This month's cover marks the 20th year of MIYAVI being a force in the music industry. Known as the Samurai Guitarist, he brings a message of passion and peace to those he plays for whether they're the fans that attend his shows or the refugees that he performs for as a Global Ambassador of the UNHCR where he gives his time to the camps when they are seeking relief from the crisis around him. He also talks about his 14th studio album, MIYAVIVERSE which covers anime songs. MIYAVI is also an actor who has done voiceover work in an Emmy nominated anime show, Arcane: League of Legends as well as appearing in movies with Angelina Jolie in Maleficent 2 as well as Unbroken that she directed. We talk about his need to stay creative, collaborating with brands and continuing to challenge himself.
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you realize that you wanted to be a musician?
MIYAVI: When I lost my dream to be a professional soccer player when I was 14 years old. I was on a youth team of a profession al soccer team in Osaka on the west side of Japan. Every single day, I was going to the soccer field and I got injured and then I lost my dream. The thing is I really really wanted to be a professional player, but at the same time, the practicing was really competitive to be on the team. I actually got tired of it because it was tough for me being a 14 year old boy to keep going to the field which was pretty far from my hometown. It was like a 90 minute train ride and that was really tough for me ev ery single day. I was the captain of the local team for a very long time, but when I started going to the professional team, I lost my friends as well because I was not in the group anymore. I was the only one going to the professional team as well.
To me, it was really stressful and then it was really shocking to me that tmoment that I stopped going to that professional team, I was really relieved! It was really weird because soccer was my motivation and my passion every day that I was playing. But the moment that that happened,
I was relieved not to play soccer be cause it was so stressful for me. That was the moment that I quit soccer and again, when you lose your dream, you lose yourself as well and you lose that shine so I was hanging out with my friends and I was doing bad things and then I got the guitar and I thought, “oh this might be it!” It might take me someplace else and I wanted to get out of my hometown anyway. This thing might be the one that takes me out. Now, I’m traveling the world and talking to you!
AM: Exactly and that’s quite a story. How do you define the MIYAVI sound?
M: People call me the Samurai Guitar ist and I’m honored to be called a Sa murai! Samurai is such an important word for Japanese people. It’s such a big determination and it’s a really really big deal. For me, instead of katana, the Japanese sword, I play the guitar and I make people dance. I feel good that I can spread that positive message. As an artist which I am always trying to pursue the edgy style, but at the same time, I’m also a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR which is The United Nations Refugee Agency. So it’s about positiv ity and the moment that you feel the future, it’s really really crucial!
So yeah, it’s kind of like a guitar rock, dance kind of music. At the same time, to me, it’s about the attitude and how you enjoy my show is really really important. After people get back home, I want them to feel energized and mo tivated. Of course, I want you to have fun, we’ll have fun always – but I want to create something that people can feel and that it’s the future and is productive. It’s not just about being enter taining.
AM: How do you get inspired in terms of approaching creating your music?
M: You know, I like to watch movies or
sometimes be in a movie. When I play a role in a film, I learn from that character and I want to be able to absorb and take it into my body. That’s also an inspiration al source, to me. Again, I can learn things from my kids as well. As a parent, it’s kind of a learning process as well. Again, at the refugee camps, to witness those cruel devastating situations and the paths that those people had to go through – this is also a huge inspiration. I can’t look away from that fact and our generation is fac ing this crisis. So that’s not quite an inspi ration it’s –
AM: It’s more of a driving force.
M: Yes, it’s more of a driving force. It’s a reason why I keep moving forward. It’s re ally really responsible.
AM: You’re so talented and from the music standpoint as a songwriter, producer, you play instruments – what’s your favorite part of working on a song?
M: To be honest, the most important thing is to put the message or the lyrics as a core part. The most fun part is just playing the guitar without thinking about anything. You just go free, that’s the fun part. That’s what I can do on stage once I’m done. Giving birth is the most hardest part, the most painful experience as we all know – the ladies. They give birth and it’s painful, but it’s also worth it for the real happiness. So doing what I do, it doesn’t actually hurt like that, but at the same time, when you’re making a song, it’s a really really tough process. But then again, it’s worth it. But playing the guitar, that’s the fun part!
AM: When you’re collaborating with other artists, what are you looking for when you’re deciding that you want to partner with them?
M: Just chemistry always! I know my world and I know how to maintain and to remain in my sound. I know my style and I know that it works. When I work with somebody else, I want to see new dimen
sions and to also feel that chemistry and to have a new me. Something that I nev er experienced or that I never thought to even try. That’s kind of a benefit and that’s the same with life. You don’t know what’s going to happen tomor row. Sometimes it doesn’t go as well as you expected, but that’s life. That kind of encountering a new part of myself in that way is nice.
AM: Earlier this year, you partnered with K-Pop superstar Kang Daniel with Hush Hush which also became a theme song for the Korean drama show Rookie Cops on Disney+ and you also collaborated with him again. What did you love about working on these projects with him?
M: Again, K-Pop is a global and phenom enal movement. I’m half Japanese and half Korean and I do respect the effort and the creative force that is there. Kang Daniel is a rising star and as an Asian, I do respect him. Again, it’s a totally different style and it does seem like he is building his own style right now. So it’s really really interesting to be part of the creation that we make together and then we see the shift as well. His style is really different from mine and it’s not like it’s a middle ground – it’s more like a 3rd or new destination! You can only find that with your collaborator. That’s why I said, a new me or a new world or a new dimension. I love his dedication for the creation and he’s so humble. It’s great to feel that different wave in the younger generation.
AM: You’ve been in the industry for over 20 years and you’re currently in a 19 city, 20 show tour here in North America. What does it mean to you to reach this achievement and to look back on all of the work that you have done?
M: I’m never satisfied and that’s the rea son why I keep on doing this. I’ve done pretty much all of these different things not only in musi,c but acting, the fashion thing, humanitarian work, so it’s such a pleasure to be able to explore the many
worlds and to encounter new people and I’m learning every single time. It might have been easier if I just focused on a music career or an acting career or a fashion career, but again there is also that chem istry when I take on a challenge of doing something different every time. I feel that chemistry and then I learn from it. Then I can be a new me and I can be stronger and I do just appreciate everyone that I have worked with and also the fans that are supporting me the whole time even if I changed my music style – not just cos tumes, but the music itself – the groove. Then doing acting and the fashion thing so I really really appreciate their support.
AM: So what can you tell me about your 14th studio album that is coming out?
M: That’s a cover album and I am covering anime songs. It’s a really really interesting path and also a process because those tracks are made by somebody else and they’re really popular ones like the song for Evangelion or song for City Hunter, the song for Naruto. At the same time as an artist, I’m really confident to make any song into MIYAVI’s world which is why we named this album, MIYAVIVERSE. That’s my world and that’s the sound that MIYA VI and the team creates. Every song has a great melody and there is a chemistry, there is a totally different sound in pro duction and form. We’re kind of making a new style. It’s a really exciting project.
AM: In addition to your music career and you have also said this as we’ve been talking, you’re the face of a number of brands such as Gucci and you’ve been with Dell and McLaren. What does that mean to you to be able to crossover like that?
M: You know, it’s a new discovery of my self and then it’s such a pleasure to work with those top top brands that are trend setting and leading their industries. It’s great to see what happens when I dive into those different worlds. I’m not a car geek or a car lover, but the attitude that McLaren and MIYAVI have really resonates. I’m not just making music for a
business and they’re not just making a car for a business, we’re making histo ry and we’re making a different thing. It might be easier to make some kind of a good pop stuff and there might be an easier path to become famous, but for it’s not. It’s about being more integrat ed. We would not be able to be satisfied with the answer. With Dell as well. The creativity that technology brings – they are expanding that as well. The honor to be part of it and to just explore together is great.
AM: In terms of your acting, you have a number of credits that you’re getting out there. You were cast in Angelina Jo lie’s Unbroken and you worked with her again in Maleficent 2. What was it like to be in those projects?
M: It’s fun. Again, the music when it comes to the process, it’s all about me. I say it sounds like this, it should be like that, I am the producer. So I am doing the producing, the acting and the play ing myself. But the movie, as an actor, there is a bigger part of it especially when the role is not that big. It’s a tiny part of it. But, it’s still you’re part of it. You’re performing and whatever you do in that work, it’s going to affect the entire creation – it’s teamwork a team achievement. To be able to work with those top top people from Disney or Pixar those people are the real deal! It’s really creative and more free. They are enjoying the flow and they are making something new in the flow. It‘s really fun!
AM: You’ve done voice overs for Arcane: League of Legends which won an Emmy recently for Outstanding Animated Series. Why did you want to be part of this show?
M: Why not?
AM: Love that!
