"Summer Series: From The Beach With Olympic Gold Medalist Chris Bosh”

bringing you our Summer Series from the Beach. Each Friday, will be publishing short and intimate conversations that I've had with some of the top talent in the food world, and even beyond. The conversations you'll here for the next six weeks were recorded pool side at the w Hotel in South Beach as my friends and I enjoyed great cigars and magnums of rose as we discussed our past,

present and future. Without further delay, please enjoy Summer Series from the Beach with NBA superstar and Olympic gold medalist Chris Bosh. Where do you keep the gold medal at home and you're safe? Do you think someone's gonna come and see? Yeah? Well, I don't have anywhere else to

put it. You don't have anywhere else to put it. Yeah, I just I kind of look at it from time to time and kind of remember, so I was smoking a really good cigar that's in nicaragu when I know you love good cigars and you're you're kind of a renaissance man. But reading a little bit about you, Yeah, other than your basketball, I think there's a lot more to most people than what they do. I know that

if I was in a chef, i'd be a professional golfer. Yeah, what would you have done if basketball has engraced your life? That's a good question. I still I still kind of really think about that all the time. You have time to do whatever you want to do. To be honest, there was nothing else that I wanted to do other than ball, you know. Um, so kind of trying to think about that, like what would I do or even

things to fall back on, really wasn't. I had other interests, but as far as like pursuing those passionately, when I was younger, it was just all about bast focus man, focus, nothing else. I was lucky, you know, for whatever reason, I told me, sense of course you have this you have this gift, I mean you have to use it. Yeah, but you have another gift. You have an incredible family. Well, yeah, you're just such a family man. I relate to that.

You have five children. I have five. What are the ages? My oldest is eleven, my oldest son is seven, my daughter is six, and then my twins are three and three. You guess full time staff to take care of all those. Oh what, It takes a village, that's what they say, right, But it's it's just always something going on pretty much. That's like, that's the best way to describe it. Like every day is summer camp. And I think it's like a swat team. To get him out the door in

the right you need a swat team. I'm the swat team. Get him inout a bed repelling is all that, you know. Just I gotta be that dad, you know sometimes I got to be that dad. I'm not like with an iron fist or anything. You the disciplinarian or is it I'm the discipline Really it works easier that way. You think it's easier. Yeah, I mean I have a house full of boys, you know, they kind of lead the charge in random things happening in the house, jumping off

of things and riding their bikes. Yeah, it's it's great. But so what do you try? I mean, I try to teach my kids. You know, it's hard that my wife is incredible, the kids really like have a great grounding and a mom. But I mean we try to talk. We try one word. What is one my word for how we want to raise our kids? Modesty? What is the word that you think that relates to you and when you get up in the morning, Like, I'm going

to impart X to my children's responsibility? Responsibility. Yeah, because it's easy as a child and even as an adult to just kind of do things and not really take responsibility. I think that's one of the major issues sometimes in society. Not to get too deeper, No, get deeper, but um, I think a responsibility you teach them to be responsible

for their possessions, for their actions, for their words. And you know, if we start there, that can kind of build a nice little world in there and and hopefully things will take care of itself, because you know, when things are so especially nowadays, things are so abundant. You can just order a toy on Amazon and it comes in the next day. And then they're tired of it twenty four hours later, or it'll break or something like that. You can order a two dozen toys. Man, it's crazy,

you know. So I just try to chease them responsibility and saying, okay, this is this is your your toy. You gotta be responsible to everything. The other side of responsibilities consequences pretty much. And that's the part they don't like. They don't. We don't as you know. I tell them all, you gotta pay the consequence now, and like it's not even a bad thing. But I make them come in my office and do their homework or read. And that's just like the that's awful, right You a shofter you cooked?

You love to cook to? I love to I have been into the cueuling ay arts really yea, let's drilled down a bit. So what is it? What is your go to? Like? What you know? Twice a week? What do you have? My go to is? Um? I make a mean roasted chicken. I can't say, because look, here's my thing. I was like, you know, I've been blessed to have a chef for years now, and every morning

I would wash them cook these delicious meals. And I said yo, I gotta learn how to cook because I remember eating my dass food when my mom wasn't around, and it's very important I learned how to cook because it wasn't good. It was not good. So give me a recipe. Let's go through your roast chicken, crisp, cut it and butterfly fly butterfly right, and it's called spatch cock. Spatch cock okay. And then what do you rub on it? You rub like herbs, olive oil and herbs. It just

usually herb wise. Just however I'm feeling that day, how are you feeling? Roastmate sort of mood. You're gonna be a little spicy, might gonna put a little kick in there, you know what I mean? Put it on, getting under the skin. Did you put so you go in the skin, get under the skin. Butter or just a little bit of butter come from Texas. Uh? And then um, get the skillet, okay, cast iron cast iron, cast iron skillet. Get that nice and hot. Put it down skin first.

