Phillip Frankland Lee is the co-owner and executive chef of Scratch Restaurants Group, the Michelin-starred hospitality company he operates with his wife and executive pastry chef Margarita Kallas-Lee. The group includes Sushi by Scratch Restaurants, Pasta|Bar, NADC Burger, and Shokunin. Lee is a Top Chef Season 13 competitor, San Pellegrino Young Chef 2015 finalist, Zagat 30 Under 30 honoree, and Food Network record holder for most consecutive competition wins. This is his third appearance on Chef's PSA.

His argument is direct: you can open a restaurant for $10,000 or less, break even in 60 days, and scale that model to 32 locations if you keep the footprint small, the staff lean, and every concept focused on one core product.

How taking over already-permitted spaces eliminates the buildout cost that kills most restaurant openings

Why small tasting-menu formats scale better than large casual concepts and how the math actually works

Where chef inspiration ends and outright copying begins, and why that line matters more now than ever

André Natera and Phillip Frankland Lee cover the organic growth of NADC Burger from free pop-ups to multiple locations, the conversion of a Pasta|Bar location into a 22-seat boutique steakhouse, Lee's open world RPG framework for handling adversity, hard lessons from sharks and risky partnerships, and the detailed debate on homage versus originality in culinary culture. The episode closes with a preview of his upcoming podcast Fire the Board and new Austin-area concepts.

Guest

• Phillip Frankland Lee on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/phillipfranklandlee/

Links

• Lead Like a Chef App → ⁠https://studio.com/apps/andre/leadlikeachef⁠
• Subscribe on Substack → https://chefspsa.substack.com/
• Shop Chef's PSA Merch → https://shop.chefspsa.com/
• Visit Chef's PSA Website → https://chefspsa.com/

Chef Josh Sutcliff is the Corporate Executive Chef and Partner at 55 Seventy, a private members club for wine lovers with locations in Dallas and Houston. A Le Cordon Bleu graduate, CultureMap Dallas Rising Star Chef of the Year, and Zagat 30 Under 30 honoree, his career includes chef de cuisine at FT33, executive chef at Mirador, and stints at The Joule and Knox Bistro.

He started washing dishes at 13. Federal agents had just arrested his father. His family was living in a camper. The kitchen gave him stability when nothing else did, and the chaotic, pirate-energy environment he found there never stopped feeling like home.

Why consistency and station setup reveal more about a cook than talent ever will

How to map a chef career by starting at the end goal and working backward, not forward

What the shift from chef to business thinker actually requires when you are scaling new openings

André Natera and Josh Sutcliff cover the sports mindset that shaped his approach to kitchen teams, what makes young cooks succeed or stall, his systems for onboarding and standardized recipes, and the long game of reputation and networking in a small industry. The episode closes with the transition from day-to-day cooking to corporate executive chef and what that demands from a leader.

Guest

• Josh Sutcliff on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/jsutcliff/

Links

• Subscribe on Substack → https://chefspsa.substack.com/
• Lead Like a Chef App https://studio.com/apps/andre/leadlikeachef
• Shop Chef's PSA Merch → https://shop.chefspsa.com/
• Visit Chef's PSA Website → https://chefspsa.com/

Chef David Bull is Austin's first Iron Chef America competitor, Food and Wine Best New Chef 2003, two-time James Beard Foundation nominee, and Regional Vice President of Food and Beverage at LaCorsha Hospitality Group. He led the Driskill Grill to three consecutive Austin American-Statesman number one restaurant awards, competed on Iron Chef America in 2006 as the first Austin chef to do so, and has since overseen 16 restaurant and hotel openings with LaCorsha across Texas, most of them historic renovations. He is also co-founder of the Mineral Wellness Center, a faith-based nonprofit in Mineral Wells dedicated to reducing mental health stigma and providing counseling and community resources.

This episode covers the full arc: Austin's first celebrity chef, 16 properties, and the decision to walk away from all of it for something bigger.

