Athleisure Mag JUL ISSUE #91

ISSUE #91
PHOTO CREDIT | AIMAN AHMED
@AthleisureMag

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Paul Farkas
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Co-Founder, Creative + Style Director
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table of contents
issue #91
jul 2023
145
STYLE FEATURES
THE PICK ME UP
154
161
120
IN OUR BAG
ROCK THIS FROM STUDIO TO
BEACH AS TEMPS RISE
BEAUTY FEATURES
AMARANTH OIL BEAUTY
True Hospitality
Michael Voltaggio
This month, we’re excited to have Top Chef Season 6 winner, Titan Chef on Food
Network’s Bobby’s Triple Threat, Guy’s Grocery Games judge, and Chef/Owner of a
number of Voltaggio Brothers eateries! We talk hospitality, passion and more!
16
165
ATHLEISURE BEAUTY
In and Out of The Pool
Nathan Adrian
52
We caught up with decorated Team USA Swimming Olympian Medalist, Nathan
Adrian to talk abotu his experience at the Summer Games, those who he swam with,
how he gives back to the sport, and the importance of safe sun.
146
LIFESTYLE FEATURES
ATHLEISURE LIST
THE RITZ CARLTON,
BACARA
Beautiful Cuisine
64
We talk with Chef/Founder Philippe Massoud
to talk about ilili, Lebanese cuisine
and more!
9LIST STORI3S
®
88
Our 9LIST STORI3S comes from FAST X’s
Jordana Brewster. She shares her musthaves
in beauty, style, and fitness.
148
ATHLEISURE LIST
ICHIBANTEI
AthleisureMag.com - 10 - Issue #91 | Jul 2023

Making Hairstory
Chaz Dean
We sat down with Hairstylist, Colorist and Founder of WEN to hear how he got his
start in the industry, his passion for hair, creating his haircare line, and his legacy in
the industry.
9PLAYLIST
Mia Moretti
TM
98
124
DJ and Socialite, Mia Moretti shares the
songs that she’s listening to right now.
Art of the Snack
Jiwa Singapura
144
This month’s The Art of the Snack takes
us to Tysons Corner where we’re ready
to enjoy a number of savory dishes with
family and friends.
The Deepest
Breath
136
We sat down with The Deepest Breath’s
director, Laura McGann to find out more
about freediving, safety divers, and why
she wanted to create this documentary.
63MIX ROUTIN3S
John Newman
TM
150
This month, EDM DJ/Producer John Newman
shares his must-haves for Morning,
Afternoon and Night.
Issue #91 | Jul 2023
- 11 - AthleisureMag.com

We're really excited about this month's
cover, Bravo's Top Chef Season 6 Winner,
and Titan Judge on Food Network's Bobby's
Triple Threat, Chef Michael Voltaggio.
He also makes a number of guest judge
appearances on Guy's Grocery Games as
well as Beat Bobby Flay! When he's not on
set, you can find him taking his dishes and
experiences to the next level alongside
his brother Chef Bryan Voltaggio whether
it's at Voltaggio Brothers Steakhouse, Vulcania,
Retro, Volt Burger and other projects!
As someone who we have admired in
terms of his culinary point of view, technique
and keeping hospitality at the forefront
of all that he does, we wanted to sit
down with him to talk about how he got
into the industry, where his passion comes
from, how he has navigated the hospitality
space, his approach to his concepts,
working alongside family, Season 2 of Bobby's
Triple Threat and how he has taken a
number of opportunities to connect with
guests and viewers as well as to stay sharp
in and out of the kitchen!
ATHLEISURE MAG: So, when did you first
fall in love with food?
CHEF MICHAEL VOLTAGGIO: Oh wow, I
don’t think that I have ever been asked
that!
AM: We ask the tough questions around
here!
CHEF MV: I think that it happened around
necessity. I would say that I first fell in
love with it when I understood the creativity
that went into it. Because, I was a
very, very picky eater as a kid and when
I got my first job cooking, I started to
look at ingredients as a kid meaning that
things like cauliflower for instance – I remember
thinking to myself that if I could
make this, in a way that I like it, then people
who actually like cauliflower will love
it. So for me, I started seeing how creativity
could sort of, not only like give me a
chance to artistically express myself, but
also be a chance for me to maybe make ingredients
more accessible for more people
because it made the ingredients more
accessible to me. So I think that realizing
that the creative part was as important
as the technical part, I think that was the
moment that I fell in love with it.
I always knew that I wanted to do
something creative, but up until I was
15 or 16 years old, which is when I started
cooking, I wasn’t being creative
yet. Like, I was playing sports in high
school and I wasn’t the best student
and I was sort of interested in a lot of
things that were creative, but I didn’t
have a creative discipline that I could
focus on myself.
AM: What was the moment that you
realized that you wanted to be a chef?
Taking something that you just enjoyed
and then making it as a professional.
CHEF MV: I mean, I think that it happened
as sort of a default. Like, I was
doing it to just sort of survive. I was
one of those people that started cooking
– because when I did it, it wasn’t
like it was today where it was like, “oh,
you’re going to be a chef!” It was more
like, “yeah, I figured that you would
end up in the food industry.” I sort of
feel like I woke up and 25 years later, I
still have the same job and I’m just like,
“wow, how did this happen?” I’m in
my profession prior to even graduating
high school. My career has started
already, but I didn’t know that at the
time. What I didn’t realize at the time
was that I was already on my path. I’ve
loved food ever since I could remember
like 4 years old and I have had this
job since I was 15. Not many people
can say that. I’m approaching 30 years
of experience and I feel like I am just
getting started.
I would say that my career, after my apprenticeship,
that I did at the Greenbriar
Hotel when I went there when I was
19 years old to start that program, that
I really felt like that, “ok this is what I
am going to be doing for at least a substantial
amount of time.” I had never
gotten to experience any form of luxury
in my life at that point, either because
I grew up sort of pretty humble
or in humble surroundings I would say.
When I got to work in luxury, I knew
that not only did I want to do that because
I wanted to take care of people
at that level, but I knew that at some
point in my life, I wanted to feel it myself
as a guest. So I knew that the only

way that I would be able to experience
luxury is if I understood how to work in
it at the highest level and then hopefully
one day, get to sit down at the table for
myself.
AM: I can understand that feeling!
How do you define your style of cooking?
CHEF MV: It’s weird because if you had
asked me that question 10 years ago, I
would have answered it differently than
I would today. The reason being that I
think that I have obviously matured a lot
as a person, but more specifically in my
professional career, I think that I have matured
a lot in the sense that I don’t know
if I have a style and I think that that is interesting
about the way that I like to cook
now. I’m really still obsessed with learning
the things that I haven’t learned how
to do yet. So for me, it usually starts with
something that I want to learn and then
I build something off of that, that I can
then offer to my guests.
So, let’s say for instance that I want to
study a specific cuisine, I’ll go and study
that cuisine and then figure out how that
fits into one of our restaurant concepts.
Now that we have different concepts, it
forces me to study different kinds of cuisine.
I would say that the style that we communicate
in the restaurants on our menus
is that we like to sort of under offer and
over deliver. We like to write descriptions
of menus that are familiar to people and
that almost seems not that exciting so
that we get that chance to sort of surprise
them and wow them. I think that that’s
oftentimes how we approach a lot of the
things that we do is to sort of under offer
and over deliver.
AM: I really like that.
Who are your culinary influences?
CHEF MV: Wow, that is a tough one because
I mean, I would say the one culinary
influence that I have had in my career and
this is a direct influence, because I have
worked with him is, José Andrés (The
Bazaar by José Andrés, Mercado Little
Spain, Nubeluz). For someone that made
me look at food completely differently, it
would be him and I think that a lot of
people who think of José, they think of
the modern things that he has done in
restaurants and that’s a big part of it,
but when you talk to José, the thing that
he is the most passionate about outside
of feeding the world and helping people
right now which is incredible, is actually
the traditional food of Spain. Seeing
him communicate to me that without a
foundation like that, you can’t really do
all this modern stuff because at the end
of the day, the food has to be delicious.
Learning that from him was probably
a sort of pivotal moment in my career,
because I was doing a lot of things then
because I wanted to learn all of these
modern techniques and I want to do all
of these modern things. I think that often,
people get caught up in the exercise
of that and lose touch of the hospitality
or the make it taste good aspect of it.
I would think that I really settled into a
level of confidence where I worked with
him that would sort of influence me for
the rest of my career.
AM: I first became aware of you on Season
6 of Bravo’s Top Chef. I’m a huge fan
of that show and seeing you along with
competing with your brother on the
same season, what was that like for you
and why did you want to be part of that
show?
CHEF MV: So, when I went on Top Chef,
this was sort of a moment in the industry
where that was really the beginning of
how you had the legends like Julia Child
(Mastering the Art of French Cooking,
The Way to Cook, The French Chef Cookbook),
you had Emeril (Emeril’s, Emeril’s
Coastal, Meril), you had Wolfgang (Spago,
Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, CUT) and
the list goes on and on – Yan Can Cook,
Ming Tsai (Bābā, Mings Bings, Simply
Ming) – they were cooking on television
and the list goes on and on and on. They
were a handful of real chefs that were
cooking on TV and then there was sort
of the entertainment side of it. I think
that when Top Chef came out, I think
that that was the first show or competition
that was pulling chefs from kitchens
that were really grinding and really
after it and giving them a platform to
sort of go out and come out from being
those introverts in the back of house to
like these big personalities!

So I think that when the opportunity
came, I was like, I wonder if there is a bigger
way to sort of bridge this gap between
people that are actually chefs and people
that are just sort of chefs on TV. Can we
really tell this story in a bigger way and
connect to a bigger audience and through
that, grow the interest and the curiosity
in a higher level of cooking or a different
level. Whether it’s making people culturally
more aware for those that are interested
in cultural cuisine or demographics
of cuisine or whatever it is, can you educate
people by entertaining them? So I
didn’t see it as, I want to be on TV and I
think that there were certainly a few of
those even on my season on Top Chef that
were there for that reason. I signed up to
do that competition because I really believed
that I could win it. I think that some
people get involved in programs like this
not necessarily thinking that, “hey, I can
really win this thing.” For me, I thought, “I
could win this thing and this could create
an opportunity.” I couldn’t predict what
you’re seeing today where every chef at
every level or cook for that matter is in
some way trying to communicate what
they do through some form of social media
or entertainment. Back when I did Top
Chef, it was like there was this line in the
sand – these are the chefs, the real chefs
and these are the ones that are on TV,
but not everyone was doing television or
some form of visual media to tell their story.
Then you look at today and everyone
is doing it. I think that the risk that I took
was worth it, but I also wanted to learn a
different kind of skill set, like I wanted to
learn.
I think that I was doing this ad for I think
Vitamix and I remember going up to the
set and I had a teleprompter in the camera
and I was reading my lines off the lens
while doing my little demo and I was with
the blender that came with it and it was
like, “welcome to your new Vitamix.” They
kept telling me, “Michael, we can see your
eyes reading the words in the lens – we
can see you doing it off the teleprompter.
Can you try and memorize at least part of
it?” Again, in that moment, I was like, ok
if I’m going to do this, then I need to get
good at it. By getting better at television
or getting better at sort of some of these
visual mediums, I felt that I was getting
better at communicating with my guests
too. I think that as somebody who works
in hospitality, it started to pull another
part of myself out that would allow me
to want to communicate with my guests
even more. I felt like that moment and
all of it I can credit back to the opportunity
that I had on Top Chef. I think that
outside of the exposure, outside of the
money, and outside of the study that I
had to put into the food, I learned so
much going through that process. Even
I think as a company owner, how to better
and more effectively communicate - I
think that that is something that I was
missing at that time of my life.
"I think that I have obviously
matured a lot as a
person, but more specifically
in my professional
career, I think that I have
matured a lot in the sense
that I don't know if I have a
style and I think that that is
interesting about the way
that I like to cook now. I'm
really still obsessed with
learning the things that I
haven't learned how to do
yet. So for me, it usually
starts with something that
I want to learn and then I
build something off of that,
that I can then offer to my
guests."
AM: What was the moment that you realized
that you wanted to open up your
own restaurants as that’s such a big step!
CHEF MV: So I was in Pasadena and I
was running a restaurant there called
The Dining Room at The Langham. They
were actually super supportive and

that’s where I was when I won Top Chef.
I had left The Bazaar and left José. I was
working at this restaurant in Pasadena
when this show started to air. They were
super supportive and they were like, this
is your project, this is your room. We’ll
grow you here, you’ll grow something big
with the hotel and all of that. In my head I
was like, do I need to go and do this on my
own before I can go and do this in somebody
else’s environment?
So they were very supportive in saying,
“hey, we’ll renovate a restaurant and
conceptualize something around what
your goals are.” I was like, “this is super
incredible and I think that I would want to
do that.” But then I got a phone call and
somebody said that they had a restaurant
space and they were interested in meeting
me and investing in me. At that moment,
I was like, “oh, it can happen that easy!”
They had read and heard about some of
my accomplishments and they genuinely
wanted to invest in me. And so I was like,
now I need to see if I can do this. So, I
took the meeting, we negotiated the deal
and this person, his name is Mike Ovitz he
started CAA. I don’t know if you are familiar
with them.
AM: Very much so!
CHEF MV: He basically said, “what do you
need to open the restaurant?” I have the
space. I said that, “I really wanted someone
to get behind whatever vision I have
because this is the first chance that I have
to do this and I kind of want to figure out
how to do this on my own. What I really
just need is money.” He gave it to me.
He got behind me, we were partners for
over 7 years and we still remain friends
to this day, and he was a really good partner
in the sense that he was there, but he
wasn’t in my face with expectations. He
built his career as somebody who supported
artists or somebody who supported
creatives. As someone who supported
creatives, I think he did just that. I think
that as a restaurant partner, it was the
best scenario that I could find myself in
because this was a person that built his
career supporting creatives. So then, the
money was there and it was time to start
opening the restaurant. As you can imagine,
I had to learn everything. I had to
learn the legal side of it, I had to learn the
human resources side of it, I had to learn
the accounting side of it – I had to learn
how to become a president of a company
– not just how to run a menu. That’s
the part that I hadn’t realized that I had
signed up for at that time. You don’t
know all of the nuance of starting a
business until you start a business and
then it’s, wait a second, I have 10 fulltime
jobs now!
AM: Pretty much!
CHEF MV: And so, I think again, if you
look at that experience, it’s very similar
to what happened on Top Chef. Here I
was not realizing that I was now going
to acquire a whole new set of skills that
I didn’t have yet and so for me, you have
this trajectory where you’re building on
top of previous successes and you’re
combining those successes to get more
than you have to put yourself in a situation
where you are learning. Then you
have to retain that information and
then you have to be able to teach that to
other people, because it's the only way
that you can grow your team around
you. If you don’t have the tools to give
them to be successful in your role or if
you don’t know the expectation of the
people that are going to work with you,
then they’re not going to have a good
experience and neither are you and neither
is your business. So, for me, it was
really important that I really understood
everything and every layer that I was responsible
for.
AM: You and your brother back in 2016
opened Voltaggio Brothers Steakhouse
together which was your first venture
together. What was that like doing that
especially as siblings?
CHEF MV: I think that at that point, we
had gone in separate directions from
each other and I think that we realized
that we could accomplish a lot more if
we worked together so we started flirting
with the idea, and so when MGM
called and said, "we have a restaurant in
the Maryland/DC area and we’re building
this hotel, we think that you should
be involved in that," at the time I was
living in California and I had Ink – it was
still open. My brother was living in Maryland.
The reason that the call came in
was that somebody who had previously
been my boss was the one that was making
that call. They had called me saying
that they had been watching my career

