First L.A. Female Chef President in a Century: Chef Fionna España

We're recording on-site at Ibis Images Studios , where food photography comes alive and I get to eat it . Email us to learn more info at thewalkandtalkcom . Today's guest is somebody who's not only made history but continues to shape the future of the culinary world .

Chef Fiona Espana is the first female president at the LA chapter of the American Culinary Federation in over 100 years . A proud Latina , a passionate executive chef and a mentor to many , her journey from student to national leader is nothing short of inspiring . To many , her journey from student to national leader is nothing short of inspiring .

She's navigated the complexities of a traditionally male-dominated industry with resilience and purpose , turning challenges into stepping stones and opening doors for others along the way . You know Fiona's awesome . She's been a supporter of this show since literally the beginning .

With a food festival on the horizon this October and a deep commitment to mentoring the next generation , fiona's story is one of growth , impact and determination . Also in studio , we welcome back the chef , thomas Parker . Oh man , he cooked up two elevated stunners today . Three , three elevated stunners today , and we still have some more to do after this .

Wow , okay , let's get into this . Thomas Thomas , thomas , thomas , thomas , thomas . John said it before If there's an A game , you brought it , but more , and then some it's like A plus game . I guess Today was fantastic .

I appreciate it , man , like getting compliments from people that are in the industry and that know the industry , like that's what really goes to our hearts as chefs is some of the best , and I you know I hate to say that like that , because everyone who we bring in losers don't make it in and the winners stay and , at the end of the day , the dishes that

are getting put out are stupid . Let's talk about them . What's your favorite dish today ?

I did three different types of fluid gels for the plate as garnish . There was a pickled onion , a sour cream and a cilantro . And then we flash fried some cornstarch shallot rings to garnish it with and gave it a little bit of microgreen and it was just beautiful .

Like you take a spoonful and you make sure each of those you know parts of the dish are on the spoon or fork , whatever , and you just take that whole bite and it just , it all , just melted , everything melted and everything had a layer and you had the flavor profile of everything and whatever that , whatever the crust was , that you put the citrus in it .

Talk about that real quick man , because that was really great , yeah , so I've done three or four different versions of that crust .

But the thing that really makes it is I add cornstarch to it and when you pan sear it it just gives you such a hard , luscious crust that just cracks as you put a knife through it and it helps it stick to the steak .

So korma is one of the traditional curry dishes , so I I breaded the ham steak and almonds and pan fried it . We paired it with . Instead of just using rice like in a traditional curry dish , I did congee , which is , you know , you blend the rice grain down and it's their version of grits really . And instead of just using cream , I used curry to make it .

And then we added a layered potato that I baked and then fried off and topped it with a sauteed sausage that we made a tikka masala puree to cook it in .

I just had another daughter and I was reading my , my older daughter green eggs and ham . So I did a little play off of a french croque , madame , and I called it green eggs and lamb , madame so I mean , I have , I have two young ones , one's a daughter , I , I just appreciate this a lot .

So we just buttered and grilled a piece of that and topped it with the the lamb ham , then added a black bean and corn gruyere mornay to it . So cheese sauce . And then I wanted to get a little weird science-y with it .

So I went into my molecular gastronomy book and I turned bacon into powder , I made tomato water caviar and I did some reverse spherification on a puree of avocado and that became the green egg people .

It was with tequila , right yeah , yeah .

I wanted to Change up the bourbon , so we're going to do Mezcal tequila for the second dish I did , I wanted to change up the bourbon , so we're going to do mezcal tequila , fresh lemon and agave syrup instead of the honey syrup and we are going to use the supercut systems lemon slicer to make this drink .

You know we've never met in person but we've known each other now for a couple of two and a half years and you've been just a terrific supporter of Walk Talk podcast and what we're doing and I just sincerely thank you for that . And you know we've been talking for a long time on how you know , just to get you on the show .

I mean , I feel like you deserve it and you're . I think your story is pretty , pretty incredible . Can you explain the feeling of being the first female chapter president in your , in your area for 100 years ? What does that mean to you ?

it was more work , like put the gloves on , let's get down and dirty and make sure that everything's set up the right way and just kind of continue to make sure that the foundation is reset to where we can just hand it off to the next person on the next term or the next board board of directors .

So I think about year three , this last year , year four is where it finally hit me and I realized that it's just the beginning of so many great things that I can accomplish . And it's kind of humbling because there's so many great chefs out there and they chose me .

Now I'm using it as much as I can to be a part of , like , the culinary competitions for the colleges locally . We have I believe it's about four here in LA really big culinary schools . We have tons of high school programs that are all throughout LA region , san Bernardino region , which is about 30 , 40 minutes from us .

