From New Orleans to Con Amor: Chef Taylor Dillon on Mexican Food, Identity, and Building with Purpose

Summary

Walk-In Talk Podcast

Episode: From New Orleans to Con Amor: Chef Taylor Dillon on Mexican Food, Identity, and Building with Purpose

Host: Carl Fiadini
Guest: Chef Taylor Dillon (Con Amor, Tampa Bay), Lee Wilson (Creative Loafing Tampa Bay)
Date: May 8, 2026

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Overview

This episode explores the dynamic journey of Chef Taylor Dillon, a New Orleans native with African American and Belgian roots who fell deeply in love with Mexican cuisine and brought it to Tampa Bay by opening Con Amor with his wife, Kayla. Host Carl Fiadini and guest Lee Wilson discuss Taylor’s unusual route to authentic Mexican cooking, the challenges of building credibility in a cuisine outside his heritage, and the powerful partnership between he and Kayla—both in business and life. The episode also reflects on the evolving Tampa Bay food scene, identity, culture, and the meaning of “authenticity” in the industry.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Moving from New Orleans to Mexican Cuisine

• Taylor’s Background: Grew up on Creole cuisine in New Orleans, then sharpened his skills at top-tier NYC kitchens (Daniel, Jean-Georges) before discovering a passion for Mexican food.

  • "I started in New Orleans. I got made into a cook. That's where I made my bones." (04:37, Chef Taylor Dillon)
  • Key skills learned: Volume, repetition, attention to detail, kitchen etiquette, pride in work.

• Transition to Mexican Food:

  • Not from Mexican descent; fell into Mexican cuisine after taking an executive chef job.
  • Committed to authenticity: Learned nixtamalization, obsessed over books, and “chased the craft.”
  • "I'm a chef at heart... We're not bound to a certain cuisine just because of our ethnical background." (14:52, Chef Taylor Dillon)

2. The Partnership Behind Con Amor

• Building Together: Within a year, Taylor and Kayla got married, opened the restaurant, and built the brand as a duo.
  • Strong mutual support and complementary skills: Kayla brings the front-of-house personality and vibe; Taylor helms operations, execution, and teaching.
  • "We're the dynamic duo." (07:42, Chef Taylor Dillon)
  • "Cinco de Mayo was actually the year mark of our—our marriage. Our first year as our anniversary. So we took it and we threw a huge party at Con Amor, and it went down." (06:10, Chef Taylor Dillon)

3. On Mexican Food, Identity, and Earning Credibility

• Learning Process: Self-taught through relentless research, mentorship from peers, and firsthand eating at notable Mexican restaurants.

  • Gifted books (Alex Stupak’s) and relied on "obsessive" practice.
  • "I obsess over it. Lots of studying, lots of research, diving in the books, going out to eat..." (11:47, Chef Taylor Dillon)

• Connecting Cultures: Sees parallels between Creole and Mexican cuisine in their unique regional identities and flavor philosophies.

  • Values depth, simplicity, and letting ingredients shine—a lesson from both French and Mexican culinary traditions.
  • "If you want to make something good, take this one ingredient, take a carrot, and make a dish out of this. What it speaks to is a simplicity." (18:50, Chef Taylor Dillon)

• Addressing “Authenticity” and Outsider Status:

  • Taylor openly discusses lacking Mexican heritage, but believes in honoring the cuisine through respect and effort.
  • "There's a lot of chefs out there with the new wave. They want to... get their Michelin star. They want the James Beard. I'll take a person of Mexican descent tell me the food's good. That's my award right there." (28:06, Chef Taylor Dillon)
  • Gratitude and validation come from Mexican chefs and diners appreciating his food:
    • "I've had people come and say they were straight from Mexico... say that they feel like they're right back in Mexico... It's a profound feeling. I can't really put it into words." (26:39, Chef Taylor Dillon)

4. Rejection of Hyper-Competition & Embracing Community

• Taylor doesn’t view other Mexican restaurants as competition—sees himself as a lifelong student and a champion for elevating the entire cuisine.
  • "I'm forever a student, especially in Mexican cuisine... I have nothing but appreciation for them. I draw nothing but inspiration from it." (32:30, Chef Taylor Dillon)
  • Lee Wilson underscores the importance of community and uplifting one another in Tampa Bay’s culinary scene (34:13, Lee Wilson).

5. The Tampa Bay Food Scene: What's Hot with Lee Wilson

• Tampa Bay is experiencing an explosion of interest in chef-driven, story-rich dining experiences.

  • Best of the Bay (May 14 nominations start); Restaurant Month in June.
  • Emphasis on food as an immersive cultural and sensory experience—diners want to know the stories behind their meals.

• Fun segments on floating food vendors (fruit boats, hot dog boats, etc.) mirror the creative, personal approach rising in the scene.

  • "We absolutely are seeing the fact that diners are becoming more intellectually invested in the stories behind the food that they're eating." (24:48, Lee Wilson)

6. Building a Restaurant with Purpose & Culture

• Legacy and Guest Experience:

  • Taylor is less concerned with industry accolades, more focused on consistency, hospitality, and creating a welcoming, repeatable guest experience.
  • "As I've gotten more into this, owning a restaurant, I realized it's not just about good food... It's every element... people want a cultivated experience and that's what we want our guests to have." (36:33, Chef Taylor Dillon)
  • Host Carl adds: "The culture starts at the top and trickles down..." (37:22, Podcast Host)

• The Importance of Hospitality and Teamwork:

  • Communication—verbal and nonverbal—between Taylor and Kayla in the kitchen is a secret weapon.
  • Personality and genuine care are as important as recipes.

