Order of Man - MICHAEL HUNTER ｜ Finding Your Path Through Passion

00:00:00.000 Over 10 years, one of the most common messages I get is a strong desire for men to find their

00:00:06.620 calling, so to speak. Studies often suggest that upwards of 70% of men are dissatisfied in their

00:00:12.520 work and general fulfillment in life, but it's a challenge to find something you're interested in

00:00:17.500 and turn it into a profitable and lucrative career that brings both a sense of purpose

00:00:22.660 and financial prosperity. My guest today, Michael Hunter, is a man who was doing exactly that.

00:00:28.460 But introduced to hunting at the age of 18 and a self-proclaimed glutton for food, Michael has found

00:00:34.080 a way to merge the world of hunting and culinary excellence into something that brings him both a

00:00:39.900 deep sense of satisfaction and provided he and his family a way of life. Today, we talk about the

00:00:46.680 painstakingly slow path to progress, the importance of asking for exactly what you want, standing for

00:00:54.000 what's right in the face of bad actors, when luck, God's grace, and hard work collide, and how you can

00:01:00.560 find your path through the passion you build. You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest,

00:01:06.380 embrace your fears, and boldly chart your own path. When life knocks you down, you get back up

00:01:11.560 one more time, every time. You are not easily deterred or defeated, rugged, resilient, strong.

00:01:18.360 This is your life. This is who you are. This is who you will become at the end of the day. And after

00:01:24.620 all is said and done, you can call yourself a man. Gentlemen, it is good to be back with you again

00:01:31.840 today. My name is Ryan Michler. I'm the host and the founder of the Order of Man podcast and movement.

00:01:37.800 Thank you for tuning in. It is amazing to see the growth that we're experiencing. And I want to thank you

00:01:43.280 for being a big part of that. This is a grassroots movement. So when you share this with a friend,

00:01:50.220 colleague, coworker, brother, father, whoever it might be, you are part of the mission to reclaim

00:01:56.360 and restore masculinity. And we're doing that through this podcast primarily by having conversations with

00:02:02.020 incredible people, guys like Dave Ramsey and David Goggins, Jocko Willing, Chris Williamson,

00:02:08.280 Matthew McConaughey, Terry Cruz, Mike Lover, Phil Robertson. The list of men that we've had

00:02:15.440 on this podcast is phenomenal. And it's a testament to the fact that these guys want to share with you,

00:02:21.020 but it's also a testament to the fact that you as men want to learn, want to grow, want to develop,

00:02:26.440 and you are in the perfect place to do just that. I've got a very good conversation with a man by the

00:02:32.680 name of Michael Hunter. I'm going to introduce you to him just in a minute. But before I do,

00:02:37.700 I just want to mention, speaking of good men, I was on Instagram a little bit earlier today,

00:02:43.120 and one of my show sponsors, Montana Knife Company, the founder, his name is Josh Smith,

00:02:50.320 and he and I have broken bread together. We've actually made a knife together. He taught me how

00:02:55.580 to make a knife. He's one of the youngest knife smiths in the world. He achieved that. So he's pretty

00:03:02.720 incredible. Anyways, the reason I bring him up is because he had a very, very successful hunt

00:03:07.440 with his son over the past several weeks of moose hunt. And I just sent him a personal text. I'll

00:03:13.560 never forget what it was like when my son, my oldest son, and I shot our moose together. And

00:03:18.940 these are guys who are actually doing the work. You know, he's got a great company with Montana

00:03:22.680 Knife Company. He builds great knives, American made, all the things that you've heard me talk

00:03:26.940 about. But I think more important than that, this is a man who is a family man. He's a man who

00:03:32.720 believes in the American dream. He's trying to be a good father, a good business owner, a good

00:03:38.840 citizen of this country. And I want to support people like that. So if you do too, then go to

00:03:44.480 MontanaKnifeCompany.com. That's it. Just go to MontanaKnifeCompany.com, buy a shirt, buy a hat,

00:03:49.640 buy a knife. I just got an email. They're coming out with a new tactical knife. I didn't get a chance

00:03:54.860 to look too deep into it, but they've got a new one. They have the war goat, which I have my hands

00:03:59.560 on. In fact, I use it just about every day and it's something I carry on my person every day.

00:04:04.540 But they've got a new one coming out too. If you want a good knife made by good people doing good

00:04:09.740 things who believe in the American dream, then go to MontanaKnifeCompany.com. And when you do,

00:04:14.920 use the code OrderOfMan because we as Americans like to save money too. So if you want to save some

00:04:20.560 money, but you want to have a good quality knife in your pocket, on your belt, in the field, in the

00:04:26.480 kitchen, et cetera, et cetera, MontanaKnifeCompany.com, use the code OrderOfMan to save some

00:04:31.660 money. All right, guys, let me introduce you to my guest today. His name is Michael Hunter.

00:04:36.620 He's a hunter. And I actually asked him about that because I wasn't sure that last name of

00:04:42.340 Hunter was his real name. He answers that for us. He's also a chef, author, and the owner-operator

00:04:48.640 of the Antler Kitchen and Bar in Toronto, Canada. When and if I make my way up to our brothers in the

00:04:55.160 north, I'm definitely going to stop by his restaurant. He goes by the name The Hunter

00:04:58.840 Chef and he hit global recognition in 2018 when his restaurant was protested by some misguided,

00:05:08.220 to put it mildly, vegan activists. And in a rare generally and culturally display of defiance in

00:05:15.080 the face of intimidation, Michael decided to fight back and in the process, put his restaurant and

00:05:20.420 himself on the map as a champion for hunting, meat eating, and culinary excellence. He's also the

00:05:27.540 author of The Hunter Chef Cookbook where he sneaks in some delicious squirrel recipes, something that

00:05:33.840 I personally have yet to have tried, but I will. And he also teaches the common man like you and me

00:05:39.080 how to make incredible meals of the food that we harvest. All right, brother, first things first,

00:05:45.400 is your last name really Hunter? Yes, sir. Michael Hunter. It is. I wasn't sure because

00:05:51.400 you never know. Everybody has like a pseudonym these days. And so I was like, nah, this can't

00:05:56.220 really be Michael Hunter. Yeah, man. It's funny. I got lucky with branding. And then when I really

00:06:03.400 started to take interest in the outdoors and hunting and foraging and stuff like that, my sister was

00:06:08.120 like, you're like the hunter chef. And I was like, I am trademarking that tomorrow. And I did.

00:06:13.220 And did you? I did. Well done. I'm surprised it was available, man. I have like ideas that I think

00:06:19.740 about. I'm like, oh, this would be a great idea. And you know, you go on to jump the website, jump on

00:06:23.880 the website and or trademark it and everything's taken. Yeah. Well, it was, it was, it was about 20 years

00:06:31.440 ago. And then, uh, I didn't even think, at least I hadn't seen anything from Steve Rinella. And when

00:06:37.200 I first saw a meat eater, I was like, damn, that's like exactly what I want to be doing. But it was

00:06:42.280 like, it's cool that it's like someone's doing it, you know? Um, because yeah, what we're doing,

00:06:47.000 it's, it's definitely not new, you know, but just, uh, at the time I was living in the city. So it's

00:06:52.560 like, it's, it's sort of new for city folks anyway. But yeah. And you're, you're in Toronto. Is that

00:06:58.800 right? Yeah. Yeah. So I'm, my restaurant's right downtown. Um, but I grew up north of the city on a,

00:07:05.160 on a farm. Um, you know, ever since I was a kid, you know, just a horse farm, not really like a

00:07:10.320 working farm. Um, but you know, we had horses and a donkey and dogs and cats and. Yeah. Is that,

00:07:16.500 so did your, did your family hunt? You said hunting, foraging. Yeah. Is that something your

00:07:21.320 father got you guys into or what? No, it was actually my mom. Um, my, so my mom's family

00:07:27.220 background is English. So, um, she was like into the hunter jumper world of the, uh, sort of the

00:07:33.400 horse circuits. Um, and then she kind of was with a group that were, uh, like English fox hunting on

00:07:40.000 the weekends. So they would, and I think for her, it was more of a social thing. Um, you know,

00:07:46.300 they'd get dressed up in their, like, let's almost look like tuxedo kind of coats and hats. And they

00:07:51.900 would have these cool saddlebags with a flask of sherry and they'd ride around with hounds. Um,

00:07:57.760 and they would actually kill more coyotes. They'd get on the odd fox, but there's where I live,

00:08:02.660 there's a huge coyote problem. Um, but, uh, but it was actually the guy that ran and worked the

00:08:09.900 hounds that was from England. Um, that who I kind of really became friends with and took me hunting for

00:08:15.960 food for the first time. Is that right? I was like, uh, as a teenager. Yeah. So he was sort of

00:08:21.320 like a family friend, sort of pseudo father figure for me. And, uh, it took me turkey hunting for the

00:08:28.080 first time when I was, I think 18. Is that right? So it's a lot more formal, uh, that style of hunting

00:08:35.280 than I, what I'm accustomed to. That's for sure. And I've done some bougie hunts, but some of them are

00:08:41.020 pretty rough. There's a hunt in Hawaii that we go on every year. In the first couple of years,

00:08:44.700 we stayed in a shipping container without air conditioning or anything like that. So

00:08:49.900 we've been on some nice hunts. I do too. I do too. Just to have a mix of all of them is good.

00:08:56.280 Yeah. Yeah. The backcountry stuff with like, go ahead. Oh, sorry. Go on. No, I was gonna say

00:09:01.560 the backcountry stuff and like tents when you're really roughing it. Uh, I think I, you know,

00:09:06.140 definitely enjoy the most. Um, it's just, you know, when you don't have cell service is sort of the

00:09:13.460 best and you can really just unplug, um, and you're not getting emails and dealing with work.

00:09:19.640 And, uh, for me, the restaurant, like always something's broken and there's something the

00:09:24.140 matter, like with a guest or an employee or like, so it's nice for me just to be able to unplug it

00:09:29.900 and be in the wilderness. But one of the hard things, and I don't know if you feel the same way,

00:09:35.440 but with, with work that's centered around social media, like mine is, and you're obviously very

00:09:40.980 active on Instagram and other places. It's, it's a really good excuse to just always be on your phone

00:09:47.780 and that unplugging and digital detox is huge if you can do it, but it's tough to do. Cause you,

00:09:54.460 you link being on there to, I have to do this for my job. Yeah. It's work. Yeah. Yeah.

