Interview with Isabel Coss of Lutèce about being named “Best New Chef” by Food & Wine, how to tell better stories on social, and the path to pastry.
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00:00 Welcome to Restaurant Influencers presented by Entrepreneur.
00:03 My name is Sean Walsh, founder of Cali BBQ and Cali BBQ Media.
00:08 In life, in the restaurant business, and in the new creator economy,
00:12 we learn through lessons and stories.
00:14 We're so grateful to Toast, our primary technology partner at our
00:18 barbecue restaurants, and for believing in storytelling, for believing
00:22 in technology, and for giving us this stage to bring on guests like
00:26 today. Today, we have Chef Isabella Koss.
00:29 She has just been named one of 11 of Food and Wine's best chefs in
00:35 America.
00:35 She is a Postre chef at Lutess in Washington, DC.
00:42 Isabella, welcome to the show.
00:44 Hello.
00:45 Hello, Chef.
00:46 It's so good to be here.
00:47 It's so good.
00:48 So good to have you.
00:49 Thank you for being here.
00:49 No, no, it's a pleasure.
00:52 My pleasure.
00:53 So we're going to start with our favorite random question, which
00:57 is where in the world is your favorite stadium, stage, or venue?
01:03 Stadium, stage, or venue?
01:06 Or venue.
01:07 Or venue.
01:08 I think, what could it be?
01:12 What could it be?
01:12 I really like, in Mexico, there's a big stadium called Estadio Azteca.
01:20 It's giant.
01:21 It's giant.
01:22 It's where we have any time.
01:23 It's our only big stadium in Mexico City.
01:26 I've only got the pleasure to be there for like soccer matches.
01:30 And the energy that you can feel at a soccer match, it's I think
01:34 incomparable to anything.
01:36 Like, you can feel the benches jumping while everybody jumps.
01:41 So it's those type of like, cathartic places where like the energy
01:45 just so contagious that you cannot, you can do nothing but like have fun.
01:49 So Estadio Azteca.
01:50 Beautiful.
01:51 All right, Estadio Azteca.
01:53 We're going to go there.
01:54 We're going to talk to an entrepreneur.
01:56 We're going to talk to Toast.
01:57 And we're going to fill it with hospitality people.
01:59 People that love food, that love restaurant business, that love
02:04 storytelling. And we're going to bring that energy.
02:06 But we're going to put you in the middle of the soccer field, in the
02:09 middle of the pitch.
02:10 If we could fill Estadio Azteca with a chef, that would be like a never, ever seen before.
02:15 Ever seen before.
02:17 It's a dream.
02:18 Now it's a mutual dream.
02:20 Now it's a mutual dream.
02:22 We're going to make it happen.
02:22 But I'm going to give you the mic.
02:24 And you need to welcome everybody and tell the stadium who are you?
02:28 What's your story?
02:30 Okay, if I was in Estadio Azteca, I would tell everybody that I'm in Mexico.
02:40 So it would connect, I think, with people from all America and especially Mexicans.
02:46 So I could first say that I'm from Mexico.
02:49 I'm originally from Mexico, born and raised.
02:51 I moved to the States to cook and to cook at the best restaurants.
02:56 And I've been lucky and fortunate to find incredible mentors and teams here.
03:00 And now I'm in Washington, D.C.
03:02 And I run a pastry program at a small, tiny, new bistro called Lutece in Washington, D.C.
03:10 And from going to one capital of a country to another capital, just feels right.
03:17 Tell us about the journey.
03:20 When did you make the decision to come to America?
03:23 I made the decision.
03:25 So I started working in Mexico professionally.
03:28 Very young, very young.
03:31 I knew I wanted to cook from a very young age.
03:33 My parents didn't, they were asking, they were hoping I would change careers.
03:38 But I think chefs and probably people that work in careers that are high demanding,
03:48 artists, I think creative people, when you know what you have to create,
03:52 you're just going to keep doing it either whatever type of work field you end up in.
03:58 And even if it's compensated or not, you're just happy to do it and express yourself.
04:02 So from an early age, I knew I wanted to cook.
04:05 It was just matter of where.
04:07 And I got myself my first job at a restaurant called Pujol in Mexico City.
04:13 It's one of the most awarded restaurants over there.
04:15 I knew it was a good restaurant.
04:17 I didn't know how big of a restaurant it was back then.
04:21 I was 17 years old.
04:23 I showed up one day.
04:24 I saw the chef outside and I just started like, hey, you know, can you let me come in?
04:30 I don't know, you know, it'd be fun.
04:33 I want to learn. And he was very kind.
04:35 He's like, yeah, sure. I don't know if he was kind or he just didn't care that much or, you know,
04:39 or he was just like, sure, yeah, come tomorrow, you know, or sometimes it's luck.
