Chef David Hill & Chef Larry Falisi

Chef David Hill (00:30):

All right. Welcome guys, episode six of Chef & Lambos. I got a chef here, a special guest that does a little bit of restaurant work and catering, which is a first. Most of the guests have been either one or the other, but you're doing a little of both. Why don't you introduce yourself?

Chef Larry Falisi (00:46):

Yeah. All right. I'm I'm Larry Falisi. I started a catering company back in 2015. I did that for a couple years by itself until we realized we needed more space.

Chef David Hill (00:57):

Okay.

Chef Larry Falisi (00:57):

We needed a home base. So we built out a fast casual restaurant. We did breakfast and lunch. I was open six days a week, casual, and then we were closed by like 5:00 PM, that way I could go and skate out and do catering events.

Chef David Hill (01:11):

There you go.

Chef Larry Falisi (01:12):

So we did that for a couple years. We built that out all ourselves. We did the demo and the complete build out. And pretty much as we were finishing the build out, we were still crazy busy with catering and we're like, "Hey, we're running out of space already. We didn't even build this place yet." So we just did that for about two years, and then we really looked at it and like, "Hey, we need to keep growing. Like, we're running out of room."

Chef David Hill (01:35):

But when you started that business like roughly how many employees, like how many cooks and all this stuff?

Chef Larry Falisi (01:39):

I had the restaurant and the catering, the first one, I think I had about six cooks, one head chef, one of my buddies from college. I'll give him a good shout out.

Chef David Hill (01:50):

That's your partner, right?

Chef Larry Falisi (01:51):

No. So my partner is my actual brother.

Chef David Hill (01:53):

Oh okay, okay.

Chef Larry Falisi (01:55):

But I met a kid in college, his name was Kyle.

Chef David Hill (01:57):

Okay.

Chef Larry Falisi (01:58):

We became very good friends. We were a fraternity brothers for the whole time. When I graduate, I moved back to Naples and started this whole thing. He stayed in Lakeland and got his masters. I went back one day, I saw him, I'm like, "Hey, what are you up to?" And he's like, "I'm just still cooking in that restaurant." I'm like, "Dude." Could we curse on this?

Chef David Hill (02:14):

Yeah, go for it.

Chef Larry Falisi (02:14):

He goes, "Fuck that place." He goes, "I'm out." I'm like, "Dude, come with me. We'll run it." And I brought him down and he was with me for years.

Chef David Hill (02:21):

Okay.

Chef Larry Falisi (02:22):

So I had him, it was a big help. And then my brother, mom and dad, and that was pretty much the team we had at first.

Chef David Hill (02:26):

So like a family business.

Chef Larry Falisi (02:27):

Oh yeah, for sure.

Chef David Hill (02:28):

That's awesome.

Chef Larry Falisi (02:28):

For sure. Yep. Onsite events in the restaurant, whatever it was. We took care of all that. And then about the end of 2019 I started the aviation catering. I was kind of briefly talking about. That really took off about a year in. And then during all of that, we were like, "Hey, we need to look at a new place. We need to find something." Looked around, tried to find just a kitchen. Didn't want to open a restaurant, wanted just a kitchen. That was not something we could find. So we're like, "Hey, let's see what we can do." We found the location, it was empty for two and a half years, complete demo, took about seven months to rip everything out of there. And then me and my brother and dad just rebuilt the whole place ourselves, painted, tile work, all new electrical work, everything. And then that became the hangout that we have now.

Chef David Hill (03:16):

That's awesome.

Chef Larry Falisi (03:17):

So about 165 seats, 30 seat bar, indoor, outdoor style.

Chef David Hill (03:22):

Sweet.

Chef Larry Falisi (03:22):

Tried to make it a casual environment for people that weren't really looking for one thing to eat, they're looking for me and you, we can go hang out and we'll have whatever. We could share things, different appetizers. I run pizza. We hand make our own pizza dough.

Chef David Hill (03:37):

Gotcha.

Chef Larry Falisi (03:37):

So that's definitely something that's popular too, so.

Chef David Hill (03:39):

Well, let me ask you this. Like, I've always been under the impression that I never wanted to be a restaurant owner, I never wanted to have a restaurant because I don't-

Chef Larry Falisi (03:46):

I agree.

Chef David Hill (03:47):

... I don't want to worry about the staff, I feel like there's a lot of theft.

Chef Larry Falisi (03:51):

For sure.

Chef David Hill (03:52):

You can't go on a vacation without freaking out about what's going on there. Tell me, am I wrong? Tell me-

Chef Larry Falisi (03:57):

Oh, you are nowhere near wrong.-

Chef David Hill (04:00):

See?

Chef Larry Falisi (04:01):

So the only reason at the time where it made sense to open this restaurant, because I had a team, I had a bunch of young kids who were learning and they were killing it. And I had that guy Kyle with me. So at the time it just made so much sense. We're like they could hold down the restaurant, I don't even have to be that involved in it, and I could just crush the catering on my own. Well, about six months in just, they didn't really see the vision that we saw. They kind of felt bigger than they were. And then pieces just kept falling, pieces kept falling, until one point it was just me and Kyle. we were pretty much cooking everything ourselves. And then finally he gave me the heads up. He said, "Hey brother, it's my time." And I'm like, "Hey, I appreciate everything you gave to me." But nah, definitely owning a restaurant was never in my vision either. Now I look back at it, it's been an awesome experience. I've learned a ton of different things-

Chef David Hill (04:52):

I bet.

Chef Larry Falisi (04:53):

... and definitely things moving forward. But yeah. Especially during COVID, we've had about 450 employees. And I've been open a year and six months.

Chef David Hill (05:01):

Wow. Just that many-

Chef Larry Falisi (05:01):

Rough.

Chef David Hill (05:03):

... people coming and going. And are you saying because people getting sick mostly or just not dependable?

Chef Larry Falisi (05:09):

I think I had maybe 10 people get sick-

Chef David Hill (05:11):

Okay so that too.

