TV Chefs

Like, Bite & Share

A graduate of the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, Chef Russell Jackson’s passion for food started out like many of us, at home watching his Mother cooking family meals. He went on to become the Head Chef role at the James Beard-nominated Black Cat and eventually landed an opportunity to appear on both Iron Chef America and The Next Food Network Star. Currently he is the founder and host of SubCulture Dining, a bi-coastal, underground supper club and host of Bravo TV’s “Going Off the Menu” show. He joins Like, Bite & Share today to talk about life as a celebrity chef, unconventional dining experiences, and food incubators.

ABOUT THE SHOW

Like Bite & Share is a podcast about marketing in the food business. Each episode includes an insightful interview with food marketing professionals.

SHOW NOTES

Key Takeaways:

• To make it as a chef, be your authentic self. Many are trying to make their names as overblown, inauthentic entities, but you’ll do better if you’re genuine.
• A lot of being a celebrity chef, specifically being successful on competitive cooking shows, is about being seen as a good marketer for products that are going to be promoted on food networks and online.
• If you get too cute with plating or food concoctions, you open yourself up for ridicule from other chefs and the public.
• If you go through the process of getting a food show made, be patient. You could spend years in development before anything substantial happens.
• The San Francisco restaurant scene grew too quickly in too short a period of time. So if you need cheap restaurant equipment, San Francisco will be the place to buy it soon.
• Hosting an underground supper club sounds cool, but it is an absolute siege on your soul. Know this before you attempt anything of the sort.
• Testing your project through an incubator is a great, safe way to develop. Once you go public, you’re going to be exposed to angry writers, content-starved publications, and a public that has already seen everything. An incubator will get you ready for that scrutiny.
• If you have aspirations to be a TV chef, you have to figure out who you are as a chef and be extraordinary at that. From there, know that there are no shortcuts.

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

• Subculture Dining
• We Want Plates
• Chef Fails
• Going off the Menu
• Meat on the Side by Nikki Dinki
• Popfoods
• The Fall Burger Crawl hosted by Chef Russell Jackson

Learn more about Russell Jackson:

• Website
• Instagram
• Twitter
• LinkedIn