Cooking For The President, Tyra Banks & Adam Sandler: One Of Charleston's Most Innovative Chefs, Shaun Brian's Caribbean-To-Charleston Journey On The Ruby Hour Podcast
Cooking For The President, Tyra Banks & Adam Sandler: Chef Shaun Brian's Caribbean-To-Charleston Journey On The Ruby Hour Podcast
This guy is who you want on your team during a zombie apocalypse. Chef Shaun Brian’s roots are in fishing off his dad’s sailboat and foraging on St. John, USVI. Named 30 under 30 by Zagat, nominated for a Rising Star by StarChefs and invited to cook in the James Beard House — Shaun is one of the most progressive and talented chefs of our generation, and he’s right “in our backyard” for us foodies here in Charleston. In this episode, Shaun shares his unorthodox (and wildly entertaining) journey through his culinary career, what it’s like growing up in the Caribbean, funny stories cooking for celebrities and offers some practical AF advice on building your team and growing as a leader.
The Ruby Hour -- A Podcast by Ruby Riot Creatives where we have conversations with extraordinary people doing extraordinary things, and hear nuggets of wisdom they learned along their journey.
Don't have time to watch it all? Jump to a section:
00:45 Who is Shaun Brian?
04:05 How did your Caribbean upbringing inspire your marsh to table + foraging approach?
7:50 - What challenges you've run into growing your kitchen
13:00 - Cooking for Adam Sandler, Tyra Banks, The Former President, Ocean 362 — Shaun's cooking career journey
22:30 Zombie apocalypse + living in a hurricane-prone world
24:15 What is the West Indian Chefs Alliance?
27:50 Cheeseburgers In Paradise: PTSD
30:45 Why Shaun needs to start a food porn podcast
32:00 The Secret to finding fantastic food and Bev team members
35:00 What's the best advice anyone's ever given you?
37:00 We get what we tolerate in the work environment
38:45 Simple triggers to inspire yourself / productivity/mindset tips
39:30 Credos: cooking from your heart for guests versus cooking for yourself
43:45 Allowing your team to fail // letting go as a leader to let your team succeed
45:15 What's your happy place?
Full Transcription Of This Episode:
Shelby Ring:
Thank you so much for joining us for another session of the Ruby Hour. I am Shelby Ring and I have the fabulous, Chef Shaun Brian. Thank you so much for coming today.
Shaun Brian:
My pleasure.
Shelby Ring:
I'm freakin’ pumped. Okay, so let me give you the deets on who this man is, all right. So, Chef Shaun Brian started a life in a two-person tent surrounded by plantation ruins in the flats of Coral Bay, St. John. And for those of you that don't know, that's one of the US Virgin Islands and it's in the Caribbean. It's not St. John's, whatever, okay.
Shaun Brian:
Thank you for that.
Shelby Ring:
All right, so, we're just going to nip that in the bud, all right. So, it was in this environment that Shaun's love for cooking began through roaming and foraging, literally through the local valley, and fishing off his dad's sailboat and cooking for sometimes up to eight siblings at a time. These challenges of being in an island in the middle of the Caribbean are the source of his inspiration to his innovative culinary approach.
Shelby Ring:
As a graduate of Johnson and Wales, his culinary career led him to be named in the 30, under 30 by Zagat and has been nominated for a Rising Star by Star Chefs and has been invited to cook at the James Beard House. Drop the mic and walk out of here at this point. I mean, literally, what the heck? I've had the pleasure of getting to know you on a personal level. We've surfed together, all of the things. Yeah, how the heck did you end up in Charleston of all places?
Shaun Brian:
Ah, hurricanes, definitely hurricanes. Irma and Maria just came through and ripped the islands apart and I had my daughter, Riley on her way and I need to make some roots somewhere else, so Charleston was a place where I always wanted to check out. I came here and I fell in love from the history to the camaraderie amongst chefs, the love for dogs, the demographics being laid out like New York City, the accessibility of farm-to-table as well as the coastal community and surfing, so definitely, it just brought me here and made me feel at home. And now, I'm never leaving.
Shelby Ring:
That's freaking awesome. So, you currently, right now, you are running the show with one of my favorite culinary places in Charleston, Parcel 32. People, let me just tell you right now, if you have not gone there and just done a full out appetizers, cocktails, dinner, everything is freaking insane there. I can't not go there when we go to downtown Charleston. I love it.
Shaun Brian:
Thank you.
Shelby Ring:
How did you get tied into with rocking and rolling with Parcel, building out that menu? Where is your sweet spot of your cooking style?
Shaun Brian:
We focus on coastal Carolina Lowcountry, Caribbean cuisine, so we tie in that Caribbean. It's really a focus on all the different food ways of Charleston and what's helped develop and make Charleston over the years, but also what Charleston is today, so that was really the inspiration.
Shaun Brian:
It's in a family home, a single family home and essentially, we wanted to make it feel like you're at home when you're there, so a lot of shareable items, a lot of coastal seafood. And then a lot of different things inspired from all the farms that we get, so about 90% of our menu is all local.
