Graham and Ali Greene join Zach for a conversation about their path from meeting at the CIA to working inside some of the most respected restaurants in San Francisco. They talk about what originally drew them to cooking, the realities of learning in high end kitchens, and how those early experiences shaped the way they think about craft, creativity, and building a life around food. Along the way, they share stories from the walk-in, moments that pushed them, and the point where they began rethinking what success in the industry actually looked like for them.

Today, Graham and Ali run GreeneFood, their Bay Area based private dining and corporate meal service, and Ali’s Jensen Ceramics studio, whose dinnerware appears in Michelin starred restaurants across the country and abroad. They dig into what it means to create work on their own terms, how they balance artistry with scalability, and why building something small, thoughtful, and sustainable has become more fulfilling than chasing the traditional restaurant path.

• (00:00:12) - Handling The Heat
• (00:01:44) - Top Chefs: In and Out
• (00:03:33) - Both of You Started Cooking at a Young Age
• (00:07:38) - Chef James Beard on Developing a Craft
• (00:11:23) - Graham and James
• (00:21:52) - Both Graham and Allison Make Their Money in Ceramics
• (00:28:50) - Green Foods and Working in Tech
• (00:35:03) - Private Dinner and Corporate Meal Service
• (00:41:02) - Thanksgiving with Ellen Jensen and Jeff Jensen