The meez Podcast

Josh Sharkey
  • 5.0 (44)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Josh Sharkey (Entrepreneur, professional chef, and founder/CEO of meez, the culinaryOS for food professionals) interviews world class entrepreneurs in the food space that are shifting the paradigm of how we innovate and operate in our industry.

  1. 5d ago

    Deirdre Auld On Leading With Curiosity, Not Fixing

    #140 Josh sits down with Deirdre Auld, CEO and partner of Coda Restaurant Group in Boston, whose portfolio includes SRV, Baleia, Gufo, The Salty Pig, and the soon-to-open Celine. Deirdre traces her circuitous path into hospitality leadership, from an early love of architecture and a stint in private equity to years running restaurants and eventually stepping away to earn a master's degree and a leadership coaching certification from Northwestern. She and Josh dig into the coaching philosophy she's built her career around: assuming people are whole and complete, leading with curiosity instead of trying to fix, and helping leaders ask better questions rather than hand out answers.  The conversation moves through Dierde's approach to running one-on-ones and leadership meetings at Coda, her mental models for hiring, firing and performance improvement plans, and where she sees restaurant technology and AI heading over the next several years. Deirdre is candid about both the promise and the risk of leaning on AI as a thought partner, why she still believes human connection is the ohardest thing to replace in hospitality, and what it took to build a leadership culture that can absorb constant change. It's a wide-ranging, thoughtful conversation about leadership, mentorship, and what it really takes to develop people well. Links and resources 📌 Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/ Visit Coda Restaurant Group: https://www.codarestaurantgroup.com/ Follow Deirdre Auld on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deirdre-auld-b40666162 Follow Deirdre Auld on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deirdreauld/ Timestamps 01:19 From architecture and private equity into restaurant leadership 08:59 The story behind naming a restaurant Celine 15:11 Growing up in Raleigh and moving to Chicago for school 18:17 Finding her way back into restaurants after stepping away 20:54 Choosing to go back to school for a master's and a coaching certification 29:54 Building a coaching product for restaurant leaders 35:01 Where coaching ends and therapy begins 44:18 Using AI as a thought partner without losing critical thinking 50:07 Skill thinning, governance, and the hollowing out of middle management 59:43 One-on-ones, team structure, and weekly rhythms at Coda 1:06:30 Do performance improvement plans actually work 1:12:00 Closing thoughts and an invitation to visit Coda's restaurants

  2. Jul 7

    Xavier from OEO on restaurant bookkeepers vs Ai and how to charge corkage fees

    #139 Josh and Mike sit down with Xavier Mariezcurrena Vega, co-founder of Over Easy Office and ChouxBox to trace the winding road that took him from busing tables as a teenager to running a 400-person back-office operation spanning Philadelphia, Bogotá, and Manila. Xavier shares the story of opening and losing a restaurant in Dallas, the friendship with his business partner Tony that grew out of a failed concept in Philadelphia, and how their shared frustration with messy invoices and unreliable financial reporting led them to build a company designed to bring transparency and accountability to restaurant operations. The conversation digs into how Xavier and Tony built their Philippines-based team from scratch, the early days of scanning invoices by hand to win over skeptical operators, and the cultural and logistical challenges of training a team to understand the chaos of restaurant data. Xavier offers a candid take on why he believes bookkeepers and the human-in-the-loop will remain essential for the foreseeable future, even as AI tools improve, and explains the difference between administrative bookkeeping and the deeper financial insight that helps operators actually run their businesses. He also weighs in on the limits of automation and robotics in restaurants, the realities of working with razor-thin margins, and what keeps him optimistic about the future of independent restaurants. The episode closes with a lighter detour into wine, corkage fees, and the debate over whether a good bottle can ever really be bad for you. Links and resources 📌 Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/ Follow Xavier on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/followxavier/ Follow Xavier on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/winepeopleproblems/ Follow Overseasoned (Xavier and Tony's podcast) on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/overseasoned.us/ Visit Over Easy Office: https://www.overeasyoffice.com Follow Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-jacober-713104124/ Visit Blanket: https://www.blanket.app/ Follow Michael: @michaeljacober Timestamps 08:24 Xavier's Path From Busboy To Restaurant Owner 13:39 Meeting Tony And The Failed American Oak Concept 17:16 The Idea Behind Over Easy Office And ChouxBox 21:01 Building The Team In The Philippines From Scratch 24:38 Winning Over Skeptical Restaurant Operators 32:01 Landing Early Clients And Learning The Hard Way 41:23 Are Bookkeepers Going Extinct With AI 48:01 Defining What A Bookkeeper Actually Does 56:31 The Limits Of Automation And Robotics In Restaurants 01:02:43 Rising Costs, Shrinking Margins, And The Future Of Restaurants 01:07:24 Wine, Corkage Fees, And Closing Thoughts

