Supper with Sylvia #14 The Food Network's Jeff Mauro

What can you say about a guy whose favorite color is pastrami… Chicago’s Jeff Mauro is a chef with comedy chops and has become a much loved celebrity creation of the Food Network. He won a show and called it “Sandwich King” creating masterpieces like the Freddy Boombatz and the Pork Chop Sammy, all with a laugh and a side of giardiniera.  Now Mauro is cultivating his latest creations with Mauro Provisions. Whether it’s Italian Beef or a burger, everything for Jeff Mauro is better between the bread.

Mauro Provisions / mauroprovisions.com

Sandwich King and The Kitchen / foodnetwork.com

This episode is produced by Jane Stephens

Original music and engineering by Donnie Cutting

Social Media and Promotions by Magali Blasdell

Check out SupperwithSylvia on Instagram.
Email us at SupperwithSylvia@gmail.com

Transcript

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This sandwich has been in my repertoire. shut up, Jeff. It's abusing big words, you dummy. Don't forget where you're from, stupid. So I'm talking to me, not you, Sylvia.

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Today on Supper with Sylvia, we're joined by Jeff Mauro, winner of Food Network Star and the one and only Sandwich King. He's gone on to host the kitchen and worst cooks in America, but no matter how big he gets, he's always a Chicago riot heart. From his band, The Jewel Bags, to his company, Mauro Provisions. Jeff stays true to his roots, so we talk shy town loyalty, the hustle of becoming a Food Network Star, and of course, sandwiches. Let's dive in.

Jeff Mauro, Mr. Chicago, how are you? great. I've never been called out. Take it, though. Wow, what a title. Thank you, Sylvia. I got to tell you. we have our podcast, as you have, which we're going to talk about that a little bit later. our thing is about food. It's about the Chicago food scene. We're kind of expanding outside of Chicago. But we are very Chicago-centric. And when I think of a Chicago guy, I think of Jeff Mauro. thank you.

It's my honor. You know what? It's such a big part of my life. Anybody, guess, that was born raised here is obviously connected to it, especially via the food, which has consumed my life for most of it. you know what? Just being in entertainment and show business and still able to live here and raise my family here, that just even makes the connection grow deeper. So I'm happy. I'm proud of that.

for you even considering me, Mr. Chicago, I'll take it. Absolutely. And I have to tell everybody, I met you years ago. I think it was when you had just won the Food Network star and I was working at ABC7 and Linda, you and I, my co-anchor at the time interviewed you. And I remember thinking, okay, this guy is so much fun. Like I have a feeling we're going to be hearing a lot about him. So as we go back and look at to your history, you really became kind of well known when you won the

The Next Food Network star, I think that was season seven. Tell everybody what led you up to that. That was 2011. So I don't know. That's a lot of years ago. Yeah. now almost. Oh my god. I was just a young buck straight out of junior high just looking to fulfill a dream. No, I was, you know, I was always a performer. And from the time I was in third grade, you know, I love being on stage. love.

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improv and comedy. did Second City from a very young age, from third grade through high school, youth programs. And I just loved just being on stage and making people laugh, whether it was in the classroom or part of like musical theater, whatever that may be. But when I turned 15, I started making my walk around money, cooking and working in delis and butcher shops. So I always kind of did think both of those things simultaneously throughout high school, college, and then into adulthood.

Which kind of the first like major moment where both these kind of passions intersected was right out of college, I opened a deli with my cousin and we opened the deli. I also got cast in Tony and Tina's wedding here in Chicago as a waiter, you know, and back then you'd make up a character for the waiter and it was, you know, you're not just waiting food. It's a buffet. First of all, you're more of a part of the show and then you work your way up to

you know, a groomsman and then the best man, eventually Tony. So I did those things both simultaneously for four years, which was great, knowing that, you know, I love food. I love making money, you know, because, you know, Chicago Improv Theater was not paying the bills. Neither was the deli as much. So collectively, I was like, OK, I can kind of cobble this together. But I eventually moved to LA in the early 2000s.

to kind of pursue that dream in Hollywood, if you will, and try to get my own cooking show and started filming things on the weekends and editing them with my cousin. And we'd pitch them and we did all this and I was working full-time, I was doing this stuff and it just didn't work after a couple of years. So I ended up enrolling in culinary school to kind of legitimize myself. And if I'm gonna call myself Chef Jeff, I should have the fundamentals, which I did through professional.

education, I guess, but I needed the paper. And so once I graduated from culinary school, I eventually moved back home, started a family and kept trying out for Food Network Star. While in LA, continued on, almost made it the first season, I think it was like season four was my first time trying out for that show. And I got super close, but didn't make it. And then season five, tried out season six. Meanwhile, I'm in Chicago.