Shelby Ring:
Ah, so freaking cool. I love that. I feel like farm-to-table, or marsh-to-table is something people like to talk about.
Shaun Brian:
I like marsh-to-table. That's clever!
Shelby Ring:
It's really to take it full circle and it's like, no, we're really seeking out those local farmers and fisherman and that's awesome. How did that tie into when you were growing up? Walk me through...
Shaun Brian:
Yeah, sure.
When we were coming back from surfing that one day, we're driving down Folly Road and you're like, "Oh yeah, you can eat that. Oh yeah, that's really great if you do this with that plant... this works as like a green bean substitute." You blew our minds with literally seeing roadside stuff and knowing what you could eat, how did you learn how to forage?
Shelby Ring:
When we were coming back from surfing that one day, we're driving down Folly Road and you're like, "Oh yeah, you can eat that. Oh yeah, that's really great if you do this with that plant... this works as like a green bean substitute." You blew our minds with literally seeing roadside stuff and knowing what you could eat, what was your journey with that?
Shaun Brian:
It really started in a Caribbean as a kid. I was just always in the bush. When we were bored at home, and we weren't in school, me and my brother were in flip flops and in our underwear just exploring the valley for ruins and stuff. Sometimes we would get hungry, so we'd find something that we could snack on, or sometimes we get a scrape from kasha, which has hooks on it, sort of thorns. They pull you in and they really rip you up, so we'd find aloe and put aloe on it. Or, we didn't brush our teeth that morning because we were little boys and we would take fuzzy sage and actually brush our teeth with that, which actually tore... You would read about it in the indigenous days that they would use that as a way to maintain oral hygiene.
Shelby Ring:
Whoa.
Shaun Brian:
Really roadside driving and exploring, especially if I'm not the one driving I really get into just getting an idea of what my surroundings are and what I see and making some mental notes on places I want go, and go hit up and check out. It's really all about always learning. And then there is just some basic rules. Know what you're going to get. 110% don't assume you know what it is and eat it.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
If you don't, gather some and take it home, use your field books to understand it. The first time you try it, test a little bit of it because there is still things, even though it's edible, it could be growing in a toxic area, so you always want to be careful. And then at least identify three or four different things in its habitat that really identify with it, so that it helps you just confirm the fact that you identify it. Those are really more so when you're doing mushroom foraging because that's real technical. That's one of my new passions in some way, but especially the way I've gone down the rabbit hole in it right now.
Shaun Brian:
My whole life it's been an incorporation into my operations. In Martha's Vineyards, which we'll talk about in a little bit I'm sure, I really got into who I was as a chef and really started to understand my love for foraging up there, so now here in Charleston it's the medium between the Caribbean where I'm from and the Northeast where I found myself as a chef, and it just meets in the middle. And if you go North of here, you stop seeing tropical ingredients like cassava growing wild on the bluffs of the beach here, or prickly pear, Nepal tuna, and so many other things. But, then I also get things that I would find up in the Northeast, like all kinds of different mushrooms, sea beans, and lots of really cool stuff.
Shelby Ring:
Ooh, so cool. Okay, so if there is a zombie apocalypse, this is your guy.
So if there is a zombie apocalypse, this is your guy.
Shaun Brian:
Yeah, I'm ready.
Shelby Ring:
You want to be part of the crew for that. I love it. We're always looking at, in our company, ways that we are growing, developing, refining. You've mentioned that you've had some unique challenges of growing with the Parcel 32 family and really expanding with that team and the caliber of what you're working with. Break that down for me. What's been your journey?
Shaun Brian:
Yeah, so restaurants in general have just been a really taxing industry to be in, in general. They really incorporate every component of business and psychology into one operation.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah, so true.
Shaun Brian:
Yeah, from perishable products to mental health to long hours to fire, gas, I mean you name it. It's involved in the hospitality industry. That's a challenge on its own. My whole career I've really spent trying to mold it into a sustainable, or even regenerative industry that we can actually improve on. There is a lot of things that worked for me and there is a lot of things that haven't.
Shaun Brian:
Parcel 32 has been one of those operations where I've really been given everything to be able to put together my best foot forward. So, from doing the build-out there and having a very healthy budget to work with and knowing the longevity of the restaurant will be sustained because of the family that owns it, They're invested in it. They're not just financially, they're also, their heart is into it, so those things all really spoke out to me.
Shaun Brian:
And then putting a team together to actually operate it is always the hardest component of the operating. Now, we're in a place where I feel like I have one of the best teams I've ever had in my career. But, it's taken a few people. Some of them are still there from day one, which is great. We've had very minimal turnover, especially for the industry standards.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
Where we are now, I really attribute to the people that I've put in power and the way that I've let them take ownership and ability to make their operation feel like it's a part of them and not just me telling them what to do.
