Podcasts about empellon

Thank you Peoplevine for sponsoring this episode. Peoplevine is trusted by the best brands in the members club business. Book a free demo to see why at peoplevine.com.Today's guests are David Rodolitz and Gary Vaynerchuk, co-founders of VCR Group, a hospitality company operating concepts such as Flyfish Club, Ito, and Little Maven in New York and Las Vegas. Flyfish Club, which opened in September 2024, is the world's first blockchain-based members club focused on fine dining. In this conversation, we dove into the details of what it's like to build a hospitality group in one of the most competitive markets in the world (NYC). What I enjoyed most about this conversation is their forward-thinking perspectives when it comes to hospitality, especially in the fine dining space. We also talked in depth about the private members club landscape in New York and entering the space as a young hospitality group.Gary Vaynerchuk, AKA Gary Vee, is a serial entrepreneur and leads VaynerMedia, VaynerX, and VCR Group. In 2014, Gary co-founded Resy and sold it to American Express in 2019 and is also an early investor in notable companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Uber, Coinbase, Slack, and more. David Rodolitz is a NYC hospitality veteran and a co-founder of VCR Group. Prior to founding VCR Group, David was a founding partner of Empellon, a group of restaurants in NYC.To learn more about VCR Group's restaurants, click hereConnect with Gary and David on InstagramConnect with The Stanza on InstagramSubscribe to the newsletter for the full experience.Interview Highlights:The business of a fine dining members club in NYCRestaurants as part of placemakingContrarian thinking in hospitalityThe reality of running restaurantsCompeting in the NYC restaurant & private club market as a young companyThe future of private clubs in NYC & taking cues from London club cultureLongevity in the restaurant businessHow to handle negative reviewsHow would you invest in hospitality?Advice for aspiring hospitality entrepreneurs

On today's episode of All in the Industry®, Shari Bayer's guest is Alex Stupak, Chef and Co-Owner of NYC-based Empellón restaurant group and Mischa, his latest restaurant, where we are on-location. Born in Massachusetts, Alex became a scholar of the avant-garde and molecular gastronomy movements. He worked as the pastry chef at Clio in Boston with Ken Oringer, then at Alinea in Chicago with Grant Achatz, and (subsequently) at wd~50 in New York City with Wylie Dufresne. He went on to open multiple restaurants under the Empellón brand, including a Midtown Manhattan flagship location, currently ranked No. 19 on the New York Times‘ “100 Best Restaurants in New York City” list. Alex was selected as one of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs in 2013 and has since received multiple James Beard Foundation Awards nominations, including one for his 2015 book Tacos: Recipes and Provocations [Clarkson Potter]. Today's show also features Shari's PR tip to do the unexpected; Speed Round; Industry News Discussion on New York Magazine naming Matthew Schneier as its new Restaurant Critic, and the Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare in NYC naming two new chefs after its acclaimed chef's firing; plus, Shari's Solo Dining experience at Taqueria Ramirez in Greenpoint, Brooklyn -- known for its CDMX street tacos; and the final question. ** Check out Shari's new book, Chefwise: Life Lessons from Leading Chefs Around the World (Phaidon, Spring 2023), now available at Phaidon.com, Amazon.com and wherever books are sold! #chefwisebook **Photo Courtesy of Alex Stupak and Shari Bayer.Listen at Heritage Radio Network; subscribe/rate/review our show at iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify. Follow us @allindustry. Thanks for being a part of All in the Industry®. Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support All in the Industry by becoming a member!All in the Industry is Powered by Simplecast.

Big ideas, strong opinions, and a deadpan Instagram: These are a few of our favorite things. Former pastry chef and current Empellon and Mischa boss man Alex Stupak is a complicated—and incredibly sincere—dude, and in this episode, we have a really spirited conversation about what it's like to open a new restaurant that isn't part of the Empellon Mexican multiverse. The food at Mischa is Eastern European, and it's Stupak's most personal project to date. We get into that, as well as some big ideas for the future. We hope you enjoy our talk with Alex.MORE FROM ALEX STUPAK:Mischa Opens in Midtown East [NYT]Hang on to Your Wallets, NYC — Here Comes the $29 Hot Dog [NY Post]FOLLOW, FOLLOW, FOLLOW:instagram.com/alexstupakinstagram.com/mattrodbardinstagram.com/taste

