Cattle Futures, Vegas Restaurant Bifurcation, the state of food inflation, Carbon Tax Nation, and special guest Michelin star chef, Irish restauranteur, JP McMahon (R)

The Food Professor

Our extraordinary guest in this episode is JP McMahon, Michelin star chef, restauranteur, ambassador for Irish food and author, reprising our interview from early 2023. In the news, we cover cattle futures and the high. Rising cost of beef, talk about experiential dining in Vegas versus highly efficient AI dining in Del Taco, Canada's poor track record (we think!) in private food innovation investment, and Sylvain's perspective on the carbon tax and alternative solutions to help manage the impacts of climate change.

About JP

JP McMahon is one of Ireland’s most prominent chefs. A passionate advocate of wild, seasonal and sustainable ingredients from the west of the country, he is committed to promoting the food of Galway, and to producing world-class, contemporary Irish cuisine. His Michelin-star restaurant Aniar does both, but it also feeds back into the local community on a much deeper level. His annual Food On The Edge symposium in Galway reaches even further afield, with its roll call of top chefs from all over the world. Which is why JP McMahon is one of the most influential people in European gastronomy today.

The Dublin-born chef had his first food epiphany as a child while on holiday in Tipperary. While the rest of the family had burgers, he opted for a spaghetti bolognese, which was a revelation to the youngster. It set him on a course of discovery that would see him work in various kitchens, while also harbouring an ambition to become a writer. It wasn’t until 2008 that he opened his first venture, a Spanish restaurant called Cava. It quickly won a reputation for serving some of the best tapas in Ireland, and it gave McMahon the confidence to embark on his most ambitious restaurant project to date.

Aniar (meaning ‘west’ in Gaelic) is a love letter to the produce and landscape of the West of Ireland and its rugged coast. Almost every ingredient used here is either native to the local region or from somewhere else in Ireland, whether it’s foraged seaweed and Galway Bay oysters, or seasonal sea urchins and truffles. Terroir is the central theme, and although the menu changes daily, it is certain to have a distinctive local flavour that mirrors McMahon’s cooking philosophy. Pickled, smoked, cured and fermented ingredients hint at his commitment to the environment, using the methods of the past in order to inspire future sustainability.

Among JP McMahon’s signature dishes are his Galway Bay oyster with pickled seaweed, oyster emulsion and sea herbs. His Dexter beef tartare, smoked egg yolk and pepper dulse seaweed showcases some of the very best farmed and foraged ingredients in the country. Meanwhile, his cod and seaweed beurre blanc with trout roe reveals the very best of the west coast of Ireland.

Aniar has retained a Michelin star since 2013, but its significance locally has more impact than mere awards. McMahon founded the Aniar School Project, in which he teaches children of all ages about the importance of food. And the Aniar Cookery School, also led by McMahon, aims to instruct chefs of all levels how to cook local ingredients sustainably. The conversation about the environment doesn’t stop there, however.

At the annual Food On The Edge symposium, chefs from around the world gather in Galway to discuss the future of food. As founder and director, McMahon plays a key role in setting the agenda, but with participants of the calibre of Massimo Bottura, Elena Arzak, Matt Orlando and Amanda Cohen, the discussion frequently branches out in all kinds of fascinating tangents, from food waste to mental health. The idea is to bring people together to share ideas and form powerful collaborations that can help change the way we think about food. Some of the chefs also participate in Aniar’s Chef Swap initiative, which sees guest chefs from all over the world take over the kitchen and create their own menu.

It’s this ethos of collaboration that typifies JP McMahon’s work, not only as a chef, but also as a culinary thought leader. Whether it’s local food producers in the West of Ireland, or celebrated chefs from the other side of the world, the emphasis is on working together to ensure a better future for all. That way, the author of the book 10,000 Years Of Irish Food is aiming to ensure another 10,000 more.

Source: https://www.finedininglovers.com/people/jp-mcmahon

The Food Professor #podcast is presented by Caddle.

About Us

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph’s Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.

He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.

Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre’s Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.

Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.

Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.

Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.

Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.