Hello , food Fam . This is the Walk Talk podcast where you will find the perfect blend of food fun and cooking knowledge . I'm your host , carl Fiatini . Welcome to the number one food podcast in the country . We are recording on-site at Ibis Images Studios , where food photography comes alive and I get to eat it First things first .
Last week it was story time with restaurant expert Krista Lepore . Everything from celebrity encounters to chefs to their relationships Front of the house , back of the house very interesting , check it out and be entertained . Go back and listen . I don't know about you , but I love feel-good stories and we have one for you today .
Yes , our guest this week , nikki Boyd , went from baker's apprentice to corporate executive pastry chef to recently becoming a finalist on the Food Network's Spring Baking Challenge . You know this was an uphill trek . Stay tuned . Pastry chef Nikki Boyd is on deck Chefs .
We've been using Metro hot boxes , shelving and even their mobile prep cart around the studio and we couldn't be happier . Thank you , aj and Brianna . If you're planning on reorganizing your kitchen well , life will be easier . Be sure to contact our friends at Metro . Your partner in organization and efficiency , jefferson so like .
Don't you appreciate where parts of the food industry is heading . I mean , 30 years ago it was very rare to have a female or a person of color running kitchens . Yesterday , chef Nikki and I spent about an hour on the phone , you know , just getting to know each other , building some rapport , and her story is one to be noticed .
I'm excited about this episode , super , super excited about this episode .
And I know .
Side note , I'm super excited also about what you're cooking today , and we have a guest in studio , chef Jason F Lin . He's cooking too . Team Bronzy , yeah , that's right . Nobody knows what you're talking about , only some people . What are you talking about ? They definitely do know . They listen to the show .
There's no listeners , we get no listeners every day .
What is no listeners every day ? What is that ? Tell everybody .
So what is it About ? Three weeks ago , about a month ago , we went to a competition in Hastings , florida . It's a bacon , cabbage , potato competition for the ACF , and it was sustainability and no lights , no electricity . Well , lights , yeah , no stove electrics , let's put it that way and there's no running water . So we had to come up with something and do it .
Uh , lance cook got uh silver , and then Jason and I got bronze , so we call ourselves team bronze . He says we're going to do this , we're going with that .
And I told you not to come home but here you are , You're here you know , yeah , all right so , but here you are . Yet you you're here , you know . Yeah , all right . So what do you ? And you know what ? It was a fun episode too . Let some people go back and listen to the episodes , man , like I don't know .
They're all good , I don't have to tell you , but all right . So listen , what are you cooking today ? Because you explained it to me and I'm ready .
Well , I mean listen . One of the things about florida is it really doesn't have an identity for cuisine , like if we always talked about it . If I say cheesesteak , people go Philly . If I talk about thin crust pizza , it's like New York or something else or like , maybe even like New Hampshire with Greek pizza , deep dish pizza , chicago or Detroit .
So there's no indigenous like food for Florida . But everyone calls a grouper ruben florida . So I did my own version of this . We did some latin spiced pan seared grouper . Uh , I did a togriyashi slaw coast law to go on it .
So let me go back the original grouper ruben swiss cheese , rye bread , thousand island dressing and a coast law seared , grilled or blackened or fried grouper . That's what you get locally . Uh , those are the choices .
So I wanted to take mine up a notch , so I did togarashi , which is seven spice japanese say that I don't know anymore if you're pronouncing right after vietnamese like I don't , you know what I mean he's , he's nodding his head .
I'm saying leach you are leachy like Lychee . Okay , wait , we already talked about that , because my neighbors that are from Vietnam called it .
Lychee , I have trust issues with you . Okay , I'm just saying , I'm putting it out there .
Well , you know I can't enunciate , that's fine . I can cook , though . You can throw down , definitely cook . That's why I gravitated to cooking . I didn't have to write or talk .
How you're becoming a professional podcaster is incredible to me , though .
Well , you know , when you have disabilities , you just keep on going . Keep on trucking , be determined to do something different with your life .
Challenge yourself . You've got to keep on cooking , and you know at the end of the day . Chef Jason did give it a nod .
I saw that the wheels of the bus just went off for jason no , john's going . Come on , get back on track . So the toriyashi is a really layered spice from japan . It's got black sesame , white sesame seed , some other different ingredients in there . Kick it up a little bit .
I was going to do cajun , but I found I realized that my cajun spice is in the studio , so that's why I to . It's on the shelf next to the refrigerator . When Pooch was here , he needed it . So then I had to switch with that . Then I did a key lime mayonnaise to go into it with a little agave to give it some sweetness to it .
And then I went with the Thousand Island dressing . I said , ah , we're doing mayonnaise ketchup , which is the mother sauce in North Carolina Mayonnaise and ketchup . And then there's their wickle pickles and then I chop that up , put it in there , some shallots to give it some spice , and then instead of using Swiss cheese I'm using Gruyere . So I can't wait .
I can't either . Yeah , and then steak fries .
Yes .
Yeah , look fries . You know what I like fries . Yes , yeah , Look fries . You know what I like fries . But to tell you the truth , at this stage of my life . I'm not wasting the space man .
I know .
You know , give me the protein .
I want to , so you don't want me to do pasta next week .
That's different , because in that case , that's the main player . Oh , okay , yeah , give me the main player . Is what I'm trying to say .
Well , I'm also going to do some dishes for John , because he gave me a list , so that's why I'm going to do some stuff for him , like chicken .
Like chicken fronches . Yeah , we're going to , definitely we're going to bring good bread , though We've got to sop up that .
You know who to go to for bread . I mean , I can do it , but we all know who's . Even jason knows who we need to get the bread from .
Yeah , amy of course you know she sent over our uh happy podcast , uh podcast day task text , which is nice . Yep , amy , we're shouting you out .
