Chef's PSA Podcast

Hanalei Souza is the sous chef, author, and content creator behind @ladylinecook, one of the most recognized culinary humor and leadership voices on Instagram with 88,000 followers. She has been in the industry since 2018, has worked at the same restaurant for seven years in a mountain town, and is the self-published author of the kitchen memoir "Nice Work, Boys!" She started making cook...

Chef RJ Yoakum is the chef de cuisine at Michelin-recommended Sushi Kozy in Dallas, a kaiseki-inspired omakase restaurant from chef-owner Paul Ko. A 2025 James Beard Award finalist for Emerging Chef, he previously led the kitchen at Georgie in Dallas to its first Michelin recommendation and trained at The French Laundry, Angler, and The Clove Club in London. He is 32 years old. He has trained in s...

Todd Duplechan and Jessica Maher are the husband-and-wife chef-owners of Lenoir, a MICHELIN Guide restaurant in Austin's Bouldin Creek neighborhood open since 2012. They also formerly owned Métier Cook's Supply next door and opened Boni's Bar, a Spanish drinks and bites concept, in Spring 2026. Todd is a native Texan who trained at The Danube under David Bouley and served as chef de cu...

Chef Brian Lewis is the founder and CEO of Full House Hospitality Group and a three-time James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef Northeast, with nominations in 2018, 2022, and 2025. A Culinary Institute of America and Johnson and Wales University graduate, he apprenticed under Jean Louis Palladin, Marco Pierre White, and Eric Ripert before becoming the founding executive chef of Richard Gere'...

Chef Jason Dady is one of San Antonio's most prolific restaurateurs, having opened 20 restaurants over 25 years through the Jason Dady Restaurant Group. A San Antonio UNESCO City of Gastronomy Chef Ambassador and Food Network veteran with appearances on Iron Chef Gauntlet, BBQ Brawl, and Beat Bobby Flay, Dady most recently opened Mexico Ceaty, a 25,000-square-foot food hall on San Antonio'...

Chef Matt Peters is the first American chef to win gold at the Bocuse d'Or , the most technically demanding culinary competition in the world. He trained under Thomas Keller at Per Se and The French Laundry and at Adour Alain Ducasse in New York before spending over a year preparing for the 2017 Bocuse d'Or in Lyon. He is currently Head Coach for Team USA at the 2027 Bocuse d'Or, coaching Chef Vin...

Evan LeRoy is the co-owner and pitmaster of LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue in Austin, Texas. A Michelin star recipient in the MICHELIN Guide Texas 2024, number two on Texas Monthly's Top 50 BBQ Joints in 2025, and 2025 James Beard Award Semifinalist for Best Chef Texas, LeRoy has spent nearly a decade redefining Texas barbecue through whole-animal butchery, locally sourced meats, and a cooking philo...

Phillip Frankland Lee is the co-owner and executive chef of Scratch Restaurants Group, the Michelin-starred hospitality company he operates with his wife and executive pastry chef Margarita Kallas-Lee. The group includes Sushi by Scratch Restaurants, Pasta|Bar, NADC Burger, and Shokunin. Lee is a Top Chef Season 13 competitor, San Pellegrino Young Chef 2015 finalist, Zagat 30 Under 30 honoree, and...

Chef Josh Sutcliff is the Corporate Executive Chef and Partner at 55 Seventy, a private members club for wine lovers with locations in Dallas and Houston. A Le Cordon Bleu graduate, CultureMap Dallas Rising Star Chef of the Year, and Zagat 30 Under 30 honoree, his career includes chef de cuisine at FT33, executive chef at Mirador, and stints at The Joule and Knox Bistro. He started washing dishes...

Chef David Bull is Austin's first Iron Chef America competitor, Food and Wine Best New Chef 2003, two-time James Beard Foundation nominee, and Regional Vice President of Food and Beverage at LaCorsha Hospitality Group. He led the Driskill Grill to three consecutive Austin American-Statesman number one restaurant awards, competed on Iron Chef America in 2006 as the first Austin chef to do so, and h...

Brandon Harpster is the National Corporate Chef for Training and Events at RATIONAL USA . He trains chefs across the country, runs RATIONAL's culinary academies, and develops cooking programs that translate connected kitchen technology into repeatable, scalable results for working operators. This episode starts with a brunch disaster. A steamship round failed overnight at a country club, no mo...

Chef Chad Welch is an American Culinary Federation Certified Executive Chef and Certified Culinary Administrator, a Jacques Pépin Foundation ambassador, and the executive chef with The Urban Stillhouse, an elevated dining concept with locations in St. Petersburg, Florida and Somerset, Kentucky. Horse Soldier bourbon bottles are formed with steel from the World Trade Center. He did not plan to beco...