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I'm a private corporate chef for a large mortgage company. I'm performing on the weekends, doing stand-up, doing everything I can to keep those muscles honed. eventually, you know, after four tries, I made it on the Food Network Star and I ended up winning. And kind of the prize was my first series, which was called Sandwich King, which ran for five years and then which evolved into the kitchen. And then now I'm on Worst Cooks in America, which is on Sundays at 7 p.m. Central, which just premiered this last Sunday, which is

hilarious holiday wars and whatever else they tell me to do. So here we are. Now I'm back in the basement on a microphone. Who would have thought? Right? That is fantastic. mean, obviously they love you. You're on all these shows. When I told people I was going to be talking to you from across the country, they're like, my gosh, I love him on The Kitchen. So let's talk about that because that really is such a big Food Network, a mainstay show. And the Food Network has evolved over the years. I remember initially,

when it first came out was all about cooking and then they got into more of the competitions. And I I think the kitchen is really kind of what people love about the Food Network, which is really the focus on food and personalities. You're with Sonny Anderson, Jess Sicarian, Katie Lee. You guys seem to really enjoy each other's company. So for those who are huge fans of this show, how much fun is this for you to do and what's involved in the making of this?

First of all, think we're about to start our 39th season. We've been on the air. I think we're hitting 500 episodes this next run, which we're filming in a couple of weeks. I think why the show works is obviously the hosts. There's four of us. And we genuinely like each other. So we're a small family. And we've been doing this for 11 years.

12 years, I think. Yeah, I think we started in 2013, 14 maybe. it's, we generally, you know, like we talk to each other almost every day. We have text chains. So, I mean, that carries over authentically into the actual work on stage, in the studio, where ultimately we're literally just cooking, eating, laughing and drinking for, you know.

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what you see as an hour, but which takes us a half a day. So the productions, we do two episodes a day. it's, I, you know, I feel I do, I host several shows on the network and the other ones are competition shows, which are very different. You know, they're long, they're arduous. It's fun. It's gratifying in many ways, but it's like long.

Could be a lot of downtime, a lot of intensity. Like Worst Cooks in America is like, like putting your head inside a vice and slowly turning it while your head is inside an accordion, which is inside like an organ. And it's like that for 14 hours straight, six days in a row where you're rapping at 11, 12, midnight, you know, it's just crazy. And there's so much emotion involved in yelling and instruction and passion and all this stuff. And I love it. And I love the finished product, but the journey is

is difficult, you know, but the kitchen, it's like showing up to play. And all I did my whole life was kind of get in trouble for being the class clown, you know, throughout grammar school and middle school, junior high, high school, even college. But now I kind of get paid to be the class clown, but I also get to cook and I get to eat and you get to drink. And that kind of shows through, I think, in the passion of all the hosts that, we were genuinely good friends.

and we respect and love each other and our individual point of view. But it's a fun day at the office. And you tape all those in how much time for the season? we've done several different iterations of our schedule, which has evolved over the years. I mean, we used to do every three weeks. We'd shoot like four or five. And then we moved to a different schedule. Now we're every couple months for a week.

Maybe eight days, nine days could be six days of filming, which spread over the course of like, you know, eight, nine days with a weekend. So we do that out in New Jersey. So I'll stay in Hoboken. Beautiful Hoboken. I love Hoboken. know, I spent so much time in New York that I'm just like to go and work in New York. You everybody has this like kind of glamorous image in their mind of the hustle and bustle and cosmopolitan magic of New York City. But like if you're working there, it is, it's a grind.

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It's not the best place to be because the rooms are small. There's no escape, you know, and it's like you're just constantly grinding there. But like to meet across the river, because we do shoot in Jersey City, Hoboken to me is like a Chicago vibe, more family, obviously a plenty of Italians and Italian delis, which for some reason I always have to be like a stone's throw away from like, you know, you know, good, nice, thinly sliced mortadel. But like I just it's kind of become my second home. I think.