since we had worked together. We'd be
interested in potentially doing the restaurant
project together at the MGM National
Harbor and I was like, in that moment,
my brother still lives there, I live in California
this story makes the most sense
that Bryan and I are both locals from that
area and we should do this together. So
that became the pilot for how we work
in perpetuity. Bryan and I are now business
partners in pretty much everything
that we do in the restaurant space. So
creatively, logistically, work wise – everything
involved, it just made more sense.
If we work together, we can work half as
harder or accomplish twice as much. Just
having that support system and having
something that you trust as a partner, we
didn’t realize how beneficial that was going
to be for us moving forward. Because
here we are this many years later and we
haven’t broken up yet. I think that speaks
volumes for how you can do it the right
way. There is nothing wrong with family
getting into business together.
AM: I love that! We also cover a lot of EDM
artists, we enjoy going to music festivals
and you guys have Volt Burger which has
been in various festival circuits and Live Nation
venues. Why did you want to be part
of this experience in this particular way?
CHEF MV: I think again back when I talked
about entertainment as a medium or
a discipline that would be a great tool to
connect more people, I think that when
Live Nation came to us with the opportunity
of getting Volt Burger put together
and being in multiple venues across the
country, I think we’re in 30+ venues at this
point. I think again, we get to connect to
that many people that fast. So, for us and
Tom See who is the President of Venues
for Live Nation, when he called, he really
– you could hear it in his voice and see it in
his face, that he had a real commitment to
elevate just not the food and beverage experience,
but the hospitality experience
at the venues, I think that when you look
at companies that are willing to invest in
the safety and the overall experience of
their customer base, like I could feel it
and I could feel his commitment to where
they wanted to do something bigger and
do something better. A lot of people call
with sentences and statements like that,
but they don’t really get behind it.
AM: Right!
CHEF MV: Then you get passed off to
somebody else and then it sort of dilutes
itself. I think that with Tom and
his team, and Andy Yates, Head of Food
and Beverage – they’re both personally
up to Mr. Rapino the President of Live
Nation – they’re personally committed
to making sure that what they’re going
to do is going to happen. I think that
for us, we have learned just as much
from them as they have learned from
us. I think that again, it’s all about that
learning aspect of it. When you can be in
multiple cities at once, and I’m not saying
physically. We are sometimes physically
present at these venues, but it’s a
chance for people who don’t necessarily
have a direct access to us to sometimes
go back to that surprise moment that I
talked about when we can under offer
and over deliver.
Imagine a fan – or somebody that has
always just wanted to try something
from the Voltaggio Brothers – they go
to a concert to see their favorite artist
and then they’re walking through and
they see this big banner of Bryan and I
on the side of a burger stand and I can
only imagine in that moment from them
that they have that reaction again! It's
like, "oh wait, I'm here to see this musician
and there’s the Voltaggio burger!”
In my head, I’m envisioning people
having an even better time. This point in
my career, if you were to ask me what
my most important part of my career
is, it's hospitality. I genuinely still get excited
when I see someone’s reaction on
their face when they taste something
that I have made. I’m not like, “yeah I
knew it was going to be that good,” I’m
more like, “wow, thank you! It means so
much to me that you like it that much!”
It makes me want to go and do more.
I genuinely feed off the energy of the
people that I take care of. I think that
a lot of chefs and a lot of restaurateurs
lose touch with that.
AM: This year, you opened Vulcania at
Mammoth Mountain. What can guests
expect when we’re going there?
CHEF MV: Mammoth Mountain made
a commitment to elevate the food and
beverage experience. It’s one of the
best outdoor recreational mountains
in the whole country and in all four seasons.
In the summer time, we're going

into that now, they still have snow – people
are still snowboarding there until like
August 1st or 2nd – skiing as well. But
again, here’s an opportunity to connect
to a whole different demographic that I
have yet to really have a chance to get to.
I think that the most unique food markets
to elevate the food right now are in
markets where there aren’t huge saturation
of other restaurants. 1, because there
isn’t that much competition and 2, that
means that there is probably a need for it
right there. So getting to sort of pioneer
and go into an area that there isn’t a lot of
chef-driven sort of concepts in Mammoth
and them wanting to bring that there, to
me meant that there was a need for it.
Their guests were asking for something
different or maybe more and again they
made that commitment to hospitality to
provide that.
So, that’s when we were like, how do we
create a concept that is appropriate for
families, appropriate for a very transient
sort of guest, but also please people that
need fuel to go out and do all of these
extreme sport activities. That’s when we
were like, we’re Italian and our last name
is Voltaggio, we haven’t really done an
Italian American concept together, let’s
use this as an opportunity to now study
this and to do that cuisine together and
expand on our repertoire and our portfolio
of what we can offer moving forward.
So, we dug deep and dove deep into the
research. We have always made our own
pastas and sauces, and pizza at various different
opportunities, but never brought it
all together in one restaurant concept.
Then we got to dig deep into even naming
the restaurant. Vulcania actually means
volcano. Mammoth sits in a volcano more
or less. That mountain is a volcano. And
the first ship that brought our family to
the US was the Vulcania!
AM: Oh wow!
CHEF MV: Yeah, so Voltaggio’s that traveled
from Italy to NY, came on a ship
called the Vulcania. So, the whole thing
just came together. You can never say
that something is your favorite restaurant.
I just love the restaurant, I love the
location, I love our partners, and I think
that being part of a destination like that,
the restaurant itself becomes a destina-
tion too. That’s a pretty special thing!
AM: That’s insane and I love the story involved
in that!
I also love the idea of Retro. I like that it
is kind of feeding into that 80s/90s feel
with fashion and entertainment and its
confluence. Can you tell me more about
the concept and what the vibe of this
restaurant is?
CHEF MV: The goal – well 1, it was a very
fast turnaround. We had to come up with
a really strategic way to sort of redecorate
or revamp a room if you will. When
MGM came to us with the opportunity
and as you mentioned, we already had a
restaurant with them at MGM National
Harbor and so my favorite thing about
our partnership with MGM is the only
reason we don’t do something is because
we haven’t thought of it. Any idea
that you have, they have the resources
and the ability to bring it to life as long
as it makes sense you know?
I look at that space and Charlie Palmer
(Charlie Palmer Steak, Sky & Vine Rooftop
Bar, Dry Creek Kitchen) is one of my
mentors as well, how do we take this
iconic space at the Mandalay Bay and
how do we make it enough ours so that
it doesn’t feel like what it was while not
taking away from what it was. Meaning,
Aureole which was one of the first
restaurants in Vegas that really told the
story of these chef partnerships.
So we approached it with, what if we like
– we moved around a lot as kids – what
if we treated it like we did as kids where
our parents had us in a new house and
we got to decorate our new room. That’s
effectively what it is. We call restaurants
the room – the dining room is the
room. So, let’s go decorate our room.
We started down this path of what that
would look like and I always had this in
my head. I used to work with this chef
named Katsu-ya Uechi (Katsu-ya, The
Izaka-ya by Katsu-ya, Kiwami) and we
talked about a concept that would be
retro modern meaning that you could
start with retro dishes and modernize
them a little bit. I remember having to
call Katsu-ya and say, “hey, I know that
we had this conversation together and I
know that this was something that you
were really big on and wanted to do one

day. Is it ok if I sort of do this concept, but
in a much different way than what we discussed?”
We had both nerded out on this
back in the day and this opportunity came
up where I could bring it to life. He was
like, “yeah, go for it. If anyone could do it,
it’s you.” So my brother and I decided to
noodle on the idea and using that as the
foundation to build this whole concept on
top of.
What if everything that was important to
us in our childhood through our personal
and professional careers, what if we
could tell that story through a restaurant.
So down to the white CorningWare pots
with the blue flowers on the side of it,
we’re serving food in that. To the décor,
Keith Magruder, if you look up BakersSon
on Instagram, he’s an artist that did a lot
of the art in there. So there’s a lot of painted
album covers that throw back and tribute
to the music in the 80s and 90s. He
did things like make 2 scale 3 dimensional
water color paintings of Nintendos and
Blockbuster Videos and he made these
cool paintings of gummy bears. He did
an Uno Table and these 3 dimensional donuts
and things like that. So what we did
was we went into this room and just like
when we were kids, it was kind of like, I’m
going to hang up my favorite poster on
the wall and I’m going to put up a couple
of tchotchkes in the space and it's going
to be mine.
What we didn’t realize was going to happen
is that all the creative people in the
company that worked for the company
got behind it in such a big way that everyone
started to contribute to the process!
Down to Tony Hawk sent us one of his
skateboard decks and wrote, “Go Retro”
on it so that we could hang it up inside
the tower. It was just one of those things
where it was like, you have to be so careful
when you have an idea because you don’t
know how fast it can go and how many
people will embrace it and get behind it.
Before you know it, you can wake up and
have something as incredible as Retro.
The food, we have Pot Roast and Mac &
Cheese. But our Mac & Cheese, we make
the noodles ourselves, we make this
cloud of cheesy sauce that sits on top of
it that’s sort of feels like the sauce that
would come in a package of Velveeta, but
we’re making it from really good cheddar
cheese, we’re making a bechamel, we’re
emulsifying the cheese into it and aerating
it with a whip cream siphon – we’re
making our own Cheez Whiz more or
less!
"Then we got to dig deep
into even naming the
restaurant. Vulcania actually
means volcano. Mammoth
sits in a volcano more
or less. That mountain is a
volcano. And the first ship
that brought our family to
the US was the Vulcania!"
AM: Oh my God! It’s the best Cheez Whiz
ever though!
CHEF MV: Yeah! It’s like, how do we start
with this idea and then turn it into something
that can be appropriate in an elevated
dining experience? We’ve got a lot
of that sprinkled throughout the menu.
We also have things that are comforting
too.
It’s not just like kitschy or trying to do
something for the sake of doing it. Our
Caesar Salad is just a Caesar Salad, but
then we serve it with a little bag of
churros that we make out of Parmesan
Cheese. Our Mozzarella Caprese is a
piece of cheese that we dip in a Pomodoro
skin that creates a skin of tomato
on the outside of it so that it looks
like a tomato, but it tastes like a tomato
sauce and it’s on the outside of a piece
of cheese.
AM: Oh wow! Earlier this week on your
IG Stories, I want to say that you had an
avocado, but it was a pit that looked like
a gelee – what was that?
CHEF MV: So, we had a dish and once
again, this was us reacting to guest feedback,
we had a dish that I called back,
we had a dish that I called Chips and
Guacamole on the menu. So, we did this
giant rice paper wafer and put a confit

of avocado in the middle of it. But the problem
was when it went out to the guests,
they said, “well, that’s not Chips and Guacamole.
I don’t know what that is.” I think
that some chefs, their egos would not
allow them to say, “ok, do I listen to the
guests and do I make a change?” So, when
I hear stuff like that and it’s consistent, I’m
like, “ok, I need to change this dish!” It’s
not living up to the guest’s expectations.
So, then I was like, Avocado Toast, bread
would be more appropriate to eat with
this. I wonder how I could make this retro.
I learned the technique of spherification
from José Andrés. It was created by chefs,
Ferran Adrià and Albert Adrià (Tickets,
Enigma, Little Spain) back in El Bulli back in
the early 90s. It’s not retro. We’re in 2023!
Can I pay homage to it without saying, “oh
that’s such a dated technique, that I can’t
believe that you’re doing it.” It was such
an important technique that it changed
like, José, the Adrià Brothers, they made
a global impact on how chefs looked at
food. So for me, I was like, I think that I
can make a black garlic purée and spherify
that the way that I learned how to do
it when I was working with José and put
that in the middle of an avocado that I’m
putting in the oven and put that on a plate
and put a couple of other seasonings on
it and put it with some really good crusty
bread and serve it as an Avocado Toast.
AM: That looked so ridiculously good!
CHEF MV: But you know what’s so crazy?
Some people today, like the next generation
of people that are out eating in
restaurants, they never saw spherification.
Like let’s say that someone who is
19 or in their 20s or whatever, they missed
that whole thing. We have this obsession
with trends and we program our brains to
say if it’s trendy, then eventually, it will go
out of style. Therefore, you have to forget
about it.
Where kale had its moment, like last year,
or 2 or 3 years ago that the Kale Caesar
Salad became so popular people were
like it’s so popular, you can’t put it out
because it is on everyone’s menu. Or like
Pork Belly, it disappeared! Like Pork Belly
was on every single menu and then all of a
sudden, one day you woke up and you’re
like, “where’s all the Pork Belly?” Every
chef was cooking it, but I think that people
got it to be trendy because they liked
it and that’s what they wanted. We
have this innate desire for change when
change isn’t necessary. I think that
spherification got trendier and then
people were like, what’s the next cool
thing? But then when we do that, we
forget that the cool things that we have
and that these chefs have sort of put
forward to learn, we feel this pressure
to not embrace it or to not do it anymore
because now we have to create
the next big thing.
AM: Yup!
CHEF MV: Why not just keep it around?
So we brought that back and not only
as a nod to the Avocado Toast, but a
nod to the individuals that were behind
that technique. I thought that it was so
cool when we first learned it and I didn’t
think that it needed to go anywhere.
AM: I love how you approach food like
that. As someone who in addition to being
the Co-Founder of Athleisure Mag is a
fashion stylist and a designer, there are
many times when I’m like, “yeah, this is
a great look, we don’t need to lock it as
a trend that has an expiration or pause
around it. We can still use this.” I love
that you’re talking about something that
I fight about on the fashion side all the
time.
CHEF MV: I think that there are a lot of
similarities between fashion and food
too! When you think about the sustainability
aspect, when you think about
again – in your world, and I think that
that’s why I love fashion as much as I do.
But now, even in buying my clothes, I go
look for old things. Like, I don’t want the
newest trendiest thing, I want the old
trendy thing, why did it go away? Where
did it go? I think that when you look at
some of the most successful brands
now, they’re the ones that can continue
to just bring it back whether it’s recycled
with an actual item or an idea, it’s
that storytelling that I think that people
actually gravitate towards.
AM: I totally agree! I always tell people
it’s about going back to the archives!
CHEF MV: Yeah!
AM: There’s so many things that you can

spring back from it. You can put a twist on
it and do whatever. But the archives are
the archives for a reason! They’re going to
be here much longer than some of these
other things that are going to be a flash in
the pan.
CHEF MV: I feel like people can go shopping
in their own closet. If you’ve saved
stuff from 3 years ago that you haven’t
worn and then all of a sudden, you’re like,
“wait a second, I’m going to look back at
that.” Maybe you got something as a gift
that you would have never worn when
they gave it to you and then you rediscovered
it again in your closet and I think
that any creative could recognize that
with whatever kind of discipline that they
have. Just go back into your closet and try
something old.
"But now even in buying
my clothes, I go look for old
things. Like, I don't want
the newest trendiest thing,
I want the old trendy thing,
why did it go away? Where
did it go? I think that when
you look at some of the
most successful brands
now, they're the ones that
can continue to just bring
it back whether it's recycled
with an actual item or
an idea, it's that storytelling
that I think that people actually
gravitate towards."
AM: Exactly!
Since being on Top Chef, you have been on
so many TV shows judging and guest hosting
and even doing series, why did you
want to add these into your portfiolio?
CHEF MV: I think it’s because I don’t want
to become complacent. I think that my
biggest fear in life was going to be that
I would get stuck doing the same job
every single day. Although that’s great
for some people, and it’s necessary to
have those who are committed to that,
it didn’t work for me. I never had the
attention span to do just that. And so,
as I get those opportunities, I think that
it make me better for what I do. For instance,
if I go and I have 4 days where I
can work on this television show, after
the 4 days are done, I’m excited to go
back to my restaurant. Maybe in those
4 days while I was gone, I learned something
while I was there that I could bring
back to my restaurant. For me, again, it’s
about learning. I’m learning. I get to do
something that I would have never had
the opportunity to do. When I started
cooking, if you told me that I would be
doing dozens of episodes of television a
year or any television at all, I remember
when I was doing some local television
and how nervous I was. I was like, wait,
I didn’t sleep and I was telling everyone
and it was local news! I thought it was
the coolest thing on the planet for me
to able to get to do. Then, fast forward
to now and I’m a show that can reach
millions of people. So, not only did I see
the opportunity, but I feel a sense of
responsibility to use that platform the
right way and I think that I just love the
fact that I get to communicate with that
many people at once. I think that it’s an
opportunity for me to tell my story, but
also to continue to contribute to this
commitment of hospitality that I signed
up for. I’m not just making people feel
good, I genuinely do this because I love
the fact that what I do that maybe I can
make someone else smile or whatever. I
know how that sounds, but I genuinely
believe that! The fact that I do that and I
get to call it work is so important!
AM: Well, I know that you always bring
so much energy when I see you on different
shows like Bobby’s Tripple Threat,
we’ve had interviews with Chef Brooke
Williamson (Playa Provisions, Top Chef
Season 14 Winner, Tournament of Champions
Season 1 Winner) a number of different
times. When I saw that you were
on there, I couldn’t wait to see what you
would do. Or, if I see you on Guy’s Grocery
Games – it’s really cool to see your
point of view when you're doing all of

