The meez Podcast

Hosted by Josh Sharkey

Business Entrepreneurship Arts Food

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Episodes

156

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Josh Sharkey (Entrepreneur, professional chef, and founder/CEO of meez, the culinaryOS for food professionals) interviews world class entrepreneurs in the food space that are shifting the paradigm of how we innovate and operate in our industry.

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September 8, 2026Episode 14735 min

Janello On Red Sauce Joints, Chicken Parm, And What Makes Them Last

#146 Josh sits down with Jason Anello, better known as Janello, at Da Nico on Mulberry Street in Manhattan's Little Italy. Janello is an experience strategist on a mission to bring back dinnertime. That inspired him to create The Red Sauce Map and the Forking Tasty supper club so others can experience dinnertime through his Italian-American lense. They trace how Italian immigration and New World abundance turned scarcity cooking into stacked, saucy, unmistakably American plates, and why chicken parm has no Parmesan in it at all. Janello defines what actually qualifies a restaurant as a red sauce joint, from the antipasto and the tiramisu to the photos on the wall and the bottle of cheap Chianti, and runs down his top chicken parms and lasagnas across the country. The conversation moves through fresh versus dried pasta, the ricotta dishes he can live without, and a segment called In Memory Of, where the two of them eulogize the neighborhood spots that have closed. From there it turns to the new generation of chefs reinterpreting the genre, what Carbone understood about theater and hospitality, and the three reasons Janello thinks these restaurants really close. It is a warm, opinionated look at a category of restaurant that is equal parts food, memory, and cultural preservation. Links and resources 📌 Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/ Red Sauce Map: https://www.theredsaucemap.com Follow Janello on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forkingtasty Follow Janello on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janello/ Timestamps 02:07 The History Of Red Sauce Joints In America 04:23 How Janello Defines A Red Sauce Joint 06:49 The Chicken Parm Origin Story 1 1:16 Janello's Top Five Chicken Parms In The Country 13:03 What Makes A Great Chicken Parm 14:45 Lasagna, Manicotti, And The Ricotta Debate 20:50 The Checklist Every Red Sauce Joint Should Meet 22:45 In Memory Of: The Closed Joints He Misses Most 25:51 Old School Versus The New Red Sauce Joint 33:50 The Three Reasons Red Sauce Joints Close

September 1, 2026Episode 14558 min

Rocco DiSpirito talks technique, content creation, and the path of the modern chef

#145 Josh sits down with chef, restaurateur, author, and television pioneer Rocco DiSpirito for a wide-ranging conversation about how dramatically the path of a chef has changed. Recorded at Bar Rocco, the episode begins with Josh realizing that Rocco actually judged a cooking competition he entered 25 years ago, before the two revisit their shared connection to legendary chef Gray Kunz. Rocco traces his own path from earning 50 cents an hour at a Queens pizzeria to culinary school, Europe, Lespinasse, Union Pacific, television, health and wellness, and eventually back into restaurants. Along the way, they unpack what young cooks once had to endure to gain access to culinary knowledge and whether today's chefs really need the same years of repetition and classical training now that so much information is instantly available online. Rocco and Josh also get into the realities of building a sustainable career as a chef, from why great food alone may no longer be enough to why Rocco's former business partner taught him to balance "perfecting" with "promoting." They discuss social media, chef IP, restaurant ownership, licensing and management deals, and why Rocco believes younger chefs shouldn't become overly protective of a name or trademark. Rocco shares how triathlon training transformed his approach to health and led to nine health and wellness books, names some of the cookbooks that shaped him, and gets deep into the technique behind cooking with black truffles. The conversation closes with what's ahead: more Bar Rocco, a new book blending recipes and stories, his work with CookUnity, and, above all, a desire to keep cooking. Links and resources 📌 Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/ Follow Rocco on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rocco-dispirito-27125916/ Follow Rocco on Instagram: @roccodispirito Visit Rocco DiSpirito: https://www.roccodispirito.com/ Visit Bar Rocco: https://www.barroccony.com/ Timestamps 00:00 Reconnecting 25 years after Josh first met Rocco 06:42 Rocco's early career, culinary school, and Gray Kunz 14:11 How a Queens pizzeria changed Rocco's life 18:02 Why the traditional path to becoming a chef has changed 23:42 Training cooks when fundamentals are no longer assumed 27:26 Why chefs need media to build sustainable careers 37:46 Protecting chef IP and rethinking restaurant ownership 41:45 How health and triathlons transformed Rocco's cooking 49:52 The cookbooks that shaped Rocco as a chef 53:17 Black truffles, flavor, and the value of hands-on experience