Born into a food-loving family in New Zealand Amber Doig (The Butler) always knew she wanted to have a career in food. Realising the scope of opportunities across the ditch in Australia she headed to Sydney where she worked under some of the most influential chefs of that era, such as James Viles, and later Vanessa Martin. But New York was calling her name and through a mutual friend she landed a gig with Alex Stupak at the Empellon restaurant group where she delved into traditional Ibero-American techniques, methods, and flavours – something she's now making a name for herself with back in Sydney. https://butlersydney.com.au Follow Deep In The Weeds on Instagram    https://www.instagram.com/deepintheweedspodcast/?hl=en Follow Huck https://www.instagram.com/huckstergram/ Follow Rob Locke (Executive Producer) https://www.instagram.com/foodwinedine/ LISTEN TO OUR OTHER FOOD PODCASTS https://linktr.ee/DeepintheWeedsNetwork

In this episode, we speak with Adam Elzer. Adam is the founder of Within, a wellness retreat and event space in the Delaware River Valley, which is an hour or two outside New York City. His background includes 20 years of building NY-based organizations focused on hospitality and food, including Everyday Hospitality and Empellon. Today we'll dive into topics like the healing power of nature, getting land-based projects off the ground, and how the inner work you do for yourself can turn into the outer work you do for others.>> Links and References

Big ideas, strong opinions, and a deadpan Instagram. These are a few of my favorite things. Former pastry chef and current Empellon boss man Alex Stupak is a complicated—and incredibly sincere—dude, and in this episode we have a really spirited conversation about chicken sandwiches, aquafaba, his time at WD-50, Maggi seasoning, his cookbook, Tacos, and making Mexican food at home. Phew! It’s a really cool talk.Also on the show, we ask Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman a reader question. Hint: There are donuts involved.

