Chef Anthony Santos: What I Survived Didn't Define Me

Speaker A: Some people discover their purpose through opportunity. Chef Anthony Santos discovered his through survival. Anthony grew up in an abusive home where violence was part of everyday life. He watched his mother and younger siblings get hurt, stepped in to protect them, and often became the target himself. At one point, the abuse escalated so severely that his stepfather attacked him with a machete. Anthony was still a kid. Eventually, at 15 years old, he left home one night with nowhere safe to go. He slept outside in the rain. But somewhere inside of all that darkness, food gave him something different. Anthony remembers watching his uncle cook for his mother and seeing her smile, something he rarely saw at home. That moment changed him. He realized food can bring comfort.

Speaker B: It could create joy, it could make

Speaker A: somebody feel safe, even if only for a moment. So he walked through the rain to apply for a job at a Chinese

Speaker B: restaurant, and they hired him.

Speaker A: That kitchen became the beginning of everything that followed. Today, Anthony Santos is a successful private chef, entrepreneur, mentor, and culinary competitor. But this story isn't about success. It's about what happens when a child survives something no child should have to survive and somehow refuses to let it become the end of his story. Anthony has never told this publicly before, so let's start where the story really begins.

Speaker B: Anthony, when you look back at that

Speaker A: kid growing up inside that house, what was he actually surviving?

Speaker C: He was surviving abuse daily, verbal, physically. He was surviving issues with himself, just figuring out his own identity and trying to figure out his way in that lifestyle and trying to figure out what he wanted to do next.

Speaker B: And that was going on for a few years.

Speaker C: Nine years. Nine years from when I was five till I was, uh, 14.

Speaker B: At what age did you get the courage to start fighting back?

Speaker C: So a lot of the abuse came because I did fight back a lot. I. I was always like a bad boy, you know? And when I saw it happening, I always challenged authority because I didn't think it was right. And that's what got me into a lot of problems. And that's what got me into a lot of the abuse, was because I did fight back. I would stick up for my brother and sister, my mother, and that's what caused me a lot of the issues that happened. But I would say probably like 8, 9 is when I started saying, nah, enough. And I started challenging him. And that's what really bothered him a lot, was at a young age, I was challenging a grown man.

Speaker B: At that age, your physical frame, you're not a giant, you're a kid. And somehow or another at that age, you still think, man, you know what? I can. I Can do something. I can help. That is such a most difficult, um, situation to be in for child. And for you to jump in physically, to me is a major. I mean, it's a big deal. What was your driver?

Speaker C: Great question. I just knew it wasn't right, and I knew I had to do something, even if I was gonna get really hurt in the process. It's really funny that I'm a professional chef now, because the first things that he would hit me with were kitchen utensils, but they would bend when he would do it. Yeah, he would laugh, and then he would grab another thing and hit me, and it would break. But it was like the wooden spoons, the spatulas. It's just hilarious. Cause I never thought I would be, you know, I would never. I didn't. I didn't know I was gonna be a professional chef. My mother always strived for me to be a lawyer doctor to get me out of the. That situation, you know, But I chose my own route. But, yeah, it was. It was kitchen utensils that he striked me with first when I was really young, as the oldest of the family. And as you know, my mother was a single mother raising me. I never had a real father in my life. I presumed myself that I was, like, the man of the home. So when I saw another man come in and then treat my mother disrespectfully, it wasn't that hard to, like, step up, because I just had a feeling in my soul that it wasn't right.

Speaker B: So today, while we were cooking, you, you shared, um, a little bit more of a story. And. And it's actually. It's something that was on the news and. And. And everything. The machete. That's insane.

