Jimmy Kunz is the founder and CEO of The Truffleist, a company based in Long Island City, Queens, that produces handcrafted, small-batch truffle products. Jason Hairston is the owner and visionary behind The Nugget Spot, a popular Chatham, New Jersey chicken nugget restaurant which opened its doors in mid-October 2024.

Jimmy Kunz is the founder and CEO of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.truffleist.com/">The Truffleist</a>, a company based in Long Island City, Queens, that produces handcrafted, small-batch truffle products. Jason Hairston is the owner and visionary behind&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thenuggetspot.com/">The Nugget Spot</a>, a popular Chatham, New Jersey chicken nugget restaurant which opened its doors in mid-October 2024.

Each week, on CULINARY CONFIDENTIAL, Christina Cates - a seasoned foodie who has worked at some of the New York City's top restaurants, will share her passion for the culinary world. Whether you're a professional chef, a restaurant enthusiast, or a lover of good food, Christina dives into the heart of hospitality - exploring the trends, triumphs, and challenges facing the food service profession...And you won't want to miss her chats with some of the most interesting and influential industry voices. CULINARY CONFIDENTIAL, Sunday nights, at 9PM... exclusively on AM 970 The Answer.

Each week, on CULINARY CONFIDENTIAL, Christina Cates - a seasoned foodie who has worked at some of the New York City's top restaurants, will share her passion for the culinary world.&nbsp;Whether you're a professional chef, a restaurant enthusiast, or a lover of good food, Christina dives into the heart of hospitality - exploring the trends, triumphs, and challenges facing the food service profession...And you won't want to miss her chats with some of the most interesting and influential industry voices.&nbsp;CULINARY CONFIDENTIAL, Sunday nights, at 9PM... exclusively on AM 970 The Answer.

Culinary Confidential with Christina Cates

Jimmy Kunz / Jason Hairston

This week, Culinary Confidential heads west to San Francisco with the incredibly talented Chef Kathy Fang!

You may recognize her from Food Network's Chef Dynasty: House of Fang, but her story begins long before the cameras started rolling.

Raised in the kitchens of San Francisco's House of Nanking, founded in 1988 by her parents, Kathy grew up surrounded by the beautiful chaos that is the restaurant business. Today, she carries that family legacy forward while making a name entirely her own.

A Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef, Kathy is the Executive Chef and Co-Owner of Fang Restaurant, which she opened alongside her father, legendary Chef Peter Fang, in 2009.

And her accolades? Very impressive
2x Food Network Chopped Champion
Star of Chef Dynasty: House of Fang, with appearances on Beat Bobby Flay, Guy’s Grocery Games, Cutthroat Kitchen, and Alex vs. America
2023 TASTE Award recipient - Breakout Foodie of the Year
2017 Ignite Award honoree - The 1990 Institute
Named among the 2024 San Franciscans of the Year by the San Francisco Examiner
Featured on the cover of San Francisco magazine as the city’s “Culinary Queen”
Cookbook author of Easy Asian Cookbook and co-author, alongside her father, of House of Nanking: Family Recipes from San Francisco’s Favorite Chinese Restaurant

From national television and award-winning kitchens to navigating family dynamics, entrepreneurship, motherhood, and the ever-evolving restaurant industry, Kathy has built a career extending well beyond the plate.

We’re talking about growing up in the business, working alongside a legendary father, putting your own stamp on Chinese cuisine, and what it takes to build something that’s both deeply personal and commercially successful.

New York meets San Francisco, and there's plenty to talk about.

This week, Culinary Confidential heads west to San Francisco with the incredibly talented Chef Kathy Fang!
You may recognize her from Food Network's&nbsp;Chef Dynasty: House of Fang, but her story begins long before the cameras started rolling.
Raised in the kitchens of San Francisco's House of Nanking, founded in 1988 by her parents, Kathy grew up surrounded by the beautiful chaos that is the restaurant business. Today, she carries that family legacy forward while making a name entirely her own.
A Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef, Kathy is the Executive Chef and Co-Owner of Fang Restaurant, which she opened alongside her father, legendary Chef Peter Fang, in 2009.
And her accolades? Very impressive
<ul>
<li>2x Food Network Chopped Champion</li>
<li>Star of Chef Dynasty: House of Fang, with appearances on Beat Bobby Flay, Guy&rsquo;s Grocery Games, Cutthroat Kitchen, and Alex vs. America</li>
<li>2023 TASTE Award recipient - Breakout Foodie of the Year</li>
<li>2017 Ignite Award honoree - The 1990 Institute</li>
<li>Named among the 2024 San Franciscans of the Year by the San Francisco Examiner</li>
<li>Featured on the cover of San Francisco magazine as the city&rsquo;s &ldquo;Culinary Queen&rdquo;</li>
<li>Cookbook author of Easy Asian Cookbook and co-author, alongside her father, of House of Nanking: Family Recipes from San Francisco&rsquo;s Favorite Chinese Restaurant</li>
</ul>
From national television and award-winning kitchens to navigating family dynamics, entrepreneurship, motherhood, and the ever-evolving restaurant industry, Kathy has built a career extending well beyond the plate. We&rsquo;re talking about growing up in the business, working alongside a legendary father, putting your own stamp on Chinese cuisine, and what it takes to build something that&rsquo;s both deeply personal and commercially successful. New York meets San Francisco, and there's plenty to talk about.

Legacy Meets Innovation with Chef Kathy Fang

This week, Christina Cates celebrates Women in Small Business Month by welcoming the three powerhouse founders of Hush Venues: PS Ives, Tiffany Skrela, and Sara Altobelli.