• Mental Health in Hospitality:

  • Brief acknowledgement of Burnt Chef Project, mental health awareness in the industry (35:27).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I took what I liked and what I didn't like from places. I liked the pride in my work that they teach up there... What I didn't like... was kind of like the harsher reality of being in the kitchen... Now, I'm presenting who I am in the kitchen.”
  — Taylor Dillon (04:37)

• “If your space is cluttered... that's how your thinking is... that's how your execution is going to be. But if you have a plan for everything, your space is neat, that's a representation of your mind.”
  — Taylor Dillon (08:35)

• “I love food, and I'm a chef at heart... we have this freedom... we’re not bound to a certain cuisine just because of our ethnical background.”
  — Taylor Dillon (14:52)

• “If I could make them happy and then make the group... happy when they came to eat at the restaurant... I had learned some decent level of it. And then ever since then, it's only progressed.”
  — Taylor Dillon (15:50)

• “The best tribute you can do... honoring another culture and embracing another culture, that’s kind of what the melting pot of this country is.”
  — Lee Wilson (30:15)

• “I'm forever a student, especially with Mexican cuisine... I have nothing but appreciation. I draw nothing but inspiration from it... We're all on the same team.”
  — Taylor Dillon (32:30)

• “You want them to leave and feel like they had a good experience.”
  — Taylor Dillon (36:33)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

00:29: Introduction & episode overview
02:16: Taylor describes signature dishes (duck with mole verde, in-house masa tacos)
04:37: Culinary background, New Orleans, NYC kitchens, and work ethic
06:10: Marriage, partnership, Cinco de Mayo anniversary
08:35: Mindset, kitchen discipline, philosophies learned from mentors
10:41: Deep dive into self-taught Mexican cooking journey
14:52: Hostile embrace of a cuisine beyond heritage—confidence and challenge
16:15: Early masa sales, creating from scratch in Florida
17:30: Blending Creole roots and French techniques into Mexican food
18:50: On simplicity and letting ingredients speak for themselves
19:52: “What's Hot Tampa Bay” segment with Lee Wilson
23:05: Outlandish Tampa Bay “foodie boats”
26:39: Greatest validation: Mexican chefs’ approval
32:30: Rejecting competition, embracing community of Mexican chefs
36:33: Vision for Con Amor’s guest experience
38:35: Lee Wilson on relationship-building as the key to success
41:25: Social media info for guests

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Further Information

• Con Amor (Chef Taylor Dillon):
  Instagram: @conamorefl

• Creative Loafing Tampa Bay (Lee Wilson):
  Instagram: @cltampabay
  Meet the Chefs: meettheshefstampabay.com
  Best of the Bay: vote.cltampa.com
  Website: cltampa.com

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Summary

Chef Taylor Dillon’s path to building Con Amor is a story about following one’s culinary passion beyond birthright, approaching tradition with utmost respect, and embracing both the hardships and joys of creating something meaningful with a partner. His journey underscores the current food movement in Tampa Bay—one rooted in human stories, craft, and community rather than just competition or trend. For listeners, this episode offers inspiration to fearless cooks and restaurateurs, and insight into why what matters most is heart, not heritage.

Transcript

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[Podcast Host Introduction]

Today's episode is about building something you weren't born into but still earning your place in it. Because food has always been bigger than geography. It's about respect, technique, obsession, time. Chef Taylor Dylan grew up in New Orleans, trained in elite kitchens like Daniel and Jean Georges New York, and somehow found himself completely pulled into Mexican cuisine. Not casually either. We're talking books, repetition, grinding corn from scratch, teaching himself nixtamalization and chasing authenticity because he genuinely fell in love with the craft behind it. Now he's built Gon Amore alongside his wife, Kayla. And the story behind it is bigger than just opening a restaurant. Within the span of about a year, they got married, opened the restaurant, and built a business together from the ground up. We're also joined by Lee Wilson, director of marketing for Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, for another segment of what's hot Tampa Bay. Because this conversation really reflects what the Tampa Bay food scene is heading right now. More personal, more intentional, more chefs willing to tell their story through food. So today we're talking about identity, culture, earning credibility, and what it takes to build something that actually means something. Taylor when you look at everything that's happened over the last couple of years, does it feel like it happened fast, or does it feel like every step took forever to get here? Let's get into it.

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

I feel like it's a combination of both. I feel like sometimes the days dragged on, and then before I knew it, we were getting into service and prepping for what needed to be done. Next and opening day.

[Podcast Host]

Welcome to the program, my man. What you do is real. And for those who don't know you yet, you're new to the market here. You're a badass. Let's talk about what you did today in the kitchen. You did two dishes. You did duck, and then you also did steak taco. Start with the duck. Get into that.

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

The duck is my transition away from wintertime into summertime. Light, fresh, light on stomach. We did a mole verde, which is not a traditional mole, where they do dry chilies and stuff like that. I went a more fresh route. Fresh poblano, fresh jalapeno, cilantro. Alongside that, I paired the duck with a cherry compote to deglaze with brandy. And I did a fresh micro cilantro salad with pear and a chocolate balsamic glaze.

[Podcast Host]

When we were filming, I mentioned to you that pears remind me of my grandmother, and that's special for me. So when chefs actually come through here and can conjure up some sort of nostalgic feeling with food, we really appreciate that. I know I do. And I'm speaking for John. He does too. So thank you for that. The duck was fantastic.

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

Thank you.

[Podcast Host]

Absolutely. But here's the kicker. It wasn't even the star dish. It was badass, but it wasn't even the star dish. You came through with these tacos today, man. I got to tell you, like, we've. We've had enough people on the. On the program that have done tacos. And you know what? Everybody's done a great job, by the way, I'm not going to talk about anybody if their dish wasn't great. I'm just not going to. I'm not going to promote it so much. But everybody has done a really terrific job with the product that they bring, the dishes that they do. Brother, that taco that. That taco that you did today was stupid delicious. Everything. Everything was the smoky marinade. Your in house. Masa, dude, Everything was fabulous. Right on you. You mentioned and you answered a question. It happened pretty quickly. Your lovely wife is sitting right here. You guys are doing amazing things, and your resume is pretty enhanced. Jean Georges, Daniel, what did you take from those experiences to bring here into your new restaurant and Tampa Bay, by the way, freshly married, too. You guys got a lot going on. Yeah,

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

I would say from my experience. I started in New Orleans. I got made into a cook. I feel like that's where I made my bones, where I learned volume, just hard work, the repetition. And then those advanced places in New York where the competition is just elevated is where I feel like I honed my skills from all that. You know, I took. I took what I liked and what I didn't like from places. I liked the pride in my work that they teach up there. I like the attention to detail, things of that nature. The. The kitchen etiquette, Working clean, working fast, loving what you do. What I didn't like from my experiences was kind of like the harsher reality of being in the kitchen, you know? Yes. I learned a Lot from my experience. I owe a lot of great chefs thanks. But I'm just. I'm doing what I love to do on presenting who I am in the kitchen. As far as me and my wife go as a couple, I mean, I feel like we spend every second together, and that's not like most couples. I don't feel like we need our space. Feel like we don't. Almost don't even like it. We both love food. We both love going out and having fun, and we're taking that and doing it right at the restaurant. I feel like we've made the restaurant our home. Just last Tuesday, a couple of days ago, almost. Yeah, a couple of days ago. Cinco de Mayo was actually the year mark of our. Our marriage. Our first year as our anniversary. So we took it and we threw a huge party at Conamore, and it went down.

[Podcast Host]

Cinco de Mayo. I mean, this is so apropos. That is your. That's your anniversary date. I mean, how fitting is that?

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

That's very awesome.

[Podcast Host]

Hey, man, I'm gonna have a. I'm gonna. You know what? Let's open a Mexican restaurant. Okay, cool. Oh, by the way, you know, our. We got married, and. Yeah, it's a Cinco de Mayo. You can't.

[Lee Wilson]

You.

[Podcast Host]

I mean, I don't know if you can write that. You know, you're talking about you and your wife. You open this restaurant together, and you're also building a marriage. A lot of people are going to go, oh, my God, Me, I would never be able to work with my wife. Love her to death, right? But I don't want. I couldn't do it. Impossible. 0.0% possibility of that ever happening. What has this entire experience taught you about trust and partnership?

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

I've seen that the way we are, we complement each other. She's able to pick up the slack where, you know, I don't have it all all together there, and vice versa. You know, I could teach her things about numbers and some of the stuff on the front of the house. You know, mostly mechanical stuff like paperwork and stuff like that. But she's the personality. She brings the vibe. She hires the people that give the customers the experience that we want to give them, you know, because everybody I know loves Kayla. There's not a single person has anything bad to say about her. I mean, you know, I don't know, maybe, but she is able to execute who she is in the front of the house. From her previous jobs, her friends, everybody has come extremely excited to see her. And she's been able to hire our staff accordingly and have people who do that for our guests get mentioned in reviews, all that sort of stuff. I feel like we're just. That we're. We're the dynamic duo.

[Podcast Host]

I noticed the zone that you guys are in, even though you were the one cooking today. We're filming with you. Obviously, she's here to back you up. And there's little nuances that you communicate between each other with glances and looks and whatnot. I can see how in a restaurant environment, there's communication happening without speaking. I saw it here. But I want to touch on. One of the things I notice about you is your repetition, how you actually work. Your workflow is cut, prep, work, clean. Every action that you're doing has a cleaning action attached to it. I mean, that's. That's because of some of these places that you've found yourself learning, building your experience based from.

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

I feel like one of the places I worked at, Daniel, they said some. They had some mottos there that I really like. They said that a good kitchen is a clean kitchen, is that a quiet kitchen, is a fast kitchen. Me, personally, I feel like your station, where you're working, where you're at, is a representation of your mind. And if your space is cluttered and it is dirty and there's stuff everywhere, that's how your thinking is, and that's how your execution is going to be. But if you have a place for everything, everything, you have a plan for everything. Your space is neat, you know, organized. That's how your execution is going to be. That's a representation of your mind. That's something I try and teach my cooks at the restaurant as well.

[Podcast Host]

John and I did a photo. Well, John is obviously the photographer, so I would, you know, we did a photo shoot at Camille in Orlando. It's a Michelin restaurant. Chef. Chef Tongue. This guy is a beast. He's a beast. Amazing work. This cat does, like, stupid, beautifully thought out, amazing dishes. And what we experienced in one dish that we shot, John shot. I was there. I don't know, whatever. Tagging along. This man has an action with another action. Every single action is cleaning. And there's a clock for something. He's a machine. But he's miss. I mean, he's freaking. He's up there. But guess what? I'm watching you today, and you possess that. So I noticed these things, and I just think it's. You know, obviously we're doing a podcast. We talk about stuff, and I thought it was. I thought it was A good point to bring up. You know, we see a lot of people that come through. Here's a lot of chefs, beautiful chefs, great chefs. That's something I noticed and I, and I just wanted to commend you for that. I really believe that your, what you're doing at your restaurant is fantastic. And I think you're going to, you know, far be it for me. It doesn't. I'm not the end all be on anything. I see success based on your food that you put out and how I saw you work today and how you communicating with your wife. Man, God bless you.

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

Thank you so much.

[Podcast Host]

So you didn't, you didn't grow up cooking Mexican food and you didn't have a traditional mentor in it. What did that learning process actually look like when you decided to take it on seriously?

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

So for Mexican cuisine, it was an, an opportunity. I got offered a executive chef position at a restaurant and it was a new opening restaurant at like four weeks out to get the job done. And both of the guys were from California. And even like from the tasting, you know, I, I knew a little bit about Mexican cuisine. I just didn't want to, you know, for lack of better terms, half asset, I would went and got some masa marina from the store, made my own tortillas and use those for the plate up for the tasting, for the job. And you know, they said that stood out to them.

[Podcast Host]

Walk and Talk Media is proudly supported by Rack Porcelain usa, creating durable, beautifully designed tableware for chefs and hospitality professionals. Learn more@rack porcelain.com so they had another

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

chef that worked in their company and he was Mexican and he did give me a little guidance. He told me about the guys who did the Nixa Mall and stuff like that. But the rest was really just me just getting obsessive and that that's how I am when I'm into something, I'm really, I obsess over it. Lots of studying, lots of research, diving in the books, going out to eat. And there's a high presence of, you know, high level Mexican restaurants in New York. You know, they have Alex Dupek as MP on Enrique Olvera has two of his restaurants up there. So like I said, I just got into the books. Even one of the gifts for me getting the job with them, they gave me one of Alex Zupek's books on tacos. And so I just went kind of went to school on my own in a sense.

[Podcast Host]

So was Mexican cuisine personal for you from the beginning or did you fall into that?

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

It wasn't Personal for me. I mean, I've always loved Mexican food. I think it was. I more fell into it once I started to learn about the cuisine. I come to realize how much it resonated with me and how much I actually liked it.

[Podcast Host]

Whose idea was this to open a restaurant?

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

I don't know. I don't know if it was either one of ours.

[Podcast Host Introduction]

I don't know.

[Podcast Host]

She's giving me the wink and a nod that it was you all day long, and she's smiling and nodding her head yes.

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

I don't know. I ask myself every day, whose idea was this? No, it was definitely mine.

[Podcast Host]

I've been married for 11 years. We've been together probably 12, 13 years, something like that. We still can't decide on going out to eat. All right. And I know that's a. That's. That's very cliche thing to put out there. It's the truth, though. You guys open a restaurant together. Was there any crossover on, hey, I want Mexican? No, man, I. I want Italian or whatever? Or did you both say, like, you know, that. That, you know, eureka moment? Hey, Mexican.

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

She was there with me when I took on the job, and a little after that time, we started to get closer because we had known each other for a while, and then I feel like we kind of started to take our relationship more serious. We love Mexican food. We went out to eat Mexican food all the time. Because she would go with me. I'm like, I need to go, you know, research. But we said we'd go eat at Mexican restaurants all the time. And when we left New York, we just didn't see the same caliber. And we were, you know, made us kind of sad. Fast forward, we both knew, like, we want to bring Mexican food to the side of Florida.

[Podcast Host]

My father would look at this situation, and he would. He would say to you to your face, he would go, you got a lot of balls. That's what he would do, just like that. Okay. And you would say, ronnie, Ronnie, what are you talking about? You have 0.0% Hispanic in you. You're Belgian. You're African American. Who the hell are you to open a Mexican restaurant? That's, like, amazing cuisine. That's got to be, like, ultra confidence. What gave you that confidence?

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

I love what I do, man. I love food, and I'm a chef at heart. And I feel like us as chefs, we have this freedom, you know, we're not bound to a certain cuisine just because of our ethnical background. We go anywhere in the world. If you give us a book and give us a recipe, and we don't have to leave our house, we don't have to leave our kitchen. You know, I owe credit to the owners of the original job where I started to learn about Mexican cuisine because they were extremely hard to please. I'd have every other dish, you know, one try. This is awesome. And I have dishes where they're like, you got one more chance before I tell you to try something else. So it, it really challenged me. So I guess the confidence kind of start there. If I could be happy, if I could make them happy and then make the group that they were involved with happy when they came to eat at the restaurant and could sell and do Mexican cuisine and the bottom of Manhattan, you know, I had learned some decent level of it. And then ever since then, it's only progressed because they had a guy who sold the next to mall to all of New York there. They didn't have that here. So it was the next step. I got here, I was. We just wanted to go out and get tacos. We look for next to mall everywhere. Nobody had it. I. I just don't settle. I'm like, I want, I want the next mall. I'm. I'll figure out how to do it myself. And then that was the next phase.

[Podcast Host]

You actually produce and sell to. To restaurants.

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

Yeah, that's how it started. Before I had any kind of deal or anything going on, I started making the mas at the house. I was like, well, why don't we let people know we're doing this? So I started going to restaurants and yeah, people were purchasing the masa from me, and we carried that on to the restaurant.

[Podcast Host]

Let's talk about your background for a minute. African American, Belgian. What kind of food were you eating growing up?

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

Growing up? I mean, it was straight just Creole cuisine. Gumbo, Jamalaya, crawfish. I mean, you name it. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Lee smiling.

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

Of course, that's where we connected. When we met, she was like, I'm from Louisiana. My ears worked on, like, from where.

[Podcast Host]

I think shortly when we bring Leon, I think you guys are going to have to talk some, like, you know, some. Some Louisiana talk. I'm just saying. So you have a unique culture where you come from, your home. But then, of course, you're. You learned through being taught and mentored classical cooking, which has a, you know, obviously that there's a French. That's a French element. Heavy French, heavy French. Does any of that translate to what you're doing now at Connor more?

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

There are techniques that can translate to Each cuisine, for sure. The. I want to say, with my Creole background, the thing that translates the most to Mexican food, I think would be the. The depth of flavor and the uniqueness of the cuisine. Because in Louisiana, that if you think of Creole food, you don't think about anywhere else but Louisiana. All right. When you say Mexican cuisine, you don't think about California. You don't think about New York. You think about Mexico. And I feel like they both. They have their own unique cuisines. They date back years and years and years. Mexico's a little older. It's the. I want to say the. The variety of flavors. And there's so many different ways you can go with anything that you're doing in the cuisine as same from my. My home, and the same for Mexican cuisine.

[Podcast Host]

Classical French, though, very complicated. A lot of touches. If you're putting out, you know, an elevated dish, you have to, you know, and let's just say it's a busy establishment and you have a brigade. There's the whole hierarchy of the kitchen. What you're doing here, you love it, but it's also, I don't want to say easier, but in terms of efficiency, to put it out, it's less touches, right?

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

Absolutely. I'm a huge fan of simplicity. I don't think you need to complicate things, especially if they all can speak for themselves. Just like the. The masa. You know, I could cook that. I can make the masa correctly. If I make a tortilla out of it, I could serve it to you on a plate with lime and salt, and that alone would speak for itself. You don't have to add all these. Correct. You don't have to have 16 ingredients on a plate to make the food good. And that's actually, you know, that's. I don't want to say motto, but that way of thinking is heavy in French cuisine. You know, I've heard a French chef say, he said, if you want to make something good, take this one ingredient, take a carrot, and make a dish out of this. What it speaks to is a simplicity. You don't need a bunch of ingredients to make something good.

[Podcast Host]

Support for Walk and Talk media comes from Metro food service solutions trusted by kitchens that need storage and workflow that actually does the job. Learn [e-mail] what's hot? Tampa Bay, but how you doing?

[Lee Wilson]

Shy.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, my goodness. Lee, baby, how are you?

[Lee Wilson]

I am busy, let me tell you. Tampa Bay is heating up.

[Podcast Host]

Why?

[Lee Wilson]

So not just the weather, too. We have so much going on right now in in my world, in Creative Loafings world, we are gearing up for Best of the Bay. And if. If you don't know Best of the Bay, you've been living under a rock. Best of the Bay is one of the longest running best of competitions in the Tampa Bay area. We are celebrating, I think, 37 years this year, which is wild. We've got over 500 categories. There's nine groups in there. It is a how to go to guide for anything you could ever possibly want in food, drink services, good people, places, beauty and wellness, which is my jam. So that's. That kicks off on May 14. Nominations start May 14. And then afterwards, like less than two weeks afterwards, we kick off restaurant months. So it used to be restaurant week. It used to be Tampa Bay Restaurant Week. Now to give everybody, because we have so many restaurants to participate, we want to give everybody a chance to check more out, check out more restaurants. It is the entire month of June, and because we have to do things over the top, there's two Meet the chefs. So thanks to our partners with Visit Tampa Bay and visit St. B Clearwater, we. We have a Meet the Chefs Tampa and a meet the chefs St. Pete, where I gather at least 14 chefs in a room and they do all of these amazing samples and you can go and you can try 14 restaurants in one night. And you get to meet the chefs behind the culinary creation. So I drag them out of their kitchens and put them in front of people and it make you talk to the people.

[Podcast Host]

That's scary. It is. I mean, for the people, you know,

[Lee Wilson]

it can go either way. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Lee, are you seeing diners becoming more interested in chef telling personal and culturally layered stories through food? Is that what you're getting out there? I mean, creative loafing Tampa Bay is, you know, more stuff that's happening before I do, which is crazy to me. You know, you'll send me a note, hey, did you hear about the, you know, place number X is opening up? And I'm like, what the hell is that? I don't even know what you're talking about. I mean, you're like one eyeball forward and then here to the track.

[Lee Wilson]

Yep, that is my job. Yeah. I mean, we are known as the cool people to go to for all the cool things around town. So arts, music, entertainment, politics, food, drink, you name it, we talk about it and we touch on it. We even have our food issue. We do special issues. So we have our food issue coming out in the middle of June on June 18th. And because I have a mouth And I don't stop talking. One of our editors was working on an article on the fruit float, like she did. She discovered the fruit float, which, if you don't know the fruit float, it's adorable. It's like this little. We say piro, but everybody else, I think calls it like a canoe or something.

[Podcast Host]

Canoe.

[Lee Wilson]

And it's this woman and she is phenomenal. She's adorable, super pretty. She's got an entire canoe full of fruit on the water. And she's got this little trolling motor that she just drives around the boating community selling fruit to everybody out on the community. And it's fresh and she cuts it right in front of you and she. I've paid 20 for a pineapple before on the water because let me tell you, it is delicious and refreshing and she's got tahin and chamois and everything else. So she became so successful that she had to add on more boats. So we were in the office and I was hearing my editor talk about this and stuff and I was like, well, do you know about the taco boat and the hot dog boat and the coffee boat and. And there's like a burger boat too. She was like, what? I was like, yeah, there is an entire food boat community out there. And, and, and if you've never had a fresh hot dog standing in the middle of the ocean off a sandbar, that hot dog just hits different.

[Podcast Host]

So I gotta tell you, right away from Miami, right? And you know, we have sandbars. We have, you know, our beer can islands up there, you know, down there, rather than we have all that stuff. And I don't know, 30 years ago, support for Walk and Talk media comes from Crab Island Seafood Dip, creating chef driven crab dips made with real seafood and bold flavor. Learn [e-mail] I'm eating hot dogs at the Sandbar in Haulover and I was going to bring, I was going to say this very thing to you, but you beat me to it. Yes. Yes. Fresh hot dogs on a sand. Pineapple on a sandbar. This is the life I want to live.

[Lee Wilson]

Yeah. Yeah. And the hot dog boat now is apparently it's called Naughty Dogs. Like nautical naughty dogs.

[Podcast Host]

I love it.

[Lee Wilson]

It's adorable. So now the now Naughty dogs has become so popular that he has a second boat and he just pulls right up to you too. And everybody just starts flocking in the hot dog boat. And there's like taco boat too. And the taco boat's great, but we always see the hot dog boat. So now we have expanded that entire article to cover floating food. So, yeah, we absolutely are seeing the fact that diners are becoming more intellectually invested in the stories behind the food that they're eating. They want to know where it came from. They want to know where the chef came from. They want to know where the inspiration came from. You know, did you.

[Podcast Host]

Where.

[Lee Wilson]

Where did you learn how to do this? And that's a cool. That's the really cool part about Beat the Chefs is you get, like, this unique opportunity as a guest to. To become kind of your own reporter and interview these chefs and. Hear, hear. Because if you get the unique opportunity and the rare opportunity to hear a chef talk about his love of food, it is a beautiful moment. And that's what diners are wanting. Like, everybody's wanting the total package.

[Podcast Host]

I'm going to use Chef Taylor as a case in point. Nobody would just know that he's from New Orleans. Nobody would know that he's of a mixed cultural background. Nobody would know. I mean, you almost look like you could be Latin, but now that there's the storyline, hey, you are Cajun. You have a mixed cultural background. You're from New Orleans, and you open a Mexican restaurant, and your food is awesome. I think that's a story to be heralded. You fit that bill. And here's the question for you now, Taylor. When somebody who either is a chef that's Mexican or somebody who's just of Mexican heritage tries your food and tells you you're doing it right, what sort of validation are you getting?

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

It's an immense feeling of euphoria, man. I can't really describe it. I've had a few chefs come in. I've had people come and say they were straight from Mexico or people that are American, but they. Their work brought them to Mexico and they lived there for set amount of years and say that they feel like they're right back in Mexico and when they have the food, it's a profound feeling. I really can't put it into words,

[Podcast Host]

so I can appreciate what you're saying. It isn't like I grew up with a camera in my hand. You know, John's been doing photography for 25 plus years. I picked up a camera a year ago. I mean, I've always been with you doing the stuff that you're doing, right. But I never touched a camera. I didn't know how to turn it on. You know, I would go with John and hold lights for him. And, you know, I was just there to help. So the fact now that, like, I'm doing video and whether it's John or some other people who are in the business, in media, and they give me even the smallest, like, attaboy. I'm over the freaking moon with that. It's an amazing feeling. What you're doing is much more relevant to an emotional, euphoric feeling when somebody. A chef tells you like a Mexican chef tells you, hey, man, good freaking job. If I'm you, I'm. I am. I'm sprinting to the.

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

To the biggest smile ever for someone of Mexican descent. Be satisfied with my food and tell me I'm representing Mexican cuisine correctly. There's a lot of chefs out there with the new wave. They want to be. They want to get their Michelin star. They want the James Beard. I'll take a person of Mexican descent. Tell me the food's good. That's my award right there.

[Podcast Host]

Lee, you're around food a lot. We're in the business of food. We're in the business of media. We're in the business of sharing our thoughts and bringing the attention of chefs and restaurants and culture to the masses. How do you feel about what this is?

[Lee Wilson]

Absolutely. I think the biggest litmus test is having someone. When you're putting a specific type of cuisine out there, a culturally specific type of cuisine out there, having people from that culture go to your restaurant and then return back regularly. That's huge. Like, that's your. That's your gold star right there. That is your. I'm doing it right. I am succeeding in life. I am doing a good job.

[Podcast Host]

You know, you've heard. I know that you're. I feel like we've even had this conversation before. Forgive me if we didn't. It was someone. Chefs like Taylor oftentimes get flack for not staying in their lane. Right? Like, all right, hey, you're. You're. You're from Louisiana. You're a New Orleans kid, right? Stick with your gumbo, dude. Like, what are you doing doing this? This isn't for you. Right? Stick with jambalaya. You know, I believe one of the best compliments that you can give to any culture is to pick up the cuisine and respectfully recreate it and make it beautiful. I'm not saying change it, whatever. I'm saying to embrace it, cook it, and deliver it in the best way possible. I think that's the. That's the biggest, beautiful, most beautiful thing you could do to a culture, whether it's yours or somebody else's. Who cares?

[Lee Wilson]

That's the biggest tribute you can do. Like, that's. That's honoring another culture and embracing the other. Another culture. And that's kind of what the melting pot of this country is. And honestly, like, taking who. Who we are, like, who Taylor and I are from, from a cultural standpoint, like being Creole and Cajun, that is what our people did. Our people came from. From all different walks of life. They came from the Caribbean. They came from French. They came from Canada. They came. There was a Native American influence in there, and that's how you got the Cajun and Creole cuisine as it was influential of all of the cultures that settled in South Louisiana and in New Orleans. And you can travel from one side of the state to the other and see all sorts of various interpretations of our culture. And honestly, I'm very appreciative that you didn't open a Cajun restaurant or a Creole restaurant, because it is like our cuisine is very subjective.

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

I feel like if somebody wants Creole Cajun food, they're going to go to Creole Cajun land. They're not. They're not thinking about any other state to go to. I feel the same way. I feel like if you. If you want a good bowl, gumbo. Unless you know somebody who knows how to make it to go to Louisiana.

[Podcast Host]

I wish that we had Pooch on the call today. You know, he's Mr. De Orlas, one of our teammates here. He lives out there. He's decorated chef, and he's a good dude. This is his conversation to be had. And I stole it from you. You hear me? Do you hear me? I stole it right from you. No, but in all seriousness, you know, one of the things that you mentioned to me, and I thought it was pretty interesting, is you don't see other Mexican restaurants as competition. That was a conversation that we had in our. In our prep call. This session of Walk and Talk media is made possible by Citrus America, delivering fresh Florida citrus and juice solutions to food service professionals nationwide. Learn [e-mail] A lot of chefs are ultra competitive. You didn't come off that way in any respect. In fact, you embraced it.

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

I can't. I can't see the miss Competition because, you know, I'm forever a student, especially Mexican cuisine. I'm not from Mexico, not Mexican descent. So anybody who's doing Mexican food, especially if they're Mexican, whatever the case may be, I have nothing but appreciation for them. I draw nothing but inspiration from it. You know, the Mexican chefs who've come and eat at the restaurant, anything they have to say, I'm there with a notepad and pen, you know, so it's hard to look at them like competition when you feel like we're all on the same team. We, we want to represent this cuisine to the best that we can.

[Podcast Host]

A few weeks ago, we went out to your restaurant, Con Moore, and it was for Sip and Share through Creative Loafing. First of all, I thought you were Spanish. Like, I, I, I'm, I'm looking at you like, all right, that's cool. I didn't think twice about it. I just assumed because you have a Latin look. I mean, I'm getting a nod from wifey. And I didn't think nothing about it until I found out you weren't. And then I was like, oh, my God, that's the story. Like, this is the vein of this whole thing. But what I noticed from meeting you that first day, the both of you, actually, you're very gracious. People we meet, we're standing in the pass over there by the kitchen, and you were just really asking me questions. And you were, I didn't expect that. Most people, they, you know, if I walk in the room, they clam up. Don't ask me why. But you were, you were very open minded. You were talkative. You're, you know, asking me stuff. And I was, you know what? I really appreciated that. So you have a gracious personality. I think that is probably one of the, I think that's one of the secret sauces to success in hospitality.

[Lee Wilson]

Absolutely. I, speaking on the competition side of things, and we've talked about this too, I think, is the fact that you can be one of two different business owners. And I don't say chef or restaurant owners, because this applies to all business. And we see this a lot, especially with best of the Bay season, speaking to the competition of things. And this always comes about during best of the bay season. No matter what type of business owner you are, whether you have a Mexican restaurant or a French restaurant or a roofing business, or you're, you own a plastic surgery center or you're a wedding planner, if you view the same businesses that are in the business of you as competition in a negative way, it affects you, like, internally, then you start to internalize negativity and stuff. We, as a community and just as a community in this Tampa Bay area, have a duty to uplift each other, you know, and, and, and it's so good to see when other businesses, like, don't view each other as competition. And it's like, what do you need, how can I help you? How can you help me? There's 4 million people here in the Tampa Bay area. There's plenty enough to go around. You just have to figure out how to tap it.