Speaker C: It was. It was. He was weirdly fascinated with, like, machetes, um, Chinese daggers, Chinese swords. He was very fascinated with weapons. So he's from Trinidad, so he brought us there. And when I went there, that's another thing that, like, made me never question anything, because I went to see his family, and I saw how they lived over there, you know, concrete houses, dogs running around. Normally, like, all over the streets. But they normalize abusing their children, and they all do it. When I was there at his family's house, I heard kids screaming, and it was just like they were in the room getting hit. And it's okay to discipline your children, Trust me. I think, uh. I think everyone should be disciplined if they deserve to, but there's levels to it, you know, and when we went over there, it just looked Normal. And that was another thing, you know, and it was just like, that's how he was raised as an adult. I'm 35, you know, I've already forgiven the person, but maybe that's how he was raised. So he thought it was okay, so he just, like, did it to us. But, no, it's not okay in America, and it's not okay, I think, for anyone. But, um, yeah, it was crazy. But what happened was he was, like, hitting my mother, and I was sick of it. And I came home from football practice and I was just tired of it. Just years and years of just going to sleep, hearing them argue through the wall, screaming, hitting. It was just very frustrating to them. They were living their life. But to me, I'm a kid in the front room. I was in the front room of the house. If I can hear hitting and screaming from their master bedroom in the back of the house, obviously it was a big thing, and obviously my brother and sister heard it too. But how they have treated this trauma was way differently than I have, you know, and I'm the oldest, so I've had to, like, stick up for them, etc. So what, what happened was when I came home from school, he put his hands on my mother again for the millionth time. And I spoke to my uncle on the phone. This is back when, uh, house phones were a thing. We didn't have cell phones. And, uh, house phones would ring. It's so funny because now we're in 2026. I haven't heard a house phone ring in so long. But I was talking to my uncle on the house phone, and my uncle was like, hey, man, you know, when I come to Florida, we're going to take care of that, you know, quote unquote. So I was like. He's like, can you handle that? I said, yeah, for sure. He was listening the whole time on the other headset in his room. Obviously, he got mad. He came, he came. I heard him slam a door. Then I heard him take the sword off the wall, the machete, and he kicked my door down. And then he swung the machete at my leg. I have a scar on my left knee because the tip of the blade touched it. Because I moved my leg as fast as I could, but it was fast enough even when the tip hit it. And if I would have not moved my leg even that fast, I would have no leg, because he sliced the whole bed off. And the springs came up and jumped up in the air. And, uh, it was back. And then after he did that, um, I guess the neighbors heard noise, and I don't know if my mother called the cops, but someone called the cops and the cops came, and then they stayed for a very long time. And then obviously, news publication came as well. DCF and everybody. And it was, it was a whole thing. It was absolutely nuts. And, uh, you know, he was charged with aggravated child abuse with a deadly weapon.

Speaker B: I don't want to pretend that I can match the understanding of what your experience was in my head. That had to change. You, Obviously, you're about 15 at the time, and something like this is going to scar you. You're going to get baggage from this. You're 35 now. What is it that you remember? What did you pull from this experience that you take with, that you're taking with you today and how you live your life?

Speaker C: So when I was younger, I had to do a lot of therapy. Um, after that whole situation, I, I, I will publicly say I did try to off myself. I put a knife on my neck. Um, that was crazy, but I just was like, I felt trapped. They were trying to send me to this school in Texas, and he was trying to send me away because he knew that, like, I was the one fighting him. And obviously, you want to take whoever challenges you and get them out the picture. So they were trying to send me away to this school for bad kids in Texas. And I was like, oh, hell no. I'll just go in the kitchen and just do it myself. My grandfather did it. I was like, okay, I'll just do it myself, too. So, um, I tried. It didn't work out. My neighbor was a cop. He arrested me, and I got Baker acted. Um, and then after that, I went through, like, anger management, and I passed, obviously. I'll be honest with you. What it did to me was just give me this burning fire inside of me to just always want to prove myself. Because to him, I was just never enough. He put me down so many times. You know, there's so many dark things I could share here. But, you know, the one thing he told me is, like, you're just going to be like your grandfather, you know? And that bothered me. And it's like, if you have any respect for your wife and for me, he would never say something like that. And, uh, Asia's a dark person. You know, Every time he would strike me, he would smile and laugh like it wasn't enough. I would be bleeding, you know, with every strike, and he would just keep going. And he would just look me dead in my eyes while he did it. He was sick. He was sick. Person, man.

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Speaker C: you know, and he tells my brother and sister now that he's not that same guy. But it doesn't matter. You don't ever change like that. You're just, you're sick for life. Maybe now you regret it and now you're just this wholesome person. But congrats. You. You gave me PTSD for the rest of my life. You know, I've, uh, done therapy. I've paid a lot of money. I've done a lot of very extensive therapy. You know, I'll tell you one thing. My career, I've done so well. So well. And God bless, you know, and I've, I'm, I'm, I've never had an issue with career. I've never had an issue making money, but I've had an issue with my personal relationships. You know, it's so hard for me to keep a relationship. And it's definitely due to, like, my triggers and ptsd. You know, sometimes I'll date women and like, they'll, they'll yell and stuff at me or like, they'll trigger me, and it goes right back to that stuff. And it's just really hard to like, keep a relationship. And I've, I've left a lot of girls in my life because I just didn't think that they were good enough. Because that boy that slept outside, you know, would he be okay with me dating this person? Is this, is this what he would be proud of? And if the answer was no, I'm out, you know, And I, I've tried to live my life trying to save that 15 year old boy. And a couple years ago a therapist said, anthony, enough's enough. He's saved. You don't have to save him anymore. And that was a big turning point for me. I was like, you know what? You're right. I don't need to. He's good. And I started like releasing that and I stopped just trying to like, prove myself and trying to be in like, what's called fight or flight mode. When you're in fight or flight mode for 15 plus years, it does something to you, you know, And I just stopped doing that. And I just took a deep breath and I was like, okay, cool. All right. We don't have to do this anymore. Like, you're not, you're not that guy anymore. And then now, you know with cooking, I express myself in such a loving way because it was what I never received when I was younger and done a lot of therapy and I've done a lot of work on myself. And it's definitely hard. I definitely have triggers. You know, I don't like. Sometimes I don't like to be touched. You know, sometimes I don't like to be spoken to in a certain way, like with loud, loud noises. It's a lot of weird stuff that I've never spoken about publicly before. But when I get triggered, I have like a safe space and I deal with it or I walk away or, you know. But I'll tell you guys something. When I was younger, I was a savage. I was very angry all the time. And that's why I did very well in football. I played football for high school, um, I got a partial scholarship for college and then I played semi pro football and I did very well. And it was because that's where I could unleash my anger. And I took it out on a lot of people and I took it out on a lot of people in my life. And, you know, I definitely regret it. And you know, uh, I forgive those other people and I forgive myself too. But when the streets raise you, you know, you don't make the best decisions. But I did the best I could with what I could. I don't regret anything.

