NC F&B Podcast

This is an inspirational story about a family who used culture, ethnicity, old fashioned hard-work and stick-to-itiveness to create a successful business and beautiful food. Here's what we learned: How to create a food truck and a restaurant with no background in the hospitality industry. What is Puerto Rican food? What is Mofongo? Whats the difference between an empanada and a pastelillos? What h...

Amidst protests, riots and racial injustice,  Chef owners Ricky Moore of Saltbox in Durham, Michael Bowling of Hotbox NC in Charlotte and Sherif Fouad of Raleigh Raw join the pod to make some sense of it all. Here is what was learned; A small understanding of what it's like to be a black person in America and in a professional kitchen. What it's like to be privileged.  What is a micro-aggression....

Sebastian Zuccardi sees the wine business as such;  "Some wineries go to the market see what is popular and then they go make wines to meet that demand. Other wineries (Zuccardi) look at their terroir and make wine that the land dictates, then go to market to educate consumers on what they do." In this episode we learned; Why Malbec has become so popular and delicious and how it's much more comple...

Hydroponics!.. lettuce that is. We chat with Mary Cove, co-founder and co-owner of @blue_thumb_farms , about what the heck hydroponics is, how it's useful and how it differs from traditional soil farming. You'll be surprised to know that hydroponics is more sustainable and actually uses less water than traditional farming! Learn more by tuning in tomorrow!   We made WINE with Botanist & Barrel and...

We made WINE with Botanist & Barrel and have a virtual tasting on May 28th at 7pm EST. We'd love to open the bottle together with our NC F&B Community, SO click the link to order the wine in time to have for our tasting:  GET WINE HERE   In this week's episode Jeff Bramwell is a true renaissance man of wine, business and photography. Here's what Jeff, Max and Matt chatted about; Earning the title...

We made WINE with Botanist & Barrel and have a virtual tasting on May 28th at 7pm EST. We'd love to open the bottle together with our NC F&B Community, SO click the link to order the wine in time to have for our tasting:  GET WINE HERE 5Church's Patrick Whalen & Jamie Lynch Listen in to find out; how you achieve a 360 degree view of restaurant from  Patrick Whalen Hear about  Chef Jamie Lynch 's c...

If you were a Game of Thrones fan, you know it was nearly impossible for a non-noble to realize his dream. Brandon Sharp did, from Cali to North Cackalacki Topics discussed in this episode include; The importance of Michelin stars and the stress they create Working at the French Laundry The inner workings of the CIA Starting out as a busboy in a Chi-chi's Achieving California dreams and then givin...

Innovation and sticktoitiveness are just a few words that come to mind when you consider what these 4 businesses are doing to battle against Covid-19. This episode shines a light on four Triangle-area food industry professionals who are stepping things up during quarantine to provide for the community. We talk to Jacob Boehm of Snap Pea about how he cooked Passover dinner for 50 plus family and fr...

Steve Palmer is a beacon lighting the way for how restaurants should be run. Steve creates an environment that is employee centered. Indigo Road Hospitality has 24 restaurants across the south that have all become integral parts of their community. On top of running restaurants, Steve created Ben's Friends a restaurant industry support system for those struggling with addiction. Oh, and by the way...

Anthony Scalabrino, founder of  @oakcityamarettoco , joins us to give you a little break from coronavirus-related content and to appreciate how awesome our previously "normal" lives. We talk to Anthony about how he got the signature amaretto recipe from his Sicilian grandmother, who brought the family recipe over to Michigan where Anthony grew up. (Fun fact - His badass grandma also worked in the...

This episode features 9 captains of our the culinary industry from all over the state. Max and Matt brought these fine folks together with the hope of finding some light at the end of the Corona Virus tunnel. Guests include Real Estate Developer Marty Kotis/Greensboro , Mike Lee of M Restaurants/Durham , Chef Travis Myers formerly of Willow in Winston Salem , Chef Jeff Bacon of Providence /Winston...

As close as you can get to drinking from a cow's utters. Cream on top and no homogenization, that's the key to Ranlew Dairy's milk! In this episode, we find out how the price of milk came to be, what happened to all the dairy farms and who is the best square dancer in the Trujillo family. Also, remember when the milkman use to deliver? Most of you probably don't but find out what happened to that...

We welcome Jill Donovan , the leading lady behind Donovan's Dish. You might recognize the name from the AMAZING shrimp and grits they brought to our This Is Not A Happy Hour event two weeks ago. (Yes, we still think about it almost every day.) During the episode,  we talk to Jill about how coronavirus is affecting the catering and event industry, as well as what she's personally doing at Donovan's...

