Psychedelic Supper Clubs, Global Moves & Paddington Bear Energy with Chef Nikki

Whenever Chef Nikki pulls up, you know the episode is going to be a vibe.

Join in on this impromptu hang as we go everywhere. Food, travel, energy, and what it really looks like to build an experience brand that’s global, intimate, and completely its own lane.

Nikki’s the founder of High End Affair and she’s out here producing microdosed supper clubs and “adult field trips” (yes, like the nostalgic brown-bag lunch… but infused). She breaks down how she designs these experiences safely and intentionally, what’s in the mocktails, how she times everything, and why she vets guests before they ever get a seat at the table.

We also talk about the parts people don’t post on Instagram: the emotional labor of holding space for rooms full of adults, the energetic sensitivity that comes with being that perceptive, and how traveling overseas can make America feel… loud.

If you’ve ever romanticized leaving your life behind and building something bigger, this conversation will hit.

🎧 Listen on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Transcript

Cold Open & Sponsor Messages

SPEAKER_00 0:00

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SPEAKER_02 1:32

Really?

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Oh, totally. I love it. Anytime I see, I'm like, where is she? What is she doing? It's all vibes. Then I'm just like, oh, I close my eyes. I'm like, oh, what would it be like to be there as Chef Nikki?

SPEAKER_02 1:43

There's some vibes. There's there's definitely a thing that I call Chef Nikki vibes. There is. Yes. For sure. And a lot of it is very like, you know, discovery-oriented. Like, what else can I get into? What else can I find? I do like to be very nomadic, slightly transient, and find new places in the world to exist and to thrive and to meet new people and to eat new foods and smoke new weed. I don't know. Yeah. Um, yeah.

Global Eating Highlights & Drinks

SPEAKER_00 2:17

What's the best thing you ate in 2025? Best restaurant? Like one of the best moments where you were like, oh man, this is this is it. That's such an interesting question. I'm full of full of deep, deep thoughts. I hope I get a vicarious buzz like I did last time. Keep blowing it my blow it my way. Last time I had like a little like Chef Nikki vicarious buzz.

SPEAKER_02 2:44

Um all right, so I was just in a lot of interesting places. My last amazing place that I traveled to was South Africa. I was there for about three weeks, and I had some really great food there. They have um what they call their barbecue is like bry. And so I had a lot of like interesting sausages, meats. I don't know. I was just into like tasting a lot of things. There was, you know, trying some antelope, um, impala. Um, I don't know, there's just tons of like interesting meats, and just they're mainly like protein and alcohol. So that was like, I was like, ooh, yeah, I guess I can live on this diet for a second. And then like prior to that, I spent a lot of time in the summer and um spring months in Europe. So I was in between like Berlin and Amsterdam and Spain and just bopping around Europe for quite a bit. Um in Brazil, I had some really good food there. I don't know. I just eat shit. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. What was your favorite sweet treat?

SPEAKER_00 4:05

Like, was there a sweet treat where you were like damn, this is such an interesting question. I need all the we gotta start with the food shit.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

I think that as a person that perceives food differently, yeah, it's really hard for me to figure out a favorite because I just consume.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

Okay, not even favorite, but like when I'm asking you this, what is good enough that it to for all the stuff that you try, what pops out? It doesn't have to be a favorite, but are there any front runners you're like, I remember that. I remember sitting like at that restaurant having this thing, and I was like, holy shit, that's incredible.

SPEAKER_02 4:42

Man, that is so fucking crazy.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

Because you probably, I mean, if you saw my diet, you'd be so bored. I would be bored. Oh, yeah. You'd be sad.

SPEAKER_02 4:54

Yeah, I mean, I've eaten so many things. Um, let me think. Yeah, that's gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get back to you on that, on that food question because I've actually like man, I probably could tell you some amazing cock places that I had amazing cocktails. Like, I was really on a very interesting cocktail journey, like meeting a lot of like very like beautiful like people that own bars and bartenders that are doing some really cutting-edge things. I've had great wine. I don't know why. I'm just like, you know, I know it's dry January for some people, but not for me. Well, kinda.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

Kinda, sorta.

unknown 5:36

Kind of sort of.

Building Intimate Psychedelic Dinners

SPEAKER_02 5:39

Um, yeah, I mean, shit, like when the interesting thing is like in a lot of these countries, I was also doing food, right? So I'm also doing my own food experiences, bringing my food to those places and creating um like supper clubs and pop-ups and dinners and things like that. So um I end up having so many like chef friends and friends in the industry that we go to their restaurants and we're like little cute little Spanish tapas places with like really good octopus and olives and cheese and bread, and I don't know. Like, I was having a lot of those experiences. I was just going to chef, colleagues, homies, restaurants, houses, and we're just eating.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

So in 2025, do you have any of the like all the things you curated, all the events you had the uh, you know, the pleasure of doing? Uh-huh. Do you have one that was your like not favorite, but one that was like you were so stoked about, like a highlight reel? Let's see.

