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All In Good Taste is a podcast about the craft, culture, and people who make hospitality unforgettable. Hosted by Aidan Descourouez, it’s real conversation, the late nights, the early mornings, and the stories that remind us why this industry matters.
It was so crazy that that was a thing. If people were in the basement having sex and if you had to cocktail in this basement, you would be like, stop fucking in the basement. Like, get out of here. Can I get you a cocktail? Here you are at the front door with your drama, with your face, with your smile, working it, taking people to their table.
Marcellas:And I would sit down at the table as I sat, and I was like, you guys are in it for a treat. And then the waiter would come over, and I'd get up, and I'd be like, take it from here. They're starting with four glasses of vu. You might as well get them a bottle. Or why is Marcellas waiting on the guys from the bulls?
Marcellas:Or why is Marcellas waiting on the guys from the blackhawk? Or why is Marcellas waiting on George Clooney and Jared Comeybean? Because, bitch, I was out with them last night. Do not drop dessert menus on that table. Yeah.
Marcellas:Drop the check. Oprah's coming. Oprah's sitting there, she's eating McDonald's french fries by the handful. And I say to her, I wanna be on your show. What's your talent?
Marcellas:I don't know yet. And she laughs. Yeah. But in the back of my head, I was like, I'm gonna be on your show one day. I was the first openly gay black man to appear on a major network reality show.
Marcellas:And my mother was very much a child of the sort of seventies. And I would see her transform from my mother to this woman who was like powerful and sexy and smart. And she understood the power of fashion and the power of beauty. There was something about me that made me want to be more. I lived in Milan for a year from Paris, London.
Marcellas:I would work in Miami, in New York, but I'd always come back to Chicago. Even though I was doing extremely well as a model, I was still waiting tape. Most handsome guys in the world live in Chicago. Having good taste is being curious about the world. Be kind to each other.
Aidan:You've had such an incredible career across hospitality, fashion, television, publishing and production. But before all that, who was Marcellas growing up in Chicago?
Marcellas:I always say, I'm a little black gay guy from the South Side Of Chicago. I grew up in South Shore. I went to Horace Mann High School. I went to Horace Mann Grammar School. I went to Kemet Academy in Hyde Park.
Marcellas:Firstborn son of a single mother who was just like a really smart, really inquisitive kid who just wanted to be liked. And my gayness growing up Black made that sort of impossible. So I grew up bullied, I grew up abused, I grew up feeling like an outsider. And throughout all of that, there was something about me that made me want to be more. Something that made me want to get out of the South Side, something that made me want to find a place where people accepted me for who and what I was.
Marcellas:And I knew that there was a place for that. Yeah. And I just had to find it.
Aidan:Yeah, know we're going to dive into a little bit more of that later down the line, because we had a wonderful pre talk on that subject of all the wonderful places you went, the discoveries you got to make from making that transition out of the South Side and kind of seeing how culture was looking more into the city or a little bit up north compared to everything on the South Side at the time. So I'm really excited to dive in with that with you. When you look back, do you remember the first time that you realized you had a real point of view around fashion, around people, around culture or even around taste?
Marcellas:When I was a very little boy, I knew that I loved fashion and I had a particular way that I wanted to dress. Okay. It was almost like I was like that came to me innately through how I was born.
Aidan:Yeah.
Marcellas:And where other little kids might not have cared what they wore, I cared what I was wearing. Yeah. And I became obsessed with a brown and orange sweater vest. I love it. And I wanted to wear it every day.
Marcellas:You know what I mean? Yeah. And I wanted to be clean. I didn't want to... If I got new shoes, I didn't want to run-in my new shoes.
Marcellas:Oh, didn't want them to get protected. I also was acutely aware of how my mother and grandmother presented themselves.
Aidan:-Okay.
Marcellas:-And they were two very different women, but they both understood the power of fashion. So my grandmother came from a place of, you know, being part of the great migration from the South to the South Side Of Chicago. And for her, you dressed for the occasion. You wore gloves and your shoes and your gloves and your purse matched and you dressed up. And she shopped at stores like Marshall Fields and Neiman Marcus and Bonwit Teller and Weebolts in the heyday of Chicago retail.
Marcellas:And my mother was very much a child of the sort of '70s, and she wore bell bottom jeans. And I remember being this little kid who would help her bedazzle her jeans. And so she wore shirts that had Right On on them, but she was also sometimes a working woman and she would get dressed up for work and I would see her transform from my mother to this woman who was like powerful and sexy and smart and she would leave and go to work and she would look amazing. Yeah. And she would get her hair done every Friday and she'd come home and she understood she was very pretty and she understood the power of fashion and the power of beauty.
Marcellas:And so there would be times where she'd have she'd get like, remember she cut her hair. She had this long, beautiful hair and she cut into this Chinese inspired bob with bangs. And she had Chinese combs in the side and chopsticks and such. Then on a Friday, For a little gay kid, I was like, Mama, beautiful. And so I understood very early the power of fashion and what it meant and how it could impact how people saw you.
Marcellas:Yes. When I shopped with my grandmother at at Marshall Fields, the salespeople saw her in the store and they realized she had money. And she shopped at the 28th shop and those people treated her with respect. This is this black woman and they're treating her with respect. And I saw how my mother, you know, when she would walk down the street looking like a bomb, looking like a light skinned Pam Grier, and how the men would just, like yell at her out of the car and fall over her.
Marcellas:So I understood very early the power of fashion.
Aidan:Okay. Before we get into fashion, before the books, before television and everything else, you spent more than a decade working in Chicago hospitality. Can you tell me what was the first job that started all of that for you?
Marcellas:My first job in hospitality was at Arnie's Cafe, which was owned by Michael Morton, the son of legendary Arnold Morton, the scion of the Morton family and the steak houses and blah blah blah. And he had this little, at ten fifty North Steak, this little cafe that was part of Arnie's, but not... -you know, it was sure. Yes. And I don't know how I got that job, but I walked in there one day and he hired me and made me a waiter.
Marcellas:And Michael was so cute and so cool, And I met Amy Morton and I met Arnie and I met other waiters and that whole strip, which was the beginning of the Viagra Triangle, probably there before Gibson. And that was the start. It was working at Arnie's Cafe, which was like this super fast casual, like, kind of... There was a buffet. Yeah.
Marcellas:But we were... And but we were all like... Everybody that worked... Michael was cute. Michael was a fox.
Marcellas:And everybody that worked there was like this cute, foxy, little, you know Yeah. Group of, like, kids that were doing interesting things outside of Arnie's Cafe. Gotcha.
Aidan:Okay. I want you to take me back to Shelter now. Oh. Yes. We're going talk a little bit about Shelter.
Aidan:At the time, you were the only male cocktail waiter. Then later, you were the only gay Black bartender. What was that world like for you? So I ended up working at Shelter. Shelter is really interesting for me because I worked at a store in Chicago called Boogie's Diner,
Marcellas:which was horrible. But it was a diner upstairs, and downstairs, there was a clothing store. And they sold, like, Tony Alamo jackets that were covered in Swarovski crystals. But everybody in Chicago shopped there. Everybody.
Marcellas:Carrie Calabrese, Oprah, stars would come in because Boogie's Diner started in Aspen and it was sort of famous. But while I was working there, I had my own clientele because I was the gay Black guy that was in an outfit and that was, like, super friendly and was a shark because it was commissioned. And two of my clients were Jerry Kleiner, a legend, and Dan Krasney, who owned Vivo and were opening shelter. And they would come in and I would sell them Justin boots, because cowboy boots were such big in Chicago in that moment. And they would buy Replay jeans or Trebeau jeans or Big Star jeans, because that was a big moment.
Marcellas:And they were my clients. But they would also come in not to buy something. They would come in just when they were in the neighborhood to hang out with me and talk to me and have me be goofy and whatever. And when shelter was about to open, they were like, Why don't you come work at shelter? Have you ever worked in a bar before?
Marcellas:I was saying, No, but I worked at Harney's Cafe, Yeah. So I have waited tables. And they were like, oh, well, don't know how to bartend, so you can't bartend, but would you ever wanna be a cocktail waitress? Yeah. And, you know, they had this cute waitstaff.
