Shawn Niles otherwise known as The Fat Pastor joins the show for this episode.

Growing up in the Yakima area, Shawn was drawn to food at an early age. Spending Thanksgiving Day helping his dad in the kitchen is one of his most cherished memories.

After moving away and living on the east coast and in Hawaii Shawn and family moved back to Yakima. Shawn ultimately ended up auditioning and appearing on the MasterChef TV show. After his time on the show the inspiration and motivation to bring food the public became too strong to resist. Fat Pastor Productions was born. Fat Pastor Productions, is a multi-faceted culinary collaboration, aimed at making a difference in the Yakima Valley and around the world, through food.

Urban Kitchen Yakima
Bite Club
The Lab
il grasso

Plus a whole lot more! Check out Fat Pastor Productions for all the delicious details.

Enjoy the episode. Shawn is a warm and entertaining person who has a knack for sharing great stories. The Gordon Ramsey part of our conversation is a must hear.

Fat Pastor Shawn Niles Episode Transcript

You know the the that’s the the big question. It’s always really fun when I walk in and people go, are you the fat pastor? I’m like, what did you call me?

Scott Cowan [00:00:24]:

Welcome to the Exploring Washington State podcast. Here’s your host, Scott Cowan. Well, welcome back to the Exploring Washington State podcast. Today, I am in Yakima. I am sitting across the table from Shawn Niles known as the fat pastor. Shawn, I’m gonna stop right there and go, I’m looking at you. It doesn’t quite match. So tell us, how’d you get the moniker?

Shawn Niles [00:00:50]:

You know, the the that’s the the big question. It’s always really fun when I walk in and people go, are you the fat pastor?

Scott Cowan [00:00:55]:

And I’m

Shawn Niles [00:00:55]:

like, what did you call me? And their their face is great. I love it. The, the whole thing started, you know, I was I was I’ve been into food for a long time, and it’s been mostly a hobby for me for most of my life. And so I was wanting to do a food blog, and I’m like, what can I come up with that’d be fun? And and just kinda brainstorming a bunch of ideas. I was

Scott Cowan [00:01:12]:

like, oh,

Shawn Niles [00:01:13]:

the fat bastard. That’d be fun. Of course, it, you know, starts giving you pictures of Austin Powers. Mhmm. Wrong wrong one, but, you know, close. Very close. And so it just kinda stuck in and, it seems to be a fun way for people to recognize who we are and what we’re doing, and and that’s kinda where it began. Fat equals flavor.

Shawn Niles [00:01:29]:

We talk about that all the time. So you wanna get the best flavor out of your food, you’re gonna make use of the fat. So that best you know, that that crispy bite of steak, you know, and it’s got the fat on the end and they cooked it just right. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Scott Cowan [00:01:41]:

So you so this started the name came about because of a food blog. Yeah.

Shawn Niles [00:01:46]:

Yep. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:01:46]:

Yep. So your about page let me repeat some of this stuff to you. This will be news to you. You’ve never heard this before. But you seem to have this thing for Thanksgiving because it connected you with your dad.

Shawn Niles [00:01:57]:

Yep. Yep. Absolutely.

Scott Cowan [00:01:58]:

So the way my brain works is the other three hundred sixty four days of the year, did you not cook at all?

Shawn Niles [00:02:03]:

Or how did you Yeah. That’s a great question. No. I you know, it really it wasn’t a lot in the kitchen with my dad, and I think that’s why it was so special. He had a few things that he made really, really well. He came from a family of of cooks. My grandma and my grandpa were both cooks. Oh.

Shawn Niles [00:02:15]:

And so he didn’t do it for a living. He did it for fun, but he had a few just a couple things that he really like loved to make. And Thanksgiving was the most time that I could spend with him that I could always guarantee we’d be in the kitchen together. Okay. So I’d wake up super early, run-in, and he’d be stuffing the turkey, and I’m like, what can I do?

Scott Cowan [00:02:29]:

That’s cool. So how old were you when

Shawn Niles [00:02:31]:

you started that? Gosh. I remember being really young. I would guess probably five or six when that really kicked in. Really kicked

Scott Cowan [00:02:36]:

in? Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:02:37]:

Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:02:37]:

So what other dishes did your dad make that were kind of his go tos?

Shawn Niles [00:02:40]:

Yeah. So simple stuff. So he made a phenomenal pizza. You know, I still I don’t know if I’ll ever have it again. I don’t I don’t think I ever watched exactly what he did to make it. Okay. But pizza, he did this thing called the hobo hobo stew.

Scott Cowan [00:02:51]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:02:52]:

Where he’d take all the meat and wrap it up in vegetables and throw it on the grill, you know, and it was phenomenal. It was excellent. Gosh. What else did he do? You know, growing up, I remember having steak a lot. It was just a cheap cut of steak. He’d buy at the store. He’d season it, throw it on the grill. He loved to grill meat.

Shawn Niles [00:03:06]:

And it wasn’t like he cooked it. You know, it wasn’t the best chef in the world. It was just that that that was the place where I felt like I was really able to connect. My dad was a lot older when I was born. So Okay. Being in his fifties, we didn’t you know, we’re in the backyard running around or playing catch, you know, and doing that stuff. But, we’d go fishing, and we’d make food in the kitchen together. You know?

Scott Cowan [00:03:23]:

That’s cool. Now you grew up in Yakima area?

Shawn Niles [00:03:25]:

Yeah. Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:03:26]:

And then you did you leave after high school?

Shawn Niles [00:03:29]:

So I stayed around for probably, I think, a year after high school, and then I moved to, the East Coast. Went to New Jersey. Met my wife, worked at a couple churches there. That’s what I’ve done most of my life is church ministry. And so worked in a couple churches there. We got married, moved to Hawaii. And this really for me is all about the fruit food journey. Right? Because, like, I’m moving out of Yakima where there’s no good, you know, exciting restaurants.

Shawn Niles [00:03:51]:

It’s all small town. Couple really cool things here and there that have come and gone over the years, but really not a lot of opportunities. So I moved in East Coast, and I’m like, this is everything. And so my mind is being blown. I moved in with an Indian lady who would make curries and naan and all this amazing food every night. My mother in law’s from the The Caribbean, so she’s teaching me Caribbean food, Trinidad food.

Scott Cowan [00:04:12]:

Okay. And

Shawn Niles [00:04:12]:

so I’m learning all these things, not thinking this is ever gonna benefit me other than, you know, this is just fun.

Scott Cowan [00:04:16]:

Right.

Shawn Niles [00:04:17]:

Moved to Hawaii, same thing. People love to share their knowledge of food. So people are cooking for us all the time, and we’re learning all these incredible flavors that we’ve never had before.

Scott Cowan [00:04:24]:

So So what’s interesting to me is, you know, I’ll call Yakima a small town. Yeah. Because when you were growing up, it was smaller than it is now. So we’ll call it a small town. A lot of people that I know that come from small towns or, you know, limited backgrounds

Shawn Niles [00:04:36]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:04:37]:

They never they’re never adventuresome.

Shawn Niles [00:04:38]:

Sure.

Scott Cowan [00:04:39]:

Steak and potatoes, burger and fries, pepperoni pizza. And here you’re telling me Yeah. You’re you’re checking out Indian food and and and Caribbean food and and Asian cuisine. I admire your your willingness to to to explore things.

Shawn Niles [00:04:57]:

I love it.

Scott Cowan [00:04:58]:

So you you moved to Hawaii, and then you ended up back in Yakima.

Shawn Niles [00:05:04]:

Yeah. So my father actually passed away while we were living in Hawaii. And so it’s like I need to be closer to family, and we felt really, really far away. So we moved back probably a year after he passed. So we’ve been back since 02/2006.

Scott Cowan [00:05:15]:

Okay.

ShawnNiles [00:05:15]:

And, yeah, you know, coming back from Hawaii, it was you know, being on an island where you’re not making a lot of money, it wasn’t like we’re, you know, living the life.

Scott Cowan [00:05:23]:

Well, you’re surfing surfing all the time.

Shawn Niles [00:05:24]:

Right? Right. Yeah. Spear fishing and all that’s jumping off a cliff.

Scott Cowan [00:05:28]:

Or, what what you know, what’s a luau’s every night for the week.

Shawn Niles [00:05:31]:

Right. Right. Right. Right. Okay. Yeah. And so we, you know, we came back and jumped back into church and that sort of thing, did that for a while. But still, I mean, it’s just for me.

Shawn Niles [00:05:39]:

I’ve always found the most joy cooking for people. Sitting around a table, and for me, that was, like, really fun ministry is when I had to bring people to my house and cook for them. Okay. And you get to know people better too. So that’s what I’m gonna put up with.

Scott Cowan [00:05:49]:

Yeah. Food’s a great connector.

Shawn Niles [00:05:51]:

Yep. I know we should be eating right now. Right?

Scott Cowan [00:05:53]:

Right. Yeah. We’re sitting here. What led up to you deciding to go on or, you know, audition for a TV cooking show? What what what was the conversations like? How did that because you just didn’t go, you know, I’m gonna go audition today.

Shawn Niles [00:06:12]:

Sure. Yeah. So what was that process like for you? You know, I’ve been a fan of Gordon Ramsay for a long time. I love Hell’s Kitchen, love watching MasterChef and all of that. And so I had written down a on a bucket list probably in 02/2009. I said before I die, I wanna cook for Gordon Ramsay. And so my wife and I actually were writing on a bunch of things. So that was just one of the things on my list.

Scott Cowan [00:06:28]:

Okay. And so

Shawn Niles [00:06:29]:

I shared that with some family and friends. And 02/2015, my niece, she writes me on or she texts me, and she goes, hey. They’re having auditions for MasterChef in Portland this weekend. And I’m like, oh, that’s cool. And she’s like, we need to come audition. I’m like, no. I’m I’m good. You know? And it was like, all of a sudden, it was like rubber meets the road.

ShawnNiles [00:06:44]:

Right? And she’s like, no. You said you’ve always wanted to do this. You need to do this. And so I called one of my buddies. I said, you wanna run down to Portland with me? Let’s do this. And so that’s that’s kinda how it came about. Just a phone call from my niece saying, hey. They’re doing it this weekend.