Chef Larry Falisi (05:11):

... and then not come back. But just other ones, just no one's dependable. People would just stop showing up.

Chef David Hill (05:16):

That's what I worry about.

Chef Larry Falisi (05:17):

But I'm getting the text like, "Yo, you're my best boss I've ever had. Thank you so much for this opportunity." I'm overpaying. I'm overpaying, and eh, it is what it is.

Chef David Hill (05:24):

Yeah. Yeah.

Chef Larry Falisi (05:26):

You know how that goes.

Chef David Hill (05:27):

Yeah. Yeah.

Chef Larry Falisi (05:27):

I feel like I'm preaching to the choir sometimes.

Chef David Hill (05:30):

But I just feel like, I don't know, like I'm from Michigan up north and I just feel like the work ethic down here is just much to be desired. I don't know it's just.

Chef Larry Falisi (05:39):

I mean you could definitely feel the difference in some of them. I mean, I grew up here. I've been here since 2005. So I've kind of seen some of my friends that I grew up with who still are just hanging around and not doing much, but there's definitely a lot of friends that, my one friend just started his own AC company, so he's crushing it. So there's definitely, if they're there to do it, they'll do it. But you got to get lucky.

Chef David Hill (06:00):

Yeah. I don't know. I mean, I just, sometimes I go through so many servers and stuff, it's just-

Chef Larry Falisi (06:05):

Oh, the front of house is a whole nother story.

Chef David Hill (06:06):

I know. That's what I'm saying that they-

Chef Larry Falisi (06:07):

[inaudible 00:06:09].

Chef David Hill (06:08):

I just find the younger they are, if they're like in their twenties or whatever, they're still in that party mode.

Chef Larry Falisi (06:13):

Correct.

Chef David Hill (06:13):

And they come in hungover-

Chef Larry Falisi (06:14):

I'll get lucky with some of the ones that need to work, and they actually come to me. "Hey, what can I learn today? What can I learn today?" Like right now my kitchen staff, this is probably the longest I've had the same team. And they're just a group of people that want to work. They come to work, they're on time, they never miss. And if they do, it's a real family emergency. There's something really going on, and they let me know. But I'm very forgiving with them, I let a lot of things slide if they put in the work. If you're here and you're doing it with me, I don't care if you need a day, take that day. I'm here.

Chef David Hill (06:44):

But how often does it happen where you got somebody who comes to you that says I could do this, I could do that, and then you find out they just totally lied to your face and they don't know how to do anything.

Chef Larry Falisi (06:54):

That happened many times.

Chef David Hill (06:54):

Quite a bit, I bet.

Chef Larry Falisi (06:54):

Especially when my buddy Kyle left, I was looking for a new head chef.

Chef David Hill (06:58):

Okay. Oh my god.

Chef Larry Falisi (06:59):

You know how that goes.

Chef David Hill (07:00):

Yeah. Well, I just find-

Chef Larry Falisi (07:01):

I have five, five guys come in and then two weeks later I'm like, "Beat it."

Chef David Hill (07:05):

See like when, when someone's like doing a restaurant thing, I always say, "Bring them in, have them make three or four dishes just for you." And just see if there salt's off-

Chef Larry Falisi (07:17):

See how that-

Chef David Hill (07:17):

See if their-

Chef Larry Falisi (07:18):

... that style goes, yeah.

Chef David Hill (07:18):

Yeah just give them a small test.

Chef Larry Falisi (07:21):

That's definitely something that, but again, I wasn't able to pick and choose, I was lucky to get a body in there. At one point I cooked every hot meal for lunch and dinner for four months while my dad made every pizza. So like, I couldn't be picky at that point, I just, "You're going to show up, I'll take it."

Chef David Hill (07:38):

See, I think if I was in your shoes and I had people in my family that want to help me and want to cook, which I don't-

Chef Larry Falisi (07:46):

Oh, thank god have them.

Chef David Hill (07:46):

... which I don't have that. But I'm saying if I had that, maybe I would've had the balls to do what you did.

Chef Larry Falisi (07:50):

Oh no, it for sure is.

Chef David Hill (07:50):

But no way.

Chef Larry Falisi (07:52):

... it's a huge difference. If I didn't have my brother and my dad in there every day. And then my mom on the back end helping, my mom was even baking stuff for me. So like, without that, nah, it would've been a disaster.

Chef David Hill (08:01):

Right.

Chef Larry Falisi (08:02):

Luckily we had the four of us, we ran the catering on our own, the aviation on our own, and the restaurant on our own at some points like we get it done. But yeah, obviously every day, day in day out.

Chef David Hill (08:14):

Family won't let you down, man.

Chef Larry Falisi (08:15):

That's true.

Chef David Hill (08:15):

They'll go in sick, they got pains.

Chef Larry Falisi (08:20):

Oh too many times.

Chef David Hill (08:20):

They'll show up.

Chef Larry Falisi (08:20):

I've had to kick my dad out, the man won't leave.

Chef David Hill (08:20):

Really? See that's awesome.

Chef Larry Falisi (08:20):

He won't leave the building. I got to kick him out.

Chef David Hill (08:23):

That's what I need.

Chef Larry Falisi (08:24):

But that's why I show up to work. Because that's how he works. I'm like, ah, I'm going to do what this guy does, so.

Chef David Hill (08:28):

So well going back in time, like can you think back, like when you were like a kid, did you always know you wanted to be a chef or what was the-

Chef Larry Falisi (08:36):

So no, not at all-

Chef David Hill (08:36):

... realization. You know?

Chef Larry Falisi (08:38):

I mean we're an Italian family from New York. So everything was always a party. We threw a party for everything and the whole family would always get together. Grandma's cooking, all my aunts were cooking. So I was always around that. It was always a party scene, someone's birthday, the weddings were always entertaining. So I definitely learned how to throw parties as a young kid. And then when I got to high school, I was really good at throwing parties. And then I went to college and that's where it really, like, I knew what I was doing.

