017 The Epicurean Journey of Chef Alekka Sweeney Unveiled

(00:38) Join us at the table with Chef Alekka Sweeney, the culinary force of nature whose kitchen mastery knows no bounds. As she whisks us away on a gastronomic tour, we discover her passion for crafting globally-inspired menus and the joy she finds in empowering her students—from curious little chefs-in-the-making to enthusiastic adults. Chef Alekka is not just about tantalizing taste buds; she's on a mission to make gourmet cooking attainable for everyone, transforming home kitchens with her in-home classes and crafting signature "secret menu social" events.

(20:48) Alekka's tale is a testament to tenacity, a chronicle of overcoming the industry's gender barriers, and a celebration of the relentless drive that led her to establish her own mark in the world of food. Alekka recounts her entrepreneurial ventures, from founding a baking and pastry school in Chicago to her memorable escapades on local television—yes, including that unforgettable cake-tossing moment with John Cleese! 

Alekka's vibrant energy,  curiosity, and ability to nurture culinary networks keep her future bright with plans to traverse the globe seeking culinary inspiration. 

(37:28) And if you're hungry for more, Ana.Eats.Pgh steers us north of the city for her favorite BBQ joint, while Chef.Life.Hacks offers up her corn and black bean salsa recipe for your next gathering. 

Reflecting on the growth of our podcast, I can't help but be grateful for the spirit and stories of friends and guests like Janet Loughran and Alekka Sweeney, who infuse every episode with a generous sprinkle of magic.

Transcript

Doug: 0:01

Welcome to The Pittsburgh Dish. I'm your host, Doug Heilman, From catering to private cooking classes, secret menus to TV. What doesn't our guest chef have going on? We'll find out this week. Have a hankering for barbecue? We'll head north of the city with Ana Anthony for her favorite spot and looking for some summer salsa. Coming your way, we have a recipe from Chef Janet Loughran of Chef Life Hacks. All that ahead, stay tuned. Well, thank you so much for coming over and coming on the show. Would you introduce yourself and everything you have going on in food right now?

Alekka: 0:49

My name is Alekka Sweeney, known as Chef Alekka, and I have a lot going on all the time I know yes.

Doug: 0:59

I swear I think I try and follow you on social media and you have so much energy. I, I, I don't know if it's all smoke and mirrors. It looks like you have a staff of a thousand. If listeners are not familiar with you, can you give us just a little rundown on what are you doing with your business and and any of the other sort of regular food ventures you have going on?

Alekka: 1:22

Well, currently I am doing I cook for a couple private clients and I'm doing a lot of private events where I go to your house and cook for your birthday party anniversary and I do in-home cooking classes. That's what I'm doing now.

Doug: 1:38

I've seen you do a lot of kids like cooking classes.

Alekka: 1:40

I just love doing kids cooking classes. That's where my heart is. I just sometimes I prefer them over adults.

Doug: 1:49

Well, they're sponges.

Alekka: 1:50

They are.

Doug: 1:51

Yeah, that's I. You know, I've done a kid's cooking camp a couple of times and I love that as well, just seeing them kind of learn for the first time.

Alekka: 1:59

Yeah, that's it. They come in with like no, that's not what I saw on TIK TOK or Food Network. I mean, they're just there to just learn and pick up all your knowledge, and I love it yeah.

Doug: 2:08

They're open books. They are when someone has hired you. I think what I've seen is like you have like a menu, like, say, spanish or something. Is that right?

Alekka: 2:18

Yes, my website. I have categories of dinners and all of them are kind of inspired from my travels, so I've won. That's like a Spanish tapas theme.

Doug: 2:29

Oh yeah.

Alekka: 2:29

I have an Italian menu, I have a French menu.

Doug: 2:34

And these are probably inspired from your all of your trips that you're taking.

Alekka: 2:38

Yes.

Doug: 2:39

If someone hasn't seen those menus or those categories like what are like one or two bites that people would enjoy if they picked one of those menus so hands down on the um tapas menu, I do this homemade potato chips with blue cheese and sirloin steak oh my goodness, that's like better than patatas bravas.

Alekka: 3:01

Yeah, it was, that was good um from the french menu coq au vin and dauphinoise potatoes oh, I mean, this is super fancy.

Doug: 3:11

Tell me what are. What are the dauphinoise?

Alekka: 3:13

I just say they're fancy scallop potatoes, the potatoes that have gruyere cheese in them, which is a fancy french cheese uh, the italian definitely panzanella salad. Oh, we love panzanella. So I use the herb focaccia from Brown Bear Bread Company.

Doug: 3:31

So good, so good.

Alekka: 3:33

And I change that one up seasonally too.

Doug: 3:35

If somebody doesn't know what a panzanella salad is, it's a bread salad with seasonal vegetables, usually Italian themed, but you could kind of do whatever you want.

Alekka: 3:44

Yeah, the summertime I do, grilled the bread, grilled peaches and burrata, and basil so good. I also do customize menus. If you don't see any on there that you like, then I'll work with you one-on-one to develop a menu, and the same with the in-home cooking classes. And if we have time, I'd like to tell you why I do those.