these different things.
CHEF MV: Yeah, when you look at the
competition side of cooking too and what
I learned very quickly is that it’s a very
different discipline. A lot of super talented
chefs who are in restaurants struggle
with the competition side of it, especially
if there are a lot of different cameras
and stuff around them. So again for me,
I thought, if I could become good at that,
then that’s another level of chef that I can
become good at and I think that what’s interesting
about that is that I do it so much
that the first time I competed, I took it so
seriously. I still do! I get so much anxiety
every time that I’m about to go. But then I
do it so much and I started to look at competition
cooking like the sport of cooking.
AM: Yup!
CHEF MV: It really is and it’s not for me
as much about entertaining and doing
a demo of what you’re doing. It’s more
so that people can watch it and cheer
for their favorite athlete and I think that
that's what culinary competition really is.
So now, we win some and we lose some.
You have to learn from those losses and I
think that those losses are the ones that I
have learned the most from. I think that
anyone that competes in any competitive
setting would say the same thing. You
have to experience those losses to then go
back and say, how can I be better so that
I can get more of those wins. I think that
it became a personal obsession because I
wanted to continue to learn and win! Because
it really is a sport – it’s a sport!
AM: Are there any projects that you have
coming up that you can share that we
should keep an eye out for? I feel like you’re
always doing something!
CHEF MV: One thing that I can say is that
Season 2 of Tripple Threat will start airing
in August! I think that that’s the next
big thing that we’re excited about. Then
it’s about just getting back to work with
Bobby Flay (Amalfi, bobb, Brasserie B),
Brooke and Tiffany Derry (Roots Southern
Table, Roots Chicken Shak, Top Chef
Season 7 Fan Favorite). I think that there
is more to that than what everyone has
seen so far! I think that for me, that is really
one of my favorite projects that we're
doing right now. Myself, Brooke, and Tif-
any - Bobby included, we’ve all become
so close to one another through this project
and I think that more of that – I want
to be able to keep my knives sharp and
my brain sharper. I think that the best
opportunity for me to do that is growing
my relationship with Live Nation, Bryan
and I are really sort of excited about the
amount of support that we’ve gotten
from MGM with every project that we
have in the works with them. I think that
for now, honestly what I’d like to focus
on is focusing on what I have going on.
I think that right now is a good point to
say that I am satisfied with everything
that we have our hands around right
now. Let’s just focus on doing the best
job that we can at that and then maybe
next year, pivot and start focusing on
some other stuff. For now, I have a lot
of responsibilities and I have a chance to
make a lot of people happy and I’m going
to focus on that!
AM: As someone who is so busy, how do
you take time for yourself so that you
can just reset?
CHEF MV: I mean, I think that you have
to force it. I have a tendency to say yes
to everything and I think that I grew up
working more 7 day weeks then I did 5. I
would say that I did that for a good part
of my life. I wanted to do it, but I did it
because I had to as well. I mean, I had
2 daughters when I was young and I remember
when I was doing my apprenticeship,
on my days off I was standing in
a deer processing plant at a local butchers
house processing meat and stuff to
pay the bills you know? I think that my
work ethic is something that is really important
to me and it’s something that I
don’t want to lose touch of. I think that
it’s a super valuable asset, but at the
same time, I’m allowing myself to do
that, to take a couple of things and to
just go do something. Like yesterday was
my daughter’s birthday and it’s a little
extreme, but my brother flew me here
from Vegas, we were at our restaurant
doing an event and I was like, “I need to
get to my daughter, it’s her birthday.”
She’s down here in medical school, she’s
going to become a doctor.
AM: Oh wow!
CHEF MV: Not only is it like a Voltaggio
going to college which is one thing! But

a Voltaggio becoming a doctor is another!
My other daughter is here as well and
she’s like also doing her own thing and so
when you have those moments to spend
time with family, my brother flew my wife
and I down here just to spend 2 days with
my daughters here. I think that family
time is so key!
AM: Your smile is so big right now!
CHEF MV: Well because I think that as
much as I hate that I am going to say this, I
really neglected my family for a long time
because I had this path that I had to do
these things so that I could be better for
them. So now, I think that at this point in
my life, as much as I provided for them,
I think that I could be more present for
them and that’s something that I am really
trying to carve out time for.
AM: If we were invited to your house for
brunch, what would be something that
you would cook for us? I always love knowing
what people’s brunch menus are.
CHEF MV: I mean as much as I hate to
say it, I would have to have something
with caviar on it because I think that, I
don’t know, to me brunch is caviar. I think
that that’s really weird to say, but when I
worked, no one wanted to work brunch
at the luxury hotel. If you got scheduled
to work brunch, you were getting punished.
I think that that was the first time
that I tried caviar. Working brunch at The
Greenbriar Hotel or at the Ritz Carlton or
something like that and I was like, “hmm,
I like this stuff.” Then when I was in charge
of running things, there was Caviar Eggs
Benedict, caviar this and caviar that! I just
really liked it. There’s a restaurant that
we have here in LA called Petrossian, you
have one in NY as well.
AM: We literally lived around the corner
from them!
CHEF MV: So, they do this Caviar Flatbread
there and I had it once, I’ve had it a lot actually,
and I’m going to go home and recreate
my own version of this. Every time
I have a brunch, I am going to do this.
You can do this with smoked salmon like
the Wolfgang Smoked Salmon Pizza that
Wolfgang Puck makes. But you buy the
flour tortillas, and you brush them with a
little olive oil and season it with a little salt
and bake those in the oven. You pull them
out and you have a crispy flatbread.
So now, you can build this breakfast pizza
on whatever you want on top of it.
So, now you grab crème fraiche, capers,
grab some chopped red onion, parsley,
a little hard-boiled egg, and whether it’s
smoked salmon or caviar, you cut it into
pizza. It’s easy, it looks beautiful –
AM: Wow!
CHEF MV: You said wow, I only described
it to you and you said wow! I used to get
that a lot when I went to Petrossian for
brunch and I would always order the
Caviar Flatbread. So, a smoked salmon
version or whatever, I just think that the
idea of using a flour tortilla is something
that everyone should have in their repertoire!
@mvoltaggio
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 16 - 27 CRE-
ATIVE DIRECTION Dominic Ciambrone,
PHOTOGRAPHY Bryam Heredia, PHOTO
COURTESY of SRGN Studios | PG 28 + 31
Food Network/Guy's Grocery Games |
PG 32 - 35 Food Network/Bobby's Triple
Threat |

We are 1 year away from the Summer
Olympic Games in Paris 2024! There is
nothing like that time of year when we
cheer for our favorite athletes as they
make their dreams a reality! This month,
we caught up with Nathan Adrian 8X Team
USA Swimming Olympic Medalist (5G, 1S
and 2B). We enjoyed seeing him in Beijing
2008, London 2012, and Rio 2016. We wanted
to catch up with this freestyle swimmer
to find out more about how he got into the
sport, competing in it, his Olympic experience,
safe sun that allows swimmers to enjoy
being in the water without sacrificing
their aesthetics, how he gives back to the
sport, and how he continues to advocate
for men's health.
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in
love with the water?
NATHAN ADRIAN: Oh haha, you know,
I think before I was even old enough to
make memories to be honest. Some of my
earliest earliest memories are my mom
going and doing laps and I would just turtle
on her back and just cruise around. It
was something that was just always deeply
engrained in all of us as a family. My sister
is 8½ years older than me, my brother
is 6 years older than me, so it’s something
that I was born into and it wasn’t just
something that us as a family picked up.
AM: That’s amazing!
When did you realize that freestyle was
going to be something that you wanted to
continue to do and excel in?
NA: Oh yeah, good question! So like,
swimming overall – freestyle is what I
gravitated towards and I had a really good
situation and set of coaches that gave me
what I needed at that particular time in
my life and my development as an athlete.
So when I was young, it was just fun
times and it was all games, happy smiles
and lots of energy. That transitioned into
games and also, “hey, let’s set some goals
and try to focus while we’re here. Let’s try
to show up more,” and that kind of thing.
Then, eventually, it was, this is my life and
this is how I did it. I set goals, I worked
really hard, and through that, that’s
how I think that I fell in love with that
process. It also me as an individual,
looking back, swimming was the perfect
thing for me. I had a lot of energy,
it helped me focus and it also allowed
me to set those big goals and then
you set those little goals and if you’re
good at it, you can set little goals for
every month of practice, every week of
practice and down to everyday of practice.
If you achieve that, whether you
achieve them or don’t achieve them,
if you reflect and then you figure out
how you can be better, that’s just like
a little puzzle that you’re trying to optimize
and to figure out how you can be
the best athlete that you can be.
AM: So true!
Did you always dream about going to
the Olympics?
NA: So that started when I was watching
the 2000 Olympics. I was about 11
and then in 2004, I was trying to qualify
for the Olympic Trials and I did not and
then in 2008, I was like, “hey, I’m 19 and
I know that it’s kind of young, but maybe
I can do this if the stars align.
AM: We enjoyed watching you and to
know that you have participated in the
Olympic Games of Beijing, London, and
Rio where you medaled as an individual
as well as a team of where you swam
along with Lochte, Phelps, Murphy, and
all of these amazing people, what was
it like to work with those people and
those various teams?
NA: Oh that was awesome! I feel very
very blessed. I really got to experience
what I consider to be one of the highlights
of Team USA dominance in the
sport. You know, people who were
around during the 70s and stuff, they
would argue back pretty hard core,
but that’s ok. This is what I would call
the modern era of swimming let’s call
it that. There were guys like Michael

Phelps (28X Medalist 23G, 3S, 2B), there was
Jason Lezak (8X Medalist 4G, 2S, 2B), Aaron
Peirsol (7X Medalist 5G, 2S), Ian Crocker
(5X Medalist 3G, 1S, 1B), Brendan Hansen
(6X Medalist 3G, 1S, 2B) – oh my gosh,
these guys had world records in each of
their events and then in my 2008 team,
I was with Dara Torres (12X Medalist 4G,
4S, 4B), Katie Hoff (3X Medalist 1S, 2B) at
the peak of her game, I was with Natalie
Coughlin (12X Medalist 3G, 4S, 5B) when
she won. There were so many athletes
for me to watch and learn from. It was
absolutely incredible for me to be part
of that and especially on that 2008 team,
that was a transition for me from being
a fan to actually doing it on that international
stage. So I got to see my heroes and
watch them, talk to them, hang out with
them, and be a part of their team. As you
move on from that, as with all things, you
see the times that swimmers are going so
fast as they are now. You take what they
did and try to bring it in to what you’re doing
and make it better!
AM: What were some of your favorite
moments in competing or just being with
them?
NA: Oh gosh, I think that there’s a lot! I
mean, I have 8 medals so those are obviously
a favorite moment. The ones that aren’t
just as public, are those that happen
when you are with a team or a group for 3
or 5 weeks all day everyday – like summer
camp for adults! But we’re all there for a
job with a very, very serious purpose so
there’s not much messing around. Whether
it be someone I think playing a prank
in 2008 and they put a cicada in the trail
mix bag which was pretty funny. I mean
it’s pretty gross because they’re so big!
Another one in 2012, I roomed with Matt
Grevers (6X Medalist 4G, 2S) which is one
of my best friends to this day. He looked
at me and after we both won, he was
like, “dude, think back to a year ago, who
would have bet on us besides our parents?”
You know? Special moments like
that are awesome because in 2011, I didn't
medal in any of the individual races and
Matt didn’t even make the World
Championships team – so we weren’t
even on the radar for winning. But here
we are at that point, we won gold and
we’re preparing for the 4 X 100 medley
relay after that. So that was really awesome.
Just eating in the dining hall and experiencing
that. World Championships is
similar, but not the same as the Olympics.
The Olympics are just that special
feeling because you have every sport
there and to just people watch and to
enjoy that. You can watch the pride
that people have in their country and
as they are getting ready to compete
and do what they can to win those
medals that’s just something that’s really
special.
AM: Obviously swimming is such a great
way to meet your fitness goals. Here at
Athleisure Mag, we like to ask athletes
what you like to do in and out of the
water to stay fit that we can add to our
fitness routines?
NA: You know, I actually think that one
of the things that we did was a lot of
good mobility. I actually find myself
that after pouring that first cup of coffee,
I will just do a really deep lunge
hold. My hip flexors, I’m sitting in a
chair right now, I need to stretch these
hip flexors out. I’m probably not going
to do it here at work, but in the morning
is a great time as you’re getting your
mobility going. Same thing with doing
some thoracic spine mobility. Again,
this is before my daughter and my wife
is awake, I’m just sitting in the kitchen
doing Spider-Man stretches which are
different rotational stretches. It really
is that if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it!
I want to be able to keep that mobility
and then I do my best to get pops of
strength in.
Certain days when I can’t get into a
weight room, you need to activate
those muscles, you do a push up, a
bodyweight squat, you can do a single

I also do a little bit of men’s health adleg
squat – find an overhang and do a pull
up. Do something just to activate it and
keep those muscles moving. I’m in a pool
right now, I work in a pool, but I just try
to do it. I’m telling you what I want to do,
and I don’t always live by it. But I do try
to get into the pool and do some aerobic
stuff because you’ve just got to keep that
heart rate up and keep it moving.
Definitely another thing that if you don’t
use it, you lose it! That’s where Dermasport
really comes in nicely because
I’ve used it. My break is usually smack dab
in the middle of the day and we’re coming
in on a California heat wave right now
so it’s about to be bright and sunny and
I’m swimming in it. So I need to wear my
sunscreen and then afterwards, I need to
be able to take it off so that I don’t look
funky when we’re talking to kiddos and
giving them lessons and things.
AM: How did your partnership with Dermasport
come about and what was it that
you felt was synergistic between you and
the brand?
NA: Well, the partnership came about because
I was actually working with somebody
with some goggles and they knew
about Dermasport and they introduced
me to the team. They sent me a trial package
and I loved it. I grew up in Seattle, so
we were doing sunscreen over the summer,
but I didn’t have that 365 exposure
to the sun that we have here California
now. So when I moved down here, it was
like, what do I do? Everybody was just like
zinc, zinc, zinc – everyone looked like a
ghost, the creases in your elbows looked
all white even though you scrubbed and
did that whole song and dance. I tried this
and it’s zinc sunscreen, but it also moisturizes
my face and I feel better after I
put it on as well as more hydrated than
I did before – which is awesome. Then,
you do the cleanser which gets it all off
and then the moisturizer afterwards as
it’s very refreshing. I mean, it’s a product
that’s made for swimmers. Even though
I’m not still swimming internationally, I'm
still very much so a swimmer. I'm a swim-
mer in California that needs to protect
my face. My sister is actually a derm PA
so she’s constantly reminding me on my
sunscreen. I’m like, “no, no – I got it covered.
I’m doing what I can to protect my
face from the sun.”
AM: What will you be doing with the
brand in terms of clinics, partnerships
etc. that people will be able to see?
NA: I think that we’re still working on
that and developing it. There’s actually
a meet coming up here that I’m hoping
– I mean we just got the product launch
happening, so if I can get my hands on
some, I’d love to go and see some of
those master swimmers and let them
try. I mean, this is one of those things
that I know that people just need to
go and try it. You need to just get your
hands on a sample, try it, and it will absolutely
blow you away with the way
that your face feels when using this sunscreen
as opposed to the other ones
that are made to be in the water. I will
say that certainly other people have
made sunscreens that make you feel hydrated,
that make you feel nice, but this
is something that’s taking a beating!
We’re in chlorine water and the sun so
it has to have some staying power and
it does!
AM: Are there any projects that you’re
involved in that you would like to share
that we can keep an eye out for?
NA: Honestly, right now, I’ve got my
hands full. My life has changed a lot
since I was done competing. I have 2
daughters now, so that’s definitely a
project, I’m here at the Swim School
and we’re running swimming lessons
trying to teach as many kiddos to swim
as we can. I still do a lot of stuff with the
USA Swimming Foundation, traveling
around especially during Water Safety
Month talking about the importance of
swimming lessons and how it can save
lives.