Chef David Hill (09:07):

And that was college, culinary school?

Chef Larry Falisi (09:08):

So no, I went to Florida Southern and I wanted to be a teacher.

Chef David Hill (09:11):

Oh, okay. So Totally different.

Chef Larry Falisi (09:13):

Oh, completely different. I went to be a teacher. I studied education. I got my degree in that.

Chef David Hill (09:18):

Now you got to fall back.

Chef Larry Falisi (09:20):

I think my license expired this year. I think I said, "I'll let that go."

Chef David Hill (09:24):

Gotcha.

Chef Larry Falisi (09:25):

But yeah, at the time I was in my fraternity and I was always on the grill, I was cooking for all the guys, I was always doing stuff on our own. I lived in the house with some of my friends. I was cooking for them, showing them stuff. So that's kind of when I like got the realization, Hey, I'm pretty good at this. And then my dad was back in Naples with my brother and my brother worked for Merrill Lynch and he started cooking lunches for them to get them to actually show up to meetings and pay attention. So it started to get to the point where he needed help. So I would drive down to Naples, help for the day, and then drive back. Then I went to two days a week. Then I went to three days a week. And now I'm graduating. I'm like, "I'm going to go be a teacher. Why? Or I could go do something that I actually enjoy doing."

Chef David Hill (10:07):

That you enjoy doing. Yeah.

Chef Larry Falisi (10:07):

Like I love teaching kids and all, I think that's why I'm definitely a good chef at some point, because I can break down and be patient with these people who have never hold the knife before, they had no clue what they're doing. Right, right. But now you look at my team now and they're actually running... I left. I'm not there. Right. They're running the restaurant right now, so-

Chef David Hill (10:26):

That's crazy.

Chef Larry Falisi (10:27):

That was so much.

Chef David Hill (10:27):

I could never do that. I could never walk away.

Chef Larry Falisi (10:29):

It was tough. The first couple times I did it, I was like on the cameras watched. I'm calling constantly. "Hey, what's going on? You guys good? You guys good?" But once it got to that point where like, no, they mostly [inaudible 00:10:40]

Chef David Hill (10:40):

What's the longest they've been away, like two weeks a week or not even that long?

Chef Larry Falisi (10:43):

I've taken 12 days off in the last three years.

Chef David Hill (10:47):

Okay. So you're paranoid that way, right?

Chef Larry Falisi (10:49):

Yeah. I'm there.

Chef David Hill (10:49):

Yeah because-

Chef Larry Falisi (10:51):

Yeah no I'm in there.

Chef David Hill (10:51):

... being a chef. You're very paranoid people are going to screw things up for you.

Chef Larry Falisi (10:55):

Yeah. Oh for sure.

Chef David Hill (10:56):

And I just, I'm-

Chef Larry Falisi (10:56):

That's the thing, that's the thing. If I don't put it out there, I don't know if it's the way it should be. But at some point I do have to be, "Hey, you taught them right. You taught them right." Like just constantly telling myself that. But no, occasionally you get the burger that comes back completely rare.

Chef David Hill (11:10):

Yeah.

Chef Larry Falisi (11:11):

It's going to happen. As long as you can go out and talk to that person now make it right. Then you can be cool.

Chef David Hill (11:17):

Yeah. Well I had a couple other chefs on and they're telling me like, "You got the wrong idea." They're like, "If you pay people really well, they'll perform, everything will turn out right."

Chef Larry Falisi (11:27):

Money. Ain't all it is.

Chef David Hill (11:28):

But you know what I say? I say, "Guys, I just feel like nobody's going to care as much as the guy's name on the building."

Chef Larry Falisi (11:34):

Oh a 1000%.

Chef David Hill (11:35):

You know what I mean?

Chef Larry Falisi (11:35):

But I can [inaudible 00:11:36].

Chef David Hill (11:35):

Why would they care if they're not part owner? Why would care?

Chef Larry Falisi (11:38):

`I can tell you for a fact though, my friend Kyle, when he was working with me, that man cared.

Chef David Hill (11:42):

Yeah. He was your home boy.

Chef Larry Falisi (11:43):

He cared Like it was his.

Chef David Hill (11:43):

It was a guy you trust.

Chef Larry Falisi (11:46):

He gave a shit. But no, I've had kids in there that were 18 years old, they had nothing to the name, and they took that. They're like, "Hey, I'm a be a chef with you. I'm going to learn how to do this stuff." And when you lose guys like that, that's when it sucks. Yeah. Because they actually could have been something for real. Now they're working in some bullshit kitchen that's now doing nothing.

Chef David Hill (12:04):

And that's the other point, think of all the people you invested your time in, training, saying, "Hey, this guy's, he's going to make it. He's going to do it." And then all of a sudden, "Hey, this ain't for me. I'm on here."

Chef Larry Falisi (12:15):

Three years later.

Chef David Hill (12:16):

Or he got another job.

Chef Larry Falisi (12:17):

Three years later-

Chef David Hill (12:17):

That's frustrating.

Chef Larry Falisi (12:18):

... I've showed this kid everything. I got a kid in my head personally, I not even say his name, but bringing him into houses like this, teaching him English, teaching him how to talk to people. Not just kitchen skills, actual life skills. Like how to buy a car, buying a car for him, like showing him this shit and then just, "I'm out, all right? Fuck off."

Chef David Hill (12:34):

Was his situation though? Why did he leave?

Chef Larry Falisi (12:36):

They couldn't take criticism.

Chef David Hill (12:38):

Oh.

Chef Larry Falisi (12:39):

My guy-

Chef David Hill (12:39):

I thought it was money or some other guy stole-

Chef Larry Falisi (12:41):

No money was never the problem. My buddy Kyle was the authoritative figure in the kitchen. I was the one to bring everyone together and Kyle was the one to force that down their throat. It got to the point where if they didn't do something and he said, "Why'd you not do it?" They would just be him and go off on him. Like, all right now that's, you're nowhere near where you should be. This is the guy who's, he's here with you it's not like Kyle wasn't working, that man was working in the kitchen with you. How are you going to treat him like that? So once it got to that point, we just cut it and they left themselves.

