Chef Clemenza Caserta-HELL'S KITCHEN SEASON 10

Mike Hartman, performance mindset strategist.

This is Develop the Mindset of a.

Champion with former Stanley cup champion Mike Hartman. Welcome to the show. Develop the Mindset of a Champion. Today, I'm very happy to have Chef Clemenza Caserta. Chef Clemenza Caserta was from New York City, Staten Island. He was on the Fox TV season 10 of Hell's Kitchen. He also took his skills to the Food Network. Chef Clemenza has worked in the culinary business for over 30 years, has a ton of experience as. As far as being a chef and being in the culinary world. He even worked in movies. He cooked for celebrities all over the world, all over New York City, California, such as Robert De Niro, Ethan Hawke, Philip Seymour Hoffman. He also battled obesity. Chef had, you know, he's had some setbacks, so we're going to get more into, you know, some of the setbacks we had later, but I want to introduce you. Chef. Chef. It's great to have you here, Mike.

It's an absolute pleasure to be here, man. I love you. I love your show, man, especially, like, when Adam Graves was on the other day. I'm a huge Adam Graves fan, man. I love that guy. Just really cool stuff, man. Interesting to watch. Great stuff. I love it.

Now, we know you're a big New York sports fan, but we want to get really into you. I want to just. I want to dig more into you. We're really excited to learn your story. You have this champion story. I call it like you fought your way up. You've had a lot of setbacks that we're not afraid to talk about. You don't hide behind a mask. That's the one thing I love about you. So let's share your story with everybody. Everybody would like to hear more about Chef Clemenza Caserta.

I mean, look, you know, I don't consider myself any. Anything champion or anything like that, but the setbacks that, I mean, look, life is difficult for everybody. Growing up, you know, for the first years of my life as a kid, it was a pretty normal childhood. But then, you know, life always throws a wrench in the game. And growing up and getting into with the wrong crowd and doing bad things and falling into bad stuff. I mean, I battled addiction problems. I mean, I kind of grew up on the streets of Staten Island, New York, Brooklyn, you know, and it was tough. It was. It was tough. You know, my family, my mom got divorced. I was at a young age. You know, she had to work to support me. And my mom. I give her all the Credit in the world. She's a real champion. She's my hero. You know, she went out there with nothing and made sure that I had clothes and we had a place to stay and food on the table, and she's taught me everything, and it's been there. And I've always had that type of mentality because that's how I was brought up. But, you know, I always kind of wanted better for her. But unfortunately, I fell into the wrong crowd and started wheeling and dealing and hustling and bustling, and then it got the best of me. And, you know, that was a battle in itself. I mean, you're still constantly. 20 years later, you're still battling demons from 20 years ago, those feelings come up. I mean, it's not that I'm gonna go out and do bad things, but, you know, those feelings are still there. They're still valid. They're still real. You know, people. You know, people don't realize that even now, there's a problem with addiction with a lot of kids and stuff. I see and said, it breaks my heart. I try to always help and be there and try to tell my story. Like, look, there is hope. Like, it is possible. I know those words are spoken very easily, but, you know, the realization of it is there are people that have these addiction problems and do want to help themselves and get better. And, you know, the battle is hard. Hard. The struggle is just, you know, grueling at times, but it can't be done. It's all. And I love the word mindset of a chamber. Like, it. It is the mindset. Like, even with the obesity, let me tell you something. I was. I fell and I blew out. My back had a fractured coccyx bone. I had a torn labor in my hip. My knee was all messed up. My legs, my foot had something called lymphedema. I had lymphoma at one time, which caused the lymphedema. I mean, I had to go into my groin and remove a mass. I had 17 staples in me. You know, when I fell, I. I couldn't move. I mean, I was bedbound for, like eight months. I gained a ton of weight. And being Italian, you know, which is messed up in its own way. And then like anybody said, here's a salad, here's a carrots. It's like, here's a tray of lasagna. Here's a pizza, you know, if you feel bad and Italians right away, well, let's feed your. Feed your feature. Like, I. I blew up. I mean, I was literally £454. That's almost a half a ton. Do you have any idea what it's like to. The embarrassment, the. The emotional roller coaster that you go through? You feel bad about yourself. I mean, it's just. It was a horrible, horrible way to live. Then you start getting depressed, and you battle with depression because you feel bad about yourself. But, I mean, physically, I couldn't do anything. I was bedbound. I mean, I couldn't walk. The pain factor was unbelievable. It was just carrying around that extra weight was just even more absurd. And then, honestly, you know, I got a call to go on Hell's Kitchen All Stars and to go possibly do beat Bobby Flay on Food Network, and I just. I broke down. I literally. I just threw my phone up against the wall. I got. I started crying. I'm like, life is passing me by. I can't let this happen. And I, I. From that day, from that very moment, I kid you not, I called my girl. I'm like, get me to the doctor. Let's join the gym. And they told. Doctor told me, you don't walk. You're gonna break. No. I got up, I got a cane. I literally. I was walking in a pool at a half a ton. What a cane. Embarrassed. But I didn't care because I knew I had to get better. And let me tell you something. You'll meet some amazing people along that journey, people that will actually help you. And it surprised me. And I mean, I almost cry right now. I mean, the people that were there for you. And you get to mean people along the way, too. Don't get me wrong. You get people that look at you and judge you. I'm like, you don't know me. You don't know what I've been through. You know, I've been through a whole hell of a lot, but at least I'm doing something about it. I'm up every day battling pain, walking in a pool for months upon months. And I. I got the sleeve done, the gastric sleeve done. And I. I am now £274. I don't know the numbers on that, but I went from £454 to £274. That's a huge grant. I still got £50 ago. I don't want to be skinny, but the amazing journey through that with the people you meet and. And the support that you get, and to know that there's, you know, thousands and thousands of other people out there with that same struggle, and, I mean, there's these groups and I try to go on and, you know, talk to people. People get nervous about this, but reality of it is I'm living proof. I'm a walking example. Like, if you have that mindset, I. Again, I love that word, man. It is, it is that certain mindset that you have to, have to keep going.

