Meet Chris And Jen

SPEAKER_01 0:30

So I'm Jen. This is Chris V. Chavez from Chris's Dishes. And we are a personal chef business and we service primarily the Virginia Air.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

That's awesome. I can't wait to hear about just everything else you guys do. Buckle up. Chris, for those just being introduced to you both, can you take us back to the beginning from serving 20 years in the army to signing up for culinary school? How did Chris's dishes truly come to life?

SPEAKER_00 0:58

So, yeah, 20 years in the army. I did some deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. And I was essentially a veteran looking for an outlet. I was, for all tents of purposes, I was one of those veterans that just was going the wrong path. And I tried a whole bunch of different

From Army Service To Culinary Spark

SPEAKER_00 1:16

types of therapies to help me find the right way of doing things. And nothing was really working. One thing that I always had done throughout my entire life was cook. And it wasn't about enjoying it or loving it. It was more about survival. Then my wife told me maybe you should think about going to culinary school. And I said, no, not going to do that. I know how bad that life can be on a relationship, and we don't want to do that. I ended up going to an open house at a local Virginia culinary school. And I walked in, I had myself and my now retired service dog Avery with me, and everybody looked at me. And I will never forget this. I had this little short Frenchman chef run up to me and start talking to me, shaking my hand like we had known each other for years. And he showed me a tub of water, and it had a pear in it, some star Nice and orange slice, and some cinnamon sticks, and it was just floating in this bag. And he explained to me the process of sous vide. And I was hooked. I was like, this could be really fun. But I'm wanna, I'm we're gonna try this out. So Jen was gone for a weekend trip for work, and I she comes home and I told her I signed up for school. That's all I said. I said I signed up for college. She's oh, that's awesome. What'd you do? Cybersecurity? Did you do business? Blah blah blah blah. And I was like, nope, culinary school. She's like, you gotta be kidding me, man. Like, what? And that was the end of the end of that. And I started school like three weeks later, and I never looked back.

SPEAKER_02 2:54

The rest was history, right? I was in the world. Pretty much.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

And then for as far as how Chris's dishes came to be, was I was doing golf therapy for traumatic brain injury, for state, a whole bunch of stuff that goes on.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

That's so funny. They give you golf clubs and you have TBIs.

SPEAKER_00 3:08

Yeah, exactly. And at least I didn't hit myself.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

But towards the end of the one of the sessions, we had a gentleman come in and we're still really good friends. And he was talking about an organization that he supported, and they went to different

The First Private Dinner And Growth

SPEAKER_00 3:21

organizations, police department, fire departments, schools to talk about leadership. And I was like, you know what? I could do this. I could get up in front of people and talk about leadership. I know a little bit about that. And all my buddies were heckling me. They're like, tell him what you do. He's a chef, blah, blah, blah. And I said, listen, man, don't listen to these guys. I've been to culinary school like three weeks, and I just learned today how badly I've been cutting onions that I've been doing it wrong my entire life, because evidently there is a methodology to cutting an onion for the application that you're going to use it for. And he's like, Have you ever thought about doing a private event? And I was like, Nope. He goes, How about coming to cook for my wife and my daughters? I was like, Okay, sure. So I run home and I tell her, she's like, You did got done, went home. I was like, the meat was overcooked, the shrimp were rough or they were tough, the sauce was gray, the sauce was broken, the dessert looked funky, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

Oh, goodness.

SPEAKER_00 4:14

It was so bad. And what, seven years later, eight years later, he hired us for another event and he walked around and showed everybody all the pictures. I was like, I can't believe you have these pictures, man. What do you think about it? It's your eighth-grade foodies. Look how awkward you were. People at that event were telling, were like, there is no way you cooked like that. Because what you produce here and how you did everything was phenomenal. I was like, I'll take y'all's word for it. I just tasted and put it out.

SPEAKER_02 4:42

Absolutely. But it shows like how far that you've grown over time.

SPEAKER_00 4:46

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 4:47

It's really a beautiful thing to look back on that and see how far you've come. Jen, you know, when Chris told you he signed up for culinary school, what was going through your mind? And when did you realize this could become something really special?