Scott Cowan [00:06:57]:

So what was the audition like?

Shawn Niles [00:06:58]:

Audition process was really interesting. So you’ve got a ton of people. Something about my application stood out to him. So they had called me, and they said, hey. Show up at this time, because we’re gonna get you in with, like, the second group that goes.

Scott Cowan [00:07:11]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:07:11]:

And so I go in with about 30 people of just that set. There’s people doing this all weekend long. Right? And so thousands of people. I think that year, they said 38,000 people tried out. And so that so just in Portland, my group’s going all weekend long. And so we go in, with the second group, and they put us in front of, you know, a a a bunch of producers and some food critics and things like that. So there’s about 30 of us in the room. We start pulling out our stuff.

Shawn Niles [00:07:36]:

You can’t cook anything on-site. You just have to bring it ready to go, and then you plate it. So you wanna make it look good. Right?

Scott Cowan [00:07:41]:

Oh, okay.

Shawn Niles [00:07:41]:

So they start walking around the room, and they start check trying to reach food, and they’re asking you questions and trying to put you on the spot a little bit. We get done, and they go back up, and they’re like, okay. If we call your number, stick around. And they called my number and one other person. And so it was like the two of us there. We go into a room. They tell us that we’re gonna meet with some more people. I didn’t know we were meeting with the creators of the show, but they take us into the room with the who we would later find out were the creators of the show, and they start grilling us and asking us a bunch of food questions.

Shawn Niles [00:08:08]:

What chefs do we know? What kind of, you know, food terminology? Trying to gauge kinda what our knowledge is. So we go through that, and they do the same thing. There had been several people that they picked to go in there for that. Same thing outside. They’re like, hey. If we call your name, stick around. And so they called my name and one other person again Wow. And said we want you to come back for an on screen interview.

Shawn Niles [00:08:25]:

So I came back the next day for the interview. Over the course of the next, like, six months, it was a long process. Had to go through a psychology evaluation, had to do a blood test, had to do all all kinds of crazy stuff. And finally got the call that said come down to, to LA. We want you down here for the, top 80. And then from the top 80, they would pick the top 40 that would go on the show.

Scott Cowan [00:08:45]:

Okay. I’ve got lots of questions.

Shawn Niles [00:08:46]:

Yeah. I know. It’s a lot. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:08:48]:

First off, what did you plate? That first that what did you bring? What did

Shawn Niles [00:08:50]:

you plate? So that was my signature dish. That’s still the dish that I love cooking more than anything else. So I did a porchetta. And so porchetta, I discovered this back in Italy in 02/2012. And so I when I had it there on the streets, I’m like, I will do whatever it takes to learn how to make this. And so I came back, bought a smoker, went through the whole process of trying to learn how to do that. So it’s basically a pork loin. It’s butterflied stuffed with all kinds of goodness.

Shawn Niles [00:09:12]:

So you got your sage, you got your parsley, you got your garlic, you got all the good stuff.

Scott Cowan [00:09:15]:

Right.

Shawn Niles [00:09:15]:

You got a good rub that goes on the outside. You take the pork belly, wrap it around the pork loin, and then smoke that or roast that, and, it’s incredible. So mine was sliced with, we did a hazelnut gremolata and then a lemon caper aioli. So that was the dish with some Brussel Sprouts on the side. So

Scott Cowan [00:09:32]:

did you prepare that all here in Yakima and take it to Portland, or did you were you

Shawn Niles [00:09:36]:

Yeah. Yeah. So we basically I had prepared it the night before.

Scott Cowan [00:09:39]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:09:40]:

And then had some friends over to test it, see if it was gonna get then we got up really early the next morning so we could be there by eight. So drove to Portland to get there by eight, and then just kinda waited in line. Everybody’s bringing in coolers or hot boxes, you know, things that they can keep their food as as warm as you can.

Scott Cowan [00:09:54]:

Right.

Shawn Niles [00:09:54]:

But you know, ultimately, and they know, you’re not having food that’s cooked right there on the spot. Sure. So you’re doing the very best you can to give them the best bite knowing that it’s not just right hot out of the oven. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:10:04]:

So The other question I have out of all that you just shared was the psychology test. Is that because Gordon’s persona is that he’s not a particularly nice guy? Do you

Shawn Niles [00:10:13]:

have to

Scott Cowan [00:10:13]:

can you stand up to him? I

Shawn Niles [00:10:14]:

think that’s the whole thing. I think they wanna make sure they don’t have people who are overtly crazy because if you watch the show, you know you do have some crazy people. Yes. Yes. So so not overtly crazy. They don’t want anybody stabbing anybody. And then the other side, I think, is exactly what you just said. You wanna make sure you have people who can handle it because, I mean, he’s not playing around.

Shawn Niles [00:10:31]:

I had a great experience, but not everybody down there Right.

Scott Cowan [00:10:33]:

Right. Yeah. Alright. So now you’re down to LA. Yeah. What happened I mean Yeah. I mean, the reason I’m asking you these questions is I had a guest on earlier in the in the series. Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:10:47]:

Young kid. Okay. So she was in the kids version.

Shawn Niles [00:10:50]:

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:10:51]:

And, you know Was it, Sadie. Sadie. Yeah. Sadie.

Shawn Niles [00:10:54]:

Okay. I’ve talked to her and her mom a couple times. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:10:56]:

They’re they’re wonderful. Yep. And Sadie, you know, shared her garden experience Uh-huh. Kinda like I think yours is gonna be. He’s interesting. Mhmm. But there’s a but he was very kind too. I mean, in other words, I think I wanna say I’ve never met the man.

Scott Cowan [00:11:13]:

I don’t think he exists like he does on television Sure. Twenty four seven.

Shawn Niles [00:11:17]:

Sure.

Scott Cowan [00:11:18]:

He’s I hope not. Yep. But he’s demanding. He expects that you give your best. Yep. And he he wants you to challenge yourself. And I think

Shawn Niles [00:11:29]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:11:29]:

I think we all can benefit from that type of relationship. Yep. So what happened? So you got 80 people down in LA now. What’d they make you do?

Shawn Niles [00:11:36]:

Yes. I mean and it it’s exactly what you said. Like, he’s he’s exists to push you and to create a show, but, ultimately, I think he really is invested in people’s success.

Scott Cowan [00:11:45]:

Mhmm.

Shawn Niles [00:11:46]:

He’s going to make it look really crazy in the process, but I think that’s the truth. So we get down there, and the first week, it’s all about us, you know, getting in the kitchen with the producers, cooking our food, and then they’re kinda testing to see what our personality is gonna be, like, pitting us against each other, seeing how we respond, creating drama, right, and seeing if we’re good at creating drama. So a couple of us, we kinda figured that out early on. We’re like, this is probably what’s happening, so let’s give them a show.

Scott Cowan [00:12:10]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:12:10]:

And so we just had fun. And so buddies of mine that that you know, of course, you’re making friends when you’re down there, but we’d be in the kitchen together and we’re like, let’s let’s have some fun. And so we’ll start screaming at each other, you know, and start going off and creating drama. And immediately, you got the producers who were there. They’re wanting to know what’s going on, and they’re asking you questions. They’re trying to, you know, create more drama. And so we’re like, let’s give it to them. You know, let’s have fun.

Sean Niles [00:12:30]:

And so then we’re high fiving each other and hugging afterwards, you know, because we know we just get a great show. You know, it looks like we’re gonna kill each other.

Scott Cowan [00:12:35]:

Right.

Shawn Niles [00:12:35]:

And so it was really fun. It really was a lot of fun. It was very stressful. We never knew when we were gonna get called to, to get up and, you know, go downstairs and be ready to to jump on the bus to go to the studio. It was, we were tired, worn out, you know, getting up at 03:00 in the morning to get ready and then not knowing when they’re not when they’re gonna knock on the door and say, let’s go. It was a lot. It really was a lot. There were definitely some days, where I would go from cooking then into an interview, and I felt like my interview was crap.

Shawn Niles [00:13:02]:

You know? And I’m just like, I just really blew that because I was so tired. You know? Mhmm. But we went through that week of top 80 competing and and really just kinda not really competing, but just getting to know

Scott Cowan [00:13:11]:

each other.

Shawn Niles [00:13:12]:

And then all of a sudden, they they call us down, and they’re like, hey. If we call your name, go to this side. If we call your name, go to the other side. So we don’t know what group we’re gonna be in. Right? And so, like, my name was called first. And so I get up and I go to that room, and, I’m like, who knows what’s gonna go on? You know? And there’s 40 of us that are in there. We’re looking around and getting to know, you know, everybody that that I had. I’m looking around the room, and I’m like, this is a good group.

Shawn Niles [00:13:34]:

And pretty soon they walked in, and they’re like, hey. You guys made it. You’re gonna be on the show. So, so the the top 40 had to compete for top 20, but we at least knew we were gonna be on on TV.

Scott Cowan [00:13:43]:

So So then did you come home between that, or did you start filming at that point?

Shawn Niles [00:13:48]:

We started filming almost right away.

Scott Cowan [00:13:49]:

So how long how long was this process for you?

Shawn Niles [00:13:53]:

For me, it was two weeks. So I was there for two weeks.

Scott Cowan [00:13:55]:

That’s not that bad.

Shawn Niles [00:13:56]:

It was a week of trying out and then a week of filming those battles. Okay. I’m hot, man. Gosh. They normally film in, like, the, you know, January, February. And we were filming in July or excuse me, in August, where it was, like, crazy. Oh, man. Yeah.

Shawn Niles [00:14:09]:

No. It was, it was insane. And so being outside in the heat, it was it was nuts. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:14:15]:

Yeah. So what’s a takeaway from all of this for you? Like Yeah. What to to I wanna ask you two questions. Yeah. Your best takeaway and your least favorite aspect. I’ll say your worst. You know, what what was the best thing about doing this?

ShawnNiles [00:14:31]:

I think just the, the the worst part of that was being away from my family, not having any contacts, not being able to connect with them while I was gone.