Doug: 4:09

Yeah, I love this. Tell me a little bit more.

Alekka: 4:12

So you know I used to teach or I did, you know, at Williams-Sonoma. You know Sur La Table, all those fancy pants places, and I would notice two things. One thing people would come by themselves, which you know. I'm a solo traveler. I go out to eat, I get that, but some people just don't like to. You know, they're shy or social anxiety, they don't want to ask questions. So I'll usually come up to me after class when I'm in the middle of cleaning up and I want to go home and ask a bunch of questions. Or I'll be using the stuff that William Sonoma sells or Sur La Table sells or something fancy, and everybody will say I'm not going to make this recipe again at home because I don't have X, y or Z that particular product.

Alekka: 4:58

That particular product or that spice.

Doug: 5:01

Yes.

Alekka: 5:02

So I said, okay, I'm going to bring the cooking class to you. I'm going to just bring ingredients and you can invite your friends. We're doing it in the comfort of your home and we're going to be using your stuff so you can make it again after I leave.

Doug: 5:21

This is a real skill on your part If you're using their equipment and their stuff. You have to make probably some changes on the fly, but it allows them to feel okay about all the stuff they have in their kitchen and they'll be able to do it again.

Alekka: 5:36

Yes, I've gotten really used to going into complete, total stranger's houses and going through their kitchen, cause I've gone to kitchens that have everything in it and more. Or I actually have a camping stove in my trunk, oh yeah, cause I've gone to some places that they their burners just don't work at all, wow. So I like to tell people it doesn't matter, if you have all the bells and whistles or just one knife, you still can make some meal and I'll show you how to do it classes.

Doug: 6:11

You, uh, you also host this secret, Secret Menu Social. Yeah, if someone doesn't know about this, can you just give us the, the 411, what's going on with that?

Alekka: 6:32

I'll give you the elevator speech yes um, I guess last year I was talking with Nina.

Alekka: 6:38

Nina Gleason Sincerely Pasta okay just um, wanting to be more creative with food like I never have time to really experiment with food or dishes and I said I just want to find a venue for that and just, and she finally came up with Secret Menu Social. So at the beginning, the secret was me being the person behind the Instagram page, because I really just started. She designed the logo. I started an Instagram page I think it had like seven followers and doing just dinners in my parents' backyard.

Doug: 7:25

And it was sort of a secret pick. Like you had to be following the secret menu social page to be in the lottery so to speak. And if anyone has had the privilege of going, it's, and you were a chef for one of them, doug, I was. I was, I was nervous, because you're cooking for complete strangers. You don't know what they expect either.

Alekka: 7:45

Yeah.

Doug: 7:46

And how many names do you typically pick?

Alekka: 7:47

It's usually like six we like to keep it under eight people, because I've done it for an entire year now and just talking to the people at the dinners. If I wanted to, I could do 20, 30, 40 people.

Alekka: 8:02

Yeah 20, 30, 40 people, yeah, but I think for the chef, you know, wanting to come out there and be able to talk to people about their brand and the dishes, and also the attendees, being able to talk to people at the table and not shout at somebody all the way at a huge, you know, table of 15 to 20 people.

Doug: 8:20

Yeah, it's more intimate, it is.

Alekka: 8:22

Keeping it smaller?

Doug: 8:23

Yes, and you have. When I did secret menu social with you, you have a full experience for these attendees. You have someone playing music in the corner. You have sometimes a bar feature. Yes, who are a couple of the people that have helped you with with those.

Alekka: 8:42

I always pronounce his name. Last name wrong. Tim Vitullo is the um he plays guitar. And then Tyler and Colby from blue sky kitchen and bar that just opened up, the Jackworth ginger beer I cannot wait to try that ginger oh my god, I've been a couple times.

Alekka: 8:59

It's really good oh, delicious so, just kind of like this year, I've decided to kind of bring it back to its roots and start kind of from the beginning. I'm going to take a little bit of a break because you know I have a lot of things going on.

Doug: 9:15

You do.

Alekka: 9:16

So I would take a couple months break and kind of get some more ideas and then bring it back. But the way that we did choose people, when it was less than a thousand people, we would just put. You saw it. We put everybody's name on a piece of paper.

Ana: 9:32

Right.

Alekka: 9:32

And I had the guests choose the guests for the next dinner, so people didn't think I was choosing my friends.

Doug: 9:39

Right.

Alekka: 9:40

So it's completely random.

Doug: 9:42

But it's so big now you have to go.

Alekka: 9:44

Yeah, we're doing the randomizer now.

Doug: 9:46

Right, a different lottery type yeah, yeah. And these are usually once a month.

Alekka: 9:51

Yeah, they're once a month.

Doug: 9:53

You featured some really cool chefs on.

Alekka: 9:54

I know.

Doug: 9:55

Beyond me, I would not pull myself.

Alekka: 9:57

Everybody's still talking about your chocolate cake, Doug. That was so good.

