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Being STRONG is more than just how much weight you can lift.
The Strong New York Podcast is dedicated to inspiring you to become your strongest self- in the gym, in business, in relationships and in life.
Join Kenny as he sits down with his strong as fuck buddies and shoots the shit on what it takes to be strong willed, strong minded and physically strong. Season one features everyone from entrepreneurs and local business owners to doctors and industry leaders in the fitness and wellness space.
With over a decade of experience, Kenny Santucci has made himself known as one of New York City’s top trainers and a thought leader in the health and wellness industry. After transforming his life at 15 years old through fitness, Kenny made it his mission to transform the lives of those around him.
Kenny has trained some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Jon Bon Jovi, Liev Schreiber, and Frank Ocean, and has been tapped as a fitness expert sharing his training approach with Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, Runner's World, SHAPE, Well+Good, among other publications.
Kenny is the creator of STRONG New York, NYC's only Health and Fitness Expo. Strong New York is an immersive day of workouts, wellness experiences, panel discussions, and inspiring conversations with the best in-class wellness professionals, industry leaders, and change makers who are sharing their expertise on today's hottest wellness trends and first-hand experiences on how to optimize your overall health and life.
You can find Kenny at The Strength Club, his private training and group strength training facility in the heart of Manhattan located on 28th and 5th Ave in New York City.
This episode is powered by Celsius. Now, whether you're in the gym or you're on the run, or hey, you're just doing a podcast, grab yourself a can of Celsius and Live fit. Alright, we're back with another episode of the Strong New York podcast. I'm your host, Kenny Santucci. I am joined today. My guest on today's show for the Strong New York podcast is.
No, other than Scott Conde if you don't know who he is, did I say, I said Conant. Conant? Yeah, but you should hear what people call me. I answered all kinds of things. Okay. It's Conant. You know what? Because they told me he was an Italian chef and I said, that doesn't sound very Italian. I had a guy on here, his name was, uh, I cone.
His last name was Ione. And I was like, that's a real Guinea. That is like that fucking Yeah. That's as Guinea as Guinea gets, my goodness. Yeah. Uh, but we're gonna get into his story, but some of you might recognize him 'cause he is very popular on the food network. Which I feel like has just a big occult following as something like Bravo, like people really rally behind the food network.
Yeah. I happen to have been to the Food and Wine Festival at least a dozen times. Nice. I absolutely love it. I know you've been there. Yeah. I know you're a, a regular on Chopped, you've been on a bunch of other shows. Um, but you got, so you got your hands in everything. And one of the things that we first started talking about was this idea behind how you.
Have built this empire for yourself, right. You have, uh, sauce, you have a book you're on, shows you have multiple restaurants. Yeah. When the fuck do you sleep and gimme your philosophy behind all that. I, I, I think you should just do the things that you love to do. Mm-hmm. And, uh, I really started. You know, I've, I've always been very fortunate.
I started cooking at 15 years old. Uh, started working at a, at a family friends restaurant. I was a dishwasher and I went to, uh, a, a vocational school for high school. So I couldn't get into the plumbing program and is a second choice. I chose culinary arts. Which was just a blessing, kind of serendipitous that it worked out that way.
Was that a recommended, like was that what your parents were kind of pushing for? No, no, no, no. My mother was like, what are you talking about? You're gonna be a like a cook. Like, that's crazy. You know? She thought I'd be flipping burgers my whole life. So what I did then, and what I continued to do today is only make decisions based on what I love to do.
Love that. And I know that sounds a little bit selfish for people, but I. I don't care. Yeah, I do what I love. I think I'm a good person. I, I take care of the people that I, that, that I surround myself with. I have some team members, uh, on my staff that have been with me for a decade and a half. Um, and I, and I genuinely love to cook.
I genuinely love food. I feel like food is this. Conduit for connection. Mm-hmm. And I really wanna lean into that. That's one of the reasons why I'm starting this sauce company. That's why I have Loyola that, you know, we're opening Loyola in, uh, at Baja Mar. Mm-hmm. We, November 7th is our opening date. We're super excited about that.
Nice. Yeah. I started Scarpetta Restaurants years ago. I, in 2008. I had Scarpetta on 14th and ninth. Parlayed that into a bunch of other scarpetta around the country? Well, I mean the, yeah. The one that I remember going to 10 years ago was the one out in the Hamptons, so I left the company before that open.
Okay. Uh, but yeah, they've, they've taken that foundation that I built with Scarpetta and they've. Turned it into an international brand at this point. I mean, it really is an amazing concept. Yeah. Scarpetta, if you're not familiar with what it is, it's when you grab a, grab a piece of bread and the food is so good, you kind of sop up what's on the plate.
That is life. You know what I mean? Scarpetta Yeah. It's, that's life. But that's one of the New York City staple Italian restaurants. Like they, I mean, what, what year did you start that? 2008. That's impressive. And May 13th, 2008. We opened on 14th and ninth, so I live right over by the one on 29th Street. The one in the James Hotel?
Yeah. Or what? I don't even, I think the, it's James. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, it's, they, I think they just recently changed the name of the hotel, but regardless. Oh, okay. That's one of those places where, you know, you, you could go to and it, the food's always gonna be great. It's a, it's an absolute staple here.
And for a restaurant. Or any type of business. Mm-hmm. And one of the things that we talk about all the time is how hard it is to do anything in New York because you can't be good. You have to be great. Yeah. Right? Yeah, absolutely. In this city, there's so much competition. There's so many people. You have the best of the best from around the world.
Yeah. Coming here and fighting for those spots. Well, I always say no one comes to New York City. For the lifestyle. Mm-hmm. You come here to get ahead. Mm-hmm. You come here because you have a vision for what your future, what you want your future to be, and you're working towards it. And God knows it is not for everybody.
Right? Like, not everybody can be successful in, in Manhattan and I think, or in, in New York City in general. And I, and I think it goes back to what Sinatra said, like you could make it New York. I truly believe you could make it anywhere. I, I put that on some of our shirts and stuff. If you can make it here, you can make it.
And it's so. Fucking hard. And it's not gonna happen overnight. No. And it's never gonna be easy. Yeah. But you have to keep doing it. But see, your, your attitude, I, I feel it brother. Like you lean in. Mm-hmm. Like you, there's no screwing around. Like, you lean into this stuff. Yeah. And, and I think that's how you gotta be here.
Right. A hundred percent. You can't, I I've literally, it's not for the meek. Yeah. Yeah. I told somebody yesterday, I go, you cannot let your feelings get involved in your business. If you get offended, if you have ego, if you get turned off by certain things, you all, that shit needs to shut down. Yeah. I literally had a, a Navy seal.
Um, a friend of mine come and speak to my staff because I just watched a movie. Have you seen that movie Warfare yet? No. Okay. It's an incredible movie and all the guys that I know who are, you know, former Navy Seals and say that's the most accurate depiction of what they actually do. Oh, I see that in the field.