Shaun Brian:
And so, John Coleman whose my chef de cuisine, whose basically the chef in charge of running the kitchen for me, I say I've been courting him for four months before I got him and we just became friends. He was looking for some growth and looking for more resources in what, in his field in what he wanted to do. I felt like I could offer him that, and at the time, I was looking for someone like that in a position. The fit was right. The time was right. I brought him on and then he's helped maintain my standards that we both share. They're his and mine. We collaborate on everything we do. We communicate a lot, more than probably any relationship I've ever been in.
Shelby Ring:
Wow!
How To Create A Charleston Restaurant Environment That Attracts The Best Talent
Shaun Brian:
Which is a huge key to being successful. It just all fell in place. Now, we have a team all the way down to the person who's making the salads in the restaurants could all be easily be chefs at any restaurant in Charleston.
Shelby Ring:
Wow!
Shaun Brian:
They want to work there because of the environment.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
And so, that works really nicely, but at the same time, it comes with its own challenges like egos.
Shelby Ring:
For sure.
Shaun Brian:
Everyone has their own idea of how everything should be done.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
They're not wrong. It's just, what are we doing? Let's be a team, and let's do it the same way because we all are able and capable of working every single position and we regularly do, including me working in the dish [inaudible 00:11:48]. If we are short someone or they just need help, we all chip in. We're all team players and that's really what's helped us make the operation successful. But, we constantly sit down and have meetings and brainstorm on how we can communicate better, how we can be more on the same page, so actively always listening and communicating and growing.
Shelby Ring:
That's just unheard of, I feel like, in the restaurant scene. There is always one rogue person, or someone is just deviating, or the... It's like you are orchestrating a symphony of everyone has to be a key player and if there is those slight variations, there is so many layers of how do we keep a consistent experience for the people that come in and are dining with you?
Shaun Brian:
Yeah, it's definitely a day-to-day, just like you have to take the approaches one step at a time and not really let it overwhelm you and know that tonight, you're preparing for battle and battle starts at 5:00 PM, the doors open.
The Value Of Truly Delegating To Your Team As A Leader
Shelby Ring:
Yeah. I'm a big believer of if you obviously are operating in a role of leadership where you're, you see the value of truly delegating and empowering people versus what you said of, "Oh, well, they're not just having to like appease what I'm expecting." They're in their seat and they're empowered to do them. In your trajectory, walk me through what, where you've cooked and how you've cooked and what brought you full circle to where you are today in your career?
Shaun Brian:
Yeah, so I really fell in love with food from a young age because I grew up pretty poor and I wanted to eat all the nice things. Whenever I'd go out to dinner, I'd be like, "Oh, can I get that," and it was the most expensive thing on the menu.
Shelby Ring:
Yes.
Shaun Brian:
I was more interested in the lobster and the rib eye component of it rather than the price.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
I wasn't really thinking about that. But, those environments really helped me solidify who I am as a chef and led me through a pass to where I am. My mom was a midwife. She also ran a children's store, grew up really holistic, so I was introduced to nutrition as being important. And then being in the Caribbean in St. John, especially in Coral Bay, it's very old world still.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
And has a lot of down island influences as well as a ton of history, indigenous history as well with the Tainos. These things all subconsciously influenced me as I was coming up. And then I went to Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. I really just did a two year associates program because I knew food would allow me to travel and I'd always allow me to have a job, so I did that. I made sure I did good in school, so I got a lot of scholarships because I knew I'd have to pay for it myself.
Shelby Ring:
Yep.
Shaun Brian:
Unlike a lot of kids, I took it really seriously and I really took as much out of it as I could. I worked with the teachers that were considered the most difficult. And then I made sure before I even went, I got right in the industry and started working. I worked at a Pacific Rim restaurant in St. John and really this was almost those, that old school kitchen environment, like Anthony Bourdain would talk about a lot, RIP. But, it was really a lot of hazing, a lot of burns. I was the lowest guy on the totem pole. It was a pretty masculine environment, especially in those days. The St. John is always 10 years behind everything. And so, it was good to come up in that and see what it was like and really earn my stripes. But at the same time, I saw a lot of things that I wasn't really behind, you know?
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
I really wanted to be progressive. And after culinary school, I just made sure I was always working at the hardest place to get a job at and that led me through some of the best kitchens in St. John. And then, I did my externship at the Ritz-Carlton in St. Thomas where I worked under the chef, Andrew Chadwick who worked under two of the best chefs in the world at the time, Michel Bras who's the plating god of vegetables and just this amazing French chef that was doing technical plate-ups and cookery before anyone even knew about it...
Shelby Ring:
Wow!
Shaun Brian:
... before Spain blew up with gastronomic cuisine.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
It was Ferran Adria and Juan Mari Arzak, all these people were like... Juan Mari really is another one, but that actually comes full circle. After I did that, I actually went to legal studies at Florida Gulf University, but I went with a focus on commercial real estate in an effort to understand more of the legal side of restaurants and hospitality businesses.
Shelby Ring:
Wow!
Shaun Brian:
And then minored in art history. And then that took me to a job in Naples that was a 700 cover steakhouse right near the Ritz-Carlton. It was about volume, and it was about-
Shelby Ring:
This was Naples, Florida?