Doug: 10:02

You know, the other thing that you have going on and I think this is how we connected was some local TV work. Yes, and you are on. How many times a month I'm on Talk Pittsburgh? That's right, twice a month, and they love you.

Alekka: 10:16

Like. Sometimes I'm like I don't know why.

Doug: 10:20

I think you're so comfortable in front of the camera.

Alekka: 10:23

Well, I got my. I like to tell people I got my training in Chicago. That's when I was on TV for the very first time and I remember, you know, just rehearsing it for three or four weeks and cause, you know, my friends worked at the studio. That's not how I got on it. I had somebody to help me get on TV and I was terrified.

Ana: 10:46

Oh yeah.

Alekka: 10:49

Terrified Until somebody told me you know, don't look at the cameras. You know, try to not look at the cameras and the teleprompter and don't rehearse, because you're going to sound rehearsed, and just talk to the host, like you and I are talking right now, just like focus on that person and just have, just make it conversational. And I think the fact that now I think everybody knows that talk Pittsburgh is pre-taped. Now it's, you know, it's still. You have the cameras and the teleprompters and the producers and everybody are in there.

Doug: 11:21

But you know, the way they do talk Pittsburgh right now, it's live to tape. Oh yeah, it's live to tape, yeah. So, right after they finished Pittsburgh Today Live, which is the one I usually do I got to get out of that kitchen because somebody else is coming in for Talk Pittsburgh and they treat it like a live show. It airs just a little later in the day.

Alekka: 11:39

Yeah, like Heather's, running from one studio to the other.

Doug: 11:43

Yeah, this is Heather Abraham. Yeah, heather.

Alekka: 11:45

Abraham, who's amazing. Everybody asks me like is she nice? I'm like she is the funniest, yes, nicest, person you'll ever meet. But again, even after I've done this for so many years, I still get a little nervous.

Doug: 11:58

I think it's natural, yeah, natural.

Alekka: 12:00

You have like, you have like one minute. Heather comes in, you have like one minute and I'm like you're doing this, this and this, and then we're on.

Doug: 12:08

If you weren't getting nervous, there'd be a problem. Yes, you need that little extra energy.

Alekka: 12:12

Yeah, because somebody told me, if you're not nervous, that means you really don't care about it. But yeah, I still get a little bit of butterflies.

Doug: 12:21

before I go on, I want to just take a couple other quick notes and you can tell me yay or nay if this is happening. Don't you also do like some, like pie of the month?

Alekka: 12:30

I do.

Doug: 12:31

I have my pie of the month club, so I love doing that, if people want to get into that, and we'll talk at the end and plug you.

Alekka: 12:38

Yeah.

Doug: 12:38

But those are things you usually advertise on your website or social media.

Alekka: 12:43

I do it on Instagram, yes, they look really yummy.

Doug: 12:47

and they're not only sweet pies, you also sometimes do savory.

Alekka: 12:50

Yes, I like to do seasonal pies, kind of in honor of my mother's mother who taught me how to make pies and I just love making them. So you don't have to. You know there's no membership card, you don't have to sign up for anything, it's not a contract. It's not a contract, it's there's no membership card.

Doug: 13:05

You don't have to sign up for anything. It's not a contract. It's not a contract. It's not the jelly of the month club. You have to get pies every month, although that wouldn't be a bad thing.

Alekka: 13:12

Yeah. So I like to just kind of way to just you know my love of making pies and just doing seasonal pies, and sometimes they're not really a pie. Sometimes it'll be like a hand pie or a crostata or a fruit tart, so it's kind of large category of something in a pan.

Doug: 13:29

How about that? It allows you to be creative which is great. You actually got me thinking, and so we'll go there now. You mentioned learning how to make pies from your grandma. Yes, can you take us back a little bit and tell us what was food like for you growing up? Did you start to cook at a young age, or were people like grandma cooking for you, baking for you? What was that like?

Alekka: 13:51

That's a great question, doug. Being a Generation X child of the 70s, both my parents worked full time. So I have an older sister who's two years older than me and a younger sister who's seven years younger than me. Oh, so you're the middle child. I am the redheaded middle child.

Doug: 14:11

This makes so much sense now.

Alekka: 14:15

Like latchkey kid coming home from school. My parents would say you know one of you, your older sister, have to start dinner and you know I come home from school and turn on PBS and watch all the cooking shows. Julia Child, yan Can Cook our buddy, Chris Fennimore.

Doug: 14:32

Yes.

Alekka: 14:33

Did you grow up in the local Pittsburgh?

Doug: 14:35

area I did.

Alekka: 14:35

I grew up in the South Hills, so I lived here from age seven to about 19, and then I left.

Doug: 14:41

Okay, and so you started cooking for yourself.

Alekka: 14:44

For my parents. My sister went out. My sister makes a mean buttermilk biscuit Ooh, she really. But she would always make the same meal every when it was her time to cook.

Doug: 14:54

Okay.

Alekka: 14:55

For me like watching those food shows. I would be like I want to do something different, different and I got looked at my mom's joy of cooking and I would just make stuff up and my family would eat the good, the bad and the ugly.