Marcellas:Yeah. You know, all the hot girls. And they were like, No, we're gonna make him a cocktail waitress. We're gonna make him a cocktail waiter. And I was like, Okay, I can work a...
Marcellas:I guess I can work a drink. You're good? For sure. I can do it. And so there's this beautiful, crazy staff of, like, hardcore bartenders Mhmm.
Marcellas:That have worked at all the other bars and clubs in Chicago, and the same with cocktail waitresses. And there's me, this, like, black gay kid with the afro and outfits and being me. But because I had had all these jobs in retail and in hospitality, I knew all these people. So people would come into the club and they'd be like, Well, we're gonna sit with Marcellas or we're be in his section because we love him from everything else he did.
Aidan:Yeah.
Marcellas:And when I tell you shelter changed night nightclubs in Chicago because first of all, was like a New York nightclub. It was like Studio fifty four area. It was like a New York nightclub or approach to that in Chicago. Gotcha. And everybody came to shelter.
Marcellas:Yeah. You... It was like a destination.
Aidan:Yeah. Can you tell me, like, what nightlife was like in Chicago, like, at that time?
Marcellas:There were so many clubs. You had Kneel, you had Smart Bar, you had Cabaret Metro. So you had, like, these kind of music venues. You had Esoteria, You had Berlin. You had gay clubs that straight people would go to.
Marcellas:But then you had this sort of emergence of the super club, and shelter started that. So you had shelter, which opened at, like, ten but didn't get going until midnight and stayed open till four. And there was VIP room and you had to have a key chain to get into the VIP room and it was just really special. There was a basement. People have sex in the basement all the time.
Marcellas:It was so crazy that that was a thing, that people were in the basement having sex. And if you had to cocktail in the basement, you would be like, stop fucking in the basement. Like, get out of here. And security loved it because they'd be like, couple fucking in the basement. And, like...
Marcellas:And I'd be like, great, but can I get you a cocktail? I'll get
Aidan:you a cocktail.
Marcellas:You know, like... It's so stupid.
Aidan:Wrap it up a little bit.
Marcellas:But it literally... It was like this... It was like a New York super club plopped down in the middle of Chicago, and then China Club opened. And then there was a bar called Kaboom. And Kaboom was like a huge dance club and kind of took shelter to the next level.
Marcellas:And and then there were clubs like Union, which was owned by Steve Edelson. And there was this crew of, like, club owners in Chicago that were good looking and young and understood diversity and understood that you wanted... Even though it was a straight club, you wanted gay people at your club. Even though it was a quote unquote white club, you wanted beautiful black people at your club. And so to be a part of that moment, if you worked at one of these super clubs, you were like royalty.
Marcellas:Yeah. Because you worked at shelters so you could get into any club, you could get into any restaurant.
Aidan:And provide the same thing right back. You could get your clients in, you And could get them into any
Marcellas:it was definitely reciprocal. If you worked at Union, you could get into shelter and you could get into the VIP room. I worked at shelter, and so me and T. O, who was my co cocktail wench, would go to Union or we would go to the bridge or we would go to wherever. And the security guards were like, Marcellas is here, come in.
Marcellas:And the owner or the manager, there was a great manager named Van. I can't remember his last name, of which he passed away now, but Van would see us and he would be like, Get in here. Come to the bar. You've got a tab. You don't have to pay for a drink.
Marcellas:And all we were responsible for was tipping the bartender. And because we worked in hospitality and we were making a fortune every night in cash, we would tip the bartender like $30 for a cocktail that we got for free. And they would do the same thing Exactly. For
Aidan:Exactly. I want to jump into Vivo now. And when we talked earlier on, you told me that was the first time that you felt like you were a star or that's where you became a star. Can you tell me what you mean by that?
Marcellas:I always felt like I was a star everywhere I worked because I was There's a concept in America, and this is serious, that's onlyness, where there can only be one black person in a room. There can only be one gay person in a room. And it's almost like white America will gatekeep that. And if you fall into that, if you bring another black person around you, you think, Well, these people have allowed me to think that I'm special. And if you bring somebody else around that's like me, then am I still special?
Marcellas:Am I going to be replaced by that person? But for years, I used my onlyness in a lot of different spaces to my own advantage. And there was curiosity around my onlyness. So being the only gay Black guy at shelter and being, like, over the top and dressing what hell of a way, People loved that because it made them feel like, Oh, my God, this must be what it's like to live in New York. Where there's Black gays and there's club kids.
Marcellas:And I was the closest to a club kid. Maybe they
Aidan:never had same experience.
Marcellas:One of the owners of Shelter owned Vivo, Dan Krasney. And one managers of of Shelter became the manager of Vivo. And they bought me over because they wanted to recreate the energy that I bought to Shelter at Vivo. Because a good restaurant in Chicago is like theater. A Friday and Saturday night at a great restaurant in Chicago, just having dinner makes you feel like you're out and about and you're fabulous and everybody's dressed up and there's that energy in the room.
Marcellas:And a great waiter or bartender can add to that energy. Yeah. And so for a lot of people who have come in from the suburbs or here's this The hostess at the front door is beautiful and she's in Vivienne Westwood with her boobs out, of course, with her boobs out. And she takes you to this wrought iron table and chair that was designed by Jerry Kleiner that feels so foreign. Like, is it even going to be comfortable for me to sit in?
Marcellas:And then she plops you down and she's like, Marcellas will be over in a moment. And then here I come, 24 face, bone structure, outfit. You know, as soon as I hit the table, I'm like, Hi, welcome to Vivo. I'm Marcellas Reynolds. Are we celebrating something tonight?
Marcellas:Let's start with a glass of champagne. You know, like, immediately I'm, like, feeding into that drama. And then there's, you know, George was this wonderful Latin waiter that had this shock of big, curly hair. -And he dressed really like nebuchy. And then there was this old white woman named Marsha who was like a vampire.
Marcellas:She wore dark glasses and tacked pale skin and super short dyed black hair. And she, you know, it's like, Can you even see through those glasses? Why don't you take them off? And she never took them off. And we all had these crazy personalities and we were all almost battling for real estate.
Marcellas:And because I had worked at these different places and I bought everybody that I worked with that were my customers everywhere I went along with me, when they found out I worked at Vivo, they were like, Oh, we're going come see you at Vivo. And so they would call and they'd be like, We need a six top at 08:00 with Marcellas. And the managers and the owners wanted that. Exactly. They wanted us You were
Aidan:a draw.
Marcellas:Cultivating We were a draw. They wanted us cultivating that clientele. They wanted us bringing in rich people and beautiful people. They wanted us bringing in the Pritzker's, the bars, these people that we had met at all these other restaurants and all these other businesses. And they wanted us to bring in the models that we knew from the club scene and the dancers and blah, blah, blah.
Marcellas:And they wanted us to bring in that diversity. And for that person that had come in from Will Met or Morton Grove, they were elbow to elbow with these alternative lifestyles and these beautiful people, and it made them feel hipper than they were. And I was really good at, Here's my name. Thank you for coming. If you need a reservation, it's whatever.
Marcellas:Please call and ask for me. Request me the next time you come in. So everywhere I went, I thought of it as clientele. Yes. And that was an opportunity for clientele, whether it was at a bar or at a restaurant or at the clothing store.
Aidan:Which is the next thing I want to jump in on specifically, because this is something that I've seen as a common thread throughout of our conversations is you do such an excellent job of connecting with people. That, I believe, from what I've seen, seems to be like one of your superpowers. You were waiting on these athletes, celebrities, politicians and some of the biggest personalities that were coming through Chicago. How did you go from simply serving them to building a deeper personal relationship? Because you started going out with these people as well.
Aidan:How did you transfer that into building your future career by starting these relationships?
Marcellas:When you worked at a hip restaurant or a hip bar, you became a part of the DNA of it. And people realized that, and if you were smart, you could leverage that into sort of access. And people realized that they could use you as access. So I never thought of myself, if I was waiting on Oprah, I was as famous as you. If I was waiting on Chris Chelyos, I was as famous as you.
Marcellas:I was not fazed by fame. I was not fazed by the famous. Now, maybe I truly was, but I was really good at pretending I wasn't. And so if you're not catering to them and being really like, Oh my God, duh, duh, duh, duh, treating them like they're precious, But you're treating them like... Giving them maybe a little attitude or maybe a little, They're like, Oh my God, who is this kid that's unfazed by Michael Jordan?
