My Biggest Problem With Being a YouTube Chef

[00:00] All right, my friends. Little bit of a

[00:01] different video today because it's just

[00:03] you, me, and this coconut banana matcha,

[00:06] which is extremely delicious, by the

[00:08] way.

[00:09] Now, before getting into the reason why

[00:11] I made this video, which is my biggest

[00:13] problem with being a YouTube chef, I

[00:15] first want to just explain my cooking

[00:17] history and how this all started. So, I

[00:19] grew up in Soma County, California. And

[00:21] when I was 15 years old, I had my first

[00:24] job in a restaurant, not as a cook, but

[00:26] as a dishwasher. I started in the dish

[00:28] pit. He was born from thy dish pit. By

[00:31] the way, a lot of these photos you're

[00:32] going to see, the quality is just

[00:33] atrocious. I mean, we're talking early

[00:35] 2000s here. We used potatoes to take

[00:37] pictures. Probably like literally a

[00:39] picture of like a developed picture from

[00:41] Wraid. And at this restaurant, my older

[00:43] brother Shawn was actually a cook. He's

[00:45] still a chef today. He works at a very

[00:47] high level. They're opening a restaurant

[00:49] right now in London where they're going

[00:50] for three stars actually. But

[00:52] essentially what happened after that is

[00:53] the restaurant changed ownership and

[00:55] then I moved into a Garm position,

[00:58] right? And I was 16 years old when I put

[01:00] out my first plate in kitchens. And I

[01:02] really remember during that time the

[01:03] feeling of making food and looking at it

[01:06] and thinking how beautiful it is and

[01:08] then seeing it go to the customer and

[01:10] seeing them eat it and enjoy it. This

[01:12] beautiful little circular loop that

[01:14] happens when you work in restaurants and

[01:16] it's an amazing feeling to just serve

[01:18] people and feed people and take pride in

[01:20] that. Shortly after that when I was 17,

[01:22] I got a job at what was the Sebastapable

[01:24] Brewing Company in Sebastapole,

[01:26] California. It is now Hot Monmunk

[01:28] Tavern. And that was a step up for me

[01:30] cuz it was a very big restaurant, right?

[01:32] They were serving, I don't know,

[01:33] probably 500 to a,000 people per day, as

[01:36] well as doing events in a huge event

[01:38] space. And so I worked there for a

[01:40] couple years. I learned a lot. I worked

[01:42] in tons of different stations, you know,

[01:44] the grill, the fry station, salads, the

[01:47] whole thing. And it's kind of insane

[01:48] that this happened at that age, but

[01:50] eventually like the head chef, he left.

[01:53] He was not great. And what happened is I

[01:57] got promoted to like the head of that

[01:59] kitchen in the daytime. So there was

[02:01] like a daytime kitchen manager and a

[02:03] nighttime kitchen manager. And I was the

[02:05] daytime kitchen manager. So I was just

[02:07] like I was ordering all the food. I was

[02:10] making menus. I was like people who were

[02:12] 40 to 50 years old were coming to me and

[02:14] asking for raises and it was like and I

[02:16] was nice too. So I was like, you know,

[02:18] all right, dude. Carlos, let me see what

[02:19] I can do. Let me talk to the owners. You

[02:21] know, I was like trying to uh I'm a

[02:23] people pleaser. So, that was a tough

[02:25] role for me to be in. Looking back, I

[02:27] don't know if I should have had that job

[02:28] because just to be 17 years old and have

[02:30] that kind of like pressure was just uh I

[02:33] mean, I think I did a good job. I

[02:35] remember being a complete nervous wreck

[02:37] during that time. But I held it

[02:38] together. You know, the restaurant was

[02:40] doing fine and uh it was an amazing

[02:42] experience, that's for sure. After a few

[02:44] years of working there, they sold the

[02:45] business to someone else. So, I took

[02:47] that as my time to leave and I went to

[02:49] work for a really amazing local chef

[02:51] called Mark Maliki. And I would say that

[02:53] was the job that really like got me so

[02:55] inspired about a higher level of food

[02:57] because he was just working with all the

[02:59] local farmers, all the local

[03:01] ingredients, all the seafood, you know,

[03:03] getting dairy and cheese from just small

[03:05] farms. And so the products that I got to

[03:07] work with at that job were absolutely

[03:09] incredible. And he was a very creative

[03:11] chef, not such a good businessman, but

[03:13] an incredible chef. And I still apply a

[03:16] lot of what I learned at that restaurant

[03:17] way back then today. Because the simple

[03:19] thing is if you want great food, truly

[03:22] great food, it's just great ingredients

[03:24] plus great technique. That's all it is.