You know, relax, look at the river instead of the skyline. so let's talk a little bit about the worst cooks in America. I want to know, are they really that bad? Sometimes I think to myself, I wonder if they're trying to be the worst cooks on purpose. Nobody can be that bad. Well, yeah, they're terrible. They're all terrible. And even if you think or the perception is they're faking it, I still have to eat it. You understand? Like it's not.

Like nobody wins by faking it, right? Nobody's going to win. I mean, I guess you can like lay it on thick and then come in and win because you've had these skills. But I can tell you as doing, this is my third season. I got another one in the can. I've done four seasons of Worst Cooks in America as a chef mentor. And these people are serious and they're serious about learning and they're so serious about the journey. And this season is our celebrity season, Heroes vs. Villains.

So you couple that kind of drive, plus you have these very high intensity celebrities that have made a career doing reality competition shows. I mean, it is intense. OK, what celebrities? What celebrities? Anybody we know? Anybody we know, yeah. Depends on the demographic, Sylvia. You know this. So my team right now is Frankie Grande from Big Brother.

who also happens to be Ariana Grande's brother. brother, that's right. Sebastian Bach from Skid Row, one of my mentors as a rock and roll musician, you know, from the days of yore who's so funny and so genuinely terrible at cooking, you can't help but to love him. Trinity the Tuck from RuPaul's Drag Race, who's won that before. So she's dressed to the nines.

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in a different wig, different outfit, different whole theme each episode. It's unbelievable. Adam Rippon, he's an Olympic figure skater. And then Cheryl Burke from Dancing with the Stars. And on the other team you got like Corinne Olympios from The Bachelor, the one who was, you know, like, you know, like took her top off the first day and then fell asleep. know, Rachel Riley from Big Brother. You have Bartice from Love is Blind.

Who else am I missing here? Well, this is fun. It's crazy. It's like if you're a reality fan. Yes. This show has reality stars. I love it. For days. OK, so what's the worst food you've ever been forced to eat as part of the show? What can you remember? What stands out in your mind, You're like this. This almost made me get sick. Well, it's funny because it literally was the premiere episode was the it was Rachel Riley, who's now on Chef Antonia's team. Thank God.

made a chocolate lasagna with, it was like ground turkey, like just like undercooked globules of ground turkey coated in dark chocolate, like simmered and then baked with noodles, lasagna noodles, and then served with Brussels sprouts tossed in milk chocolate and white chocolate. It was so abysmal that like, I mean, it like,

just gently, gingerly touch my lips. And then I'm like abort. Some things you just can't eat just because I got to get through the day, you know? And I feel like I have a very strong constitution at this point. there's like, anytime you take a bite of undercooked chicken, like dark meat chicken, it'll change you for your life. It's so like, we end up, you know, there's a spit bucket under her.

Okay. Under our station when we're tasting. I'll it that use it often? Yeah. We try not to because it is, you feel bad because it is like, I'm not making sensational, I mean, it's sensational. We're making TV, you know, and that's what we're trying to entertain you. But I'm also like, I'm serious about teaching these recruits and not like, and not like destroying their self-esteem and self-worth by spitting everything they make out. mean,

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It does deflate them a bit. I try to take it down and look at the bright side and the silver lining in each day. You're a good guy. OK, let's talk about what else you have going on, because you and your sister have this fun podcast. Come on over, which is also, I believe, the name of your cookbook. And the podcast is fun. It's listening to two of the Mauro family members with some of their fun escapades. do these fun texts with your parents.

How did the title come on over become your thing for not only your podcast, but your cookbook and kind of your life? Yeah, it's I guess it was an epiphany when I was sitting in, I don't know, maybe five years ago with at my agent's office with the literary agent there. And we're just kind of spitballing ideas because it was like, it's time for your cookbook. And I've kind of.

I've had offers and I was, was, it's just so much work to do a cookbook. Like I needed to find the time, right? And it is, was like, okay, this is the time. This was like pre-pandemic and like, is the, what's the pitch? And I'm like sitting there, I'm like, you know, I'm just like, I know. I just feel like I'm always the house, you know, I'm always like in the phone and I'm like, oh, like, oh, why not? Just, I'm like, screw it. I'll host, come on over. Fine. My mom's like, where should we do Easter?