Well, I gotta ask you a question there. So there hadn't been a why. What was your why? Was it just to go on the reality TV show and the Food Network? Chef, what was your why behind all of this?

Honestly, that. That's what triggered it. But the why was life's passing me by. You know, I couldn't go. You know how embarrassing it was to even go out, to realize at £454, can you fit in a chair? Can you do this? Are you going to be able to. I physically had problems getting from the car to the store. I would have to hold on to something because the pain factor was too bad. I said, I just had enough. I can't live this way. I, I couldn't take the way people were looking at. Like I said, a lot of people, very nice. But in my mind at that time, I felt like everybody was looking at me, saying, look at this fat guy. And oh my God, blah, blah, blah. And I just, I, I couldn't take it away. I just, I wanted to get my life back. I wanted to go, look, I'm the type of guy in, very spontaneous, like, if you said, hey, Clemens, let's go down to Jersey Shore and go on some rides right now and go play some. I'll get my car and go, well, I couldn't do things like that anymore.

Well, we're not a weight loss show.

The fact that I couldn't go to a Ranger game and sit in the freaking seat drove me crazy that I couldn't get into the Garden. And I'm like, I got tickets to the Ranger game. Adam too, disabled or big or whatever you want to call it to go. Just. It killed me. I'm like, yo, that's. I had enough.

Well, what was the process? How did you lose all that weight? What did you do? And let's talk about that a little bit.

I mean, again, it's all in the mind, you know, I, I started drinking protein shakes. I, I cut out carbs. I. The main thing was not eating after 8 o', clock, which was really. And it's still hard for me now because sometimes if I'm up, you know, you eat dinner at 5 o'.

Clock.

By 10 o', clock, you're Starving again. But now I have a yogurt, a protein shake, and back then I was eating a lasagna. I was eating two slices of pizza at 11 o' clock at night, going to bed. You know, once in a while you gotta cheat, you know, and that's the other thing too, that I've learned. Don't deprive yourself. You know, you get these people that go on these rigid, rigid diets, and that's great. I don't knock anything. But what always winds up happening is you break and then you're binge eat. So treat yourself one day a week or one meal a week to allow yourself a little something to enjoy. That way you don't feel like you're being left out. Because, you know, even going out to dinner, it's like, all right, you know, my girl's getting the steak pizza. Oh, this guy's getting the eggplant parmesan. I'm like, I'll have the kale salad and, and the wedge of iceberg with the sour cream and cottage cheese. And I'm like, you know, you can have to have a salad, have a little bit of something. Well, but you don't always do it.