SPEAKER_01 5:00

So that is an excellent question because we had an agreement based on everything he had said. We're not doing this, it can ruin relationships. We know so many people.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

Like working at a restaurant.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

Right.

SPEAKER_00 5:12

Essentially. And not that there's anything with bad with working at a restaurant.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

You good?

SPEAKER_00 5:17

Yeah, good. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

So as we were having the conversation and he got this glimmer in his eye. And the only way I can say that I knew he was passionate about it is to speak to what makes Chris tick. He was passionate about being a soldier from being the time he was three years old, and he would talk, and I would hear stories from his parents and his brother about, oh no, this boy really just he needed to be a soldier. That was God put him on this earth to be a soldier. And you hear the stories, and I know secondhand what he went through while he was overseas. But then to come home, and as school continued

Finding Passion And Building A Business

SPEAKER_01 5:51

and he would do these one-off events, you could see the passion continuing to evolve. And I looked at him one day and I was like, you've got that glimmer in your eye, that it's going, and I'm just so proud of you. Keep it going. And he did. And we both had big boy, big girl jobs at the same time while going to school, while running businesses. But the passion and the execution, it only progressively got better. It never failed and it never went backward. So to see that is where I'm like, okay, he's found it again.

SPEAKER_02 6:21

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

It was like the stars just aligned. 100%. 100%. It was giving him his second chance to his second passion.

SPEAKER_02 6:30

That's wonderful. I love and looking back to where you guys started in 2017 to where you are now. What feels most surreal about the journey?

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Oh God. Oh gosh. That's a great question. Most surreal. Go ahead. You go ahead. I was going, I think it's the pleasure from people to be able to see somebody's face. We've all had parents that get or a caretaker give us something to eat and makes us feel better. And to be able to show compassion and love through food and Chris's evolution of his cooking and that love being shared and the appreciation, I think that's what's most surreal for me is that I appreciate him cooking and I value his cooking. But to see it in so many different types of palettes, not just mine, it validates everything that I know we talk about as far as is this the right decision? Is this a good idea? Should we pursue it? And the answer is yes.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

That's awesome. I love it. So many different pathways. Seeing it on people's face, how you make them feel. There's nothing better than that, truly. Truly.

SPEAKER_00 7:34

And I think it's so my the first bite face. Yeah, I don't know if it's a first bite face. I think it's the the wow factor that people get when it's like, you're doing this in my kitchen, in my house, in my home. You're letting a complete stranger in into you're letting us into your home and or wherever, and we're gonna bring in this food from Virginia all over to a little plate. And people are like, You did this here? I don't know how that's possible. Because it's I tell people all the time, like you and it's not a big thing now because we have a lot of open kitchens, if you will, at restaurants, but there used to be a time when it's like I do not know what goes on behind that door. I would love to see how that sauce is made or how to cook a lobster properly, or how to cut an onion properly to that. But going back to the surreal moment, I think for me, excuse me, I think it it still gives me a little bit of a like an adrenaline rush because I take everything that I learned at the Army and I apply it to what I do

Serving Joy And The First Bite Wow

SPEAKER_00 8:40

every day. And we used to tell people like it's not a one-day thing that for us to put together a dinner party. No, it's like multiple days. But so we'll do the the buildup, and then you have the pre-mission type stuff, then we're going out to cook, and then we come back, and then we have to do the recovery type stuff. And when we're all said and done, that's when we actually can sit back, take a break, and be like, yeah, that was fun.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

It's just a full circle moment, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. Crafting that game plan.

SPEAKER_00 9:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:08

And every event is different.

SPEAKER_00 9:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 9:11

So it becomes how do we make this special for this client as opposed to it being special? Same a brunch is a brunch. You can call it whatever meal you'd like.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

But it's what you put on the plate.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

And how you make that those people feel towards it. So we we did a brunch couple a few years ago where we did an omelet station for 12 people in their house. And they were like, this is so cool. We can order omelets in our house.

SPEAKER_01 9:37

Oh, that was during COVID.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

Yeah, it was during COVID.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

That is so cool. I think what you wanted with.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

Like we're or we're doing a brunch in April where we're doing an individual crab frittata with a Hollanday sauce on top of it. So it's I don't ever want somebody to think, hey, here's a standardized menu you get to pick from that. No, I know how to cook. I want you to you, you want us in your house, we're gonna bring it to you. We're gonna, we're gonna give you the full effortless part of it.