Scott Cowan [00:14:38]:

Because that they they isolate you, definitely. Yeah.

Shawn Niles [00:14:40]:

Yeah. It’s very isolated. It’s being in a it’s like being in a really nice deal, so, where they take good care of you at least. But, but, so I’m there with my, you know, with my friends, but, you know, I can’t talk to my family. They actually you know, one of the the whole mental pieces, they didn’t tell me that they were flying down my wife and my son to be there when I competed. And so they kinda walk out of set. It’s this big dramatic moment, and I lose it. You know? And they they didn’t show most of that on TV.

Shawn Niles [00:15:06]:

But Oh. But, yeah, it was very mental at that point. So I’m like, oh, gosh. My family’s here. Now I gotta go cook. You know? So that those kind of things were definitely tough. Uh-huh. But I made some of the most incredible friends.

Shawn Niles [00:15:17]:

In fact, my competitor who beat me has become one of my best friends in the world. She comes up to Yakima at least once a year.

Scott Cowan [00:15:23]:

And where’s she?

Shawn Niles [00:15:24]:

She’s out of Nashville.

Scott Cowan [00:15:25]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:15:25]:

So Yashica. And Yashica’s incredible.

Scott Cowan [00:15:27]:

So Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:15:28]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:15:28]:

Yep. So what was your biggest takeaway from it?

Shawn Niles [00:15:30]:

Like You know Yeah. Hearing Gordon being in the kitchen, there were a lot of things that happened that, of course, they didn’t show. And so you’ve got things taking place that were just really, really fun, really nerve wracking. You know, all of those things, they only got you know, it’s a thirty minute process, and they’re gonna show ten minutes of it. Right. And so, you know, we had ended up while we were cooking, they, they asked Yashica if she would sing because she was a pastor as well. And so she starts singing Amazing Grace. So I come in on the harmony with her, and we’re belting out Amazing Grace in front of Arone, Gordon, and Christina.

Shawn Niles [00:16:03]:

And Aaron Arone is wiping tears from his eyes by the time we’re done. Wow. And they didn’t show any of that, but that was an amazing moment. For me, that was one of my favorite memories.

Scott Cowan [00:16:11]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:16:11]:

And And then we get done and, you know, Yashica has won. So Gordon had voted for me to stay. Then you have the other two judges who voted for her.

Scott Cowan [00:16:21]:

Shawn Niles [00:16:21]:

And so they didn’t show him saying that he voted for me to stay, but what they did show was him saying, Sean, it’s clear that you were born to serve your community, but it’s also clear that you were born to cook. And that for me was when I was like, maybe this is not just a hobby. Maybe this is something that I can I can do a lot more with and and hopefully make a difference at the same time?

Scott Cowan [00:16:38]:

Wow. Yeah. Would you do it again? Absolutely.

Shawn Niles [00:16:42]:

Yeah. I would. Yeah. I you know, I’ve been on other shows that were, like you know, the experience is a % different. And I’d love to be on, you know, future shows. I think that’d be a lot of fun. But MasterChef was pretty special.

Scott Cowan [00:16:53]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:16:54]:

That for me is the start of the journey. A lot of people walked away mad. They they thought, you know, I I never wanna do anything like this again. But I really had a great experience overall.

Scott Cowan [00:17:02]:

Alright. So you you you compete. You don’t win it all. Yeah. You come back here. And now we’re sitting in a restaurant. Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:17:12]:

So you weren’t a professional chef.

Shawn Niles [00:17:15]:

Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:17:17]:

Now you’re running a restaurant. That had to go smooth.

Shawn Niles [00:17:20]:

I mean, no. No. It’s no problems

Scott Cowan [00:17:22]:

at all. What so Gordon gave you this praise. Yeah. And I think that might have been the the the, you know, the final tumbler in the lock. You know, like, okay. I’m gonna do this.

Shawn Niles [00:17:32]:

Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:17:35]:

But it’s not like you just called up a a a strip mall and said, hey. I’d like to rent that spot. Right. So how did you what what did you put together that is evolved into where we’re at right now?

Shawn Niles [00:17:49]:

Yeah. So it’s been a you know, we we we call ourselves Fat Pastor Productions because it’s not just a restaurant. It’s there’s so much more to what we do. And it started out that way. It was a couple years before we even started a restaurant. But we came back, talked with some friends, in church. So some of my pastoral staff and I got together and people who eventually became my partners. But we got together, and we said, you know, we could do something with this.

Shawn Niles [00:18:13]:

And we’re kinda watching kinda watching, trying to see what we’re gonna do, and I couldn’t talk about being on the show for a year. So it’s kind of a just a long process of waiting until it airs, you know, and doing all that. So about the time that it was about to air, Yakima was going through a really hard time. There’s a lot of murders that were taking place, and it’s, again, one of the reasons why Yakima gets a bad rap. You hear about a lot of the bad stuff. Right? So I, as a pastor, I got called to this meeting of a bunch of different leaders in the valley who are coming together at one of the big bigger churches in town. So they get the mayor on the stage, you get the chief of police on the stage, you get some other people prosecuting attorney on stage, And they’re talking about all of this stuff, and then they open up the mic. And I’m sitting there and I’m listening.

Shawn Niles [00:18:47]:

And all of a sudden, people are going up, and they’re just talking nonstop about whose fault it is. So pointing the fingers. It’s your fault. It’s your fault. It’s your fault. If you would have done this, you would have done this. And I have this revelation as I’m as I’m sitting there. I’m like, man, the problem is not the problem.

Shawn Niles [00:19:01]:

The problem is that it’s not my problem. And until I stop pointing fingers at everybody else, I’m not gonna do anything. And I’m like, how do I how do I make this my problem? You know? I’m at a place where I love my city. I wanna be here. You know? I had moved out for a couple years, but I wanna be here now. If I’m gonna be here, I gotta do something.

Scott Cowan [00:19:17]:

Shawn Niles [00:19:17]:

And so this guy gets up and starts talking about a program for youth called, YPAL. And so Yakima Police Activities League. He’s like, you know, we have all these kids that come here. We grow, like, 300 kids a week. And he said it’s in the worst park in town, biggest amount of violence. He goes, we’re right there with these kids. He goes, you know, all of you people who are yelling about all the problems. He goes, it’d be nice if you can’t and help us, because we have a boxing ring.

Shawn Niles [00:19:37]:

He said, we’ve got a computer lab. We’ve got study rooms. We’ve got a big kitchen. And I went, okay. And so I’m listening, and I’m like, maybe there’s something there. And so that’s how our first program was born. I got together with another local chef and then a business leader here in town. And I said, why don’t we start a program for kids where we can bring them in, teach them business and culinary skills, and then let them run their own restaurant for three nights at the end of the time? And they’re like, that sounds like a lot of fun.

Shawn Niles [00:20:01]:

And so we, we created our program, Urban Kitchen. We launched it a couple months later with incredible success. Thanks to the community. I mean, the people really got behind us, rallied around us so that we could do this. We’re right now in the middle of our fifth class, and so we’re getting ready to graduate the fifth group of kids.

Scott Cowan [00:20:16]:

How many how many kids are in this in this round?

Shawn Niles [00:20:18]:

Right now, we’ve got 14 kids that are signed up, which is perfect. That’s about all we could take in here.

Scott Cowan [00:20:22]:

And about the age group?

Shawn Niles [00:20:24]:

We take them anywhere from 10 to 18. Most of these kids are, like, 13 to 17.

Scott Cowan [00:20:29]:

Shawn Niles [00:20:30]:

So yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:20:30]:

And so what’s what do you think would be next for them after they get out of your out of this program? Are they working are they going Yeah. Thirteen thirteen to 17 years, little young to work. Absolutely. So what’s you’re teaching them a whole bunch of skills Yeah. Disguised as cooking. Let’s be real. Absolutely. So Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:20:46]:

But you teach them to cook too. Yep. I mean, what what are they going on to do? It it really varies.

Shawn Niles [00:20:51]:

So some of the kids are like, we wanna stay connected. We’ve had some kids come back and take another round

Scott Cowan [00:20:56]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:20:56]:

Because they wanna keep going. More than anything, though, we wanna build relationships. And so the idea behind this is that we give the kids a place where they can come. They’re welcome. They know that they’re gonna be accepted. They’re gonna be loved and taken care of. And if they wanna cook, they’re gonna have a lot of fun cooking. They wanna learn business.

Shawn Niles [00:21:10]:

They’re gonna learn some good skills. If that’s as far as it goes, we feel like we’ve done a really good

Scott Cowan [00:21:13]:

job. No. Absolutely.

Shawn Niles [00:21:14]:

But for some of the kids, they do they wanna keep going. We’ve hired some of the kids. Okay. As they got older, we’ve had a few that we hired to bring out with us and, you know, dishwashing or prep. Or whatever the case is there. Just give them cool opportunities to do that. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:21:28]:

What sort of what sort of skills are you teaching? I mean, what are you teaching them? Knife work? You teach them you know, are they learning how to do specific dishes? Mhmm. I mean, what are you what are you teaching them?

Shawn Niles [00:21:41]:

Yeah. So it’s it really it starts out with, you know, safety sanitation. So we bring in the food department, and they will give the kids their health cards. So we go through that.

Scott Cowan [00:21:48]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:21:48]:

Then we go through knife skills. We teach them about, you know, baking skills. We’ve got them talking about putting flavors together and how is it that you take you know, what flavors go together and how can you manipulate that. We give them a lot of room to go crazy and just kind of experiment because we found that in the midst of their wild ideas, some of it works.

Scott Cowan [00:22:05]:

And some of it’s subject some of it’s subject failures. Exactly. Which is kinda fun too if there’s something wrong with that. Okay? We learned from that.

Shawn Niles [00:22:11]:

We’ve got a local food critic who came in for a burger challenge the kids did. And so he, he comes in and he walked away and he’s like, dang it. These kids are doing better burgers than some of the places in town.