Doug: 15:12

It was an experimentation time and you were inspired by those things.

Alekka: 15:15

Yes.

Doug: 15:16

So when did that then transition you into thinking about food as a career?

Alekka: 15:23

So I did, you know, kind of cook a little bit through high school and then I went to Westminster College for I tried it on for two years.

Doug: 15:32

Not for cooking.

Alekka: 15:33

Not for business administration, cause I wanted to be the next Martha Stewart. Oh, yes, I did. Yeah, and you know college. I was fine socially, academically I was like mehh. So my dad, who's an industrial psychologist. In between my sophomore and my junior year of college I came home and my dad's like well, let me have somebody administer a career test for you. So it showed that you know, I have a very creative mind. I said I should be a florist.

Doug: 16:03

Oh, well, I mean I, I mean I could see that. I mean it's another creation kind of thing like what we do with food.

Alekka: 16:09

So my parents encouraged me to drop out of college and pursue culinary school at age 21. Good for them.

Doug: 16:19

And you, and you.

Alekka: 16:20

They have been the biggest supporters of my. I'm so fortunate that my parents have been the biggest supporters of my. I'm so fortunate that my parents have been the biggest supporters of my career because, being a chef in 1993, I got a degree, an associate's degree, in specialized technology in culinary and they were only doing two-year degrees back then and this is really before.

Doug: 16:41

In 93 we did not even have like a food network yet. It was some of those PBS shows and the whole idea of a celebrity chef and cooking competitions. Those did not exist.

Alekka: 16:54

No, they didn't. I remember when the food network came on and, like you know, watching Bobby Flay and Emeril Lagasse, you know just, it was just really grassroots.

Doug: 17:05

Right, I love the Two Hot Tamales. Do you remember those two ladies?

Alekka: 17:09

Oh, did you watch the Two Fat Ladies on PBS? Did you ever watch that. I love them.

Doug: 17:14

Oh yeah, Totally crazy.

Alekka: 17:16

So having my mother's, my dad's mother was very fabulous. She was an anthropologist, archaeologist, so from her I got from hosting fabulous dinner parties Wow, like she would tablescapes, and I was, my sisters and my cousins and I were eating lamb and quail.

Doug: 17:37

Is it because of her anthropology?

Alekka: 17:39

Yeah, she would travel.

Doug: 17:40

She would be exposed to all of these things and bring them back to the table. Yes, that's amazing.

Alekka: 17:45

And then my mother's mother, who's very Southern. She would take me to Piggly Wiggly and we'd get a whole bunch of lard and we'd make pies.

Doug: 17:55

I take it she lived out of state then, because we don't have Piggly Wiggly no.

Alekka: 17:57

Grifton, North Carolina.

Doug: 17:59

North Carolina yeah, okay.

Alekka: 18:00

I take both of those influences now into my brand so formative for you it was. So I went to culinary school and back then you had to do an externship for six months and then you came back and graduated. So I did mine in Philadelphia for a master pastry chef. This is Chef Alekka and you're listening to The Pittsburgh Dish.

Doug: 18:25

You know I love celebrating, you know, women-owned businesses and women chefs. What was the landscape like back then when you were graduating, in terms of like percentage, male versus female, and the feel of kitchens like that.

Alekka: 18:41

It was, I would say, when my I stayed at my externship in Philadelphia. I graduated in Pittsburgh. Then I moved back to Philadelphia to work at this French restaurant that was actually run by two women. Amazing, which was.

Doug: 18:58

At the time.

Alekka: 18:59

At the time, incredibly unusual. Yes, so I had that, as you know, people to look up to. Yes, so good. So I did that for two years and then I moved to Atlanta in the nine 96 or like 94. I was there for the Olympics completely, totally different experience. They're male dominated, very male dominated. Getting pat me, getting passed over for promotions or jobs. You know, because I wasn't a man.

Doug: 19:30

Yeah. Do you think any of that discrimination motivated you in some ways to do your own thing? Absolutely.

Alekka: 19:37

Yeah. So I left Atlanta. I was the assistant pastry chef for a restaurant and I kind of felt like I'd cycled through that. So, you know, being in my thirties and not, you know, being married and not having kids, I'm like, where do I go next? And Chicago was never on my radar and somebody said you should go there. So I checked it out over a weekend and I moved there. It's a pretty good food town.

Alekka: 20:06

It's an amazing food town. I think the final straw for me it was I was working at a hotel and my boss got her job because she was sleeping with the general manager.

Doug: 20:20

Yeah, not a healthy situation at all.

Alekka: 20:23

And I knew a ton of experience. So that was the final straw for me to say you know what? I'm going to try to do this on my own. I've got all this experience. I've lived in all these cities and this was when the Food Network Ace of Cakes Cupcake.

Doug: 20:40

Wars. Yeah, it's sort of coming up to its height and those kinds of shows are like gaining some steam.

Alekka: 20:48

Yes, and up until then I had been mostly pastry.

Doug: 20:53

Okay.

Alekka: 20:54

So somebody told me you know when you're going to start a business. You pick one thing and you get really good at that one thing.

