooms and everything. I mean we're talking 275, 350 seats, you know so it's not At a clip.
Speaker 1:Yeah Per sitting, yeah Per serving.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's not a small thing, right. So they didn't know if I could do it. Yeah, per sitting. Yeah Per serving. Yeah, so it's not a small thing, right. So they didn't know if I could do it. Sure, I had to prove myself, but like I said, and what was the fare?
Speaker 1:Was that steaks, or was that just kind of Americano?
Speaker 2:No, it was steakhouse. Okay, classic steakhouse, wow.
Speaker 1:So now you're changing, for don't know, you're changing the whole game. Right now you're talking about 250 steaks oh yeah we're not talking about 250 alfredos or some nonsense on an open air grill this is old school.
Speaker 2:How big was this grill man? I was 12 feet. 12 foot grill. 12 foot open air grill um, not, not the the deck that grills we have.
Speaker 1:Now that I'm not saying they're easy I'm not saying no, but they are a little bit more concentrated, so it works yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it was my individuals, and a lot of times I would put myself on grill when we, you know, on Big Ten, you know, and things like that, that come into town, super Bowl, when it was there, sure, yeah, yeah, yeah, crazy, crazy time.
Speaker 1:You have to, but it was a skill that you know. On an open-air 12-foot grill, you're working four different temperatures, which means your flames are at four different areas.
Speaker 2:What about medium, rare, plus? Yeah, yeah, yeah, right, all that, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So we'll get to that in a minute. We'll get to that in a minute. So if we have, let's say you have 12 feet, you have all these. How many people are on the grill working? How many men and women are working? Two, two, two.
Speaker 2:Two, two on the busiest night, two when we're triple sold out and if it's a normal night, one. So you split the grill in half with your temperatures, you got your mediums, your medium-raised, or you just run it all one time. You know, you know, no, yes, you section it off. And you know, because when you are crazy busy you have to know that, okay, anything that's over here, whether it be a ribeye, whether it be a strip or whatever it is like, whatever it is, that's my mid rares, right, that's my mid rares.
Speaker 1:Let's watch them, let's yeah because if you're just throwing everything on there, and at this point is you're not thermometer and you're touching, you're going off. Touch. Everything's just going for it and how's? No doubt. And how many are coming back?
Speaker 2:Not a lot. Good, not a lot.
Speaker 1:Okay, so that's cool. That's good content right there Every once in a while.
Speaker 2:But you know, for, let's say, 100 steaks maybe two.
Speaker 1:Okay, now what you're cooking. This is interesting. I'm liking this already, bro, because what you're cooking now and what we'll later here in the show here Completely different, completely different, and definitely not from the same mold.
Speaker 2:Oh no, so not even the same mold. So let's keep going. No, but I don't want to discount it, right? No, you?
Speaker 1:can't.
Speaker 2:So I spent eight years of my career and my life with fine dining steakhouses. Through that I opened multiple venues. We eventually took over the one in Milwaukee, so we had Milwaukee. We had Indianapolis. We opened one in Carmel, indiana, which is where you're at right now, and this was still the Moe's name.
Speaker 2:So there was a transitional time of when we were growing that it went from Moe's to Prime Gotcha. That's what I wanted to know when the Prime came. But it's the same entity, new ownership kind of deal, right. And then we started branching out. Gotcha Opened a new one, went to Cincinnati as well Cool. And I was overseeing all that and trying to find chefs to run them all.
Speaker 1:At this time? Were you married, kids or anything?
Speaker 2:like that. I was with my wife. We were not married at that time, so she stuck to it. Good, not married at that time, so she stuck to it.
Speaker 1:Good, she stuck. I am blessed.
Speaker 2:I am blessed I found the woman that is for me and you know she yeah.
Speaker 1:She stuck with me and all that.
Speaker 2:That's good. No kids at the time, so that that's probably what saves us being together, because we had really tough.
Speaker 1:It is. It changes everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there were times when I would wake up in Milwaukee. Right, I had a place in Milwaukee that when I'd oversee that, so I'd wake up there, I'd drive down, hit up Carmel, check in, go to Indy, check in, end my day in Cincinnati, and that was my day, yeah, and so you know it was a lot.
Speaker 2:It was a lot and so, like I said, I'm blessed that she was there with me the whole way and stuck through it, because it's not easy, but I did that for eight years in my career and it was great, but it's different. It's different and it taught me a lot about the business, right, right.
Speaker 1:Because at that point.
Speaker 2:It's a fine dining steakhouse. You're not changing the menu every week, right, and so you're fine tuning things.