I like to give you little tips along the way because the good news is you had the discipline, whatever it was, your why, the reason behind it. And I once was told this. People say life's a marathon, but I look at it differently if life was a marathon. We're exhausted, we're tired. Life is many short sprints because we have these ups and downs every day. Hey, I feel great. And as long as we're neutral and balanced, I look at it. At the end of the day, that's going to take us further. So you're fighting these daily sprints. That's how I look at it. And we have to keep fighting it, and that's fantastic. So tell us a little bit. Every time I talk to you or we, I. I've seen you on some different shows. As soon as cooking comes up or doing the things that you love, you know, you talk about Hell's Chick, Hell's Kitchen, your voice elevates. That's your passion. How did you get the passion into cooking?

I mean, honestly, growing up, when I was a kid, you know, for the earlier, better part of my life, it was funny. We always had a garden. We used to grow these things called goots. And a gag is a giant, like 3 foot to 5 foot to 6 foot long squash. And I just, I don't know, I was fascinated by this Thing, and we were kids, we used to take them, hit each other with them, and, you know, kids will be kids and boys will be boys. But my mother or my grandmother, you know, always send me kind of out to the garden. I just thought it was food to me, Always brought people together. You know, when my grandma and mom were cooking and company was coming, it was an event back then. I mean, you had to get out the folded table, you had to get out the chairs, you had to get. And it was always the good china. You know, you had your regular dishes. There was the good china for company. Now you had to break out the good china. I would watch them cook, and I would see everybody sit down and eat, and I'm like, wow, this is, like, amazing. Like, you know, everybody's here, you know, obviously for each other, but for the food, I'm like, it just brings people together. It's something that I've always. Which just. It came natural to me. I mean, I'm Italian, I guess, growing up in an Italian household where we cooked, we didn't have BURGER King and McDonald's, that was like a once a month thing back then. But my mother would always say, it's like Eddie Murphy did his comedy Skin on. You know, I'll make you a burger better than that. You know, my mother make me the hamburger, get the white bread, we get all pink in the middle type of thing from the. From the juice, from the burger, you know, but we always cooked, and it was just. Always brought our family together, like. And it was something that I always remembered and cherished. And, you know, I wish more people nowadays would still do that, because, listen, I love my.

I love my chicken parm. I love my chicken parm.

But I got.

I got a bunch of questions for you. I have, like, I just want to, you know, because we know you love to cook. We know your culinary background, which is amazing. You've done so many amazing things. But I have to know, what were the highs and lows of being on reality tv? Hell's Kitchen? What was.

Give me the highs, obviously, were. Were the perks. You know what I'm saying? You, you know, you become semi famous or a little bit of a reality star for a moment. And, you know, oh, my God, it's Clementine. You come to the front of the line and, you know, I pull up the gas stations, the guys. No, no, Clement, come over here. You know, I'm not that guy. I felt bad. No, don't worry about it. You're first. And I'm like, no, no, let them go. And every. No, no. You're Clementic. Obviously, I made a lot of money. Not from the show, because the show don't pay you anything. It's 125 a day and no residuals. But the experience, to work with Gordon Ramsay and to have that on your resume and to have bragging rights, and I made it pretty far, too. I mean, I came in the top five. I got the black jacket that all got me a little fame and smalls, and I made small, little fortune. I mean, I was doing signings and autograph appearances and cooking demos and things like that. But, you know, some of the lows are people watch you and judge you, and I'm sure you have that, too. You know, I did this once. I was sitting down. This is a normal human reaction. I literally just went like this. I think I had a pet in my hand. I just went like. It was just one of those things that was up 14 hours. I'm exhausted. And that turned into, oh, my God. Clemenza scratched himself with a pen. That's disgusting. And I'm like, are you out of your mind? Like, do you realize some of the things you do when it's a normal thing to scratch or sweat? You know, and people just watch and tend to judge? And I'm like, you know, I love the haters. I. I love them. I hate me more because you make me more popular. But look, no one's perfect. Everybody has their own quirk problem, thing we can judge. I don't judge anybody, man. There's good and bad in everybody. And I tend to try to find the good and try to ignore the bad unless it's really hurtful or something like that. But I don't judge anybody. Everybody does something that's weird or crazy or everybody has their little quirks. But when you're on tv, man, everybody's got something to say about everything you do.

Everybody's watching you. So I got to ask you, so how did you have the mindset shift to. You know, you had. You were 460. You were 469 pounds, and then all of a sudden, you lost all that weight. Now you're having all these good things happening, too, in your life. What was the mindset shift as you were going through so many of these ups and downs?