August 25, 2026Episode 243 min

Revisiting Epic Conversations: Wylie Dufresne of Stretch Pizza, Du's Donuts, Alder, and wd~50 (Part 2)

We’re revisiting Part Two of Josh’s conversation with legendary chef Wylie Dufresne, continuing their fireside chat from the annual meez team summit at the Tarrytown Estates outside New York City. After exploring the story and philosophy behind wd~50 in Part One, Wylie tackles some not-so-quick-fire questions, shares the unexpected inspiration behind Stretch Pizza, and takes questions from the audience. Chef Wylie reveals how stumbling upon a Breville pizza oven during the pandemic sparked an obsession with pizza-making. His desire to understand every lever and variable behind the perfect dough became a source of stimulation and happiness during a difficult period and ultimately helped inspire the opening of Stretch Pizza. The conversation also explores the difference between copying a recipe and truly mastering a craft. Wylie explains why great cooking comes from years of practice and repetition, the importance of seeking honest feedback, and learning to recognize when a dish is truly balanced. It’s a thoughtful continuation of Part One and a look at how curiosity keeps chefs and creators learning, experimenting, and pushing their work forward. Links and resources 📌 Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/ Follow Wylie on X: https://x.com/wyliedufresne Follow Wylie on Instagram: @wyliedufresne Timestamps: (2:13) Lightning round (7:15) Why American cheese is so good (11:37) Funny moments at wd~50 (18:00) Du’s Donuts flavor hits and misses (19:16) Why pizza saved Wylie (24:35) How to identify talent (26:37) When it’s time to stop iterating (28:17) Is imitation really the greatest form of flattery (31:00 ) What wd~50 was all about (32:50) When to take a pause on ideation (35:41) Innovating on equipment and ingredients

August 25, 2026Episode 158 min

Revisiting Epic Conversations: Wylie Dufresne of Stretch Pizza, Du's Donuts, Alder and wd~50 (Part 1)

We’re revisiting one of the standout conversations from the meez Podcast archive. In this episode, Josh sits down with legendary chef Wylie Dufresne for a conversation on creativity, leadership, and the tension between making great art and building a sustainable business. It’s a conversation that remains just as relevant today, and one well worth bringing back for another listen. Chef Wylie Dufresne joins host Josh Sharkey for a fireside chat at the Tarrytown Estates outside New York City for the annual meez team summit. Chef Dufresne is a true pioneer and craftsman in the culinary world, having won James Beard Awards and Michelin stars, and his restaurant, wd~50, was voted one of the 50 best in the world. In this interview, Chef Wylie discusses his struggles with balancing art and commerce. He reflects that he did not regret choosing art over commerce but wishes he had worked more thoughtfully at finding a better balance. As the conversation continues, Chef Wylie touches on the importance of timing in business. He discusses how he created a new paradigm of cooking when he opened wd~50 and how he developed a culture of creativity there, emphasizing how creativity cannot be taught, but it can be planned for and hunted for. Dufresne's goal for wd~50 was to create a place where anyone interested in learning about cooking could continue to do so. With this philosophy, Dufresne created a restaurant that not only pushed culinary boundaries but also fostered a culture of learning and curiosity. Links and resources 📌 Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/ Follow Wylie on X: https://x.com/wyliedufresne Follow Wylie on Instagram: @wyliedufresne Timestamps: (02:06) Chef Wylie’s background (12:12) The intersection between art and commerce (15:14) The importance of timing in business (23:29) The origins of innovation (26:02) When to filter ideas and establish boundaries (28:18) The iconic wd~50 eggs benedict (29:39) When to stop iterating (39:29) Baker’s percent versus standard percent (44:23) Learning when to not buck and system (49:35) How to maintain high standards among your team (55:06) Picking the right people

