Standish913.com has been blessed to do an exclusive interview with...
"CHRISTOPHER SPINOSA"!

Let's get into some exclusive questions...
STANDISH: What is the first thing you ever remember cooking?
I never cooked when i was a kid. I did some sort of cooking throughout college to stay fed and alive. To be honest, the monumental thing I remember cooking was this super done up Jalapeno Mac and Cheese while I was senior in college. Some kid at my school had a video that went viral. He flipped out on one of the nice food court ladies over not receiving his mac n cheese in a timely manner, and then got tackled by one of the other cooks. The video was so hilarious I went ahead and decided to do my own take on it.
STANDISH: Who is someone you looked up to as a child & still do today?
Keanu Reeves. As a child, he pulled me in because of his movies, as an adult I stayed because of his resolve. This man has done some great roles, has worked through injuries on his roles, and has given a good portion of his income to charities he believes in. That's the trifecta of someone who stands on business.
STANDISH: What is something you hate doing in the kitchen?
Peeling soft/6 minute eggs. They are an amazing addition to any dish, but whenever you're peeling them you're trying to keep them as intact as possible. There's many times I've lost a few because of my big ass sausage fingers.
STANDISH: What was the most nerve racking part of being on Next Level Chef?
Most nerve racking part was definitely the platform grab. My super power on that show was me being able to recognize so many of the ingredients, but my kryptonite was just blacking out and grabbing whatever I knew and not having a cohesive grab.

STANDISH: How was working with Gordon Ramsay?
Chef Ramsay was awesome. He is very much down to earth. I would describe him as a line cook shoved into a celebrity chef mogul's body. He genuinely loves to hop in and cook. Not many of the celebrity chefs look like they do, there's a bit of that "I'm doing this for the glitz & glam" sort of vibe. Gordon loves to handle a saute pan, he likes that "2 minutes left in the 4th quarter" phenomenon.
STANDISH: Did you expect to land Next Level Chef?
Nope. At that point I was taking whatever gigs and interviews I could from people just because I was a new private chef in my area of Florida. Little did I know one of the interviews was for a Gordon Ramsay show, my initial thought was that it was for some other show that may not be so well known.
STANDISH: What is your favorite food for take out? Why?
Chinese take out. I could on any given day absolutely body a dinner sized portion of General Tso's Chicken and Pork Fried Rice. Whether its 3am on a night out or if its just a regular night of the week, that stuff is always delectable for me.
STANDISH: Tell the readers your reoccurring kitchen nightmare…
Easy. I wake up and the ticket machine won't shut the hell up. When you start working in kitchens theres something that happens to everyone...and yes I've checked this....with EVERYONE. You start having nightmares where you're in the middle of dinner service and the ticket machine has a particular tone when it prints a ticket; and it never stops.
Unfortunately, everyone is now moving into Toast and some of these other new systems for tickets so the sound is different. However, I truly believe the same idea of this nightmare will forever be a thing for all kitchen employees.
STANDISH: What is the most underrated cooking ingredient in your opinion?
Sundried Tomatoes. Very particular I know. I've utilized them in so many of my compound butters, purees, and various other accoutrements for dishes and its insane how versatile they are. Tomatoes yes are used in many things, hell even tomato paste, but for some reason I have this soft spot for sundried tomatoes
STANDISH: What do you listen to while you chef it up?
My holy trinity of music is Hip hop, death metal, and EDM of all shapes and sizes (Drum N Bass, Techno, House)
STANDISH: How many times a week does the walk-in cooler hear your screams?
Not much because I take it out in the gym. I've only let out some battle cries in the ice chamber maybe a few times.
STANDISH: If you could change one thing in the world today, what would that be?
More passion for things. Focus on quality and not just quantity. I get it, we need to hit our costs and our numbers in restaurants so that we can actually turn a profit and keep people employed. But, the first thing that gets sacrificed is quality in so many places and its such a tragic story when one of your favorite places starts to take a turn for the worst because they decided quality is no longer important.
STANDISH: What are your social links?
IG: chef_zaddy
TikTok: chef.zaddy
website: www.chef-zaddy.com
STANDISH: Anything else you'd like to include?
Things are not well these days for many people. So I would like to leave everyone with the following:
1. Check on your friends and coworkers
2. Just because something bad happens to you doesn't mean you should transfer it onto others
3. Stay the course on whatever your goals are. Please don't let up, the good things are closer than you believe they are.
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