Europe’s Cannabis Wave & Event Wins

SPEAKER_02 6:46

Okay, so I think that some of the events that I did in Europe were really dope because they were no one has seen these type of parties before and these type of supper clubs before. And they're like, wait, you're infusing oysters? I'm like, yes, with cannabis. Wait, so these are not alcoholic cocktails? No, they're LSD mocktails. You know what I mean? Like, oh, so there's mushrooms in here? I'm like, yeah, like so this was my very first year turning my larger event series into smaller supper club experiences where I don't have it more than like 50 people, or if I do like it could be no more than 100, like cap like 75, 100, but they're very intimate, more or less. And but I have to be able to keep my eyes on everyone. So because I'm doing LSE mushrooms and cannabis all in the same dinner, right? And so um, these things have been very interesting for me to do because it does take another part of your brain to do the math and science part of it, to understand the body's physiology, the entire physiology of your body, and to understand, like, you know, where one person's mind may go versus another person's mind, and you know, like all the reactions that could possibly take place. So a lot of people wonder why, like, I'm so much of an overthinker. It's because I have to think of every fucking scenario that could possibly happen with any one individual, down to male, down to female, down to young, down to old. Like, it's very like, you know, variables. And so this year I I did a really dope event in Spain, Spanibus. That was pretty cool. We had the alchemist show up, um, and a bunch of like other hip-hop heads. Same thing in Berlin. There's a um a festival called the Mary Jane Festival. And if you don't know, like a lot of countries in Europe are quickly legalizing cannabis. Part of the reason why I'm there, like Germany, of course, Spain's already had like a like a certain level of legality because there's still coffee shops and like smoke, like like basically cannabis clubs. Um, the Netherlands, um, shit, like Czech Republic just legalized, you've got Bosnia-Herzegovina, like you've got like multiple countries like quickly moving through legalization. So I'm just over there like, hey, look at the other opportunities that are endless.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:33

You know what I mean? And people don't see these types of experiences typically as like a high-level group. They see them initially as like stoners. And I'm like, no, I don't do stoner shit. I'm not a stoner. I smoke really good weed, but I'm a very highly productive adult. And you know I'm a mom. So I still gotta like think about all the shit. And I'm a business owner, like, I don't have time to just sit around smoke weed all day and not be productive. But so I try to bring in these really cool people. So I will tell you this: the two of them that I did in South Africa, I did one in Cape Town and one in Johannesburg. So, not expecting, you know, like what kind of guests, I'm not sure. Like, you know, people are buying tickets. This is a different type of screening system because usually in the States, before you can buy a ticket to the event, I have to, and my team has to communicate with you to find out who you actually are. There's a little bit of a vetting system before we approve you for a seat at the table because you have to be a good fit for that specific one. Um, and you never know. Like, people are weird. Like, I don't do weird. I do not do weird. I like weird shit, but I don't do weird people. Don't come in my shit acting strange. Like, I don't have time for that. And you and and psychedelics? Absolutely. No, ma'am. No, sir. Get the fuck out. We can't do that. We can't do weird. Um, so I just have to make sure you're a good fit. Um, but in this case, in South Africa, I just kind of opened it up to see who was interested because this is super new. And there um the cannabis laws in South Africa are there. There are like different clubs and different shops that you can go buy weed legally. You can you but you basically have to be a member of the club to buy cannabis. So anyway, I did it, huge success. But then it was just like, hmm, like this is Desmond Tutu's granddaughter. Oh, okay, got it. Like, you know what I mean? And then in Johannesburg, we do a fried chicken pop-up, and it's like Kojo Anand, Kofi Anan son. I have the Mandelas there. I have like, you know, a lot of actors, a lot of musicians and artists, like very popular people in South Africa. And so I'm like, I don't even know how I managed to do this shit. You know what I mean? Like, how did I like come into a place that I've never been before and corral these type of people with this that I'm doing? You know? So I think that those things have been very interesting to me because my guests have never been, have not been people that I would have ever written down. Right. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 12:19

Like So where do you do so in South Africa, where do you, is it, where is the vet, like where is this taking place? Like what does it look like? How what are the vibes?

Vetting Guests & Safe Set And Setting

SPEAKER_02 12:30

So it's like, um, in this case, this there were two different cannabis clubs. One was attached to a restaurant that was an outdoor restaurant, it was really nice. And but these are also my partners. And this is where I'm getting product from, product for the guests, and things like that. So they are at private clubs. Yeah, so they're not like Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

And you're you're like, you're doing everything, all the vibes, you're in control of like the way it looks, the music, everything. Yeah. You like set the whole scene.

SPEAKER_03 13:01

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

Do you ever have see? I feel like I'd go to one of those and like I would be the person you have to like put in the other room. Oh, you're weird. And sit against the wall. Are you saying you'd be a weirdo? I wouldn't want to be, but like I like I will get weird with just weed. But if you put weed and LSD and mushrooms, I would be like, do you have like a timeout spot? Could I be put in timeout? Okay, so I do have quiet spaces. Okay. Right? Because tell me that you can't tell me out of all these you did in 2025 that somebody didn't like maybe respond a little on the like you gotta go put somebody in timeout.

