- 1 day ago
Chef Bert Bonnarens, a Belgian-trained chef who cooked in Michelin-starred kitchens, now leads culinary development for Wild Thyme Restaurant Group. At Shorebird, Wild Thyme’s flagship brand, he blends global technique with fresh, market-driven cooking.
Watch now to learn about his Michelin-trained beginnings, the lessons he carried across continents, and why guests follow him to the dock for fresh-caught seafood.
Sponsored by:
• TOAST - All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc
Watch now to learn about his Michelin-trained beginnings, the lessons he carried across continents, and why guests follow him to the dock for fresh-caught seafood.
Sponsored by:
• TOAST - All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc
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NewsTranscript
00:00Tell me about your experience moving to San Diego.
00:03I had some friends that actually lived here that I met before I moved to the United States and they loved it.
00:07And I never really heard a bad thing about San Diego.
00:10San Diego.
00:14Drink it in.
00:15It always goes down smooth.
00:17I'm loving San Diego. This place is off the Chisang.
00:20Welcome to Restaurant Influencers presented by Entrepreneur.
00:30I'm your host, Sean Walchef.
00:31This is a Cali BBQ Media production in life, in the restaurant business, in the new creator economy.
00:38We learn through lessons and stories.
00:41We are filming today at Shorebird San Diego on the San Diego Bay in Seaport Village,
00:47overlooking the Coronado Bridge.
00:50It's one of the most beautiful restaurants that I've ever sat in.
00:53I grew up in San Diego and I had no idea a restaurant could be this magical.
00:58Thank you, Chef Bert, for your hospitality.
01:01Thanks for having me.
01:01And welcome to the show.
01:02Thank you so much, guys.
01:03Well, I think you're having us.
01:04So thank you.
01:05Thank you for having us.
01:06Thanks for coming by and thanks for having me on the podcast, of course.
01:08Can you share high-level about your restaurant group?
01:14So Wildtime, like I said, is started by Heinrich.
01:18So Heinrich is South African.
01:19It's not a very big corporation.
01:21It's one owner.
01:22And so we kind of still run it as a family business, of course.
01:25Very tight connection with him and my boss, Jay.
01:28So he's our culinary director.
01:31My job here is I'm a corporate chef.
01:33So I oversee the new openings of the Shorebirds.
01:36And then I stick around to make sure everything goes well.
01:38And I check in with the other guys to make sure they're all doing well.
01:41So that's kind of my position.
01:44As Wildtime, as a restaurant group, we have a few different main brands.
01:47So our flagship for sure is Shorebird.
01:49It's our biggest and most outstanding brand, I would say.
01:53We do a little bit of everything, too.
01:54So we have our Mexican restaurant called Mole.
01:57We've got two locations on that one in Palm Desert and in Sedona.
02:01We've got five locations now on the Shorebird.
02:04We also do a really nice thing.
02:06It's Jaybird's hot chicken.
02:08So it's a really good Nashville hot chicken.
02:13And you should for sure go and try it out.
02:15We will try it.
02:15The closest one we'll hear will be Huntington Beach.
02:18Okay.
02:18So just so you guys know.
02:20And then we also do very nice events.
02:22We've got a big Formula One event coming up.
02:25So we will be catering the event and the, how do you call that, where they watch the race at the Lara Hotel.
02:33And that's what's keeping me busy right now, aside from the restaurant.
02:36That's amazing.
02:37Can you share a story about how did you find this position?
02:43I was kind of rolled into it without looking for it.
02:46So, like I said, I met Heinrich back in Mexico.
02:50I was working in Cabos.
02:53I was running Cocina del Tor, which is a really nice fine dining restaurant out there.
02:57I was doing that together with Sidney Skutter, who's a Michelin star chef from the Netherlands in Amsterdam.
03:02And like everybody, when the pandemic hit, everything kind of changed.
03:06And I was looking for a change, too.
03:08And that's where Heinrich came in.
03:10I was telling him I was looking for something else that I might not see them again as regulars.
03:14And he convinced me to come to the United States.
03:17And then, long story short, now we're here.
03:20When, I understand you grew up in Denmark.
03:23In Belgium.
03:24In Belgium.
03:25Yes.
03:25When did you fall in love with food?