Honestly, you know, what I would do when I would walk or swim? It was like, I gotta do this. I gotta do this. I gotta do this. I want my life back. I want my life back. I would just keep saying that over and over in my head. And let me tell you something. When you have. I don't know if you ever had a fractured anything. When you have a fractured coccyx bone and you have a hip problem and you are injured and you're 450something pounds, the weight and pressure that's on you, the pain, you know, to fight through that, I mean, I would literally be sweating and literally shaking from pain and just miserable. And I'm like, I can't do this anymore. I can't take it. So the choice literally was either give up and God forbid, you know, something fatal happened, because I was headed in that direction, I was. I was that unhealthy, or fight through and get your life back. And I just kept saying, I want my life back. I want my life back. I want my life back. And I would just keep saying that, you know, see all these people running and jumping, man, I don't think I ran since 1976. You know what I'm saying? Now I can move and run and jump and walk. And I. And the fact that, you know, sometimes, I swear to God, to Mike, these days, I. I used to have to park my car very close to my house because I physically couldn't get to the car, to my house. Now I purposely park like five blocks, five blocks away. I love walking around and just talking to people and say, oh, simply because I can do it now without any agony. I'm a happier person. I was miserable. I mean, you get depressed and it weighs on your mind.

So when I work, when I work with certain people, we talk about lifestyle because it's all part of it, you know, your mindset, your performance, what you do. So I like to use the word, they called it work life balance. I didn't. I don't love that word. I call it performance life balance. So you have the performance, which is in your job. You know, you're in the culinary world. You're a chef. You're. You're doing your thing. The life is your lifestyle. You have to walk, you have to work on your sleeping, you have to eat well in order to perform. That's how we look at an athlete. And then the balance is you balance that overall lifestyle. So there is a balance. So we could weather the ups and downs that we talked about earlier. So I know you had a lot of those. I want to have some questions and answers. So we're gonna go into it.

Wait, wait, wait. Before. Before you ask me any more questions, Mike, I want to ask you a couple of questions because there's a couple of things I'm dying to ask you, and I know you're asking me a whole lot of stuff here, but I got to ask you a couple of things. There's a couple things that are really driving me a little crazy. I want it like. All right, first question I want to ask you is this. Now, I know for me, when I first got on the Hell's Kitchen, cooking next to Gordon Ramsay, I know he's a better chef. You know, what's it like for you when you're going up against some of these hockey players that are, like, superstars and hall of Famers and not saying that you're not a great hockey player because you are or were or still are. But what's it like going up against these guys? I mean, is there an intimidation factor? How do you get through that?

Well, I'll answer it in a way so it helps people in the approach. So what I did is I had the mind set that every time I put my skates on, I'm going to outwork the person across from them, and I have to be who I am. And it would be the same as in your profession. You are who you are. You can't compare yourself to Chef Ramsay. I can't compare myself to a superstar. The only thing I could do is don't take shortcuts and just do my personal best and make sure I work out. I outwork the person across from me every time. And maybe that's a mindset shift for you, so you can't look at who's there. You can only maximize what you do.

Well. Well, that makes a lot of sense, actually. I just kind of, like, the little light bulb in the head just went off. I kind of noticed that now that you said that. I noticed that I subconsciously, like, do that. But I think if I had that mindset all the time would make me feel more comfortable. I gotta ask you one. I gotta ask a couple more questions, if you don't mind.

Hey, it could be your show. We could do a show together if you want. Go ahead.

Fire away.

Fire away.

You know, like, walking out onto the set of Hell's Kitchen with the cameras and Gordon Ramsay and all the people. I mean, I can't imagine. What is it like? Like putting on your skates and skating in the middle of Madison Square Garden on the ice with umpteen thousand fans and cameras and people screaming and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I mean, I can't imagine how you can possibly overcome that. I would get nervous.

Well, I would think it would be harder for you. And I'll tell you why. Because you did it a few different times. And with us, we were playing many games. So as a professional athlete, you get used to it. Your first game is. And I could remember the first game in professional hockey, I was on adrenaline. So probably the first five games, and then all of a sudden it clicks in and that adrenaline kind of goes away, and you have to adapt to the situation. But I'll give you an exercise right now. So let's say you're in corporate America. Let's say, you know, right before you get on a show. I talked about this before, and you could try it. Might as well try it. This could be something different. Close your eyes. Close your eyes. Shut your eyes out. Close your eyes. I'm watching you. Okay. It's called the gold paint theory.