04:43 Sometimes it's a bunch of little things, you know,
04:46 and he was just like, yeah, sure, come tomorrow.
04:48 So I showed up next day with my knife and ready to work and nobody knew I was coming because the chef wasn't there.
04:56 He probably didn't expect you to come. In the kitchen, if you said the chef told me you can get away with so much stuff.
05:01 No, the chef told me I had to be here. That's the secret.
05:05 There you go. So I started cooking.
05:07 I was 17 years old. They hired me when I was 18 and I became the bread baker there.
05:13 And I was always there. I wouldn't, I wouldn't, I knew right away I wanted to be in kitchen.
05:18 Like it was, I was fascinated by the movement, by the pressure.
05:22 I really like the pressure. I really like the pressure.
05:25 And I like the constant creative solutions to try to solve any type of problems.
05:32 You know, I was so proud of how good I was sweeping.
05:35 I was so proud of how good I could wash a pot.
05:38 Now I was so proud of how good I could do brown butter.
05:41 Like every, every new task became, and it was a very, I was very young.
05:45 So it was very formative years. So, so I was like obsessed with the environment.
05:49 I couldn't leave. I think that's why they hired me because I would just not leave the building.
05:53 So they're like, please start paying this lady, you know.
05:59 And right away in Mexico City kitchens, it's rough environments.
06:04 It's really, it's really, you have, you have some, some issues.
06:10 Plus you have a pay gap, plus you have many, many little things that add to where environments can be very, very rough.
06:18 And I decided that if I was going to be cooking, I needed to find myself a good environment and what that would look like.
06:26 So there was a pastry chef called Alex Stupak in New York City.
06:31 And I moved to New York and I showed up in his place.
06:34 I saw he was opening a Mexican restaurant and I was like, how did you, how did you see that?
06:39 Was that online? Was that you followed him?
06:42 My wife, Lauren, she was a pastry chef.
06:45 They're both pastry chefs, right? I think it's a great combination.
06:51 And I saw they posted something on Facebook like they were opening Empi.
06:56 I applied. They let me trail and they hired me right away.
07:01 And I, I, I said it was my first job.
07:05 What did you tell, what did you tell your family?
07:07 I just told them like, hey, I want to be in New York.
07:12 I wanted to be in New York. I realized New York, I realized there was something happening in the industry in New York City.
07:22 Back then, I feel now I realize of how much the industry of like America,
07:27 it was like that was like 2011 when I moved.
07:32 So it was a time where pastry chefs were superstars.
07:37 We had Michael X.
07:40 Connors, we had Johnny Lucini, we had Alex Stupak, like restaurants had superstars, pastry chefs.
07:47 And I wanted to learn from them. And it was happened in New York City.
07:50 It was happening in, it was like Albert Adria was, was it was this moment.
07:56 So I thought I thought pastry chefs were actually the ones that were able to be the most creative.
08:03 So I knew I was like, this is the way I need to go.
08:07 Why did you feel that pastry allowed you to have more creativity than any other part of the kitchen?
08:13 First, I think is in pastry you find independence in pastry, like in a regular kitchen.
08:21 I mean, you know, in a set up of a kitchen, you start as a pre-cook, you have to go as a line cook.
08:26 You have to go chef de partie, sous chef, like to get into into a moment where you can have control around it.
08:33 I like to make my own thing. So I really was looking into maybe maybe in an immature way or a premature way.
08:41 I was always looking into like, how could I be the best person in this kitchen?
08:45 So I think it was like a different path to be in pastry.
08:50 Pastry allows you to like be the best at something faster that I had to be like dealing with all these boys in the line.
08:58 And I didn't want to be there. Pastry, I really believe everybody likes pastry and everybody in the kitchen comes to pastry for like a safe space.
09:06 They always come for like, hey, do you have a snack? Do you have ice cream? Everybody treats the pastry chef right.
09:11 You know, does the pastry chef typically work mornings?
09:15 Is that is that how it works or does it matter?
09:17 Yes. The thing the difference between like a savory line and a pastry line savory,
09:24 you can do so much to prep for savory, but a lot of it has to happen during the service.
09:29 You cook a meat during service. You know, you can roast your onions.
09:32 You can have your your potatoes cooked, but your proteins always have to be done.
09:36 You can cut everything for a ceviche, have a beautiful aguachile, but to mix it and season it all happens during service.
09:43 Where in pastry, majority of your prep is going to happen pre-service.
09:49 So service for pastry is more plating beautiful stuff, making the perfect cannel,
09:57 making the perfect waves in a plate, plating, saucing, you know, in a beautiful way,
10:03 stacking a tuile on top of a tuile or, you know, how many cannels can you do?
10:08 So pastry usually comes a little earlier for those reasons.
10:11 And if a restaurant has a bread program, a traditional bread program,
10:17 definitely you're always going to have someone that opens from pastry.