Marcellas:And a good manager recognized that because those people love that. -Yes. Those celebrities love, like, not to be treated... Like, it's not Ed De Bevix, but celebrities love that somebody that's, like, kind of unfazed by them. And so I was always unfazed by them.
Marcellas:I always treated them as equals. I was always with a wink funny. Mhmm. And they would be like, oh, my God. The next time I come in, I have to have
Aidan:you. Yes.
Marcellas:And then they're going to bring, you know, Chris might bring four other Blackhawks. Yeah. And they've requested me. And or somebody from the Bulls would bring, like, girlfriends or their wives because they're like, You are going to get kicked out of this guy, Marcellas. You are going to love them.
Marcellas:Yes. And they would love me. And I would always do this day where I'd take a business card from the restaurant and I would write my name and my number on the... BR. And I would be like, If you need a reservation, you call me direct.
Marcellas:Yes. And people would do that. Yes. And it just opened this world of I'd be at a restaurant, I'd be at, let's say, let me jump ahead to like Marche.
Aidan:Which is where I wanted to go next anyway. So let's talk Marche.
Marcellas:I would be at Marche and I'd be waiting on these rich people or these celebrities, and they would be like, Where should we go after this? And I would be like, I don't know where you should go, but I'm going here. And they would be like, Well, can you get us in? And I'd be like, Let me make a phone call. Yes.
Marcellas:Or they would be like, What time are you off? Can we You want to go with me? And I was like, Well, I don't go anywhere by myself. I don't know you, so let me call a couple of my friends. And usually, my friends were like some very aggressively pretty model girl.
Marcellas:Yes. So I'm really like, in a weird way, like pimping myself out because I'm beautiful, but I'm also pimping out these beautiful girls that are with Elite and they're with David Lee or they were... Because this is before Ford even existed in Chicago, or they're with Aria, which we'll talk about later. And we're at Dumbledore with Billy Corrigan from the Smashing Pumpkins, who's performing, and I'm like, Well, I'm bringing six people, and they're all girls, and they're all fabulous. It was just...
Marcellas:It's like the craziest time, but you have to sort of think like that. Yeah. And that's what a good owner wants, And that's what a good manager wants. Yes. They recognize that there's something about you that's going to keep people coming back beyond the food, beyond the wine, beyond you add to the experience.
Aidan:Yes. And I think one of the big pieces we talked about there, too, is the access piece, right? I know eventually you moved from the floor to the door. And I want to talk about your experience at the door because the door is, in my opinion, I mean, it is one of the most important and most pinnacle roles within an entire restaurant. You were the opening maitre d' at RL, correct?
Aidan:And you were also running the door at MK. Yeah. So can you talk about that, the access and how you kind of got to play with that? I know you were whispering to me stories about Oprah at RL before, so I'd love to dive into all that too.
Marcellas:Well, have to come back and talk about Marche because Marche changed my life.
Aidan:Okay.
Marcellas:But I had begun to model and I did really well in a lot of ways. But I would always come home to Chicago. So I lived in Milan for a year, but I came back to Chicago. I lived in Paris. I lived in London.
Marcellas:I would work in Miami for a season. I would work in New York, but I'd always come back to Chicago. And there was something about my work ethic that even though I was doing extremely well as a model, I was still waiting tables. Yeah. I still wanted cash.
Marcellas:Oh, yeah. Right? So I would be making 6 figures as a model and didn't have to wait tables, but I loved the social aspect of waiting tables and I loved the cash. So I would call whoever and be like, I'm back in town. I need a job.
Marcellas:So maybe that was Michael Nahabedian at Cafe of Scent. Or maybe it was Scott Dahlen who was at had been my manager at Pet Shelter, my manager at Vivo, and now was the opening manager at RL. And RL was really funny because they spent all this money on the store. Oh, yeah. And then they spent all this money on the restaurant, the art and the felt walls and the fabric walls and that leather boots and blah, blah, blah.
Marcellas:But Ralph or maybe the people, I don't know if it was Ralph or whatever, but they were very particular about the front door. And they wanted people that looked like a Ralph Lauren hat to work the front door.
Aidan:Wait, were you a model at the time, Brassos? I was a model
Marcellas:at the time. And there was a moment in my career where I was like, You know what? I don't want to wake tables because I don't necessarily... I want to be carrying glasses. I don't want to be busting tables, but I still want to work in a restaurant.
Marcellas:And so I made that shift. And I was making enough money as a model that I didn't really... That instead of making the 300 or $400 or $500 working really hard waiting tables, I could make $100 a night as a host. But also, I was getting cash tips because people would come in and they would treat me, people that I had known when I was a waiter would try to get a reservation. Yes.
Marcellas:Or again, here you are at the front door with your drama, with your face, with your smile, working it. Do you have a reservation? Oh, I don't know if I can get you in. I'm gonna try. You know, and you lean on that.
Marcellas:I'm sure to try. You know, and then that guy is like, Oh my God, you got us in. Here's like $20 I'd be like, 20 fucking dollars? It's 50. You know, like, we need a 100, but people would do And again, I would be like, here's my number.
Marcellas:The next time you need a reservation, call me direct or leave a message for me at the And Ralph Lauren wanted people that looked like RL, the restaurant, wanted people that looked like a Ralph Lauren ad. And they hired me, who had done Ralph Lauren. It was my client when I was a model. So it's like a little dead on. Yeah.
Marcellas:And you'd had to wear a head to toe Ralph Lauren. Yes. -So you had a budget at the store to wear Ralph Lauren. And they hired this woman named Cynthia Moore, who was a legendary Chicago beauty, had been a model in the '80s when it mattered. And we were both Black, and we were both beautiful, we were both sassy.
Marcellas:And you'd walk into Ralph Lauren, this beautiful room, and the Ralph Lauren image in the dream is actually incorporating beautiful Black people in this And there we were. And so Cynthia really ran the door. Because Cynthia didn't want to walk. Well, she's wearing
Aidan:heels heels like like that, yeah.
Marcellas:You know, that butt is on a stilt. She's like, blam. Boobs, outfit, Ralph Lauren, face, hair. Like, so she would answer the bone and then she'd have me. And then of course I'm running the room like it's a runway and I've got some menus and I'm like, Come, welcome to the world of Ralph Lauren.
Aidan:Yes.
Marcellas:You know what I mean? And taking people to their table and sitting, you know, plopping them down at their table. And I would do crazy things like I would sit down at the table as Yeah. I sat And I was like, You guys are in it for a treat. I'd be like, You need to have the blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Marcellas:Then the waiter would come over and I'd get up and I'd be like, Take it from here. You know, like that kind of thing.
Aidan:They'd already ordered the lobster and the caviar. Have a wonderful day. Please, you know.
Marcellas:They're starting with four glasses of Vu. You might as well get them a bottle. Yes. And people got into that. Yeah.
Marcellas:But Ralph Lauren was so funny, R. L. Was so funny because Oprah lived across the street. Yes. And she would call and she would say, and she had a favorite table.
Marcellas:I think it was Table 27 Or 72. And she would call in for seventy, and she would be like, Is my table available? And we'd be like, It is now. And she would be like, Let me... Or if it wasn't, we'd be like, It'll be in about...
Marcellas:And I would run and see where that person is. I'd be like, Do not drop dessert menus on that table. Drop the check. Oprah's coming.
Aidan:Yes, we got to get them up and out. And then Oprah's on the way. She would...
Marcellas:And we'd call her back and she would come over. And she was so funny, because I had been in Oprah world since I was 15. Had so many dalliances with her in passing. And she knew me by name, and she'd be like, Oh my God, that's so many Oprah stories, but I have a specific Oprah story to RL. I had to wear the clothes, and sometimes the clothes were like clown clothes.
Marcellas:It's literally so specifically the Ralph Lauren look. And I was in this hunting jacket with this cream pant, and the cream pant wasn't lined all the way to the bottom so you could see my underwear through And the pants were wool and the t shirt was cotton, so the creams didn't match. Uh-huh. And it was supposed to be like... And I was in these brown boots, it was supposed to be like, I'm going to hunt, but it was awful.
