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(I think Im just learning how to act.
My nervousness is genuine, he says.
I remember my lines phonetically.)
We wanted to show failure.
It isnt,I thought of this dish, and its perfect.Designing food doesnt work that way.
Executing doesnt work that way.
In food, its no different.
You dont start as an incredible chef right out the gate.
Thats no different than creating a dish and presenting it to a chef.
This happens between Matty and I where Im like, I think this is great.
And hes like, I hate it.
Its a collaborative effort, and some things just dont work, and you cant sugarcoat that experience.
Are you consciously trying to do right by friends in the restaurant industry?
Its about living life on ones terms.
Name a hit show where in the first season, there isnt a kiss.
Its very cool to me.
I dont think of the show as an industry show.
I think of it as a Richie-Carmy-Sydney show.
Its only at a beef spot because of Chris.
It could have been a shoe-cobbler family.
It could have been millwork.
It could have been fisherpeople.
If each person pulls their weight, it feels like a play.
They are using real knives.
They are sauteing, they are using heat.
And theyre acting on top of that.
Its very difficult, and they kill it.
How did you build something like Sydneys dream pasta inepisode three?MM:Coco is doing magic.
For that ravioli, were in a pitch-black room.
CS:With no water.
MM:A shitty home oven, no pots and pans.
And it isnt perfect.
We spend more time discussing what were doing, and then on execution, it is what it is.
And thats what makes it real and thats what makes it exciting.
Thats what makes it vigorous.
Our crew is our crew, and its small.
The actors are plating food.
We dont have large teams.
We have a couple of amazing chefs helping us at the end, which was an incredible experience.
But I think thats all part of it.
CS: Every persons creative process is totally different.
So as a chef, theres no general road map that you take.
Ive noticed with Matty hes incredible on the fly.
His magical brain can just visualize and execute.
But for me, Im analytical.
I like to structure things differently.
I like to see how Im going to do each element.
But both things are necessary in a kitchen.
MM:Shapes, and sizes, and colors.
When we were talking about: How do we make a dream?
How do we make a thought?
How do we articulate a vision?,my brains place of origin is: What is an idea?
What is the place?
How do we make flavors?
What are Sydneys flavors?
Where is Sydney from?
What are the things that she is proud of?
What are the flavor profiles she would put into Italian food?
How could she make something hers?
Im constantly rifling things through my head at all times, about everything.
Joanna was very adamant about this black void and then these colors and shapes.
And then Coco brought that to life.
I would want to eat that.But chefs, were all pretty hard on ourselves.
Ive done that before, where Im like, This looks incredible, and I hate it.
Its just the artistic process, I guess.
MM:Or your mood can make something taste bad.
Your anxiety can make you tasteless.
Opening restaurants is so annoying.
I remember when I was opening up Prime Seafood Palace I was so stressed that I couldnt taste right.
you might taste something one day, and the next day it tastes different.
What can you make?
And they helped us significantly with bringing those dishes to life that you see in Copenhagen and episode seven.
I asked, Where do you go on a day off?
I know Kasias Deli has the best pierogies, and thats something close to me.
And Lao Peng You has amazing broth and noodles.
And Avec; Donnie Madia is like the godfather of Chicago.
So that felt easy.
Matty and I spent time in Copenhagen and got to go to [MAD] Symposium there together.
Can you break down the Seven Fishes?
Because inepisode six, we dont actually get to see a lot of it.CS:Are you ready?
We had shrimp cocktail.
We had a smoked-fish dip on the table.
MM:You dont see it.
CS: You had the steamed lobsters with drawn butter.
And then we had a marinated-mussels situation.
I think we mixed some raw crab and prawns for the appetizers.
So we had another one … Thats what it was.
And then, of course, the tuna casserole makes eight fishes.
Did you make that too?MM:There was something in there because we threw it.
I love a tuna casserole, for the record.
CS:Me too.
I would have never thrown that, just so you know.
We were all having so much fun, genuinely.
She was dining the whole time, like audibly.
MM:You have a dysfunctional family.
And sometimes thats a really beautiful thing.
And then on the opposite side, with trauma, it can be really painful.
And that can be a visual, it can be a scent.
And then toward the end, you have the savory cannoli as part of Marcuss four alternate dessert courses.
I was like, Ive done that before with cannoli shells, Parmesan tuiles, things like that.
So we made a Parmesan shell, which was so delicious.
I just kept snacking on those, which was crazy because they take forever to make.
And then we worked on making that more savory to be the bridge between the savory food and dessert.
He ties it all in and makes his version so it tells a story.
And its the same on the savory side too.
MM:Like a crudo.
And the fumet was its own character with saffron.
Thats the broth that the fishes are in.
MM:And Friends and Family was hard.
There is a lot of choreography, and everyone has to calm down because we shoot fast.
We were doing these long shots, capturing this kind of theater.
Were not doing it a lot of times, but we practiced a lot.
Can you tell me about developing the chaos menu?
It was intentionally outlandish, right?
CS:Chaos menu is an inside joke for Matty and me.
And he was like, What the fuck is a chaos menu?
I cant explain that.
MM:Thing is, it takes a long time to develop your true culinary voice.
You dont want to shoot for the stars.
What you want to do is go inward.
Chaos menu is definitely a little nudge, a little Fuck you, to young ego.