It's great. And I said, I called up and I was like, dude, I was like, I want you to talk to my staff. Not because I'm trying to get everybody to be these hardos or anything. Yeah. But because I want them to understand that. And one of the things we were talking about one time, he's like, if you could see your target through the iron sites, if your iron sites are in focus and the target's in the background, you know you're gonna hit the target.
Yeah. Right. So it's like keep your eyes on what's in front of you, but always have the goal in between the states. Absolutely. And what I tell them is I go, somebody's gonna be rude to you. Things aren't gonna work out. Shit's gonna fall apart. I go, but if we just all know what the mission is, yeah, we're all gonna get there together.
I, I, I. Amen. Yes. Right. Hallelujah. I mean, it's nice to hear Yeah. Because nothing is gonna go the way you think. Mm-hmm. It's gonna go. Mm-hmm. Success is not a straight line. Uh, it never goes according to the way you think it's gonna go in your mind's eye. But there are stories after stories, not just within my own life, but anyone who's identified success that this idea of, uh, you know, this is what I want to do.
It never happens that way. No. But there will be some version of you doing what you want to do with that you can identify success with, and it maybe it's not exactly the way you had initially planned it or intended it, but it will be if you're open and you, you are nimble and you're able to kind of, to be nimble and to have that, have that ability to, to.
To, to constantly move. Mm-hmm. And to, to evolve. Well change your thinking. Keep your mindset focused on the goal. Yeah. Right. Well, think about what your 15 or even 20-year-old self. Would've thought about who you are today. Yeah. You would've never imagined open up a, a restaurant in Baja Mar. Yeah. You would've never thought about having all a, a book a sauce, been on television so much.
Yeah. When you were like, I like to cook. You would've For even for myself. Yeah. I was like, oh, I'll be a gym owner. I thought of the, in my mind it was one space. That's right. Me being there every day and that's it. Yeah. And that's the blessing of life. I really feel that is the blessing. Like the fact that we could, we could have a mindset where we think that, again, like for my life it was food.
Mm-hmm. But I've used food to, to to be entrepreneurial essentially. Yeah. To right. To have that mindset. And it's not just me, it's so many people in, in the business that I'm in. The business that you're in, I think staying open to betterment. Is really the key. Yeah. Well I think what you've done really well is you've been able to pivot and open other Yeah.
Doorways for yourself. Yeah. And do other stuff. People you grew up with, you grew up here in New York? No, I grew up in Connecticut. I'm from Connecticut Bridge. Okay. So, but close by. Yeah. How many people do you know, like growing up, you know, they kind of just, Hey, I'm gonna go and be an accountant or do whatever you wanted to do.
Uh, and you know, they kind of stayed on that one path. So many people said, you, oh, well, you're gonna work in a restaurant for the rest of your life. I, you know, I think this goes with so many things in, in life and that that ability to evolve. I mean, how many people in, in our worlds do we see, particularly people that you may have come with, come up with at different times that haven't allowed themselves to, number one, heal your past trauma?
Mm-hmm. I'm a big believer on. Focusing on the inner workings as well as the outer workings, right? Of course. Like if you don't fix what's wrong with you, you're never gonna get to where you want to be. People don't like hearing the truth, right? If you are, if you are still talk about, uh, you know, the way you were brought up is what's holding you back, uh, your ex-boyfriend, uh, your parents, uh, that.
If you think about all the things that went wrong in your life. Yeah, yeah. Your future is gonna be just as fucked up as your past. Well, what? You have to move beyond that. I agree with you a hundred percent. Uh, what? Like a million percent. And I think that, you know, I had, years ago I had a spiritual teacher.
Spirituality is very important. Mm-hmm. This is a major part of my life and my, my outlook on life. Did you grow up Catholic? I grew up Catholic. I don't necessarily identify with the church anymore. Yeah, me neither. I respect. The spirit spirituality of all religions. Mm-hmm. All religions. That's why we're, I, I could, I could tell we're on the same fucking case with Yeah.
I'm the same way. When I first saw my mother that I was like. I go, I I'm more spiritual than That's right. I respect other religions. I don't give a fuck what you are. Yeah. If you believe in a higher power and you need that direction in your life, that's great. I, I think it's great. I, I, you know, I, I, I listen to my sister's born again.
Uh, my, you know, I have family members who are devout Christians. I have family members who are, who are. Who were Jewish. My wife. Yeah. Grew up Muslim. I, I'm, I have all aspects. I, I have studied Buddhism for years. I, I think that's probably one of the best ones. I, and, and Taoism also is really something that resonates with me deeply.
Mm-hmm. Because you know, what you're doing is taking yourself out of that equation and understanding that you're in the flow of the universe. Mm-hmm. And that is really something that's important to me. Um, but you know. Years ago, I had a teacher who, uh, you know, she, she would do acupuncture on, she was an energy, uh, person.
She, she healed a lot. And what she said to me was, every single day, unbeknownst to you, your subconscious mind is living the trauma of your, of your past until you can actually sever that energetic, uh, that energetic connection to your past until you could sever that you are every day unbeknownst to yourself.
Putting, giving energy to those moments. Mm-hmm. So you can never be who you are until you get rid of the things from your past. Now, you could have memories and you could have bad memories. Right. But to give energy to it every day means that you're not fully present. Yeah. In your, in your present state.
Right. And so you could just never achieve the things that you want to do. So that was one of the most eye-opening. I also, I read this quote one time, which I think says the same thing, which says you could never breathe yesterday's breath. So don't go back to it. Yeah. Like forget about it. Yeah, absolutely.
Heal yourself from that past trauma. Allow yourself to be present. Allow yourself to create the vision of the life that you want. And just do it. You know what, just do it. You know what? You know what the thing is too. I can. I have one. Yeah, of course. Take one. Beautiful. Thank you. That's why they're there.
Celsius. Live fit. Love it. Yeah, good stuff. I'm gonna get you fired up. Thank you. Um, I'll, I'll crush like three of these a day. Um, I won't be doing that. So, um, no, I, I think a lot of people don't realize that they, they hang on yesterday and whether it's the trauma or what they've done really well. So a lot of the times I was on television for years, for 10 years.
I never talk about it. I never boast about it. Cool thing that I actually heard, um, what was I listening to? I'm listening to a new book right now. But they were basically saying that good, bad or indifferent, you spend two minutes celebrating your win. Yeah. And then move on from it. Two minutes, you know, kind of crying over whatever you might have lost and then move on from it.
Yeah. For me to talk about my, the first gym I ever opened or. You know, me being on television, it's like I'm living in the past. It doesn't fucking matter. Mm-hmm. You're only as good as your last win. Absolutely. Right. So moving on. When I, a couple weeks ago, I, that's how I broke my finger. I was doing a juujitsu tournament.
