Fell Into Food Podcast

Stephanie Noto is a Registered Dietitian, Child Nutrition Program, and School Food Expert. In partnership with school districts, Stephanie evaluates and enhances school meal programs by integrating sound nutrition principles with operational and sustainable best practices. Her career in school nutrition spans 17 years, self-employed as a consultant for the last 8 years. She brings experience as a former K12 Food Service Director, Regional Food Production Specialist, and National Support Resource for K12 operators, which has given her first hand view of the opportunities and challenges school food service teams face. Districts often struggle with staffing capacity, limited training, the complexity of institutional procurement, and the need to balance regulatory compliance with increased expectations around fresh, minimally processed ingredients.School nutrition is one of the most complex, misunderstood sectors in the entire culinary landscape. Between federal reimbursement guidelines, strict meal pattern requirements, and tight bottom lines, serving high-quality, scratch-cooked food to students is an uphill battle.In this episode, registered dietitian, former K-12 Food Service Director, and school food consultant Stephanie Noto (Noto Nutrition Consulting) breaks down the true state of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). We explore recent changes in USDA nutrition regulations—including added sugar limits and sodium tier targets—and unpack the execution disconnect that leads to "cop-out" meals like grab bags and mealy red delicious apples.Stephanie Noto’s Website: https://www.notonutrition.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notonutritionLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-noto-rd-cdn-sns-23410878/0:00 Intro: Meet Stephanie Noto1:14 State of school nutrition — what's changed in 3–5 years2:43 NSLP, SBP, and the sodium/sugar rollout explained6:23 The "compliant" lunch that isn't really a meal10:31 Self-op vs. contract management: the training gap13:49 Fixing the middle of the P&L17:45 Writing real food into the contract21:59 From 24-year-old regional resource to independent consultant27:19 Do chefs belong in school kitchens?32:01 Her fix: mandatory training before you get the jobListen to the full episode and more! It would mean the world to me if you could leave a 5 star review on your listening platform to help grow and expand the Podcast.Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/55qBuFe9dQh5jLLdg0KLoL?si=08455ef88e554b91Apple Podcast - https://apple.co/41RoTm4YouTube: https://youtube.com/@FellIntoFoodLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fell-into-food/Instagram: http://instagram.com/fell_into_foodFacebook: https://facebook.com/fellintofoodFellintoFood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Chef Adrianne Calvo is an award-winning Miami-based restaurateur, best-selling cookbook author, and Emmy-nominated, 9x Telly Award-winning media personality known for her signature "Maximum Flavor" style. Her flagship restaurant, Chef Adrianne's Vineyard, has grown from a strip-mall startup into a national "must-eat" institution, and she's built a full media presence around it — TV appearances on Chopped and Beat Bobby Flay, a million-plus social following, and a newest cookbook, Maximum Flavor at Home, bringing that same cooking into everyday home kitchens.At 22, with no investors and no real restaurant experience beyond an internship, she opened Chef Adrianne's Vineyard in a Kendall strip mall — right before the 2008 financial crash. Nineteen years later, it's a national "must-eat" institution, and she's built an entire "Maximum Flavor" world around it: an Emmy nomination, nine Telly Awards, appearances on Chopped and Beat Bobby Flay, a million-plus followers, and a new book, Maximum Flavor at Home, out November 3rd.Website: chefadriannes.comInstagram: @chefadrianneYouTube: youtube.com/user/ChefAdrianneMaximum Flavor at Home (out November 3, 2026)Book Tour DatesNovember 6 — The Last Bookstore, Los AngelesNovember 12 — Books & Books, Coral Gables, FLNovember 18 — The Chopping Block, ChicagoTimestamps01:14 — The accidental cooking class and the French toast that rerouted her life04:56 — Opening the restaurant at 22, right before the 2008 crash, and leading a kitchen full of veterans twice her age07:55 — Inside Dark Dining: blindfolds, heightened senses, and the champagne trick that still gets 19-year regulars14:13 — Where AI helps in the kitchen — and where it can't touch human creativity17:16 — Maximum Flavor at Home (out November 3): the new book, standout recipes, and the tour30:57 — Her sister Jennifer, "Make It Count," and the difference between burnout and dedication33:24 — 19 years as St. Jude's Culinary Ambassador, and the one standard she wants tied to her nameListen to the full episode and more! It would mean the world to me if you could leave a 5 star review on your listening platform to help grow and expand the Podcast.Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/55qBuFe9dQh5jLLdg0KLoL?si=08455ef88e554b91Apple Podcast - https://apple.co/41RoTm4YouTube: https://youtube.com/@FellIntoFoodLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fell-into-food/Instagram: http://instagram.com/fell_into_foodFacebook: https://facebook.com/fellintofoodFellintoFood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Ken MacKenzie is the visionary founder and CEO of Fresh Victor, a premium line of all-natural, cold pressed, refrigerated mixers for effortlessly delicious cocktails, low-alcohol and spirit-free drinks. With over 20 years of experience in thecreation, import, and distribution of spirits and craft beverages, Ken is a successful serial entrepreneur with a rich history in the industry. Before launching Fresh Victor, Ken co-founded Republic Tequila and Republic Spirit Blends. His impressive career also includes the import, development, and launch of unique spirits like Onyx Coffee Liqueurs and his highly demanded 100% agave tequila brand, Amate.Ken's journey in the spirits industry began in 1997, when he apprenticed in Guadalajara, learning the premium pure agave tequila business from the ground up. He soon launched his consultancy, La Mission, S.A. de C.V., dedicating the next decade to pioneering the importation of high-end 100% agave tequila into the United States. After returning to the U.S., Ken founded Travesia Import Group, continuing to import, distribute, and consult on premium liquor brands. He then expanded his portfolio to include bespoke Texas spirits and mixers, distributed by Republic National Distributors. Ken is a frequent and respected speaker at high-profile industry events, educating the beverage market and hospitalityindustry on 100% agave tequila. His Republic and Amate tequila brands have garnered over 15 top industry accolades, including recognition from Wine Enthusiast magazine and numerous medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and Denver International Spirits Competition.In this conversation, I talk with Ken about what actually convinced him tequila wasn't a phase — and why he never went home. He walks through how agave tequila is really made, from an eight-to-twelve-year growing cycle to a single glass carrying over 300 distinct flavor compounds, and how that same discipline shaped everything about Fresh Victor. We get into why he refused every piece of advice to make it shelf-stable, what it cost him to spend 18 months chasing the right acid balance on one flavor, and the early stretch where the company was pouring out almost as much product as it was selling because the shelf life was too short to survive distribution.We also get into where the non-alcoholic and zero-proof movement is really headed, and why Ken built Fresh Victor so the same drink works whether or not there's alcohol in it. Nine flavors in, he says they've barely scratched the surface of where this goes next. Website: Freshvictor.comInstagram / Facebook / Linkedin / Tiktok: @freshvictorcocktails.comX: @freshvictormixFor being a listener Ken has decided to give everyone 20% off their next order from their website freshvictor.com using promo code FELL2FOOD20. No minimum purchase requirement. Can’t combine with other discounts. Active from today until Dec 31, 20260:00 From Tequila to Fresh Mixers — How the Pivot Started2:23 Why Food and Drink Actually Bring People Together5:42 Following Love to Guadalajara — and Never Leaving8:19 How Tequila Is Actually Made, From Agave to Bottle13:55 What You Should Actually Be Tasting For17:24 Building Fresh Victor — Four Ingredients, No Shortcuts19:00 Refusing to Go Shelf-Stable24:56 The 18-Month Fight for the Right Acid Balance28:21 The Hurdles That Almost Ended It34:44 Zero-Proof, Connection, and What's Next for Fresh VictorListen to the full episode and more! It would mean the world to me if you could leave a 5 star review on your listening platform to help grow and expand the Podcast.Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/55qBuFe9dQh5jLLdg0KLoL?si=08455ef88e554b91Apple Podcast - https://apple.co/41RoTm4YouTube: https://youtube.com/@FellIntoFoodLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fell-into-food/Instagram: http://instagram.com/fell_into_foodFacebook: https://facebook.com/fellintofoodFellintoFood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

