Journalist Sheila Gray has been a beloved fixture on Cincinnati television for many years. In a thoughtful exchange with Chef Ken, Sheila opens up about the life experiences and influences that helped shape her career, and her genuine connection with viewers. Pull up a chair as they discuss their shared love of food, storytelling and the importance of genuine connections – at the table and in the community.

Welcome to another episode of a seated to table.

Chef Ken.

Today, I'm honored to welcome someone so many of us in Cincinnati invited into our homes through our television screens.

For decades, award winning journalist and news anchor Sheila Gray.

Sheila has spent her career telling the stories of the community, but today we're going to turn the tables a little bit, and I want to learn more about her story and the person behind the camera, the experiences that shaped her and the people, people and moments she carried with her along the way.

But before we get started, you can find a seat at the table with Chef Ken wherever you listen to your podcast or you can go and watch us on YouTube.

And I just have one small favor to ask.

Please like and subscribe.

It just takes a second.

But it greatly helps us grow the podcast, reach more people, and continue to bring meaningful conversations to the table.

So pull up a chair.

Sheila Gray, welcome to to the seat at the table with Chef Kim.

We're so happy you're here.

I'm happy to be here.

You are someone that everyone feels like they already know.

And, you know, I can remember being up in the morning and turning it on, and there you are.

And it's like a routine.

It's part of people's routines, and it's part of, like, how they get their day started.

And you're always like, maybe some people are like, waking up and are like, oh, I don't want to go to work.

Or, you know, and they were.

And like, and there's Sheila Gray.

She's smiling, she's got the big laugh, and she's having a wonderful time.

And I think that's the person that everybody knows.

But I'm kind of like, when I watch someone on tv, I'm like, I just have.

I wonder.

Wonder this, I wonder that.

So these are some of those kind of things that we'll go through.

Grew up in Ohio, right?

And before Sheila Gray was on television, what were you like as a child?

I was just like this.

I'm not even gonna lie.

My aunt has this story about when I was a little girl and I would just burst into every room like, ta da, I'm here.

Aren't you happy to see me?

Let's let the show start.

So I've been that way my entire life.

And they always made fun of me.

My grandmother and my aunt and my mom just thought I was the funniest thing.

And my mother always thought I would go to theater because I love to perform.

I love to talk to people.

I was always one of those kids who could talk to adults, you know, and always interested in what people were doing and what they were thinking.

And so I think it just naturally led me to this career, you know?

And I did do theater in high school, and I sang in the choir and played in the band and anything that was performance related.

And my best friend growing up used to get so mad at me because I was always the tallest girl, and she was a huge basketball star, and she always wanted me to play hoops, and I couldn't.

I was not coordinated.

I was the biggest klutz.

I was always.

My feet were getting under, out from underneath me.

My legs were like a giraffe.

But if I was on a stage, that was where I felt at home performing.

So that's what I was like.

And I just.

I've always been someone who talks too much.

I have learned as an older person to listen a little bit more.

I'm accused of the same.

So I think, you know, what you see on tv, that's me.

Yeah.

Well, I think that is why I think the authenticity is almost a requirement now, because people can see through it now.

I think people's meter for, like, detecting that now with social media or whatever, people can recognize when someone's either being fake or being sold to.

Like, you feel it, and, like, you have to be yourself, whoever that person is.

If it's a quiet person, that's fine.

If it's someone who talks too much, I think for me, when I'm at dinners with people, I am Chef Ken.

So it's like, I got to turn that on and be like, I have something.

You have to have it all together in the kitchen.

That's right.

Have it all together.

But if, like, this past weekend, where we have 14 people at the dinner and they want to stand next to you and talk to you while you're doing your deal, you have to let them.

And you have to be like, oh, okay, or a dog's running around, or, you know, they're.

The girls were all dressed up like pirates.

Like, you.

You have to adjust.

You have to just go with it.

And I've learned that, like, over the years, like, to go into it going, nothing's going to surprise me.

That's good.

Like, nothing.

I've seen it all.

I have.

I have the stories.

So.

So you were that kid that always, like, was the center of attention or.

At least tried to be.

Tried to be.

At what point did you decide, like, I really want to do TV and get into journalism and start doing something for.

In that era, because I Think for me, I kind of got into the same thing when I was in high school and we had, like, speech competitions or television reading, all this weird stuff we did in high school.

It got me excited to where I went to college for that.

When was that time for you?

When did it snap for you?

