Episode 94: Chef Johnny Spero of Reverie and Bar Spero

Being a successful chef is so much more than being a great cook, and once you find yourself in that position, your attention is constantly being pulled away from the kitchen to handle business matters, HR, food costs, scheduling, etc. etc. So with all of these demands, how do you still maintain your creativity, your energy to lead, and your positive state of mind? Well, unsurprisingly, there is no easy answer, but in just a few minutes, you’re going to hear from chef and owner Johnny Spero, of Reverie and Bar Spero in Washington DC, who in ’22 saw his restaurant reduced to ashes and who is someone who strives to be a great chef, a great husband, and a great father, but as you hear, it is a delicate and ever-evolving task. Do you struggle with similar challenges? Well, if you do, pull up a seat at the table and give this one a listen.

Here’s some of what was discussed:

• His recent trip to Kyoto to cook with Jacob Kear at Lurra
• Eating at the Noma residency in Kyoto
• Johnny’s introduction to the industry  
• The lessons he learned when becoming a chef too early in his career
• Accolades are no longer about ego as much as they’re about making sure your business is healthy and busy
• Working at incredible restaurants such as Komi, Minibar, Noma, Mugaritz
• What he had to do to stage at Noma while being broke
• The different evolutions of Reverie and what to expect when 2.0 opens
• Why having your cooks run food to the tables can be so impactful to the diner
• His recollection after getting a call that his restaurant was on fire
• All the different restaurants and places he’s been cooking at as he awaits Reverie to reopen
• Bar Spero is inspired by “The food you want to eat on your day off”, but through a Spanish lense
• Why he had to quit drinking and how he did it

A huge shout out to our sponsors, Maxwell McKenney and Singer Equipment, for their unwavering support, which allows us to be able to bring these conversations to you. Check out their websites for all the amazing equipment they can supply your restaurant with to make your team more efficient and successful.

Welcome to our newest sponsor, Meez, which is one of the most powerful tools you can have as a cook and chef that allows you to have a free repository for all of your recipes, techniques and methods so that you never lose them. Besides that, it does way more, so check them out and make sure you use the discount code that you’ll here in the podcast to upload 25 free recipes to the platform.

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Email Eli with any comments, concerns, criticisms, guest requests or any other ideas or thoughts you might have about the show. [email protected]