00:10:00.400 So no, it's definitely tough and, and, uh, I'm not, you know, I'm not very good at it. I think,

00:10:06.500 I think it's, especially with kids, you want to be, I've got, I've got lots of kids. So it's,

00:10:12.020 you want to be a good role model. And, uh, you know, there's some rules in our house that when,

00:10:15.700 when we're having dinner, there's no phones and we try and do no phones on Sundays. And,

00:10:19.840 um, you know, my youngest daughter, she's not getting a phone until she's much, much older.

00:10:24.380 Um, you know, my son's just started high school, so it's a little harder for him, but you know,

00:10:27.860 at nighttime, he's got to charge his phone in the hall. Like I don't let him keep it in his room

00:10:31.680 and, and, uh, you know, stuff like that. But yeah. Yeah. It sounds like it's hard to unplug these

00:10:36.820 days. Yeah. Yeah. So you went on your first turkey hunt when you were 18 and then was,

00:10:43.140 was it something that you just thought, man, I'm in love with this or like, okay, I was like so bad.

00:10:50.260 Yeah. I was, I'd always been interested in food. Uh, as a kid, I was just like always starving.

00:10:57.140 Like I was, I'm tall. Like I just grew really early and I was just hungry. Like I was never

00:11:03.240 full as a kid. And, uh, so yeah. And I just, I loved, I loved being outdoors. I was raised in

00:11:10.480 the country. You know, we had a pond, I'd go fishing as a kid, you know, catching frogs and

00:11:15.240 bringing tadpoles inside. And, um, uh, and I'd seen, well, I, I wanted to make some, you know,

00:11:23.620 pocket change as a teenager. I wanted a part-time job and I wound up riding my bike, uh, you know,

00:11:29.380 a few miles down the road to a gas station that I applied to pump gas. And, uh, the guy

00:11:34.900 owned the diner and the gas station parking lot. And he's like, well, I don't need any

00:11:39.280 help in the gas station, but you know, I need help in the diner. Um, so I wound up, you know,

00:11:44.080 working the breakfast shift at like seven in the morning on weekends as a 13 year old kid

00:11:48.400 in the summer. Uh, and I'd ride my bike there at like six 30 in the morning and I'd be washing

00:11:53.740 dishes. And I was like the kid buttering the toast and cutting it, putting it on the plate

00:11:58.900 and like, uh, you know, putting salt on the French fries and hash browns. And like, those

00:12:03.760 are my little jobs and washing dishes. Um, and that's sort of my introduction to the food

00:12:09.340 world was this little greasy spoon diner, but it was, it was busy, you know, it was crazy

00:12:14.260 on the weekends. Um, and then from there I was like flipping eggs and I was a shorter cook,

00:12:19.860 you know, by the end of the summer. So it was, isn't it amazing how it works out?

00:12:25.380 Yeah, man, it was wild. You know what I think? Like, Hey, if I wonder if I worked at the gas

00:12:29.120 station, I'd be like an oil executive right now. Yeah. Yeah. Um, anyway, yeah, it was just,

00:12:35.820 it was, it's funny. And then, you know, from there I liked the job and then I had some buddies

00:12:40.060 that worked at like the local golf club and then I worked there and there was like, you know,

00:12:43.680 more young people and it was really social and I did the breakfast shift there. And, and, um,

00:12:49.520 you know, those types of businesses are really cool to be a part of my career because, you know,

00:12:54.440 now I'm a chef of like an upscale casual, uh, type restaurant, but I've got experience in working

00:13:00.700 a diner. I have experience working a golf course with weddings and banquets and all these things.

00:13:05.320 And I've, I've just worked in so many different outlets of the industry. Um, that sort of was like

00:13:09.740 really important for my career, you know, today. And, and we do events and we do all kinds of,

00:13:15.440 uh, things outside the restaurant where those skills, um, you know, are useful today.

00:13:21.400 I think this is a good story and a good lesson. Cause a lot of the men that I talk with who are

00:13:25.740 struggling with a career path, they, they want it right now. And they just think if I do these three

00:13:30.780 steps that I'll, you know, own the restaurant or be a chef or be that oil executive or whatever it is

00:13:36.420 you want. And it's, it's a little bit frustrating for these guys, a lot frustrating because the

00:13:42.420 answer is just another step. You know, you go from that greasy little diner in the parking lot

00:13:48.260 to the golf course, to the, this, to the, this, to the, this, and then, you know, 20 years later,

00:13:52.740 you look at your life and you're where you want to be right now. 30 years. Yeah. Yeah. So it's like

00:13:58.180 30 and you know what, you have to eat a lot of shit and, you know, be, be the grunt for a long time,

00:14:04.680 especially like it's like the culinary arts in Canada is a red seal trade. So you need like,

00:14:09.800 same with the plumber or electrician, it's like a red seal sort of, um, apprenticeship type job,

00:14:15.440 laboring job. And like apprentice electricians and, uh, carpenters, like they make way more money

00:14:22.160 to start. And it's, uh, it's a tough cooking is a tough trade to get into. A lot of guys, they,

00:14:27.960 they do it for like five to 10 years and then they get into sales. They go into food sales,

00:14:32.380 like a giant corporation like Cisco or somebody, or they, um, you know, I was lucky that if you

00:14:38.400 stick it out for long enough and then eventually, you know, by the grace of God and some luck,

00:14:44.380 you open up your own business, you know, I don't know if I'd still be a chef working for someone

00:14:48.300 else. Cause it's just such grueling labor. Um, you know, you're on your feet, my knees at the end

00:14:54.320 of a 12 hour day or just like shot now. Um, and, uh, and it's tough, you know, it's tough on your

00:15:00.340 home life. You know, you're working nights and weekends when all your family and friends are off.

00:15:04.840 So, um, you know, it's, uh, I've got, you know, kids from my first marriage because I was just to

00:15:11.760 the restaurant and then, you know, uh, all, all the issues that come up with never being home. Um,

00:15:17.420 yeah, it's a, it's a tough life for sure. And I'm just, I'm really lucky now that I,

00:15:20.920 I own the business and, and, um, you know, we have a head chef now that, that it's in there

00:15:26.340 more than I am. Um, cause I'm, I'm starting to work in the outdoor space and we work on,

00:15:32.420 you know, marketing and I do a lot of, I do all the caterings and stuff like that outside the

00:15:36.160 restaurant. But, you know, I don't think physically I could be the chef in there every

00:15:40.780 day anymore. Like my, my body just can't do it after 25 years. Yeah. Well, and, and I want to

00:15:47.080 bring something up that you said too. You said, Oh, it's just luck in the grace of God. I

00:15:50.660 definitely believe, I believe in both. I believe fully in the grace of God and I believe a little

00:15:55.500 bit in luck, but also you probably made some right moves and some wrong moves, you know?

00:16:01.200 So for sure. Yeah. What were some of the right moves that you made as you were maybe launching

00:16:06.560 your own, your own restaurant or, you know, pivotal moments in your career? You know what? I think,

00:16:12.600 uh, you know, hard work pays off for sure, but you have to be strategic. You know, you can't,

00:16:18.040 uh, I was hungry, you know, as a kid, uh, I grew up with a single mom, um, like financial status

00:16:25.980 when I was growing up was very volatile. Like some years were really great. We're going on all these

00:16:30.440 trips. And then the next year was like, you know, the fridge is empty. Like it was really weird.

00:16:35.560 So I knew that I didn't, you know, I just had this like financial insecurity, I think. And that really,

00:16:41.200 uh, drove me to work hard. Um, and then, you know, you have to ask, you know, and you have to earn it.

00:16:48.460 So, you know, if you don't get a raise unless you ask, I think in a lot of different, uh, fields,

00:16:54.240 you know, so, but then you have to back that up. If you're asking for a raise, you have to be,

00:16:58.640 you have to back that up with the work and, you know, you have to be, uh, you know, you have to

00:17:04.360 be able to hear no. And then if you hear no, it's like, okay, well then what, what do I need to do

00:17:08.620 to get a raise? You know? And, and I was very, I, I remember lots of those conversations. I'd work

00:17:14.120 somewhere for a year or six months, or, you know, if I found I was working someplace and I was working

00:17:19.440 harder than my peers, or I was, you know, more talented than my peers or more dependable than

00:17:24.300 my peers, I would ask for a raise. And, and, um, you know, in the kitchen, there's definitely like

00:17:30.460 a hierarchy, um, you know, from the apprentice, all the, you know, like a brigade system through the

00:17:38.120 kitchen. And I was just really hungry to, to work all those stations. I really wanted to learn.

00:17:43.140 Um, I think what fascinated me was making things from scratch. So like learning how to make,

00:17:49.840 you know, pasta, learning how to make bread, learning how to make sausages and cured meats. And,

00:17:55.140 um, you know, we, it was so weird. We had this harpist worked on Sundays at this restaurant. He was

00:18:01.780 this hippie soy farmer, uh, and he showed the chef and I how to make tofu. Like it was bizarre,

00:18:07.080 but like, I just loved learning stuff like that. And I still do, you know, and, and, um, for me,

00:18:13.000 what's really fun is, you know, making those, uh, those cured meats and sausages and, you know,

00:18:18.780 regular kind of everyday meals with wild game. And that's, that's what I love doing. And that's

00:18:23.600 what I like trying to share at antler restaurant. And, um, you know, that was a real inspiration behind,

00:18:29.580 uh, my cookbook. Yeah. Uh, it's, it is interesting. I don't, I don't,

00:18:35.360 up until the past couple of years, just out of sense of, of having to learn how to cook for my

00:18:41.520 kids. Uh, I never really enjoyed cooking that much, but the more I do it, the more I, I really

00:18:47.380 enjoy it. But one thing that I liked, I think probably more than anything I've ever done

00:18:52.160 is we do a pig hunt each year in Texas and, uh, the company outdoor solutions from field to table.