Chef David Hill (13:11):

But you were shaking your head when I was like pay them more treat them better, whatever.

Chef Larry Falisi (13:15):

Yeah.

Chef David Hill (13:16):

Why do you disagree with that? Because you think it's a mindset, it's not about money.

Chef Larry Falisi (13:20):

I've had people, I paid $14 an hour that were my best employees.

Chef David Hill (13:22):

Yeah. Okay you're saying-

Chef Larry Falisi (13:25):

I've paid chefs 80,000, who couldn't last a month.

Chef David Hill (13:27):

Right.Okay. So you just-

Chef Larry Falisi (13:29):

Meanwhile, they were making 50 at their last job. I'm like, "Cool. I'll pay you double, give me 60 hours a week."

Chef David Hill (13:34):

See, I'm thinking it's-

Chef Larry Falisi (13:35):

I'm doing 120, give me 60.

Chef David Hill (13:37):

I think with a lot of them, when they're walking in the door, they already have a bad mindset-

Chef Larry Falisi (13:41):

Oh for sure.

Chef David Hill (13:42):

... and you can't change that.

Chef Larry Falisi (13:42):

Yeah. You'll never change that.

Chef David Hill (13:43):

They're just kind of broken.

Chef Larry Falisi (13:43):

They're stuck in their way. Yeah, nah. And that's what I've tried to do. I've tried to take this restaurant at a completely different angle. I've worked in different places but I never worked in a kitchen before. So I've just heard stories, heard stories about how bad it is. I'm like, "Why? It doesn't have to be like that." My team that comes in, everyone smiles, the whole shift, we're laughing, we have a good time. We hug each other when we get there and we hug each other when they leave.

Chef David Hill (14:08):

That's awesome.

Chef Larry Falisi (14:08):

That's what I wanted, Bill, I wanted to do something completely different so that when you do leave and you go somewhere else, say, "Why the fuck did I leave?" And then you're going to call me back. And now I'll tell you half one back.

Chef David Hill (14:19):

Yeah. With your experience of being a chef, did you ever kind of crave the idea of going to a culinary school or you're just like, I don't think I need it?

Chef Larry Falisi (14:28):

It definitely did. Just, I mean, I obviously you could always learn.

Chef David Hill (14:31):

Yeah. I mean everyone can learn.

Chef Larry Falisi (14:32):

Don't everything. I don't even know half the shit I probably should. I just know from things that I've messed up on and I've known how to grow from there, make everything better off that. But yeah I mean, I would love to, at the time money wasn't the greatest. So that probably wasn't an avenue I could have taken. But yeah, at this point though, I feel like I know so many good chefs. If I do have a question, I could just go to someone like that.Like one of my buddies, Junior, that man, I think he's 40 now, he looks 30, but that man he's been in it, he's been all over town. He's been in schooling. He's done it all. So I got a question, I call him up. And he answers first ring, and I got no problem. And he'll come and show me and then he'll come and wash dishes with me. SO like-

Chef David Hill (15:18):

Now with your business, are you more a fan of hiring someone who's not trained, or getting someone who's gone under the CIA or Johnson & Wales, how-

Chef Larry Falisi (15:27):

So for a very long time I was anti schooling. I was, I'm a teach you, I'm a teach you how I learn.

Chef David Hill (15:35):

Because they come in with bad ideas and mindsets that are-

Chef Larry Falisi (15:37):

That's how I think. Yes.

Chef David Hill (15:39):

... set.

Chef Larry Falisi (15:39):

Yes.

Chef David Hill (15:39):

Like you can't train them new tricks kind of thing?

Chef Larry Falisi (15:40):

No I'm coking it this way, and this is why it's going to get cooked. No, why? Look how I cook it then we'll talk about it right now. Now who's is better? Instead of, "No, I'm doing it this way no matter what." I got a new chef in now, he's been in about a month and a half with me, and very open mindset guy. He's done all of his schooling, he knows his shit. But he didn't come in saying, "No, we're doing it this way. We're doing it this way." He said, "Nah, you show me how you do it. I'm going to talk about how I do it. If you like what I say, then I'll do it. And then we'll come back." I'm like-

Chef David Hill (16:09):

Or you guys collaborate.

Chef Larry Falisi (16:09):

"Well, we're of the same mind." Yep.

Chef David Hill (16:12):

You could come up with like a 50/50.

Chef Larry Falisi (16:14):

Exactly.

Chef David Hill (16:15):

"Hey, we'll use some of your ideas, some of mine."

Chef Larry Falisi (16:16):

Exactly. The more that we team up on things, the better it's going to be.

Chef David Hill (16:18):

Right. Okay.

Chef Larry Falisi (16:18):

You got two minds on it, it's always going to be better.

Chef David Hill (16:21):

And like, would you say that your style is very strict with the guys? Like how often do you go crazy and yell at people?

Chef Larry Falisi (16:27):

I'll go off on them at least once a day.

Chef David Hill (16:29):

Oh, okay.

Chef Larry Falisi (16:29):

I'll go off once a day. But they all know why, it's not like I'm just doing it for no reason. It's a buildup. It's never the first thing ain't ever going to get me. Unless you're sending raw food out and you didn't give a shit about it, they know what will get me and they'll know the things that get me excited. Gotcha. So they'll get to the point where they do it and they'll immediately like, I don't even have to go off, and they're like, "Yo I fucked up, I'm sorry. Like this is what I did and I get it." I'm like, "All right, cool man." Like, that's what we need now. You're going to come out though with me to this table and you're going to tell them that. I'm not telling them that. We are going to, as a group, be honest with this guest and tell them what we fucked up. And a lot of people have grown to that, they like that.