So I try to tap into both counties because I'm right in the middle and they , they use me but I like it . So I'm just . I'm just kind of going with the flow now and trying to take it one , one event at a time .

And then I ended up dropping out of college . I wanted to be a math teacher , math professor , so my major was mathematics . But I got married , I got pregnant , had some kids , had a family , and then my mom said you know , you should go back to school , you should get education .

So I said you know , if I'm going to go back to school , you should get an education . So I said if I'm going to go back to school , it's going to be for something that I love to do , which is bake . I love to bake , I love to do desserts , pastries . And she told me that I should get a degree .

I don't just get a certificate , because in the long run the education is where it's going to be at . I didn't see what was really in the future , or I didn't really have anything in mind except for oh , I just want to be the best pastry chef in the world , which I'm not there yet . But one day . And I went to culinary school .

I went to Le Cordon Bleu and I did the whole program . I loved it , I had a great time and the journey from there was more than what I really expected . I thought I was just going to play with sugar and flour and fabricate some meats and , you know , just be a happy little cook in the kitchen my whole life . But it didn't turn out that way .

I'm a little more than a cook now .

So you saw that and you decided that , hey , I'm going to hit savory and I'm just going to be a badass . I'm pretty sure that's how it went down , right .

And I wondered why , like what's the difference ? And I realized really really fast that you have to put in your dues . Right , you got to pay your dues . The unfortunate part of what I learned was that the ridicule of not speaking Spanish was like a constant and it was the older Hispanic women that didn't like that .

I didn't speak Spanish , my mom doesn't speak Spanish and my dad didn't speak to me in Spanish , so I'm Californian , that's . That was kind of like the thing I would tell them , because they would say you're not Mexican and I didn't understand what that meant and I said , well , my grandparents are from Mexico . Like how does that not make me Mexican ?

But they were referring to speaking the language and really carrying yourself with the culture . So that was kind of like the hard part .

So I try to stay away from , I wouldn't say women , but the older generation , that kind of just you know , pushed me aside and I just went with those that kind of embraced me and would continue to show me like the lines and how to do certain things . And it was hard because it was like one way or another .

At one point I had one chef tell me just stay at home , you have too many kids , you're not going to be a real chef Like you're . You're not , you're not going to go that far . And I was kind of taken back because I I was , I don't know , maybe like three , four years into being a cook and I loved what I did . I did pay my dues .

I did work 14-hour shifts , 16-hour shifts on the line , prepping banquets . I always tried to do the most , even as a cook . It kind of motivated me to set some goals of being an executive chef before 40 years old . I met my goal when I was 38 , which was kind of like cool . I got the title , this is exciting .

And then I realized this is a lot of work opening up kitchens and opening up the buildings . It was a lot of work and from then , from 38 years old , I've opened four kitchens . It's been a good journey .

I just evolved over the years of really getting that ridicule kind of pushed me to continue to like , set higher goals and not really let them keep me bitter , and I'm I understand where they're coming from now . So I kind of tried to not let that hinder me from like , oh , these people will never like me .

It's not that they don't like me , they just , you know , see me as either a threat , I don't know . But I didn't want to take their jobs . I didn't want to be a garmanger lady at 80 years old . That wasn't my goal . They could keep that job , that's fine . But the negativity definitely fueled me to do more . I never wanted to prove , like people wrong .

I just wanted to know that I can do it , even though they told me you're not going to make it , you're a mom , you need to stay at home , you're not going to be a chef there's not a lot of female chefs it's just not going to happen . And then here I am . I'm more than what I actually expected .

I said , hey , let's get these people fed , let's give them water bottles , whatever we can do , make some little care packages , let's send it out to the firefighters , first responders , let's just go . I'm going to use my power . Whatever little power I have or whatever big power I have , I'm going to use it .

And within one week we were able to get over $20,000 in donations for pallets of water and all distributed throughout all the fire areas . And I think two days after , like everything was kind of settled with being able to like push it all out .

I'm not a big crier , but I literally was like in tears of like I can't believe I did this , like I used my powers for good and I was taken back . But I took a lot of energy out of me to just , you know , kind of stay positive . You know , cook for veterans . I cooked for five days three meals .

I probably cooked maybe six of those meals for 200 veterans that were displaced . So it was hard physically , but mentally it's very fulfilling . It's very like it gives you so much , like with your skill , your craft , you know you can be able to give and do so much that you never , you never realize how much you can really do when you push yourself .

And I think at that moment is where I said this is . This is an amazing feeling and I want to do it again . I mean , I don't hope there's natural disasters , but it's just you get in there , you do it and you do you do . One of the big helpers that really pushed me to like continue doing it was Amy Sins , I think . She's out of New Orleans .

She's a great individual . I mean I texted her and I said help me , walk me through this process of helping people , and she did . She was phenomenal . Just that . That encouragement was just the words , a couple of connections , and we got so much done in like two weeks .

So it was so fulfilling in my career to say that I was able to assist or even just pull these things together . There's been a few other events that are really where you sit back and think , wow , I didn't even think I could do this .

This is not really like chef stuff , I guess you know it's just being able well , it's the community , you know being able to give back in your , in your skill and your craft . On a day to day I think I'm just a regular chef . I cook , I do banquets , you know .

I do my daily operations , I reinvent my menu and then there's times where I say , hey , let's , you know , do the most . So I have my moments , but it has to be in an extreme event for me to really say like pat on the back to myself because I just feel like I'm not doing enough for this industry , because I feel like it's just a scratch .

You know , $20,000 is nothing compared to what the fires had did to so many homes .

Last year at the Boku store in in in New Orleans she was , she was doing some some mic work for us . You know she was a correspondent for walk and talk and she represented and she's right yeah , she's , she's just .

She's just such a a sweet person who has a backbone , just like a I don't know , I don't know what that would be like , just a massive backbone , she's , she's awesome I want to mention . I do want to mention something I don't want to say that I want to mention .

You said earlier that you ran into some challenges with family speaking Spanish and what the expectations were , and that you're not actually Mexican . I didn't realize that other cultures had that , because it's the same with me , all my family , both sides , going all the way back . They're from basically the same region in Italy . I just never learned Italian .

Growing up I understood the dialect , but I didn't speak proper Italian and I didn't really speak the dialect either . I just kind of understood it and going forward me at my age now , like I don't even try . My wife is Cuban , they speak Spanish and I don't even try to learn any language at this point .

But I will tell you that people from over there in Italy they look at me and they're like well , you're not even Italian and I'm like my blood is probably purer than yours and at the end of the day they still look down on you and you know I've had this conversation with many , many a person and at the end of the day it's like really exhausting .

I can really , I really identify with what you said there .

What I identify as like I'm Mexican American . I apologize for not speaking Spanish , you know , like it's , it's wild , it really is . And then I realized , well , they come from a different country , so they're gonna , they going to say that's not our standard , but that's why I've told so many people I'm Californian . What does that mean ?

Like I was born and raised here , like I'm sorry , I don't . I don't know how to explain it .

And there's so many times I've heard you should hone in on your craft , right , but what is my craft ? My craft looks like being a chef . My craft is doing pastries . My craft is being a mom . I really enjoy those multiple tasks and it kind of develops me as a leader to say , okay , this is how , this is how we do it or this is how I do it .

One of my mentors , I was kind of overwhelmed one one time , and I mean I , I'm overwhelmed all the time , but this one time he said I asked my mentor . I said how do you do it ? Right , you're a dad , you have a family , you run , you know , a pretty large hospital property .

You do you travel for for the ACF , you're one of one of the leads , one of the national officers . There's just so many things that you , you're . How do you make time for your family . How do you prioritize this ? What's more important ? It's like , first of all , I'm a dad . You go to every single event , it doesn't matter what's happening .

Go to their events , make time for your kids , and then everything else will follow through . And I said , okay , I'll do that .

I think because I kept saying , oh , I want to do this , I want to do that , and I loved it , but I wasn't , you know , making time for my kids in the sense of like , oh , I softball , this one has a boxing , this one needs time alone with me , this one will come along for the ride . Okay , and make sure each individual child has their own time .

And then I kind of would fit in everything else . So I don't sleep much and I just continue to go , because that's just what kind of fuels me of being able to do so many different things and keep going . You know , set the goals and if I don't meet them , you just keep going for that goal and set something else .

You know it provides education , certification , competition , but where's the benefit in it ? Right , and everyone always asks that how is it going to help you ? Okay , but the point for me was like I didn't look like them , but I wanted to know what made them successful . Why do they continue to be a part of the ACF ?

Why do they , you know , pay the dues , like what's the purpose of it ? So I wanted , I wanted to say I'm a part of it because I don't fit in , like I'm not the norm , I'm , I'm red hair , red hair and brown skin . I guess , right , I'm not the normal chef , right , I'm a . But I also want to again using it to my advantage .