SPEAKER_02 13:37

Like, well, okay, so let's also be clear. These aren't full doses of anything. No, they're microdoses, so it's a micro LSD. I can I will only allow you to have so many of those. I have to put that into your body first. Because if you have mushrooms first, it typically doesn't let LSD settle the way I need it to. And so the LSD first in the mocktail, it's kind of just turns up, like if you were tuning the TV and like you're like color, sound, or your radio in your car, your treble, your bass, you know, front, back, whatever. That's what LSD does for in this experience. It just really refines things. And then the mushrooms come in, and the mushrooms, and this is where it can get tricky because mushrooms really come in with a different scope. You know what I mean? Yeah. Mushrooms are like, I want you to feel me. Like, I'm usually like, I don't want to feel, not right now. But like mushrooms will like connect to your heart space, your empathy, your like understanding, like it's very ethereal, right? And then the cannabis comes in and it kind of pats everything down, like chill, chill, chill, chill, chill, chill.

SPEAKER_03 14:53

Yep.

Dosing Strategy: LSD, Mushrooms, Cannabis

SPEAKER_02 14:54

You know, like just even it out. And so here and there, I'll have a person that requires additional attention. And mind you, every course that goes out, I wait because I have everything on the timer. I'm very specific with my time. And these things, you gotta be with me for four hours, period. This is not like two hours. I can't let you go that fast. And four hours is just enough time for me to get things in your system in waves. So once I've timed it, I go around, I check everyone. Are you good? How are you doing? How you feeling? Everything's good. Everybody's just like, I'm great. And I'm also allowing people to smoke in between here. So you have options. You I've got pre-rolls for you, I've got plenty of weed to roll. You know, we've got bongs, we've got concentrates, which are like your dabs and rosin. So I have a pretty much an adult candy store. Yeah. Of sorts. Cannabis of plenty. Mm-hmm. Plenty. And so, but I don't let you have unlimited LSD.

unknown 16:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 16:02

I don't let you have unlimited mushrooms. And as a matter of fact, I usually start you off like at a half of a gram of mushrooms and then maybe move you up to a gram if that's if you are like more senior in your experience. But when I have to pull someone aside, it's usually breath work first. Okay. Let's just let's breathe in, breathe out slowly. Let's get into some breath work. And that breath breath work oxygenating your brain helps to kind of like move you through that experience. Because the one thing we do know is you're not gonna die at all. Like I'm not giving you anything. These things are all natural, single source origin things. You know what I'm saying? Cannabis is this is cannabis, mushrooms, mushrooms. Only thing that has been synthesized and just molecule exchangement is the LSD because it is, you know, ergot wheat. That's what LSD is extracted from. So it is wheat that has been black, fermented, molded, and then extracted. And so I um have my LSD in spray. It's a liquid form of LSD that keeps the dosing more correct for me in terms of these types of experiences. But the breath work is very much like once we get through that, and if I still can't get you right there, um, I go into my second bag of tricks, which is like just grounding you. If it's a nice day outside, me and you are going outside with our shoes off. And we're putting our feet in the grass, or we're putting, or we're getting fresh air outside, or I'm grounding you to the earth. I'll put a piece of Palo Santo in your hand or some sage or a crystal, something that you have that's more tangible that will ground you. Um, I've got plenty of essential oils and other things to bring you here. Because it's really is your mind moving at a certain rate, and you're also like a lot of times people can pick up other people's energy if you are that empathetic, if you're that susceptible to that. I am.

SPEAKER_00 18:14

I am too.

Breathwork, Grounding & Harm Reduction

SPEAKER_02 18:15

Very much so, I am. So I get it when somebody's like, it's a lot. And I'm like, cool, let's separate you from this space. Let's get you out here, get you some air. And usually a process of that works. Now, if you're too high on the cannabis side, I do have a product called undo. And that takes your high away in like half hour. Brings your high completely down.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

I might be high. Already? I think you might have gotten me high. Vicarious Highness. Vicariously high.