10:21 When did you get the opportunity to leave New York? Or why were you compelled to leave New York?
10:27 I was I was I was working in New York during pandemic.
10:32 It was pandemic. It was New York in pandemic. It was something else.
10:36 It was not the dream of the city that I moved to was not there anymore.
10:43 And I could never imagine myself living somewhere else, but in New York or Mexico City.
10:49 I was very defensive of New York. And I think I was very defensive of it.
10:53 As any New Yorker gets after three years, you live a rough life and then you suddenly like you think it's the best place in the world and you pay the high taxes.
11:01 So you kind of defend it even more. And you live in a shitty apartment. So you defend your choices even more.
11:06 Because how are you going to save your money? How can you admit it?
11:12 No, but I think I think pandemic opened the eyes to be like, hey, there's there's other places, you know,
11:19 you work so hard to make a living in that city that suddenly you realize I can try to do it somewhere else.
11:26 My husband and I, he's also he's the chief of Lutece. We work together and he had already found an opportunity in Washington, D.C.
11:33 So he moved before me and he was like, Isabel, I think he was already looking into how we could like he was thinking Boston or Washington, D.C.
11:42 And I said, I'm not going to nothing colder than New York.
11:48 I'm like start hitting South, South, like Austin, California, let's go down, Arizona.
11:57 So Washington, D.C. was kind of that that middle place. We came, we visit our partners now at the restaurant.
12:04 It's called the Popal family.
12:07 It's an Afghan family of immigrants that have worked here for 20 years and have worked so hard in D.C. to build to build a couple of restaurants.
12:17 And they were ready to grow into something new.
12:20 They had Lutece for 20 years. They had it at called Cafe Bonaparte and they had the space for 20 years.
12:26 And they were looking for like new chefs that would take it that would take it to something further.
12:31 And we were also looking to to see how much we could grow.
12:34 So it was like a perfect tandem of, you know, a family that care a lot about their space, but needed they knew they wanted they wanted more.
12:43 They always tried to grow and also was trying to grow.
12:46 So my husband first connected with them really good.
12:49 And I was holding on to New York during the pandemic. I worked throughout the pandemic.
12:53 I work I was working at a restaurant called Cosme as a pastry chef there. Incredible.
12:59 I work with my friend Daniela Soto. She was like an amazing. She taught me how to be a chef.
13:04 I love her. And but during the pandemic, we realized like it was it was a hard environment.
13:09 You know, New York, I would be in the subway.
13:12 It was just me by myself and like, you know, first responders.
13:16 And after like a year of New York, I was like, you know what?
13:20 What am I doing? Let's give it a chance to somewhere else. If it doesn't work, it doesn't matter.
13:25 And we moved to the city. I finally we still had two apartments and I was like, let's dive in.
13:31 You know, I immigrated to the States with no papers. What's the worst that can happen?
13:37 So I moved to DC. I started working at the test right away.
13:42 And I realized how beautiful and supportive the community of restaurants was here.
13:50 Chefs were reaching out just to be like, hey, welcome, Chef. I'm so happy you guys are here.
13:54 Hey, like my friend Paola Vela. She's an amazing pastry chef and advocate.
14:00 Chef Rob Rueber, Chef Johnny Sparrow from the Bar Sparrow. They were just like genuinely reaching out just to like,
14:07 are you guys doing good? Check on you. It was also a time pandemic.
14:10 So I think everybody knew that we all needed something. Even we didn't know what it was.
14:14 We all needed help. So right away I was like, oh,
14:18 this is a different type of environment in New York City, the New York City restaurant.
14:23 So I felt very welcome. So I was like, I'm going to try my best.
14:27 We have a brand new show called Toast Family Style. It is on YouTube.
14:32 It is a travel show where we go and find the best operators on the Toast platform
14:38 and share the secrets to their success on location. Check it out.
14:42 Our first episode was with Novo Brazil out of Chula Vista, California.
14:47 They have a brewery location there and consumer packaged goods.
14:51 They've added additional revenue streams, but we also feature Toast's new app.
14:56 Go to the App Store right now and download the app. It is the Toast Now app.
15:01 It will give you the power of your restaurants, sales, your forecast,
15:06 your labor costs, allow you to turn on and off third-party delivery.
15:10 It is mind-blowing how cool this app is.
15:13 It has been the most requested thing of Toast. Leadership built it with so many of you that listen to this show.
15:21 So many of the Toast customer advisory boards. I was there in lots of those meetings.
15:25 It is one of the coolest things that I have seen rolled out.
15:28 I can't wait for you the listener to download the app. Give us your feedback.
15:32 Make your Toast app unboxing video. Check out Toast Family Style and also check out the Toast Now app today.
15:41 Can you share, you said Chef Daniela, she taught you how to be a chef.
15:46 She taught me how to be a chef. I think Alex Tupac taught me how to be a pastry chef.