They're closed.

Let me finish here. You got to let me finish. It's called the gold paint theory. And imagine you have gold paint on your body from head to toe. This is just an exercise that we use. And they say if gold paint is on your body, your skin can't breathe. So before you're ready to do a show, I want you to do this. I want you to just relax. Relax your mind, relax your body. Take some deep breaths, and you're covered in gold paint. Now close your eyes and imagine all that gold paint coming off your body. I'm just going to have you do this for about 30 seconds. Okay, Slowly open your eyes.

And then.

Put you to sleep. Now, just now your mind's relaxed and you're ready to what I call is the be the game. So before, I used a gold paint theory, just because a professor from the University of Tennessee showed that to me years ago. And there's many different other things that you could do. There's imagery and breathing exercises. But if you do that, you could use this in many ways. You can have a. I got to.

Tell you, that really relaxed me. Like, I'm not even joking around. I kind of feel like, well, sometimes.

Our mind is going so quick and we have so many things going on, and we don't take the time to sit and just breathe. Or I use the gold paint theory because it's something that you can remember, it's something that could help you, and you can apply it to anything before you have a big meeting, before you play in a sporting event, before you go to the gym, if you had a little argument with your significant other. And you could use that, you know.

Sometimes say that right There would be key.

Well, someone says, hey, can you count to 10? Well, count to 10 doesn't work for me. This works for me. There are other applications and other things, and I hope this helps you. So next time you're on the Food Network or the next time you're feeling stressed, I know you work in New York City.

You.

You cook for many. Try it just.

Okay.

Before I go in, I'm stressed. I want to make sure everything's there and just. And just use it and see how it helps you. I hope to help.

I got to tell you the truth. You know me a little bit, Mike. You know, I'm very blunt and very honest. That actually kind of really just relaxed me. Like, it was like. And I kind of imagine, like, kind of like just slowly breaking out of a little shell me. Like, that's kind of worked because when.

We'Re playing like a sport or you go into any situation where you're tense like this, it's tough. But when your body's relaxed, it's great. It's like a muscle in your body. So if you're working out a lot, the muscles like this, but you want it elongated so it's like your breath and your body, you want your mind and everything to be at peace. And it's just elongation. And this is some exercises, Chef. So.

No, that's great. I'm gonna. I'm actually gonna use that. I swear to God that. That actually kind of worked for me anymore. I got another question for you. Gotta ask you this now. I know me, you know, I played sports before. I believe it was actually very athletic. I played baseball. I played hockey. But I know for me being in the kitchen and getting yelled at by Gordon Ramsey, me being Italian, we all yell. So I used to laugh. Mike. Gordon, I'm like. That doesn't intimidate me. My whole family screams and yells. We're Italian. We're all loud and. But when this guy comes at you and he yells at you, like, he called me like a baby rhino chomping around the kitchen. And I'm like. And he's screaming at me because I messed something up. I mean, I imagine as. As a player, I mean, the coach has got to get on you guys at times, especially, like, for me, for him yelling at me in front. I consider that Hell's Kitchen, my team, like, my. The blue team, them yelling at me in front of my team because I messed something up. I mean, how do you react to that? I mean, do you have harboring for the coach at the time. What are you. Take it in and try to absorb what he's saying. Is it, you know, you go through embarrassment or, you know, because me, I was, like, a little embarrassed. I messed this up. I can't believe it. Like, how do you get through that?

Well, number one, it's easy to say. I mean, these are great. I could say all I want.

But you.

You have. You have.

It's something.

You got to practice it. It's like cooking. You have to practice. So if somebody. If a coach is yelling at me, I'm going to do my best to not take it personal, because all of us make mistakes, even if it's not your fault. So do whatever you can do to not take it personal. Look chef Ramsay in the eye. You look him right in the eye and just say, okay, I'm gonna do better. But sometimes not a lot of talk doesn't get you anywhere.

Show them.

So sometimes coaches are just trying to get the best out of you, and everybody's approach is different. So in the NHL, I had coaches like Scotty Bowman. I don't know if you remember him as a coach. He was a. Yeah, he was more of a guy that didn't say a lot, but everything he said meant a lot. Or we've had coaches that are more vocal, and everybody articulates their thoughts differently. Everybody comes across their own way. You can't take it personal, chef. That's what you have to. You have to look at it, say, okay, I'm here. I'm proud that I'm here. I'm on hell's Kitchen season 10. I'm going to be doing more Food Network. And learn from your experience.