You know , I mean like uh between you and fiona , I don't know well , I gotta give a huge shout out real quick to my buddy , chris cuby . It's his birthday today , so happy birthday to cuby , who's up in connecticut working his butt off .
You know you should start doing like the uh , the restaurant version of the happy birthday songs you know no I'm kidding we're not doing that ever , god , no , um , all right , without , without further ado . I think I'm going to . Uh , I think I'm going to bring on the cafe .
part of the Cafe Con Leche group .
Yeah , I think we're going to bring Chef Nikki on Chef , are you there ?
Yeah , I'm here .
Welcome to the program .
Thank you .
So first of all let me just say congratulations on becoming a finalist on the Food Network show . That's awesome .
Thank you so much .
That's how we do it here . You know I mean it's kind of a cool thing . You know we're kind of a big deal , nikki . So you know you got to just kind of roll with it . Why don't you take I want you to take a minute and give the airplane view of who you are , what you do and how you got there .
Okay , so I'm Nikki Boyd . I am an executive pastry chef . I'm originally from New York , brooklyn , jamaican background .
I currently live in Atlanta and I started out like anyone else , trying to figure out my direction , where to go , what to do with my life , and at 30 , I decided I'm going to go to culinary school and see where that brings me and from there I just kind of worked my way around New York a little bit , jersey , moved to Florida in the middle of the pandemic ,
kind of got my stride . While I was there met my husband , who's also a chef , and we packed up and moved to Atlanta and here we are .
And your father was a chef too , right ?
Yes , my dad is also a chef up in Nantucket . Actually , my mom is a great home cook . She had all the great cookbooks , all of the new gadgets that came out for home cooks to try new things . My mom had it all , and my grandma wasn't much of a cook or a baker , but I kind of learned a little thing or two from her as well .
So a lot of my foundation is like from my family .
And it's . Which is amazing . The fact is , you're surrounded by chefs . You go to work , you're , it's the kitchen life . You go home , you're married to it . Yeah , it's , uh . I can't escape it . It's well , and why should you uh , especially when , clearly , you know what you're doing , right ? I mean yeah , yeah , yeah I'd like to think so .
I have to remind people that often , like hey , I kind of know what I'm doing , but yeah yeah , yeah , but you were sort of a drifter in the beginning .
You know , it was only what , maybe 10 years that you've been in the , actually been in the business yeah , pretty much Right . So you were trying to find yourself and one day you said , man , I should cook . And then you went to the community . You went to um uh .
You went to uh the the community uh college over there in in Jersey , correct , yes , and you said I'm going to do this Now you were . Were you a baker's apprentice before or after culinary school ?
After so , before culinary school , and I remember exactly the last job I had before going to culinary school . After so , before culinary school , and I remember exactly the last job I had before going to culinary school I was a dishwasher . It was like a little kitchen inside of a school and I was a dishwasher there .
I worked under another Black woman chef and I think that's where I got my inspiration to really take that step . And just seeing how she like commanded the kitchen and just worked with grace , I was just like huh , I kind of like that . So after being that dishwasher I was like all right , I'm going to enroll into culinary school .
And then after I graduated , or before I graduated is when I started my apprenticeship .
And apprenticeship you're . You're basically in there , just you're learning , you're not . That's not even that's apprenticeship . You're not getting paid right .
No , you can get paid , but no , you . Generally it's like a stage you don't get paid , yeah , so wow .
And then , instead of going in you know the savory route , you decided pastry . How come Baking decided pastry ?
How come baking and pastry ? I think when I , while I was in culinary school and saw like the different types of styles of baking , I was thinking more of an entrepreneur , like what do I want to do for myself that can make me money if I'm like baking and I did like . While I was in culinary school I did start doing like bake sales kind of .
Or would bake for my church and do cupcakes and little mini cakes for people and I would do it for free , just to kind of get my , get my foot in the door . And I did like savory . But I just figured in my mind , not knowing much about like the culinary world .
In my mind I was just like , oh , I can start a business baking cupcakes , rather than how would I start a business as a savory chef ?
Right . And what's amazing to me is because I , 10 years , is just like a like , really just a blip on the screen and to go from apprentice to you know regional , you know pastry chef for a restaurant group , a sizable restaurant group is pretty amazing to me .
Not to mention , you know , you start getting into the accolades with you know magazine articles and moving into food network sort of status . I mean that's pretty amazing . What , what actually happened ? What was it that occurred that brought it from ham ? I'm in the kitchen over here and all of a sudden , bam , I got .
I got the promotion and all of a sudden , bam , I'm on the Food Network . How did that ? What ? What went down ? How did that go ?
And so after my apprenticeships and two of them were in bakeries so I was like , okay , bakery seemed easy , early mornings , I have the afternoon to myself , like it was fun . But then it got kind of boring . So after my last bakery job I was like , okay , let me try out a restaurant now .
I got a job as a pastry cook at a restaurant in Jersey City and I loved it . I loved the detail that got put into plating a dessert or being able to come up with so many different styles of desserts and taking something simple and elevating it . I love that aspect . So from there I kind of just latched on to whoever I could to learn more .
And just every restaurant I worked in after that it was just like , okay , who's the best person in this restaurant aside from my pastry chef ? Like who's the best that I can latch on to learn from them ? And then keep going . And I kind of just did that for like , like my whole career .
And then now I had a goal too , like I've always had goals where I'm like , hey , this is what I eventually want to do , or this year , this is the goal I'm setting for myself .
And while I was in Jacksonville I was like how cool would it be to be a corporate pastry chef , so where I'm running four or five or multiple locations , different cuisines , and kind of just pushing myself like outside of my own limits , because obviously I'm Jamaican so I have like we have a certain style of cooking and baking .