Doug: 21:03

Yes, niche, down, as they say.

Alekka: 21:05

So I said, okay, I'm going to start a school that's dedicated just for baking and pastry, because I did my market research in this neighborhood of Chicago and I didn't find anything there that had anything like that. There were some big cooking schools in Chicago, but none of them focused just on baking and pastry, so that's what I did.

Doug: 21:30

And so what was the business called that you opened?

Alekka: 21:33

So for living in the South, I called it Give Me Some Sugar. Aw, because you know, when somebody wants you to kiss them, they're like maybe give me some sugar.

Doug: 21:41

I love it. And how long was the shop open?

Alekka: 21:44

It is actually still open. It is yes, I had it. And how long was the shop open? It is actually still open. It is yes, I had it for a decade.

Doug: 21:49

Right, I knew you had it for at least 10 or 11 years I did, and then I sold it to my employees. So it's still going strong, yes, and do you go back to Chicago, here and there, to do some classes? Do you go to that old? No, I don't.

Alekka: 22:03

You know, to be honest, I tell people it's like a bittersweet breakup.

Doug: 22:08

Oh yeah.

Alekka: 22:08

You know, you really have to hand something that you've built from nothing over to somebody else, and they make it their version of what you've built. And that is a really hard thing to see, cause it's like here's my baby Now. My baby has black hair and wearing purple, and when I raise the baby you know that kind of thing. So no, I've kind of not really followed that anymore. I'm really glad that it's still open.

Doug: 22:40

Right, but you're letting it be its own thing. You're not going back to the past and giving yourself the view of what it is under somebody else's rule. Yes, exactly.

Alekka: 22:50

So owning your own business, you don't make a lot of money. So I did teach at this place. If anybody's familiar with Chicago, the neighborhood's called Andersonville. Okay, and I taught there just to make money. And what's the shop or the business? It's called the Wooden Spoon. Okay, and I taught there just to make money. And what's the shop or the business?

Doug: 23:06

It's called the Wooden Spoon. Okay, and this is the place I've noticed you sometimes go back and do a couple classes per year.

Alekka: 23:13

Yes, so I go there probably about a two month cycle and I'm there for about 10 days and I teach there.

Doug: 23:20

Okay, did I notice that you were there teaching, and a couple from Pittsburgh?

Alekka: 23:24

Yes, no, no, no. So this is how it happened. I catered a wedding proposal here. And this couple came in to set up before the couple that was going to get proposed to. It was like the brother and sister. They were setting up all the bells and whistles.

Doug: 23:40

For the wedding proposal, for the wedding proposal here in Pittsburgh.

Alekka: 23:42

Here in Pittsburgh. I'm like hi, hi, I'm Alekka. They're like this is how you get in. Here's where you're going to set up. We set up the flowers and the balloons and and then they left. So I think we had about a five minute interaction and then fast forward. They go to Chicago to teach classes and that same couple walks into my class and they're like we thought it was you, cause there's not very many people named Alekka. I was like I didn't know you guys lived in Chicago.

Doug: 24:13

And that's where they're from.

Alekka: 24:14

That's where they from they flew into Pittsburgh to help with the wedding proposal. It's always some kind of Pittsburgh connection. Yes, I love it. I call Pittsburgh a big, small city.

Doug: 24:24

It is. So I want to fast forward. You have your school, your shop for a decade and then the pandemic hits and some other life changes and you come back to Pittsburgh. Yes, and was that in 2020?

Alekka: 24:40

No, I came back before the pandemic. I came back probably the tail end of 2018.

Doug: 24:47

Okay and you were kind of regrouping. You were going to, you had sold the shop. Yes, you wanted to teach at a couple of places.

Alekka: 24:55

I really thought I would be in Pittsburgh for six months. Oh, quite honestly this was like a cause. My mom and dad live here, yeah, so I was, like you know, Pittsburgh.

Ana: 25:03

Because my mom and dad live here.

Alekka: 25:03

Yeah, so I was like you know Pittsburgh I always say Pittsburgh's like a warm blanket. You know it was the good soft landing that I needed, because selling that business was, you know, it was really hard. So my plan was to be here for six months and then the pandemic happened. I just started making these amazing friends like you and connections, and just kind of rebuilt and reinvented myself and started another business which I said I would never do again, what does the apron say?

Doug: 25:40

that you are a famous chef. I'm a famous Pittsburgh chef, you are. You are a famous Pittsburgh chef.

Alekka: 25:44

I always say I'm popular in the 15216 area code.

Doug: 25:47

Oh, okay Well we're in 15205 right now. Okay, we're adjacent to your popularity. Yeah, I don't want to leave out a little something else. I know we talked a little earlier. You were in Chicago doing your thing, and that is when you got into TV.

Alekka: 26:04

So this is going to sound super bougie, but it was really necessary. In Chicago I had a publicist. Oh, that's awesome. You really do need one there, because the first year of business, everybody loves you and you get a ton of publicity. But year four or five, six and up, you need somebody and this is pre.