Yeah, because you had 94 was Mike Keenan, and Mike Keenan was. I. I don't. I've never met the guy, but from watching him in the ranges, I mean, let's be very honest, he was a very vocal coach. You know, he was kind of like the Gordon Ramsay of coaches, I would assume, you know, And I actually. I loved Mikey. I thought he was a great coach. But like I said, being yelled at by someone like that, it just. You know, you're right. The trick is. And you got. You kind of think about it afterwards, but in the moment, you got to try to realize it's not personal. He's doing a job, and he wants to bring the best out of you when he cares. But sometimes, you know, boys will be boys, guys will be guys. Somebody's yelling at you, it's hard sometimes not to react.

No, that's. That's True. I mean, and all you could do is your personal best. You can't control anything you can't control. It's out of your hands. And I've learned too. I practice even in our life today, and. And sometimes I think about, if it's not going to change my life, don't worry about it. It might be for the moment. Oh, boy. He's yelling at me. He's screaming, boy, you know, Chef Ramsay's tough on me. But if it's not going to change your life, for the long haul, say, you know what? I'm going to shut this off, and I'm going to prove them wrong and go out there and do better.

Yeah, I believe I learned that. Go. You learn that even as an athlete or, you know, when you're involved in that type of situation, I'm like, you know, a lot of these people on Hell's Kitchen were young, and I'm like, listen, you're gonna wake up in three weeks and you're gonna be on tv, and it's gonna be all over. Like, don't stay stuck. That's one of my famous, like, don't stay stuck. A lot of people stay stuck. And I'm like, you know, why? Let it go. Just let it go. But, yeah, there's great words like you just said, if it's not going to affect your life, why stay stuck there? Move on is clean the patches and better things to do.

That's so true.

I want to ask you one last question. Okay, I got it, because I got you here. Mike Gardner used to be one of my favorite all time players. I mean, he was just. The guy was lightning. And I think I told you the other day, we're talking a little bit. I mean, being a fan in the Garden, man, when Gardner got the puck, he would just explode. I mean, I seen this guy on breakaways where he thought, like, he was fast enough to, like, go right through the net and through the plexiglass. I'm like, look at this guy. What happened to him? I mean, I thought he was a great player, man.

Oh, he was. And he's a really great individual. So are you. You're putting me on the spot. Are you saying why he got traded or why they got.

Yeah, why. Why would he get tr. I don't get it, man.

I don't know, honestly. I mean, Mike was a great player. One of the fastest guys in the National Hockey League. A very smart guy. He was part of the players association. But maybe, you know, he got traded for Glenn Anderson, and Maybe at the time that Mike Keenan, you know, we had all these guys that won Stanley Cups and were champions. Like we had. If you remember, we had Nick Tavish and Graves and Bukaboom and Mess.

Absolutely. I mean.

I mean, we had a bunch of guys that won Stanley Cups. I had Greg Gilbert on the show yesterday. He won a Stanley Cup. So maybe they brought Glenn Anderson in, who was a similar player playing a lot more Stanley cup, you know, games and game seven. So maybe that was a reason, but I really don't know. I wish I could answer that. They're both. That's all I know is Glenn Anderson was. He's a fabulous player at his time, and Mike Gartner was. Was right there. So sometimes they do it for chemistry reasons, but at the end, it worked out, you know, Glenn Anderson was a big part of that 94 team. Yeah, I got questions for you. We got some questions. Okay.

So I don't think I have any more questions for you. So I'm sorry. I had to do it, Mike.

That's okay. That's okay. I have, you know, I have this guy Anthony Costanzo here. Every time I get together with my former college football teammates, we quote rants from our former coaches. So I'm sure what Anthony is saying, he's played football. He played college football. And maybe I'm just going to speak for Anthony because I can't. He can't speak through the, you know, the screen here. But maybe what they're talking about is, you know, I'm sure those coaches were tough on them, but I'm sure there's something about Chef Ramsay that could mean a lot to you in your life.