I won the tournament and everybody's like, oh my God. I'm like, onto the next one. I had it. I, that night I went out, I had a steak. I went to, um, uh, poppy steaks. Have you ever been there? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was fine. I haven't been, but it's, I mean, it's a scene. Yeah, yeah. Going there for the food.
You're going Yeah. Yeah. You're going for the atmosphere. It was a really fucking loud Groot hospitality. David Grutman, if you know Dave. Yeah, yeah, I know David. Yeah. Top tier. Yeah. Great. Oh, that's who, that's who's behind it. That's his, yeah. Um, yeah. I had a stake next day. I'm like, all right, when's the next one?
Because you're only as good as your next win. That's right. And I think that's what's gonna help a lot more people, whether it's uh, exercising or whatever it is in your life. You need to move on from whatever happened yesterday. Yeah. And do the next thing. And I think that's clearly what you're living by because you're doing all this stuff and even if it was a failure, you move.
You're just moving on and you're doing the next thing. It's, it's also the self-assessment, right? Like, where am I, where do I wanna be? I always use certain holidays, particularly my birthday, as like, where am I in my life right now? What's my expectation of self? Mm-hmm. In order to be, am I in the right place that I should be in?
Should I be further along? Am I pushing myself a little too hard right now? I, you know, like I, I, I take that time to assess, but I think. What you're saying is so important to be able to feel the emotions of the moment. Mm-hmm. Process it and then move on. Mm-hmm. I, I think if you don't have a mindset towards betterment, whether it's good or bad that you're going through, right.
Like, whether you're, I, you know, I've, I've been through really hard times in business. But I haven't let it define me. I've let it, I've let it, I've used it as a catalyst for what I want to do next. And it's funny because for, for a very long time, particularly when I got outta Scarpetta restaurants, I was trying to identify and find that same flow that I had with Scarpetta.
Yeah. Because we had a great amount of success in a very short amount of time. But when I really allowed myself to think about, you know, what I did that what's next? Mm-hmm. Like what's beyond the restaurants? So restaurants become a piece of the hole. Like, when I look at this as assessment of my life, I have, you know, a media component.
I have a restaurant component, and now I have the CPG brand. And I think it's really important that I'm, I'm able to do all these things and surround myself with the right people that are gonna help me get to where I wanna be. And. I communicate that all along the way. I think the key to all these things is the communication and being able to articulate what, what the ideas are.
Mm-hmm. Where are we going? How do we get there? What does it, what does it mean? Why are we doing what we're doing? I think the two most difficult questions that you have to answer, that you have to ask yourself and answer for yourself are, who am I and what do I want? Yeah. Think about how difficult that is for people to answer.
Well, think about it. If you gave almost everybody on the plate, you hear about all the time when people win the lottery, those are the people who are broke within three years. Yeah. Somebody just gave you all this money. Yeah. Funny story. I tell this all the time. Um, so about six months ago, I get a letter in the mail from a bank in.
Toronto. Right. Some Bank of Toronto saying that some family member of mine died and I'm the next a kin and I'm going to, I'm going to, uh, get $9.2 million. So for a second I'm like, holy shit, this is like life changing money. But I thought to myself in the moment and then I found out it was bullshit. It was some bullshit letter, but yeah, I think I got that email.
Yeah. But I said I go. Nothing in my life would change. It would only accelerate what I'm doing now. Right. Nothing would change. I would only work harder. Oh man. That is, you know, it, it's, it's so. It makes me happy to hear this. Yeah. Because I think that means you're in the right place. Yeah. And I'm the same exact way.
What would I change about my life if I had an infinite amount of money in the bank? I wouldn't change anything. I love what I do. Yeah. That's why I do what I do. Mm-hmm. I'm not gonna put myself, sounds like you're exactly the same way. You're not gonna put yourself in a situation anymore. We've all done that, right?
Mm-hmm. But I think you get to a certain age where you're like, I'm not gonna play the game. Like the game of life is directly in front of us. And I don't know what your spiritual beliefs are, but I happen to believe that this is literally a game and we're gonna move on. We're gonna turn the page. Yeah.
And death is as much a part of the living experience as the living experience itself. Mm-hmm. Nobody gets out of this alive, nobody. So do what you love to do and be unapologetic, ap, unapologetic. Yeah. Unapologetic about it. Yeah. That's exciting for me. Gets me going. Well, I, one of the things I always say.
You have to be selfish with your own life. Yeah. But your life is meant to be a life of service. You service people by providing, you truly get joy and I'm get, I'm just putting this out. Yeah. From creating an incredible product. That people enjoy. You make people's lives happier. You feed people. That's Yeah.
A major part of life. Yeah. You're servicing people through food. For me, it's like I know that what I'm giving people on a daily basis is a, a way for them to become better. Yeah. A step up. So for me it's like, yes, I have this life of service. At the same time, I need to do what's best for me so that I can provide that service.
Yes, I need to be the best version. So when I want to go and work out, or I want to go eat healthier, or I want to do whatever I want to do, fuck everybody else. I'm doing that because that's gonna help me level everybody up later on. Yes. You know? Yeah. And I think you're similar percent. A hundred percent the same way.
Yeah. And being able to communicate that to people mm-hmm. Is really, I think, the differential because a lot of people have acted that way and then they're misunderstood. Yeah. Right. This isn't about ego, it's not about me. Right. It's about. I got one life. I'm a big Iron Rand fan. Have you ever read the Fountain Head?
If you've ever read out the Shrug, like I'm a big believer in this, this kind of desire and this will to forge ahead and, and you know, do the things that you love to do. Mm-hmm. Um. And, and you know, that's controversial for a lot of people because there's, she had a book called Ayn Rand had a book called The Virtue of Selfishness.
And you know, that's misunderstood. I gotta check that. But you gotta check it out. You gotta read the Fountainhead. Yeah. You gotta even listen to it on the Fountainhead. And I think you could, without getting into politics. Because I, I, I'd never want to get into politics. Never. I'm right down the middle, man.
Yeah. I am purple. Um, I just, just for the record, uh, I, I don't, I, I don't necessarily subscribe to a lot of stuff, but I am a big believer that, that you need to take personal responsibility. Personal responsibility for yourself. Yeah. More than anything else. Well, that's why I think sometimes I'm the same way.
Yeah. I'm liberal on shit. I'm conservative on stuff. I shoe right down the middle because. That's where I think most people should be, but my thought process on life, taking extreme ownership on things. Yes, self-care, responsibility and for the people around you that most people start to think is kind of right.
And I go, all right, call it what the fuck you want. But I think most people should be like, alright, you should take care of yourself first. When, anytime you hear a parent be like, well I take care of my kids. Well who the fuck do you want to take care of them? Yeah. That's your job. Oh, I did my job today. No shit, asshole.
It's your job. Like, but, but that should be a joy taking care of your kids. Yeah. Like that connection with your children is something that is truly otherworldly. That it is if, if you allow yourself to do it. If you're open-hearted enough. That relationship. I, I'll never forget when my daughter was born, I didn't want kids.
