As the holder of Napa Green certifications for its vineyards and winery, St. Supéry is deeply committed to sustainability. This is true not only in the vineyards and winery, but also on the dinner plate. Just as sustainably farmed grapes are the basis for its estate-grown wines, St. Supéry seeks out sustainable seafood for the winery’s culinary program and highlights responsible purveyors through its annual Great Sustainable Seafood Tour.

In the latest episode of the St.Supéry Sips podcast, winery CEO Emma Swain chatted with Kyle Connaughton, chef and co-owner at SingleThread Farms in Healdsburg, about the importance of sourcing sustainable seafood in restaurants, and supporting responsible purveyors.

SingleThread holds three Michelin stars as well as a Michelin Green Star, which recognizes restaurants that set the bar for sustainable practices. Along with growing its own organic produce for the restaurant, SingleThread adheres to strict seafood sustainability protocols.

Well. Hello, everyone. I'm Emma Swain. I'm the CEO at St. Supéry Estate Vineyards and Winery here in the beautiful Napa Valley. I'm so excited to have here today with me, chef Kyle Connaughton, chef, culinary educator and cookbook author and owner and founder of Single Thread Farms in Healdsburg the three Michelin starred restaurant in Located in the heart of downtown Healdsburg, LEED Certified and carbon neutral trained in Japan under famed chef Michael Bras, former head chef at Research and Development for Fat Duck and contributor to Modernist Cuisine series.

We're so excited to have Kyle with us today and really honored because you know, Kyle, you're such a proponent of sustainable seafood and sustainable everything on your plate. It's really an honor to have you here. We we love to focus on sustainability in the glass and the plate at the table and single thread has a core focus of sustainability in all aspects of what you do at the restaurant in and farm.

Was sustainability part of the philosophy from the beginning and where did that passion come from?

Yeah. Well, thanks. Thanks for having me. Thanks for speaking to me about these of these these topics because they're really important topics that we all discuss. Obviously, it's fun to always talk about what we do creatively and, you know, the dishes and all the fun things, but it's really important to to really look at what goes on behind creativity and the philosophy and sort of the driving force.

And, you know, we, we do call ourselves Single Thread Farm Restaurant and Inn because we are driven by our farm. We're driven by - well, my wife Katina grows out on our farm and the seasons and what we're harvesting at any given moment and what's the best quality. And that very much drives everything that we do and all of the choices that we that we make.

And, you know, our our farm is working so hard and they're working for months and months to produce a vegetable that we in the kitchen only have for a few hours and then serve that night. So, you know, really what we're doing is we're really translating all that hard work of the farmer and, and really trying to sort of showcase that in a way where we're where it's through the farmer's eyes and, and kind of in the kitchen, really, we're more a conduit to sort of make sure that our work on the farm and we're really harvesting and cooking, to be honest at the moment, what kitchen is most excited about and what is at

its absolute peak so that is really the driving force. It's really a kind of sense of place of, of Sonoma County, but also at the same time very much the time in that place of like this moment today, this is what's happening today. So the ingredients to the vegetables but also the seafood in down to the, the, the flowers that are incorporated into the room and into the dishes and into the experience because my wife grows all of the floral as well or she's gathering it from the wild.

So we're really trying to tell a story about today. This is today, you know, through our eyes and in particular her eyes. And we're really sharing that moment in time with you. And and then you're having this moment in time with the guests that you're enjoying that meal with. And, you know, that's how we continue to have guests come back to experience that a different the different times of the year and and have the, you know, the different experience and so that being our our driving force really has, I think, kind of led us down a path where all decisions are made, you know, based on those things, just like what is happening now?

What is are we in this moment, you know, what is in season and what is at its peak? You know what? And then and then behind that is like what are the products that we actually believe? And so, you know, we are a no-till farm, you know, we do everything by hand. Our farm, which is 24 acres in the Dry Creek Valley is a full permaculture center.

So it's that means with apiaries for bees, better habitat for migratory birds. You know, we're bringing in biodiversity to, you know, to an area that is predominantly grapes. We're on the river, so there's a lot about our riverfront and the habitat for the steelhead which spawn right along our, our river front so there's a lot that goes into that.