[Podcast Host Introduction]

Four out of five hospitality professionals have faced at least one mental health challenge during their career. Stress, burnout, anxiety. These are everyday realities in kitchens, dining rooms and bars across North America. The Burn Chef Project North America is here to change that. They provide free anonymous support, direct care training and self care resources designed specifically for chefs, servers and hospitality staff. From therapy services to educational modules, they're answering the call for help in one of the toughest industries. It can't be done alone. Your financial support makes this possible, ensuring that every hospitality professional has access to the tools they need to thrive. Join the movement in breaking the stigma. Email us, Canada, theburnchefproject.com for donation details and mailing information or learn more about the [e-mail] so then Taylor guest comes

[Podcast Host]

in, they experience the hospitality, they experience your food, they experience going to more. What do you hope they leave saying after all of that when they leave your restaurant?

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

I feel like we want what any other restaurant owner wants. You want them to have, you know, a good experience. As I've gotten more into this, like owning a restaurant, I realized like, it's not just about, you know, like the good food. You have to have good food. It's not just about having, you know, good cocktails. You have to have those. And it's not just about, you know, having a friendly staff. You have to have that. It's every element, you know, people aren't, it's not like it used to be. You go out, all the food's good, you sit down, eat. All right, that was awesome. You leave that people want. It's more than that. People want a cultivated experience and that's what we want our guests to have. We want them to leave and feel like they had a good experience.

[Podcast Host]

We've all been to a place or worked at a place where ownership, we're kind of a holes and in the end the culture starts at the top and trickles down. So how the culture is, is going to affect the output of the kitchen, the hospitality level of the front of the house. And all of that dictates what you just said. All of it is relevant. So you and your wife are the owners now. So it is your culture that is going to trickle down into the staff that are going to be taking care of your guest. I mean the doors have been open for three months. There's a lot of work to do from where you were to three months and now three months to, you know, 10 years. A lot of work has to get done. I think you mentioned you're not into following or chasing the accolade. The award. The award comes from holding onto the guest and building the reputation. Lee, in your experiences, personalities like this, cooking skills like this, work in Tampa Bay.

[Lee Wilson]

Yes, absolutely. Building that relationship between owner, chef, front of house and consumer is paramount to success. You have to connect with people.

[Podcast Host]

I mean, honestly, we're talking about Walk and Talk Media, for example. We have the same vision, really. Chefs come in restaurant industry folks come in farmers, manufacturers, distributors, all of the different sectors of the food industry sit in this chair, and we have these really interesting conversations, and we talk about a lot of interesting things, important things to the community, to the business part of this at large. What do I really want? I want you to leave and go, hey, these guys are organized. They might have an equipment hiccup here every now and again, but you know what? What they do is really great. And there's a service to this. We want you, as the guest to feel the service. We want you as the guest in the studio to be like, you know what? We were welcome here, and this was a really great turnout. I can identify with what you're saying. And Lee, what you just backed up him saying 100%. Lee, what's hot? Tampa Bay, baby.

[Lee Wilson]

Meet the chefs, man. Come on out and get the tickets before they sell out. This is a small event, so once those tickets are gone, they're gone. So the food scene in Tampa Bay, because we're gearing up for restaurant month is about to kick off, and I've got some amazing chefs lined up for these two events. I'm so super excited. And then, not to mention the competition heating up with Best of the Bay. You can go to vote CLTampa.com for nominations, and I will be hiding behind my laptop answering thousands of emails that come in. It's always a fun time of year, so. Absolutely. Like, what's hot in Tampa Bay? Creative Loafing is just, we're on fire. And now that we're locally owned, it's even better. And we're so excited to be partnering with you guys on the 200th episode Celebration of Walk and Talk Media at the Tampa Club. I'm super, super, super excited to see that.

[Podcast Host]

I've said it a million times. I would throw parties if I knew people would show up. You're showing me the analytics of who's. It's already like almost 50 people so far. 45, something like that.

[Lee Wilson]

Yeah, it's. You're over 50 people. We're at like 60 some odd people now.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, I'm over the moon with that, man. That's freaking awesome. People. Stay. Stay tuned on what's coming up next with that guys. I sincerely appreciate all of you. John, of course, what you do, amazing as usual to come here today and share with us. Taylor, how do we. How do people find you?

[Chef Taylor Dylan]

You can find us right on Instagram, man. Conamore fl. Me and my wife have access to socials. Send us a message.

[Podcast Host]

Heard that Ms. Lee Wilson.

[Lee Wilson]

You can find us on Instagram @cl Tampa Bay and then meettheshefstampabay.com vote.cl Tampa.com cltampa.com for the website. We're on the Tiki talks now. That's always a fun one. So you can find us on TikTok at CL Tampa Bay.

[Podcast Host]

Awesome. You guys are freaking amazing. And guess what? We are out.

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