The meez Podcast
Josh Sharkey (Entrepreneur, professional chef, and founder/CEO of meez, the culinaryOS for food professionals) interviews world class entrepreneurs in the food space that are shifting the paradigm of how we innovate and operate in our industry.
The meez Podcast
Why the Best Champagne Comes From Growers, Not the Big Houses. Plus Per Se's Yes vs Noma's No, and working with your spouse.
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#135
Josh sits down with chef and sommelier Sandia Chang for a conversation that spans 20 years of restaurants on both sides of the Atlantic. From her start on the fish station at Bouley in 2003, to four years at Per Se under Thomas Keller, to a stint at Noma in Copenhagen alongside her now-husband James Knappett, Sandia eventually landed in London where the two opened Bubble Dogs (a champagne and hot dog bar on Charlotte Street) and Kitchen Table, now a two Michelin star restaurant. Along the way she became one of the UK's most knowledgeable voices on grower champagne and built Bubble Shop, her online platform for small-family producers most operators have never heard of.
The conversation moves between the two service philosophies that defined her path. Per Se's "yes to everything" approach, where the team would prepare a different potato for Mick Jagger with every course, and Noma's "we will not make a cocktail because we are not great at making cocktails" approach. Sandia explains why both are right and how she's blended them at Kitchen Table. They dig into why simple food like a hot dog is harder to execute than a 20 course tasting menu, what actually changes when you get your second Michelin star (spoiler: the box checkers show up), the economics and politics of importing grower champagne into the UK, and the truth about running a restaurant with your spouse. It closes with the advice Sandia gave at the end: you don't go into something because you know what to do, you go into something because you want to learn how to do it.
Links and resources 📌
Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com
Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez
Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en
Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/
Follow Sandia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/watermelonchang/
Follow Sandia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandia-chang-684152227/
Visit Kitchen Table: https://kitchentablelondon.co.uk/
Visit Bubbleshop: https://bubbleshoplondon.com/
Timestamps
03:55 Restaurant Life Around School Pickups
08:34 From Hospitality School To Bouley
14:47 Meeting James And Moving To Noma
17:40 Per Se Says Yes, Noma Says No
24:26 Casual But Excellent Service
29:46 Grower Champagne Versus Big Houses
40:02 Why Hot Dogs Work With Bubbles
48:55 Bubble Dogs And The Champagne Shop
01:01:09 Advice: Learn By Doing