August 18, 2026Episode 361 hr 1 min

Revisiting Epic Conversations: John Karangis - Executive Chef, VP of Culinary Innovation Shake Shack

Revisiting Viral meez Episodes — we're bringing back one of the most-listened-to conversations in meez Podcast history. This episode originally aired October 31, 2023. Have you ever wondered who is behind all of the new and exciting flavors at Shake Shack ? Meet John Karangis , Executive Chef and VP of Culinary Innovation, leading R&D, menu development, and chef collaborations for the brand. John's culinary journey kicked off in the nineties at Union Square Cafe, winding through Paris and San Francisco, before settling back in New York City at Gramercy Tavern. A detour into the corporate kitchen of Goldman Sachs honed his skills in delivering top-notch restaurant-style food in unconventional settings. Prior to Shake Shack, John spent seven years at the helm of Danny Meyer's Union Square Events, fine-tuning his ability to execute high-quality food on a large scale. In this episode, join CEO Josh Sharkey and John as they discuss the intricacies of R&D and innovation at Shake Shack. Discover the secrets behind producing restaurant-quality fare on a grand scale, and get a glimpse into John's passion for endurance training. Links and resources 📌 Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/ Follow John Karangis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-karangis-470379a3/ Follow John on Instagram: @john_Karangis Timestamps 02:11 John's culinary background 06:48 Endurance training 13:12 How endurance training relates to working as a chef 17:41 R&D for Shake Shack 25:07 R&D Customer feedback 29:36 Shake Shake chef collaborations 33:50 When dishes don't make it past testing 42:36 Union Square Events and producing food at a large scale 46:31 How to create high quality food at a large scale 54:36 Working with Delta and seasoning food at high elevation 57:18)Advice on how to start on a fitness journey

August 11, 2026Episode 14459 min

Kenny Warner on How AI Models Really Work, Why Clean Data Wins, and the Future of Restaurant AI

#144 Josh and Mike sit down with Kenny Warner, VP of Data Science and Engineering at meez, for a conversation that starts with Kenny's unlikely path into tech leaving college after his sophomore year to launch a cause-marketing startup and winds up deep inside the machinery of modern AI. Kenny breaks down what actually happens when a language model reads your data, explaining tokens, embeddings, attention, and inference in plain terms, and why you can't simply point a chatbot at a hundred-million-row database and expect good answers. He and Josh dig into the real difference between building a model and fine-tuning one, why clean and trusted data is the true competitive advantage, and how smaller, purpose-built models can beat the giants at specific jobs. They also get into where this is all heading for restaurants, from turning recipes, costs, and margins into something a system can reason about to the rise of MCP and agentic tooling, with a detour through Nobu, a Miami chef tour, and a few fun facts along the way. It's a rare, jargon-free look under the hood of AI from someone who builds it every day. Links and resources 📌 Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/ Follow Kenny Warner on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennywarner/ Visit Blanket: https://www.blanket.app/ Follow Michael on Instagram: @michaeljacober Timestamps 08:04 Kenny's Path From College To Startup Founder 12:01 Raising Capital And Hitting Hard Times 15:01 Building A Model Versus Fine-Tuning One 16:11 What Tokens And Embeddings Really Are 18:45 How Attention Works In Language Models 26:01 Why Clean, Trusted Data Wins 29:05 The Case For Smaller, Purpose-Built Models 41:03 How AI Reads A Hundred Million Rows 43:21 MCP And The Rise Of Agentic Tools 50:01 What All This Means For Restaurants

