I Am all in Again.
Oh, let's you. I Am all In Again with Scott Patterson and iHeartRadio Podcast.
Hey Everybody, Scott Patterson, I Am All In Podcast one eleven productions, iHeartRadio Media, iHeart Podcast. Luke's Diner with Chef Emily Rubaker. Let me tell you a little bit about her career. She was season one winner of NBC's Yes Chef, a bold cooking competition hosted by Jose Andreas and Martha Stewart. Maybe you've heard of her. Nominated by her husband for her fiery kitchen demeanor, Emily stunned the judges with her
transformation throughout the season, gaining competence. Her final three course metal featured scallup Crudo, American wagu and daring for guaB bread pudding impressed culinary icons Marcus Samuson, Kal Simmons, and Andrew Simern. She currently serves as a resort executive chef at Omni La consta resort and spawn Carlsbad, California. Classically trained French chef with expertise in American Italian French fine dining, She's passionate about quality ingredients and crafting elevated dishes.
Dishes.
Yes, chef not only earned her a quarter of a million dollars but marked a personal breakthrough in her culinary journey. Welcome to the show, Emily Bruce Baker.
How are you.
I'm great. Thanks for having me spun.
It's a pleasure to have you. You mentioned that your husband nominated you to help you work through this stubbornness. What did that feel like at the time, and how to change dynamic now that you've won.
Jake is one of those people who calls me out no matter what, and stubborness is something that we've been together in twenty years he's had to deal with, So having him call me out on it national TV isn't any different than him calling me out in public or person like personal. So it was good. It was good he wanted me to improve, So I appreciated his support.
Right. Well, that that's very diplomatic answer.
I appreciate that.
You said letting go of control? Okay, yes, one of your biggest lessons. What advice would you give chefs who micro manage? I know how this is.
I used to be.
I used to be that way. Now I just let it go.
Wow.
Micromanaging is what kills your employees and associates drive. Nobody wants to be micro managers. They want to be trusted, they want to be believed in, And I agree with that full full like fullheartedly. It's not a good feeling when somebody is constantly checking what you're doing. So I really do try to support the growth and kind of autonomy of like what my my chefs are doing. I want them to feel like they're in charge of what they can be in charge of.
Isn't it amazing the different cultures that are created my micromanagers versus really competent bosses who just trust. It's just night and.
Day, right, Yes?
Yeah, every time I find myself in a situation that's being micromanaged, I fight like hell to get out of it. You know, I really you really need because that's it's just pure survival and quality of life, you know. I mean, you just cannot be under the thumb of somebody like that.
Yeah, And I think that's where, like, for myself, a lot of stubbornness comes from, is like like knowing what I'm doing and being pretty skilled at what I do and then having somebody kind of second guests every step. It makes you want to fight the smaller battles that really don't matter, but you just want to fight like it puts up that guard, that shield.
Since both of you and your husband or chefts, how does it play out at home? Usually end up cooking dinner?
Or does he?
Is there friendly rivalry in the kitchen? And would you ever a team of professionally? Is it better to keep working home, separate your kids cook? You know, all these questions, all of the above.
Jake and I met when we were interns at the Ritz Carlton, So we really started our career off together, and we've grown together. And we worked together for a while, and then as we were kind of just like really trying to prove ourselves, we realized we're trying to prove ourselves against each other, so we stopped working together, even
though we support each other completely. I think in the future we would like to open something together, but our kids are ten and eleven, so we want to wait till they're a little bit older and more independent before we do that. Right, my daughter Addie loves to cook. She has her own little fake YouTube channel at the moment called chef Kids. I one, I'm not very good at how to post those things or like how to
like publish. But she makes breakfast for my son almost daily, and she just loves to be involved in anything that we're doing.
No, that's nice. I have an eleven year old son, and when I'm cooking, he helps me. He's my assistant. He keeps my he keeps my board clean. He throws that trash away immediately in the right bins.