15:51 Daniela taught me how to be a chef, you know.
15:54 Give us a story that Daniela taught you or a lesson that you learned.
16:00 I think, I mean, it's multiple stories with her, you know, it's a whole motto of life that she has in kitchens.
16:08 She cares so much about making environments in kitchens.
16:12 Like, she cares about people having a life and having a restaurant life.
16:19 She cares a lot about people's health, but not just like, hey, you need to be healthy, more into like, hey, move your body.
16:26 She had this phrase that I really love and when she told, I was a ballerina in Mexico City for many years.
16:33 So she said it and I was like, yeah, you're right. Like she was a basketball player.
16:39 So I think that's why we were more competitive and we just get along so well.
16:45 She told us like, she grabbed all the cooks and she's like, hey guys, just remember you are like athletes.
16:50 Cooks are like athletes and you need to move like an athlete. Think of it like a basketball player.
16:56 You have a square in your line and you and you pound, you know, you're not going to like go over here, go over there.
17:02 Stay in your zone. Draw your, draw your square underneath you and move around.
17:08 If you're going to go down, go down. Stretch your arms.
17:11 And I was like, like a ballerina. Yes. So, you know, move, move, move your whole body with intention, taking care of your body while you're cooking.
17:22 You know, there's no point in like, no, no, cook, cook with grace because you're taking care of your body too.
17:29 And food's going to taste better. So I think that's one example of many, many stories, you know, of guidance that she taught me.
17:39 So we have, we have amazing people that tune in from all over the world that listen to this show.
17:43 Restaurant owners, chefs, hospitality, professional storytellers, content creators.
17:49 We believe that every business is a family business, but very infrequently do husbands and wives both share the same kitchen at work and at home.
17:59 Can you, can you bring us, can you bring us into the workspace and home space and how do you.
18:05 Of a relationship at work. Absolutely.
18:10 We met, Matt and I met while cooking together.
18:14 We, I was working at Empey John. I was a pastry sous chef.
18:18 And I want to believe I was the kitchen, but like, I think I want to believe I want to like, I was one of like the best team players in that kitchen.
18:27 I really, I really try in every space I'm at to, to try to be the best in the person that can help out.
18:36 Not in the best of an egocentric way of like, I want to be better than you, Mark.
18:39 Like, how can I make this team better while I'm here? Or how can I do something significant for myself and for the people around me?
18:47 So I want to believe that I was like the team's, you know, the team's top title cheers, you know, and he suddenly arrived.
18:55 They hired him as a sous chef and he was very talented.
18:58 So he became everybody's favorite right away. And I was like, what's happening with these guys?
19:03 I think I was a little jealous. What's happening? And I started like bugging him, you know, I started like, hmm, I don't know.
19:09 Like I could hide his apron. I could do little things.
19:12 And I think, well, well, that was happening. I realized like, oh, no, I don't hate this guy.
19:18 I actually like him a lot. And I think I'm in love with him.
19:22 So I should I should try to see if this works out.
19:26 So we started dating while working in all our relationships.
19:30 We are about to be married for eight years. Amazing.
19:34 Nine years. Yeah. We just did eight years. We just did eight years.
19:38 Restaurant years are. Yeah, they're all. You don't need it.
19:41 We know I've been in it for 15 years. I know. Yes.
19:46 So, yeah, we got married very young. Our relationship just really worked.
19:51 We had the same hours. We knew the same. We had the same goals.
19:56 But throughout, like we worked together and beyond. And then each one started working in different restaurants.
20:01 We follow our own paths. And we didn't spend that much time together just because the restaurant industry were in the house.
20:07 We would always try to make time for us and have dinners on our days off, try to always have a day together.
20:15 But it was sometimes it was possible. Sometimes it wasn't hard.
20:18 We both were in management, management positions that require many, many hours.
20:23 But we kind of knew we were always going to get to cook together again.
20:27 We knew it. We just knew it. Like our dream was to have a restaurant, open a restaurant like it was part of the plan.
20:33 And I think we were working to be the best versions of ourselves to when we work together.
20:38 We could we could execute like that. And Lutece happened to put us together.
20:44 And then we got to accelerate the process. I don't know.
20:49 I really think when you work with someone that you admire a lot.
20:54 It's very easy to work around. And when you put yourself in service of the other person.
21:03 It's very easy to communicate. We definitely have like different different styles.
21:10 But we both care so much about our team, about the food we're putting out and about the restaurant growing that we know our end goals are always the same.
21:19 So we always meet in the middle. It wasn't honestly, I think at the beginning it was a communication.
21:25 Because you have two different type of kitchen schools. You work a little different.
21:30 But we kind of create our own together now that it's a little fine dining, a little casual, trying to deliver the best quality of ingredients and teach cooks the way we wanted to learn.