So the same amount of sort of thought and care really has to go into everything. And we, we serve very little animal protein in terms of land, animal protein at the restaurant. And that works. We do our ducks that we have raised for us locally by by one family who raised raises a breed called Duclair ducks for us.

And we have worked out everything together in terms of their habitat, their feed, everything we also have out in the Knight's Valley we have a small Wagyu farm that we're doing 100% purebred Wagyu that we graze right here in Sonoma, where, again, it's another project about biodiversity to the land. It's a free, free range, grass fed grain finished animal that's on 300 acres, very, very small herd of cattle again about land management there.

So all of these kinds of same philosophies definitely go over into something that we're really passionate about, which is the seafood that we know that we serve and single thread. So, you know, it's really about looking at what is, you know, first and foremost in season and has the high quality that we, you know, we expect to have at the restaurant.

and, I guess, would expect at a three Michelin star restaurant. But behind that is like knowing the fisheries, knowing their practices and being able to sort of speak to the sustainability of that seafood. And in order to do that, quite honestly, you have to rely on very good people that you have these relationships with, that you have to put the time and then we go and visit the fisheries in Japan, if it's in Japan or in California and really our fish, our seafood sourcing, comes pretty much solely from what we call the north coast, which would be really anywhere, say, from kind of, you know, Santa Barbara a little bit, but more up sort

of like Carmel way all the way up, you know, maybe to Washington. So, you know, that's our main seafood sourcing area. And and quite a bit of that is along the Sonoma and Mendocino coast with fisheries that we know really well, whether it's black cod or Dungeness crab or you know, sea urchins or Japan. And so we have some really interesting supply lines.

We have a rep embedded in the market in Tokyo where we communicate every day with images of of everything. And we have a very rigid specs on our seafood. And I go and walk the market. I take us to market in Tokyo quite often. Obviously, the pandemic is has impeded that. But normally I'm out there quite often and we're walking the market together.

We're talking about our quality, we're talking about our sustainability protocols, and we're always working on on making those things better. So, you know, it's just a passion for it. And, you know, ultimately it reflects in the quality. But also we're able to tell these stories to our guests. And that's a really important thing for them to appreciate good food systems, whether that's about seafood sustainability or organic farming or any of these things.

It's really about how we have this opportunity in this platform to be able to speak to that. And rather than trying to preach from a soapbox, we're really trying to entice guests and people through a sort of love and passion for, you know, for, for, for food to care about these issues.

Yeah, it's so important. And one of the things that you said that I really loved is that you're just what's happening in the moment. And I think today, when we when we go out to dine, when we go to have an experience, it's really stopping and having a moment that enables us to have a quality experience. But also the way that you're farming in the way that you're sourcing, it's of course, the highest quality food experience that you can have while also being able to sort of ground yourself.

I love that combination. Now, how did how did sustainable seafood in particular, and Blue Food kind of become a driving force in your cuisine? Was it the time that you spent in Japan?

Yeah, it really I lived in Japan for many years. I've spent basically a lifetime, you know, over there traveling there went to culinary school, Japanese culinary school, done an apprenticeship, then moved there with my family for many years. And then I spent another two years writing a book about Japanese earthenware. So I spent a few years in Japan before opening a single thread researching Japanese earthenware and spending time with the artisans and the families, not only learning about the pottery itself, but cooking using Japanese clay pots.

And so just have spent a lot of time traveling through through Japan and live in Japan and in particular in very rural areas. We actually lived for three years in Hokkaido, Japan. So the North Island on a right on the water in a very very small, very remote scallop fishing village. And there was different a lot of seafood all around us from sea urchin to the harvesting of kelp for making commercial to more long line fishing.

And but our particular village, a small village called Tura, where we lived, was a very famous scallop fishing bay. And I got to know, you know, the fisher fishermen really well it was a small agricultural community. My wife was farming there, and that's where she was starting her farming and her floral career. And I was cooking and but the everyone in our town and we had our two young daughters at the time who are 49 who moved there with us and in living, you know, going to a small school.

And really all of the the families at that school were in the town were either fishermen or farmers. And so those were our friends. And we got to learn a lot about what they do and how they do them. My wife learned a lot of her farming techniques, you know, there. And I learned a lot about the fishing techniques and really these sort of more slightly more ancient fishing techniques that had been brought into the modern age, but not really modernized or mechanized.

