Hello everybody. Welcome to another amazing episode of Late Night with Chefs. I want to thank you guys so much for listening to us on yet another amazing story from another amazing chef that we have the privilege to interview. With pleasure, I have the chance to interview Chef Julie Eslinger out of Colorado. She has done quite a number of amazing things, but most recently is the chef captain of the USA Pastry. And we are going to get into a little bit about that. But First Chef, how are you doing today? I'm great, thank
Julie:you. Thank
Doug:you for having me. Yes. Thank you for coming on. thank you for spending your time with us. I know, in this industry we all very busy, so we do appreciate the time that our guest chefs do spend with us on this show. You know, being in Colorado right now, it's kind of like a change of season, you know, here in New York we're kind of seeing, you know, new vegetables come into play. The weather's getting a little bit colder. Is it kind of similar there?
Julie:Oh yeah. This is my favorite time of year and the leaves are starting to chill. It's like, I don't really wanna dive right into the pumpkin, but like, just little bit of pumpkin, just hints, you know,
Doug:that's, Yes, I'm ready for it. Yes, exactly. It's like, you know, we do like de cota squash, butternut squash, and then all of a sudden, you know, get into that pumpkin air. Yeah, it's definitely, you know, it's one of those bittersweet things. You, you love to hate it. Yep, yep. Gotta have it then. You do. You do. So chef, tell us a little bit about your background. What got you started in culinary arts?
Julie:So when. Moved to Col, I moved to Colorado 2003 and I had been working a lot of different retail jobs random stuff, you know, different industries, and it just wasn't very fulfilling. And I was kind of at a crossroads of my life to where I was like, like I was 25 and I was kind of like, do I move back home or do I stay here in Colorado and figure it out? And I. Chose to stay and figure it out. So I was really into making cakes at the time, I was watching a lot of Food Network and I felt like, Oh, I can do that. Or, you know, that would be a fun job. So I looked into culinary school and enrolled in the Art Institute of Colorado, and the rest is history really.
Doug:I am, my guilty pleasure is the great British baking. Have
Julie:you, I actually have not seen that show yet.
Doug:No. Well, I mean it, you know, it takes something very complicated. It makes it very lighthearted, but the amounts of tension in the room, and typically they film this during the summer, so the heat always seems to be a factor. Oh, that you think about the science of baking and all that. It kind of brings it all crashing very quickly. So I saw, you know, we had exchanged a little bit and I saw that you had this past with ICE carving mm-hmm. and I think it's interesting because I mean I, you know, I don't know how you feel about it, but it seems kind of like a dying breed almost in this industry, and you don't hear about it much anymore. So I, I'd love to kind of hear about your experience with ice carving and like where that started for.
Julie:So for me it truly is a hobby. It's something that I I wanted to learn when I was younger. My mentor was a pastry chef at the art institute and he had a, a side business that was a ICE business with a couple other partners. And I would go to his shop sometimes just to say hi, but I never got into the ice carbing with. And sadly he passed away in 2014. He had pancreatic cancer and it came back and I always felt sad that I didn't get to learn that from him. But somebody that he taught is now teaching me and we kind of get, get together around the holidays or when there's like a festival going on and I can just kind of go and help him. And it's, that's kind of how I learned is just through Ian. He's my, my ice mentor. You could say. So it's a good time cause we can both get together and like honor our mentor cause he was, you know, there for both of us in different ways and yeah, I learned a lot working with him. So that's, it's fun for me. Yeah,
Doug:I had, limited experience in having ice carbing, you know, as my background. I had a prep cook once who actually went to Chicago at Navy Pier and like did the competitions for the ice. And he talks kind of about these massive, I think a lot of people think that maybe the blocks that you use are small, but they're huge giant squares that are kind of like, I think of it like how the barters make the cocktails for, or ice for old fashions, uhhuh that, but on a grandiose scale. Yeah. And you're using a plethora of tools and knowledge and different techniques. And it's a very, very. Quick art process. You have to be fast. You're working with ice. Yeah. But a whole lot of skill. And so I think that's just a, a testament to your, you know, art input of the culinary arts is doing this ice carving is kind of like a, a tribute. I, I admire that. Thank you.