SPEAKER_02 10:02

So it's a very personalized experience. Yes. Everything about it's personal. That's amazing. And going into that, Chris's dishes is known for intimate dining experiences. What makes keeping it small and personal so important to you guys?

SPEAKER_01 10:15

You want to take it or you want me to go? Go ahead. All right. So when we rolled out Chris's dishes, we didn't put any limits. There was everything was a yes, which was great. And it became bigger and bigger. And then during COVID, we had some constraints that just came in as part of COVID. And we found that the more intimate parties, at one point, there was like, you can't have more than 20 people and 10 people as regulations from the government. And we found those dinners to be so interesting. It gave us a time to engage with people. It gave us a time to learn about people's palate. It gave them time to watch Chris cook. For the record, I don't cook. So to have those moments. And it really was a launch point for us when we decided, okay, fine-tune like anything else. You're going to fine-tune what you offer, you're going to fine tune your business plan. We had an opportunity to fine tune who we service and how we service them. And focusing in on that intimate dinner, those six, seven couples, 12, 14 people at most. And oh, okay, one, it gives you as the client an opportunity to have time with your guests. We get to provide fresh, hot meals to you as you're still engaging. And at the same time, people get to know us. We're not, oh, the chef and his wife, and we joke about this all the time. We joke about everything.

SPEAKER_00 11:35

Yeah, we do.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

But it's, oh, you're actually a person and you're a personality. You're not just the guy with the big chef knife or the whisk or doing what you do. So it was important to us to hold true to keeping it intimate, keeping it personal, and keeping it elegant.

SPEAKER_02 11:51

Absolutely. Staying true to your passion, really, and being able to showcase that in this kind of setting. I can definitely see how that works.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

Oh, yeah, absolutely. It's to be able to

Mission Planning For Private Events

SPEAKER_00 12:01

like a party where it was like 75 people, and there was five of us. Six of us. There were six of us, three of us cooking, one doing a wine station, one doing a bar, and she was walking around engaging. And we were like, that's not us. We're not caterers. We are a personal chef service or private chef service to bring the intimacy to your home. We want to be engaging with people, like the wife said. And if we want to be, we want to provide you the knowledge with, hey, this piece of chicken, by the way, this piece of chicken came from five miles down the road from a farm that you live nearby or the eggs, things like that.

SPEAKER_02 12:39

It's so cool to know like where everything comes from. Because you don't get that with a lot of that's you guys are so unique in that way.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Thank you. Forging relationships with the purveyors that we use is also important to us. Like I know who we get our eggs from, what they feed their chickens, how those chickens are taken care of. They're not crunched and I can't even think about it. But it's the same thing with even your vegetables. I know where our vegetables come from, I know where our herbs come from. I can tell you about the people who grew them. And that should be an intimate relationship because it's going in your body. Too often we hear about all these stories about food and what's in them and salmonella and all the other El is and isms and paths kind of things.

SPEAKER_02 13:20

Yeah, no, the taste of Virginia concept, I think that's amazing what you guys are doing.

SPEAKER_00 13:24

We love it. And like it's so much fun. It is. And like we we have a couple of traditions that we do just for ourselves. Every year we go like right around the corner here to a farm and we do apple peach picking, some wildflowers, but most of like the apples and the peaches, we just do for us to make like applesauce, apple pies throughout the year. Or we go out to the Eastern Shore and we go to a winery out there and we absolutely love it. A lot of people who come to Virginia, and I'm gonna say this, and it's not derogatory, is I'm a veteran, I know what it's like. There's a lot of active duty service members that show up here and it's oh my God, Virginia. I'm telling you right now, Virginia has a lot to offer. And as long as you can get out and like just investigate where you're where the things are at or what's going on, you will find a lot of food, a lot of different types of food or a lot of different things for food. And we want, we told ourselves like that's what we want to do to bring that type of stuff to people's plate.