Day Trip: Nostalgic, Microdosed Playdate

SPEAKER_02 18:44

Yeah, seriously. So that is that is pretty much how those go. Now, I've been doing them in the States with like different groups, and I call them day trips. Um, or field day, one or the other. Day trips are really cool. I'm gonna tell you this. Like, there was one day I was like having a chat with my kids, right? And I was like, What were your favorite like school treats? And they were telling me their favorites and their favorite like juice boxes and you know, snacks and stuff like that. And then I was like, then my daughter was like, You remember field day? I was like, oh, my field day was probably a little different from yours, but same, same. She was just like, You remember that big old thing we used to take up and take down the parachute? Yeah, and then we we used to do all these like games, and you know, I was like, Yeah, I was like, okay. She was like, my my oldest daughter was like, that would be kind of cool. Like, to have a field day. And I was like, ah, on psychedelics. She was like, Yeah, I was like, that's a great idea. So I started to expound upon that, right? Right. And then when I got into day trip, day trip was almost like I am your chaperone, teacher, guide, leader. You come in, I pack you a lunch. Right? So follow me. I think we just figured out what kind of event we need to have. Like, check this out. So I pack you a lunch and a brown bag. This is your first course, like your first few courses, actually. Because when you come in, I either give you your mocktail as a sunny D or Capri Sun or a chocolate oat milk, right? And because like now you've stepped into my class. You've I'm getting ready to take you on a field trip. So I give you things that are very nostalgic and very old school. And a lot of stuff we just make, like I'll make like a blue spirulina mocktail with like lemonade and like other things, and it'll look like a blue Kool-Aid, you know what I mean? Things like that. So I'm really kind of like stretching it where it's tastes similar, but it's an adult beverage, right? And then when you open your lunch bag, your brown bag, um, and a lot of times you may already we'll put your name on your bag. So it's like Susan, Amy, Brett, you know, like all these people. Um, so we'll put your name on the bag. And when you open it up, you're like, is this an uncrustable? Yes, it is. I've an infused uncrustable made on Japanese milk bread. We've made like the jam, and we've got peanut butter and like really good yumminess in there, but it's also infused with cannabis. You also have an applesauce cup or a squeeze. Remember the little squeezes? Uh huh. What are those called? Go. We still use those. Like go-go's or something like that. Anyway, I found some where I can fill on my own. And then I put your mushrooms, your psilocybin in there. So you have a little apple juice, applesauce squeeze. Um, I'll make a vegan jello, like With a bunch of fruit, like mangoes and strawberries and berries and stuff like that. That's also infuses cannabis. I'll do like an heirloom carrot with like your little ranch carrot dip. I've been trying to make, you remember those craft sticks with the red stick and the cheese? Oh yeah. I can't even think of what those are called, but I've been trying to recreate that. I just haven't found the right container yet. But like, so all of these little cutesy little things, granola bars, all this stuff. So it's your little packed lunch, but it has your first group of courses in there. And then I let you go play adult games. But, you know, still a little bit childish in a way. I really am trying to create adult play dates.

SPEAKER_00 22:47

Yeah, no, that's really cool.

SPEAKER_02 22:48

Um, so we have a lot of arts and crafts. Um, we have video games. One of my last events, we did a spelling bee. Stop. Hilarious. It was the best thing ever. We did a spelling bee. And that's where you're either like, oh, the mushrooms got got my brain really focused and lasered, or like, I don't know. I can't even think in terms of words now. But it was really good because everyone was really trying. And then some of the words were just like, ah, I know you're not gonna get that. But I used to love spelling bees as a kid. Yeah. Um, I used to do those scripts, how are spelling bees. And did you win them? I did. I went to states. Stop. Come on now. I went to states. I was a great spelling bee chant.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

That doesn't surprise me.

SPEAKER_02 23:32

You're very smart. That's pretty good. I was like, I can't believe I made it to the next level. I thought I was gonna like be Akeelah and the B before Akeela and the B.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 23:42

Didn't make it that far. But yeah, so these events are that's what they are. They're very um, like they're adult play dates. They're really great because it's connecting. I feel like we don't laugh enough, we don't play enough. It's like we can play games with our kids, but it's like, all right, let's have some like other types of you know, engagement. I do like game nights too, you know what I mean? So like I like all of that shit, but let's do it with substances.

SPEAKER_00 24:09

You know who really needs this field trip is like the Northam Park right in the middle of UA. Could you imagine if we you we did a field trip, sponsored a field trip? It's like, all right, everybody, show up, adults only, show up for four hours, get your brown bag, kind of like they do like the 4th of July with all the tables and stuff, only a field trip. Could you imagine what would go on? Oh, I kind of could imagine. It would be actually amazing. It would be amazing, but probably will never happen.

SPEAKER_02 24:41

I think not however I do have quite a few people in UA that come to these things. Oh no, for sure. So we could corral uh a little solid group and then see speaking of UA, I do I do feel like you're here less.

Leaving Ohio & Finding Home Abroad

SPEAKER_00 24:59

Is that a sign of the times?

SPEAKER_02 25:03

The writing is on the wall. Yeah, it is a sign of the times. Yeah, this is a sign of the times. I mean, and like I say it like begrudgingly, but then I also say it like, yeah, it's time. Um you know, I I'm an Ohio girl through and through. I love this place. I still I'm overseas watching football games. Like, wait, excuse me. I'm up in the middle of the night over there trying to catch Ohio State games here, you know what I mean? Um, and all the people that I built community with in the city, I still love and adore them. Uh I just think that, you know, I've been out of the city less, uh, more, excuse me, because I've been trying to find a new home. So um Columbus is special for me in terms of like it's near to my heart, but it's almost like, you know, it's like a relationship with like a really attractive, toxic ex that really doesn't have anything for you anymore. But you really fuck with them.