I think the first little glimpse of it was when Connie Chung was named the evening anchor on CBS because women did not anchor the news for the most part.

Like you had Jane Bali on the Today show, or, you know, women playing lighter roles on television, like Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America, people like that.

But to have a woman being a serious news anchor taking over in the evening, that was a huge one for me.

And I remember when Dan Rather took over for Walter Cronkite, thinking, that should be a woman.

Maybe I could be the woman.

And then Connie Chung was able to do it.

I was too young to remember Barbara.

Walter.

Walter's doing it earlier.

And they pretty much treated her like garbage and didn't take her seriously or anything like that.

But so I think I started thinking about being on television when I watched Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Burnett and women like that growing up.

But then when I got to college and I was just like, I'm going to major in communications and I'm going to be on tv, well, I didn't know what that meant.

Right.

So when I went to Ohio University, which is really well known for journalism and communications and has a fantastic program still, I was able to work at the radio stations.

My very first quarter of freshman year, and I was at woub and I was working with these seniors who had been through the program.

And then I started learning about doing news, and we were able to get right on the radio, like the second semester.

And then I knew that was what I wanted to do.

I wanted to be in news.

I wanted to be a news broadcaster and journalist because I loved the aspect of being the person to tell other people what's happening, you know, and you refine it over the years, like, you figure out, well, I can do this to help people.

I can do this to inform people.

I can do this to make sure people are hearing the truth.

Because these days, we're hearing a lot of things that are not the truth.

Yes.

So I.

As, you know, as you go on in this industry and in this career, different things become important.

But I just love the field of journalism.

I really do love it.

Even if I.

If somebody said, you can't be on tv, TV anymore, you're going to just write, I would be Fine with that, because it's information.

And I love writing and I.

And I love broadcasting, and that's such a big part.

You said something that kind of hit me.

There was like, the truth.

And that's a weird thing nowadays because it used to be, I guess.

Which we're maybe being gullible.

We just believed what we saw on the nightly news.

Right.

Whatever they told us.

Right.

Like, we tuned in at 6:30.

Whatever the world news was, however they wrote it was just kind of how we believed it.

But now with all the different places you can go to get information, and then you have to like.

Well, now you have to fact check it.

Who wrote the article?

Who are they owned by?

What's the.

And I find that Cincinnati, at least when I watch the news or have been around my whole life, lived here and watched, especially when it comes to covering things now, some people are better than others, but.

And over the years, there's been good and bad, but I feel like when people tune into you guys in the morning, they're getting that authentic truth or like how you see it, and offering all sides versus one side, because X, Y, Z or whatever.

And I think that's so important.

It is important, and it's really important to us because it's not what we think.

Doesn't matter.

Okay.

Yeah.

It's not the candidate that we believe in or what the government did, right or wrong, or, you know, what Joe out on the street did, right or wrong.

Our role is to tell you what happened as far as we can determine, and if there's another side, give you the other side and let you decide.

It's not our job to care what you think outside of.

We want to be trusted.

We want you to know that we are responsible.

And look, we live in this community.

I live here.

You're my neighbor.

You live in the same town I do.

Pete over there is my neighbor.

Like, everybody's my neighbor.

And Cincinnati is a small town.

It is.

You run into people, you know, all the time, and that's why you want to get it right.

Because I truly care about this community.

Because you have to go back out.

Into it, of course.

And it's such a powerful thing.

I guess because I'm older, I'm just like, oh, because I can watch something or I'll see something.

I'm like, oh, here we go.

Here it is.

And I'm like, here I'll be, and take it for a ride.

And that's just because over the years, you've just cultivated that being a business Owner.

It's the same way people will ask me to do things and different things, and I'm like, oh, here we go.

Like, I already know within the first couple seconds, oh, they want this or they want that, or, you know, and, you know, learning to say no and making sure that that is the complete deal.

Sure.

You have to protect your business.

Yes.

And your reputation.

Right.

So you're kind of doing the same thing because, like, look, I live in your community, and you're going to see me.

I'm going to be at Bengal Games.

I'm going to be at Res Games.

I'm going to be at festivals and out and about, and I don't.

I want to be able to hold my head up high and feel respected.

And I think it's the same way with my business.

It's.

There's a quick way to make a dish and then there's the authentic, the real way.

And I'm always going to take the real way, even if it costs me more or takes more time, because I just.

I don't want someone to go.

Well, it was okay.

Kind of felt like it was frozen.

Frozen.

No one's ever going to say that.

Right.

You know.

So you go to ou?

Of course.