Like I, I didn't, I didn't wanna get married. I met my wife and I'm like, okay, I probably should marry this woman. I'm not gonna make anybody better than this. This is amazing. She wanted kids, and I was like, all right, you want kids? I'm just gonna follow your lead. Mm-hmm. When my daughter was, ILA was born, she was, she's 15 now.
I ne I will never forget meeting her and holding her for the first time. I literally looked at my wife while she was lying in the bed, just having given birth, and I said, thank you for making me do this because I never would've done this if you didn't frankly force me to do this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And now I understand what life is about.
Mm-hmm. That is a powerful moment. Right. Like, but it, I hear that you have to allow yourself, you don't have kids. I don't have any kids. Ah, you're missing out, man. Yeah. Don't miss that part of life. Yeah. Don't miss that part. I had a therapist tell me that years ago, do not miss this part of life. And I, and I will say it is the absolute single handed best, most fulfilling part of anything I've ever experienced.
How many kids do you, I, I have two girls. Two girls? Yeah. I, no, I think about it. The time. Yeah. Um, it's always, who do you have 'em with? Becomes the, uh, oh, a hundred percent. I mean, what's, that'll be the determining effect. You see this stuff on, on, on the internet all the time on social media about, you know, the, who you're choosing as your, uh, spouse is the most important, important decision.
So important. Yeah. Well, I, listen, I've just been, I don't wanna say lucky enough, but I have a lot of friends who have, you know. Gotten married, gotten divorced. Yeah. Remarried, you know, seeing their, their, these divorces where they're just absolute fucking hell for years. Awful. And you're like, I don't EI don't, I can't even entertain that right now.
Yeah. And one of the things that I always talk about is that I want that. But I don't want to half-ass my business and half-ass that like, it's very hard. I mean, I'm clearly you've done it, you've balanced the two. I I I think that the key, and I am not an expert on these things. That's not the, I don't think anybody's an expert apparent.
It's, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna give any, any unsolicited advice. That's not, that's, I never do that. I think it's a bad, it's a bad look, but I think if you can identify the balance of two independent lives, who purposefully meet. In order to dovetail those lives together. Mm-hmm. So you're each individuals who are literally, literally making the decision and the choice to bring your lives together, but still maintain your individuality.
For me, that makes a lot of sense. No, I truly believe that. I think when, when somebody's life revolves around yours. Yeah. I, I think they need to have a separate, independent lifestyle. Yes. And I think that's why you see so much. Animosity and resentment in couples because, well, I did this for you and I did this for you, and you see this struggle between them.
Yeah. You have to allow somebody to live their own life and give themselves without purpose. I feel like people don't have a reason to go on that hope. That people need. Yeah. Right. That, that, that the purpose idea to work towards something, that purpose that you're talking about. Yeah. I, you know, and that's, that's one of the reasons why I'm gonna, I'm gonna close the circle here Yeah.
And talk about Loyola, because I have allowed myself, and I've put myself in a situation to think about what my ideal restaurant would be. Mm-hmm. After literally 40 years of doing, this next year will be 40 years that I've been cooking. Wow. It's a long time, man. I can't believe I can say that. Uh. That's why it's so wild.
Um, you know, I've, I've, I've think that I've identified the ideal restaurant experience and, and that's why we're creating Lola. Yeah. Loyola, uh, we're creating Loyola at, at Baja Mar. Walk me through what, like, what have you learned over the course of 40 years and there's probably somebody out there who's trying to figure out like what they wanna do with their life.
What have you determined Because. Obviously all of us have been to a thousand restaurants. Yeah, yeah. What do you, take me through that experience? So I think more than anything, it's about, it's about the energies and the mood that you have to create inside a restaurant. You know, we, when we started with Scarpetta, it was really that warmth, the lighting, the energy that you're exuding, the idea that the service is more important than the food.
Meaning that, and, and, and that's what, that was the starting point. For Loyola. Mm-hmm. Right. That starting point of if someone's walking by that restaurant at Baja Mar, they automatically want, they, they'll, they'll look at their spouse and say, let's go here for a drink after dinner. Like, that's a place I want to be.
Mm-hmm. You know, it's a swanky about culture. It's a swanky Italian joint. Mm-hmm. Right. So it has little hints of what Scarpetta was. Little hints of say, you know, have you been to Delilah's in la or Miami or Vegas? Delilah is this incredible. Uh, like venue where, you know, people are singing. It's, it's a show, it's dinner.
It's like swanky. Mm-hmm. It's very kind of, cotton Club meets the rat pack. So there's elements of that in Loyola as well. I mean, I'm, I'm always inspired by the things that I experience outside, well, like what resonates and how do I personalize aspects of this. Two things I wanted to bring up is one. One of the things that I tell people all the time, some of my best friends, some of my closest confidants in the fitness space, are other gym owners doing the same thing.
Yeah. Because I admire what they do. Yeah. And I've had clients who are musicians and actors and you know, restaurateurs, and I always say, who's somebody? That you've seen what they do or did, and you're like, man, I wish that was my, like, I've had a couple people be like, I wish I wrote that song, or I wish I was in that movie.
Yeah, right. IW that could have been me. Yeah. And I admire that and respect them for doing such a great job with it. So what's, so what's a restaurant or a place you've been to? You know, there's, there's countless ones. Um, uh, there's countless. Uh, situations, you know, one of my biggest inspirations, I would say, just, you know, looking at the landscape of chefs and restaurateurs out there, uh, Marcus Samuelson is a, a really good friend of mine.
Mm-hmm. Probably my closest friend. Um, he has a restaurant called Marcus at, at The Bahamas. He introduced me to Graham Davis, the president of Bahama. Mm-hmm. And seeing the sense of conviviality that Marcus creates in all his restaurants. His, you know, this idea where. Uh, you know, I, I've been thinking about this a lot lately.
When you go to one of Marcus's restaurants, it is a, a mix of every culture in the world mm-hmm. Is sitting inside that restaurant, working inside that restaurant, and that's Marcus's thing, like Marcus brings people together. And I kind of love that idea of always having a seat at our table. If that makes sense.
Mm-hmm. And you know, that inspiration comes directly from Marcus. Truly. Um, you know, there's guys like Danielle Ballou, who it's the, he's the king of, of, of chefs. I mean, celebrity chefs is such a loose term, right? But when you look at a guy like Danielle, you understand like he is a true. Chef. He's a an amazing cook.
He's an amazing chef. He's an amazing visionary and restaurateur. And these are the type of people that I always look at. Look at the major food group guys. Look what they've done with carbon. Yeah, I mean, it is fascinating. Fascinating. You have to have so many good skill sets. You have to be a people person.
You have to be an incredible chef. You have to be a visionary. Like there's so many skills that you need to have a restaurant. Yeah. Not only. Last that long, but build an empire around it. Like, it's very hard. I actually was just in The Bahamas for my birthday, a bunch of my buddies Oh, nice. For my birthday this year.
