Short, vest, and orange crocs. A le cordon bleu dropout, instead batali got schooled in a remote italian village. He made his splash in new york with babbo, and now he is known around the world for his restaurants, cook books, and personality. When you tell me that youre in a hurry, im already leaving the house. Next, rachael ray. If the kitchen is a mans world, ray did not get the memo. Growing up in her familys restaurant business, she turned her concept for 30minute meals into an empire. Pat me on the back. Yeah, baby. And yet, the Emmy Awardwinning host is too humble to take credit, calling her career a happy accident. Bobby flay. Flay says being a chef wasnt cool when he went to the french culinary institute, but he changed all that in the early1990s, between his first restaurant and becoming a food network star. Nerves are ok. Utilize those nerves the best way. Flay is still not afraid of hard work, even eyeing a run for office. Rounding out the group, tom colicchio. To colicchio, cooking isnt just an art, it is a craft. The chicken liver mousse was really well seasoned. He uses his success to help others, whether giving young chefs a chance the winning chef is kristen. Or helping the worlds hungry find a place at the table. Welcome to titans at the table. Thank you so much for joining us. Lets have a cheers before we begin. Cheers. Let me start with this question. P. J. Clarkes has been around since the 1800s, well over a hundred years old establishment. I think it was an irish immigrant who came here, decided this was a great restaurant, bought it, and then expanded it. So, when you look at your own businesses, do you look and say i want to make sure this stays around for over 100 years . No. Babbo turns 15 this year. I know mesa turned 22. I think we have already outlived our original plans. We planned on getting in but we did not have an out, nor did we have a finish or dream of a finish. 100 years seems too far . No, i love the idea. But that would be four or five generations of chefs and famiilies. If it was something we could do, i would be very excited. Are you preparing your business for that possibility . My mistake was building 21 oneoff restaurants. Wait, you made a mistake . [laughter] i made a whole mess of them, believe me. Were going to here about the first one. No, no, no. Our mistake was, instead of creating something we could sell as a group, like people in this room are doing, we built 21 oneoffs, in which case they are not really valuable as an expandable chain or group of restaurants. For growth. You have 21 to choose from. You could choose one of those 21 to do it with. Thats what were doing now. For us, it has to be the casual concept. We think pizza is the way we will go. You are expanding. How about you, bobby . When you built your businesses, did you think about them for the next 50 years . When i opened mesa grill, i had just turned 26 years old. And so, i was not thinking about anything except the next weekend. I was not worried about how long the restaurant would be around. I just wanted to build a restaurant that i always wanted to build, and mesa grill was that restaurant. I had always seen that restaurant growing up. It was a big restaurant. It had a lot of energy to it. It was bustling. The food was american. It had a lot of big flavors to it. And i was able to accomplish that, and 22 years later, it is still there. It has evolved because it is important to continue to evolve your concept within the concept itself without changing it. I think the hardest thing that i had to put a stop to is all my cooks are always watching what the next food trend is, so when asian cuisine came along, they started bringing asian ingredients into the kitchen. Hold on. We do not need to do that. We do not need to know every single thing about every ingredient or every trend. Just because pea shoots made the New York Times cover doesnt mean we have to flood our menu with it. It was like that Quality Control . I picked the focus, which was a contemporary american southwestern restaurant. Right, your core brand. Exactly. And i wanted to be the best at that thing, so when you crave that food, when youre trying to decide where to eat and you feel like having something with chili peppers, or those kinds of flavors, that you think of mesa grill. That was my focus only. Tom . I think when we started doing what we are doing, got in business, we were rallying against those restaurants that were around, that were established for a long time. We wanted to do our own thing. The thought was never lets build something and it will be here for 100 years. Certainly, when i was 26, when i had my first chefs job, i wasnt thinking along those lines. Even when we opened gramercy tavern, we were not thinking 20 years in the future. But you were hoping it would be successful, obviously. Yeah. But when i started cooking, i had no idea that i would be working in new york. I started cooking in new jersey. We do not have a model for a Young American chef doing whatever cuisine you are doing. That example of that kind of longevity. There was nobody to follow. Prior to that, you didnt know about chefs. Getting the cooking job was the last thing you did after you got out of the military before you went to jail. [laughter] it was the lowest common denominator. Anybody could wash dishes. You could always get that matter what your education, no matter your luck, no matter what your situation, no matter your location geographically. When i told my parents i wanted to cook, i think they had visions of me with a cigarette hanging out of my mouth stirring the sauce. Look where you are now. Rachael, let me ask you this. What would you say was your big breakthrough moment when you finally said, you know what, i am going somewhere . My life has been a series of happy accidents, and the thing that has made those accidents successful is i enjoy working really hard. I enjoy a long day. I enjoy many plates in the air. I do think, like these gentlemen, not in the real long term, but bobby hit on something i think is important. You should always get up with the intent to make yourself better and to grow and to