Show 561, January 20, 2024: Chef Andrew Gruel, Co-Host and Proprietor of Calico Fish House, with “Ask the Chef”

Chef Andrew Gruel of Big Parm and the Calico Fish House

Our own Chef Andrew Gruel, the menu-maker behind the full-service Calico Fish House (in the Sunset Beach area of Huntington Beach) and also the founder and pizzaiola of the fast-casual Big Parm (New Jersey-style pizza) located in the Mess Hall in Tustin provides another timely and informative Ask the Chef segment where he responds to listeners’ thoughtful inquiries.

California meets Maine with a hybrid Lobster Roll garnished with Avocado slices. Chef Andrew weighs in on the creation. What will tradition-bound Mainers say? Chef Andrew also explores what’s of primary concern to area restaurateurs in 2024 including recurring supply chain issues and a bevy of new California regulations.

Show 418, March 27, 2021: ArT Wine Preserver® Founder Ryan Frederickson

Ryan Fredrickson of ArT Wine Preserver

“Winemakers and restaurateurs agree. There’s an art to preserving wine. While you may have heard it’s important to let wine “breathe,” this causes oxygen to degrade the bottle the longer it’s been opened. Oxidation can spoil opened bottles of wine as quickly as 24 hours after opening.”

“Argon gas is the preferred method by winemakers to prevent oxidation that spoils wine. ArT Wine Preserver® is an affordable, recyclable wine saver (packaged in a convenient can) that uses pure argon gas to displace oxygen.”

“ArT Wine Preserver® is on a mission to reduce waste, starting with wine. According to the National Resources Defense Council, wine waste is part of the 40 percent of food that is wasted in the United States every day. In the United States alone, the company estimates home consumers pour more than $1.27 billion dollars of wine down the drain, and restaurants pour out another 18+ million bottles!”

“ArT Wine Preserver® Founder Ryan Frederickson’s former career as an engineer took a different path after a vacation in California wine country. After learning about how much work goes into producing each bottle, and just how much waste occurs due to oxidation, he decided to put his previous experience working in the argon gas industry to use.”

“Naming the product ArT, short for “Argon Technology, the wine preserving canister contains 100% pure argon gas to keep opened bottles of wine fresh up to three times longer.”

Founder Ryan Frederickson joins us with wine glass in hand.

Show 364, March 14, 2020: Chef Andrew Gruel of the Slapfish Restaurant Group with “Ask the Chef”

Andy Harris and Andrew Gruel at Cabana 14 at the Cove at Pechanga Resort and CasinoOur own Chef Andrew Gruel of the Slapfish Restaurant Group joins us (just back from an opening in Hilton Head, South Carolina) from the road with another informative “Ask the Chef” segment where Chef Andrew responds to listeners’ diverse inquiries.

The Covid-19 crisis is very much on diners’ minds. Is it safe to patronize restaurants? Chef Andrew discusses what he’s doing at Slapfish restaurants across the country to maintain the safety and welfare of guests and employees based on the rapidly and ever-evolving informed info from the CDC and local health agencies.

Please keep in mind in times of need chefs and restaurateurs are always at the forefront of helping and generously giving back. During this crisis they deserve our support. We’re following all the government guidelines and continuing to enjoyably dine out.

We’ll “Ask the Chef.”

Show 331, July 6, 2019: Kyle Meyer, Managing Partner, Wine Exchange, on Worthwhile Wine Publications and the return of the Michelin Guide

Kyle Meyer of Wine ExchangeKyle Meyer, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Santa Ana’s Wine Exchange, our resident wine authority (sans attitude,) joins us for another informative wine commentary responding to listeners’ thoughtful questions.

What credible wine publications are worth reading & subscribing to when the casual wine connoisseur wants to increase their wine IQ? Just looking for honest, journalistic reporting without pretension and possible advertorial coverage.

The Michelin Guide is back covering Southern California after a long absence. (They dismissively dropped the Los Angeles Guide after 2009.) Chefs and restaurateurs are talking about who was included along with the conspicuous omissions. Kyle knows fine-dining. His thoughts on the significance…?

Show 329, June 22, 2019: “Billion Dollar Bully” Update with Filmmaker Kaylie Milliken

Kaylie MillikenNow that the thought-provoking documentary, Billion Dollar Bully, is in release it’s time to revisit filmmaker Kaylie Milliken. In the film business owners (including chefs & restaurateurs) from across a broad spectrum share their personal stories of Yelp‘s questionable business dealings — all of which have been vehemently denied by Yelp.