vocacy. You know, I was diagnosed with
cancer and it’s kind of an uncomfortable
thing to talk about for some people
and I’m pretty comfortable talking
with people about it especially because
it was testicular cancer (Editor’s Note:
At the age of 30 in 2018, Nathan was
diagnosed, it was caught and treated.)
and I think that there is just a cultural
barrier for people – for men specifically
to 1, see the doctor and 2, to talk about
an issue with their reproductive organs.
Most of the time, when testicular
cancer is diagnosed, the patients know
that something was wrong pretty well
in advance. It’s really sad in that way
when you talk to doctors and they’re
like, “yeah, so many people wait and
wait and they wait until their lower
back is hurting or they’re coughing up
blood because it spread and they just
didn’t know.” You can just be out there
whether it’s a blurb on the bottom of
the ticker tape on ESPN or whatever it
might be and say, “hey, testicular cancer
is a thing and it affects young people
too.” That’s something that means
a lot to me.
AM: How do you give back to the sport
to the next generation of people coming
up?
NA: Well, I was in the water for about
an hour today teaching kids how to
swim! I have another couple of lessons
coming up later on today around 1pm. I
mean, just doing what I can! I feel very
blessed. Summer is an absolute marathon,
just because it’s summer time
and that’s when we can run all day
long because kids aren’t in school. But
it’s an absolute dream come true to be
able to do something that I love, to be
able to spread my love for the sport
and to maybe ignite some passion in
some others as well as give a life saving
skill. It’s the only sport that is a life saving
skill! I just feel so lucky to be able
to wake up and be excited for what I’m
able to do and to feel good about what
I do every day.
AM: What do you want your legacy to
be in the sport or in general?
NA: I don’t know. People who ask
me that, I thought that I would have
a better answer by now. I think that
just thinking about it off the top of my
head, like I was talking about in 2008,
me taking what other people were doing
at that time, making it their own
and making it better. Just being a small
piece of that – maybe the athletes of
today saw something that I did or how
I approached my swimming. It doesn’t
have to be that every athlete has to
do their swimming the way that I did.
I think that that is something that I
learned back in 2008 where I said, “oh,
ok I can’t do that.” I can try this, or this
might work or I can see myself doing
something like that could work. For
those that see themselves in something
that I do, them taking it and then
working with their coaches and then
bringing that further and further. The
cool thing about swimming is that
we’re still setting World Records pretty
regularly. I mean track and field is pretty
fun and super exciting, but – the 100
meter dash there hasn’t been a World
Record in quite some time. So that’s
what I love seeing. People pressing it
further and further.
@nathangadrian
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 52 +
55 Courtesy Narthan Adrian | PG 56
Stephane Kempinaire KMSP DPPI
Icon Sportwire | PG 59Zumapress/Icon
Sportswire |

When you're enjoying a meal, each bite
creates a memory of the sights, sounds,
and occassion that is taking place. But in
other cases, each bite creates a bridge to
culinary and cultural history as a means to
ensure that a heritage and dedication to
flavors lives on. This month, we sat down
with Chef/Owner Philippe Massoud of one
of our favorite restaurants, ilili here in NY.
We have made our own memories at this
restaurant and enjoyed a number of meals
here as we have our favorites when we
dine here.
The name ilili translates to "tell me," and
in each bite, Chef Philippe is telling and
building an intricate food storytelling canvas
that connects us his to his people from
centuries ago. In our discussion with him,
he took us on a vivid journey of how growing
up in a culinary family in Lebanon that
navigated war, while also offering hospitaly
to its guests, led him on a quest to maintain
a connection to his culture by recreating
dishes that we are now able to enjoy
here in NY as well as in it's DC location.
We talk about his passion for hospitality,
commitmment to food, the flavors of Lebanon,
bringing authenticity of the cuisine
to those who may have been previously
unfamilar, and the impact of his legacy.
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in
love with food?
CHEF PHILIPPE MASSOUD: I fell into food
before I fell in love with it. Being in a family
who has been in the business since back
to the 1800s, both my paternal grandfather
and paternal grandmother were in
their respective families, into food. They
started, my grandfather used to walk
from his village to go work as a cook in the
home of the rich and the famous as a prep
cook. Then subsequently, he traveled with
his brother to Alexandria, Egypt which
back then was the hub, the capital of the
aristocracy, nobility, and the pizzazz. He
went and worked in palaces and hotels or
what have you. They they came back to
Lebanon and they opened a restaurant in
downtown Beirut in the 1800s. Him and
his 3 brothers actually brought in Austrian
pastry chefs to teach the Lebanese how
to do pastries, ice creams and chocolates.
In that restaurant, you had a little chocolate
stand, an ice cream stand, and a
pastry stand, and you had the restaurant
which also did a lot of catering.
So long story short, fast forward to
when I was born, I was born into that
DNA. My father used to cook for us every
Sunday and we used to have these
glorious meals and food was always a
topic of conversation. When the war
broke out in Lebanon, I ended up becoming
a refugee in eventually what became
our family business which was a hotel.
The family grew from a restaurant to
my grandmother and grandfather doing
a Bed & Breakfast in the mountains
of Lebanon. My grandmother sewed all
of the bedsheets and the curtains. My
grandfather ran it and eventually, they
sold that, bought a piece of land and
had the courage to build one of the first
beach resorts in Lebanon which was
called the Coral Beach. So when the
war broke out, we were coming down
from the mountains and we said, “ok,
we can’t go home. It’s not safe. Let’s go
to the hotel and then we’ll go home as
soon as the quarrels stop.” We never
went home. We lost our home in Beirut
and we lost our home in the mountains.
They were robbed, pillaged, and burned
because we were from one religion and
our homes were in an area of another
religion. All religions behave really badly
unfortunately.
So living in the hotel because we were
confined to the hotel on many occasions,
and because the hotel also became the
refuge of many refugees, the hotel became
my little park. My alternate world,
my world of stability and to escape from
the bombs, the bullets, the death, and
the destruction. So I used to walk into
the kitchen and to the patisserie and to
steal petit fours and eat them. I would
enjoy the tempered chocolate that was
resting on the top of the baking oven
of the patisserie and just eat spoonful’s
of sugar and chocolate and grand
patisserie and what have you. I did not
know that this would be my calling at
the time, but I think that that’s where
my formation started. Because I was exposed
to that and I loved eating, I loved
tasting, and subsequently as a little kid,
my first experience really – we had a
French restaurant in the hotel that was
a Michelin level restaurant where we
had the gueridon and with it the steak
au poivre table side with the sommelier
table side – Baba au Rhum and Crepe Suzette.
We had all of the French classics
of the time. So, watching the maître d

working the pan and sautéing the filet
and then putting the cognac on and all of
that, it was mesmerizing to me.
So, I asked one of the maître d’s to teach
me to do that as a young boy. I don’t
know I think I was 6 or 7 or maybe even
5. I dabbled with it right? Subsequently,
during the war, but things had subsided
a bit as we had gotten used to living with
the war, we moved to an apartment and
all of a sudden, I find myself in this apartment
going food shopping with my mother
in the super market and buying ready
made cakes from Duncan Hines or whatever
it was called back then. I’m appalled
by how they taste because I was eating all
of this freshly baked stuff that was freshly
made and all of that. I wasn’t going to
have any of it. I started calling the chef at
the hotel and I said, “listen, I want to do
this. How do I do it? Can you share a recipe
with me?” So as a young 8 year old,
I started baking cakes, crepes, figuring
out how to make pastries, sweet cream,
and understanding why the pastry cream
wasn’t rising. In essence, it was because
I had lost the access to all of this amazing
food that I needed to have that food;
therefore, was compelled to learn it and
to figure it out at a very young age.
Then when my parents would be hosting
guests, we would do catering from the
hotel and I would spend my time in the
kitchen with the chefs helping them plate
because I loved all of this multi-tasking,
4 different pots on the stove, the hustle
and bustle and all of that. I watched and I
developed a palette and a taste at a very
young age. Subsequently, when I became
a teenager, I would be the one that would
cook for my friends. When we went out, if
we were out late after hours, I was the guy
that would bring out the pan and would
start cooking and setting up at 4 o’clock
in the morning to drown all of your alcohol
so to speak! That went on and at the
time, my father didn’t want me to do any
of that because he wanted me to get a degree
like all parents want – to be a lawyer,
a doctor, or become a neurosurgeon. This
industry is back breaking and is difficult.
Subsequently, when I came to the US and
I experienced Lebanese food as it was being
served and reproduced, I was having
none of it. It was so far from the foods,
it was so far from the authenticity and I
could not for the life of me understand
why it wasn’t being reproduced correctly.
I knew how to do it and I would
even quarrel with my aunt whom I was
living with at the time. I came as a tourist
and then my parents called me and I
was 14 years old and they told me that
I could not come back home and that I
needed to stay in the US because it was
no longer safe in Lebanon. Therefore, I
became a refugee. I was accepted in the
public school system thankfully and I
am extremely grateful for this country
giving me the opportunity and therefore,
I missed everything that made me
who I was which was the food. I started
cooking again and my aunt would cook
and I would say, “this doesn’t taste like
the Coral Beach.” She would then ask
me what I would want to do and then I
would say that we should do this or do
that. She would say that it would take
too much time and then she’d say, “if
you don’t like the food, don’t eat it.” She
was fed up with me because I was complaining
all of the time!
All along, I took notes in a little recipe
book that I kept – just basic stuff and
all of that. I went to Cornell University
and I studied for a degree in Hotel and
Restaurant and Resort Management.
Part of that program is that you have to
do kitchen training, you have to understand
food production and what have
you. I discovered the recipe card and
when I saw the recipe card, I thought,
“oh my God I never thought about food
this way.” I realized that at the end of
the day, a recipe in a way, is a mathematical
equation. It’s a balanced equation
between the flavors, the textures, and
the technique. I love that! So I started
putting my little scratchy notes with my
chicken shit writing into the recipe card
and I started experimenting because I
missed the food. There was a restaurant
on campus that was kind of a fast casual
at the time serving the food, but the
food was really not there. Every morning
before class, I would stop by and
quarrel with the chef and beg him and
say, “listen, we can do this better. Why
don’t we do it?” Unfortunately, with a
lot of immigrant cuisines, because our
industry is so back breaking, they’re ok
bending the flavor profile, bending the
textural profile because they are doing
the best that they can. The audience
does not know the difference between
the authenticity and not. This is where

for me, it was an absolute no no because
why are we teaching people how to eat
this food incorrectly? Why are we modifying
it? It’s really good, it’s really delicious
and we should be serving it unadulterated
in its authentic form and in the right
way.
So while I was in college, my father got
killed and the hotel that I thought that I
would eventually go to work in got sold
because we had to sell it under the gun.
We were pretty much kicked out of the
region that we were living in because we
were Christians at the time. The same
thing happened to Muslims on the other
side. It’s not like Christians were behaving
better than the Muslims and vice versa.
Everybody was misbehaving and being
evil. I found myself orphaned of a destiny
that I thought was already written for me.
I realized that I didn’t see myself working
as a front desk manager in a hotel. I don’t
see myself doing housekeeping. I really
see myself working with this cuisine and
correcting its path. I decided that I was
going to jump into the food and jumping
on the bandwagon, enhancing and elevating
Lebanese cuisine. So I started really
developing a menu and then all of the
different ideas that I had. I started developing
recipes for them based on my memory
and what it was that I ate as a child.
Don’t get me wrong, I failed and failed
and failed. I burned and it tasted like crap
and it gave me a stomach ache and it took
me a long time. But I am a Capricorn and
I have horns and I don’t give up easily and
there is nothing such as failure in my vocabulary
or my drive. I subsequently decided
to prove to myself that I could cook
the food and that I could really do it right.
While I was in college, I did 2 things. I did
co-ops, my practical training that I had
to do every semester. I did it in hotels in
Spain. I worked in restaurants in Spain
in the kitchens and worked in the pastry
department, the savory department,
prep departments, and it was back breaking.
Back then, we didn’t have clogs and
Birkenstocks and whatever. I was working
in moccasins like all of the Spaniards
were.
AM: Oh wow!
CHEF PM: It was not fun! But I loved it.
I was working in very busy hotels - 250
rooms. So I understood and it was natural
to me. It’s not like I was out of my element
because unbeknownst to me, it
created a lightbulb moment! You know
when Malcom Gladwell talked about
the 10,000 hours of training that you
get to really become an expert in your
area or what have you. I got a lot more
than 10,000 because my entire life was
in that.
I went to Lebanon and there was a famous
– one of the top Lebanese restaurants
at the time - called Bourj Al Hamam
whose owners had worked with my
grandfather in the past. You have to realize
that a lot of the chefs in Lebanon
and a lot of the pâtissiers when you’re
talking about the 1800s and 1900s, had
either worked, collaborated, or trained
or did their internships with a business
in which my grandfather had been involved
because it was a very small country.
My grandfather was like the Danny
Meyer (Blue Smoke, Manhatta, Gramercy
Tavern) of his times or the Stephen
Starr (The Dandelion, Barclay Prime,
Parc) of his time in Lebanon. They
opened up the doors for me like it was
my own restaurant.
I had my chefs pants and white coat
from college. I had a video camera and
I filmed everything and tasted everything.
I wanted to reconcile what I had
produced in the cuisine from my own
experimentation with how it had been
produced in the restaurants. I was like,
“wow I got it!” I really got it going. Obviously,
I didn’t know all of the little
tricks that help you do things better, I
didn’t have the technique to chop down
30 cases of parsley into tabouleh and
all of that, but I knew where the flavor
was. I spent about a month or so in that
restaurant and I went to another restaurant
and I trained in the art of making
shawarma. Basically, how to butcher the
meat, how to skewer it, how to cook it,
how to shave it, how to make the perfect
sandwich, the perfect prep, the
balance between the meat, the greens,
the tomato, the tahini sauce – how all of
them have to be perfectly balanced to
really give you the right flavor. All along,
I’m taking notes and correcting my own
recipes and what have you.
Then I decided that I wanted to see how
Lebanese food is produced outside of
Lebanon and I ended up going to Paris

and I worked there for 3-6 months if my
memory serves me right in all of the top
Lebanese restaurants in Paris. I learned
how to make all of the Lebanese pastries
– the baklava, powdered creams, the canape,
the cookies, semolina cookies and
what have you. Also, I was able to see how
a concept that had multiple creations creates
a consistency and stability. So having
seen all of that, I thought, “you can do it
my man, you can do it!” So it was time to
put my ring into the hat. That’s what I decided
to do. Now mind you, I tried to open
a restaurant in the city from ‘94 – ’98
and every time I called the landlord, they
asked me if I had ever run a restaurant or
owned a restaurant in NY and I would say
no and they would hang up on me saying
who the hell did I think I was?
Subsequently, I got called from a restaurant
owner in DC. The owner of Capital
Restaurant Concepts who owned Paolo’s,
Georgia Brown, and Old Glory, J. Paul’s
and Georgetown Seafood. He said, “listen
Philippe, we’ve heard about everything
that you have been trying to do in
NY, we want to do the same. Why don’t
you come and develop the concept?" At
the time, they had the Executive Chef,
they had the whole corporate structure.
Obviously, I was 29 years old and to make
a long story short, we opened that restaurant
with the chef, I was concept director
so I did both front of house and back of
house. It wasn’t my restaurant. I tried to
do the best that I could and I elevated
the food up to what I was allowed and it
was a great success. It was called Neyla
in Georgetown on Main Street. 4 restaurants
had failed in that location and everybody
thought that we would fail, and of
course, we succeeded and then in 2004,
I resigned because I saw that there was
no more growth and I was frustrated that
I couldn’t express myself artistically the
way that I wanted to. I took a year off to
try to figure out what I wanted to do and
one of my current investors contacted
me and said, “hey listen, we used to drive
from NY to DC to go eat in the restaurant
that you were running in DC because we
knew that we would be well taken care of
and that the food would be as good as it
would be. Why don’t you come and open
in NY?” I was like, “are you kidding me?
I haven’t been in NY in 5 years, I’ve lost
contact with everybody. I don’t know any
sous chefs, any cooks, bartenders, managers."
I felt like I was going to pass out
from anxiety right there and then.
So I took a leap of faith and I went to
NY and when I walked into the location
which is where ilili is, it’s as if the skies
parted and the Gods smiled and the organs
played and the angels came down
and I felt that that was the space. At
the time, my mission was very simple. I
knew that to change the conversation
about the cuisine, I needed to do something
very big. The cuisine was very
disrespected because it was always associated
with street food, casual food,
and I wanted to change that discourse.
I wanted to change the conversation
and I knew that we could because it’s a
beautiful cuisine and I knew that it had a
tremendous potential.
At the time, I was attacked for being a
lunatic and who was this crazy guy that
was opening a 10,000 sqft restaurant in
Flatiron which is the most destressed
neighborhood in NY and who do you
think you are? But hey, I’m still a Capricorn
-
AM: With those horns!
CHEF PM: Right, watch me do what I
want to do. There I was on opening
night with 80 Americans and me being
the only Lebanese. 80 Americans who
had never served, eaten, or cooked
the food and they all knew what it was
that I was trying to do. They all became
American Lebanese because they understood
the story and they believed in
what it was that we were accomplishing
and we did it! ilili is an homage to my
heritage, it’s an homage to my culture,
it’s an homage to 3 generations of Massoud’s
that have been in the food and
beverage business. I have family that is
in the wine business. All my other cousins
are either the equivalent of the Dean
and Deluca’s of the high end groceries
or super markets in Lebanon. The entire
village is in the food industry. They are
either chefs or in retail foods because
of my grandfather. They saw that my
grandfather succeeded. So that’s really
what ilili is and it’s telling that story.
Because I am telling my story, I wanted
the whole restaurant to be about telling
your story, having fun, celebrating each
other, celebrating your guests, celebrating
the moment - that's what we do.