Um, so I'm pissed. I I got, now I gotta go back down. You gotta come back and check this place. Yeah, you gotta come back. Well, we got the food festival coming up as well. The Bahama uh, the Bahama, uh, culinary and Arts Festival. When's that? Which, that is the weekend of the 26th. Ooh, it's 22nd to the 26th. Come on down.
My event will be over. I gotta go check that out. You should, yeah. Should check. Well, because I go to the New York Food Festival all the time. Yeah. And I love it. I think it's awesome. We have, uh, Lenny Kravitz performing, performing this year. I love Lenny Cravit, who's like every 50-year-old guy looks at him.
He's like, I have three events myself. We're doing a dinner at Loyola, our kickoff dinner, Amanda Fry tag and I are doing a dinner together. And then we have, uh, a lunch that we're doing together. Marcus and I are doing an event together. Cool. Which is one of my favorites called Cocktails and Coconuts, um, an outdoor event at, at Marcus at his restaurant Right on the beach.
How many people come to something like that? Oh, it's a couple thousand. A few thousand people. Really? Yeah. It's really a lot of fun. Yeah, it's great. And you know, just that setting of being there. You're looking at the water, the, the, what I love most about Baja Mar. We've all been to the Caribbean. We've all been to some places where the service is kind of like, yeah, not, not great.
Yeah. The culture that the team at Baja Mar, what they've created there, I think is the big differential. It is a service oriented culture, which really resonated with me. Yeah. Well, that's my next question, right? Like, how do you, how do you get your staff to buy into what you're doing, right? Like, what is it?
Is it. Is it the way you, you feel you conduct yourself? Is it the. You know, the, um, kind of the rules you put into play, how do you get, because it's gotta be more than that. There's gotta be something for people to be like, I wanna be a part of this. Yeah. Right. And when you see people wearing like a Nike check or something, they're like, I am wearing this.
Because one, obviously it's cool, you know, the, the style's great, but at the same time, they feel like they're a part of something bigger than them. Yeah, yeah. How do you, how do you create that within your staff? I, I, I think that you hire. For heart, you don't hire for skillset. Mm-hmm. If that makes sense.
Like I, yeah. Attributes. I had a, a coffee this morning with, with, uh, a gentleman that we're talking to about becoming the chef at Loyola, at Baja Mar, and as soon as I sat down with him, I just, I let him talk, I let him talk about his experiences. Mm-hmm. He's Italian from Italy and. I immediately felt this incredible warmth of his being.
Mm-hmm. And I just thought to myself like, this is the type of person that I wanna surround myself with. This is the type of person that I want in my world. And it's, it's almost secondary what the goals of the business are. Mm-hmm. If we can identify the people. Are good people that we know are gonna carry forth the vision.
Right? Like it was always a confusing thing when people would say to me that business term, like, get the right people on the bus. Then it doesn't matter where the bus is going. 'cause you have the right people. Well, it starts to make a lot more sense when you identify the right people on the bus. Mm-hmm.
And you have a vision for where that bus is gonna go. Because as a leader, I'm never gonna make the wrong decision if I have the right people around me. Mm-hmm. I'll be making bad decisions in order to fit the. Fit the skillset of the people that I have around me, if they're the wrong people. Mm-hmm. If that makes sense.
I a hundred percent agree with you as I hope I'm articulating that well. Yeah. But I get what you're saying. That's, that's the goal. I, when I hire PE I've had. Probably close to a hundred employees now up to this point in my life and every time I hire, whether I'm hiring a photographer for stuff or you know, one of my staff, I try to find people where I'm like, I don't need to teach them how to good be a good person.
'cause you can't. Yeah. I could teach them the skillset I could deal with. Like I'd rather them be the type of person who's. Warm and friendly. Yes. And makes people want to be a part of what we're doing than them be really good at whatever it is. I had a guy who was a pretty good coach. I don't wanna say he was a great coach.
He was a pretty good coach. People liked, but he was an absolute fucking nightmare to deal with. Yeah. And he'd always, I'm the best coach here. I'm the, I go, you're the worst coach here. Yeah. Because you could be so good at all this stuff and you could be a great athlete. I go, but you're a shit person to be around.
Nobody wants to be around you. I go, so if you're at the back of the house or front of the house, yes. Nobody wants to deal with you. I, I, it, it is so incredibly important of, you know, I, I say this all the time, I, but that same therapist, he told me, you need to find people who do their job as well as you do your job.
Mm-hmm. And once you identify those people, it really is freeing it's incredible experience. I have a, a group that just took over all my operations called LT Hospitality. These are the guys that, that used to run, um, nomad Hotels and the Madison Park. I mean literally top tier, the, the literal best in the business.
And working with them has, it's a similar effect that the Fountain Head had on my life. It took the clouds away, it made it okay to make some tough decisions. It made it okay for me to be able to kind of look at the, at the landscape and say, this is the direction we're headed in, and I got the right people around me to be able to go there.
And everybody's on board. And it's not just that they're following my lead, they're also contributing, trying to create a culture where it's not about an ego, it's about free and easy understanding. Mm-hmm. Ultimately, the, at least in my company. My final decision is the, obviously I'm making the final decisions.
It's, it's my company. Um, but it doesn't mean that I can't be influenced by their expertise. Yeah. I, I should be influenced by their expertise. Yeah. Like, it can't be about me. I can't be the, the, the, the best in the room, the smartest guy in the room. I mean, it's so cliche, but it really does make sense. Yeah.
Well, I mean, you, again, it goes back to hiring the right people. So I'm not a photographer. I know what I like. Yeah. And obviously I have the last say on a lot of things. Yeah. Yeah. I just hired a great media team. I'm actually going to meet one of the guys after this, but I go, I'm leaving in your hands to make this Yeah.
The most visually interesting event you have ever seen. I go, I'm, everybody's getting exactly what they wanted. Who wants 10 grand, five grand? My media bill is probably $50,000. Yeah. For my event. Yeah. I go, but you're all getting what you want. I need you guys to come and these guys have sent me shot for shot list.
Of exact, I go, I would've never done that. I wouldn't have done that for my own business, but I don't know how to do that. Yeah. So I have these guys who are incredible and I'm like, okay, I have the right team for this project. Isn't that, and that's what's, yeah. Isn't incredible. Isn't it a great feeling?
Yep. It makes you wanna do more. Yeah. It makes you wanna push it further. Yeah. So what we're doing by surrounding ourselves with. With people like that is we're breaking our own limitations and we're creating something that's even greater than what we had initially envisioned in our, uh, envisioned in our mind's eye.
And I think that that type of, that type of, uh, focus and that type of, of building. Makes us better. Mm-hmm. I mean, the, you know, that's perfect. Well, that's what makes you a good leader. Yeah. Right? You're allowing other people to, you're leading them to be better versions of themselves. Yes. And like, do you work on self-care as much as you work on your business?
