1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,940 Mete, our city is built on community. 2 00:00:03,150 --> 00:00:07,740 And on April 29th, Austin's culinary community is giving back, give back. 3 00:00:07,740 --> 00:00:09,540 Gig at Skybox on six. 4 00:00:09,540 --> 00:00:13,500 Brings a celebrated chefs and culinary students to support 5 00:00:13,500 --> 00:00:14,820 the Visit Austin Foundation. 6 00:00:15,150 --> 00:00:15,600 Good work. 7 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:17,040 Austin and Urban Roots. 8 00:00:17,790 --> 00:00:18,780 One Delicious night. 9 00:00:18,990 --> 00:00:20,760 Three great causes. 10 00:00:21,150 --> 00:00:23,700 Get your ticket at Eventbrite under give back. 11 00:00:23,700 --> 00:00:25,650 Dick 2026 s. 12 00:00:31,919 --> 00:00:36,239 Hey, we're busy cooking up Season sace, but in the meantime, here's a segment 13 00:00:36,239 --> 00:00:42,300 from Austin Signal and get ready for a safe premiering on August, 2026. 14 00:00:43,769 --> 00:00:48,000 A fundraiser to help sustain programs focused on developing the next generation 15 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:50,250 of Austin's hospitality workforce. 16 00:00:50,340 --> 00:00:52,560 Joining us now are Leilani Martinez. 17 00:00:52,769 --> 00:00:53,879 Dina Munoz. 18 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:56,640 Arlo Irving, and Cerise Magos. 19 00:00:56,995 --> 00:00:58,495 Welcome to Austin Signal. 20 00:00:58,614 --> 00:01:00,114 Thank you for having us. 21 00:01:00,169 --> 00:01:03,379 And accompanying them is their instructor who leads the culinary 22 00:01:03,379 --> 00:01:07,130 and hospitality program, Jayma Vaughn Jayma, thanks for being here. 23 00:01:07,430 --> 00:01:08,780 Thank you, miles for having us. 24 00:01:08,780 --> 00:01:10,039 We are excited to be here. 25 00:01:10,609 --> 00:01:12,090 I wanna start with you, Jayma. 26 00:01:12,109 --> 00:01:13,370 Tell us about this program. 27 00:01:14,125 --> 00:01:19,975 Yeah, I, I can talk all day about this program because, um, it is based around 28 00:01:19,975 --> 00:01:22,345 really, really brilliant students. 29 00:01:22,764 --> 00:01:27,685 But beyond that, it is a partnership that has been at Travis Early 30 00:01:27,685 --> 00:01:29,995 College High School since 2001. 31 00:01:30,335 --> 00:01:35,225 With Austin ISD, with Austin Hotel and Lodging Association and with 32 00:01:35,225 --> 00:01:40,685 Visit Austin, and we're proud to serve the students in our community and to 33 00:01:40,685 --> 00:01:44,555 eventually give back to the community in the hospitality and tourism scene. 34 00:01:44,555 --> 00:01:47,495 So it's a great program and, and I'm excited to be here to talk about it 35 00:01:47,495 --> 00:01:49,354 today and our cool upcoming event. 36 00:01:49,655 --> 00:01:50,074 Yes. 37 00:01:50,134 --> 00:01:52,414 And speaking of the upcoming event, what is this gift? 38 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:53,160 Back. 39 00:01:53,669 --> 00:01:56,100 So the give back gig is in its third year. 40 00:01:56,460 --> 00:02:01,169 Um, it was the brainchild of the Visit Austin Education Foundation 41 00:02:01,470 --> 00:02:06,539 that is the branch from Visit Austin that, um, works with local community 42 00:02:06,539 --> 00:02:09,810 partners like Travis High School and like Austin Community College. 43 00:02:10,049 --> 00:02:15,180 Good Works Urban Roots to give back to community members who are wanting this. 44 00:02:15,515 --> 00:02:19,325 Wanting to thrive in the hospitality and tourism and restaurant scene. 45 00:02:19,715 --> 00:02:24,785 Um, so the give back gig is where we take these great, incredible culinary 46 00:02:24,785 --> 00:02:29,675 students from Travis Early College high school, and we partner them with 47 00:02:29,795 --> 00:02:32,675 celebrity chefs from the Austin area. 48 00:02:32,705 --> 00:02:33,275 Wow. 49 00:02:33,335 --> 00:02:36,695 A couple of years ago, something really incredible happened in Austin, and 50 00:02:36,695 --> 00:02:41,585 that is that the Michelin guide came to Austin and this was big, huge news in the 51 00:02:41,585 --> 00:02:43,415 hospitality and culinary scene in Austin. 52 00:02:44,015 --> 00:02:48,484 Um, so students who maybe wanted to work with the Michelin chef before that 53 00:02:48,725 --> 00:02:52,550 had to leave the state, they had to go to Chicago, they had to go to New 54 00:02:52,550 --> 00:02:54,125 York to try to get that experience. 55 00:02:54,334 --> 00:02:59,045 But because of the give back gig and those chefs partnering with us, our students 56 00:02:59,045 --> 00:03:02,975 can do that in their own hometown and then they can stay in their own hometown. 