Marcellas:And I was actually standing at the door literally like this. And I was like, I hate this fucking outfit. I literally was thinking this outfit is stupid. And I was like, I have to stop wearing Hector Toe Ralph Lauren because this can be costumey. And as I was thinking that, Oprah walks through the door and she's like, Hello, Marcellas.
Marcellas:And I'm like, Hi, you know, how are you? But I was a little bit, like, kind of cranky because I didn't like my outfit. And so Oprah walks to the desk and I stay at the door because I'm pissed off. Normally, would have been Oprah's ass, but I was pissed off because my outfit was stupid. I'm standing at the door.
Marcellas:And Oprah goes and she talks to Cynthia, and her table's not ready. So Oprah comes back over to me, and she looks me up and down. She's like, Marcellas, don't understand your outfit. And I was like, right? Me either.
Marcellas:Why? It came in at the text. It gave me this weird validation because Oprah was like, because normally Oprah would be like, you know, you're so cute. Whatever. And that day, she was like...
Aidan:I don't know about those.
Marcellas:This is stupid.
Aidan:Yes. I know you did say you wanted to jump back to Marcellas briefly. Yes. To Marcellas. Yes.
Aidan:Sorry. Marcellas, my apologies.
Marcellas:Yes. Get it right. What? No.
Aidan:No. What shall we jump in there, my friend?
Marcellas:I had worked at Vivo.
Aidan:Mhmm.
Marcellas:And my notoriety and my success in Vivo had actually made me enemies with the rest of the staff. I was already a man onto his own because I was the only Black person at the restaurant. And I was only the Black the only Black gay person at the restaurant. And so I was a little bit separate from them anyway. But because I knew so many people and I had all these requests, my sections kept getting bigger and bigger.
Marcellas:And there was this resentment factor I didn't see coming. The owners of Vivo had partnered with Michael Kornick to open Marche. And the owners of Vivo realized, because I was very open about... One of the waiters was actually sort of bullying me. I had been bullied by the best growing up Black and gay on the South Side.
Marcellas:Was like, Little white boy, I'm not... You and I can go outside. Like, because I'm not playing this game with you. Yes. But the owners...
Marcellas:And I were friends. I was friends with the managers. I was friends with the owners. So there was... They knew what was going on.
Marcellas:Yeah. And so they were like, you should go across the street and work at Marche when it opens. And Marche was definitely... I didn't have to know anything about wine or really dining when I worked at Biblot. It was Italian.
Marcellas:Yeah. You know, even though Massimo Saltino, I think, was the name of the chef. Was definitely Massimo. Bless his soul, was a lovely person, and I loved him. Like, I loved him.
Marcellas:He was such a beautiful chef, and he is such a beautiful person, and he set the tone for the kitchen and the busboys and staff. And I loved Massimo. He was so kind, and he was really kind with me. The managers were kind. Michael Lahabedian was the assistant manager.
Marcellas:And Michael took the time to help me open, to teach me how to open a bottle of wine, because when I studied at Vivo, I didn't know how to open a bottle of wine. And Michael gave Michael was like, With your personality, this is how I want you to open a bottle of wine. Grab Grab it by the neck, stick that thing in there while you're talking, crank it, and pop that cork. You know what I mean? Like, make it, like, because you're big.
Marcellas:And that was how I approached opening wine. But when you're working with Michael Kornick and it's service, service, service, that doesn't work. Yeah. So Michael taught me how to really be a waiter. Vivo taught me how to be a rock star and be a part of the experience of waiting tables.
Marcellas:Michael Kornick taught me how to be a waiter. He taught me how to wait tables. He taught me that I had to know what each ingredient in the dish was. He taught me that I needed to know about wine and authoritatively be able to recommend wine.
Aidan:Yeah.
Marcellas:So we had to... We went to class. We had to bring a notebook and we did wine tastings and I had to know what grapes were in this blend and know what grapes were in that blend. But because I had already been this sort of theater boy... Yeah....
Marcellas:Where waiting tables was concerned. And my customer now went to Marche because it's the hot new place on Randolph. And they walk in and I'm there. They're like, Oh my God, you're here. And I'm like, Yes.
Marcellas:So the same thing that was happening at Vivo, where it was like my sections kept getting bigger and bigger, and there was a little bit of resentment with the rest of the staff, was happening at Marche. Yeah. But Michael didn't care because Michael actually loved that I bought that theater to being a waiter. And because I was this little, like, sort of nightmare where I was like, I always wanted it to be theater and I always wanted it to be fun. So I walked up to the table and I was like, I'm Marcellas.
Marcellas:Welcome to Marche. What are we celebrating tonight? Why don't we start with a glass of champagne? And people would fall into that and they'd be like, Well, what do you suggest? And I'd be like, Well, of course, a glass of Vuve Coco because we sell it by the glass.
Marcellas:But since there's four of you, why don't we do a bottle? And before we even get into the menu, as I'm passing out the menus, I've already got a bottle of champagne on the table. And I'm like, Well, why don't you try a billiard sommel? Or, Why don't you try a bottle of crude? You know what I mean?
Marcellas:And because I was doing that, I was the highest selling... I sold more champagne in the restaurant than anybody else. And Michael saw that. And he loved that. He absolutely loved that.
Marcellas:And I was an up seller. So I was like, Let's get some appetizers on the table before we... Let's get a third course on the table. Let's get a second course on the table. Mindy Siegel and I were like a tag team with dessert because I was like, I'm gonna make as much money off of this table as possible.
Marcellas:And I'd get desserts on the table, I'd get a plate of cookies on the table. You'd be like, I don't want dessert. You should have a plate of cookies while everything digests. And then I'd come over and I'd be like, What about after dinner drinks? I'd sell people pork.
Marcellas:Yeah. Or sauteur. And so I was padding those checks and I was making that money. And Michael, of course, loves that because he also felt like the lessons that he was teaching me and us were being implemented. I got champagne on the table.
Marcellas:I got cocktails on the table. I got a bottle of wine on the table. I got the second course on the table. I got the third course on the table. I got after dinner drinks on the table.
Marcellas:I'm selling grappa. You know, like, I'm So those checks were big. There were a couple of us titans that all worked at the restaurant, and we were all doing similar things. And we were all, you know, getting requests, playing with this idea of fine dining. And poor Corinne BrabowskiStruff, who was Michael's partner maybe, I think, at Marche, or maybe she was just the manager, she had to deal with these big rock star personalities, and we're all...
Marcellas:You know, we all hated each other because it's like, Joseph's section is bigger than mine, you know, or Marcellas' section is bigger than mine, is Marcellas waiting on the gods from the Bulls? Or, Why is Marcellas waiting on the gods from the Blackhawks? Or, Why is Marcellas waiting on George Clooney and Jerry Permitent? Because bitch, I was out with them last night. Like, you know, like...
Marcellas:Yeah. So there was that drama. Or why is Marcellas waiting on Oprah? Because he's the only black boy in this restaurant and we want her to feel a little more comfortable, so let's put And he's been working with her forever.
Aidan:Yes.
Marcellas:So like, you know, as everybody's salting my game. Yes. And I'm salting my own game because I ended up getting discovered as a model. Yeah. That's Marcellas, and that changed my life.
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Marcellas:That just changed the trajectory of everything for me.
Aidan:Yeah. So, I mean, do you think your entertainment career would have happened without your twelve years of hospitality? No.
Marcellas:All my life, from my first job in high school, which was retail, which was at Water Tower Place, people had said to me, You should be a model. You should be an actor. You should be a dancer. But growing up Black and gay, I always considered anything that was artistic as feminine. And I didn't want to do it.
Marcellas:And it was only when I left the South Side Of Chicago and sort of entered into the world of white people and entered into the world of acceptance. The things that I was bullied for on the South Side, I was celebrated for on the North Side. My gayness made me special on the North Side among white people because I was this oddity. Oh my god, this Black gay guy with this attitude. He's so sassy.
Marcellas:He's so beautiful. The way he moves, the way. But that's the thing that got me bullied on the South Side. Yeah. There was always this underlying, you should be doing something in the arts, but I fought it for a really long time.