Then now here I am a pastry chef for a Japanese restaurant , two Italian restaurants , a steakhouse . So it's like just doing something that I know would push me past what I think I know and just keep learning . And that's how I got to where I'm at now .
That's so cool and you know part of our conversation . Yesterday we were on the phone for about an hour and it you know I don't know that we're going to take it exactly there , but it got pretty hot . So obviously you're a female and you know African-American . Coming up in this industry isn't easy and we all recognize that .
And the fact is you blew it up Like you didn't just like , hey , I'm going to make a go of it . And here I am . No , no , no , no , no . You said , hey , I know X , but now I'm going to learn Y , z , a , b , c , d through the whole letter chain . So now you're learning it all in your category in pastry and baking .
That's fantastic , but how challenging was that ? Oh , of course You're very welcome . How challenging was it in your experience , from the beginning to where you are now ?
Um , so it came with a lot of challenges . Like I wouldn't say that you know me being female or my skin color is what made the challenges happen , but , um , it definitely played a part . And once I got into a position or a role that played a part in when I was in culinary school , I was like learning next to people who were fresh out of high school .
So , you know , the opportunities for them were different than they were for me , because at the time , like I lived alone , I had to pay rent , I had to pay bills , I had to take care of myself , as opposed to these 17 , 18 year olds who live with their mom and can go like work , work for pennies , work for like $5 an hour , $10 an hour , whatever the
minimum wage was back then , whereas me I'm like , okay , I can't do that . Even though these are the top restaurants in the city , I can't work for pennies . I need to work to be able to survive and live .
So it was hard to go into a kitchen where all of the people were younger than me , and sometimes my boss was younger than me , and I'm just like , all right , well , I'm here to learn , so teach me whatever you can teach me .
But then , as I got further in my career , is when all of the other obstacles came , where it's just like oh well , you don't know anything because you didn't work here or you didn't go to this school or you're .
No one ever came out and said I'm old , but you know , they treat you that way , where it's just like I don't know , but it's like I feel like I thought it would get easier the further I got and I feel like it kind of got harder because obviously , when you're at a lower level , people treat you like you're at a lower level .
But then when you , once you get up to a higher level or in a better role , you would think they start treating you better or respecting you more and they still treat you like you're a lower level person . So I think that's where , like , the obstacles and the hardships came in , where I'm just like , oh damn , okay , cool .
And I think that's where my drive also came from , where it's just like all right , well , since you want to treat me like this , I'm going to show you that I'm better than you . And it's not even just like a I'm cocky kind of situation . It's like , no , I worked my butt off to get to where I am .
So I'm going to demand respect without even saying it , like my resume is going to speak for itself , like you're going to see that even if you're a savory cook , I can cook better than you , you know . So I had to like really push myself to that point of no one's going to give me respect .
I have to , like I have to respect myself enough , but I also have to demand it in how I work .
Yeah , it's funny , excuse me , I know it's funny because last week we were talking to somebody . We're talking to the front of the house and the back of the house , the wall . Not many people talk about the wall within the kitchen . How do you balance the savory side and the pastry side when you're in your restaurants like ?
there's . There's a different mindset .
Those cooks are totally different than pastry cooks absolutely like in every restaurant .
It's a universal thing that in every restaurant I've ever worked in , pastry was the least respected . They would . They would eat our prep like everyone would eat our prep and think it was OK . They would use our station if we're not there and leave it dirty or just a whole bunch of things .
That would happen where , and I think that's where my people call it me being aggressive . That would happen where , and I think that's where my people call it me being aggressive and I don't know how to take that .
But this is where , like , like right now I have about five , five employees at all the locations I work at and I have to keep beating into their head . Like , listen , guys , like , if you don't demand respect from these people , they're going to walk over you . They're going to come to your station and just take things without asking you .
They're going to , like , talk to you crazy . They're going to eat your prep . They're going to do all the things because to everyone else , pastry is kind of like at the bottom of the food chain where , honestly , we are not .
We are the last people that the guests experience , we're the last meal they have and we make the lasting impression , aside from the server . So it's like we should be like more respected than we are .
So I think what I started doing was just like , like I said , like demanding that respect , like letting them know , like listen , at the end of the day , I can do your job , but you can't do mine , so this is where we're not the same and that's like where I was going with that , because a lot of times you see what , like we talk about .
when a restaurant loses sales , the first thing to go is marketing . What's the second department to go , like ?
pastry . Pastry , oh yeah , when I was doing rid of the pastry chef and they'll teach one of the line cooks how to plate a dessert , or they'll even like they'll .
They'll get rid of the entire dessert um the entire pastry department and they'll start buying desserts and have a line cook plate it so I was at the american culinary federation I don't remember where we were at a national convention and duff was on stage and we were asking questions and I asked the question .
There's two , what I feel there are two , um , lost art forms , or one that's losing and one that we've lost . One is butchering and the other one is pastry chefs . And he looked at me like I was crazy .
But think about this you just said , if you have , sales are down , the pastry chef goes , then where do they turn to when the pastry chef goes and they can't have the consistency , yeah , they buy it , they buy it and then do it .
So the buying aspect of it they're looking at it the ROI , it's a lot easier to go to your broadliner and go hey , just give me four of these chocolate cakes , seven of those , and whatever it is , and that's all it is .
I mean my opinion , and I could be wrong on this , but it seems to me pastry and baking it's more science than you know .
A hundred percent .
Yeah , yeah . So if you're looking at it from that perspective , there should be equal respect or more . You know they're like alchemists in there . You know what I mean . You know why , exactly , and .
I'll tell you why because I love both . No-transcript you are wired differently than anything that you can possibly think of .
Well , you know , when you look at it , though you you're talking about , I can see where you would , where you would buy from your supplier if you had a giant banquet , or you know there's .
