S1E9 Sammy Jackson

In this episode of Repertoire, I travel to Black Rock City, the temporary desert city that rises each year for Burning Man, to sit down with Chef Sammy Jackson—one of my closest friends and a chef whose life and career have unfolded across continents, cultures, and extreme conditions.This episode is a little different—and that’s the point. Recorded live on the playa during Burning Man 2025, this is a holiday bonus episode—a dusty, sunburned, radically self-reliant Christmas gift from the desert. We weren’t able to film our full sit-down conversation due to weather, dust, and gear constraints (welcome to the playa), but the audio is crystal clear, and the episode is visually brought to life through immersive B-roll captured throughout the burn. We also filmed a full “The Dish” cooking segment—proof that even in the harshest environment on earth, chefs will still feed people with care.Born in St. Helens, Australia, Sammy’s journey spans Sydney kitchens like Catalina, cooking for royalty in the UK, private chalets in the French Alps, luxury yachts across the Mediterranean and Caribbean, and Boston—where he built the cult-favorite Australian meat pie shop KO Pies before selling the business post-pandemic and returning to a nomadic, adventure-driven life.We dive into:What it takes to cook at scale in one of the most extreme festival environments imaginable—dust storms, mud, heat, cold, and total infrastructure improvisation.Feeding and nourishing a camp of 75 people for nearly two weeks without compromising standards.Adapting menus, systems, and expectations in real time when conditions change daily.Why morale, teamwork, and shared purpose matter as much as technique in extreme hospitality.How nourishment becomes sacred when exhaustion, survival, and community intersect.Why cooking at Burning Man strips the craft back to its core: intention, generosity, and care.Sammy and I reflect on friendship, endurance, and why chefs are uniquely equipped to thrive in chaos—problem-solvers by nature, builders of systems, caretakers of people. This episode is raw, funny, dusty, and deeply human—a holiday bonus from the playa, wrapped in foil, gifted late, and delivered with love.Consider this your Repertoire Christmas special—no snow, no sleighs, just fire, dust, community, and a reminder of why we cook for one another in the first place.Watch the episode visuals on YouTube, listen to the full audio wherever you get your podcasts, and happy holidays from the desert.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.