Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Hello again and welcome back to the Feel Better podcast. I'm Doug Kirkwood with a very special guest today, chef Pierre from 360Cooking School. Chef Pierre, thank you very much for being here.
[00:00:20] Speaker B: Thank you very much. Appreciate.
[00:00:21] Speaker A: I appreciate you coming in.
Let's talk about feeling better and what it is you do. So let's start right from the top. You're Chef Pierre. Why did you become a chef? Tell us a little bit about yourself.
[00:00:32] Speaker B: For me, like, I think it started like back in the days, like I used to make crepes for all of my friends. And like, early on, I did not know what to do. So I was in college, I had to choose exactly what to aim at, what kind of program, I just didn't know. And. But most of my friends seeing me doing crepes all the time, they were like pushing me and like, Pierre, you gotta go to cooking school. So like, in short, like, I didn't know what to do, but it's. People told me what to do. So. And I just like started the cooking program. I started to embrace a little bit more like year by year, the love of it, the love of the trade and so on. And see me now, like, been 20 years in the trade now and still like probably 20 more in front of me. I hope.
[00:01:17] Speaker A: So how did you go from making crepes and you worked at a two or three Michelin star restaurant in Tokyo, Is that true?
[00:01:25] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I did that three mission star in Tokyo. Part of the. The experience.
So yeah, like the fine dining of doing that. I've been also, like, as you mentioned, like, passionate about like Japanese culture. The food in itself.
Totally love it. So when I came back here in Canada, now, started to work on my own concept restaurant and so on. And soon enough, after a move in Toronto, I discovered cover, like that beautiful concept of like team building, interactive cooking. And I just dived into it. I love it so much. And now, like, to this day, that's all I do.
I do specialize in hosting team for doing cooking events and really like sharing the craft.
[00:02:09] Speaker A: Let's talk about the feel better process of cooking. We all love the food, we all love the end product, but let's talk a little bit about what kind of an experience people can have at 360Cooking School to come in. And not just the end result, but, but the journey about getting to that end result. And the taste, of course. But talk about some of the emotions, Chef Pierre, that people feel when they get involved, especially having you as their mentor there.
[00:02:33] Speaker B: Absolutely.
And you're nailing it here. So it's really an experience.
So yes, at the forefront you might see the welcoming, there's the dining, the actual cooking class and we also do like a private dining experience. But it's so much more than that. It's truly an experience in itself. And even before that experience experience, if you really want to understand that concept, in my opinion, it's really about the communication, bringing everybody together. It's about like the distance, you know, like look at nowadays. Like I'm seeing like all those companies, group organization that are starting to work remotely since many years. Right.
And even nowadays you'll see like a lot of hybrid format where people go to work on a part time basis, you know, from home traveling to the head office and so on. So this is the need that we've been seeing for so long. Like those teams are, need an occasion to get together to, to be able to solidify those like you know, networking opportunities that, that it's hard a little bit for me to describe it, but it's essentially a really nice occasion to bring back people in person and really get those connections going on.
[00:03:59] Speaker A: He talked about bringing them back. That's an important thing as well. You must have people that come into your, into your studio, into your class and go, I don't really know even how to hold a knife.
And to have their confidence go up to the point where, hey, I feel like I'm really empowered now. I came in hungry, I feel like a chef and now I'm able to pass on this information to my friends and bring them in because I've had a really feel good experience about this. Does that happen a lot?
[00:04:26] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. You get all those when people are stepping into the cooking environment and this is where like really we can get them out of their comfort zone, you know. Yes, people like cook on a daily basis, but it teach them the basic how to hold a knife, how to season, how to understand the, the, the, the science, the food science that is going on while you're cooking, while you're baking and so on. This is so interesting. We got so many questions and for us like as chef, what is really funny is like some questions seem so simple but for people here that are coming to our classes, like it's, it's really, it's unlocking a total different view.
And then as they're cooking now, like as they're getting all those little bits, nuggets of new knowled really helps them and you can see that, that, that, that moment in their eyes. Sometimes it can Be little as how to hold a knife. And sometimes it'll be really like just a little correction in one specific area that makes all the difference. That will unlock them. But in some ways, yes, there's the cooking. But usually what we are unlocking during those events is those social interactions. Those themes, again, are usually very remote and connected by computer screens. Yeah, they'll see each other, like, three times a week or so.
Even if they're in the same office, it's still, like, codified. They will, you know, gather up, but their personal interactions is really.
