• EATYALL: Chefs Tell the Story of Farmers

  • By: Andy Chapman
  • Podcast

EATYALL: Chefs Tell the Story of Farmers

By: Andy Chapman
  • Summary

  • The EATYALL Podcast highlights farmers and the ingredients they produce through the eyes of different chefs who serve as guest hosts. The EATYALL Podcast is hosted Andy & Marianna Chapman.
    Copyright 2022 Eat Cities, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Episodes
  • 67 - Chef Trace Tedde-Vega
    May 17 2022
    Picture this: you’re at a restaurant called Magnolia Southern Kitchen - a sought-after southern oasis plopped in the center of California - and your plate is overflowing with spicy jambalaya. It’s so exceptional you start to hope to meet the creator and chef - this Trace person you’ve been hearing about.

    You finally cross paths, and you’re expecting a “howdy,” a couple “y’all”s or maybe an “over yonder” from a food creator this brilliantly country, but to your surprise you hear… a thick British accent.

    This is Trace Tedde-Vega. Born in the UK, Trace learned the art of food from her parents at their restaurant, and became a pastry expert at a young age. She later married into a southern family, and fell in love with a whole new world of foods.

    She has since traveled the world with musical acts like Journey and Erykah Badhu, worked as a private chef for celebrities, and opened a southern restaurant.

    On today’s episode, Andy and Trace talk culture comparisons, country classics, and her truly farm-to-table approach at Magnolia Southern Kitchen.

    A British Chef serving Southern Food in the Middle of California

    Trace puts Wood Colony (Modesto), California on the map - at least for us. This rural, agricultural area is known as Almond Country, and the restaurant sits between several almond farms.

    Trace gets all of her pork from Long Ranch (a farm located 15 minutes from her restaurant), and a few weeks ago she served a pigs’ feet dish that would drum up fond memories for Yorkshire and Mississippi dwellers alike. She posted the dish on their Facebook page, and it sold out within an hour.

    Since California is one of the most prolific food production hubs in the world, Chef Trace gets to have genuine relationships with copious individual producers. She can even make specific requests, and many come in for lunch to see who is enjoying the final product. Her restaurant only buys a couple things from distributors - making it truly farm-to-fork.

    Wisdom for Young Chefs

    Trace says, “I always tell young chefs: culinary school is great to learn about the basics, like learning a math equation. But it’s the people that have a willingness to be playful, to add passion and to try new things that find success. Put your heart-print on it.” 

    Maximizing Cuts/Meats

    In an era where everyone wants to use more parts of the animal, we value Trace’s expert take on the flavor profile of different parts and cuts of beef. She teaches us about combining two or three flavors - for instance highlighting the depth of a structured part, pairing it with some gelatinous marrow, and combining those with a more common protein cut to make something new. She throws some new ideas out for less-used cuts that may have a brisket quality, a deeper flavor, or work well in a cream sauce.

    It’s clear that Trace Tedde-Vega touts no exaggeration when she says, “We keep it economically viable, but also freaking delicious.”

    Connect With Today’s Guest

    Follow Trace Tedde-Vega’s amazing restaurant here:

    Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/magnoliasouthernkitchen

    Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/magnoliasouthernkitchen

    Connect With EATYALL:

    https://eatyall.com

    Instagram - https://instagram.com/letseatyall

    Facebook - https://facebook.com/letseatyall

    Twitter - https://twitter.com/letseatyall

    LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/letseatyall

    YouTube - https://youtube.com/letseatyall

    Show Credits:

    Hosts are Andy & Marianna Chapman

    Graphic Design by Tyler Castleman

    Production provided by Easy Podcast Solutions

    The EATYALL Podcast is hosted by Andy Chapman, CEO and founder of EATYALL. EATYALL serves the food and farm community with effective chef outreach services.

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    53 mins
  • 66 - Federico Fernandez from Bianca Restaurant in Los Angeles
    May 10 2022

    Have you ever walked 14 miles with 90 pounds of salt, traded it for 90 pounds of organic flour, and walked back home with it on your back? Los Angeles-based Italian/French/Argentinian restaurant Bianca is named after a baker who did just that - regularly.

    Her name was Bianca, and during World War II this Italian self-taught chef would source her ingredients the only way she could to help feed her family and community. Now, her grandsons Gianni and Nicola Vietina are successful chefs in Los Angeles, and we get to hear from the only baker they trust as pastry chef of Bianca Restaurant: their long-time friend Federico Fernandez.

    And lest anyone think Federico (a.k.a Fede) was given this honor based purely on his friendship with Gianni and Nicola, we quickly learn that his talent and experience precede him: he was the executive pastry chef of the Four Seasons Hotel before his work at Bianca began.

    Today’s episode will make you swear you can smell Fede’s cream-filled Cannoncini’s and almond croissants as we listen in on some of his fresh-sourcing secrets. Andy and Fede touch on everything from elaborate wedding cakes to Argentinian Bar-B-Q gatherings, and the busy kitchen sounds of Bianca carry on in the background, welcoming us to the richly cultured heart of Los Angeles.