Like you, you said you read the, uh, what's the book? The Fountain, the Fountainhead. Yeah. The Fountain. Yeah. So yeah, I'm a part of a mastermind group that helps me with business and helps me with like, yeah, self-development. Every book I read is pretty much all about self-improvement, self-help. Yeah. I think that stuff's so important.
How, how relevant is that in your life? I, I think that spirituality actually has a similar effect mm-hmm. In my life as self-help help books. Mm-hmm. So, you know, some of the, some of the. The, the, the readings that I do, the, the i I do crazy stuff, man. Yeah. I do crazy stuff. Like people think I'm insane. My wife is a healer.
She actually is A-Q-H-H-T practitioner, which is quantum healing hypnosis technique. Really? So she'll sit with people and talk about, uh, trauma in their existing life and trauma from past lives as well that they've carried into this life. It's wild stuff and it is not for everybody. Mm-hmm. Admittedly, but the amount of of.
The amount of, uh, healing that it's provided for me in my life. I can only speak to my own experiences and it has been transformational, but I think it's like buy-in, right? Like when you, when you created Scarpetta, like you were creating something, but you had to believe it yourself, that it was gonna be an incredible experience.
That it was gonna be this. Yeah. Culinary, you know? Yeah. Uh, you know, experience. Can I tell you a story? I have a restaurant in Atlanta called the Americano, and I started this restaurant in, in, uh, in Scottsdale. I live in Scottsdale, Arizona, with the group that I, that I, uh, had, I was partners with at the time.
We were asked to do another one in Atlanta. I did it at, uh, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Buckhead. So I kind of walked into this after having walked away from it initially. And then, you know, we. My business partners were like, you know, it's an American, it, it's called the Americano. I was initially named after me, the whole point of when I was a young cook working in Italian kitchens, they would always, you know, Americano, Americano, like all this kind of stuff.
Yeah. They always fuck with the American guy. So, so, uh, I called it the Americano because I think that that idea of who I was back then, you were talking about your 20-year-old self. Mm-hmm. Like that version of me, you know. Today, and so it's kind of a nice little story. As I was looking at the menu, we had a fire in the space, and I kind of looked at the menu and I was eating at a different restaurant.
I'll make this as short as possible. I, I, I looked at this menu in the other restaurant that I was at, and I was like, you know what, a, this is a terrible menu. Like, there's nothing to eat on here. There's no real like. There's, there's a philosophy with Italian cuisine, which we don't have to get into right now, but certain things just don't belong in Italian food.
And so, you know, there's principles and there's, and there's, you know, there's an idea of Italian cooking that, that I, you know, for me it's the integrity of the food that's wildly important. Mm-hmm. That's how I was, that's how I came up. That young kid that Americano, like, that's what he learned working with all these, uh, chefs.
As I was thinking about the name, the Am Americano, and I was thinking about the menu in that restaurant and I was like, you know, I have this on the restaurant menu at the Americano and this and this, and then I was kind of like, holy shit. Like I have a terrible menu. I have a shitty menu. Like I'm not happy with the food that I'm serving.
Yeah. And so that was an a moment for me where I was like, okay, how do we fix this? How do I fix this? Like how am I true to that kid, that 20-year-old kid that Edo. In today's restaurant, so I just changed the menu. I, I started doing things that actually excited me. Mm-hmm. And I forgot about the guest. It's not about the guest, it actually isn't about the guest at all.
It's about, it's about my vision for what I want the guest to experience. Mm-hmm. That was such a moment where we all know these things, right? But when you actually practice it, you actually put it into, into play and you start to talk to the people around you about, you know, this is my vision for this.
This is why we're doing this dish. Let me tell you a story about why I did this dish because of X, Y, and Z. And it's not just about a bunch of Italian ingredients together, it's about creating an experience. Mm-hmm. Uh. Utilizing Italian ingredients through the, the philosophies that I came up with, and ultimately making that young kid, that very judgmental young Americano proud of who I am today.
Well, you, I think what you're doing really well is telling a story and you're giving people something to buy into. That's right. Otherwise, that's right. It's just food on a menu. It's it, and, and if we can't. If we can't tell that story mm-hmm. If we are not buying into it ourselves, if we're just like, I think that the experience of the guest today, we still got a lot of work to do.
We're working on it. It's a three meal restaurant. There's always challenges involved. Mm-hmm. I don't need to get into the labor model these days and all the challenges with labor in, uh, in, in the restaurant world. But, but I, I think by really being authentic, identifying your authentic self, you can't lose well.
One of the things that I debate with my staff about all the time is when I created this event, I wanted it to be something that I wanted to go to. Yeah. Yeah. And some of the artwork and some of the stuff that, the marketing pieces that we use are very what I love. Yeah. I love motorcycles, cigars. Eighties metal music.
Nice. So it kind of encompasses a lot of this stuff, right? So a lot of our artwork is like based around this stuff, and everybody's like, well, if you're selling to a certain audience, you can't be like that. I go, I don't give a fuck. Yeah. Like, I'll find the tribe that thinks this is cool. There will be, there will be the people that come on board.
I am a, you know, I'm also a big Rick Rubin fan. Like, like I love love, I love listening. Rick, do you read his book? I, I, I have, I have it on my phone. I have it on my iPad and I have it on my, I totally, so my desk at home. Yeah, it is. Our version of the dao. Yeah. Right. Like, yeah. Yeah. Have you ever read it? The Dao Like, no, I never read the Dao, but I know what it, I, yeah.
Got the gist of it. That I feel like that is, that is such an important book for anyone who's in, in, into anything creative. Mm-hmm. Right. If there's any aspect of creativity in your world that's required reading even, and I think everything he does is so genius now. He has really no music background. He can't play any instruments.
He's probably one of the most sought after people in the music industry. He's, he's the guy and the guy, what is it? Just the circle on the fucking book. Yeah. Yeah. It's so simple and so stupid, but it's like, yeah, he, I think anybody who wants to create anything should absolutely read. I agree. I agree with that.
But you have to have that drive in you. I mean, I've had so many great guests on the show who are so driven and they, we all kind of share the same philosophy. We're all kind of in the same boat. In the same boat. When it comes to that. You gotta be unapologetic, like you're trying to create something you cannot listen to the noise.
Yeah, the noise. You gotta cancel out. It's like the blinder's on a horse. Like you gotta stay focused and when you lose your focus, you lose your way. I don't care who you are. Anyone who's identified any level of success, I'm clearly not as successful as many of the people that you've had on here. I'm sure, but I don't care about that.
Yeah. I care about me, right? Like I do what I need. I'm not comparing myself to anybody. I 100% do what I wanna do and that's it. Yeah. And I, and I don't care. I don't care. Then you could. I always think about, okay, what's my last breath gonna look like? Where am I? If I'm laying in a bed or I have a massive heart attack, I wanna be like, this was a good fucking ride.
