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[AUDIENCE MEMBER] How do you 
feel about the predominance

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of competition shows

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versus Julia Child-style

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to go back in time 
''cause, you know,

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from a personal standpoint,

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you learn more when 
someone is demonstrating

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on how to do it 
rather than competing.

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[EVAN SMITH] You know, I'll say,

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I will occasionally land on,

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what is the name of the woman 
who's like a country chef,

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red hair?

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(audience murmuring)

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[AARÓN SÁNCHEZ] Ree Drummond,

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and then Trisha Yearwood 
is the other one.

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[SMITH] Right, so 
occasionally that show pops on

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and I'm like, I'm actually, 
I'm learning, I mean

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you make a great point,

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those shows teach you a lot more

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than the competition 
shows sometimes.

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[SÁNCHEZ] Yeah, what, those are 
what you call the dump stir,

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dump and stir shows 'cause 
everything's being--

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[SMITH] Not the dumpster 
shows (crowd laughing)

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[SÁNCHEZ] No no no no, I know, 
[SMITH] Right.

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[SÁNCHEZ] I said 
that really quickly.

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Thank you for correcting me.

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[SMITH] Dump and stir.

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[SÁNCHEZ] But you dump and stir,

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those are called.

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But it's very interesting

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'cause one of the things 
I learned on Food Network

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is that

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people at home wanna learn

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from women when it comes 
to cooking like that.

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They don't wanna learn from men.

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[SMITH] Really?

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[SÁNCHEZ] So if I 
have a show that

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does that dump, stir and cook

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chances are that the 
audiences don't want to learn

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from a man. They just feel,

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have more confidence 
from a woman.

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[SMITH] Is it because 
the audience is more 
apt to be female

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than male of those shows?

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[SÁNCHEZ] Probably, probably 
yeah, they skew like if

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always tell you like what we,

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as TV people we love the 18 
to 49 demographic of women.

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[SMITH] Right.

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[SÁNCHEZ] That is like the 
one that gives you longevity.

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Women give you longevity no 
matter what. (crowd laughing)

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But that's, you know, that's--

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[SMITH] You did that very well 
there. [SÁNCHEZ] Thank you.

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[SMITH] Good. Ma'am?

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[AUDIENCE MEMBER] Hi 
Aarón, I would like to know

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what is the favorite food and 
the name of the restaurant

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of where you've eaten 
that favorite food?

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[SMITH] Oh, that's a 
great, that's a great idea,

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like where does the famous 
chef like to go out to eat?

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[AUDIENCE MEMBER] Yes. 
[SÁNCHEZ] Oh yeah.

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[AUDIENCE MEMBER] --or would 
you even share least favorite?

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[SÁNCHEZ] No, I 
wouldn't say that

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but I just think what I like to,

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I mean, for instance, 
I eat every other food

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except Mexican 
food when I go out.

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Very seldomly, 'cause I 
eat Mexican food at home

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or when my family cooks it.

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[SMITH] Right.

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[SÁNCHEZ] But, if 
we're talking Austin,

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I could eat Uchi every day.

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I love Uchiko, I 
love those flavors,

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something that's 
completely foreign

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and a departure from where--

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[SMITH] So you come here enough

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that you feel like you 
know the restaurants here,

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you know the restaurant culture?

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[SÁNCHEZ] Absolutely, I think 
Austin is one of the most,

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it's the best food 
city, I think, in Texas.

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I'm gonna get a lotta crap for 
that but it's true, I mean.

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(audience clapping)

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[SMITH] Right, exactly.

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Yes, everybody everybody in 
Lubbock is gonna be really upset

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to hear you say that, right?

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[SÁNCHEZ] (laughing) 
Exactly, exactly.

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[SMITH] Lubbock, where 
high cuisine at the moment

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is a Torchy's opened, right?

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[SÁNCHEZ] Yeah, exactly.

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[SMITH] Yeah.

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[AUDIENCE MEMBER] Hi, Chef. 
[SÁNCHEZ] How are you?

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[AUDIENCE MEMBER] What 
was your biggest obstacle

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as a young chef and how 
did you overcome it?

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[SÁNCHEZ] Yeah, I think 
my biggest obstacle was

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you know, figuring out 
what my own style was

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and making sure that 
I didn't regurgitate

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my mentors' teachings.

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That was a really 
big struggle for me.

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Like there was a great 
chef named Charlie Trotter

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[SMITH] Yeah.

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[SÁNCHEZ] And Charlie 
Trotter you always knew--

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[SMITH] That a big 
New York guy, right?

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[SÁNCHEZ] Yeah, 
no he was Chicago.

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[SMITH] Oh Chicago, pardon 
me, Chicago there, right.

