Episodes

Sept. 5, 2024

From Punk Drummer to Vegan Private Chef: Aaron Elliott’s Culinary Journey

In this episode, we sit down with Aaron Elliott, former punk drummer turned vegan chef. Aaron shares his unique journey from touring musician to running a successful vegan meal delivery service, Meal Ticket, in LA. We discus…
Aug. 29, 2024

Exploring Landrace Heirloom Grains & Sustainable Farming | Glenn Roberts of Anson Mills

In this episode of Chefs Without Restaurants, Chris Spear delves into the world of landrace heirloom grains and sustainable farming with Glenn Roberts, the founder of Anson Mills. Glenn shares his extensive knowledge on the …
Aug. 22, 2024

The Business of Food Content Creation with Preppy Kitchen’s John Kanell

In this episode of Chefs Without Restaurants , Chris Spear continues his conversation from last week with John Kanell of Preppy Kitchen. Part 1 of their conversation can be found here . John's a former middle school teacher …
Aug. 13, 2024

Super Easy Recipes with Preppy Kitchen's John Kanell - Part 1

In this episode of Chefs Without Restaurants , Chris Spear sits down with John Kanell of Preppy Kitchen for part 1 of their discussion. John's a former middle school teacher turned cooking personality. They discuss John's ne…
Aug. 9, 2024

Navigating Client Communication and Building Authentic Brands with Meghan Kix of BeeCat Creative - Part 2

In this episode of Chefs Without Restaurants , Chris Spear sits down with Meghan Kix for part 2 of their discussion on marketing and branding. You can find part 1 here . Meghan's a marketing and branding specialist who's wor…
Aug. 2, 2024

Mastering Your Brand with Meghan Kix: A Deep Dive into Marketing and Branding for Food Entrepreneurs

In this episode of Chefs Without Restaurants , Chris Spear sits down with Meghan Kix, a marketing and branding specialist who's worked with major brands like Flying Dog Brewery, and now runs her own creative agency, BeeCat C…
July 15, 2024

Heirloom Beans and Beyond: Inside Rancho Gordo with Steve Sando

In this episode of Chefs Without Restaurants, Chris Spear welcomes Steve Sando, the founder of Rancho Gordo, a company known for its heirloom beans. Steve shares his unconventional journey from a diverse range of careers, to…
June 27, 2024

Exploring Chinese Gastronomy with Carolyn Phillips

In this episode of Chefs Without Restaurants , Chris Spear sits down with Carolyn Phillips, a renowned expert in Chinese gastronomy and the author of acclaimed cookbooks such as All Under Heaven and the upcoming The Art of C…
June 14, 2024

How to Market Your Business by Using Your Car as a Mobile Billboard

Today, I’m diving into a unique and cost-effective marketing strategy that has worked wonders for my personal chef business: using your vehicle as a mobile billboard. If you're a service-based business owner, you’ll want to …
June 6, 2024

Advice For Writing a Better Cookbook from All Under Heaven's Carolyn Phillips

In this mini-episode of Chefs Without Restaurants, host Chris Spear is joined by the acclaimed author Carolyn Phillips to discuss the art of writing a successful cookbook. Known for her works such as At the Chinese Table , A…
May 30, 2024

The Office’s Brian Baumgartner Spills the Beans on Chili and Barbecue

This week on Chefs Without Restaurants, I speak with Brian Baumgartner, the actor best known for his role as Kevin Malone on the TV show "The Office." Brian’s portrayal of Kevin provided countless laughs and unforgettable mo…
May 20, 2024

Cooking with Pat Lee: A Food Content Creator's Journey

In this episode, Chris Spear chats with Pat Lee, a food content creator and private chef from Delaware. Pat shares his journey from working in the financial industry to becoming a renowned food content creator during the COV…
May 1, 2024

Using Pizza to Raise Awareness and Money for Muscular Dystrophy with The Real Billy Z

This week my guest is Billy Zureikat, known online as The Real Billy Z. He's a home cook, baker and pizza-maker who's life took an unexpected turn. He went from an active lifestyle, playing basketball and working at ESPN rad…
April 19, 2024

Modernist Cuisine, Sustainability, Culinary Traditions and More with Nathan Myhrvold

This week my guest is Nathan Myhrvold of Modernist Cuisine. Nathan graduated high school and went to college at 14. He holds a doctorate in theoretical and mathematical physics, as well as a master’s degree in mathematical e…
April 12, 2024

Stolen Recipes, Scrapple, Bill Murray and Bad Service

This week I'm sharing a clip from another podcast I was featured on a couple of years ago. I share a couple of funny stories that I've never shared before. The first story is about how actor Bill Murray inadvertently ruined …
March 28, 2024

Exploring Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon with Bernie Lubbers of Heaven Hill Distillery

This week my guest is "the whiskey professor" Bernie Lubbers, Heaven Hill Distillery's national brand ambassador. If you want to learn more about bourbon, and one of America's oldest and best distilleries, this episode is fo…
March 21, 2024

Teaching Kids Culinary and Business Skills - The Fat Pastor Shawn Niles

This week my guest is Shawn Niles (aka The Fat Pastor). Shawn started his church in 2015, but his love of cooking led him to competing on MasterChef in 2016. What chef Gordon Ramsay told him would change his life forever. Wa…
Guest: Shawn Niles
March 14, 2024

Make Better Pizza at Home with Women's Pizza Month Founder Christy Alia

This week my guest is pizza maker and founder of Women’s Pizza Month Christy Alia. Women's pizza month is an online party taking place the whole month of March on Instagram. Of course, you can follow along by checking out th…
March 7, 2024

Talking About The Chef Conference with Founder Mike Traud

This week my guest is Mike Traud, founder of The Chef Conference (formerly The Philly Chef Conference). We talk about the history, and evolution, of this food and beverage conference. You'll hear what you can expect from thi…
Feb. 27, 2024

Perseverance and Adaptation - Christine Van Bloem of The Empty Nest Kitchen

This week my guest is chef Christine Van Bloem. For 15 years Christine ran the successful Kitchen Studio Cooking School in Frederick, Maryland, a recreational cooking school. When the Covid pandemic hit, she had to stop doin…
Feb. 19, 2024

Beyond Contracts, Invoices, and Deposits: Creating a Less Transactional Experience

In this week’s solo episode of Chefs Without Restaurants, host Chris Spear delves into the controversial yet effective business practices he's adopted for his personal chef business. Chris reveals how he's successfully run h…
Feb. 12, 2024

The Chef Who's Feeding Oceanside's Houseless Community - Sunny Soto-Brisco of Sunny Street Outreach

This week I have chef Sunny Soto-Brisco. With her wife, they started Sunny Street Outreach to cook and serve restaurant quality meals to the houseless and underserved communities in Oceanside, CA. They're currently working o…
Feb. 4, 2024

Caribbean Flavors, Paleo Remixes with Althea Brown of Metemgee

This week I have Althea Brown. After moving to the United States from Guyana, Althea started a blog called Metemgee where she shares traditional Guyanese recipes. Due to health reasons, Althea now follows a paleo diet. But y…
Guest: Althea Brown
Jan. 27, 2024

Taking a Creative, Culinary Approach to Craft Distilling with Scott Blackwell of High Wire Distilling Co (Part 2)

This week I have part 2 of my conversation with Scott Blackwell, owner/distiller of High Wire Distilling Co in Charleston, SC which he runs with his wife Ann Marshall. This part of our conversation starts with how and why he…