"At the time, my mission
was very simple. I knew that
to change the conversation
about the cuisine, I needed
to something very big. The
cuisine was very disrespected
because it was always associated
with street food,
casual food, and I wanted
to change that discourse...
it's a beautiful cuisine and I
knew that it had a tremendous
potential."
AM: I think that’s amazing. I’m originally
from the Midwest. So coming to NY, I came
here in 2002, and the diversity of foods
and flavors, we didn’t have that in the Midwest
at that time that I was aware of. So
I spent the first 2 or 3 years tasting all of
these different things that I had never had
including hummus, tabouleh, but I would
go to the East Village and all of the places
to get it. I loved it, but I always wondered
if there was more to this cuisine than just
street food. Although it was really tasty, I
wondered what it would be like when elevated
and I didn’t really known anything
beyond that.
Then your restaurant opened. I think it
was in 2008/2009 when I went and I was
blown away. It became a place that if people
asked me for a business meeting where
I wanted to go – ilili, NYFW – ilili, my birthday
– all the occasions. My family, they
loved it. We’ve had our business meetings
there! Just the food and the warmth, the
space is so large and the hospitality that
is shown just makes it such a beautiful
place. I’ve been introduced to more beautiful
foods in this cuisine because of your
restaurant that makes it a place that I always
want to go to.
CHEF PM: Thank you!
AM: Yes, so thank you for that!
CHEF PM: That’s very kind of you!
AM: Yeah!
CHEF PM: You asked me about why the
staff is so customer friendly driven. So
when we were in the hotel, every guest
was a family member. They were all in
their homes and our homes. We took
care of guests in a way that whatever
the request, whatever needs, met whatever
anticipation that we could think of!
We had a box of cigars that we would
pass around to the big spenders and
they got complimentary cigars from the
maître d. If one of our employees had
an apple grove in his village, we would
bring apples from the village and distribute
them and send them by car to
every guest. We really went out of our
way to be almost extended members of
the family of our guests. Besides being
in a war, that was the level of hospitality
that we had grown up. I made it very
clear to our staff that there was was no
no in ilili and that every guest matters
and a grace and a hospitality are fundamental
to the cuisine as well.
Now the mere fact that you’re not having
a linear experience in the context of
an appetizer, main course, and dessert,
and the fact that you have Thanksgiving
every time that you’re eating here. That
helps also! It breaks the ice, it’s more
festive and you’re less guarded. The
tension at the table is substantially subdued
because the celebration starts the
moment that you sit down and you’re
getting all of these different plates that
are coming down. So the concept helps,
but it also has to do with the company
culture. We take care of our employees
in NY the same way that my grandfather
and father did in Lebanon. We married
our employees, we helped them buy
their first homes, we helped send their
children to college, we helped a guy propose
to his wife! These are the things
that we did. So, I consider my staff as important
to me as my guests. I go out of
my way to do the best that I can in that
environment in the hopes that they pay
it forward to the guests. It works. Don't
get me wrong, we have days where we
fall flat on our face – we’re not perfect
and people have bad days, so what, it’s
not the end of the world. we're human
beings we're not robots.

There’s a certain beauty – restaurants are
a snapshot of life. It‘s an amazing ecosystem
where you have one table that’s celebrating,
another table that’s mourning,
another table that just met, an employee
that had a bad day. The amount of psychological
energy that exists in a restaurant
is just amazing and we try to keep it light
and fun and the food helps to do that.
AM: It definitely shows. I used to be a
person that could never eat by myself for
lunch and I would have such anxiety about
it. I remember one day, I was really craving
going to lunch at your restaurant it was
during NYFW and I was in between shows,
but I was alone. The care was so sweet that
it actually broke the issues I had with solo
dining when I wanted to eat alone.
CHEF PM: That’s so sweet!
AM: Haha yeah I don’t know I think when
you’re growing up as a kid, you never wanted
to eat by yourself, but there are times
when you’re in the city that you’re not going
to be able to have someone with you. I
didn’t know if it was going to be weird, but
the staff was amazing and I really enjoyed
it.
CHEF PM: Yeah and also, the fact that
you’re not eating only with a fork and
knife, you have the pita and you can scoop
the food, and you have the lettuce and
you scoop on the Tabouleh, that interactivity
breaks down some of the rigidity
of the dining experience. This is why we
open the door to the cuisine and we planted
the flag. I’m so happy now that there
are plenty of restaurants in this field that
are serving this cuisine.
I think it’s because society is shifting a
little bit. So small plates and what I like
to call, the Thanksgiving Effect, is something
that we crave now. We’ve become
a lonely society and so our only friction
points with our fellow human beings are
when we go out dining. It’s really – if you
think about it, you used to go out shopping
and you rubbed elbows with people.
You're ordering everything online. You
used to go to the super market, everything
is online – at least if you’re in the big
cities. Because you don’t have time to go.
At 3 o’clock you have done your shopping
list – you don’t have time to go there for
45mins. So, restaurants, in my humble
opinion, are the last and only area to feel
human warmth and to have human
friction which is so vital and important
to our collective wellbeing when you
think about it. It’s becoming a big problem
and COVID has proved that to be a
1000th multiplier. So yeah, what better
way to do it than to share food?
AM: Absolutely!
What are the spices and ingredients that
are indicative of Lebanese cuisine for
those that are not familiar?
CHEF PM: Allspice, cinnamon, cloves,
nutmeg, sumac, and aleppo pepper are
generally used. You then have coriander,
ginger, and of course, all of the herbs.
But in sticking to spices, usually, you’ll
have wherever you have allspice, you’ll
have cinnamon that’s right behind it.
There’s just a bit of hint of it. It’s never
like cinnamon only. That’s usually what
you will taste taste in a lot of the vegetarian
stews, whether it’s okra stew,
eggplant stew, or string bean stew. Remember,
the cuisine originally is a vegetarian
cuisine.
People did not have money to buy beef
or to slaughter a goat or a lamb frequently.
You slaughtered a goat or a lamb on
the rare occasion that you could afford
to do it or if it was a religious holiday. So
people were eating an overwhelmingly
vegetarian diet. So, all of those stews
would be made with these spices.
The way that I like to do it to make it
simple for the readers out there, whenever
you have 1 part allspice, you’ll have
half a part cinnamon, you’ll have 1/4 part
clove, and 1/8 part nutmeg. So if you do
that blend, then you’ll get yourself there
if you want the Lebanese palette when
it comes to the seasonings. Now keeping
in mind that Lebanon was on the
tailend of the Silk Road. The caravans
used to buy spices, seasonings, and silk.
Lebanon was a silk exporter and the
economy fundamentally at that time
was silk. So, you have a lot of movement
between Asia and the Lebanese coast
going out to Turkey and Aleppo, Syria
so eventually, we did get stuff that were
influences from China and it’s quite interesting
that for example, we have a
bread that we make on an inverted wok
and I’m always scratching my head to
wonder if we got that from the Chinese

or did they get it from the Lebanese – who
took it from whom? Or who borrowed it
from who?
But usually in our cuisine, seasonings are
behind the ingredient. They are not ahead
of the ingredient. They let the ingredient
sit on the throne and if you want, the seasoning
comes as a caress and a whisper,
but not as a punch. That’s what makes the
cuisine light. Don’t forget that if you over
season, it’s not so good for your digestion.
A lot of people have allergies that they are
not aware of. They don’t understand that
sometimes they go to restaurants and
eat and they feel light, and then others
it’s like they just poured a pound of concrete
in their stomach. Well, it’s because
of the balancing act that you have to do
and I myself, you know, suffer from a lot
of digestive issues. So, everything I do, I
consider myself the Guinea pig. So if this
works for me, it will work for my guests. I
really take care to ensure that I am giving
you the lightest and most tasteful version
of the cuisine, keeping in mind your wellbeing
as well.
"There's a certain beauty -
restaurants are a snapshot
of life. It's an amazing ecosystem
where you have one
table that's celebrating, another
table that's mourning,
another table that has
just met, an employee that
had a bad day. The amount
of psychological energy that
exists in a restaurant is just
amazing and we try to keep
it light and fun and the food
helps to so that."
AM: Well for the restaurant that is here
in NY, what are your favorite dishes that
you feel that people should try when they
come by?
CHEF PM: To be honest with you, it all
depends on the day of the week. Our
roast chicken is a huge favorite. People
just don’t understand how it can be so
succulent and tender with so much flavor.
AM: I’m people!
CHEF PM: Mind you, it’s marinated in almost
14 different ingredients, right? It’s
cooked to order and that’s why it’s so
juicy and tender. It’s not pre-cooked, it’s
not part cooked and then reheated. It’s
cooked from scratch. So the roast chicken
I love. The lambshank is a dish that
I really adore. If I want to do the South
of France or a Mediterranean experience,
I’m going to order a bottle of rosé,
I’m going to order the whole Bronzino,
the Black Island Shrimp, The Octopus, a
Hummus, a Salad and I’m good to go! I
just took a trip to the French Riviera or
the Puesta de Sol or Beirut right? That’s
the fun part of ilili, in the sense that you
can do that one day and the next day,
you want to go meat centric and have
that delicious California, Lebanese, or
French wine and Leg of Lamb and you
can have that robust meal just as well.
You can also go with the chicken and get
yourself a delicious white wine. So that’s
the fun part about the concept. You really
have a beautiful dish that stands on
its own and can really give you the dining
experience.
And of course, the Mixed Grill, who
doesn’t want to go and have a little barbecue
flavor? A little kebab that has all
of the aromatics. But then there are
moments when I really really jones for
the Steak Tartare – Kibbeh Naye Beirutiyyeh.
Eating it, I have so much fun with
it. Sometimes I add cilantro leaves to it,
I’ll add the Harissa and paint it on it so
that it’s nice and spicy. So really, I don’t
have a favorite. It’s about the day of craving
and what I have a target for when I
come in. If not, then I will go some place
else and not go into ilili. Don’t get me
wrong, I love pasta too!
AM: What led you to open another ilili in
DC?
CHEF PM: Well because I had lived in DC
and I had a great time and fell in love
with the city and because we had created
memorable times in that restaurant

that I led, people today still have memories
of Neyla. At the time, when I was in
DC, it was crazy. I was DJing, I was cooking,
I was maître d’ing – I’d finish working
the grill, change my chef coat, put on civilian
clothes, sit at the bar with my Radio
Shack mixing table and DJ every Fri and
Sat. It was crazy! We had a line out the
door. All around the block. We were spinning
music and people were dancing.
So, I had really beautiful memories of DC.
When The Wharf approached me, and I
visited The Wharf, I was mesmerized by
the transformation of the area as I remembered
what it was like back then!
I really liked it and I said that it was a no
brainer. We had been in NY long enough
and it was time to grow. Why not DC as
the next step?
Now little did I know that COVID would
come and we would all undergo the
trauma that we did. But we built the ilili
in DC during COVID. We used to drive
almost every week for 4 hours because
we couldn’t get on a plane and it was a
nightmare. There were supply chain issues
and what have you. DC if you want,
was all about celebrating life. In DC, the
space when I walked into it with Nasser
Nakib our architect, we were like, “wow
this is a Navy area, this is a greenhouse.
This is like a courtyard in the old world.
We need to transport people into that
moment of time.” We were all coming out
of COVID and we wanted to flip COVID the
bird so to speak and to say, life is good,
life is vibrant, and things are coming back.
I mean, it was dark! NY was very dark. I’ll
never forget. I laid down on the street in
5th Ave for 15mins and there was nobody
and nothing. I was just lying down and serene.
So we went with a celebration approach,
we went with what does the space want
to be? This is why I’m not a cookie cutter,
I’m doing restaurants that tell the story
of the space that they’re in, the geography
that they’re in, and the culture that
they’re in. For example, this is why we
have the Hummus with the crab meat, the
falafel, and a little bit of Old Bay because
I wanted to do a little bit of an homage
to the neighborhood that we’re in. That’s
why the menu is a little bit different and
I wanted to elevate things a little. DC is
smaller so it’s much easier to elevate it a
little bit. I don’t know if you know, but ev-
ery piece that we have in DC is custom
made from the floor tiles, to the chairs,
there is nothing to the exception of the
table bases that we bought in the US –
everything else was imported from Lebanon
and put together by yours truly
and the rest of the team that was there.
That’s because we care deeply about the
story that we are telling and we don’t
want to cut corners, it’s not about the
dollars and cents, and it’s not about the
return on investment. Yes it’s important
and it counts, but it’s about really putting
your heart and soul into the space
and hoping that your guests when they
come into your space, that you have
really given your all for their pleasure.
That’s what we try to do in DC.
AM: Well we have not gone to that one
yet.
CHEF PM: Oh, you’re going to love it!
AM: I looked at the pictures and the location
is beautiful. It’s different than NY
but I love the vibe.
CHEF PM: They don’t do it justice!
AM: I imagine!
Do you plan on opening in other cities as
well?
CHEF PM: Yes, we have been looking at
Miami for quite sometime but the market
is so hot that it has been hard to find
the right location. We love Miami, there
has been some interest in Los Angeles,
but we need a local real estate partner
as we need the right space. I’m not going
to grow for the sake of growing. And
I’m very happy to stay where I am and
to grow what I have. But I want to do
transformative restaurants and when
the right location comes, we will do it!
Yes, Miami is important, Chicago – these
markets are soliciting us, but we haven’t
found the perfect – well not perfect as
perfection is the enemy of progress, the
right location has not been found.
AM: What is an average day like for you?
I can only imagine that your hands are in
so many pots.
CHEF PM: I’m not going to lie to you, I
have taken a bit of a backseat to em-

power my leadership teams to do more. I
used to work 80-90 hours a week, 7 days a
week pretty much. I am trying to be more
disciplined and do 5 days a week – but I do
5.5/6 days. I usually wake up around 6am in
the morning, I have my Espresso, read the
news, catch up on everything, I am at the
restaurant anywhere between 8 o’clock
and 9 o’clock depending on whether I
slept a bit later. I come in, I read all of my
emails, I’ll go down and check in on the
kitchen and now we’re doing a bit of R&D
so I give some instructions to make sure
that things are prepared. I start doing
versions of the recipes so that we reach a
point where we are happy with the product.
I’ll taste with the rest of the team because
I like to be collaborative. There will
be a good hour of R&D and cooking. Then
meetings – with the management team.
We have a lot of managers so we have to
spread them over a period of time. We go
over financials, mentoring, creating transformative
moments, and I’m usually done
around 6/6:30 sometimes 7 – sometimes
I leave at 5. Then I start all over again the
next day!
AM: Oh wow!
How do you take time for yourself just so
that you can relax?
CHEF PM: I meditate. I like sound therapy.
I find it to be really beneficial and wonderful.
I like to cook. Cooking at home in
my apartment is my way of calming down
and relaxing. My team is very surprised because
this year I have cooked in my apartment
more than I have cooked in a very
long time. I don’t know what’s happening
to me, but I’m feeling very creative! So,
cooking, meditating, walks – I love going
on walks and going out around town with
friends celebrating!
AM: That’s amazing.
If we were having brunch at your home,
what would you cook?
CHEF PM: Well, I like to make a mean
Benedict, I’m not going to lie to you. So
if you were that kind of crowd, I would
do that. Otherwise, I usually make olive
oil poached eggs. The secret to these delicious
eggs is very easy and I encourage
your readers to try it. I usually do 3 eggs
Sunnyside Up, I put them in a pan in olive
oil – enough olive oil for the egg to sit on
the olive oil, but not so much that it’s
like drowning in it. You want to have
an 1/8th of an inch in the pan. You crack
your eggs and then you put your burners
on the minimum. So if you have a gas
burner, you put it on the absolute minimum
where the flames are very light.
You put a timer anywhere between
8-10mins, and you let the eggs and the
whole pan all come up to temperature
together. That will create the creamiest,
most delicious egg that you have ever
had. Of course, a bit of salt and pepper,
I like to toast some sourdough and put
that on there. So there would be eggs,
there would be Labne, there would be
mixed olives, sliced tomatoes, probably
some fresh mint and there will of
course be bagels or homemade bagels
and home-cured salmon depending
on the crowd! Whether it’s going to be
beet cured salmon or fennel cured salmon.
Let's see what else, I'm not going to
lie to you, I'm a sucker for really good
Almond Croissants from the neighborhood
baker and maybe some berries!
AM: You come from such a great legacy
and you’re continuing that here, what do
you want your entire legacy to be known
as?
CHEF PM: That I did the best that I could
to touch the people that I work with and
the people that eat my food in a positive
way! Simple as that.
@ililirestaurants
@ililidc
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 64, 69 - 82
Courtesy ilili | PG 66 + 84 Scott Morris |