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[SÁNCHEZ] And he was a guy

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that he had a 
particular plating style

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and every time one of his 
chefs opened a restaurant

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you knew he had 
worked for Charlie

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'cause he had this one style.

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So developing my own style 
was one of the hardest things

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I had to figure out.

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[SMITH] And at what point 
in your career did you feel

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like you had your own style?

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[SÁNCHEZ] Oof, it took,

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it took ten years of 
actually doing it,

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owning restaurants, by the way, 
to figure it out, you know?

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[AUDIENCE MEMBER] And I 
have another question.

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[SÁNCHEZ] Yeah, sure go. 
[SMITH] Quickly.

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[AUDIENCE MEMBER] I 
recently started working

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at a Mexican restaurant.

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Being Latina, I've never 
really cooked Mexican food.

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What's your biggest advice 
being in a Mexican restaurant?

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[SÁNCHEZ] Go travel 
to Mexico, go travel.

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Go to the markets, go to 
a small village and say,

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"Who's the best cook in town?"

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Make yourself available and 
help her make tortillas,

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and make the stew or grind the 
chiles or whatever it takes.

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[SMITH] Yeah.

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[AUDIENCE MEMBER] 
Thank you, Chef.

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[SMITH] Are you seeing more 
interior Mexican influences

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in American Mexican restaurants?

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[SÁNCHEZ] I think 
the regionality

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is at the all-time high.

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Now, restaurants 
are specializing on 
particular regions

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of Mexico.

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[SMITH] That's a new--

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[SÁNCHEZ] That's 
huge for us, yeah.

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[SMITH] Hi. 
[SÁNCHEZ] Ma'am.

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[AUDIENCE MEMBER] 
In your opinion,

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how imperative do you think

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culinary school is 
for a young chef?

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[SMITH] Great question. 
[SÁNCHEZ] Great question!

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Here's the deal, I don't 
like how much it cost.

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(audience laughing)

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I send my kids, my 
scholarship recipients to ICC

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in New York City.

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It takes $60,000 for 
me to send one kid

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for an 11-month program.

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But granted, I put them up.

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[SMITH] Right, you're 
paying everything.

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[SÁNCHEZ] Yeah, I'm 
doing the whole thing,

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so it's expensive.

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And I think what needs to 
happen for culinary schools is,

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first of all, I 
think it's necessary.

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[SMITH] So if you had 
unlimited money (Aarón chuckles)

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and you had the choice, no no,

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but if somebody had unlimited 
money and they wanted,

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this is a really 
important thing.

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[SÁNCHEZ] Yeah.

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[SMITH] So if the 
money wasn't the issue,

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take that off the table 
there's value in going.

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[SÁNCHEZ] I think there's value

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in going if you 
don't have the money.

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I just don't like 
people going into debt

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to doing the business 
where you gonna come out

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and you gonna make 
$40,000 a year.

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I think it's unfair for, 
to set that expectation.

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But I do think what 
culinary schools need to do

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is they need to give 
you a base curriculum

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to learn the basics like 
the stocks, the sauces,

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knife work, et cetera.

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And then you should be 
allowed to specialize

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in your niche of food, 
of the food world.

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'Cause now you can 
be a personal chef,

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a food stylist, 
recipe developer.

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You can be all these different 
people in the food world

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without having to work in 
a restaurant like I have.

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'Cause chances are, young 
people going to restaurants

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they hate it, they have 
somebody screaming at them

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the hours are too long, they 
don't make enough money,

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and then their love of 
food goes by the wayside.

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[SMITH] Yeah.

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[SÁNCHEZ] Cultivate that,

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I think culinary schools 
need to be more honest

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about all these 
different directions

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of the food world 
you can go into.

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[SMITH] Good, thank you 
[SÁNCHEZ] Yeah, thank you.

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[SMITH] Last question. Hi.

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[AUDIENCE MEMBER] Hi. 
My original question

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was similar to hers

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in that I work for a 
culinary department locally

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and we find that 
there's huge pressure,

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huge pressure from the 
industry for the students

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not to complete a program. 
[SMITH] That's interesting.

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[AUDIENCE MEMBER] And just 
whether it's their hours

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and you know they 
need the money or

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so how could I speak 
to the industry

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and what could I ask 
the industry, you know,

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how do I build 
partnerships in that?

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[SÁNCHEZ] That's 
a great question.

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I think the best thing that's 
happened, to be honest,

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I think is that now 
internships are paid

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which I think has to happen. 
[SMITH] Right.

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[SÁNCHEZ] 'Cause that 
creates an opportunity

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for abuse of people's time.

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[SMITH] The only 
people who can afford

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to take unpaid 
internships are often

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upper middle class white kids.

