How Chef Paul Carmichael Created the Number One Restaurant in NYC

This week, Ina chats with Chef Paul Carmichael, whose restaurant, Kabawa, has been ranked the number one restaurant in NYC by the New York Times, and named the number one restaurant in America by Food and Wine Magazine. They talk about how he started cooking at the age of three, his Caribbean heritage, and why the music in a restaurant bathroom is one of the most important decisions you can make. #HappyHour #HappyHourwithInaGarten #InaGarten #barefootcontessa #podcast #cocktail #cooking SUBSCRIBE ► Subscribe to Happy Hour with Ina Garten for new episodes every Wednesday: https://www.youtube.com/@HappyHourwithIna?sub_confirmation=1 LISTEN ► Subscribe to Happy Hour on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-with-ina-garten/id6805930852 ► Subscribe to Happy Hour on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3W0BltHcJMrnROZBKn843p FOLLOW THE SHOW ► Happy Hour on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/happyhourwithina ► Happy Hour on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@happyhourwithina ► Happy Hour on Substack: https://happyhourwithinagarten.substack.com/welcome ► Happy Hour on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61589319634655 ► Ina on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inagarten ► Ina on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InaGarten/ 00:00 Welcome to Happy Hour 00:12 Chef Paul Carmichael 00:38 Thank you Talbots! 01:14 What it was like to make #1 restaurant in NYC. 01:52 Paul on chasing better not awards 02:48 Growing up in Barbados 03:48 Paul on coming to work in NYC 05:14 Culinary school and working at Aquavit 06:34 Marcus Samuelsson connection 07:00 Paul’s time at Momofuku and Ma Peche 08:40 He spent 10 years in Australia! 10:01 Building Kabawa vibe 12:38 The soundtrack in the Kabawa bathroom… 18:49 Is Paul calm in the kitchen? 19:31 Ina and Paul talk about managing people 19:52 What it’s like to own a restaurant 21:07 Guests shape the whole night in the restaurant 22:12 Ina got her hands around a customers neck? 22:57 Does fame change who shows up? 23:47 Caribbean community 24:08 Ina took woodshop, Paul took home economics. 26:36 We get where we are because of the people who help us 28:12 What it meant for Paul to have his family show up 32:21 Building the Kabawa Menu Host: Ina Garten Executive Producers: Jenna Weiss-Berman, Suzie Lechtenberg, Ali Jaffe Ramis, and Deborah Davis Contributing Producer: Kate Tyler Senior Producer: Justine Daum Producer: Jules Natt Video Editor: Tim Fernandez Associate Producer: Mica Pollan Bahn Sound Recording: Sam Mewton Audio Mixing: Mike Kutchman and Joe Plourde Camera Operators: Joe Valenzuela and Jovan Sales Music by Pink Martini Special Thanks to Cinematographer Dion Beebe Happy Hour with Ina is made by Good Wait Productions. This is a Vox Media podcast. About Happy Hour: Beloved hostess Ina Garten welcomes listeners into her New York City apartment for Happy Hour with Ina Garten. Every Wednesday, she sits down with people she’d like to meet from the worlds of culture, food, art, sports, and entertainment for the kinds of conversations you would love to overhear at a great dinner party. Warm, funny, personal, and often unexpected, Happy Hour mixes in-depth conversation with stories, recipes, and, of course, cocktails. Pull up a chair, pour yourself a drink, and join the conversation. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. About Ina Garten: Ina Garten is a New York Times bestselling author of 14 cookbooks and a memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens, and host of the James Beard and Emmy Award Winning shows Barefoot Contessa and Be my Guest. She lives in East Hampton and New York City with her husband, Jeffrey. Her 14th cookbook, Simply Ina, is on sale October 20th.