I see that there's areas , applications , where you would want to do that right I'm sorry , I'm laughing because I wish that happened to me when they sold tiramisu for 600 people , right , no , but then I had to make it yes , that's a party right there , but but when you're talking , when you're talking about a restaurant , you know , or just like your your standard
size , uh , eatery man , make , make him make it because it tastes better .
Like you can't compare . You know , when you have a good , when you have a good pastry chef , you can't compare quality to something that you're going to bring in from your broadliner like , give me a break .
Like you can't do that and I'll be honest with you , my favorite chef's table episodes are the ones about pastry and Jody Rocha , the Rocha brothers . There's no other . There's no , he see , there's no other . He's one of the best pastry chefs in the world .
And it like so when we we've done a lot of video , I'd walk and talk media , you know , or different series and everything . And the best , some of the best footage is pastry . It's beautiful Shows like the colors that can't like with with your video , your camera doesn't get better .
I look at John . Tell them what John said when we were looking at the rack catalog .
Well , I didn't , I didn't catch it .
You want to say it . He said we were looking at something , I was looking at a square plate , and then they had this round the dessert had squares and they had squared it off , but one was like a log , like cylinder , cylinder , and he goes that's plate would be great with Robert's desserts .
Oh yeah .
But that's like the , the intricacies , like that's what I mean . Pastry is in a different wavelength , like all chefs are wired differently . The guys like Jody Rocha , like Stefan Raymer from Walt Disney , henri from the Chocolate Guy , those guys are completely on another level than most people , than most people .
So what I think about sorry , what I think about pastry must be going around . It's like listen , I have an excuse , I'm an old Jewish guy .
I'm like I'm looking around . I'm like , do I have to edit this today ? Like what ?
the hell is going on here .
Oh my God , I feel like we're in a nursing home . Do you need some water ?
No , it's not water . It's not water , it's called allergies .
It's summer in Florida . It's called nursing home is the next stop . That's what it's called .
That's what my doctor said yesterday or two days ago .
Get back on track .
So , anyways , pastry is where the different mindset is , but when you have somebody that can bind the two of them . So do you do savory , chef , or no ?
I used to . I don't care to work the line ever and I've done it . Actually , one of my jobs I wanted to try out a country club because I'm like all right , I've worked in restaurants , I'm tired of working service , tired of getting off at midnight .
So I worked at a country club in Jacksonville and they were being bought and they were like okay , we don't want a pastry chef . So you either work savory or you have to find a new job . And I was like I am not working savory . And in between me , finding a new job , I had to .
So I had to learn saute , I had to butcher meat , I had to break down chickens and all that and it's like all right , cool , it's not a terrible thing . But I do take my pastry mentality and bring it to savory where it's like I can make you a dish that might look like a dessert , but it's not , it's something savory .
But it's also the way my mind works with flavors . Like I incorporate a lot of savory into my desserts . So if I'm making something savory , I'll incorporate something sweet or what you think would be sweet , but I'll like add a different twist to it that you like it'll like it'll be a mind boggler , like you'll eat it .
You'll be like , wow , what am I even freaking eating , you know ? But yeah , no , I'm good on savory like my husband's a no , I'm good on savory Like my husband's a savory chef . So I'm good on all of that . Like we , we compare ideas , we brainstorm together , but I think I'm good on all of that .
What about , um , the show itself , what I did recognize that episode of the spring , uh , spring breaking championship . Those were some really good competitors . The spring , uh , spring breaking championship , those were some really good competitors . Oh , absolutely , I mean like I , I had alex , number one . I there's every time .
I saw alex , up until where things started going a little bit south for him , and then I was like okay , what about steven ? And then what about robert ? And I'm like there's nikki , there's nikki in the background , all you heard was nikki , your favorite profiles nikki , your favorite , and that's all we heard , so talk about some of that .
And that's how I felt about it too . Like I remember in the very first episode , after seeing how everyone baked , cause I love French , french techniques and French cuisine . So when I met Alex and started seeing how he bakes like he's old school French and I was like , yep , he's my biggest competition , like I didn't see anyone else .
It was like the entire time . It was like every time they asked me who do you think your biggest competition is ? Alex , like everyone was great , but I know , because I know my style and what I like to do and what I'm pushing myself to do , I'm pushing myself to do . I'm like Alex is it ? And I want to , like I learned a lot from Alex .
Like he's amazing and he was such a good competitor where it's just like hey , alex , do you have a recipe for this ? And he's like sure , you know . So , yeah , like , yeah , he was it . Like that's why I was surprised that I even made it as far as I did , but also made it as far as to have to do a bake-off with him and beat him out .
I was just like what is life right now ?
In fact , it was tiramisu that you beat him out on .
I'm so sick of freaking tiramisu . You know what ? I'm so sick of tiramisu .
Hold on a second , I am too . Even though it's delicious , I'm sick of eating it . I've had it all my life , you know , and yeah , but wait a minute , I'm talking about homemade stuff . I'm not talking about you know , I'm talking about homemade . Awesome , delicious tiramisu .
I don't want to eat it anymore no , but I was going to say is remember when we're in dallas for the world food championship and the family um , russell's mom made that tiramisu that deconst , deconstructed tiramisu . That was one of the best tiramisu's .
I've ever eaten . Yeah , yeah , I recognize the deliciousness of it . I just don't want it anymore . I don't want cannolis anymore .
Oh my God , If my friend Don Rizzo heard that , he would just literally you tell Rizzo .
Donnie Rizzo . You tell Rizzo that I said that I'm tired of cannolis and I'm tired of tiramisu and you're not going to change my mind , he'll eat yours , trust me . Don't you stay away from my food . I don't like either .
I don't like Italian food at all . Sorry , sorry guys , I'm not a fan .