Speaker B: At 15, you made the decision to leave home and you did that to save yourself. Obviously, when you do that, you don't really have anywhere else to go. No money, no job. And first, let me tell you this. When we had our prep call for the show today, I wasn't expecting that it was going to turn into a story tell like this. It's important for you to know that we. And, um, I'm pointing to John, uh, and myself. I'm sincere in saying the fact that you're sharing this with us is a big deal. And I know these kinds of conversations aren't easy. And I just want to say thank you for, for that because it's, it's not to be taken for granted or glazed over or anything like that. When you left home, you said, hey, I'm out. But you needed money. What did you do?

Speaker C: Worked at a Chinese restaurant. I worked at Winn Dixie because they hired me very young. Winn Dixie, they hired me as a bag boy, um, at the same age as well. And then I also worked at, it's called Big Apple Bagels and it's in Land O Lakes. And, uh, it's still There, actually. But I opened up that location. So I had actually three jobs and I played football. I hated going home, so I made sure I worked. And then when I left that house, I was graciously, uh, offered housing with my friends. And that's all I did was work and hang out with them. And my friends were older. They were either like seniors or even older than that. I had, like, college friends that I would stay at their house.

Speaker B: Uh. Oh, you were experiencing things you should not have been.

Speaker C: Absolutely should have not been, you know. And, you know what's cool is that I was going through all that and I saw drugs around me, I saw gangs. I saw all the stuff that you hear about in, like, songs or, you know, pop culture. And I never once gave in to that, not once, because I knew it was wrong. And I was like, that's the weakest way to handle that stuff.

Speaker B: That has to be the whisper from. From God. That has to be.

Speaker C: For sure. I have. I have no. I have no re. I have nothing. I have no one to thank other than God.

Speaker B: You are the perfect candidate to fall into that lifestyle in the worst way possible.

Speaker C: For sure. They were using next to me, like, they were using. I worked at Sonic and my manager was smoking. I think it was like some blue, like some. Something called blues. It was like a hydrocodone or something. I don't know, some pain medication. He was smoking it in a spoon. And I was like, why are you doing that, man? Are you okay? He was like, yeah, man. You know, just trying to get through the shift. And I was like, what a weirdo, you know, in my head. Because, like, I've been through so much worse. I'm like, man, uh, no pill or drug could ever control me, you know? And like, at that age, when I was really young, I was just. I had drugs right in front of me, and I just never partook into that when I was younger.

Speaker B: You know, we're going to transition into how you, uh, what you did and working in a Chinese restaurant and all that. But before we do, you know, uh, if you've. If for anybody who's worked in the food service industry for any period of time, especially in the restaurant side, you would be so surprised to know how many people are heavily addicted to horrible substances and somehow they're functioning.

Speaker C: Yep, yep, they're functioning. Like, some of them are functioning drug addicts. Hardcore, yes.

Speaker B: Not. Not like cocaine, like, hardcore stuff.

Speaker C: Yep. Cocaine, weed, um, alcohol.

Speaker B: That's the.

Speaker A: Those are the.

Speaker B: Those are the easy ones.

Speaker C: Those are.

Speaker B: These are the Easy ones.

Speaker C: Those are the easy ones.

Speaker B: I mean, I'm sure you've, at some time in your life you've seen, you know, a line cook somewhere who was, you know, track parks and, and just hardly standing there, right.

Speaker C: I would kick them off the line, send them home. Yep, yep. Yeah. I mean, uh, a lot of chefs, man, it's a depressing life for us, you know, because what we do is we, we cook for people, we give people the best experience possible, but we sit on a milk crate on the floor and we eat our meal. You know, we sit there and we eat our food and it's just, it's a lot of give, give, give, but never like pouring into our own cups, you know, and, and I'm grateful Now, as a 35 year old man, that I started this mentorship because I'm pouring into a lot of these chefs that desperately need my help. And it's really like fulfilling me, uh, as a man and giving me some purpose. And it's just like, man, you know, I had a chef yesterday. I'm about to post a video after I leave here, this podcast. He said, before I met you, I was struggling and I was, could not pay my rent. But now, because of you, I'm making five figures a month. Thank you, Che Anthony Santos. And wow, I, like cried yesterday when I watched his video. So let me tell you something, man. You know, no matter what you going through in life, as long as you push through and you want it better than you want to breathe, you'll make it happen.

Speaker B: Your starting point in the food industry. Portuguese kid working at a Chinese restaurant.