Safety, Guns, And Anxiety In America

SPEAKER_00 26:12

You know what I mean? I know, and I can see I can totally, I mean, I I totally understand and get it. I just I will be okay with it as long as I can come to Amsterdam and visit you at some point. Stress and inflammation take a toll on your body and your wellness. Relax, restore, and rejuvenate at Panacea Luxury Spa Boutique. Book any service of$100 or more and enjoy two hours in our luxury amenities. Unwind in our Himalayan salt saunas, recharge in our wet retreat space with a eucalyptus steam room, hot hydrotherapy pool, and cold plunge. Then drift into deep relaxation with our hanging loungers. What's your panacea? We'll help you find it. I have a new obsession and I need to put you on it. Mia Santiago is a celebrity stylist right here in UA, and she's the only person I trust with my hair. Her precision cuts grow out perfectly, and she's created something unreal. Headspace by Mia, her chic scalp spa. It's not just a hair appointment, honey. It's a full-on reset. Your scalp gets healthy, your hair looks expansive, and your nervous system finally exhales. If winter has you feeling dry, tired, or overstimulated, this is your moment. Go book with Mia Santiago and her amazing team. You'll leave glowing, you'll feel lighter, and yes, you'll thank me after.

SPEAKER_02 27:44

You can come to Amsterdam and visit me anytime. Um, Amsterdam, again, is one of those places that I just fell in love with in terms of like quiet, peaceful. Like everybody seemingly minds their business and is also pleasant in Amsterdam and the quaintness of the buildings and riding my bike. I feel like Paddington Bear in Amsterdam.

unknown 28:13

Like, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 28:15

Like, I feel like if I had like a raincoat, that's the greatest imagery ever. You know what I mean? That's the greatest imagery ever.

SPEAKER_00 28:24

That's how I feel. I feel like Paddington Bear. What do you feel like is, you know, you have the opportunity to go and travel the world and just submerge yourself so you don't feel um, you know, you're not, I don't want to say stuck here, but when you look at the United States the way it is right now, and from your vantage point because you're getting out of it so often, is it like even more of a shit shit? Like, is it worse than what? Yeah, you want to hear something crazy? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:52

Like, I don't even want to speak my actual American voice.

SPEAKER_01 28:57

Like, I caught myself almost adopting a fucking accent one day. I was like, who am I? Like another, it's Paddington Baghdad. Paddington big. I was like, you know, and people are like, oh, you're American, I'm like, yeah, I am.

unknown 29:14

Yeah.

Travel Disappointments & Culture Checks

SPEAKER_02 29:15

Right? And it's not because, you know, like I'm not happy to be from America, right? Like, I I didn't, I feel like my childhood was fine, more or less, give or take. I don't really have, I haven't had any real complaints about America until recently, when you're in another space of awareness, because I'm like, oh, this is a lot. So being in Amsterdam even last week, when Renee Good was shot, that was tough because like the conversations around that in the Netherlands are like, and you know, they don't even carry guns over there. Like their citizens are not allowed to carry guns. Like a gun death, I think they said they had like 20 murders last year. Mm-hmm. Crazy. And they're they're very much not random. They're not like shoot them up, spray the block. It's none of that. It's like, no, you fucked my wife. Ah, like you know what I'm saying? I'm killing you. Like, you know, and it's probably more not even with guns. They're like, I got actually how to kill you. So I think that that, and they're also surprised that I am a gun owner. Anytime I tell a woman that a non-American woman that I'm a gun owner, they're like, What? I'm like, yeah, for sure. I absolutely am a gun owner. They're like, you know how to shoot a gun? I'm like, yes. Like you, you own them, like you bought them. I'm like, yes. Legally. Yes. And even men are like, yeah, no, wow, I can imagine. But I'm like, this is the reality of the life that I live here. You know what I mean? I can't be in certain cities, especially driving my truck as a single woman, and not be strapped. I'm sorry. If not, like I got a I got an oyster shucker right here, like I'm gonna figure out a way. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. Got knives over here, it's one or the other. Yeah. But I I have to protect myself because I have no idea what's coming here. And it's a strange, like overarching feeling that I just feel like everyone here is anxious. And then when I go to other places, that anxiety doesn't exist. Because they're not, they're not worried about the same things we're worried about over here.

SPEAKER_00 31:52

Yeah, it intrigues me, you know, because I um I know it's different in other places, and I know it has to be less. I mean, I know it's not perfect anywhere, but just the the heightened state of angst and divide that we're experiencing is just like there's gotta be a different. I wanna I like the whole Paddington Bear bullshit. Like that's real nice. That sounds real nice.

SPEAKER_02 32:14

Like, yeah, it's it's very much like I can breathe, right? I can breathe. I also can breathe as a black American. I mean, truth be told, like, I mean, Europe has its own issues, but there's moments where I'm like, I'm not as anxious here as I am at home.

SPEAKER_03 32:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:36

It's very strange.

SPEAKER_00 32:38

What country is the like the most like the what are you most underwhelmed by in what country? Like, what's your least favorite that you visited? You're like, meh. Not really.

SPEAKER_02 32:51

You know what's so weird to me is that like one of the things that is like my least favorite is when I go to restaurants in other countries and they're they have this like one note menu, right? Wait, am I talking about food or am I talking about politics?