03:30As soon as I remember.
03:31I was always, I'd love to eat.
03:33That was the first step.
03:34I was always hungry.
03:36Yes.
03:37And I just started by helping my grandmother and my mother cook.
03:41Very soon, I would just start cooking for myself, for my family.
03:46And I pretty early knew I wanted to be a chef.
03:49And then, like, as life goes on, I kind of got on, like, the back of my head.
03:54And I just went to, like, the first years of high school.
03:59And I was like, I'm not a sit-down guy.
04:02And, like, I don't listen to the rules very well.
04:04So, I found out about this culinary school on the other side of Belgium.
04:07Belgium is very small.
04:08So, for us, it's far away.
04:11And they do six years of culinary school through all of high school, actually.
04:15Oh, wow.
04:16It's very hardcore.
04:18Like, they train you like the military.
04:20Don't walk like that.
04:21Don't do this.
04:21Wow.
04:21But it's very essential if you want to be a chef.
04:26It's probably one of the best educations you can get.
04:29They start off in the first two years with kind of orientation, where you get bakery lessons, butchery lessons.
04:36And then they call it hotel classes, which is everything between cooking, serving, and management.
04:41And then after the first two years, you make a choice.
04:44You want to be baker, butcher, or you go into the hotel business, what they call it.
04:48And then you've got to learn to serve and to cook.
04:50So, you can't really pick a side.
04:52You've got to learn the whole package.
04:53Front of the house, back of the house.
04:54And the beautiful thing that comes with it is we got really nice internships at the end of the last two years, of those six years.
05:01If you do very well, they will send you to, like, the best restaurants in Europe.
05:05So, it kind of kickstarts you right away.
05:08Where did they send you?
05:10Excuse me?
05:10Where did they send you?
05:12So, one of my first internships was the Fox in Knokke, Belgium, on the seaside.
05:18So, seafood restaurant, too.
05:20Very long legacy, a little bit older chef.
05:23So, when I did my internship, I think he had two stars for about 10 years.
05:27Wow.
05:28Interesting internships.
05:29You get molded into what they want you to be, of course.
05:33Yes.
05:33And then, something very beautiful that I loved, that my last internship was actually with Gert van Ecke in Bruges.
05:40So, if you're familiar with Belgium, you know Bruges.
05:43It's the Venice of Northern Europe.
05:45Okay.
05:45Beautiful Canel City with the bridges.
05:48And he's like the codfather of Belgian cuisine.
05:53He revolutionized the Belgian culinary scene.
05:58He was the first to have those three Michelin stars for that long.
06:02He had 30 years of Michelin stars and 20 years of three stars.
06:06Wow.
06:07Which is a marathon run.
06:09Yeah.
06:09You see a lot of chefs who get to that point, but they don't take it for 20 years.
06:13And he was just like Chef Gusteau from Ratatouille.
06:18You know, that old, plumpy chef.
06:20And just the best mentor I've ever had, for sure.
06:23Tell me a story about something you learned working with him.
06:28There's so many things I got to pick from, of course.
06:30But I think for mostly composure, what he really wanted to see is like that you got all the basics down.
06:38That you don't come in there.
06:40And like he doesn't mind if you make a mistake, if it's something new or hard you're learning.
06:44But if you would mess up something very easy, that was kind of where he would be.
06:49And that was kind of his baseline.
06:50Like get your own basics done.
06:53Like learn whatever you can yourself.
06:56It's like not that much in a way, but like put in your own effort.
07:01Everything else he could teach you.
07:03And like I said, the composure, be focused, come in the way you would like yourself to come in.
07:10Don't go too crazy at night.
07:12You know, like put in the effort and they will put in the effort in you.
07:15That was kind of his philosophy, let's call it that.
07:19How many different countries have you worked in?
07:21Let me count real quick.
07:23So I started in Belgium, of course.
07:25I worked in the Netherlands, then Mexico and the United States.
07:29So four is that.
07:31And what have you learned with all these different diverse cuisines?
07:36I think a very lucky one is to have Belgium.
07:39And because Belgium is pretty much overlapping with French cuisine.
07:43So that's a very strong basic.
07:45Yeah.
07:45Basic at least.