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[SÁNCHEZ] Yeah, exactly.

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[SMITH] You're doing it wrong 
if that's the only source

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of unpaid labor you know, 
of labor you have, right?

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[SÁNCHEZ] Absolutely, and I 
just think that's incorrect

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00:06:27,633 --> 00:06:31,133
and I think what ends 
up happening is I think

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you have these people, you know,

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young kids going into our 
restaurants to do internships,

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for instance, and I think 
they just wanna collect names

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so they wanna be, "Oh, I 
worked for Aarón Sánchez."

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And then what ends up happening 
is that the industry people

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get scorned 'cause then now 
these kids are going around

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00:06:46,100 --> 00:06:47,466
saying that they 
really worked for us

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when in essence all you did

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was just do a two 
month internship.

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[AUDIENCE MEMBER] STAJ-ing?

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00:06:52,866 --> 00:06:54,166
[SÁNCHEZ] Yes, STAJ-ing, 
and then now all of a sudden

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00:06:54,166 --> 00:06:55,633
you "worked for me."

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So I think it goes both sides.

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I think what needs to 
happen is there needs to be

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00:06:58,933 --> 00:07:01,733
a better dialogue from the 
schools and the instructors

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00:07:01,733 --> 00:07:04,566
and the people that 
are doing the career,

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the career advancement 
and stay in touch with us.

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You know, 'cause we 
always need good cooks,

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and we always need young people

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that are excited about food.

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[SMITH] Is there a 
workforce shortage

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in the restaurant business?

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00:07:16,166 --> 00:07:18,466
[SÁNCHEZ] Oh absolutely, 100%.

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And you know, a lot 
of it has to do with

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00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:23,266
we're regulating 
people's nationalities

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00:07:23,266 --> 00:07:25,333
and making sure that 
everything's on the up and up

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and that has a huge effect, 
you know what I mean?

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[SMITH] Yeah.

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[SÁNCHEZ] You know so,

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00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:32,400
that could turn into a 
political conversation.

239
00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:33,933
[SMITH] Oh, I'd say, 
everything is about politics

240
00:07:33,933 --> 00:07:35,266
[SÁNCHEZ] Yeah yeah yeah 
we don't have to get there.

241
00:07:35,266 --> 00:07:36,533
But it's like, you know,

242
00:07:36,533 --> 00:07:38,133
I just think there needs 
to be a better dialogue

243
00:07:38,133 --> 00:07:41,766
between the leaders at 
culinary schools to the chefs.

244
00:07:41,766 --> 00:07:43,033
[SMITH] Thank you. Okay, 
so we're about to end.

245
00:07:43,033 --> 00:07:45,333
I want to ask one last 
question of our guest.

246
00:07:45,333 --> 00:07:47,233
So you go back to El 
Paso from time to time?

247
00:07:47,233 --> 00:07:48,766
[SÁNCHEZ] Yeah, of 
course, I was just there.

248
00:07:48,766 --> 00:07:50,500
[SMITH] Okay, where do you 
eat when you're in El Paso?

249
00:07:50,500 --> 00:07:51,733
[SÁNCHEZ] Oh my Lord!

250
00:07:51,733 --> 00:07:54,800
I go to Chope's 
to have gorditas.

251
00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:59,166
I go to Chico's Tacos to 
have my guilty fast food,

252
00:07:59,166 --> 00:08:01,366
which is the most, have you 
ever had a Chico's Tacos?

253
00:08:01,366 --> 00:08:04,233
It's literally two 
flautas submerged

254
00:08:04,233 --> 00:08:06,933
in this murky tomato cheap sauce

255
00:08:06,933 --> 00:08:09,733
with even cheaper cheese, and--

256
00:08:09,733 --> 00:08:11,000
[SMITH] You're slumming.

257
00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:12,233
[SÁNCHEZ] Yeah, 
somehow it works.

258
00:08:12,233 --> 00:08:13,700
[SMITH] Yeah. (chuckling)

259
00:08:13,700 --> 00:08:15,166
[SÁNCHEZ] And then I 
remember I did a show where,

260
00:08:15,166 --> 00:08:18,033
"Taco Trip," where I went 
and saw how it's made

261
00:08:18,033 --> 00:08:19,466
and I wish I never did it.

262
00:08:19,466 --> 00:08:20,866
[SMITH] Never seen it, 
exactly. Too much information.

263
00:08:20,866 --> 00:08:22,333
[SÁNCHEZ] Yeah 
yeah yeah! Exactly!

264
00:08:22,333 --> 00:08:23,466
[SMITH] All right give 
Aarón Sánchez a big hand,

265
00:08:23,466 --> 00:08:24,400
thank you all very much.

266
00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:29,233
(Audience clapping and cheering)