Julie:Yeah. It's, I love it. I love doing it. So,
Doug:So having some strong mentors in your early career seems to have really shaped. What advice would you give to young Arians who are trying to find mentors to help shape their future?
Julie:I think what's good is to find a chef that ex, you know, excels in what you're interested in. So if you wanna learn chocolate or if you wanna learn how to make good croissants, or, you know, there's so many different specialized areas of the pastry world, I feel. If you're really interested in something, go find a chef that does it well. But then also find like a workplace that is gonna support you and not just be like, you know, I'm just gonna go in and make a hundred songs today. Like, find a Chef that's really gonna help push you and be creative and support you. If you wanna do, you know, competition and stuff, you, you're gonna need to, to be in a place that can support you. For those kind of things. So it's hard because you wanna find place that you can get like one on one with their chef or, or even a sous chef. You know? It doesn't have to be like the chef of this place, but, you know, find somebody that's really gonna be able to spend the time and not just care about their success, but also care about your success too. They're hard to find, but they are out there. That would be my advice is go find that person, move there, do whatever it takes, and go work for them for a couple of years. You know, you'll learn a lot.
Doug:I, I definitely agree. And one of the things that I think is so important as we progress in our industry and, you know, I, myself being 26 and kind of getting into the sous chef and the leadership role now more than ever is being a chef who wants to turn out more great. And I think that that often sometimes is lost, like you said, finding someone who wants to not only care about their own successes, but also yours. I think that's great advice for anyone is look for someone who is also interested in your own successes and not just, you know, self-absorbed in that manner.
Julie:Yeah, because I, I truly feel like if you invest in your people or you know, I can speak for my own experiences. You know, when I worked at the convention center for years my chef Carmen, he really invested in us. And if we needed extra equipment or we needed to go do something, or I wanted to take a class, he supported us to go do that. And then you come back from having those experience and you just wanna put it into production, you know? So I feel like whatever you put in as an employer to your employer, like employee, you'll get it. You know, like, because they're, they feel invested in and they're gonna wanna do good. You know, so they'll take care of your business as well, you know?
Doug:Definitely. So speaking of some of those earlier experiences I see that you have a very high level of expertise and, you know, wanting to make sure that the quality that you're producing, whether it's for a hundred people or for a thousand people, is something that you are proud. do you find that you have a specific skill set when you are doing, you know, high volume but also high level pastries or chocolate work or, you know, even savory work, whatever it might be. How do you kind of keep that quality but also be able to hit the volume that.
Julie:For me, I'm, because I worked there for so long, it was like a, I'm kind of logistically minded, so I try to think of like what is capable and what the skill level of the team is. And I don't try to, It's good to push, but I don't try to Push so hard that we're gonna fail and let's be like this, almost like could have been cool thing. Like I, I try to stay within the skill level of the team, but then also you have SOPs for a reason. You know, so you, you wanna make sure that you're checking on things every step of the way and making sure that like, you know, you're, your moose isn't lumpy or whatever, you know, cuz so many things can go wrong when you're working to make that, that kind of production. Yeah, you just gotta check it every step of the way and, and be smart about it from start to finish. You can't just, you know, give some task to somebody that doesn't have the skill to, to see it through. You know, you really gotta be on it and watch. And that way you know you're gonna end up with a good product, whether it's small or large, you know, you just gotta, you gotta be on it.
Doug:I love the comparison of you. the only way you would know what your team's strength or weaknesses is, is putting that time and putting that energy into learning them. Mm-hmm. Which kind of ties back to wanting to see them grow and, you know, as a chef we hit it on a little bit earlier, but like you get that back tenfold when you put that energy. When you put that time into your team, you really can see where they're at and then see what they're able to. I think that as a chef that's really smart, and especially when you are, you know, high stakes for a thousand people you don't want ruin, you know, thousands of people's days. Ruin Not a good day. No, not a good day.