She's more into ackee and saltfish and bimmy .
Wait a minute , wait a minute , slow down , nicky , nicky , nicky , nicky . I thought we were pals . Hello , so listen . By the way , my grandmother's oxtail would compete with your oxtail . No , no , no oh yeah , I'm telling you right now .
No , I won't say my oxtail , but I don't think your grandmas can compare to my mom's or my dad's .
My grandmother's oxtail . I'm sorry Listen , everybody who was making oxtail were poor . And guess what ?
they all taste .
They all taste good and my grandma's was fantastic let me tell you something .
I'm not making oxtail now because it's not well , now , no , no , now it's another .
Now it's another story , but I'll tell you .
if you want really good oxtail , you have to go to nantucket , go to stubbies and my dad is there whipping some up If you want some good oxtail that's where you can go .
When you come down back to Miami you can go over to my wife's uncle Alfred . He's the chef over in an Asian restaurant and he has the best Jamaican oxtail probably I've ever had Hands down .
That's why I knew about Aki and saltfish . This sounds like a lot of challenges going on here . That's real all right , let's bring it back . Let's bring it back to the food network . So that was what in a ? So in your life , do you , do you rank or rate this food network experience ? Um , is it in the top tier , was it ? It just like ?
Okay for you , like what ? What was that about ?
It was definitely top tier , like it was definitely one of those things where , aside from all of the craziness that happened around it , I can look back and really be like wow , like I accomplished something that I set my mind to , and it's not just a per , like yes , it's a personal goal , but it's a goal that I was able to showcase on , literally on national
TV , you know . So it's definitely one of those things where I can like be like I was on food network . You know a lot of people can't say that .
Talk about like getting in from beating Alex and the social social media aspect of it , because I saw some stuff going around on social media . I mean there's got to be tons of drama this because it got bad , where one of the judges had to come out and actually say yeah , it got , it got rough .
Um , I you know , I think people they watch from this , this view , where it's like , oh well , alex was better the entire season and now they pretty much made it seem like the network made me beat Alex and it's like , no , if you pay attention and if all these people who had so much to say were true fans , they would know from way back when , when the
freaking show started , that each bake is a new bake . So no one's comparing , hey . So alex did great this entire season , but he had one bad bake . Let's make him win rather than . Or nikki was kind of , you know , up and down and boom , here it is . How did she beat alex ? It's it's , every single bake is a different bake .
So for us , going into that bake off , it's just like . Like I didn't know where my mind was . I just knew I was there for a reason . I know I'm like I'm gonna do what I've been doing . I'm gonna do what I do every day in my kitchen and that's put out good desserts . Make something that is me putting myself on a plate , and that's what I did .
Make something that is me putting myself on a plate , and that's what I did . You know , like alex is very traditional . I'm very untraditional , so you know it's like , okay , here's a key lime pie , cool , you're gonna get a key lime pavlova , because I'm gonna like that's how I bake , that's my style , you know .
So , getting to that point and beating him , it was like I was shocked . He was , he was fine with it . We hugged it out , we talked it out , all that . He's just like . You deserve this . The internet took it to a whole different level . Alex was better than Nikki . Nikki shouldn't have won , nikki only won because she's Black and that's what from .
And I know I kind of didn't pay too much attention to the comments that were being made even before we got to that point . I think at one point , when we were top five and the Food Network posted our picture on their page , I had someone comment like oh , I want any of those people to win except Nikki . She looks ignorant .
And it's like you're judging me based off of what you see on TV , which I don't know what people saw to think I was ignorant , to think I was mean . There were people that said I was a bitch to Robert and it's like how , how are you getting that from a few clips that you see every now and then . So I think people just go in with a bias .
It's a good thing and a bad thing . You have people that go in with a bias , like , okay , I'm a brown person , I I'm gonna root for the person that is brown because they're a good representation of me .
So then on the flip side , on the negative side , you have the people who do the same thing , where it's like I'm definitely not rooting for this person because she's black . So it's . It's the sad reality and the things that came from it the , the comments .
People literally like put these things as their post on social media , to the point where , like I was upset because I'm just like in a moment where I make it to the finale , the top three , and I should be celebrating , I'm here like blocking people from trying to send me messages , like hate messages , or blocking comments , or like just kind of speak in my mind
without directly coming at these folks , because , at the end of the day , like they don't deserve my explanation , but still I need , like I wanted to express how I was feeling about it yeah , but it wasn't just the two , you just wasn't just you , it was also the other two also had it too .
They was . It was like a whole setup for it . From what I understand because that's what the judge said you got there because , based upon what you produced and how you produced it , and then went back to the rules , yeah , nikki , yesterday we talked a little bit about this and you said it right .
You know , in competitions , in life and whatever , get judged by what you put out . Yeah , yeah , and I feel like you're right on the money there , there's going to be ignorant people from every side , from every color , from every religion , from every everything .
And you know , unfortunately now , with the advent of smartphones and social media , all of these people have a voice and and or an outlet , I should say , to voice some sometimes very , you know , um , very ridiculous or insulting opinions , and that's what we deal with .
I mean , I do , and I told you this too yesterday I scour the comment sections constantly , all over , because I just kind of want to get a feel for what people think . Now , the only challenge is you never know , like , if these are . You don't even know what's real anymore . If these are bots , if it's made , you know like , is it paid for ?
Like nobody knows anything . Social media is like a black hole . You know what I mean . It just sucks up everything Like galaxies . You don't even . It's like galaxies , you don't even it's .
And it's like like we talked about yesterday . You know we can think that , okay , it's social media , block it out , it's just bots , it's fake , it's whatever . But the reality is a lot of what the a lot of the things that were being said are things that I've either either heard from other people in person or have experienced .
