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What is the biggest moment in your career as a chef? Is it opening your first restaurant? Maybe it's when you receive an accolade that you were always dreaming of, or maybe it's getting a really nice review from your city's food critic. These are all great moments, without a doubt, but I would venture to say that the biggest moment in a chef's career is when they finally start to find their own voice in their food, when all of these past experiences, dishes, and efforts come together in a unique vision that is completely their own. 

Dave Beran, today’s guest, had a very unique way of finding his voice in food. In fact, he was given the rains of a Chicago restaurant that would completely change every four months. That restaurant was aptly called Next, and it is a restaurant that pushes the imagination and boundaries of what our industry can do. Next would lead him to find his own style and voice, and ironically, after loathing the 1910 bistro menu Next began with in 2011, it led him down a path to where he is today, cooking in Santa Monica with his critically acclaimed Pasjoli, an elevated French bistro where they cook food that is rooted in Southern California but inspired by the markets of Paris.

Here’s what else was talked about:

• How the name of the restaurant came to fruition
• When Dave and Eli met after becoming Food & Wine Best New Chefs together in 2014
• Dave’s introduction into the industry as ”Toast Boy”
• Working for chef Michael Tramano at Tru in Chicago
• The intricacies of Pommes Soufflé 
• Getting a job at Alinea restaurant and why they start cooks as a food runner
• How his mentor, Chef Erick Williams of Virtue, helped guide him
• The day they got a call from Chef Grant Achatz telling them he had cancer
• The relearning process after Chef Achatz came back to the kitchen after receiving treatment
• How Alinea changed the game for modern food in America
• When he decided to open Next, and why there were 20,000 names on the list for reservations when they opened
• The moment he started to find his own perspective in food
• Opening his tasting menu-only restaurant, Dialogue
• Training actor Jeremy Allen White at Pasjoli to prepare for his lead role in The Bear 
• Eli and Dave w poetic about Chicago’s Italian Beef sandwich!
• How they cook at Pasjoli and use old school techniques when roasting meats
• Why teaching his team so important to him and why he even opens the financial books for his team to learn and empower them

A huge shout out to our sponsors, Maxwell McKenney and Singer Equipment, for their unwavering support, which allows us to be able to bring these conversations to you. Check out their websites for all the amazing equipment they can supply your restaurant with to make your team more efficient and successful.

Welcome to our newest sponsor, Meez, which is one of the most powerful tools you can have as a cook and chef because it allows you to have a free repository for all of your recipes, techniques and methods so that you never lose them. Meez does way more than just recipe development though, it's an incredibly powerful tool that any chef or restaurant would benefit from.

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Email Eli with any comments, concerns, criticisms, guest requests or any other ideas or thoughts you might have about the show. eli@chefradiopodcast.com