Marcellas:But when it happened at Marche, like, had been with different agencies, but it was always, You're too editorial for Chicago. You're too bisque for Chicago. And I did... I was working my way through college, I wanted to be a writer, but I also wanted to be an actor. So my major was English, but my minor was theater at University of Illinois Circle.
Marcellas:And so I wanted it, but I didn't dare want it because I was almost programmed that that's gay. Once I got out of that, the further I got away from that, all of those isms that were made to make me feel less in waiting and in bartending and just living on the North Side and began to love myself and love those all those areas of myself, then it was like, I can be I can say I want to be an actor. And then the model thing finally hit and it really fell into my lap. It was like, I'm ready. Let's go.
Aidan:I wanna now start changing threats a little bit, get into your performance world and all that. I... I'm gonna ask you to tell me a few stories about a couple of people who I know you've chatted about before. I know you did give me a little tease on an Oprah story already. Yes.
Aidan:Can I ask what your best Oprah story is overall? You keep saying you continue running into Oprah. So...
Marcellas:Okay. I'm gonna tell you my first Oprah story. Okay. So back in the day, because I love this story, because it also, I think, says something about who I am. I got my first job in retail at Water Tower Place.
Marcellas:I had to travel two hours from the South Side Of Chicago to get to Water Tower Place. Yeah. I was going to high school, But I was working full time in Water Tower, selling clothes in a woman's clothing store. I was the only male salesperson in the clothing store. This little 14 year old black gay kid with an afro and a gap.
Marcellas:Yeah. And no style. Yeah. Because I was from the South Side. Yeah.
Marcellas:But these wonderful women made me over. Like, literally, they were like, Project! And they, like, bought me clothes, and they would, you know, they would like, And so now all of a sudden, I'm, like, dressing. I'm wearing Jabot, I'm wearing Kit Kat, I'm wearing this, and I'm wearing that, and I'm wearing willy wear, and I'm, like, dressing... Crazy to be on the South Side.
Marcellas:I'm literally dressing like the gay guy they thought I was, but on the North Side, it was fabulous. So women would come in the store and they'd be like, Oh my god, this little kid is so funny. So I had this crazy clientele. And one of my clients was Deborah Damiamo, who was a producer for AM Chicago, because that was Oprah's first show before -Yes, it became
Aidan:where she started.
Marcellas:Right. Is when Oprah still was... Oprah was not attractive, and she had her afro. Everybody in Chicago loved Oprah. And she was...
Marcellas:Deborah was trying on her outfits in the dressing room. -And I was standing out there with another salesperson double teaming Deborah. -Yeah. -And Oprah was sitting in the chair. And there was a McDonald's across the way from T.
Marcellas:Edwards on the 5th Level Water Tower. Oprah was sitting in the chair waiting for Deborah to try her outfits on because Deborah would try on something. She'd come out and then we'd all be like, Oh, ah, blah, blah, blah. And Oprah's sitting there, and this... You know, Oprah was Oprah.
Marcellas:She was becoming a star. Yeah. And Oprah's sitting there, she's eating McDonald's french fries by the handful. She's... And I'm like...
Aidan:And
Marcellas:I say to her, Oprah, I wanna be on your show. And in mid chunk of french fry, Oprah goes, What's your talent? And I go, I don't know yet. And she laughs. Yeah.
Marcellas:Because this 15 year old ballsy kid with an afro and a gap is literally like, I want to be on your show. And she's like, Doing what? And so when she laughed, Nona laughed, Deborah laughed, I laughed, But in the back of my head, I was like, I'm a be on your show one day. You just watch. I'm a be on the Oprah Winfrey show one day.
Marcellas:I never made it onto the Oprah Winfrey show, but I interacted with her so many times past that. Yes. And I think that that moment was like one of the moments where I was like, I'm going to be on television. I'm going to be an entertainer. No matter what.
Marcellas:No matter what.
Aidan:Jumping on to my next one. We also talked a lot about George Clooney. Can you tell me a little bit about maybe these nights going out with George Clooney, how that relationship even kicked off?
Marcellas:So I don't know if George remembers this, but there was a moment where George, you know, this was ER George before he became a movie star. -And he spent a lot of time in Chicago. And I spent a lot of time as this gay guy who was friends with all these models with these girls. And George was dating a couple of my friends. So I would...
Marcellas:There was this crew of, like, George Clooney, Jeremy Piven, David Schwimmer, Billy Corrigan. Chris Chelios was part of that crew, and they would go out. Yeah. And I would be the gay guy that would be with my girlfriends. And so I would be hanging out with them.
Marcellas:So I knew George that way, kind of impassing from waiting on him at restaurants or going out with him to Doubletor and the girls, like, you know, a member of, like, their you know, a peripheral member of their posse. -But the funny thing that happened later on is I ended up doing Big Brother, season three, which was such a huge show. 13,000,000 people watched every episode, and it was the jump the shark show. And I was the first openly gay Black man to appear on a major network reality show. And I didn't know that at the time when I walked through the door.
Marcellas:But that season of Big Brother was like a phenomenon, And all these celebrities would visit the house. Yeah. And because you're in the house, and there's windows all around the house and cameras and cranes. George visited the house because he was a fan of my season of Big Brother. And we after the fact, we found out all the celebrities that had visited the house.
Marcellas:And we were like, Oh, God, George Goony was in the house. And I was like, I know George Goony from Chicago. But I ended up bumping into him at an event. Had produced a movie for his friend, Hank Azaria, and my girlfriend was the love interest in the thing, so I went to the premiere. And George Clooney comes running up to me and is like, Oh, my God, Marcellas from Big Brother three.
Marcellas:I was like, I know you went to the house. And I was like, Mopho, you don't remember me from Chicago and working at Marche? You You were out of Drake David. Yes. And was like, And you dated so and so, and you dated so and so.
Marcellas:And he was like, Oh my God. And I was like, And I was friends with Randy, and I was friends with the Gerbers and da da da. So it was so funny because by that time, he was a huge star. He was now George Clooney movie stars. It was hysterical.
Marcellas:It was just the funniest that somebody like George Clooney was a fan of me on a reality show, but didn't remember that he had been running the streets Running streets. Running the streets. And Saturday night at Cats Yes. Of
Aidan:One more for you. Can you tell me about RuPaul?
Marcellas:Oh my god. I love this. I was the gay guy, the gay cocktail wench at Shelter, and then Shelter decided to do a gay night, and it was called Quench. Quench. So crazy.
Marcellas:And it was Wednesdays. And the thing about Shelter that was so great was they always brought musical acts in and every celebrity came to Shelter. And on a random I don't even know if it was a Wednesday, but on a random night, RuPaul had just really hit. People in New York knew him because he was at the core performance artist, but he had released the song Supermodel, which was like this club banger, number one hit. And you have this black six foot three drag queen in a blonde wig that is taking over the world and really pushing the idea of the LGBTQ blah, blah, blah.
Marcellas:And he performs supermodel at shelter. Yeah. And to make him feel... To make her, because she was dressed as Rue, but him, when he wasn't comfortable, I guess, the managers were like, You're gonna hang out with RuPaul while he's here. And I was like, You bet your ass I'm gonna And hang out with RuPaul while he's Rue was there and I was there and I was bartending and da da da da da.
Marcellas:And I was the bartender or the waiter that was supposed to take care of any of his needs. And I got to hang out in the dressing with him before and after he did his, you know, his hair and makeup. And he was somewhere, there's a picture of, like, five'eleven me with six foot four, you know, six foot seven in platform heels.
Aidan:Yes.
Marcellas:And hair, you know, through the roof, RuPaul. And it was just this crazy, incredible, only in Chicago, Yes. Only as shelter of
Aidan:You also mentioned in here too, and I want to talk a little bit about Big Brother. Did you have any idea what you were getting yourself into?
Marcellas:There is a weird connection to Chicago with me doing Big Brother, and it's connected to hospitality. Okay. Karen Calabrese, who's a legendary, like, health guru, dietitian, is one of my friends, and she had been my client since I worked at T. Edwards. I became friends with her daughter.
Marcellas:Her daughter then had modeled a little, and we modeled together at David and Lee. And then she ends up in L. A. Doing production. I'm still modeling between Chicago and New York.
