#095 - Amy Falbaum: The Invisible Backbone of the Hospitality Industry

#097 - Amanda Smith: How Menehune Chef Brings Cooking Education & Community to Hawaiian Children

Amanda Smith is the Founder and Executive Director of Menehune Chef, a non-profit that offers functional, intuitive, and practical cooking education to children on the Garden Island of Kauai, using all local Hawaiian-sourced ingredients. They work with local chefs and farmers to really infuse the essence of community involvement, sustainable living, and locally-grown ingredients into the lives of these children.

Amanda’s vision is to impact future generations – starting with a single poi smoothie – and generate a powerful movement that will be shared through our keiki (or “the little ones”) of Hawaii.

“Believe in your own passion... how much energy you put into it is really what’s going to resonate the most!” –Amanda Smith

P.S. If you’re not familiar with Menehune – and I sure wasn’t – they are a mythological dwarf people from Hawaiian legend who are hidden and far away from human civilization, said to have built communities in the forests and valleys of Hawaii before the first Polynesian settlers arrived. It connects back to that word keiki, Amanda’s inspiration throughout her journey creating and running this wonderful organization!

“What is Menehune Chef? Cooking with sustainable foods on the Hawaiian islands!” –Amanda Smith

We also discuss:

• Creating something bigger in the world through cooking and community
• Why Kauai is so special to Amanda
• Amanda’s spiritual awakening
• The life-changing power of Poi, a Hawaiian dish created from the fermented root of the taro
• Living in Hawaii is expensive, which makes eating healthy expensive
• Hawaii as a food truck nation
• How Menehune Chefs finds the space and ingredients to offer their cooking classes – and what they still need
• When children develop their taste buds
• Creating a Menehune Chef children’s show for TV
• The Bruschetta Basil Blast

The Triple B: Bruschetta Basil Blast

Ingredients:

• 8 Roma tomatoes
• 4 cloves of garlic, diced
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• ½ tbsp olive oil
• 1 small wedge of local lemon
• ¼ cup vegan parmesan (or regular if you don’t mind dairy)
• ¼ tsp ground pepper
• ¼ tsp Hawaiian sea salt (or something similar)
• 6 chicken breasts
• 1 cup rice

Directions

• Heat oven to 375 degrees
• Combine first 5 ingredients and toss together
• Cut chicken breasts in half
• Rub ground pepper and sea salt on top of the chicken
• Add parmesan onto chicken
• Drizzle olive oil on the top of chicken
• Bake for 45 minutes
• Cook your rice (Amanda uses coconut water instead of regular water)
• When you chicken is cooled, put it on top of the rice and pour the bruschetta ingredients in your bowl on top of it

Resources:

• Learn more at www.menehunechef.org
• Instagram: instagram.com/menehunechef/
• Facebook: facebook.com/menehunechef/
• Check out Chef Benjamin Prichard’s noisyfood.com

Amanda Smith’s Bio:

Amanda started her journey in health education at the University of Hawaii, where she majored in Early Childhood education. She has over a decade of expertise working for three different non-profit organizations and educating the Kauai community on current health curricula, Life skills training, positive action, mother daughter circles, and youth camps.Amanda is passionate about increasing children’s awareness about nutrition and health.She currently is spreading her vision of healthy cooking to all Hawaiian islands.

Just Forking Around is produced by Podcast Masters

#096 - Dr. Beth Ricanati: The Transformative Power of Challah & One Woman’s Journey to Wellness

Dr. Beth Ricanati is a physician, mother, and the author of Braided: A Journey of a Thousand Challahs. Dr. Ricanati’s debut book chronicles her journey creating a thousand challahs, showcasing a woman’s quest for wellness and peace. She has created a career focused on bringing wellness into women’s everyday lives, especially busy moms juggling life and children, but her book is meant for anyone who is carrying a myriad of responsibilities and rarely takes even a few minutes to stop and smell the rising yeast.

“For the first time, I made challah and the most incredible thing happened: I just stopped! When you’re standing at the kitchen counter and your hands are in a bowl of dough, it is just wonderful.” –Beth Ricanati, MD

Braided is a meditation on how Dr. Ricanati found a few moments of peace one Friday morning, when it was unclear whether or not she was going to be okay, and how making challah every Friday sustained her for ten full years (and still sustains her to this day). It’s not just a recipe for making the bread – although you’ll be able to knock out a killer batch after reading it – but also a lesson in taking the time you need to be truly well.

