The Chef JKP Podcast
James Knight-Paccheco celebrates the inspirational stories of people within hospitality, their ups, their downs and everything in between. What does it take to keep up in one of the most competitive, mentally and physically stressful industries in the world? Giving incredible insights and advice to the listeners. For more information go to http://www.chefjkp.com
Episodes
189 episodes
Why Food Bloggers Need To Stop Calling Everything “The Best” | David Marino
How does an Italian American raised on Sunday spaghetti become a Farsi-speaking food blogger in Dubai?David Marino, known online as David Shekamoo, talks about his father’s Sunday lunches, volunteering with refugees in Greece, meeting h...
Why Getting Rejected By A Restaurant Changed Everything | Lidija Abu Ghazaleh
How does one birthday cake turn into a career bringing food, fashion and Dubai’s chefs together?Lidija Abu Ghazaleh shares how her Serbian upbringing in Montreal shaped her love for cooking, why she chose a different path after modellin...
Why So Many Restaurant Openings Quietly Fail - And How You Can Avoid It | Colin Hutton
What does it take to understand hospitality from every side of the business?Chef JKP sits down with Colin Hutton, CEO and Founder of Umami Comms and Magna Carta, to trace a career that began behind the bar and eventually led to building...
Why This Executive Pastry Chef Thinks Young Chefs Are Moving Too Fast | Trisha Henault Singh(178)
What does it take to build a career when you keep choosing the harder path?Chef JKP sits down with Trisha Henault Singh, Executive Pastry Chef at FIVE LUXE JBR, to talk about her journey from aspiring fashion designer to leading pastry ...
Inside Chef’s Table Festival: Nancy Silverton, Live Fire & 70 of the World’s Best Chefs(177)
From Dubai to Park City, Chef JKP takes the podcast on the road for a special episode from the inaugural Chef’s Table Festival in Utah, bringing together 70 chefs across roughly 100 events.James goes behind the scenes of the festival, f...
What Michelin Kitchens and Restaurant Ownership Teach You About Success | Rick & Florian(176)
Chef JKP sits down with Rick Gonzalez, Executive Chef at The Ritz-Carlton Ras Al Khaimah, Al Wadi Desert, and Florian van Dillen, Head Chef at Farmhouse by Syrco, for two conversations about the experiences, kitchens, risks, and people that sha...
What Happened After Netflix Put Her Dubai Food Business on the Map | Arva Ahmed(175)
Chef JKP sits down with Arva Ahmed, Co-Founder of Frying Pan Adventures, for a conversation about food, storytelling, entrepreneurship, and the cultures that have shaped Dubai’s food scene.Arva shares how her relationship with food evol...
He Moved to Dubai at 19 With No Job. Here’s What Happened Next | Greg Wright(174)
Chef JKP sits down with Greg Wright, Co-Founder of Food People and Project People, for a conversation about recruitment, entrepreneurship, the food industry, and building a business in the Middle East.Greg shares how he left the UK at 1...
Why the Best Talent Managers Never Want to Be Famous | Karin Drane(173)
Chef JKP sits down with Karin Drane, founder of Curveball Events & Talents, one of the region's leading event and talent management companies.Karin shares how she went from studying law in Sweden to building a business in Dubai, why...
Why the Best Food Writers Never Make Themselves the Story | Paul Clifford(172)
Chef JKP sits down with Paul Clifford, a journalist and editor who has spent more than a decade covering the Middle East's hospitality industry.Paul shares how he left banking to become a reporter, moved from crime journalism into food ...
Why Most Young Chefs Ruin Their Careers by Moving Too Fast | Nicolas Lambert(171)
Chef JKP sits down with Nicolas Lambert, Senior Executive Pastry Chef at Four Seasons Dubai and one of the most respected names in modern pastry.From growing up in his parents’ bakery in France to leading teams across Hong Kong, Russia,...
