EP83: Chef Ashley Brown: Chopped to Leading at Four by Brother Luck

Kicking Off Season Four: Chef Ashley Brown's Culinary Journey

Season Four of Voice4Chefs kicks off with a special Mother's Day episode featuring Chef Ashley Brown from Colorado Springs. A chef and mother she  shares her journey from a young culinary enthusiast to a chef de cuisine at Four by Celebrity chef Brother Luck. Ashley discusses her early influences, struggles, and achievements, including her success in culinary competitions and her connection with renowned chef Brother Luck. Stay tuned for part two, where Ashley delves deeper into her experiences on the TV show Chopped and her involvement with the MAPP organization.

00:00 Introduction and Dedication to Joanna James
00:43 Meet Chef Ashley Brown
01:54 Ashley's Early Inspirations and Challenges
04:28 The Journey to Becoming a Chef
06:46 Competitions and Signature Dishes
11:46 First Culinary Job and Early Career
16:45 Joining Seye Mountain Zoo
18:17 Impact of COVID-19 on the Culinary Industry
20:11 Coping with Job Loss and Transition
21:20 Becoming a Barista During the Pandemic
22:25 Rebuilding and Returning to Culinary Work
28:06 Meeting and Working with Brother Luck
30:34 Knife Fights and Culinary Competitions
32:01 Conclusion and Teaser for Part Two

Chef Ashley Brown

https://www.instagram.com/chef_browntown

Joanna James
https://linktr.ee/AFineLineMovie
https://www.instagram.com/mappimpact/
https://www.instagram.com/joannajamesfilms/

Season2

Transcript

Michael Dugan: 0:52

Season four is kicking off today and in honor of Mother's Day. Today's episode of Voice4 Chefs is dedicated to a powerful voice in hospitality. Joanna James as the producer of the award-winning documentary, A Fine Line. Joanna launched more than just a film. She sparked a movement. Her work inspired the creation of map, a nonprofit committed to providing advocacy, mentorship, and leadership opportunities for women in hospitality. We celebrate her vision, her strength, and the countless women she uplifts. Through her mission. This one's for the mothers mentors and makers who lead with heart and purpose. Happy Mother's Day. From local kitchens to the national stage, chef Ashley Brown has carved her own path through the heart of Colorado's culinary scene. As a mother and chef de cuisine at four by celebrity chef, Brother Luck, she's redefining Southwest flavors with bold creativity and unstoppable drive. Today on Voice4Chefs, we sit down with Ashley to hear her journey from hometown roots to chop fame. Ashley, welcome to the show. From local kitchens to the national stage, chef Ashley Brown has carved her own path through the heart of Colorado's culinary scene as the Chef de cuisine at four by Brother Luck. She's redefining Southwest flavors with bold creativity and unstoppable drive. Today on Voice for Chefs, we sit down with Ashley to hear her journey from hometown roots to chop fame. Ashley, welcome to the show.

Chef Ashley Brown: 2:43

Thanks for having me. I'm really excited.

Michael Dugan: 2:46

Me too. So why don't we start out a little bit about getting to know you and understanding your, your struggles, your journey to become a chef, and take us through where did you get started and how did you end up here?

Chef Ashley Brown: 3:00

Yeah. I wanna be a, a chef at a very young age, seven years old. Kids

Michael Dugan: 3:05

Oh my gosh. Seven.

Chef Ashley Brown: 3:07

Yeah, kids wanna be power rangers or firemen, things like that. and I, I found my niche just at the drop of a dime, and I never went back. I never did anything else. I have nothing under my belt except for food. So I obsessed over it my entire life and I'm still obsessing over it,

Michael Dugan: 3:28

That's awesome. What about like at seven? What kind of things were you thinking about? I know it's impossible to think of a seven being seven, but,

Chef Ashley Brown: 3:36

Yeah, no, I had a thing. I remember my teacher, she gave the, the class, like a, a sheet of paper, oh, what do you wanna be when you grow up? And I remember at one point I wrote down, a lifeguard.