“Whether it’s challah or any other activity, we live in a crazy, busy, stressful world and I think it is imperative to have mindful activity in our lives to manage our stress.” –Beth Ricanati, MD

We also discuss:

• Becoming a practicing physician & mother of three
• Trying to do it all... and not doing it well
• Transforming herself and her life through the medium of Challah
• How challah enriches us spiritually
• Learning to appreciate the mindfulness & wellness aspect of cooking
• How holidays and rituals help us
• Food as medicine
• Integrating a mindful activity into your life, whatever it is
• Navigating food tribes
• What Beth is learning from challah, 10 years later, and what she learned from writing the book
• We’re never too late to try something new, even if it’s completely out of our wheelhouse

Resources:

• Learn more at housecallsforwellness.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/housecallsforwellness/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/BethRicanatiAuthor/about/?ref=page_internal
• Read: Braided: A Journey of a Thousand Challahs

Beth Ricanati’s Bio:

Beth Ricanati, MD, has built her career around bringing wellness into women’s everyday lives, especially busy moms juggling life and children. She received her medical training at Case Western Reserve University and New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. She was a practicing physician for over ten years at boththe New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center’s Women Health Center in New York City, the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Women’s Health, and the Cleveland Clinic’s Wellness Institute. She now lives in the Los Angeles area with her family and challah-loving dog.


Just Forking Around is produced by Podcast Masters

#095 - Amy Falbaum: The Invisible Backbone of the Hospitality Industry

Amy Falbaum is the founder and president of Amy Falbaum & Associates (AF&A), a global hospitality recruiting firm based out of New York. This is a very different side of the industry than we usually talk about on the show, but Amy has a fascinating story and fills an often-overlooked role for the often-underappreciated people who make our meals and trips truly special.

“In recruiting, before even the skillset, we look for that cultural fit and that citizen, that human being with integrity.” –Amy Falbaum

AF&M also serves a unique clientele: pretty much any venue that isn’t your typical restaurant and hotel. So that means everything from sourcing an executive chef for a single-unit restaurant to finding multiple key positions for an international company getting their first foothold in the U.S. to placing a general manager with restaurant experience in a new car wash in Denver.

“Be hospitable in everything you do. Lead with integrity and make good decisions. Learn from your mistakes and look for solutions. No regrets. Be transparent and grateful. Appreciate and grasp those tiny moments in life, and try to laugh even in the most trying times.” –Amy Falbaum

We also discuss:

• How a bad hire who turns into a fire can hurt the culture of an organization and cause things to spiral downward
• Amy’s rich and colorful experiences in the restaurant world
• Almost giving birth in a kitchen
• Who AF&A works with and for: small restaurants, collaborative work spaces, and even a carwash
• How recruiting works
• The process of sourcing and placing talent
• How the New York City market is changing
• Amy’s tips for hospitality workers looking for a job
• The honeymoon stage for new hires
• Two incredible recruitment success stories

Resources:

• Learn more at http://www.amyfalbaum.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Amy-Falbaum-Associates-141497705943774/
• Twitter: @AmyFalbaum

Amy Falbaum’s Bio:

At Amy Falbaum & Associates,“We search. We find. We place.”is more than a catchy slogan. The slogan also is our pledge that we will fulfill our obligation to pursue assignments with the highest level of confidentiality because we understand the sensitive nature of our work. Indeed, we are flattered and gratified that clients, by asking Amy Falbaum & Associates to assist them, are expressing their appreciation for our high standards.

We are proud of the faith clients have in us; we worked hard to earn it. Our record speaks for itself as does the feedback we have received from clients who have lauded our efforts in achieving their employment objectives. We look forward to many more years of searching, finding and placing.

After working in top managerial positions in the restaurant/hospitality industry for more than 20 years, Amy switched gears and decided to enter the industry’s recruitment field. Amy’s knowledge of the industry as an insider and ability to “speak its language” resulted in immediate commissions and assignments from upscale hotels and high-end restaurants in the U.S. and overseas. Major and well-known hotels and restaurants recognize one of their own and knew Amy would have the right focus when fulfilling their interests.

