This week, I sit down with actual master chocolatier Randy Page: a chocolatier whose viral pistachio bar may or may not be involved in causing an international nut shortage. (You’ll see.)

Randy’s story stretches from the kitchens of fine dining to the counter at Cricket & Fig, his much-loved chocolate shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We talk about how a TikTok-fueled chocolate bar from Dubai created a global frenzy, how he reverse-engineered it in his own kitchen, and what it actually means to make good chocolate… like really good chocolate… in a world drowning in Hershey’s.

Expect to Learn:

• How culinary school changed Randy’s life
• The science (and heartbreak) behind chocolate tempering
• Why Valrhona is the first growth Bordeaux of the chocolate world
• When going viral is a curse and a blessing
• And how using better ingredients is kind of like cheating, in the best way
• Can you mess up chocolate and still eat it?
• Is this the most desired dessert on planet earth?
• Will Tulsa become the next Paris?
  

Pull up a chair. Maybe grab a truffle.

Links:

Cricket & Fig

On Instagram

Valrhona

FIX (the people that started the chocolate sensation)

Kakawa (The chocolate shop mentioned in Santa Fe)

Service starts now.

Follow the show: ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠

I talk mostly to people in and around the service industry space. I'm looking to hear from the people I wish I could have talked to when I was coming up in restaurants. Said another way: I am trying to make sense of this wild, beautiful mess of a life, and help others that are feeling similarly confused and/or lost. You can find more of my work at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my blog⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and all my social links are at the bottom of that page.

Classic Episodes You May Like:

-#10:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nat Harry, cocktail expert!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

-#14:⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Dr. Shalini Bahl, mindful marketing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

-#22:⁠⁠⁠Doug Frost MW MS⁠⁠⁠

-#23:⁠⁠Jeffrey Morgenthaler⁠⁠

As always, I’m just here taking notes, trying to figure out what it all means.

Cheers