Digital Social Hour - AI Chefs Are Coming: Can They Replace Human Creativity? | Chef Lisa Dahl DSH #1388

Episode Date: May 30, 2025

AI chefs are on the rise, but can they ever match the soul of human creativity in the kitchen? 🤖🍴 Tune in now as Sean Kelly sits down with the incredible Chef Lisa Dahl, an award-winning Sedona restaurateur, to explore the future of food, the magic of cooking with love, and the challenges in keeping creativity alive in a world of automation. 🌟 From managing six unique restaurants to crafting meals infused with intention, Chef Lisa shares her inspiring journey, insights on soulful cooking, and her thoughts on AI’s role in the culinary world. Don’t miss out on this episode packed with valuable insights, heartwarming stories, and culinary wisdom. Watch now and subscribe for more insider secrets! 📺 Hit that subscribe button and stay tuned for more eye-opening stories on the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly! 🚀 Join the conversation and let us know: Do you think AI chefs could ever replace human creativity? 👇 CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:26 - Lisa Dahl Podcast Introduction 03:05 - What Makes a Great Restaurant Experience 04:58 - Today's Sponsor - Kinsta Hosting 09:59 - Today's Sponsor - Notion Productivity Tool 10:55 - Finding Quality Labor in Hospitality 13:45 - Cooking with Passion and Love 16:00 - Expanding Restaurant Business to Vegas 20:18 - Sedona - Embracing the Spirit of Wonder 22:19 - The Future of the Food Industry Trends 27:22 - Upcoming Shows and Appearances 30:33 - Lisa’s Culinary Journey and Inspirations 33:33 - Sedona's Culinary Growth and Development 37:28 - Where to Find Lisa Dahl Online 38:50 - Outro and Closing Remarks APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [e-mail] GUEST: Chef Lisa Dahl https://www.instagram.com/lisadahlsedona SPONSORS: KINSTA: https://kinsta.com/dsh NOTION: https://www.notion.com/dsh LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ The views and opinions expressed by guests on Digital Social Hour are solely those of the individuals appearing on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the host, Sean Kelly, or the Digital Social Hour team. While we encourage open and honest conversations, Sean Kelly is not legally responsible for any statements, claims, or opinions made by guests during the show. Listeners are encouraged to form their own opinions and consult professionals for advice where appropriate. Content on this podcast is for entertainment and informational purposes only and should not be considered legal, medical, financial, or professional advice. Digital Social Hour works with participants in sponsored media and stays compliant with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations regarding sponsored media. #ad #aichefs #foodtechnology #drive-thruautomation #foodindustrytrends #artificialintelligence

I actually like that because there's AI bartenders in Vegas now. And soon there'll be AI chefs, but the food won't have the energy. There's no way it could have the energy. And then, you know, I feel like if that day comes, I'm done. I won't be. It's coming. It is coming. Fast food is going to be first, I think.

Yes, it is. They're going to go first and then eventually restaurants. Okay, guys, very special guest today from Sedona took the drive out here. Chef Lisa, one of my favorite restaurants in the world right now, Mary Poulosso. So thanks for coming on. Oh, I'm honored. Yeah. Thank you.

I was just telling you before we started, I had one lunch reservation there. It was so good. I ended up going every single day in my whole trip. So, you know, I told you, I wish that you had tried a few of the others, but next time you will. Can't wait. I was so good. I ended up going every single day in my whole trip. So, you know, I told you I wish that you had tried a few of the others, but next time you will. Can't wait. I'm so happy that you loved it. You got six restaurants. I got six. Yes. Five concepts. They're all in Sedona. That's amazing. So you really like that market? Well, it wasn't that I planned to be a restaurateur in that market and have six restaurants, but it did happen over a period of 29 years.

So it's lovely, it's incredible, it's very different. But when you think of all the guests that come to us from all over the world, it's pretty amazing. Yeah, Sedona's a beautiful spot. I actually got engaged there. Oh did you, where? Lovers Knoll. Is that up on Poshnumbahill Road? It was high up because there

was a beautiful view. That's amazing. I think it's up on Schnumbergill Road that you have to kind of climb up to the top. Mm-hmm. Yeah I played it off. I was like you want to go hiking and then pulled it out. Oh brilliant. Brilliant. But Sedona will always hold a special place in my heart because of that. When did you get engaged? Two years ago and we're getting married this year. Oh what about Sedona will always hold a special place in my heart. When did you get engaged? Two years ago and we're getting married this year. Oh, what about Sedona? No, no, no. No, no, no. Where are you going? We grew up on the East Coast so we're taking it back home.