Speaker C: Crazy.

Speaker B: Typically, um, you don't see a lot of non Chinese or depending on the, whatever the culture is, depending on the Asian culture. It's usually their family that's, that's in the building. It's not like they're bringing in outsiders.

Speaker C: It was, uh, a, it was a husband and wife. The husband was the chef. And he was so good. Like, oh my God, he can cook like three walk stations with literally 13 ingredients at the same time. He was so good. His name was Peter. And then Kathy ran the front restaurant and she was so good at running the front. And she, it would be only Chinese people in the kitchen, her in the front. And then the servers and the dishwashers and the bussers would be Americans.

Speaker B: And they saw your teenage, dripping wet, uh, young self standing there and you're filling out an application and what happened?

Speaker C: They said, this guy is dripping wet in the rain and wants to wash our dishes.

Speaker B: Support For Walk and Talk Media comes from Metro Food Service Solutions, trusted by kitchens that need storage and workflow that actually does the job. Learn more@metro.com m good luck to you, brother.

Speaker C: And they said, here you go. No problem. And let me tell you something bad. I wanted it so bad at that age, but then after. So they had buffet during the day. So if you guys ever been to a Chinese restaurant during the day, there's Buffett. And, you know, you guys love it. You eat as much as you want. Well, those. Those metal third pans and ninth pans that are stuck on with, you know, sweet and sour sauce or whatever, those got to get cleaned. And. Yep, that was me. I had to clean it. And. Wow. So, like, when I would walk in the door from. I would do football practice, and then I would walk in, and I would go right to dish, they would just start talking in Chinese right away, and I'm like, oh, they're definitely talking about me, for sure. You know, I'm like, all right, they're making fun of me, but it's okay. You know, I had my headphones, like I did over here when we were cooking, and I just started cleaning, and, uh, that was it. And they. They respected me because, one, I didn't, like, I didn't slack off. I didn't talk back. So, like, one of them was, like, really nice. It was the guy that only did the egg rolls, and he did, like, the fry stuff, you know? And, like, he was so, uh, so nice because he didn't have much responsibility, but he. He liked me, you know, and he taught me. He. He was the one that taught me a lot of ways on how to cook. He taught me how to roll the egg rolls, and he taught me a. His job. He didn't care. You know, it was like, the line cooks, they were super serious and, like, very stressful, but he. He showed me a lot of stuff, and he. He took me in, and he was very nice to me. But it was kind of funny to, like, see them treat me, you know, like, oh, go get this done. And it's. It's just. It was such an interesting dynamic, and it was very humbling experience.

Speaker B: So that being your entry point, and then in conjunction with, um, you mentioned how when your uncle would cook for your mom and your mom would smile, she'd be in a good mood, be happy, which you didn't see very often. Was that your. Was that the engine that kind of pushed you to go further in the business?

Speaker C: I remember looking at him, like, cooking this meal on our counter and on our stovetop, that we were there every day. Like, we cooked on there every day. My stepdad cooked, you know, Trinidadian food, and he cooked every day. But when my uncle did it and I saw my mother smile ear to ear, I was like, if you can make this woman smile like that, this is a superpower that I could have. I was obsessed with, like, superheroes growing up because I needed one. Uh, yeah, I needed one.

Speaker B: You had to find one.

Speaker C: So I was like, okay, here it is. Wow, you can make this woman smile. Then what could I do to the masses? So that looking back and reflecting, that was a pinnacle. That was a very pinnacle moment in my life. In that moment, I did not know. I was just observing and watching as, like, an audience. But now, looking back, reflecting, you know, years ago, I realized that. But now, like, talking to you guys today, yes, that was a humongous moment where I was like, okay, I want to do this.

Speaker B: I have literally seen you, um, your body language. There is a switch with you. And I've seen it flip back and forth today because this was not. Like, we didn't plan this. This is a serious topic. Neither one of us expected that we were going to have, uh, this kind of conversation. So I can see your face when you go back and you're thinking, you've built an extraordinary tolerance for pressure and stress. And with that said, how much of that drive that people admire you for comes from your trauma?

Speaker C: Um, I'm going to say all of it. There's this fire that will just not stop burning in me. I can't even sleep. You know, I can't tell you how many dreams I've had just reliving all those moments again. You know, I don't wake up and tell people about it, but, yeah, I definitely have relived almost every moment many times throughout my life. But I have this fire in me that will just not stop burning. And no matter what I've accomplished, I've made. I've made very good money. I've done very cool things that other people will be like, okay, you know, I've lived a lot of different lives, and it's just not enough. And I don't know if it'll ever be enough. But what I'm pursuing and what I'm searching for is a peaceful and happy life. So however I can achieve that, that's what I'm trying to go for right now. I don't care about materialistic things. I care about waking up in the morning and smiling. That's My biggest goal is being happy for a full 24 hours. That's my biggest goal. No money could ever give you that. No car could ever give you that. No materialistic item can give you that. You know, and from what I went through, it definitely made me the man I am today. And, you know, I'll be honest with you guys. It's very touchy subject and very sensitive, but I'm grateful for it. And I'll be honest with you. I would do it all over again because I would never be this guy I am today if it wasn't for those things happening to me.