07:48Netherlands adds in a little touch of innovation.
07:50They're a little bit less orthodox as we call it.
07:53They like to switch out a little bit of things more, especially Chef Sidney is a creator.
07:58Like he'll invent things on the spot and that was probably the best part of that experience.
08:03He'll combine things that you would think like what's going on here.
08:07Good example of that.
08:08We had a little appetizer that was an oyster leaf.
08:12Smoked herring, which is a very typical Dutch thing.
08:14And then we would pair that with marzipan, like European style marzipan, which sweet and smoked herring, stuff like that was lovely.
08:23And then coming down to Mexico is just this whole new world that opens up, right?
08:29Especially being from Europe, we're not as familiar with Mexican cuisine or at least Latin cuisine as we are here in Southern California.
08:37So it's just like this whole new world of ingredients, flavors and stuff that opens up.
08:41And then to be able to combine all those three, four locations together, which is very symbolic for United States too, right?
08:48It's the whole world coming together and making kind of the best version of everything.
08:52I mean, that's the best way I can put that together.
08:56Bring me into the differences in operations from the business side of being.
09:01You studied in school and they teach you the culinary arts, but then there's also the business side of keeping a restaurant open, keeping guests happy.
09:10What have you learned over the years?
09:13For young chefs that are rolling into a management position, just take it.
09:19Don't tell them you don't know it yet and learn as you go.
09:23Everything that's management orders, you can learn that as you go.
09:30You'll make some mistakes along the way, but I would say don't be afraid of doing that and write things down.
09:38I was always like, I got everything in the back of my head.
09:40It's not true.
09:41So just structure yourself in a way, even if it's a little notebook or you make a spreadsheet and just check yourself and your people, of course.
09:53That's first, but also check yourself if you didn't forget anything.
09:56And then it won't always be smooth, right?
10:01But it will be successful in my opinion.
10:03Did you know that Toast powers over 140,000 restaurants across the United States, Canada and UK?
10:10It's an incredible company.
10:12I'm on the Toast customer advisory board.
10:14They are proud sponsors of this show, Restaurant Influencers.
10:17We couldn't do it without their support.
10:19They power our barbecue restaurants in San Diego.
10:21So if you have questions about Toast, if you're thinking about bringing Toast on to be your primary technology partner at your restaurants, please reach out to me.
10:30I'm happy to get a local Toast representative to take care of you.
10:34You can reach me at Sean P. Welchef on Instagram.
10:37Once again, thank you to Toast for believing in the power of technology, the power of storytelling, the power of hospitality.
10:44Back to the show.
10:46What have you learned about technology, like technology that you guys use at wild time to run the kitchen?
10:51To become efficient?
10:54It's very central.
10:58You need it if you want to be as successful as possible.
11:01I'm not saying it's impossible without, but you're leaving a lot of things on the table if you wouldn't use it.
11:07If you go, for example, what we talked about today, the kickfin.
11:11It's smooth.
11:12It makes everybody happy because they get their money quicker, faster, in a better way.
11:16And it takes a lot of time away, a lot of head worries and people coming back and complaining.
11:22So it opens up more time for you, less stress.
11:26For platforms like reservations, the more people you can get in, the better.
11:30Yes.
11:30Like I said, I did a few openings for this company.
11:34The busier restaurant it is, the easier it is to manage in a way.
11:40Because you can just fully staff, make sure you have all the people.
11:44And exponentially, you have more people to do more like the same jobs, of course.
11:49The quantities are bigger, but the amount of jobs stay the same.
11:52So that's where you bring in the technology to make a restaurant more visible in this technology.
11:58And we call it the digital world, of course.
12:02Get more people and get more revenue that will keep the restaurant afloat, keep your bosses happy.
12:07And make it a little bit easier on yourself.
12:10Which platforms are you guys using for reservations?
12:12For reservations, we mostly use OpenTable and Yelp, because they're very integrated into their reservation and their reviews.
12:21And then for big groups, we tend to use Triple Seat.
12:24They help you guys out a lot by the contracting and making up of the BEOs of bigger groups.
12:32We do a good amount of groups up here.
12:35We have a little bit less possibilities.
12:37And in other locations, as you see, the restaurant is not too big.