I wouldn't be opposed but yeah, Jersey. But maybe an after celebration that we could do something magical for you. Yeah, the energy there. It is. For people that haven't been, it's hard to explain. It's kind of prolific. Yeah. Really, it's a place that all your creative juices

are enhanced. I just feel like it's really hard to describe, but I just feel much better out there. See? Yeah, just something in the air. Yeah, I think it's probably in the, like in the rocks, in the embedded in the, I always feel like there's a mineral content or something that just makes everybody really alive and open

to just to their creative forces. Right. And so it's been very good for me. I've been able to write two cookbooks. Nice. Since living there and I'm birthing restaurants, not on purpose, but they've happened. It is amazing energy.

Yeah, well, they say the vortexes, right? Yes, yes. There's a lot of those out there. The trees are like spiraling. Oh, exactly. Yeah, there's something special out there. Yeah, it's there. Did you see those spiral trees?

I saw a few where I stayed. I got an Airbnb. Beautiful. Wonderful. Now, the restaurant industry is a tough industry, right? Very tough. Very tough. So to make it for 30 years is very, that alone is impressive, but to have like some of the top restaurants is even more impressive.

Well, I'm very blessed. I never try to say that it's an easy business, but it is such a rewarding business. I mean, you meet amazing people and it offers us to give service to people in so many forms. Yeah. Cause food is more than just factual food. It's an experience. Exactly. It really is.

You know, I try to, um, I try to design the whole package for the guests that are visiting and the menus and the food quality are everything, but also the environments and the ambiance and the way that each restaurant speaks to individuals in a different way is really something that I love. Yeah. Where did you learn those skills? Because that's kind of what I think separates you from other restaurants

where you could just tell it's like a cookie cutter menu. Yeah. People just copy each other. You know, I don't, well, that's a really interesting thing you're saying because I think we all get ideas from other restaurants that we go and other chefs, but I feel like travel inspires the interpretations of the things that I really love to create.

And when I go to other countries or to other places, I fall in love with the culture of their food. And I try to interpret it in my own way and just be authentic to what I feel the food wants to say to the guest. So you do a lot of traveling to get inspiration. I wish I could say I got to do as much as I really want, but I'm allowing more for myself. We went to South America before building Mariposa.

I've been to Italy quite a few times from. Shout out to today's sponsor, Kinsta. If you run anything online, an e-com brand, a podcast site, a service business, you know hosting is one of those things that can either run quietly in the background or completely wreck your momentum when it goes wrong. I've been there, pages not loading during launches, site crashing when traffic picks up,

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Inspiration for my Italian restaurants. I love traveling more than anything I can think of, but with six restaurants and over 300 employees, I don't just get to go whenever I want, but I choose the times when business is slower. And I know that I can get away and really inspire new ideas. I love that. I got to get out to Italy. I heard it's amazing out there. Oh, you would love it. You and your fiance should go there for sure.

Yeah, we're looking at honeymoon spots. That's an option. Oh, yeah. Oh, and it's there's so many different regions, but Yeah. Oh, and it's, it's, there's so many different regions, but, um, a significant other and myself got to go in September and we focused mostly in Tuscany and in Umbria. And those are the areas that I just, I love,

I resonate with the, with the culture of the food, the earthiness, the, um, just, you know, I'm a chef that really likes simpler foods. I like very simple, soulful foods. No matter what type of food I'm doing, I'm not as trendy as many other chefs out there that, you know, just combine so many different ingredients. I really focus on the quality of the sourcing of Where everything is grown and try to keep it as close to where we live I love that. Yeah, and you probably tasted that when you were a person. I could tell did you have a lot of great salads? What did you yeah? I made sure I got a salad every every time got the burgers good sandwiches were phenomenal

Oh, great. You had one dish with scallops. Oh my god The burgers, the sandwiches were phenomenal. You had one dish with scallops. Oh my God. That was so good. Yes, scallops on the ahi amarillo. And with the mango salsa. And by the way, best cheesecake I've ever had. I posted it.