I mean, you finished first in class in three years.

I did not.

You did your research.

I did not finish first in class in three years.

I was on the Tommy Boy program with college, but I did work at the radio station.

Probably spent too much time at the radio station and not enough time in class.

That's a whole other podcast.

Where'd you go to college?

NKU.

Okay.

Yeah, that's right.

You told me.

WRFN, AMA 10.

That's right.

Good job.

Northern bus route.

Still there?

Actually, it's not.

It is not still there.

No.

What happens?

I remember when it shut down just a couple years ago.

Right.

Like, not too long ago.

So not only do they shut it down, but I was invited to become.

Be a part of this program for Northern Kentucky.

And I get invited to go up to nku, and I'm like, I'm gonna get there a little early and walk around.

I haven't been up here in a while.

And of course, the place is complete changed.

Does not look anything like.

Yeah, it looks nice now.

Before, it looked like a prison.

And actually, I had to do.

I had to do a paper.

I had to do a paper in my first semester there.

And I actually researched the guy who designed that place, actually did build prisons before he built nku.

Wow.

That's why it's all concreted out with the square, like the windows that people can't fit out of.

Yeah, they go out there, Nun Hall.

Like that's what it looks like.

Nice to walk around going, this is such a sad place.

But it's beautiful now.

It is.

So I went upstairs to University Center.

I'm like, it's on the second floor.

And I walk in and I walked right past.

They not only closed it, but they got rid of the whole room and drywalled over the door.

Like, it's gone.

Gone.

So I was like, geez, what's going on?

Why Cincinnati?

Why don't you pick?

You could have maybe like could have gone to Columbus.

Well, I'm going to be honest, I, I, there were a few places I was looking.

I was in West Virginia, right, for a long time.

I met my husband there.

We had our daughter and I was the main anchor at the number one TV station down there, which was great, but I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in West Virginia.

All my family is in Ohio.

Everybody grew up in Ohio.

So I looked here, I looked in Columbus, I looked in Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and Cleveland, those five spots, because those were all I know, I'm sorry.

I had college friends who were in Cleveland.

No offense, Cleveland, but, but no, I looked in all of those places because I knew I could go to a mid sized market and I wanted to be within driving distance of my parents because, you know, your parents aren't getting any younger and you want to be there for them.

And at the time we lived almost five hours away from them and that was just a little bit farther than we wanted to live.

And I wanted to go to a bigger market.

But after I had my daughter, you know, I used to dream of being on the network and a network and working in these huge cities and everything.

But after I had my daughter, you realize your life is not your own.

If you go work for one of these big networks or big companies, your commitment is your job and your family comes second.

And I did not want that.

So I looked at these mid sized markets.

But Cincinnati and Columbus were my two favorites because I was born in Columbus and I had a lot of family there.

But I grew up in Sydney, Ohio and came down here for Reds games and we came down here with our drama teacher to get costumes for our musicals.

Cincinnati just held so much charm for me and I thought it was a huge city.

I'm gonna be in this big city, Cincinnati, you know, but it was attainable.

And so I was very fortunate.

I talked to news directors at a few different TV stations here, and the timing just worked out to go to wxix, and I was very, very fortunate.

It just.

It was meant to be.

I really do believe that.

I really do believe that, because I was looking for a couple of years, and it seemed like nothing was working.

Nothing was going well.

I was.

I hired consultants to tell me how to get my hair and makeup right.

I hired a talent coach to help me with storytelling.

Not that I didn't learn a great deal in West Virginia, but I just.

What do I need to get to the next level?

And I paid my own money to do these things.

And it was really a good investment in myself because John Lawhead at wxix, the general manager at the time, he saw this morning personality in me.

And when we met, it was just.

It was like kismet.

We connected.

I think he knew that I was going to work with audiences.

And, you know, I was replacing Tricia Mackey.

She was the morning co host with Rob Williams.

So he had to get it right.

And they promoted Tricia, and there she still is, you know, rocking the evenings on Fox 19.

But I was able to slide right in there with Rob.

We hit it off immediately, and we had great success there.

I'm very, very grateful for my time there.

You know, I think Cincinnati itself, I think people come here, when people move here or they come here from somewhere else, they, like, fall in love with it.

You've seen so many people.

I've never thought about leaving.

I've been here 27 years.

There was never a thought that, I want to go somewhere else.

I need to go somewhere bigger.

I want to live anywhere else.

I never thought about it like ball.

Players or like people in the community.

Well, you saw Tyler Stevenson recently.

