Justin Chapple: Cooking Made Him Miserable. Teaching Made Him Free

Justin Chapple's grandmother Barbara made meals out of practically nothing—doctoring instant ramen, turning eggs into something magical. She didn't give her recipes fancy names. She just cooked with what she had, and her family ate well.Years later, Justin would go to culinary school, work the line at fancy restaurants, and land a pinch-me job at Food & Wine magazine as culinary director at large and host of their James Beard-nominated Mad Genius Tips series. But somewhere along the way, he realized restaurant work felt hollow. What he was missing was exactly what his grandmother had—that direct line between making something and feeding the people you love.In this conversation, Justin talks about seven years at Starbucks before culinary school, how a chance encounter at a South Beach food festival launched his career in food media, and why he finally gave himself permission to sing show tunes in a professional kitchen. Decades later, he's still learning what his grandmother was teaching him all along.This is about finding the version of your craft that actually makes you happy, and why the best lessons often come from the people who never called themselves teachers.What We Talk About:Growing up in Stockton, California with limited resources and how grandmother Barbara's cooking taught him that abundance isn't about what's in the pantry—it's about what lands on the tableThe seven years at Starbucks, the detour through acting, and why working restaurant line kitchens ultimately left him not wanting to cook at all when he got homeHow a chance meeting at a South Beach food festival with Giada De Laurentiis's producer led directly to the Food & Wine job that changed his lifeThe evolution of Mad Genius Tips from food hacks to teaching—and why watching someone learn something new feels like passing something onWhy the restaurant industry has come a long way for queer cooks, and what it meant to finally work somewhere that let him be loud, funny, and himselfAbout Justin Chapple:Justin Chapple is the culinary director at large at Food & Wine magazine and the former host of their James Beard-nominated video series Mad Genius Tips. A graduate of the French Culinary Institute, he worked in restaurant kitchens before finding his calling in food media, where he's spent years making cooking feel less intimidating and a whole lot more fun. He is the author of Just Cook It. He lives in New York with his husband, Jason.Connect with Justin:Website: https://justinchapple.com Instagram: @justinchappleResources Mentioned:Just Cook It (cookbook)Mad Genius Tips (Food & Wine video series)Food & Wine MagazineFrench Culinary InstituteGiada De LaurentiisThe Two Fat Ladies (TV show)Jacques PépinJulia ChildMSG / Accent seasoningSur La Table (Solutab ratchet pepper mill)Choqette & Shuka, New York CityConnect With Us:Website: https://www.thenewmaturity.com Instagram: @thenewmaturity Newsletter: https://thenewmaturity.substack.comEmail: [email protected] episodes drop every other Wednesday. Subscribe now so you never miss a conversation that might just change how you see growing older.