The Burnt Chef Journal

Bonus Episode - Changing Kitchen Culture Anna Haugh, Taylor Bonnyman & Robin Gill

In this special episode recorded LIVE at Commercial Kitchen and Catering Show in September 2022, we discuss company culture which has never been such a hotly discussed topic as it is now.

We receive no training on it, you can’t easily measure it, and yet it can make or break a successful team and business.

Join Cara Houchen and Kris Hall from The Burnt Chef Project and their incredible panel of Anna Haugh, Taylor Bonnyman and Robin Gill as they talk about the challenges and successes when it comes to changing cultures within the kitchen environment.

Emily Hamilton - Exploring Trans

We tend to take being able to come to work FOH, BOH or Management as ourselves for granted.

However, living with mental illness or the stress of living inside ourselves as a different person to the one we bring to work isn’t something we can always identify with. But that was the reality for Emily Hamilton for most of her working life. Until 2019, when she came out.

“I knew something was very different about me when I was six years old,” says Emily. “By the time I was eleven I knew that I was trans.”

Emily is Vice President of Strategic Change at RS Components who provide PPE to the hospitality community and Director of Trans in the City. She has joined us on The Burnt Chef Journal to discuss the topic of diversity and inclusion as we spoke, and I learned more about, LGBTQ+ and more specifically what it's like to live life as a trans woman.

 

Emily and I discuss the importance of having a supportive employer whilst we also open up conversations around this important subject so that we share with you and work towards further improvements our industry.

 

Thank you for your time Emily and valuable insight! 

Angela Samata - Suicide Prevention Day Special

Angela presented the BBC1 BAFTA nominated and winner of the Mind Media Award for Best Factual TV documentary, ‘Life After Suicide’. The film encouraged discussion and exploration of mental health issues, challenging the stigma of suicide. Describing her own experience and that of her children after her partner took his own life 15 years ago, Angela travelled the length and breadth of the UK talking to others who had experienced the same loss. The documentary was aired as part of the BBC’s Mental Health Season #InTheMind and was watched world-wide by over 5 million viewers

Angela represents the views of those bereaved by suicide and was for 4 years, Chair, and is now Ambassador, of the Survivors of the Bereaved by Suicide, a nationwide charity offering a unique and distinct free service with online, face to face and telephone support to bereaved adults across the UK. Under her Chairmanship and together with a 10-strong Board and 150 volunteers, the number of support groups doubled, with over 60 free support groups currently throughout the UK, offering support to over 7,000 people bereaved by suicide each year. Angela is also an invited attendee of the All Party Parliamentary Group looking at Suicide Prevention in England and Wales.

 

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:
Text 𝗕𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗧𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗙 to 𝟴𝟱𝟮𝟱𝟴 (UK)
Text 𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘 to 𝟳𝟰𝟭𝟳𝟰𝟭 (USA & Canada)
Text 𝗛𝗜 on WhatsApp to +𝟬𝟬 𝟯𝟱𝟯 𝟴𝟳 𝟯𝟲𝟵 𝟬𝟬𝟭𝟬 (Ireland)
Text 𝟱𝟲𝟮𝟲 (New Zealand)
Call 𝟭𝟯 𝟭𝟭 𝟭𝟰 (Australia)

 

Find Angela Here: Twitter

Find us Here: The Burnt Chef Project

 

Imrun Texeira - From the Archives

Chef Imrun Texeira has worked in some of the world's best and most influential restaurants, including 3 Michelin Starred Noma in Copenhagen. Most recently, he has been named as a recipient of the Top 30-Under-30 Award for hospitality leaders in Canada and as a rising talent in North America by The Art of Plating.

 

Imrun was a semi-finalist on the Food Network’s Top Chef Canada Season 8 and a finalist on the Food Network’s Chopped Canada Season 3. In 2019, he was a regional finalist in the Hawksworth Young Chef Competition. Chef Texeira was also nominated for the Premier’s Awards: Most Successful Recent Graduate in 2016, which celebrates Ontario’s outstanding college graduates.

 

Imrun’s culinary style can be defined as 'New Canadian Cuisine' as he showcases local produce, foraged ingredients and blends them with flavours and techniques from around the world. This is a true homage to the ever-evolving multicultural food scene in Canada.

 

Chef Texeira has also contributed to the Canadian food scene by advocating for better work conditions and mental health support for those in hospitality as an Ambassador for The Burnt Chef Project. He also shares his love and knowledge of food by volunteering with kids and teaching them food literacy.

 

Imrun's Linked In Profile: (15) Imrun Texeira | LinkedIn

Chris Koch - If I Can!

Chris Koch doesn’t let limitations or obstacles stand in his way. Despite being born without arms and legs, Koch grew up like any other small-town kid — playing road hockey, causing mischief at school, and helping out on his family farm. Neither he or his family treated his disability like a tragedy, and instead used it to fuel his dreams. Today, Koch is a motivational speaker who inspires his audiences to continually challenge themselves and build the life they dream of.

