Jon Thompson: What Chefs Eat at Home

Episodes
Written By

My guest today is Chef Jon Thompson.

Jon has an amazing resume, and recently he was head chef at Mediterranean restaurant Zaytinya in Frisco, the second Zaytinya location for Michelin-starred chef José Andrés.

After Zaytinya closed down last year, Jon set out to open the Yarbird Southern Table & Bar at the new Dallas location. However, COVID-19 pandemic has affected his plans, so we caught up to chat about what he is up to now.

Chefs are the leaders in the kitchen, they are like captains of the ships. They too are suffering in this situation, and have to pivot and use different strategies to make amazing food for us.

Here is how Jon handles being a chef at home, and what he thinks about how restaurant businesses will come out from this crisis.

Time Stamps:

00:31 - Who our guest is and what we are going to talk about.
03:45 - Restaurant bubble burst that happened with COVID-19 quarantining.
06:44 - The lack of institutional funding that small restaurants left particularly vulnerable to the crisis.
09:28 - What would Jon do if he had a small restaurant and had to get his business back.
15:13 - Why this time looks like what normal life should be.
17:55 - What Jon eats at home at this time.
21:18 - How the pandemic stopped the grand opening of Jon’s restaurant in Dallas.
25:20 - How people will respond to the reopening of the restaurants and the new rules.
31:30 - What Jon thinks about ghost kitchens.
35:00 - Why delivery companies’ business model doesn’t really work.
43:00 - Offering groceries or farm boxes in restaurants, and how it affects the dining space.
49:31 - How grocery stores are functioning right now and why HGB’s rationing works well.
51:20 - Why this pandemic is the best thing that happened to local farmers.
58:00 - Why we admire Joel Salatin.

Previous

Kevin Russell: How Drive-In Concerts Work
Next

Chris Harrison: The Bachelor, Texas Wine and BBQ