SPEAKER_02 14:24

Absolutely. And I want to dig into that more just because I think it's so fascinating. You tell your story behind pretty much every ingredient, whether it's maple syrup from Highland County or apples you picked from, like you said, a local apple orchard orchard. Why is educating your guests about where their food comes from such a meaningful part of the experience?

SPEAKER_01 14:44

I think people take for granted that we've evolved so much that they don't think about the sourcing of their food. Just from a health perspective, if you know where and what is coming into your food, it makes you feel better. Psychologically, it makes you feel better. And

Why Intimate Dinners Matter

SPEAKER_01 15:01

it's easy to go to any supermarket, big grocery store, and throw a package of chicken in and throw some steaks in, and maybe a box of pre-done dehydrated potatoes or rice or something like that. I was waiting for you to make fun of my potatoes. But to be able to say, hey, let me tell you about this food. This is the dish that you selected. You wanted risotto. Let's talk about it. Let's talk about those fresh mushrooms that are going in and the spinach that came from that garden at that farmer's house. You now know and have a better connection, bringing you back to your own land. Like this is Virginia. You can be two hours away from the ocean from where we are, or three hours away from the map. Everything in between is just so incredible. Yeah. And I think we lose sight of that as a society. We just expect something to be there. We can run into a fast food place, take the beat, take the minute, enjoy the food, savor it.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

Yeah. I think that as a society, we become reliant on quick and easy fast food. And that's not to me, is not the best answer. Because when you have something, something like going to a restaurant or even us coming into your home to do things, my best example of this is like saving. What am I trying to do? Not saving, but utilizing what you have versus like continuously buying stuff off the shelf. If I wanted to make, if I have a dish that requires chicken stock, but it also has chicken in it, I'm gonna buy the bone-in chicken and I'm gonna debone the chick the chicken and I'm gonna make a quick chicken stock and put it into the dish. But people are so reliant on convenience with fast food and what they can buy off the shelf. To us, it's more important for those things. The this is the wow factor that somebody made chicken stock in front of me. Who does that?

SPEAKER_02 16:50

Preservative free. Exactly. Yeah, it's definitely more nor nourishing and better tasting as well. I agree. Definitely tastes better. And beyond the incredible food, Chris's dishes also supports, like you said, veteran communities and local businesses. And Chris, your journey from military service to culinary artistry is such a powerful part of your story. How has your background in the army shaped the values behind the business and the way you care for guests in their homes?

SPEAKER_00 17:18

I don't like giving up with I mean, I say that, but if you ask me to cook Asian or curry, I'm not gonna do it because I am not very proficient at it at all. But I think I still take everything that I do with like a mission, yeah, a pride, a mission focus of this person, again, you you're inviting us into your home. So I'm not gonna show up and he heat something. I'm gonna show up and I'm gonna do it start to finish.

SPEAKER_02 17:45

Gonna do it right and give it 110%.

SPEAKER_00 17:47

I'm not gonna and I'm not gonna leave there until your kitchen is clean.

SPEAKER_01 17:50

And but again, that goes back to your work ethic. Chris has a very static work ethic, which is to say, to like you said, it's 110%. That's not a slow day. Normally he's running at 150 miles an hour, six different things going. If it's in the middle of a service, a sauce going, this going, the rice going, and again, I don't cook. So that's all on him. And he does it with ease and grace, like completely exudes grace under fire. He's got it.

Sourcing Locally And Seasonally

SPEAKER_00 18:15

He might, he's not getting shot at, which I was gonna say, I was like, I'm not getting shot at and I'm not getting blown up, but always a bonus. But those types of things were back in the those things made me, I think made me better now that I'm older to realize if I mess something up, it's okay, it can be fixed. Not, oh my God, it's the end of the world. No, just slow down, work let it play itself out, let it work itself out, and just bring the dish together.

SPEAKER_02 18:43

It definitely shows resilience. I think that's a great point that you make. Thank you. Yes. And you've shared that you take great pride in accommodating different allergens and gluten-free cooking, especially for people who may feel like they can't truly enjoy food because of dietary restrictions. How do you approach creating meals that allow every guest to feel included and able to eat exceptionally well?

