In this episode of Repertoire, I boogy down to street to James Island, South Carolina to sit down with Shaun Brian—chef, operator, community builder, and one of the most quietly influential figures shaping how seafood, hospitality, and leadership intersect in the Lowcountry.

Shaun’s story begins far from restaurant kitchens. Raised on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, he grew up foraging, fishing, gardening, and building—learning self-reliance, respect for food, and community responsibility long before he ever put on a chef coat. His upbringing spans Caribbean culture, West Indian household traditions, Rainbow Gatherings, Quaker boarding school, and a deeply formative reckoning with accountability that would ultimately shape his values as a leader.

We dive into:

• Growing up on a remote island and how fishing, foraging, and scarcity shaped his relationship with food.
• The Caribbean as a cultural crossroads—and how global flavors, preservation, and technique naturally coexist there.
• Early lessons in accountability, honesty, and consequence that became lifelong leadership principles.
• Why kitchens attract “misfits,” how pirate-ship culture once defined the industry, and why growing up is essential for longevity.
• The difference between treating cooking as a lifestyle versus building a sustainable career.
• Mentorship, burnout, and how to protect passion over a 30-year career in a demanding industry.
• Building Cuda Co. as a community-driven seafood operation—supporting fishers, feeding families, and training the next generation of cooks.
• Why trust, relationships, and showing up fully matter more than titles or ego.

Shaun and I talk openly about failure, shame, growth, leadership, and the unseen labor that makes restaurants work—from fixing broken equipment to carrying the emotional weight of teams and communities. It’s a deeply human conversation about values, evolution, and what it actually means to lead with integrity in hospitality.

Watch the full episode on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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In this episode of Repertoire, I travel to Black Rock City, the temporary desert city that rises each year for Burning Man, to sit down with Chef Sammy Jackson—one of my closest friends and a chef whose life and career have unfolded across continents, cultures, and extreme conditions.

This episode is a little different—and that’s the point. Recorded live on the playa during Burning Man 2025, this is a holiday bonus episode—a dusty, sunburned, radically self-reliant Christmas gift from the desert. We weren’t able to film our full sit-down conversation due to weather, dust, and gear constraints (welcome to the playa), but the audio is crystal clear, and the episode is visually brought to life through immersive B-roll captured throughout the burn. We also filmed a full “The Dish” cooking segment—proof that even in the harshest environment on earth, chefs will still feed people with care.

Born in St. Helens, Australia, Sammy’s journey spans Sydney kitchens like Catalina, cooking for royalty in the UK, private chalets in the French Alps, luxury yachts across the Mediterranean and Caribbean, and Boston—where he built the cult-favorite Australian meat pie shop KO Pies before selling the business post-pandemic and returning to a nomadic, adventure-driven life.

We dive into:

What it takes to cook at scale in one of the most extreme festival environments imaginable—dust storms, mud, heat, cold, and total infrastructure improvisation.

Feeding and nourishing a camp of 75 people for nearly two weeks without compromising standards.

Adapting menus, systems, and expectations in real time when conditions change daily.

Why morale, teamwork, and shared purpose matter as much as technique in extreme hospitality.

How nourishment becomes sacred when exhaustion, survival, and community intersect.

Why cooking at Burning Man strips the craft back to its core: intention, generosity, and care.

Sammy and I reflect on friendship, endurance, and why chefs are uniquely equipped to thrive in chaos—problem-solvers by nature, builders of systems, caretakers of people. This episode is raw, funny, dusty, and deeply human—a holiday bonus from the playa, wrapped in foil, gifted late, and delivered with love.

Consider this your Repertoire Christmas special—no snow, no sleighs, just fire, dust, community, and a reminder of why we cook for one another in the first place.

Watch the episode visuals on YouTube, listen to the full audio wherever you get your podcasts, and happy holidays from the desert.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Repertoire, I travel to Boston’s Back Bay to sit down with Chris Coombs—James Beard Award–nominated chef, restaurateur, and co-founder of Boston Urban Hospitality, known for shaping some of the city’s most defining dining rooms, including Deuxave, dbar, and Boston Chops.

Chris’s journey is rooted in precision, discipline, and an almost obsessive commitment to the craft. From his formative years cooking under Patrick O’Connell at The Inn at Little Washington—a place he still calls “church”—to becoming one of Boston’s most influential culinary leaders, his story is one of evolution, resilience, and relentless refinement. Today, he’s expanding his vision with BOSSE, a 100,000-square-foot concept blending pickleball, pastry, fitness, and hospitality into a new kind of community hub.

We dive into:

• His early mentorship at The Inn at Little Washington and the lessons that shaped his standards of excellence.
• Why he believes chefs must honor every part of the animal, and how respect influences the way he cooks duck, steak, and seafood.
• The shift from fine dining to building BOSSE, and what it means to create a concept that merges sport, food, and lifestyle.
• The rise of “soft boy cooks,” and the changing expectations of professionalism, discipline, and work ethic in today’s kitchens.
• How social media has reframed the public’s understanding of culinary skill—and the tension between online clout and real craft.
• The economics of dining, value perception, and what it takes to run restaurants in a culture that both celebrates and undervalues food.

Chris and I talk about legacy, standards, and the evolution of leadership—what changes with age, what stays the same, and how a chef shapes culture both inside and outside the kitchen.

Watch the full episode on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.