Marcellas:She works for the same production company that does Big Brother. They've gotten all the submissions of normal people who just want to do the show, and they don't have a Black guy that they like. -Yeah. -And so they ask their friends, Do you know a Black guy? And Nikki is like, Do I know a Black guy?
Marcellas:And she pulls Because out my Nikki had been a model, and when we were models back in the day, we had this thing called a comp, or a Z card, and we... And you carried your friends' comps with you and your... Yeah. Like, it was a way to keep us together. Yeah.
Marcellas:It was a way to remember each other. And she pulls my comp out of her desk, and here I am, you know, brushed, you know, airbrushed and perfect and, you know, looking like a model. And she tells she starts telling the producers all these crazy Marcellas stories because I've known Nikki since she was a boy. She worked the front door at Marche with me. She was one of those girls that was running around with George Clooney and the Chelyos and this person and Jared Primit and all the rich guys in Chicago, and I'm right there with her.
Marcellas:So she's been through the fire with me. We've got stories, and she knows all the stories. And I had some stories because I was a piece of work. And so she's telling them these stories, and they're like, We want to meet him. Yeah.
Marcellas:And so she calls me, and she's like, The producers of Big Brother want to meet And I turned it down because my model agencies told me not to do a reality show. It would ruin my model career. So I turned it down. They were so enamored with the idea of me that I was Black and gay that they came back to me. And as the universe is so funny, as it worked out, I was dating this really rich guy in New York, so I was hit.
Marcellas:I was spending a lot of time in New York, not modeling, being taken care of by this rich guy. And he cheated on me with the guy from The Real World. And I found out that that was the guy he cheated me. Right at that moment, when I broke up with him and I was heartbroken, the producers of Big Brother called me again, and they were like, Do you want to do Big Brother? And I was like, Yes.
Marcellas:Because if he wanted a reality star, I was going to be the biggest reality star in the world. They flew to Chicago, interviewed me at NBC Tower. I was a mess. One second, I'm crying. I'm like, I can't believe he did this to me.
Marcellas:I'm like, I'm Marcellas Reynolds. I've done Ralph Lauren. And I'm like a mess on And then I'm like, no, no. I am an icon. I am like a top model.
Marcellas:Make six figures. Opened and closed Ralph Lauren. I closed Tommy Hilfiger. Like, I'm like a mess. I'm crying.
Marcellas:I'm screaming. I'm like... And then the next minute I'm like, And the cab driver had hit on me on the way to the... Yeah. And I was like, The cab driver hit on me on the way to this meeting.
Marcellas:And I don't date cab drivers. And so I run through this list of, like, the approved list of people for me to date. And I was like, Fortune 500 CEOs, supermodels, doctors, the head of the cancer ward, you know, Taste, you know, like, I read through, like, incredibly crazy, over the top, but so still me. Because this was really my thing. Literally, that producer takes that tape back to them, shows it to them, and they were like, Oh, you're on this show.
Marcellas:You're on this show. And I came to my senses and I said no. Yeah. Because my agency was like, you cannot do a reality show. You cannot be gay.
Marcellas:You cannot be out on a reality show. Yeah. And I said, No. They came back to me a third time. The head of CBS reality, Lynne Spielman, called me one day, and she was like, You don't have to do Big Brother, but you can do Survivor.
Marcellas:And you don't have to audition or anything. You can just do it. And I said to her, I can't do Survivor because I can't wear the same outfit every day, but I guess I'll do Big Brother. And that's how I ended up doing Big Bro.
Aidan:I fucking love that.
Marcellas:That's so crazy. So it's this weird Chicago connection. Because I didn't watch Big Brother. And if Nikki hadn't called me and was like, come do Big Brother, I would have been like, no.
Aidan:Yeah. I fucking love it. But how eventually, you know, you transitioned from being a part of the culture of like, beaded Big Brother, being a model, doing all those sorts of things. Then you started documenting it. This is coming a little bit further into your career.
Aidan:I want to talk about the Supreme series. I want to talk about the books and the documentary that you've produced post them. Why was there a specific moment or was there something that jumped at you that told you that these stories needed to be protected and shared?
Marcellas:My whole life has a Chicago thread through it. Yeah. So the whole time I was modeling, I started my model career in Chicago. So even though I lived all over the world and I did really well, I would always go back to Chicago. And being the gay guy, I was always friends with these incredible models, Shikhar Laddar and Leah Cabade, just girls that worked, white, black, everything.
Marcellas:And I saw firsthand the struggles that they went to. And as a black male model, I went through the same struggles. Agency saying, well, we already have one black guy. We don't need another black guy. Like, the racism that you...
Marcellas:That was just... Yeah. -In that business. And I cried. I'd seen my girlfriends cry like I knew that struggle.
Marcellas:Yes. I feel like all these stories I was carrying with me. And I had become a stylist after being a model for a long time. I became a stylist. British bow, catalog clients out to Wahoo, six figure stylist.
Marcellas:So I had all these stories. And one day, I collected art books because I used art books to self educate. Yeah. So I'd have stacks of like, you know, Robert Maplethorpe, had to know something about photography, something about art, something about architecture, something about design, just stacks and stacks of books that I read from cover to cover. Yeah.
Marcellas:And a book came out that I had to have called The Vogue Model Faces of Beauty was the British Vogue book. And I got that book. It was oversized, was super expensive, and there were only two Black models in that book. Over 100 models. Yeah.
Marcellas:Most of whom weren't even top models. Yeah. And the two Black models were Naomi and Iman. And it was a really bad photo of Iman. I was insulted by the whole thing.
Marcellas:And in that moment, I was like, I'm gonna write a book about Black models because I knew, again, Shakar Ledard, Tamiko Frazier. I knew all these top models from my career. That divine inspiration hit, I had the audacity, I believed that I could write this book. Yeah. And it took me...
Marcellas:I came up with the idea in 2011, and it took me until late 'seventeen to sell the idea. Yeah. And publishers would come to me because I was the gay guy from Style Network. I was the gay guy from E! And want to write a book for me.
Marcellas:And they'd be like, Do you have an idea? And I'd be like, Supreme Black Models. And they would be like, And so many... Three publishers told me that a book about Black women wouldn't sell. And I was like that Viola Davis GIF where she picks up the purse and she leaves.
Marcellas:Because I was like, you know, I was like, How dare you? But when it's time, it's time. And it was time. The universe it was too early or wasn't right or they weren't the right publisher. And then everything lined up.
Marcellas:It's actually kind of sad because all the things that defined who I was that I thought Yeah. I was supposed to be had to fall away in order for me to actually pay attention to that book. So I went from being a 6 figure stylist to not even working. I tried to pivot back to being a TV host. The producers of Queer Eye for the straight guy told me I was too old.
Marcellas:It was like everything that I had been to that point didn't exist anymore. And the only thing that was left was the book idea. And that was when the book idea got traction. Supreme models, iconic Black women who revolutionized fashion became this groundbreaking, genre defining... It means so much to so many people.
Marcellas:It was a book where Black women, they didn't have to be models. They didn't have to be in entertainment. It was a book where they felt seen. And there was a hole in the art book world where we weren't seeing books that were dedicated to Black women that were of the caliber of the Chanel book or the Stephen Meisel book. And it was just the right book at the right time with the right dark skinned, beautiful woman on the cover with its short, short hair and just looking like a golden goddess.
Marcellas:And it changed everything.
Aidan:Yeah. They're stunning books. I have all three. Know that they're out of the I have all three that we're putting up a beautiful bookshelf right now and they will be properly displayed. Is there any stories specifically because I know you interviewed all of these beautiful women.
Aidan:You got all of these beautiful shots of these beautiful women. Are there any stories from them that really, like, jump out at you and, like, really speak to you? There's so many stories that I was told. I feel like the story keeper of the legacy of these women. And there's so many beautiful stories that I was honored to be told.
Aidan:And I hold those stories close to my heart, and
Marcellas:I hold these because there's a lot of pain attached to this. These are the most beautiful, most extraordinary women in the world, and they're constantly told that they're too dark, too light, their hair is too curly, their hair is too straight, their hips are too wide, their lips are too big. They're like, everything that you could possibly say to a Black woman to make her feel less than they have been told over and over. And still, they get up and they show out and they do the job. And they do it, in my opinion, better than anybody else.