So very much done by hand. So, you know, we were in a very seafood predominant area, sea urchin diving and all kinds of things in that area. So I had a real love and passion for it. And then I worked in sushi restaurants and restaurants in Japan where, you know, the seafood sourcing was like really like the main topic of discussion around there.

I spent a lot of time in squeegee market and then now close to market, but also in smaller markets all over Japan and considered region of Japan on the East Coast and the West Coast and just got exposure to a lot of different fisheries and just have continued to go and visit these fisheries and get out on boats or get into the into the into the bay and really like understand the different practices.

And now getting to see some of the different, you know, not just wild caught, but some of the projects that are that are going on you know, and now more recently have become really interested in what's going on with Takano Blue and some of the work that they're doing up in the North of Japan, which is particularly exciting for me because it's a combination of looking at sort of generational techniques of the different fisheries, whether it's with the trout or the ocean trouts or the bream or various things that they're that there are, you know, more ranching rather than it's not aquaculture on land, you know, dry land aquaculture, but really are more like the

sort of ranching and, and really supporting the natural habitat, some of the natural systems there rather than just creating new systems. But this sort of combination of taking these sort of historical, generational, you know, practices and then bringing them into the modern age where, you know, really looking at some of the harvesting techniques and the water system management techniques are quite ancient.

But a lot of the the then processing techniques are quite modern. And so you're looking at this combination which Japan does so well. Like Japan is amazing culturally at this juxtaposition of like ancient and modern, you know, like that reflects and like cities and how they're laid out and architecture and all kinds of things about the culture of like it isn't of this or that, it isn't like the old way or the new way.

This real combination of history and legacy and good practices put into sort of modern you know, form for, you know, for whether it's for food safety and, you know, for, for rapid temperature cooling and that type of thing. But also of processing deep freeze thing and then moving products in such a way where you're not air shipping and having inefficiencies in some of your packaging, you're have a very, very small footprint in terms of how you're able to pack.

So you can very, very efficiently and a little bit more slowly move the highest quality fish fish around. So it's not only the sustainability as in terms of the sea, it's sustainability in terms of the lowering the carbon footprint of the transport. Right. Those are two separately separate but very, very important things so it's really exciting to see what's going on with that.

And it is a little bit of a retraining of the way that we as chefs think about seafood, but also how we talk to our guests about that. Right? It's like everyone has been like this is the freshest fish and it just came off this boat and then boom, boom, boom, went to Tokyo and now, you know, here it is.

And, and, you know, we've been doing that, you know, for a long time and that's great. However it is not the most efficient way and is not the best way environmentally. And so now, you know, we have to look at saying, actually, we're going to get high quality fish produce in a sustainable way, very, very quickly processed, you know, deep going through a deep a rapid deep freezing process that's not going to allow ice crystal formation in the fish.

And then we're going to transport it in a way that is much more environmentally sound. And then we're going to do this just like, you know, this means that we have to retrain ourselves as chefs and we have to be talking about this, you know, this change. This could change. And then we need to educate the guests on that, because for a lot of guests, they would say, well, that sounds not like, you know, the best quality or the premium quality or so that's going to have some impact on quality.

But, you know, really and truly, it's it's not. And so, you know, it is it's like many things that have come recently. It's like we do have to retrain ourselves and our guests.

Yeah. I think I think one of the things too, that you you said about having someone on the ground in Japan and and talking about how the product how the fish is getting to you is important because it's that traceability, right? It's like having our own certifications. Like we have a Napa Green certification. It's showing the proof and ensuring that what you're getting is the sustainable seafood that you purchased, knowing exactly where it came from and and utilizing that flash frozen technology is huge in ensuring you have better quality, particularly when you're bringing it halfway around the world.

Yeah. Well, I think if anyone knows anything and just for the layperson, just for the diner, probably is pretty aware that traceability in seafood is one of the most challenging things. I mean, I think we all know there's like all kinds of mis naming of fish and provenance and all kinds of things. Right. And it's a very challenging world.