SPEAKER_00 19:05

So she has celiac. So for all intents and purposes, she can't eat anything with gluten. When I started going to culinary school, my biggest thing was I looked at everything through that lens. I said, I can, I can fix this, I can change this, I can do that, I can make this for her. Why not? The last time she ever had a brick fired pizza, long time ago. So when I found a great flower b flower blend, I was like, I'm gonna make brick fire pizza for her. She's I don't know about this. I was like, let's just try it. You would have thought I had won the Nobel Peace Prize with how good she has. She was like, I don't understand it. It's gluten-free dough, and it tastes exactly like a wood flour pizza. Or when it comes down to, oh, I make a facacchae, right? Out of out of a gluten-free blend. She loves or come on, who doesn't like bread?

SPEAKER_01 19:57

Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

We I don't know what we were doing. We're doing one something one Sunday a couple years ago during the during one of the snowstorms, and I said something about biscuits and gravy. She's I don't think I've ever had biscuits and gravy. I was like, what?

SPEAKER_02 20:09

You're like, I'm gonna make a change to that.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

I went in the kitchen, I was like, got it. Went to work and she's I made her biscuits and gravy.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

But it's that tenacity. And to your point, going back to the military component, right? He is, he's tenacious. He's I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do it to the best of my ability, and I'm gonna execute it. And it's not just for celiac. We've had clients who are vegan, which also a challenge, making sure that you're compliant with vegan, no cross-contamination.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

But I don't I I think going back to the question, I don't believe we we've had people message us like we have one gluten-free person. Okay. So to me, the gluten, the person with the gluten allergy is the most important person in the room because that affects them the most. Because I know what it's like when she gets glutened. And it is bad.

SPEAKER_02 20:53

Absolutely. You've seen it first hand.

SPEAKER_00 20:55

Or so to be able to cook for that person and like at the end of the night, just to let everybody know, we like, thank you for having us. And this whole entire meal is 100% gluten-free. And the looks on people's faces, they're like, What? You did what?

SPEAKER_01 21:09

But it's nice to be able to accommodate any allergen.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:12

Dairy, peanuts. Um, people forget that people are allergic to peanuts, seafood. Yeah, and we joke. There are some things that I'll joke about. I'm like, wow, okay, this person doesn't like it or are they allergic to it? And I discount the allergy. It's how interesting is this that you're going to now take whatever the meal is and modify it to be still delicious, but not have maybe a critical component, like not a joke, garlic.

SPEAKER_00 21:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 21:38

So many people are allergic to garlic, and

Teaching Provenance At The Table

SPEAKER_01 21:40

you would never know. We have a very dear friend who's allergic to peaches. Really?

SPEAKER_02 21:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:45

And certain foods that she absolutely loves have peach in it, but he edits it so that you still have that same deep flavor and sweetness that a peach would give, and you still get that same, like I'm cheesy with this summer feeling, that summer vibe, but she's not gonna end up having an anaphylactic reaction, and the food will be amazing and everyone will still enjoy it.

SPEAKER_02 22:08

Wow, that's so awesome. You're not missing out on it.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

No, no, no. You don't miss out on the flavor, you don't miss out on the quality.

SPEAKER_00 22:15

You don't miss out on being around around the people either. You don't miss out on part of the experience. Yes, there you go.

SPEAKER_02 22:20

Sure. Because I can imagine it would be an excluding feeling to not be able to eat the same things that everybody else is having. So the fact that you're able to provide that for them. It's that's wonderful. No stealing anyone at the kids' table. No, no way. And you've traveled everywhere from Vermont to Key West and even cooked while on vacation in Hawaii.

SPEAKER_00 22:42

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_02 22:43

What does that willingness to to show up anywhere say about your commitment to your clients?

SPEAKER_00 22:48

I don't think that was a willingness on that one.

SPEAKER_02 22:51

So was.

SPEAKER_00 22:52

Yeah, but it was there was a lot of talking that you and I had to go.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

So we had gone to the island, Hawaii, and one of our very one of our clients found out that we were there. And they're like, listen, this is what we got going on. We would greatly appreciate it if you could just come and do something for us. And it wasn't anything big, it was a backyard barbecue at an Airbnb. And I told her, she's like, okay. And they'll then because it was one of our very first clients that we ever cooked for. And we done a few here and there for them. And I just went to a couple places, did some research. We got all the meat from obviously from Hawaii.