Marcellas:And so there's so many stories. There's this... Veronica Webb, the goddess, her first cover try for Glamour magazine, a white hair and makeup artist did not know how to do her hair. And instead of them sending him home because he does not know how to do his job, they sent her home. And that would immediately...
Marcellas:That cover would have changed the trajectory of her career very early. Now, she still went on to become Veronica Webb, the supermodel and blah, blah, blah, cover of Italian Vogue. But white talent that could not do Black talent and then blame Black talent for the lack of education of the white hair and makeup person that you hired. And that would never work if it was a Black hair and makeup person. A Black hair and makeup person could never say, Well, I don't know how to do a white person, so they have to go home.
Marcellas:Crazy. And so that weird dichotomy. And there's another story that Tyra told me the first time she booked Sports Illustrated or Victoria's Secret. I really want to get that right. But it's one of these big blockbuster super clients that are career changing.
Marcellas:She got sent home because the hair and makeup person couldn't do Tyra Banks' hair and makeup. It's insane. It's insane. But I feel like I'm the guardian of these incredible stories because for every bad story, there's like 10 great stories. Yeah.
Marcellas:You know?
Aidan:Yeah, absolutely. After everything that you've experienced in fashion, what does style mean to you now?
Marcellas:Okay. So I'm embarking on this new business where I'm a personal shopper, personal stylist, and I consider myself a fashion and lifestyle curator, an FLC. And for me, style is not just how you choose to present yourself with the sartorial choices you make your clothing, it's how you live your life. And I think you live your life stylishly. You surround yourself by the best things you can afford.
Marcellas:And your house is beautiful. Your clothing is beautiful. You present yourself in a beautiful way. Your nails are done. Your hair is cut.
Marcellas:You're clean shaven. I'm not clean shaven, but you know. And I think that it's all part of that. I think part of living beautifully and having good taste is being curious about the world. It's being curious about music.
Marcellas:It's being curious about wines. It's being curious about fine dining. It's being curious about foods from other cultures. It's being curious about other cultures. That to me is living stylishly.
Marcellas:That to me is living well. There's no space in that world for racism or sexism or homophobia because everything that's different from you, you should be curious about. Because everything that's different from you is beautiful and interesting.
Aidan:Yeah. I love that. Now we're going to move on to a little bit of our last couple of sections here, what are a little bit more rapid fire kind of focus questions for you.
Marcellas:Okay.
Aidan:So we're going to go quick. Go through them. Mean, I love a little story, but we're going to sneak these ones in. Okay? Okay.
Aidan:What is something you believed about success at 25 that you no longer believe today?
Marcellas:I used to believe that success was a destination, and once you got there, you were there. And I did not realize that success keeps morphing and changing and becoming other things. And what you found as successful at 25 is different at 35, at 45 and 55. And you have to keep going, you have to keep growing, you have to keep morphing.
Aidan:Thank you. Who taught you good taste?
Marcellas:My grandmother taught me good taste. My grandmother came from nothing. She came from Little Rock, Arkansas. She had fifth grade education, and she married up. And she understood the power of education, and she understood the power of dressing well.
Marcellas:And you could not leave her house with satin pants. You could not leave her house dirty. You could not leave her house like... My grandmother shopped for me, and she was like, You're gonna wear this. And my grandmother, when she figured I was smart, bought me a set of encyclopedias for Christmas.
Marcellas:And I was... You would have thought that I got, like, the GI Joe with the kung fu grip. Or I got a Barbie. I was so excited to get those encyclopedias because there was something about me that wanted to learn. Yeah.
Marcellas:And my grandmother would say things to me like, would, you know, I'm the kid. Yeah. And I'd be like, you know, I've... God, I have to tell the story. Yes.
Marcellas:There's a movie called Mahogany that changed my life. Diana Ross plays a model, but she's on the South Side Of Chicago and she wants to be a fashion designer. And she gets discovered by a photographer and he takes her to Rome and she becomes the biggest model in the world. Yes. And I saw that my little gay mind exploded because I was like, Mama, I wanna go to Rome.
Marcellas:Like, I was like, because they shot it on the South Side and I knew... She rode the L train. And I knew that train. I had been on that train and she worked at Marshall Fields and my grandmother would take me to Marshall Fields and we would shop and we would have lunch at the 28th shop. So me seeing it, I was like, This is real.
Marcellas:This is real. I wanna be a model. I wanna live in Rome. I wanna... And so I remember I'm sitting there watching the 03:00 movie on...
Marcellas:The 03:30 movie on ABC, WLS, Channel seven. And I'm sitting there watching the movie with my afternoon snack because my... I come home, my grandmother would make me a snack, I was supposed to be doing my homework, but I'm, like, watching Diana Ross in Mahogany. And when she... When he takes her to Rome, Anthony Perkins takes her to Rome, I'm like, where is Rome?
Marcellas:And I go in the kitchen and I'm like, mama, where is Rome? And my grandmother was like probably cooking because she was in the kitchen when she was washing dishes. And she was like, Little boy, I spent all this money on those encyclopedias. You better go in there and get that R encyclopedia and you come in here and you read me where Rome is so when you find out, I'll find out. And I was like, well, I just asked the question.
Marcellas:She was like, what? And I was like, I'm going to get the encyclopedia. And I remember that so specifically because I was like, Rome is in Italy. Yes. And if you're Italian and if you live in Italy, you're Italian.
Marcellas:And if you're Italian, you speak Italian. And Italian is one of the romance languages. And it just imprinted on me so hard and so heavily. And I ended up going... I didn't go to Rome.
Marcellas:I went to Milan.
Aidan:Oh, well, okay. The Fetchyan capital.
Marcellas:Yes. And I modeled in Milan, and I had my had my mahogany moment.
Aidan:There you go. What is something nobody should ever wear?
Marcellas:There is nothing that you shouldn't wear if it makes you happy.
Aidan:Okay.
Marcellas:I am not one of those people that has these hard and fast rules.
Aidan:Okay.
Marcellas:My big rule for fashion is, especially for women, is the right undergarment. So wear the Spanx. You know, get the bra that fits you the right way so we don't see the straps and we don't see the double, you know, this and that. But wear whatever makes you happy.
Aidan:Heard. What is one thing that Chicago does better than anywhere else?
Marcellas:I'm gonna say the gay answer, then I'll say something specific. Then I'll say something that's not gay. The best looking men in the world live in Chicago. Okay. I live in LA.
Marcellas:I've been a model. I've lived in New York. I've lived in all over the world. People think, Oh, the most beautiful people in the world come to LA. They're all short.
Marcellas:Just the most random guy walking down the street in Chicago, not trying to be well dressed, not trying to give you a look, not trying to give you the right jean, not trying to do the best looking, most handsome guys in the world live in Chicago. Okay. They really do. Like, I'm always like this in Chicago. I'm like, my god.
Marcellas:You know, like. Marcellas, what
Aidan:are you still hungry for?
Marcellas:I don't know that I'm hungry for anything. Well, now I'm hungry for money. The thing that's really eluded me, I've always made money easily, but I've always spent money. I've always Even easier? Even easel even easier.
Marcellas:And so I really need to at this stage in the game, I really need to understand the power and importance of money and actually give it the weight that it deserves. So I need to make money. And I need to stop spending money on $1,200 shoes and stupid stuff like that and $10,000 watches. Maybe thought that I was going to be more famous than I actually became. I actually thought I was going to be legitimately famous.
Marcellas:I really believed that, and it didn't happen. But I'm happy with what I got. I didn't compromise my morals. I didn't compromise myself on that journey. No casting couch for me.
Aidan:There you go. No casting couch for you. I love it. I want to jump into what is your Chicago?
Marcellas:Oh, God. My Chicago is South Shore, where I grew up. My Chicago is Garrett's Popcorn. It's Lawrence Fisheries. It's this weird fast food restaurant called Doc's, which does this sandwich called a fish wish.
Marcellas:It's Ralph Lauren, the RL restaurant. Big Chicks.
Aidan:Okay.
Marcellas:On the North Side, this weird gay bar. It's, it's Ecrom, the clothing store.
Aidan:Okay.