  3. Jun 30

    28 years inside Nobu with Chef Thomas Buckley, why Nobu's legacy continues to grow, lasting relationships, and Thomas' $250 Grilled Cheese

    #138 Josh sits down with Thomas Buckley, Corporate Executive Chef of Nobu Restaurants and one of the key culinary leaders behind more than 60 Nobu locations worldwide. Thomas shares the unlikely path that took him from a vegetarian upbringing in a seaside town in England to some of the world’s most influential kitchens, including The Connaught, Daniel, El Bulli, and ultimately Nobu. Along the way, he reflects on discovering his passion for cooking, learning classical French technique, and how a transformative experience in Spain changed the way he thought about food forever. The conversation explores what has kept Thomas at Nobu for nearly three decades, the philosophy and leadership style of Nobu Matsuhisa, and the challenge of maintaining consistency across a global restaurant empire. They discuss grower relationships, sourcing, Japanese culinary principles, opening restaurants around the world, the evolution of Nobu’s menu, and the lessons Thomas has learned from working with some of the greatest chefs of his generation. He also shares stories from early Nobu Miami, the realities of opening restaurants at scale, and why simplicity, restraint, and respect for ingredients continue to define great hospitality. Links and resources 📌 Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/ Visit Nobu: https://www.noburestaurants.com Follow Nobu on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noburestaurants/ Follow Thomas on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-buckley-385a27a/ Follow Thomas on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fissionchips/ Timestamps 00:02 Growing Up Vegetarian In England 02:14 Discovering Cooking And Culinary School 05:05 Moving To London And The Connaught 10:10 Working In France And Michelin Kitchens 13:47 From Daniel To Nobu 18:55 The Philosophy Behind Nobu’s Food 25:24 Building Global Consistency Across 60+ Restaurants 31:51 Tempura, Rice, And The Details That Matter 40:56 Opening Nobu Miami And The Early Days 48:51 Nobu Hotels, Future Projects, And What’s Next

  4. Jun 23

    Jenn Saesue and Chat Suansilphong of Fish Cheeks, Bangkok Supper Club and now Bubs Bakery on Thai cuisine and how to actually make good gluten free baked goods

    #137 Josh sits down with Jenn Saesue and Chat Suansilphong, co-founders of 55 Hospitality, recorded at Bangkok Supper Club. Chat learned to cook in his father's restaurant in Thailand before the CIA and Colicchio & Sons. Jenn opened her first restaurant at 22 and watched it fail. The two met managing a Thai restaurant group in Hell's Kitchen, then built Fish Cheeks, Bangkok Supper Club, Fish Cheeks Williamsburg, and the allergen-free Bub's Bakery. The thread through all of it: do fewer things, do them with intention, and trust people to run them. Jenn and Chat explain why Fish Cheeks opened with under twenty items and no pad thai, even after friends asked if they were stupid (pad thai, Chat notes, was pushed by the Thai government and is something most Thai people eat once a year). They get into refusing to dial down the spice, why sourcing is the only real moat once recipes leak, and why the stigma against machines in a kitchen is both shortsighted and bad for keeping good cooks. The back half turns to Bub's Bakery, born from her husband's intolerances and a seventeen dollar chocolate truffle at the green market, built with Chef Melissa Weller (Per Se, Bouchon, Sadelle's) on one rule: taste good first, allergen-free second. Links and resources 📌 Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/ Follow Jenn Saesue on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenn-saesue-7794341b3/ Visit Fish Cheeks: https://www.fishcheeksnyc.com Follow Fish Cheeks on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fishcheeksnyc Follow 55 Hospitality on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/55hospitality Visit Bangkok Supper Club: https://www.bangkoksupperclub.com Visit Bub's Bakery: https://www.bubsbakery.com/ Timestamps 00:00 Parenting, reward systems, and life with young kids 03:15 The origins of Fish Cheeks and Bangkok Supper Club 06:20 From CIA and Bouley to Per Se and Noma 13:20 Why Fish Cheeks refused to serve Pad Thai 18:05 The philosophy behind authentic Thai flavors 24:10 Essential Thai ingredients and sourcing challenges 28:50 Building Bubble Dogs and pairing champagne with hot dogs 34:40 Grower champagne and what makes it special 40:10 Opening a gluten-free bakery that actually tastes good 50:15 Technology, AI, and the future of restaurant operations

  5. Jun 16

    Ming-Tai Huh on Square's 40% layoff, the restaurant tech stack, and the dream of one day quantifying the ROI of marketing.