I did everything I wanted to do. Amen. Amen. And I didn't listen to anybody. Yes, man. Yes. You know? Yes. And I think that's what, that's what people don't see. It's like that blurry thing in the, in the far ground, in the background. People don't realize like, that's gonna be you eventually, so what do you want to do to get there?
Yeah. You know, that legacy that you leave. I, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about legacy. Right. I just think about the love of my children. Mm-hmm. Like, I want my kids to be happy. I want my children to look at me and say, my dad did what he wanted to do. He created the life that he wanted to create.
Mm-hmm. With us, for us, because of us. Right. That, for me, is so, is so wildly important. I don't think. You appreciate that stuff until you get a little older. I didn't look at my parents absolutely as people till I was about 30. Right. Well, our parents were different than us. Right. Like they, they were figuring it out.
And you know, everybody talks about, I dunno if you have siblings, but the sibling experience is different for every single child. Of course. Yeah. So they're, 'cause your parents evolve and change along the way as well. Yeah. Same parents, but different, different experience. Different people. Different people.
Different people at each one. Absolutely. For sure. If you talk to each, my sister is so on point put together. She helps me with my business. She's incredible and. My two brothers, you would've thought, grew up in two different households. Yeah, right. My one brother, because they did. Oh. Even though it's the same, it's insane.
I go, how did we all grow up in the same house? Yeah. And we're so fucking wildly. It's insane. Yeah. I, I tell people that all the time. You, you have different parents. Everybody has different parents. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And, and you know, I, I think that. My own, my own personal evolution and my relationship with my kids.
Um, I always want that to be the most sincere, real thing in my world. Mm-hmm. You know, I, I think that that ability to be able to sit with my 13-year-old, sit with my 15-year-old and just give it to him straight, like, you know, that I had a conversation with my 15-year-old the other day and I've said, you know, I, I prefaced it by saying This may sting.
Some of the things that I'm about to tell you, you may not want to hear, but I want you to process it. I'm always gonna be honest with you. I, I, I owe that to you, but also I think I owe it to myself as your father, right? Yeah. To, to, this is gonna be a tough conversation, so prepare yourself for it. She walked away from that conversation a little bit hurt.
It was about sports. She's a volleyball player. I said some things she didn't necessarily want to hear. I'm like, you gotta work out harder. We, you know, you know, you know better than I do. I'm not an athlete. I played baseball as a kid and once I started cooking, like that was my life. Mm-hmm. I run, I'm a swimmer.
That's my sport. That's my sport is swimming. Um. But my, I said to my daughter, you know, you're at the age of 15 now, where this talent that you relied on is no longer enough. You need to dedicate yourself to betterment if you want to be elite. If you're not, look at Kobe, right? Like you used Kobe as an example.
A guy who constantly pushed himself. He pushed himself to, he didn't rely on his talent and, and that was a hard conversation for her to hear, right? Mm-hmm. Half an hour later, I walk in, she's on the treadmill. You know what I mean? Like Yeah. That, that's that I got through. But she'll later on in life. Yeah.
And probably even now. Yeah. She'll appreciate that more than lying she could ever imagine. Yeah. I wish somebody would've pushed me. I thank God I, I, I don't know where I got it from, but I, I was a kid, I was picked on, I was fat, I was awkward. Yeah. And everybody who picked on me, I go, okay, I could either feel bad for myself.
You know, cry about it, or I could change what makes me feel uncomfortable. Yeah. Yeah. I have the ability to change that. Yeah. Now, if somebody hates you because of your skin color, 'cause your religion, nothing you can do, you can't do any, they, they're ignorant fucks and you can't even listen to them. Agreed.
However, if somebody doesn't like you because of your character, because of things you do, because of the way you treat yourself well, you're allowing people to treat you that way. Yeah. So why won't you change that? Yeah. One of the things I teach a lot of my clients. You're gonna walk into a room, whether you're a salesman or you work in, uh, finance or you're a, an attorney.
It doesn't matter. You walk into a room and you're put together. Yeah. People will hands down without even thinking about it. Yeah. Treat you a certain way. How do you want those people to perceive you? Yes. If you walk in, I go, let's say the rock walks in here right now, and he's not the rock. It's just a guy who looks like him.
Bald head jacked up, fucking handsome. Yeah. You'd be like, oh shit, this fucking guy's legit. A hundred percent. Right. Like all of us are like, you know, sitting up now. Yeah. A woman, same thing. You walk in, you're put together and you look a certain way. Every other woman is gonna be like, this bitch is for real.
And guys will treat you the same way. So you allow people to treat you a certain way because of the way you treat yourself. So now, if you don't wanna be a made fun of because you're fucking fat, because you got blue hair, you look like an asshole. People are gonna treat you that way. It's the old like, I didn't write that rule.
You could get mad at me all You want that. It's likes, right? That's rights. You're allowing people to look at you that way. How do you want people to perceive you? How do you want? Yeah. How do you wanna look at yourself? You can control your own narrative. You 100%. A hundred percent. I agree with that. And I think not, I agree with not enough people take ownership in the things they do Well.
There's an inherent fear for people. I think. You know that, that idea that, um. Success is scary for a lot of people. Oh, I think so too. I think it's a subconscious belief sometimes that we also need to kind of sever. Mm-hmm. That idea where I am unapologetically just gonna do what I want to do and love what I'm doing while I'm doing it, and surround myself with people who equally love what they're doing and we're all gonna do it together.
Uhhuh. Actually, like, you know, to your earlier point, you're finding your own tribe at that point. Yeah. Like you're finding your people. That's the best feeling in the world. Yeah. Where other people are completing your sentence, you feel like, oh my God, I'm in a flow here. Yeah. This is my flow state. Well, it's, it's like the person in your life and you, I mean, I'm sure everyone knew somebody in high school or even in life at an older age who gets along with it, oh, I love that person.
I'm like, there's no fucking way you like that guy. His own mother doesn't like him. How the fuck do you like that guy? I hate the person who likes everybody who tries. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not saying be rude to the person. Yeah. But you need to be able to have your own opinions and have your own belief systems and the people who kind of rally behind you.
Those are gonna be the people who share. Qualities with and values with. So those are the people that you can move forward with if you're trying to please everybody, you please. No one. We, you know, there's a, there's this, this woman, uh, her name was Tamar. Uh, what she said to me years ago, that idea of, you know, severing the energies of your past, uh, she had said to me, we don't judge.
We discern. Mm-hmm. And I think that same discernment goes into who we surround ourselves with it. We don't have to be judgy towards the people that we, we don't necessarily eye to eye, we don't see eye to eye with, but we should discern away from them. Mm-hmm. Because it's not in our best interest to be with them.
And I think sometimes, particularly when you're younger, you're trying to, trying to create a friend group. You're trying to be like with the cool kids or whatever it is. I, I don't care about any of that anymore. Right. No. Like nobody does. Who gives a kid by 40? You're just like, who I am gonna surround myself with, with the people that I love to spend time with.