Wow, he knows.
He knows how to olive oil and prep pans properly.
Oh yeah, wow, I got him gone. Yeah, I'm impressed. I mean if he's super.
Busy, so he's not always available to do it, but he loves to do it.
It's a great feeling. She's gotten to be a much more adventurous eater where my son likes to cook, but nowhere near as much as she does. So he's still very nicky on his food, but she's more willing to do or try things. Even if she doesn't like it, she'll still at least try it.
So what are their favorite meals? What are you prepared at home right now?
Like steak and like larger proteins are my son's jam Like he's constantly I think he's going about to go through some kind of crazy gross furt. He'll eat like a pound and a half of like a rabbi, Like I'll buy two and he'll eat one and a half. And he just wants it with fruit, like he doesn't want any sides, he doesn't want any sauce. He just wants protein. My daughter has gotten really into, like we like to do a lot of slow cooking, just so
that way, like building a flavors. It's kind of jacob My's background, a little bit like the slower, like putting all the love in it. So she's gotten kind of into like tortilla soup or pasole or chili's or even braizing. So she's she's evolving.
A lot, right, interesting, So tell me what is the difference between working in a large scale, you know, resort style kitchen compared to like, you know, a much smaller, intimate neighborhood spot.
So this, this is a it's not new to me to be part of a big hotel. It's new to me to run one. I've usually my entire career has been restaurants, and this was kind of the next step of can I do it? And will I like it? And how will it work? It's it's just like running a smaller restaurant, but just like eight of them.
So you're watching your food cost, your labor, You're you're constantly trying to create new dishes that will Like we have a member base here at our hotel too, so we like they are here five.
Days a week and they don't want the same food every day. So it still is that like, how can we be relevant, how can we be modern? How are we not spending too much money and still being able to appease our guests. But then we also have the banquet aspect, which is a huge part of what we do. And you know, people don't want banquet food that's just like here's some chicken breasts and a chafer and some
like sad mashed potatoes. They want us it's a lot about the visual and the fresh flavors, and we're trying to bring that elevated restaurant into our banquet facility. And my banquet chef also comes from a restaurant background, so the two of us are really trying to grow and exceed expectations.
Right, I want to talk a little bit about you know, if you're like Luke at all, do you have any kind of rules in your kitchen. I mean he bands cell phones. He don't have patients for complicated orders. Are there things in your kitchen you just will not tolerate?
I don't.
I don't have a problem so much with cell phones. We are using a program for our recipes called Opsy and it's digital, so I as long we're buying tablets right now, so we'll have tablets and all the kitchen. That way, the recipes are like, I can get rid of the cell phones. But at the moment it's not so bad as long as it's not like Facebook or Instagram or texting and they're actually looking at recipes. That's not the biggest thing for me. It's about not standing
around and wasting time. It drove me nuts in the independent restaurants, and it drives me like it's in a resort. You have peaks and like eggs and flows and and you just see people standing around and I can't stand that. That drives me nuts. So if something needs to get done, I expect our teams to come together and get.
It done right.
There's always something needs to be done, always, always. Something needs to be cleaned, something needs to be stored, something needs to be pulled out, something needs to be prepped.
Yeah, no, standy reorganized anything. I even tell my people like if I'm like if you're if your bored, create something, show me something new, like even for my life, like you know my liing cooks, I'm like, play, like play with some food because that food in your well is it's not going to last another seven days or another. I'd like I'd rather it be fresher, So like, make
me something, show me something new. Right, And I think they're really starting, Like I've been here for a little over a year, and I think they're really starting to enjoy that because when they show me something and like we critique it and we talk about it, and it's it's it's something they might not have had before.
Mm hmmmm. You know word on the street, Emily, is that Martha Stewart owes you a dinner visit. What would you cook for her if she actually showed up tomorrow.