Speaker 1:And there's a numbers game involved big time. Because it's a steakhouse, proteins are much more expensive, there's a lot less room for loss on all levels. Everything's higher end, whether they like it or not. Your wines are bigger, your linens bills are crazy. Everything about it is another level of learning because it's more corporate mindset to keep them numbers in check. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Even, even the sourcing, the meats right, because we want the best of the best. So it's like. But also we're running a business and we want to get the best price we can. So it's like developing those deals and locking those in and and knowing that we're going to have quality product for our guests.
Speaker 1:Sure. Not, you know and and and, with all that in that whole network. You need an abundance of it to stay consistent. Oh yeah, to make sure this one is like this one and that one's like this one and this is also.
Speaker 2:Let me. I don't mean to interrupt, no, you're not. But, you know, it's a time when we cut all our own steaks. We weren't buying packaged. Sure, you had a bone saw in the kitchen, we were cutting everything. So you know, I mean we had storage, we had to have storage for all of it. And we aged on site, like there was a speck that all of the ranchers knew and when they would butcher it, like here's a speck, age it this much. But then when we got it we also wet aged it.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, so a normal cut. So you're going to cut your ribs up or your strip or whatever, and you're going to leave your whole strip. You're going to age that, typically, you had an aging walk-in. Were you talking 20 days, 22 days, before you got into them, or?
Speaker 2:something on the wet age At the time it was 31 to 35 days is what I expect all our chefs to do.
Speaker 1:On the wet age. Yeah, did you do dry aging back then. Dry aging.
Speaker 2:I actually sourced somebody else to do it, because a dry aging room is a whole nother thing.
Speaker 1:It's another. You need another mechanic for that. Yeah, I'm going through that now. I source mine, I source the beef and the dry ager and all that, but it's it's important to do it right, yeah, and I don't think we can consistently do it right while we're putting out the product because good collaboration, a good team effort.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So you're at prime 47, which is a big thing. We've. We've been there and you went from that, so you helped with that growth in eight years, so you're responsible for what most people in this area consider part of their life.
Speaker 2:Um cause I'm kind of torn on that right. There's some people that are still tied to Prime that I love. They're great people and I will, I will, I'll do anything for them. You know they're, they're like family, but also, as you probably know, with restaurants that you've been a part of and then you separate. Sometimes it pains you right To see, sometimes, the direction of some of the locations and how they go. It happens, you know, it happens. Not everybody holds themselves to excellence and sometimes that's that hurts.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I can get it. I won't even go there, but I understand what you're. I totally understand what you're saying. It happens in my own restaurants now that if a dish goes out wrong and if I'm cooking in one and at the other one, I get a complaint. But there that if a dish goes out wrong and if I'm cooking in one and at the other one, I get a complaint. But there's only so much we can do. I mean, life is life and reality is reality At some point in time. Now you're at Vita, which is a totally different ballgame, a totally different. I would consider that we can get into that, because you have recognition from James Beard a couple of times.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 22 and 24. Semifinalist or finalist? Semifinalist yeah, I wasn't able to win the whole thing. Maybe next year, maybe, but you know what If?
Speaker 1:you keep going with consistency, it's only a matter of time. I went to your restaurant. I travel the world. I travel looking for multiple things. A lot of them is everything from the Michelin style of the molecular cooking, which really isn't my forte as far as cooking for sure, and it's not my forte in cooking because it's not really my forte in eating either, and I cannot just connect with the passion. Now I do, however, go once a year to Italy and work with a couple of Michelin friends so I can stay relevant in the knowledge of it.
Speaker 1:I don't want to make a false accusation that I just don't like it. It's not that I don't like it, it just doesn't get into my soul, right. I follow, yeah, I think, beard myself judges on a much more close-to-home system of my style of cooking or my style of restaurateuring, which is more passionate, more organic, and maybe that's because it's an American system, right, but it is an amazing system and I can relate to it more. So when I see James Beardson be finalist or finalist or awardees or whatever, I have a much more. I'm much more excited about that. You see what I'm saying Michelin is Michelin is Michelin. That's cool, it's great, but it's almost out of my realm because it's not in my wheelhouse of interest. Yeah, deep down inside, when I eat that style of food, it's fun, but it's not in me, right? Sure Don't know that that's just me. So go ahead, be mad at me all you like, that's just the way it is.
Speaker 2:I think with anything, though, even the Michelin level, there's levels to that. Of course, I think some of them can resonate, and other ones just feel a different way.