[03:26] That's what all the best restaurants do.

[03:28] They have the most skilled chefs and

[03:29] they have the best products. Simple as

[03:31] that. Now, this next part is really

[03:32] interesting because basically everybody

[03:34] who watches my channel doesn't know

[03:35] this, but when I was 21 years old, I had

[03:38] this real urge to see the other side of

[03:40] cooking, which is the farming aspect.

[03:42] And so I went to an agriculture college

[03:45] in the UK where I studied organic and

[03:47] biodnamic agriculture. So I basically

[03:49] did six months of study which was just a

[03:52] variety of classes, you know, soil

[03:53] science, how to take care of animals,

[03:55] permaculture, just all kinds of stuff.

[03:58] Once that 6 months was finished, we all

[03:59] had to go do a placement on farms

[04:01] somewhere around the world. And I found

[04:03] a farm on a little island called Zalant

[04:06] that's in the very south end of Holland

[04:08] near the Belgian border. And I'll tell

[04:10] you what, that was an absolutely crazy

[04:12] experience. Here I am, 21 years old,

[04:14] taking a train to the south of Holland

[04:16] to this tiny little island to go work on

[04:18] a dairy farm. Um, it was co it was

[04:20] called Loindala. And essentially what

[04:22] they did there was make biodnamic

[04:24] cheese. So I was there getting up at

[04:26] 5:00 a.m., you know, milking about 150

[04:29] cows and then doing that again later in

[04:31] the day. And it was absolutely crushing.

[04:33] The farmer ended up being a monster. You

[04:36] know, I was promised like a very small

[04:38] amount of pay and it never got signed in

[04:40] writing, so he never paid me. And I

[04:41] really needed money at the time as well.

[04:43] And also, I was there with a couple of

[04:45] guys who didn't really like speaking

[04:47] English. They could, but like no one

[04:49] really wanted me there. And I'm just

[04:50] there on this little tiny island in the

[04:52] south of Holland just messing around

[04:54] with these cows. It was just it was

[04:56] totally insane. And actually what

[04:58] happened is they opened a restaurant

[04:59] there and the chef had a heart attack

[05:01] and the farmer knew that I was into food

[05:03] and I had restaurant experience. So I I

[05:06] go there to learn about farming and I

[05:07] end up taking over this restaurant and

[05:09] just running the restaurant of course,

[05:10] right? The kitchen's just like they just

[05:12] magnetized me in and then this farmer's

[05:14] still not paying me. So I think after

[05:16] like 3 or 4 months I just literally

[05:19] left. I also had a super bad back injury

[05:22] during that time and like it was just

[05:23] like an absolutely horrible time. But I

[05:25] got out of there and I went to Utre and

[05:27] I started working at a small market

[05:29] garden where they were growing lots of

[05:30] vegetables and that was really awesome

[05:32] also to get that experience because if I

[05:34] ever have a farm I want something like

[05:35] that just like a market garden. So after

[05:37] my time in Holland I returned to England

[05:39] I finished my other six months of study

[05:41] and get my certification as a biodnamic

[05:44] organic farmer even though like I've

[05:46] forgotten so much about that time. I was

[05:48] such a crazy uh 20-year-old that yeah I

[05:50] was more like into partying than

[05:52] studying the farming stuff but that's

[05:54] just how it was. I mean, I know some

[05:55] things, but like I can't call myself a

[05:57] farmer really, but it's something I'm

[05:59] interested in. And it was amazing to

[06:00] see, you know, just the other side of

[06:03] food service of cooking in restaurants

[06:05] is the farmers at this point. Then I

[06:08] actually moved back to Utre and I got a

[06:10] job at an incredible restaurant called

[06:12] Labou with the chef Adri Ping who became

[06:14] like a best friend to me. You know, the

[06:16] first time we had a meeting, we both

[06:18] agreed that Thomas Keller was the man.