I'm like, it, just come on over, I got it. What are we gonna do for the fourth? Ah, screw it, I got the smoker going, come on over. So it was like, boom, and my agent's like, that's the title. I'm like, what? Screw it, come on over. He's like, no, just come on over. And I'm like, oh my God, it was like that. And then I was, boom, was on GoDaddy, and I'm like, I registered the URL, which I actually had to pay money for, but not a lot. So I was like, this is gonna encompass my brand, as being the nucleus of my very, very large family.

while still live amongst us, know, cousins and parents. And my parents are, you know, four minutes away and everybody lives in the city or in the surrounding suburbs. And I'm always uttering those words into the phone. And I just harken back to my mom, you know, picturing my mom on that, you know, know, 40 foot coiled telephone cord in two rooms over from where the cord was attached. And she's always like, all right, come on over. And like her hosting and my aunt's hosting, my grandma hosting before that.

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And it's just, it's a good platform for not only, you know, food and recipes, but also, you know, authentic to me and, my family culture and that kind of, you know, just evolved into the podcast, which we started, you know, five years ago, right, right at the beginning of the pandemic. And it just, while the book came out and it just kind of made sense and it's, so proud of the podcast. We've done a couple hundred episodes and

We put a lot of effort into it and it's just a glimpse into kind of my life. And we talk a lot about obviously food, a lot about TV and stuff. I've written at least I think 92 original songs for the podcast. I should put it this, mediocre original songs, but darn it, I play every instrument on it, produce them in this basement here. So it's just like my creative outlet that's you know.

quote unquote, censored by the network or not my TV persona or food network. So it's a great outlet for me. OK, no, those songs are hilarious. So I was on your website and I'm clicking and I'm listening to this music and I'm like, wait a minute, I need to find out a little more about this because I love this. So you are part of a group called The Jewel Bags, is that right? That's it. And for people who don't know who aren't Chicagoans, The Jewels,

Jewels. People always put an S, right? It is a grocery store in Chicago. And I love it that you guys, you decided that that was going to be the name of your group, The Jewel Bags. That's hilarious. And your music is on your podcast. And so you've written all of this stuff. Yeah. So The Jewel Bags started probably about four years ago in my basement with some neighborhood dads. What's up with the basement? Well, know, it's Chicago. What doesn't happen in the basement? I mean,

Listen, growing up, was like we'd have a family party and it was just my mom, the aunts and uncles would just throw us in the basement with, you know, a quesadilla at pop and a loaf of bread and they'd be like, just fend for yourselves. So I mean, like, you know, my formative years were spent in a basement. Why not continue that on? Now we have evolved to a practice space, which, you know, my wife handled it for a couple of months, maybe a year we practiced in the basement, but then we evolved into like, we're like an 11 piece band now.

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We have a full horn section. We've got a flute. got a, you know, multiple singers, keyboard, guitars, everything. We play out almost every month. And the Jewel Bags is, was inspired the name, just growing up, you know, anytime you needed a plastic bag for a lunch or a sleepover or anything to transport anything, my mom would be like, go under the sink and grab a jewel bag, which is,

the plastic bag from any grocery store. It could have been from Dominic's, Home Depot, Lenard's, Target, doesn't matter. It was always a jewel bag despite where it came from. I'm like, let's just be hyper regional here. And now we're self-dubbed the, I like to call myself the Bruce Springsteen in the East Street band of Cook County. That's how big and bombastic we are. But now we do kind of a hybrid. We do a lot of

What happened was on Halloween, we like to kind of do a gimmick and open for ourselves. It's a completely different band. So this year we did, we came out as the Jazz Bags and we did a whole like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Louis Prima set with all that kind of fun crooner jazz standard rap pack stuff. we kind of, it went over so well. We just do half, half our set is all that stuff now. So there's a little something for the young rock and roll. but anything we cover, it's a song you forgot you loved. It's nothing.

wedding bandish or typical. We're proud. love it. I love it. You should be. And I love the name. And I love that the jewel bag was a generic name for every bag that your mom had under the sink. Hilarious. And we'll be right back.

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Okay, so that's great. The podcast is going great. You've got so much going on, but I'm really excited to talk to you. And you brought some samples the last time I saw you when you came over to my station about Mauro Provisions, because, this is something that has... Talk about Chicago. That's what this is all about. Tell everybody about Mauro Provisions. The first thing I think about is your jardinaire, which is amazing.