Chef David Hill (17:10):

See, I think like in your position of doing a restaurant, I would fear that you got a guy in the kitchen, if you're not watching, I'm just saying like let's say you're busy or whatever, you haven't been watching the kitchen much. You might have a guy selling food that's burnt. And then that-

Chef Larry Falisi (17:24):

I've had it.

Chef David Hill (17:25):

... customer ate it, left and you're done with that guy, he's never coming back.

Chef Larry Falisi (17:29):

The amount of times I get the Google Review, one star, "I had a burnt piece of chicken parm." I'm like, "Man, why don't you tell me why you were here?" Like-

Chef David Hill (17:39):

Oh yeah, yeah.

Chef Larry Falisi (17:39):

I would have given that for you for free.

Chef David Hill (17:39):

That customer like didn't sweep you up.

Chef Larry Falisi (17:39):

I would have bought it for you the next time too. And then that's when I go off on the team. I'm like, "Guys, read this, read it out loud so everyone could hear it, you guys serve some shit to people that you shouldn't have served." And my big thing is, "If you wouldn't to give it to me, why are you selling it to someone?"

Chef David Hill (17:56):

That's pretty much you're kicking you-

Chef Larry Falisi (17:56):

You're not give it to me free.

Chef David Hill (17:58):

That's kicking you.

Chef Larry Falisi (17:58):

Because I'm going to eat it for free, technically, but you're going to sell it to somebody else? Why?

Chef David Hill (18:03):

But I'm saying like them screwing you like that is hurting your pocketbook.

Chef Larry Falisi (18:06):

Yes. Oh, of course.

Chef David Hill (18:07):

Because that guy's going to tell other people.

Chef Larry Falisi (18:09):

Of course.

Chef David Hill (18:09):

And it's just going to be bad.

Chef Larry Falisi (18:10):

And it's I got to discount, I got to get free stuff away. I'm cool, I love giving free stuff away. I probably give too much free stuff away. But it's, on my end, it's not because we fucked up. And that's where it's going to get you. So yeah. Always watching that and try to keep that to the smallest.

Chef David Hill (18:29):

And there's going to be little things that are going to slip through.

Chef Larry Falisi (18:33):

Exactly.

Chef David Hill (18:33):

You might have a bartender giving out-

Chef Larry Falisi (18:34):

As long as you're not doing it on purpose, I don't have a problem with it. We're going to learn from it, and we can get better then. I'm cool. Yeah. But if you're doing it on purpose, nah, I've literally dragged people out of that kitchen before. Said, "Do not come back here.You are not welcome back here."

Chef David Hill (18:48):

See when I started working, like learning the business, I was like a restaurant guy, twenties, whatever. And the deal was like I just saw a lot of like theft. I've seen like, what did I see? Like not kitchen. What are they like? Let's say prep cooks.

Chef Larry Falisi (19:04):

Okay. Yeah.

Chef David Hill (19:05):

They'll go into the walk-in, I'd catch. them throwing like a case of beer in the garbage bag. Throw it out.

Chef Larry Falisi (19:11):

And pull on it.

Chef David Hill (19:12):

Then after work they go back there and grab it.

Chef Larry Falisi (19:13):

See luckily-

Chef David Hill (19:14):

Or steaks, they do that.

Chef Larry Falisi (19:15):

Oh, for sure. Again, luckily I'm there enough with, there's always someone in the kitchen. It's never really one or two people and they're never sectioned off. My whole space is open. Everything's open in the kitchen.

Chef David Hill (19:26):

A lot of cameras?

Chef Larry Falisi (19:28):

I have 36 cameras.

Chef David Hill (19:29):

Wow. That's a paranoid guy right there.

Chef Larry Falisi (19:30):

Oh yeah.

Chef David Hill (19:31):

This dude's paranoid.

Chef Larry Falisi (19:33):

That was probably more on my dad's-

Chef David Hill (19:34):

Pretty sick.

Chef Larry Falisi (19:35):

... he's like, "I'm seeing every register. I'm seeing four outside." I'm like, "Cool man. I'm with it." We ran the wires for him. I'm like, "Hey, follow me." But yeah.

Chef David Hill (19:44):

Have you caught a lot of people stealing though or what?

Chef Larry Falisi (19:47):

Some bartenders for sure.

Chef David Hill (19:48):

See that's that's another thing-

Chef Larry Falisi (19:49):

The bar guys are-

Chef David Hill (19:50):

... you might have like a beautiful girl at the bar.

Chef Larry Falisi (19:51):

The bar guys, I'll tell you-

Chef David Hill (19:53):

She'll just keep pouring.

Chef Larry Falisi (19:53):

... tell you, they fucked me. For the first year of me having this restaurant, they-

Chef David Hill (19:58):

Yeah. See, they give out the free drinks so they get-

Chef Larry Falisi (20:00):

From giving free shit away-

Chef David Hill (20:01):

More tips!

Chef Larry Falisi (20:02):

... to not cleaning a single fucking thing behind my bar, disaster, absolute disaster.

Chef David Hill (20:07):

And then the thing-

Chef Larry Falisi (20:08):

I've had the worst, I've got two good bartenders. Other than that, the worst staff I've ever seen.

Chef David Hill (20:11):

And then I hear with a lot of these restaurants and bars, they never clean those taps, you know with the beer?

Chef Larry Falisi (20:17):

That's the year I do actually get to do. We actually have our beer companies, each one of them come out and they do it every other week. So we're getting it cleaned every week.

Chef David Hill (20:26):

Well that's good

Chef Larry Falisi (20:26):

By one of the companies.

Chef David Hill (20:27):

Yeah. I don't think a lot of places do that.

Chef Larry Falisi (20:29):

Yeah. See also ours are direct pull, straight from the keg. So it's not like we're cleaning lines and lines and lines.

Chef David Hill (20:34):

Gotcha.

Chef Larry Falisi (20:34):

A lot of places have it like that.