M: Yeah! Why not? When I got the offer, I heard that Sting was on board, Imag-
ine Dragons was on board. You know, those top artists were there and then the creation itself was really really great – a high level and a big passion. I was work ing with Christian Linke the Executive Producer. He’s like Steve Jobs like – he has the characters, the world, passion and even the music as well. It was simply a pleasure and honor to be part of it and then the music and also doing the voice acting for a little bit for a little role. That was such a surprise and that kind of flexibility and spontaneous kind of decision is the fun part of creation you know. You can change your creation drastically in the last minute. That’s all on you so it’s all about the passion and the clear vision. He had a clear vision and I was so happy to be part of it.
AM: Throughout this interview, you have been talking about your humanitarian work and working with the United Na tions. Can you tell us more about what you are doing?
M: So my humanitarian work as an ambassador for UNHCR, is life work and it’s re ally volunteering. It’s not something that I get paid to do. Every single time I go to the refugee camps, I feel purified well as it is a special process to me. Anything that you can do for the future, global warming, animals, human rights – anything. But for me, I met Angelina Jolie – Angie, she’s the one that inspired me and opened the door and who met me. I was really surprised and amazed at how much she dedicates for this crisis and as an artist, I wanted to be able to do something if I could. I went to the refugee camp in Leb anon for the first time right after the Syria crisis exploded. It started around 2011ish but around 2014/2015, the refugees in creased rapidly and I was really scared. I didn’t know what to do as an artist and still, I can’t play the guitar to people that just escaped from their countries because imagine the situation of it being do or die, you can’t enjoy the music at that moment. But still, after that first emergency phase, we call that Developmental or Sustainable Phase – people need to feel that dignity of
a human being. We are not just living here, we are living here and standing on our own feet. That’s what everyone needs to feel and especially at the ref ugee camps, that set of circumstances is really hard to feel that way. Then art and culture like music and sports, can do many things to connect people and to make them feel alive. That’s my role as an ambassador. The thing about ref ugees is that you feel like a dark, seri ous burden – it's a serious issue. But at the same time, those people are like us! They used to be a professional musician, they used to be a writer, they used to be a politician. So my mission as an ambas sador is to bring those kinds of bright sides of people and positivity. So we feel that we are the same and it could happen to us. When you think about a cri sis that could happen like another war – I don’t even want to say, but you have that conflict that happens and it could happen to us if the place you are living in is so no longer safe. It’s really really important to me to keep doing this so that I can realize that I can redefine my mission of the reason why I keep moving forward. I keep creating and this is really really important now.
AM: Honestly, the way that you explained that this person who is a refugee had a life where they were a doctor or the fact that they had a life that they were part of. I think that that really puts a different type of life on it as opposed to saying this group of people had this devastating series of circumstances. It does give back the humanity and compassion to see it in that light.
M: Some of them used to be a doctor. Some of them used to be a professor.
AM: What do you want your legacy to be as an artist, as an actor, a humanitarian and as a father?
M: That’s a big question – the ultimate question. It’s interesting. It makes me rethink about the shift in me as an artist. I wanted to play the guitar when I
was younger, but I'm not playing the guitar because I want to play the gui tar now, I’m playing because I want to play music. That’s why I’m playing the guitar – I want to spread my message. It’s why I make music and then I play the guitar. I need to spread the message to help make this world better somehow. I want to dedicate myself somehow and that’s why I play music. That’s why I play the guitar. It used to be like – I want to be a legend playing the guitar. I do play it and it’s my thing and I will never quit playing the guitar. I’m not going to be come obsessed by being a guitarist. It’s a tool to deliver my message to the audience. So, I don’t know about the an swer to your question because for me, anything is fine. That’s why I am an actor and modeling as well because as long as you can just spread the message and the idea of peace, I think that that’s it!
@miyavi_ishihara
PHOTOGRAPHY
We love epic sci-fi shows and we were able to get screeners on Prime Video's The Peripheral which takes us on a journey between moments in time and the impact on how changes affect our humanity and it is out now. We talked with some of the cast and filmmakers of this show to dig into how this project came together.
We wanted to know how the actors approached acting and navigating these worlds that we are introduced to as we go between different time periods. They also talked about what they want the takeaway to be for viewers. JJ Feild, T'Nia Miller and Gary Carr talk about what it was to be part of this cast and a realistic look into a future that gives us pause on who we want to be.
We talked with filmmakers, Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy and Vincenzo Natali who we have enjoyed in Westworld as well as other projects. They talk about how they worked with William Gibson's book to create the immersive show.
ATHLEISURE MAG: We’re so excited to talk to you as we watched all 6 of the screeners from this 8 episode series and we can’t wait to see the remaining episodes! We’re fans of your work. What drew you guys to want to be part of this project and to tack le the themes that are involved?
JJ FEILD: Well, they are layered on and they are not 2 dimensional. They represent these huge power struggles maybe villainous, maybe they are trying to save the world, but underneath, they’re just humans and they are trying to find order in all of this chaos.
T’NIA MILLER: Yeah and they’re challenging roles, aren’t they? I mean, the writing is intense and it doesn’t appear so when you watch it. But to get those roles, you ask yourself, how do I bring these ele ments to the surface because there are these huge weighted parts. On a personal level as an actor, it's a great challenge!
LISA JOY: Well, Vincenzo, the director, which I have been a fan of and have idol
ized his work as I had the chance to work with him in Westworld brought me this book by his buddy, Bill Gibson! So, if you’re a fan girl like me and someone says, “my buddy is Bill Gibson,” it’s like Sir William Gibson is that who you are talking about? Vincenzo was like, “I don’t know maybe you would like to work on this with us.” I was like yes, of course.
I didn’t even need to read it, there was Vincenzo and Gibson and then I read it and I was so blown away as I always am by Gibson’s keen understanding of the future which is now basically the present of our world, but I also wanted it in a way that not a lot of science fiction makes me feel, it really took me back to when I was a girl growing up in NJ. You know, the idea of, “am I ever going to have a boyfriend, what am I going to do with my life and how do I make a difference,” and right now especially in this moment where we’re kind of on the cusp of something. The environment is changing, we’ve just come through this pandemic and I think that so many of us are thinking who am I meant to be? Like, the future seems so overwhelm ing. How am I meant to interact with it? Can I make a difference? Does my life matter? All of these existential ques tions that we’re really having to confront now as society and as individuals much more heavily than we used to. We’ve lived through lucky times before the last couple of years and we’re realizing that now! To see characters like Flynne and Burton and their family and of course Will from the future grappling with these same issues was almost re assuring to me because I liked them so much and they were dealing with this shit too! So maybe there’s hope.
VINCENZO NATALI: I have a long storied history in trying to adapt Gibson’s work and failing. So when this one finally got into the hands of Lisa and Jonathan Nolan, I thought that this might actually come to fruition and of course, it has in the best possible way. I mist say that I
was very keen to see if we could bring Gibson’s vision to the screen in a way that does justice to him and in a way that I don’t think that has been done in the past. Because he really gives a picture of the future that I think is believable. Whether it’s going to be or not, I don’t know but I believe it because it feels very much so rooted in the present and as Lisa was say ing, very much rooted in a perspective of the street. Just regular people and how they would contend with an alternate world. Honestly, there’s a million reasons and one of them is that I just want to build that future. I want to see what it looks like and I want to be part of the conception of it. It was like being a kid in the candy store really!
GARY CARR: I think for me, the first thing was having the opportunity to work with Jonathan, Lisa, Athena – I have been a massive fan of theirs since forever. Jona than in particular as well!
AM: Same!
JONATHAN NOLAN: Thank you! I’m blushing!
GC: That is the case so for me, it was such an honor to be part of this. I was so grate ful for that and I get to sit here and talk about this now. Also the story itself, I loved the novel and it was the first time that I had ever read anything from Wil liam Gibson! I was like, “wow, I’m so late,” this guy is amazing. Then again, with what Scott and the team did with the script, I thought that it was so solid. There were so many highs and so many positive things. There were so many things that I found to be attractive about the project. I also loved the character and I have never played a character like this before. I found it challenging but I was looking forward to that challenge. All of the themes that the series explores - all the topics, I just thought that they were perfect and it's so right to be discussing this right now.
JN: First and foremost, William Gibson. Vincenzo Natali our director, came to us
with the project, came to us with the book and I had grown up reading Gibson’s books and spent years shame lessly ripping off his ideas and putting them into our own movies and shows. So it felt like there was a debt of honor there, but then I read the book and it was brilliant.
It’s also one of his books that is the closest to the bone of William in terms of his childhood in West Virginia. You can feel the reality of that world – of Flynne’s world and then when you step through the looking glass, and you meet Gary’s character and you meet Wilf – you feel the reality of his universe. So the two worlds were both so beautifully textured and lived in that it was impossible to say no.
AM: How did you prepare to play these roles?