How much should a taco cost? Alex Stupak (@AlexStupak), the chef/owner of Empellon in New York, explains. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SoloBy Anita Lo Intro: Welcome to the Cookery by the Book podcast with Suzy Chase. She's just a home cook in New York City sitting at her dining room table talking to cookbook authors.Anita Lo: Hi. My name is Anita Lo, and I am the author of Solo: A Modern Cookbook for a Party of One. Suzy Chase: Eater named Solo the 2018 Cookbook of the Year. That is fantastic. Congratulations. Anita Lo: Thank you so much.Suzy Chase: "I've been dumped almost as many times as I've been in relationships, and I can count those on less than two hands." Most people wouldn't kick off a cookbook with such a personal confession. What does this book and dining alone mean to you?Anita Lo: Well, I was hoping that it would make people feel less alone. I was hoping to try to remove some of the stigma around eating by yourself, because it is a fact of life, and cooking for yourself, for that matter. Yeah.Suzy Chase: It is. I always feel funny about going to a restaurant alone, but then I think no one's looking at you, no one cares.Anita Lo: Yeah, I mean especially in New York City, at least, and even when I'm traveling. I mean, a lot of times, you're traveling by yourself for work or whatever, and you have to eat alone. That's just a fact of life, so yeah. It could be funny. It's just there's a lot of comedy skits around eating by yourself. I think I remember watching SNL back in the early days, and there was some sort of skit about a lonely person coming to a restaurant and the hostess yelling out, "A party of one, a party of one," so that's why I included that in my book.Suzy Chase: You say food is culture and identity. Where did you get the inspiration for these recipes?Anita Lo: A lot of it's my travel. A lot of it is how I grew up, so it's just some of the stuff that I love to eat, so it ... yeah, that have become part of my identity. Suzy Chase: You also like the meals to always be balanced. What does that really mean?Anita Lo: Balance, for me, means to always include a vegetable, a little bit of starch, some protein. It means to have that sort of balance. I think there's sort of the weekly balance of having different flavors, not always eating the same thing. I think it is also sort of a general balance of eating healthy things and eating things that you feel like you just crave. Yeah, and I think balance of flavors is very important. Just for deliciousness, I think things need a certain amount of salt for ... and that is subjective, sort of acid to fat, et cetera, balance of textures, crunch to smooth, et cetera.Suzy Chase: After 17 years, you closed our West Village neighborhood favorite Michelin-starred restaurant, Annisa, and not for the reasons most of us thought, so tell us why. Anita Lo: It's certainly been getting harder to run a small business and especially a restaurant, a high-end restaurant, in New York City. Yeah, and I'm totally for the minimum wage increase, but they increased it kind of suddenly. That was very difficult because I think the public wasn't ready to pay for what it costs to give people that kind of a raise. That was one. Then I had some real estate tax issues there. One of the other bigger reasons was that it's just impossible to find cooks these days. It's just there is a big labor shortage around the country and especially in New York City. Even with the $15 minimum wage, it's impossible to live in New York City on that wage, and so a lot of people are fleeing to places where it's easier to live, and including chefs. Yeah, and then I had a knee replacement that wasn't that successful. I had to have two follow-up surgeries, and it's been difficult to be on my feet, but yeah. There's a lot of reasons. I mean I miss it, for sure, but I don't regret it. Suzy Chase: Talk a little bit about what waste has to do with Solo.Anita Lo: Well, I think it's difficult to cook just for one person without wasting ingredients because we have this problem where everything is packed for a family of four even here in New York City. I think that is starting to change, but you have to buy a lot of product at once, and so I was trying to write this ... I don't like to waste food. It just goes against my DNA. It bothers me. It's just I find it disrespectful to the food and to the environment and to humanity and all that sort of stuff. I have tried to make a cookbook that helps you to cut down on waste.Suzy Chase: Each recipe has a little story, a little pleasantry or quip at the beginning of it, for example, your Pan-Roasted Veal Chop With Mushrooms and Oysters, and you used to serve this at Annisa. How did you find this particular recipe?Anita Lo: I was just looking online for inspiration. I think I was looking for old and really ancient recipes written in like Old English about some veal and oyster dish from way, way back when, and I was like, "Oh, my God. Yes, of course, that totally makes sense."Suzy Chase: Your upbringing is so interesting to me. Your mother is Malaysian. Your father, who was from Shanghai, passed away when you were three, and your mom went on to marry a white American. While you were growing up, you had nannies, and your favorite was Hungarian. What culinary influences did she have on you?Anita Lo: Oh, God. I love her cooking. One of my favorite things growing up was Chicken Paprikash, which is like this creamy- Suzy Chase: What's that?Anita Lo: It's a stew. It's this creamy stew with a lot of paprika, onions, parsley, and a good amount of sour cream. It's sort of thickened, and it's served with either dumplings, which when she made dumplings, it was special. You can eat it with rice or you can eat it with egg noodles. Love it.Suzy Chase: Those evenings when you're hanging around at your house alone, what do you cook for yourself?Anita Lo: There's an eggplant frittata that ... it's a version of a Filipino dish that's in my book, but I make that for myself every once in a while. I often make my mother's steamed fish. This book is somewhat reflective of what I eat when I'm by myself. Suzy Chase: I'm always intrigued by the choice of