This guy knows, yeah, put it down skin first. And I would do both sides, but you know, get it down skin first. And then, however, I feel chop up vegetables some days, it will be leaks. I mean it could be anything, you know, chop up usually like mixed vegetables and put them on top of the chicken and then put that into the oven. Yeah, at what temperature the three fifty five? I might be off a little bit,

that's okay. So do you cook two internal temperature? Use a thermometer, you just like you just know when it's not but you just know man the spirit. Then I use the thermometer. Spirit first, thermometer second, don't get second. Yeah, you know, you gotta make sure. So like with seven people in your family, you have two or three chickens, you don't Yeah, yeah, yeah, so it when usually yeah, if I'm cooking, I try to um cook every Sunday,

and usually that's like the grill. So if I'm throwing stuff on the grill, it's it's a feast because it's about at least ten people there at the very least. Yeah, you're you're already seven, Yeah, at seven before we even moved. One friend with another friend is nine. That's have friends and then yeah, it's easy. It gets up. Two dozen is like a normal, like that's lunch. It's not odd if I have twenty people over or or twenty people

are eating on a Sunday. But I love it though, because I saw one of my wife's friends, her and her sister when I'm we went out to their father's home and he was cooking for them, and both of his grown daughters were coming back to see their dad and like, dad, can you cook me? Cook me? This could me that. That's when I said, Okay, yeah, they're gonna come back. Yeah, you can be mad at me, but you're gonna want that chicken. You're gonna want that,

you know what I mean. Do you find yourself watching the Food Network? Oh yeah all the time. Oh yeah, but I mean I can't watch it too much because I'll be hungry. You know, you get hungry all the time, and then you see things that you want to do. Well, that's how you learn. Yeah, we're educating America Christ Yeah, for sure, how to cook. It's very important. How did you get into cigars? Tell me where that came from? Being here? Actually? Really? Yeah, being here in Miami. Do

you go to Cuba at all? I have not been the Cuba yet. I have had experiences with Cuban rollers here and that's amazing. That's an amazing. See what they do. How'd it stay together? I don't get it. And they just they rolled ti leaves and they yeah, like it's not a knife and cutting this together and it doesn't like unwrapped and it's a wonderful cigar too, it is. Yeah, But I haven't been to Cuba yet. I definitely want to. I think we could arrange a trip. I think you've mentioned. No,

I haven't. I've been asking and asking. It's just kind of you know, you gotta get at least four or five days there. You can't go for it's not an overnight no, no, no, I'm sure. I've had friends that have gone and they've told me how just how different it is, and how the culture is different, and how cool it is just to see. So I'm curious. Performance is something that I'm really concerned about because I think that as we had older, we have to really work harder.

I talked to people about it's that how hard you work. It's how you keep really at the level that you keep your body mentally and your acuity. How do you do that every day? What is your sort of daily when you wake up? First thing, first thing? I know you you I'm blessed. I have Everyone's okay, everyone's fine, everybody's good. Maybe the second thing, right, I will say, the first thing I do when I get up, get cleaned up, go downstairs and make sure the kids are

going off to school. Uh, and then I read. You read. I try to get at least thirty minutes in reading an iPad or on a book on physical book in the same way. I do both. I could really I like, I like holding the tangible thing. Yeah, and I do both, but I prefer so before you eat, you read. Yeah. Wow, that's great. Yeah, so interesting. Yeah, I've given myself a challenge. I'm trying to really pick back up on my reading.

And um, I gave myself a challenge to read two books a month this year, two books an Yeah, so it sounds reasonable. Yeah, it's reasonable. Right. So if I knock out thirty minutes, you got it, you know, I got Yeah. Then I'll have breakfast. Then I go work out. So you work out what is your routine? Boxing? Boxing only boxing. I go up to the heat arena still and go work out there and see the fellas. I

don't go on the basketball court. I don't play basketball, but I'll get on the treadmill, or I'll get some weights in every day at least three times a week, three to four times a week. I try to at least get three times four if I'm being really ambitious. Yeah, so Monday, Wednesday, Friday. It's like you control at all what you eat to just eat whatever you want within a sort of It's kind of like it's kind to go.

