Our first weekly podcast episode, and as expected, there is no shortage of news and happenings in the food, grocery and restaurant industry to report on! Our extraordinary guest in this episode is JP McMahon, Michelin star chef, restauranteur, ambassador for Irish food and author, joining us live from Galway, Ireland. In a wide-ranging conversation, we talk about his eclectic and artistic interests, the concepts behind his restaurants, what it takes to be a Michelin-star restaurant and the upsides/downsides of that global program. We also talk about lessons learned from the COVID pandemic for the industry, the stagiaires system, and two-starts, one-stop advice for fellow restauranteurs. Some folks may have been watching the Superbowl on Sunday night, but you would have missed the important announcement, Best Sommelier in the World competition! The best Sommelier in the world is from Latvia, crowned Sunday in Paris in front of 4,000 spectators. Raimonds Tomsons beat another contestant from northern Europe, Denmark's Nina Jensen, who was runner-up for the second consecutive edition of the triennial competition. Reeze Choi from Hong Kong finished third. Not countries that usually come to mind when thinking about wine, we talk about why this is a positive development in wine.  Speaking of a live show and competition, the Parliamentary Agriculture Committee is back looking at food inflation. We talk about what the next steps. Next week is the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine coming(Feb. 24) - we start looking ahead.We talk about GM Salmon farm change of business model….Aquabounty and Australia's Karen's Diner are coming to Canada. Up in smoke: Canopy closes their iconic plant in Smith Falls, the old Hershey plant - at one time the biggest cannabis company in the worldThat's a lot of cheddar, as the kids would say - Saputo blows the doors off their results with an 85% YOY performance. New labour data (STASCAN), coming out last week: Only two sectors are employing fewer people than in January 2020: Agriculture (-12%) and Accommodation and hospitality (-10%) - is this a shift or shortage of workers?Farmland values across the country are skyrocketing - we talk about the implications.  About JPJP McMahon is one of Ireland’s most prominent chefs. A passionate advocate of wild, seasonal and sustainable ingredients from the west of the country, he is committed to promoting the food of Galway, and to producing world-class, contemporary Irish cuisine. His Michelin-star restaurant Aniar does both, but it also feeds back into the local community on a much deeper level. His annual Food On The Edge symposium in Galway reaches even further afield, with its roll call of top chefs from all over the world. Which is why JP McMahon is one of the most influential people in European gastronomy today.The Dublin-born chef had his first food epiphany as a child while on holiday in Tipperary. While the rest of the family had burgers, he opted for a spaghetti bolognese, which was a revelation to the youngster. It set him on a course of discovery that would see him work in various kitchens, while also harbouring an ambition to become a writer. It wasn’t until 2008 that he opened his first venture, a Spanish restaurant called Cava. It quickly won a reputation for serving some of the best tapas in Ireland, and it gave McMahon the confidence to embark on his most ambitious restaurant project to date.Aniar (meaning ‘west’ in Gaelic) is a love letter to the produce and landscape of the West of Ireland and its rugged coast. Almost every ingredient used here is either native to the local region or from somewhere else in Ireland, whether it’s foraged seaweed and Galway Bay oysters, or seasonal sea urchins and truffles. Terroir is the central theme, and although the menu changes daily, it is certain to have a distinctive local flavour that mirrors McMahon’s cooking philosophy. Pickled, smoked, cured and fermented ingredients hint at his commitment