And you know, the way that we've and I have decided to sort of navigate this for myself is, is that I go and see it for myself. And then I don't want to know. Second, hand, I need to see it for myself to know exactly the whole chain, you know, no. Of that. And I try to eliminate as many people in between the fish and me as I possibly can because I then I know what the cold chain is and I know everyone is involved.

But but we're such an outlier that we can actually even do that. Who who can really do that? It's not practical for people in food service and restaurants and things like that to do that. It's such a it's such a unique opportunity that we that we have and that put the work in, you know, to to do, which is why I feel really committed to saying like, hey, like, we got to work on ways to expand this out and make things accessible because it really is not practical for everyone to have to be able to trace themselves every single product that they come to the door.

It's just simply not not possible. So we do need better systems for traceability.

Yeah. I mean, we definitely rely on the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch guide for many of the choices that we make. And I know a lot of your colleagues do as well. What are other areas that chefs should consider in selection and sourcing when they're trying to move to a sustainable menu and and need to be able to find and know that their source is true?

Yeah, well, you know, it's interesting that you say that because I think that that right. That has been a guiding light for so many people for so long. And it's an amazing resource, you know, resource like that and resources like it. The challenge is right is is that, you know, a lot of those categories can be quite broad.

And then you know, you have to look at sort of like the specific fisheries then and, you know, the seasons and the methods that people are using and understand that there is a lot of you know, there's a lot of bait and switch that goes along with that of people saying, hey, this, I'm going to I'm going to call this this.

Right? There's so much diversity in the ocean, you know, people don't really understand, like how many different things you can call a bream. You know, like, I mean, there's hundreds of different fish that kind of fit into that category of, you know, of like snappers and brooms. And it's like, OK, well, what, you know, where where specifically is coming from and what method and what is the ecosystem of that?

Or, you know, hey, we're just going to call this this because that's the closest name and it's associated with better you know, sort of, you know, sustainability. There's all kinds of things like that that are going on. It's like it's so difficult to navigate and, you know, you have and I can't say for sure how thorough of a job or good a job I do.

But, you know, if you look at a place like Whole Foods who is like, you know, they are like, well, we have the buying power to get right back to the source and like not rely on everything and really have this traceability that if this says this is this, then it's this. And, you know, and not everything sometimes things just all kind of get mashed together and it's difficult for people to sort of really discern.

And this week, this product is coming from here and the next week, some products coming from somewhere totally different. You know, it's like it's coming from Alaska now. It's coming from Washington now, it's coming from Southern California, now it's coming from Mexico. And it's all the same thing, but it's not always the same thing. Right. It's sort of it's different and variation.

So that's so impossible for you know, for chefs and restaurateurs and things that food service operators to, you know, to to track. It's very you know, it's very, very difficult. So you know, resources, the best resource that I think professionals have is really trying to work with seafood companies who are really reliable, developing relationships with them, being very, very forthcoming about what the sustainability protocols are, and then inquiring about the traceability of that and saying like, OK, I've got to I've got to see the handling chain on all of these things, you know, to know because if you don't ask, it's just stuff's just going to show up, right?

And you just go for it and maybe you get some general provenance, you know, sort of information about it. But, you know, it really it really means that you have to be asking the questions and you have to be checking in. You have to make what your protocols known are. And if you don't know what your protocol should be, you know, you really have to be having that conversation with your with your seafood supplier and saying, hey, this is a relationship yep.

And a certain amount of this is going to be built on, on on trust. And, you know, this is what we're trying to do. This is what we're trying to avoid. And getting some some guidance, you know, on there. But you have to find great seafood suppliers who are willing to do that. And there are, you know, more and more to buy see and four star or two in the in the Bay Area who agree with that.

But once you start getting to international territory, it becomes it starts becoming quite, quite difficult. So getting using good resources like the Monterey Bay Aquarium information that sort of guide at a little bit more macro level. And then within that saying, OK, well, these are categories we definitely don't want to do. And then look at the categories that you do want to work in and then really try to develop those those relationships and and those protocols.

Because if you don't ask the questions, you won't get the answers and you'll just get the product and you really won't truly know how much you can stand behind that in terms of sustainability.

