Reimagining the Monte Cristo and Guest Rhonda Findley's Food Styling Journey

Join us on a sumptuous journey as Jeff and I reinvent the classic Monte Cristo sandwich, infusing it with an innovative spirit that's sure to ignite your culinary curiosity. From Jeff's groundbreaking spring roll twist to the exquisite pork loin saltimbocca creation, each bite is a tribute to cherished memories and the enduring bond of family traditions. We pay homage to Jeff's father with our Sloppy Wilbur masterpiece and tease the palate with visions of crème brûlée-battered French toast soaked in smoked maple syrup and bourbon. This episode is a tapestry of flavors woven with personal narratives that celebrate the profound connections we have with the foods we love.

Amidst these tales of tasteful innovation, we are joined by the phenomenal Rhonda Findley, whose mastery of food styling is matched only by her captivating storytelling. Rhonda leads us down her career path, sprinkled with anecdotes from her humble origins to her current acclaim, including her brush with fame on Netflix’s "Queer Eye." Her insights not only illuminate the craft behind the camera but also the sentimental threads that food weaves into our life stories. So, prepare your appetites for a banquet of conversation that's as rich and satisfying as the dishes we discuss.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:04

Hello Food Fam. This is the Walk and Talk podcast where you will find the perfect blend of food fun and cooking knowledge. I'm your host, carl Fiodini. Welcome to the number one food podcast in the country. We're podcasting on site at Ibis Images Studios, where food photography comes alive. And I get to eat it. Did I eat it today? First things first. We've been cooking up some nostalgic food favorites for the last few weeks, jeff and I.

Speaker 1: 1:32

We polled the audience about featuring the glorious Monte Cristo sandwich elevated. Of course, it's a Jefferson way of doing things. It was a resounding mostly. Yes, there were a few naysayers, but we don't listen to such foolery. It's a classic, sammy, and we're here for it. On the menu today it's all about the pork, baby sandwiches, the pot stickers. We're going to hog heaven. That's basically what's going on today. I can't wait to get into this. Monte Cristo the full Monte. Oh yeah, it's the full Monte.

Speaker 1: 2:10

Thank you Peninsula Food Service for supplying the proteins for today's production Chefs in the central Florida area. Peninsula is the largest distributor of Creekstone Farms beef in the Southeast United States. They're complete with a fully staffed butcher shop to help you solve your kitchen inconsistency. Check out their dry age program as well. It's amazing. Our guest this week is Ron the Ronda Findlay author, small business owner, restaurateur and food stylist. You've heard of her. I know you have season seven of the Emmy winning Netflix show Queer Eye. Ronda is on deck. Jefferson, baby, pop that clutch, slam into that pre shift and get into that dish explanation. Let's go, man.

Speaker 2: 3:02

Let's rock and roll.

Speaker 1: 3:03

Real deep, like deep, like I almost fell asleep on the couch. I mean, I am, I have food coma.

Speaker 2: 3:09

Oh, like it's real.

Speaker 1: 3:11

Listen when people say, yeah, food coma, you got the swag. No, no, no, it's real. I just experienced it. I was on the couch, like I'm, like John, I need, I need some of that, I need some of that espresso. We need some coffee. Man, he didn't do any cafe con leche. I was like you know what, you're fired.

Speaker 2: 3:27

You needed something to go straight into the veins.

Speaker 1: 3:30

Man Well, I mean the the pick me up. I did. I took what was left in the pot and I kind of just dripped it into my eyeballs. It was that's what I needed. All right, jeff, please talk.

Speaker 2: 3:39

So yeah, so the challenge I definitely want to accept that one to make something that was totally different. I mean, we put, we did a poll. It was over a hundred different comments between the social media outlets that went around, so it was pretty spectacular to see that, especially the engagement. So thanks everybody that does that and sees what we're doing, because, guess what, there's going to be so much more to come too as well. Actually, through a little side, blindsided you guys with that sloppy jail. We also called it sloppy Wilbur.

Speaker 1: 4:10

Yeah, all right. So yeah, it's pork, it's pig, it's Wilbur, we're talking Charlotte's web and yeah, it was a sloppy and it was delicious.

Speaker 2: 4:19

Yeah. So what's really great about that? And going back, my dad loved anything with brown sugar, yellow mustard. Worcestershire was one of his things he would always go to is having sloppy chose. So it was kind of an honor to sit there and try to do something and make something up. That was a little bit more elevated and I didn't want to just do any mundane. So toast on cups. I just love the vessel. You can do so much with it. Silent John over here, he's taken the rest of it. There was a court. He's going to have some good dinner Signing off, sure.