Speaker B: That's a huge statement. Um, when. When somebody can get to a place where they can embrace their trauma, the bad experiences in their life, and recognize that that was part of their transition into being whoever they are today, obviously, we're looking at this from a positive. You're an upstanding citizen in that regard. I don't know. The conversations that we've had. You say a lot of smart, sage things. That comes from getting burned. That comes from forged. Being forged through the fire, from the fire.

Speaker C: You ever heard that saying where it says, fall down seven times, stand up eight? That's literally been my whole life. And, uh, honestly, I think the key to success, and it goes to everybody, you have to. You just in life to be successful, you will always get knocked down. I don't think you will ever stop getting knocked down. The point where you don't get back up, that's when you lose.

Speaker B: With all that said and part of our conversation, um, you know, you've been. You've been breadcrumbing, um, you know, faith in much of our conversations. And you mentioned something, you said, uh, you questioned how God can allow horrible things like that, like your experiences to happen. How have you reconciled that today, where you are mentally, emotionally, today?

Speaker C: So I have a tattoo on my arm, all right? It's my favorite Greek God, Poseidon. He's there. He's there. He's not doing much, but he's there. And then there's me with a cape, holding my teddy bear. I have the cape because I'm saving myself. Kind of talks about my childhood. I spoke to my tattoo artist, shout out Paka's art. But I told him about my, uh, my childhood growing up. And he drew this on my arm. So I would always pray, you know, with tears. Throughout my life, when all this stuff was going on, I would always say, save me, save me, save me, save me. And, you know, no one saved me. You know, Christmases Came by where we did nothing and our neighbors saw. And, you know, we, we would have random people just drop off gifts at our door in garbage bags. Is so humiliating, you know, And I always begged, I said, please, God, like, get me out of here. Like, what did I do to deserve this? I didn't ask to be born. I didn't ask to deal with none of this stuff. So when I went to that Chinese restaurant, I took those actions. I saved myself. And yes, when you incorporate faith into that, a lot of people have told me over the years, like, oh, well, God gave you the strength to go do that stuff. You know, maybe he did, I don't know. But I struggled with, with God when all this was going on and when I lived on my own, I had, did not have a relationship with God. I did not. I hated him. I'm gonna be very honest with you all, uh, I hated him with my whole soul, you know, and that's why I was surrounded around all these dark things, because that's what a lot of people in the streets do. They do a lot of very dark things because they're lost in life as well. And they're trying to figure out life too. You know, I didn't know. I was mad. I was like, I didn't have a dad. I didn't have no one to save me. And then this father figure just ruined everything. So I went through life and then as I got older, I realized that God was there the whole time. And it takes a lot for me to say that, but he was. He's preparing me for something big. And Even though I'm 35, something big still coming. Don't know what it is yet, but when I get there, you all will know. But I had to go through that stuff to get to where I am right now. And right now, at this moment in time, my faith in God is a thousand percent.

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Speaker C: my all to God right now. I have given everything to Him. I've given him full control of my life, and I'm very grateful for everything he's done. It took a lot for me to get here. It took a lot, A lot of lows and a lot of very low lows. But too many good things have happened in my life where there has to be a God, you know? And then some things have happened in my life where I'm like, okay, so many bad things have happened. How could there be if all these bad things happen? But again, that's why it's called religion. That's why it's called belief. But my faith has fluctuated throughout my life. But I can sit here and talk to you guys now and tell you guys that I am fully believing in God and I love God, and I'm m very grateful for everything that's happened. And trust me, it took a lot, a lot to get here, but very grateful, very thankful. And without him, I wouldn't even be here talking to you guys today. Probably wouldn't even be here. So shout out to the Almighty.

Speaker B: Amen. So before we talk about food, after all, we are a, uh, food platform, but we're an industry platform. And these are the people that are cooking your food. And there's so many different personality types, and there's so many ups and downs, and there's so many, like, you know, again, this, you know, you never know the story that's coming every week. And I'm, um, talking. I'm talking to you, Chef. You just never know who's sitting here and what is going to be shared. You cook a specific way because of how you grew up. Uh, that's everybody's story. Well, uh, I learned from my grandmother, I learned from my mother. I learned from my grandfather. All of those things are drivers to people who end up in food. You have this as your driver that you landed in food. You're artistic. You mentioned you into art. You're a creative guy, so it's fitting. But hearing you talk for the last several hours, you are an animal in a good way. You have fire. You're not old. You're 35. You're not young either, but you have fire. And that's awesome. And you're still focused on the long, and you're still focused up, man. That's, like, really biggest props to you, dude. And I mean, that so sincerely, thanks. Um, again, before food, this is a launch pad, I think, for some other bigger things. If there's a kid out there, teenager, whomever, who might hear this, or a friend of a teenager or something, whatever, who's listening to this right now, and they have their own abuse, what's the advice that you give that person to get the hell out of Dodge?

