Meet Nate and Jackie Maeda-Smouse | Chefs/owners

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nate and Jackie Maeda-Smouse and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nate and Jackie, how do you think about risk?
Risk taking is often a polarizing thing for people. There’s always the what it’s. The doubt. Growing up playing team sports, I learned the value of weighing pros and cons quickly before making a risky decision. I think I like taking risks more than other people. No one should believe in you more than yourself. So instead of “what if”, I tell myself, “even if”. Risk taking has been huge in my personal life and my career

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Our brand is Golden State Chefs LLC. We believe our dining experiences stand out from the rest by creating a truly complete experience and your dining room table. Of course, everyone wants the food quality to be there, but we complete the circle with top notch serving at the table as well. We accommodate our guests based on their preferences. We are happy to do whatever it takes to make our guests feel important and special and fully embody the Japanese spirit of “Omotenashi”. True and selfless hospitality. Running and maintaining a business is not easy and it hasn’t always been smooth sailing, but it is rewarding. Luckily, we both happen to balance each other out well in many area. Our strengths compliment each others weakness’, which was key in helping us maneuver through the unknown territory of creating a brand/business. We have learned many, many lessons along the way but the biggest lesson I think we’ve learned is to really think things through and make sure that what you’re thinking about doing makes sense and is what you really want.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
With no shortage of things to do in San Diego, we could find plenty of things to do. Places we could go for the day(s) would be SeaWorld, San Diego Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park, Balboa Park, Old Town, and any of our many beach. For sure we would have to hang out a little and sunset cliffs before dinner. Dinner or Lunch could be at any of our amazing restaurants but if you haven’t been here before, we would have to get tacos a few times. They never get old.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to give a HUGE shoutout to my business mentór Chef Andres Hinojosa. We may have done the work of starting our own business, but he showed us the door. We would not be here if it wasn’t for him.

Website: www.goldenstatechefs.com

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