Mm-hmm. Like that's what it's about. Yeah. Right. And it, they might not be what you thought they would be. You know, I tell this story sometimes. Probably 12, 13 years ago before I opened any of my gyms and stuff, I'm sitting at a, a restaurant with three of my buddies and all three of them, all that own their own businesses.
One owns bars, restaurants, marketing company. Yeah. Whatever it is. And I go, I'm the only one here that doesn't own a business, but I'm leveling up. I'm listening to 'em. Yeah. Yeah. Learning. Within a year, I opened up my first business. Yeah, because you're surrounding yourself. I gravitated towards these guys.
Yeah. I liked their value systems. I wasn't trying to be friends with them because I thought they were cool or they work in this industry. Like there are clients I have that I'm very close with, um, that, you know, I, I kind of just became friendly with them. There were other people that were like, oh, are you friends with that person?
I was like. I, I train them. We get along great. Yeah. But they're not like, I'm not gonna go have a beer with them or hang out with them. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so yeah, it's true. It's like there are certain people you just, you'll gravitate towards and I think you should lean into those relationships a lot. Yeah. And if somebody's, you know, I have some friends who, uh, you know, that I worked with in the past who kind of stayed at that level and when, yeah.
You don't wanna be brought back down to that level. If you've leveled up, now it's time to level up your, your friend group and shit too. I, I couldn't agree more. I made a conscious decision to surround myself with better people. Yeah. You know, years ago. And it has served me in a lot. Of ways. And I think that's the invitation to be able to constantly assess where you are and where you wanna be.
Mm-hmm. And then surround yourself with people who are gonna Absolutely. Who are gonna change your mindset to get there. And one of the things that people don't realize is sometimes that might cost you money. It's an investment into you. Yeah. Leveling up your game. Yeah. So for instance, when I, when I go to different events or I go to like a mastermind or I'm paying to be a part of something.
That's my investment into that lifestyle, into that world. Like you can't be like, oh, I'm gonna go there and No, you gotta invest in the people that you want to be around. For sure. I totally agree with that. Agreed. I agree. I agree. Listen, we had quite the convo. I mean, I feel like we could talk about this for, I know, an hour and a half.
I know. I like your mindset. I like where you're at. Thank, it's true that like you are, you are building an empire. What else? I mean, you got the, you got the restaurant in Atlanta. You're on chop still? Yeah. Where, where could everybody else find you? I mean, I want somebody else to buy this book other than your mom.
Yeah, that'd be great. I I appreciate that. That that'd be awesome. Peace, love and pasta. We're starting, uh, Martone Street. We actually launched on Saturday. This is, oh, this, this hasn't even launched. Hasn't even launched yet. We're, we're actually December 1st. We're going into Sprouts. Okay. Um. We're gonna be 475 stores December one.
Okay. And then, uh, we'll have a three month exclusive with them. That's great. This weekend we're doing a trunk show, uh, at Bloomingdale's. Well, it's September 20th, so this won't air, this'll, this'll be afterwards. But, um, we're doing a trunk show at Bloomingdale's. This, just to kind of get this Bloomingdale's here on 59th Street.
Oh, shit. Yeah. One of my, uh, one of my clients who works with us, she, um. She does all the marketing stuff. You've probably met her, I'm sure I have. Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure. Yeah, she does all their stuff. I'm sure you guys are working together. Exciting stuff. Look at that label, if you notice, right? I'm looking. No tric acid.
No. No added sugars. There are no seed oils. This a very clean product. It is a very clean product. We use fresh tomatoes that are peeled, seeded, packed, shipped. We cook it for about 40 minutes. We add, uh, we add seasonings to it, which is, you know, fresh garlic, fresh onions, calab, and chili, you know, olive oil.
It is a re if I were to sit down and cook for you, if you were to sit down in my house and cook for, this is the same ingredients that are inside that. So my family last weekend. Spent the entire day making. There you go. Making sauce there. There you go. Yeah, that's, I mean, it's a family tradition in my household too.
How much do you think about, now that the world's becoming more health conscious? Yeah. How important is that in your restaurants and in your products as well? I, you know. I, I, if I'm gonna sit, you know, I'll, I'll, if I'm gonna cook for my daughters, I'm not putting citric acid in my daughter's food. Yeah.
Right. Like, I'm not putting in your food if I'm cooking for you. I, I, I think this idea of whole cooking like this, these, it's just delicious ingredients mm-hmm. That we're putting together. Paul McCartney had this quote with Rick Rubin as a matter of fact, when he was saying like, I just put happy notes together, right?
Mm-hmm. Those happy notes that just kind of go together and I. Not that I'm Paul McCartney, God knows, but I think I do that with food. I put these happy flavors together mm-hmm. That just kind of belong there. There's an inherent simplicity to all things Italian, and I think that when you're extracting the goodness and the flavors out of the product that you're cooking, you're ending up with something that's just simply delicious.
Well, I, I, again, I think your, uh, background idea here is to service people as well as you possibly can, and then your. Just knocking 'em off. I think you're doing a great job. Thank you. Thank you. It's very impressive. Um, where could everybody find you? Where could everybody get more information? So, uh, could anybody go to that thing at, at Bloomingdale's?
At Bloomingdale's on Saturday? Absolutely. Cool. Um, yeah. Uh, if I'm around, I wanna swing by. Yeah. Come back. Come through. Are you guys, are you cooking? We're cooking. We're doing some pasta with the sauce. Sauce. Oh, that'd be great. I got me and my COO were gonna be there. Cool. Uh, Scott Martino. For Martone Street.
So it's, it's a, it's a lot of fun. It's really an exciting time in my career. I, you know, I feel like I'm, I'm in my mid fifties as we discussed. I'll be 55 in a few months and I feel like I'm in my mid thirties, man. Yeah. I am so jacked up and excited every day. You have a purpose just doing what I love to do.
Yeah. With people that I love to do it with. That's awesome. What else is that? Think about how many guys your age who've given up on themselves. Yeah. Right. So it's never too late to continue to do what you're doing. It's impressive. I mean, you've had an incredible career. I mean, from the, the restaurants Yeah.
To now CPG products. It's, I've, I've been blessed. I really have. Yeah. But I really think the best is yet to come. Well, I admire the healthy, that purpose, that purpose is what drives me. Yeah. Yeah. It's great. It's incredible. Guys, thank you so much. Thank you for tuning into another episode of the Strong New York podcast.
I'm your host, Kenny Santucci. Again, anything and all things strong New York, go to strong new york.com. Uh, like, subscribe and share this episode with your friends, whether they're in the fitness industry, the restaurant industry, or any type of business they're trying to build. Obviously hearing from people who've done it really well for 40 plus years is always, uh, always a help when it comes to building a business.
So thank you guys. Thanks.