Speaker 1:Sure, the artists and the chefs who are doing it, I have nothing but respect, for they are literally doing their damn thing to that level. That's amazing to me, because they're following their passion, just like I am mine and you are yours. So kudos to them. And, like I said, I'm not telling you I dislike it at all. I just know where my passions lie when I sit down and eat a plate of food. That's just what moves me. Now, why am I saying this? I went to your restaurant with the level of expectation of what I read. I followed you a little bit before I went, meaning I looked into your thing, just because I'm not because I'm trying to judge, but I just want to. I'm interested now. Oh wow, look at this. Oh wow, look at this. Huh, this is interesting, cool, wow, this might be pretty good. You know Well, it was well above good. I was something you did with something, the most simple thing, small.
Speaker 2:I wish I could pinpoint it for you.
Speaker 1:Me too.
Speaker 2:I've changed the menu probably no less than 30 times since you've been here. Of course, of course.
Speaker 1:It was just a detail. It was just a detail that most people wouldn't have noticed. I don't know if it was crisp, I love that it was detailed. It was a leak. It was a simple freaking leak.
Speaker 1:Okay, oh, okay, yes, that was when we had the scallop dish on the menu. Yes, it was just a simple leak man, but the way it was just crisp, perfectly and salted and it worked, the way it worked with the textures and everything I said, this freaking dude gets it. I was, she was, she was there, we were eating. I was like, oh my God, I'm stoked. This is great Because you get it along the lines of how I like things and it it. It wouldn't normally belong and if it did, you're like, but when it, it just was perfect. So, so that, um, so, so, eight years of that corporate mindset of um get it. And I'm saying corporate because at some point, when you're going through those things, it does become corporate in a sense. Right, yeah, it has to. It has that feeling.
Speaker 2:You have to have a it taught me a lot about the business of it right, right. But what it did and I didn't realize it and I think I know where you're going with this is those eight years kind of atrophied. My chef creativity.
Speaker 1:Yes, right, that's kind of where I'm going. So where, where in the hell did you come up with during those eight years? Were you thinking of man? I wish I could do this. Were you playing at home, were you?
Speaker 2:were you sampling.
Speaker 1:When did you say okay, I'm really good at going down this road now, um, and I'm going to try it. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Eight years you're not touching a piece of cake, right, I always cook at home. I cook every meal at home. I still do. The chefs that I hear of they say they never cook at home. I don't understand it. It doesn't resonate with me. I just like to cook. Of course I cook at home. That's where I would be more creative with in the food I was preparing for my friends, for my family, for my now wife, but it wasn't to the level of me thinking about food the way I do now.
Speaker 2:And I didn't realize that it was happening when I was doing it, because I was just living right, we're all just living and I separated from the steakhouse because, one thing or another, it was time to go. I called up. You know, I had met the owner of my restaurant now one time. He came into the restaurant and he sat at the bar and one of my bartenders was like yeah, this is Mike Cunningham, you should meet him. And I was like how are you doing, sir? Really nice guy. But that was basically it, you know. And he gave me his card and he was on his way, sure, um? And so when I knew it was time that something's gonna change, uh, I gave him a shout and he's like, hey, I'm gonna put you in touch with somebody and I started talking to you know, um the coo and um, long story short, you joined the group that I'm with now and got into a restaurant.
Speaker 2:That almost didn't, because when I was first talking to Cunningham Restaurant Group, I went through a stage and went through an interview process and it was a month or two long. It was a long process, right, and kept talking about this one location that they had that they were trying to fill. They were trying to backfill a position for a chef that they had in this one location. That was kind of like fine dining, casual, right, my fine dining background. That's why they were trying to push me into it and I just wasn't feeling it Right Like I spent time in there. So this is not Vita You're talking about a different position?
Speaker 2:No, no no Vita wasn't even open at the time.
Speaker 1:Okay. So fine dining. You're talking, the white tablecloth, the steps of service, the crummers, the whole deal of fine dining, yeah yeah. Typically what type of food was on this menu? I can only imagine.
Speaker 2:It was New American, contemporary American, whatever you want to call it. It was trying to push the envelope a little bit, but still I don't know. I mean, I think they would have gave me carte blanche to change the menu too, but I just wasn't feeling that restaurant. But I knew they were developing a different concept and the concept they were developing was what is now Union 50. So it's an old Union Hall that they turned into just an exciting place. It's basically a gastropub, right Gotcha. So casual, it's a gastropub. They had a stage in there, live bands, huge bar, and at the time of my life, I think because I wanted to separate myself from fine dining, maybe because I'd been doing it for so long, I was like that's exciting to me, like if I don't, and I told him after the interview. I was like I don't want to waste anybody's time and so thank you. It was a very nice process, but I just don't think I'm interested.