You know , like I told you yesterday , like I had a white chef tell me he didn't think that I had two college degrees because he had none , pretty much insinuating like , hey , because I don't have it as a white man , then you shouldn't have it . And I've had that . And I read between the lines .
Sometimes I'm way off , sometimes I'm on point , because it's like when you hear it enough , it's just like , well damn , why can't I have anything Like I had . I've been to Nantucket multiple times . I love Nantucket and we all know Nantucket is not for not for cheap , broke people .
So because my dad lives there , I used to visit it a lot and I remember I brought back a bottle of wine from the vineyards up there . I brought back a bottle of wine for one of my chefs and he literally looked at me and was like how have you gone to Nantucket and I have not been yet . I'm like what do you mean ?
Like my dad lives there , I hang out there every summer , like , and in that moment I was kind of like naive to what he was saying , but it was just like oh okay , now I get it Like .
So it's a thing that happens often and , like I said , we can look at what is said on the internet and kind of just like be like oh no , maybe it was just bots , it's fake , it's not real , it's just internet trolls . But it's the reality that the things that were said on the internet is what people think or even say out of their mouth in person .
It's stupid , the whole thing is stupid .
Oh , absolutely .
You know , because the truth is we all have to share and I'm keeping it culinary too right now . We all have to share , and I'm keeping it culinary too right now .
But we all have to share in this thing , gosh , any saute , whatever , being a server , your knucklehead host or hostess , like whoever , everybody has to kind of , we all live together and we all have to work together and we all have to get along .
But you know , I want to take this back to what I said in the opening monologue , because it's a feel good story . The reality is you , you , you have beaten odd , odd over odd . You , you , you have beaten odd , odd over odd , over odd over odd . You , you've come a long way and you know , I remember 30 years ago how the kitchen was .
You know I was , I was young , um , I was more than 30 years now . Golly man , I hate doing math , I hate math . So obviously that's why I was laughing . Yeah , that's where you're laughing .
So you're thinking you're in your 20s or 30s and you're not .
When I was 15 is when I started as a busboy or whatever , 35 years ago . Yeah , shut up , yeah , but I remember , just from back then and being in the business , I remember how it was and I remember you didn't see female chefs , you didn't see persons chefs , you didn't see persons of color as chefs . In fact , most of the kitchens were Caucasian-ish .
You know , they were Male-dominated , yeah , male-dominated . So , but now you go , any kitchen you go to today is very diverse , you know , and you can say you know , and spirits , you know cocktails and whatnot . All of these things bring people together and I think we've come such a long way and I'm thrilled that of where we are today .
I mean , it's not perfect , nothing's ever going to be perfect but man , we've really come a long way . So this is a . This is in spite of the , in spite of the negativity that , nikki , that you dealt with on the show over there . Man , it's so awesome and it is positive . So congratulations again on that .
Thank you .
You know I'll go back to , and I have this saying , and Jason's going to shake his head when he hears it Racism is the religion of the ignorant bottom line . If we all teach other about our cultures and our differences , then there is none and we don't have to fear it . We break down barriers and the way to do that is at a table in community .
When you do it because you've done it all your life , battling it , as you were stating , it's not just on the show , you just were . You . I didn't see it , I was naive to it , but then you've gone through it , you .
Some of the greatest stories you hear about people , the greatest chefs , is the trials and tribulations that they did to get to where they're at and that you've . Yeah , so congrats , thank you .
I am , especially with something I said yesterday was um , like one thing I always look at is like how does me and I said this uh , what's your name , carl , sorry , um , I said , I said how .
Like one thing I always look at whenever , especially when I'm like in a situation like where people are judging me based off how I look , or am I qualified or do I belong in the room , because you know they are in the room too like one thing I look at is how does me being me stop anyone from being them ?
Like how does me being like awesome , you know , because that's what I , that's what I present . Like I walk into a room like I own it and it's not to be cocky , but it's to say like hey , I'm here , you know , like my presence is here .
Like I walk in and with like such poison grace to where it's , just like I'm going to walk into every room like I belong there , because I know there's people looking at me like I don't .
So I always wonder , like , how does me being like overly zealous about what I do , me being , you know , passionate about my work , me being passionate about being a strong black woman how does that stop anyone from being them , you know . So it's it's it's sad , it's sad , but , like we said , it's positive . You know , I , I look at a lot of .
I think I can .
I can , I think I can lay down a little bit of an answer to that , because obviously , yeah , there's ignorant people who do look at you , know genders and colors and all that stuff , but I think universally there's a lot of people who , when you do have passion and positivity and that means you have confidence , they automatically hate you , no matter who you are ,
because they don't .
Insecurities in themselves Exactly .
They can't process the fact that they are lower than you and that doesn't matter . It doesn't matter who you are , where you come from . If you possess those traits , they look at you and they hate you . Now they may not outright hate you , but secretly they do , and I think that's a big part of it .
What was the ? What was the winning like a reward for those part of it ? What was the winning reward for those , steve , and who won ? What was the prize ?
For winning the show $25,000 .
So I'm going to say I watched the Great British Baking Show . It's great . There is no prize except a dish and I get to be the baker for that season , so there's no monetary amount . What I was surprised about with your episode specifically with a $25,000 reward on the line right , our award on the line .
You guys got along so great Was that like that was not acted out . That was you guys just like you bonded correct .
Yeah , we , we all definitely bonded on , like cause we were there for so long , we were there for so long , having to see each other all the time , like so we had . We had no choice and like I'm an introvert , I I'm a hermit all I need is a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and a good tv show . Leave me alone . I will be locked in my room .
And for the first couple days we were filming , I literally did that while everyone was going out and hanging out and getting to know each other . I was like nope , I don't want to know anyone , I'm here for a purpose and that's it . But then , as I started talking to everyone , we started like sharing our work , stories and things like that .