00:18:59.660 Oh, I know those guys. I've been on a hunt with them. You do? You know Greg? Yeah. Yeah. Greg and

00:19:04.120 his son is Ed, Edwin. Yeah. Eddie. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They're great people. He's a good

00:19:10.720 friend of mine. And so cool. But yeah, they do the whole, maybe you've cooked with them. I don't

00:19:16.680 know. I've done a class or something with them. Yeah. Chef, I did, uh, it was like a writer's week

00:19:21.840 with, um, the company made with meat and, uh, I went, yeah, we hung out and I was hunting with,

00:19:27.780 uh, with Eddie all week. Um, and then chef Albert was teaching the class. I was, I think one of the

00:19:32.660 only guys there that was a chef, I think it was one of the guys that was a chef. Uh, and the other

00:19:36.560 guys were all like writers. So we just, you know, we took part in the class and then I think I did a

00:19:40.340 little, my own little class with the guys. It was a few years ago now, but, um, right. Yeah. It was

00:19:45.020 fun. It was really fun. That's awesome. Yeah. They, uh, chef Albert taught us to, we, uh, uh, made,

00:19:51.900 made sausages out of the pork, you know, out of the pig that we had shot and that process for whatever

00:19:57.060 reason. I love that process. I did see that, uh, made with meat is, is a sponsor of yours and yes.

00:20:03.900 And I'm familiar with the company through that. I'm like, Oh, I wonder if he's connected at all.

00:20:07.980 Yeah. Yeah. Really cool, man. No. Um, the, the reason why I I'm so jazzed with that company is

00:20:13.900 their, their stuff is great. Like it's restaurant, you know, commercial quality stuff that you can order

00:20:18.560 to your house. And, and, you know, the fact they're direct to consumer, it ends up being a lot cheaper

00:20:23.440 than, um, you know, like if you were to go to a restaurant supply store or whatever that sells

00:20:28.120 that stuff, um, you know, it's, I think it's a little bit cheaper and it's the same quality.

00:20:33.260 Um, whereas like, you know, if you're going to Cabela's or one of those outdoor stores,

00:20:36.900 I find they're kind of more cheaply made. Um, so yeah, I'm, I'm really pumped with the quality

00:20:41.820 that those guys are doing. Um, and yeah, I've, I do some recipes and content for them. Um, but

00:20:47.320 they're, yeah, they're really great to work with. And as a chef, like I totally vouch for the

00:20:50.980 quality of their stuff. Yeah. I, I know in the past I've used like vacuum sealers you'd get at

00:20:56.040 an outdoor store. And like you said, it's just cheap and sometimes it works and sometimes it

00:21:00.580 doesn't. And that's frustrating. Yeah. Especially when you're out in the field and you're trying

00:21:03.620 to break down an animal and get it secured and safe. Yeah, for sure. But, um, yeah, I mean,

00:21:09.080 like, like stuff like sausages, like, you know, you really have no idea what's going into it. And like

00:21:13.840 when you make them yourself, you can actually see how much fat's going in. It's like,

00:21:17.540 that's a lot of fat. Well, I don't have to put that much fat. And, but then you taste it,

00:21:20.860 you're like, Oh wait, maybe I should add a little more in there. Yeah. I need a little

00:21:23.840 more fat. That's okay. But, um, but yeah, then, you know, all the spices and like ways

00:21:28.920 to flavor them and then you can smoke them or what's really fun is like, um, uh, like

00:21:34.720 emulsified sausage. So like a bologna type texture, um, it's really fun to play with. And then you

00:21:40.760 kind of smoke those and it's more like a ballpark kind of broth kind of style. Um, uh, but yeah,

00:21:46.600 there's all kinds of ways, um, to play around with those recipes and, and then like, you

00:21:51.360 know, dry curing them. There's all kinds of really cool stuff. You can rabbit holes, you

00:21:55.080 can go down and, and, uh, and learn. And really what inspires me is just, I'm a glutton. Like

00:21:59.180 I just want to eat good food. Hey, you know, find something that speaks to your, speaks to

00:22:05.140 your, you know, your soul and, and go with that. Right. Yeah. And you know, and I think

00:22:09.280 like, I don't know if it was a book I read or who's, I don't even know whose quote it

00:22:13.780 is, but it's like, you know, you find something you love and you know, and you'll never work

00:22:17.540 a day in your life, you know? And it's, I love food. Um, you know, I love the outdoors

00:22:22.820 and I've, I've really found this really cool niche of like working in the outdoor space,

00:22:26.660 but also I'm still a professional chef when I'm in a restaurant and, um, you

00:22:30.840 know, I get to do all the stuff I love and, and make a living, you know, while

00:22:34.260 doing it. So. Yeah. Well, and just the process of experimentation, a lot of guys,

00:22:38.800 whether it's hunting or learning how to cook or any skill or like, Oh, I'm not an

00:22:42.420 expert. It's like, well, of course you're not. How could you be? But for me, just

00:22:46.240 learning to experiment a little bit, play around with it a little bit. You know, I've

00:22:50.380 had some fails. I've got a bunch of moose meat from a moose hunt my son and I

00:22:53.620 went on years ago. Yeah. Uh, we still got, still have some

00:22:56.620 roasts and things like that. And sometimes, you know, I've made it and I'm

00:22:58.920 like, dang, I just ruined that piece of meat. And other times it ends up working

00:23:02.820 out really well, but it's fun to see what you can do. Yeah. And that's how you

00:23:06.600 learn. The first time I shot a goose, I was so excited. I plucked the thing. It

00:23:10.020 took forever. Uh, the down, you know, I plucked a turkey, which is not bad, but

00:23:14.260 like, like geese have the down and like, you know, I, I swear this bird is probably

00:23:19.420 30 years old too. That's the one that's a major difference between like wild

00:23:22.980 turkey and geese is like geese could live to their like 40 for Christ's

00:23:25.840 six. So I plucked this bird and I come home and I tried to just roast it in the

00:23:30.740 oven like a turkey. And I made like a gigantic, like rubber lacrosse ball. Like

00:23:36.080 it was frigging terrible. Like it was inedible, like completely inedible. And I

00:23:40.260 was like 22 years old and I was like, I did something wrong. Like something is not

00:23:43.980 right. Like what have I done? And, uh, you know, I'm sort of, I still am

00:23:48.240 perfecting the art of cooking geese. Um, but one of the tricks, especially with

00:23:53.000 moose, uh, because I've got this weird relationship with moose where I've never

00:23:56.740 shot one, but I've been on all kinds of trips. Um, a friend of mine gifted me a

00:24:00.840 moose. They were at this camp and these guys were from Sweden and they couldn't

00:24:04.740 take the meat home. Um, they could get, they could get their mount home and the

00:24:08.520 outfitter didn't want any more meat. And I ended up getting 150 pounds of moose

00:24:12.160 meat shipped right to my house, which was amazing. Um, and I've just been

00:24:16.140 experimenting with all the roasts and shoulder, like shoulder roasts and things

00:24:19.300 that are usually really tough. Um, and I've been sous-viding them and they've been

00:24:24.480 coming out incredible. So, um, yeah, so I would definitely recommend, uh, and I like

00:24:30.500 usually what I would do is I'd throw it in a crock pot and kind of braise it. Uh,

00:24:34.500 you know, that's typically what I do, you know, like with carrots, onion, celery,

00:24:38.160 some tomato sauce, some stock or whatever, potatoes, lots of herbs. Yeah. And

00:24:42.140 just do a big kind of crock pot. And I, I love that kind of cooking, you know,

00:24:46.560 those one pot meals and it's like so hearty and like your whole house smells

00:24:50.600 wonderful from this stew. And, um, but the cool thing with the sous-vide is you

00:24:55.720 can still, so I've taken these like boneless shoulder roasts from the moose

00:24:59.080 and I just leave them in the, the, the bag that the processor vacuum sealed it in.

00:25:03.840 I don't even have any seasonings or anything in there. Um, and I sous-vide that

00:25:07.540 for like four hours at 130 degrees Fahrenheit. So the cool thing with the

00:25:13.080 sous-vide is, um, the vacuum seal creates pressure and then being underwater

00:25:17.280 creates pressure. Um, which is actually what sous-vide means under pressure.

00:25:21.640 Oh, that's, it's the prep. I always wondered if it was, you were boiling it at a

00:25:25.480 low temperature, but it wouldn't boil at 130 degrees. It's not boiling. No. So yeah,

00:25:29.320 boiling is 212 Fahrenheit. Um, so it's like you're basically holding it at like a

00:25:34.320 medium rare, medium temperature for four hours. So it can't overcook. Um, but even

00:25:40.320 at that low temperature, all those tough, uh, muscle fibers break down. So, um, you

00:25:47.320 end up with like a really tender piece of meat. It's not really, it's like medium by

00:25:51.960 the time. So you take it out of the bag after four hours, pat it dry. Then I season

00:25:54.980 it. Um, and then I throw it in a hot, uh, cast iron pan with like oil and butter, throw

00:26:00.980 some herbs and garlic in the pan. Um, and then get that kind of crust, like a

00:26:04.920 reverse sear. I don't know if you've seen that stuff. And that would, and that

00:26:07.740 would lock in the tenderness and the flavor. Is that what that, when you see

00:26:10.780 it like that, the tenderness comes from the sous vide and then, um, searing

00:26:16.140 basically just gives it that outer crust and that caramelized flavor. Um, you

00:26:20.800 know, when people talk about browning the meat, it's really like caramelizing the

00:26:24.060 flavor, um, like the meat juices caramelize in the pan, um, creates that brown

00:26:28.620 crust. Um, and then salt pepper, you can, you can do like some of those barbecue

00:26:33.040 rubs or whatever at that point and fry it in a pan with some butter. Um, and

00:26:37.080 it's just phenomenal. It's really changed, uh, how I eat game at home, um, because

00:26:42.600 of the sous vide and, and a lot of chefs have been using them for a long time. Um,

00:26:47.520 and I wouldn't say like I was against it in the past, but it's almost like I kind

00:26:51.880 of looked at it like cheating, you know, like, you don't really like, especially

00:26:55.520 things for like tenderloin and backstrap or like a New York strip loin steak.