 

Born in Lethbridge, Alberta, Koch was raised in the small farming and ranching community of Nanton, Alberta. Early on, he learned that he would not be raised with pity or sympathy. Sure, he had to do things a little differently and some tasks took him a little longer to complete than others, but he was determined to be just like the rest and was always treated just like the rest. After all, he still had a good head on his shoulders and with that, anything is possible.

 

Koch loves sharing his story and spreading his message of, “If I Can…” An avid traveller, marathoner, and farmer, his presentation reflects his full life. Simply put, Koch says, if I can do what I’ve done so far in my life, what’s stopping others from doing the same?

 

Chris Koch - If I Can TedX Talk

Chris Koch - If I Can - Home | Facebook

SPECIAL EPISODE: Kitchen Culture - Featuring Michel Roux Jnr, Adam Bateman, Ruth Hansom and Kris Hall

As it's Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK and Mental Health Awareness Month in the USA (plus we're a little behind on providing our community with stigma busting audio!) we're pleased to announce a special episode taken from our panel discussion at the Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Show. 

 

Kris from The Burnt Chef Project was invited to attend a panel discussion hosted by Exp101's Chris Fletcher and Kieron “The Boy” Bailey. The panel also featured guests Michel Roux Jnr, Adam Bateman, Ruth Hansom and Kris Hall.

 

The discussion focussed on the importance of Kitchen Culture in the modern hospitality scene and discussed both past and present considerations when looking to improve kitchen cultures world wide.

 

Thank you to Exp101 for inviting us to be part of this discussion and we hope that this you enjoy this weeks episode.

 

Head over to www.theburntchefproject.com for more info. 

Jillian Kruschell - Diversity, Equity, Belonging and Inclusion!

Jillian Kruschell – Founder and CEO of Libra Consulting based in Canada.

Libra Consulting is a boutique, women-owned consulting firm, offering tailored diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging services to organisations across Canada.

A seasoned relationship manager, Jillian has extensive experience working with a full spectrum of organisations from small businesses to internationally-recognized brands. At Libra Consulting, Jillian leads a team who work with organisations to integrate diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging into business strategy. Libra specializes in working with young companies, and brings a DEI lens to the professionalisation of small business by creating policies and procedures rooted in employee well being.

 

It was great to speak to Jillian about the work that she does with organisations and we could have talked for hours about all the great she and her team are doing. An important episode that focusses on some incredibly important topics. 

 

For more information about Inclusion by Libra please head to Libra Consulting (inclusionbylibra.com)

Julie Pichler (Vagus Wellbeing) - Food for the Brain

This week we are joined by Julie Pilcher who was an amazing guest who shared the impact that focusing on nutrition has had on both her mental and physical health.

 

Julie began to experience a lot of problems in her early 20's with irritable bowel syndrome, then, in her early 30’s was diagnosed with cancer, with treatment leaving her traumatised, fatigued and in chronic pain.

 

Working in a busy corporate job, there was no time for self care, and her mental health deteriorated, trying to juggle work, family and ill health, resulting in burnout and lost hope for the future.

 

With conventional medicine resigning me to a life of painkillers, my own holistic journey began.

 

With help from a nutritional therapist and personal trainer and a hunger to help herself, she realised that self-care was a necessity, and small changes were having a big impact on her physical and mental health.

 

A lifelong passion for nutrition could no longer be ignored, and after 4 years of study, she graduated from the highly respected Institute for Optimum Nutrition.

​

Her mission is to educate and empower you with the benefits of lifestyle medicine, helping you to feel well again, working alongside our amazing NHS. Just as important is to prevent chronic disease with 40% being preventable with lifestyle changes.

 

An incredible conversation with loads of beneficial insights for anyone inside hospitality and out. Thanks Julie!

For more info head to: Vagus Wellbeing

Joar Svensson - The Return of the Performance Psychologist

This weeks guest sees the return of Sports Performance Psychologist Joar Svensson from Ascension who joins us to talk in more detail about all things performance psychology, effective communication, motivation and mental health.

 

 

Simon Maguire - KP to MD and Tackling Demons

Hello and welcome to 2022's first installment of The Burnt Chef Journal. A podcast dedicated to tackling mental health stigma, raising awareness and inspiring others. 

 

We kick the year of with Simon Maguire who is Managing Director of Luxury Family Hotels. Simon talks openly about his reliance on alcohol, painkillers and food as a coping mechanism whilst he continued gain weight and build his career within hospitality. 

 

It was inspiring listening to Simon's story and the journey he has gone through to tackle his demons and start to unlearn the above behaviours. 

 

Simon is taking part in an Ironman competition raising funds for Alabare Christian Care & Support. For more information on Simon's fundraising, or to donate, please check the link out below.

 

Simon Maguire is fundraising for Alabaré Christian Care & Support (justgiving.com)