Julie:Go tell your chef like so this isn't quite right. Start over. Yes. Make it nice to hire
Doug:twice There you go. So we are going to get into a little bit of the k I'm gonna butcher this, but cook Deon de history when we come back from our commercial break. But I want to thank you so much, Chef for just spending some time and talking about your early beginnings Hello, late night with chef listeners. Thank you so much for returning to our podcast with Chef Julie Eslinger out of Colorado. She is, Team captain of the pastry team for usa. We had the pleasure of listening to her early beginnings and career as a chef that has led her to her successes. Now. Chef, how are you doing? I'm good, thank you. Yes. Thank you for spending time with us. As we hop back into our episode here I would love to hear about the interview process for the coup on the lap history with team. Is there a specific, you know, interview guideline that you guys go through?
Julie:If you're interested in trying out for the team, basically what you do is you submit a portfolio of your work with your resume to the team, and you. everything gets kind of looked over and then they invite you to try out so they can get a bunch of different candidates and then they select the ones that they want to to come and have, try
Doug:out for the team. Hmm. And is there a specific season or like time of the month that people would send these portfolios?
Julie:So generally it's in the fall for, you know, the previous two years. Every two years we compete. So after we compete in 2023, it'll probably be that fall that they'll be looking for candidates for the next team.
Doug:Hmm. And would you suggest a, you know, if someone has a very strong background in cakes or specifically in pastries chocolates, are you guys looking for. Specialized people to kind of put a team together or are you looking for those like, well rounded individuals?
Julie:So the, the team is consists of chocolate tier, a sugar artist and an ice carver. So those are kind of the three specialties that you need to have at least one of those specialized in, you know, like you've gotta either be a great sugar artist or, or a great chocolate tier or both. You. Our team is really lucky right now cause we have a lot of people that do both things, so that's kind of worked out for us. But yeah, I mean the more skill you have, obviously the better, you know, cuz a lot of things do translate, but specifically those are the areas that you really wanna
Doug:be strong in. Hmm. Your responsibility as team captain. Take us a little bit into how you kind of got into that role. You know, did you always want to be team captain? Did it kind of know? How did, how did that happen?
Julie:So it was kind of a surprise to me, to be honest. I did not expect that because of the, the people on the team are true professionals and they're very good at what they do, and I would've followed any of them. But no, it, they chose me. I'm very honored to be the team's captain. You know? It's a great responsibility, you know?
Doug:It is, it is. And I think that so far what I've seen, you guys have done an amazing job. You guys definitely put forth some amazing dishes down in Chile. Being such a fierce and frequent competi. Do you have any like rituals before competition?
Julie:For me it's music. I always like plug in like right before I go, whether it's like, you know, I try to give myself just that time to like think and focus. So for me, I'm always listening to music, like on the way to the venue or like while we're standing around waiting to get into the booth, I try to have like my headphones in so I can just tune out everything else that's going on like the. And what people are saying and you're looking around at the other teams and like, you know, it gets to you, you know, so you really just gotta like focus. Yeah. So, yeah, it's music for me for
Doug:sure in a much less high stake situation. That's how I feel of taking the subway every single day. voice cancellation. Yeah. Tune out everybody. Is there a specific genre or artist that kind of like puts you in that?
Julie:Yeah, it's funny. System of A Down, there's that one. I always listen to them. And then Ozzie Osborne for this whole Kupman experience. So every time I think of the Kupman, it's like, it's always Ozzie. Ozzie is good. Like Ozzie Osborne, it'll be there forever. Like, I'll never forget it.
Doug:there you go. I love that. That's like, you
know,
Julie:I don't listen to that kind of music like every day or like during the, you know, like in my everyday production. I don't know. It just does it, it just works for me
Doug:to like go and listen to that stuff. So is there anything that you would give people who are like entering competitions? I mean, we touched on like music as far as like putting you in that mindset. But how meticulously planned out are your days when you're doing these competitions? You know, do you have every minute of the day is so you can keep yourself on track? How does that.