Shaun Brian:
Naples, Florida, yeah.
Shelby Ring:
Okay, yeah.
Shaun Brian:
Not Italy, I wish.
Shelby Ring:
It's 700 people.
Shaun Brian:
Yeah.
Shelby Ring:
Oh my gosh.
Shaun Brian:
It was a steakhouse, but I learned a lot from this, so each operation I took little pieces that were important towards shaping the hospitality industry. I learned how to standardize. I learned how important it was to have standard operating procedures in place, and just all the things to make a restaurant tick at that volume, I took those things away from it.
Shaun Brian:
And then from there, I moved back to St. John. I got an opportunity to work at a [Rana's 00:18:03] Steakhouse in, at, on a hotel property that was freestanding. It was super high end. We were only open five days a week, so I had two days off. The pay was great. I really brought back the Caribbean into that.
Shaun Brian:
And then from there, I went up to Martha's Vineyard to run a boutique luxury hotel called The Harbor View. That's really where, at that point, I wanted to take the step into the overall hospitality, to become a hospitalitarian. I needed to be in a boutique luxury place where they really have good ethics and food quality and execution and sourcing. And then I wanted to have all the different components that can be potential for food. So, we had room service. We had major, major event venues. This was the number one place in America for weddings. We did all these high profile people, the president at the time, Adam Sandler. I mean, the list goes on and on, there's Tyra Banks.
Shelby Ring:
It's like, I was impressed with the president, but then you dropped Adam Sandler, That's a next level of...
Shaun Brian:
He's super chill too.
Shelby Ring:
That's so funny.
Shaun Brian:
So is Tyra, but she loves lobster rolls.
Shelby Ring:
That's awesome.
Shaun Brian:
Up there, I brought in all local ingredients. I brought truth in menu back. I also mandated that I was on the executive committee, which most executive chefs aren't. It's usually the food and beverage director, but since it was a chef-driven property, I required that through negotiations and I good at negotiations through legal studies.
Shelby Ring:
Dude, oh my gosh, yeah.
Shaun Brian:
And by being on the executive committee I was able to manipulate the landscaping budget and I turned that into 585 square feet of organic gardens.
Shelby Ring:
What?
Shaun Brian:
Then we just started incorporating our own gardens, the local farms, the fisheries, and then really just came together with this island-to-table concept. My best friend, Nathan Gould who runs the 9th best sushi restaurant in the world right now, O Ya in Boston. We first met in culinary school and a twinkle in both of our eyes for foods and just drew to each instantly.
Shelby Ring:
Aw.
Shaun Brian:
Yeah, he's still one of my best friends and we ran this hotel together and helped me with the steakhouse at St. John. After that, I went back down to St. John because I wanted to figure out where I was going that was true to me and spoke to me. I went down there and worked for one of the chefs that I idolized the most over my entire life. I seen her run the best restaurant in St. John for 18 years. She had lost her sous chef before the end of the season and I said, "I'll come down. I'll help you run La Tapa for the rest of the season. And I'll also help bring some modernist techniques to your restaurant as well as professionalism and flow," through redesigning her kitchen. She actually trained under Juan Mari Arzak.
Shelby Ring:
Okay, which was one of the-
Shaun Brian:
That's the tie-in.
Shelby Ring:
Whoa.
Shaun Brian:
So, full circle.
Shelby Ring:
Wow!
Shaun Brian:
She wasn't really ready to because we had discussed me potentially taking over the kitchen and her stepping out and just being the owner and walking the floor and being her wonderful self. She wasn't really quite there yet, which was no problem. At the end of the season, I went my own way, opened up Ocean 362, which was a really, truly, my restaurant and my concept from start to bottom. I think I built this restaurant out in 20 days, got my family down there, and just opened up and did island-to-table Ocean 362.
Shaun Brian:
And then from there, I found out that we were going to have a baby and I went into hyper-drive. I was operating my [inaudible 00:22:15] salt company, Virgin Salt Co, that I had started on a small scale. And then, that expanded into a new operation in St. Thomas, which was in Hull Bay. It was on a four acre property with our organic farming license, a one acre coconut grove. I started a smokehouse. I was smoking with whole coconuts, all local seafood, and modeled it after my best friend's smokehouse company in Martha's Vineyard.
Shelby Ring:
Okay.
Shaun Brian:
And then I was building out this restaurant and Irma and Marie came and then that's where we get here again, so long story.
Shelby Ring:
Then you had to pivot from there. Oh my gosh.
Shaun Brian:
Yeah, and the pivot was the key. I didn't really realize how much I was affected by the hurricanes, but once we've gotten a few scares, especially for that last one that was a Cat 5, it really just made me realize, I have post traumatic stress disorder. I need to find a focus and my focus is preparing for the hurricane. The getting through the hurricane part is where I have the most time on my hands and I don't really... That's where I start to realize my disorder a little bit.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
And then post those where I'm like, okay, into action, does anyone need anything, what can I do, how can I help? But growing up in St. John and being through every major hurricane for the last 30 years has been definitely a preparation for me.