Michael Dugan: 3:48

Oh

Chef Ashley Brown: 3:49

I dunno why, but a lifeguard, I thought it was cool. I loved the pool. I was always at the pool when I was a kid, but that was, that was the only thing. But outside of that, I cannot think of anything else that I ever wanted to do outside of, maybe a bounce back. let's say culinary didn't really work out. It would be photography.

Michael Dugan: 4:06

Well, that makes a lot of sense. Yeah, totally.

Chef Ashley Brown: 4:09

form in some way, shape or form. art is really what I wanted to get into my family, like my, my mom, my uncles, my sister, amazing artists. Like they, their paintings, their drawing skills were absolutely phenomenal. And, art class was always their favorite and I loved to see what, what all the things that they did with their, with their paintings and drawings. It was always so beautiful. I guess I chose cooking.

Michael Dugan: 4:37

Wow. it's funny because I studied to be a chef. I never made it. I never made it because I left because of a drive-by shooting and the conditions and, and just long hours. And I was

Chef Ashley Brown: 4:48

Oh, yes.

Michael Dugan: 4:48

I just don't really want to do this anymore. So it took a while for me to find myself, but that's part of the reason I left. But, for me, I love it. I miss it. And that's why a podcast, I mean, it's, it's just connecting to you and, and learning these stories and being able to share these stories and cultivate these stories for our listeners and, and people that might be listening that know you, and, and to be able to share your stories. It's amazing to me to be connected back to this community.'cause I really miss it. I absolutely miss it. Tell us a little bit about, at seven you wanted to be a chef, and then as you're growing up, how did it lead to that direction?

Chef Ashley Brown: 5:30

I grew up in a really tiny town, and like when I, I was seven years old, so I lived in this town for nine years. And, after having this idea of wanting to become a chef, my family, my teachers, they all knew it. And that's all I ever talked about. Those are the people that believed in me. That's what kind of shaped me to kind of be a people pleaser. oh, you don't think I, I can do something. I'm gonna show you I can do it. And it was to show them and not myself.

Michael Dugan: 6:01

Yeah.

Chef Ashley Brown: 6:02

So within the last three years, I was literally just talking to a friend. Earlier today, within the last three years, I just started to realize how much I wanna do for myself instead of others.

Michael Dugan: 6:12

Oh, I agree.

Chef Ashley Brown: 6:13

I'm been cooking professionally for 13 years and, after a while you start to value your time and realize where you wanna put, all of your effort into,

Michael Dugan: 6:24

That's excellent.

Chef Ashley Brown: 6:24

gonna go to work, how much it is gonna go to family, things like that.

Michael Dugan: 6:28

it's excellent advice. I mean, I went through that too. I've always been, I've been a people pleaser, my dad was an alcoholic and, I was balancing that in my family with, with my three siblings. I learned really strong people skills, but I also got beat up because of it, in the restaurant business that really puts a drain on your mental health until you figure it out. Right. And a lot of people figured it out. You figured it out, obviously. I mean, I can hear it from the conversation we had before this and now, as we're moving along, take us through kind of some of the places that you worked and were you always in Colorado? Did I get that right? Or did you move around the country?

Chef Ashley Brown: 7:07

As far as working, yes, Colorado. so I went to high school here in Colorado Springs, at Mesa Ridge, and they had a program called AVP. And that program allowed me to get some college credit at the community college here in town. At the time, it was Pikes Peak Community College. They just recently changed to Pikes Peak State College. so my senior year I did classes at the culinary, community college. So I did that for my senior year, and I did a competition, for FCCLA and I won first place. It was the first thing I ever won.

Michael Dugan: 7:48

Wow.

Chef Ashley Brown: 7:48

it was, it was the craziest thing. Like we, there was so many different, parts of it. There was garde manger, there was knife skills, there was baking, there was candy. what I did, what was it? the name of it was, gourmet. Gourmet one, gourmet Two and Gourmet three.

Michael Dugan: 8:06

Oh wow.

Chef Ashley Brown: 8:07

one I did, but me and my chef at the time, we were practicing this one dish that him and I created for months. So I always had that one dish for, for lunch every single day. And I mean, you couldn't go wrong with it. It was a surfing turf.

Michael Dugan: 8:20

I've heard that in reading and research. You are known for surf and turf. Oh my gosh.