Yeah.

When they were up against the trade deadline, and he thought it was his last game with the Reds, and he was crying, talking to Jim Day after hitting that home run, like that's how people feel about Cincinnati.

That was the most exemplary thing I can think of for how people who move here feel.

And I'll tell you, his parents are nice, too.

I rode in the elevator with them in St. Louis.

Oh, yeah.

I was there for something else.

But I was going to the Reds game at night, and they had all.

They were all Red stuff.

And I go, oh, you Reds fans are like, well, actually, our son is the catch her there.

And I'm like, oh, Tyler.

They're like, oh, yeah, yeah.

And we started talking in Again, the sentiment was that they love Cincinnati.

And I find that that when people think of Cincinnati, they think of all the food.

I think we're a very food forward.

Yes.

City, and we have our things and that's it.

Take it or leave.

If you don't like it, that's it.

You don't have to eat the Skyline.

But we're going to eat it.

We have people from out of town.

We're like, I want to drive.

I want to see, like, I put the skyline in front of them.

Be like, all right, let's see.

This is going to determine how our entire day is going to go by.

Now, if it was my Italian friend, I took him to skyline.

This was 30 years ago.

And he looked at.

And he goes, what?

I'm not eating this.

And you.

He wouldn't even try.

No, no, no, no.

He was like, no, like, we have to go somewhere else.

I got mine to go, and then we went somewhere else.

And.

And then you literally would.

He goes, I don't know what your.

What that is, but it's like, that shouldn't be put on noodles.

Like, that's not.

That's not happening.

Still best friends with him today.

But I think since, see, we can.

All get along even if we don't like Skyline.

Yeah, but we do like Skyline.

But we should like Skyline.

It should be a recipe for life.

Yes.

You can still get along if you have a difference or dislike.

You can.

Right, Right.

You would think people.

Are you getting me?

Yes, I think.

I think you can, but probably should like Skyline.

Well, just don't talk about it.

Yeah.

Or maybe you like Gold Star.

I don't know.

Yeah, but you should probably, like, we'll shift gears a little bit, you know, because we're getting into food, and I, of course, love to talk about food, but when I talk about.

I do, too.

But when I talk about food, I like to talk about memories, because that's what I do.

We create memories with people.

It's not about what dishes we're making for someone.

It's what the experience is around the food.

So years down the line, clients can be like, remember when we had to chef in Remember?

And, you know, this past weekend, it was our bachelorette party, and she got up and talked and started crying, and all the girls stop crying, and they're going to have that connection.

And, you know, we were a very small part of that.

Just bring them all together.

So what is the earliest food memory or tradition that you remember as a kid?

Wow.

I think the.

The best memory Surrounding food would have been at.

At my grandma's house in Columbus.

This was my dad's mother.

My grandmas were very different.

With one of them, you always went out to eat someplace.

But the other one, my grandma would cook a big meal, and she had five children, and everybody would come with their children and whoever was around, because they all still lived in Columbus.

We lived in Sydney, but we would always go to her house, and she would always have a big Sunday meal.

She would have Thanksgiving, and I can still taste her gravy.

I wish I could make her gravy.

I wish I had ever watched her make that gravy.

And then sometimes certain smells will come to me, and I'll be.

It's like grandma's house, you know?

Yeah.

So that's probably the earliest memory of food that I have.

Her food was always delicious.

Yeah.

And you always felt loved and cared for at her home.

Yeah.

The food was making you feel that way.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think, like, for me, my grandmother was the reason why I always, like, kind of learned how to cook and wanted to cook, but never wanted to do it as a job.

Just I had a life skill.

And, you know, I'd be, like, watching her, like, what is she doing?

And then she'd be like, come on.

Aren't you lucky that you got to do that with her?

Yeah.

So I wish I had, like, my one thing was, like, these mashed potatoes, and she would make these mashed potatoes.

Her old house was a Sears Roebuck home on the hillside where Target and Kroger is in Newport.

Oh, wow.

Okay.

So a million steps to get to her house, and we would go there on Sunday and, you know, be like, how does she get that to taste so good?

Like, mom makes them at home, but,.

Like, what did she put in them?

Yeah.

Are you willing to share?

Yes.

I would love to know what she thought.

She told me, you know, always add warm milk to warm potatoes.

Don't put cold milk or cream.

That's how you get lumps, Kenny.

You don't want that.

Oh, wow.

And then she would be like, oh.

And.

But the one thing.

And she never gave up the secret.