“Today, consumers Yelp everything, from restaurants to surgeons. The same businesses that receive reviews — good or bad — simultaneously receive phone calls from Yelp salespeople to pay to advertise on Yelp. The small business community sees Yelp’s sales tactics as extortion, as their business’s reviews are filtered in ways that negatively impact their progress if advertisements aren’t purchased.”

“Does Yelp genuinely have an interest in helping people support the best local businesses, or is Yelp a pay-to-play platform? How can Yelp do an honest job of representing consumer sentiment while at the same time fueling their business with advertising dollars from the same companies being reviewed on their site? How does Yelp respond to claims of extortion? As a company that has claimed to care about free speech, what responsibility does Yelp have to provide recourse for business owners who need to address malicious libel from competitors and others who malign them for personal reasons? Should libelous reviews be allowed to remain, even when proven untrue?”

These questions are thoughtfully investigated and answered in the new documentary, Billion Dollar Bully.

Show 186, August 27, 2016: Ron Mathews, Vice President, Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo

Western Foodservice ExpoThe largest annual gathering of foodservice executives, chefs and restaurateurs in the West is the 2016 Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo on August 28th to 30th at the Los Angeles Convention Center. There will be over 8,000 attendees and 500 exhibitors. It’s for the trade, only.

It’s 3-days of menu trends, state of the art design and décor, and the best in business education.

Thomas Keller of the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group is receiving The Torch Award as part of the gathering.

Ron Mathews, Vice President of the Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo joins us with a preview.

Show 186, August 27, 2016: Jennifer Rolander, Marketing Director, Tuxton China, Inc.

Tuxton ChinaIn September Tuxton is donating a percentage of their total sales to support the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP,) an extraordinary non-profit that transforms the lives of at-risk high school students through the culinary arts. In Los Angeles alone, C-CAP was able to work with 3,200 students in 22 schools and awarded over $765,000 in scholarships in the 2015-2016 academic year. There are also programs in Arizona, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Virginia and Washington D.C.

Note to Chefs & Restaurateurs….

If you’re thinking about buying chinaware in September please support the good work of C-CAP and consider Tuxton China. Your future star employees thank you.

Tuxton China Company started business in 1999, but it has a long family history which has contributed to its success. Back in 1963 T.Y. Lam founded what came to be known as the world famous Chinese Ceramic Arts Import and Export Company. Due to his renowned reputation and the fact that the Chinese Government was privatizing factories, Mr. Lam took over a government factory in order to continue expanding his business.  So in 1989 The Lynn’s Group (which currently makes chinaware for the retail industry) was formed in conjunction with his other business. While the Lynn’s Group continued to grow, Mr. Lam recruited his children to help run the company and keep his legacy alive.  Eventually they opened offices in Hong Kong, China and the United States.  While Lynn’s kept up the retail manufacturing, the company also began to manufacture for numerous well-known companies in the U.S. foodservice industry. This move led to the founding of Tuxton China Inc.

Three generations of the Lam family continue to run Lynn’s and Tuxton China, and with the addition of William Burden (former owner of Burden China Co., Inc.) who became Tuxton’s President in 2001, Tuxton has become one of the top suppliers in the foodservice industry.

For more than a decade, Tuxton has been anchored by its core values of passionate dedication to customer service, excellence in product quality, high integrity, embracing innovation, and last but not least, a positive and humble attitude. These values, along with Tuxton’s dedication to its employees and customers, continue to drive the company to be the best in the industry.

Tuxton’s Marketing Director, Jennifer Rolander, joins us with all the needed 411.

Show 43, October 12, 2013: Chef Greg Daniels of The Haven Collective

We’re proud to be part of the hospitality industry as chefs and restaurateurs are some of the most generous folks we know. When there is a worthy cause they are always there in a flash with food and support…

Greg Daniels of Haven GastropubWe know Chef Greg Daniels from the two Haven Gastropubs (Orange and Pasadena,) taco asylum, and Provisions Market. From October 16th to 25th Chef Greg has assembled a group of distinguished OC chefs to raise money for children who suffer from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) worldwide. It’s all under the playful banner of “PB&J for Good.”

Participating chefs will put their creative spin on the traditional PB&J as a special menu offering. Each will donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of every PB&J dish to benefit StopSAM.org, a fundraising arm for Severe Acute Malnutrition.

Besides Haven Gastropub and it’s growing family of establishments some of the high profile restaurants participating include ARC, Broadway by Amar Santana, Little Sparrow, LUCCA, and The Winery Restaurant & Wine Bar. Be a part of it…