It's predictable. It's codified. Whereas now we bring them in a total different new environment, and they are there with us, opening up, and we're touching a zone where the team becomes more of a team, and that's what we do. So the chef there, yes, is giving all that cooking knowledge, unlocking all of that, you know, like, that hidden part of cooking. But we're also just making the team as a better team. And that's what I see time and time again. Every team that is coming to our venue comes out more as a team afterward. You see the laughters, you see people more, you know, relaxed, and you can see hierarchies that are getting broken, like, right in front of our eyes and sometimes reshape in a different way. So all of that is so exciting and for a chef as well. Like, I've been cooking for so many years. I've been dedicated to my trade, making things taste better. But now, like, it's really, like, making teams better. And that's really exciting as a chef. And that opportunity comes every day. It's really fun. So I wish you can experience it.
[00:07:17] Speaker A: Oh, I will, I will. I'll be coming to 360 cooking studio and checking that out. You talked about the teams. Now, how many people are we talking about per team?
[00:07:26] Speaker B: It all depends. Right. So we're doing events as groups, as little as 10 people, all the way to 100 people.
So. And, yeah, there's a lot.
[00:07:35] Speaker A: How do you manage 100 people, Chef Pierre? How do you do that?
[00:07:38] Speaker B: The secret is, and we've learned that very early on at kitchen school, you got to delegate. You have to be a master delegator. Doesn't matter. Is it a team of 10 people? Of a hundred? But of course, we are creating, like, chefs, sous chefs. So that whole ladder in the kitchen communicates and. Yeah, of course. So we have, like, every team coming to our studio are surrounded by professionals. You got, like, chefs, sous chefs. You got mixologists. It's a really fun gig in itself because you have multiple entertainments leaders. But at the end of the day, the team is working. So the actual group, company, organization that will travel to our studio are the craft, they are part. So we are showing them how to do it. We're giving them guidance, inspiration, we're acting as mentors. But at the end of the day, they are the one in charge of building the whole meal. That's what is all fun about it, in my opinion.
Yes, we're cooking, yes, we're doing all of that, but we're sort of the seasoning, like we're actually seasoning the team and making sure that just more comes out of it. It's probably like one of the secret I've learned like very, very early on in my cooking days program. Like, that's what they, they're, they were telling us, like, and we were asking like, how much salt there needs to be. You know, like, in all honesty, I don't know, like how much salt you should add to a recipe. We don't know. But the best analogy is you, you need to add as much salt as, let's say take a carrot for example. If you put some salt on the carrot, it just tastes more like a carrot. So you have to find that point where you're seasoning and that carrot become just more of what it is. And once you reach that point, you stop, don't season anymore. So you have to do that with every individual recipe. Right. But that's the same thing that we do. So in studio you'll have a chef taking the lead of all that team, bringing them to a really wholesome cooking experience.
But we have to be like diligent on how much we salt. Like, how much are we going to really add on some of our chefs like behavior? You know, are we going to go full Gordon Ramsay or are we just going to be like layback, low profile and let the team express themselves? We just have to find the right amount and that's what's really, really specific about what we do. We nail down that format into just adding enough seasoning because at some point there's so many different groups. Some will come, some will be very outgoing from the get go. And then we need to shine and really radiate a chef and take over of the show and that's fine. But some of the team, we just kind of live them, leave them a little bit more space, let them more work on like whatever they have to work on. So we're more like facilitators. In anything.
And that team there will help, you know, the whole spirit to come together. And then again, it's a small format, but at the end, I believe we just added the right amount of seasoning for every single group, and they're just a better team, you know, and. Or are they a better team or they just, like, enhanced in a better way, you know, so that's what they get.
[00:10:55] Speaker A: Great analogy with the. With the seasoning. And by the way, for clarification, for those that don't know that cook, anytime where you'll hear somebody say, wow, this is really under seasoned, they're really just talking about salt and pepper, are they?
[00:11:06] Speaker B: Not exactly. Okay.
[00:11:08] Speaker A: Because people go seasoning. Well, what kind of seasoning might you use? An allspice? An Italian blend? No, no, we're just talking about salt and pepper. Correct.
How many people have come through your door, walked in here going, hey, I don't know much about cooking. I'm really enjoying the process. And the next thing you know, they're a sous chef. How many people have kind of grown and gone on through your guidance and now have actual chef kind of accreditation?
[00:11:32] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, we. We see a lot. You know, in some point, I've seen so many students develop to just get more of their potential. I remember one bread class that we started a while ago. Some people come as total beginners. Some come a little bit more advanced as well, like seasonal chef, seasonal baker. And one of those student, Tony, was really, really passionate about bread making. So he was just coming here to get, you know, little corrections here and there, helping him in his path on baking perfect bread. So he already had a lot of knowledge, but still, you know, we can take beginners, but we were able to take him where he's at and just get him way more confident teaching him, like, maybe one thing or two things that would make all the difference. And now I saw, you know, like two weeks ago, like, starting his own pizza shop business and going from the tech world, you know, like, and, you know, like, with multiple responsibilities and managing teams and so on, to opening his own pizza shop, you know, and as an educator, this is worth everything to see that develop, you know, so not everybody is like Tony in itself, but we. We do have also, you know, like, very, very young chefs. You know, we'll have, like, children of, like, 6 years old that comes in for cooking camp, and that's a complete different story as well. You know, helping them to hold the knife for the first time, trying to them having keep all their fingers, you know, all their nails for the full day. What a challenge.