illustrations, photos, or no images at all. Why did you choose illustrations, which are darling, by the way, and who did those?Anita Lo: Julia Rothman, who is amazing and is all over the place these days. I was 100% behind this choice, but it was my editor's, Lexy Bloom's idea. I was like, "Oh, my God. Of course." The fact that it's a drawing makes it a little bit more approachable. It's not like it's some perfect thing that you have to make. I think it gives the reader options just to make it and put it on the plate than some of them. Suzy Chase: The other night, I made your recipe for Broccoli Stem Slaw on page 164. Describe how this flavor profile is similar to the good old-fashioned Green Goddess dressing that we all grew up with in the Midwest.Anita Lo: It's an old-fashioned dressing with a lot of tarragon, anchovy, garlic, lemon, bunch of other herbs, and then ... a green Ranch dressing with anchovy, right?Suzy Chase: Yeah, and garlic. Anita Lo: Right. Yeah, well, I think Ranch dressing had powdered garlic or something. Maybe it was a powdered onion.Suzy Chase: Yes. You mentioned, in the book, something about how that fake garlic that kind of sticks with you for hours ...Anita Lo: Oh, God. I hate that. Yeah, the jarred ... Oh, God. Ew. I guess I can't ... Oh, God. Yeah, I just ... Oh, sorry. The memory of it renders me speechless.Suzy Chase: Describe the Broccoli Stem Slaw. Anita Lo: Julienned or shredded broccoli stems, and you just take it and you mix it with some mashed avocado with lemon, garlic, anchovy, tarragon. It's rich and then it's crunchy and but it's also sort of healthy. Yeah, and it uses up the other half of your avocado, and it uses up those stems from your broccoli that a lot of people just throw away.Suzy Chase: Now for my segment called My Last Meal. What would you have for your last supper?Anita Lo: I think it would probably have to be some sort of Japanese omakase, but I'm a big fishy head, and I love to go get, yeah, just a really long, never-ending omakase with all my favorite different types of fish and shellfish. Suzy Chase: Before I wrap this interview up, as a 23-year West Village resident, may I ask, and I'm sure you hear this all the time, if you're pondering another restaurant in the West Village?Anita Lo: I am not. Yeah, I mean especially not now. I'm not ruling it out, but yeah, I don't ... I would love to open another restaurant, perhaps in another country, and as-Suzy Chase: Oh, really?Anita Lo: Yeah. I mean I'm never going to move, by any means, but I would like to ... I'm hoping to get some sort of long-term consulting gig, yeah, preferably somewhere I'd like to visit. Yeah, I can't really. Because of my knee, I can't be on my feet all the time. I don't think that precludes me from opening a restaurant, but I think it's not wise for me to try to work in it all the time. Yeah, I'm hoping to do that, but I'm ... I run these culinary tours with the Tour de Forks, and I ... which I really love, and I hope to continue to do that. I don't necessarily always work with owing a restaurant, especially in New York today. Suzy Chase: Since we're neighbors, I also have to ask another neighborhood question. What's your favorite restaurant these days, favorite butcher, and where do you get your groceries?Anita Lo: Oh, God. It's so upsetting now that Gourmet Garage is gone. I just-Suzy Chase: They were gross, though.Anita Lo: They weren't that gross, and they were right there. Yeah. I mean no grocery store is great, but what ... I mean what was gross about it? What did you think that was gross about it?Suzy Chase: Well-Anita Lo: I mean you certainly don't buy fish there, by any means. You don't buy ...Suzy Chase: No. I bought chicken there one time, and I had to bring it back three times because they kept giving me this stinky, slimy ... but you know what? In a pinch, it was fine.Anita Lo: Really?Suzy Chase: If you needed mushrooms, if you needed beer, if you need lunch sushi, you could go there. Anita Lo: Wow. Yeah, I never at any of the prepared foods.Suzy Chase: What did you get there?Anita Lo: Vegetables, olive oil, dairy. It was just, well, because that was the closest one to my house, and then it closed. Now I either have to go to Gristedes or I have to go to Citarella, which is just ridiculously expensive. Yeah, or then sometimes I go over to Brooklyn Fare, but that's pretty far. Suzy Chase: Yeah.Anita Lo: Let me think. Yeah, I don't really have a favorite grocery store, but I do, I go to Citarella ... fish. It's interesting because, after all these years buying wholesale prices, buying ingredients at wholesale prices, I just ... seeing these fish prices are like, "Oh, my God."Suzy Chase: Ouch.Anita Lo: Yeah. Yeah, I think I'm slowly getting used to it. I like Dickson's Farmstand Meats in Chelsea Market for meat or high-end meat. I go to Florence Prime Meat for things like dry-aged steak, or I really love their Italian sausages there. They'll order stuff for me if I want something like fresh pork belly or whatever that you're not going to be able to buy in a grocery store. I ride my bike to Chinatown. I will buy things at Buon Italia in Chelsea Market as well as the Manhattan Fruit Market in the basement there, but yeah.Suzy Chase: What's your favorite restaurant in the neighborhood these days?Anita Lo: For sushi, I love Kosaka. I love that for high-end sushi. I love Via Carota, of course.Suzy Chase: Of course.Anita Lo: Yeah. I love Taim. I love Mustache. Oh, I love Hao Noodle and Tea, Ramen-Ya, Ramen-Ya, whatever, on West Fourth for ramen, or I love Empellon's soft tacos. Yeah, there's a lot of great food in the west village. Suzy Chase: Where can we find you on the web and social media?Anita Lo: Www.chefanitalo.com. I'm not on Facebook, but I'm on Instagram, and I am on Twitter @AnitoLoNYC. Suzy Chase: Who says eating along should be lonely? I can't thank you enough, Anita Lo, for coming on Cookery by the Book podcast. Anita Lo: Thanks for having me.Outro: Follow Suzy Chase on Instagram @cookerybythebook and subscribe at cookerybythebook.com or in Apple Podcasts. Thanks for listening to Cookery by the Book podcast, the only podcast devoted to cookbooks since 2015.