[06:19] We both had all of his books and Adri

[06:21] had just finished several years working

[06:23] at a Michelin star restaurant and we did

[06:25] a really high level of cooking there.

[06:27] Everything was just very precise, very

[06:29] meticulous. The Dutch are definitely

[06:31] known for that. And that was my first

[06:32] sue chef position at that restaurant and

[06:34] I just learned so so much. And even

[06:37] working like 65, 70 hours a week at that

[06:39] restaurant. On our day off, Adri and I

[06:41] like we'd go mushroom hunting. We'd go

[06:43] to the market and look for weird seafood

[06:45] to cook. Like we were always doing

[06:46] something with food. And you know,

[06:47] looking back at that time, it was really

[06:49] some of the most fun I've ever had in a

[06:51] kitchen. Even though I was working

[06:53] insane hours, I was making no money. I

[06:56] was making like €4 an hour because I was

[06:58] a salaried sue chef, right? And so I was

[07:00] going way over my hours, but like yeah,

[07:02] I I was making nothing. So when Booth

[07:04] closed, I worked at another restaurant

[07:06] briefly there in Utre before moving back

[07:08] to the UK. And upon arrival, I had

[07:10] already worked out a job, which was a

[07:12] full-time position at my local

[07:14] restaurant called Taffles. And that was

[07:16] quite the hilarious experience. You had

[07:18] this eccentric owner. He looked like a

[07:20] mad scientist with the white wispy hair.

[07:23] Uh Warren Warren was his name. And he

[07:25] was just absolutely hilarious. But what

[07:27] was so beautiful about that restaurant

[07:29] was the products I got to work with.

[07:31] They were incredible. The owner was so

[07:33] passionate about smoked salmon. He would

[07:35] literally drive up to like East London

[07:37] like few times a month just to pick up

[07:39] smoked salmon. And it was amazing smoked

[07:41] salmon. Right next door to the

[07:43] restaurant, we had an award-winning fish

[07:44] monger where they would go every day out

[07:46] on their boat and bring back fresh fish

[07:48] that we would buy and work with. Our

[07:50] eggs came from an egg guy. We had one

[07:52] guy who just brought pork. We had one

[07:54] guy who just brought vegetables, another

[07:55] guy who just brought cheese. And so it

[07:57] was an incredible place to work with

[08:00] ingredients. All in all, Taffles was a

[08:02] great experience doing breakfast, lunch,

[08:04] and dinner and just working with all

[08:06] those incredible products. I had an

[08:07] amazing time there and I will always

[08:09] have fond memories of it. In 2014, I had

[08:12] just had enough of the gray, gloomy

[08:15] English weather. I love England. I love

[08:17] it as a country, you know? I'll always

[08:19] have my roots there. I was born there.

[08:20] But something about just like waking up

[08:22] and walking to work when it's dark and

[08:25] it's like gloomy and rainy and then you

[08:27] go and work in a kitchen. Taffles had no

[08:29] windows. It was like one of those

[08:30] underground kitchens where you set up

[08:32] the food with a rope lift, which was

[08:35] incredibly dangerous. And then there's

[08:36] no natural light. And then you leave and

[08:38] it's dark and it's gloomy. like that

[08:40] goes on for months. Like it really it

[08:42] does get to you after a while for sure.

[08:43] So upon my arrival back in America, I

[08:45] actually had a hard time finding a job

[08:47] for a while. I think it took me about

[08:49] like 5 months, but then I got a job at

[08:51] the Viceroy Hotel in Snow Mass, Colorado

[08:54] at a restaurant called AK working for a

[08:57] chef from New Orleans called Will Nolan.

[08:59] And let me tell you something, this was

[09:00] the just final hurrah of my cooking

[09:04] career. And by far the most brutal

[09:08] cooking job I have ever had in my life.