And then my dad and I were standing there one day, and she's got the mixer, and she's just unwrapping sticks of butter.

Were they softened?

Boom.

Three sticks of butter into those potatoes.

As soon as she put them in there to start, like, they're steaming.

Oh, ye.

And they get emulsified in the inside the potatoes.

And I'm like, that's the Key three sticks of butter.

So when people ask me to make my potatoes, they're always three sticks of butter.

Now, I might, like, juice it up a little bit when I steam up, when I reduce my cream a little bit with, like, rosemary and white pepper.

So.

But it's always grandma's recipe, you know, or Grandma's meatloaf.

When I make meatloaf, it's always the same, same way that she made it.

And the memory of that has always carried through.

And it sounds like it's the same way with you.

And that food is just an amazing connector.

It is.

And what I've noticed by following you on Instagram.

So Sheila Gray tv.

Right.

Right.

You should follow her.

Because if you are someone who's like, I want to go somewhere new, I want to go to a new restaurant.

I want to check this place out.

Sheila is the one you need to follow.

Thank you.

Because every time I scroll through, I'm dooming, I'm doom scrolling and I'll stop.

Where is she at now?

So what about that?

What is it about that that you were like, I gotta go try the new place.

I want to check it out?

I think it just started living here.

And I can remember when I hadn't been here very long, some folks came on for an interview and they had a book about Cincinnati.

And at the time it said, there are 500 and some restaurants in Cincinnati.

And I thought, holy, I'll never be able to try all of these restaurants.

But I kind of made it my mission to try different restaurants back then.

And, you know, you have your favorites that you go back to every once in a while.

But when social media started becoming a thing, I have made it a point for the very most part, 99% of the time, make every post positive.

Okay.

And I also know how hard it is to run a business.

Yes.

So I think it's part of my job as a member of this community and to use my platform that, you know, people do follow to let people know about good places, you know, and sometimes restaurants will even get in touch and say, we're having a really hard time.

Can you stop in?

Or can you have us on?

Or whatever?

And Rick and I will go have a drink there or go have a meal there and we'll do a post.

And I know it's only, you know, a few, maybe a few thousand people see it, but it's important to me to be positive, but also to highlight especially small but importantly local businesses.

And we love trying different restaurants.

And it doesn't have to be the one that's in food and wine.

Although, you know, Jose Salazar.

I love Jose.

His restaurants are phenomenal, and I'm so happy for his success.

And we went to Salazar, and we absolutely loved it.

And now we're going to move on to the next, you know, whatever.

We went to Noche the other night.

Alfeo is just an amazing talent here in Cincinnati, and that's his new place in Covington, and it's great.

But thank you for saying that, because I do love to try to give people ideas for things to do and places to go, and I love trying new things.

And it's one of the questions I get all the time.

And it's such a weird question for me because I admittedly eat at home a lot, because when I'm working, when I'm not working, I just kind of want to have a quiet meal at home.

Right.

So.

But one of my biggest questions is, like, you know, like, I'm plugged into every single.

You know, I know there's.

I know the chefs.

I don't know the restaurant.

Like, I don't know the restaurant, but I know the chef.

Yeah.

So usually I recommend places where, like, I trust the chef or I know him or her, but the.

One of the questions I always get is, like, you know, what restaurants do you love?

What's your favorite restaurant to go to?

You're a good person to ask, because, you know, good food, I love.

Yeah, I love good food.

But I admittedly do, and this is so sad to say out loud as a chef, but I don't really go out to a lot of places.

And then when we do go out, we have, like, one place where we're very hyped on right now is the baker's table in Newport.

New menu every month.

The way that Dave Chef Day does everything.

Very good.

I love it.

I love baker's table, too.

And I haven't been there in a while, so now I'll have to go.

You should go check it out.

Everybody nominated for a James.

I know.

Yeah.

Somebody from New.

You know, he's from California.

But the.

You know, every time we go in, it's wonderful service and the.

The people there and the way the food is done and how it's presented.

Wonderful.

And then you compare the wine with the taste of menu.

It's a good time.

Okay.

I'm just saying.

Okay.

But.

But I think people love that about people because they already trust you.

And then when you go to a restaurant, you're like, I'm gonna go there.

Because Sheila went there.

But one of the things I tell people with going to restaurants is kind of the same thing Auntie Bourdain said, you know, you gotta be ready for a bad one.

You know that's true.

And you have to look at it as, like, not completely devastating, but that it's part of the adventure of putting yourself in at a.