Scott Cowan [00:22:20]:

So what

Shawn Niles [00:22:20]:

were the kids coming

Scott Cowan [00:22:22]:

up with for the burger? So the

Shawn Niles [00:22:23]:

you know, they’re doing just really they’re doing, like, their own sauces. They’re doing blends of meat. You know, the toppings that they’re putting on them. I can’t remember off the top of my head what the winning kid did. But it was really impressive.

Scott Cowan [00:22:33]:

And we’re

Shawn Niles [00:22:34]:

like, man, this is awesome. Yeah. That’s cool. It’s It’s really cool. And sometimes it’s just a matter of you you did the technique right. You know? You you cooked it right. You formed it right. It’s not chewy.

Shawn Niles [00:22:43]:

You know? I mean, things like that. Sometimes it’s just a matter of you just did a really good job of the technical skills.

Scott Cowan [00:22:47]:

Sure.

Shawn Niles [00:22:48]:

Which is good.

Scott Cowan [00:22:49]:

So that you’re on your fifth version of this right now. Yeah. How long how long is the course? Are you or before we hit record, you said you might be changing it a little bit.

Shawn Niles [00:22:58]:

No. So the the course is it started out as three months, and then we realized that wasn’t enough time. So we then bumped it up to four months. Okay. So yep.

Scott Cowan [00:23:05]:

Four months. Yep. Yeah. That’s awesome. Yeah. And that’s how how can kids how could people find out more about it?

Shawn Niles [00:23:12]:

Yeah. So if you wanna know more about Urban Kitchen, go to urbankitchenyakima.org.

Scott Cowan [00:23:16]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:23:17]:

And there’s a lot of information there. People have kids that wanna be involved. We’d love for them to sign up for future classes.

Scott Cowan [00:23:21]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:23:22]:

It’s a lot of fun.

Scott Cowan [00:23:23]:

Yeah. Cool. Yeah. So you started with that?

Shawn Niles [00:23:25]:

Yep. Yep. Alright.

Scott Cowan [00:23:26]:

But yet, we’re still sitting somewhere else.

Shawn Niles [00:23:27]:

So what was next? So we realized that we needed to have an avenue to funnel some money back into Urban Kitchen. Wow. And so, again, for for for us at this point, we’re like, let’s just do some things. We’re all pastoring the church. Right? So that’s our job. But but we’re not making full time salary. So we’re like, how can we make a little extra money? What if we started an underground dining club? And we’re like, that could be fun. You know? And nobody else is doing that in town and not a lot happening, you know, even around the country, you know, that you know about.

Shawn Niles [00:23:54]:

And so we’re like, well, shoot. We’re pastors. We can’t really do a illegal underground dining club. So how do we do this? And so, we talked to the the health department because they loved our program with the kids. They’re like, we’re gonna help you figure this out. We don’t know how to do this, but we’re gonna help you figure it out. And so they crafted, a plan for us to even be legal. And so we became one of the first legal underground dining clubs in the country, which is cool.

Scott Cowan [00:24:15]:

I gotta tell you. The word legal and underground don’t quite go together. Right?

Shawn Niles [00:24:19]:

It’s not quite as cool. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Yep. It’s like having your mom there for your first tattoo. Right?

Scott Cowan [00:24:25]:

It’s not as cool. Yeah. No. Yeah. That’s a good one. How how did the health department I mean, they worked with you, which is awesome. Yeah. So what did walk me through that because I’m I’m always curious how these things get started.

Scott Cowan [00:24:43]:

Yeah. Yeah. How did walk through the beginning of this club. So And by the way, share the name of the club.

Shawn Niles [00:24:49]:

So it’s called Bite Club. And so, Bite Club’s fun. We wanted to, you know, be the thing that, you know, nobody talks about Bite Club. So we want everybody to think

Scott Cowan [00:24:57]:

about it. Right? You’re you’re Fat Pastor and Bite Club. They’re kind of really close to Yeah. You know you know, common phrases. Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:25:04]:

Yep. Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:25:05]:

So nobody talks about Bite Club, which makes it hard to grow.

Shawn Niles [00:25:07]:

Yep. But that was the thing. We’re like, don’t talk about Bite Club, but, you know, please please talk about Bite Club. Right. And so, so we worked with the health department. We said, you know, this is our plan. We wanna go out, and we wanna do it in various venues in different places. And they’re like, well, you have to have a you know, if you’re gonna do that, you to treat it like catering.

Shawn Niles [00:25:23]:

And that’s really how they ultimately kinda crafted it. It’s like specialized catering.

Scott Cowan [00:25:27]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:25:27]:

So we’re doing five course meals that we’re charging anywhere from a hundred to a hundred and $50 a person. Finding places where we can do, you know, wine pairings with wineries and things like that or places that are, you know, licensed to do that. And so we’re like, you know, we gotta we gotta just kinda kick it off and see if it works. And so we sent out some emails. We did a, like, very small promotion. And before we knew it, we had people who were signing up. We’re like,

Scott Cowan [00:25:50]:

oh, this

Shawn Niles [00:25:50]:

this is working. Okay. What are you gonna do? You know? And so our first event was, like, a month notice. Our first event, we had 13 people who showed up that are still part of our club today. And it it worked. People were so excited about the food. I mean, we had some crazy experiences. Because, again, like you said, we’re not classically none of us are classically trained chefs.

Shawn Niles [00:26:08]:

We have one classically trained chef on our team, who runs the restaurant here and also is the head chef for Urban Kitchen.

Scott Cowan [00:26:14]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:26:15]:

But other than that, we’re all like, this is a passion for us. Right? There’s a lot of ups to that. There’s a lot of downs to that because the upside is you get high creativity. The downside is sometimes you get low technical when you’re first starting. So we’re fighting to learn how to do this together. Right? And so it starts gaining traction, and we’re like, shoot. This is working. And before long, we we just have a growing list of people who wanna be a part of this bike club, and that’s, where we spent most of our effort for the first year or so is between urban kitchen and bike club.

Shawn Niles [00:26:44]:

But because of the success of those things, we started having people say, well, what about catering? You know? Can you can you do big events for us? And we’re like, let’s try it. And that started taking off, and that really blew up. And before long, we’re doing huge events. And so it was, again, it was about a year and a half or two years, I guess, into it that we looked at each other and we’re like, do we wanna do a restaurant? And our first answer was no. We knew we knew that’s gonna be a lot of work. But this building kinda came open and kinda was highlighted for us, and we’re like, let’s try it. Let’s see what happens. So we opened up our first restaurant months before COVID.

Scott Cowan [00:27:18]:

Oh. Yeah. Brilliant timing. Absolutely. Yep. Well, let’s I wanna I wanna keep going back to to Bite Club.

Shawn Niles [00:27:25]:

for sure.

Scott Cowan [00:27:25]:

So how often well, in in a non COVID world, how is that how often was Bite Club happening?

Shawn Niles [00:27:33]:

Yeah. So it was happening every month. Okay. We have anywhere from one to three events, depending on interest in what people wanted to do. Wow. And just coming up with different ideas. You know? And, again, it was before we had all the other things that were going on, so we had more time to pour into it. Mhmm.

Shawn Niles [00:27:46]:

And so it was a little bit easier than trying to do that with everything we’re doing now. But, yeah, we’d we’d highlight global flavors most of the time. You know? That’s that’s my big excitement in in food is global.

Scott Cowan [00:27:57]:

Shawn Niles [00:27:58]:

My partner is Gilbert, and he is from, from Zambia.

Scott Cowan [00:28:02]:

Shawn Niles [00:28:02]:

And so he’s got an amazing global, flare as well. Incredibly gifted when it comes to the technical skills, which again, for somebody who isn’t classically trained is pretty awesome. And just putting his those flavors together is great. So we were working really hard together to create something. We had another chef that was working with us at the time, Lotta, who was, unbelievable in the dessert realm. And so she’s gone on to some different things now, but, man, starting that out with her was amazing because of her her gift for for dessert, which is phenomenal.

Scott Cowan [00:28:32]:

At the time that we’re recording this, which is late November twenty twenty one, is Bite Club happening? Yeah. Can we talk about I mean, is it underground? Can we talk? I mean Yeah.

Shawn Niles [00:28:44]:

No. Yeah. No. It’s it’s underground but not underground. Right? Yeah. So just don’t tell anybody. Okay. Yeah.

Shawn Niles [00:28:48]:

No. So we have the website, fatpastor.com, and that’s where Bite Club is is stationed at. You can click on on Bite Club when you see it. But what’s really cool about Bite Club right now is that, few years ago, we went to the World Food Championships for the first time. And we competed there. We competed in the burger category. We won the twenty third best burger in the world, which was super cool, for never having competed before. Came back, started doing these burger events and different things and kinda captured the attention of the, the owner of the World Food Championships.

Shawn Niles [00:29:20]:

And so I’ll never forget. I was sitting in the parking lot of Fred Meyer when I got an email saying, hey, Sean. This is Mike McLeod from World Food Championships. I’ve been following you guys for a while. I love this Bite Club model. I wanna talk about it with you because I think maybe we could take this national. And so for the last two years, we’ve been having that conversation. As of the summer, we signed papers with the World Food Championships to take Bite Club national as another concept, for food sport and qualifying people to be part of the World Food Championships.

Shawn Niles [00:29:49]:

So it’s gonna look a little bit different than what we first started with, but now we’re taking that to the next level and introducing food sport as well as fine dining.

Scott Cowan [00:29:58]:

Alright. Alright. Food sport. Yeah. I don’t know if I ever thought of those two words going together. Two of my favorite words come by. It’s like what chocolate and peanut butter. Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:30:08]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:30:10]:

Walk me through what this new iteration’s gonna look like.

Shawn Niles [00:30:14]:

Yeah. So we’re we’re going to so our team is going to just continue to maintain Washington state.

Scott Cowan [00:30:19]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:30:20]:

And we’re gonna continue to do our normal five course meals and all of that and make it just fun. No sport involved. But the other opportunities that we’re bringing into it is gonna be an additional concept called throw downs. And so in the throw downs, we’re bringing in two local chefs, one celebrity chef who comes in to fight against each other with three courses and to see who wins. They get a grand prize at the end of the night, which is a thousand dollar check, but they also get entry into the, the next year’s World Food Championships. And so it’s we’ve done a couple of them here, since we’ve launched this year. And, now we’re gonna be focusing on continuing to have those opportunities, but also growing that throughout the rest of the country.

Scott Cowan [00:30:56]:

So this throwdown, how many people will they be cooking food for?

Shawn Niles [00:31:00]:

So you’ve got 40 guests, and you got three judges. So we’re telling them small plates. Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:31:05]:

We give

Shawn Niles [00:31:05]:

them a theme. The themes that we’ve had in the past, have been Pacific Northwest. We did a, oh gosh. We did a duck bacon, challenge, which was really fun. They had to somehow incorporate duck bacon into their dishes, with, D’Artagnan. And so we, we bring people in. You get the 40 guests. You get your three main judges.

Shawn Niles [00:31:26]:

So the 40 diners act as, a conglomerate vote. So after each round, we ask for their vote, and collectively, whoever has the most votes wins that point.

Scott Cowan [00:31:36]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:31:36]:

And then each of the three judges get a point. Okay. And so they will vote for their top favorite. And so the person who has the most votes at the end of three rounds, ends up going to, to win the prize and to compete at the world food championships.

Scott Cowan [00:31:50]:

And these are gonna be national?

Shawn Niles [00:31:52]:

Yeah. Yeah. These are actually international. The food championships brings people in from all over the world. Wow. It’s absolutely incredible. So the bike club throwdown concept, soon as we hit 2022, it’s like go time. And so we’re we’re not even sure a % of what all that all looks like yet.

Shawn Niles [00:32:07]:

But the World Food, they’re taking the lead on on, you know, running that, and then we just back them up and make sure they have the support they need.

Scott Cowan [00:32:15]:

Is it

Shawn Niles [00:32:16]:

Yeah. So looking at expanding throughout Washington for us, and so eventually getting into Spokane, into Seattle, into, some of those areas, Vancouver

Scott Cowan [00:32:26]:

Right.

Shawn Niles [00:32:26]:

Where we can really build this up and make it something fun throughout the entire state.

Scott Cowan [00:32:30]:

So where will these be held at in theory?

Shawn Niles [00:32:32]:

So here, we have the the lab space. So where you’re sitting right now Right. This has been a phenomenal space for us. So we did one here. We also are talking to restaurants because it’s a cool opportunity for restaurants to do something different and to gain some, different support from the community. For instance, if you take a restaurant that closes at ten, and then we say, okay. Now we’re gonna have this event from 10:00 until 01:00. And so late night, really fun.

Shawn Niles [00:32:58]:

It feels a little more underground.

Scott Cowan [00:33:00]:

Right.

Shawn Niles [00:33:00]:

So you have these event. We let the restaurant run the service side of things as far as the bar. So they make money off of the bar, which is so far has been really positive. The restaurants that we’ve worked with have been really happy with the outcome. And then, you know, we have the competition going on back in the house in the kitchen at the same time. So Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:33:18]:

So how do I get hooked up with this?

Shawn Niles [00:33:20]:

Yeah. Right. Like,

Scott Cowan [00:33:21]:

this sounds awesome. Alright.

Shawn Niles [00:33:23]:

So, yeah, again, if people are excited about this, you know, a membership with Bike Club through us gets you everything. So a hundred and $50 a year, is membership.

Scott Cowan [00:33:31]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:33:31]:

And then with that, you get invited to all of these events that are going on. Now each event has a price tag associated with it, but you get to be a part of the email list that gets you into these events. Nobody can just walk in. Nobody

Scott Cowan [00:33:42]:

can walk in. So it’s a it’s a I don’t wanna say exclusive club, but it’s a private club. Club.

Shawn Niles [00:33:46]:

We we say that. You know? That’s part of our marketing. It’s exclusive, extravagant, extraordinary. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:33:51]:

Oh, alright.

Shawn Niles [00:33:51]:

Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:33:53]:

What was on the last menu of the last Bite Club?

Shawn Niles [00:33:56]:

Oh, gosh. What did they do? So there was some really cool stuff. I I know the oh goodness. I’m gonna have to think. So we brought in Yashica, who is my competitor, from, MasterChef. Mhmm. Surprisingly, she didn’t win, which was really funny because and I and I I say that, because of the fact that she had so much that was coming with her, not because the other chefs, I wasn’t expecting them to. But just simply because she’s a real competitor.

Shawn Niles [00:34:19]:

You know? She’s she’s strong. And, she made a shrimp and grits dish that was absolutely incredible, and she used the duck bacon as a topping. There was candied duck bacon in the desserts that they made. There was a mushroom dish in the very beginning that they incorporated some of that duck bacon into the other competitors. The the winner of that event, though, her name is Tammy Hoffert, and she is a local chef. She’s had food trucks. She’s worked in a few different places, but she brought it that night. She took home to win.

Scott Cowan [00:34:47]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:34:47]:

Pretty cool. Yeah. Alright. I believe her plan is to compete in next year’s World Food Championships. So Okay. Yeah. Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:34:55]:

Now we’re sitting in what was called is called the lab.

Shawn Niles [00:35:00]:

Yeah. Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:35:00]:

Yep. Currently Yep. It’s transitioning. Yep. But this is where Bite Club happens. This is where the the train kitchen.

Shawn Niles [00:35:10]:

Yep. Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:35:11]:

All of these things are happening. This is the hub. Mhmm. But you have another restaurant down in in I always wanna say Zillow. I just don’t know why. But it’s not Zillow, folks. It’s Ziilah. Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:35:23]:

Let’s talk about that. Because Zillah

Shawn Niles [00:35:24]:

is pretty cool. Zillah is a small town. But fun fact, there was a church there for the longest time. They just changed their name in the last few years, but it was the Church of Godzilla. Absolutely incredible. So one of my favorite Zillah facts. Oh my gosh. But so, you know, that that area of Eastern Washington is just filled with amazing wineries.

Shawn Niles [00:35:44]:

So we’ve got we’ve just got Rattlesnake Hills there, the AVA, that they’re producing just phenomenal wines. And so we are at J Bell Cellars, owned by Wes and Natasha Teslo. Amazing Ukrainian couple. And so they have been friends for a long time. And so last year in the middle of all the COVID stuff that was going on, we’re going you know, we gotta find solutions for everybody. Right? And so we’re sitting out there with with them one day, and they’re like, you know, we got this kitchen, and we can only serve outside right now, which is perfect, because their whole entire concept is mostly outside.

Scott Cowan [00:36:13]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:36:13]:

They’re like, we we should do something. We’re like, maybe we should do something. And so we, we launched in July of last year, Il Grosso. And Il Grosso is Italian for the fats, and so we thought that that’ll play well with us. And so we started Pacific Northwest Italian cuisine restaurant, everything based out of a wood fired oven. So we we we, we’ve been there for about a year and a half now. It’s been awesome. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:36:36]:

Yeah. But before we hit record, you’re kinda going on a hiatus due to to winter, if you will.

Shawn Niles [00:36:42]:

Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:36:42]:

So what’s the last day just I wanna get context for people who are listening to this.

Shawn Niles [00:36:47]:

Sure.

Scott Cowan [00:36:47]:

Like, December eighteenth of twenty twenty one, you’re gonna

Shawn Niles [00:36:52]:

Yeah. So December turn the lights off for a few weeks? Yeah. So December 18 is our last day of service at El Grosso for the public. Mhmm. December 19, we’re hosting a special event. We’re calling it like a chef’s table. And so it’s gonna be similar to bike club, really high end food that we’re doing. We’re doing a feast of the seven fishes, which is which is a classic Italian feast.

Scott Cowan [00:37:11]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:37:11]:

So seven courses, with wine pairings, and, it’s it’s gonna be really fun. We’re we’re bringing in a whole bunch of really unique food.

Scott Cowan [00:37:19]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:37:19]:

It’s gonna be a blast. So that’s gonna be our our last day, but it’s a special event, a ticketed event.

Scott Cowan [00:37:24]:

Right.

Shawn Niles [00:37:24]:

Yeah. And then we’ll open back up in February.

Scott Cowan [00:37:26]:

In February. Okay. So if you’re listening to this between, you know, January and February, folks, don’t go.

Shawn Niles [00:37:30]:

But go out for February.

Scott Cowan [00:37:33]:

You’re wearing a lot of hats. You’re spinning a lot of plates, whatever other corneac, you know, stories I wanna say here. Are you having fun?

Shawn Niles [00:37:40]:

You know, it really is fun. There’s a lot of things that aren’t fun. I mean, the grind is is tough, and COVID has not been easy. And so I I will not paint any pretty pictures about about COVID. It’s been a tough season. The thing for us, that I think has been the most difficult is wanting to honor the, the expectations as far as the masks and and the restrictions and things like that. That’s really important to us. We have dear people that have been affected by COVID.

Shawn Niles [00:38:04]:

So we’ve taken that incredibly serious, while watching other people in the restaurant industry just kind of freaking out and being like, we’re gonna do whatever we want because we we can’t afford to shut down. And I get that too.

Scott Cowan [00:38:13]:

Mhmm.

Shawn Niles [00:38:13]:

So living between those two worlds has been really tough of wanting to honor those who are a little bit more at risk. Mhmm. And at the same time, trying to feel like we have to we have to fight to keep our our restaurants open too because we got a family. You know? We gotta take care of each other. So Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:38:27]:

I know. It’s it’s been, interesting I haven’t used the word pivot in a few episodes, but it’s everyone’s pivoted, you know, and and or spun around and fallen down. I don’t know. However you wanna

Shawn Niles [00:38:38]:

say it.

Scott Cowan [00:38:39]:

It’s been it’s been interesting watching people adapt in all industries. The food industry has been really interesting for me to watch because when I think about, you know, outdoor dining Mhmm. A lot of places didn’t have it. You know, in, like, down in Walla Walla, they blocked off the street. They accommodate they made made accommodations.

Shawn Niles [00:39:02]:

Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:39:05]:

In in Wenatchee, there’s there’s outdoor seating now and, you know, and things like that to to accommodate. My wife and I went out to dinner for our anniversary in January. So okay. And we went to a a place in Wenatchee, and we sat in a greenhouse.

Shawn Niles [00:39:21]:

Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:39:21]:

And, you know, it was a greenhouse, so it was this, you know, your own personal bubble. Yeah. And but it’s January, and they had a heater going, and it was different. Yeah. It is on Wenatchee Avenue, so there was the my biggest objection to the whole thing was you could really hear this the the semis going. So it was here it is, our anniversary. We’re we’re out trying to have a nice dinner and I’m but, you know, they adapt.

Shawn Niles [00:39:44]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:39:48]:

What kind of I don’t wanna ask you what’s next because you’re not gonna you’re not gonna unveil that, and I don’t want you to. But what’s kind of next? What do what do you hope if I asked you to go five years from now

Shawn Niles [00:39:59]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:39:59]:

What’s your vision? What does does like, what do you wanna see out five years from now?

Shawn Niles [00:40:05]:

You know, I I really believe that Yakima and this region, and if anybody’s listening from someplace else, don’t take it the wrong way, but I really believe that we can be the epicenter of food culture in the Pacific Northwest. Because you’ve got the beer, you got the wine, and the food is stepping up. And we’re working really hard to step up the food. I think that when you bring all of those things together really well, we’ve seen what a difference that’s made in other places. Right? What about Walla Walla, which is much smaller than Yakima? What about Napa? You know, these places where it works perfectly together.

Scott Cowan [00:40:34]:

Mhmm.

Shawn Niles [00:40:34]:

There’s a lot of similarities, I think. And I don’t see you know, with the agriculture that we have, gosh, there’s no reason why we can’t be at the very center of everything food in the Pacific Northwest. That’s what I would love to see in in the future is that you have people coming from all over the place to visit Yakima because it is a food and drink destination. And I think it’s happening, but I think it’s going to continue to grow exponentially. K. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:40:56]:

For for you, what would you like to see your role in that being, you know, five years down the road? What is what is the, you know, what does it look like?

Shawn Niles [00:41:04]:

You know, I I love making a difference in in people’s lives, and so cooking the food is fun. Uh-huh. I don’t feel like I need to be back in the kitchen, you know, for the rest of my life. I see creating concepts and helping those concepts launch and and and really move forward strongly. Mhmm. But I don’t I don’t wanna be back cooking the food the entire time. I wanna I wanna create menus. I wanna help people get excited about their own menus, and create an opportunity for people to to blow up themselves.

Shawn Niles [00:41:28]:

You know? I think the thing for me is that being on MasterChef launched something, that I don’t know if anything else really could have. But I feel like that doesn’t get spread to my community so that other people can rise up as well. I don’t know if it’s that if it’s that great. You know? Any any kind of, grace, if you will, that you experience in your life has gotta be sent out to others. Other people have to experience it.

Scott Cowan [00:41:50]:

Yes. Yeah. Alright. I wanna ask you some questions. And I thought about this one long and hard. You can’t say Gordon Ramsay.

Shawn Niles [00:41:58]:

Yeah. That’s okay.

Scott Cowan [00:41:59]:

You can’t. If you could watch a chef work I I’d almost say, like, take a cooking lesson, if you will. Sure. Who would it be, and what would you wanna see them do?

Shawn Niles [00:42:14]:

So I, this is a fun one because I I was invited. I’m it’s been postponed a couple times due to COVID. But one of my favorite chefs in the world, not Gordon Ramsay, he’s incredible, but one of my favorite chefs in the world is, chef Massimo Baturra. Okay. And so he runs the number one restaurant in the world. Several times, he’s won that, and also best chef in the world several times. So he’s in Modena, Italy, and I was invited to go cook with him and stay at his property for three days. Should have happened already.

Shawn Niles [00:42:40]:

Now it’s been postponed to May of of next year because of COVID. But I’ll be cooking with him in May, in Italy. And that for me, it still doesn’t even feel real. Like, it’s a done deal. Everything’s set in place, but it feels so unbelievable to think that that’s gonna happen. So he’s the for me, he’s my top chef. In fact, my my son is he’s six. He’s about to turn seven, and he, he loves food, loves the food culture.

Shawn Niles [00:43:02]:

Okay. He knows a lot about food culture. And so our dear friend, chief Murray here in town is the chief of police. Her his granddaughter was in town, so he took Asher out, with his granddaughter to go play at the trampoline Park. And he texted me and he goes, so, Asher and I are having a unique conversation. He said, oh, really? And he goes, yeah. He is, you know, he’s telling me that chef Massimo is the best chef in the world when it’s clearly Thomas Keller. So but, but but I get it.

Shawn Niles [00:43:29]:

My son gets it.

Shawnt Cowan [00:43:30]:

So But did your son win the argument? Exactly. Yeah. The kid’s winning. That’s awesome.

Shawn Niles [00:43:35]:

In his mind, I’m sure he did.

Scott Cowan [00:43:36]:

So Okay. Do you like to cook at home?

Shawn Niles [00:43:42]:

Yeah. Very much so. You know, it’s hard sometimes too, but absolutely. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:43:45]:

So painting a scenario, it’s Saturday morning, you’ve got nothing on your schedule. Yeah. What’s your go to Saturday morning? Like, if you’re gonna cook for the family Yeah. What what what would you be serving, do you think?

Shawn Niles [00:43:57]:

You know, I love I really love brunch food. And so breakfast to me as a kid never was that exciting. But there’s something about brunch, that transition, you know, you get a little bit of the best of both worlds that I really enjoy. And so my son loves my fried chicken, so I’m probably gonna do chicken and waffles. There’s a good chance that, you know, on top of the waffles, we may do, you know, some other crazy stuff and just make it a big pile up of, eggs and bacon and, you know, bacon jam, and, maybe a little avocado, some goat cheese in there, you know, drizzle it with some balsamic. That for me is a really good Saturday morning breakfast. Will your

Scott Cowan [00:44:30]:

son will eat this?

Shawn Niles [00:44:31]:

Absolutely. He’s very adventurous. No. He’s super adventurous. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:44:35]:

That’s cool.

Shawn Niles [00:44:36]:

Yep. Yep. He’s always asking about different things. Wants to try new things. So Alright.

Scott Cowan [00:44:40]:

Now I’m putting you on the spot. You know, what’s your I don’t know. How do I wanna say this? You know? Kraft macaroni and cheese or some, you know, some processed box food.

Shawn Niles [00:44:53]:

Yeah. Yeah. Is it

Scott Cowan [00:44:54]:

you got one? Is there one? Absolutely.

Shawn Niles [00:44:56]:

A %. Yeah. Top ramen. Without question. I, I’ll buy several bags 99¢ bags of oriental top ramen. I’m in heaven, man. I guess you call it soy sauce now. I think they had to change that.

Shawn Niles [00:45:05]:

But, so so the, that’s what I grew up on, man. Every day after school, I’d come home and have a bag of top ramen. Yeah. But still, man, that is guilty pleasure food without question. Yeah. Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:45:15]:

Top Ramen. That got me through college.

Shawn Niles [00:45:18]:

Right? Yep. Yep. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:45:19]:

When we didn’t worry about it.

Shawn Niles [00:45:20]:

To the world.

Scott Cowan [00:45:21]:

Yeah. No. It’s it’s amazing. Back then, it was, like, 6¢ a pack. Yeah. I mean, it was super cheap even then, you know. And I know what it is now. I haven’t bought ramen in a while.

Shawn Niles [00:45:28]:

But Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:45:29]:

I remember this I was I went to Central. Okay. And, a girl I was dating, lived in Seattle. And so we went over to Seattle for the weekend, and and, she goes, oh, we should go to Uwajimaya.

Shawn Niles [00:45:42]:

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:45:42]:

I’ve never been to Uwajimaya before. And so we go into Uwajimay down in the International District. This is before the big remodel. So but it was still a very good sized store. Right? I mean, it was, like, you know, not a full blown Safeway, but three quarters of a Safeway sized store. It was a big store. And I just all I can remember is they have a row an aisle of ramen. It was just this it was like and I’m like, this is before cell phones and all this stuff.

Scott Cowan [00:46:07]:

And I I come back to come back to college. I’m like, to my roommate, Ken, you won’t believe this. They had a an aisle of of ramen. It was amazing.

Shawn Niles [00:46:15]:

That’s awesome.

Scott Cowan [00:46:16]:

That’s my takeaway from Uwajimaya. Alright. Yeah. Coffee? Yes? No?

Shawn Niles [00:46:23]:

Absolutely. Yeah. I know. I’m sipping on the West through and through, man. So

Scott Cowan [00:46:27]:

Where’s some good coffee here in town?

Shawn Niles [00:46:29]:

I would I would send you to Mac Daddy Coffee, first and foremost. There’s actually a new spot that just opened up. I’m gonna try and check out today. But, but yeah. So Mac Daddy, owned by a guy named Mark Shervey. He roasts his own coffee here in town. It’s separate from the, from the coffee shop. Mhmm.

Shawn Niles [00:46:44]:

But he does some incredible things. He’s really a forward thinker when it comes to coffee. And so he’s thinking through coffee cocktails and, you know, how can you mix things together in a certain way? My favorite beans now, his his regular beans are really good from all over the world. He roasts them phenomenally. But he’s got a bourbon soaked, bean that is phenomenal and a tequila soaked bean that is phenomenal. Both of those are off the charts.

Scott Cowan [00:47:05]:

I’ve had his bourbon soaked beans and delicious. Yeah. Tequila soaked.

Shawn Niles [00:47:13]:

So I just happen to have some beans here. I’m gonna let you smell them.

Scott Cowan [00:47:16]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:47:16]:

So I’m gonna I’m gonna jump away here.

Scott Cowan [00:47:18]:

Okay. We’re gonna pause, folks, while he goes and get some tequila roasted coffee beans.

Shawn Niles [00:47:23]:

Incredible. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:47:27]:

Oh, I don’t even need to

Shawn Niles [00:47:28]:

Yeah. Right. Wow.

Scott Cowan [00:47:31]:

So when did he start doing this?

Shawn Niles [00:47:33]:

You know, I think I first saw the tequila beans probably about a year ago. And then one of his baristas created a drink called the tequila fire water. And so it’s a coffee drink, but it’s absolutely incredible. It’s it’s, it’s got the tequila soaked beans, and then they mix it, you know, latte style with the shots, and then you got everything, you know, so they put it in or whatever else they do. But it’s it’s excellent. If you’re if you’re ever near Mac Daddy, definitely check out the bourbon beans, but also get the tequila fire water drink.

Scott Cowan [00:48:00]:

So tequila fire water.

Shawn Niles [00:48:02]:

Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:48:02]:

K. What do you and the family like to do in Yakima when you’re not doing all the other things that you’re doing? Yeah. You know? What’s what is it what’s what’s around here that you enjoy?

Shawn Niles [00:48:16]:

I I you know, I love the fact that we can, you know, just drive twenty minutes one way and be in the mountains. Twenty minutes the other way, you’re in, you know, a little bit more high desert.

Scott Cowan [00:48:24]:

Shawn Niles [00:48:24]:

you’re going towards the High desert, you got the wineries that are out there and we’ll you know, everybody in the wine industry has done a really pretty good job of making it family friendly. So our kids love to go with us. You know? We’ll go out and they’ll run around and play and have a great time on the property while we can taste some wine and hopefully experience some new things or just, you know, unwind. The other side of that is just going up into the mountains and being able to experience the incredible camping, the incredible hiking, going up to Mount Rainier. It just it’s it doesn’t take that much time and it’s the best. It’s incredible.

Scott Cowan [00:48:51]:

And to get to Rainier from here is a great drive.

Shawn Niles [00:48:53]:

Oh, yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:48:54]:

It’s a great drive.

Shawn Niles [00:48:54]:

Oh my gosh.

Scott Cowan [00:48:55]:

I’m so used to living on the West Side. Going up that way, it was kind of you know, not that Rainier is boring per se, but Sure. I mean, I grew up with it. You know, it was always there except for when it’s cloudy. But the point is going up the way we used to go, yeah, okay. The other few months ago, we went up this way, went up in Chinook. Totally different view. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:49:15]:

Far superior in my opinion.

Shawn Niles [00:49:17]:

Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:49:17]:

But let’s talk about wineries for a second. Sure. Who’s who’s doing some interesting wine in the area? Because I’m not

Shawn Niles [00:49:22]:

a Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:49:23]:

My I’m not a wine guy. Mhmm. I’d I would not be the person you would take wine tasting because I might like the Franzia better than the really, you know, the something was actually Yeah. Grapes. Yep. But who’s but I appreciate all of this. So who’s doing some good wine in the area?

Shawn Niles [00:49:39]:

So Jabel, I mean, it’s a little self serving because that’s where our restaurant’s at. But I I mean, honestly, like, that’s one of the reasons we were so excited because we are crazy about his wine. Mhmm. The way that he’s able to put his flavors together is so special. It tastes like you’re drinking a crazy expensive bottle. And his bottles aren’t necessarily cheap, but we’re not talking Napa prices. We’re talking for me, it’s Napa quality, not Napa prices. So what’s what’s what

Scott Cowan [00:50:01]:

is he? Reds, whites?

Shawn Niles [00:50:02]:

What’s Mostly reds. He’s just a couple couple whites. He’s got a Le Blanc. He’s got a Fumet Blanc, but his Syrah is unbelievable. K. He uses Sunridge grapes to make the best Cabernet Sauvignon ever. And, and so those are great. He does he does a, Merlot that he calls it’s a Merlot mix called Elavage, which is great.

Shawn Niles [00:50:20]:

I don’t I’m not crazy about Merlot.

Scott Cowan [00:50:22]:

Mhmm.

Shawn Niles [00:50:22]:

But his is awesome. Yeah. So he’s doing some really cool stuff. And just the way that he’s able to craft those flavors together, it’s it’s pretty impressive.

Scott Cowan [00:50:30]:

Well, let’s let’s shift to to beer because of all the hops around here. Who’s who’s doing good beer?

Shawn Niles [00:50:35]:

Cowiche Canyon or Cowiche Creek, excuse me, is phenomenal. Wandering Hop is awesome. Those are two of my favorites. And, of course, there’s Bale Breaker. Everybody knows about Bale Breaker. And so I can’t not not mention those guys. Those are Cowiche is probably my number one. If I’m gonna pick a place to go and hang out for the day, it’s gonna be Cowiche.

Shawn Niles [00:50:54]:

Really? Yeah. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:50:55]:

Why is that? Yeah.

Shawn Niles [00:50:56]:

I mean you know, Derek is really good at his, same thing. You know, the way that he cares about, the science, the technology behind the the beer making. It’s not just throwing a bunch of stuff together and hoping it turns out good. Like, he’s very, very careful, and he’s very committed to putting on a product that is fantastic.

Scott Cowan [00:51:13]:

So good. Are you a cider fan?

Shawn Niles [00:51:15]:

I do. Yeah. I like ciders. Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:51:16]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:51:16]:

Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:51:17]:

So if I put you on the spot

Shawn Niles [00:51:18]:

and and this is not

Scott Cowan [00:51:19]:

a fair question. I fully acknowledge it’s not fair. You can only pick one. Wine, beer, or cider. What would you pick? Wine. You’d pick wine.

Shawn Niles [00:51:25]:

Yep. Absolutely. Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:51:26]:

Alright. So let’s talk cider.

Shawn Niles [00:51:27]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:51:28]:

Yeah. So what what’s going on here with cider that you’re you’re finding interesting?

ShawnNiles [00:51:32]:

So you get Tieton Cider Works , of course. Yep. That’s the obvious one. I I I wouldn’t say that I know a whole lot of others beyond that at this point. That’s the one that definitely stands out to me, and I think their their product’s awesome because it’s all local local stuff.

Scott Cowan [00:51:44]:

You know what’s funny is that I asked you that question, and I realized, like, other than Tieton. Yeah. In the Yakima area, that’s really all that I’m Yep. Aware of. It seems like Chelan, Wenatchee, Ellensburg, Dale, we have lots of cider places up there. Yeah. Down here, though, which is just as close to the fruit as we are, I’m only aware of tights. You know? That almost seems like a a deficiency.

Shawn Niles [00:52:06]:

Yeah. And yeah. And I think you’re right. I think there’s definitely opportunity. You know? Yeah. Somebody knows what they’re doing. He can do some cool stuff. Yeah.

Shawn Niles [00:52:12]:

Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:52:14]:

I wanna go back to bike club because I’m I’m personally intrigued. So here in this space, what what time does this thing happen?

Shawn Niles [00:52:22]:

So we, you know, we’ve done them all over the place. So we’ve done them late at night, which is a little tough for Yakima. Across the country in big cities, we’ll probably see more late night events. But in Yakima, I think we’re probably looking at about a 06:00 start time. Okay. Sometime during the week, because that’s the easiest time to utilize, you know, different spaces. Right. Weekends are hard, obviously, because you’ve got restaurants that are very busy on the weekends.

Shawn Niles [00:52:43]:

And so, yeah, you start them around 06:00. They go for about, you know, two to three hours. It’s very timed. Everything has to be under a certain time frame, so it’s easy to get in and get out. So yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:52:52]:

Yeah. So it is food as sport.

Shawn Niles [00:52:54]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:52:54]:

Yep. It’s like yeah. Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:52:56]:

Yeah. Yeah. And people are very serious about it. So we found that the competitions have been very friendly.

Scott Cowan [00:53:00]:

Mhmm.

Shawn Niles [00:53:01]:

Not a lot of that, you know, arrogant, you know, mean personality you’ll see on TV shows sometimes. But, people really are good at working together, and you have to because if you’re in the space in the back, there’s not a lot of room to work. You don’t have you don’t have master chef kitchens around here. You know?

Scott Cowan [00:53:15]:

So is it just one chef, or are they allowed to bring help?

Shawn Niles [00:53:19]:

Yeah. So each team is, comprised of up to three people. So chef and two assistants. So yeah. So you got nine people back there working.

Scott Cowan [00:53:26]:

And do the do the chefs get to come out and explain what they’re okay. So Yeah. So part of it’s selling the crowd on on this whole thing. So

Shawn Niles [00:53:35]:

Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:53:35]:

Not it’s not just food or presentation. It’s it’s the story.

Shawn Niles [00:53:41]:

Right. Okay. Yep. Yeah. You get to really interact with people. And I think, again, we’ve heard so many times, and we’ve done this from the very beginning. Our team is so relational that we want to interact. I don’t wanna just stay back in the kitchen and send my food out.

Shawn Niles [00:53:53]:

Like, I wanna come talk to people.

Scott Cowan [00:53:54]:

Sure.

Shawn Niles [00:53:54]:

And my team is the same way. So when we have the opportunity to interact with people, tell them the story. I’m I’m really convinced of this, and I’d love to try it out sometime. I think it’d be fun to do a little test, but to have a group of people two different groups of people. And you can take the same exact food to both sets of people,

Scott Cowan [00:54:10]:

but with the with the

Shawn Niles [00:54:11]:

other group, tell them the story.

Scott Cowan [00:54:13]:

Mhmm.

Shawn Niles [00:54:13]:

And tell them why you made, you know, the food that you made. And I guarantee you, the reviews are gonna be off the charts different.

Scott Cowan [00:54:19]:

I wouldn’t take that bet.

Shawn Niles [00:54:20]:

I totally agree with you. Right?

Scott Cowan [00:54:21]:

Because story sells. Absolutely. No matter what it is, we want to know the story of of what we’re eating. Yeah. We wanna know the story of what we movies. Yeah. They’re telling stories. We’re engaged.

Scott Cowan [00:54:35]:

Absolutely. No. I absolutely you could it’d be that would be kind of a I mean, I’m pretty sure I know the outcome. Right. But it would be kind of fun to, you know Yep. The cone of silence, if you will, around people. They don’t get to see that you’re coming out talking to the other group. It’s just here here’s your food.

Scott Cowan [00:54:49]:

Yep. Same presentation, same waitstaff even. I mean, the same everything.

Shawn Niles [00:54:53]:

Boom boom boom. Interaction. Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:54:54]:

And then you, on the other hand, are sitting over there explaining this yeah. I I, yeah, I wouldn’t bet you on it. I mean, I would take that bet if somebody wanted to argue with it. I wouldn’t bet his shoe.

Shawn Niles [00:55:05]:

Yeah. Yeah. And that’s something that that you just don’t get when you go out to eat. Right?

Scott Cowan [00:55:09]:

Right.

Shawn Niles [00:55:10]:

So when you go to a restaurant, you’re not gonna hear from the chef. You might come by and say hi, but you’re not gonna hear why he’s excited about the food that he put in front of you.

Scott Cowan [00:55:16]:

Right.

Shawn Niles [00:55:17]:

We love that. We love that.

Scott Cowan [00:55:20]:

You know, I well, it does. It gives you yeah. It’s a connection. It’s a different connection. And I think maybe that’s why food at home for some of us, it’s you know, you were saying the story of your dad. Right? We’ll go circle back to the beginning of this journey for you. You it was a way for you to connect with your dad,

Shawn Niles [00:55:36]:

you know,

Scott Cowan [00:55:36]:

and food and, you know, and you I’m sure you guys were talking while you were stuffing the turkey and all these things.

Shawn Niles [00:55:42]:

Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:55:42]:

Right?

Shawn Niles [00:55:42]:

Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:55:43]:

No. I think it’s I think it’s really important.

Shawn Niles [00:55:46]:

Whenever I cook Indian food, I am I’m taken back to New Jersey, and it was again my first time talking

Scott Cowan [00:55:51]:

about teach you, man.

Shawn Niles [00:55:52]:

Eating food

Scott Cowan [00:55:53]:

from New Jersey. I mean, I know. Come

Shawn Niles [00:55:54]:

on. Yeah. I mean, they’re you’ve got such an amazing culture there. And so she, we connected on food a little bit all the time, but she was a part of our church. And, I come home one night. And so here’s here’s a little backstory. So she had a daughter who had gotten into quite a bit of trouble. K.

Shawn Niles [00:56:11]:

There were times when as a pastor, I went to visit with her daughter in jail with her, things like that. And so, I’m living there at her home, and she tells me when I leave that morning, she’s like, hey. When you come back tonight, we’re gonna have a really good meal together. I went, okay. And so I get I get back home, and I walk in, and I’m telling you, man, the place is filled up, with the most incredible flavors. And she presents to me, and there’s nobody else there. Her husband’s in the other room. I’m expecting she’s gonna sit down and eat with me.

Shawn Niles [00:56:37]:

She doesn’t. She just keeps cooking food and bringing it set in front of me. Bringing food set in front of me. Like, this is weird, but I’m really happy right now. So so we get that. She brings me the last thing. She sits down next to me, and she looks at me real intently, and she goes, Sean. I said, yeah.

Shawn Niles [00:56:51]:

And she goes, did you enjoy everything tonight? I said, yeah. I said, it was incredible. And she goes, you like my food? I said, yeah. It’s amazing. And she goes, and you like my home? I said, yeah. This is a beautiful home. It’s incredible. And she goes, Sean? I said, yeah.

Shawn Niles [00:57:06]:

She goes, take my daughter. Please be her husband. Be her husband. I will be your mother, and you will be my son, and everything that I have will be yours. And I went, I got set up. And so, I can’t cook Indian food without thinking of that experience. But, but that’s the story. Right?

Scott Cowan [00:57:28]:

Yeah. That’s see, that’s next time I have Indian food, I’m gonna think of that story. I mean, I’m totally gonna be my wife will like, why are you laughing? Oh, remind me of this. Oh

ShawnNiles [00:57:36]:

my god.

Scott Cowan [00:57:38]:

Yep. So this is completely out of context. But on your bio, I there’s one question I didn’t ask you that I I need to know. Something in 2019, you won a taco competition. Yeah.

Shawn Niles [00:57:49]:

It’s Yakima Taco Fest. Yep. Alright. I’m always scared to talk about this, but Why? Okay. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:57:55]:

Because you

Shawn Niles [00:57:55]:

got a white guy who wins Taco Fest in Yakima. It’s not a good not a good look. Well, but no.

Scott Cowan [00:58:00]:

Well, actually, I’m gonna I’m gonna yeah. You’re right. Yeah. Right. But no. What okay. So what was tell me about Taco Fest Yeah. First off.

Scott Cowan [00:58:09]:

And then I wanna know about the taco that you you presented and you won with. Yeah. What was it?

Shawn Niles [00:58:14]:

So we, we really entered this, you know, because we knew it would be a lot of fun, and we absolutely love our Hispanic community here in town. And we thought what a great way just to come together with everybody. And people ask me, they said, are you gonna do, you know, Mexican tacos? I said, heck no. I said, I’m gonna do something completely different. I said, number one, I don’t wanna try and beat people at their own game. Like, I know that I will lose this competition. Number two, I think let’s just do the stuff that we’re excited about and put it in taco form. And so the the tacos that we did were a chicken banh mi taco.

Shawn Niles [00:58:42]:

And so we did long marinated chicken thigh grilled off and then topped with pickled, pickled red onions, and just a little bit of extra sauce over the top of that. They were delicious, but they were the ones that ended up winning the day.

Scott Cowan [00:58:53]:

Yeah. Okay. So now here’s my question. Sounds awesome. Not the type of taco that Yeah. I would think would be so why do you think how come the other I mean, I’m I’m assuming the other tacos that were in the competition were excellent.

Shawn Niles [00:59:13]:

Yeah. Sure. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:59:14]:

Yep. Doesn’t that seem a little weird that that out of left field?

Shawn Niles [00:59:20]:

Yeah. I mean Yeah. Absolutely. I’m just I’m I’m not gonna try and tell you that I know why it worked that way. What I noticed that I thought was interesting is that the Hispanic community really loved our tacos.

Scott Cowan [00:59:30]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:59:30]:

And so maybe even for them because there was a huge, representation from the Hispanic community at Taco Fest. They’re the ones running the whole thing. You know? It’s the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Scott Cowan [00:59:39]:

Okay.

Shawn Niles [00:59:39]:

And so they they’re the ones who are putting it out. And so we are serving people, who in my mind, I’m like, you know, we’re we’re gonna have a hard time because we’re doing these Asian tacos. You know? But they just kept coming back. They really loved our tacos, and that’s what really I I I say all of those things in jest, simply because I think that our Hispanic community is so amazing and amazing enough to say we’re welcoming everybody into this. And even if it’s not a Mexican taco, we’re gonna honor it if we love it. You know? We’re not gonna push it to the wayside. And that was really special. You know? This community in so many ways, I mean, it’s just it’s the greatest place that I’ve ever lived.

Shawn Niles [01:00:15]:

And I I know I grew up here. I love this because I’m from Yakima. But truly, like, just the, when you dig into the community and you see what the heart of the people is really like, Yakima is irresistible. And so when everybody’s able to come together and to work together and honor each other and support each other, this place is is the best.

Scott Cowan [01:00:35]:

I love I love the fact that you care so obviously about the community. Yeah. I love that. Yep. I do. I feel like I haven’t asked you something. What what haven’t I asked you? What what what what’s there that we you know, how can we, you know, wrap this up? What what’s the cherry on top? What’s the bow we’re gonna put on this package? What what what didn’t I ask you?

Shawn Niles [01:01:01]:

You know, I hope, you know, more than anything, I hope people were able to take away that, you know, there there are people that really love Yakima and are committed to Yakima and that the violence and, you know, that stuff is not the only thing to talk about. It’s just not. And it’s not the most important thing to talk about. People are working hard on those issues, and we’re doing everything we can to fix that. Amazing leaders doing incredible things. But, Yakima’s a really fun place. There’s a lot to do. And if you enjoy good food, you’re gonna find it.

Shawn Niles [01:01:25]:

If you enjoy the agriculture, you’re gonna find it. If you enjoy beer, you’re gonna find it. If you enjoy wine, you’re gonna find it. And you’re gonna have a really good time in the process. You know? Growing up, there was some seedy bars and, you know, places that my parents would never ever have taken me to. But it’s so different now. A lot of these places most of these places, I would say, are family friendly. Mhmm.

Shawn Niles [01:01:42]:

And so you can really take your family out, teach your kids about the valley, teach them about the agriculture, teach them about what we can find here. And then you grew up having a totally different experience of Yakima than if all you ever hear about is the negative stuff.

Scott Cowan [01:01:54]:

K. Yeah. Why don’t you tell people where they can find out more about you?

Shawn Niles [01:01:58]:

Yeah. So visit us at, on on our website, which is thefatpastor.com. You can follow us on Facebook at thefatpastor yakima. And then on Instagram, we are the.fatpastor. So you can find us there. Okay.

Scott Cowan [01:02:13]:

We’ll put links we’ll put links in the show notes for you.

Shawn Niles [01:02:15]:

Yeah. There you go. We’re we’re looking at, looking at at TikTok because, you know, that’s a big deal. So TikTok scares me. But

Scott Cowan [01:02:21]:

Yeah. You and me both. Well, thank you for making the time today. I Thank you, Scott. I had a great time, and I’m I I’m gonna I’m gonna have to pay my dues and join bike club.

Shawn Niles [01:02:32]:

I think that’s

Scott Cowan [01:02:33]:

that sounds awesome, but we won’t talk about that.

Shawn Niles [01:02:35]:

That’s right. No. Maybe you just help us launch it in Wenatchee. There you go. You do that. That’d be

Scott Cowan [01:02:39]:

kind of fun. That’d be kind of fun. That’d be kind of fun. Let me show you. Alright. Thanks. Join us next time for another episode of the exploring Washington state podcast.

Exploring Washington State Podcast( Podcaster )

The Exploring Washington State Podcast is your go-to source for discovering the diverse wonders of the Evergreen State. Whether you’re seeking inspiration for your next adventure, looking to savor local cuisine, or eager to learn about the businesses and artists that call Washington home, this podcast has something for everyone. Join us as we showcase the splendor of Washington State, reminding you that “there is always more to explore!”

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