12:40But we kind of go by renting out parts of the restaurant.
12:45And that's where Triple Seat comes in and makes that a lot easier.
12:50Also, with OpenTable and Triple Seat, they give you the options to already advise on the people.
12:55Like, what are the options?
12:57Like, you can rent out this part or we have this culinary experience.
13:01Talking about experience, we always have, like, a seasonal culinary experience where we make a little seasonal menu and you can make special reservations.
13:11We make sure, you know, we got everything ready.
13:15And then locally, what we just started is really interesting.
13:18Every Saturday, we get right here in front of the restaurant.
13:21You got the local fish market.
13:22So, it's smaller fisheries.
13:25Yes.
13:25We're mostly just owners with one boat.
13:28Sell directly to the people.
13:30So, instead of going through the distributors and then to the restaurants, you can just come up here and buy straight up the boat.
13:36Amazing.
13:37And if you're on time, which is kind of before 8 o'clock, you can literally see them pull it off the boat.
13:41Wow.
13:42Put it on there and just sell it right away.
13:44So, what we wanted to do is, for us, it's a very nice experience to take some guests to the fish market.
13:52Oh, wow.
13:53I kind of go carte blanche.
13:55I just make sure I've got some garnish in the back, some sauces, some curries ready.
14:00And I either buy something I like that I see or I ask the people, like, is there anything you like or you haven't tried yet?
14:07And we just take it back.
14:09I show how to cut it up, how to fillet it or how to prepare it.
14:12Really?
14:12And we eat it right away.
14:13It's kind of like a one-hour to one-hour, 30-minute experience.
14:16That's amazing.
14:17Yeah.
14:18It's really fun.
14:19More people need to know about that.
14:20That's incredible.
14:20It's brand new.
14:21We only did it twice so far.
14:22I try to do it every other week and there's no events.
14:26What an incredible experience.
14:28Yeah.
14:28It's really fun.
14:29We try to keep it, like, intimate.
14:31Yeah.
14:32Intimate 10 to 15 people mostly.
14:34And it's not too pre-tube.
14:36Like I said, I don't plan it too much.
14:39I see if the people have any input.
14:40And we just kind of freestyle it as we go.
14:44Yeah.
14:44Really nice.
14:45How did you guys come up with the...
14:46I mean, obviously, it's right here.
14:48It's literally like we're sitting here podcasting and I can see the pier.
14:53Yeah.
14:53Which is where all the boats come fresh.
14:56Exactly.
14:57So when we were coming in here, when we were setting up, we saw the fish market, of course.
15:01We were like, we've got to do something.
15:02Yeah.
15:03We also use them for a catch of the day.
15:05Yeah.
15:06So last time we did a spiny lobster season just kicked off in Southern California.
15:11For all the restaurant owners out there, it's going to be a good season as restaurant owners
15:15because the prices are probably going to stay a little bit lower.
15:18Great.
15:18Because China doesn't want to buy any of it.
15:20Normally, they buy 70 to 90% of all the spiny lobster this year.
15:23They don't want to have it.
15:25So for us, maybe not as good for the fishermen, but for the restauranteurs, the prices are
15:28going to stay a little bit lower.
15:31So we just got a few lobsters with the people that came in for the visit.
15:36I showed them how to make it.
15:37There was a lady there that never had seafood before.
15:39She used to be vegetarian all her life.
15:41So she started out with a spiny lobster.
15:44What a great start, right?
15:47Yeah.
15:48It's only downhill from then.
15:50How did they book?
15:51They go on your website?
15:52Open Table.
15:52Open Table.
15:53Open Table.
15:53It's an experience.
15:55It will show up as one of the experiences.
15:56Yeah.
15:57Wow.
15:57That's such a cool thing.
15:59Exactly.
16:01Speaking of telling a story, that's a phenomenal story.
16:03But how do you approach menu design when it comes to menu design, menu engineering, the recipes?
16:10How do you want to tell a story with all the different things that you guys feature here at Shoreward?
16:15I think the Shoreward menu is a really nice reflection of what the owner likes and what me and Jay like too.
16:23It also reflects a little bit of the rest of the restaurant group.
16:26Yeah.
16:27As we will see, for example, a rock shrimp we have on the menu came from another restaurant called Kai, which is a Japanese restaurant we have in Huntington Beach.