What Really Makes Someone Influential? | Season 13 Begins(170)
Season 13 of The Chef JKP Podcast is built around one idea: influence.Across 15 episodes, chefs, founders, journalists, operators, and industry leaders share how they have shaped food, hospitality, business, and culture.In this ...
What Happens When The Service Ends And Real Life Begins?(169)
This episode is different.Joining him is the person who knows him better than anyone else, his wife, Maria Knight-Paccheco.What begins as a fun conversation quickly becomes one of the most personal episodes of the podcast.
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How A Phone Call Led Ariana Bundy Back To Dubai | Arian Bundy (E168)
Chef JKP sits down with Ariana Bundy, chef, author, television presenter, and founder of Ariana's Persian Kitchen at Atlantis The Royal Dubai.Ariana shares her journey through Iran, Switzerland, New York, London, Paris, Los Angeles, and...
What The Kitchen Taught him About Leadership | Glen Ballis (E167)
Chef JKP sits down with Glen Ballis, chef, restaurateur, and one of the most influential figures in modern hospitality.Glen shares his journey from a Greek family in Melbourne to leading kitchens across Thailand, Indonesia, China, Russi...
Why He Left Oil & Gas for Champagne | Ben Kouider (E166)
Chef JKP sits down with Ben Kouider, Founder of Champavin.Ben shares how he went from engineering and oil and gas to building a business around champagne in the UAE.They talk about Normandy, family food memories, global travel, ...
How CUPBOP Took Korean Street Food Global | Dok Kwon & Junghun Song (E165)
What does it take to build a Korean street food brand from a used food truck into a global restaurant business?Chef JKP sits down with Dok Kwon, President & COO of CUPBOP, and Junghun Song, Co-Founder & CEO of CUPBOP.The...
This Woman Fought 22 Years for Water | Angie Pajak (E164)
What happens when the conversation about water goes far beyond what we drink?Chef JKP sits down with Angie Pająk, CEO of Greentech by Aquacell, for a different kind of episode.From childhood food memories in Poland to studying a...
He Became A Chef At 15 To Buy Football Shoes | Shehab Medhat (E163)
What does it take to turn pressure into purpose before the age of 26?Chef JKP sits down with Shehab Medhat, Chef of Savryn Restaurant in Dubai, whose journey began at 15 with a kitchen job he took just to buy football shoes.From...
The Hospitality Fixer Who Knows Why Guests Don’t Come Back | Samuel Graham (E162)
What happens when someone who once worked underground in engineering tunnels ends up shaping some of hospitality’s most iconic guest experiences?Chef JKP sits down with Samuel Graham, founder and CEO of The LightUp Group, hospitality co...
The Rise of Indian Food with Himanshu Saini and Liam Collens (E161)
What changes when a three Michelin star restaurant becomes a book?In this episode, Chef JKP sits down with Himanshu Saini and Liam Collens for the launch of The Rise of Indian Food: Recipes Reimagined by Trèsind Studio.This epis...
Why Do Some People Never Stop Chasing Food Stories? | Tiffany Eslick (E160)
What starts with olives on a kitchen counter becomes a life built around food, travel, stories, and bringing people to the table.Chef JKP sits down with Tiffany Eslick, content and creative director at Spinneys, food writer, podcaster, ...
What a Life in Storytelling Really Looks Like | Keith Dallison (E159)
This episode of the Chef JKP Podcast steps outside the kitchen and into the world of storytelling, with actor, voiceover artist, and video editor Keith Dallison, for a conversation about craft, creativity, and what it really takes to bring stor...
He Started Cooking In His 40s And Reached The Top Of Fine Dining (E158)
This episode of the Chef JKP Podcast features Chef Alvin Leung, better known around the world as The Demon Chef, for a conversation about reinvention, ambition, creativity, and the unconventional road that took him from engineering into the hig...
The Chef Who Said No To Engineering And Built An Empire Instead (E157)
This episode of the Chef JKP Podcast features Saradhi Dakara, chef and co-founder of Stellar Society, for a conversation about food, identity, entrepreneurship, and what it truly takes to build something of your own from the ground up.C...
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