00:26:59.940 You don't need to really, you don't need to do that. So, and you can get the same

00:27:03.860 results without doing it. So I kind of thought it was like cheating, but when I

00:27:08.280 kind of figured out for myself, like, Oh, I can do it with these tough cuts of

00:27:10.860 like roasts and stuff and still have it be like a medium rare medium doneness and

00:27:15.840 it's tender. I was like, this is frigging awesome. Like, um, but I just, I find

00:27:20.840 like some chefs, at least in the restaurant world, they like their sous vide and

00:27:24.300 carrots and vegetables. And it's like, it's too far. And like, I really don't like

00:27:28.600 using plastic if I, if I don't have to. So it was just, that's kind of why I was

00:27:33.300 against it. But when it comes to like tough muscle groups of game animals, it's

00:27:37.600 like a total game changer in the kitchen.

00:27:40.740 I don't know if this is blasphemous to you or not, but I'm going to go ahead and

00:27:43.860 throw this out here anyways. Like one thing that I actually really enjoy is just

00:27:48.180 the instant pot.

00:27:49.720 Okay. You know what? I think they're cool. I don't, I don't own one, but I have a

00:27:53.300 pressure cooker. So I totally, I think they're sort of the same concept. Yeah.

00:27:57.560 Yeah. And can you air fry an instant pot or that's different?

00:28:00.900 No. Yeah. That's a separate, that's different. A separate thing. Okay. Instant

00:28:04.080 pot is the, uh, you know what I actually used, I did use one at a lodge. There's

00:28:08.000 an elk cutting lodge and we used one. It's just a pressure cooker.

00:28:11.360 That's what it is. Yeah. It's just a pressure cooker. So I would, like on a lot of

00:28:15.200 stuff, I would like sear it like you're saying, and then throw it in there and the

00:28:19.640 pressure cooker. And it's nice because it might only be 30, 40 minutes, if that

00:28:24.880 even on some of these cuts and it's done.

00:28:28.220 Yeah. No, it's, uh, you know what? I think if it's going to inspire you to like

00:28:32.640 eat a chunk of neck meat as opposed to giving it to your dogs, I think, man, it's

00:28:37.680 great. Like, and that was the one thing, like, so the guy that took me turkey on

00:28:41.620 and he was like this old English guy and he couldn't cook worth, you know, to save his

00:28:46.340 life. And he was like, I was like, Hey, I want you to show him, like, I want to

00:28:49.940 pluck this bird. And he's like, don't pluck the bird, just skin. You take the

00:28:52.860 breasts out and get this boneless, skinless breast. So he did that with his bird.

00:28:56.160 I'm like, that's cool. If you want to do that, you're a bird. I'm not going to

00:28:59.000 tell you, but I'm like, I want to learn how to pluck it and gut it. And like, and

00:29:02.260 he was like, Oh, don't take the legs. You can't eat the legs. I was like, what do you

00:29:04.880 mean? You just like, yeah, they're, they're tough in you as well. They're really tough in

00:29:08.520 it. But I didn't know that as like, I was, I was like an 18 year old kid that was

00:29:12.560 like starting out in the kitchen. So I'm like, okay, I'm going to, I'm going to put

00:29:16.400 these in a braise and I'm going to stew these. And then, but you know, if you do

00:29:19.920 that with a store-bought farm turkey, it takes like an hour, an hour and a half to

00:29:24.040 braise a leg. The wild turkey legs take like five, five to seven hours to, to

00:29:29.240 stew. So that's where the instant pot, like our pressure cooker really comes in

00:29:33.460 handy. It's like an hour, an hour and a half in the pressure cooker and the turkey

00:29:36.380 legs is like pulled pork. So I think, you know, I think they're great.

00:29:40.220 One of my favorite hunting stories is my son and I were running an event in

00:29:45.100 Maine and we had, I don't know, a hundred guys there and it was early in the

00:29:49.280 morning and they're all out doing PT in the morning. And I came out and I saw a

00:29:53.180 bunch of turkeys treed up about 50 yards from our place in the field. And I'm

00:29:57.920 like, Hey Brett, go grab the shotgun. And he's like, right now I'm like, yeah, go

00:30:02.440 grab it right now. So he went and grabbed it. Yeah, exactly. He went and grabbed it.

00:30:08.200 And we walked up there and we snuck up to him and I'm on one side, he's on the

00:30:12.880 other. And I hear boom. And he comes running out and the thing's flying off

00:30:16.860 and he's shoots it again, you know, and he grabs it, he kills it, he grabs it.

00:30:22.000 And we're walking back and these hundred guys are there in the front of the

00:30:25.260 field and he has it thrown over his shoulder and he takes it off the shoulder

00:30:29.120 by the legs and he throws it on the ground. He's like, breakfast is served,

00:30:32.380 gentlemen. But we, but we took the legs and we made them that night and they were

00:30:38.900 disgusting. Cause I didn't know how tough they were. I can't remember if we grilled

00:30:44.520 them or I can't remember what we did, but it was so gross.

00:30:48.120 Yeah. It's so funny. Right. And it's like, so that's why, and I totally get like,

00:30:51.860 so this guy's like, Oh yeah, throw the legs in the dish, like give them to the

00:30:54.600 coyotes. And like, so for me as a chef that was, it's like really cool to teach

00:30:59.820 guys like that. Like, okay, these are actually delicious. You just have to do

00:31:03.800 this with it. So that's, that's where it really like inspired a lot of my cooking

00:31:08.660 for the cookbook. Um, and even with friends, like I went to a bear hunting camp

00:31:12.700 a couple of years ago in a slave Lake Alberta, my friend Corey Jarvis as the

00:31:17.540 outfitter with three rivers adventures. Um, he invited me out there and we were

00:31:21.780 going to, we were, we were, it was right before COVID and we were talking about

00:31:24.540 maybe doing some kind of a cooking class, um, uh, for like, you know,

00:31:29.280 onset late onset hunters, um, that like know nothing. Right. And it's like,

00:31:33.780 okay, he had all these doe tags that he doesn't even really use. And it's like,

00:31:37.540 let's go shoot some does with like five or six guys that want to learn and I'll

00:31:42.020 show everyone how to break them down and we'll cook them and it's going to be

00:31:44.180 great. So he invites me to his bear camp and we're going to talk and, and sort

00:31:48.260 of figure out this class. And, uh, none of the guys at this camp, I think there was

00:31:53.140 four or five guys had ever eaten bear meat and they're, they all had tags.

00:31:57.520 They've all shot bears like, you know, growing up and stuff, but they're just

00:32:00.820 not accustomed to eating bear. And I think Alberta and Saskatchewan, you're not

00:32:07.080 required to eat bear because they can be full of worms and parasites. And it's

00:32:10.320 like, you have to use the fur. Like you can't, you either have to gift the fur

00:32:14.620 to, there's like fur kind of depots you can send your hides to. Um, you just can't

00:32:20.400 toss it in the bush. Like that's the illegal part. Um, because it's a fur bearing

00:32:23.840 mammal. You have to like give it away or do something with it. So the coolest

00:32:28.680 part for me, it was, I did bear shanks. So I, I took a reciprocating saw, cut the

00:32:33.140 shanks off, put them in the crock pot, you know, beef stock. There was town 20

00:32:38.720 minutes from camp. So I, I went out, got some beef stock and canned tomatoes and I

00:32:43.600 got a polenta. I like doing this like cheesy grits kind of dish, but I use

00:32:47.840 polenta. Um, and, uh, I made this stew by the fire and like these guys were

00:32:54.340 like dumbfounded. They, I couldn't believe they were shooting bears. Like

00:32:57.220 some of these guys were shooting bears their whole life and never eaten it.

00:32:59.420 Cause they're just told like, it's like their grandfather's like, you can't eat

00:33:02.480 bear. And they're like, okay, you can't eat bear, you know? And it's just like,

00:33:06.200 it's just ingrained into them. And so for me, that's where I just, I get the most

00:33:10.100 satisfaction. Like just teaching guys, like you can eat stuff, you know, like,

00:33:13.680 and it's, you know, then it's like, Oh, well your deer lasts longer. Cause

00:33:17.840 you're eating, you're, you're eating a hundred pounds of bear meat for the

00:33:20.620 year. So it's like, I just, yeah, I, as a chef and as like a fellow hunter, I

00:33:25.640 just, I get so much out of sharing knowledge with these, with, with friends

00:33:29.580 and, and other hunters.

00:33:31.540 Men, let me step away from the conversation briefly. Uh, this iteration in

00:33:36.600 the next week and a half is going to be one of the largest enrollment windows of

00:33:40.540 our brotherhood, the iron council that we've ever had.

00:33:43.680 Over nine plus years. Um, after 10 years of doing this work, it is painfully

00:33:49.100 and brutally obvious that one major factor that most men are missing is a band

00:33:55.760 of brothers. In fact, on a personal level, having a band of brothers quite

00:33:59.680 literally saved my life. As many of you know, I spent nearly two years being

00:34:04.580 drunk, hung over or passed out. Um, I got a kick in the proverbial balls and a

00:34:11.080 deep reality check when my ex-wife told me she wanted out. Uh, and when that

00:34:15.420 happened, I immediately, immediately instantly turned to my men in the iron

00:34:20.840 council. Some were mad at me and I get that some were empathetic of what I was

00:34:26.120 going through, but every single one of them, regardless of how they felt had my

00:34:31.140 back and in their own unique way, helped me to find myself and get back on the

00:34:36.060 path again. If you are missing this and a lot of you guys are, I want you to band

00:34:41.440 with me in the men. Do not sleep on this guys. Don't twiddle your thumbs and hope

00:34:48.000 that what you're currently doing is going to get you to what you don't already

00:34:52.840 enjoy. It's time to do something different. And the iron council is the way.

