The Burnt Chef Journal

Michael Cecchi-Azzolina author of ’Your table is ready’.

Kris is joined this week by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina.

 

Michael is a well experienced hospitality professional who manned the front rooms of the New York's hottest and most in demand restaurants. Serving guests such as Tennnessee Williams and Dustin Hoffman. He's really seen it all from the days serving shots of whiskey and cleaning out ashtrays for mobster family members to owning his new restaurant in Manhatten, New York.

 

Check out Michael's new book "Your table is ready": https://nypost.com/2022/11/26/tales-from-the-table-a-new-york-city-maitre-d-tells-all/ 

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250281982/yourtableisready

 

Matthew Whitfield - The impact of working in high stressed environments.

Matthew Whitfield has extensive experience working in a number of Michelin-starred restaurants, including Eleven Madison Park in New York, and as head chef at the award-winning three AA Rosette Terrace Restaurant at The Montagu Arms in Brockenhurst.

 

Previously sous chef at three-Michelin starred Eleven Madison Park in New York, voted ‘Best Restaurant in the World’ in 2017, Whitfield is not short of experience in creating world-class cuisine. From 2014 to 2017, he was head chef at the one-Michelin starred restaurant at The Driftwood Hotel in Cornwall, and before that sous chef at two-Michelin starred Seagrill Restaurant in Brussels.

A 2017 Roux Scholarship finalist, Whitfield’s extensive career includes training at two-Michelin starred The Vineyard in Stockcross; and he held the position of junior sous chef at Marco Pierre White’s Yew Tree Inn in Berkshire. He also previously worked at The Montagu Arms between 2006 and 2007 as demi chef de partie, and from 2009 to 2013, rising up to junior sous chef.

Kris caught up with the experienced chef to hear all about his culinary history, influences, and, most recently, the impact that working furiously in high stressed environments has had on his health but more poignantly his outlook and perspective.

Kris speaks with Shane Cooke (Jasper Wellbeing)

Introducing Jasper Wellbeing by Shane Cooke.

 

This week's guest on the The Burnt Chef Journal podcast is Kris' long term friend, Shane Cooke.

 

Shane is a Spiritual Wellness & Life Coach and helps people who are feeling stressed, anxious, lost and stuck to reclaim their health and happiness. To reignite their purpose and passion, then step into the next chapter of their life feeling fresh, focused, motivated and abundant.

Shane believes you can achieve absolutely anything in life given the right guidance and coaching and he is here to support you on that path. It’s an inside out approach.

 

To find out more, head to the Jasper Wellbeing website: https://jasperwellbeing.com

Jim Taylor meets Tyler Williams

This week's episode sees our guest host Jim Taylor with guest speaker Tyler Williams.

Jim Taylor is a Burnt Chef Project Ambassador based in Canada and his goals are focused on doing what he can to improve the overall state of the hospitality industry after having grown up in it and witnessing firsthand the challenges it and the people working in it face.

Jim's guest this week is Tyler Williams, the Director of Brand Experience (AKA "fun-gineer") at Zappos, after growing up in Alaska and moving to Vegas originally to pursue a career in music.

Tyler and Jim discuss how important it is for each company to have an appropriate culture specific to their industry.

 

Thank you Jim for another great episode!

Hannah and Andrew from The Dial House discuss workplace culture and staff wellbeing

Kris Hall is joined by Hannah Springham and Andrew Jones in a new episode of The Burnt Chef Journal.

 

Hannah, a former TV director and Andrew, a chef of over 20 years, now own two outlets in Norfolk - Farmyard and The Dial House.

 

Covid came with some blessings for Hannah and Andrew, as it gave them a chance to re-evaluate their businesses and to ensure their employees had a chance to lead a fulfilling life outside of work.

 

 

Join us as we discuss workplace culture and staff wellbeing.

Kris Hall speaks with Jonathan Howell

This week on The Burnt Chef Journal, Kris is joined by Jonathan Howell, the Executive Chef for Sommerro House in Oslo, Norway.

After choosing the career path from school at the age of 15, Jonathan went on to become the youngest chef in Norway to gain a Michelin star at Le Canard.

However, Jonathan, a well established fine dining chef, spent time in his early career in the hostile environments we are unfortunately too familiar with and that we're seeing getting further attention in recent press.

