This Is Fire Celebrating 10 Seasons On OFTV With Grandmaster Chef Jojo

0:00If you really into the odd sports, you know, the stuff on the sidelines here that aren't connected to the NHL, the NBA NFL or matriolic baseball, we're talking about American Ninja Warrior professional wrestling and so many other things. That's what all level sports are about. You can find it on arrow.net, ARROE.net. Enjoy your love for sports and your exploration. Good afternoon. How are you? Absolutely fantastic. Here at the kids' second school, you know, God is good, you know, every day. Oh, I love it that you said that. I love it. You said that. Hey, I got to give you a compliment on something. I love the way that you show your presence on the show without the dominance. In other words, it's you walk into every one of these chefs and you share with them the experience without saying no. Do it this way, this way, this way. And that is so inspiring to those of us on this side of the flat screen because that's the kind of leadership that we want as well. And you you really have that down quite well.

1:03I really appreciate that. I lead with as a graceful heart as I can be and to me, people are amazing and they're a gift to this world. Also, the universal language is food. So it's the best way to try to try to teach a new language to somebody and have them, you know, show that language to somebody else later on. You know, whenever it may be, you know, so yeah. And the thing is, is that, well, I mean, to learn that language and to share that language with so much fusion going on these days, because cultures are coming together in the most amazing ways right now. I that's got to be exciting for you as well. It's super exciting. The inspiration, I think for me, is always the underdog in the culture. You know, the person that's putting in the work where no one's, you know, as I can say that no one can see, you know, I appreciate the farmers. I appreciate the people working on the fields.

2:05I appreciate the gardeners. I appreciate everybody that are, you know, making sure that everything is okay with these products that we can get together. And feed people, you know, feed people. For me, that is my true inspiration. You know, I've only been inspired by a couple of chefs in my life that showed that fusion as far as how to translate love and how love is always. That's it. So, you know, for me, for me, that is the fusion I try to infuse. It's like, I wouldn't care if you're cooking a peanut butter jelly. All right. You know, a beautiful piece of steak or wherever your heart desires. As long as you're in the kitchen, touching food, I think that is the fusion of love that comes together. I'm so inspired by the fact that you included the farmers because I'm from the state of Montana where farming is so big. And then I can now always tell people that the greatest part about the Pacific Coast Highway out there in California was when it took us into the farmlands. I was like a little child in a candy store.

3:07When I saw those fields and I saw people working together, oh my God, chef. It blew me away. It's energizing, isn't it? It's like, it's really, it's everybody coming collectively together to have a mission completed. I think it is, it's a, it reminds you in a fast-paced world how to slow down real quick, you know, and embrace what's in front of you. Because I feel like if we took those same techniques as far as I was raised, we took those same techniques with life as far as, that we grew up with horses, we grew up with goats, we grew up with great vines, I grew up with a garden, I grew up every morning making sure the fire was ready for my grandma to make fresh bread before school. And it was something that was so peaceful we didn't have, you know, quick access to things. I think back then we had to plug the phone cord to the computer. Yeah, you know, so it was like, that was the most disconnect, disconnection to connection I've ever had.

4:11So yeah, I'm happy you got to experience it. I'm not saying I would be a beautiful place now. That's a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful place. The, the intimacy that you guys provide on this is fire. I love that because it reminds me so much of my dojong. I'm a third dawn in martial arts. And the thing is, is that it's so, so in the way of bringing forward your personal inner strengths. So it's like you've got the students right there and you watch them blossom right there in front of you. Oh, it's, it's sometimes it's, especially, especially when they're super nervous and I have to calm them down. Yeah. You know, it's because I tell them all the time it's not easy. Especially when I do cooking competitions or foundation events where a bunch of chefs are on stage that are all trained, that are all at the highest level they can be in their cities or states or countries. And we still mess up. Yeah. You know, I think, and I tell them, you need to do this because it'll build your character. And I think this is what character is built on is not being perfect.

5:15And they, they perform better than they get or they underperform and they're laughing and having a good time. And you get to see, I don't know, I honestly feel like I get to see the little kid in them again. The frantic, the hectic, the, the happy, the disorientated, the confusion, but then also the determination to figure life out. So it is, it is super fun to take these amazing contestants and push them without like making them feel scared. You know, we're out making them feel that I, this is what I want. I want something for you from you. You know, it's like, I want something for you, you know, and that's just to be successful in this three minute. You know, go cheese up. So, you know, one of the things that inspires me most about you is once again, presentation is everything. But one of the things that I do in my own home kitchen is that you inspire me to keep my, might basically my platform or my stage clear. In other words, doing the dishes while you're cooking is valuable.