21:44 We've been in places that we get jailed at. We've been in places that is to solve. We've been in places.
21:49 So we try to create a method that we always said I treat people like I wish I had been treated, you know, when I was cooking.
21:59 So we just try to lead by example and by by by treating people by being honest with the cooks, you know, and our team of what our goals are.
22:09 So I really, I really like working with my husband. I really I can't complain. I can't complain.
22:15 I can't complain. I think we both care about the same things and the qualities that I have.
22:21 He he makes sure they shine and the qualities that he has. I make sure I make sure they're being seen.
22:27 So I think it's perfect. Can you tell us about specialization when you look at, you know,
22:33 having to do every job when you guys took over and started working at Lutece and having to be the host and the manager and the cook and doing the social media and doing specialization in becoming a designer.
22:48 Yes. Graphic designer specialization. Yes.
22:51 You know what happened when we when we opened Lutece and I feel that happened with everybody in the restaurant.
22:58 The work had changed and then it made everybody look at if they wanted to be in this industry, if they wanted something else, if this industry was right.
23:08 Like we all took a hard look at ourselves and the jobs we were doing.
23:12 And in that part, some people wanted to like pursue other careers or take a break or explore other things.
23:17 I did the same thing. Well, I'm still in my field, but I still like I started doing some videos for Food52.
23:22 I started doing new things because we had time.
23:27 And when we came back to the restaurant to try to operate it fully, we were having a lot of trouble hiring staff in any any positions.
23:36 Any position was really hard from dishwasher to general manager.
23:40 And both are just as important and both we couldn't find. So we were on a very small team.
23:48 And in that little team, we had the chance to see what was wrong within ourselves and what was wrong with everything in the restaurant and how we could make it better.
24:01 So I knew the restaurant needed to communicate better. So I jumped into social media and how could we put into social media and put what we needed?
24:09 I just bought a nice camera and started playing with it.
24:12 I didn't know how to take photos, but I just I started shooting and shooting and shooting and shooting.
24:16 And it did become better. Like I downloaded Illustrator and my brother, he's a designer.
24:22 So he helped me. He was like always calling me like, are you good? And I would call him like, I think I messed it up.
24:28 No, no, just control it. You're back. You know, so he helped me a lot.
24:33 So definitely reaching out to friends for guidance into all these new jobs that we had to take over was a way to do all the things that a restaurant required.
24:44 But it was really fun. I really, I really enjoyed doing many things.
24:51 And I feel, you know what attitude I always try to have?
24:55 If anything I try to do, I'm going to try. Like if I'm going to be a graphic designer,
24:59 let me be a really good graphic designer if I'm going to be the hostess. Even if I don't know what I'm doing,
25:04 I'm going to try to be the best hostess in communication or stuff.
25:08 And that's also the people that I admire the most. When I meet someone on the team that I'm like, anything you do,
25:13 you just try to do it good, you know, and with care.
25:16 So I think the team that started coming after that, they started taking those jobs from me,
25:22 but they were approaching the same type of mentality of like, oh, I want to I want to try to do it the best I can.
25:28 Because Isabel can do that in pastry and run a pass.
25:32 You know, so it always feel everybody that was coming.
25:36 I was always like, thank you so much for joining the team. Like you're just making us, you're just helping us so much.
25:41 But I really, I really, it made me realize how much we can grow when more good team join the team.
25:49 You know, the recent award I got, I don't think good have been possible without when Sabana, my cook,
25:57 she joined a year ago. That's when we're like, let's go on pastry.
26:00 Now, now we can do it. Now we can do it. Now we can do it.
26:03 So I think I think it's a team team effort. Tell me about when you found out.
26:08 Tell me about what the day when you found out that you got the award.
26:13 I was sitting right here too. They call me, they call me.
26:18 No, they email me about an interview about gelatin. They wanted to ask me something about gelatin.
26:24 So I studied the night before everything about gelatin, you know, setting time,
26:31 setting temperatures, like coagulation, just to like refresh it.
26:35 And I was so ready for the gelatin interview. And they're like, actually, Isabel,
26:41 we just wanted to tell you that, you know, before we jump into the interview,
26:45 we just wanted to tell you that you're being chosen Best New Chef Food and Wine in 2023.
26:52 And I was like, wow, that's insane. I grab a bottle of Mezcal.
26:57 I have my right. And I was like, you're kidding me. I had a shot. And I was like, okay, you got a shot on the call.
27:04 Yes. That's my favorite coffee.
27:08 So I wouldn't be drinking that. Mezcal is my favorite spirit.
27:12 So, so I just, I just felt like celebratory right away. And then I jump back like, hey, so can we talk about gelatin?
27:20 And they're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm like, but gelatin. No, that wasn't the reason.
27:24 Yeah. Wow. And it silently hit me. I was like, oh, okay, okay.