Speaker 2: 4:52

Then we did two versions of the Monte Cristo. The one I did was a spring roll, more of an appetizer, wanted to showcase how you can do it, cross different meal periods or different meal plans. So the appetizer entree, so or sandwich. And then we did the pork loin. The pork loin. I wanted to do it salt and bokeh. I know some guys or some restaurants out there don't do veal, so they do pork as a substitute. It was fantastic. It's somebody's dinner tonight, not mine. Yeah, it's mine.

Speaker 1: 5:23

Possibly he's got him. He's got the the sloppy Wilbur.

Speaker 2: 5:26

He's got the sloppies. Oh man yeah well, you also have like a quarter piece left of the Monte Cristo. I wasn't gonna have the full quarter.

Speaker 1: 5:34

You saw, I had to unbuckle my pants.

Speaker 2: 5:39

Yeah, and it was. It was great to see, like, what can I do to elevate it? There's so many things I was going through one of my buddies who's a corporate chef, over on Pillsbury he did. He posted one of the things that they did. I didn't even realize it that the Monte Cristo is that's, you know, popular of a remix. Another friend of mine, jordan, out in San Francisco, showcase it in a donut.

Speaker 2: 6:00

I thought that was absolutely incredible with a rugula and then shoot that at parma or a biricle ham. And then I was like, okay, what am I gonna do, because there's guys already doing it this way. I got to do something that's completely different. I used to do a crème brûlée, battered french toast, and I said, okay, took some smoked maple syrup, some angels envy bourbon, added that to the creme anglaise and then dredged that in after drying out some great pieces of thick challah bread and and let it dried out to let it soak up as we were shooting, and then I layered in some Spanish style or Cuban style pork, bourbon ham that I smoked. Let's see what else we had honey, maple, turkey, and then I got a Carabuto prosciutto which is the equivalent to what would be wagyu.

Speaker 2: 6:54

It's bookshire, but they do it in the style of carabota in Japan, the same kind of thing they do with wagyu beef in Japan. They do with the pig, the Berkshire. It has so much flat fat into it it's got great flavor to it, so that elevated it. But here's where it really got crazy. The raspberry jam had a little bit of chipotle infused in it, and then I crème brûlée or boulaid the top of the bread. Oh my god, and Carl can go ahead and testify about the crunch and everything else that went about it, and it was.

Speaker 1: 7:27

It was everything you thought it would be. By looking at that picture, the photo that John took, that he I mean first of all it was like five or six inches, you know it's, it was a huge, huge, thick ass sandwich, yeah, and you know that that that Torched. You know crème brûlée top on the bread and then you get into the, the whole thing, the cheat, everything just worked perfectly and I think you did it proud. I honestly, I would want to see, I would want to see that on somebody's menu just the way.

Speaker 2: 7:57

That was not even even the Spring rolls, you'd said you would want to see on a menu too.

Speaker 1: 8:01

Yeah, I don't want to sleep on those. Those spring rolls, man, those are really good. In fact I I don't want to say the ones better or worse than the other, they're very different, but I, the way that the I could see eating Spring those spring rolls on a regular base, I can.

Speaker 2: 8:20

Say, which is like once a year.

Speaker 1: 8:22

This you know, I mean seriously, like you. You can't you have to share that with like six or seven other people.

Speaker 2: 8:28

Well, silent John. It was funny because he even mentioned about the sloppy. Joe was, or sorry, slot B Wolber was his go-to but he was like, and he's just so. Everyone knows he doesn't really like cheese that much. He likes mozzarella cheese and some other new, like neutral cheeses. He took a bite of it. His response was like I, even with the cheese, I like this.

Speaker 1: 8:48

Yeah, I mean listen, so I told you I mentioned it somewhere along the way that you know I'm a Bennington's alumni, right, so I've had my share of the actual Bennington's Monte Cristo, which is a classic and it it really matched better. I mean, really final infatuation was very frequent. I pretty much made that Hot yeah Once. Always on my socials about this, everybody, kinda everybody, crept up from 25 years ago, like yeah go for it. Hell yeah, f yeah, let's do it you know, there's a whole thing.

Speaker 1: 9:16

In fact, you know what Shout out to Elizabeth Ferris, christian Hummel, jeffrey Simmer you got Ronnie, my boy, out in Texas. You know what else is on here? There was a. What did I see there? Shannon Steiger like these are all people I worked with, bill Wartell, these are all great people that we all work together and have those like stories from you know way back when From waiting the movie that was about as realistic as benign as you can possibly get as a benign.