Doug: 26:24

Instagram. Oh, so the publicist that you had really to help your business after its first year helped lead you into the local TV. You did that.

Alekka: 26:32

Like she would get me into events. She would know all the producers of all the TV studios so she would do a pitch for me and fill out a booking sheet. I mean getting into the TV stations in Chicago. I don't know if I told you this. It's almost like going through TSA. It's a big city.

Alekka: 26:52

So I would imagine and you're like you have to show your driver's license, you have to go through a metal detector and everything's all union, so you can't touch your stuff. So the very first time I was on TV was WGN Mm-hmm, and I was doing chocolate. Like what was it? Something about chocolate or candy?

Doug: 27:11

Oh, wow, yeah, you didn't even start with something simple.

Alekka: 27:14

No, I decided to go big. I'm like I'm going to be on TV, I'm going to temper chocolate.

Doug: 27:19

I love it. This is your brand.

Alekka: 27:21

Yes, so those you know it's a morning show, so you have to be there at four 30 in the morning.

Doug: 27:28

Yeah.

Alekka: 27:28

Walking with your little cart through the streets of Chicago in the morning and again it's just like when we're on TV it's hurry up and wait.

Doug: 27:37

Yeah, you got. You have all this time to prep, hopefully.

Alekka: 27:40

Yes, but one of my TV segments actually made WGN history. Oh, is this? It's the John Cleese episode. It has something to do with a cake. Yes, he wrote a book. He was doing a press tour. They asked a whole bunch of people to make a cake for Monty like, look like Monty Python. I didn't get paid. It was all for publicity. Yes, I'm really condensing a long story. I asked the producer if I could be on set when they presented it to him. I remember like being behind the camera and they rolled this cake out.

Alekka: 28:15

It was a real cake that we spent three days making.

Doug: 28:17

And it was Monty Python inspired.

Alekka: 28:19

It was Monty Python inspired. It was. It was the TV with the foot going through it. So they presented to him live on air and they're singing him happy birthday and all of the people are dressed up like the Knights of knee with the coconut. Yeah, they did it up.

Doug: 28:37

Yes.

Alekka: 28:37

The next thing I knew, john Cleese. This is live and the biggest television station in Chicago. He picks up this cake and he throws it over his shoulder. Oh my yes.

Doug: 28:49

Wow, yes, was this, just this his stunt.

Alekka: 28:56

Yeah, to be monty python about it. Yeah, I remember him looking at me live on television, like making contact. He's like I'm gluten-free love and if they had? Audio on me. I'm just saying it would have been like bleeped out oh yeah, I don't know how I would react nobody knew, this was not planned. Nobody knew this was all in his head yes, nobody knew he was going to do that, oh my goodness, what a story yeah, so it gets played like almost every.

Alekka: 29:20

I think it does get replayed at like the top 10 things that have happened live okay, well, indirectly, not a bad thing to be replayed again and again yeah, it wasn't so fun seeing three days of your work being tossed on the ground, oh my gosh. No, no, not at all. I had my assistant with me and they I think I said something to one of the producers at talk because WGN Next Day has something called voicemail. Their voicemail was flooded the next day.

Doug: 29:50

WGN's voicemail was flooded next day wgn's voicemail was flooded after my. After the john clee's cake episode and was it like positive or negative? It was you know 50, 50.

Alekka: 29:58

Oh yeah, people were offended that he ruined like that you know that pastry chef spent so much time on that cake and some people are like that was the funniest thing, oh my riveting it was riveting, yeah, so, like you know, anything could happen, can happen on the TV.

Doug: 30:12

Yes, I've done live and I'm waiting for something to go wrong.

Alekka: 30:17

I would say that was the most memorable thing that's happened to me. Live on TV, oh my gosh. Yes.

Doug: 30:22

All right, well, let's bring you forward back to Pittsburgh. Okay, you're doing TV here all the time. Yes, and we haven't had anything quite like a cake flipping onto the floor. No, oh, thank God. Beyond the private chefing, the monthly pie club, the in-home classes you do twice a month, tv work you do. I also think I just saw you do a class at.

Alekka: 30:47

Phipps. Yes, that was a job that I had signed a contract for two weeks before the shutdown.

Doug: 30:54

Oh, so you never got to teach until a couple of weeks ago.

Alekka: 30:57

Yeah, oh my gosh. Yeah, I really. I got that job when I first moved here and I signed the contract and then, two weeks later, I lost every single teaching job that I had because of all the lockdown.

Doug: 31:10

Yes, oh, and if anyone doesn't know, Phipps Conservatory and yes, we're talking about the flower and plant place. I love that place. They have this beautiful Botany Hall kitchen cooking school. Check it out, check out. Alekka, if you're doing more classes there. It's gorgeous.

Alekka: 31:26

They have a lot of good instructors there. They've slotted me into the kids' summer camp, which I am so excited about. I can't wait.

Doug: 31:34

All right. Well, that takes me on to usually my next question. So that's going on this summer.

Alekka: 31:38

Yes.

Doug: 31:39

What else is ahead of you? What do you want to be doing in the future now?