JM: It’s all about the page, isn’t it? The book is not very different from the plot, but is very different in its style as the book is abstract and esoteric in its text. But then they turned it – Jonathan, Lisa and Scott into a story where we care about the characters a lot whether they’re in Clanton, NC or London or wherever - we care about them and that’s a great achievement of this series. You take something that can be frightening or cold or futuristic –they’re humans. They’re trying to find their way in that world.
AM: That’s great and the styling of the characters with the power shoulders that yours has T’Nia and the vests that yours wears JJ. Just these little aesthet ics that also have a powerful look to them is another great layer.
TM: Often when you get a script and you have to do a lot of prep, you have to find yourself and it’s generally because it’s not terribly well written. The story might be great, but it's not well writ ten. This is very different from that, it was serving the words on the page and
then also trying to understand the bloody book because it was very confusing! For us, I mean for me, I mean you were confused too right?
JF: Of course! Once you start seeing it, you were like “oh yeah!”
TM: I didn’t understand it we shot it in May of last year and then we did pick ups and I was like, “oh, I get that now!” It was during pick ups where it locked in!
JF: It was like, oh that’s what a stub is!
TM: I kept hearing this word stub, stub, stub. What is stub? Now I get it!
AM: Do you find it difficult to take something that obviously has source material and to make the show its own while still being tethered to the root of the book that it came from?
LJ: I think that one of the things that makes it easier is my respect for Gibson is so true and so deeply rooted that I think that all of ours is. I also think that it is recip rocated. He knows that we really respect his source material and his brilliance. He knows that we really want to make the best show possible, but every time – film, TV – it’s a collaborative media. There’s no one person that owns it. It’s a beautiful thing that it’s made truly by a group of people together you know?
Scott Smith, his writers, the actors bring new angles – there are new characters in this and there are new beats and new moments and at the same time, it feels so Gibsonian and it really tries to honor the brilliant book that he made and I think that honestly and deeply, all of us nerd ing out together in this way and trying to make this universe, it’s been a wonderful collaboration.
VN: I want to mention Scott Smith because he had the very challenging task to adapt the book and it doesn’t adapt di rectly into a narrative format. If Mr. Gibson was adapting it himself, I'm sure he
would change it and I know he would. But he is very open to that kind of thing and I think that Scott cracked the code which is an intensely difficult thing to do and I want to be able to give a pat to him!
AM: We love the story and we love the visual texture that is in it. What do you want people to walk away with in seeing this series?
TM: Obviously we want them to be left with wanting more, but to also take pause and to think about where we’re headed. What kind of world we’re heading to and what it looks like for ourselves and how as a global community we have a responsibility towards each other. I hope that it gives people cause to pause and really think.
JF: I think that great sci-fi writing works as a warning on where we are and where we could be by projecting an image of ourselves into the future. We get to learn and as ourselves, “is this where we want to end up?”
TM: Yes Science Fiction – Science Fact. Let’s not go there. Let’s please not go there!
JN: Several years of Prime Video subscriptions!
AM: Yes, please!
JN: I don’t know Gary, what do you think?
GC: Nothing deep. I just want people to be able to enjoy it. Enjoy what’s being presented to them on all different levels from the themes, the aesthetics and a lot to what Jonathan said, a lot of amaz ing talented people have worked on this project to bring it to life. I think that it’s great high quality work and great TV. I love it and I just want people to enjoy it. Obviously, people are going to have questions about life and the world as well as the future. But I just want peo -
ple
all
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Prime Video/ The
We caught up with Chef Richard Blais who we enjoy seeing him judge on Guy's Grocery Games, seeing him in person emceeing at StarChefs in Brooklyn and Taste of Tennis with the Williams' sisters or when he is mentoring his team for Next Level Chef alongside Gordon Ramsay and Nyesha Arrington! We talked about chili which is perfect for this time of year as we begin to embrace all things fall! He shares his recipe and how he keeps it interesting with unexpected pairings!
We also find out about his projects with his latest restaurants Ember & Rye and Four Flamingos that he opened at Hyatt Hotel properties in Florida and of course getting the scoop on season 2 of Next Level Chef which will premiere immediately following the Super Bowl on Feb 12th!
ATHLEISURE MAG: It’s always great when we have the chance to talk with you. We’ve watched you when we were at Star Chefs and Taste of Tennis with the Williams’ Sisters, enjoyed you on Next Level Chef and it’s always great to catch up with you. What is it about being on Next Level Chef that you wanted to be on that show?
CHEF RICHARD BLAIS: Oh my gosh! I hate to use the pun right off the bat, but it’s been a next level experience! I get to hang out with Nyesha Arrington and Gor don Ramsay, 2 people that I have a tre mendous amount of respect for. I’ve kind of been blessed in my career that I got to stand next to and work with true jugger nauts in our industry so that and the fact that it’s a brand new concept! I think that it is next level and there’s an energy about it that fits my frenetic energy as well. I just literally came off set 2 days ago – we just got done filming season 2 which is going to premiere on Super Bowl night immedi ately following the Super Bowl!
AM: What? I am excited!
CHEF RB: Yes! I was going to say, that I could tell by your reaction that that is a pretty big timeslot to be directly from, “you just won the Super Bowl – what are
you doing," to Next Level Chef! So we're really really excited about the millions of eyeballs that will be on it for sure!
AM: That’s so exciting! I love chili especial ly during this time of year. Who doesn’t? We recently had a chili recipe that is in a cookbook with other chili recipes. So being able to talk about this topic is awesome. I love unexpected pairings and the one we submitted is a Mezcal version. So I want to know, what do you love about chili?
CHEF RB: Oh my gosh! Well first of all, you’re an expert so now I’m a little tak en aback and I didn’t know that you have published chili recipes, but what I really love about chili is 1 – as we’re talking about it and as your recipe show cased, is the versatility when it comes to creativity. 2 – I love one pot meals! As a busy person, as a dad, people are like, “oh you’re a competitive chef.” Everyday people have the real challenge that they come home from work and they have 30 minutes to make a dish. Their kids are coming home and it’s just chaos. Everyone is in this competition world and so I love meals that can be cooked in one pot and it’s pretty easy why. Not to get too technical, when you cook some thing in one pot, all of the flavor stays in that one pot. Most of the world’s great dishes are like that whether it’s a mole from Mexico, a bourguignon from France, a chili from whatever part of the world you’re making it from. I mean really, most of the world’ great cuisine starts with just one pot.
AM: I couldn’t agree more. I live in NY now, but I’m from the Midwest originally and that’s the land of the one pot meals!
CHEF RB: There you go! As a native NYer and someone that people always mis take me from being from the Midwest by the way – I think it’s because I’m nice! I think it’s generally I’m a nice guy. And again, you mentioned the Midwest and again, chili season – the weather. I live in Southern California, but if there is 1 leaf,
it’s fall! If it’s 69˚, the fireplace is on and that sort of cuisine really fits for those mo ments! So yeah, I’m really excited about this chili!
AM: This month is National Chili month and I’m sure that you have a recipe that you want to share with us?
CHEF RB: I do! So you talked about your creative chili with Mezcal. Mine is going to start a little more classic. This is a chili that I make at home a lot. It’s a beef base, it’s a ground beef with beans and corn. And I have to ask you. Are you ok with beans in chili?
AM: Love beans in chili!
CHEF RB: Ok! Usually, you are if you’re not from Texas or you’re a real chili purist. But I like anytime you can get nutrition in there especially if you’re cooking with the family. I love that. So, it’s beef, beans, chili, onions, I do like to cook it down. In this case, I’m going to use some beer which is going to add a depth of flavor. Now listen, it’s not an alcoholic dish, the alcohol burns away. It’s just the flavor of the age if you will. It’s like when you’re cooking with wine and you get that depth of fla vor. I also like to add cocoa powder which is one of my secret ingredients to my chili. My favorite regional chili is Cincinnati chili, have you ever heard of it?
AM: Oh yes, I was a Skyline girl.
CHEF RB: Oh yes, that I was going to say. It’s either Skyline or the other one! I love Cincinnati chili and I love – I mean, we’re vibing so I’m just going to share here. I feel like Cincinnati chili is the most underrated regional food in the US!
AM: FACTS!
CHEF RB: Facts! Exactly! I love – I mean you’re from the Midwest. I love Deep Dish pizza, I love a Philly Cheesesteak, ev ery place has it’s thing. I love Barbecue Shrimp, Po’ Boys. Cincinnati chili, why is it so special? It has cocoa powder in it, it has
cinnamon, it's got cloves - it's got all of these wintery almost fruity spices which makes my chili pair really well with the next step which is a peanut butter sand wich. A peanut butter sandwich com bined with chili!
Now, I’m a chef, you know that! My pea nut butter sandwich, I have to take to the next level – pardon the pun! I grew up not eating crust on my peanut but ter sandwiches. I hope no one comes at me for not wanting crust on my pea nut butter, blame my mom right? We all have memories. I’ve taken my peanut butter sandwich and made it into a ravi olo, a big ravioli and instead of the pas ta dough, it’s just white bread which is soft and fluffy and it’s filled with some creamy peanut butter and that is going to be a garnish for my chili. The rest of the garnishes you’ve probably already seen. I like garnishing on top with some onions, scallions, lots of jalapeños – are you ok with spice?