We started like developing this friendship where we are still friends , like we all still talk . But yeah , it was all real , like it's . At the end of the day , it was just like all right , we know we're here for a reason , we know we're competing , um , somebody has to win .
So it is what it is the show producers probably hated the fact that you all got along . You know they know , they loved it , do they really ? Because usually they , they look for the , they look for that , that , um , that angle .
You know to push some shows yeah , a lot of shows do yeah yeah .
But yeah , even if you look at like some of the previous seasons , like a lot of them got along as well , like a lot of them like if they're in each other's cities , they'll go hang out and things like like they like I used to look at it like that too , like how are they friends ?
Like they're supposed to be competing for money , but then I got into it and it's like okay , like I see how I I thought we were friends until you hit me with it .
You don't like the italian food thing like I . I was . I forgot your name . I said I didn't like italian food .
I ain't saying I don't like italian people . Oh , I'm just not . I'm not a fan of , I'm not a fan of Italian food . I'm more of a rice person , so I like Asian food , I love curries , I love anything with a sauce that the rice soaks up , and I guess this is for me , being the islander .
But I love anything with rice and you put a meat or something with the sauce on top and it's just spicy , sweet , all that . That's what I like , so nothing against it's just flavor , sweet , all that .
That's what I like , so nothing against . It's just flavor . The flavors are different . Man , scotch bonnets bring a whole nother flavor , bro , I'm out of here Exactly . I can't even do that for them . I can't bring scotch bonnet sauce in here because they don't think they can handle it . What are you talking about ?
That one couldn't , he can't I can't talking about I have guava and cucumber in mind bro , bring it on all right , I got the plants popping them off , so I'll bring it . What am I afraid of you ? Good to get , bring it , you just want to eat ?
yeah , feed me , damn . What are we talking about , oh ?
I have a question for you , since you're a baker and you're jican Cassava pudding . Can you make cassava pudding ?
I can .
I need that recipe on the fly . That is like the dopest stuff . No , no , no .
Forget the recipe on the fly . She's got to come here and make it . Okay , get her butt down here , then she's in Atlanta . It's not even that far , yeah it's fine , it's Less than that .
It's like six hours to South Carolina , Nikki you going to come down and cook or bake Sure ?
Or bring some cassava pudding , or bring cassava Well , yeah , bring the pudding . But then we're going to do some real beautiful colorful .
You have no idea about the cassava . It will change your life . It's that good .
I love cassava pudding .
I'm not down for any more life changes , man , you know what I mean . Like I just I'm looking for some smooth sailing . You know what I mean ?
like that's what I'm looking for at this stage , you know , oh yeah oh , really yeah yeah , I'm tired of like christopher cross now instead of food fighters .
Yeah no , always food fighters , man . But you know , we'll do a little crisscross , christopher cross as well . You know a little sailing awayailing away to where I'm going . Oh my God , take me away . Nikki Chef , what's next for you ?
I don't know . I feel like I've reached an area and a stage in my life where I'm content Whatever comes next , like comes next . Like I've reached the parts of my goals where I was just like I'm like all right , this is what I want to do , this is what I want to achieve , this is what I want to accomplish , like little things too .
I remember when I moved to Atlanta , I was like I want to be an eater . I didn't do anything special to be an eater other than just exist and boom . Like they reached out to me like hey , we would like to do an article on you , and I'm just like wow , so I think I've reached where I've wanted to go .
Now , anything else that comes by is just a bonus and I'm excited to see what else falls in my lap or what else knocks on my door or anything . I'm , I'm , I'm open . How does ? Yeah , I don't know what's next . How does that ?
the win , or how does it being on the , the network and the show , how has that affected the life at home , the dynamic , anything like ? How does he handle the like ?
uh , the pr for you he loves it like my husband like . So the way we met husband . Like so the way we met . There's a short story . The way we met was when I moved to Jacksonville , florida . He was , um , he was one of the chefs at one of the restaurants I applied for and he hired me .
We never worked together , we we didn't date and work together or anything Like . He hired me . By the time I started working he was already gone from that job . He moved on to something else and we stayed in contact and started dating . Ever since then , he always so . Anywhere we went anywhere he met people .
He's like this is the best pastry chef in Jacksonville and he always like just put my name out there , put my name in rooms that I wasn't in . So he like , from day one he saw the potential in me and saw that I would do great things .
So now that we're actually living it like he's just sitting in it and just smiling like good , I'm finally happy that people can see in you what I saw day one when I hired you .
So and I put him on too like he's he's at a point in his career where he's just like I don't need any of that , I don't need any accolades , I don't need to be recognized Cause I did my , I did my part , I paid my dues . I'm good , I just want to cook .
But every now and then , like if someone says hey , do you have anyone you want to recommend for an article or for a story or whatever I'd definitely throw his name in there , because we've got to win together .
The food scene in Jacksonville . St Aug Augustine is pretty strong . It's a super foodie town , is it St Augustine is ? Did I miss something ?
Jacksonville is a little less .
Jacksonville has some areas . It's South Atlanta .
They're getting there .
St Augustine Is a foodie town and I was shocked at that too . I started going up to St Augustine a few years back and started to Get to know Some of the local chefs Over there and it's pretty serious . It's like the community , the people who actually live there . It's a real foodie town .
There's actually a baker up there . She was on the the dr zeus bake off and she's been oh , rebecca reed , yes rebecca , thank you , I couldn't remember that is my home , so funny story .
She's the one that threw my name at the people at Food Network for them to reach out to me for the show .
She told me that story because I was telling her about how we had Robert on the podcast when I was in Hastings where we talked about bronzy team bronzy . That's where I met her . She was actually doing bacon like a dessert but it was savory .