We always like sitting down with those
that trailblaze their industries by working
in their vertical and creating innovations
that change the way that we go about doing
what we do. We caught up with Chaz
Dean, Founder of WEN and Celebrity Hair
Stylist & Colorist, and have been fans of his
since we first met him and followed his story
on BRAVO's Flipping Out with Jeff Lewis,
and when he went onto QVC to sell his line
of haircare products. He creates products
that you'll find using for your hair as well
as other parts of your body! In addition, he
is focused on clean ingredients that ensure
our bodies stay hydrated and are not tested
on animals.
We wanted to find out more about how he
got into the industry, how being multi-talented
in an array of areas allowed him to
converge his skill sets even more to optimize
his work, how he made his Chaz Dean
Studio distinctive and his latest launch of
WEN's Pina Colada line.
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you realize
that you wanted to be a hairstylist?
CHAZ DEAN: Probably when I was 18 because
I took photography all through
high school and I was a photographer all
through that, loved it! We moved to Arizona
the week after I graduated from high
school. I was still 17 at that point and so I
took a commercial course in photography
and I thought, I was moving back to California,
because Arizona was not for me! It
was too hot – way too hot, which is what
we’re getting now but anyway!
I knew I was moving back to California,
but again, I was only an 18 year old kid.
I felt like I was this little fish in this huge
pond and I thought that I was going to be
eaten alive out here. I wanted more experience
under my belt and because I was a
fashion/beauty photographer, I wanted to
learn how to do the hair and the makeup
to create the look that was in my head. I
didn’t want to have to tell the MUA here’s
what I see and the hair stylist, here's what
I see - the vision that I saw, I wanted to
be able to create that! That was really im-
portant to me so I went to school for
hair and all through beauty school, everyone
knew, this was the kid that was
going to graduate and go back to California
that’s his dream! I was going to work
at Vidal Sassoon, that was my dream in
school at least. I was going to go to Los
Angeles to work at Vidal Sassoon. That
was my dream in school. It was the full
picture, not compartments.
AM: Exactly.
What led to you wanting to open your
own salon and what were your goals in
doing that?
CD: It’s funny, when we were in beauty
school, one of our assignments was, if
you had your own salon, what would it
look like? We all had to draw it out like
architects to show what it would look
like and the layout. So, I remember that
being our exercise, but I had no idea
how I drew it out, now. It would be interesting
to know how did I actually plan
this as an 18 year old kid? How did I do it
then versus how it really is now? I don’t
remember, but it’s not like I sought out
that I was going to own my own salon.
Many people do and they can’t wait to
open their own. Mine wasn’t that way.
I worked for another company and I
worked for them. I started creating
products for them which is how it happened.
I was a 19 year old kid who asked them,
“how come you have your own haircare
line, but you don’t have your own deep
conditioner?” They didn’t. They would
buy those hypro pacs at the beauty supply.
I didn’t think that it made sense to
have your own product line, but not
your own deep conditioner. So they said
if I wanted, they would set me up with
a laboratory to help them create one. I
had never done it and again, I was only
19, but it opened a door for me. I like
to cook, I’m creative, I love art and all
of those things. So of course I wanted
to do that. I did and we launched it and
it was called Reconstructor and it was

amazing and everyone loved it and it
worked great. A few months later they
came up to me and said, we’re thinking of
doing more of a natural product line and
they wanted to know if I would be interested.
I said I was, but I wanted to know
what I would get out of it. Their answer
to me was, “prove to us that you can do
it first and then we’ll talk about that.” A
young intimidated kid from the owner’s
salon thought, “well didn’t I already do
that with the Reconstructor?”
But I wanted to do it and I probably was
afraid that if I asked, that they might say
ok forget it. So I wanted to do it and I’m
glad that I did. We did it and we launched
a Primrose Shampoo because they wanted
more of a natural product line. At the
time, the only one that was out was Aveda.
I had to do my research to know what
I would do and what I would want to do.
So I did Primrose Shampoo, Sage Conditioner,
and Rosemary Conditioner which
were the first 3 products of the line. I’m
someone that if my name is on it, it’s on
it and you’re not going to run my name
through the mud. So they were someone
that wanted instant gratification and
they kept saying let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.
I would tell them that since my name was
on it, if I was going to do it, I would do it
right. It took longer than what they wanted
it to be, but in hindsight, it was pretty
quick. We finally did it and launched it and
that was the line that it is and that’s the
fashion formula line which is the Big Sexy
Hair concept. So it’s that line. I developed
those 3 items and it became huge! So after
we launched it, I asked them, what
am I going to get for this? So they told me
to meet them in their office on Tues. So I
went and their offices were in Westwood
and they slid a piece of paper across the
table to me and remember it probably
took me 9 months to launch it so when I
first did it, I was so excited and thought,
oh my gosh, I’m going to create a product
line for them and a young naïve 19 year old
kid thinks that maybe I will get 15% out of
it. You have no idea. As the months went
on without having any dialogue with them
and we do this as people, I went down to
12% and 10% in my own head just because
I knew how they were. So in my own
head, I talked my value down without
any dialogue to them and I think I did it
as well because I didn’t want to be let
down with what it actually ended up being.
AM: Well, yeah.
CD: I’m not joking, I probably went down
to 5-7% in my own head. So I went and
met with them and remember I went
from my own head thinking 15% down
to 5%. So they slid the paper across the
table to me, I turned it over and I kind
of get a little emotional every time I say
this. They offered me a penny per bottle
for every bottle manufactured. I’m like
woah! So I mean nothing – my worth is
nothing!
AM: Oh my!
CD: In my head and I get goose bumps
every time I say it because I don’t talk
about it often, but in my head, I’m thinking
I put in all that work and all that passion
– yes I learned from it, but you’re
a big Goliath here and that’s pretty
messed up! In my head I’m thinking, that
100 bottles will equal $1! As a kid that has
no money, how am I every going to get
to $1,000? It was insane! I wasn’t happy
about it and we had dialogue and they
were like, that’s it – take it or leave it.
Wow, it was a stab in the back and I had
no choice and I signed it. But in all honesty,
I never even saw that and I never
even saw anything from that. I did get
a discount from them when I purchased
the salon from them which I am jumping
ahead of them a little bit. Because you
asked me about the salon and it’s really
important.
Knowing I was screwed over when I first
created a product for them, then I got
screwed over a second time, also knowing
that I worked for them as I was a
manager and they didn’t pay their managers
anything. I would ask them to just
give me minimum wage to show that

f-ed me over how many times?” Now
you want me to do this so that you can
do it again? But after thinking about it I
realized that for years there was a reason
why that salon wasn’t successful
because every time one of the ex-managers
would leave to go open their own
salon, you’re losing that built in clientele
they had. New stylists would come in,
but you’re not getting new people walking
into the door because you’re in Bel
Air, a multi-million dollar neighborhood
but it’s a chain salon Carlton above the
door. These women have pride, they’re
not going to a chain salon. I would tell
them for years, change the name to
anything but Carlton and you will have
successful stylists. But they’re not walking
in that door because of the name
that’s over it. Even though it works for
you everywhere else, it does not in this
neighborhood. I said it for years and I
have goosebumps as I tell you this and
tell you my story as I don’t usually relive
this. Their ego is in the way and they will
not change the name. So I thought, I
can make this work. So I did do it and
that’s what turned everything around.
I had never intended to own a salon, it
was never in my cards, I was just a busy
hard worker and I worked from 9 in the
morning until 11/midnight because I was
just passionate about hair. Marysol has
been my housekeeper for 25 years and
she jokes with me and says, “he used to
work hard.” I’m like, what do you mean,
I have no time to breathe! But it’s a different
kind of work but I would be at the
salon for 12 and 14 hour days so I “used
to work hard.” It’s a different kind of
work, now it’s a business kind of work.
The irony is that I did it and I didn’t have
any money. I had nothing. So I painted
the walls and it was when shabby chic
was in and I took my roses and hung
them upside down and I made it quaint
and cute and welcoming because I didn’t
have any money to do anything else. I
hated the floors and I couldn’t do anything
about that. I did an opening party
with friends and I had a friend that was
a singer who had an incredible voice and
she sang and I had people in the neighwhat
I was doing for them carried merit,
weight, value, respect, and what not. Because
you had to have mandatory meetings
and to cancel out your clients or book
out your clients. I was like, I’m losing money
as a manager and you’re not even covering
me on anything here. I would ask for
minimum wage and I’m sorry, back then
it was $3.65 – so essentially, I’m asking
for $120 a week to show me that I mean
something to you. So no there was nothing.
I did it as long as I could until I felt that
my clientele was suffering because of my
managerial and I was managing a salon
of 25 stylists and so forth. So I said that
I couldn’t do it anymore and that was after
all the other things that I was screwed
over on. I resigned from management and
I left the salon that I was at which was in
Century City and I went up to their Bel Air
location. When I did, I realized that everyone
that was working there were ex-managers.
I was a 20 year old kid and I went
to a salon that was all ex-managers. They
all seemed to go there and it was in one
of the richest neighborhoods in California.
When I would go there, there would
be no music there, no coffee made, there
was no vibe, no energy and I couldn’t do it
because I’m the full picture! So, I took on
management again even though I didn’t
get paid for it. I couldn’t be in that environment
so I had to manage it. It’s funny
because it bounced back between me
and one of the other managers when I
was like, I’m done with it, then she would
do it. We both knew we weren’t getting
paid for it, but we did it because we cared
about the environment.
When it came up that we heard news that
they might be selling the salon, we were
like, “what are we going to do?” So I start
looking around and you’re in Bel Air, it’s
way up there around nothing. I looked
and I couldn’t find a place as I knew I
wouldn’t be able to control the environment.
I would have to fit in to whatever
it is and did I see myself in that type of an
environment? At one point, they offered it
to me on whether I would want to buy it,
but my first knee jerk reacting in my head
was, "how am I going to do this after you

borhood and from the very beginning
it was busy busy busy. They lived in the
neighborhood and they would walk by
and they were shocked. They would ask
me how I did this and I told them that for
years, all you had to do was change that
name! I called it Chaz Dean. No one knew
who Chaz Dean was back then, it was Chaz
Dean Salon and they didn’t know who. I
changed it to Chaz Dean Salon and now
people know who the hell Chaz Dean is!
AM: Absolutely!
CD: I did call it my own name because
I wanted to be able to incorporate my
name because of my own photography. I
wasn’t just building a salon, I was building
photography and hair. I wanted them to
be able to know who is Chaz Dean. Does
that make sense?
AM: It does!
At what point did you feel like that you
had been making these products for other
people and now that you wanted to do it
for yourself since you also had the salon?
CD: The day that I opened my salon!
AM: That’s what I thought!
CD: Because when I worked for them, you
had to sell shampoo, you had to sell their
products and it was all that you could do.
That’s the ironic part. May 1st in 1993, the
day I bought the salon and opened my salon,
I gave up lather and said that I didn’t
have to do that anymore to sell shampoo.
I created it for them but I had already realized
before that that I used to do shampoo
and conditioner twice a day, 14 times
a week. When I would shampoo my scalp,
it would get tight and it felt horrible and it
would be all stripped and I knew it. Then
the conditioner would just comb through
it and for 2 hours a day, it would look ok
in the middle of the day, but then it would
get oily and what not. It was a vicious cycle
and I knew that there had to be a better
way! I had a lightbulb moment that the
only reason that anybody uses shampoo
is to clean their hair. So if I can clean my
hair and not strip it, so that my clients
color won’t go down the drain, because I
had been mixing vegetable color in with
shampoos, that’s how I knew that the
culprit was shampoo. So I’m emptying
bottles of shampoo and mixing in vegetable
color and putting them back in
and I’m doing the same with conditioner
– emptying them and putting back in
vegetable color. But I know the culprit is
shampoo, so get rid of the damn shampoo!
That was before I bought the salon,
but when I owned the salon, I no longer
had to do this song and dance anymore.
I can do my thing and that’s what it was.
The irony is, I never bought my shampoo
from them. I bought the products that
I created for them, but I never bought
shampoo from them again. I would mix
the sage and rosemary together – 2 parts
sage, 1 part rosemary. Sage is more moisturizing
and rosemary is more stringent
so mixing 2/3 and 1/3, it worked. At the
beginning, I told them about it because I
was excited and they didn’t want to hear
about it. About a year or so later, they
realized that I never bought shampoo
and I said, “why because I only do conditioner.”
They thought that I was weird
and crazy and then all of a sudden, they
realized that I was on to something and
then they came in asking about what I
did and I knew! I knew that they were
going to steal my idea because I was just
this tiny little kid! My stylist next to me
started telling me and I told her not to
tell them. I knew what they were up to
and they were going to rip me off.
AM: That’s awful!
CD: I did it and that was my moment
when I started creating. It was still 2
years after that. So for 2 years, I mixed
there’s and then in 1995, is when I started
to work with the lab. When the lab
came to me, I was concerned about
them ripping me off so I didn’t even tell
them what I was creating! With the lab,
I would just pretend that I was creating
a shampoo otherwise they were going

to know what I was doing. So with the lab,
they would send me the shampoo, various
conditioners of different versions. I would
keep making changes to the conditioners
and they would note that I hadn’t with the
shampoos and I would tell them that that
one was good and I didn’t need any other
changes. I didn’t tell them. It wasn’t until
I launched it because my thinking was being
someone much smaller than the larger
companies around me, I had to protect it
as long as I could and I kept the secret until
it was launched. Even when I launched
it, I still felt like I would have to keep it a
secret. But by then I had to talk about it
because it was out there and I had a patent
pending. So I felt like it was guarded
until I launched it.
AM: I love that story and it’s such a shame.
There is such a backstory going on and
you’re literally learning on a twisty curve
and it’s awful when you’re the little guy!
CD: I probably wouldn’t have been around
if it hadn’t happened that way. I didn’t do
it out of spite or resentment. But I did it
out of, if I did that for you, imagine what I
could do for myself! That’s my thing. With
the knowledge that I had back then versus
what I had when I did it for myself, I
knew I could do so much better than that.
AM: We had the pleasure of attending
your virtual launch for the Pina Colada
collection that took place last month.
The system is great – what’s your process
when you’re deciding about the scents
that you’re bringing forward, what are the
different kinds of products, and it’s great
that there is that flexibility and such an intention
behind what you do in these items
that they can work for your skin as well as
for your hair.
CD: I have very few products that only
have 1 use. I’d have to think about which
ones those would be. Most of them spill
over for hair, skin, everything. As far as
the fragrances, I have a Blessings Collection
as well. Right now, we’re working on
Prosperity. When we did the Pina Colada,
we started out with wanting pineapple
and coconut, but then as we went the
process it became more than that! It literally
became Pina Colada. Having pineapple
and coconut made sense because
of the benefits of the clarifying and the
astringent properties, exfoliating properties,
and hydrating properties. I knew
where I wanted to go with it. This is one
that I am so proud of! It’s been out since
the beginning of June.
AM: When we got the WEN mailer, we
were a little hesitant because some
scents can be overwhelming and it’s just
too much!
CD: Oh yeah, sometimes it’s like candy
and too sweet!
AM: Yeah!
CD: Mine are not like that.
AM: When you’re using it feels like you’re
at a spa and I really enjoy the balance of
the scent.
CD: That is my element and as someone
who suffers from migraines, the
fragrances that I create are very clean.
I avoid those nasty harsh synthetics
and the musk because it drives my migraines
and they know that about me
too. So yeah, when you think of it and
again, I smell other ones and I can’t because
it goes right there! I keep it really
clean and that’s what differentiates
me so much because I have done over
50 fragrances and I will tell people not
to wear fragrances because it drives my
migraines, but the fact that I can create
these and it doesn’t do that to me is so
amazing. Again, I’m not making a claim,
but anyone that does get migraines, or
you have a fear of them, try it at least.
I don’t remember anyone who has told
me that it triggers their migraines.
AM: That’s good to know. What is the
relationship when people are looking at
having great hair – the balance between
wellness and your haircare routine? Because
it’s not just about what you put on