27:29 This is what's happening. And it took me a couple months to believe it, but it's real.
27:34 How did your family respond? I didn't tell my family because my mom really likes her social media.
27:42 And she would tell it right away to the whole world.
27:45 Oh, because it was like you weren't supposed to tell anyone. No, I know.
27:48 You're supposed to. I mean, it's not that long that you have to keep it, but like while they're planning, yeah, yeah.
27:54 Before they announce it. So I kept it from my mom a little bit, but I actually flew my mom in for the day of the event.
28:02 No, I know. Why did she know why she was? No, no, no, no.
28:06 She didn't know. She didn't know. She didn't know. My friend was cooking.
28:10 Actually, my my excuse was my friend Danny was cooking for was doing this incredible dinner for Salma Hayek Foundation.
28:18 So I told my mom, hey, can you can you come to the event and help us out?
28:22 So she thought she was meeting Salma Hayek. Did she get to meet Salma Hayek?
28:26 No, no, no. I think she was fine.
28:30 I think she was fine. She was she was she was so proud.
28:34 She was so bright. I I flew her in from Mexico City to New York.
28:39 I pick her up and I show her the magazine and she was just like in tears and so excited.
28:46 She asked, is this like me? I'm like, yes, mom, it's really a really big deal.
28:53 No, she had she was partying. She went to the after party.
28:57 She danced all night. She was very proud. I think in this industry,
29:01 especially family misses a lot of your of what you do, you know, and they're so understanding with it.
29:11 I feel first it's hard for them, but then they they become accustomed and then they just become understanding.
29:16 And they support you from from the back, you know, so so having her there was important.
29:21 If you think about the other little girl that's on a different part of this world
29:27 or somewhere in the United States that is dreaming about being creative,
29:31 you know, maybe with food, maybe in the kitchen. What kind of words would you say to them?
29:39 I think I think I think everybody's creative.
29:43 Number one, I think everybody I think we all have to be creative into everyday life.
29:47 We just sometimes don't acknowledge ourselves as a creative person because we're afraid of the worst.
29:53 But I think I think we should all label ourselves as creative because we all are always looking creative ways by force
29:59 or by choice to solve problems or to create things.
30:03 So to all those creative people, I could just tell them like if something something is calling in here
30:11 and something is visual here and something you just need to see it happen,
30:16 take it on your hands to go and try to do it. Search for the people that will teach you how to do it.
30:23 And don't stand still. I think creativity happens while you're working.
30:29 It doesn't happen. It doesn't happen sitting. It doesn't happen while you're sitting.
30:33 You know, sometimes it comes with creativity happens when you're already making a cake
30:38 or whenever you're drawing something else will come or something else will happen.
30:42 So so keep keep at it. You know, there are spaces for you to be at and especially to immigrants,
30:50 especially to immigrants that don't have a voice and that change their name to get a job in a kitchen.
30:59 And out of the backbone of this industry, I really think they need to know that.
31:06 Then there's a space for them. And now we're just opening more doors and more doors
31:10 and they don't have to hide their name and they can put out there and they are there the best.
31:17 I love that you talk about that. I love that you're open about it on your social media.
31:21 We'll put links to your Instagram Chabela costs on Instagram.
31:27 Can you talk about social media and about why it's important for a chef not just to celebrate the cake
31:35 and the art of the cake, but also who they are where they come from?
31:38 Why is that important to you? I think you know, I really like social media.
31:48 I have fun with it. I've never had like I've never have felt I need to take a break off it.
31:54 You know, I never had to take maybe in the future. I will I don't know, you know,
31:57 I'm never I'm always open to I never say never but up until now my experience with social media
32:04 has been off is just a tool to communicate what you're doing.
32:09 It's so easy to see what someone else I remember when when Instagram started
32:15 and people used to put photos of coffees.
32:20 That's the first thing that becomes trendy coffee and that was the coffee at perfect cup
32:25 and from coffee it turned into foodies. I actually remember Instagram became a foodie place at the beginning
32:31 and you could see the meals of restaurant back then I didn't have like any paperwork in the state.
32:37 So I couldn't travel so I started to see like, oh, this is what the chef of Mugaritz is doing on their third course
32:44 because people could just post with no filters, no filters the food,
32:49 you know, suddenly you could see if actually the food look pretty or not because people were posting and posting and posting.
32:54 So I think social media is a way to communicate with such a such a big audience
33:01 and you don't know who's looking at your work. You don't know who it's going to connect with it.
33:06 But if you put yourself out there in the most genuine way, I think people people's gonna gonna connect with you.
33:13 So I think for me social media, I don't see that to make money.
33:17 I see as a communication communicating way even for the restaurant.
33:22 So we've got some people that try to like help us with the Instagram
33:26 and they're always like, no, you're only reaching out to chefs on your Instagram and I'm like, what's wrong with that?