SPEAKER_01 33:10

I'm like, wait, hold on, I might be hot.

SPEAKER_02 33:13

But there's but there's this moment, there's this moment where like you travel and like you go to like foreign like foreign restaurants and they're wanting to appease to our diet. And like these beautiful restaurants, and the food is just like we have pizzas, we have pastas, we have entrees. Yeah, like I was in I I was in South Africa in this one restaurant. I went to like high-level steakhouse, they offer USDA steaks. I was like, I don't want that. I'm over here. What the fuck? Give me your shit. Yeah, I want the steaks from here. Like, yeah, but I mean, that was actually a strange answer to your question, but the things that I'm most disappointed by it is like I think that they I think that like my disappointments are probably because at a certain level I'm an indoctrinated American. And and I'm like, those are the bathrooms?

unknown 34:15

Gosh.

SPEAKER_02 34:15

Let me get my mind right. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, yeah, or like this is this is the kitchen that you guys are cooking this in.

unknown 34:24

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 34:25

You know what I mean? Like, I have to like get over like what I see as normal. Right? So I do have to catch myself in moments like, nah, they've been foods have been very successful here for this long, going this way. You know, they don't have health departments. They have health departments, but they're not like our health departments, right? They're not like coming in and temping, checking the you know, temperature of the freezers and the meats, and like none of that. Somehow they're making it, somehow they're making it, and somehow I made it because I ate the food. Right. And my stomach wasn't fucked up for real. I mean, I do take charcoal pretty much every day. But there are moments where I come and I'm like, I don't know how long that fish has been sitting out. I don't And you still eat it. And I still ate it. Oof, yeah, I had to draw the line there. Yeah, but see, right, but here's the thing. So I know microbes, stomach stuff, like you know, they're used to certain things in certain countries. But there are times where I'm like, I'm gonna run it, I'm gonna just figure out what this experience is, and if I pay for it later, so be it. I accept my I sacrifice. Like, I literally be like, give it to me.

SPEAKER_00 35:41

That is so great. Yeah. What are you doing this year? What's happening now? What's popping off? Hmm.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

Oh, this is a good one. I feel like this year's gonna be a really good year because I feel like all the seeds, you know, that I've been planting um are pretty much coming to fruition this year. Um, my event company, my brand High End Affair, doing all the Supper Clubs and doing all the small, these big, small activations, um, we're now kind of being hired to do as a producer. So working with um a couple production companies and brands and coming in as a producer, and which is great because I have to sell tickets and I have to do this, but it's also like uh people are now seeing like we want that. We want that with all that, everything that you did there, can you do it again for us? I'm like, yes. Um and I remember one of the things that Chappelle used to say about me is that I was consistent. He's like, You're one of the most consistent motherfuckers I know. I was like, great. So I lean on that.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

Yeah.

Energy Management After Events

SPEAKER_02 36:50

So I'm like, if I have, if it's if it's working here, I can produce this for other people and create these experiences at a higher level with more of a production team. I can scale up, fabrication team. Like, we can build anything. We can do anything. So that's so cool. Can we be putting food in there? Yeah. So that's this year doing a lot of that. Um shit. I'm doing um working on Rolling Loud Australia in March. So that'd be cool. That'll that's basically doing the welcome dinners for the talent for Rolling Loud. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. So like shit like that. It's like, all right, I get to like some other pocket, so I don't have to always be like, I don't know, like I'm still curating, but I don't have to be like, okay, on this date I'm gonna have a dinner in this town. Like, you know, I'm just you know, people I know the people that love me the most and love to attend my experiences get so annoyed with me because they're like, when's there another one? When is there another one? You told us it was gonna be another one like last month, and you didn't do it. Because there are also times where I can't do it. Like I just physically can't do it.

SPEAKER_00 38:05

Oh, it sounds so like again, like so incredible and like your passion, and like it's so great and right, but it also sounds so laborious and so tactical. Like where you probably have to like have a moment.

SPEAKER_02 38:21

I shut down for like at least like I'm zero dark 30 for three to five days sometimes after my events, especially when I'm doing the the the supper clubs and the dinner series and stuff like that. Just because like all that um energy that I've absorbed, I have to release it. It's heavy on me, it's heavy on my body. So it's energetically laborious as well. You know, you have a bunch of adults that have a lot of different things going on in their lives, and I'm like, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. And I'm like, toss it, toss it, throw it down. Like, I'm like, okay, okay, okay, okay. Because I could feel that. Like I'm warm, right? Like I'm physically warm when I'm working in these spaces because I literally feel like the radiation of people's energy. Very interesting.

SPEAKER_00 39:13

It's so interesting, like, and I just the whole idea of energy. I feel like I've always been observant, perceptive. Like I think that's just part of who I am. But not until I don't even know when this whole energetic thing started to happen to me. Like where I can, like what you just said. Yeah. I can literally feel myself. It's like I'm porous. And I don't know if that's a good thing, a bad thing, or a mix of both, because the energy for me is like so there and so real. It's almost tangible. It's extremely tangible. It's weird. And it's thick. It is. It can be, it can be really great when you have a vibe, right? When you're like, oh my God, that now that's that's but then when it's like, mmm, you're trying to figure you're like, this is it can get real heavy and weird.