00:34:58.060 Now we open up on September 15th. So what's that about a week, drop your email,

00:35:05.180 drop your name at order man.com slash iron council. And I will personally send you an

00:35:11.220 email on September 15th to have you join us. I'm going to invite you. I'm going to

00:35:17.100 have you band with us. I'm going to have you be with a solid group of men. Not only is

00:35:24.260 that our mission, but it's what I want for you. And I think it's what you want for

00:35:28.300 yourself, but a lot of us sleep on it and we're arrogant and we think we can do it

00:35:34.060 alone. And the reality is, as I've learned over 43 years on this spinning rock, we

00:35:40.840 can't do it alone. We need other people. So if you're interested and want to band

00:35:45.360 with us and you should be interested and you should want to band with us, then go to

00:35:48.940 order man.com slash iron council order man.com slash iron council. All right, guys, do that

00:35:55.520 right after the show. Let me get back to it with Michael. I mean, and not only is it more

00:35:59.740 efficient, I just think it's more ethical. Like if you're going to kill an animal, I think

00:36:03.800 it's crucial that you learn, learn how to cook it. Cause that's part of the process. But

00:36:08.440 if you can take as much meat as you possibly can off that animal, I mean, that's a significantly

00:36:13.360 more ethical way to approach this. And that's, that's a reason a lot of people, uh, if they're

00:36:19.700 reasonable, I can see some people who, you know, may, may not want to hunt or they don't

00:36:25.040 eat meat, but they're reasonable about it. Right. Yeah. And there's those people. If you

00:36:29.540 explain to them, Hey, look, we were using all the meat. We, we, we honor the animal. We're

00:36:34.740 not mistreating animals. We try to go for ethical shots that put an animal down quickly.

00:36:38.940 Reasonable people get that and they can appreciate it. It's the unreasonable ones that are just out

00:36:45.820 of this world. And you, I know you've had experiences more so than other people with

00:36:50.300 some of these unreasonable type vegans. It's wild to me. What was that? Like five or six

00:36:55.360 years ago that happened where you started to get protested in front of your, uh, in front of the

00:36:59.180 restaurant. It was, it was pre COVID. And the funny thing was before antler, um, I worked for a big

00:37:06.900 corporate company and they had like 50 restaurants and I worked at one of their, uh, smaller kind of

00:37:12.540 independent restaurants. It was more fine dining. And, um, I started doing game dinners

00:37:17.740 while you really were shooting for my cookbook with my business partner, my business partner

00:37:22.800 now, but at the time we were just friends and we got this idea, we'll do some well game dinners.

00:37:27.400 Um, and we'll attach like a charity to it so we can do it legally and whatever. Um, and we

00:37:32.840 started getting some press around it. And my old boss was like, Hey man, if you want

00:37:36.860 to do stuff on your day off, like we can't stop you, but like, you can't mention that

00:37:41.480 you work here. I was like, why? And he was like, well, you know, we don't want people

00:37:46.360 protesting the fact that you're shooting animals. And I was like, Oh, like why? Like

00:37:50.720 that's a thing.

00:37:52.160 Like, isn't that what we, isn't that what people eat meat? Like it's gotta be killed.

00:37:56.500 I couldn't even, so this is not like, this was like, you know, 12 years ago. And then, uh,

00:38:01.520 yeah, we opened our doors and I think a couple of years later we had, um, one of our staff,

00:38:06.480 I don't even know who did it. No one would really fess up to it. They wrote, uh, venison

00:38:10.900 is the new kale on our chalkboard sign. It was like a fun little joke. Yeah. And this

00:38:16.080 vegan cyclist rode by and saw the sign and was like offended. And, uh, she was part of

00:38:23.780 this organization where they protest the slaughterhouse, like five minutes or 10 minutes

00:38:27.780 away from the restaurant. So they already had their little pita group. Um, and they were

00:38:33.040 prepared. They were prepared. And we actually got a call from the clothing company, uh, Canada

00:38:40.240 goose. They make the big puffy jackets. Um, and they were getting protested by this group

00:38:45.760 because they have at the time, I think they've actually canceled it, but I think because of

00:38:49.800 the down, the goose down feathers inside the coats and the coyote fur on the hood. And we got

00:38:56.380 a call from their head of security that was like, Hey guys, just heads up. This group

00:39:00.480 is planning to protest your restaurant on Thursday. Like what? Like, why, what are you talking

00:39:05.860 about? Yeah. And, uh, they sent us all this info and they sent us a like security company

00:39:11.140 we could hire, which we did thankfully. Um, because they're like, yeah, if they come in your

00:39:16.060 restaurant, you're allowed to physically remove them. But like, it's probably better if it's

00:39:19.820 not you. And they kind of coached us through it. Um, but yeah, we had no clue, uh, what

00:39:26.560 we were doing or why. And like, we actually, they, we tried to communicate with them and

00:39:31.060 it was very clear. They were not interested in having an intellectual dialogue with us.

00:39:36.820 And also wasn't clear. It was clear to us that they didn't know anything about us. Like

00:39:41.880 we had a vegan dish on the menu already. We had, we have very, like we have vegetarian items

00:39:47.820 on the menu already because it's Toronto. It's like a progressive city. Uh, and like,

00:39:52.540 I don't care what you eat. Like you're welcome in my home. Like the restaurant is our home.

00:39:57.060 Uh, you know, if you're halal, kosher, vegan, I don't care. Like your money is the same as

00:40:01.860 anyone else's. You know what I mean? Like there's all kinds of like, you know, I like eating salad,

00:40:06.360 like, you know, like coming to salad. Like, so it was very bizarre. We were just sort of dumbfounded

00:40:11.360 as to why they picked us. And we just kind of let it go on for a couple months and they would

00:40:17.200 come every week. Uh, every Thursday they'd come or like come on a Friday, but they're weird. Like

00:40:22.700 they would come and they would take pictures like at 10 to five. Like we'd open at five. So they'd

00:40:27.500 take pictures through our windows and put it on their, you know, sad vegan Facebook groups that

00:40:32.980 were like antlers empty. There's nobody here. Our protests are working. And it's like, you're

00:40:37.720 posting pictures when we're not even open. And then, and then it just started getting worse because

00:40:43.540 we just ignored them. Like we didn't give a shit. And I think that pissed them off.

00:40:47.360 So they kept like, they kept going farther and farther than they would like take pictures

00:40:51.440 of my kids and put them online. And like, so that's when, uh, after three months of them

00:40:57.140 coming every week, I, uh, I, I cut up an entire, uh, deer leg in the window and told them to F

00:41:02.960 off and they, uh, they put it on their channels and it went completely viral. Um, you know,

00:41:08.780 every news outlet in the States was writing about it. It was on a bunch of the news stuff

00:41:14.180 on TV. Uh, and it was global news. We were getting news, uh, sent to us from friends like

00:41:19.980 in Europe, in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, a friend of mine cooks in Singapore sent me

00:41:26.200 an article. Like, I just couldn't believe it. It was like, well, you, you hear about things

00:41:30.460 going viral, like, you know, the Hawk to a girl, like, you know, thankfully mine wasn't quite

00:41:36.020 as embarrassing, but like when it happens to you, it's like, it's fucking sucks.

00:41:42.240 Was it, I mean, I imagine there was a ding to the business initially, but

00:41:47.160 also I have to wonder if it just helped your business explode.

00:41:51.780 Oh man. And so initially it was hurting cause we're like, uh, we're like a small, we're like

00:41:56.860 mom and pop kind of place. Uh, we're 45 seats.

00:42:00.060 Yeah. If I'm going to go out to dinner, I'm not going to go to a place where I'm going to

00:42:01.840 be harassed. Like, yeah, well that's what was happening. So people were walking by and

00:42:05.640 they're like these jerks with megaphones, like screaming at people. Right. And it was

00:42:10.100 like, I would see people cross the street. And what really pissed me off is I saw this

00:42:13.840 couple come in and the lady looked like she was about to cry. Like, because they had these

00:42:18.140 signs of like animals being tortured in other countries and they're like, this is what you're

00:42:22.560 eating, you know? So yeah, that's, you know, really what triggered me, um, to kind of fight

00:42:30.240 back was like, we got to do something like they're, they're hurting our business. They're like

00:42:34.240 stressing out my staff. They're stressing me out. Um, you know, I knew like I would leave

00:42:40.000 when they were coming cause I knew I was going to do something stupid. And then, you know,

00:42:43.860 that particular day, my business partner was away or he had to do something. He had a meeting

00:42:48.600 or something. So I had to stay. And then it just sort of happened that we had a whole deer

00:42:52.260 delivered that morning. So I was like, you like, I'm going to debone this in front of you.

00:42:56.900 You jerks. Like, yeah, you're pissing me off. I'm going to piss you off. And it's really

00:43:01.440 going to piss you off. And, uh, it did, it totally worked. Um, and then I cooked a piece

00:43:06.600 and came back to the window and ate in front of them. Like it was, it was comical. It was,

00:43:10.560 uh, it was, how did it all, how did it all die? Like, did it just dwindle out? They lost

00:43:15.020 interest or how did it come to it? No, from there it grew. Like, so then, so it was like

00:43:19.400 10 or 20 people would show up and protest the restaurant. Then it was like a hundred. And

00:43:24.160 then, but then it started, like we started like our, when it went viral, our business doubled

00:43:29.140 overnight. Like we couldn't, we couldn't fit any more people in the restaurant. And like,

00:43:33.400 we were, we made some like best new restaurant lists. We got a couple of awards when we first

00:43:37.900 opened, we were on all the breakfast television shows, like cooking with, you know, the morning

00:43:42.080 show and whatever. So we were popular already. It's like, we didn't really need the business,

00:43:45.820 but like all of a sudden we started doing like Saturday numbers on a Tuesday, like, you know,

00:43:51.140 Tuesday through Thursday was kind of slow. And then Friday, Saturday, Sunday was always busy

00:43:54.900 and we closed Monday, but then like Tuesday, every night was like a busy Saturday all of

00:43:59.420 a sudden. So, um, and people were coming wearing fur coats to fight with them. And like, you

00:44:05.320 know, there was like comedy people coming. There was like far right news. Yeah. There was like

00:44:10.400 far right news organizations coming to like mess with them and stuff. Like it was just bizarre.