Oh, you're kidding. I love it. Yeah. And my best friend is a cheesecake lover and we try out cheesecakes from across the country and I sent him that one to try out. Oh, did you send it? Yeah, like I sent him the restaurant. Oh, you did.

So when he's in Sedona, he's going to try it. Oh, did you send it? Yeah, like I sent him the restaurant. Oh, you did. So when he's in Sedona, he's going to try it. Oh, wonderful. Now you have to give him my contact because we have a lot of different cheesecakes. My very favorite one is in my Italian restaurants. It's a limoncello cheesecake that is amazing. It's like just supercharged. Everyone says it's like their very favorite. So you have to come back.

You've got a lot more food to try. I you have to come back. You've got a lot more food to try. I do have to come back. Wow. How'd you learn how to make a good cheesecake? Cause that's a hard dessert. Well, what I actually do is I take things that are like tried and true. So I've had the same cheesecake base for years.

And I took my mother's original cheesecake, which was really a New York cheesecake, or just absolutely perfectly balanced. And then seasonally, we do different variations. And you know, each restaurant, it has a flair of its own. So doing the limoncello in Italian restaurant is perfect. Doing prickly pear in a Latin inspired restaurant works great. And then we just change throughout the seasons to just have fun. A dulce de leche cheesecake is

amazing, a butterfly burger. So, but if you have great bases, then you make a canvas of different things. But it's not like you have to redesign the entire thing. And that's kind of how I choose to do my, my foundations in my six restaurants, because if we were constantly changing, it would be very difficult, especially in the world. Shout out today's sponsor Notion. Your time is for building, not emailing. Countless incredible tools exist

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drafts replies, and even helps schedule meetings without you lifting a finger. I've set mine up with custom views so I could see what matters by topic or urgency and their snippet feature. I use it daily to knock out repeat emails, follow-ups, intros, quick thank yous in one click. It's fast, clean and smart. If you already use Notion to integrate seamlessly and if you don't, this is a great reason to start. Try Notion Mail free at notion.com slash DSH all lowercase that's notion.com slash DSH and using our link helps support the show. Well now where labor is very challenging. Right. Yeah. That's an issue right now finding good labor. Oh it's always been a big issue in a small town like Sedona.

Right because only 10,000 people live there right? Exactly, exactly. But it's always been a big issue in a small town like Sedona. Right, because only 10,000 people live there, right? Exactly, exactly. But it's exacerbated a lot since the pandemic. And, you know, it's coming back. But still, for the volume of the guests that we serve every year, we're always looking for great people, to say the least. And pastry chefs are, you know, I've got the greatest pastry chef ever. He's been with me 10 years.

Wow. He's very young. He was taught by two master pastry chefs that were kind of his mentors. And he and I, you know, we just jive very well together. We always think in the same way. I was just thinking about it the other day that, you know, in 10 years, I've never even had an argument with him.

I mean, we are just really kind of like soul. Might be soul mates. Yeah, we could be. Yeah. He is married to someone that works in my company, but he's brilliant. But what he does, that's amazing, is to imagine with a crew of only

three other people that work with him to facilitate that amount of desserts that we offer in our six restaurants is quite a lot of volume. And you have to really know how to do the production in a way that is it's organized, but you're still putting that love into each and every item. And so he's a very rare character because pastry chefs are known to be a little a little bit. What is the word I would say temperamental? Are they? I didn't know that. Oh, they are. Well, they get up at the crack of dawn. You know, who wants to do that? They

get into the restaurants at like four or five o'clock in the morning to get out. And then in our case, our pastry chef is working out of one of our kitchens. So we don't have separate commissary. When you think of the diversity that we do on the menus with everything from specialty panna cotta, tiramisu, different cheesecakes, all kinds of seasonal things. It's a lot. And yet he's never in a cross mood.

He's always just very like a little Buddha. Wow. Shout out to him. That's impressive. Managing six restaurants with a staff of three. That's hundreds of desserts a day. I would say that we definitely have over a thousand, maybe two thousand desserts in the high season going out every week.

Holy crap. Oh yes. And he makes the dough for the focaccia and he makes the dough for the empanadas. So it's a lot. Yeah. That's insane. Shout out to him. I will.

Super impressive. I will. His name is Marco Soto. Shout out to you Marco. I certainlyoto. When I was reading the you have like an information thing at Mariposa and I remember you said like you cook with love. Yes. That really stuck with me. I believe there's an energetic component to food. I really do. The mantra is when you cook with love you feed the soul and that's really you know it sounds very woo woo, but it actually is very intentional. And I do think that you can really feel and taste the energy in the food.

And you know, I've been doing this for nearly 30 years. Last year in our restaurants, we served 500,000 guests. Wow. And we had such incredible reviews and so many people just, they love it, they love the restaurants, they love Sedona, and they love the energy of the food because they know what they're going to get. And they know it's truly infused with love. And I'm sure that you know that I lost my son in the Bay Area. And that's what guided me to come to Sedona and really review my life and start over with meaning

in a way that I never had. So cooking became like a salvation for me. Wow, I love that. He'd be so proud of you if he saw what you were doing now. I just know, I honestly think he does see what I'm doing. I mean that in the bottom of my heart I think that he's kind of like on the other side guiding me through many of the things that I've fortunately accomplished through the love that comes to me from him.

Spirit guide. Yes I do believe so. I believe in that too. And you know I mean I was told many years ago that we've had multiple lives together and it kind of makes sense that, you know, he is and I have aligned together over many lifetimes and you know, I don't doubt that. It just kind of feels like it fits. I just found that out with my mother too. Yeah, my psychic told me we're like soulmates. We've had like 100 lives together, something like that.

My gosh. Yeah. Like I was her parent in the past life. Now she's my parent. And I heard that too. Yeah. You know, and I'm not surprised because he's teaching me every day. I love that.

So is the goal to keep expanding? I know you have a new concept you're working on. Well, I have Butterfly Burger and it's amazing. And it opened right before COVID, six months before it went through a hardship like all the restaurants around the country. But in a small town like ours, when all your employees are gone and you have to kind of regroup, start over. And now it's just never been better.

People come from all over and just they're in love with it. It's very unique. It's not just the burgers. It's more it's a very sexy lounge. I call it Couture. Next level and it has something for everyone. It's not just about the meat, but the meat that's sourced is the best quality. And, um, we have wonderful lettuce wraps with mahi mahi teriyaki.

There's something for everyone, vegan, uh, vegetarian burgers and things like that. But it is a unique concept that I haven't really seen out there. And we're feeling like we're really ready to start stepping out of Sedona. I love that. So many years I've been asked to go into the Phoenix marketplace, which is huge for years and years. But I think I just kept falling more in love with locations in Sedona. But now I really think that it's a new time. It's a very special paradigm right now and everything is telling me intuitively that

it's a good time to get it out there before anything happens. I hope you come to Vegas one day personally, selfishly. And I'm going to tell you this and I'm kind of upset of course that you didn't get to try it, but I know you're just four and a half hours away. But Vegas really speaks to me for this concept. It is meant for Vegas. It really is such an amazing concept of everything it has with an incredibly gorgeous, sexy bar. But it's the food.

The food is off the charts. It's different. It's not like a typical burger place that you would imagine. I have probably about 12 different burger styles so far, and they're all unique and they have ethnic influences to each one of them. But they are served with what I call my buddy sauces and buddy sides. So, every time that you get any type of sandwich, it comes with one of our signature sides that are really, they're just delicious.

They're like the most wonderful homemade, like the best potato salad or marinated butter beans and things like that that come with it and make it really just, you know, you walk out of the place and you're like, oh my god, I can't even. I love the meal of the day. We need that in Vegas. Yes, it is. And because beef is my favorite beef that I'm using, the blend is a brisket blend, but

it's also all natural. So you don't feel weighted down. And also I put a lot of thought into the beef choice being humanely slaughtered so that you know that the animals did not suffer when they were. Top stress. That's right. And that goes right through all the hormones shooting through the system. It's a different feeling. So you can eat a burger once in a while and feel really good about it.

But the neat thing about this place also is that there's just wonderful other options in case someone doesn't want meat at all. So that's one of the other things I think that people would love in Vegas. Please bring that here because I am getting a little sick of in and out. Well we couldn't be any different. I really admire the model of restaurant chains that keep it very clean that are those type of concepts that have multiple units, you know, like an in and out. I think it's, I think it's one of the best it's out there, but this is so different. This is really a next level.