And people outside of Chicago may not know what Jardinera is. And when they see the word, they don't know how to pronounce it, but it's a true Chicago thing. So was that how this all got started? Yeah, I was kind of like on my kitchen island and I'm like, what should I do next? You know, I turned in my book. It was right before the pandemic. And I'm like, I need to, I was writing the recipe, you know, I wrote the recipe for my Jardinera in the cookbook, which

I think is the best. I'm like, I grew up always going to the, you you Caputo's, you go to all these delis, you go to the grocery stores and you see the Jardinera aisle, which for those listening don't know what it is. It's like fermented pickled medley of peppers and vegetables that's packed in oil. It's spicy, it's crunchy, it's funky. We put it on everything in Chicago, whether it's pizza, pasta, obviously sandwiches. It's great on eggs, great on, you know, like avocado toast. It's amazing. I mean, a million different ways to get a

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a bunch of flavor with like a spoonful or two. So I always grew up like, I'm like, this stuff, I love it. And I eat it on everything. I'm like, but it could have so much more color, more crunch, more flavor. I'm like, nobody's taken this, right? This humble table staple in Chicago. Regionally, you find it in Indiana and Wisconsin and stuff. like really reformulated it, made it better, and kind of blew it up across the country.

And given, you know, me having a national audience and you know, the sandwich king, you know, point of view in TV shows and a mouth that talks all day long on whatever the heck people want to air me on, like, let's do this, you know? And so, you know, I did it by myself and kind of, and formulated this and started selling it online and with the help of one other person. And it kind of just evolved from there. Now where

You know, four, almost four and a half years later, five years later, and you know, we have five different kinds of Jardine era. Our honey G pepper relish is wildly popular. It's I crafted a cheeseburger with our honey G pepper relish and our Taylor street cheese sauce in our black powder rub that you can find on every bistro on board menu on every United flight. Okay, that is cool. You got on United Airlines and that's my airline. That's what I fly. Like I am a

a lifelong United loyalist. know I'm like, I go to the airport sometimes almost every week. So they're like, Jeff, but I'm like, Hey guys, I'm back, you know, in, just to be able to, partner with Chicago's hometown airline, providing Chicago centric foods, starting with this cheeseburger. And then we're moving on to other menu items. it's just been so wildly popular and our Italian beef kits are selling crazily. Like, so if you're in, if you're in, you know, Arizona,

Florida, California, and you have a hankering for a true Chicago style Italian beef sandwich. We ship kits by the hundreds every day across the country. And it's not just like your run of the mill beef stand beef. I mean, we use USDA prime beef, clean label, beautiful stuff. And we pack it with the Toronto rolls, the sausage, the Jardinera, the gravy, everything you need to get a kit, you know, to have that experience at home.

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And you can find us in restaurants now. it's like, and then we're, have two pizzas that are launching February 1st and all the jewels. All the jewels. So it's just like, you know, I, you know, Sylvia, I do a lot. I wrangle a lot of stuff in, sometimes at night I can't sleep or I wake up at three in the morning thinking of all the millions of things I've kind of got of the checklist, you know, and to-do list.

But then I realized when I do wake up, you know, I love everything I do, you know, and it's, and to quote my wife, it's all your own doing. So quit complaining like, well, you don't have to have a band that practices twice a week. You don't have to, you know, do this. You don't have to podcast twice. Like, you know what I mean? But like, I do love the work and you know, when I do wake up, I often pinch myself, you know, as cliche as that sounds, because like, you know, life is good. Life is good. And I can't believe

You know, I made it and I get to make television and that's what I kind of set out to do 20, 25 years ago. And it's not true for a lot of people, you know, a lot of people want to make it in show business in some form and it just doesn't work out for whatever reason. And I'm not saying it's for lack of hard work or I worked harder than anybody. I'm sure there's a fairly giant dose of luck involved. Maybe it's faith, maybe it's gratitude, maybe it's whatever.

But you I don't take it for granted. So I mean, I might as well strike when the eye is hot, right? And do as much as I can. Well, that's amazing. And the fact that you get to do your comedy and, you know, be involved in the culinary world, which you love. You just taught me something. This Chicago girl. You just taught me something. Oh my God. I still have been saying Jardinair wrong. It's Jardinair-ra. Well, that's a phonetic spelling is Jardinair-ra, right? Uh huh. With the hard J. But

street level, if you're a true one, if you're a real one, Sylvia, which I know you are, which you said this up top, you say Jardinair. thank goodness. is always optional. thank goodness. Which by the way, I trademarked the phonetic spelling of Jardinair. I saw a video that you had about how to pronounce it. I love it. Jardinair. Okay. So I'm cool that I am street smart. And your Jardinair is delicious. It is so good.