Chef Ashley Brown: 8:27

Yeah, so it was a filet mignon with shrimp and this pan sauce that I created, that had some spiciness in there, some acidity, just a whole umami of flavor. And I

Michael Dugan: 8:38

Oh, I love it.

Chef Ashley Brown: 8:39

Competition was in Denver at Johnson Wales. Everyone's doing all their stuff and I was the last one to, to compete. All the other subjects were already done. Everybody was hanging out. So it was in the way back part. And I remember everyone else who competed with all the other, competitions, with the knife skills and things like that. There are windows everyone could look into. But I was the last one way at the end of this hallway. And everyone, including my, chef was trying to look into the window, like, how is she doing?

Michael Dugan: 9:10

Oh, I love

Chef Ashley Brown: 9:10

of the judges were like, get outta here, get outta here. You can't come and watch.

Michael Dugan: 9:14

Don't distract her. Yeah.

Chef Ashley Brown: 9:16

So then finally we were done and I competed against one other guy. It was me and one other, guy that was in, that was competing against in this one. Finally, they hauled everyone into the auditorium and they're putting down all the, winners from, runner ups to gold, silver, and bronze. And then I'm just thinking to myself, my head's down this entire time. I was like, I don't got it. I didn't get it. And then finally they listed like who was the second place, and it was one of 'em from, gourmet. And then one of my students right next to me were just kind of like, Ashley, you won first place? And they called my name, first place of, gourmet Ashley Brown. I was like, oh my god!.

Michael Dugan: 9:58

Yeah. That's awesome.

Chef Ashley Brown: 10:00

I ever want. It was insane. And I ended up, at the time it was, everyone's got a signature dish. I ended up kind of making that as my signature dish, I suppose.

Michael Dugan: 10:09

Even today I've read about it and I'm like, wow.

Chef Ashley Brown: 10:12

I've, I've served it in many different ways at, Four and at the zoo where I worked at as well. that's kind of one thing that we'll do every now and again, is take old recipes and then find different ways to revamp it. It's really fun to do.

Michael Dugan: 10:25

Oh, that's really cool. So you like competition.

Chef Ashley Brown: 10:28

I do, I really do. In a strange way. it's something that really just dawned on me just last week actually.

Michael Dugan: 10:35

Oh, wow.

Chef Ashley Brown: 10:35

I don't compete to beat other chefs.

Michael Dugan: 10:39

Yeah, I get it.

Chef Ashley Brown: 10:40

I compete to beat myself. I want to see what I'm capable of. I want to see. How I can push away all the fears that I have and all the doubt that I have, and I wanna beat those awful negative thoughts. And so that's why I compete,

Michael Dugan: 10:58

You're inspiring so many people that are gonna listen. I'm telling you right now. I mean, I think that's how you win. I mean, that, I really think once you can mature enough and say it's not, you're not comparing yourself, you're stepping it up and you're competing with yourself.

Chef Ashley Brown: 11:14

You are your worst critic,

Michael Dugan: 11:16

Oh, yeah. The self-talk.

Chef Ashley Brown: 11:18

yeah. And that's

Michael Dugan: 11:19

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chef Ashley Brown: 11:20

always be your worst critic and you're always gonna be in your head no matter what. So, and it is just like those, those at the top are collaborating and the ones at the bottom are competing against each other. And I that I've never had the competitive personality. I am. Competing against myself. Like you say, I wanna see what I'm capable of. I wanna push myself, and see what I can do. where, where's my mind gonna go with this crazy three step, three random ingredient thing, what can I do with it,

Michael Dugan: 11:54

So tell me about surfing turf. what was, what was the surf? I know what the turf was, but what was surf?

Chef Ashley Brown: 12:01

The surf was shrimp.

Michael Dugan: 12:02

Oh, okay.

Chef Ashley Brown: 12:03

Yeah. It was big old shrimp. The biggest

Michael Dugan: 12:05

I love big old shrimp.

Chef Ashley Brown: 12:06

Yeah. It was, it was, there were U Tens.

Michael Dugan: 12:09

Oh, nice.

Chef Ashley Brown: 12:10

Meaning just barely in culinary school and you only see a little tiny dried up ones that you'd see at the store.