Shelby Ring:
Oh my gosh.
Again, this is the guy you want to have on your team right here during a zombie apocalypse.
Shaun Brian:
Talk about, what is it, a zombie apocalypse.
Shelby Ring:
Oh, yeah. Again, this is the guy you want to have on your team right here.
Shaun Brian:
Yeah.
Shelby Ring:
You've had, not only practical development of who you've evolved as a person, but even being in environments that are constantly... There's risk. I mean, it's constantly volatile when you're in a place where hurricanes are. It's like Hurricane Season hits and my background is cooking on term charter yachts. And so, it was the moment that there was always that window where you're just ready to buckle up and pull everything down. It's very real. I love how that something that you're involved in, you are one of the co-founders and vice presidents of the West Indian Chef Alliance. What is that about?
Shaun Brian:
Me and Chef Digby actually started the West Indian Chefs Alliance probably five years ago now, I want to say. We basically modeled it after the Northeast Chefs Alliance. It was in an effort to just bring relevance and bring focus to like-minded chefs and people in the industry that were working on really furthering and making Caribbean West Indian food part of the national and worldwide statement and really showcasing it in a way that really highlighted the culture and was true to it, not just blackened snapper with a mango salsa, you know?
Shelby Ring:
Oh, yeah. Oh my gosh.
Shaun Brian:
And so, that was the effort of it. We really worked hard on developing it. We worked with the James Beard Foundation bringing them down to St. Croix to his restaurant and doing a dinner down there, which was a Friends of Beard dinner, which then turned into Dinners at the Beard House. I think that we've done four dinners now.
Shelby Ring:
Wow!
Shaun Brian:
I actually stepped down from VP and just stepped away from the alliance in a [inaudible 00:25:56] in order to just let it continue to flourish and grow.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
My mission with it was always just to bring relevance and make it a focal point. And once we were getting national media attention from New York Times and Food and Wine and stuff like that, I decided that it was time for me to back away. Plus, with opening up Parcel 32 and really just having a daughter and being here in Charleston, I had my focuses.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
At that point, Digby is still operating and managing the alliance as the president.
Shelby Ring:
Wow! That's so cool. Really, I appreciated that because I feel like the Virgin Islands there is either a stigma of St. Thomas is like, oh yeah, you go there on a cruise ship.
Shaun Brian:
Yeah.
Shelby Ring:
It's just one of those exploited spots.
Shaun Brian:
Yeah, it is.
Shelby Ring:
So, I appreciate that angle of that's such a grassroots thing to create like, hey, let's all ban together and it's challenging to find that unified front in the Caribbean.
Shaun Brian:
It is. It is. I found that through multiple different outlets too in the Caribbean. It's just, it hard being on isolated islands in some regard to really come together as a community or an island. I'll always say, if the whole Caribbean created their own soccer team for the World Cup, they'd dominate World Cups over and over and over again because of all the talented players that come from it all. It's like cricket, the West Indian Cricket League is one of the best in the world that has won multiple, multiple championships over and over. They're the team to go after. We got to get behind those types of things like these alliances to help come together and really support the community and just showcase what we have to offer it in a true and honest way.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah, where it's not just the Americanized like, here's what you would expect from a tropical vacation.
Shaun Brian:
Cheeseburgers in paradise.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah, Oh, no. Oh, no. Don't get me started.
Shaun Brian:
Me either.
Shelby Ring:
I think I have PTSD of listening to those, a mix of Kenny Chesney and Jimmy Buffett's.
Shaun Brian:
Oh, oh, she said it. She said it.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
Jimmy Buffett is not so bad.
Shelby Ring:
I just have this thing. I see a blue chair and I just want to throw it. No, no [crosstalk 00:28:24].
Shaun Brian:
I see Blue Chair Rum and I just want to throw up.
Shelby Ring:
No, it's so funny. No, it's all good. Whatever people need to like be, oh my gosh. We would have people come down and they wanted to go to every place that Kenny Chesney had created a song around, so it was like, go over to Jost and got to go see...
Shaun Brian:
I actually cooked for Kenny a bunch.
Shelby Ring:
Okay.
Shaun Brian:
And yeah, yeah.
Shelby Ring:
Of course, you did.
Shaun Brian:
I like Keith Urban a lot better. Let's just put it that way.
Shelby Ring:
That's so funny.
Shaun Brian:
Keith Urban is the man.
Shelby Ring:
Oh my gosh.
Shaun Brian:
Kenny, he's just unfortunately just been surrounded by a lot of people that I think have just used him for who he is as a famous person.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah, I can see that.
Shaun Brian:
It's really worn on him, in my opinion.
Shelby Ring:
He's a generous person. Well yeah, I mean was during Maria and them, he lined up a plane to get supplies brought down?
Shaun Brian:
He was definitely a highlighted individual of it because of his fame.
Shelby Ring:
Sure.
Shaun Brian:
But, St. John, in general, every time there is hurricanes or anything like that, the community just comes together. There is such a wealthy population on the island because two thirds of it is national parks, so all of these people build these houses around it that are just insane, whether it's Bloomberg and stuff, or the actually money behind Bloomberg.