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But know, this all comes back to how it all started for you as far as when you first became a well-known name and that was as you as the Sandwich King. first show was a series and it was a huge hit for so many years. I love what you're doing now because you have a kind of a series going on Instagram and TikTok that I've been enjoying where

You are going out into the city and the neighborhoods and the suburbs, right? And you are rating sandwiches using a Chicago star rating system. brilliant. It is so much fun. So explain to everybody what it is you're doing and how this has just kind of developed a life of its own, hasn't it? You know what, Sylvia? It's almost infuriating, right? Because the concept is called sandwich kingdom, right? And it's been...

an idea for a show, right? For as long as I had Sandwich King for, I was like, why don't we do a spin-off of a road show where I just eat food throughout the country and feature sandwiches called Sandwich Kingdom. It's a no-brainer. And I pitched it ad nauseum. And it's just like, you we don't do, you know, whatever, whatever reason they have for not producing that. You know, you get to a point where like flash forward 14 years later, where literally our

you know, the biggest network is in the palm of your hand, right? On our phone via social media and YouTube. So if you can't beat them, you gotta join them. And you see the popularity of like, you know, Dave Portnoy's One Bite Pizza. And you see just people reviewing stuff and, you know, giving a score in a 90 second video, it does so well and connects with so many people. So me and my sister, we went out there. I'm like, I got this. Let's just do this. Let's just choose three places.

So my favorite play like down the street and you record it, edit it, and we'll do a clever little, I'll wear a crown. Cause I had a crown from Amazon for a bit. had maybe two years ago that's been sitting on my shelf. I put it the crown. I gave you, you know, we have the Chicago star, which has six points and I give it a very accurate multi, you know, number of 4.793. My sister wants to kill me with some of these arbitrary ratings, but you know, I'm very honest and I've, and I've hit a couple of places pretty hard.

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I don't want to disparage anything, I want this. We had restaurants being like, come and do our sandwich, sponsor it. I'm like, nope, we're going to keep this sponsor free. We're going to keep it pure. We're going to make it about the taste and the bite and the quality and the rating. And it's the most popular thing I've ever done on social media. I love it. Which is, again, I didn't reinvent the wheel in.

I do these demos and you do, you know, you go shopping and you do a swap out and you record with the light in the tripod in your kitchen and you make a thing and it gets a 10th of the reviews. And I don't got time to do all that. And like, I like that occupies so much time and I love teaching people to cook and I still do it, but it's like, if I can go out and eat three sandwiches in an hour and a half and like enjoy the process and cut it quickly and upload it quickly. It's like,

Why not? And it just resonated with people. And it is like, I get more suggestions and more people mentioning that in public, almost as much as the kitchen now. It's crazy. I love it. I love it. And so what's the best one you've had so far, would you say? Or give me your top two. It was probably, well, the best was Kusama, which is wildly popular. Tim Flores and Jeannie Kwan, I've known them for a long time.

through their career. they've been so nice to me. And I've supported them in any way I could. Not that they need my support. They got line, two block line, two block long lines out the door every day. But I was like, finally, I'm going to go there for the sandwiches. I've only been there for dinner and pastries and stuff. But their breakfast sandwich and Italian beef spin, the pork adobo with the langhiza sausage.

Combo Chicago style combo. I mean, they're my two best bites of the year and it happened to be you know back to back and at the same place Wow So amazing Another great sandwich. Oh my god, there's been so many Well, I should stop you for a second because for people who do not know kasama kasama is a Filipino restaurant in Chicago and it is the only Filipino restaurant and I don't know if this still holds true, but it has

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that has a Michelin star in the United States. So they were a big deal when they got that Michelin star and their food is over the top. Amazing. You mentioned the pastries I've tried. I've had dinner there. I have not had that sandwich though. That's on my list now. Yeah, it's worth it. I've had dinner there several times on the tasting menu and it's out of this world. But you know, if you can get there for a casual sandwich, it's so good. It's worth the wait.