Keith Kreeger is an Artist, Designer and Maker who focuses on the singular idea that "Objects Matter"; and that his work reflect that simple phrase. His current collections exemplify clean, polished, modern design. His plate ware can be found all across America, at legendary restaurants like Alex Stupak’s Empellon. Keith currently sits on the board of the Austin Food and Wine Alliance, the advisory board of Austin Bat Cave and is an active supporter and advocate for the Andy Roddick Foundation. We also dig into the Snacky Tunes archives for one of our favorite psychedelic performances from Small Black. Snacky Tunes is powered by Simplecast.

In this episode, we played Fortnite with Mari Takahashi of the Smosh Games empire. Known as Atomic Mari to fans, she reveals how she turned her love of video games into a viable career (yes, she plays games for a living), what it was like being blindsided on the reality TV show Survivor, how she and her husband play games together without being too competitive, and which games and trends got the most hype at the Electronic Entertainment Expo a.k.a. E3. We also chopped it up with chef Alex Stupak and David Rodolitiz, cofounders of NYC's Mexican restaurant empire, Empellon. The duo described their complimentary work (and fashion) styles, what it takes to make it in the crowded New York restaurant market, why they closed their once-beloved Cocina location, and which dish Empellon sells 3,000 of per week. Latest Launch: Incredibles 2, The Nike + Headspace partnership and collaborative Nike+ Run Club app, and Belvedere's latest Single Estate Rye Vodka: Smogery Forest.

Oh hey! Today Krista's joined by producer Katie Guhl for the news: Alon Shaya's next move (0:33), Applebee's/IHOP closing 100+ locations (1:17), Amy Poehler supports One Fair Wage (4:09), JBF honors Jose Andres (7:19), & it's our 50th ep (7:56)! Next, 10 Q's for NYC's Alex Stupak about his 3 Empellon spots (11:20), a restaurant is like a relationship (15:23), pastry (22:40), tacos (27:33), signature dishes (31:15), David Lynch (34:14), & more. To close, comic Kevin Yee tells a hot cocoa horror tale (40:37).

On today's show we welcome the chef Alex Stupak, owner of Empellon in Midtown, Al Pastor in the E.V. and Taqueria in the W.V. He began his career by washing dishes at age 12 and then attended the Culinary Institute of America on a full scholarship and has worked at Tru in Chicago, the Federalist in Boston, Alinea and wd-50. His restaurants have made top ten lists at New York Magazine, NY Times and Empellon Cocina was named a JBF best new restaurant semifinalist in 2013. Alex was named a Best new Chef by Food and Wine Magazine in 2013 and recently wrote his first cookbook called Tacos and Provocations. The Line is powered by Simplecast

Popular NYU professor, author, positive psychology expert, and peak performance coach Dan Lerner and I talk about utilizing your strengths, impacts of social media, relationships, and flow vs deliberate practice. Full show notes here. Notes from the show:-Daniel's Facebook | Twitter | Instagram-Check out his book U Thrive: How to Succeed in College (and Life) and check out some of the free resources here that go with the book-Some influential people on the positive psychology movement that Daniel mention's in the podcast: Martin Seligman, Chris Peterson, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (who wrote the book Flow)-article summing up Anders Ericsson's view on deliberate practice-most of us are fimilar with the Myers Briggs Test however Daniel strongly recommends taking the VIA psychology test to find out your stregnths-PREP (prevention and relationship enhancement program) - tools for dealing with negative or difficult relationships-Books we mention:: Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcom Gladwell Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert The Gift Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World by Lewis Hyde Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked by Adam Alter (I also heard an interview with him on Fresh Air)-Movies he recommends:: The Tree of Life, Whiplash and Sing-His recommended food is the Avacado Dessert at Empellon in Midtown on 53rd (if you are in NYC)We also mention this fun clip from Aziz Ansari on texting/social media/dating::https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFR4PPxp2z8Cool Things to Check-Out:-I'm super loving Dr. Gingers all natural dental products. Use the code "COCO2017" for a special discount.-The Good Fest will be in L.A. on Feb. 3rd, 2017 !! Get $10 off with the code "KATIEDALEBOUT"-In June I'll be hanging with the Wanderlust fam in Vermont -- come hang with us!-Sign-up for my newsletter to get updates on where I'll be and what I'm loving!-Join the listener Facebook Group -Get my book Let It Out: A Journey Through Journaling or leave a review if you have read it.— Show Sponsor —care/ofHave you signed up and tried out Care/Of yet?? If you have tweet me your pics of your cute packs! If not you NEED to give them a try. Why do I love them so much?  Care/of creates personalized supplement packets for you based on your unique needs and delivers them in daily customized packets for 20% less than comparable brands. They come in cute customizable packages (that have your name on them!) making them easy to take with you on the go and know exactly what to take each day.  It's a win-win-win, you save time, you save money and your optimizing your health specific to YOU.Take the quiz here (it's 100% FREE even if you don't get anything it's worth doing) and enter the code "KATIE" at checkout for 50% off your first order.