AM: Our recipe also had jalapeños in it!
CHEF RB: There you go and peanut but ter neutralizes spice and you can make it spicier by adding the peanut butter sandwich next to it. Finish garnishing that out with a little cilantro. When I’m coming up with a flavor combination like this – peanut butter and chili, I look for ingredients that connect the dots. So ci lantro you might see on a chicken satay which is a peanut butter sauce with lime juice and fish sauce. So the ingredients start connecting and then of course, I’m going to garnish with a little more tex ture, I’m using salted chopped peanuts – a lot of texture and then my beautiful, soft adorable –
CHEF RB: Am I allowed to call this adorable?
AM: It’s pretty cute!
CHEF RB: Ok cute works! Cute, but not too cute to eat because you will eat it. And then a little bit of that right on there
which is my version of a peanut butter sandwich chili recipe.
AM: Whether people are adding an unexpected twist to their recipe or they are using a passed down family recipe, how can people take them to the next level in term of general notes?
CHEF RB: Yeah, general notes! I think that the number 1 thing and you get this be cause you already revealed your amazing chili recipe. Have fun in the kitchen and don’t be afraid to make mistakes and I will tell you that some of the inspiration that I have received from being on the sets of these cooking shows where people have to cook in 10-15 minutes, is that inspiration happens sometimes because of improv right?
AM: Right!
CHEF RB: So if you can do this, set the clock to 45 minutes – I’m giving you an extra 15 minutes. Open up the fridge and just cook. Just go for it and don’t be tied to a specific recipe or cookbook. I love cookbooks, I love recipes, but sometimes you have to get away from the recipes to sort of find that creative source of genius! That’s when you end up adding cinnamon or cocoa powder or peanut butter sandwiches next to your chili. So just have fun with it. Make it a game!
AM: Love that!
You recently opened 2 new restaurants. You have Ember & Rye and also Four Flamingos. Can you tell us about these new restaurants?
CHEF RB: So both are affiliated with the Hyatt brand so Ember & Rye is a steak house at Park Hyatt Aviara in Carlsbad, CA. It’s a fine dining steakhouse next to an award winning golf course. If you’ve seen me on social media playing a lot of golf, it is because of that! They also have amazing tennis facilities as well because I know that we know each other from the tennis world as well. So that’s our steak
house, Ember & Rye.
In Orlando, FL, Four Flamingos is my take on my memories of FL. Having my wife’s family from there, my east coast family vacationed there and also the influences that happen in that region –Central South American and Caribbean influences – a piece of local fish with a citrus beurre Blanc almost going back wards. You know, sometimes you can go backwards far enough where you can start seeing the future. There’s a reason why things are a classic and so we’re cel ebrating some of the things that are a classic of Floridian foods.
AM: Love that!
You’re a man that is always busy and you have a lot going on. Do you have any projects that you would like to share with us that we should keep an eye out for? Clearly, Next Level Chef, Super Bowl Sunday!
CHEF RB: Yes! Next Level Chef, thank you for that! I am in the process of finishing up my 3rd cookbook which will be a lot more plant-based. Maybe you will see a peanut butter sandwich next to some vegetarian chili in that book. That will come out hopefully by holiday season next year. There’s always a couple of restaurants in play!
AM: That’s so exciting and thank you for taking the time by talking with us here at Athleisure Mag and also on our podcast, Athleisure Kitchen! We always like the various interviews we’ve had with you or seeing you at events.
CHEF RB: I had a lot of fun – let’s do it in person sometime soon!
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Richard Blais@richardblais
There are many ways to take on our fitness journeys and it's about the best way to get there whether it's a traditional gym or boutique fitness. We sat down with Brookelyn Suddell, Group Fitness Strategy and Development at Crunch Fitness which has an array of options for its members including typical gym offerings, group fitness classes and boutique fitness as well.
We wanted to know more about the DNA and ethos of Crunch Fitness, how you go about Crunchifying fitness methods that are there and even learning about popular methods that actually got its start at their gyms.
ATHLEISURE MAG: When we began our path of adulting and actually paid for our own membership with our corporate job, Crunch Fitness was where we signed up. We knew we wanted to work out, to have that mix of the gym as well as the fun stu dio environment. For those that may not have had a membership or are not familiar with this brand, can you tell us about Crunch and what their ethos is?
BROOKELYN SUDDELL: Absolutely and you know, Crunch and our ethos is what I love the most about being part of this company! I have been here for 14 years and it’s actually my 14 year anniversary this month. So I started as a Crunch mem ber and when I joined, Crunch it’s one of those places where you’re not just running in to get your workout and then running out. You can, you totally can, but be ing able to walk into the gym and to have the opportunity to get the workout that you want – whether it be on the gym floor with machines or free weights or with a trainer in a group fitness class or a virtual class, Crunch is not just a gym, it’s a com munity gathering place. It’s a place for people who are members to come that they have a home and they have some place that they can go.
Even if they don’t want to get a workout in, they have other areas throughout the clubs whether it's the relax and recover area stations, tanning, hydra massage,
the saunas, the steam rooms – there is always something that you can do when you walk through the doors at Crunch. The community part, the culture part is something really important to me per sonally that I work with the company and that I really believe in the culture and the fabric of what the brand really believes in. We’re a culture of No Judge ments. Whenever I am talking with my team, I always start my meeting off with going through our 7 core values which are being: Responsible, Passionate, Kind, Inclusive, Innovative, Alternative and Fun – most importantly. What we are is a diverse community and we have a culture of fun and people are our pri ority and that’s how we drive our busi ness forward. We listen to our people and we strive to give them everything that we possibly can.
AM: Tell us about your role as the Director of Group Fitness Strategy and Devel opment. What is your day-to-day like, what do you do?
BS: I know! It’s a very long title and I love when people ask that and wheth er it fits on a business card – barely! It’s really interesting. As I said, I joined Crunch Fitness Gyms 14 years ago as an instructor. Then in 2016, I jumped onto the corporate side. Another of the things that I love about Crunch is that they’re very open to your ideas – your unique and individual outlook on things. When I started on the corporate side, it was kind of an open-ended role. I came from a marketing events background and I just jumped in on the group fitness side, because I did know group fitness inside and out and I really kind of found that I was good at leaning into partnerships and coming up with new ideas. I was good at being able to see what was trending and what was the pulse of fitness right now. You know, we are alter native, we are fun, we always want to stay front and center as far as all of our offerings go.
As fas as my day-to-day goes, we're al-
ways changing! There are so many proj ects that we’re working on. One of the things that I always do each and every day is to check in with my team. My team is my Group Fitness Managers that oversee the clubs and then our Group Fitness Instructors there are 100s of them and I love each and everyone of them, they are amazing! So, connecting with the Group Fitness Team on a daily basis is something that I do, but also work on really fun special events and different kind of offerings from themed classes, coming up with some new classes and even working on some digital things that are coming soon so always working on something new and something fun!
AM: Being with an organization whose agenda does have these various components to it, especially when you look at the fact that there are a lot of people that are doing boutique studio fitness – what’s the process like when you’re onboarding these new types of nuances into the gym itself?
BS: That’s a great question. The boutique world is semi-new. It’s only been around for about 10 years or so. Boutiques are great, they’re awesome. They can really lean into one thing and give you a great workout and at Crunch we always want to lean in and give you the best workout that we can, while also still be able to offer you a wide variety of things. So we want you to be able to take a meditation class or you can take a high intensity interval training class. Ride, dance cardio, strength and ev erything in between.
So when we’re looking at new things to offer, we want to make sure that we are presenting them in almost a boutique way where we’re the experts or the authority on what it is that we are offering. So you are getting a great workout, you’re having fun and you’re trying something new or different and really getting close to your goals. We did actually implement in some of our clubs, a boutique style studio that has the feel of a boutique – the lights are themed, the floor is themed, everything has the same colors, you have crazy tech
nology in the studios and it’s called our Sweat Shed Studios. We have 3 of them in NY and a couple of them to come on the West Coast. So our group fitness classes are amazing, but if you are looking for a boutique kind of feel, that is available to our members as well through our Sweat Shed Studios.
AM: That’s a really cool way to bridge various types of markets for various needs that are out there. We were not aware of this component.
Last month, in the SEP ISSUE #81, we had POUND in our Athleisure List feature. We were talking about their brand as well as the partnership that we have with you in your gyms! It’s interesting that Crunch will take various fitness methods and bring them to your clubs and studios. So, how do you Crunchify something that already exists and is now coming into your world?