• Why management agreements protect standards across multiple properties in ways licensing never can
• The lease clauses, CAM charges, and pro forma details that quietly sink most restaurant deals before they open
• Why mental health stigma in professional kitchens is a leadership and retention crisis, not a personal weakness

André Natera and David Bull go deep on the Iron Chef America experience, the operational realities of scaling a hospitality group, the trust required in a business partner before any contract is signed, evolving kitchen culture and mentorship across every staffing level, and Bull's personal decision to step back from fine dining and co-found the Mineral Wellness Center. The episode closes with a preview of his upcoming Restored and Delivered concept in Mineral Wells.

This episode is sponsored by Rational USA. Learn more at https://rationalusa.com

Guest

• David Bull on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/chefdavidbull/

Chef's PSA

• Subscribe on Substack → https://chefspsa.substack.com/
• Shop Chef's PSA Merch → https://shop.chefspsa.com/
• Visit Chef's PSA Website → https://chefspsa.com/

Brandon Harpster is the National Corporate Chef for Training and Events at RATIONAL USA. He trains chefs across the country, runs RATIONAL's culinary academies, and develops cooking programs that translate connected kitchen technology into repeatable, scalable results for working operators.

This episode starts with a brunch disaster. A steamship round failed overnight at a country club, no monitoring, no alert, no way to intervene. Harpster uses that story to frame the entire case for connected cooking, and then spends the next hour proving it.

• How the iCombi Pro handles delta-T roasting, built-in resting, and consistent brunch egg production at volume
• How the iVario Pro runs overnight stock for better clarity and yield with no one in the building
• How a 15-minute risotto program that requires only three stirs is a repeatable kitchen system, not a shortcut

André Natera and Brandon Harpster cover the iCombi Pro, iVario Pro, and iHexagon across real kitchen scenarios including Peking duck skin development, brisket hybrid smoking workflows, zone heating, sous-vide-style cooking, and pasta-in-sauce preset functions. They also discuss what RATIONAL's corporate chef network actually does, how the training academies work, and what a field role in this industry looks like for chefs who want to move off the line.

RATIONAL

• RATIONAL USA Linktree → https://linktr.ee/rational_usa
• RATIONAL USA Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/rational_usa/
• Chef Brandon's Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/brandon.harpster/
• RATIONAL ChefLine → https://www.rational-online.com/en_us/customercare/contact-us/chefline/ | 866-306-2433

Chef's PSA

• Subscribe on Substack → https://chefspsa.substack.com/
• Shop Chef's PSA Merch → https://shop.chefspsa.com/
• Visit Chef's PSA Website → https://chefspsa.com/

Chef Chad Welch is an American Culinary Federation Certified Executive Chef and Certified Culinary Administrator, a Jacques Pépin Foundation ambassador, and the executive chef with The Urban Stillhouse, an elevated dining concept with locations in St. Petersburg, Florida and Somerset, Kentucky. Horse Soldier bourbon bottles are formed with steel from the World Trade Center.

He did not plan to become a chef. A Navy paperwork error put him in the galley instead of the engine room in 1992, scaling Armed Forces recipe cards to 5,000 portions aboard the USS America aircraft carrier, cutting frozen Cornish game hens on a band saw on his first day at sea, and cooking through storms that sent equipment crashing across the kitchen floor.

• What Navy galley cooking actually teaches about systems, scale, and pressure before culinary school
• Why the shift from scratch kitchens to convenience products cost the industry a generation of skill
• How the pre-Google era of memorization and mentorship built a different kind of chef, and what that means for anyone training today

André Natera and Chad Welch cover his first post-Navy restaurant job doing scratch pub cooking, his Mexican food upbringing and deliberate choice not to cook it professionally, the classic versus molecular cooking debate, and his work with the Jacques Pépin Foundation. The episode closes with the Horse Soldier Bourbon origin story and career advice from a chef whose entire path began by accident.