Sensitivity, Boundaries & Empathy

SPEAKER_02 40:02

It can get heavy, it could get weird. There was a moment um in time where I had um a woman in my life that was doing a lot of readings for me, a lot of intuitive readings, and she started teaching me about bypassing that energy, right? And like there is a way that you have to get into it to literally let it glide off of you. Like I literally create a halo around me, and I'm also telling my body it's almost slick like oil.

SPEAKER_00 40:29

I think I need that.

SPEAKER_02 40:30

Yeah. And you have to just there's ways because there's sometimes I see the energy coming, and it's like, and I'm like, that's not the one that, yeah, no, I don't want it. All that shit, it's gotta go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, um, and there are also times where I'm realizing how sensitive I've been to this since I was a child, right? I just think that like I'm in a different sense of awareness, but I could I couldn't understand why that like there were times where I would be around people, and like my mind would say enough. It would just say enough. Like, you need to go, you know what I mean? Like, or you need to retreat, like into like your own space, or like go to the bathroom. Like, I would just go to the bathroom and I would just lean on the sink, like not using the bathroom. Yeah, just getting space. Yeah, just getting space because like I feel like I can get to somebody's soul very quickly, faster than others.

SPEAKER_00 41:35

I can believe that about you. You do have a a way about you where you can be very, you're very intelligent, you can go very deep, but you can also just be kind of empathetic and a vibe. So like I can see how you can totally do that. Yeah, for sure. It's a very interesting thing. That's why I fuck with you, Chef Nikki. I appreciate that. That's why I silently stalk you on Instagram. I'm in your soul, guys. You are oh you're in, you got a little, you got a little parking lot in my soul. Don't you don't you?

SPEAKER_02 42:05

No, and that's also being a Scorpio too, just like super intense. Like I'm like, am I really that intense? People are like, dude, you try intense. I'm like, oh fuck.

SPEAKER_00 42:13

Yeah, but I don't I think you have like a soft intensity. I don't feel like you're like a so I'm a Sagittarius. Now that's we are, we are like, I would ex I would think that I would have more of like a intense, like brash. I feel like my interactions with you have all been, you know, laced with softness. Like I don't, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 42:35

I'm grateful for you saying that because I sometimes am like, how do I come off? If I come off like real, like no. Not to me. You know what I mean? Not to me. All right, cool. No. Well, that's good to know. I'm also very conscientious of, you know, you're a little flirtatious, I will say.

SPEAKER_00 42:52

You know what? Not sure.

SPEAKER_02 42:54

It's making me a little, it's making me wonder if maybe Yeah, I mean, wonder. Like, I'm looking at your brows, they look great. They're a little flirty. I even do my brows. Your brows are a little flirty. I saw you the eye contact. You know how we feel about flirting around here, too. Yeah, and you got on a gray sweatsuit, and then you know what they say when you get on gray sweatpants. Oh, who knows? Dry January. Right, you swing that dick. BDE over there. So I'm like, oh, is it hot or what? This is just my turtleneck. What is it?

Love, Loneliness & Modern Monogamy

SPEAKER_00 43:25

Um I love you. I love you too. I'm glad you stopped by. I'm glad I stopped by too. Anything else you want for the the masses to know about Chef Nikki? I was thinking. You know, I guess one more question. Like, I romanticize your life, but I also like it's like the same thing with Jenny. It's like the both of you. I romanticize, like, but Jenny has a very romantic Instagram. Like, she's like, look at my romantic. Look at my little, my little nook and NYC and cute, the lighting. It's all perfect, right? And so I romanticize both of you. Like, you know, I'm in I'm in UA with these two kids. And I'm like, you know, trying to like, you know, keep my head on a swivel. And then I'll see these Instagrams. How, what percentage of it meets my expectation versus the other percent? No, what is it? How much is romance? How much of it is the, you know, versus like you're in another country, you're grinding, you're alone, you're trying to make your way? Like.

SPEAKER_02 44:25

Oh, for sure. It's all of those things.

SPEAKER_00 44:26

Yeah. For sure, alone. I just want to hear that it sucks for you just a little bit out there every once in a while.

SPEAKER_02 44:32

Oh, okay. I mean, the weather was bad in Amsterdam. It was icy.

SPEAKER_00 44:37

I'll take it. I'll take that. Let me see. Um just I don't want it to suck too bad. Just like if there's a like maybe 12%, you know, that every now and then. You know, maybe Jenny stubs her toe here and there.

SPEAKER_02 44:49

Like, you know, it's a bathroom that I don't think is great.

SPEAKER_00 44:52

As you guys are frolicking through the tulip fields, like did you stub your toe here and there?