Speaker C: Great question. Age is a huge factor in this. So if you're 16, you could. You could emancipate yourself. Okay? In the state of Florida, if you're younger than that, you need to tell someone that. And this person that you tell has to be someone that can actually help you. Okay? There's a lot of situations where if you do tell someone that's like a family member, nothing ever changes, and your, uh, life actually gets worse and gets controlled and then manipulated.

Speaker B: Why? What happens?

Speaker C: The people you tell are scared to say something. You make you out to be the bad person, and they try to cover up for the abuser. I've seen it happen so many times. So many times. So here's the thing. If you're listening to this and you're a little. Anthony Santos, this what I would tell you, get your life together, okay? Focus on credit. If you're close to 18 years old, start studying credit. Even if you're not. If you're 14, if you're 13, study credit. Study how banks give you credit cards, loans. Because when you become 18, that's your freedom. That's how you get out. When I was 18, thank God, by the grace of God, my grandmother, when she passed away, she left me a check for $25,000. I paid my mother's debt, fixed her car up, and then I bought myself a car. It was. It was crazy. I didn't even know I had the money. I just got a phone call from the Liberty Mutual or something, and they called me and they said, uh, they said, hey, you have a check here. Your grandmother wanted to wait for you to be 18. So crazy how my grandmother did that, but yeah. And then, uh, get your finances together, because that's your way out, and that's how you win in life, his finances. And you can manipulate credit in your favor. You can get business credit, you can get business credit cards, you can get business loans, you can start a car rental business. There's so many things you can do in the United States of America that can put yourself in such a great financial situation where your abuse doesn't need to be your identity. It could just be of, uh, what takes you from point A to point B. Also, what I would do is I would invest in therapy. I wish I would have done therapy when I was younger. I thought the streets was therapy. I thought going out to the clubs at such a young age was going to heal me. No, it didn't. It just prolonged me having to handle it and deal with it. I would definitely invest in therapy. There's so many different therapies now that you can do. Whichever therapy works for you, do it regardless. That's what I would do. And then another thing I would invest in yourself. Make yourself better. Be healthy. Be happy. Life isn't worth living unless you're happy. And because of what happens to you, it's not your identity. It's not. It's just a part of your life. Don't make it your identity. Nobody feels sorry for you. Nobody cares. Don't let that be what makes you limit yourself to what you can accomplish. You can achieve anything in this world. There's nothing that separates you from anyone else. No one is better than any of us. It's just who wants it better? Who wants it more? Who wants to go after it? If you want to be the best chef in the country, go be the best chef in the country. If you want to be the number one makeup artist in the country, go do it. This is 2026. When I was going through this stuff, it was 2004. There was no social media. It was AOL dial up. You guys have everything now. You have YouTube. We're just on YouTube alone. You can learn anything and you want to learn. You could be a trader right now on YouTube. Okay? And like, not even YouTube. Now we have what's called chat GBT, the smartest intelligence in the world. There's Claude, which can code you a whole program if you ask it. The world is your oyster. It is 2026. You don't need to be in any situation that you are in that you don't want to.

Speaker B: But they can't stay in the violence.

Speaker C: Some do, because that's their identity. That's all they know. But you have to realize yourself, that you're worth more because you are. You're God's children. You are one in a trillion chance of being born. If you are here on this earth, you are chosen. Don't, don't. Don't live your life less than great. If your life is not great, go make it great.

Speaker B: I agree with that, with the caveat. And my caveat is there's always going to be a negative. Always. So me uh, my, my thought on this is life is worth living. For me, it's with faith. But, but let's just say you're not that guy or gal, whatever. Fine. Life is worth living when you're striving to be happy. I don't know if we ever attain that. Once you get older and you figure out math and you, you know, you start looking at, well, I've been around this many years, I got this many years left and I got this, you know, parent, grandparent passes away, uh, all of these things happen and you're figuring out the math of life.

Speaker A: This episode is brought to you by Trimark, the largest food service design, equipment and supplies provider in North America. Trimark works directly with operators, bringing design, build expertise, supply sourcing strength, project management, installation and servicing together to power smarter hospitality kitchens.

Speaker B: Learn more@trimarkusa.com mhm. You know, yeah, you have your own kids and sometimes that's the. Oh, okay, you got a breath, it's fresh, you know. But at the end of the day, the math wins.

Speaker C: Life beats you up.

Speaker B: Life beats you up. Mhm. If you strive to be happy, whether you get there or not, I think that's the, that's the place where you're in a good place.

Speaker C: The chase.

Speaker B: Yeah. Because if you, if you do get happy, guess what happens? You're going to fall from that. You might be happy for a month, a year even, but when you fall from that, you only have down to go. And that's not healthy. That drop isn't healthy.