Michael Dugan: 12:17

And we should explain that too. U 10 means 10 to a pound,

Chef Ashley Brown: 12:20

Mm-hmm.

Michael Dugan: 12:21

Yeah. Yeah. And that means they're pretty big.

Chef Ashley Brown: 12:23

Big boys. Yeah.

Michael Dugan: 12:24

It's like a lobster tail almost. so tell us more about so you went and you competed, and then when did you go into the world of cooking? Like start in different restaurants and can you tell us a couple of them that you worked at?

Chef Ashley Brown: 12:39

It was right after I graduated. Soon as I graduated high school, I went to Denver'cause I got accepted to the Art Institute in Denver. So while I was attending culinary school up there, I was trying to find work and I, I didn't take any break. I took a month from graduating to moving to Denver, starting culinary school. I only took just June. So I started working in July. So when I first went in there, just trying to find myself, never been on my own before. I'm in a big city and. I'm just doing what any young adult would coming into their adult life. So then I started to take responsibility. I was like, okay, let me start finding a job. Now that I know what my schedule's let's start coming up with a, with a system. And conveniently across the street from my dorms was this cute little Italian restaurant. I don't remember the name of it, but I ate it a couple times.'cause it was, it was right there. And so I was like, you know what? Why not are you guys hiring? So I put in for, an application and did the interview and they're like, oh, do you have any, experience? I was like, no, I'm just in culinary school, but this is my passion. I want to do this for the rest of my life. They're like, I don't know if you can handle that. maybe we start you off at the bar, or maybe a hostess. I'm like, anyone starts anywhere, so I guess let's try this. And so we we're done with the interview. And I, I have the job to be a hostess. And later on that night, mind you, I haven't even started yet. And later on that night, they called me and they're like, yeah, no, we're good.

Michael Dugan: 14:26

Okay.

Chef Ashley Brown: 14:26

wait, like you don't, you don't need me. what do you mean? They're like, yeah, we, we don't need you. We're good. I was like, oh, well thanks. Okay. So then, a couple days passes and I'm just roaming around, downtown in Denver. I'm just kind of starting a little bit of my portfolio for photography. And my mom got me a camera for my graduation gift. And so I've just taken some cool pictures of all the skyscrapers, some of the parks that are downtown. And I come across, this little cafe called Rendezvous Cafe, and it's in, the History Colorado Center Museum right there downtown on Lincoln. And I go in there and I was like, I just wanna know if I, if you guys are hiring, if I can get an application. They're like, yeah, I think our culinary's hiring. And so the woman that was working front of house asked our gm, he comes out, gives me the application to fill out, I fill it out, bring it in the next day.

Michael Dugan: 15:20

yeah.

Chef Ashley Brown: 15:21

And so he, we sit down and we do an interview with the GM and then the chef. And I don't know what they saw in me, knowing that I had no experience still. they hired me on the spot. I was like, I am so lucky. What did I do to, to get this? And I, and I told them, I was like, did I really get this?'cause I was just told this a couple days ago, You signed all the papers. your, your W2, your or your W four, things like that. I was like, yeah. I was like, well, I'm just making sure 'cause I didn't wanna get my hopes up, And they're like, yeah, no, you got the job, can you start this day? And then it's just started from there. And I was on the culinary team. So this company, they're now called SSA group, but at the time they were called KMSSA, KM stands for Kevin McNicholas. He was the founder of the company. And so it was KM Concessions. They partner with, museums, aquariums,

Michael Dugan: 16:19

Oh, cool.

Chef Ashley Brown: 16:20

things like that, all throughout the entire nation. They have so many locations and the company was just fantastic. They, took really good care of, of the people

Michael Dugan: 16:29

good.

Chef Ashley Brown: 16:30

That showed a lot of dedication for the most part. so while I was at that location, so just in Denver, they have Denver Zoo and they have National Western Stock Show. They used to, they now no longer have, the museum, the Colorado Museum. They're no longer partnered together, but they still have those two locations. And here in Colorado Springs, they have Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and, the Olympic Museum.

Michael Dugan: 16:56

Okay.

Chef Ashley Brown: 16:57

So my sister, she got sick

Michael Dugan: 17:01

Hmm.