6:16And I learned that from your show because you, you have such a spotless stage and it teaches me that, you know what, if you're waiting for things to cook, go do the dishes. There's always something to do instead of standing around with your arms crossed. Hey, a cook can cook, but a chef can clean anchovic. You have to clean a clean, a clean station and a clean mind, a clear head. So that will help you when all the things are going wrong. You know what I mean? If that makes any sense, when all the things around you are going wrong, when you're cleaned out, cleaned out here, you'll be able to, you can still focus. And that's that little chef technique that I want them, whatever I'm saying is to feel, is that like if you are clean and you are overwhelmed and you have anxiety, you will buckle down and you will focus. The body naturally does that. Please don't move.

7:16Chef JoJo is coming back. This is fire. If you haven't experienced it yet, you've got to put it on your must see list. We are back with Chef JoJo. How do you teach people then the art of collaboration? Because I mean, what you've done with Nathan Webb and others on the show is it's like you totally understand the art of collaboration. I think I think Karate and showing that like you care about them, again, wanting something for them, not from them. I don't know. I don't know. I think they're on the go-go-go. I feel like when they come on sets, just coming over to our house and coming over and just feeling warm inside, feeling cared for, feeling love, feeling that we're paying attention to them. Again, just because we want them super successful in the collaboration, and we want them to go out and tell everybody. We want them to go home and collaborate with their family, collaborate with their friends

8:16and cooking, having that kind of different mind frame, being the fast life industry, getting pulled everywhere, you're getting offered things, you're getting this and this, but you've got to be able to collaborate on this level of life. Again, the universal language of food. You just keep coming right back to that. Is that the reason why when you're watching the show and as viewers and things that we all feel like that? It's almost like you can see who's about ready to enjoy the presentation of food because it creates conversation. Do you foresee that they go when they're going to try this? They're going to talk. They're going to share. It's not about speedily eating through all of this food. It's about having that moment. Yes. You know what I'm saying? Hey, taste as you go. Taste as you go because I want them to be excited about their journey. That's right. I want the person next to us that can test their opponent, their friend, their colleague to hear those same things and have that same towards them.

9:19So at the end of the episode, it's really super cool. They get to try their dish and somewhere complete success and then somewhere complete failure and then they'll know why either they want them or lost or they where they need to make adjustments because we've had contestants that like they were so close, right? And they just dropped the ball just by off of a sauce or off of a vegetable being too big for the bite and they want to redeem themselves. So we've sent the recipes out. And that is something that I do foresee is that it's not just me being the host of the show, but we have a great culinary team around the part of that whole process for making sure that we have everything we need on set and the culinary team executes that at the high level. I built the recipes and then I send them off to my amazing partner and she just executes it in such an amazing way. She comes from a massive restaurant. You could say franchise consulting era to where she is massively known as how to make

10:24franchises and I come from 20 plus years of restaurants experience. So our goal was to make this look and feel chef driven. They come in the right to go. It was like, yeah, we're going to break the stigma. But we're also going to show you how amazing creative dynamic and RF is able to collaborate themselves and bring professionals from all around that have a passion and a dedication to this craft to make them look like rock star. Yeah. That is it. We want them to walk around and be like, I did this is fire. We're going to lose. But doesn't that start with you being the great listener that you are because so easily you could say here, let me show you and then and then take over the stage. But no, you let them keep getting their hands dirty, tasting it and sampling and growing. Take a chance to step back do everything. You could have easily just taken over in a heartbeat. Man, it makes me feel so good that you pay attention to those details, right?

11:27It means a lot to me. It means a lot to my heart, my mind because it's such a beautiful thing to walk somebody blossom. And for me, it's my forefront. It's my forefront to be that kind of like retitue in their head and help them in that manner, but not do it for them because I want them to have the, you could say this, learn the classmanship of cooking. That's what it is. The nice skills, grabbing, you know, sauteing versus roasting, frying at a certain time, the double frying, you know, and why we're using shinwals, the strength sauces and why we're cooking this over open fire or you have this, you're going to get two totally different flavors. We have a pantry full of seasonings and how we toast the seasonings before we use them. We have those baskets are set up for success. They're literally made to the tea for success on that dish. And then we watch their mind just go and then they start creating and they start, you