And yeah, I think people will fall in love with it when it gets out into the bigger market. Yeah, I can't wait for that. You have a documentary, right? A short film documentary just came out from the film festival Nice that was in February and it's really It's really poignant. Did you get a chance to watch it? Yeah, did you enjoy it? Yeah, I was tearing up I mean what a journey. Thank you. Yeah, you've been through a lot. Yeah and

You know, it's inspiring people people are telling us that they just, you know, that it broke him down, but yet it lifted him up at the same time. Yeah. Yeah. You didn't, whoever like made that did so well with the cinematography on it. That's the photographer and cinematographer, Eric Wolfinger is a genius. He's an amazing food photographer, especially. I don't know if you felt what my others have said, but they got starving watching that film.

Did you? I can see that. I might've got a little hungry now, I think about it, yeah. Yeah, watch it again, you'll get very hungry. But he is, he was magical working with him and very intimate. A lot of the interviews were very emotional, but we were in all the kitchens together. It was really quite something.

And you saw that his cinematography of Sedona was absolutely breathtaking. Yeah, it was. Yeah. I like how honest and vulnerable you got. You know, you showed all the ups, all the downs, because a lot of people glorify. They don't show the downs ever. Exactly. Yeah. You know, my backstory stays with me every day, and I really feel that I'm blessed to be able to do the work that I do

in this business. And the business is very demanding. So I, I sometimes feel like we need an eighth day of the week. It's quite honestly, it's probably one of the toughest industries. It really is. Yeah. Restaurant. It really is.

But it's, it's an industry and a business that just continues to give back. You know, you're always getting to work with young people and mentor them. I'm always hoping that maybe rubbing off on the younger people will keep our industry not going backwards and turning into just like where food is mechanical, you know? We wanna keep our passion, you know,

as why we do what we do and keep the culture to be real. Yeah. I actually like that, cause there's AI bartenders in Vegas now, and soon there'll be AI chefs, but the food won't have the energy. There's no way it could have the energy. And then, you know, I feel like if that day comes, I'm done.

I won't be. It's coming. It is coming. Fast food is going to be first, I think. Yes, it is. I think they're going to go first and then eventually restaurants. Of course, it's going to happen. But I think that they'll always be the people that really want the most wholesome food to digest. And these box concepts, you know, they're taking up so much of the real estate of

the ecosystem, you know, and really, I just hope that I don't see that day anytime soon, at least. No, it's scary because I just checked into I don't see that day. Yeah. Anytime soon, at least. No, it's scary. Because I just checked into my hotel in Miami. I was there for F1 Miami last week and it was AI. Oh my goodness. Yeah, it gave me a blank hotel card. I scanned it on the computer.

Wow. No one helped me. That's where we're getting it. That's where it's going. And I was at the airport on the way home to Vegas. The wheelchairs are AI now. So there's no one pushing it anymore. The wheelchair shows up to your gate automatically.

Unbelievable. Isn't that crazy? It's like really crazy, but cars are AI. Yeah, Waymo, self-driving. You know, I mean, we shouldn't doubt that it's happening. Sedona will probably be hit like last. I would imagine. Yeah, because you guys are very spiritual over there.

You don't really like that stuff. Very strict. I mean, our city council is very strict, even about light ordinances and sound ordinances. We're very protective. Yeah, you guys shut down early over there. Well, we don't shut down as early as you might think. My restaurants actually stay open till 10.

Sometimes I can't even get a reservation in New York as late as we will stay open. But it's not that. You know, we have so many visitors. We have almost four million, three to four million a year that pass through. Not all of them are staying over. But our biggest concern is that they don't litter our trails and that they honor our beauty and pick up their trash and all the things that we see,

the more that we attract those people, the more we have to be very speaking to the culture of do not trash our environment. Yeah, I didn't know that was an issue. Oh, it's a big issue. People are just leaving their trash. I was really shocked when I was on the Sedona Chamber of Tourism for a period of time.

And unbeknownst to me, people would be like leaving bags of dirty diapers and all kinds of things. I've noticed lately, there's a little Tesla station in one of the plazas and by my restaurant, Cucina Rustica. And every time I walk by, I notice that there's more and more trash that people just feel that they can just dump and leave. Wow. It's really an insult. That's mind blowing to me.

It is. It's really, it's really sad. That's a shame. Yeah. Cause I believe in karma. So I don't believe in harming nature because that's going to get back to you. Better believe it. Yeah. A hundred percent.

