Today on our episode #446 of All in the Industry, Shari Bayer's guest is Rick Bayless, an award-winning chef, restaurateur, author, TV personality, environmental advocate, and philanthropist, who most people know from winning the inaugural season of Bravo’s Top Chef Masters with his authentic Mexican cuisine, as well as from twelve seasons of his highly rated Public Television series, Mexico–One Plate at a Time, which earned him multiple Daytime Emmy nominations for Best Culinary Host. While lauded internationally for his TV shows, cookbooks, and philanthropy, Rick, has also received many James Beard Award nominations and won seven, including National Chef of the Year, Humanitarian of the Year, and Who’s Who of American Food and Drink, among other accolades. Based in Chicago, Rick spreads the joy and pushes the boundaries of authentic Mexican cuisine with his restaurants, which he founded with his wife Deann, including Frontera Grill, which opened in 1987; the 4-Star and 1-Michelin Star Topolobampo, which debuted in 1991 (and happens to be Shari's favorite restaurant name!); as well as Xoco; Bar Sótano; his fast-casual Tortas Frontera at O’Hare International Airport; Frontera Cocina in Disney Springs, and Tortazo at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas; plus, his award-winning Frontera line of salsas, and more. Rick and his team also established the Frontera Farmer Foundation in 2003 to support small Midwestern farms, as well as the Frontera Scholarship in 2007. Shari greatly enjoyed sitting down with Rick while he was visiting NYC in the early Fall, and hearing his story; reminiscing a bit and sharing memories from Shari's time living in Chicago, and visiting Rick's restaurants. Thank you, Rick, for a wonderful conversation. Today's show also features Shari's PR tip to consider seeking to be a big fish in a small pond; and Solo Dining experience at Vato, a daytime tortilleria and café in Park Slope, Brooklyn, NYC, featuring Northern Mexican cuisine, known for its house-made tortilla burritos; and sister restaurant to Co-Owner/Chef Fidel Caballero's 1-Michelin Star Corima in Manhattan, which was named #36 on North America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026, and is featured on our "On the Road" show - episode #440 on the Awards. (1:05:35) Find all of our new & archived shows at AllintheIndustry.com. Listen at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts; subscribe & leave us a rating/review. Follow us @allindustry & @sharibayer on Instagram, & "All in the Industry" on Facebook & our YouTube Channel. Interested in collaborating with us? Please reach out via our contact page at AllintheIndustry.com, or on social. We'd love to hear from you! Check out Shari's book, Chefwise: Life Lessons from Leading Chefs Around the World (Phaidon), available wherever books are sold. #chefwisebook Thanks, as always, for being a part of All in the Industry®!