At a table where someone else is gonna serve you food.

Right.

You might get bad service.

The food might be a little bit lukewarm.

It may not be.

But someone took time to put food in front of you, and.

And I think that should always try to be grateful for that.

Depending on how it goes, it's hit or miss.

We've been in other towns and other cities, and we're like, okay.

And then you walk in, they're like, I can walk in and go.

You can tell right away.

Oh, yeah.

I can be like, this is gonna be a long night.

This is gonna be interesting.

They're already behind.

They're probably five tickets behind right now.

They're not.

Do you watch the Bear?

I do.

Oh, my God.

Does it stress you out being.

I love that show.

But you just.

The five tickets behind thing you said, I'm sitting there going, how do people actually do this in real life?

Because I know they do.

I don't know how anyone does that as a career and doesn't have a heart attack.

I love being the person served.

I would not want to be that person in that kitchen.

I think what it is, is that was a.

Because the people they had behind the.

Scenes to real restaurant people.

Courtney Storer and Matty Matheson.

Yes.

Because Courtney's brother is the one who writes the show, but she's a private chef in California.

And then Maddie has restaurants in Toronto, and then, you know, he's kind of a household name for chefs, and they created that like, that.

He wanted the stress.

He wanted the show how it was very.

Try to be as realistic as possible.

People who've worked in a restaurant can just.

Yep.

Remember that night, Right?

I remember that night.

And I know restaurant people who won't watch it because it's so triggering.

We've so triggered it.

I had.

It makes me appreciative.

You had to pause it.

Yeah.

Because I was remembering that time, and it wasn't good.

We can laugh about it now, but there was one time when I was at a restaurant.

I won't even say who.

What if people are watching?

That worked with me.

You'll know.

The night we were doing a wine dinner.

It was like seven course.

And we were through the third course and then all of a sudden a storm came in and set the lights on.

I don't know if you know this or not, but at a restaurant the lights can go off, but the gas does not.

Oh.

So guess what?

Let's keep cooking.

Yeah.

In the dark.

In the dark with no fans, no ventilation.

And it got heated between us and the chef and we were like, in.

More ways than one.

Yes.

And there was like a situation where like people were leaving and we still had to do it because there's 120 people, you know, we're plating for their every single time.

Like, boom, 120.

So like, you have to, you have to keep it together.

But like, people are yelling and screaming, oh, that person's gone.

So that happens kind of in the bear.

They turn it on.

They didn't turn the ordering off.

The tickets are coming out.

He's telling them to pull things out.

He's not listening, he's screaming.

And when you're in that situation, it's kind of chaotic and.

Yeah.

So when you start to see, like, I know immediately what's happening on the show because I'm, I'm watching the tickets go out and I'm like, oh, here we go.

This is going to be terrible.

And there was other times in that show where like, yeah, like, it was like, yeah, that's very close.

They did a good job.

I'd say two things.

Character building.

Each character in that story could have led the story.

Yeah.

I think Cousin was.

I mean, he stole the show.

Last season was amazing.

And I think the other part was getting it right in the kitchen to a certain extent.

Now, are you turning a beef shop into a Michelin star restaurant kind of overnight?

I don't know.

But I've been told that you have to suspend belief sometimes on watching tv.

Tv.

Yeah.

And that you have to.

Just because I'm sitting there like I'm watching, like, there's no way.

Come on.

Do you know, I, I noticed the forks.

They weren't that far away from the.

There's a.

They can.

And then they get.

Well, I won't spoil it for anyone.

Well, I can't watch shows about news.

It's the same thing.

Like, my daughter's a nurse practitioner.

She can't watch Grey's Anatomy or, you know, shows like.

Yeah, because you're like, yeah, it's all, it's all.

Well, the morning show, I think is the one that I watched.

That's a good show.

Now I watched that.

And I'm like, I knew it.

I knew these people.

I knew those people on network were all, you know, rocket, terrible people and doing bad things.

But I think it's really.

They have such good people on that show.

They do.

They really nailed.

And they have good characters on there, too.

Yeah.

And you know, the first season, they did take from actual things that happened at the Today show, Right?

Yeah, yeah.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Right.

Yeah.

It was Steve Carell and how that all played out.

Yeah, yeah.

And it was just like you're playing it out and you're like, wow, there's a lot going on behind the scenes there.

Somebody asked me, how realistic is it?

I said, everybody in our newsroom is not sleeping with anybody else.

It is not happening at Local 12 in Cincinnati.

I think that was what the whole podcast was about right there.