I wanted to see how are they becoming the directors of the food and beverage department ? How are they becoming national leaders and just bigger titles , like what are they doing ? Because I want to do that too . I never want to settle for just , I'm just a cook , I'm just a chef . For some people that works , but for me it doesn't .

And I , I'm using it , I'm using it to my advantage to really like , push me to learn from them , whether they teach me or I just hear in and listen and you know , having that confidence , even though they're not that great at I don't know , maybe maybe they can't do the science part of of of being a chef right , the , the molecular gastronomy , like all those

cool things some can , which I find it very amazing , but I I just want to see how do they do it . Is it a social game that I need to learn ? Is it cooking very well or is it a combination of things ? So I've used it as a tool to kind of gain not really status , but just I want to be able to develop as a leader .

I want to be able to continue to grow in this industry . But if I don't learn from those that kind of have made it or are already there , then who am I going to learn from ? I mean , I'll still fail . I still failed in doing a lot of things and probably said the wrong stuff , but I'm learning , but I'm learning .

I'm learning because it's funny that , like I just I just had to let people go . I just had to let someone go this week and I had to sit back and think , ok , how am I going to do it legally ? You know , I'm not just going to go off my feelings and say you know what ? This person and I can't take this no more .

They're getting on my nerves like , but they work very well , like , if they're great workers , well , I got to keep them . I can't . I can't do anything personally , it's only through business . So how do you do that ? You got to learn how to develop great leaders . So you need , you need to do it yourself .

So shifting the system to my advantage is kind of just what I've been doing the last like five to eight years and being a part of something that maybe I don't look like them , but I'm going to squeeze in there and sit right next to them and take notes because I want .

I want to be , you know , a national director for maybe a corporation or whatever it is .

They're they're absolutely phenomenal , they're great cooks , but every day , every single one of them's 10 , 15 minutes late , you know , and we make the schedule . We want them there on the line ready to work at that scheduled time . And I finally had enough and I started holding them accountable . And you know , it doesn't matter how good they are .

Sometimes you just got to put your foot down and really stick to it .

I definitely want the next generation to have a good foundation of taking time for themselves , balancing their work life schedule , but also having a good work ethic .

And that's been kind of like a struggle with some of the college students that are in culinary school For me not really convincing , but I want to be able to show them how I've done it and then continue to give back and say , okay , we've made mistakes . And then continue to give back and say , okay , we've made mistakes and just keep going .

We'll make less mistakes , fewer mistakes and just keep going stronger and build off of that . So leaving something behind would definitely be like the knowledge kind of just paving the road so that they know that there's a place for them . You know , you don't have to reinvent the wheel or create your own table .

I just squeeze in the table like scoot over , shove a button because I'm coming in . It doesn't matter , and I want people to know that it's okay because you're going to get pushed around anyways . So be happy with what you do and enjoy your . Enjoy your career , doesn't matter what it is , but there always be those that you know kind of will bring you down .

But they're bringing you down to a different level and you're going up there , they're not going up with you . So I just want to just keep it more positive , regardless of the status , the culture , that they can do it . You know , I wouldn't say anyone can do it because physically this is fricking hard , but you can do it .

You can do it , definitely you can do it . And as time goes on it gets harder to do it . And you can do it , definitely you can do it .

But it was so easy for him to pull me down and he said this is a lesson . He goes . You know , who you are with is going to determine how you go forward , because it's easier for somebody to pull you down than it is for you to pull them up . So be very selective in who you're trying to help in in your life .

And I thought that you know , I still remember that and and I think it's it fits when you're in leadership , because as as we get older and we offer knowledge through our experiences to somebody who's younger , not everybody is ready to receive it and you know you really gotta , you really gotta be selective , because the older you get , the energy you have to give

is just less . And when you get , when you select someone to mentor and they kind of stick it to you a little bit , you don't really recover as well and therefore you don't want to really mentor the next time when it's a good opportunity .

You know you spend so much time teaching them how to execute a dish perfectly and , like I said , we're perfectionists . So when we see something not going on like it pisses me off .

I'm going to ask that , I'm going to say , hey , so what is your message for the next generation ? Keep it to about 20 , on this one , keep it to about 20 seconds and it should be obviously from your own heart . But basically , give some instruction to somebody who's young , that might be listening to this , and just say , look , this is what you need to do .

You need to show up on time , you need to . You know , look at , look , look your supervisor in the eye . You know , show that you want to learn that kind of stuff , and then you know that'll be the , the segment out , you'll start to hear the music , and then we're going to talk about social media . You know , like , you know what's your social stuff ?

Like that , cool you there .