Hush Venues is a female-owned luxury real-estate company, specializing in sourcing and leasing extraordinary New York City spaces for high-profile fashion shows, brand activations, lavish galas, private celebrations, and corporate gatherings. In a market where real estate is everything and access is everything else, these three longtime friends and colleagues have carved out their own lane, connecting clients with some of Manhattan’s most desirable and hard-to-find properties.

But this conversation goes well beyond beautiful rooms.

Christina and the Hush founders dig into what it actually takes for three ambitious women to form a partnership, build a business in one of the world’s most competitive cities, and turn a shared vision into something tangible. They’ll talk about the hustle, the relationships, the calculated risks, the inevitable challenges, and the delicate balance of bringing different strengths to the same table — while each staying true to her own voice.

Because finding the right space is an art. It takes an eye for possibility, an understanding of what makes a property special, and the connections to bring the right people and places together. As someone who has spent her career in hospitality, Christina has always believed the setting matters: the right room can change the entire energy of an experience before the first guest walks through the door.

This week, Christina Cates celebrates Women in Small Business Month by welcoming the three powerhouse founders of <a href="https://www.husheventsnyc.com">Hush Venues</a>: PS Ives, Tiffany Skrela, and Sara Altobelli.
Hush Venues is a female-owned luxury real-estate company, specializing in sourcing and leasing extraordinary New York City spaces for high-profile fashion shows, brand activations, lavish galas, private celebrations, and corporate gatherings. In a market where real estate is everything and access is everything else, these three longtime friends and colleagues have carved out their own lane, connecting clients with some of Manhattan&rsquo;s most desirable and hard-to-find properties.
But this conversation goes well beyond beautiful rooms.
Christina and the Hush founders dig into what it actually takes for three ambitious women to form a partnership, build a business in one of the world&rsquo;s most competitive cities, and turn a shared vision into something tangible. They&rsquo;ll talk about the hustle, the relationships, the calculated risks, the inevitable challenges, and the delicate balance of bringing different strengths to the same table &mdash; while each staying true to her own voice.
Because finding the right space is an art. It takes an eye for possibility, an understanding of what makes a property special, and the connections to bring the right people and places together. As someone who has spent her career in hospitality, Christina has always believed the setting matters: the right room can change the entire energy of an experience before the first guest walks through the door.

Hush Venues: The Business of Extraordinary Event Spaces

An industry can deliver a meal, but consistent hospitality is built through daily decisions about service, ingredients, and how a room feels. For Antonio Rappazzo and Michele Trizzino, that work is rooted in years of operating New York restaurants and nightlife venues, now applied to a small coastal Maine bistro - Bistro Leluco.

Antonio and Michele met in Manhattan’s restaurant industry and later worked in operations for the Almond Restaurant Group. Antonio also partnered with friends of the show Eric Lemonides and Jason Weiner on L&W Oyster Co., a Flatiron seafood restaurant that shifted between daytime clam-shack service and evening oyster-bar dining. Michele’s experience includes operational and management roles at high-volume New York nightlife and hospitality venues, including The Box, Gilded Lily, and others.

They relocated to the South Portland area and opened Bistro Leluco in January 2023. The 36-seat restaurant is a Mediterranean-inspired neighborhood bistro focused on seasonal, local ingredients, a full bar program, and neighborhood hospitality. The name combines the first letters of their three children’s names: Leo, Lucca, and Coco. In July 2023, the Maine Sunday Telegram gave the restaurant a four-star review, noting its polished French- and Italian-influenced cooking with New England ingredients and the owners’ hands-on approach to the space.

This week’s episode looks at the practical transition from New York operators to independent restaurant owners in a smaller market, how they staff and run a tight 36-seat room, and the day-to-day work of maintaining high service standards in a coastal Maine setting.

Antonio Rappazzo and Michele Trizzino are living proof that true hospitality doesn't change with the zip code; it just finds a new home.

An industry can deliver a meal, but consistent hospitality is built through daily decisions about service, ingredients, and how a room feels. For Antonio Rappazzo and Michele Trizzino, that work is rooted in years of operating New York restaurants and nightlife venues, now applied to a small coastal Maine bistro - Bistro Leluco.
Antonio and Michele met in Manhattan&rsquo;s restaurant industry and later worked in operations for the Almond Restaurant Group. Antonio also partnered with friends of the show Eric Lemonides and Jason Weiner on L&amp;W Oyster Co., a Flatiron seafood restaurant that shifted between daytime clam-shack service and evening oyster-bar dining. Michele&rsquo;s experience includes operational and management roles at high-volume New York nightlife and hospitality venues, including The Box, Gilded Lily, and others.
They relocated to the South Portland area and opened Bistro Leluco in January 2023.&nbsp;The 36-seat restaurant is a Mediterranean-inspired neighborhood bistro focused on seasonal, local ingredients, a full bar program, and neighborhood hospitality. The name combines the first letters of their three children&rsquo;s names: Leo, Lucca, and Coco. In July 2023, the Maine Sunday Telegram gave the restaurant a four-star review, noting its polished French- and Italian-influenced cooking with New England ingredients and the owners&rsquo; hands-on approach to the space.
This week&rsquo;s episode looks at the practical transition from New York operators to independent restaurant owners in a smaller market, how they staff and run a tight 36-seat room, and the day-to-day work of maintaining high service standards in a coastal Maine setting.
Antonio Rappazzo and Michele Trizzino are living proof that true hospitality doesn't change with the zip code; it just finds a new home.

Jimmy Kunz / Jason Hairston

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