Yeah, you know, it's really up to all of us who are on the front lines providing either the produce or the wine or the meal on your plate, too. Insist on that for on our guests behalf. And if our guest is is unaware of why we made that choice, then it's our responsibility to share with them the why it tastes better, why it is better for our planet, and why it got here in the fashion that it did to continue to reduce our carbon footprint.

And, you know, it requires often making the more challenging choice, right? You know, I always say that at the winery that the decision is easy, but the execution isn't right. It's always easy to say, I'm going to source responsive blame, but doing that is where the hard work comes in. And so the decisions are easy, but the execution is is where the rubber hits the road.

And we have to hold our suppliers accountable and our team accountable to that, to to deliver the quality on the plate and to be thoughtful of of how it got there.

Yeah, well, walking the walk is a lot more difficult than talking the talk. That's, you know, that's for sure. And, you know, in terms of responsibility, you know, it's the gas, right? It's like the important thing to know across any kinds of food systems or systems in general is like we all vote with our dollars, right? We support things with our with our, you know, with our with our dollars.

When it comes to farming, farmers want to do the right thing. Like they understand by and large, you know, the impacts that they have on the soil and the Earth better than anyone. So we want to make good decisions. And but they have to be economically motivated and not only motivated, but if facilitated to do and make the right decisions.

It's been such a race to the bottom it's been such about the lowest common denominator in food for so long that this is how we have got such we to a place where we have such poor food systems, you know, in general, because it's always been it's been about that. And now there's a lot of trying to sort of build back to that and reconciling with the cost that, you know, that comes with that.

And so, you know, every time we make a good purchasing decision right where we're we're allowing and facilitating and so a good food system to, you know, to continue forward and where we're taking resources away from a bad food system is really as simple as that. And, you know, we are ultimately voting with our gas dollars, right? So they're the ones who are putting the dollars in, you know, that we are then spending.

And so, you know, they rely on us to to to vote with those dollars responsibly. And and so we have to support, you know, good food systems. And then we have to find creative ways to, you know, as I said, to to explain to them about some of the decisions we made, they're not there dining with us or any other restaurant to attend a, you know, a universe of the seminar on on good food systems.

They're there to enjoy themselves and have a good time. But at the same time, we need to find a ways to put into the narrative of what they're experiencing a little bit about what it is and how it got there and how we feel about it so that they can gain a little bit of knowledge and appreciation for that.

And if if a lot of us are doing that, then it just becomes a little bit more ubiquitous that people are thinking more and more about this because it's easy to not pay attention to those things. It's harder to be engaged.

And they believe that that's possible. And a lot of what we talk about in the wine business today is it's not just sustainable farming, it's regenerative farming because we don't just want to be here for the next 20 years. We want to be better in the next 20 years. And I think that that sourcing kind of comes across in, in seafood and in all of the food that we put into our mouths and I see a growing sense of responsibility throughout the industry to source consciously and, and I'm curious what you're seeing among your colleagues is hot trends in sustainable dishes that you hope are here to stay and and actions that our listeners can

take themselves as they're sourcing for their own restaurants.

Yeah, that's a really great question. I mean, I think one of the big things recently has been in recent years has been about an appreciation for for a wider variety of ingredients. And I think seafood is probably like at the top of that, but also vegetables as well to create more biodiversity. Right. It's like there is that you know, if you look at an average grocery store, it seems like there's like a lot of produce to choose from.

But in reality, it's a very, very narrow sort of like margin in terms of the biodiversity that actually exists in the, you know, in the world of, you know, fruits and vegetables. So, you know, and same is true in seafood and you know, in the small, tiny little corner of the restaurant industry where where we exist, you know, in the fine dining world where a lot of sort of, you know, trends are created and sort of filter down to the larger food service industry, you know, historically the number of of different seafood offerings and there's been very narrow, right.

Is like the premium fish or it's toro, you know, bluefin tuna and, you know, wildcard turbo and, you know, this type of caviar and langostino that it's like a very, very narrow and specific luxury category. And I would say that at the three Michelin star level, but at the mission like one, two and three star level, which makes up, you know, a lot of restaurants and a lot of sort of influence in terms of what the greater restaurant industry is doing.