Let's say, Oh my goodness, there's like so many things I would want to cook either again for her or like focus on for her. I know the thing she doesn't like, so I know what to stay away from. But coming to California, I definitely am We're like so close to the coast in San Diego. We have amazing fish vendors. I would definitely do some kind of very fresh fish out of the ocean, whatever seasonal. She loves lenons,
so that kind of works towards our property. We're very citrus b we have orange trees everywhere and lenons everywhere. So but yeah, I mean, I almost like I even want to do a risotto because, like now that it's not a competition, you know, that's like the death the death dish on like every show. I would love to actually be able to take the time and make her a risotto because I think she would appreciate it, Like go back and try to do a perfect chicken for.
Right, did you get then? Ort all? I mean what she like, She's fascinating.
She is fascinating. She was my judge on Chopped when I was in Chopped twenty eighteen, and she remembered me when I walked in. When she walked in to the studio the first time, we didn't know who our judges were, and she walked in and she pointed at me and she said Chopped, and I was like, oh no, she
remembers me. But she was funny and kind and She had some really inspiring conversations with us about just like not like you're a great person and you're going to do this, she said those things, but like how to be how she got to where she is. She made jokes about it, She talked about her kind of her team around her a little bit, and she really was.
It was interesting because she gave us it like as a powerful woman, how she got there, Like, you know, some things might seem a little harsh that she you know, she mentioned like not showing a lot of emotion in certain situations and like being a stronger woman, And it was as much as we don't want to hear those things because it's very unpc like everybody should be able to cry or show emotions. There's a reason she has these Like she's come up in a much different time
than when we are right now. And I understand it because I feel like when I started in the kitchens, Yeah, you have to suck it up and like you had to find a corner too if you really quickly how to like freak out, but like not let anybody know it because for women in the kitchen, And I think Martha was kind of hitting this like we are looked at it in a different way, and she really that really came out and like the way she talked to us, which was awesome.
That's awes, that's great. Yeah, I will watch the documentary on her on somewhere. What a story. I incredible story, what a story. She was inevitable, She was absolutely inevitable. Yep, Hey, everybody, make sure to catch me on the convention circuit on September fifth, sixth, and seventh.
I'll be it.
Smoky Mountain fan Fest in Kingsport, Tennessee, a Weekend in the Life in New Milford, Connecticut, September twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth. Yes, I will be there on the thirteenth that Saturday, New Milford, Connecticut. Destination Stars Hollow in Brighton, Michigan, September twenty and possibly the twenty first. Hope to see everybody there. Let's talk about you a little bit and your prize money, your quarter of a million dollars and a title. So what's
the one Okay, here's the thing. Here's what's the one intangible thing that you took away from Yes, chef and your title.
That I mean like personally that I could do it. I didn't expect a win. I wanted I kind of try to manifest to win, believing it just so much more belief in myself and uh, just just like the idea that I can do a lot more than I ever thought I.
Could, right, which was incredible, Right, that is incredible. All right, Let's say you were unlucky enough to cater for Emily Gilmore. Okay, what would you make to wow her? And and uh, what do you think would be the most difficult part about being employed by her?
Oh Man, I think to wow, I'd want to do something that was a little more I know it sounds silly, but like rustic and family style and like something that
would like fill a table scape. I think that's something that might just get that wow if you could just escape something, you know, something you'd almost see in like Hollywood, that would just be the whole table picture perfect steaming smells light like almost like a fall vine, like I would I would definitely go in that direction to just have that kind of grandness of it food what I know, and like specifically, I think it would just have to hit a lot of very fresh, very clean, very just
like beautiful like flavors things that just go together like I'm thinking like raising like some big nice like a brisk but like a braised brisket with those like deep root vegetables.
Mm hmm.
You know, even now that we're like kind of end of summer, I'm like grilled peaches with like stratchia, tulla and arugula and just like things that are just they make you want to like they kind of make you drool, but visually you see it too.
Okay, all right, So how do you deal with her when she gets upset?
What if she gets in your face?
