Chefs Without Restaurants
Join Chris Spear as he interviews food and beverage entrepreneurs who have built successful careers outside of traditional restaurant kitchens.
From personal chefs, caterers, and food truck operators to cookbook authors, research chefs, and farmers, each guest has paved their own way in the culinary world. Through candid conversations, they share the challenges, lessons, and successes of creating a business on their own terms.
With over 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry—including running his own personal chef business, Perfect Little Bites—Chris is dedicated to helping chefs and food entrepreneurs navigate their own unconventional paths in the industry.
If you're looking for inspiration, business insights, and real stories from those who have stepped beyond the restaurant world, this podcast is for you.
🎧 New episodes available—subscribe now and start exploring the road less traveled in the culinary industry!
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 44 minutes
- Episodes
- 259
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2025
The Business of Food Content Creation with Preppy Kitchen’s John Kanell
In this episode of Chefs Without Restaurants, Chris Spear continues his conversation from last week with John Kanell of Preppy Kitchen. Part 1 of their conversation can be found here. John's a forme…
Super Easy Recipes with Preppy Kitchen's John Kanell - Part 1
In this episode of Chefs Without Restaurants, Chris Spear sits down with John Kanell of Preppy Kitchen for part 1 of their discussion. John's a former middle school teacher turned cooking personality…
Navigating Client Communication and Building Authentic Brands with Meghan Kix of BeeCat Creative - Part 2
In this episode of Chefs Without Restaurants, Chris Spear sits down with Meghan Kix for part 2 of their discussion on marketing and branding. You can find part 1 here. Meghan's a marketing and brandi…
Mastering Your Brand with Meghan Kix: A Deep Dive into Marketing and Branding for Food Entrepreneurs - Part 1
In this episode of Chefs Without Restaurants, Chris Spear sits down with Meghan Kix, a marketing and branding specialist who's worked with major brands like Flying Dog Brewery, and now runs her own c…
Heirloom Beans and Beyond: Inside Rancho Gordo with Steve Sando
In this episode of Chefs Without Restaurants, Chris Spear welcomes Steve Sando, the founder of Rancho Gordo, a company known for its heirloom beans. Steve shares his unconventional journey from a div…
Exploring Chinese Gastronomy with Carolyn Phillips
In this episode of Chefs Without Restaurants, Chris Spear sits down with Carolyn Phillips, a renowned expert in Chinese gastronomy and the author of acclaimed cookbooks such as All Under Heaven and t…
How to Market Your Business by Using Your Car as a Mobile Billboard
Today, I’m diving into a unique and cost-effective marketing strategy that has worked wonders for my personal chef business: using your vehicle as a mobile billboard. If you're a service-based busine…
Advice For Writing a Better Cookbook from All Under Heaven's Carolyn Phillips
In this mini-episode of Chefs Without Restaurants, host Chris Spear is joined by the acclaimed author Carolyn Phillips to discuss the art of writing a successful cookbook. Known for her works such a…
The Office’s Brian Baumgartner Spills the Beans on Chili and Barbecue
This week on Chefs Without Restaurants, I speak with Brian Baumgartner, the actor best known for his role as Kevin Malone on the TV show "The Office."
Brian’s portrayal of Kevin provided countless lau…
Cooking with Pat Lee: A Food Content Creator's Journey
🎙️ This week on Chefs Without Restaurant I speak with Pat Lee, a food content creator and private chef who resides in Delaware.
💰 Pat started his career working in the financial industry. But in the …
Using Pizza to Raise Awareness and Money for Muscular Dystrophy with The Real Billy Z
This week my guest is Billy Zureikat, known online as The Real Billy Z. He's a home cook, baker and pizza-maker who's life took an unexpected turn. He went from an active lifestyle, playing basketbal…
Modernist Cuisine, Sustainability, Culinary Traditions and More with Nathan Myhrvold
This week my guest is Nathan Myhrvold of Modernist Cuisine. Nathan graduated high school and went to college at 14. He holds a doctorate in theoretical and mathematical physics, as well as a master’s…
Stolen Recipes, Scrapple, Bill Murray and Bad Service
This week I'm sharing a clip from another podcast I was featured on a couple of years ago. I share a couple of funny stories that I've never shared before. The first story is about how actor Bill Mur…
Exploring Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon with Bernie Lubbers of Heaven Hill Distillery
This week my guest is "the whiskey professor" Bernie Lubbers, Heaven Hill Distillery's national brand ambassador. If you want to learn more about bourbon, and one of America's oldest and best distill…
Teaching Kids Culinary and Business Skills - The Fat Pastor Shawn Niles
This week my guest is Shawn Niles (aka The Fat Pastor). Shawn started his church in 2015, but his love of cooking led him to competing on MasterChef in 2016. What chef Gordon Ramsay told him would ch…
Make Better Pizza at Home with Women's Pizza Month Founder Christy Alia
This week my guest is pizza maker and founder of Women’s Pizza Month Christy Alia. Women's pizza month is an online party taking place the whole month of March on Instagram. Of course, you can follow…
Talking About The Chef Conference with Founder Mike Traud
This week my guest is Mike Traud, founder of The Chef Conference (formerly The Philly Chef Conference). We talk about the history, and evolution, of this food and beverage conference. You'll hear wha…
Perseverance and Adaptation - Christine Van Bloem of The Empty Nest Kitchen
This week my guest is chef Christine Van Bloem. For 15 years Christine ran the successful Kitchen Studio Cooking School in Frederick, Maryland, a recreational cooking school. When the Covid pandemic …
Beyond Contracts, Invoices, and Deposits: Creating a Less Transactional Experience
In this week’s solo episode of Chefs Without Restaurants, host Chris Spear delves into the controversial yet effective business practices he's adopted for his personal chef business. Chris reveals ho…
The Chef Who's Feeding Oceanside's Houseless Community - Sunny Soto-Brisco of Sunny Street Outreach
This week I have chef Sunny Soto-Brisco. With her wife, they started Sunny Street Outreach to cook and serve restaurant quality meals to the houseless and underserved communities in Oceanside, CA. Th…