Every day we can do it, you know, and that's also very nice to see.
[00:13:23] Speaker A: Wow. A six year old going from peanut butter and jam or roasting marshmallows to actually using a knife and mixing in actual machinery and making a dish at the age of six or seven. I know I wasn't doing that kind of stuff at that age. I don't know about you.
[00:13:37] Speaker B: Oh, I'm always impressed. Like my, my diet when I was young was like very, very narrow. And nowadays to see like we're see like on those last PA days we, we had like 20 kids in studio. So we can see a pretty good sample on like what, what the kids are eating nowadays and the variety, but also the responsibilities. Like we're, we're gonna do like full on Iron chefs with like 6 to 14 years old and everybody's on board, everybody's taking responsibility and they're coming up with dishes and different seasoning, different ingredients, different way to put things together that most of us, you know, like the, the actual chefs and the staff were like, hey, I never thought about that before. And, and so that's really motivating.
[00:14:27] Speaker A: That is a really good incentive. So you've got something planned here like how do you keep things fresh and keep people involved and keep them going.
[00:14:34] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. It's part of the mission. So as we mentioned, we have many, many missions. That's what we do.
We do a lot of team buildings and so on, but you know, do we participate in like helping the next generation? I believe so. It's mostly usually like full on cooking school. I see us more as, you know, like chefs, entertainers in what we do, but definitely especially for the kids class, we do participate at that. Showing them all the ropes of the trades, but minus the yelling, minus what's not fun about no tantrums. Yeah, exactly.
[00:15:13] Speaker A: If people want to find out more information, how can they find you? How can people get involved with 360Cooking Studio and, and get involved with you? Chef Pierre, Thanksgiving is coming up here pretty soon and I'm sure you've got special activities planned, don't you?
[00:15:26] Speaker B: Exactly.
How they can find us, that's the question. We're not so, so easy to find. And that's been the hallmark of, of my company since we started it. From inception, it's a word of mouth business. So I did not do any publicity until probably last six to eight months ago. So most of it has been just providing a really nice, unique experience.
A great event in itself, like something where the clients feel, like, overwhelming value coming out of it, and that's been good enough, you know? Yes. Like, nowadays we're doing those social media, so we started in Instagram, so, yeah, they can, you know, like, reach us at 360Cooking Studio on Instagram and so on. But outside of that, it's just, like, good programming, good food, great entertainment. We have staff that is unbelievable. Like, you come to one of our events, and you can see it's a human experience. Like, you're really in touch with people that want to communicate a unique experience. And that alone really touches more people. So most of our clients are talking to other clients and so on, and that's how really we got the word out.
[00:16:42] Speaker A: Chef Pierre, thank you. Thank you very much for coming in here today. We could have talked food and feeling better all afternoon, and oddly enough, we didn't eat a darn thing.
[00:16:51] Speaker B: Next time, I'll fill up that beautiful table here with all the goods that we're doing, especially the fresh bread. Like, we're doing, like, artisan bread makes from scratch. Baguette focaccia all the way to sourdough. So probably we could do, like, a tasting and, you know, and I'd love to know, like, your. Your. Your. Your foodie repertoire, like, how much knowledge you have. And then we could test you with maybe a little quiz there. How about that?
[00:17:17] Speaker A: No.
[00:17:17] Speaker B: How about.
[00:17:19] Speaker A: How about no? No, that would be good. Because I would be the perfect kind of person at a very base level to say, you know, I'm kind of a hamburger and hot dog and meat and potatoes kind of guy. However, I think I might surprise you with the. I'm able to pick off certain spices. My wife is a real foodie, and she'll make a dish. I won't ask her what's in it, and I'll try and pick off the spices or the. The protein or the. Or the carb or whatever. I do enjoy that, but another time. I will look forward to that.
[00:17:44] Speaker B: I love that, and trust me, like, most of what I know right now, I got it, yes, from school experience, but from students, like, most of it. Every single day. You always hear a bit of details here and there. It just, like, adds on to the whole thing. And I'm sure you can teach me a thing or two.
[00:18:02] Speaker A: I don't know about that.
Chef Pierre, thank you very much for joining us today. Appreciate the Feel Better podcast. He will be back, and we will see you again next time on the Feel Better podcast. I'm Doug Kirkwood.
[00:18:12] Speaker B: It.