Right, is spend a little bit more narrow. And in recent years, it's really been about going down the food chain, you know, looking, you know, strawberry as we just cooked this seafood sustainability dinner with the progress as Restaurant of Progress and San Francisco, you know, a few weeks ago, you know, he opened anchovy bar and it's despite been championing, you know, all the different feeder fish silver fish, bluefish, all these kind of things that are usually like the seed source of like pounds and pounds and pounds of that kind of fish goes into making £1 of more premium I say in quotations fish.

And so going down the food chain a little bit, you know, giving certain categories of fish and seafood a break and turning attention to two other things. And again, that comes to educating our diners where if they come in to a three Michelin star restaurant and they're like, where's the toro, where's this, where's that? You know, these kind of premium things why are you giving me this ingredient?

An ingredient that is a lot of what I was saying earlier about reeducating, you know, the guests of like, first of all, these things are delicious. And if you know how to prepare them properly, they're incredibly satisfying and gratifying. And also, you know, they are this is this is about supporting about our food systems. So we have to find creative ways to deliver value for our guests and at the same time educate them in a really positive way.

Instead, of being like, no, no, no, sorry, you don't get that thing anymore. You have now it's this thing. But, you know, that's been I think a big trend is this is chefs really saying like, hey, let's broaden our horizons, let's dig a little bit deeper. Let's really understand some seafood that we want to call attention to and good, you know, fisheries and and systems and well, let's do the work to do have really creative dishes and then we'll take on the need to educate the guests about that.

So I think that's the that's really, you know, the the trend is is not relying on these like ultra premium sort of things as a crutch and being open to and and to creating that dialog with the guest. I think that's a big you know, I don't even know if it's a trend. I'd say it's more of a it's more of a movement and it's a movement out of necessity, you know, as as well and responsibility so I think that's going to continue.

And and then, you know, it's really it's you know, for chefs who are so busy, you know, running restaurants and thinking about their menus and creating dishes and being creative. But to say to go that extra step, to learn more and to create deeper relationships and to build trust with people and understand that that, you know, your seafood provider is not just someone you pick up the phone and you look at a list and say, give me this.

It's a dialog, it's a relationship. You know, we have to think of them as, you know, as artisans. And and we need to a lot like farmers needed to be, you know, motivated financially to make good, good decisions out in the fields. They need to be motivated financially to go make good decisions in terms of their, you know, their sourcing.

We have to do the hard work and we have to demand that they also do the hard work, too, and making sure that that they're sourcing and that they're traceability and that, you know, the reliability of the information that they have is is sound. And I think that there's a real genuine interest in, you know, in chefs. And it's not a sort of one of the more sexy sort of food trends in terms of how it is on on the plate was saying like this is really in right now or this is really hot right now, but this is more about a trend, about responsibility.

I think that's a great statement. It's a trend about responsibility and all of us being responsible as a as a consumer purveyor provider and and doing that for for the future generations for sure. And, you know, the other aspect of sustainability is, of course, our people and, you know, the hospitality business and farming are notoriously challenging on the people working in the industry.

Can you talk a little bit about that component of sustainability in your organization as far as inclusivity, development, ethics and and your hiring process or and how that works for you, what your focus is for your folks?

Yeah. Do we have another hour or a as broad as a broad topic?

That was the broad topic.

Maybe there's there's there's so much there's so many components of that. We could we could do a whole another discussion on that, you know, on that alone. But, you know, it's it's an incredibly important topic. I'm coming up on my 30th year in the industry. I mean, I've never done anything but be a chef since I was a teenager.

It's it's definitely been it's been my life. And I wanted to do it since I was nine years old. So, you know, this is, you know, I've, you know, I've, I've worked and I've worked and lived in three different continents and I've worked and cooked and traveled to and done lots of projects, you know, all over the world, on every continent.

And, you know, I've been very, very fortunate to get a lot of exposure to a lot of different, you know, chefs and methods and restaurants and environments and styles of cuisine. And, you know, I've worked in traditional Japanese cuisine and classic French cuisine and modern European cuisine and modernist cuisine and California cuisine and all kinds of different things.

And, you know, I was very fortunate to get to work for really a lot of the best people in the business. And in in where there was a lot of integrity but, you know, also had a really you know, I have a very tough coming up, you know, story as well. And I've kind of worked in this category of three Michelin star restaurants and pretty much the entirety of my you know, of my career.