They're just such good people too. Yes, they are. No pretentiousness. I'm the top chef. I was on the bear. I was in the bear more than anybody. Like legitimate credentials. I got a Michelin star. Hoytie toy. I feel like I'm definitely embedded in a part of the Chicago chef community. I just happen to not.

currently have a restaurant, even though I've had restaurants in the past, but you know, it's, maybe it's my own lack of self-esteem. That's why I'm in this career. That's why anybody does show business, right? So we all kind of deep down want to be loved more and get applause and laughter. like it's, it's funny, especially in beginning of my career, it's like, I feel like I had to prove myself with all these, you know, chefs and some would, you know, turn your nose nose up at you. I don't care about this guy's a TV guy. He's a sandwich guy. What does he know about fine dining or whatever?

But like from everybody's so great and it's such a great community. And that's what I love about the bear to the TV show that it's highlighted like the real ones in just it's so authentic and it's so much to uplift our culinary scene here. that, you know, I've, I've, I've tried to get on the bear. I think I'd be unbelievable as a walk on part, maybe the guy at the deli, whatever I'll grow mustache, whatever you want, I'll slice me and I'll be a butcher.

Just give me a couple of lines. But season two, episode two, they did. Now, if you rewind, you will, and you don't have to pause. You can see it. Okay. Carmy opens his fridge. Guess who's Jardinera is in the fridge, Sylvia Perez. That's right. Mauro Provisions. That's right. Got the medium in there, baby. Okay. So you kind of have already been on the bear. Exactly. I've been on the bear. Just unaccredited. Yeah. We need to get you on there. If anybody, they need to make sure to get you on there. Okay.

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So, you remember that song, The Devil Went Down to Georgia? Of course. Okay. And he was looking for a soul to steal, right? So, the devil comes to Chicago and he's looking for a soul to steal based on a competition for the best sandwich he ever ate. What is Jeff Mauro going to do to beat the devil in his own game with the most amazing sandwich you've ever created? Okay, I got you. You got me?

This is funny. All right. I know what it is. Okay, hold on. Now I'm in between two. I have to beat the devil. You got to beat the devil. get my soul back, right? Yep. And if he, if he wins, he takes my soul and I just like turn into a pile of dust. You're a goner. I'm just gone. We're going to miss you because we love you. But you're going to win. I have confidence in you. All right. So this is what I would do. So I'm going to beat the devil. So the devil is going to come with some hot and meaty, right? Yes.

So you know, do you fight fire with fire Sylvia? I think so. you don't, right? You get angelic in heavenly. So this is what I would do. And this sandwich has been in my repertoire rep, shut up Jeff. It's abusing big words you dummy. Don't forget where you're from stupid. So I'm talking to me, not you Sylvia. Repertoire. So I actually, this sandwich, Bobby Flay said,

season seven of Food Network Star, which led to not only me being dubbed the sandwich king, but this was the best sandwich he's ever had, which led to my winning season seven of Food Network Star. So why not build this sandwich? So on a beautifully buttered and griddled brioche bun, will put an expert, expertly pre-salted skinned, right? So you take the moisture out, eggplant.

Nice medallions of eggplant, right? Fried in really good olive oil, nice and gently, right? And then I'll make a pistachio pesto for the bottom, right? So you get that. Oh, wow. That verdant brightness, a little crunch from the pistachio, the nuttiness. And then I'll take some cherry tomatoes right off the vine, slowly roast them to their caramelized and blistered, right? And just bursting with freshness. Yum. So we use that as our tomato element and then take a nice little kind of segment of creamy

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with that cream inside the stracciatelle cheese and we'll put that on top, that buttered griddle top bun, right? So you got the green, you got the tomato, you got almost that gooey cheese. You cut it in half, you look at the cross section, you take a bite and I'm gonna beat the devil with a vegetarian sandwich. How about that? Whoa, you have won. You have been able to keep your soul, my friend. That sounds delicious. Does it work? I've been looking for my soul for a little bit.

I was just describing it got my abortion of my soul back. You won, you won. That's incredible. That is amazing. That sounds so good. and you've got, I want to go back to your cookbook because you have some really good recipes in that cookbook. That's a fun cookbook. It's gotten great reviews. and I love that the forward is by another local guy and that is Sebastian Maniscalco. Tell me about your relationship with him. You know, I him at a comedy show, you know, Chicago theater.