That blows my mind. Yeah. And there's actually, you know, through the, uh, chamber of commerce, they have different, uh, volunteers that actually go up into the canyon and they go out to all the beautiful trail sites and they pick up bags and bags and bags of refuse. Yeah, you wouldn't imagine that people would be that mindless. That's crazy. It's so ironic because you're hiking in nature.

Why would you want to destroy it? You know what I mean? Can't imagine. That's a shame. Well, let's, we'll link below some charity stuff for that. People want to volunteer. Yeah. Absolutely.

Next time I come out there, I'll help out. Oh, that's amazing. And I'll introduce you to this woman that I've met recently and hoping that she will join forces with me on my non-for-profit, but she actually has volunteers that travel and come from around all over the country, from the world, and she gets them involved in things like this, like picking up trash and things and they actually feel so good that they're coming to a place that they can make more beautiful.

Kind of a great concept. I'll introduce you to her. Yeah, please. Thank you. Are you going on any shows anytime soon? I know you were on Bobby Flay. I was on Bobby Flay a number of years ago. I don't really have plans to go on any show unless somehow something is in the works.

Gordon Ramsay makes the call. Well, if he makes a call, that would be interesting. Yeah. I don't really fish for that type of thing. There's a lot of stress involved. But it's also another learning experience when you put yourself on the line for something that you know is really going to make you really intense. You learn what you could do better the next time. Yeah. You're right though. That is the opposite of your cooking style.

Oh yes. Exactly. High stress environment. Yeah. You know, I really feel like cooking fast, you know, I love that expression slow food. Because trying to see how fast you can cook something is not the name of the game. And that is what most of the shows promote. It's, you know, a short time frame to do what you have to do. So the

adrenaline and the stress builds up in a way when I think cooking with love takes time and it's better to not try to make it something that you have to speed to do. Just like I speak about my soups. When you immerse yourself in making a brilliant soup, something that is going to really resonate with thousands of people, it's like you want to take the time to go through all the stages and watch each stage of it emerge. And so it's not something that I really see a value for myself in how quickly I can cook something, although you know I do have a competitive nature. And I, going back a little bit to Butterfly Burger, I was involved in burger battles in Scottsdale.

And we were, they were, they were pretty big deals because we had about 800 to 1,000 people that we presented our burgers. And I was awarded the highest awards three years in a row. And that's why Bobby Flay Show, you know, came to me because of that reputation. And that wasn't really about how fast you cook, but it's also all the steps that you need to take to have the best tasting, most moist, most creative, most delicious burger out of a number of other burger concepts that are established as burger concepts.

And at the time I did it, I didn't have a burger concept. So it was winning those three years that made me really want to take it seriously. Wow. I definitely have to try. Oh, you would go nuts. I didn't know it was like that. Yeah. And so what you had at Mariposa, I have best burger varieties, but I started it

there and at Butterfly Burger, I have all kinds of whimsical, fun burgers that all speak to different people's palates. I love that. Well, yeah. You mentioned your mom earlier, was she the first one that taught you how to cook? She influenced me, my mom, my grandmother, and my nanny, quite honestly.

My mother is a working woman. She had women's clothing stores and she's very much a pioneer and a woman entrepreneur before it was very common. She had four kids and she was a great cook. She learned that from her mother, who's my grandma, who is a wonderful cook, very American influence, but very high quality, lots of flavor in our food. We never had artificial foods. We never got to really even eat junk food and things. So we were fortunate to have very good quality meals. But my mom was always at work. Even sometimes like on Christmas, she wouldn't get home until like 10 o'clock at night. But we had great food and we were fortunate to have incredible, like a substitute mom. Her name is Barbara and she was from the South. She was born in Georgia. And so she taught

me all kinds of soul food and things that I wasn't really having in my own meals and my with my family. And so between my mother, my grandmother and and my nanny, I got to eat a lot of really great food. I love that. Yeah, very soulful. That makes sense because your restaurants are very different. You have a lot of different cuisines, right? Yes. So that's impressive that you could pull that off. Well, and Italian is, you know, is my favorite. I make no bones about it.

I love the simplicity of using the best quality ingredients, but the Italian style is, it resonates the most with me. I could eat Italian every day. You know, I can't eat a steak or a burger every day, but I could think of different things that I want to have in Italian every day. And I eat Italian more than anything else, Italian, Mediterranean.