Speaker C: I've cooked for the wealthiest people in this country. I've cooked for a billionaire. Okay. And if you, if you're a millionaire, cool, congratulations. Go be a billionaire. From me right now, to a millionaire, it's a very short stretch, but for a millionaire, to a billionaire, it is a humongous feat. Huge feat. I've cooked for billionaires, millionaires cooked for very wealthy people. I've cooked for celebrities. And uh, let me tell you something. The clients that had to pay me in partial payments that make $40,000 a year are so much happier than those people living a life of purpose, living a life of self awareness. I think the chase of just wanting to accomplish better and then always chasing that, I think that's how you stay happy and grateful. Uh, and you know, as long as you have a purpose in life and you're achieving that purpose and it's your true purpose to yourself, you can achieve happiness. But if your happiness is making a million dollars, I'll give you the million dollars. I Guarantee you're going to cry tomorrow, because you're not. You're. What do you do after that? What do you do after that? But if you live a very purposeful life, if you serve God, you serve your wife, you serve your family, you serve yourself first before all that, and you live a true life, I truly believe, and through the darkest times that I've lived, that's how you achieve happiness. Because that's how the moments that I felt happy is when I was giving to others.

Speaker B: Speaking of happiness, let's talk food. Yes. You made a couple of really terrific dishes today. Let's get into. Let's get into that.

Speaker C: Okay.

Speaker B: All right. Because, you know, you. You, uh, earlier in the kitchen, you claimed, um, your creativity and, uh, your feelings for art. You plated some beautiful dishes today. Let's start with dish one. What was it?

Speaker C: It was a charred Spanish octopus. It was beautiful. So when you told me to give you two dishes, I visualized in my head colors, Then I thought of ingredients, and then I thought of plating. And it was really cool that I could visualize all these. And then we picked the plates here today. It was awesome. But, yeah, I'm really into that. Um, I'm into plating way more than I am cooking. Like, you know, everybody can cook rice in their own way, but let me see you present it to me in a way that's going to make me open my eyes and be, wow. You know, it's just amazing how you can cook me a tomato and I can cook you a tomato and look completely different.

Speaker B: So speaking of picking the plates, it's like a candy store in there.

Speaker C: Oh, my God.

Speaker B: Isn't that, like, the fun part?

Speaker C: Yeah, I would love to just go in there and take about 50 of those plates. Just take them home. I think a bowl went in my bag, actually, by mistake.

Speaker B: Um, I saw that. Actually, I did. I saw that. That was funny. You brought it back. You brought it back.

Speaker C: I did. I'm okay.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's rack porcelain, by the way. Just putting it out there. Um, yeah, man, I tell you what, we have. We have fun. I actually like to go in the back. Um, you know, when John takes chef back or whatever it is, and, uh, and there. And I just look at the eyes. Everybody says the same thing. Like, oh, my God. Wow. Like, this is, like, serious.

Speaker C: Get in a candy store.

Speaker B: It's serious. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. Octopus dish was beautiful. Um, you brought, uh, you brought three tentacles, and you chose the right one to put on that plate. And you're like, you actually said it to me, you know, I brought these three, and now that I'm looking at them, that one. It's going to be that one right there. And I was like, okay, whatever. Yeah, okay, sure. But meanwhile, you do the process. We, you know, you do the cook, whatever your plate, uh, John gets it back in the, uh, in the studio there and, um, starts snapping pictures, man. Yeah, you picked the right one. You done good, kid. You done real good.

Speaker C: Dish two, that was my ribeye wagyu and Japanese purple sweet potato with charred broccolini. Then it had a red wine truffle sauce with 24 karat gold. Really good dish. Really interestingly and uniquely flavorful. A lot of umami in that dish. That's what you tasted, and that's what. That's what you were interested in. It was the umami of foot.

Speaker B: Let me just stop you for a second, okay? Okay, Let me. Let me put the brakes on this now. Okay? Um, wagyu. Yes. Yes. Every day. Yes. Okay. Like, I won't say no to steak, especially a prime or wagyu. Like, I love all of it. Every day my doctor is going to be like, what are you doing? While that was spectacular, what really got me today was the sweet potatoes. Dude. Chef, Those were freaking delicious. Because it wasn't just like one or two. It was like a whole spectrum of flavors all at once. But they didn't hit all at once. It's like you get one now, one in the second, and then later, really fantastic. What was actually inside?

Speaker C: So it was the Japanese sweet potato butter, and it was black garlic, which adds a lot of umami flavor. Um, then it was malden smoked sea salt. Then it was also, um, a little bit of fresh garlic in there as well, and that was it. So your tongue is actually separated by different tastes. So sweet, salty, savory. There's different points in your tongue that detect different, um, taste profiles. So that just that sweet potato alone hits about four of those. So that's why that. That hits you, and it hits you all at once, but the brain doesn't recognize it till later. And it breaks it down one by one by one. That's why you're like, oh. Oh. At first it was a little overwhelming, but then, yeah, I love that. I love Japanese sweet potato. I love that it's low glycemic. It doesn't, uh, sp your blood sugar. I just love it. I've always loved it for such a long time. And it looks so beautiful on a. On a white Plate.

Speaker B: So that's why I hate chocolate. Um, bars. You know, I'm looking for that.