00:44:15.880 And they just, they protested us once a week for 11 months. Uh, and it was like, man, it was

00:44:21.780 like dinner and a show. It was just bizarre. And, uh, and it was a weird time. Um, you know,

00:44:28.540 Joe Rogan reached out and had me on the podcast. That was wild. Um, yeah, it was just, uh, it was

00:44:35.100 a really weird time. And, um, you know, I think it, you know, definitely the cool part was I put the

00:44:41.560 restaurant on the map, like on an international level. Um, like I said, we were popular already.

00:44:47.160 We had a good thing going. Um, and then now we get people from all over the world that are in

00:44:51.840 Toronto on business that come to the restaurant because of that, you know, they heard us on

00:44:56.140 Rogan or in the news and they wanted to, they want to check us out. So, um, yeah, it was definitely

00:45:01.920 a silver lining and right. Thanks for the press. Appreciate it. You did exactly opposite of what

00:45:07.420 you're trying to do, you know, but it could have gone the other way. Like if we had, uh, I had a

00:45:12.240 friend with a PR company and I spoke to her and she was like, all right, do not go outside.

00:45:17.360 Like whatever you do, do not go outside and talk to them. Uh, she was like, you're going to write

00:45:21.960 one statement and we're going to pick the news, you know, article like a news company that we're

00:45:28.680 going to give it to. And you're going to give one interview with one educated, you know, person that

00:45:32.520 we like. Uh, and then you're not going to talk to anybody else. So what happened was that news

00:45:38.540 article, everyone just started quoting that same piece. So what happens is, you know, and

00:45:43.980 cause what happens when you try and tell the same story over and over again, little things change,

00:45:48.200 you know, you might start saying your views on one thing, you could get political, you could say

00:45:52.420 something inappropriate, like, and then it's like a game of broken telephone almost. But like with,

00:45:57.580 we did our one statement and then it was like, we had one story and we just kind of stuck to it

00:46:01.920 and it worked, you know, and then they kept interviewing this lady and she just kept sounding

00:46:06.580 crazier and crazier and crazier. And, you know, you know, and they were crazy and, uh, they wanted

00:46:12.900 us to stick a sign in our window that was like, you know, basically that we're evil and we hurt

00:46:20.020 animals and, you know, we're going to switch our menu to being vegan. And it was like, who in their

00:46:25.120 right mind would do this? Like, you know, if you want to open a restaurant and serve vegan food,

00:46:30.140 like, I think that's great. Go ahead. But like, you're not going to tell me what to serve in my

00:46:33.900 restaurant. Like it's bizarre. So yeah, it was very, very strange thing to me is that, you know,

00:46:39.200 I, for anybody who eats meat, I would, I would assume that nobody really cares that another

00:46:45.980 person is a vegan. Now I might mock, mock it a little bit and poke out a little bit. Cause I

00:46:51.500 think it's funny and gross, but, but I'm not, I'm not going to like attack a person or go after

00:46:57.940 their, like, I really don't care all that much. It's funny that I only come from one side, you

00:47:02.340 know? Yeah, it's very strange. And it's, I find it was like, you know, not that I want to get into

00:47:06.560 politics by any means, but it's like, you know, some political parties accept the other political

00:47:12.060 parties for who they are and just let them be. And then other ones want to change everybody.

00:47:15.600 And it's like, well, it's not how life works. It's like, I really miss. And I think, you know,

00:47:21.040 part of the issues in the world today is with social media and, and just like every news article,

00:47:29.120 like news stations trying to get clicks with like clickbait. And they're like, the only way that

00:47:34.800 they can get their views and get their funding is through clickbait. And it's, it's really like

00:47:39.980 just turning people against each other where like, you know, governments and, and people are supposed

00:47:44.960 to work together and like, you know, having different views in a government used to be a good thing

00:47:49.780 where they would, you know, try and work out their differences and come to some kind of a middle

00:47:53.040 ground. You know, it doesn't happen anymore. You know, it's just sort of us versus them and people

00:47:59.280 trying to change the other people's opinion as opposed to, you know, uniting people and coming

00:48:03.940 together. Well, and even on the, oh, go ahead. No, I was going to say, like, I don't think it's

00:48:09.580 sustainable for the entire world to be vegan and it's maybe not sustainable for the entire world to

00:48:14.000 hunt and eat, you know, to do what we do. You know, I don't think there's enough game animals on the

00:48:18.700 planet if everyone was to take up hunting and, and, and do what I do. But, you know, maybe someone

00:48:23.780 wants to have a little farm with chickens, you know, maybe, maybe they do want to be vegan and

00:48:27.520 have a little self-sustaining farm and just eat vegetables. Like, I think that's great. You know,

00:48:31.740 I'm good for them, but I'm not trying to change the way that anyone is.

00:48:37.180 The most interesting thing to me about it is somebody who's truly a vegan, you know, and maybe

00:48:42.040 they're doing it at principle. Maybe they're doing it for health reasons or whatever, but

00:48:45.380 they, they do not eat meat or animal products at all. I actually have some respect for that.

00:48:51.720 They're, they're taking a principled approach. I don't, I don't agree with it, but at least

00:48:56.700 they're being principled in application of what they believe. But the issue that I have is somebody

00:49:01.760 who eats meat, but then like I'll post a picture of me hunting a deer and they're like, I can't,

00:49:08.520 you're a horrible human. You killed that deer. I'm like, dude, you're eating a hamburger right now.

00:49:13.260 Like I saw a dish on your Instagram thing of the chicken breast that you had last night.

00:49:20.320 Like what's the difference?

00:49:22.120 He's never seen sunlight. Yeah.

00:49:23.500 Yeah. Well, that's the difference, right?

00:49:25.020 That's bizarre. That's bizarre. And I've got some family friends that have property and they

00:49:28.520 won't let me hunt because they don't, they don't like hunting. And it's like, well, you eat meat.

00:49:31.460 Like, what do you mean? And they're like, well, we like the deer. It's like, okay, fair enough.

00:49:36.140 But I get that. It's like, we like the deer coming in. We like to have them. I get, I understand

00:49:40.380 that actually. You know what? And the best part is my, like my, my mom has some family

00:49:44.940 friends with lots of property. And I asked her friend if I could hunt and she turned me

00:49:49.240 down and it was practically and it was like, okay, fair enough. Super cool. She called me

00:49:52.640 two years later. She goes, they ate all my landscaping. I put all this money into these

00:49:56.220 flowers and things. And she was like, kill this year.

00:49:58.820 Yeah, it was funny. Or like when, uh, where my friend's mom lives, his neighbor, uh, lets

00:50:07.920 us hunt turkeys, but not the deer. Cause he doesn't like the turkeys, but likes the deer.

00:50:11.820 Yeah. It's, it's people that think the food comes from a styrofoam package in the grocery

00:50:16.280 store and then, you know, throw shade at us for hunting is, uh, is something I'll never

00:50:20.820 understand. But yeah. Yeah. It's strange. It's, uh, it is what it is. And it's what, what a

00:50:27.380 hunter, I guess has to contend with, but also, you know, we post all of our stuff on social

00:50:31.380 media. So we call that attention out and there's a lot of people who do it respectfully. There's

00:50:36.220 guys, well, Joe Rogan's a great example. Cam Haynes, John Dudley. Um, these guys do it in

00:50:42.520 a very respectful, educated, ethical way, I think. But then I've seen other things where,

00:50:47.760 you know, they'll take a picture of their deer and blood's all over the deer and the deer's

00:50:51.560 tongues hanging out. I'm like, guys, come on. Like optics are important, especially in a, in a,

00:50:57.380 especially today. Yeah. Yes. And an activity that is very, that agitates a lot of people.

00:51:03.120 Yeah. And I think that is exactly why me as a chef sort of found a niche into the hunting

00:51:09.940 world. And I've been able to work with, um, a couple of really cool brands, um, as I write

00:51:16.960 recipes for a shotgun company, you know, I can talk about food first, you know, this is why

00:51:23.560 I hunt, post a picture of food as opposed to, uh, you know, just the, yeah, dead animal,

00:51:29.480 right. I think the grip and grid. And for people that don't hunt, it's, it's a more of

00:51:34.080 a icebreaker. Um, and it's been really cool for me to explore, um, you know, like during

00:51:40.260 COVID when my restaurant was shut down, if it wasn't for, you know, working with some

00:51:43.400 of these outdoor companies, I would have lost my house, you know, Toronto, Canada was really

00:51:48.220 bad for, uh, for the lockdowns and stuff like that. So I'm, I'm definitely really grateful for

00:51:53.620 the, uh, the partners that have in the outdoor space. All right. So at the restaurant, uh, are

00:51:59.620 you, is there any sort of restriction on game that you can prepare? Oh, totally. Yeah. Yeah.

00:52:05.740 It's exactly like the States. Like, so we work with local game farms, um, and then everything's

00:52:10.940 got to go to a slaughterhouse. Um, I know in Texas, they're doing a, uh, a program where if

00:52:16.440 they trap the hogs, uh, they can get them onto a trailer and then they're actually processed

00:52:21.460 at a, um, facility. So friends of mine with, uh, Mossy Oak, um, they're doing a Mossy Oak

00:52:27.560 butchery. Uh, I think it's called Gamekeeper butchery. You can go online and actually order

00:52:31.680 this wild, uh, boar meat, um, that's coming from Texas. It's actually wild and you can order

00:52:37.620 that to your door, which I think is super cool. That's cool. Um, because you know, the sale

00:52:42.080 of game, uh, in Canada and us for the most part is illegal, you know, besides that, I

00:52:46.400 know, like Maui venison, they've got a similar sort of promote, uh, sort of idea where you

00:52:50.720 can, they, it's, it's wild venison that's been processed and they're, they're selling

00:52:55.060 it. Um, and I think things like that are cool because it's, you know, it's an invasive

00:52:59.820 problem. You know, it's like, I don't want to advocate for wiping out all the elk so I

00:53:04.180 can sell it at my restaurant. But like, if there's a problem with wild pigs, like let's

00:53:07.980 do something about it and let's, instead of just exterminate them and leave them rotting

00:53:11.480 in the field, let's put them on, let's feed people, you know?