Chef Ashley Brown: 17:01

again. She, she went through kidney failure. So my mom, she's taken care of her and I didn't wanna be away, an hour away. And I wanted to, to make sure that my mom's got support. My sister has support. So I came back to Colorado Springs. So I left Denver, came back here, and I transferred to Seye Mountain Zoo, which is with the same company, SSA I did work hard. I did work hard some ways. I do feel like I was lucky, but other times some people will say I was lucky, but no, I, I worked hard for that,

Michael Dugan: 17:29

Well, you wanted to be a chef at seven.

Chef Ashley Brown: 17:31

yeah,

Michael Dugan: 17:32

there's a lot to that in the drive, right?

Chef Ashley Brown: 17:35

you do all the research you possibly can, I transferred to Seye Mountain Zoo and I was with them for about eight years and moved up to, to be sous chef, handling all the caterings and all the, the food locations that they have over there. opened up the barbecue joint, the pizza joint, It was amazing. And the people that that were there were fantastic. And some of them ended up becoming like family and

Michael Dugan: 17:58

love it.

Chef Ashley Brown: 17:59

Just doing all these other events and helping out all the other locations. I always loved it. sometimes you're never just in the same four walls. That's probably my favorite part was going to all the other locations that SSA had and helping and creating these relationships with all the other chefs that were in the company. And it was just so fun, And, it was an open kitchen concept too. The chefs, they took the guest orders, they cooked it, and they served it. So you get a lot of people skills and you created a lot of relationships with it so much that at one point, I ended up being nominated for an award with the company for, best guest service.

Michael Dugan: 18:37

Awesome.

Chef Ashley Brown: 18:38

It was great. It was the last year that I was there. It was very bittersweet because, they acknowledged me for that. but you know, it wasn't too long after that that covid hit and then that's when I left.

Michael Dugan: 18:50

Oh, really? So we're talking just a couple years ago. Okay. Wow. Yeah. 2020. Yeah. Yeah.

Chef Ashley Brown: 18:56

and I got that award just at the end of 2019. I still have that plaque too. it's just, it's a little symbol of, who grew me, who, who built me from the dirt, and that, that company did.

Michael Dugan: 19:09

And, one of the questions I had too is what happened at Covid, because there's a lot of stories that people have, and I started the podcast to honor chefs during Covid because I just thought people work so hard in this industry and they need to be put on a pedestal in my mind, because it, it wasn't fair. Like I had a secure job. And then I thought about people that were friends of mine in the business and I'm going, oh my gosh, that is just not right. Shutting all restaurants down and our governor shut down all restaurants. I looked around the world and it's like everywhere is shutdown.

Chef Ashley Brown: 19:41

It just a halt.

Michael Dugan: 19:43

And so how did you cope? What happened?

Chef Ashley Brown: 19:47

I lost my shit.

Michael Dugan: 19:50

Yeah. I believe it.

Chef Ashley Brown: 19:51

So we got notified. So I actually, so just kind of when the, the week that covid hit, a week prior, I did an event at Brother Lux. Mind you, I still, I'm still an employee with SSA at the Zoo, brother Luck. He does these, collaborations with other top chefs. This one was with Tanya Halden. He invited, my chef Bo Green to come and cook in his restaurant, give this amazing experience to the guests. So after it was just maybe a week. A couple days after we get notified.'cause I remember we brought Tanya Hall into the zoo so she can experience it. And it was freezing out, it was snowy, but I wanted to give her an experience, show her a little bit of Colorado Springs. And I remember just everyone's on the radio like, answer your phones, answer your phones. So we had carry radios at the zoo. it's a huge place. So you need some way to communicate, okay, answer your phones. Places are shutting down. And we're like, what? What are we gonna do? Okay, this is what we're gonna do. We're just trying to figure out, okay, what is going on?

Michael Dugan: 21:00

Yeah.

Chef Ashley Brown: 21:02

What do you mean we're shutting down? And so the next day everything shut down, everybody go home. And be prepared. I don't know what's gonna happen, but be prepared. And then, so I just, I cried and I cried and I was like, I've given so much to this place, and what are we gonna do? what am what's gonna happen to my family? much like everybody else had the same questions and, it happens, everyone from SSA is, is laid off. I'm sorry, but we're trying to figure all this out together. And it, it was, it was just a whole switch. It was just so sudden, first it, COVID was just a whole joke and then all of a sudden it was just, oh, no job. I. So it was crazy. And then, so, everybody goes on unemployment like, oh yeah, you're okay. And then finally I get a call like, okay, well we wanna bring those who are detrimental to the zoo. and SSA, maybe it's not, you SSA can't hire you back, but maybe the zoo. We have a coffee spot over there. So it was, do you wanna come and make coffee for all the zookeepers? absolutely anything, I'll do anything to come back. And so, I became a barista for Covid, still at the zoo. And the, the coffee shop was called Cozy Goat. And so just any anyone that wanted to, to, there was a window. So any of the zookeepers that wanted to come, they can line up right out front of the window.'cause no one can be inside together. Or I could make 'em, and then I would run 'em to any of the departments around the zoo. So I would just make coffee for a couple months. And I just remember sitting out there, so this zoo overlooks Colorado Springs. It's on a mountain. So I remember just sitting there, no one's making any calls, and I'm just looking at the city and I just become emotional. And I'm just kind of like, imagine this is the world that we live in now. everything's just a halt now. I'm a freaking barista.

Michael Dugan: 22:59

No, I get

Chef Ashley Brown: 22:59

And it was just like I became emotional and I was telling my other friends doing the same thing, they hired some of the other employees back to, we would swap out days of being baristas with each other and like what are we doing? And so that's when, at that point. what, what can I do for my family? what's, what's the next steps? And finally they slowly started to bring back, all of the, the chefs and, more of the, the food and beverage employees. And my head chef, Bo Green, he was always there. Thank God they didn't lay him off at the time. So he's just trying to, he went through all the coolers and donated as much as he possibly

Michael Dugan: 23:37

That's what a lot of places

Chef Ashley Brown: 23:38

Yeah. A lot of the, the soup kitchens and things like that. And,

Michael Dugan: 23:41

it to the employees. if you're laying people off and they're struggling, give them, give them the

Chef Ashley Brown: 23:46

I had so much food in my pantry, he was insane. I'm like, what am I gonna do with 25 pounds of risotto?

Michael Dugan: 23:51

I know. I know.

Chef Ashley Brown: 23:53

It was all a beautiful thing though, to see everyone still come together in some way. But, and I remember he would come in, he would. Make lunch for some of the staff members, the limited staff members that were there. And he would send me a picture like, oh, I got tacos here today if you wanna come over and eat some tacos. So, we would just talk through some things and then slowly we started to okay, this is what we're gonna do. We're gonna bring back all the cooks and all the food and beverage, at least most of'em, and then we're gonna make lunch for all the zookeepers, no longer just coffee. Let's do, grab and go, okay, we're gonna make all these sandwiches, all these sides, things like that, to where they can come in quick, grab and go stay out of the locations as much as possible. 25 people at a time, the whole, the whole nine. So then after that, things started to slowly build back up. We opened our doors like everybody else, and it's kind of, a little bit of history from there. it was a pain in the ass wearing the masks

Michael Dugan: 24:49

Oh, I know when you wear glasses, my wife doesn't wear glasses. She doesn't understand when it fogs up. It is the most frustrating. You gotta do it, but it's so frustrating. Try driving like that. Or, working in the kitchen with a mask and it's, and the

Chef Ashley Brown: 25:05

steamy, it's smoky, ugh.

Michael Dugan: 25:07

I, I just felt for the people and that's why I started the podcast four years ago. I just, I woke up one day and I'm like, chefs need a voice. It's just, that's it. It's that simple. And that's why I was wondering about your experience with the Pandemic.'cause it sounds very similar to other people

Chef Ashley Brown: 25:23

of course. I, I think everybody had the same,

Michael Dugan: 25:26

Yeah.

Chef Ashley Brown: 25:27

the same experience. this, the entire world stops and then

Michael Dugan: 25:30

Right.

Chef Ashley Brown: 25:30

wait, what are you gonna do?