Alekka: 31:45

I want to take a nap. Oh, I bet you do. Oh, I bet you do. I think I like to save my money to travel. Okay, I think I told you that I went to that La Peetch, that cooking school in France.

Doug: 31:59

Yeah, that was the one that it's connected to, julia Child, right.

Alekka: 32:04

Yeah, they have that documentary about it on the Magnolia Network, called Cooking in France, documentary about it on the magnolia work, called cooking in France. Um, I'm gonna go on another one of those trips soon because it really, truly inspires me, um, as a chef, to see now they really get local, local people to come and teach you. When I did the one in Italy and we did a pasta class, we did the tiramisu one, I just kind of like stayed in the corner because I'm like I kind of know how to do that already.

Doug: 32:38

Yeah, Let other people, but you do. You go on these, these I would call them pretty serious trips, serious food trips, and you immerse yourself in something else that's not local at all, and then you bring that back with you.

Alekka: 32:51

Yeah, so that is my plan. I just I work a lot to save money to travel, yeah.

Doug: 32:57

Are there any other work goals or business goals for 2024?

Alekka: 33:01

Um, I have a couple things in my head. You know I'd really like to start a school for. You know teaching. I used to work for a company called Common Threads Okay yeah, and it was a non-for-profit that we taught healthy eating classes to kids that were lived in what you call the food deserts. And, like teaching is my first love I really want to do more of that Do more teaching and teaching kids that don't have as many opportunities as most.

Doug: 33:32

Yes.

Alekka: 33:33

Just either finding that or starting that. There is. I don't know if I could. I'm not really sure when it's going to happen. There's a you know kitchen space that I'm kind of working on right now.

Doug: 33:43

I love it.

Alekka: 33:44

In Mount Oliver. That I hope comes to fruition, because I would like to do that. I always told myself I was never, ever, ever going to open up another storefront, but now my head's like I think I want to open up another storefront and do.

Doug: 33:59

I also see you connecting and promoting other local food people. Through all the things you do, if you want to open another business here, you're going to be successful.

Alekka: 34:10

Yeah, I just need the money. Oh, I know, buy some pies.

Doug: 34:12

Yeah, I just need the money Buy some pies.

Ana: 34:17

I get it.

Alekka: 34:18

Yeah, so I think, focusing more on cooking classes.

Doug: 34:22

Yeah, yeah, teaching's great.

Alekka: 34:24

Yeah, I like doing it a lot and you know it's funny.

Doug: 34:27

I was talking to Beth Taylor on one of our prior episodes. They're doing that at her bakery.

Alekka: 34:32

Is that the Third Space Bakery?

Doug: 34:33

Yeah, it just opened a little while ago and they're going to do teaching classes at night.

Alekka: 34:42

But they were looking around and everyone else that has classes.

Doug: 34:43

They're always booked, they're always full, so I still think there's room, aleka, for some more teaching there's always room in this city and that's why I really like to support other small businesses.

Alekka: 34:54

You know, when I go to people's houses I'll usually do olive oil from Olive and Marlowe.

Doug: 35:01

Yeah.

Alekka: 35:02

Or I'll put on my charcuterie board something from Batch LLC.

Doug: 35:07

Yeah, those are the jams from the. They're up in Saxonburg, yes.

Alekka: 35:12

Or you know I will talk about. I got this cheese from my friend Megan at the Cheese Queen.

Doug: 35:18

Yes.

Alekka: 35:19

Because you know, if we're not supporting each other we all in this together small businesses and food people you kind of have to build each other up to be successful, cause you know, I, when I was in Chicago, was real. I was a big learning experience, especially being a woman. I mean, I had a storefront in the city of Chicago and I just learned to be quiet and give them my money.

Doug: 35:46

Oh my goodness. Yeah, all right, Alekka, it's been so great to talk with you.

Alekka: 35:51

Thanks, Doug.

Doug: 35:53

I have just a couple more questions for you. Why don't we do this? Go ahead and plug where people can find you, whether that's website, social media and anything else you have going on.

Alekka: 36:03

Well, it's all under the same name on Facebook. I think I'm Chef Alekka. On Instagram. I'm Chef Alekka PGH. Yeah, on Instagram. I'm chef Alekka PGH. Yeah, so Instagram Facebook. My website is www. chefalekka. com.

Doug: 36:19

All right, Alekka, I've got one final question for you today. I know what you're going to ask me. See, this is now. We're on episode. I don't know what, and you see, you know the question. So, Alekka, what's one of the best dishes you've eaten this week?

Alekka: 36:34

You know, can we go back to that Say Cheese event? Yeah, that beignet oh yes, with the goat cheese.

Doug: 36:43

Yes.

Alekka: 36:43

Who did that? Was that?

Doug: 36:45

Was that Nosh and Curd?

Alekka: 36:46

Was that Nosh and Curd?

Doug: 36:47

I think so. So we're talking about a cheese and wine event that just happened for the first time from Good Taste Pittsburgh. We think it'll come back again next year. It was so lovely.