[09:11] Like oh my god you guys. I lost I think

[09:14] it was like 45 lbs in a matter of about

[09:16] 2 and 1/2 months just from working. So

[09:19] the Viceroy Hotel is like a ski in ski

[09:21] out resort on Snow Mass Mountain. And

[09:24] basically in that restaurant we had the

[09:26] longest bar in Colorado. We had a lounge

[09:29] area. We had a dining room that sat like

[09:31] I don't know 100 plus people. Then we

[09:34] had about two or three private dining

[09:36] rooms. And then here's the kicker, guys.

[09:38] Here's the kicker. Massive hotel. It's

[09:41] like eightstory hotel. Every single room

[09:44] service order came out of our kitchen as

[09:46] well. Usually in big hotels, they have a

[09:48] whole separate kitchen for room service.

[09:50] No, not for us, man. Oh god. So during

[09:53] that time, I ran the meat station. And

[09:55] let me tell you something, you're

[09:56] surrounded by uh a French top piece of

[09:59] metal this thick with just a raging fire

[10:02] underneath. It emanates so much heat.

[10:04] I've got a grill right next to it. I've

[10:06] got a salamander right here. I've got

[10:08] two ovens right here. Just the ambient

[10:10] temperature in that place could just

[10:13] like literally like dehydrate food. I

[10:15] mean, it was unbelievable. And so during

[10:17] the busy ski season, fully booked every

[10:19] night. Every night. Fully booked. Fully

[10:21] booked. Fully booked for months on end.

[10:23] Just fully booked. And that meat station

[10:25] was so insane because like I had lamb

[10:27] racks, I had elk, I had bunch of

[10:30] different steaks, small ones, tomahawk

[10:32] steaks, I had duck breast, I had

[10:34] chicken, and I had to cook all of these

[10:36] meats to temperature. So like I I can

[10:39] remember a few specific times, you know,

[10:41] when you hear the printer, a chef hear

[10:43] the printer in our head, the sound of

[10:44] the ticket printer, and you're cooking

[10:45] and you're cooking and you hear the

[10:46] printer just going, going, going, you're

[10:48] like, man, that printer's been like

[10:49] firing off for a long time. And I look

[10:51] over at the printer and it's not just

[10:52] like gone down to the floor. And by the

[10:54] way, the printer starts like up here on

[10:56] me. So, it's printed tickets. It's all

[10:58] the way down to the floor and then it's

[11:00] folding them like this. I see them just

[11:02] folding on the floor like just stacking

[11:04] up. And you're like, And by the way, I I

[11:06] got to pick all those up, get all my

[11:08] Sharpies, figure out what everything is,

[11:10] what the temperatures they want. I mean,

[11:12] it was like, oh my god. I remember

[11:14] showing up to work and just feeling like

[11:16] I couldn't breathe. I'd be like

[11:17] literally just like like having like

[11:20] panic attacks every day in there because

[11:21] it was just so it was so incredibly

[11:23] brutal and we really should have had

[11:25] like we had four cooks on the line. We

[11:27] really should have had like six or even

[11:28] eight. My god. And so I'm doing all the

[11:31] meat. I am also doing all the sauces and

[11:33] I'm also doing all the sides and I'm

[11:35] plating everything too. I'm not just

[11:37] cooking the meat. Um, but that job I

[11:39] will say, you know, as tough as it was,

[11:41] it really just hardened me uh as a chef

[11:45] cuz when you deal with that kind of

[11:46] pressure and the chef was also like not

[11:48] nice, like if food's not coming out fast

[11:50] and on time, even though I have an

[11:52] absolutely impossible job, like he just

[11:54] comes over, he just slams his hand like

[11:56] on the pass, get your together, you

[11:58] know, like so much so that people would

[12:00] complain. Guests would complain because

[12:01] they're like, why you why you treating

[12:03] your staff like that? He came from like

[12:05] the best kitchen in New Orleans and like

[12:06] the chef he worked for was like probably

[12:09] way more abusive than he was. Right.