What if somebody screw forgets something, screw something up and she blames it on you and she gets in your face?
How do you deal with that?
You face to face with Emily Gilmore, what are you doing?
I mean, I like the amount of people who have yelled in my face and blamed me for things. I feel like I've grown so much in my career, my life and through the show that just taking a step back and taking a breath and listening and then just being like, Okay, I hear you, you're heard, but let's
move forward instead of backwards. And what can we do to rectify and what can we do to make this so you don't feel like she wouldn't feel embarrassed or that it's still her vision, but she can pivot in a way that it still works out the way she wants it. Like I definitely have let rage go, and it's more of how do we move together at a forward motion?
Right? That's that's you know, Wow, that's zen. You've achieved a zen. You're the Zen chef?
Right, Okay, well, I think yeah, chef.
Really, Like during the finale, I had Chef Jake as one of the contestants, was one of my sous chefs, and he had sliced the fua and he had overcooked all the flowgra before the dessert, like where we still had enough time to figure something out, and just watching how much he was beating himself up, like I hadn't even said anything. I definitely my heart rate went up and I got a little sweaty, and I definitely was like, what am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?
But like, watching how just distraught he was made me, And it's like, and I've noticed that That's where I've gone in my life, is like you watch somebody beat themselves up so hard and it's it's just food. And I mean, yes, it was a quarter of a million dollars on the line, but is it worth it? Like, I'm not going to blame somebody. And we pivoted, like we found enough wall, we were able to fix the dish,
and ultimately I think it was a whow. It wasn't enough wall for Jose, but at least it was a it was a way, And I mean like I talked to him through the whole time, and at the end, I was like, do you feel better? It was still the competition still going. We weren't done, and you just kind of looked at me and he was like yeah. I was like, okay, let's keep going, like we're good, Like that's it.
Well, let's say you had to design a tasting menu, okay, inspired by Gilmore Girls characters. What dish would represent?
Laurel I Laurel I m hmm.
I don't know why. I'm like thinking like spaghetti, but that's not much of a tastingment you So I'm like, I don't.
Know what different pasta? Sure?
Yeah, I mean like not even like but not like spaghetti, man narrow like spaghetti, and like lemon and like fresh herbs and just like brightness.
What about Luke?
Oh does it tasting men? You have to make sense? No, Okay, I would say Luke, it would be some kind of crazy insane just giant like Burger something it gets like your hands on you know what I mean, like just just like big.
All right.
The one I really want to know about is Kirk.
What would you do? What would you make for Kirk?
Oh? What would I make for Kirk? I think something that would take like a while, like that would take that would be like you need it for a while, so may or like maybe it takes a long time to make it just to be in each other's company. I think I would probably do something like almost like a Wellington. Right, So then it's like really there and then you have to like explain and discuss and like go.
Through right, Okay, all right, So here's a big question. Right you're walking into luke S diner. Okay, what does Emily brew Baker order and where does Emily Brew Baker sit?
I sit at the counter? Yes, Oh what would I order? I mean like it would either be like the like the regular old no matter what time of day, if I can get it, like pancakes, eggs, hash browns, and like sausage just because I want to sit at the counter. I want to eat that breakfast kut kind of thing, even if it was like eight o'clock at night, and just enjoy that seat and watch. Otherwise it might be like a giant slice of pie.
There you go, yeah with Lukes Diner, Bland Coffee. Yes exactly, Emily brew Baker, You're a winner, You're a champion, you're a title holder. Yes, you're a you're an expert chef. Thank you for your time, you and good luck with everything going forward. We've had a blast with you and uh the best fans on the planet. Keep those cards and letters, comment and remember, where you lead, we will follow, right, Emily will.
Follow them exactly. We will follow, and you're gonna make food for him, absolutely.
We're gonna fatten some people up man. Yeah, and uh, where you lead, we will follow. Remember everybody stays safe, hey, everybody.
And don't forget.
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