12:32know, I heard Chef Jojo like spice. I heard Chef Jojo like this. I heard Chef Jojo like this. And then because they're all talking through the grapevine, you know, they're all through the grapevine and I love how serious they take it. It's like it's turned so serious to where I'm like, hey man, this next season, we got to go back to the basics. We got to go back to the basics, you know. Well, you kind of remind me of my my sensei in martial arts in the way that it's like, okay, you're out here on the floor, but I'm going to step to the side because you learn more from the sidelines. I feel that the same way in your show is that you kind of do invite them to go to the sideline and watch what's going on. Now go back in and do it again. And that's why I feel like when we're picking these items, we're giving them enough time to take a step back and relook at things and maybe have a different eye for it or pick up or they succeed the wrong point. So it's a good feeling. It's a good feeling. How do you teach them not to fall in love with the scent of the air because with it

13:33not being finished yet, although it smells so good. But judge it till it finally ends. You know, salt to taste. No, salt to taste. Salt to taste. They really like, oh man, there's a couple episodes where you're just like, what do you do? And, you know, are you tasting? And they're like, yeah, that works for me. Oh. Some, their palettes are different. Their palettes are different. And that's the beautiful thing is a lot of these contestants are from all over the world too. They just came to America. They come to different states and they hop around from, like, say, we're doing wrong men. Yeah, man, I've been to five, six different wrong places in LA or from Florida or from Midwest. And it's so cool to taste the food where they remember, right? It's based off of remembering. I tell them that all the time. And I'm like, well, chef, what's the locomoco?

14:35I'm like, have you ever had sticky rice? Yes. Have you ever had a hamburger? Yes. Okay, have you ever had gravy? Yes. Do you like pineapple? Yes. Okay, now put all that together and remember the memory in your brain. And let's get it off plate. You know, and food is memory. I mean, you know this. It's like, yeah, fast food ain't the best for you. Right? And I've always put it in perspective to this. But when you were a kid, talkability is like the most amazing thing in the world, right? Yes. Yeah. That first bite, that first bite you knew, you knew with that hard-chilled taco that souped me and all that goodness as far as the cheese, the sour cream, you knew with that one bite you went backwards, right? So you know fast forward now to where you're driving and you're stuck in a predicament. And all you see is Taco Bell on the side of the road. And you don't want to, but you do it and you take that bite and you remember your moment as a child. You just try Taco Bell and that's it. It's the memory. It's the memory. That's what I want them to have is have a memory of when they tasted it, a memory of

15:37when they cooked it on the show, and a memory to also be able to do it again through the food language that we keep talking about and bring it up. What's really interesting though is that there are many times because I'm somebody who watches the body language of those that are sharing the journey. And that is, is that there are times that I feel like that you yourself are still the student. You will learn things from them. Yes. Everyday. Everyday my biggest mentor told me you never, not a student. You never are not a servant. People are people. You know, you can't do anything about that, but just learn from it. Yeah. That's like my mentor right here, Mr. Chef, I'll hold that address. You know, he's he's he's a he's a great man to me. And the times I'm able to hang out with him and be with him and his team, you know, it's a fun time. It's a fun time. Wow. And I think that's what people go to find out more about you, Chef, because I mean, this is one of those things where it's like, so many times people go in the kitchen and they think they've got to live up to something and you you you basically say, be yourself. I'm just here to give you support.

16:38I mean, really good finding now is just, you know, I've been nothing on the private sector for a very long time. You know, we still got some family restaurants and Las Vegas, California, you know, but those are those are some beautiful cafe bacon eggs and toast. Yeah. You know, peanut butter burgers, club sandwiches and BLTs and you know, we started with a deep fire. We ended with a cowboy steakhouse and cafes. And you know, where my brain took me was, you know, to just learn from the best and that's what I did. You know, I'm also taught. I'm also taught. I've trained under some amazing chefs and been able to practice my craft every single day. So as far as getting to know me a little more, it would just be to just reach out. You got the only fans platform. I do my best on there to help be the example of that I can be on there for and I try to reach out to the core fans as much as I can.

17:41The phone calls, you can, you can, my number's out there. You can reach me and get a hold of me and we can talk about where you're where you're wanting your restaurant, your menu used to go. And then we do private experiences and those, you know, we try to pick only about three to four years to do, whether it's small, cost dinner or a massive event. We only, we really like to focus on people individually and just right like that. But chef, you know that there are business owners out there that would take exactly what you said and because it's happened with me with I heart radio, they look at you and say, I'm tired of the art, man, we're not doing this for art and you said, and it hurts your feelings as being the creative one. I mean, you've had to face those walls, I'm sure. Oh, every day, I think, you know, rest, rest is so Sam Riger is from Limp Bizkett, the bass player, one of my best friends. Yeah, he was one of my best friends and, you know, we didn't, before he passed, we were talking about it all the time about imposter syndrome, you know, as an artist, you know, as an artist, you're just like, ah, this isn't good enough.