[12:10] It's just like that cycle of abuse that

[12:12] I think is kind of fading out uh within

[12:14] the cooking world. I really hope it is

[12:16] because it's it's just nasty and it's

[12:17] not fun and all you can do is just say

[12:19] yes chef. Sorry chef. Yes, chef. That's

[12:21] the best way. If you ever are watching

[12:23] this and you want to get a job in a

[12:24] kitchen, the chef's coming at you. Yes,

[12:27] chef. Sorry, chef. That's all you That's

[12:28] all you do. if you try to argue or like

[12:31] be like, well, you know, you say

[12:33] something, they're just going to it's

[12:34] just it never works. You just try to

[12:35] defuse the situation as quickly as you

[12:38] can. So, basically, I'm working this

[12:39] insane job. It's so hard and I'm making

[12:42] $15 an hour, right? And I'm like barely

[12:44] making ends meet. Eventually, I got a

[12:46] raise to like I think it was like$,750

[12:48] or maybe $18 an hour. And then I'm still

[12:51] like I I have one of the most important

[12:52] positions in this kitchen and I'm trying

[12:54] to get 20 bucks an hour, guys. That's

[12:56] all I want, the bare minimum to survive

[12:58] in the Aspen Valley, which is an

[13:00] expensive place. And they just never

[13:02] gave it to me, you know? I don't know

[13:03] why, but they never gave me that raise.

[13:04] And he was promising it to me for months

[13:06] and months and months. And I just said,

[13:07] "Fuck this." And so I just like, I'm not

[13:10] coming in cuz you didn't follow through

[13:11] on what you said you were going to do.

[13:13] So I was out after about a year and a

[13:15] half of doing that. But I will always be

[13:17] grateful for that job because that's

[13:18] where I met my wife, Tatiana, in the in

[13:21] room dining department. She would

[13:22] deliver the food to the rooms. So, I got

[13:24] to thank the Viceroy for that because

[13:26] here we are 10 years later, still

[13:27] happily married.

[13:30] Okay. But around that time, I was

[13:32] leaving the Viceroy Hotel. Like, I was

[13:34] in my late 20s and I'm thinking to

[13:36] myself, my god, I got to find a way to

[13:38] still do what I love but make more money

[13:41] because like it's just really tough when

[13:43] you're a line cook. And the way I did

[13:45] that was my brother introduced me to

[13:47] someone who was doing private cooking in

[13:49] Aspen. And if you don't know about

[13:50] Aspen, it is just full of billionaires.

[13:52] It is one of the best places you can

[13:54] probably do private cooking in the

[13:55] world. He introduced me to this guy

[13:57] Bobby Plet who's an incredibly talented

[13:59] chef and just a very organized like he

[14:01] was just so good at organizing parties

[14:03] and food for these massive events. But I

[14:05] started working for Bobby and I became

[14:07] one of his main guys to go around and do

[14:09] all these events and I worked with him

[14:11] for probably like 6 months. Around that

[14:13] same time I also started working with

[14:15] another chef who was doing private

[14:16] dinners in Aspen called Marco Porcettu.

[14:18] And to this day he is probably the

[14:20] highest level chef I ever worked with.

[14:22] He was from Sardinia. He had a very

[14:24] famous restaurant in Las Vegas for a

[14:26] long time. He was cooking at the highest

[14:28] level. Incredibly talented guy and I was

[14:31] really proud that he accepted me into

[14:32] his circle of people who helped him. I

[14:34] was like his number two because I saw

[14:36] other chefs work for him and they would

[14:38] make it like a day or a few hours and he

[14:40] would just if he thinks you can't cook,

[14:43] he he he just he's like you're gone, you

[14:45] know? And so I saw him burn through so

[14:47] many chefs. But he really liked me and

[14:49] he saw he saw talent in me and so he

[14:51] kind of took me under his wing and we

[14:52] did all these insane parties together at

[14:55] just the most crazy like houses you you

[14:58] could imagine. And he was definitely

[14:59] another really tough chef to work for

[15:01] because if you make a mistake he's just

[15:02] like why you why you do it? Yeah, but

[15:05] why you cut the fish like you don't know

[15:06] how to cut fish? What? He was tough man.