It goes both ways. I kind of it's like just fly off the hinge, you know, with steak and meet and stuff like that. I'm pretty, I'm pretty, you know. I don't don't Yeah, I don't go too crazy. I have the portions that I have. It's more so like just watching if there's like rice or any kind of carbs or sugar or something like that. I don't try to cut it all the way out. I just try to be mindful and say, yeah, I have a little bit. I don't want to just wake up and be, you know,

a little heavy. Because I gained a little weight, nobody could tell. Everybody said I look fine, but I knew I had to start. I had to get it back off me. Man. Yeah, everyone knows. When you're in the shower, you just know, like ship well, it was for me. It was a picture. Somebody took a picture of me, like, yeah, it's a little bit I could. Yeah, yeah, you know, a little in the breast. It's like I tell you, it comes so easy. It takes about you know, to

gain ten pounds, takes about two weeks. To lose ten pounds take six months, man, And it's so it's so easy just to hit a couple of bad meals back to back, or a couple of good meals back to back, and yeah, right back on the horse. That wine gets a little better and gets a little better, a little better better, start getting hungry that they're glass like yeah, I'll have another piece whatever. I love going to Napa, but after after three days it's like Vegas, like, man,

I can't. I can't do this man. And you know what it is about Nappa, it's so sly. It's like we have this culture like you know, be careful. You know, you have to watch your alcohol. There. It's like it's nine in the morning and you're drinking and it's like okay, absolutely, It's like okay. It's like being an airport at seven three in the morning and people are having double bloody Mary's and vodka in the rocks. It's no one even questions that's something wrong. Yeah, you gotta watch it, man.

And that's and that's the thing. There's no rules in an airport. You have these delicious breakfasts in Nappa and it's would you like some rose? Yeah? Absolutely? I would you keep asking me to, sir? Yeah. And it's so great the way they do it. It's so like everything's perfect, the glass, the wine, the color. Appreciate that presentation. It's everything, press everything. I mean, it's like it's like what it

is what we do. Fantastic. Alright, So we got steak, we got chicken, rip, cigars, wine, Yeah, I mean what am I missing here? Art? Art? I mean, you know, I just like looking at paintings, and I've I like going to museums. My wife and I we got memberships that the Met and so I've been to the Met a couple of times to see the presentations and um, really just get to take in have a guide and they explain the artists and the times and the periods and stuff like that. Are you down here all the

time for the arch come to bossle down here? Pretty much? Yeah? You go buy in there for the day before. I haven't. No, I haven't. I haven't really bought anything anything. It's hard, right, Yeah, it's hard because there's so many many things, and then like you have to pretty much come to a thing. Well, I'm going to invest in something I want, you know, and I feel connected to. And I haven't had that feeling yet. And the ones I do have a feeling too are very expensive, so you know, I like to

watch them. Well, it's you gotta be careful with our I love art, and I think you know, as as far as being um a collector. If you get the right stuff, and someone wants tell me, how do your body know what to buy? And they say, if you buy just what you moves you, and at one point in time it will be more valuable for the most part than it was when you bought it. It rarely does a decrease in value, which you can't say for like a lot of things, the cars or houses or

things like that. Right, So that's why I think art is just a smart investment. Good in front of mine, Aye Drouck, I told me so, just we love something and it moves you, just buy it. You have art and I have a little and I started my wife and I started, and it's we only buy stuff that we we like, like in the strangest places, you know, not in places you would you would see something like Wow, that's great, and it's not in the gallery, it's somewhere else, and we buy it. But it's only stuff we like

and then we use it. We hang it likes exciting, Right, you look at it and you reflect the story behind it. You know, there's a story. And I think everything is a story, just like hospitality is a story. So if you're gonna if we're coming over to your house, okay, so I'm gonna get you have seven, seven people, so I'm gonna fight like thirteen, so twenty won't be twenty four. So talk me through your how you run a party. Well, my wife she's gonna take the bull about the horns

a hundred. Yeah, she's the best host hostess I've ever been around, Wow, by far. So usually our wheelhouse is gonna be a charcuter. We're gonna do charkouterie and she's sure for sure, and um, you know, it just depends on how fancy we get. I've actually thrown a dinner party before you have. Yeah, I did a menu and did the tied in the everything. Yeah, we should have a restaurant. We should talk for sure, we should. Probably won't make any money doing it, but we'll have fun.

We'll have a lot of fun. That's that's. We'll have someone else by the art for the for the restaurant and we'll put it on the walls. Too easy, So Charkrudi followed by drinks, well, come on. Started with drinks starting, I'd say it's dinner. Yeah, I'm gonna go. I'm gonna probably hit you with an appetize at first, either a nice salad or suit. Not family style, yeah, played it, played it well except for Sunday. Yes, Sunday is his

family style. Yeah. But if we're doing the fancy nice thing, I'll do individual in individuals and then we'll get to the main and then we'll get to the dessert, and then we'll probably have we have a very nice backyard. I love my backyard, and it's a very nice view of the bay. And you'll have some cigars in Scotch after that. You have it, We've got it. Well, I don't know what time it is, when I gonna be out of here soon. If you're heading back, i'd like

to invite myself. Hey man, invite yourself, Chris. We can talk all day. Thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate it, and I really appreciate it.