Speaker 1: 9:48

Yeah, I mean, that was it I mean you know, yeah, I don't wanna get into it, but yes, it's all true.

Speaker 2: 9:53

It's funny because when I posted Rod Smith, who's one of the founding fathers of the chapter, to the ACF, the American Colonial Federation for Palm Beach, he was the one that he goes. You didn't challenge yourself enough. I don't know if you saw that one and I wanted to make sure. And he's right. I mean, there's a level that you have to go to and I hope I did it. Proud when you see these, I mean because John captures just an amazing artistry of his photography. Yeah, one of the people that left them before.

Speaker 1: 10:21

We're gonna bring Rhonda in a second, but before, right before that, there was somebody on your soul that said something. I was like you know, I gave him the big oh boo boo. Yeah, that was Rod. Okay, yeah, that was Rod.

Speaker 2: 10:32

Take a, take a look. Here's the thing, those they have, they did challenges. I remember back in the day they did a one pot challenge and you'd literally have a quick fire challenge at meetings. So they would do their work and whatever the meeting was, and then you'd have a quick fire. There was like six, seven, you know, chefs and students going at it. That was. That's fun. When you get to that level, you can take something and you know not saying to do the chop. Where do you think chopped came from?

Speaker 1: 10:58

Right.

Speaker 2: 10:59

Yeah, it's kind of like the same story as a quick fire going. I don't know if anyone else has ever done that for a job. I'm known I've done that for several. I worked for a very famous chef and I literally had to go into the kitchen. I had two hours for a pair of three course meal and it was carte blanche, whatever you wanted to do.

Speaker 1: 11:14

See, that's to me. That would be fun, oh yeah. I mean stressful. Yeah, I get it, but it's like walking into that house.

Speaker 2: 11:20

In this house Right Carrying your own lamb rack.

Speaker 1: 11:25

We brought the lamb rack here.

Speaker 2: 11:27

That's we're going to cook for you guys. Do you mind if I cook? What did you say your name was?

Speaker 1: 11:30

Right.

Speaker 3: 11:31

Whose house is this?

Speaker 1: 11:32

Whose house? Okay, so today when we bring Rhonda on I mean she's a food stylist, very excited Like she's worked with some big names I'm going to let her break who she's with and all that good stuff, but I feel like this is.

Speaker 3: 11:48

This is a big apartment.

Speaker 1: 11:50

I feel like John, this is going to be like a fun for John. I even said, john might even speak today, he might, he might say more than one syllable at a time. All right, rhonda, you are on the program. Thank you for being on.

Speaker 3: 12:04

Hey, thanks for having me. I really appreciated it. So exciting to be with chefs and restaurant former, restaurateurs and food lovers, because that's my language, that's my level language, man, and the Monte Cristo. Like when you got to the part where you talked about Bennegan's, like my food, memories of the Monte Cristo war, going with my parents, and like you could order anything you wanted sort of small town, like that was our like dining thing, big deal to go to Bennegan's and I got to order the Monte Cristo with a powdered sugar and it just brought back memories and that's what food does. It tells a story, a story of our past and where we're at in our lives and making memories with people that we love or people that we respect.

Speaker 1: 12:56

Rhonda. So we're going to get into some questions with you in a second, but before we do go ahead and give, like the airplane view, the 32nd view of who you are, what you're doing and where you came from, Thank you for asking.

Speaker 3: 13:13

I got lucky. I've always been in the food business. I've been a waitress and I've been a sommelier, I've been a manager and, as I've gone through life, I've been asked to write cookbooks for chefs that have been on public television. I was always a ghost writer but I was kept a full-time gig while I did all those things and as I've sort of progressed in my career, I was able to take every little bit that I've learned from all those different aspects of the food business and working under professional chefs that were very accomplished.

Speaker 3: 13:52

I'm now doing freelance work on film and television and mainly with food. So even though sometimes I'm considered a prop stylist, I'm a food stylist and I only work with food and that's what I've done. And I just finished season seven and eight of Queer Eye, which I am intensely proud of because of the people and the concept and why we do food, and, in particular, working under Anthony Perowski, emmy Award-winning star of Netflix. I've been able to tell those stories using my skill sets and it's been an amazing ride and that's what I am doing now and who I am.

Speaker 1: 14:37

And congratulations. I mean you're part of that and it's a beautiful thing. We spoke at length about this yesterday for about an hour and really congratulations to what you're at going on.

Speaker 3: 14:50

Thank you, thank you.