This is Later with Lee Matthews, The Lee Matthews Podcast More what you Hear Weekday Afternoon's on the Drive. You know Curtis Stone, Los Angeles based Michelin star chef, restauranteur, author and culinary entrepreneur, and his television shows Crime Scene, Kitchen Top Chef, Iron Chef, and many more. His newest
is a Home Shopping Network series called Getting Grilled with Curtis Stone. And Curtis in this show, you talked to some of your good friends in and around the California and celebrity era and about the connection between food and culture, because there is a definite direct connection between those two, isn't there, ladies? Sure is. I mean, when you sit down and break bread with someone and open a bottle of wine, it's just like let that conversation flow and
you don't rush it. That's the key, right. Well, we find these people really open up some couse all kinds of stories, and we've had some incredible access and musicians and comedians and athletes and you know the things that we get to hear. I sat down with Akbar from from the View from the From the Talk, who also hosts American Ninja Warrior he was also an NFL player, and we get to talk about being men, and we get to talk about being dads and the pressure. And he's obviously, you know,
we both come from from pretty unique different cultures. But here in his trajectory in America, you know, coming here from Nigeria as a family and then sort of learning how he approached this place, and you know, so you hear stories like that. We had Terry Hatcher who told us about, you know, everything about her dating life and what she was, what it was like then on Desperate Housewives, and you know, there really is just
beautiful connections. So whether they're athletes or musicians, we hear so many cool things on that show. And of course I get to cook for him as well, which is pretty fun. You know, I'm from crime Scene Kitchen at Top Chef, I Chef and now getting grilled with Curtis Stone Chef Curtistone's
weather. I've aged. You have your own story too, coming from where you came from and then coming into this big melting part of all kinds of different cultures in the United States. Well, that's what's so cool about this show. Getting grilled. I get to sit down with people and hear their stories but then also share some of mine. And the interesting similarities of professionals no matter what they do, you know, chasing a dream and pushing really
hard so that it's pretty cool, you know. And there's a chef who you know. When I started cooking, it was the least cool job on the planet. I remember my very first day getting my uniform, and I had this long white apron that went down to the ground, and I put on this neck of chief and I had this big hat that was, you know, almost touched on the ceiling. And I looked at myself in the mirror and I thought, oh my god, I've got to wear this for
the rest of my life. I look like a clown. But you know, of course, cooking more recently sort of become cool and people to sort of look at it as like this rock and roll seeing And of course nothing change. We just cooked for a living. We cook people dinner. That's our jobs, and I think it's such a beautiful, humble way to make
a living. But yeah, I've had a really interesting experience. I've lived in different countries and the all sorts of cool people, and it's start to have them formed to be able to talk a little bit about for sure, we're talking with Curtis Stone, chef Curtis Stone his new series on home shopping that We're getting Grilled with Curtis Stone, which is out now talking to some
of the biggest celebrities about their cooking and their culture. I came from a Southern Louisiana culture, which, as you can imagine, has had its delicacies going back centuries. Unfortunately, they're not that good for you, chef. So one of the things that I've tried to and still especially with people who like South the Louisiana cooking, is yeah, go ahead and have it, just don't eat all of it. You still want to taste the authenticity of
the dish, but you don't need to get unhealthy doing it. Made life is all about balance, and you know, of course food is, and that's what we're always looking for as a chef. We're looking for a little texture and a little salt, a little sweetness, and a little this and a little that. And I think when you're talking about what we should eat, you should have indulgent food. Sometimes you can't cut yourself off from certain
things you shouldn't about. You're absolutely right you've got to control that somehow, and you know, one way to do that is through portion control. Another way to do that is again it's balance. You know. I sort of
stay to people. Why don't you try eating the healthy stuff first and the indulgent stuff that you really want laugh, you know, because then if you say to yourself, I'm going to eat the green salad or the vegetable soup, but then that gives me the right to taste that little bit of gumbo or have that little bit of something else. But you've already got something in your belly, so you're not starving. They say you shouldn't shop when you're
hungry. I don't think you should ever let yourself get to that point that you're absolutely because when you're saviashed like that, that's when you just go for it. An that's absolutely completely true. Chef Curtis Stone is with us. You know him from Iron Chef, Top Chef and Crime Scene Kitchen. His newest creation Home Shopping Networks. Getting Grilled with Curtis Stone. Have you had a in the process of producing the show so far? Had a big surprise
from one of your guests that stood out among others. Oh, my goodness, we had so many. I mean, when Terry Hatschew was telling me about her dating life, it blew me away because you think, to yourself, there isn't a guy on this planet that doesn't want to date Terry Hatshaw that you know that that obviously is available and whatever. And she was telling me how difficult it is for her, and she's like, you know, I went on a dating app to try and figure that out. They actually
kicked her off because she because they thought she was a phony. There was somebody pretending that it was her. And then you stop and think about it, and you're like, God, it would be difficult if everybody knew you from a TV show, it would actually be pretty hard. And I met people that were super famous when they grew up. You know, Robin Sick, the musician. He was famous from a really young age and around a
bunch of famous people and the pressure that that puts on you. I sat down with aj from the Backstreet Boys the other day and learning his story about, you know, the complication of becoming trying out for a band and then become an ultra famous all over the world in a really short amount of time, and the pressure that puts on you and doing that as we're sort of having something delicious to eat and sort of talking, you know, openly about
their experiences. I could go on and on and on about all the guests that shared all kinds of interesting stories with us. But you know, it is really really fascinating to get the time to sit because we shoot for a few hours. You know, it's not just a quick little interview. I sit down on a sofa with them. I cook for them, then we cook together that I try and cook something that they have and aversion to and try and get them to fall in love with it. So we played a
little funny game. So there's there's lots of little elements for the show and you really do get to know these celebrities really well and it's a lot of fun and you can see it all on the Home Shopping Network series Getting Grilled with Curtis Stone Chef Curtis Stone. We will be watching and thank you for
joining us. Thank you so much for having me. Thanks for listening to Later with Lee Matthews, the Lee Matthews Podcast, and remember to listen to The Drive Live weekday afternoons from five to seven and iHeartMedia presentation