BS: Such a great question. A really fun story about POUND is that Kristen Po tenza was one of our instructors! So POUND was born at Crunch! Several things were born at Crunch. Zumba was born at Crunch down in Miami, indoor cycling – we were the first gym to offer sitting on a bike and riding to no where with some music in a disco ball, Anti-Gravity Yoga was born at Crunch! So a lot of things that have taken off, because we love to push the limits and raise the bar on what is possible within the walls of a gym. We like to take chanc es on people and we like to take chances on ideas. Some of them do amazing and come with new iterations like POUND and POUND UNPLUGGED and then some of them don’t and that’s ok because it’s all trial and error.
As far as Crunchifying things, we love to see what other people are doing and we want them – especially when they bring something to us, that’s their baby. That’s something that they have worked on and that’s their business. When we bring it to Crunch, we never want the
owner or the creator to lose their sense of identity or ownership in their workout. So when they bring it to Crunch, we test it, we try it out, we decide whether it will make sense for our communities and membership and then we work directly with the creators to say, “hey, this is awe some, we love it and we have a couple of ideas to make it more Crunchy and it’s a really collaborative process where we work hand-in-hand with creators to come up with an offering that makes sense for Crunch, that makes sense for a group stu dio fitness – a lot of methods come from trainers that are more 1-on-1 or PT based. So we’re known for our classes and we help to bring it full circle and to bring it to a class setting that delivers an amazing experience for participants.
AM: Very interesting and we love to hear it. What are 3 group fitness classes that are offered that you are excited about that people should be thinking about to take the next time that they are coming in?
BS: Absolutely, to think of 3 classes Ohhh –I’m going to give you some different buck ets. So 1st is something that I mentioned a little earlier, Anti-Gravity Yoga. It’s ah-mazing. If you’re like, “I don’t like yoga,” you’ll probably like this! This is a very fun kind of yoga. We use aerial silks, so we rig to the ceiling and they drop down. It’s great for athletes of all levels. I tell people that the hammock is like a prop so some of those more advanced moves that you might do, the hammock almost acts like a spotter. It also gives you the benefit of being able to suspend. We’ve all heard of inversion tables if you’ve ever gone to physical ther apy, they have probably put you in one of those. It’s an inversion table, you get to lay down and lengthen your spine and go deeper into your flexibility so Anti-Gravity Yoga I would absolutely recommend it to anyone that has not tried it.
2nd, Push the Perimeter is another one that we suggest. It’s a high intensity inter val training based workout where we use super sets, strength sequences and we partner them with fast and furious cardio
drills. It’s a 30 minute quick in and out, but you’re going to get a full boy work out and a full metabolic burn and that’s going to be offered at all of our clubs, coast to coast.
The 3rd one that I am loving, kind of takes the idea of having so many classes that we offer and bringing them together. So we call it Mashup and it started because we had a group of members that loved Zumba and they also loved Hard Knocks which is another Crunch class. Hard Knocks is similar to Zumba in the sense that it is follow along choreography, but rather than having a Latin inspired feel, it’s more of a boxing and Hip-Hop inspired method. So what we do now is that we look to the gyms and we look to the communities and to the people that are down on the floor every day and we’re like, “what does this community and this area love? Is it POUND and Zumba? Is it Hard Knocks and Way Hard Cardio? Is it Aerobics with Attitude and Kangoo?” and we mash them up and put them together. So you get 2 classes and maybe even 3 class experiences in 1.
AM: That’s really cool!
BS: I like that.
AM: Are there 3 group fitness classes that are going to be onboarded this fall or holiday season that you are able to talk about that we should keep an eye out for?
BS: Absolutely! I’m really excited about is a nod to my childhood, it’s called Hula Hoop Pilates.
AM: That sounds so fun!
BS: You MUST come take it! It’s so much fun. We call it Hard Core because it’s a really hard core workout for your abs and the rest of your body. We use Hula Hoops and it’s fun and you kind of for get that your body is working out when you are going through the class. Going back and forth between your classic Pi
lates rings and some Hula Hoops, we even incorporate some partner work where it makes sense and it’s fun. Plus, who doesn’t love to just grab a Hula Hoop and just swing it around? It’s just fun and it’s kitschy but it’s also a really great workout!
Another one that’s coming which is really just a nod to some of the trends that we have seen throughout COVID and coming out of COVID – people are really leaning into strength training. We’re seeing less of a surge for cardio. Cardio is still popu lar, but it used to be the king and queen of all of the workouts. People are really lean ing into and are less afraid of strength training workouts. So we do have a class coming called Hustle for the Muscle and it’s a group class using heavy weights and that’s something that’s not typically done because to get that number of weights in a studio is a lot! But It’s also slightly less intimidating for a lot of people to just go out on the gym floor and pick up some heavy weights and then wonder what they do next?
AM: As everyone is looking at you.
BS: Yeah! So the really nice thing about this class is we’re going to be using any where from 15-25-30lb dumbbells and your instructor is going to be bringing you through different kinds of strength train ing exercises super sets, recommenda tions for exercises that you can take that you can learn in the studio and do them in the studio. It’s basically like doing it with a Personal Trainer, but you’re doing it in a group fitness instructor overseeing you and then it just gives you that much more confidence to bring your workouts on the floor. Then you come back to class and you learn a little bit more and it just helps your workout become more integrated with your floor workouts and your studio workouts.
Honestly, lifting with a group of people is just so much better!
AM: Yeah, when you said that, I thought, that I would be ok with that. You're seeing
someone doing it in the gym or watching your favorite IG person doing it, but you may not know where to start and you don’t want to look like an idiot when you’re doing it!
BS: Yeah and there’s so many different ways to do so many things now. So be ing able to have somebody that’s just like, you don’t have to think, here just do this. You’re going to feel it here, you’re going to feel it here, it really just takes the anxiety almost away from weight training.
We have a bunch of other classes coming. We have HIIT classes that are coming out just because we are starting to see the popularity of the shorter workout which was popular pre-COVID because who has time? Nobody has time and we’re all time pressed. During COVID, we were seeing people that wanted the longer workouts, there was less turn over going into classes, but now that people are going back to their regular lives, we’re adjusting and coming up with more full body strength cardio all in one 30 mins quick, you’re in and out and we’re not going to take away from your day. You’re in and out as long as you give us our 30 minutes.
AM: Do you find that for methods that may be onboarded in the future that you’re constantly going out into the mar ket or visiting the newest boutique studio to see what they are doing to figure out all these components that you want to bring back to the gym?
BS: Absolutely! We’re always looking for new and different fitness trends. Yes, we’re looking to equipment vendors that are creating new kinds of equipment and/or individuals that are inventing new pieces of equipment, we’re looking at what other gyms and boutique fitness studios are doing. But we’re also looking at, what is trending in general – what’s popular on Instagram, what’s popular on TikTok?
What’s on the Billboard Top 100 because when you come into a group fitness studio, it’s fitness, but it’s entertainment. It’s entertainment fitness so we want you to have a really good time. So if we can fuse something like a TikTok challenge with something that is also trending like boo ty workouts – we’re going to try to bring those together in the most fun way that we possible can.
AM: That’s really cool and do you guys do things seasonally? Like because it’s the fall and holiday season, maybe there is a particular slant to this class that would be different if it was taken again in another time of year?
BS: Absolutely! In several of our markets, we do seasonal based classes where if we have outdoor space, we leverage that. Crunch Hoboken Club, my goodness, it’s right on the pier, we do workouts and you overlook the NYC city skyline – it’s beautiful. Out in CA, we have several outdoor workouts as well and then we also do themed workouts. Coming into the holidays we have a Turkey Burn and Firm class which is all right before and after Thanks giving. We do a lot of classes in the New Year that take on many formats and kind of put them into one as we start everyone off on a good fit to give people the opportunity to try as many as they can. We do another one right around Valentine’s Day that I love which is called Whipped and it’s lead by a dominatrix. That’s a really fun one and you can find it at some of our signature locations. This Halloween we’re doing some Boo-tacular classes where you can learn the Thriller dance or you can take a class that is set to a Halloween playlist. We’re always trying to keep up with what is going on, what people are think ing about and feeling about it and what’s going on in their lives and how we can am plify it with their workout experience too.
AM: That’s so fun to hear that and that theme of community and really getting it to where people want it is key. My home gym when I was a member was in the East 50s and I loved the vibe of that place! How
do you guys look at a neighborhood that you want to be in and then canvas what is taking place there so that you can add elements of that back into the gym?
BS: Like I’ve said before, people are our priority. When we open up a new club, before we even open our doors, we’re doing outreach and connecting with local business owners. We’re trying to meet the people that are there. When we are creating the gyms themselves, we very often will commission local art ists to come in and do murals within the club. We also look around and see what else is being offered in the area and in the neighborhood so that we can create our class offerings off of what we think will serve that community best.