16:34It was really popular and it was really popular and we were like, this would fit in a Shoreward.
16:39Rock shrimp, a little bit of Asian touches, a little bit of spicy mayo with the sesame oil.
16:44We got a Yuzu aioli, but it's not too out of place for a Shoreward.
16:47So we got that kind of reflecting in there.
16:50We have our Jaybird sandwich on the menu too for lunch.
16:53So it's kind of this mix of what we like, what we do in other places and where we really work with low quality and that's different from every location is our catch of the day or our specials.
17:05We give our local chefs kind of the freedom of do whatever you like as long as the price makes sense.
17:12Yeah.
17:12It's special, like it's not what we already have on the menu and it has to make sense.
17:20Like, for example, we use fish from the fish market for a catch of the day.
17:24So that's kind of the three points where we let them go and jump off and do whatever they like.
17:29But we also try to, with our main menu, we kind of want to be the same over the board.
17:34So we want you to be able to go to Shoreward in Sedona and get at least 90% of the same menu.
17:40So you can, oh, there's a Shoreward, I love their menu, I'm going to go there.
17:44So we kind of try to stay on brand for most of the locations and I would say that 10% is where we play around with it.
17:52Tell me about your experience moving to San Diego.
17:55What have you learned?
17:56What did you expect?
17:58What did you hear about?
17:59And then what have you actually learned?
18:01I had some friends that actually lived here that I met before I moved to the United States and they loved it.
18:07So I knew it was good.
18:09And I never really heard a bad thing about San Diego.
18:11Not as, not much.
18:14So I was really looking forward to it and I kind of fell in love with it right away.
18:19Like I said, I moved around a lot and right now I'm like, I might stay here.
18:23Like, I might tell them we're done moving.
18:24But I love going to the beach.
18:28There's plenty of that around here.
18:31And I used to work in Mexico.
18:34My wife's Mexican.
18:34So we love being really close to the border.
18:37The Mexican culture is very strong represented too.
18:41And I think structure-wise it's a very beautiful city too.
18:45I live right next to Balboa Park.
18:46So I just walk out of my door straight to the park.
18:49Forget about everything else for a couple of days.
18:52You know, it's just great.
18:54And culturally, there's a lot of things going on here too.
18:57Amazing restaurants here.
18:59You got everything going on here.
19:01Little Italy has great restaurants.
19:04Tell us about the rejuvenation of Seaport Village.
19:06It's something that, you know, obviously there's a lot of construction going on.
19:10But they're bringing a lot of incredible brands like Shorebird and others in to revitalize this area.
19:15Yeah, I think they did a really good job on sourcing their tenants.
19:18Yeah.
19:19First of all, we came in with a good choice.
19:22Reach out to you.
19:22Yeah.
19:23We got that donut shop just opened up.
19:26They do a really great job.
19:28Let's see what happens next door where the Edgewater Grill used to be.
19:31They're doing a beautiful reconstruction too.
19:33I think they're really good picking out who's going to come in.
19:36Yeah.
19:37And it's starting to look very good.
19:40We were the first ones to kind of the bigger reconstructions to finish up.
19:45We're very happy with it.
19:46I think it took very long.
19:48The old building, if people are familiar with the Pier Cafe, I needed a refresh.
19:54I got a really big facelift.
19:56A really big facelift.
19:57It took us some time too.
19:59But we were happy that we're finally here and they did a beautiful job with the restaurant.
20:03What do you think you do?
20:04You're part of all the new restaurant openings for Wild Time.
20:07What do you think are the most important things for a restaurant tour that's listening to this that you've learned over the years of getting ready for that opening?
20:15That same organization, of course, opening up a new brand, which we also did in Sedona with the Stagecoach, is, I would say, way harder.
20:26Yeah.
20:27Because you're going off zero.
20:29So you're just figuring it out.
20:30We are lucky with Shorebird that we have a few locations.
20:34So we know exactly what we want and are strong with those openings.
20:38We bring two or three executive chefs from the Shorebird locations and we split up all the training.
20:44So he'll take care of the grill guys, the saute guys, and we'll bring one of the sushi chefs out.
20:51And the training is number one, I would say.