    Ingredient-Sourcing: Balancing Quality and the Bottom-line

    Fede’s wisdom feels especially rich when Andy asks about sourcing flour and other important ingredients from week to week. His experience and skill create standards that aren’t work compromising to save a few short-term dollars, and his savvy knack for relationship building with local sources helps keep the establishment in the black, even as the Culver City area of Los Angeles is still in the recovery process from coronavirus lock-downs.

    All About Federico Fernandez

    Fede grew up in Argentina baking with his mother. He studied the culinary arts in Buenos Aires and then traveled internationally and worked in several prestigious hotel chains like Hyatt, Marriott and Intercontinental. He eventually connected with the Four Seasons where his culinary creations could be tasted in Argentina, Uruguay, Canada and the US.

    Now busy co-owning and creating at Bianca, he’s able to integrate the classics of his childhood with his current surroundings. He’s made appearances on Iron Chef, The Today Show and other programs.

    Connect with Fede

    https://www.instagram.com/pastrycheffede/

    https://www.instagram.com/bianca.losangeles/

    https://www.facebook.com/bianca.losangeles

    Connect With EATYALL:

    https://eatyall.com

    Instagram - https://instagram.com/letseatyall

    Facebook - https://facebook.com/letseatyall

    Twitter - https://twitter.com/letseatyall

    LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/letseatyall

    YouTube - https://youtube.com/letseatyall

    Show Credits:

    Hosts: Andy and Marianna Chapman

    Graphic Design by Tyler Castleman

    Production provided by Bryan Murphy

    The EATYALL Podcast is hosted by Andy Chapman, CEO and founder of EATYALL. EATYALL serves the food and farm community with effective chef outreach services.

    Show More Show Less
    53 mins
  • 65 - Lew Childre from Double D Oysters
    Mar 29 2022
    Lew Childre’s expertise in the world of oysters budded early. An Alabama-born fisherman, he grew up fishing in muddy rivers and snacking on sea creatures. Even after becoming a full-time reliability engineer, his love for oysters and hard work led him to dive for product in the evenings and on weekends.  Lew and his best friend Doug worked serving other growers first, and learning from their wins and misses. They became experts on Lower Alabama’s Oyster game. They soon decided to apply for their own permit to grow oysters in 2013 near Dauphin Island in Alabama’s gulf coast. Now the gulf coast’s first and largest shellfish aquaculture business, Double D Oysters has made a mighty reputation for itself around Mobile Bay by growing off-bottom oysters, supplying oyster seed (small oysters under the size of 25 mm long), and continuing to help other operations get proper gear. Their commercial oyster nursery sells to the gulf coast states, up the eastern seaboard, the Caribbean and even parts of Asia, and as the restaurant business picks up post-covid, Lew finds himself on the water daily. What Makes a Successful Oyster Business The aquatic environment of the south point of Sandy Bay in Alabama boasts near-ideal nutrients, thanks to the flow of the nearby Escatawpa river delta, and its perfect mingling with the briny and highly oxygenated waters of the gulf. Lew’s company uses OysterGro grading and tracking gear in order to predict the ideal times to harvest the oysters. His ability to design and repair equipment has served as a huge advantage during this first decade of the business, and you can hear a There’s-a-Way-to-Fix-Everything conviction in his voice. We learned that he’s applied this sense of grit to more than his equipment; he’s found, and built, plenty of creative solutions on the business side too. Ecology and Sustainability Did you know the oyster population helps filter and clean the waters of the gulf? And, healthier water means copious fish, as a handful of savvy fishermen in the area have learned. Then there are the extra snow and blue crabs, baby shrimp, and other crops that oyster farming welcomes to the waters. In the middle of a historic shift in the demographic of the area, with pricey homes being built all over the gulf coast, it’s reassuring to hear from a farmer who knows the area’s history and strives to farm with the long-term implications in mind.    Supply and Demand In today’s episode, Andy asks Lew the question, “What prepared you to be a farmer?” We hear Lew’s wisdom stream out as he addresses all he’s learned over the years about protecting the growth process, material handling and supply, and the current market. Oysters are a tad more sparse right now, need is high, and yet he has to refrain from over-selling so his customers won’t be lacking later.   Nearby restaurant chefs who care about serving authentic local taste source from Lew’s company religiously. Many of the residents are loyal to the brand as well, and ask for Double D Oysters by name. They get to enjoy some of the finest tasting oysters in the world, caught straight from the waters that make up their beautiful view.   Today’s Guests  Lew Childre Equipment designer and mechanic at Double D Oyster, Lew grew up with a family full of diverse farmers and a knack for fixing things. His current venture supplies local oysters - known for their perfectly brined taste - to restaurants and foodies all over Alabama’s sliver of the gulf coast. Connect With Our Guests   Lew Childre Double D Oyster Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/doubledoysters   Connect With EATYALL: https://eatyall.com Instagram - https://instagram.com/letseatyall Facebook - https://facebook.com/letseatyall Twitter - https://twitter.com/letseatyall LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/letseatyall YouTube - https://youtube.com/letseatyall   Show Credits: Hosts are Andy & Marianna Chapman Graphic Design by Tyler Castleman Production provided by Bryan Murphy Copywriting by Eat Ya’ll   The EATYALL Podcast is hosted by Andy Chapman, CEO and founder of EATYALL. EATYALL serves the food and farm community with effective chef outreach services.
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    1 hr and 1 min

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