AM: How does Crunch support the community in the sense of giving back philanthropically, doing PRIDE here in NY? We’re sure that that is important as well.
BS: It’s so so so important. There are certain things that we have done on a national scale or even an international scale like Auggie’s Quest for ALS. We have done things with the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Research Center, we’ve worked with the Strengthen By Heroes which is a military base program where we actually brought in some military guys and they led some troop work outs. We also have a really big initiative to hire veterans. Another thing which is really close to my heart, it’s called Sweat School. In a lot of our Crunch signature locations, that are in more urban communities, we find that a lot of schools in the surrounding areas may not have the most space to host recess or outdoor things or fitness programming as a whole. This is so important to give kids a brain break and to let their bodies move. So Sweat School, is a philanthropic en deavor that we have where we either go out to schools or we invite schools to come to us and we offer different pro gramming for kids throughout the com munity.
I would say that the majority that we do really comes from the community them selves. They’ll say, “hey, this is something that is really important to us for xyz rea son" and we’ll really create something special and unique to support different charities that are in the local area.
AM: That’s really cool how you become part of the community. It’s interesting to hear about the programs that you offer as well as how you support the areas that you’re in. For those that are looking to workout, do you have flexible memberships such as those for people who only want to do a few days a week because they have their cycling and yoga studio, but they would still like to do other methods at your gym?
BS: We have day drop in rates. If you’re like, my cycling instructor is sick and so that class isn’t happening and it’s raining and I don’t want to go far away and there’s a Crunch right here and I just want to jump in or hop into a class or even get on the floor for a day – you can always do that. Our membership advisors are wonderful in being able to set you up with a guest pass or a temporary short term member ship. You can also always drop in with a day rate and those differ from club to club so you can check with the front desk as soon as you walk in.
Like I said before, Crunch has a place for everybody. So whatever your needs are, we’re going to do whatever we can to meet them.
We hopped into the kitchen with Chef Nick Wallace who we enjoyed seeing his passion and love for Jackson, Mississippi. In addition to being the Founder and Executive Chef of Nick Wallace Culinary, Nick Wallace Catering and Nissan Cafe by Wallace, we enjoyed seeing him as a finalist in Top Chef Season 19 in Houston, Chopped episodes, winner of Food Network Canada's Fire Masters and he appeared on CNN's Nomad with Carlton McCoy. We talk about the importance of Mississippi when it comes to creating his dishes and bringing awareness to the culinary scene there. We also talk about why giving back to others is essential and also how we can focus on creating great meals when we're busy that still have love and full flavors!
ATHLEISURE MAG: I was such a fan of watching you during Top Chef Season 19 and it’s so great to be able to talk with you right now and as a finalist you showed us your love for food, where you passion came from – when did you realize that you wanted to be a chef?
CHEF NICK WALLACE: So I realized that I wanted to be a chef honestly when I was maybe in my late 20’s. It was something that I always knew that I was good at was cooking. I was cooking as a teenager and I was good at it because my grandmother taught me. But in my late 20’s, I just had to look around my perspective in Mississip pi and when I didn’t see that many chefs and executive chefs that were really trying to push it that were of my color, that’s when I said, now it’s time for me to write my story and it’s time for me to ask my elders about the stories that I could re shape who I want to be and that’s when I had my answer!
AM: You’re passion for Mississippi whether it’s supporting local producers or giving back via your non-profit Creativity Kitchen to support healthier meals for children and schools is amazing. Why is this so important to you?
CHEF NW: Well, my grandmother told me one thing! When you get things in life, you
need to give back just as much. It took me awhile to really figure that out. But the one thing that she was really getting at is that your circle, your environ ment that’s around you – as you grow up in life, other people need to be able to grow with you and that’s the same way that you should be doing business as well. That’s the reason why I’m in line with Ben’s Original because they have some of the same beliefs and they care about their community.
AM: As the Co-Founder/Creative + Style Director of Athleisure Media, I think about our readers at Athleisure Mag and our listeners of Athleisure Kitchen for Athleisure Studio, they’re busy, they’re always in the mix of doing things. They want to eat well, they want to have healthy meals, they also want to be able to prepare things easily so that they can go from one place to the next. How can they do that, keeping it elevated and also having some hacks whether it’s cooking for themselves or their coupleship or friends and family that come over.
CHEF NW: Yeah, that’s probably one of the most tough things is to cook for 1 in dividual. Because honestly the way that I was raised, you cook big pots – that’s what you do. You honestly have to bring all of that down and then it’s time that you have to get sandwich bags – it’s not about the Ziplock bag form anymore, things have to be smaller. So, when you’re dicing and pre-prepping you just need to be able to put things into rame kins and put it in your refrigerators because honestly, you don’t need a whole onion. So when you’re cutting things, portion them out – it’s all about portion control when it’s 1 or 2 people, because you will waste a lot and you don’t want to do that.
AM: Absolutely. What are some meals that you suggest that we should have on our radar that are delicious and that can impress guests when they’re coming over to eat with us?
CHEF NW: So, I’m going to give you 2 great recipes here and then we’re going to talk about a lot more that we have. This first one is going to be focused on the Whole Grain Brown Rice which is in the Ready Rice packages. It’s really easy to do, you can put it in the microwave for 3 mins. Take a fresh apple and you’re going to slice and then dice it and incorporate it into some diced red peppers, parsley, green onions, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and salt and pepper. Once it’s incorpo rated, add some of the pre-cooked Ben’s Original Ready Rice right into the bowl. This is when you can get kids involved if you have them – you can let them mix and you can have them add ingredients. Maybe they want to see a little more green or red – let them be in charge because when you place this down on your dinner table, you want them to finish this. So you have your sweetness, you have a little bit of acidity, you have protein that’s in there. If you want to add chicken or seafood, you can do that and you can just keep taking this to the next level. But this here is your base!
Your next recipe is going to be Wild Rice. Now this Wild Rice is a favorite. I have been buying these pouches since they have been out there because it’s just so easy. So for this meatball, you don’t have to pre-cook the rice. You’re going to add this rice right into a bowl with ground beef and you’re going to add eggs, milk, salt and pepper and a little garlic. If you have some kids, get them involved again. Letting them mix and reshaping their meatballs. Pop them into a 350˚ oven and in about 12-13 mins, you have some real ly luscious meatballs that’s right there at your dinner table.
AM: Those are great recipes to add to your meals.
You’ve kind of been talking about this throughout – preparation is always key. What are some items that we should have in our pantries so even when we don’t know what’s going on, when we have these items, they are so versatile that we
can create a meal.
CHEF NW: The good thing about Ben’s Original’s mission is to really save - to save time. You definitely need to have these Ready Rice packages in there because you can get something where you can have Taco Night with Spanish – you can go all kinds of different ways. The Wild Rice is great to pair with a fish. So this here is a great vessel and then in your refrigerator, you really want peppers, onions, squash and eggplant. You want these things that can be in there and you’re already halfway there with a meal. And then you can look at a pro tein. So when you’re buying meats, have Ziplock bags in your house or a vacuum sealer just so that you can take that one protein and put it in a Ziplock bag, date it and put it right in your freezer. So when you pull out your ready rice and also your veggies, you can go ahead and sau té your veggies or make that salad, pair it up and you have a meal in minutes.
AM: That sounds great!
What are some seasonings that you suggest as 3 go-to’s that we should have in our pantry that we should think about having?
CHEF NW: I’m only going to talk about 1 seasoning!
AM: We expected that!
CHEF NW: I’m going to be very biased on that! This is Nick’s 26. It’s the first seasoning that has ever been incorporated with 26 spices. Think about turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, garlic, etc. It took me awhile to get the ratio down. But the only reason why this seasoning is invented because my grandmother told me that I needed to figure out how to put my personality in a bottle because people like the way that I cook and season food. You can now be your own chef in your own household with Nick’s 26.
AM: We love that!
You’ve been working with Ben’s Originals and like you, they’re also focused on childhood hunger that we’re super passionate about here at Athleisure Media. Can you tell us about initiatives that they are focused on and what they’re doing?
CHEF NW: I’m very delighted to partner with Ben’s Original for the second year now. It’s great! One of the things that Ben’s Original and No Kid Hungry is doing is that they are investing 2.5 million meals. All you have to do is to go into the grocery store and spend up to $1 – that’s all! Just think about if you spend just a few more extra dollars, you never know how far that can go. There’s a lot of kids out there that are in need. Our spirits are aligned because it’s just like my mission. Don’t ig nore your community, as we grow – we all grow and that’s just the philosophy! We should all believe that and we need to get on the streets and just start walking and do what we do!
AM: We love to hear that. We love No Kid Hungry and we have worked with them since 2016 and so that is something that we love hearing! $1 impacting such a big thing is amazing!
As mentioned in the beginning, it was great to see you on Top Chef as a finalist and we’ve continued to watch you on Chopped as well. Do you have any other shows com ing up that we should have an eye out for? Are you making a cookbook – what’s Nick up to?