Everyone wants the spotlight. Until it actually hits. Andre sits down with Emmanuel Chavez from Tatemo in Houston to talk about what happens when your restaurant gets attention before you’re ready for it. Tatemo went from a tortilla operation to a full tasting menu fast. Recognition came with it. So did pressure. This conversation gets into what it takes to run a tight kitchen with almost no space...

Chef Andre Natera sits down with Emmanuel Laroche, host of the Flavors Unknown podcast and author of A Taste of Madagascar , to explore the global story behind vanilla production and the process of writing a food book. Laroche shares his experience traveling to Madagascar, where roughly 80% of the world’s vanilla is produced, including the realities of hand pollination and the challenges of sourci...

Chef Dan Kennedy spent over 20 years in high end kitchens, most recently as head chef at Pasta|Bar Austin before the concept closed in February 2026. He is now working on Morri, his own concept in Austin. In this episode, Andre Natera and Dan Kennedy argue that social media has replaced technical skill with aesthetic performance, and duck is the clearest casualty. Why duck is almost always underco...

Chef Andre Natera sits down with identical twin chefs Brandon and Jonathan Dearden to discuss rivalry, restaurant leadership, culinary school value, and the realities of running profitable restaurants. Both twins competed on Top Chef and built careers in very different directions. Brandon pursued fine dining and stages at elite kitchens, while Jonathan focused on leadership roles and restaurant ma...

Chef Andre Natera sits down with Dallas chef Josh Sutcliff and food commentator Drew Stephenson to unpack the viral debate surrounding the Dallas dining scene. After Drew’s Instagram post sparked widespread reactions among chefs and diners, the conversation expanded into a deeper look at restaurant success, Michelin expectations, and the economic realities of running restaurants in Texas. They dis...

Chef Andre Natera sits down with Jam Sanichat, chef-owner of Thai Fresh in Austin, Texas, to explore how restaurant culture, wage models, and culinary traditions intersect. Jam explains why she eliminated tipping at Thai Fresh and replaced it with a transparent service fee designed to provide stable wages and reduce front-of-house and back-of-house pay disparities. The conversation also traces her...

Most chefs should not open a restaurant. James Trees explains why ownership is finance and leadership, not cooking. From prime cost and food cost velocity to EBITDA, triple net leases, and delivery app traps, this episode is a restaurant business masterclass. If you are thinking about opening your first restaurant, learn the numbers first. How prime cost actually works Why food cost velocity matte...

A Michelin-trained chef faces thyroid cancer and the real possibility of losing his taste. Chef Jake Rojas shares his diagnosis, treatment, feeding tube recovery, and how the experience reshaped his priorities around health and leadership. From El Paso competitions to three-star kitchens in Las Vegas, this is a conversation about discipline, identity, and why flavor is the only thing that truly ma...

She left finance to open two of Austin’s most talked-about restaurants. In this episode of Chefs PSA, Laila Bazahm explains how fine dining discipline, financial literacy, and cultural awareness shaped her path from Wall Street to restaurant ownership. This conversation is essential for chefs who want to open their first restaurant without guessing their way through funding. How to secure capital...

Restaurant kitchens are breaking chefs. Joey Chavez left the traditional kitchen path to build a private dining business that protects income, health, and time. In this episode of Chefs PSA, Andre Natera breaks down what chefs are never taught about money, pricing, and long-term sustainability. This is a reality check for cooks questioning their future. You will learn Why restaurant kitchens burn...

Chef Francis Pascal of Vendador joins André Natera to talk private dining, leadership, contracts, pricing, and the real business behind luxury events. From immigrant roots to building a high-end operation, this episode is packed with practical insight for chefs looking to go independent. If this episode helped you, leave a 5-star rating and follow Chef’s PSA. Francis Pascal on Instagram LINKS &amp...

Brent Weathers cuts through the 'Instagram Chef' BS to reveal the reality of cooking without recipes. In this episode, André Natera welcomes back chef and content creator Brent Weathers for a conversation that cuts through trends, gimmicks, and recycled food content. They break down cooking without recipes, the pressure of originality, content creation burnout, and the realities most chefs...

If this episode brings you value, leave a 5-star rating and follow Chef’s PSA. Great restaurants are designed, not improvised. Andre Natera sits down again with Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel of Birdie’s to break down menu structure, kitchen culture, mentorship, and leadership. They explore why Birdie’s moved to a prefixed format, how structure improved creativity, and what it really takes to build sustai...