Michael Dugan: 25:33

Yeah. And, and, it just, it really changed everyone, right? And then the food cost went up and so then people start complaining about how expensive food is. But it's hey. Restaurant has to survive. They have to deal with all these things

Chef Ashley Brown: 25:48

Yeah, now you're getting to go boxes and to go cups, and then now you're charging for deliveries

Michael Dugan: 25:53

Right, But like here, seafood has skyrocketed. I mean, king Crab, which I love and I'm addicted to, is about 70 a pound, I think. Something like that. And it's in Alaska, which is down the road, literally. Dungeons Crab locally can be 50 for crab meat. It's 50 a pound for regular Dungeons Crab. It can get up to 20 a pound with Shell. Right. And that's just crazy. Like I used to get it for 3 99

Chef Ashley Brown: 26:21

yeah, I'm sure. And

Michael Dugan: 26:24

I mean, it's like almost lobster is almost cheaper and it's all the way across the country,

Chef Ashley Brown: 26:28

I know. How bad do I want this?

Michael Dugan: 26:30

Right, right.

Chef Ashley Brown: 26:31

you so much. Come back.

Michael Dugan: 26:33

I know, and I'm addicted to seafood. My friend chef Mimi that I was telling you about, she's the one that really helped me get this podcast out there, from Clubhouse that I talk about a lot. But she says, Mike, you're addicted to seafood.'cause I, all I ever do is talk about seafood,

Chef Ashley Brown: 26:49

Hmm. Nothing wrong with that.

Michael Dugan: 26:50

It's expensive now, and it's really expensive and it's almost like a drug. It's really, really expensive. But I understand, there's reasons behind it, and I'm not upset with anyone about it. It's just, it's just a fact and you just have to accept it if you're going to eat it. As we move on, so you're at the zoo, which is amazing. I was a volunteer at Aquarium for a long time, actually. Absolutely loved the culture. But what'd you do from the zoo? Where did you move from there?

Chef Ashley Brown: 27:19

So after that, I started to realize like how bored I was, nothing was going on and it's no one's fault.

Michael Dugan: 27:25

Right.

Chef Ashley Brown: 27:26

We couldn't get any caterings.'cause still limited people in the buildings. And, so I asked my chef again, Bo Green. I was like, I am bored. And he goes, he sees these things in me that he goes, he knows something's wrong before I even tell him. He, he always called it, my gears are turning. He goes, I see your gears are turning, what's going on? And I told him, I was like, I'm bored, And I was like, what? What can we do? He goes, I can't give you anything right now, and I'm so sorry. Maybe I can ask around, see if anyone's willing to have you in their kitchen for a couple days. I'm like, yeah, sure. But there's not very many people that I want to work with, outside of you and, and brother, I've always wanted to work him,

Michael Dugan: 28:07

Yeah.

Chef Ashley Brown: 28:08

I couldn't think of anywhere else I would feel comfortable in, And so. I was kinda like, okay, but whatever comes, whatever comes. And so he reached out to brother and I had no idea. Him and brother were talking, brother put an ad on his Facebook saying that he was looking for a sous chef.'cause his sous chef, she wanted to do exactly what I was doing. She wanted a little bit of a change, and she ended up opening a beautiful restaurant, helping open a beautiful restaurant here in town. so I was essentially gonna replace her.

Michael Dugan: 28:41

Mm-hmm.

Chef Ashley Brown: 28:42

So I, I tell Bo and I was like, brother's looking for a sous chef? He goes, are you gonna do it? And I was like, I, I want to, but I don't know. I am not qualified to be sous chef for brother. Freaking luck.

Michael Dugan: 28:57

Yeah.

Chef Ashley Brown: 28:57

This man.

Michael Dugan: 28:59

You have to explain who he is because I know a little bit about him, and I'm amazed because I'm connected to Jensen Cummings, who I think has the most amazing podcast in the entire world and has inspired me to keep going many, many times. And I saw him connect with Brother Luck, and I learned about him through him. So when we had that connection, I was like, oh my gosh, brother. wow, And, and it just, and Ashley, and it's like all this, this, these connections in Colorado just got me really excited when I saw all this. I was like, wow. And it just happened like a fricking ton, a tornado for me. But nobody that's listening, unless they're in Colorado, is gonna know who he is. Can you tell us about him and who, who he is and what he did with you, and just kind of talk a little bit about that.