[15:09] He was tough, but I learned so much

[15:10] working for him. And especially that

[15:12] just like Italian style, like cooking

[15:14] everything fresh in the moment, which

[15:16] made it a nightmare cuz we did very

[15:18] little prep. Like we just show up with

[15:20] the ingredients and just start cooking

[15:21] at people's houses. And uh it was wild,

[15:23] but it was a fun time. And so after

[15:25] working for Bobby and Marco, I decided

[15:26] to launch my own catering company,

[15:28] Finesse Catering, where I did my own

[15:30] private dinners around the Aspen area,

[15:32] as well as this food drop off business I

[15:34] had going. And what I would do is just

[15:36] make a menu at the end of every single

[15:37] week and send it off to all my clients.

[15:40] And then I would basically cook

[15:41] everything and just drop it off. It was

[15:42] all food that was designed to just be

[15:44] warmed up in the oven or it was like

[15:46] different components of a salad and a

[15:47] dressing that they just toss it together

[15:49] like a really, really, really good

[15:51] HelloFresh. Let's imagine it like that.

[15:52] But everything was just like nice and

[15:54] fresh and always cooked that day. Let me

[15:56] tell you something. That was an

[15:57] incredibly stressful time in my life

[15:58] because I don't think I was charging

[16:00] enough money. And this service was so

[16:02] popular and they started if you get in

[16:04] with one family in Aspen, they just tell

[16:07] all their friends and all of a sudden

[16:09] you're just like overwhelmed with

[16:11] business. I think I had like I don't

[16:12] know man 15 20 families maybe even more

[16:16] like 20 25 families on my list of drop

[16:19] offs and like it got to a point where I

[16:21] was just so stressed and I and I really

[16:23] wasn't making enough money and so I had

[16:25] to shut it down. But I just continued on

[16:27] doing the private dinners which I could

[16:29] charge more money for. So, I would just

[16:31] do those as often as I could and that

[16:32] was my main squeeze. And then my

[16:35] friends, CO happened. Then CO happened.

[16:37] And I can specifically remember when CO

[16:39] was announced and the whole world shut

[16:42] down. I thought to myself, "Wow, for

[16:45] once in my life, I've just had a crazy

[16:47] life, right? There's so much more to

[16:48] tell about my life, but like once for

[16:51] once in my life, I'm finally going to

[16:53] have some time just off of like any kind

[16:56] of work where I can just kind of like

[16:58] focus on my health and like rest and

[17:00] relax

[17:04] and then I started posting on Tik Tok.

[17:06] And I mean, look, I'm I'm grateful for

[17:08] what happened. It was just funny that

[17:10] that was my way of thinking. And then

[17:12] what happened was crazy because in 2020

[17:14] when I really started taking Tik Tok

[17:16] seriously, dude, I I don't think there

[17:17] was any real like chefs on there who was

[17:19] doing that. And so there was very little

[17:21] competition and my videos were just

[17:23] exploding. My first ever super viral

[17:25] video was the rosemary salt and the

[17:27] steak that I cooked. And so in that

[17:29] first year, you know, I had millions of

[17:31] followers on TikTok. It was it was

[17:33] absolutely insane. I had one video that

[17:35] did like, I don't know, 50 million

[17:37] views. I remember cooking this fillet or

[17:41] this video that went so viral and I uh I

[17:43] overcooked the out of it the first

[17:45] time and I was like, "Yeah, damn it. I

[17:47] guess I'm going to try one more time and

[17:49] I and I was like, all right, I'll do it

[17:51] again." I almost gave up and I did it

[17:52] and that video just absolutely went

[17:55] nuts. I mean, I got like a few million

[17:57] followers in a matter of days. I mean,

[17:59] it was absolutely berserk insane, right?

[18:02] And so 2020 for me was absolutely crazy.

[18:05] Like, I wasn't ready for all that

[18:07] attention. just came out of nowhere and

[18:09] I'm like I'm having Skype meetings with

[18:12] the Food Network and um I'm in like Teen

[18:16] Vogue and I'm talking the Washington

[18:19] Post and um I was also talking the

[18:22] Netflix like it was just like too much.

[18:24] I don't think I was quite ready for all

[18:26] of that. Um it was just so explosive.