Speaker 1:You vetted them. It actually flipped around and they staged for you in a sense.
Speaker 2:Kind of yeah, and I said, if we're talking about Union 50, that might be a different story. And they're like whoa, whoa, whoa, You'd be interested in Union 50? I was like, yeah, that seems really cool. That seems really cool. If I'm not going to join you guys in something like that, then I might just go do that myself. Sure, and I'll be your competition. Yeah yeah.
Speaker 2:And they're like well, let's talk. And so I ended up at Union 50, ran that for um a couple years. You know, got some notoriety with that too. It was exciting, it was did you have?
Speaker 1:did you have more freedom with that menu? Oh yeah, and that's where you kind of created your style that you carried over to vita yeah so when you open, when they open vita, fast forward or fast forward, so I was at union 50 um and 2016 um.
Speaker 2:They opened Vita, as originally Vita was supposed to be a test kitchen for our corporate executive chef to develop dishes for the other concepts that are within the group of Cunningham Restaurant.
Speaker 1:Group. Sure, that must be nice. I need a test kitchen. My test kitchen is my kitchen.
Speaker 2:Well, when they were developing it, it quickly turned into well, if we add on to this side, we can just host some parties. You guys do some parties, get some revenue in this place.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and plus you get the feedback from the food.
Speaker 2:Right, it makes sense right in a business standpoint, yeah of course, well, and then it turned into this and that and the other and then it was just a restaurant, uh-huh. And when it became just a restaurant, then we had a very talented local chef, leighton Roberts. He was the original chef of Vita when it was open. I tell him, and I tell a lot of people, I think it was built for him and it was built. He ran it for a year. Basically. I was at Union 50. He was at Vita, which is just down the street. Really I would go check in with him and touch base with him.
Speaker 2:And one thing led to another, whether it be Leighton kind of wanting to, you know, I mean, vita's a beast and it's all consuming, right. So I don't know if he just didn't want to be that consumed or if, you know, mike Cunningham and Carl wanted to utilize them in a different way. Anyway, they approached me like hey, would you be interested in taking over Vito? And at first I was like no, it's Leighton's, that's his stuff, I'm happy where I'm at. But then I thought about it and because of that kind of rejuvenated creativity, I was like you know what, because of that kind of rejuvenated creativity, like, I was like you know what? Yeah, first I had a conversation with him and he basically told me he was like you know.
Speaker 1:Was he on the way out already or he didn't know he was?
Speaker 2:He knew, okay, he knew, and he said you know, and I don't know, he could have just been blowing smoke, but he was like man, he's like there's only one person in the city that I would turn this over to and you're it. Well, I wouldn't, I wouldn't argue, and he was like so, if you, he's like, if you don't want to do it, then we're not doing it. Yeah, and I was like, well, I don't know anyone else in the city.
Speaker 1:Really, I only met a couple people here and I'm only a couple other people's. However, I don't need to eat their food to realize, because I've been to Vita and I realized when I went to Vita and I sat there and ate and realized that you came out and everything else. There's no other person that could do it, because it was the way it was supposed to be. Everything fit, the glove fit, and that's because of what you did. So I don't think anybody else, I don't think I'd be sitting here right now if there was someone else there, because there is something about it. You can feel there's something about it, a personal passion in there.
Speaker 2:There's definitely passion. There has to be I noticed a couple things.
Speaker 1:Not to beat this whole thing up too long, we can talk about another subject. I noticed little things. Of course. It's my profession and everything else I've done the same thing. It even seemed like either out of design or out of habit, even your wait staff and your servers, assistants and everybody else are still. They're walking in clockwork. Yep, you know clock, clockwise format around. They're not crossing each other, they're everyone's doing a job in a circular motion, which, which is very, you know, not a lot of people would notice that, but the ones who do notice that you know.
Speaker 2:Thank you for noticing. Yeah, definitely. All of that takes so much work to practice and you got to crack that you know and I do the same thing.
Speaker 1:So it's noticeable, because when we practice it and it's rewarding to see a other people doing it but, more importantly, see our own people doing it and the ones who don't realize it, they just don't realize it but they keep coming back because of it. So it's a mystique, that's. It's a missing mystique, you know.
Speaker 1:Well done on that man, honored, I'm honored to be here talking to you about it. So what do you think now, now that we're here and we're kind of running on time, what do you think about? We're here now at an ACF event, american Culinary Federation, right, okay, what do you think about that? I, I, I, I'm here because I totally support it.