57 00:03:02,975 --> 00:03:07,024 They can go to Austin Community College, major in culinary arts and continue to. 58 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:11,840 Work their way up with local chefs who've been recognized by the Michelin guide. 59 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:15,920 No, it is really cool to be able to work with the best of the best when 60 00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:17,300 you're, you know, in high school. 61 00:03:17,300 --> 00:03:20,600 So, speaking of that, let's turn to some of our brilliant students. 62 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:22,010 First I have Leilani. 63 00:03:22,220 --> 00:03:24,560 Why are you interested in the culinary arts? 64 00:03:24,830 --> 00:03:28,850 Well, I'm interested in the culinary arts because I can be creative with 65 00:03:28,850 --> 00:03:33,050 food and honestly, you can ever make mistakes when it comes to food. 66 00:03:33,290 --> 00:03:36,285 You can probably like learn from it or make something new that you would like. 67 00:03:37,060 --> 00:03:43,000 I just like that I get to make food for people that, for my loved ones, and 68 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:45,310 they get to taste some of like my foods. 69 00:03:45,519 --> 00:03:46,180 I love that. 70 00:03:46,180 --> 00:03:50,230 And Cerise, what have you already learned about the culinary arts as a student? 71 00:03:51,070 --> 00:03:56,769 Well, a basic answer is that I've learned knife skills and different ways to cook. 72 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:03,459 Different foods, but, um, a more in depth answer would be that I've learned, 73 00:04:04,029 --> 00:04:09,160 uh, the importance of networking and knowing the right people and being 74 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:14,649 involved in the community, and the importance of working well with others 75 00:04:15,070 --> 00:04:17,469 and doing your best to help everybody. 76 00:04:17,784 --> 00:04:20,125 That skillset will take you far in any career. 77 00:04:20,125 --> 00:04:21,954 So those are good things to learn. 78 00:04:21,954 --> 00:04:25,675 And then up next I have Arlo, what do you hope to learn from this event? 79 00:04:25,675 --> 00:04:28,405 Because you're gonna be next to like superstar chefs? 80 00:04:28,735 --> 00:04:32,935 Well, to build off, uh, Cerise and Ms. Vaughn to say that networking 81 00:04:32,935 --> 00:04:36,655 and having these opportunities with these great, amazing people who 82 00:04:36,655 --> 00:04:40,135 already have so much experience in this industry, and to be there and 83 00:04:40,135 --> 00:04:42,655 to have that opportunity just makes. 84 00:04:43,300 --> 00:04:46,750 Your view of the future just so much brighter and allows you to 85 00:04:46,750 --> 00:04:50,920 build connections early and get into not just the culinary scene, but 86 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:54,820 the hospitality scene and make a successful career out of your life. 87 00:04:55,090 --> 00:04:58,719 And Dina, how do you help to use the things that you've learned in the future? 88 00:04:59,140 --> 00:05:02,770 Well, since I'm graduating soon, I think that I'm gonna use like the 89 00:05:02,770 --> 00:05:07,150 networking skills and the communi communications because I'm gonna be 90 00:05:07,270 --> 00:05:08,500 communicating with a lot of people. 91 00:05:08,530 --> 00:05:11,950 'cause I'm going into nursing, so I'm just gonna use what I've learned about. 92 00:05:12,475 --> 00:05:14,605 Um, my internships and my internships. 93 00:05:14,605 --> 00:05:19,345 When I did human resources, I learned more about what it's like to work 94 00:05:19,345 --> 00:05:24,025 with other people and knowing how to, I guess, react to how other 95 00:05:24,025 --> 00:05:28,705 people react to certain things that I probably would react differently to. 96 00:05:29,125 --> 00:05:33,625 But yeah, I think I'm just gonna take more the skills on 97 00:05:33,625 --> 00:05:35,335 communication rather than like. 98 00:05:36,085 --> 00:05:37,164 Cooking skills. 99 00:05:37,645 --> 00:05:39,565 We've been speaking with A ISD students. 100 00:05:39,594 --> 00:05:44,485 Leilani Martinez, Dina Munoz, Arlo Irving, and Cerise Magos. 101 00:05:44,485 --> 00:05:50,185 And their instructor, Jay Vonne, will have a link with more info at kut.org/signal 102 00:05:50,215 --> 00:05:51,865 and in the podcast show notes. 103 00:05:51,985 --> 00:05:53,995 And you so much for being here guys. 104 00:05:54,055 --> 00:05:54,385 Thank you. 105 00:05:54,385 --> 00:05:55,460 Thank, thank you for 106 00:05:55,500 --> 00:05:55,860 having us. 107 00:05:57,475 --> 00:06:00,995 The Tacos of Texas is produced by Identity Productions in partnership 108 00:06:00,995 --> 00:06:03,094 with KUT and KUTX studios. 109 00:06:03,635 --> 00:06:08,555 Listen on k ut.org or wherever you get your podcasts.