00:53:14.780 So, right. Yeah. Same thing with the axis deer in, in Hawaii. And it's funny. I've

00:53:19.160 one of the guys I help with, he's, they are, there's no predators. So there's not,

00:53:23.580 there's no, there's no cycle of life, appropriate cycle of life there. Right. Yeah. Well, but

00:53:29.540 one of the guys I hunt with gets upset cause he with, uh, with Maui venison or whatever

00:53:34.360 it's called, he's like, that was my idea. I had an idea first. Yeah. So I hear him get

00:53:39.320 upset every once in a while. That's funny.

00:53:40.900 Yeah. Oh, that's funny, man. Um, yeah. You know what? Newfoundland's a special place

00:53:46.020 in Canada. So there are the East coast islands. Um, and, um, well, I guess they're not. So

00:53:51.220 it's Newfoundland and Labrador. Labrador is on the mainland and Newfoundland is the

00:53:54.520 island, but it's one, one province. They actually can sell wild game, uh, in their

00:54:00.480 restaurants. You can sell it to your neighbor. Um, and I think a lot of it, I don't know if

00:54:04.820 it was from tourism or they just never, they never changed the laws. So, um, I know moose

00:54:12.040 are not native to the Island and they're actually, um, hurting the natural caribou population.

00:54:18.820 So like something like moose, you can shoot a moose. And as long as you have the tag, if

00:54:22.880 you draw, like if you get the tag, you can do whatever you want with that moose. Um, same

00:54:28.100 with partridge, same with whatever. And I think the only stipulations they have is on their

00:54:32.040 menus. They have to notify people like this is wild game, like eat at your own risk.

00:54:36.560 Um, but it's sort of an example where, you know, they're not killing extra animals just

00:54:42.740 to sell it. But if you shoot a moose and you've got the tag already, you can kind of do what

00:54:47.300 you want with it, which is sort of, it's interesting. And it's an interesting model. Um, I think a

00:54:51.860 lot of people would disagree with me if I said I wanted to do that in Ontario at my restaurant.

00:54:57.520 Um, because I think like the wild boar, I think there's some invasive species, like,

00:55:01.860 you know, Canada geese, snow geese, things that are, you know, technically overabundant

00:55:06.360 species. Um, I think there'd be some really neat opportunities because for me as a chef,

00:55:12.340 you know, why can I buy wild salmon and sell it, but not wild meat. And for people that

00:55:19.080 don't hunt, uh, people that don't hunt and fish, you know, they have access to wild fish,

00:55:25.060 but there's really no access to wild meat. And I think, you know, I think everyone has the

00:55:29.420 right to eat wild meat. And, but if you don't hunt, there's really no way to acquire it.

00:55:33.980 Um, so it's interesting to look at. I know it would be very controversial. Um,

00:55:39.040 why do you think it'd be controversial?

00:55:41.600 Well, because, you know, things like moose in Ontario, the moose populations aren't great.

00:55:46.200 Um, you know, in some places the deer populations aren't great. So I think there's some animals that,

00:55:50.740 you know, shouldn't be on that list of things to hunt. And like, you know, I know that upland

00:55:55.420 game birds, uh, numbers aren't, you know, some aren't doing well in some areas and stuff like

00:55:59.540 that. So there would probably, I think it would be, I mean, if you had like a tag system, that's

00:56:04.060 fine. But like in thinking about this, there would probably be a significantly higher instance of

00:56:09.700 poaching if you monetized every animal too. Totally. And I think, yeah, exactly. Like I think

00:56:14.280 there'd be, there would still be poaching. Um, you know, and I, I even know now I, there,

00:56:19.120 there's still issues with poaching, but I think with the, the overabundant species and the

00:56:24.020 invasive species, uh, they do it in other countries. Like even in, in Europe, uh, the

00:56:29.760 UK, for example, they've got a huge problem with fallow deer. Uh, a friend of mine, you

00:56:34.420 might know him, chef Mike Robinson from the UK. Um, he's got a program called deer box where

00:56:40.080 he, he manages a bunch of property in estates. Uh, and he, he calls like 2000 deer a year or

00:56:47.760 something like they have, it's, it's, it's, I don't know if it's invasive, but it's a, it's

00:56:51.660 a game animal that I think it was brought to England. Um, and they've got no natural

00:56:57.040 predators and they're like, you know, wiping out farmers crops and stuff and they've got

00:57:03.420 a problem. So he, you know, he's got like a bunch of restaurants, they sell all the deer

00:57:08.220 in the restaurants, but as a citizen, you know, you can buy, sign up for his deer box

00:57:13.080 program and get fresh meat delivered to your door. Like, I think it's a cool, it's a, it's

00:57:18.140 a really cool program, you know, and, and, you know, maybe it wouldn't work here, but

00:57:21.800 I think, you know, even in some, some coastal regions like lionfish, you know, I don't know

00:57:27.320 exact numbers, but they're over, uh, you know, overpopulated and invasive and pushing out,

00:57:32.840 you know, native, uh, reef fish, you know, things like that would be interesting to look

00:57:36.380 at. Like, let's, let's call these invasive species and, and sell them or eat them.

00:57:41.680 Well, and I don't really see a difference between doing something like that in the same

00:57:45.660 process that we use for cattle. I mean, you know, they're, they're, they're all brought

00:57:50.760 into a slaughterhouse. They're raised to, to eat and consume. And, you know, you can do

00:57:55.460 the same thing with deer, for example. The problem is, is they're a little bit higher

00:58:01.120 on the cuteness scale. And that's where people draw the line, right? Yeah, exactly. It's like

00:58:07.260 a cat, eat a cow and we can factory farm these cows, but we're not going to do that with deer

00:58:11.920 because they're too cute. You know what? But like, but also farming deer and I've learned

00:58:16.160 too, and like farming bison, it's a lot harder and the yields aren't, your profit margins are

00:58:21.660 smaller, but the yield of meat is, is a lot less than a cow. You know, even bison, like

00:58:25.760 the age for maturity to slaughter bison is two years, whereas cattle is like, you know, nine

00:58:32.160 to 12 months. So it's just, uh, it's a, it's a money thing. Right. But, um, it's, uh, it's

00:58:39.020 definitely interesting, you know, and especially with the wild boar thing, like, you know, we

00:58:43.320 should be doing everything we can to get rid of those and eat them, you know, as far as

00:58:46.780 I'm concerned. Um, they are a noose. They're a real problem. Dude, like, uh, yeah, like we

00:58:52.840 don't quite have it here where I live. Some of the Western provinces are having some issues.

00:58:57.860 Uh, but you know, I've seen the destruction in Mississippi and Texas and it's wild. Like they'll

00:59:03.400 plant a field and the next day it's all torn up and they've eaten all the corn seeds that have

00:59:07.900 gone on the ground. Like it's bizarre. Um, you know, I'm surprised we don't have them

00:59:12.580 in Utah to the degree. I mean, there's maybe a few, but it's not really a problem yet.

00:59:17.500 And I'm kind of like, Oh, we don't want that problem. And the hunter side of me says, well,

00:59:21.800 we kind of do want that problem actually. Yeah. Yeah. So here a lot of, I don't know Ontario

00:59:27.680 laws specifically, but I know in the, some of the Western provinces, it's actually illegal

00:59:32.100 to, to lease your land for hunting. Um, we're in the States, like people lease land all

00:59:37.080 the time. Like that's a majority of the way that people, everyone that hunts that I know has a

00:59:40.720 lease somewhere. Um, but where I live, it's, it's basically if you're hunting private property,

00:59:46.340 you just need permission. So, um, you know, geese do a lot of damage to farmers fields. So

00:59:51.560 I get to geese hunt, you know, and, um, I do a lot of work with some farmers. I help them apply,

00:59:57.660 uh, in the off season. Um, when they're planting their crops, the, the geese will come and hit all the

01:00:02.920 like little shoots that are growing, um, and wipe out their crops and, and you can actually apply

01:00:07.860 for the, uh, the permits to kill, the kill permits for those geese. So I've actually helped a bunch

01:00:12.660 of farmers like this is, you know, here's the form, you got to fill it out and I'll come shoot

01:00:16.420 them for you. Um, you know, and then in, in sort of in return, they'll let me hunt in the fall and I

01:00:21.400 can shoot turkey or deer or whatever, but, um, it's sort of a neat relationship that we have with,

01:00:26.140 uh, with the farmers here.

01:00:27.480 I think that's one of the coolest things about the hunting community in general is you're going

01:00:33.080 to find outliers to this, but everybody works together. You know, everybody's trying to do

01:00:38.240 the right thing. You know, every once in a while I get a post of people saying I'm trophy hunting or

01:00:42.400 whatever, because they don't understand, but I, you know, I don't personally know any poachers like

01:00:47.160 everybody that I know who's a hunter or that I hunt with is an ethical, moral person. They go out

01:00:53.220 there, they want to do it right. They want to get as much food as they can. They're really

01:00:57.180 giving with their food. They give it to family and friends. Like it's just not what a lot of

01:01:03.280 people think it is, but it's a very cool community of people. Yeah. And the funny thing too, is like

01:01:09.920 people think you shoot a deer, you cut the head off and you leave it in the field and bring it home.

01:01:14.740 It's like, that's like so illegal. Like even if I was, even if I wanted to do that, yeah. Like even

01:01:21.480 if I wanted to do that, like, do you know the amount of trouble you get in? It's like, they can take

01:01:25.620 your car, your trailer, your side-by-side, like whatever you use, your hunting license,

01:01:30.320 like you are like, you know, the fines, like it is like, so not even worth it. Like, and it's,

01:01:37.640 but people don't, they're like, Oh, we didn't even know that's, that's the thing. Like you have to

01:01:41.060 eat it. It's like, yeah, it's against the law not to like, that's funny, man. So, yeah.

01:01:47.040 Well, so where did the, uh, where did the cookbook come into play? I mean, obviously,

01:01:50.480 you know, you hunt, you've got the restaurant and then you decided to put together this cookbook

01:01:54.600 out of being asked or just a project you wanted to do or what did that look like?