But that's how I began. And I had lived in the Bay Area for many years. Even though I wasn't a professional chef, I was inspired very much by the California cuisine and the interpretation of the Italian restaurants that I went to all the time in San Francisco. So when I became a chef in my first restaurant, and me and my boyfriend at the time was from Rome, we teamed up and we started cooking together and we, you know, I was making the sauces and the soups and vegetables and things like that.

And he was doing his style of saute, which is very delicate and light. We live by that still to this day. People just started talking. And there were a few restaurants in Sedona at the time, not very many. And all of a sudden we just getting busier and busier and busier and that's how it all began. Wow. So you didn't even know Sedona was going to blow up like the way it did? Well, it's 29 years. And you know, I always felt like after coming from Marin County, which is one of the most beautiful places in the world, but in California, of course, and coming to Sedona and seeing how magical and stunning it was, it's like, how could people not end up wanting to really discover what it's all about and the magic of it?

And especially at that time, they're really, we weren't known for culinary. We really didn't have a great culinary presence. Right. I feel very fortunate that the Arizona Restaurant Association and my peers in the industry awarded me the 2019 Food Pioneer.

Wow. And of Arizona it was a big, big thing and 2018 I was awarded the Top Chef which really shocked me because till then I don't think that people thought of Sedona as really a place for fabulous food. So those honors are the highest that I could ever receive. We are really, we kind of helped put the culinary on the map in Sedona. It used to be the kind of place that people thought of, oh, we'll go up, we'll do a hike, we'll drive through, go to the Grand Canyon. They didn't really stay because they didn't have all the assets that we do have in Sedona

now. We've got resorts that are world renowned and it's growing all the time. I'm always questioning, well, where are we going to find the people to work in these places? I think that'll be the biggest challenge. But I'm very content with what I've done there and it grows all the time in terms of, you know, contentment satisfaction, in terms of we have made our mark in Sedona, we'll continue. But I do think that that's enough restaurants in Sedona for me. You know, I've done all the concepts that I've dreamed of,

and they're all thriving. My first restaurant is, you know, it's my baby. It's like your first child, of course. It was Award of the Trip Advisor, best of the best in 2024 for top 1% most romantic date night restaurants in the US. Wow. It was a big one. That's Stalin to Luca.

We call it D&D. And here it is, nearly 30. And winning some of the top awards that you can achieve. Well done. You've got to check them all out. I mean, you'll love the energy. Each one, excuse me, each restaurant has like a soul of its own. They have their own personalities.

Some of them are, you know, older restaurants that I rehabbed, like Dalin DeLuca was the Sonic Burger. No one can believe it. And Pizzaliza was an old Pizza Hut. So each one of them that was built in a structure that already existed, it brings a soul. And I try to honor that soul and let that creativity come through me

when designing restaurants. It's, you know, they don't all have views. I quite honestly never thought I'd have a view. And Mariposa came about because of the reputation of the other restaurants. And it paved the way. And it's gorgeous. It's so drop dead beautiful. That view's amazing.

You know, that restaurant was an old real estate building. And we pretty much tore down and started over. Yeah. Highly recommend that one guys. We'll link everything below, but Mary Poza has my heart for sure. Thank you. Um, what's next? Where can people find you and keep up with you and everything? Well, we have a new website.

It's really great. It's cheflisadal.com. Of course on Instagram, Lisadal Sedona. Um, our social media is growing all the time and we are growing. I just, I just hope that people come and visit us. Please visit us. You all forgot it. Come in the slow season.

That's it's, you know, everyone wants to come in the same months of the year, right? Spring and fall, gorgeous months, but winter is amazing there. And I don't care if they don't come in the summer because summer is pretty hot like it is here in Vegas, not quite as hot. We're fortunate that we have a lovely evening environment. So we always cool down into like the 60s at night. Patios, superb in all the restaurants. But we'd love to have more visitors in the winter. That's when I came.

It's a chanting time. Yeah, I took advantage of it. That's when I came. And we didn't have very much snow this year. That was very unfortunate. We got some at the very end of the season. We got to see the beautiful, call it almost like a powdered sugar that just sticks in the crevices of the rocks, but it was very fleeting. But now the rainy season is coming and everything will flourish. And it's just, it's great. I'm very blessed to have been able to be on this show.

Thanks for coming on. That was beautiful. Thank you, Sean. I really appreciate it. Of course. Check out the website guys, and I'll see you next time.