Episode 90: Chef John Shields of Smyth and The Loyalist

The CHEF Radio Podcast

What has luck got to do with it? Well, the short answer is absolutely nothing, and when Chef John Shields and his wife, Karen, took a leap of faith and moved to a little-known town in rural Virginia, they had no idea how life-changing that decision would be. It was after a New York Times writer stumbled upon their groundbreaking cooking at the little country inn named Town House in Chilhowie, Virginia, where they were really developing their style of cooking, that their careers really took off. But, as chef Eli says in the podcast, luck is nothing more than being fully prepared when the opportunity comes your way.

Here’s what else is covered:

• John’s newly found love & enthusiasm for the “B’ word
• Having no direction early on in his young adult life and finding food
• Cooking with his father ignited the flame in him
• How NOT getting hired in New York changed his trajectory, and you can blame it on dial-up internet
• Working for Charlie Trotter in one of the most challenging kitchens in the world
• Why failures, disappointments, and the feeling of discomfort are SO essential to developing yourself as a chef
• It’s OK to fail! But fail forward and learn from every failure by turning it into a lesson
• Why being a great chef is like walking a tightrope between failure and ambition
• How working at Alinea shaped his perspective
• The hilarious story of how the relationship with his future wife was exposed after dating and working together
• How the husband-wife team splits responsibilities and how that relationship has evolved after children
• Moving to the middle of nowhere with no expectations
• How a full-page article in the New York Times changed everything for them
• The one and only Kitchen Arts & Letters bookstore in NYC
• How the layout of their building gives them the opportunity to do two separate concepts under the same roof
• The way that he approaches food, the ingredients and how he brings them to the plate, and his intuition-based style of cooking
• Allowing a plant to go through its full cycle of life to see what kinds of exciting stages it goes through and how that can impact the way you use it
• Breaking down one of their more novel ideas from back in the day
• A way that Chef stays grounded and on the right path
• The benefits of having two restaurants that can feed each other's customers as well as help use up the product they get in the house
• Why learning a craft such as cooking takes time and effort, and why you should not rush your career

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.

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