33:32 No, no, you need to make like, you know, profit. No, no, the restaurant makes profit when we're selling,
33:38 you know, our food. Social media is to communicate for communication.
33:43 So I think social media is very important. I think social media right now is very important these days.
33:49 And just that see what what people's doing around the world. I love I'm fascinated by like that.
33:59 I think what you said is very important for anybody that's listening is everyone has an idea of what they think social media should be
34:06 or it is and ultimately what it matters is your truth.
34:10 What's true in your heart what you care about if you care about it from a chef's point of view then celebrate that
34:16 and the more that you celebrate that the more that you build a community of like-minded people that either respect chefs
34:22 that love chefs that have chefs in their family like the restaurant will be what the restaurant is.
34:27 But if that's the culture that you are that communication back to you taking over the social media.
34:33 Initially you wanted to communicate the voice the voice of the restaurant the voice of the brand your voice
34:39 and in order to do that you have to have the courage to post and I think that
34:45 that's the thing that we try to teach on this show.
34:48 That's why we have storytellers and amazing chefs on like you is that it's so important for people to know you don't need to ask for permission.
34:56 You don't know. We don't need to go make it Instagram's already made YouTube's already there.
35:02 You just need to post about yourself post the music that you like when you were a teenager post about you know,
35:08 the flowers you're doing post about most of all the things that you're passionate about.
35:13 And I think I think you know without filters like who cares when you everything's kind of created already.
35:21 So it doesn't matter to create like not that doesn't matter to create something new.
35:27 I create something of quality, but don't you know, sometimes inspirations comes from many places.
35:33 So yeah, you don't have to I don't think you have to be that strict with yourself about social media
35:38 and you can see when someone has fun when you look back on this interview five years from now,
35:44 you know an entrepreneur and you go I want to know what do you plan on building you and your husband in the next five years?
35:50 What's the what's the big dream? So you in the next five years?
35:54 I think my dreams and dreams. So there's a big I want big dreams.
35:59 I want I want I want the biggest dream possible so that you come back and you look and you go.
36:04 Oh my gosh, I dream too small. There's the I mean, let's back to the stadium.
36:10 Yeah back to the stadium. Now we're talking that's that's why we started to show that way.
36:16 There's a tangible dreams that are coming and are happening while we're speaking,
36:20 you know that were big dreams ago. We're opening a Mexican restaurant.
36:24 Hopefully hopefully in the next month. What's it called?
36:27 It's called pascual pascual pascual is the patron of cooks in Mexico amazing.
36:34 Some pascual so we're opening in Capitol Hill.
36:39 So that is a dream. So I really first on that project.
36:43 It's going to have a little side window. It's going to have a panaderia.
36:46 So I'm going to be able to sell it, you know,
36:49 some like conchas like cochinito rebanadas all the beautiful pastries.
36:54 I was pretty scared at all. It's amazing.
36:58 I just think about it and I'm like I want it.
37:01 So I really want to I could like to make that restaurant something beautiful and unique.
37:07 I think in the next five years I would like that restaurant to become the look.
37:12 I went to all this with this. I think almost four years.
37:16 You're going to have because we open in pandemic. We don't know.
37:19 Yeah, I know. Nobody knows what I think.
37:23 Look, this has become an entity, you know, it's without within these years.
37:27 We've tried so much to we work to create an identity that I think the restaurant has it
37:33 that it kind of speaks for itself and people that join just know about it.
37:37 There's like a line. So I would like pascual also to create an identity with that restaurant
37:42 and where people that love Mexican food or Mexicans that live in Washington,
37:46 D.C. or the DMV area to like on a place to to have fun and to into eat delicious food.
37:53 I would like that that restaurant to be some recognitions for sure.
37:57 That always be that always feels good. I just had one and I realize it feels really amazing.
38:04 So I'm caring about the project a lot.
38:08 I would like to open a wine bar. I would like to have a taqueria.
38:13 And in B, I would like to open something back in Mexico City.
38:17 I would be cool. I would like to I would like to I would like to be going more South.
38:23 Keep going South. South is calling the South is calling.
38:26 I am very happy here in D.C., but I think I don't know.
38:30 I don't know. It's a new it's a new idea. How is this to spend life between two countries?
38:38 It's amazing what you guys have built and what you're continuing to build.
38:41 We're honored to have you on the show. The reason we created the show is to connect with amazing people all over the globe.
38:47 No matter what you're building. We know that hospitality is in everybody.
38:52 The food brings us all to the table. It's the thing that connects all of us as humans.
38:57 You know, no matter where you are, big city, small village, it's all the most humble way.
39:02 I always humble way. The most humble way to go make a few months.
39:06 And it's it's what turns strangers into friends.
39:10 I mean, that's how that's what true hospitality is, is how do you turn a stranger into a friend?