SPEAKER_01 23:33

Everything had to be local. Yeah, exactly. You really did.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

And we just cranked out some backyard barbecue for them with burgers and dogs and baked beans and macaroni and cheese. We did, we did a whole nine hours, but we made it feel like they were not at home. They were still there in Hawaii. And granted, you cannot feel like you're not in Hawaii being there with some of the places.

SPEAKER_01 23:57

But it was fun. Like they were very sweet. Yeah. You say yes. Like, of course we're gonna do this. And yes, we were in Hawaii, and yes, it was our vacation. It was the first vacation since he retired from the military. So it's like, okay, let's have this conversation. But it was fun.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

It was. I think that the most difficult part about it was is when I said I'm going on vacation. I left all my knives at home. I left my I left for whisk, I left everything at home. And it was like, oh, dang it. I wish I would have brought something.

SPEAKER_01 24:26

But we didn't have a chef coat, we didn't have neighbors.

SPEAKER_00 24:29

We showed up like we were part of the party.

SPEAKER_01 24:31

You made it happen.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

Yeah, absolutely. I bought a little cheap apron and that was it. I thought I think I was cooking in flip-flops, if I remember correctly.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

We ran out to Tarjay.

SPEAKER_00 24:41

That's right, we did. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:42

Get a curing for them because they didn't have anything to make coffee.

SPEAKER_00 24:45

Yeah. Okay. It was fun. It was fun. It was and that's it, it just brings us to show that we're

Cooking From Scratch Over Convenience

SPEAKER_00 24:51

it took a lot for us to do that because it's like, I don't know if we want to do this. It takes time away from us, so forth. But we've had things like driving all the way to Key West to do an event, or driving up to Vermont to do an event, driving to Kentucky to do an event. Those certain things is like we love just doing this.

SPEAKER_01 25:11

It adds to the experience. Oh, yeah. You start driving like when we were driving up to Vermont. There's a lot to see between Virginia and Vermont. Let's just be very honest about it. But it adds to the conversation also. We're not just sitting behind in a kitchen with the doors closed. We're engaging. And when people say, Oh, where did you come from? Oh, we came from Virginia. Oh, did you fly here? Did you fly everything in? Nope. You know that little house down the road? They sell honey. So we got the honey for your dinner from there. So kudos to them. And that just adds to it.

SPEAKER_02 25:42

Absolutely. That's awesome. You guys are making me hungry. Me too. As Chris's dishes continue to grow in recognition and impact, what legacy do you hope it leaves? Not only on the Virginia food scene, but in the hearts and homes of the people that you serve.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

I want everybody to tell their friends. I want people to be like, you need to call this the this couple because they're going to bring their home to your home and make it the wow factor. So you can't forget it. So you won't forget it. I we're doing a dinner party in Old Town, Virginia. In Old Town Alexandria, excuse me. And I was working the grill and a couple came in and they're they looked at me. And this is not normally like this. Like wintertime, I'm very like bearded out. Bearded out. Okay. And this lady was like, Do I know you? I was like, Yes. I was like, Your name is such and such. I can't remember your name. And I was like, okay, they'll come to you. She turns around and she goes, Chef Chris, oh my God. And she went in, got the hostess, was like, you hired them to be here. This is awesome. Let me tell you what they did for us. And I was like, wow, I didn't even know you two knew each other. That's pretty weird. So it was pretty fun.

SPEAKER_01 26:52

So I think that's great. That's where his perspective is. I look at it more community-based. I want people to understand that you can have, like Chris did, one career and completely pivot and shift. And I did it as well, not to the degree that he did, but we completely pivoted what our foundational passions were. For him. And I do, I boast. I love him. And I'm so proud of him and how far he's come. Really? Today I do. Depends what you make for dinner. You guys crack me. It's almost it is Thursday, so it depends what you make for dinner. I love the fact that we can give back to our community. Yes, we give back to the veteran community. And it's also important for us to give back and donate to service dogs because Avery,