Chef David Hill (20:36):

And with your catering, I know we talked about that earlier. But what is the most you've ever cooked for? What's what's like the big numbers?

Chef Larry Falisi (20:43):

So Arthrex is definitely on that higher end, some days they've done I think 2000+.

Chef David Hill (20:52):

Is that a lunch or is that like a dinner party?

Chef Larry Falisi (20:56):

So they would actually do two times. So they do like, they do two shifts. They got their first team who worked overnight, they eat, and then the next thing that comes in, they work a little then they eat. So I have a mobile kitchen that I can pull up anywhere, self-sufficient, full size. I could fit like-

Chef David Hill (21:10):

Kind like a food truck?

Chef Larry Falisi (21:11):

I could fit seven to eight people in there to operate.

Chef David Hill (21:14):

Okay. But it, but it's like a trailer with a kitchen in it.

Chef Larry Falisi (21:16):

Exactly, yeah, it's pulled by my truck.

Chef David Hill (21:17):

Yeah. Yeah.

Chef Larry Falisi (21:17):

So yeah. I pull that up in their parking lot and we just cook all there so everything's fresh, onsite. And we pack up there.

Chef David Hill (21:25):

So what's in there, like fryer, grill, what's in there?

Chef Larry Falisi (21:25):

I got a double side fryer, I got an eight top stove, I got a four foot range, a two foot barbecue, a smoker, a warmer.

Chef David Hill (21:35):

I'm jealous.

Chef Larry Falisi (21:35):

And I still got the three windows-

Chef David Hill (21:37):

That things awesome.

Chef Larry Falisi (21:37):

... so I can serve like as truck style.

Chef David Hill (21:38):

That sounds cool.

Chef Larry Falisi (21:39):

I got a triple sink, hand wash sink, refrigerator, a salad station, thing's massive.

Chef David Hill (21:45):

So how often does shit break in there?

Chef Larry Falisi (21:47):

I set two fires on my smoker.

Chef David Hill (21:50):

Whoa.

Chef Larry Falisi (21:50):

I'm a certified firefighter I feel like.

Chef David Hill (21:53):

Geez.

Chef Larry Falisi (21:53):

That was entertaining. I wish I had videos of those. Oh man.

Chef David Hill (21:56):

During COVID someone was talking to me about doing a food truck. They're like, "You should do a food truck. I mean, you got a lot of followers." But then they were like, I talked to people that do it. They're like, "Look, man, you don't make that much money."

Chef Larry Falisi (22:09):

Naples just ain't really the place for it.

Chef David Hill (22:11):

"Stuff breaks all the time." Yeah. That's the thing. That's the one thing I learned is you can't just park anywhere, there's rules and there's laws. You can't just go anywhere.

Chef Larry Falisi (22:19):

You just don't see enough volume in Naples.

Chef David Hill (22:20):

And they rotate like celebration I think you mentioned.

Chef Larry Falisi (22:24):

Yes.

Chef David Hill (22:24):

I think they rotate people out.

Chef Larry Falisi (22:26):

Yep they do. I mean like the breweries, you go to a brewery on a Friday night, you're lucky if you see a 100 people. You're not working that trailer by yourself, you got two people, you got your prep time, you got all have your food. What do you do with the food you don't sell? Now you're not serving fresh food the next day.

Chef David Hill (22:42):

Yeah. The other complaint they said-

Chef Larry Falisi (22:44):

That's why I don't go to Celebration Park.

Chef David Hill (22:45):

They said it's too hot

Chef Larry Falisi (22:47):

Oh my god.

Chef David Hill (22:47):

They're like, you're going to sweat. Like crazy when you work in the food-

Chef Larry Falisi (22:51):

I have two AC units in my trailer, and during summer it's still-

Chef David Hill (22:52):

Like a thousand degrees.

Chef Larry Falisi (22:53):

... 101, 115. Thank god I'm not in Texas. I've seen some of those guys out there they're getting killed.

Chef David Hill (23:00):

Oh yeah.

Chef Larry Falisi (23:00):

But there's like, there's a wedding barn out in the middle of the woods, I pull that out there and I'm frying chicken parms, we sauce it, cheese it, and bake them in the oven there. Some of my friends do their weddings out there and I'm just hooking them up. But they love it, so.

Chef David Hill (23:13):

So that Arthrex account, is that something you still do?

Chef Larry Falisi (23:17):

We do them on holidays now.

Chef David Hill (23:18):

Holidays. Okay.

Chef Larry Falisi (23:19):

They've definitely, since they opened their new location, the big, beautiful one out on Mackly. That's definitely cut into my end of it a little. They have like two culinary departments in there. I think there's two twin chefs. They crush it. So I can't complain that much. But the one out in Ave, I do a lot of stuff out there still. Because they give their kitchen staff the holidays off. So I'm in there like 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, things like that. Yeah. New year's I think I did.

Chef David Hill (23:45):

So you got a good chef story for me about being in the weeds where you pretty much almost ruined a party or a party didn't go off?

Chef Larry Falisi (23:52):

Beautiful. So I have-

Chef David Hill (23:54):

Beautiful.

Chef Larry Falisi (23:55):

... a party for STARability. It's a foundation for special needs kids in Naples.

Chef David Hill (24:00):

Nice.

Chef Larry Falisi (24:01):

Awesome.

Chef David Hill (24:01):

Nice.

Chef Larry Falisi (24:01):

Awesome group of people we give them a discount, I just want to hook them up always. So I'm doing barbecue one day. I have probably 225 pounds of meat on the smoker. It's fucking-

Chef David Hill (24:15):

Flaming like crazy

Chef Larry Falisi (24:17):

... an hour and 45 minutes before it needs to go.

Chef David Hill (24:19):

Oh, okay, okay.

Chef Larry Falisi (24:20):

The entire thing sets on fire.

Chef David Hill (24:21):

That's what I was going to say when I head barbecue.