Marcellas:It's Blake, the clothing store. It's Space five nineteen, the clothing store, because I've known those guys since my shelter days. My Chicago is the lakefront. My Chicago is Oak Street. My Chicago is standing in front of the building that used to be Barney's screaming, Why?
Marcellas:We live in a world where Barney's doesn't exist anymore, specifically the Barney's in Chicago, because it was one of the best ones in the world. My Chicago is all the neighborhoods I've lived in and going back through them and looking at what those buildings look like now. I do that a lot. My Chicago is West Randolph and how that neighborhood has changed and all the memories I had that are attached to that when I lived there in the mid-90s. Yeah.
Aidan:Alright. Is there one place that everyone visiting Chicago absolutely has to experience?
Marcellas:I think everyone who comes to Chicago has to go to the art institute. I am such a museum boy. There was a universe where I was a volunteer at the Field Museum because I thought that's where I was going to meet my husband. My friend, McKeebo, we were both models, we volunteered at the Field Museum because we were cute. We thought that rich guys were going to
Aidan:be hanging out at the Field Museum. Of
Marcellas:all places. Buying dinosaurs. Because, I know, But it was the Field Museum gave really good parties. And the riches of the rich people in Chicago to those parties. And sometimes the models, there would even be fashion parties, like Marshall Fields gave parties for certain designers.
Marcellas:And if you were a model, you got to go to the party. And so that's where you saw these rich, you know, I don't want to name drop, but these rich, everybody went to these parties. So Makiba and I were like, Oh, this will get us invited to the parties if we volunteer one or two And days a we volunteered at the Field Museum. And it was so much fun. It was also horrible, but it was fun.
Marcellas:But when you were a volunteer at one museum, you got to go to all the museums for free. And so I started really spending hours at the Art Institute. And Chicago just has some beautiful museums. The Field Museum is beautiful. The DuSable Museum of African American History is beautiful.
Marcellas:The MCA is beautiful. It's one of my favorite museums in the world. What's the museum that's in Hyde Park? The Museum of Science and Industry is beautiful and incredible. So Chicago has a museum culture that rivals New York.
Aidan:Yeah. Now we're going to jump to our very last segment, which we lovingly refer to as our tasting menu.
Marcellas:Okay.
Aidan:It's a set of, six questions that all have a bit of a hospitality lens, and we ask them to every single guest on the show. Fabulous. So starting with our amuse bouche, what is the smallest gesture of hospitality that's had the largest impact on you?
Marcellas:You have to give somebody something free when they sit at the table. So whether it's an amuse bouche, or whether it's a cocktail, or whether it's free dessert at the end, it makes that whole experience feel a little more special. It makes you feel like you were a part of something. That you were valued for more than your money.
Aidan:For our appetizer, what dish, drink, or moment first made you fall in love with the hospitality industry?
Marcellas:Little black gay boy from the South Side Of Chicago was forced by Michael Kornick at Marche to eat escargot. And I was like, I am not doing that. And Michael was like, You are doing this. And I had escargot for the first time and that he made me. And it was the most beautiful, incredible, delicious thing ever.
Marcellas:And I sold it like it was my job at MK. I would be like, Have you ever had escargot? It's amazing. And so, it was Michael Kornit's escargot at Marche. I love that.
Aidan:For our entree, what is the hardest part of the work that guests never get to see?
Marcellas:The side work when you are a Yes. I have this crazy story. Tom I can't remember Tom's name, but he was the manager at Marche. He had this crazy staff of all these big personalities, and we had to do side work. You had to roll 50 rolls before and after your shift.
Marcellas:And Tom tells this story all the time. Mindy used to have Mindy Siegel used to have a podcast called Hot Chocolate or something. She interviewed me and Tom, and Tom was talking about what it was like to manage Marcellas Reynolds. And one day I was like sitting there and I was mad as hell because I was doing side work and I hated doing side work. And I guess I turned, he was like, you know, I was mad.
Marcellas:And he said something to me. And I looked at him in the middle of a role, I was like, one day I'm gonna be famous, and I'm not gonna have to roll a fucking thing again. And he lives in LA and he lives in Out. He lives in like Orange County. Yes, and we're still friends and he remembers that story and tells that story all the time.
Marcellas:And if he I was, I believed in myself. Was right.
Aidan:I was right. I've never had to do a roll up ever again since. That's awesome. For our palate cleanser, tell me about a time that spontaneity led to something unforgettable.
Marcellas:Another Marche story. I had to work to get nights at Marche, you had to work at least one lunch. Okay. But you could give your lunch away. Okay.
Marcellas:And I would give my lunches away all the time. Sure. And Michael and Corinne figured it out and they were like, You are going to work lunches.
Aidan:You're going to do it.
Marcellas:And I had to work my penance lunch and I had an attitude. I walked up to this table. It was the first table of the night, the day, the lunch. And it was a table of three women. And there's that thing in hospitality where you're like, women don't eat.
Marcellas:They don't tip. They're not going to drink. And I was like, damn it. And I walked up to this table, and I wasn't my normal saucy self. I walked up to the table, and I was like, hi, Marcellas.
Marcellas:Welcome to Marseille. I wasn't like, what are we celebrating today? I was just like, kind of whatever. And one of the women looked up at me and she was like, you're very attractive. You should be a model.
Marcellas:And I was like, girl, have the salmon. Like literally, the asshole like thing of a lifetime. Because I was like, you are not I have to say I am not here for this. I have to work this lunch. I am not in the mood and I would never do something like that.
Marcellas:Michael would have fired me on the spot if he heard me do that. And I'll never, like I was like, but it was real. It was like literally how I was feeling. Was like, girl have the salmon, this is special. Was like, and they started laughing.
Marcellas:It was these three women started laughing. And then one of the women was like, she introduced all the women at the table and she's like, If Mary Bonsha tells you you should be a model, you should be a model. And she's like, I'm Marie Anderson and this is so and so, and that woman owned an agency in St. Louis, and they all gave me their cards, and they were like, Call us. We're gonna make you a model.
Marcellas:If I hadn't worked that lunch, if I hadn't told them to have the salmon, if I hadn't been that saucy and that spicy and that silly and that irreverent and that mad about nothing, at least I had a job. You know what I mean? I would have so that sauci ness that spontaneity, that truth.
Aidan:That truth.
Marcellas:Have the damn salmon. I was like, Girl, have the salmon. Like, don't come... I'm here for your hitting on me today. Like, yes, I'm cute.
Aidan:Moving on to our dessert. What does good taste mean to you?
Marcellas:Good taste to me, actually, at the end of the day, all day, every day, is being kind to others. Giving others the space to feel seen and important. Yes. And being kind to someone. And I live by that.
Marcellas:My friends hate me. Like, literally, I'm the one that's talking to the busboys. I can't stop myself from talking to people just walking down the street. I'm like, oh, my God. I love your outfit.
Marcellas:Yeah. And my like, to go to a restaurant with me, to get me to sit at the table, my friends are like, Can we just come in and sit at the table? No. I'm talking to the busboy. I'm talking to the bartender.
Marcellas:I'm talking to the host. I'm da da da da da. But by the time I've left, I've made a relationship with that person so that if I ever need a reservation at 08:00, that's just my life. That's just who I am. I want everybody to feel seen and happy.
Marcellas:And if I can make you happy by being nice to you, telling you you look great, telling you I like your shirt, telling you, you know, I love your aura, then I'm going to do that. That's good taste to me.
Aidan:And then for our very last one, as our digestif, if you could leave our listeners with one lesson from your journey, what would it be?
Marcellas:Especially for right now where we're at in this political climate and in this universe where it feels like we're going backwards, being kind to other people is still important. It's still the victory. Even though you may not feel that people are being kind to you, that does not mean that you can't still be kind to others. And I think that kindness is at the core of hospitality. And kindness should be at the core of us all living on this planet together.
Aidan:Yeah.
Marcellas:Be kind to each other.
Aidan:Thank you. Thank you. This has been amazing.
Marcellas:I love you. You're beautiful. I love you. You're beautiful. You're all
Aidan:done. I'm Aiden Descaret. And this is
Marcellas:Marcellas Reynolds.
Aidan:This has been All In Good Taste.