Ana: 36:58

And it was at Kingfly Spirits.

Doug: 36:59

The space was great, the vendors were great and there were these beignets.

Alekka: 37:03

Yes, it had that crispy top Like brulee.

Doug: 37:08

Yes, that was a really good bite Like brulee.

Alekka: 37:11

Yes, that was a really good bite.

Doug: 37:13

Yeah, we'll call it sweet and savory, beignet maybe With a brulee top and a goat cheese cream, filling from Nosh and Curd.

Alekka: 37:17

Yeah, that was really good Best bites this week. Yes, that was my best bites in the past couple weeks.

Doug: 37:23

Chef Alekka Sweeney. Thank you so much.

Alekka: 37:25

Thank you, Doug.

Doug: 37:35

Up next in our Weekly Recommend, we're catching up with Ana Anthony of Ana Eats Pittsburgh and finding out her favorite barbecue joint. Hey everybody, so we're back with our friend Ana of Ana Eats Pittsburgh. Ana, thanks for coming back on the show.

Ana: 37:43

Thanks for having me, neighbor.

Doug: 37:44

Oh, I'm so glad you could stop by Me too, so it's been a little bit since we've talked.

Ana: 37:56

I always love to see your posts and where you're going.

Doug: 37:59

I was thinking recently I kind of had a penchant for some barbecue. I've got a place for you. Okay, I was going to say, do you have any place in mind?

Ana: 38:03

if somebody is craving some barbecue this summer barbecue spot, it's located in Warrendale. So if you go up 79 North and you take the Warrendale exit, it's right. Not too far off of that exit they have some of the best barbecue I've ever had in my life.

Doug: 38:20

Now, that is saying something, it's saying something.

Ana: 38:22

Yeah, it's definitely my go-to barbecue spot, but they have like non-traditional items as well, like, obviously, their ribs are great, their brisket is wonderful, but they also have like pork belly bao buns that will blow your mind. And then they have like Mexican street corn that has this wonderful cilantro sauce it's like a cilantro lime aioli or sauce on top of it.

Doug: 38:48

So good they usually call it the crema or something.

Ana: 38:50

Yes, it's so good. The flavors that they pull there will blow your mind, Like I leave there every single time so full like rolling out of there, but it's so worth it because the flavors are everything.

Doug: 39:03

Yeah, I mean, it sounds like they're like pulling influences from other cuisines.

Ana: 39:08

Yeah, 100%, and that's what makes it so different, like from other cuisines. Like yeah, 100%, and that's what makes it so different. Like I know the owner Mitch, I know they traveled to Hawaii and I don't I don't know if that's like where they pull some of that like Asian influence from. But um, the bao buns are so good and they have these pork steamed dumplings too that I just tried for the first time.

Doug: 39:27

Oh my goodness.

Ana: 39:27

Oh, and their Mac and cheese, too, is to die, for I could talk about them all day long, I like. As I'm thinking about it, I keep thinking of more items that I love.

Doug: 39:37

Everything is so, so good oh, we're gonna have to take a trip. I, I think I know this place because I used to work up that way. It's just off of like route 19, perry highway, oh one more thing they have.

Ana: 39:48

They make their own ice cream and sorbet. They're like I don't know what they've got going on up there, but they know how to do everything. I think the last one that I tried was like a strawberry jalapeno sorbet or something like that Pineapple jalapeno maybe and it was so good.

Doug: 40:08

They have it all.

Ana: 40:09

Yes.

Doug: 40:09

So Mitch's barbecue up in Warrendale. Correct, anna. Thank you so good, they have it all. Yes, so Mitch's Barbecue up in Warrendale.

Ana: 40:12

Correct.

Doug: 40:13

Anna, thank you so much.

Ana: 40:14

Thank you.

Doug: 40:16

You can follow Ana on Instagram at Ana. eats. pgh. So before we get to our recipe of the week, I was given such a lovely compliment from Chef Alekka in our interview. I'm going to play a little clip of it for you. And it got me thinking about another friend of ours, chef Janet Loughran of Chef Life Hacks. Chef Janet left us her recipe this week for corn and black bean salsa, perfect as summer corn starts coming into season. Find it on the blog or her Instagram handle at chef life hacks.

Alekka: 40:55

I remember you me and Janet last year during restaurant week, you talking about starting this podcast, so I'm so proud of you.

Doug: 41:02

Doug. Thank you so much, alekka, you're like should I do it?

Alekka: 41:05

We're all like, yes, both of us said you had the voice for it unanimously, but I just think you're a really good you can keep this in if you, but I just think you're a really good. You can keep this in if you want. I really think you're a really good host, Cause I listened to this podcast every Monday and I liked the fact that you just bring things out of people and you're a really good listener. So I want if nobody's told you that today I want you to know that.

Doug: 41:28

Well, thank you, you told me that. It makes my heart full, thank you. You're welcome. That's our show for this week. We want to thank all of our guests and contributors, and to Kevin Solecki of Carnegie Accordion Company for providing the music to our show. We'll be back again next week with another fresh episode. Stay tuned.