Jonathan has since made a conscious effort to create environments where this behaviour is not tolerated. This is greatly aided by the laws and culture in Norway.

In this episode, Kris and Jonathan discuss the glaring juxtaposition we’re seeing between the dark days of old and the brighter days modern hospitality brings.

Hulya Erdal interviews Sjoukje Gummels - Threads of Healing

This week's episode is the second episode from our guest host series. Hulya interviews...

Hulya is a Burnt Chef Project Ambassador and has over 20 years hospitality experience as a professional chef, teacher, mentor, apprenticeship leader, business owner, consultant and coach. Hulya has joined The Burnt Chef Journal as a guest host to launch her 6 episode mini-series focussed on speaking with guests who can delve deeper into mental health and wellbeing.

Hulya's guest this week is Sjoukje Gummels.

Sjoukje Gummels is a Shamanic Practitioner and a mother of two. She works with energy healing disciplines such as Reiki, Regression Therapy and Shamanic Healing. Sjoukje has trained with world-renowned teachers in Shamanism in the West: Sandra Ingerman Imelda Almqvist and Joan Parisi Wilcox. Sjoukje offers guided meditation classes for healing and self-revelation. Offering people a safe space to release, relax and re-energise.

 

Within this episode, Sjoukje will give us a short guided meditation for us to connect with our senses. Let us know how it made you feel! 

Jim Taylor meets Chris Williams

This week's episode sees our guest host Jim Taylor with guest speaker Chris Williams. Jim Taylor is a Burnt Chef Project Ambassador based in Canada and his goals are focused on doing what he can to improve the overall state of the hospitality industry after having grown up in it and witnessing firsthand the challenges it and the people working in it face. Jim's guest this week is Chris Williams who is the Director of Training and Brand Culture at Walk On's Sports Bistreaux and has been in the hospitality industry for over 20 years. Chris and the team at Walk On's Sports Bistreaux work tirelessly to ensure their culture outpaces their growth. While they are growing rapidly from the South Eastern states, and heading across the US, they as a brand lead every decision with their culture - ensuring they don't lose who they are and what they represent in the process. Thank you Jim for a great episode!

Merry Xmas & 5 Mins of Mindfulness

In a slight change to our usual episodes - CEO/Founder of the Burnt Chef Project wishes our loyal listeners a Merry Christmas and takes the opportunity to share a mindfulness audio track that he has found useful over the last year. 

 

It's a busy time of the year and often our senses can get overloaded. Hopefully this short 5 minute audio track will help you feel grounded and guide you into a calmer space.

The clip starts at 1 minute 24 seconds.

 

Thank you for your continued support over 2022 and we look forward to providing you with more stigma busting content in 2023.

 

Thank you to Psychology Tools for the audio clip.

Hulya Erdal interviews Paula Gardner - Human Givens Approach to Tackling Mental Illness

This weeks episode sees the first from our guest host series. Hulya interviews...

 

Hulya is a Burnt Chef Project Ambassador and has over 20 years hospitality experience as a professional chef, teacher, mentor, apprenticeship leader, business owner, consultant and coach. Hulya has joined The Burnt Chef Journal as a guest host to launch her 6 episode mini-series focussed on speaking with guests who can delve deeper into mental health and wellbeing.

 

Hulya's guest this week is Paula Gardner who is a psychotherapist and counsellor using The Human Givens approach. The Human Givens is all about making sure that every one of us gets our emotional needs met, making it a wonderful foundation for building great teams and workplaces. It’s also a strong part of making sure that we raise your profile in a way that suits you, and fulfil your needs. 

 

The Human Givens approach is actually one of the original pieces of inspiration that Founder Kris Hall researched when he looked to start The Burnt Chef Project so this episode is definitely not to be missed!

 

If you wanted to learn more about the Human Givens approach, Paula or Hulya please see the links below as well as FREE access to the Human Givens Emotional Needs Audit.

 

Thanks Hulya - looking forward to next weeks episode! 

 

 

The Emotional Needs Audit (hgi.org.uk)

Paula Gardner - Visibility Coaching (scarletthinking.com)

Hulya Erdal - Coaching Female Professionals & Leaders - The Recipe for Life