This episode is sponsored by Rational USA. Learn more at https://rationalusa.com

Guest

• Chad Welch on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/handthatfeeds/
• The Urban Stillhouse St. Pete → https://www.instagram.com/urbanstillhousestpete/
• The Urban Stillhouse Somerset → https://www.instagram.com/urbanstillhousesomerset/

Links

• Subscribe on Substack → https://chefspsa.substack.com/
• Shop Chef's PSA Merch → https://shop.chefspsa.com/
• Visit Chef's PSA Website → https://chefspsa.com/

Everyone wants the spotlight.

Until it actually hits.

Andre sits down with Emmanuel Chavez from Tatemo in Houston to talk about what happens when your restaurant gets attention before you’re ready for it.

Tatemo went from a tortilla operation to a full tasting menu fast. Recognition came with it. So did pressure.

This conversation gets into what it takes to run a tight kitchen with almost no space, how leadership changes when expectations spike, and the mistakes that come with building something in real time.

• What early success actually feels like• How to run a tasting menu in a small kitchen• Why leadership matters more than technique

Follow Chefs PSA and send this to a chef who thinks they’re ready.

Emmanuel Chavez on Instagram

LINKS & RESOURCES

Subscribe on Substack → https://chefspsa.substack.com/Shop Chef’s PSA Merch → https://shop.chefspsa.comVisit Chef’s PSA Website → https://chefspsa.comSponsored by RATIONAL USA → https://rationalusa.com

Chef Andre Natera sits down with Emmanuel Laroche, host of the Flavors Unknown podcast and author of A Taste of Madagascar, to explore the global story behind vanilla production and the process of writing a food book.

Laroche shares his experience traveling to Madagascar, where roughly 80% of the world’s vanilla is produced, including the realities of hand pollination and the challenges of sourcing ingredients in remote regions.

The conversation also covers Madagascar’s broader food ecosystem, including pepper, honey, cocoa, and caviar, and explores why many farmers grow vanilla for export rather than local use.

Laroche breaks down his writing process and explains how aspiring authors can move from concept to published book through traditional publishing channels.

• How vanilla is grown and why it requires hand pollination• How to write and publish a food book• Why understanding ingredients changes how chefs cook

Follow Chefs PSA and share this episode with someone interested in food, travel, or writing.

Flavors Unknown on Instagram

LINKS & RESOURCES

Subscribe on Substack → https://chefspsa.substack.com/Shop Chef’s PSA Merch → https://shop.chefspsa.com/Visit Chef’s PSA Website → https://chefspsa.com/Sponsored by RATIONAL USA → https://rationalusa.com

Chef Dan Kennedy spent over 20 years in high end kitchens, most recently as head chef at Pasta|Bar Austin before the concept closed in February 2026. He is now working on Morri, his own concept in Austin.

In this episode, Andre Natera and Dan Kennedy argue that social media has replaced technical skill with aesthetic performance, and duck is the clearest casualty.

• Why duck is almost always undercooked and how proper skin rendering changes the entire dish
• Why wagyu and high-fat cuts need more heat than most cooks give them, not less
• How to build a tasting menu around timing and satiety instead of story and ego

Kennedy covers proper rendering technique, skin drying and aging, heat control, extended resting, and pre-service prep decisions that determine outcome before service starts. They also cover lamb, octopus, and grilling over binchotan and wood embers, using cake testers and feel over thermometers, and finishing with fat and flaky salt. On tasting menus, Kennedy favors 5 to 9 courses with canapés, cold starters, and two desserts, structured around deliciousness over narrative. The episode closes with reactions to America's Culinary Cup, commentary on Pasta|Bar's closure, and Chef's PSA merch.

This episode is sponsored by Rational USA. Learn more at https://rationalusa.com

Guest

• Dan Kennedy on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/cocinero_dk/

• Dan's Hip Hop Playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6WjAtI8aeONJSnk1FUAeYf?si=vvki6CM9SUSJ-k1BuOm15g

Links

• Subscribe on Substack → https://chefspsa.substack.com/
• Shop Chef's PSA Merch → https://shop.chefspsa.com/
• Visit Chef's PSA Website → https://chefspsa.com/
• Sponsored by Rational USA → https://rationalusa.com