She was the only one doing a dessert with bacon , making it savory Popcorn and all this Like it was a trail mix , but it was really good and everyone else was doing something with it . It was a savory dish and she's just a . What's her name ? Rebecca . We need to get her on the show . She wants to come on the show .
She's been on several cooking championships , yes .
She champions , she . Um , she won chop sweets a while back and then she was a finalist on the dr seuss show . But yeah , she and I are really good friends like we . Every now and then we'll text , but we're both like super busy so we keep missing each other .
But yeah , that's my girl nikki , that tell me the truth , though she's got the goods she can throw down , oh absolutely dude .
Yes you , this dr zeus was no . Like they had to make worlds . Dr zeus themed stuff and they had . There was three competitors per each team . One was a baker , one was a sugar person , the other one yeah , god , it was , and these guys had to work and they just met that day . It wasn't like they picked them and they were like okay you three .
Exactly you were , it's like taking cafe con leche and adding a sugar in it . You know that kind of's . You'd have no idea what you were doing with it . But she , she's really talented , really talented . Like I said you put savory and a pastry chef together as one , you're not gonna there . There's no stopping that person . There's just so .
The flavor profiles they come up with is just so deep , so complex . It's ridiculous , and that's one of the reasons why I wanted to get into pastry myself , because having that science behind the flavor and how the reactions go and then some of the things you can do in there mind-blowing I think you should get into pastry . No you want me to bake for you ?
Yeah , that's exactly what I want .
No , Nikki , did you just hear what I said ? He just wants me to bake for him .
Yeah for the show . To bake for him . Yeah For him . That's for the show .
For him , that's the best practice Bake for someone you know and they'll be brutally honest with you . Like you got to do it .
See , Nikki . See , you redeemed yourself , Nikki .
Oh wow , we're back .
We are back .
Yeah , but I can't do any Italian stuff , sorry , whatever .
Nikki , won't let me Listen . I'm not going to go to you for Italian stuff .
Yeah , and you know the Cuban stuff .
You can go to your mother-in-law , that's right , I don't need to worry about this .
By the way , did you tell her that the flan was really good ?
I did and you know . By the way , john , the entire family was blown away by the pictures , the photography of the flan .
Amazing .
Yeah , I don't know if nikki knew that we had a battle , flan we had .
It was really a battle , yeah , like a battle of flan royale .
Nobody , because it was so different , I did a smoked flan . No , no , no , wait , a minute , hold on time out , wait , nikki , wait , stop , stop , stop , stop , everybody stop . Let's get this correct . My mother-in-law , an old Cuban woman , made a traditional flan and it was fantastic , as usual . As per usual .
By the way , she doesn't listen to the show .
No , but Jeff , he decided to do something really funky and he did a smoked flan . Now , it was not like a flan at all , but it was effing amazing . It was really delicious but it was not flan . So did you know to say who won the flan ? Like no , my mother-in-law did .
of course she did it was a rule , though it depends on the rules true ?
well , that's true too . Look at the end of the day , you're going to have to come to the table with a traditional flan . If you want to . I can't because I'm not traditional . See , that's what I'm saying .
Here's the reason why I wasn't born and raised in a Cuban household . I don't have the traditions of it . So when you're talking about it , I don't want to . I don't want to do an injustice to a cuisine . I'll take bits and pieces and make it my own cuisine , as in smoked flan , and then I . That's why I asked robert for his flan recipe .
I have a flan recipe , but my recipe didn't have cream cheese , and so I wanted to take it to the next level . I will never bastardize another cuisine . I can't . I want to show respect to it as much as I can , and I just shut him up . I did I don't have to say that Right there , I don't see it Mic drop . Somebody call him .
Honestly , I think I would have smoked something too . That sounds like it's up my alley .
Like I would have definitely pulled out the smoking gun and smoked a flan . I actually froze the cream .
Here's what I did I actually ? Froze the cream cheese and literally threw it on the smoker and let it smoke , what yep huh .
Okay , nikki , I'm not . I'm not lying to you when I tell you that it was delicious I didn't like it because you're , you're judging . No , you're a weird , you're you're self-deprecating . No , no , it's not self-deprecating .
It's because what I didn't like about it had a shell that was too thick on the on the top of it , the dome . I wanted something that had that crunch to it , like almost brulee not , but there was crunch , I know , but it was just too , you know , and I had salted caramel too on it .
That's what I did you see what I'm , you see what I gotta do here , you know , do here . I have to roll up a newspaper , hit him on the nose and say you lost .
But now here I am with a towel and I'm wiping his face and saying no , it was delicious man . Version 3.0 .
Man golly , I tell you what .
Version 3.0 .
Where's my newspaper ?
I've got to do it again . I want to perfect it the way that I want it . All I've got to do it again .
I want to perfect it the way that I want it . All right enough . Enough Silence . All right , listen . All right , nick chef we've got to get you here at some point and we're going to do really cool stuff .
Not August or September , it's too hot .
Well , yeah , but at the end of the day , we need to get John and Nikki together .
Oh yeah , the food photography . Oh , forget it .
All right , nikki , how does everybody find you ? What's your preference Instagram ? What is it ?
Yes , instagram is where you'll find me , chef underscore Nikki . Underscore Nikki is spelled N-I-C-K-E-Y and that's where you'll see all of my things , all my pictures , little reels , stuff I do at work .
It's going to be fun . Listen again . Congratulations on the Food Network . Congratulations on everything . You're awesome . We're going to wrap up now . Chef Jason , thanks for coming in . I can't wait to see what you're cooking up here today . Also , Bacon-wrapped filet . Bacon-wrapped filet . All right , john's giving me the roll .
All right , jeff , john , jason , nikki , everybody . Thank you and we are out . Thanks ,