    #136 Josh and Mike sit down with Ming-Tai Huh, restaurateur, MIT graduate, former Toast and Square executive, and co-founder of Cambridge Street Hospitality Group. Ming shares the unlikely path that took him from management consulting and technology into the restaurant industry, beginning with a spontaneous decision to open a restaurant after becoming deeply involved in his local Cambridge community. He reflects on his early days at Toast, helping to build foundational products such as online ordering, loyalty, APIs, and partnerships, and explains how his experience as both an operator and a technologist shaped the way he thinks about restaurant software. The conversation dives into the future of restaurant technology, AI, SaaS, restaurant operations, and why supply chain management remains one of the industry's biggest unsolved problems. Ming discusses the rise of AI agents, the growing gap between experienced operators and first-time restaurateurs, the realities behind scaling restaurant software, and why he believes marketing attribution and ROI measurement remain major opportunities for innovation. Along the way, he shares stories about getting married inside an unfinished restaurant, building Puritan & Company from scratch, and what operators can learn from both the restaurant and technology worlds. Links and resources 📌 Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/ Follow Ming-Tai Huh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mingtai/ Follow Ming-Tai Huh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mingtai/ Visit Puritan & Company: https://www.puritancambridge.com Visit The Lexington: https://www.thelexingtoncx.com Visit Cambridge Street Hospitality Group: www.eatcambridge.com Timestamps 01:03 Meeting Through The Boulay Alumni Network 02:28 Getting Married In An Unfinished Restaurant 08:22 From MIT And Consulting To Restaurants 13:16 Finding The Right Chef Partner 20:53 Building Products At Toast 28:31 Creating Toast's Platform And API Ecosystem 38:02 Joining Square And The Restaurant Opportunity 46:03 The Future Of Restaurant Technology 58:17 AI, SaaS, And The Operator's Toolkit 01:19:40 The Biggest Opportunity Still Missing In Restaurants

  6. Jun 9

    Why the Best Champagne Comes From Growers, Not the Big Houses. Plus Per Se's Yes vs Noma's No, and working with your spouse.

    #135 Josh sits down with chef and sommelier Sandia Chang for a conversation that spans 20 years of restaurants on both sides of the Atlantic. From her start on the fish station at Bouley in 2003, to four years at Per Se under Thomas Keller, to a stint at Noma in Copenhagen alongside her now-husband James Knappett, Sandia eventually landed in London where the two opened Bubble Dogs (a champagne and hot dog bar on Charlotte Street) and Kitchen Table, now a two Michelin star restaurant. Along the way she became one of the UK's most knowledgeable voices on grower champagne and built Bubble Shop, her online platform for small-family producers most operators have never heard of. The conversation moves between the two service philosophies that defined her path. Per Se's "yes to everything" approach, where the team would prepare a different potato for Mick Jagger with every course, and Noma's "we will not make a cocktail because we are not great at making cocktails" approach. Sandia explains why both are right and how she's blended them at Kitchen Table. They dig into why simple food like a hot dog is harder to execute than a 20 course tasting menu, what actually changes when you get your second Michelin star (spoiler: the box checkers show up), the economics and politics of importing grower champagne into the UK, and the truth about running a restaurant with your spouse. It closes with the advice Sandia gave at the end: you don't go into something because you know what to do, you go into something because you want to learn how to do it. Links and resources 📌 Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/ Follow Sandia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/watermelonchang/ Follow Sandia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandia-chang-684152227/ Visit Kitchen Table: https://kitchentablelondon.co.uk/ Visit Bubbleshop: https://bubbleshoplondon.com/ Timestamps 03:55 Restaurant Life Around School Pickups 08:34 From Hospitality School To Bouley 14:47 Meeting James And Moving To Noma 17:40 Per Se Says Yes, Noma Says No 24:26 Casual But Excellent Service 29:46 Grower Champagne Versus Big Houses 40:02 Why Hot Dogs Work With Bubbles 48:55 Bubble Dogs And The Champagne Shop 01:01:09 Advice: Learn By Doing

  7. Jun 2

    Acclaimed actress, Tony award winner and Iron Chef judge Julie White chopping it up with Josh on all things food TV and the best food movies