CHEF NW: So I am writing a cookbook, it’s called Rooted. It’ll be out soon. It’s got some really really great fantastic recipes in there so it’s going to feature a lot of the different partnerships that I do and a lot of the things that my grandmother pret ty much instilled in me. That’s the main thing! And then there’s Mississippi as a whole! I want to be able to put a spotlight – just like Ben’s Original is doing. I want the world to know about us, they need to know about us and I hope that by me going on Top Chef, shows what kind of sophistication that we’re bringing. We're
coming hard and we’re believing in our community and we’re coming together as strong as 1!
I did do a show in Food Network Cana da that you should probably check out. It’s called Fire Masters, it’s a good show. I started the show off with an old school recipe from my grandfather. My grandfather passed when I was at a young age, but he showed me this and I’m glad that I had that trick to show to the world, but it’s called Fire Masters and check it out! Soon we have more things to come, but we’re probably going to be a little quiet about it but we have a lot of things in the making!
@nickwallaceculinary PHOTO COURTESY | Nick Wallace
As we continue into the fall, we're always on the lookout for new restaurants to add when we want to enjoy the company of family and friends. This month, The Art of the Snack takes us to Osteria Accademia. We wanted to find out more about the restaurant, it's aesthetic as well as what we should order. We took some time to catch up with partner, Murat Akinci to find out what we need to know before we come by.
ATHLEISURE MAG: Tell us about the owners of Osteria Accademia and how you and restaurateur Huseyin Ozer of Bodrum and Leyla of the UWS, came together to launch Osteria Accademia?
MURAT AKINCI: We were already working together at Leyla since the very be ginning, but our friendship has started around 2002.
AM: What is behind the name and what can you tell me about the aesthetics as it does have a cozy vibe which is especially timely for the fall and upcoming winter season, and this was designed by Matt Murphy of Matt Murphy Design.
MA: Osteria Accademia (Accademia for short) pays homage to classic New York Italian-American restaurants, where de licious meals are served in settings both comfortable and unpretentious. Small & stylish, Osteria Accademia recalls cozy local places you might discover roaming the streets of Rome. The word 'Accademia' means “a life, community, world of schools, teachers and education” and is quite appropriate as the place is close to Columbia University & many schools in the neighborhood. The word is also a ref erence to a library, a meeting place, and place for conversation — and is the inspi ration for our comfortably stylish interi or. Some 3500 vintage books repurposed from a decommissioned library line the glowing bookshelves of the room creat ing an inviting, sound-controlled, and conversation-starting setting to enjoy great food & wine with friends.
AM: Your menu is focused on Italian cui-
sine with Mediterranean influences – can you tell us more about this approach?
MA: Osteria Accademia brings the best of Italian Cuisine to the Upper West Side with a delicious menu focused on house-made pastas and other timeless favorites, served in an eclectic space for a ‘new local’ dining experience. Accademia’s menu includes house made fresh pastas, plus favorites like Vitello Tonnato, Polpettine, Linguini Vongole, Chicken Parm, and an elevated Linguini della Nonna (Grandma’s Linguini). And don't forget the Vino! Accademia includes select wines from small vine yards throughout Italy, along with beers and Italian sodas.
AM: Your menu is also a nod to the di verse regions of Italy and is a collaboration between Consulting Chef Massimiliano Convertini (Max) and Executive Chef Claudio Cristofoli – can you tell us more about their backgrounds and how they worked together to create this menu?
MA: Max (Massimiliano) and I met working at I Tre Merli in late 1990’s & Max & Chris both worked together at Cipriani’s in Soho at around the same time… Max has been helping us from the beginning to launch the restaurant and introduced us to Chris during our opening phase. Max helped us with our opening menu and now Chef Chris is developing it fur ther as the season is changing. The core of the menu will remain the same theme: Homemade fresh pastas…
AM: What are 3 appetizers that you suggest that we should have when we come in to dine?
MA: Vitello Tonnato, Polpettine and Eggplant Parmigano
We can never pass up on pasta.
AM: What are the three dishes that we must have when coming in with friends and family?
MA: Mafalde, Cacio Pepe Ravioli and Lasa gna di Nonna
AM: For Secondi, what are 3 dishes that you suggest?
MA: Chicken Parm, Burger di Agnello and Orata
AM: What are 3 desserts that we should think about sharing with those at our table?
MA: Cheesecake, Cannoli and Tiramisu
AM: Murat, in addition to being a partner, you're the acting General Manager as well as the sommelier, what is his process in pairing wines with the cuisine?
MA: When pairing is concerned it is all about balancing the flavors of food & wine to create an optimal enjoyment of the guests. What is special about curating a wine list is to achieve this balance with selection of wines from minority produc ers who utilize natural, organic &/or sustainable methods to produce their wines as much as possible while giving authenti cally an Italian experience …
AM: You opened the beverage program with 10 white wines, 10 red wines and 3 sparkling wines. Can you name your favorite white, red and sparkling wine that youoffer (one of each) and from what region they are from and what dish do you suggest could pair well with it?
MA: Alois Lageder, Pinot Grigio $59 - Kale Caesar + Spaghettini Vongole + Fennel Sal ad
Versante Nord Rosso, Nerello Mascalese $74 - Eggplant Parm + Vitello Tonnato + Mafalde
Fiorini Becco Rosso, Lambrusco $49 - Salumi y Fromaggi + Fritto Misto + Chicken Parm
AM: What are 3 Italian craft beers that you serve there?
MA: Manabrea Ambrata, Manabrea Biondi Torrente and Birra Fragrante
AM: With the fall and winter holiday season approaching, are there any special events that you will have going on that you would like to share with us?
MA: We are in the process of finalizing our planning for holidays.
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Charissa Fay
@accademianyc
We enjoy seeing Kristen Kish hosting, judging a number of culinary shows and taking us through her recent trip to Seoul. We took some time to catch up with her since talking earlier this year ahead of TRU TV's Fast Foodies 2nd season.
We talk about her co-hosting Netflix's Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend, her new show on National Geographic - Restaurants at the End of the World and being on Selena + Chef on HBO Max.
We also talk about her latest partnership with Jongga Kimchi, a worldwide number one Korean brand. She also talked about their Generation Preservation campaign to preserve plant-forward foods, health and wellness through fermentation and environment to minimize food waste.
ATHLEISURE MAG: We enjoyed talking to you earlier this year prior to the 2nd sea son of Fast Foodies with you and you’re cohosts Chef Justin Sutherland and Chef Jeremy Ford! It’s great to catch up as you’re always doing great things. We enjoyed seeing you over the summer on Netflix’s Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend! It was great to see the dynamic between you Alton Brown. We love the food fact that we learned about Korean Fried Chicken and how it came to be! Why did you want to be part of this show?
CHEF KRISTEN KISH: I mean, first and foremost, when they say that Iron Chef is coming back and that Iron Chef is coming back on Netflix – it means a lot of different things. Obviously, it’s so iconic in the Japanese form and then to see it evolve over time to hit the Food Network and then for me, Netflix, it just completely diversifies in a lot of different ways. You can hit so many different audiences, you can pull from different chefs and there is just so much more storytelling that can be had.
So I think for me, obviously Iron Chef – yes! Then Iron Chef Netflix and then there’s Al ton Brown coming back! So already for me, I was feeling relatively insecure going into that job – it would scare anybody I
think to go onto that job and to feel like that I can hold my own and to have enough to say with those things being worth hearing and to being able to do that with the comfort of Alton being next to me. I think that that was a nice dynamic coming together. I mean, all of it scared me shitless, but honestly, how do you not say yes to that?
AM: You looked amazing and you were a perfect fit for it and it was so good to watch. We hope that there will be more episodes of it for future seasons.
CHEF KK: Well thank you, thank you!
AM: You’re also on the latest season of Selena + Chef which is out now on HBO Max. The format of the show is great. How was it for you to do it virtually, to tell someone how to to cook something and what drew you in to want to be part of it?
CHEF KK: Ohh I remember it! So, I re quested to my manager that I wanted to go on Selena + Chef! It looked like a lot of fun and I thought, why wouldn’t I want to cook with Selena Gomez? She was like ok and so she does what she does and she was like, great they want you on the next season and I’m like, “perfect!”
Honestly, it was so much more than what I expected in various ways. So I was ex pecting that I was going to teach Selena how to cook a few things and that we were going to call it a day. But I remem ber all of the prep-production calls and they were like, “we want to do start to finish. Like we want to have her work, do it – there’s no fluff around it, there’s no swap outs on and off camera.” Ev erything that she’s doing, we filmed for over a good 6 hours getting this stuff done. Selena went for it! She just did it all! I think that that is just the most inter esting thing and it is hard to teach over Zoom because you are missing a human connection in a lot of ways. But for what it was and what was being asked of her to be quite frank, the whole thing was
just a really really phenomenal experi ence.