01:01:58.360 No, it was, yeah, it was just sort of, uh, I, I think it was in my twenties. I sort of got the

01:02:04.300 idea that I wanted to do it. Um, you know, the more I started hunting and picking mushrooms and

01:02:10.400 foraging and stuff, uh, more of my family and friends were, I could see like people were really

01:02:15.440 interested in what I was doing. Um, and they wanted me to like take them or teach them or,

01:02:20.080 um, like just educate. And I just thought I should, you know, this would be cool to write a book.

01:02:24.680 And, uh, again, it was like what I was doing wasn't new. Um, but like, it's sort of like

01:02:30.560 a lot of stuff and traditions have been lost, you know, I think. Um, so I, I just, I really just

01:02:38.140 wanted to help educate people and like, you know, this is the food that's all around us. Um, and then I,

01:02:42.900 I wound up working for a famous chef, uh, from the States that opened a restaurant in Canada

01:02:46.980 and he gave me his cookbook and I kind of looked at the guy and was like, you know,

01:02:51.240 he's just a regular guy like me. And, you know, he wrote a book, I'm going to write a book,

01:02:55.380 you know, and that's sort of where the idea came from. Um, and then, uh, yeah, I just,

01:03:02.800 I wanted to be about wild food and, and fishing and foraging and, and really just sharing knowledge.

01:03:08.880 Um, but I just, uh, yeah, I bought a camera and I thought I'm just going to take pictures on my

01:03:13.800 adventures. And it was just sort of like this dream I was working on and didn't really have an

01:03:18.860 end goal. I didn't have a publisher. I knew someone that self-published a book. I thought,

01:03:23.340 oh, maybe I'll try self-publishing. Um, and then, uh, I just wound up meeting other chefs that had

01:03:29.360 books. And then I, I asked if they, you know, they could put me in touch with their publisher.

01:03:32.720 Um, uh, which was interesting because in the beginning they were like, yeah, uh, you can do

01:03:38.440 wild game, but like, there's no pictures of dead animals or like, and there was no squirrel. Like

01:03:43.060 I was sort of fascinated by how squirrel, yeah. Tasted like chicken. I was like, this is like such a,

01:03:48.620 yeah. It was like such a, I still think squirrel is like a really underrated game meat. Um,

01:03:55.420 I've never had a squirrel before. I will do it. You gotta shoot a squirrel there. It's like,

01:04:00.460 I was like, I don't know, 28 years old when I first ate squirrel. And I went and I got a 22 and

01:04:05.320 I shot all these squirrels. I was like, I don't even know what to do with these. And I like, I

01:04:08.660 YouTubed how to skin a squirrel. And it was like this 12 year old kid from Louisiana, like video,

01:04:15.880 it was like, it was, I laughed so hard. And then dude, it's like you skin them, like pulling off a

01:04:22.780 tube sock. Like they just pop off and they taste like rabbit, which tastes like they're in the rabbit

01:04:28.660 family. They don't get, uh, they can't get rabies. There's all these, like, they're pretty healthy,

01:04:33.160 like little, little critters. Um, and they taste like chicken at the end of the day. Like it,

01:04:38.980 and they're delicious. So yeah, really neat, neat little animal, super bony. Like, you know,

01:04:45.060 the back legs are kind of where it's right. Um, right. And then, you know, like, uh, you can kind

01:04:50.620 of take the bone out and pound it with a meat mallet and like do the buttermilk kind of fried

01:04:55.720 squirrel was really good. Really? Is that in the cookbook?

01:05:01.020 I believe it is. Oh no, you said you couldn't, you, oh, you did. Okay. Yeah.

01:05:03.940 No, I just, so that was the funny story. Like when I'd been working on the book for so long

01:05:07.480 that, uh, you know, I think meat eater launched a couple books before mine came out and we actually

01:05:12.500 have the same publisher. Uh, so I snuck, uh, ended up sneaking two or three squirrel recipes in the

01:05:17.940 book. Well done. Well done. Yeah. And then, you know, they, they sort of lightened it. There was

01:05:22.380 definitely a few photos of, uh, day animals and stuff. So they, uh, they, they, they took

01:05:27.260 it easy on me when I delivered everything, but that's awesome. Yeah. And then you have

01:05:31.140 a new book next year too, right? Yep. Um, so that, uh, I don't even have the official title

01:05:37.180 yet. That's still with the publisher, but all my work is done. It's, it's with the publisher

01:05:41.200 for design and printing and stuff, but it's going to be fall 2025. Um, uh, the first book did

01:05:48.120 really, really well. I was very fortunate. Um, uh, Steve Rinella had me on his podcast and

01:05:53.260 we actually launched the presale on his podcast, which was, uh, huge for me as a first time

01:05:58.360 author. Yeah. Really, really nice guy. Um, you know, for doing that, we have the same great

01:06:04.260 guy. Um, and we actually have the same publisher. So the publisher is really happy that when authors

01:06:08.760 do stuff like that, help each other out. Yeah. Help each other out. Yeah. And it was just,

01:06:12.980 you know, and I don't even, I didn't even really plan it. Like they invited me on the podcast.

01:06:17.020 We were talking about the vegan stuff. It was COVID. So it's like, I was just happy to get out

01:06:20.920 of Canada. Um, and then I was like, Hey, you know, my book's coming out and they're like, well,

01:06:25.520 let's launch, let's tell people about the presale. And I was like, sweet. Like it just sort of just

01:06:29.600 happened that sort of organically. Um, but yeah, so as a Canadian first time author is selling a book

01:06:35.580 in the States. It was a huge, huge deal for me. So it was, uh, it worked. Well, we'd be happy to have

01:06:40.580 you back on, uh, next year when the book comes out and I love these conversations and, you know,

01:06:44.920 hopefully at some point we can, uh, maybe get together, maybe, maybe hunt together or cook or

01:06:49.960 prepare. I'm sure we're running around in similar circles. So I'm sure we'll bump into each other

01:06:53.200 at some point. A hundred percent. Do you do any of the SCI shows or are you sure you go to the

01:06:57.540 Western hunt expo or I do go to the Western expo? That's one me and my boys go to every year. We

01:07:02.340 have for about six years now. I love it. I love it. You go to the Western expo? I have it. No,

01:07:07.820 I want to go. I've seen all the photos and it looks really cool. So let me know, uh, when it,

01:07:12.880 when it is and hopefully maybe next year I can come. I have some friends. Yeah. I think it's,

01:07:16.020 I think it's February I think is when, but I'll find out. I'll let you know. Okay. Yeah. Cool.

01:07:20.860 Awesome. Well, tell the guys where to connect with you, pick up a copy of the book, learn a little

01:07:24.100 bit more about your work and maybe even visit your restaurant. Yeah. So if, uh, if you're ever coming

01:07:29.000 through Toronto, um, uh, on a layover, book an extra night and come to antler kitchen and bar,

01:07:34.560 um, on the socials, it's antler kitchen and bar on Instagram and Twitter. Um, my personal stuff is

01:07:40.840 all at the Hunter chef, you know, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tik TOK, you know, any YouTube.

01:07:46.640 I've just actually started focusing on some, uh, more long format YouTube cooking videos for fun.

01:07:52.420 Um, so if there's anything you want to see, let me know, uh, let me know in the comments and I'll try

01:07:57.360 and make a video. Um, and yeah, the, the Hunter chef cookbook, uh, is on Amazon, you know, chapters,

01:08:04.280 Indigo, Barnes and Noble, wherever you buy books, it's, it's there. Um, signed copies are at my

01:08:10.020 website at the Hunter chef.com. Um, yeah, that's it, man. Awesome, brother. Well, this has been a

01:08:17.060 good conversation. I appreciate you and your work. I've, I've followed you. I think I initially found

01:08:20.780 you through Joe Rogan actually. And, uh, to be able to have a conversation now, man, I'm excited

01:08:25.660 about it and hopefully we'll get to know each other a little bit better. So thanks for joining me

01:08:29.620 today, man. Yes, sir. And I hope to share the field with you sometime. That'd be fun.

01:08:34.280 Man. There you go. My conversation with Michael Hunter. Hunter is actually his real last name.

01:08:41.860 It is not just, uh, some gimmick or ploy. It was meant to be. So if you want to connect with Michael

01:08:48.360 and I highly encourage that you do, please connect with him on the gram at the Hunter chef connect

01:08:53.800 with me on the gram at Ryan Mickler. It's spelled differently than you might think. M I C H L E R

01:09:00.620 and, uh, connect with us. Also, please share this. This is a grassroots movement. We don't do

01:09:08.080 advertising. In fact, I think I've probably spent over 10 years under $200 on advertising. Now I might

01:09:15.700 do more of that, but the reality is I care more about this growing through word of mouth, this

01:09:22.100 growing through you talking to your cousin or your father or your brother or your whoever

01:09:26.060 and telling them what we're doing here. So if you would please share this on Instagram, Facebook,

01:09:30.920 Twitter, take a screenshot, tag me, tag Michael, let people know what you're doing and what you're

01:09:36.680 listening to and how you're improving. Pick up a copy of the Hunter chef by Michael Hunter. He's got a

01:09:41.500 new book coming out next year. We're going to have him back on to talk about that. And if you're ever

01:09:45.840 in Toronto, then go check out the antler bar and a kitchen and bar. I have not yet tried it,

01:09:53.460 so I can't give you my testimonial, but I'm very anxious to do it. All right, guys, we will be back

01:09:59.800 tomorrow for our ask me anything, uh, recording live from Nashville because I'm, uh, out there

01:10:06.000 visiting Matt Walsh and the daily wire team for the movie premiere of am I racist? And, uh, we'll also

01:10:14.720 have our Friday field notes. So subscribe if you're listening on Apple podcasts or Spotify or iHeart

01:10:21.040 Radio or Pandora or wherever you listen, make sure you subscribe. All right, guys, we'll be back until

01:10:27.160 then go out there, take action and become the man you are meant to be. Thank you for listening to the

01:10:35.700 order of man podcast. You're ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you were meant

01:10:40.720 to be. We invite you to join the order at order of man.com.

01:10:51.040 Thank you.

Order of Man - September 10, 2024

MICHAEL HUNTER ｜ Finding Your Path Through Passion

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