SPEAKER_02 44:57

Honestly, um, I mean, a lot of those things are really what I'm seeing, unfortunately. No, I know. You know, um they're really things Carnival. Yeah. You know, I know. Listen. I mean, there's always there's always a little fringe moment, but I don't have my phone out. You feel me? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I'm locked in if there's a fringe moment. Um, it was interesting because when I was in Brazil with my daughter, my daughter, I was like, I had my phone up and I was like trying to like film something. She was like, no, and I was like, what? She was like, get your phone down. That's not cool, right? No, they just snatch phones like crazy. Oh, they do? Absolutely. They snatch phones crazy because my phone is the equivalency of months of a pay, right? Just because of the pay rate. I mean the scale of our dollar to theirs. And they phone snatch. She told me, Don't be outside with my headphones on, walking around, talking on the phone and shit. They'll snatch your shit. She's like, everything, snatch, snatch.

unknown 45:59

That's great.

SPEAKER_00 46:01

So interesting.

SPEAKER_02 46:02

I wanted to film carnivals and they've been like, Hell yeah, you were. I got some videos, but like, I was like, Kennedy, the rest of them, like, the people that live here, they're some of them have their phones out. She's like, Yeah, but they know what's up. Yeah, right, right, right. You look like a mark. It's like, damn. Clearly, I'm like, I don't blend in. Because everybody in that motherfucking country is fine as shit. Do you have any little trists? Did you get any trists in Brazil?

SPEAKER_00 46:29

Didn't. You didn't? No, I was straight like well, you had your daughter and all that. My daughter would be, you know, throwing it all around.

SPEAKER_02 46:36

Like, you know, to be honest with you, man. Like, I feel that I could not move through life right now if I wasn't single, right? But it does get a little lonely out there.

SPEAKER_00 46:50

You like monogamy? In terms of just traditionally, like, are you are you do you have a propensity to be in a monogamous relationship?

SPEAKER_02 46:59

I do. I do. I absolutely do. I've been married. Um, I've had, you know, a pretty decent, leany relationship, you know, like where I was monogamous. But the other thing about it is I'm like realizing that about creatures not being monogamous at our age group, there's like a really interesting like, you know, do you, do, I'll do me, we'll meet somewhere in the middle type shit. Yeah. And just be transparent. At first, when I started this journey, I was like, maybe I should just do lovers around the world. And I was like, somebody out there is like this. I need a mentor. Hey, put it out there. But like, I'm just saying, like, I thought, like, you know, this would be really dope, just to be like, here and here and here. My friend likes to call it a roster. I'm like, it's not a roster. It's not a roster. I haven't managed to accomplish that yet, but I thought about it. I was like, well, what if I could do this and do that? But then I said, I need a main man. Like, I need a main person.

SPEAKER_00 48:10

Well, as females, I think we're kind of like we were built like that. Like, that's kind of how we're hard-coded.

SPEAKER_02 48:16

We are hard-coded that way. And I kept thinking, like, as much as that would be ooh, like, yeah, love you here with such and such and I'm in Pelly with my yeah. I'm trying to be in like Samoa with my own. Do you like my French accent?

SPEAKER_00 48:31

Pelly.

SPEAKER_02 48:32

That was a little it was too much. It was too much.

SPEAKER_00 48:34

Too much. See, that would be like an American pretend like they're from Paris.

Close, Gratitude & Final CTA

SPEAKER_01 48:37

Given La Chatelaine. That's where you got your French from. Yo. See a Ville Prach. That was not it. Your French teacher was from Kentucky. That's where she was from. Keep me in the bubble.

SPEAKER_02 48:57

Oh. Keep me in the bubble. Oh my God. But then I was like, I I like being, I like having a person I can depend on. Yeah. I like having a person that I can talk to, a person I can build with, like really build with. Like, let's do some cool shit. Let's make some money. Let's, you know, be in the world. Like they have to be of that mindset. You know what I mean? So until then. Let's see what 2026 brings. Yeah, I mean, is it gonna bring me a man?

SPEAKER_00 49:26

After dry January, we'll see if the shops opened up.

SPEAKER_02 49:29

Dry January. What's another word for February that could mean shut down the shop?

SPEAKER_00 49:36

Um and by shop we mean the coochie shop. The coochie shop. The coochie shop is shut down.

SPEAKER_02 49:42

Yeah, that energy that's spent on that needs to go back into the empire. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:49

I love that.

SPEAKER_02 49:50

Has to go back into the empire.

SPEAKER_00 49:51

Well, I wish you nothing but adventure, thank you, joy, all kinds of amazing experiences. I just think the world of you, and I'm so glad you stopped by.

SPEAKER_02 50:02

Thank you. Thanks for having me always. Thank you for just letting me pull up. I'm like, what you doing? Honey, you can pull up any day.

SPEAKER_01 50:08

Where you at, girl?

SPEAKER_02 50:09

Pull up.

SPEAKER_00 50:10

Any day, anytime, any day. All right, I'm pulling up. If you're still out there following your girl, follow me on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcast. And until next time, go travel the world. Go do something and keep moving, baby. Taste new food. S'il vous plaît. Parlez-vous français. Le Chatelaine.