Chef Larry Falisi (24:22):

The whole fucking thing sets on fire. Fucking this, I have three kitchen fire extinguishers to put it out and then two hand ones to put out the outside fire.

Chef David Hill (24:32):

But you can't fire that thing back up after that. Right?

Chef Larry Falisi (24:34):

Not a chance. All that shit's garbage.

Chef David Hill (24:36):

You're done.

Chef Larry Falisi (24:36):

So now we're like 45 minutes out and I got four people cutting chicken. We're pounding the chicken. My brother ran to four Walmarts, bought all the chicken and Naples that you could find right there.

Chef David Hill (24:46):

Oh my god.

Chef Larry Falisi (24:47):

Came back, we're just cranking that out. We did like chicken Palm, Rosemary chicken.

Chef David Hill (24:52):

So you changed the menu?

Chef Larry Falisi (24:53):

Completely changed the menu, completely different sides, everything.

Chef David Hill (24:57):

They're probably like, "What the hell is this? This aint what we ordered."

Chef Larry Falisi (24:58):

And I called the lady as we're on the way. Like, "You won't believe it, but we're still coming." She's like, "No fucking way." Said, "I thought we were going with no food." I'm like, "Nah, I got something to figured out." We were on time. Fed everyone. No problems. I was like, oh, if they only.

Chef David Hill (25:12):

Congrats man.

Chef Larry Falisi (25:13):

If they only know I got my shirt wrapped around my head like a... Crazy.

Chef David Hill (25:16):

I talked to another chef yesterday about like, she was doing a party and she had the like maybe one or two pieces over the count of what she's about to serve, said she lost about six or seven pieces, they all fell on the ground and ruined it. She said she had more at home and called her husband. "Bring it up here now." But the deal is like, you might think I'm crazy, I go in with the exact amount. You know what I mean? I'm just, because I'm me.

Chef Larry Falisi (25:40):

I go in with one extra.

Chef David Hill (25:43):

I'm like confident I'm not going to screw up.

Chef Larry Falisi (25:44):

I go one extra.

Chef David Hill (25:45):

Yeah.

Chef Larry Falisi (25:45):

So that's for me.

Chef David Hill (25:46):

I don't it. I'm right on the money.And I just wat it.

Chef Larry Falisi (25:49):

A lot of the people that I get, they're like, "Hey," once I like played everything, I set them. They're like, "You coming?" I'm like, "Yeah." So like they'll have my table set. And I come with my food.

Chef David Hill (25:58):

Gotcha.

Chef Larry Falisi (25:59):

So that's, I bring one extra. And if I really have to give it away, I'll give it away. But I don't again like you. That's me, this is what I'm doing.

Chef David Hill (26:04):

Because I'm doing it by myself.

Chef Larry Falisi (26:04):

Exactly.

Chef David Hill (26:06):

There's nobody else-

Chef Larry Falisi (26:07):

I know what I'm doing.

Chef David Hill (26:07):

... that's going to touch this food but me.

Chef Larry Falisi (26:08):

If I really blow it. One ain't going to get me. It's going to be all of them.

Chef David Hill (26:12):

Yeah. So. Well how about this? How about like during COVID, when COVID started, What troubles did you deal with or what changed for you right away when COVID hit?

Chef Larry Falisi (26:24):

I mean, I had no front of house manager, I had no kitchen manager. It was a disaster. I was down to like a six man team.

Chef David Hill (26:33):

Yeah.

Chef Larry Falisi (26:34):

Luckily the catering slowed down, everything slowed down. So we weren't getting rode like that.

Chef David Hill (26:39):

But you probably got a bunch of calls that, "Hey, I'm canceling all my events."

Chef Larry Falisi (26:42):

Oh for sure. Oh yeah. I had weddings rescheduling for two years out.

Chef David Hill (26:45):

Wow.

Chef Larry Falisi (26:46):

I think we refunded like 200+K.

Chef David Hill (26:49):

Wow.

Chef Larry Falisi (26:49):

Yeah. Because I'm not keeping people's money.

Chef David Hill (26:51):

Bro yeah, yeah. You can't do that.

Chef Larry Falisi (26:51):

All those horror stories I heard of people like, oh yeah they just went out in business and kept my money. I'm like, "I'm not going to be that guy. Even if I am go out of business, I'm going to be that guy." We had no problems with that, I didn't fire a single person. I actually tried to hire people during COVID. Like, "Oh, you just got fired? Come work with me. I'll carry you for six months until-"

Chef David Hill (27:07):

There you go.

Chef Larry Falisi (27:07):

"... we're ready to open." So then when we opened the restaurant, they just weren't ready. My whole COVID team, they weren't ready. They had nothing accomplished.

Chef David Hill (27:17):

But wasn't it all to-go food in the beginning kind of thing?

Chef Larry Falisi (27:19):

So that's when I still have my fast casual location, the smaller one.

Chef David Hill (27:24):

Yeah.

Chef Larry Falisi (27:24):

We were doing like family meals, like 4, 6, 8. And we were definitely, we stayed busy.

Chef David Hill (27:31):

Selling them, you were doing good with them, okay.

Chef Larry Falisi (27:31):

We stayed busy. We kept our head above water. We didn't lose money. I paid everyone. We had no problems, so can't complain.

Chef David Hill (27:37):

See, I got lucky I didn't have to do that to-go stuff.I never advertised it. What happened was people that knew me locally were like, "Hey, if you don't have a fever and you could smell and taste, come cook for us."

Chef Larry Falisi (27:48):

That's awesome.

Chef David Hill (27:48):

You know what I mean? So I kept pretty steady.

Chef Larry Falisi (27:50):

I had a handful of those, it definitely wasn't enough to like keep me occupied all the time. But I had enough that it was definitely helpful for sure.

Chef David Hill (27:58):

And another thing, being a restaurant owner you must have felt terrible to maybe have to lay people off.