learn, but you have to know what you do well, what you offer, and you need to stay true to that. I never had any designs or ideas on being in television. I loved working in food. I loved living in the country. I had a pickup truck and a great job. Any job in food makes me happy, with the exception of dish machine operator. That is humbling, hot, and very hard work. I dont wish to have that job again. I loved restaurants. Ive wanted to get back into restaurants for years. I think that is something we are going to get accomplished this year. I do not sit down with a piece of paper and i say i want something that is around for 100 years. I want to have a purpose and goals. I want to stay true to the brand we have built over the years. We are successful as restaurateurs and chefs if we make you happy. Our job is to provide you with the confidence that you can follow a recipe book or follow page six if that happens to be where you happen to be. Does it annoy you when someone says, ah, bobby flay is a tv star, he is not a real chef . Define your brand in three words. Can do. I want you to be able to envision yourself doing anything that has my name on it or that we touch as a group. Can do is definitely ours. Three words is never enough it if was going to choose the ones i hope would be associated with my brand would be authentic, delicious, and it would be italian or it would be happy. Bobby, what would be your brand . Big flavors which is two words, american, and grilling. When it gets warmer in the northeast, people look for Outdoor Cooking and tips. I always want to be remembered for making people happy. It is about sharing. When you cook it shows before you ever eat. It is a wonderful way to make a living. We can say we cook and we make Delicious Food, we do all these things but if people leave happy we are successful. It is really it. They also look at it in value. One of the things there is value at the 100 entree and there is value at the twodollar entree. They look back at the end of the month and they say and that is how they decide. Whatever that experience was. When they leave it, people make us heroes and all the stuff but it is about making a delicious dinner. You have some exquisite restaurants in new york that are difficult to get into and that are very highend but you also try to make yourself access both both accessible to the average american. How do you balance that . Accessibility is all of our goals. We are not talking from some peak. The reason that we are successful is we look straight across at every person who wants to know how to grill, they want to talk about competition and all the great things everyone does but we share across the table. That is why the four of us are successful. Have you as you are trying to get more accessible, there is a risk of compromising quality and the credibility of your restaurant . We were talking about that this morning. It is one of those things, it is a very good question. We are we have grown up in a time where food has become very important. We have caught up to the rest of the world. We all got, the three of us, sorry to exclude you for one second, rachel, we get it in the higherend marketplace where our restaurants are 75 a person and up. You had to think about going there and spending your money. As time has gone on and people like rachel have come along and brought the rest of the world into good food, at home and also at the right price point, we also look at that and say, how can we be in that business as well . That is the way we live our life, we do not eat in fourstar restaurants every night. We have suffered from a poor economy. Anyone who wanted to keep making money start off and affordable ways. That is one of the few Silver Linings that came out of a prolonged period of economic depression is more good food and the food truck craze and the special offers to get people into those pricey restaurants. We have a big invitational food and wine fest every year called the burger bash. The chefs put their talents into a pretty serious throw down competition. I do not think those things are mutually exclusive. You can be a fantastic chef and still enjoy every type of food including a hamburger. Youve got to know immediately. I have turned down a lot of things. You got criticized for that. Youre not worried about a skeleton or two in the closet . How would you describe marios brand . Bigger than life. Three words, good job. Full of life and always ready to have a good time. Always up for fun. Toms brand . I think of tom as a very focused fisherman. On every level. He chooses things carefully. He is smart about it, he makes Delicious Food but his passion is what is on his sleeve. It makes a big difference. Rachels brand is accessible, passionate, and a great home cook. She is incredibly focused and she has been doing that for really long time really well. Everybody here, i am a fan of all of theirs and they are all accessible. What i love about bobby is he has done so much for our shows and shows we have done with young people. I love seeing bobby with people. I love seeing him talk to kids with as much respect as any other grownup. Any person in the room. He is so focused. He does it with great integrity. He is the same on camera as off . Hes even better. There was a homeec teacher and bobby came down and he talked with these kids. We only shot for just a few minutes. The cameras were off and he stood there and coached them and advised them and it was just so lovely to see. All of you are big brands but you also endorse products. You sell products as well. Rachel, you partner with kohls. They buy my products. The first thing i designed was a spaghetti pot. I did not like getting a spaghetti facial, you look all sweaty. And all the stoneware and the pots and pans. I work with Meyer Corporation to produce them for me. It is not like i am a spokesperson. I want them to serve a function. And theyre all practical. Is it the largest value in that category . A lot of chefs will have a producer go get market goods and they will bring them back and put their name on them and that is all right. Theres a lot of people out there that