[18:28] But that was my co time. So I was just

[18:30] like back then I was just making videos

[18:32] every single day cuz I was mainly

[18:34] focused on Tik Tok where I was getting

[18:35] the attention. And then eventually I

[18:37] started funneling uh my audience over to

[18:39] YouTube because I really wanted to do

[18:41] the longer videos, right? And I think

[18:42] that was some point in 2020, maybe mid

[18:44] to late 2020 when my YouTube videos

[18:46] started taking off. And you know, here

[18:48] we are, man. It's uh 2026 and I'm and

[18:51] I'm still at it. You know, I first

[18:53] started posting in 2019 like little

[18:55] things I think on YouTube as well as Tik

[18:58] Tok. So really, I've been going for like

[18:59] almost 7 years now doing the whole

[19:01] social media thing. And all of this

[19:03] leads me to my main point of the video,

[19:06] my biggest problem with being a YouTube

[19:08] chef. So, when I first started posting

[19:10] food content on YouTube, it was just

[19:12] really easy to make whatever I wanted.

[19:14] Before employees, before sponsors on

[19:17] every video, before all the moving parts

[19:19] that come with running a business, it

[19:21] was just so easy to follow your

[19:22] curiosity as a chef. There just wasn't

[19:24] this constant thought in the back of my

[19:27] mind asking, "Is this video going to

[19:28] appeal to millions of people? Is the

[19:30] algorithm going to like it? Is it going

[19:32] to cast a wide enough net? It was just

[19:35] so much more simple back then. But the

[19:37] thing is, as time goes on and that

[19:39] business side of content creation

[19:41] becomes much more important, you start

[19:43] questioning these ideas where you would

[19:45] have just cooked it before. You start

[19:46] asking yourself, is it going to get

[19:48] enough views? Are the sponsors going to

[19:49] like it? Are people going to be able to

[19:51] find the ingredients? Is it easy enough

[19:53] for people to make? Are people even

[19:54] going to care about this idea? And

[19:56] before you know it, you start building

[19:58] this box around the creative fire that

[20:00] made you fall in love with cooking in

[20:02] the first place. And not because you

[20:04] stopped loving it, not because you

[20:05] stopped being a chef, but you're now

[20:07] running a business and people depend on

[20:09] you. I mean, I can't tell you how many

[20:11] times I was having a meeting here with

[20:13] my team where we just sort of brainstorm

[20:15] ideas and there are so many cool things

[20:17] I want to cook and I float it out there

[20:19] and then we just all agree like, "Yeah,

[20:21] this probably isn't going to get views

[20:23] so we can't do it." And honestly, you

[20:24] know, as a chef, that kind of sucks. And

[20:26] as someone who spent my entire life in

[20:29] kitchens, like I love just deep diving,

[20:32] going down a rabbit hole, some

[20:34] fascinating technique, some cool

[20:36] ingredient, something that just sparks

[20:37] up my curiosity, my childlike curiosity.

[20:40] And so to constantly secondguess your

[20:42] instincts when you have some idea you're

[20:44] truly passionate about and then the

[20:46] first thought you have is like, is it

[20:48] going to get enough views? That will

[20:49] slowly chip away at that cheffy part of

[20:52] you. It just will. And that's the part

[20:53] that wants to experiment, that wants to

[20:55] obsess over the details, that wants to

[20:58] go down some cheffy rabbit hole because

[21:00] it's just fascinating to me. And before

[21:02] long, you realize you've spent years

[21:03] trying to make the best videos possible

[21:06] while quietly neglecting that part of

[21:08] you that just wants to be a curious and

[21:10] excited chef. And so, I've realized my

[21:12] biggest problem with being a YouTube

[21:14] chef isn't YouTube. I actually love

[21:16] YouTube. It's the king. The real problem

[21:18] is I never really had a place where I

[21:20] could share the side of cooking that

[21:22] made me fall in love with this

[21:23] profession in the first place. And

[21:25] that's the side that doesn't mind

[21:27] spending two days to make demigloss. The

[21:29] side that doesn't mind obsessing over

[21:31] some crazy technique that most people

[21:33] will never do. The side that wants to

[21:35] disappear down some cheffy rabbit hole

[21:37] that most people will simply never

[21:39] follow me into. That is until now. God,

[21:43] I feel good about this. I got chills,

[21:45] man. I got goosebumps right now because

[21:47] I've always dreamed of having a

[21:48] passionate cooking community where

[21:50] people go above and beyond what your

[21:52] average home cook would want to do. But

[21:54] before announcing this, I just want to

[21:56] make one thing extremely clear that

[21:58] nothing is changing on this channel.