I was an early fan and this was maybe 10, 11 years before he's selling out stadiums and has TV shows and movies and working with Robert De Niro and hosting award shows. This was way before that and we just, listen, it's a small world. I I implore you to count on one hand how many Chicago Italian American entertainers

actors, comedians, you know, that are out there. you know, just hear, you know, the minute I saw him and heard him on some early videos, I was like, this guy's one of us and I just want to get to know him. And we got to know each other and it was, it was an obvious choice for a forward because it's a great get, you see it on the cover. It's like a lot of people are excited by that. It's not the typical like fellow food network.

know, talent, not that there's anything wrong with that, but like I wanted to make it about home and where I'm from less about the network. And it was just, it was just great. And he immediately said yes and he wrote and it was, yeah, it just, it just lended itself to the kind of gravity of the book. So that is fantastic. So, you know, and I, as I think about, as we wrap up here,

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I want to know what's coming up in the future. heard you say that you're working on a script with your brother who is a writer. No, my cousin. your cousin. My brother cannot write a script. My brother is a salesman. works for me. He's very talented. not my brother's. My brother can't So that's his problem. OK, so you and your cousin are working on a script. Are you going Hollywood on us? What's happening here? So funny. You know what I'm doing right after this, Sylvia? Well, my cousin Joe's in town. We call him Hollywood Joe.

His name's Joe Ballerini. He's written a million scripts over the last 25 years. He's a very accomplished screenwriter, producer, all this stuff. He was the one who kind of got me out to LA back in the early 2000s to be like, I got you, man. Let's do some stuff together. So it was just like, we've always toyed with doing something that, you know, in, he was instrumental in kind of, obviously getting me to LA, which I cut my teeth in ways I never could have, I think here.

in Chicago, even though I didn't make it in LA, but we did so much filming out there together and kind of putting our, he guided me and he got us into a lot of rooms and edited a lot of my stupid homemade TV shows. So it kind of culminated, I don't know, a couple of months ago. And we've always had this idea of like, how do we incorporate our worlds in my cousin Joe's? So the script, can't give it away too much, but it's about, it's called Boca and it's about.

Chicago Italians, running a restaurant in Boca for the last, you know, whatever, you know, decade and a half. And, and there's, there's organized crime involved in, you know, you know, it's like big night meets the bear meets, you know, a Tarantino movie almost, but you know, he's such a great storyteller and I am, and it's so food heavy that I get to, you know, put

the authentic foodspin, like the bear, but like in a feature film that really showcases Chicago in Italians, but like in a glitzy, funky, vulgaratone setting. Okay. Well, are you going to be in it? Well, yeah. mean, ideally, listen, you know, if, I, I, I, did write a part with me in mind. That's not huge, but it's, good enough. I play, you know, hopefully the chef, the opera singing chef. Um,

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But we're actually going right to a table read, which we organized because my cousin Joe's in town for this week. was someone on his mom's side of the family. You know, he's in for a memorial and a funeral and all that. But so I'm like, let me put together a table read. So I got some of Chicago's finest. We're doing it at Gina Giorgetti's. It's going to be classic. So it's the first time I've ever remotely gotten involved creatively in something like this. But it's been

It's just so much, it's just a fun process just to, just to write. it's not like, I'm not meeting a deadline. I'm not writing a recipe that has to be turned in by Tuesday. I'm not like writing an email. I'm not like writing a description for the moral provision. Like it's just like pure, it's different. You know, it's a different muscle that I'm kind of working out. I I love it. How much fun. And I love that it's happening at the iconic first Chicago steak house, Jean and Georgiette's. And this is what I love about you, Jeff.

Mr. Chicago, thank you so much for doing this with me. I can't wait to see what's coming up. You're so much fun. Real quick, where can people follow you besides, you know, on the Food Network? What else do want them to know before we let you go? Yeah, go to mauroprovisions.com. If you got a hankering for Jardinera, we can ship it to you in a couple days. We got rubs, we got kits, we got meats, we got everything. You can listen to the podcast wherever you listen. It's called Come On Over.

You can go to ComeOnOver.com if you want to listen on there. Follow me at Jeff Mauro on all social media platforms and just, you know, whatever. If you've got a question, DM me. I love it. And Jeff, please keep doing what you're doing, making people laugh, making people happy with your wonderful foods and follow him on social media. And as a Chicagoan, I just want to thank you for promoting our city in such a great way. And I know it's so close and near and dear to your heart.

You are just such a great showcase for what Chicago has to offer. So thank you for that. You're very well. Great to see you. you. And I hope we connect again soon. For sure, Sylvia. I'm sure I'll see you. Have fun at your table, Reed. boy, Hollywood. This podcast is produced by Jane Stephens, Audio Engineering and Original Music by Donnie Cutting, social media and promotions, Magali Blasdell.