I gotta tell you the truth, everybody. He has his Persona where he yells and screams and that. That's all real. We've gotten yelled at and screamed at and. But he's one of the most nicest, caring people that you can want to meet. And even smelled fantastic, which funny, all the guy. He had it on some kind of cologne. All the guy. You wouldn't be like a bunch of grown guys be talking, wow, he smells freaking good. Like, the guy just smelled really good. But anyway, he had this whole thing where he just. I don't know, he exuberates like this. Take charge, take command, like, in a very positive way. And he's able to bring things out of you that you never thought you could possibly do do. And, I mean, that's something that I've always, you know, I try to do the same thing, but he's just, you know, it's hard to explain, man. You know, because when you watch him, he's always yelling and calling people Muppets and crazy names and, you know, weird things. And I'm like, but what you don't see a lot of, because, again, it's reality TV and there's only 42 minutes an episode that's, you know, without the commercials, but you miss a lot of it. And they don't show the softer side of him where, you know, he really genuinely cares. And, I mean, I. I try to do that in my life. Like, I try to walk around and, you know, I help anybody, you know, and I try to give off that, you know, positive energy. Most of the time, you know, it's just weird. It's just really. It's hard to explain. It's almost surreal. Like, it's just hard to explain.

Well, getting to know you. We've done a couple things together, and this has been really enjoyable. I mean, I've had some questions, but I'm going to just share. I'm going to kind of switch it up and. And I think it's important, especially at this time, that you've done really well. Look what you've done. I mean, you've lived your dream. You've been on reality tv, you're cooking for some of the highest profile movie stars, celebrities around. But if I were you, and I'm not you, I would take this opportunity to work on your lifestyle. Make sure you're walking, make sure you're moving. You mentioned earlier you don't eat. I'm not a dietitian. We do have one that's going to be on the show, but we're not. You know, you don't eat past 8 o' clock as long as you're putting good foods into your body and you're living in moderation. But your lifestyle is everything. Your sleep, your breathing, just getting up and moving, doing, walking in a pool, Chef, all that stuff is going to help you. I appreciate the questions. This went way too fast. I enjoyed having you. And what's in the near future? Please tell us what's in the near future for Chef Clemenza.

Hopefully I can get the food truck out. I just want to mention one thing real quick, and this is a challenge that I came across that I kind of did. You know, with this whole quarantine thing going on, and, you know, when this first happened, everybody bought all the food and paper towel and toilet papers. Everybody grabbed everything, canned goods, everything. Now, if you notice the price of beef is up, the price Rice and chickens up. I mean, I went to buy a whole chicken yesterday, like 15 bucks. Even at, you know, I mean, look, people can't afford things. People have excess amount of cans. But I did what I call the triple deuce Chef challenge, where you take any two canned goods, any two fruit, fresh fruits and vegetables and use your pantry and come up with these dishes because even have a lot of people private inbox me and say, hey, Chef, you know, I'm not working, my wife's not working. We got 40 cans it is. And 10 cans of that. And we have a little bit of this. So we kind of did this challenge to show people that, look, there's certain candies I love canned. Queen of corn. Queen of Corn. Cream of corn is great. You know, there's certain things in Canada, not bad. You know, it's healthy, you can eat it. It's great. But I tried to develop this challenge and show people, hey, you can make a decent meal for what you have and not feel bad about it. Like, there's some creative things we can do. We got some people on board that are doing some fantastic things that you can't even begin to imagine. Came out of like two cans and a couple of fresh items. And it just phenomenal. It's really actually helping people because it's, it's, you know, a heart that everybody, look, everybody's hurting right now. Nobody's, you know, half America is not working. And, you know, so whatever we can do to get by and save a little bit of money will help. And the answer to your original question, Mike, was hopefully in the next month or two, we're going to get the food truck back out. Clementa's Culinary Carnival. You know, hopefully that's going to be able to get out. I can do some food festivals and things like that. And, you know, who knows? Who knows? It's a crazy time right now. You know, maybe we'll have to wear all mask and social distance Food truck festival or something, I don't know. But hopefully we'll be doing that. Right now, we're just doing the, doing another pop up thing. Saturday, we're doing a pickup meal. I'm doing my lobster grilled cheese, my meatball sundae, you know, so we're trying to do little by little and help out with donating a couple of meals too. So we just got to get by day by day for right now.

Well, listen, Chef, it was great having you. It was enjoyable. I'm sure our listeners loved it. You're an inspiration and just keep taking those baby steps every day. So great having you, chef. Thanks again.

Yep. And don't think I won't call you in a couple of days with some more questions. Mike.

That's fine.

Yep. Thank you so much, bud. Love the show. Love you guys. Thank you.

Thank you.

Ciao.