Plates, People & Purpose: A Conversation with Chef Dennis Prescott

"If you're fortunate enough to eat three meals a day — make them as delicious as possible, and do it with the people you love."

That's not just cooking advice. That's a life philosophy. And it's exactly the kind of wisdom that flows when the room is right.

What happens when a musician-turned-Netflix chef and the Elevate Collection sit down together at the most exclusive table in the Hamptons? You get this episode.

We're coming to you live from Hamptons Tech Week 2026 at Montauk Yacht Club — and for our very first episode, we sat down with Chef Dennis Prescott: Netflix host, cookbook author, content creator with over 800K followers, and one of the most joyful storytellers in the food and culture world.

But this wasn't just a podcast interview. Before we hit record, we were invited to an exclusive private dining experience hosted by Bounty Uncharted — the Cannes award-winning Hamptons docuseries created by tech entrepreneur and avid fisherman Jeff Ragovin, where the catch of the day becomes the meal of a lifetime. Fresh-caught seafood, open water, elite company — and Dennis was one of the chefs cooking for us. That energy carried straight into our conversation.

What we get into:

 — The journey from musician to Netflix host to global culinary brand
 — What it really takes to build an audience of 800K+ and keep them engaged
 — Why food is really about service — and why that's where the joy lives
 — The business of food, influence, and showing up as your most authentic self
 — The growing hunger for community that's been building since 2020
 — How he's expanding into sports and lifestyle to unlock new brand partnerships
 — Why cooking more makes you care more — about your food, your community, your world
 — The one meal that still sets the benchmark for him (his mom's pizza — he hasn't found better)
 — And what it truly means to cook for connection, not just content

As Dennis puts it: "When everyone takes their first bite and it gets a little bit louder — I fell in love with that moment. Food is all about the people gathered around the table."

This is what Elevate Collection was built for — curating elite rooms, capturing culture, and bringing you inside moments most people only dream about.

🌐 www.elevatecollection.co
📺 Watch Bounty Uncharted: bountyuncharted.com
👨‍🍳 Follow Dennis: @dennistheprescott

Before you go - here are three ways to continue elevating your legacy & connect:

1. Follow @ElevateCollection.co on Instagram along with your host, @alexandriareed.co & @Jordanhawkins.co
2. Subscribe to never miss an episode and get exclusive content
3. Share this trailer with three people who need to hear it

Remember: Your influence is just the beginning. Your legacy is the destination.

See you soon, where influence meets legacy.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Hey everybody, we're live from Montauk Yacht Club here at the Hampton Tech Wheat with our friend Dennis Prescott. Welcome, Dennis.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Give everyone out there just a little glimpse of who you are. What wakes you up in the morning?

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Yeah, I was a chef for a long time. I I'm kind of still a chef, I guess. I was a musician before that, but uh now I get the great honor to write cookbooks and work on television and I have a hospitality group that we have a restaurant and work in sport as well. But for me, you know, years ago, I remember I was living in Nashville and I cooked for some musicians for the very first time. It's the first time I ever cooked. So I cooked for 25 people. I don't recommend doing that.

Meet Dennis Prescott

SPEAKER_00 1:04

I fell in love with you know when it gets quiet just for a second, when everybody takes their first bite, and then it gets a little bit louder? I fell in love with that because I didn't realize you could create beautiful moments at the table like I did as a musician before. And then everything is ballooned from there because I think that food is the people that gather around the table. It's not the thing that we eat necessarily. You know, we want great food, sure, but we want beautiful experiences. Uh so for me, I'm grateful that all of the things that I've done have been centered around community and delicious food and great memories.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

And you said that so beautifully. We were actually very fortunate to be able to spend a beautiful evening with you breaking bread here in Montauk. Tell us what it's like going into a night like that where you are curating those beautiful experiences.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Yeah, I mean, not all it's very uncommon that I get to cook for my friends anyway. And uh, you know, we have all we had a dinner the other night. We cooked for how many people? 20 people, maybe there or something like that. And I love every each and every one. So for me, it's a gift to be able to food is service, right? If you're in the survey, we we forget that hospitality is the service industry where we're your servants and we're meant to serve. Uh, and it's this passion that I think you you fall in love with. So curating those moments, sure, obviously I want the food to be delicious. But for me, I just get so much

Why Community Is The Big Trend

SPEAKER_00 2:15

joy out of actually serving people, regardless of whether I know them or not. I just happen to know everybody there. So to me, it was a gift.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

That was a beautiful gift. All right. What's one trend that you're seeing out there right now that you're really bullish on?