Shelby Ring:
Sure.
Shaun Brian:
These people all come together and they really care about the community and they have good intentions. It's just really hard for the money to go to the right places, or be managed by the right people all the time. Kenny's been a huge part of helping the Caribbean all of the time. I think most people are super grateful of it. I think that a lot of us locals from there, it's just hard for us in terms of how it's changed the tourism industry where it is those individuals that are like, "Oh, which seat did Kenny Chesney sit in?"
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
"What did he order?" It's like, "Dude, there's a lot more." He doesn't like place.
Shelby Ring:
Steak and lobster all night.
Shaun Brian:
Literally.
Shelby Ring:
He can order anything on the menu
Shaun Brian:
Mid-well steak, by the way.
Shelby Ring:
All right, all right. There you go. It's so funny.
Shaun Brian:
New York strip mid-well and a lobster.
Shelby Ring:
All right, so if you want to eat like Kenny Chesney, a giveaway from this podcast episode that's what you can go order. Go to Parcel 32 and order that and we're going to see what's going to happen. No, just kidding.
Shaun Brian:
Don't do that. There is no lobster.
Shelby Ring:
You're going to make him relapse and get scared.
Shaun Brian:
Yeah.
Shelby Ring:
Oh my gosh.
Shaun Brian:
Come get our 38-ounce rib eye though. That thing is a beast.
Shelby Ring:
I just like that octopus dish.
Shaun Brian:
Yeah. That has a lot of heart on it too. The sauce underneath that octopus dish is like it should be our national dish in the Virgin Islands. But, we call it potato stuffing, our potato stuffing.
Shelby Ring:
Yes aye, he was "barn here."
Shaun Brian:
[Caribbean accent] Yeah, he from here. We would do pig bonyatta, potatoes and we would do a sofrito with it, and then we would do a little thyme, a scotch bonnet hot sauce. I usually do a nice emulsified one with a mango and pineapple in it and do a pineapple ferment. And then we mix all that together with a little bit of tomato paste and it makes it look like sweet potatoes, but it's on a much more savory-side. And then, we put that in a casserole pan almost, once we make it almost like mashed potatoes and then we bake it again, so it's stuffing.
Shelby Ring:
Oh my gosh. It's so good!
Shaun Brian:
But badness.
Shelby Ring:
I think you need to have your own podcast and just explain each dish, so people can be like, "Oh, I'm going to go to sleep in a deep relaxation," and you're like, "Well, tonight on the menu is going to be..." I mean, it's like that sounds insane. We're going to salsa dancing tonight and I'm going to be like... But, you all are closed on Mondays, right?
Shaun Brian:
Yeah, we're closed, definitely on Mondays.
Shelby Ring:
Why? It's like the Chick-fil-A of King Street. You're like, "I'm really hungry right now." I'd be like, "It's Sunday."
Shaun Brian:
Yeah.
Shelby Ring:
Why do you got to be all conservative and have good ethics and shit.
Shaun Brian:
Yeah. We've got to make them work seven days a week. That's part of the reason why we have low turnover.
Shelby Ring:
Really?
Shaun Brian:
Yeah, I mean-
Shelby Ring:
Wow, yeah.
Shaun Brian:
... just creating a schedule that's sustainable and an environment that's sustainable.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
And then also, paying appropriate wages.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah, that's right.
Shaun Brian:
I think the lowest person on my payroll gets paid like the highest person in most restaurants around here.
Shelby Ring:
Wow! That's awesome.
Shaun Brian:
That's why we're able to keep people. It's also why we don't have a problem hiring people like all these other places around here.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah, wow!
Shaun Brian:
Because we got people on backup, just one after another that's ready to come work there and they're talented.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah, what a beautiful business model because it's like, I feel like, I mean... My partner, Chris, for people that aren't familiar with me personally, he's in the seafood distribution industry, so he's-
Shaun Brian:
Homey.
Shelby Ring:
... He's the backdoor man.
Shaun Brian:
Yeah.
Shelby Ring:
I'm not going to make a joke about that.
Shaun Brian:
You just did.
Shelby Ring:
He knows all these kitchens and knowing what's going into it, it's so hard to keep people. Everyone needs help and we are such a food-driven community. People come to Charleston because they want to eat, they want to drink, they want to immerse themselves in an experience, and so that is amazing. It's like, okay, how can you become the most attractive restaurant in Charleston, and it's for the people that are in the industry?
Shaun Brian:
Yeah.
Shelby Ring:
It's provide stability, compensate people for their time, for their energy, for their genius.
Shaun Brian:
Yeah, make them feel like it's part of... They're a part of the operation.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
And then also, maintain and showcase through your work ethic and just your ability to get down on your hands and knees and be a step stool for everyone.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
And then, you don't need as many people too.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
My labor is actually down.