20:55Just making sure that everybody knows where everything's at and how to make the menu.
21:00So when it gets busy, because openings are always a run over, they know where to go, what to grab and how to do it.
21:07And then we keep that team, that core team around for about three weeks at least.
21:12Just so it's not like your train, hands off.
21:15Now, good luck.
21:16Now we kind of like step by step, take a step back and let them go and see if they make it or not.
21:23Yeah.
21:24And then I think it would be nice if you could see that at some point when we put in the equipment, we put everything right in this place and we write already on the hotel pants like chives go in here.
21:38This is where the cauliflower goes.
21:40This is the salmon.
21:40And we put everything in place already, which helps you to catch all the missing equipment because you always make 20 different equipment when you open up a place.
21:48It's just that, like I said before, that organization of just writing things down, checking yourself and making sure everything's in place.
21:58And like I said, we have the luxury of being able to copy paste and that helps a lot.
22:03So we have a fortunate that, you know, this podcast and Entrepreneur Magazine, we've reached over 71 million people since we started the show.
22:11We believe deeply in storytelling and hospitality and the opportunity for restaurants.
22:15No matter where you are on earth, there are incredible opportunities, as you are a perfect example that no matter where you are on earth, you can find yourself with an incredible opportunity with a restaurant group.
22:28What have you learned now that you're a new dad?
22:35That full gas is not always the fastest way to get there.
22:40I think that's a really good one.
22:42Yeah.
22:42Yeah, I was always, like, putting as much in my...
22:48Burning the candle on both ends?
22:50Yeah, just like, no, I got to do this, I got to do this.
22:53And my wife was always like, when are you going to be free?
22:56And that was...
22:57When are you going to be present?
22:58Yeah.
22:59And that was, that was negotiable, right?
23:01That's negotiable.
23:02And I would take care of her too.
23:04But then when that kid comes in, like, you can plan things with your wife.
23:09A kid, it's a whole different, like, they, they're like, it's now, it's not tomorrow.
23:12So that kind of made me not take a step back, but just reorganize myself in a way of making a new priority, of course, and not giving up on work.
23:23And like I said, taking a step back, I'm a very hands-on chef, maybe a little bit micromanaging, as I call it.
23:31So I kind of learned to be like, my guys know what they're doing.
23:35Yeah.
23:35So I'm going to let them know what they're doing.
23:37I'll give a little bit of room for mistakes.
23:40They make a mistake, we'll figure it out.
23:43And not to be, not too present is maybe not the right word, but to like balance it out for me to keep the quality here, but also give my life the quality to take care of my kids.
23:53But it's been, yeah, one of the most beautiful experiences, I think, becoming a dad.
24:00It's the best.
24:01And it's the best thing ever.
24:02I got a little son, it's a straight copy of me.
24:04It's the best thing ever.
24:06And like I said, when we were opening, I just brought them in.
24:10Yeah.
24:10Just put them in a chair with my wife.
24:12You don't do a little bit of work, go say hi.
24:14Of course.
24:14Like I said, we live really close by, so my wife just pops in when it's not too busy.
24:19So I took my break with them.
24:21It's just finding a good balance, of course.
24:23I'm lucky.
24:24Like I said, we're not.
24:24It's a crazy corporation, so they don't mind if my wife just comes by and visits.
24:30So, yeah.
24:31That's great.
24:32If I went to go talk to your team and I asked them, what does Chef Bert, what does he care about?
24:37What does he value?
24:38What would they tell me?
24:40I think they would say that their own responsibility.
24:45Like I said, I try to give them enough freedom to where they like coming to work.
24:51Yes.
24:52That goes all the way for making a joke or doing a little chat in between them.
24:57As long as it doesn't compromise the quality of the work or labor time, whatever.
25:04As it doesn't negatively affect the restaurant, I want to give them as much freedom as possible.
25:10So, but if they go outside of those boundaries, I think they would say I'm very stern.
25:16It's like, yeah, I don't know.
25:17That's fantastic.
25:18Like keep it within the boundaries so he doesn't move the boundary.
25:23Yeah.
25:23Well, if you guys are watching this or listening to this, we're looking for the best restauranteurs, the best chefs, the best storytellers, wherever they are on the globe.