This episode of Week in Review goes over The Real Cost of Food panel from SXSW, table-scaping with Irish flair, and tipping policy straight from the man himself, Danny Meyer. On “The Breakdown” Jack and Erin talk to Cherry Bombe’s Kerry Diamond about the upcoming female-led Jubilee Conference. Last Great Bite Every episode of Week In Review opens with a recap of the last great thing Jack and Erin ate, and how you can try it too. JACK: Ramen Tatsu-ya in Austin, TX ERIN: Green pizza at Pizza Loves Emily in Fort Greene, Brooklyn Featured Episodes Get caught up on the highlight reel of clips from the last week of HRN’s programming. The Real Cost of Food panel at SXSW Hosted by Darren Bresnitz, co-host of Snacky Tunes With guest Alex Stupak of Empellon and Erik Bruner-Yang of Maketto in Washington DC Sharp & Hot Episode #121: Clodagh McKenna (3/15/16) Hosted by Emily Peterson With guest Clodagh McKenna, Irish chef and TV personality All in the Industry Episode #100: Danny Meyer (3/16/16) Hosted by Shari Bayer With guest Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group The Breakdown: A guest or caller from around the industry joins the show to talk about their recent work. Jack and Erin speak with Kerry Diamond, co-founder of Cherry Bombe and co-host of Radio Cherry Bombe. Kerry tells us about the upcoming Jubilee Conference, a day-long event featuring female chefs and tastemakers that “brings Cherry Bombe to life.” This year marks the third year of Jubilee, which takes place on April 10, 2016 at the High Line Hotel in Manhattan. The event will focus on women in food with featured panels and discussion that address a variety of issues and opportunities that exist in the food world, as well as a lunch by Dig Inn. Big-Ups: Jack and Erin “big up” people, places, and things they're totally digging right now. JACK: His girlfriend, Odetta Hartman. They will be performing at The Townsend tonight, March 18, as part of SXSW! ERIN: Jacqueline Raposo, host of Love Bites, who hosted an inspiring and entertaining episode this week about why we are still single with chef Daniel Holzman from The Meatball Shop.

On this week's special edition of Snacky Tunes, we present "The Real Cost of Food" panel from South By Southwest. Presented by Darin Bresnitz & Greg Bresnitz, co-hosts of Snacky Tunes, and Jack Inslee, executive producer at Heritage Radio Network, with guests Alex Stupak of Empellon and Erik Bruner-Yang of Maketto in Washington D.C.

On today’s show, Jacqueline and Ben talk confidence. How do you own it on a first date? In a relationship? Where is the line between confidence and ego? And is “owning yourself” enough? Then they’re joined by Lauren Resler, the pastry chef of Empellon restaurant and the mothers to 9-month old Jaxon Alexander Stupak, the #TacoPrince! She dishes about the challenges of motherhood in the industry, and how it’s a little different for women than men. Listen up, ladies. “I’m happy to say that I’m blessed with a very easy going child so the stress of a restaurant is much harder but with mommy work you never shut your brain off!” [25:30] –Lauren Resler on Love Bites

On today's episode of THE FOOD SEEN, find out when Mexican food went from crunchy shell, ground beef, and shredded cheese taco nights, to transformative tortillas made of fresh masa for Alex Stupak? When this pastry prodigy, when from sweet to savory, yet alone outside of his culinary comfort zone, many questioned his actions. The reaction: Stupak has made us reconsider the the quality of being authentic, and proved that the ubiquitous taco goes way beyond the borders of Mexico. Having opened three Empellon restaurants (Taqueria, Cocina, Al Pastor) devoted to the further exploration of Mexican food, and through his cookbook “Tacos: Recipes and Provocations”, Stupak make you think past El Paso. *photos by Evan Sung *photos by Evan Sung   “Molecular gastronomy started as a movement in science. It was a better understand of what happens when we cook food. It has nothing to do with creativity.” [07:00] “The problem is with a corn tortilla is that it's a gluten free, fat free, sugar free product. It's a very unforgiving thing. It doesn't reheat well.” [20:00]