Julie:Are you referring to like a practice day for me or,
Doug:Just specifically during the kon? Yeah. Yeah, like on competition day.
Julie:So when you walk into the booth, you need to know like what you're doing. You, you cannot second guess yourself. It shouldn't be like, you should know where you're at, whether you're ahead or. because you've practiced it so many times, it should be second nature. You know, when you walk in and you, you just have to focus on what you're doing. So if you take your focus off something for a second or you put something where you don't normally put something, it's very easy to forget about it. Or the next thing you know, it's like now you have to start that project over. Cause the timing is all wrong and it, it, a lot of things can go wrong. If your head's not in the right place, you've gotta be.
Doug:Yeah. So now Team usa, we have had some success in Chile. We are going to Leon. Are there any changes to the game plan for Leon moving forward?
Julie:Yes and no. Like, we know what we have to do. We have a mountain to climb, but all the teams are in the same place, you know, so we just gotta work hard. And really work on the technique, work on our timing. This competition is a lot longer than the competition in Chile, so we have way more time now, so we really have to fill that time with things that are technical and beautiful and execute it really well.
Doug:Hmm. I love that. And remain that focus. And make sure to listen to Ozzie before. Yes.
Julie:Crazy train.
Doug:Here we go. I think that something I saw when I was doing my digging for this. Is one of the things that you focus on? I think for these competitions specifically, but also just in your normal, you know, everyday life of serving guests is thinking about how the guest is going to feel when they eat something, you know whether that be through the textures, the colors, the flavors, but keeping their experience in mind. I just wanted to point out that like, I think. You doing that and keeping that in mind through your competitions as well is very evident. And it's not just a show piece or it can't just look good, you know, it's all the criteria is all at once right here, right now. As a chef, do you find that difficult sometimes to keep that balance between all these criteria? You're like, you know, doing this juggling act in the middle, the very, you know, strenuous situation where there's a lot of.
Julie:Yeah. Because you, you obviously wanna execute something that's beautiful, but if it doesn't taste good, it all, the beauty points are not gonna get you anywhere. You know, it has to taste good first, and then you have to make it look nice. Second. So you spend a lot of time on the taste and you try out all the different combinations that you think are gonna work. Sometimes what you think is gonna be great. You try it put together and it's just not there, So you gotta rework the whole thing, you know? But taste is the most important for sure. And you know, you try to hit, you know, some nostalgic levels with people if you can, but you know, sometimes something new is great as well,
Doug:you know. Hmm. I love that. Well before we wrap up our interview, chef, I would love if you could share with the listeners, you know, if they're interested in the coup demand or following your story you know, where the team is going in January, where can they kind of stay up to date and keep track of what you have coming.
Julie:So you can follow us on our Instagram page, Pace Team usa. You can follow each of the team members that are usually posting a lot. Of stuff as well. And cm ary dot com is the website for the competition. And they also have an Instagram as well.
Doug:Awesome. Perfect. Instagram keeping us connected. That's true. for better or worse. Yep. Yep. Well, chef I just wanted to, again, thank you for spending the time with us this morning. Getting out of your busy schedule. I appreciate you stepping away and kind of being able to share with our listeners and hopefully share with some of your followers too, who are interested in your process and your path and, you know, inspiring some young arians or some young ice carvers out there, some chocolate tier or some sugar workers who maybe look into like, take that next step. And, you know, I think competitions are a great way to do that. I think naturally as chefs we're all very competitive. So being able to do that on a grand scale, under the bright lights with all the pressure definitely has an appeal to it. Yeah,
Julie:it's good. It's good time.
Doug:All right. Thank you so much, Chef. Thank you everybody for tuning into another episode of Late Night With Chefs. Please follow us on Instagram late night with chefs, and stay up to date on all of our podcasts through Spotify or Apple Podcast and we will see you all when we see you. Please stay safe and thank you all so much.