August 4, 2026Episode 14356 min

From Dishwasher to Restaurant Empire: Cameron Mitchell on Loyalty and Culture

#143 Josh sits down with Cameron Mitchell, founder and CEO of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, to explore the leadership philosophy behind one of the country's most respected independent restaurant groups. Cameron shares the remarkable journey from high school dropout and dishwasher to building more than 100 restaurants, reflecting on the goals he set at 18 years old that ultimately shaped his entire career. Together they discuss why culture always outweighs strategy, the importance of promoting from within, and how creating opportunity not just jobs has helped his company retain leaders for decades. The conversation dives into Cameron's approach to goal setting, accountability, leadership retreats, and maintaining values through economic downturns, rapid growth, and even the sale of part of his business. He explains why restaurants succeed or fail based on people rather than concepts, why family and work must thrive together, and how his commitment to long-term relationships has become the foundation of both his business and his life. It's an insightful conversation about entrepreneurship, resilience, hospitality, and what it really takes to build a company that lasts. Links and resources 📌 Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/ Visit Cameron Mitchell Restaurants: https://cameronmitchell.com Follow Cameron Mitchell Restaurants on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cmrcolumbus Follow Cameron Mitchell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camsaysyes Learn more about Cameron Mitchell's book Yes Is the Answer. What Is the Question?: https://cameronmitchell.com/book/ Timestamps 03:54 Scaling From One To Ten Restaurants In The Nineties 07:01 From Dishwasher To Restaurateur 14:14 Opening The First Restaurant Against The Odds 18:59 Where The Drive Came From 29:19 Making The Hard Decisions Vision Demands 36:18 Fear Of Failure Versus Fortitude 42:02 Reputation, Trust, And Accountability 49:10 Retreats That Invigorate The Team 55:19 A Sous Chef, A Disney Trip, And Generosity 1:04:38 Selling The Company And Protecting The Culture

July 28, 2026Episode 1421 hr 3 min

Drew Nieporent on Nobu, Tribeca Grill, and the Art of the Restaurateur

# 142 Josh sits down with Drew Nieporent, one of the most influential restaurateurs in American dining and the man behind Montrachet, Tribeca Grill, Nobu, Corton, and Bâtard. Over four decades he opened 40 restaurants and has partnered with some of the world's best chefs, from David Bouley to Paul Liebrandt to Marcus Glocker. Recorded at Nobu Downtown, the conversation centers around Drew's belief that the restaurateur is the director, and the chef, the wine, the service, and the room are the cast. His new memoir "I'm Not Trying to Be Difficult" traces the whole arc. Drew digs into the complicated relationship between a restaurateur and the chefs he builds alongside, why he refused to name a restaurant after a chef ("if it fails, you can never use your name again"), and what actually keeps a restaurant alive for decades: affordable rent, replicable quality, a comfortable room, and gentle prices. He breaks down naming Nobu over Matsuhisa, pruning the menu to a core that has barely changed in 32 years, and how a teenage job at McDonald's led to the Daily Burger at Madison Square Garden, 2,000 a game. There are detours through Danny Meyer, Keith McNally, Robert De Niro, and Muhammad Ali, and it closes on the hard truth of his own metaphor: they can make a movie about your life, but the director never gets to walk up and take the award Links and resources 📌 Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/ Follow Myriad Restaurant Group in LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/myriad-restaurant-group/ Visit Myriad Restaurant Group: https://www.myriadrestaurantgroup.com Follow Drew on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drewnieporent Timestamps 02:49 The Kitchen In The Window 06:49 The Restaurateur As Director 07:54 Growing Up In 1960s New York 12:52 Danny Meyer And The Rise Of Shake Shack 14:51 Losing Chefs: Boulud, Liebrandt, And Corton 24:30 What Makes A Restaurant Last 39:15 Signature Dishes And Naming Nobu 43:28 The Daily Burger At Madison Square Garden 51:56 Coppola, De Niro, And A Life Around Film 57:44 What He's Most Proud Of

July 21, 2026Episode 1411 hr 7 min

Maddy Shannon on 'the Anticipate and deliver' approach, the price of a restaurant meal, and the Ai paradigm