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Well, in food specifically or in general?

SPEAKER_01 2:29

In general.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

Yeah, I think, I mean, I said it a couple of times already to you, both on camera, off-camera. The tr the trend to more towards community, and I I don't want to overuse that word, but it's just it is, there is power in that. I I think we'll only balloon because people want want more time together, ultimately. I think, you know, not to not to go back to 2020, but the reality is we spent so much time apart. I think we realized how much value we have in spending time together, regardless of where that's from. I just happen to work in food, so I see people centered around the table. If you're uh if you're fortunate enough to eat three meals a day, make them as delicious as possible and do it with people you love.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

That's so beautiful. All right, what is one thing that you're doing now to further your personal brand?

SPEAKER_00 3:12

I think, you know, for me as a food guy, whatever that means, it's easy to say, you know, I'm grateful for how I've kind of grown my brand and my niche within food, but it does, it does gap you a little bit on the other side of things. So for me, I've I've really tapped into sport and lifestyle and I'm helping to grow those arms of my business where it not just shows more of my personality, but the things that I love. I think from a branded side of things, it opens up new brand opportunities, um new partnership opportunities because it it can be food adjacent rather than just being food. So I've really leaned into that and specifically with the

Growing A Brand Beyond Food

SPEAKER_00 3:44

World Cup right around the corner and my passion for golf and soccer, I've been kind of growing that side and it's been really exciting.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

You have garnered massive influence on social media. And I love to see what you're doing over there. What's one thing that you're hoping to leave with the world in terms of legacy from your influence?

SPEAKER_00 4:02

I mean, truthfully, this is this is what I think. If I can inspire people to cook, just to cook, if I can get people off the couch and in the kitchen, the more time you spend in the kitchen, the more time you spend at the table, the more questions you ask. You think about where your food's coming from, who's making the food, who grew the food. You're gonna invest more in local folks. You're gonna invest more in the farmers,

The Legacy He Wants To Leave

SPEAKER_00 4:22

the fishermen, the actual backbone of the food industry. When you go to restaurants, you're gonna pick them more intentionally. Um, you're gonna spend more time at the table. And I think the trickle-down of that is you just invest in great products across the board. You wanna travel more because you know, oh my God, I've never eaten, you know, Ethiopian food. Now I want to go to Ethiopia, whatever it is, you know? It just causes you to ask questions. I think we're better people because of it. So, uh, and the reality is I think not everyone has the opportunity to eat three meals a day. So for me, I I want to both inspire people to spend more time together and also remind people that we don't all have that experience. So, shouldn't we all have those beautiful experiences at the table and work, you know, to towards a world where everyone can celebrate deliciously three meals a day?

SPEAKER_01 5:05

Food can create a memory. Is there a memory that you can think of? Like I they I fondly remember this time in Spain. I was having paella, dancing in the street, roses at midnight, and it's something I think about often. Like, is there a favorite memory that you have?

SPEAKER_00 5:19

Well, yeah, I mean, I've got a ton, too many. I always say this. So I played base, the only the only sport that I played okay was baseball. And now I I'm like a terrible golfer who's passionate about it. I remember being a kid, I was 10, I came home from baseball practice, and my mom would always have pizza for us. It's craft pizza from a box. You're supposed to make

Food Memories And Nostalgia

SPEAKER_00 5:37

two pizzas, she made one, so it's super thick, right? Burnt hamburger, pre-shredded mozzarella. But I still think about that pizza like 30 years later. Because, and to me, that's the benchmark of pizza. It's not going to Naples, Italy. It's not going to New York, it's not going, it's my mom's pizza because food is memory, it's nostalgia. So I've had these amazing travel experiences, sure. But the best food in the world reminds you of being a kid. And for me, when I think about that, whether it's my mom's pizza or chocolate chip cookies or whatever, I would eat that over any meal I've ever had.

SPEAKER_01 6:09

That's true. Comfort food. Okay, last question. What's one thing any of our listeners out here who are following along can do to elevate you in this moment?

SPEAKER_00 6:17

To elevate me? Yeah. I mean, I would love if you want to follow me on online, I would love that. I have a show on Netflix called Restaurants on the Edge that you can travel with me and some other pro you know, projects down the pipeline. Uh, but if you follow me at Dennison Prescott on on any social that you follow, I think you can see a little bit of what I do and a little bit of what I'm talking about. And hopefully, if nothing else, it'll make you hungry.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

All right, everybody. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you soon.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Thank you.