I think we got it, Pete.

I think we're exclusive.

I think now we know.

I had that on my paper too.

I was like, let's find out.

So we got that out.

I think food for me in Cincinnati is unique, diverse, and like you said, everyone knows everybody.

So when I have a need and I put it out to people, the community of chefs and people who work in food are unbelievable.

Like, they're the.

From the vendors of Finley Market who I've become best friends with, to other chefs in the market who have, you know, been just so helpful.

No one ever big times you.

No one ever makes you feel.

When I was first starting out and they're like, okay, yeah, you know, I had a vendor one time at somewhere.

I try not to do names, but they did not have the 12 lobster tails that I ordered three days ahead of time.

Come pick up and, you know, shout out to the Ruby family.

And their.

Jeff Ruby's had called a chef that I knew in that kitchen.

Yeah.

And they were like, yeah, you can buy from us.

Come right by the curb and.

And get them and no problem.

That's great.

And I think just speaks to how everyone gets along in the community, and I love that.

So I think they probably love the fact that you go to the restaurants.

We'll have to all have a double date and go to.

That'd be fun.

A restaurant here in town.

And you'll probably surprise me because you've probably been to way more than I have.

That's so sad.

I know.

It's terrible.

But I love to cook at home, so I think we're getting towards the end.

And I always like to do kind of a rapid fire question situation.

The one question I Wanted to ask you, because I think, whether you think so or not, I think people watch you over the years, and you've inspired that young girl to go and do communications or go do whatever.

They see you.

They see you doing it.

The big smile, the big laugh, the positive attitude.

Serious when you need to be.

You're inspiring people by what you're doing.

So who inspires you?

Still today?

Still.

Wow, That's a good one.

Hmm.

Trying to think.

I. I guess the person who I really admire for her talent is Terry Gross, the host of Fresh Air podcast.

Oh, yeah.

Because she is one of the best listeners and interviewers anywhere in the business.

There are a lot of great talents on television and radio and podcasts and everything.

But I really love listening to her because she.

She has all kinds of guests, for one thing, but she can ask a really difficult question or a question about a person's worst time of their life, but she asks it in such a way that it's not offensive.

It's respectful and kind, but she still gets the answer.

Yeah.

And that is a talent.

And that takes sensitivity.

It takes kindness.

It takes caring for that other person that you're sitting there with.

You know, we're right here.

There are a couple other people in this room, but as far as I'm concerned, like, right now, it's you and me, right?

And when I interview someone, it's like that, too.

All the cameras and all that can just go away.

Right.

If.

If you want to have success.

And she's really, really good.

I admire her a lot.

I also love Julia Louis Dreyfus because, like, this woman is not a journalist, Right.

She's a comedian.

But she has this podcast where she only.

Oh, what's the name of it?

You're gonna have to edit me.

Julia Louis Dreyfus has a podcast where she interviews older women.

Wiser than me.

Wiser than me.

And she always starts out with saying that they're wiser than me.

And these women share their life experiences, career, things that happen, marriage, love lives, and every.

And they always have some bit of incredible advice for women because, look, we're all not getting any younger, right?

And we all have these transitions in life.

You know, I. I have two granddaughters.

I have a son in college.

I have a mother who's 89.

I have a lot of stuff, a lot of balls in the air, okay.

And I always feel like if I can take a little bit of somebody else's wisdom just to help me live a better life, to help someone else, and listening to Those older women on that show wiser than me.

I really, really like that.

So I would say those two right now are big ones for me.

That's amazing.

Yeah.

We have a group that gets together on Tuesday nights and have cigars.

Oh yeah.

And it's mostly guys that I've known for since college, like over 30 years.

But over time we've included other people.

And one of the people that we have is Rich, who is in his early 80s, who worked for a CIA, taught at West Point, was in Vietnam.

And he will be talking about something and he'll just pop a story out and it's just like, pay attention because you're gonna learn something.

Right.

He tells things in a way that's like a lesson.

That was John Lomax in my life.

John Lomax, which I went to culinary school with his son Brandon.

Yeah.

But he has a way of like teaching you a lesson with a story and that I always think about that as that tends to be how older people did that way.

My dad would do that.

He would just tell you a story and that's the lesson.

I think it's so important for intergenerational groups to be together, whether it's at work or friendships or whatever the situation, family gatherings.

I think it's really important for everybody to listen to everybody else of different generations.

That teaches you a lot different perspective.

Yes.

And with different perspective comes Ruth.

I think.