Speaker 1:I've also been up against it, not with them, but with other chefs in the industry who don't really understand it, this new guard of young chefs coming in who think they don't have to answer to anybody. And I don't mean that in an insulting way. They put it in an insulting way. I'm just repeating what is obvious. So I'm not calling them out, it's just that their actions speak louder than words. And when this new guard thinks that they're just going to get through until they get rewarded or awarded or something, what happened to the whole build up, right? So, as far as the ACF and this is far from advertising for them I'm just but we're both here for the same reason, right, and that's in support of it. What do you feel about it now? I mean, it took years for you, as it did me, to kind of get it, or something you always believed in or what the ACF?
Speaker 2:for me personally, I was fairly invested in it. A long time ago I worked for a couple chefs that pushed me in the direction of actually doing this right, and they were they were very much so involved in the ACF and so I had it on my agenda that I was going to get certification and I went to competitions and and things like that and it was in, it was in my zeitgeist, you know right. Then you know, one thing led to another, you know, taking a different job, getting engrossed in doing things. It kind of just fell off.
Speaker 1:I've always been aware of it, but for me, like I didn't stay up on being active, with it right, but it's hard because the style of cooking you and I do, we have to be so focused on it. It's hard for us to break away, to bring ourselves and everyone all the other facets of the industry. We don't ignore it, we're aware of it, we just don't have time to go on it. Other people though I'm talking about aren't even putting themselves to be aware of it.
Speaker 2:I would agree, I would agree. Even putting themselves to be aware of it, I would agree, I would agree, and I think it's an important thing that, um, that if I can help, you can help. Any of us can help the ACF to get a younger generation involved. That's that's. That's that's important, that's of course. It's something that, no matter what you're doing, you have to respect what came before you right, absolutely so.
Speaker 1:The traditions are what it's all about, man. Look, people were cooking. When they figured out heat made food warm. You know what I'm saying? It goes way beyond us and the culinary world is way beyond us. There's so many freaking fingers in it and facets to it that you have to respect all of them to really get a good grasp on what you're doing.
Speaker 1:Everybody can cook Anybody, not everybody. Anybody can cook anybody, not everybody. Anybody can cook good and put it on a plate and have your buddy like it and all that stuff and enough customers will come in and like it. Cool. But if you don't understand the whole thing, do you really truly have the total respect for the restaurant industry to give to the customers that are really giving to you? Or is it a smoke show Just because you can make, like I said earlier, a piece of hake or a piece of halibut, or you can really take a U8 scallop and really just get a complete, perfect sear on it and reduce something along with it and purate something out. Okay, you can do that, but how often can you do that without understanding the rest of the industry to make people keep coming in, you know?
Speaker 2:what I mean, yes, and for me too, why I would like to see some of the younger generation and even my staff, like, get involved in it, is because I I mentioned there was a couple chefs early in my career, right, that were tied to the ACF and involved in it and they kind of pushed me in that direction.
Speaker 2:Well, life gets, I took a job somewhere else and I separated from those chefs, right, I still have great respect for those chefs, but I separated from them. And then it was a different world that I I never really had a mentor, right. I I separated from chefs that were true professional chefs, before I could ever get a mentor, sure, and so I had to figure it out on my own, you know, and so I made a whole lot of mistakes, right, that's how you learn. But I think if you can have a mentor and I think that's what one of the greatest assets of the asf is and can be is like providing those mentors for people to not have to, you know, struggle for so long to find their way right. Like I mean, I'm just lucky that you know I'm a hardworking individual, that is person that well, that's what it is.
Speaker 1:That stuck with it. The avenues are there, there's plenty of room for it. People just got to reach out and grab it. But, chef, listen, we got to wrap it up a little bit because we can sit here and talk all night. I'm afraid that we might. Right, you know, but let me tell you this I'm honored that you're here talking to us. No, thank you. What you do for the community out here brought me back personally, and I'm a busy guy That'd be like you leaving your restaurant right now to go see me. You know it's very hard. So you're one of the reasons why, if you weren't going to be on this show, I would have been really busted up about it. You know what I mean, because that's when I got your email yesterday.
Speaker 2:I'm like no no, no, that's very kind of you to say. It's my pleasure to be here, it's an honor. It's an honor to be here. Go ahead and plug yourself.
Speaker 1:Where can they find you? They come to Indianapolis. You come to Indianapolis. You're going to come out here.
Speaker 2:You don't know what to do. You're going to come out forapolis experience what we have going on. We have a lot going on, but definitely come see Vita. It's in the Lockerbie neighborhood. It's in the heart of downtown Well, not the heart just off the heart of downtown, but it's in the middle of the best neighborhood, lockerbie neighborhood. Vita, check it out. Thank you.