In addition to several notable achievements on the front lines, Amy has served the industry as executive manager for the kitchen at the ’21’ Club, and she has also held other top managerial positions at Sarabeth’s Kitchen, American Renaissance, and Gramercy Tavern. She is a part time instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education in its Culinary Management program.

Just Forking Around is produced by Podcast Masters

#94 - Ani Torosyan: How DishDivvy is Solving the Dinner Dilemma

Ani Torosyan is the CEO and Founder of DishDivvy, an online platform that connects approved home cooks with hungry neighbors. If you’re one of those hungry people, you can download the DishDivvy app to find homemade food with the click of a button –and if you’re someone who makes food with love, you can get paid for sharing it with your community!

“Everyone who’s different and bringing something different to the table – literally and figuratively – thank you! We appreciate you.” –Ani Torosyan

Raised in an Armenian immigrant family and growing up in a diverse ecosystem like LA, Ani saw first-hand the impact that great home-cooked food can have on a community. However, most home cooks don’t necessarily have the resources or network to share that food outside of their friends and family or turn that passion into a source of income. At the same time, people are only getting busier and feeding ourselves is becoming the chore of the day.

So Ani drew on her childhood experience and her software engineering experience to create a space for home cooks in the gig economy and help busy people solve the ever-present dinner dilemma!

“Be an infinite learner. Don’t ever stop being curious!” –Ani Torosyan

We also discuss:

• How DishDivvy is giving opportunities to individuals who are mostly underrepresented in the labor force
• Why Ani has been talking to legislators in Sacramento & advocating for AB-626
• How AB-626 passing helped home cooks
• Designing the entire app by herself using self-taught skills
• How the DishDivvy app works, for hungry neighbors and cooks
• Solving a problem that you’re passionate about
• Being the “Chief Everything Officer” for your young business
• DishDivvy’s values: sharing joy, connecting community, nourishing neighbors, & cultivating opportunity
• How early problems helped Ani come up with DishDivvy’s current packaging solution
• Declining a VC offer
• Ani’s plan to get 300 cooks in the next 18 months
• How DishDivvy prepares cooks for everything from kitchen certification to food photography
• Why Ani and DishDivvy will be hosting town halls to educate (and learn from) home cooks in the community

Resources:

• Learn more at dishdivvy.com
• Download DishDivvy: App Store | Google Play
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dishdivvy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dishdivvy/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DishDivvy

Ani Torosyan’s Bio:

With a background in engineering and over 15 years of experience in product management, branding, marketing, digital technologies, and user experience/design, Ani brings a great deal of strategic execution and technological know-how to DishDivvy. Her passion for creating and launching brands, coupled with her entrepreneurial spirit, drives her to create an exceptionally positive experience for each and every DishDivvy customer and cook. Being a busy working mom to 2 young girls, Ani understands the problem we are trying to solve, and focuses on creating solutions that effectively address our users’ pain points. In her spare time (if you can call it that ha!), Ani enjoys running, kickboxing, and all things active with her family. Ani holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California.

Just Forking Around is produced by Podcast Masters

#093 - Shoop's Delicatessen | Friday Forkisode

One part delicatessen + one part European market + one part cafe = a recipe for a delicious day in Santa Monica. If you want a European delicacy of sweet treat for entertaining your guests (or yourself), Shoop’s Delicatessen on Main Street is the place to be – and if you then want to sit down in for a quick-but-mouth-watering lunch or breakfast, it’s still the place to be.

The menu is dense with choices ranging from pancakes and avocado toast to frankfurters and in-house smoke salmon – and it’s so, so difficult to narrow it down to just one thing.

But I was determined to order just one dish, and I chose the Gravlax: an open-faced sandwich served with house cured gravlax, cucumber, tomato, dill, lemon, and mustard-dill sauce. The salmon melts in your mouth, balanced by the acid and sauce... and I’m in love!

Are you ready for an adventure?

Because I want to show you a side of the LA food scene that most people will never get to see! When you join me for a LA Food Adventure, we will visit 6 restaurants to fill your belly, taste some drinks, socialize with some incredibly cool people, and get behind-the-scenes access that others aren’t privy to.

You can learn more and reserve your spot at lafoodadventures.com.

Resources:

• Learn more at http://www.shoopsdeli.com
• Instagram: @shoopsmarket

Just Forking Around is produced by Podcast Masters