18:43And everyone else knows this is great enough. This is good enough. This can be consistent. This can put in, this can be in processing. We can run this. We can open a restaurant with this concept. We can do this. We can do this. And as artists, you're like, I'm over it. Yeah. You get over it, you know, going on to the next, I'll do the next thing. And I think for me, for me, it's, it's, it's, it's allowing people to have that open opinion and the criticism and now just being able to let go of it and just be like, oh, we'll do it better. We'll do it better. You know, we're going to do it better and food is food. And that's all that matters now. What, you know, I don't need with ego. I don't, my mission isn't to win all the awards. My mission isn't to, you know, be the big dog and, and, and no, there's so many people better than me. There's so many people way more talented to me and, and, but I'm grateful for the gift that God's given me, which is my hands and my heart. And that's all I want to do is feed people with that, you know, and, and be able to, you know, feed their soul.

19:44That's my mission. I'm here to, to, to take it all. I'm here. I'm here to give it all. So one of the things, one of the things that I'm noticing right now, especially here in this forest that I live in here in Charlotte is that we, we're coming together as a community because we have the beekeeper, we have the goat people, we have all of these people that have got that are coming together because it were using their animals, their land in this community without having to hit the grocery store, the big chain, or we go to a farmer's market. I love the way communities are starting to get the animals back in the life of getting that goat milk or even the, in fact, the other day, dude, I had sheep cheese. The, the milk was from the sheep. I was blown away by that. I love how excited you are. I love it. I love your energy, man. I love it. It's beautiful to hear that. You love your craft. And I'm happy that you're this excited over food. And I love what people are doing. I think, I think people, I think people have hit a struggle within themselves recently

20:45as far as dopamine and the, the, the quick information of boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, you know, the soul needs to be replenished. It's made to be our size, made to feel the sun. It's made to be with animals. It's made to touch dirt, you know, it has been written since the beginning of time. So it feels so good to see those people that can say, hey, I don't want to be selfish anymore. You know, we live in a world where it's you, you, you, you, you, you, go, go, go, go, go, get to it when you can, boom, boom, boom, boom, now they're being selfless and saying, hey, what can I do for my family? Let me learn the foundations and where our ancestors and everybody have came from. And now let me share it with others. So it's like trust me. I have friends that are, you know, selling their multi-million dollar companies, moving out to Montana, moving out to Idaho, moving out to Spokane. That's it. And literally, no, nothing. And I mean nothing about any of this and they're going for it.

21:48And it feels so good to see that side of them from when they other side, it's like, you know, how many rolls, rice is, how many of this can I buy? How many of this can I buy? How good can I look? How this and this? And food naturally does that. People naturally do that. The sunlight naturally does that when you learn to let go of the things that you don't need and apply to the things you do need. So I love it, man. I honestly, oh gosh, I can't wait. Like I'm from Detroit and family is everything and we have some land out there. So it's like, I can't wait to go back every year here. Well, the way you share stories and the way that I've seen you, chef, it reminds me so much of that you're inspired by the raindrop that falls on the mountain and somehow some way it's going to make it to the ocean, but you want to watch that journey happen. Oh, every day. Every day. Every day. Oh my god. Like, you know, I haven't sat and watched in the clips in so long and the one the other day I sat with my dollar outside and we watched the whole thing.

22:52I watched it from the beginning to the end, smoked a couple of amazing cigars and just sat there and just enjoyed it. It felt so good. It felt so good. So yes, I do love that. I love watching the rain come down around love those simple things in life, man. Yeah. Yeah, you got to come back to this show anytime in the future, chef. I love where you are and how you're inspiring people to be themselves. That is just so, so new to a lot of people. I appreciate you. I really, really do. And the fact that you're, you know, you're seeing the details within the show and it's like, you know, I always try to just, you know, portray who I am. I'm never not trying to be somebody I'm not. I don't want to be, you know, the hype man. I just want to be the giving man, the great soul man, the healing man and the forgiving man. So for me, for me, I'm so happy that, you know, like God bless this whole, you know, he

23:52gave me the, he gave me the, he gave me that opportunity, you know, Alex, you know, from RFTV, from Goiq Productions, you know, Justin from Creative Dynamic. They really saw something in me and really felt, felt good to get noticed, you know, as far as to be able to give that gift to everyone. So, you know, I really want to thank, you know, only fans, or TV Creative Dynamic for believing in my journey, you know, when they saw me, and to, you know, push this now, you know, push this. That's cool. Now, it's a blessing. Wow. Well, please come back to this show anytime in the future. The door is always going to be open for you, chef. I appreciate your, you be brilliant today, okay? Yeah, you too.