[22:00] That dude can cook Cook is going to be

[22:02] what it always has been. Nothing is

[22:04] changing. Not a thing. I'll continue

[22:06] making the recipes that have been the

[22:07] beating heart of this channel, which is

[22:10] just really delicious food and recipes

[22:11] that I am always going to be proud of

[22:13] that aren't too overly complicated,

[22:15] aren't outrageously expensive, and can

[22:17] just fit into a busy life schedule. But

[22:20] without further ado, today I am

[22:21] officially announcing the launch of my

[22:23] cooking community, the Sue Chefs.

[22:25] >> Sue Chefs. Sue Chefs. Sue Chefs who

[22:28] maybe that can be maybe that could be

[22:30] something. I don't know. The Sue Chefs

[22:31] will be a members community here on

[22:33] YouTube where passionate home cooks can

[22:35] really take a deep dive with me on that

[22:37] whole professional side of cooking that

[22:39] I love. And we'll explore incredible

[22:41] recipes techniques philosophies

[22:44] cheffy rabbit holes that are really just

[22:46] hard to find here on YouTube or really

[22:47] anywhere on the internet for that

[22:49] matter. And I'll tell you what, guys,

[22:50] when I thought about launching this

[22:52] community, like I I literally get full

[22:53] body chills because it just feels so

[22:55] right to me and it's something I've

[22:57] wanted to do for so long. Just knowing

[22:58] that I finally will have a place where I

[23:00] can unleash the beast and take the

[23:02] limiter off my chef engine is an

[23:04] incredibly refreshing feeling. We'll be

[23:07] doing multiple extra videos every single

[23:09] month. The ones that I was too afraid to

[23:11] post on YouTube will end up in the Sue

[23:13] chefs. And as soon as enough people are

[23:15] inside, we're also going to be doing

[23:16] live cookalongs so I can literally guide

[23:18] you through the cheffy processes. I'll

[23:20] also be giving away a lot of my favorite

[23:22] kitchen tools and knives to members

[23:24] every single month. And I've even built

[23:26] a Sue Chef's Discord server that will

[23:28] act as our home base. Inside, you'll be

[23:30] able to ask me whatever cooking

[23:32] questions you want. We'll also share

[23:33] photos of what we're cooking on that

[23:35] day, as well as sharing our wins and

[23:37] laughing at some of our losses. And if

[23:39] you need to blow off some steam, I had

[23:41] to create a channel in there called the

[23:43] walk-in, where you can just go inside of

[23:45] there and just freak out about whatever

[23:46] you want. It's beautiful. If you end up

[23:48] becoming a sous chef, just make sure you

[23:50] go over to the community tab on YouTube

[23:52] and click that Discord link and get

[23:54] inside there as soon as possible. That

[23:56] is our home base. In terms of the cost,

[23:58] I've made it as affordable as possible.

[24:00] I didn't want anyone to feel left out.

[24:02] It's cheaper than a cup of coffee. There

[24:04] is a higher support tier, but both offer

[24:06] access to the exact same community and

[24:08] content. It's simply there for those who

[24:10] have the means and want to offer a

[24:11] little extra support. And so, to finish

[24:13] this off, let me be very clear. The Sue

[24:15] Chefs isn't replacing anything. It's

[24:17] simply creating a home for the side of

[24:19] cooking that I've personally been

[24:21] missing for all these years. And if that

[24:23] sounds like your kind of thing, I would

[24:25] absolutely love to have you join us.

[24:27] I'll see you in the sue chefs. Until

[24:29] next time, you know I love you when I'm

[24:31] out.