AM: OMG! You always have so much going on! You’re also hosting Restaurants at the End of the World on National Geographic tell me about this! You’re a traveling girl!
CHEF KK: Oh my goodness! It is! For a girl that didn’t think that she would travel in her life because I thought that I was just going to be working in kitchens and I just wouldn’t make a ton of money – I would just live my life and that was just going to be how it was – to say that I can travel for my job and not only for my job, but in pock ets of the world where it’s very foreign to me and meeting chefs that have this resilience in how they run a restaurant and that can be several different definitions. How they can run their restaurants with limited resources and access to the lux uries that we have with our restaurants here especially in the States.
The whole project is really phenomenal. I think that the biggest thing is yes, food is always going to be the through line, but it’s about who these people are and how and why they do this. Like, it’s just mind-blowing to me and I’ve learned a tremendous amount about how to just relinquish con trol as this is the theme for those people. What will be, will be – and that’s it! Argh that’s such a hard concept because in my form of restaurants, anything that I can control, I’m going to! If I can control the outcome, you better believe that I am go ing to control the outcome because there are so many unknowns. But all of these people have been really phenomenal.
AM: Can’t wait to check that out as it sounds really exciting.
I love Kimchi, it’s one of my favorite things to eat. You’ve partnered with Jongga Kimchi. Why was this such a fit for you that you wanted to be part of it?
CHEF KK: You know, Korean culture for me, I’ve had a complicated relationship with being an adoptee. I think that a lot of
adoptees can relate wherever you are adopted from. Having a connection to your culture when you are brought up in that kind of household or where you are brought up in an environment where people look like you. I think that for me, I always shied away from a lot of it because I thought, I’m not Korean enough. So, who am I to own Korean culture be cause it’s not mine. But it is mine and I’m allowed to redefine what it is and what it means to me.
So I recently took my first trip to Korea, I ate so much food – traditional and oth erwise! For me, I think that it opened up my eyes to say that there’s not just one way to do this. I think that giving myself the permission to lean into partnering with Jongga Kimchi which it originated in Korea, it’s the number 1 world wide brand in Korea! So to say, hold on, they want me for a reason. That reason is be cause of my story and my interpretation of what being Korean means to me. So I think that just them giving me the per mission and them giving me the permis sion for me to be able to create recipes that aren’t traditionally Korean and I think that that was like this whole mo ment like, “ahh ok, here we are. Now I understand what this means.” It’s been a really dream partnership for me per sonally and professionally.
AM: I remember watching your IG when you were going to Korea and it was so cool to see how you were connecting. I think that there is a sense of connec tion that everyone has even if you grew up in American and you grew up with a family that looks like you and as an African American you’re saying I see this, but where are the roots and what does that mean? I think being able to watch you on your journey and for you to share that with everyone was so impactful and beautiful.
CHEF KK: Thank you!
AM: I enjoy eating kimchi on its own or on a salad. But what recipes in terms of
integrating it in a different way? I love this dish so much, what else should we be doing with it?
CHEF KK: Honestly, any place that you can impart acid, I say add kimchi and swap it out! Whether that be a burger or you chop it up and thread it through a beauti ful carbonara – think about the little bits of acid and heat through something so rich. I created 2 recipes specifically with Jongga Kimchi.
One is a play off of my Midwestern love for potatoes -
AM: Yes! I live in NY but I’m from Indiana originally!
CHEF KK: Yeah! Ok, then you’re going to be right here with me! I love a tater tot!
AM: Oh yes!
CHEF KK: Give me a tater tot in any form! So now we can jazz it up and we can call it a croquette and now we’re in a little fancier background. Then, the love of Korean BBQ and the cheese corn that you get and then mix it up and putting it all together with this smoked mozzarella bechamel that I make and then thread it with corn, potatoes – thread it, fry it – it’s crunchy, cheesy and delicious.
Then the other one is my ode to little hot dogs wrapped in baked croissant dough! We can’t really call that by it’s brand name because it’s not a croissant, but it’s in dough. The love of pigs in a blanket and it’s just so yummy! And I make a kimchi honey mustard using the kimchi brine be cause we chop up the kimchi to put it inside of the roll and then we use the brine to make the honey mustard and it’s just so good!
AM: The last time that I talked to you, you turned me onto Kewpie which I loved that! Now you’ve turned me onto the fact that I need my tater tots with kimchi on it –check!
How is kimchi made and why is it so important to preserve plant biodiversity?
CHEF KK: I mean, food waste in general, a lot of times in restaurants, we’re always thinking about how we can preserve and how to make things last. How to use the undesirable pieces of different vegetables and meats. It’s something that I have always been very passionate about ever since I have been in the culinary industry and also learning about how to do it. Because a lot of times, you go to culi nary school, but they don’t always teach you how to use the end cuts and how to use the things that are less desirable. So it’s important. I think kimchi is important to preserve the history and the culture of kimchi making! I’ve gone on a deep dive on YouTube watching sweet Korean ladies making kimchi and obviously it stems from a place of need and that’s why we do a lot of things and where it stems from when we do the things that we do. It’s out of necessity. Here’s a fact, there is a very high percentage of cab bage that is at risk or has gone extinct in terms of different varietals that are no longer in use or in production or being grown. So the Generation Preservation campaign that Jongga is doing is really focusing on the preserving of the histo ry of the preservation and why we do the things that we do in order to keep sustaining the vegetables and to kind of keep moving things forward.
So, being able to use products like that is really important and of course how you make kimchi! Now there are various ver sions. There’s cabbage kimchi, there’s other kimchi’s there’s all this food and food has evolved and carries different stories from all of these different kinds of people. But traditional cabbage kimchi is this rice paste flour, Korean chili flakes, lots of aromatics – ginger, garlic all blended into a paste and then you layer it onto these leaves and I think that a lot of the rich tradition is in the process right? Watching how meticulous it is in order to make it and so I think that any one at home can make kimchi, do I think
that there are far better kimchi’s especial ly those that I can personally make – absolutely! So sometimes, it’s just best to buy it!
AM: My sister just came back from Seoul and I was watching all of her pictures and I was like, I want to eat it from there!
CHEF KK: I mean, I’ve eaten at a lot of Ko rean restaurants in LA and in NY and those Koreatowns of those specific cities and you know that you can find some really good stuff. But there is something to be said when you sit in a Korean restaurant with a bunch of Korean people and you don’t understand everything – there’s just something that brings it to a whole other level! I have to tell you that things taste dif ferent over there in a really beautiful way!
I will say that when you go, you should try and I don’t know if your sister has gone there – Temple Cuisine. I had a temple lunch in the middle of Seoul and it was just tucked away and the atmosphere was amazing. The food was just transformative in the fact that it is uncomplicated and you just know that it is coming from a place – I don’t even have words to describe it be cause it’s just a feeling and I highly recom mend you hitting that up!
AM: Well, if you say it, that’s all I need to hear!
CHEF KK: It’s really really good!
AM: You’re always on the go and you have so many things going on and I have never been to your restaurant in Austin, Arlo Grey but we have plans to be there next Spring so that we can check it out for ourselves. Are there projects that you’re working on that you’re able to share that we can keep an eye out for?
CHEF KK: Yes! Obviously, we have Restaurants at the End of the World which is com ing out and is huge and amazing. And the restaurant – please, please come visit! Parallel to kimchi I have a line of Soju coming out, which is Korean alcohol. I love your reaction, that's a great reaction! A lot of Soju
is like ahahah harsh so I’m doing a line of 4 aperitifs with lots of great storytelling and a lot of good stuff and good flavor in it. Keep an eye out for that so grab some Jongga Kimchi and get my new Soju and have a grand old time!
AM: We enjoyed talking with Chef Kristen Kish about her recipes and as we enjoy a great tater tot or croquette, here is how you can make your own with Jongga Kimchi!
JONGGA KIMCHI CREAMED CORN CROQUETTE
PRODUCT | Jongga Napa Cabbage Kimchi
SERVES | 30 - 40 2oz croquettes
PREP TIME | 60 minutes
TOTAL TIME | 1 hour, 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE CROQUETTE
• 2 pounds russet potatoes
• 3 cups of fresh corn kernels (approx. 3 small ears)
• Smoked mozzarella Mornay (see reci pe below)
• 2 cups Jongga Kimchi – squeezed dry and finely chopped, reserve 3 table spoons of Jongga Kimchi juice
• Salt to taste
• Vegetable oil or frying oil as needed
• 1 large Black Truffle as desired/needed
• Celery leaves, lemon, Maldon Salt and chives to garnish
FOR THE SMOKED MOZZARELLA MORNAY
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 2 large cloves garlic – peeled and gently smashed
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 1 small shallot – peeled and small diced
• 1¼ cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 ounces smoked mozzarella – cut into