I don't know if you're even if.

It's listening to a 19 year old man.

My son is in college and sometimes he says things that I think, okay, I didn't think about that.

Yeah.

Or the way he sees it.

Yes.

And it's like you have to respect how someone sees something because it's real to them.

Right.

And you can't just count them because they're younger or whatever.

Yeah, that's right.

Because the kids, I mean they, their lives are so much different.

He's always grown up with everything that we saw come into the world.

He's already at it.

Right.

Internet, social media, just that whole world.

He's got an ability to see what's important and what isn't that I never had at that young age.

No, I definitely did not know that.

It's unbelievable to me.

I had to keep falling like, boom.

Oh, I guess I shouldn't do that.

Boom.

You know what I mean?

I still doing that to this day.

But it's how you learn to have like to be self aware like that at a young age.

It's pretty good.

That's Very, very good.

And then the last question, and this is the one I've asked to everyone, and because we're sitting at a table, is if there was one person that you could have at the table and have dinner with right now, living or pass, who would that be and why?

My dad died when I was nine, so I never knew him as a woman.

You know, to be able to ask him things about his life, how he felt about things, how he felt about growing up, my grandparents, his job struggles, you know, taking care of a family.

I would love to talk to him.

Yeah.

Yeah, sit down with him.

I think my dad passed when I was 24, so he never got to see my business.

You know, I never was like, oh, I'm Chef Ken now, dad.

You know, you'd be like, what?

Like, if he walked in the room right now, he'd be like, you're doing what?

You're interviewing her?

What?

Come on, Kenny.

Yeah.

You know, and that would be.

I think it's the same with me.

It would definitely be my dad.

I mean, I just.

Because he never got to see anything but the business.

And there's just like, man, you know, you have so many questions, but it's just like being able to have someone around that table that you could ask all those questions, because those are what you think about all the time and tell them things.

I would love to tell my dad what makes me proud.

I'd love to talk to you about my kids.

Now I'm going to get.

Oh, no.

My dad.

Yeah.

I think I miss mine, too.

But then I think about grief is just the receipts of love.

Yeah.

So that's a good one.

You wouldn't get upset if there wasn't love there and you wasn't real.

So when I look at things.

Yeah.

I mean, I might have something right in front of me that, like, reminds me of my dad or something.

And I.

You know, I just think that's a receipt that, you know, he was a big part of my life.

And I.

For the first 10 years or so, I'd be like, oh, this is grueling.

But now I've gotten to a point where I'm just like, oh, man, that'd be cool.

Like.

And I kind of feel like, is there we're hanging.

I do.

I thank my dad.

Yeah.

I'll say, you know, something will come up.

And I'll say, oh, thanks, dad.

Or I'll say.

Or I'll tell Julie something.

And I go, oh, my dad wouldn't be putting up with this.

There was.

There's no way something.

Something's going on in my family or whatever.

I've been like, if my dad was around, it might be a little different.

It might seem a little different.

Or probably what he would do is that he would set me straight and be like, you know what?

That's not your problem.

Don't worry about it.

Not your circus, not your monkeys.

That's it.

Stay in your lane and be done.

That's great.

I like that, though.

The receipts of love.

I'm going to remember that.

Yeah.

Grief is just receipts of love, you know?

And then I heard that on a podcast.

I'm like, no one's believing that.

But it really hit me because I was like, man, that's the way to look at it.

It's not like the pain of the loss.

It's just receipts.

Like, I.

It wouldn't be real, and I wouldn't be upset if it wasn't real.

And I should embrace that.

Yeah.

And have that fill me with gratitude versus the pain.

Right.

Pain doesn't need to be the result.

It's the gratitude.

Grateful to have the time or grateful to have some memories that I can share.

And.

And then my job is, as I get older, because I don't have kids, so people around me are going to constantly hear stories about my dad because they say, you die twice, you die when you die, and you die when the last person says your name.

So my goal is to just not ever let that happen.

I think as I get older, I think people are going to hear like, kosh, Ken, you've told that story 14 times.

Everybody knows that story about you running off the road on Christmas Day in the snow.

But I think everyone's heard stories.

They're just gonna have to hear.

Well, thank you so much.

Thank you, Ken.

Oh, it was so kind of you to have.

This was an honor for me to have you on our podcast.

We're just starting, and to have someone like you on was very helpful.

I appreciate your confidence.

I constantly watch and try to learn, but we're learning.

Everybody's learning.

So thank you so much.

Thank you.

It was great.

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