I sat down with Nicole Bentler this week — a health and wellness pro turned maple farmer, who bought a run-down, two-hundred-year-old farm in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania back in 2019 with no real plan beyond having a place to bring her family.That farm is now Pocono Maple Water, a farm-to-bottle maple water and maple syrup brand, and Nicole's one of only a handful of female-owned maple farms in the country. We got into what maple water actually is before it ever becomes syrup, the finding about our water supply that made her trademark the phrase "What's In Your Water," and why she's turned down Target and Walmart more than once to stay direct-to-consumer.Website:www.poconomaplewater.comInstagram: @poconomaplewaterInstagram: @poconomountainmapleListen to the full episode and more! It would mean the world to me if you could leave a 5 star review on your listening platform to help grow and expand the Podcast.Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/55qBuFe9dQh5jLLdg0KLoL?si=08455ef88e554b91Apple Podcast - https://apple.co/41RoTm4YouTube: https://youtube.com/@FellIntoFoodLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fell-into-food/Instagram: http://instagram.com/fell_into_foodFacebook: https://facebook.com/fellintofoodFellintoFood.comCHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPSTimestamps pulled from raw transcript markers — confirm exact in/out points against the edited cut before publishing.00:00 — Cold open: cracking a maple water on mic, and the question everyone asks first00:44 — What maple water actually is, and how it's different from syrup02:57 — Buying a run-down farm in 2019 with zero plans to build a beverage brand05:19 — Six to eight miles a day tapping trees in the snow06:27 — The estrogen finding behind the "What's In Your Water" trademark09:53 — Big bottled water brands, spring-water lawsuits, and knowing where your water comes from14:08 — Three bears, a raided bee yard, and building a team in a corner of agriculture with almost nobody under 4018:17 — The six-week harvest, the subscription model, and turning down Target and Walmart on purpose20:32 — The cans-vs-cartons-vs-glass packaging fight with her partner Dante25:10 — What maple water actually does for the body, and the empty-stomach testAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jason Olinik is Senior Vice President of Operations & Partnerships at Rudy's Hospitality Group, where he leads growth strategy and every client relationship across workplace dining, markets, and restaurant concepts. He's spent 23 years in hospitality — starting at sixteen scrubbing grease off the back dock of a Chili's in Brighton, Michigan, then running a limited-service hotel in Naples, building restaurant concepts inside an airport, and working luxury resorts in Florida before landing at Rudy's. He's also the author of Discernment: Seeing Through the Narrative Economy.I sat down with him to talk about the gap between what a report says and what's actually happening on the floor — and why the leaders who stay close to the floor are the ones who catch it before it costs them. Jason talks about the meeting culture that crept in after the pandemic, the seventeen systems his teams were juggling just to load a menu, and the moment he realized he'd drifted too far from the work that built him. He also tells me about a ledge in the Jemez Mountains outside Albuquerque, and the jump that changed how he's approached every hard decision since.Book & author site: jasonolinik.comRudy's Hospitality Group: rudyshospitality.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jason-olinik-57355464Instagram: @j.olinik_authorBook: Discernment: Seeing Through the Narrative EconomyTIMESTAMPED CHAPTERS0:00 Intro0:10 The Chili's Loading Dock, Age Sixteen2:22 What Makes a Great Operator11:07 Why Workplace Dining Needs Restaurant Standards16:10 Thin Center, Strong Field18:15 AI, Automation, and Where It Actually Helps26:41 Writing Discernment33:41 The Meeting Culture Rant36:06 The Jemez Mountains Jump41:30 Where to Find JasonListen to the full episode and more! It would mean the world to me if you could leave a 5 star review on your listening platform to help grow and expand the Podcast.Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/55qBuFe9dQh5jLLdg0KLoL?si=08455ef88e554b91Apple Podcast - https://apple.co/41RoTm4YouTube: https://youtube.com/@FellIntoFoodLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fell-into-food/Instagram: http://instagram.com/fell_into_foodFacebook: https://facebook.com/fellintofoodFellintoFood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy