Laurel executive chef Ashley Moncada on building teams, a new restaurant menu, feeling at home in Miami

U.K. native Ashley Moncada studied law before making plans to adopt a globe-trotting lifestyle. She and her wife lived in Australia, New Zealand, France, Barbados and North Carolina. But, as Ashley notes in this interview, “you can’t travel doing law.” She was a good cook, though. So she lied about having professional experience to get her first kitchen job in Australia and was off to the races from there. A careen that began with a fake résumé led Ashley to a place on the Ariete team that won a very real Michelin Star and, most recently, a job as the executive chef at Ariete Hospitality Group’s newest concept, Laurel (set to open in late 2022 at Miami Worldcenter).

In this conversation with Mike Beltran, the two talk about the road to Ariete, the family she found in that kitchen, their vision for Laurel, and why Miami is the first place that’s felt like home. At the end of the podcast, Ashley tries some Okonomi sauce right out of a single-serve pouch.

In the Patreon-only extended cut, Mike asks whether Ashley prefers croissants or bagels and Nick attempts to get some clarity on chip butties.

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