Shelby Ring:
Wow! That's so awesome because it's like, yeah, I mean, we could spout statistics about the most expensive thing. How much does it cost to bring on a new client versus maintaining a client relationship, so from a staffing perspective, yeah, to keep somebody on and maybe they're paid a higher premium for them to be there. But at the same time, how much energy goes into if one person walks away and then everyone has to pick up the slack of the learning curve for the new staff as well as the time it takes to get them up to speed?
Shaun Brian:
Yeah.
Shelby Ring:
It affects everything. That's such a high energy to be able to be in that environment.
Shaun Brian:
It also helps in terms of its own marketing too because then you have your actual employees-
Shelby Ring:
Wow!
Shaun Brian:
... speaking highly about you amongst the community.
Shelby Ring:
Wow, yep.
Shaun Brian:
That's really attracting for people.
Shelby Ring:
Oh, that's so awesome. That's yes, we like that. I love that something that you mentioned was one of your, the best... What's the best advice that anyone has ever given you? Oh yeah, we did our disclaimer if there is cuss words and things in this. Yeah, we're good, all right. What's the best advice that anyone has ever given you?
Shaun Brian:
Fuck the bullshit.
Shelby Ring:
What does that mean to you, Shaun?
Shaun Brian:
You can really apply it to almost anything and really it comes down to just not becoming complacent with... Don't subside to your standards. Don't be less of something because of the environment they're around. Don't allow it. And when you do is when you can't stop it and it becomes a chain effect and just keeps falling over like dominoes. But, if you can start to focus on the positive around you and what you want to create then, you can do it. If you just stand up for yourself, take care of yourself, and put yourself first then, you can put all the people that you really care about, that you want to put before yourself, you can truly do that.
Shaun Brian:
So, it's very difficult and it takes regular daily reminders, and I think whether you post credos around your restaurant that go in line with the standards that you want to uphold, you're able to maintain it. But, it really just takes a mindset and reminding yourself to maintain it, but that's fuck the bullshit.
Shelby Ring:
I mean, I want that tattooed across my forehead and backwards, so I can see it every time I look in a mirror.
Shaun Brian:
Yeah, you can just write it on your mirror.
Shelby Ring:
All right. Okay, not on here.
Shaun Brian:
On your forehead.
Shelby Ring:
On the mirror, not on the forehead. Take a note of that, Madeline, please, okay. I mean, that's drop the mic material to recognize just because people are complacent, or if they're not upholding a certain standard that when you're an integrity... If you know that you expect things to be done a certain way it's like, no, don't tolerate that.
Shaun Brian:
Yeah.
Shelby Ring:
We just went and visited a friend after we filmed in North Carolina. They're dog trainers. One thing that she taught me-
Shaun Brian:
That's awesome.
Shelby Ring:
... is she was like, "We get what we tolerate."
Shaun Brian:
Exactly.
Shelby Ring:
That's something I heard from Tony Robbins as well. But it's like, if you're frustrated that people are doing a slack job or whatever, it's like, you somehow have set the standard of either not speaking up when you saw little glimpses of that becoming and growing, and yeah, we get what we tolerate.
Shaun Brian:
Yeah, and your frustration just rubs right off on them.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
And then, they start turning into you, it's almost, especially in kitchens, but also with training dogs because I love dogs. I love training them too. But it's like you, who you are is who they mirror.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
Man, I mean, complacency is the key to all that I think and that's just where if you can change a sense of complacency to and uphold the standards you want through really addressing it when it happens, then you, one, reduce the stress that you deal with, which is probably the number one thing in the world that's making people sick, mentally, physically. You can change your world in front of you.
Shelby Ring:
I love it. What are practical things you said to set up reminders throughout your day because it's not something that's necessarily like, oh, you just wake up one day and you know how to-
Shaun Brian:
Yeah, it takes work.
Shelby Ring:
... get out of your own way, right? What are things in your own life that are simple triggers that inspire that line of energy?
Shaun Brian:
I think, one, social media can be used in positive ways although that has a lot of negatives to it, so follow people that inspire you. Also, follow people who help set your positive mindset that you want to have daily. I have a friend here who is my chiropractor and every morning she writes down her mantra that she wants for the day and that's an amazing thing. Guess what? I don't do it. I told her, I was like, "It's like you're writing my mantra every day.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
I just raid your mantra and then I'm good to go."
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
So, that's an easy way to do it. And then also, credos are an amazing tool. I learned that at the Ritz-Carlton when I was doing my externship there and they just have an amazing whole shell to their whole operation. I took so much away from how they manage their properties, especially this was in the time when it was still at the height of hospitality in the whole world.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
Shaun Brian:
I remember their credo and I was like, I need my own credo.
Shelby Ring:
Break down what a credo is.
Shaun Brian:
A credo really is like your standards, essentially. It's what you believe in, what applies to your surroundings. In my kitchen, it's not about cooking for me. It's about cooking for guests. It's about everyday trying to be your best to try to achieve perfection, but also knowing that there is no thing as perfection. It's a journey and it's evolving. It doesn't stop changing and it doesn't stop growing. As long as you understand that then it's not as complicated or you don't feel so pressured to get it all out at once. It's just something that you build.