your body, but also what you put in your
body right?
CD: Oh yes! It’s really important. I try to
get people to understand that everything
that goes and I never use this analogy, but
it’s the gas that you put in your car is going
to determine that as well! Everything that
you put into your body is going to come
out as well. If you put in cheap gas you’re
going to see that and it’s going to take its
toll. But, the same thing with us. What
goes in is going to have to come out somewhere.
Your pores, your hair, your nails,
your skin – somewhere. It has to come
out, it doesn’t stay in there in a vault. So,
yeah, when people realize that, you can
change so much by your diet. What you
do topically, you’ll notice it much quicker
and immediately versus what you put in
may take you a little longer to see what’s
going on.
I definitely connect the two as I’m vegan
and it’s been almost 4 years. I was pescatarian
from Sept of 2014-2019 for 5 years
and then I gave that up because I felt like
I was probably eating more plastic than
probably fish. Also, because they are living
beings and there was all of that. I’ve
been vegan now for almost 4 years. September
will mark the 4th year. In terms
of eating meat or any of that stuff, I haven’t
in 9 years as of September. All of
that is important to me. When I launched
my product line, I did so with no animal
testing. There are no animal biproducts,
it’s cruelty-free, we are recognized by the
leaping bunny and I did that again working
on the line in 95, launching it in 2000
– so it’s not a bandwagon that I jumped
onto. I have always been that way. Now,
everyone is doing it being vegan and cruelty-free
and I’m like, “where were you 20
years ago?” I launched that way. I don’t
want to be swept away under the rug because
everyone is now, I have been that
way ever since I created my products. It’s
important to me as well.
I think this is important, when I had my
infomercial, I stipulated that I wouldn’t
allow them to sell in China because they
require animal testing. They knew that
that was part of the contract and that I
would not allow them to do that. They
wanted to obviously, but it’s not ok.
AM: You’re schedule must be insane with
your 2 salons in LA and here in NY, your
QVC business with the brand as well as the
brand on it’s own. What is an average week
like for you? I love that you’re just smiling
right now.
CD: No, it’s just that before you and I talked,
I was talking with my business manager
who was telling me that I had to do
this, this, and this. I’ve been shooting for
the past 2 days and almost everything was
that. I know there are things that I need
to do because they are important. It’s not
a joke, my LA PR team, we were supposed
to have a call a few days ago and then the
shoot happened and she was like, we still
need to talk and I was like, "I know, but
when?” It just is and it’s not a complaint.
It doesn’t stop.
We did a documentary. A guy reached out
to me during COVID and he wanted to do
it about our billboards. During COVID, I
hadn’t done photoshoots for it. So a year
and a half into it, I reached out and apologized
that I hadn’t done anything for it.
When we finally did it last July, it was a
long time that he was waiting for us to do
shoots. He came out and did the footage
and what not, filmed it, asked me questions
and did the interview and all of that.
Just yesterday during our shoot, we happened
to talk about it and our billboards
for next year for Fall, Winter, Spring and
Summer and what that will look like and
what we want to do. We try to shoot the
whole year. So we’re going to do our shoot
and do a behind the scenes with our video
guy where we’ll talk about what we’re
doing, who we are, what it means, etc.
The billboards have been out for at least
15 years and I need to figure out when the
first ones went up because I really don’t
remember honestly. Having said that,
we talked about it and they said we haven’t
heard from him and it’s been almost
a year ago now. So we’re talking about

what we’re going to do with behind the
scenes and interactions with everyone involved
with my team. I have the first sample
of it today and in there it reminded me
because he asked me this as well – and I
said that there is something in me that’s
afraid that if I took a vacation or time off,
if I took a pause or a stop to it, I might
not pick it back up again because I know
what it entails. I always say that I feel like
I am on this merry-go-round and if I get
off, I don’t know if I am getting back on.
So I’m afraid to put a pin or a pause in it.
You’d think that that was what happened
during COVID, but I got busier with Zooms
and this. For people that got those breaks
and what not, I didn’t!
AM: We had no break!
CD: I thought that I would and I’d have
time to clean out my closet, my garage,
etc. None of that happened! I didn’t get
free time which is insane. Things got busier
because people knew that Chaz was
available. When I was behind the chair before,
they would have to stand there and
wait for me because they couldn’t get to
me. As soon as COVID happened, everyone
could get to me and it happened.
Now I’m on these Zoom things in the salon
here on Saturdays because the rest is
taken up with all of this. In NY, I’m in the
salon 5 days a week which is what I was
used to during normalcy because I’m able
to there as I’m out of this if that makes
sense.
There’s no 2 days that are the same. I’m
juggling. Today I’m trying to fit together
meetings in – where are we going to fit it?
Ask this one if they can stay 15 mins later,
we’ll meet with this one after – it is what
it is. Even during COVID, when I look at my
life pre-COVID, even today, I don’t know
how I did it. We were traveling every
month to QVC sometimes twice a month.
A team of 20+ going there. I look at it now
and wonder how did we do that during
2019? I don’t know how and I know we did
it for 16 years at that time. But I look at
it and wonder how I lived that life before
COVID and I don't know how and I don't
even know how to get back to that! I
don’t think that we ever will. So when
you asked me that question, I lived it.
How did we do all that we did? I don’t
know.
Ever since COVID, the team that used to
go doesn’t want to do that anymore. Everything
changed.
AM: Everything changed! That’s very
true!
What do you want your legacy to be in
this industry?
CD: It’s so funny that you ask that. If you
say Vidal Sassoon, Oribe, or what not –
you know who or what they are. I want it
to be that this guy changed the way that
globally people thought about the way
they cleanse their hair. I don’t feel like I
have hit that yet and I don’t know why
or what it will take to hit that. There was
no such thing as cleansing conditioner
when I did it. People thought that I was
insane and crazy and said, “what do you
mean that I’m not going to be able to
use shampoo?” I’d tell them to trust me
and that I promised that it would work.
You do a week, 2 weeks, then 3 weeks.
I’m on day 2, but still I’m 30 years that I
haven’t had lather touch my hair, face,
body, or skin. I would not have all this
hair on my head if I continued to use
shampoo. I’d probably have half this
amount and I’m not joking because of
the toll it takes on your scalp and your
hair. So I’d really like to leave behind the
recognition – I really would, that he really
had a movement that changed things.
It’s the same version of the person who
created shampoo, I’m the guy who invented
cleaning conditioner. I don’t
think that it’s hit because everyone has
copied it and it’s not the same. There
are people who say they use cleansing
conditioners and I ask them if it’s Wen
and they say, “no, but it’s all the same.”
And I say no – I had that message 30+
years ago and there are people on the
bandwagon, but it was delivered to me.
I didn’t understand what it was when I

opened a salon, I didn’t plan on it. I
stepped into that role of giving up lather,
I didn’t know what it would mean, but I
knew I was on a journey. So I would like
it if I was known as that guy who gave up
lather and created cleansing conditioner.
It has been worldwide.
@chazdean
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Chaz Dean
We did an event last night and sometimes
people don’t realize it’s they me until we
have the gift bags and they’ll say, oh my
God, Wen – that’s you! So they connect it
that way – you get what I mean! They’re
like, your Flipping Out Guy or QVC guy.
There are times that people don’t realize
and they will tell me that they love Wen
and that they love Chaz and then they’ll
realize it’s me! It’s bizarre, it happens, and
it’s crazy.
I know how hard I have worked for it and
I would like it to be when it’s all said and
done that there is a legacy behind it. I was
passionate about it and I did it for her,
him, the customer. Anyone that knows
me, if I go anywhere, like last night, it was
an event for pre Comic-Con and I was giving
advice. There was a woman who was
there who had all hair pieces and what
not and her testimonial was amazing. She
had been using it for 15 years or more and
whatever industry her hair extensions
come from, they all use it because it prolongs
them. When you use shampoo on
them, you’re buying another one, and another
one, and another one – they’re getting
trashed. So to hear her testimonial
was amaz ing. How did I change her life,
help her life, build her confidence? There
are people who have been born and have
never used lather in their lives since this
has been out for 22 years. I have a goddaughter
who is 23 and lather has never
touched her hair – things like that, they
have never had to experience shampoo
because Wen was there. I’d like to have
the weight of what it actually means and
not just the story of the cleansing conditioner
but how it touched people’s lives,
built their confidence and all of those elements
are why I do what I do. It’s a confidence
booster!

THE ART OF
THE SNACK:
JIWA
SINGAPURA

In this month's issue, we make our way
to Tysons Galleria, an upscale DC premier
shopping and dining experience - to enjoy
Singaporean cuisine by MICHELIN-starred
Chef/Partner, Pepe Moncayo! We wanted
to find our more about his second venture,
Jiwa Singapura which opened this
Spring, his background, and his first venture
Cranes in DC. He lets us know where
his passion for Singapore comes from and
he gives us the scoop on what we should
try when we swing by for our next meal!
ATHLEISURE MAG: Can you tell us about
your culinary background, where you
trained, and the kitchens you worked in
prior to Jiwa Singapura?
CHEF PEPE MONCAYO: Same as asking
your age, at the point I am on my career
to go back 27 years on time can be somehow
painful :)))
Long history short, in 2010 I was sent to
Singapore by my mentor after working
my way up on some of the best restaurants
in Barcelona. I ended up opening
my own restaurants and forming a family
with a Singaporean over the the spam of
10 years.
AM: How would you define your cooking
style?
CHEF PM: I always seek for balance of flavors
with a gravitation for acidity, bringing
up the best I can with what the pantry
of the region provides.
AM: Before we delve into Jiwa Singapura,
you are also the Chef/Partner of MICHE-
LIN-starred Cranes can you tell us a bit
about this restaurant from the cuisine and
the ambiance?
CHEF PM: The cuisine of Cranes showcases
my origins in Spain and my crush for
Japan. I started this concept in 2012 in Singapore,
and kept evolving it in DC since
2020. The ambiance and intent is to create
a fine dining restaurant that is accessible
and not for special occasions only. We
might be the only Michelin awarded that
opens for lunch, offering a $48 menu, a
la carte, happy hour….
AM: What does it mean to you to have
this distinction of a MICHELIN star?
CHEF PM: Dream come true
AM: Earlier this year, you opened Jiwa
Singapura, what can you tell us about
Singapore cuisine in terms of flavors, ingredients,
and spices that are associated
with it?
CHEF PM: Singapore is little island that
throughout the centuries has been invaded
by many neighboring and distant
countries / civilization alike. Chinese, Indian,
Dutch, British, Japanese...and the
list goes on.
Its culinary is a reflection of these civilizations
the crossroad and cultural mix.
Singaporean cuisine is unique in essence
by being influenced by the many.
AM: What does Jiwa Singapura mean?
CHEF PM: The Soul of Singapore
AM: What inspired you to open this
restaurant as I know you spent a decade
in Singapore.
CHEF PM: Let’s put it this way - although
I carry a Spanish passport my second nationality
is Singaporean, by heart.
AM: Why are you so passionate about
Singaporean cuisine and culture?
CHEF PM: My love for Singapore is its
cuisine in particular. We ate Singaporean
cuisine at home since I met my wife,
Aishah. It genuinely became a part of
my most intimate life and I wanted to
share it.
AM: For those who are coming in to dine
at this restaurant, what is the ambiance
of the space, and can you tell us about
the design aesthetic and the terrace
which seems amazing?

CHEF PM: In your question lies the answer.
Open kitchen, incredible high ceilings,
breathtaking design and on top of that a
patio equipped with an operable pergola
that allows you to be outdoors even in the
rain.
AM: In terms of the menu, there is an a la
carte menu of small and large plates. What
are 3 dishes from your small plates menu
and 3 dishes from your large plates menu
that you would suggest for those coming
in to dine with friends and family?
CHEF PM: I don't like to pick among
them….
But, you shouldn’t miss:
- Salted Egg Shrimps
- Chicken Satay
- Kampung Rice
- Carrot Cake
- Cendol
- Laksa
AM: Is there a Happy Hour menu and if so,
what are 3 dishes we can enjoy along with
a cocktail pairing?
CHEF PM: We call it the Satay Hour. We offer
very good value beverages, and each
comes with a complimentary satay (skewer)
we have 8 different types!
AM: What is Nasi Padang which is on the
Set Lunch menu?
CHEF PM: The idea of Nasi Padang is to
Build Your Own Singaporean style. You’ll
go to the food stall and pick items out of
an array of 25 displayed to go along with
white rice. You’ll pay according to what
you pick. Our version is we build it for you,
7 items that keep evolving.
AM: Tell me about the 8-course tasting
menu.
CHEF PM: Tasting menu is the offer in
where we allow ourselves to go more offroad,
introducing flavors, techniques, and
ingredients not common to Singapore.
Our menu items are meant to be shared,
the tasting menu is to be enjoyed individually
and it’s our most fine dining approach.
AM: Dessert is always a great way to end
the meal. What are 3 you suggest that
we can share?
CHEF PM: ALL OF THEM!!!
AM: We always enjoy a great cocktail.
What are 3 that we should try when coming
in with friends?
CHEF PM: Definitely our bestsellers; Chili
Padi Margarita, Singapore Girl and Hills
of Bukit.
AM: Are there any upcoming events that
will take place at Jiwa Singapura that we
should keep on our calendar?
CHEF PM: Singapore’s National Day, 8/9,
we are going to have a blast!
AM: With National Singapore Day coming
up on Aug 9th, will there be a special
menu or events taking place here?
CHEF PM: Absolutely, we are going to
do a buffet style; all inclusive food and
beverages.
@jiwasingapura
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Jiwa Singapura

Prior to the release of Netflix's The Deepest
Breath, we had the pleasure of watching
the screener for this documentary film
that not only brings us into the world of
freediving, the relationships between freedivers
as well as safety divers, but the dedication
and the complete use of the athlete's
body when they are competing. We
are introduced to Alessia Zecchini who is
known as the Deepest Women on Earth at
123 meters, 38X Freediving World Record,
and 17X World Champ. We also meet her
safety, Stephen "Steve" Keenan who was
passionate about this sport as well as protecting
the freedivers who continue to
trailblaze in this sport.
For those that may not be aware, we
wanted to give a bit of background on the
sport as well as some terminology. Freediving
is the practice of holding your breath
when diving underwater without the use
of breathing equipment, such as a scuba
tank. This takes on more meaning when
you realize that prior to Alessia winning
the 2023 AIDA Oceanquest Philippines in
Camotes Island, she broke a world record
in the Bifins discipline during the 2023 Secret
Blue International Depth Competition
in the Philippines by achieving a 109
meter dive in 3 mins and 38 seconds. She
broke her own 2-day old record of 107 meters
set on a 3 min 26 sec dive in March and
surpassed the previous AIDA record by a
10meter margin. Her world and Italian records
are definitely astounding and even
more so when you realize that this is done
by simply holding your breath as depths
are being navigated!
In this sport, there are blue holes which are
a large marine cavern or inkhole, which is
open to the surface and has developed in
a bank or island composed of a carbonate
bedrock. They can be an oasis in an otherwise
barren seafloor. Blue holes are diverse
biological communities full of marine life,
including corals, sponges, mollusks, sea
turtles, sharks, and more.
If you have yet to see this documentary
film, you can stream this now on Netflix,
but this interview may have spoilers. We
sat down with the film's director, Laura
McGann to find out about why she wanted
to share this true story, bring this
sport to life, show how one trains to do
it, and to transport us to phenomenal locales
around the world.
ATHLEISURE MAG: What drew you to
want to direct The Deepest Breath and
how did you find out about this story?
LAURA MCGANN: Look, I love the sea
and we moved to live by the sea because
we love swimming all year around and it
gives me a lot. I’m a better person for
the sea for sure!
So I suppose, that I would be attracted
to anything about it and I remember seeing
it in the Irish Times and I didn’t know
what freediving was and I had to Google
it. I was met by these incredible images
of humans behaving more like dolphins
and holding their breath for what felt
like forever. It was kind of like learning
that there was a group of people who
had cracked the code on flying and that
they had just learned how to fly! I was
like, what? So it started there and then
I learned more about Steve and Alessia,
that’s when I really felt like, oh God this
could be an incredible story, an incredibly
cinematic documentary and if I were
possibly able to tell it in the moment, and
go on their journey with them – Alessia
the World Champion freediver and Stephen
Keenan an expert safety diver and
their lives are just so incredibly dramatic
and also just really inspirational. Just
seeing that if you just live your life a little
bit differently, follow your dreams –
what it is that you can end up doing!
AM: When we first heard about the movie,
there was a general sense of what freediving
was but the first 5 or 10 minutes of
actually watching your film, you get the
depth of the intensity of what the film as
well as what the sport is about! It really
puts you in awe about all the things that
have to come together to compete in this
with holding that breath and really using
your body as an instrument.