    #134 Josh sits down with Tony Award-winning actress Julie White for a wildly entertaining deep dive into the evolution of food television, from the chaotic brilliance of Iron Chef Japan to Chef’s Table, Top Chef, and the modern reality-TV era of cooking competitions. Julie shares behind-the-scenes stories from judging Iron Chef America, competing on Chopped, auditioning to play Julia Child, and her obsession with Great British Baking Show. Along the way, the two unpack why chefs became celebrities, how food media shifted from education to entertainment, and why Anthony Bourdain changed the entire genre forever. The conversation spirals into hilarious territory as they debate food movies like Big Night and The Menu, reminisce about Martha Stewart, Jamie Oliver, and Bobby Flay, and brainstorm a future travel-and-food series involving bourbon trails, crab feasts, and roadside American food pilgrimages. It’s a funny, nostalgic, and surprisingly thoughtful conversation about cooking, culture, competition, television, and the strange magic that happens when food becomes entertainment. Links and resources 📌 Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/ Follow Julie White on IMDb: http://imdb.com/name/nm0925033/ Watch Iron Chef America: https://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/iron-chef-america Watch Somebody Feed Phil: https://www.netflix.com/title/80146601 Timestamps 1:26 Julie’s Iron Chef Backstory 8:44 How Food TV Became Entertainment 14:09 Julia Child, Jacques Pépin & Great British Bake Off 20:09 Julie Competes On Chopped 28:48 Anthony Bourdain & The Rise Of Food Travel Shows 34:44 Martha Stewart, Ina Garten & Lifestyle Food TV 40:48 Celebrity Chefs, Top Chef & David Chang 49:13 Favorite Food Movies & Chef Culture On Screen 57:53 Food As Entertainment & The Future Of Cooking Shows 1:27:24 Talking Crabs, Cooking Shows & What Comes Next

  8. May 26

    Greg Baxtrom on his first cookbook, sobriety, the reality of chef driven restaurants, and the babysitter math of dining out decisions

    #133 Josh sits down with chef Greg Baxtrom fora a conversation about his newly released book, Nothing Matters but Delicious: A Radically Honest Cookbook released this week.  Greg dives into his thoughts on ambition, addiction, mental health, and what success actually looks like after the accolades arrive. Greg reflects on his rise through some of the world’s most influential kitchens including Alinea, Per Se, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, and his breakout success with Olmsted in Brooklyn. He opens up about how achieving the dream of critical acclaim and industry recognition did not bring the fulfillment he expected, and how sobriety, therapy, and years of self-work forced him to reevaluate his relationship with restaurants, creativity, and himself. Along the way, the two discuss restaurant economics, burnout, ego, jealousy, friendship in the industry, and why so many chefs quietly wonder how they’ll ever afford to grow old in this business. Greg shares some deeply personal experiences that shaped the cookbook, including cooking through rehab and recovery, navigating bipolar diagnoses, and rediscovering joy through simpler food. Greg explains why he wanted the book to feel practical rather than precious, shares stories from his days working for Grant Achatz and Dan Barber, and reflects on the pressure of opening acclaimed restaurants in Brooklyn. Links and resources 📌 Visit meez: https://www.getmeez.com Follow meez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmeez Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/?hl=en Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/ Follow Greg on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gregbaxtrom/ Follow Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-baxtrom-8a897814/ Visit Five Acres: https://www.fiveacresnyc.com/ Visit Olmsted: https://www.olmstednyc.com/ Get Greg’s cookbook: Nothing Matters But Delicious Timestamps 00:00 Greg Baxtrom on retirement anxiety in the restaurant industry 01:16 Greg’s plans for a cookbook, Chicago, and international projects 05:52 Why success and accolades did not bring fulfillment 13:47 Sobriety, therapy, and learning to rebuild life outside of restaurants 17:17 The realities of running restaurants in Brooklyn and losing Olmsted 23:36 Why Greg wants to open restaurants outside the United States 27:02 The economics of chef-driven restaurants and burnout 41:49 Greg’s new cookbook and cooking through recovery 51:24 The pressure of recognition, success, and finding balance 01:05:28 Wild Bouley and Danube kitchen stories involving pigs, knives, and chaos

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About

Josh Sharkey (Entrepreneur, professional chef, and founder/CEO of meez, the culinaryOS for food professionals) interviews world class entrepreneurs in the food space that are shifting the paradigm of how we innovate and operate in our industry.

Information

  • Creator
    Josh Sharkey
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    149
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The meez Podcast
  • Show Website
    The meez Podcast

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