Our friend Bobby McFarland once worked for Chef Floyd Cardoz in New York. Floyd was Bobby's mentor and taught him how to be a great cook. On our journey to up north for "New York Week", Bobby reached out to Floyd to ask if we could interview him for our podcast. Not only did he agree, but he invited us to his home. His wife made us tea, we pet his dog, he gave us the best tasting asparagus from hi...

It's night one of a 5-part series highlighting our studio/offices at The Kitchen, for the 2nd annual This is NOT a Happy Hour event series. The podcasts this week are more of a talk-show environment with people from all over the industry stopping by the podcast to chat about what they do and what's going on in the Food and Beverage community right now.  Why isn't this a Happy Hour? NC ABC Liquor l...

Due to the government shutdown of restaurants and bars, we'd like to use our platform to bring our industry together for the purposes of solutions, shared ideas and community.  In a virtual town-hall format, we speak with about 10-15 leaders in the community such as: Lynn Minges of the NCRLA, to Chefs Teddy Diggs, Beth Littlejohn, Jake Wood, as well as Russell Solovay and Brian Hudson of Sysco Foo...

It's night one of a 5-part series highlighting our studio/offices at The Kitchen, for the 2nd annual This is NOT a Happy Hour event series. The podcasts this week are more of a talk-show environment with people from all over the industry stopping by the podcast to chat about what they do and what's going on in the Food and Beverage community right now.  Why isn't this a Happy Hour? NC ABC Liquor l...

It's night one of a 5-part series highlighting our studio/offices at The Kitchen, for the 2nd annual This is NOT a Happy Hour event series. The podcasts this week are more of a talk-show environment with people from all over the industry stopping by the podcast to chat about what they do and what's going on in the Food and Beverage community right now.  Why isn't this a Happy Hour? NC ABC Liquor l...

It's night one of a 5-part series highlighting our studio/offices at The Kitchen, for the 2nd annual This is NOT a Happy Hour event series. The podcasts this week are more of a talk-show environment with people from all over the industry stopping by the podcast to chat about what they do and what's going on in the Food and Beverage community right now.  Why isn't this a Happy Hour? NC ABC Liquor l...

It's night one of a 5-part series highlighting our studio/offices at The Kitchen, for the 2nd annual This is NOT a Happy Hour event series. The podcasts this week are more of a talk-show environment with people from all over the industry stopping by the podcast to chat about what they do and what's going on in the Food and Beverage community right now.  Why isn't this a Happy Hour? NC ABC Liquor l...

Cooking in the South doesn't necessarily mean being from the South. Vivian takes her experience and credibility from "A Chef's Life "and uses it to shed light on other cultures that have brought their food to the south. Listen into this show and watch "Somewhere South", you might not find it all that dissimilar. Hand-pies, porridge, dumplings and more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Follow the show @ncfbpod and hos...

On the outside Videri Chocolate Factory and Sam Ratto were the preeminent small family business. On the inside something very different was happening. In April 2019 Sam was named CEO of The Year, in May he was too depressed to get out of bed. Click in to find out how Sam put ego and depression aside in order to put his business and family back on the path to success. Huge credit goes to Zingermans...

One guy 6 businesses. 2 careers, one in the air force and one as a hospitality entrepreneur. 6 years of sobriety, 1 Bartender of The Year Award and a wonderful deep raspy voice that would render Harvey Fierstein jobless, to tell you about it all!  Jon Seelbinder , is the owner and creator of Local Icon Hospitality in Raleigh, NC. Lets just say Jon lives up to the title of his company. Tune in to f...

What is going on inside the head of Chef Sunny Gerhart ? Sunny turned the tragedy of his dad's death into the beginning of a culinary career. Download this episode to learn about New Orleans styled cuisine, North Carolina Oysters and how to conceive and create your own restaurant.    ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Follow the show @ncfbpod and hosts at Max Trujillo & Matthew Weiss Support our Sponsors: The Folks Fou...

Bad boys, bad boys 'whatchu gonna do when they rum for you...? This episode features Eric Tansey , founder and owner of Instill Distilling Company  in  Visit Johnston County ! Eric tells us that the most important values the distillery tries to instill are hard work and putting family first, as well as promoting a healthy lifestyle - no "take shots and get wild" action here. We also talk to Eric a...