25:33We have big plans for 2026 for this restaurant influencer show, and we can't do it without you.
25:38So thank you for subscribing to the podcast.
25:40Thank you for sharing.
25:41Please come and visit Chef Bert and try out that phenomenal Saturday.
25:46I mean, what an incredible.
25:47I hope that happens every Saturday.
25:48I mean, that's what a cool experience to be able to spend time with the chef and pick, like literally go to the fish market and pick what you want to eat.
25:58And we don't rush it.
25:59We like sometimes the guy who started, all his name is Pete.
26:02Yeah.
26:03He's a veteran of the fishing fisherman over here.
26:07He did a little bit of fighting with his city to get this possible.
26:09I love it.
26:10So when we bump into him, he'll tell his name.
26:12Pete.
26:13Pete.
26:13Yeah.
26:13So he will talk about how this got together, why they do it.
26:18They also all do sustainable fishing.
26:20So it's not like the big pulling nets.
26:22They will do long line fishing.
26:23And it's all local.
26:25They don't go out too much.
26:26So it's like 60, 70 miles at most out of the shore.
26:30So it's a beautiful story.
26:31It's a nice experience.
26:33And it's just fun.
26:35It's intimate.
26:35Well, we will put links into the show notes for everything that Shorebird is doing, everything Wildtime is doing.
26:42Thank you to Nico, CEO of the restaurant group.
26:45He was so kind to invite us to the opening and have us here today.
26:49And thank you for the hospitality.
26:50My pleasure.
26:52Anything that you want to leave us with?
26:54Any words of advice to the chef or restaurateur?
26:59As food specific?
27:00Just advice that you have, that you've learned.
27:05Let me think first.
27:10Yeah, just never, don't get stuck on yourself.
27:15Keep working and learning and exploring.
27:18And for me as a chef, it comes a lot from small hobbies.
27:22I'll get a, I'll spend a lot of money on equipment.
27:24I don't use too much.
27:26But like find little hobbies.
27:29And that have to do with the kitchen.
27:31And I will just keep giving you, yeah, give you new inputs to my new hobby is dried meats now.
27:38So I'm making biltongs at home.
27:40Amazing.
27:40Going to go into sausages and just things that.
27:44Do you have an Instagram?
27:46Yes, I do.
27:46All right.
27:46What is it?
27:47It's just bourbon audience.
27:49Okay.
27:50And you post on it?
27:51Not that much.
27:52I should.
27:52Come on.
27:52I should.
27:53It's a storytelling podcast.
27:55I got to make one.
27:55We're going to include a link to your personal.
27:57I'm going to make one to showcase all of it.
28:00Let's do it.
28:01And if you guys want to reach out to me, it's at Sean P. Walchef.
28:05Instagram's the fastest.
28:06I'm posting stories there all day.
28:08But LinkedIn, any of the platforms.
28:10I'm weirdly available.
28:11We want to hear your story.
28:13Please reach out to us.
28:14And as always, stay curious, get involved.
28:16Don't be afraid to ask for help.
28:17We'll catch you guys next episode.
28:19Thank you, Sean.
28:20Thanks, man.
28:25Thank you for listening.
28:26If you've made it this long, you are part of the community.
28:29You're part of the tribe.
28:30We can't do this alone.
28:31We started.
28:32No one was listening.
28:32Now we have a community of digital hospitality leaders all over the globe.
28:37Please check out our new series called Restaurant Technology Substack.
28:41It's a Substack newsletter.
28:42It's free.
28:43It's some of our deep work on the best technology for restaurants.
28:47Also, go to YouTube and subscribe to Cali BBQ Media.
28:51Cali BBQ Media on YouTube.
28:52We've been putting out a lot of new original content.
28:55Hopefully, you guys like that content.
28:57If you want to work with us, go to BeTheShow.media.
29:00We show up all over the United States, some international countries.
29:03We would love to work with you and your growing brand on digital storytelling.
29:07You can reach out to me anytime at Sean P. Welchef on Instagram.
29:11I'm weirdly available.
29:12Stay curious.
29:13Get involved.
29:14Don't be afraid to ask for help.
29:15We'll catch you next episode.
29:16We'll catch you next time.
29:32Take care.
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