#141 Josh sits down with Maddy Shannon, Head of Product Strategy at SpotOn, who has spent her career making independent restaurants more profitable. From a start at Bain, to the business team at The Alinea Group under Nick Kokonas, to the finances at SingleThread Farms in Healdsburg, to a Stanford MBA and now leading SpotOn's reporting, Profit AI, and analytics teams, Maddy sits at the rare intersection of hospitality and product. The conversation keeps circling one idea: great hospitality and great product design solve the same problem. Both anticipate what someone needs before they ask, and both disappear when they work. She calls it the invisibility problem, and it reframes everything from how a point of sale should feel to why diners undervalue what a restaurant gives them. The two dig into what a restaurant meal is really worth, and why pricing a plate off the cost of the prawns misses the wine glass that gets refilled and the person clearing your crumbs. Maddy floats David Nayfeld's idea of billing a meal the way a plumber does, materials, labor, total, so guests see what they are paying for. From there it turns to leadership, where she sets Nick Kokonas's clarity of vision against Kyle Connaughton's prove me right approach at SingleThread, and Josh on unlearning twenty years of knowing every station when he moved into tech. On AI, they land on the line that anchors the back half: data is plentiful, attention is scarce. Both agree the real unlock is not another dashboard but software that tells an operator what to do, the way a doctor diagnoses rather than asking where it hurts. It closes on mastery, the donabe rice pot Maddy treasures, and the tension that restaurant economics rarely leave a chef room to master one thing. Her parting advice: next time you sit down to eat, take a beat, look around, and do not look at the prices so closely. Links and resources 📌 Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/ Visit SpotOn: https://www.spoton.com Follow Maddy Shannon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddyshannon Timestamps 03:29 From a Bain Offer to a Life in Restaurants 13:37 Scaling Impact From Fine Dining to SpotOn 17:38 Jobs to Be Done and Building Profit AI 20:40 Why the Best Hospitality Is Invisible 27:56 Why Guests Undervalue Restaurants 34:58 Rethinking How Restaurants Price the Experience 38:39 Leadership and the Nightly Grind of the Kitchen 48:32 Journaling, Therapy, and Building a Second Brain 59:46 Data Is Plentiful, Attention Is Scarce 1:06:29 Mastery, Craft, and Going Against the Grain

July 14, 2026Episode 1401 hr 15 min

Deirdre Auld On Leading With Curiosity, Not Fixing

#140 Josh sits down with Deirdre Auld, CEO and partner of Coda Restaurant Group in Boston, whose portfolio includes SRV, Baleia, Gufo, The Salty Pig, and the soon-to-open Celine. Deirdre traces her circuitous path into hospitality leadership, from an early love of architecture and a stint in private equity to years running restaurants and eventually stepping away to earn a master's degree and a leadership coaching certification from Northwestern. She and Josh dig into the coaching philosophy she's built her career around: assuming people are whole and complete, leading with curiosity instead of trying to fix, and helping leaders ask better questions rather than hand out answers. The conversation moves through Dierde's approach to running one-on-ones and leadership meetings at Coda, her mental models for hiring, firing and performance improvement plans, and where she sees restaurant technology and AI heading over the next several years. Deirdre is candid about both the promise and the risk of leaning on AI as a thought partner, why she still believes human connection is the ohardest thing to replace in hospitality, and what it took to build a leadership culture that can absorb constant change. It's a wide-ranging, thoughtful conversation about leadership, mentorship, and what it really takes to develop people well. Links and resources 📌 Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/ Visit Coda Restaurant Group: https://www.codarestaurantgroup.com/ Follow Deirdre Auld on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deirdre-auld-b40666162 Follow Deirdre Auld on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deirdreauld/ Timestamps 01:19 From architecture and private equity into restaurant leadership 08:59 The story behind naming a restaurant Celine 15:11 Growing up in Raleigh and moving to Chicago for school 18:17 Finding her way back into restaurants after stepping away 20:54 Choosing to go back to school for a master's and a coaching certification 29:54 Building a coaching product for restaurant leaders 35:01 Where coaching ends and therapy begins 44:18 Using AI as a thought partner without losing critical thinking 50:07 Skill thinning, governance, and the hollowing out of middle management 59:43 One-on-ones, team structure, and weekly rhythms at Coda 1:06:30 Do performance improvement plans actually work 1:12:00 Closing thoughts and an invitation to visit Coda's restaurants