Speaker C: Hopefully dark chocolate.

Speaker B: Yeah, whatever chocolate it is. I'm looking for the spike. I am looking for that.

Speaker C: Nice.

Speaker B: Okay, good.

Speaker A: I.

Speaker B: Such a fat ass. All right, um, well, here's the thing. I think you did terrific today. Um, I'm. I'm thrilled that you finally made it out here. And, um, we've talked for quite a while, actually, long time. But we reconnected at, uh, our 200th episode celebration. Ah, party.

Speaker C: Congratulations.

Speaker B: Thank you. Um, and it was really cool to see you there to go from that point to today. It's really cool because you got to experience something that, while there was a lot of people there, you got to experience something that not everybody got to see. You know, for the 120 plus, um, industry folks that showed up, you were one of them. But, dude, there's hundreds or more. There's a lot. So a lot of people didn't get to experience that. I'm thrilled that you. That you did that. You got to feel that because that. That was the connector, the DNA connector for what you did here today. In general, the story share to cook, all of it. And. And this is what the industry needs. So thank you.

Speaker C: No, thank you. I, uh, I saw what you have going on, and I saw how many people actually love you and respect you, and I was like, okay, all right. I've been holding this in my chest long enough, you know, And I watched some of your videos, and I was like, wow, it's like watching a movie. I was like, the way he tells these chef stories, I was like, okay, if he can do these with other chefs, then I trust him to do this with mine. So that's why I talked about this today with you.

Speaker B: So thank you, M. No, man, thank you. Like, people walk around with cameras in their pockets today. Yeah. You got your cell phone, but literally, people walk around with video equipment. Yeah.

Speaker C: Streaming.

Speaker B: It's just the way it is today. And there's all sorts of, um, there's all sorts of content or entertainment, if you will, what makes me happy. Yeah, this is fun in its lowest form. It's a fun thing to do. Mics and audio and cameras and all this stuff. But to have a person like yourself or Chef Alicia or Chef Farrell or, you know, cg, any one of these chefs that come on and share, you know, more than just, like, what your favorite thing to cook is. Support for Walk and Talk Media comes from Crab Island Seafood Dip. Creating chef driven crab dips. Made with real seafood and bold flavor. Learn more@crabislandseafooddip.com to me, and it gives an outlet not just for the chef

Speaker A: sitting in the chair. Because there is, I believe.

Speaker B: I don't know, because I. I'm, uh, on the mic every week, and I get to share things sometimes. And it's therapeutic. There's no question about it. It is absolutely therapeutic. When you say something like that to us, bro, that's the biggest compliment you can. You can give.

Speaker C: Because it's not like, oh, it's not a compliment. It's the truth.

Speaker B: But it's a compliment. It's the biggest truth. Thank you. But it's the. But it is the biggest compliment for sure, that you can give to somebody, Anybody who has. Who does this. It's really. Thank you. I'm not being hammy or whatever. I'm, uh, you know, like, uh, there's been a lot of changes here over the last year or so. All for the best, and it's only getting better. And this helps people. I have no question. There's no doubt in my mind. This episode and what we did today, uh, on film, I think it's gonna help somebody. Damn it. I love that. I don't want to just make stupid content. There's a place for everything. But I feel like the thing. A lot of what we do here, especially now, I don't know, we've. We've come into a different place, and I really love it. Anyway, I just. I sincerely and genuinely want to thank you for participating in all of this.

Speaker C: It's on.

Speaker B: Yeah. And because we talked about your beginnings, kind uh, of what led you into the direction of the kitchen and the restaurant life. We really didn't get into the restaurant life. You have a whole career's worth of pretty interesting things that I want to get into. And I feel like maybe, uh, maybe in a month or so we'll check calendars and I want you to come back. I'd like to have you back and get into that.

Speaker A: I want to get into.

Speaker B: Into, like, that part of it. You're definitely a multi, um, multi part guest, if you're okay with it.

Speaker C: I would love to come back. For sure. Yeah. I think there's a lot of the story that we haven't talked about yet, so I definitely love to come back. My birthday is August 30th, so let's do it after that.

Speaker B: I'm sure we're going to talk, uh, then by then, but if not, happy, happy, happy stinking birthday, man.

Speaker C: Thanks, man. I'm turning 36.

Speaker B: You're a baby. What? Uh, what? How do people find you?

Speaker C: So you can find me on Google. Chef Anthony Santos. You can find me on YouTube. Watch a bunch of my YouTube episodes that have millions of views. You could find me on Instagram. Chef Anthony Santos Hernandez.

Speaker B: Johnny boy. I mean, um, how do people find you? Do you have a mic even? Like, how do people find you? Go to Ibis Images on the Instagram. At Ibis. Ibis Images on the Instagram. Check out this guy's photography, will you? You people out there, you chefs, you need to hire this guy. Bring him in. You need him. He doesn't need you. You need him. I'm just saying. All right. Appreciate you guys a lot. God bless. We are out.

Speaker C: Sam.