Shaun Brian:
Your mentors help you, help influence it, so people like [Lavon Was 00:41:14], one of my mentors, really helped me understand humility and how to cook from my heart and how to cook from nostalgia instead of just cooking like, oh, this is super badass and this is that smug culinary industry of, oh, I'm doing a foam, man. I'm doing this molecular gastronomy, but it doesn't taste good, or it doesn't [crosstalk 00:41:41].
Shelby Ring:
It looks fancy as shit, but I don't want to eat it again.
Shaun Brian:
Yeah, and you just took something that was already perfect and then you actually made it less perfect, if you will.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah.
It's how you become a good leader in a kitchen. It's not about you. It's not about how good you are. It's about how you can get your team to strive to be better every day and understand your mission and your operation's mission and cook for people and not just cook for yourself, so and really be a step stool and help uplift everyone because then you really achieve camaraderie, accomplishments, productivity, and that just keeps rolling.
Shaun Brian:
The farmer already put all the energy into it. You tasted it, and let's just use a peach for example because this place has some of the best peaches that I've had in my life, you don't need to do anything to it. You can just highlight it and uplift it. It's how you become a good leader in a kitchen. It's not about you. It's not about how good you are. It's about how you can get your team to strive to be better every day and understand your mission and your operation's mission and cook for people and not just cook for yourself, so and really be a step stool and help uplift everyone because then you really achieve camaraderie, accomplishments, productivity, and that just keeps rolling.
Shelby Ring:
I mean, and how much does that translate into anybody doing anything they want to scale and offer good in the world, whether you're... We film and yet, it's like if I want to create amazing experiences for clients, if it's all about me and how great I do it and it's like if I believe that I'm the shit, I'm the top, how can I ever create more momentum and help more people's lives and have that scaling capacity like you're describing? If you're the number one chef and blah, blah, blah, it's all about you, well then, dang, the moment you step away that's a castle made of cards.
Shaun Brian:
Yeah. You really can't grow from there. You can get so far, but eventually when people start digging they'll find that there is nothing there. I think that the way that people break out of that shell is, one, through hard lessons in life. You have to hit rock bottom. You have to fall on your ass. The way that I've always helped people grow into that is by stepping away, literally just being, all right, you're ready. You need this. I don't even really tell them what's going on, or that there is an angle to that because I do feel that they're capable and they can do it. But I also feel that if I don't step away then they'll never realize what I actually did to get there.
Shaun Brian:
And so, sometimes whether it's just in one day in allowing them to have a shitty service and to see that they don't know everything, that helps them realize it, time, just coming of age helps. And then, if it's more severe literally letting go completely, almost like a relationship. If you really want to test how strong it is then sometimes the best thing to do can be to let it go and see if you find each other again.
Shelby Ring:
Oh, yeah. That's it. There is so much sweetness to those words.
Shaun Brian:
Yeah. It's really about love because it's about if you can do that then you really care about someone because otherwise you just become an enabler. We all seen that shit too much.
Shelby Ring:
Yes, oh my gosh. You're speaking my language over here. I love it, yeah, I mean, yes. I want to close and bring things to a full circle of, Shaun, what's your happy place?
Shaun Brian:
Oh, my happy place? It's really the ocean. It's water. For me, spearfishing, I'm not the best at it and I don't think that's important in life, a lot of people are always chasing that. But, I've always been around water and it's always surrounded me and being underwater just has a mystique to it that just cancels everything out and you're just able to be completely in the moment in your surroundings. And so, that's definitely my happy place at where you can just see things that you've never seen before even if you've been swimming there 80 times. I always find new stuff.
Shelby Ring:
I love that. That resonates with me as well. We just had an underwater photographer on the podcast and that was literally that's a same heartbeat when people have that water baby. There is something the moment you're, the sound, the sensory deprivation, and then it's like you're just laser-beamed into the here and now. I love it. Okay, so Shaun, how can people get in touch with you, or follow along, or how can they cross paths with you?
Shaun Brian:
Well, I'm a pretty open person, so you can follow me on my Instagram, which I interact with on the regular. That's @Chef Shaun, S-H-A-U-N, Brian, B-R-I-A-N. That's pretty straightforward. Facebook, not so much.
Shelby Ring:
Yeah, I know.
Shaun Brian:
You can connect with my grandpa on there. Twitter, hell no.
Shelby Ring:
You're not doing any of that?
Shaun Brian:
No, I'm good. You can find me at Parcel 32.
Shelby Ring:
That's right.
Shaun Brian:
We have a closed door kitchen, but our doors are always open, so I always tell people, "Feel free to come say hi." Make sure you make yourself known, so we can come show some Parcel 32 love.
Shelby Ring:
Yes, you'll do such a good job of that.
Shaun Brian:
Thank you. It takes a village.
Shelby Ring:
Get into the restaurant, try that octopus dish that he was talking about, try some of their desserts. They're some of my favorite things that I've ever experienced in this lifetime. Shaun, thank you so much again-