39:14 And for us, anybody that's listening to this show, anybody that's watching the show every week, twice a week, once on LinkedIn and once on Clubhouse, we do live shows.
39:24 So it's a chance for you, the listener, to come up on stage and to share your story.
39:28 It's important that you know that your voice matters. So please join us either on LinkedIn or on Clubhouse.
39:33 You can connect with me at Sean P. Walsh on Instagram, and I will send you the link so that you can connect with the community.
39:40 We have digital hospitality leaders from all over the globe, and we'd love to have you guys part of that.
39:44 We also do a social shout out. Today's social shout out is going to Maria Escobar.
39:50 She works at Cali Barbecue. She's been part of our familia, part of our barbecue family since we opened the restaurant.
39:58 She's going through a tough time. She lost her grandson this week, but she's an amazing woman.
40:03 She literally does everything and she's always does it with a smile on her face.
40:08 We love you, Maria. Thank you for everything that you do.
40:10 There's so many people in the hospitality space that don't get a chance to be shouted out.
40:16 But I wanted to give you, Isabella, a chance to to give somebody an opportunity, somebody on your team.
40:22 I know it's hard to pick one person, but you get to pick one person that typically doesn't get the recognition.
40:29 I think I would give it to our new chef de cuisine, Corey.
40:36 He's super talented. He cares so much. He's been with us for like a little time and he's been going through a rough month in his family and his personal life.
40:45 And every day he shows up with the same with the same desire to be the best for the team.
40:51 And it's honestly admirable how how hard he's working on it.
40:56 So so I'm going to shout out to Corey. That's awesome.
40:59 Thank you. And then real quickly, we're going to ask you, we believe in smartphone storytelling.
41:04 That means that people that listen to this show, we know that you don't need to ask for permission to post content on the Internet.
41:11 I just want to learn a little bit about do you have an iPhone or an Android?
41:15 I have an iPhone. You have what version?
41:19 13. 13. Do you prefer text or emails?
41:24 Thanks. Do you prefer text or phone calls?
41:29 Oh, thanks. Do you have FaceTime calls or FaceTime?
41:34 Not FaceTime. OK, the best way to catch a five minute FaceTime.
41:43 Where do you listen to music? Spotify or Apple music?
41:46 Spotify. Do you listen to books or do you read books? I read books.
41:51 What's your favorite book that you would recommend someone else read?
41:58 If you were right now, I'm reading a reasonable hospitality.
42:02 Yeah. Incredible book. I'm having I'm like on my third time reading it.
42:07 And I think now that I'm a manager, I keep finding support and inspiration on it.
42:12 So I think I think everybody should everybody that is trying to grow into a manager position or actually not,
42:18 even if you're not trying to like in any position you are in this industry, I think it's a good book to to visit.
42:24 What is your favorite social media app? Instagram.
42:32 Do you prefer photos or videos? Photos. Photos.
42:37 What is your least favorite app? Twitter.
42:43 Twitter. How many emails do you get a day? Oh, a couple.
42:47 How many do I read? One. For for those when they come to visit you in Washington,
42:56 D.C., what do they need to order? What's the go to?
43:01 I think you have to order our pompeson with golden oyster caviar.
43:05 It's cooked in duck fat, potatoes cooked in duck fat with caviar.
43:09 It's just this is luxury. And we actually like it's a great it's a great dish.
43:14 Our Napa cabbage is roasted Napa cabbage with like a tahini dressing is so good.
43:20 And I think honey comes in for dessert. It's it's kind of like a play on a cheese plate.
43:27 It's a frozen frozen honey from Virginia. Delicious honey.
43:32 Semifreddo shaped 18 month compote cheese. Sounds amazing.
43:37 It's really good. Sounds so amazing. Well, thank you, Chef Isabella Cos.
43:42 You can find her at Chabela Cos on Instagram.
43:45 We're going to put links to the restaurants to her so you can connect with her.
43:51 We are grateful for your time. Congratulations on the award.
43:54 I'm sure there's many more awards for you and the team.
43:57 We really, really appreciate it. And it's for the team.
44:01 That is thank you guys for listening. We're grateful as always.
44:05 Stay curious. Get involved. Don't be afraid to ask for help and we will see you all next week.
44:10 Thank you. Thank you. Bye. Bye.
44:13 Just a reminder you the listener you the viewer are the most important person that consumes this content.
44:20 The only way for us to grow this show is for you to share it with a fellow friend in the restaurant business.
44:26 Help us grow the show by subscribing and always reach out to me.
44:31 I want to hear your story. I want to learn more about your restaurant,
44:34 whether you're on toast or you're looking to get on toast.
44:37 We appreciate you supporting this show and we can't wait to see the content that you're creating
44:42 and to learn about the impact that you are making in your communities.
44:46 Stay curious, get involved, and don't be afraid to ask for help.