Chef Larry Falisi (28:04):

I had a whole staff lined up for the hangout. I had a whole staff. Like we were ready to roll, I had a whole opening, the whole front house opening team, like we were ready to go by the time it was open I think we opened like seven months late because of it. I think like two people stayed. Yeah. So that was a whole new rehiring process.

Chef David Hill (28:24):

Right.

Chef Larry Falisi (28:25):

It was a disaster.

Chef David Hill (28:25):

But did you, like, I don't know about you, but my business, I surged, like I doubled in business because of COVID.

Chef Larry Falisi (28:31):

Well now, I mean-

Chef David Hill (28:32):

Did you get that a little bit, with the pickup?

Chef Larry Falisi (28:35):

Probably about halfway through, I would definitely... This December, January, February, March, we had record months.

Chef David Hill (28:43):

Okay. I was hearing that.

Chef Larry Falisi (28:45):

It came back like crazy and then some, so.

Chef David Hill (28:47):

For my fish guys, like I usually get a lot of stuff-

Chef Larry Falisi (28:49):

Okay yeah.

Chef David Hill (28:49):

... from like Blue Star. So they'd tell me, even though it's COVID, people are getting record numbers. Like the McCrado and-

Chef Larry Falisi (28:58):

Oh, so that's why I have a lot of friends at Blue Martini. Me and my brother used to work there. They were crushing it, they were hidden weekly numbers, like what they were doing before.

Chef David Hill (29:06):

Well, people wanted to go out and live. They didn't want to be trapped.

Chef Larry Falisi (29:08):

We're doing parties for 250 people, three people would show with a mask, and they're just berating them like, "Take your mask off!"

Chef David Hill (29:16):

Yeah. Speaking of the mask, all those parties I had to wear a mask.

Chef Larry Falisi (29:20):

Exactly. I wore them for probably first six to seven months. And then after that people were like, "We're okay."

Chef David Hill (29:27):

See, they all had their own different comfort levels.

Chef Larry Falisi (29:29):

Exactly.

Chef David Hill (29:30):

Some people would be like, "Please don't wear your mask."

Chef Larry Falisi (29:31):

Exactly. I did whatever they wanted.

Chef David Hill (29:33):

Because I'm going to make them feel uncomfortable.

Chef Larry Falisi (29:34):

Exactly. I want y'all to have, you're giving me your money. I want you to have your good time. I'm not hear for myself. I'm here for you guys to do what you want.

Chef David Hill (29:41):

And then I had another weird one, this was like a first, where they said, "Hey, we have a physician assistant with us that are going to do a swab test on you before you walk in." I'm like, "I'm fine. No problem. I feel great. "

Chef Larry Falisi (29:54):

No problem.

Chef David Hill (29:54):

So I walk in, they did the thing and it was good.

Chef Larry Falisi (29:57):

That's funny. I never had to do that, probably.

Chef David Hill (29:58):

And I walked in, I the party, everything... But that was a little strange.

Chef Larry Falisi (30:00):

Yeah, for sure. I think that, we see that-

Chef David Hill (30:02):

You know what, I feel we're really going to do a COVID test right before I get here. But yeah. So anyway, I did that.

Chef Larry Falisi (30:07):

That's funny.

Chef David Hill (30:08):

But Hey man, it was nice to meet you.

Chef Larry Falisi (30:09):

Yeah definitely, very cool.

Chef David Hill (30:09):

I just wanted to ask you, you got your opportunity now to tell everybody kind of what you got going on.

Chef Larry Falisi (30:14):

Yeah for sure.

Chef David Hill (30:15):

If you want to plug your website, restaurant, catering.

Chef Larry Falisi (30:16):

For sure.

Chef David Hill (30:17):

Go for it.

Chef Larry Falisi (30:18):

So definitely this time of year is summer, got to love summer. We have a little more time on our hands.

Chef David Hill (30:23):

Little break, yeah.

Chef Larry Falisi (30:23):

Exactly. So we're running all new season specials at the restaurant, we're running a whole new menu just rolled out pretty much. We have a new cocktail menu dropping, our Sunday brunch just came back. So we got a whole new Sunday brunch menu. A couple of the old things came back on. I got to hangover wrap that it literally cures a hangover basically, the thing is like this fat full with a couple of fried items, but still little healthy, some avocado in there.

Chef David Hill (30:49):

Cool.

Chef Larry Falisi (30:50):

But definitely that. And then Fridays, I do a barbecue Fridays. So I smoke brisket, ribs, pork half chickens, and now I'll have a little more time I'm a do some fish over the summer. So that's definitely going to be, I get to take a little more time on me now instead of having to just constantly head down, head down. Get a little more ideas flowing for summertime.

Chef David Hill (31:12):

Cool.

Chef Larry Falisi (31:12):

So I get to do some cool stuff now.

Chef David Hill (31:14):

Well, best of luck to you, man.

Chef Larry Falisi (31:14):

Yeah I appreciate that.

Chef David Hill (31:15):

It sounds like you got a lot going on and I'm sure you're going to be just jamming.

Chef Larry Falisi (31:20):

Yeah we'll see how this year goes coming up, so.

Chef David Hill (31:22):

Yeah, we'll see, I mean to me it seems like summer is somewhat steady for me. Like I'm getting calls like crazy for June, right now.

Chef Larry Falisi (31:28):

Yeah. We definitely look good still. We aren't really empty until August. So I got a couple months out.

Chef David Hill (31:33):

Ah, okay, okay.

Chef Larry Falisi (31:34):

So we're looking good. I just got a new front house manager at the restaurant, so things are on the up.

Chef David Hill (31:37):

Cool.

Chef Larry Falisi (31:38):

Things are definitely going well.

Chef David Hill (31:39):

Thanks for coming by and-

Chef Larry Falisi (31:41):

Yeah for sure man, thank you.

Chef David Hill (31:41):

... enjoy the rest of your night.

Chef Larry Falisi (31:42):

I will, appreciate it, thanks man.