How did you immerse yourself in being
able to really know about what the sport
is and to get those moments so that as a
viewer, you’re able to translate those anxiety
filled moments as you’re watching it?
LM: Well, I suppose I came to this not knowing
anything. It was really a long time before
I would see a freediver with my own
2 eyes! It would actually be years, about 3
years and so the free divers from all over
the world, held my hand and spent many
an hour explaining to me over Zoom on
what they did, why they did it, how they
did it and how it all was. Then eventually,
the first place that we went to where I
saw Alessia dive was in fact the Blue Hole
in Dahab, Egypt. One of our participants
in the film, Kristof Coenen, he describes
it as like putting his head in the water for
the first time and holding his breath and
all the shit from daily life just vanishes. I
was at the Blue Hole and I looked in the
water and I saw all of the little fish and
the coral and I was only up to about my
hip, but then I swam about 5 meters out
and then all of a sudden, it just drops like
a cliff for about 100 meters deep from 1
meter to 100 meters – just like that! It was
an incredible blue, the kind of blue that
calls you down and so getting to see that
for myself, experience it for myself, I think
it was really important as the filmmaker
that I could kind of grasp something from
it and try to bring that onto the screen.
AM: From an organizational standpoint,
the way that the film reveals itself is really
interesting and it tells a deeper story. You
have so many people that talk throughout
this film. How did you coordinate it all as it
must have been massive?
LM: I suppose that part of it was that we
had the pandemic which stopped us from
doing a lot, but it also allowed us to do a
lot as well in terms of the research and being
able to spend so much time talking to
them. It allowed us the time to really sit
with the story and I would use our Zoom
transcripts to piece together, kind of as a
script to see what people were saying and
to figure out the best way to tell this story
in the most compelling way and to try
to figure that out. And really, just to do
it justice.
AM: What’s the big story that you want
people to walk away from in terms of
having the freediver and having the safety
diver, what is it that we should be getting
from that?
LM: I suppose that one of the things is to
open people’s eyes up to what humans
can actually do as that’s just fascinating!
To watch that play out in someone’s
life, to see them develop the skill, but
it’s also like, 2 people that had this wild
streak, this curiosity for the life and this
world and just living their life in a way
that was different from the way that it
was expected or would have liked from
their parents. Going on that journey
with them is a bit like living vicariously
through Steve and Alessia and doing
something that maybe a lot of us would
not be brave enough to do, but perhaps
should be!
AM: We’re taken on a journey of a number
of locations in this film. What were
all of the locations?
LM: Oh my God, it was incredible! Freedivers
know how to choose locations and
they were more like that of a Bond film!
So we started in the Blue Hole in Dahab
and we went to Dean’s Blue Hole on
Long Island in the Bahamas – it’s a 200m
sinkhole. It’s just stunning. We went to a
number of cenotes (Editor’s Note: Cenotes
are a natural pit, or sinkhole resulting
from the collapse of limestone bed rock
that exposes groundwater. This term
originated in the Yucatan Peninsula of
Mexico, where cenotes were commonly
used for water supplies by the ancient
Maya.) in Mexico. I didn’t even know
what a cenote was and looking at some
of the footage from Daan Verhoeven,
he’s a freediving cinematographer – I
had seen these incredible images. Our
main image is of Alessia swimming up
towards the light in a cenote and I remember
seeing images like this from

Daan and asking him, “Daan, what’s this?”
He explained that it was a cenote in Mexico.
So it was just such an incredible learning
curve for me. Then, filming off of the
Caribbean Sea off of Mexico as well with
the freedivers along with incredible freediving
cinematographer Julie Gautier, she
would with the safety and the divers, dive
down to 30m, pop back up, show me the
shot, I would be holding onto a noodle on
the surface and I’d say, “that’s great Julie,
could we just do that one more time,
slightly different?” She’d say yes and pop
back down to 30m and then come back up
again. It was like having a fleet of dolphins
on our crew. That’s what it was like!
I wouldn’t say that it was a difficult
thing, I would say that it was extremely
important that we would have to look
after.
@netflix
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Netflix/
The Deepest Breath
AM: What was your favorite moment of
this production?
LM: Oh God, there has been many really!
Many moving moments. I would struggle
now to name 1. It was in the Blue Hole in
Dahab and as I said, it was our first shoot
and it was my first opportunity to see
what it was all about and it was swimming
out over that cliff like I was saying to
you. There was that moment when I was
looking down at the fish and then it broke
down and away into 100m. It was just this
blue that went on for forever! It looked
more like you were looking into the sky
or something and you could see for 30
or 40m. You could see fish and that was
just a moment that I will never be able to
forget for my entire life! There were core
memories made there in that moment.
AM: What was the most difficult part of
this production?
LM: For me, I would say, getting it right. It
was really important to me, not just as a
filmmaker, and as a film that people would
be able to get something from and enjoy.
But for the people that are in it. It was just
really important to me that Peter, Steven’s
dad and his family, Alessia and her family
were happy and felt like it reflected their
memories of what happened and that it
was true and it was fair. That was something
that was always at the forefront of
my mind and it was really important.

ATHLEISURE LIST: Santa Barbara, CA
THE RITZ CARLTON, BACARA
As we continue to travel throughout
the summer, it's always great to think
about our next stay! This month, we're
going to Ritz Carlton, The Bacara in
Santa Barbara and their Senior Marketing
Manager, Julia Solomon gave
us the scoop on this Spanish Style resort
that opened in 2000 on a 78-acre
beachfront. It joined the Ritz Carlton
portfolio in 2017 and is known as a
destination that has hosted celebrity
weddings as well as A-list guests with
its spa, pools, and fine dining. The resort
features 358 guest rooms and
suites, two natural beaches, lush gardens,
and a collection of amenitites including
a 42,000 square-foot spa and
wellness center; three salt-water infinity
pools; six culinary venues including
the signature Angel Oak, housing the
resort’s 12,000-bottle wine collection.
When visiting, you get Mediterranean
vibes as it is nestled between the Pacific
Ocean and the Santa Ynez Mountains
minutes from historic Santa
Barbara. When it comes to enjoying
a great meal on property, there are
a number of options including Angel
Oak, San Setto, The Bistro, 'O' Bar &
Kitchen, Bacare Wine Tasting Room,
Caffe Haskell's Pool Bar, and Haskell's
Food Truck!
On Nov 11, 2023 at 5pm, their will host
the Oceans Future Gala to celebrate
Jean-Michel Cousteau's 78 Years of
Diving & Discovery Gala and weekend
festivities. Jean Michel Cousteau will
mingle with guests to share the magic
of whales, the quintessential ambassadors
of the sea, and raise awareness
of the threats that they face.
The benefits of the events will support
the mission of Jean-Michel Cousteau's
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Ocean Futures Society, a marine conservation
organization based in Santa
Barbara. A longtime partner of The
Ritz-Carlton brand, Jean-Michel Cousteau
is an explorer, diplomat, environmentalist,
educator, author and film
producer.
During that weekend, there will be a
Welcome Reception with Jean-Michel
Cousteau and Celebration of Whales
Art Exhibit, A Morning with Jean-Michel
Cousteau Eco Hike & Breakfast,
the gala will premiere and present a
unique original multimedia presentation
with never before seen footage,
and there is also a Whale Watching
excursion with Jean-Michel Cousteau
and the Ocean Futures Society Team.
For locals that are dining at this property,
there is a 10% discount off all food
and beverage when they're at the Re-
Issue #91 | Jul 2023
sort. Also, The Ritz-Carlton Bacara Spa
offers Spa Day passes to the local community,
where locals can indulge in the
spa amenities such as the steam room,
sauna, and tranquility lounge.
THE RITZ CARLTON BACARA
500 E Montecito Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93103
ritzcarlton.com
@ritzcarltonbacarasb
PHOTO CREDITS | The Ritz Carlton
Bacara, Santa Barbara
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Ichibantei first opened in 2010 in a
small East Village space. As the restaurant
became known for its Japanese
home cooked food, reggae and vinyl
cover décor, it outgrew the space so
when a large space became available
just two blocks away, the owners
jumped at the opportunity. Opened in
June, the new, multi-level space with
90 seats and soaring ceilings. The dark
space features black walls, gold accents,
a long white marble-top bar and
infinity mirrors.
Owners Ruth and Shin Araki opened
the original location of Ichibantei on
East 13th Street in 2010 serving classic
Japanese dishes, as well as teishoku
Japanese set meals just like their mothers
made when they were growing up
ATHLEISURE LIST: NY, NY
ICHIBANTEI
in Japan. Ruth, who learned to cook
from her mother as a child in Kumamoto,
makes almost everything from
scratch just as she was taught.
The décor pays homage to their Japanese
roots and Japanese pop culture,
as well as the building’s history, combining
sleek design and comfort food.
In the past, it was home to a movie
theater (as well as a music hall and
before that a restaurant in the 1880s)
so the owners have taken inspiration
from Japanese film history with oversized
posters from Yakuza and film
noir classics adorning the main dining
room. The more intimate mezzanine
dining area, which overlooks the dining
room, recalls the original restaurant
with walls covered in vinyl record
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covers and wooden booths. The vibrant
lip murals by Japanese artist Cazul
are fun surprises that can be found
in different bathrooms in the restaurant.
When eating here, the food is great
for sharing and goes well with drinks,
including Agenasu to start, which is a
Japanese eggplant served in a savory
dashi broth; Ichibantei Steak grass-fed
Angus beef topped with garlic chips
and accompanied by a housemade
steak sauce; and the Chicken Nanban
juicy, battered chicken marinated in
a sake, ginger and garlic, served with
a tangy sauce. All entrees are served
with fluffy white rice, miso soup, and
a salad in the traditional teishoku “set
meal” style.
We recommend enjoying their Toki
Highball, a classic Japanese whisky
Issue #91 | Jul 2023
soda with Suntory Toki whisky, traditional
Japanese spirit shochu (they
have options that are distilled from
sweet potato, rice and barley) served
with fresh frozen fruit like mixed berries,
pineapple or peach, as well as refreshing
frozen sake cocktails they’re
debuting for the summer with flavors
like mango and peach.
ICHIBANTEI
100 Third Ave
NY, NY 10003
ichibanteiny.com
@ichibanteiny
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT | Michael
Tulipan
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Stay connected and follow us across our
social channels on @AthleisureMag!
Issue #91 | Jul 2023
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Bingely Books
TENDERHEART
Knopf
Hetty Lui McKinnon
When you want to take your vegetables
to the next level, we suggest Tenderheart:
A Cookbook About Vegetables and
Unbreakable Family Bonds. Hetty McKinnon
uses this cookbook as an homage to
her father, a Chinese immigrant in Aus-
tralia. Her father moved to Sydney
when he was a teen and
learned English as he sold bananas
at a local market. Growing
up, she remembered him bringing
home crates of produce.
She learned about the beauty of
these fruits and vegetables.
This cookbook is the result of her
relationship and love of these
foods which focuses on 22 of
them and over 180 recipes including:
Soy-Butter Bok Choy Pasta,
Crispy Potato Tacos, and Miso
Mushroom Ragu with Baked Polenta
to name a few!
TIN TO TABLE: FANCY,
SNACKY RECIPES FOR
TIN-THUSIASTS AND
A-FISH-IONADOS
Chronicle Books
Anna Hezel
We all know about tinned fish;
however, in Tin to Table: Fancy,
Snacky Recipes for Tin-Thusiasts
and A-Fish-Ionados, there
are over 50 recipes that cover
snacks, salads, mains, and more
that you can create! All of the
dishes are flavorful and are inspired
by many seafaring destinations
across the globe.
You'll find a greater appreciation
for these dishes as well as gain
inspiration for your next meal
whether eating solo or with
friends. We're looking forward
to making: Sardine Curry Puffs,
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Using this book as a form of inspiration,
you can see the work that she has done
with previous clients and how she was
able to bring their vision to life. You
have access to artwork, personal collections
and an array of styles from Georgian
libraries, San Francisco townhouses,
guesthouses and so much more.
We know that this book will be a great
way to plan future interior projects
that you may have regardless of the
size or the time of year.
Caesar Popcorn, and Vermouth Hour Potato
Chips with Mussels, Olives, and Piparras.
SUZANNE RHEINSTEIN: A
WELCOMING ELEGANCE
Rizzoli
Suzanne Rheinstein
We love the perfect coffee table book
that transports us and this home decor
book takes us to the past and shows
how we can bring it forward. in Suzannre
Rheinstein: A Welcoming Elegance,
she takes us through her love of pieces
from various eras and bringing them
forward in a modern and elegant way!
Issue #91 | Jul 2023
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Bingely Streaming
FULL CIRCLE
Max Original
Max
We've been enjoying the limited series, Full
Circle directed by Academy Award winning
director, Steve Soderbergh (Ocean's Eleven
franchise, Her, The Girlfriend Experience)
whose cast includes Timothy
Olyphant (Justified, Once Upon a
Time in Hollywood, Amsterdam),
Claire Danes (The Hours, Homeland,
Fleishman is Trouble), Dennis
Quaid (The Long Game, Goliath,
Lawmen: Bass Reeves), Zazie
Beets (Atlanta, Joker, Bullet Train),
CCH Pounder (Face Off, Sons of
Anarchy, NCIS New Orleans), Jim
Gaffigan (Luca, Tesla, Peter Pan &
Wendy), and Phaldut Sharma (EastEnders,
Avenue 5, The Personal
History of David Copperfield).
Each episode looks at how a series
of events are more connected
than what you may think and
how these actions that are done
in plain site and in secret, converge!
You can binge all the episodes
now to see what goes
around comes around regardless
of who you are.
FIVE STAR CHEF
Netflix Originals
Netflix
We always love a food competition
show and in Five Star Chef, we
get to know more about the fine
dining world and how Langham
Hotel in London executes their
vision. Each challenge focuses on
another portion of the menu and
the kinds of dishes that they offer.
We also get to see key staff at the
property, how they present the
service of the hotel to guests as
well as well known people in the
industry!
All episodes can be enjoyed now
and we hope that there will be an
additional season whether it's at
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this hotel or another 5-Star property
that we'll have on our list to visit
next!
L.A. MADE: THE BARBIE
TAPES
LAist Studios
Spotify
This podcast also goes into the business of
Barbie and how the team created and infused
these concepts of her that we continue
to enjoy in the present day.
We've all seen a number of promotions
that have been focused around
the Barbie movie that dropped on
July 21st. We've been listening to L.A.
Made's The Barbie Tapes by LAist
Studios which looks at the origin story
of this doll. Birthed from a European
doll that was a gag gift of sorts
and meant to be an adult sexy toy,
it would transform to a doll that has
been a symbol for many everywhere
in terms of occupational roles, the
proof that women can do anything
as well as being increasingly more
representative by showcasing an array
of sizes, abilities, race, and more.
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