you can see on qvc. If they are selling 110 dollar collections of pots, they are doing it because it is a quick way to capitalize on their recognition factor. Im sure everyone will agree that is a fast and easy way to get money and very appealing. I have turned down a lot of things. I have turned down most. Most . People want us to get into the wine business, the balsamic vinegar business and commercial olive oil. Into the mediocre spaghetti business. All sorts of things you could put your name on that are not necessarily a bad idea if you do not mind that you do not look so good in the long run. If you want to really manage your brand, you have to make sure that everything has a high quality that you assume it has got to be, and you have to make those decisions on a daily basis. Younger people are getting to that point where they have opportunities. You are in a great position and there will be lots of opportunities. The things that will shape you are the things you say no to, not the things that you say yes to. If you start making a lot of bad decisions, you become part of that brand. And it might not be right for you. Tell me what you said no to. I say no to things all day long whether it is different grills, food products, im talking about lifechanging opportunities. In terms of finances. But your gut knows immediately if it does not seem right. You have to walk away. I have a rule of thumb. If i use it i will endorse it. I sell this in my restaurants. Did it bug you . It did not but me. I slept at night. I have said no to tomato sauce and frozen dinners. Some people believe those competition shows are rigged. We are not actually cooking. It takes you 20 years to build the brand and three bad days to wreck the entire thing. You all are celebrities in your own right. There are celebrities themselves from hollywood who are trying to get into the food business. I think about gwyneth paltrow. She has done a show with you, right . Didnt you travel through spain with her . Yeah. Somebody had to do it and these guys turned it down, so i took the gig. What a terrible job. You had eva longoria, who has opened restaurants. Justin timberlake, jayz, all these folks. What do you think about these celebrities trying to get into your business . Good for them. Its fair play. It creates more awareness in general for the food industry. If someone like jayz is involved in a restaurant i was talking to mario before we sat down. I said, technically jayz is your partner, isnt he . Hes, like, yeah, we own the spotted pig together. I think that is pretty cool that jayz is interested in food. When you listen to jayzs music, he talks about food all the time. He is fascinated by it, loves it. He is not going to build a jayz cheesesteak place. Smart people invest in people that know what theyre doing. If i was going to get into the computer business, i would call apple or dell. I wouldnt call my brothers cousins friends neighbor who i heard had a good idea. [laughter] the Smart Business people are paying attention and doing that. Other people are trying to capitalize. It is like putting your sticker on commercial goods someone bought from china. Thats one way to go, and none of them are wrong, but there is probably less longevity in the put your sticker on something you dont really understand. Owning and operating a restaurant is more than just about having the capital. It is a lot more complicated than that. Everyone has a fascination about food and restaurants. A lot of people want a piece of it. We have a mutual friend who loves food, loves to cook. Hes not interested in investing in restaurants, but he just loves food. And hell obsess. Hell send 17 or 18 Text Messages whether he is doing it right today. The beauty of our field is that there is no entrance fee. You can come in and cook any time you want. Our job is to provide you with the confidence that you can do it and follow a recipe book or follow a cooking segment or follow you on page six if that happens to be where you happen to be. There is a vicarious pleasure to eating and preparing Delicious Food. The average person has a very strange understanding of what chefs do. The way i like to explain it is it is, if youre going to see a piece of classical music, most likely the person who wrote that music has long passed. So, who gets top billing . The conductor. You go to see the conductor. You do not expect the conductor to pick up a violin and start playing. If you did, it would be absolute chaos. The chef writes the music. We are in the kitchen to orchestrate. We are not actually cooking. Cooks cook. Sous chefs cook a little less. Chefs are writing the menus and recipes. It is our way of setting up the kitchen. We are teaching and executing. We are not in there playing the fiddle every night. When you get to a brand as big as all of you, how do you make sure that your restaurants are producing the kind of food that you want them to produce . Because you are ceos now. It is training. I think the mindset is you have to check your ego at the door. The second you think no one else can do what you can, then you cannot. If you are convinced youre the only one who can do it, you should do it. Check your ego. One of the things is about being a chef is being the coach of the team, the supervisor, being the last word on what that food is supposed to look and taste like and how it gets executed. Make sure they do not take shortcuts. Make sure they are tasting the food as well as you are. Make sure they are checking for seasoning. Do you hire everybody . Do i . No, that would be impossible. But i have chefs and sous chefs who answer to me every single day, running each one of my kitchens. I have six highend restaurants and i have 14 burger places. So, it would be impossible for me to hire every single person. In the burger places, the check average is 10 as opposed to 75, 85, 95 at one of my restaurants, but we still train the cooks with proper technique, the same technique fundamentals that we would train someone in the highend restaurants. Where did you learn that . Where did you come up with that . When you say the same technique, who did you model that after