And it's a very particular type of environment. And, you know, it can be tough and it can be challenging. And I've definitely seen and experienced a lot of things that I certainly wouldn't do. You know, myself as a as a business owner and a chef running, you know, a kitchen. And I've seen mostly good and a lot of bad and things that, you know, great lessons and and, you know, I've seen lots of people wash out, you know, of of our of our world.

And, you know, our little tiny corner of the world is what we do is is, you know, often afraid to say, like, you know, it's a lot like training for the Olympics. I grew up around the world of the Olympics, which is kind of a long story about my dad was there. His business was really involved in all of setting up all the Olympic gymnastic training facilities and for the Olympics themselves.

So it's something I grew up with. So it's something I'm really familiar with is it was kind of the Olympic training types of things. And when you do something at that level, you are it's about it's a life dedication to doing that. And I think operating the three Michelin Star Restaurant is a lot like doing that, where it is a very singular pursuit.

And you, you know, you're training and you you live it and you breathe it and the people who work there for whatever period that they do that, you know, that style of thing, whether it's for a couple of years or they dedicate their their career to it. You know, every night at the restaurant, we're trying to get on the podium.

We're trying to win gold. Like it's that that's our equivalent, you know, to that. So you know, it becomes it can be very consuming and very difficult to have a kind of work life balance when you are doing that, when you know, if someone is training for the Olympics, you you don't ever hear them talking about the work life balance that they're trying to achieve.

You they tell you about the goal that they've set for themselves and that they'll do anything you know, they're going to push themselves to, to, to, to achieve that. And so you know, how can you have a whole career and how can you operate a restaurant in the business, you know, with over 100 employees in a way where you can keep that high level of execution and still make it a, you know, a sustainable way for people to live and to make, you know, you know, a living.

And so that's the big transition that we've been going through as an industry. And our little corner of it is is like trying to have the best of both worlds. And, you know, really, first and foremost, it just starts with the environment, which is we're very much a teaching and mentoring environment. And if you can change that, then you can change so many other things to make in an environment that is really supports the staff and their learning and their their education.

And so it's a lot about explaining always your why, the why behind everything that you do and whether that's a small thing or why we do this on a larger level is safe. You have to take the time to explain and educate why. And, you know, my wife and I have a very simple philosophy, which is we are here to train the next generation of thoughtful leaders for our industry.

And so we are trying to educate them on topics like regenerative agriculture, on seafood sustainability, on hospitality, on community support, on all kinds of different things, but how to create a working environment where people are supporting each other and, and, and and working together for a common goal but are there for each other.

Yeah. And I think that that's important by providing the why and taking the time for the why, I think sometimes one of our most valuable resources is time and taking the time to answer why and to to stick with your core values, as you said, whether it's, you know, regenerative farming, sustainable seafood, all of those things. We've just got to maintain focus on and not slide from because I think it's important to show the up and coming next generation that, you know, we're committed because we need them to be committed to.

You know. Well, they're watching, right? The up and coming generation is watching, right? They they've grown up with these topics as being front of mind. We in our generation have sort of come, you know, come into these transitionary you know, they are growing up with them instilled And so, you know, where, you know, I feel very much like the generation that I'm a part of is a transition generation.

From how things have been done in, you know, into the past and ushering in how things have to be done into the future. And, you know, very, very quickly, the generation that's sort of grown up with these things sort of implicitly as front of mind, they're going to be making the decisions. You know, they are in many ways and will be, you know, more so in the future.

And, you know, they'll if we're not doing those things, they're going to be very quick to push us out of the way to lead the way forward. So we have to be sort of really conducive to helping them, you know, begin to take those those leadership roles on yeah.

I think we just need to be our best every single day. Every moment. Right. Well, Kyle, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate having you on and sharing your passion and also some great, great tips on how all of us can be thoughtful about our decision process. And and just, you know, doing the hard work, which you definitely are doing and the results are kind of fantastic.

So thank you so much for your time and for joining us.

Yeah, thanks for having me. I really appreciate it. It's always a pleasure to speak and also to talk on these topics. So thanks for giving me the time thank you.

And thanks for all the thoughtful sourcing and tracing and everything that you do. It's great.

Of course.