Military Values In Hospitality

SPEAKER_01 27:31

Chris's service dog, my baby now, who's since he retired, he is so critical in our lives. And when we tell Chris's story to our clients, it's that memory that's going to stay with them also. And you can see the parlay between how he helped himself and how external elements helped him and how that comes through in his food. There's pride, there's passion, there's that tenacity. Are you getting weepy? No. Should I stop? Just a second. And I want people to remember what was there, what came. Like when you go out to a restaurant, oh yeah, we went to such and such restaurant. And yeah, it was fine. The drinks were a little watered down, or the drinks were good, or the food was great. My appetizer was this. Those discussion points, I think, are so important when you speak of I'm about to age us, a mom and pop. Shut up. Environment and business. We're coming into your home very personal. You are opening your cabinets. Clean, dirty, wrong, or indifferent. You are letting us see that. And that takes courage to do. And it takes courage for him to put himself out there in front of complete strangers and say, I'm going to make you the best. I don't know. What are you cooking for me, Sunday? Rosotto or something. Crab risotto. I'm going to make you the best chocolate torque with this incredible like dolce de leche, cream, foam, this, that, and leave that and that moment as a memory. The moments all become memories.

SPEAKER_00 28:57

Yeah, and it's and it's not like it's not like it's one moment. It's from the moment from when somebody reaches out to us and we send a reply and email. The second, the next thing we're going to do is we're going to call you. We're going to have a conversation because just because you fill out a questionnaire online or fill out a questionnaire that comes from her, I want to know and hear what you're trying to do. That way I can make it more special for you and your guests.

SPEAKER_01 29:23

That's one of the things you do that I like. I'm sorry, I'm totally like no. I love when you do that where you're listening to somebody saying, I want Italian food. Okay. What type of Italian food? And then they don't even want Italian food. They want something completely different. They just don't know how to articulate it.

SPEAKER_00 29:38

Or when it's my favorite, surf and turf.

SPEAKER_01 29:41

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:41

But let's be different with it. Let's do something crazy, like we're gonna do like a crab cake with bison as surf and turf, not just standard surf and turf.

SPEAKER_02 29:51

With a twist, right? Yeah, with a little chefy. Yeah, a little the amount of friends and memories you guys have probably made along the way is just I can't even imagine. Phenomenal.

SPEAKER_01 30:00

We've had clients who've become friends who become like family. We've had clients where we might not hear from them for a year or two years, and then out of nowhere it's hey, by chance, crazy question. Are you available in the next two weeks? It's like, sure. Absolutely. And what have you been up to? I love that question. Because let me tell you, it's never a dull moment.

SPEAKER_00 30:20

We just did an event for Valentine's Day where you know, first questions out of their class was how is Avery? How is now that your service dog is retired? How is he? What's he doing?

SPEAKER_01 30:30

Not how is he?

Designing Inclusive Allergen-Friendly Menus

SPEAKER_00 30:31

I was like, okay, good. I get it, I understand.

SPEAKER_02 30:34

So how sweet. As we wrap up, is there anything that either of you would like to add that I haven't touched on today? One, we appreciate you even having us.

SPEAKER_01 30:43

It's very kind and we love being able to talk about Virginia. And we chose to make Virginia our home. We're not born and bred here, which I think is also important to know. Like Chris was born in on the West Coast. I'm from the Northeast, and we decided on Virginia for our forever home.

SPEAKER_02 31:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

Just because of how rich the culinary scene really could be. And to educate people, whether you're here for a three-year rotation as military or this is where you've been, but you just don't know. We want to be part of that education. And there is nothing better than educating somebody and opening them to something else. Absolutely. Anything else?

SPEAKER_00 31:21

I don't know. I one thing I was thinking about was for veterans. There's there is something out there for everyone. And don't settle for I'm okay. Go out there, find your new lease on life, your new passion, your new group of guys and gals that you want to hang out with and be like, this is fun. This is what I want to do now.

SPEAKER_02 31:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:41

Don't reflect on the past. It doesn't do any good. And I think that uh my be my beauty now is being able to put things on a plate for people. That's my inner beauty. For sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:52

Not this cutest.

SPEAKER_00 31:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:54

100%. Thank you so much, Chris and Jen, for joining me on the podcast and sharing your inspiring story and culinary passion with us. I wish you both the best of luck and all that comes your way in the future. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you.