Chef Ashley Brown: 29:49

So Brother Luck, he is a local celebrity here in Colorado Springs. he's been on Beat Bobby Flay, which he beat. Yes, we love it.

Michael Dugan: 29:59

He beat him.

Chef Ashley Brown: 30:00

he beat

Michael Dugan: 30:00

He, whoa. That's incredible. I've had people that have competed with him but not beat him. That's awesome.

Chef Ashley Brown: 30:07

beat Bobby Flay and pulled pork in 45 minutes.

Michael Dugan: 30:12

I love it.

Chef Ashley Brown: 30:13

Yeah. So he beat Bobby Flay and he was on Top Chef twice and he was on chopped.

Michael Dugan: 30:18

Okay. Sure, sure. Oh, that's

Chef Ashley Brown: 30:20

Outside of that, he's ran a couple of resorts here in town. He's established his own, his own brand. He's, he's an advocate for culinary students. He's an advocate for mental health.

Michael Dugan: 30:33

I love it.

Chef Ashley Brown: 30:33

a great mentor. He is a fantastic mentor and the way that he thinks about things and all these philosophies that he has,

Michael Dugan: 30:41

I can tell he is very philosophical 'cause I've heard some things and,

Chef Ashley Brown: 30:45

The way that his mind works is, is crazy. But

Michael Dugan: 30:49

That's incedible

Chef Ashley Brown: 30:49

his connection to Colorado Springs and what he does for Colorado Springs, it's not just for his brand. It's, what, what's he doing for other, for other restaurants and schools and things like that. like we get

Michael Dugan: 31:01

Oh, I love it.

Chef Ashley Brown: 31:02

high school students, we'll get in, there's some culinary programs that we'll get in their students and we teach them. Brothers always taught them, he does cooking classes. Like this man is a jack of all trades and a master to damn near all of 'em,

Michael Dugan: 31:17

Oh wow. Wow.

Chef Ashley Brown: 31:19

it's, yeah, he's a great person to work for and he is

Michael Dugan: 31:23

Cool.

Chef Ashley Brown: 31:24

got, he's given me so many opportunities just working with him. So I first discovered Brother, the first year that I came back to Colorado Springs, working for Shy Mountain Zoo. I. My chef and him used to work together. He used to be his sous chef, Nate Berger. he was my chef when I came to Colorado Springs. So he goes, you know what? I have, I got a chef. He does these thing called, knife fights. I was like, okay, well what's that? So these knife fights brother would host at his restaurant.

Michael Dugan: 31:51

saw you on that talking about it, so I was wondering about that. So I really wanna know, I'd love to hear about this. This is awesome.

Chef Ashley Brown: 31:59

knife fight and it was like my only, my second year of being like in the culinary world.

Michael Dugan: 32:04

Wow.

Chef Ashley Brown: 32:05

And he goes, I'll partner you up with someone who was of your level,

Michael Dugan: 32:09

Wow.

Chef Ashley Brown: 32:10

go to Brother Luck.

Michael Dugan: 32:12

Awesome.

Chef Ashley Brown: 32:12

He told him like, Hey, I got these two candidates. Let's schedule this. And so went to his restaurant and it was almost like Chopped gives you a few, mystery ingredients and a certain time and. You just fight, from there, what can you, what can you get out of this? These three ingredients? But I think it was two at the time. It was all I

Michael Dugan: 32:34

Oh my gosh.

Chef Ashley Brown: 32:35

Skinless duck breast. I never let him live this down. Skinless duck, breast and fennel. Now duck, you need a lot of fat.

Michael Dugan: 32:43

And it's skinless, right? Oh my God.

Chef Ashley Brown: 32:48

The competition started the container of bacon fat went missing. where did this thing go?

Michael Dugan: 32:53

In part two, chef Ashley Brown shares her journey from local cooking competitions to working with renowned chef, celebrity chef, brother Luck. She recounts her intense and emotional experience on the TV show chop where she faced rigorous challenges and unexpected setbacks. She values the growth and connections made her story leads into a deeper exploration of her culinary adventures and involvement with the MAP organization. Stay tuned for part two.