How I booked pop-ups in twelve countries with no connections.

I met a guy at a bar in Bangkok. Two months later I was cooking for some of the wealthiest people in India, more than two hundred guests across the run, plus a table from the US Consulate. People ask how you plan a trip like this. The honest answer is I didn't, not really. I just knew I wanted to do it.

Here's the thing nobody tells you. Even with a good resume, when you email restaurants cold, you mostly hear nothing. Everyone's busy. Usually you need a referral to open the door fast. So the real story is about one door, and how it opened every door after it.

Back up to the summer before. I was staging at Gaggan in Bangkok, and one night we went to a place called Bar Us, which had just been named number four in the world. They do these wild savory cocktails, a ramen one, a pizza one. Three people sat down at the table next to us, and one of them turned out to be Rahul, a sous chef from Gaggan. With him were Prasad and his girlfriend Angie. It's almost impossible to get a seat at that bar. Running into them was pure luck.

Prasad runs a group called the Hadonis that brings chefs around India. We traded contacts, talked, and then it went quiet for months. In December I hit him back up and said, I'm ready. I sent a small proposal, and asked when the best time to come to India was. He said October. So I figured I was planning for October.

First thing I did was get in shape, so I went to Thailand and trained Muay Thai for thirty days. Somewhere in the middle of that I got a message: can you do February 20th at the Leela Hyderabad? I didn't know what the Leela was. I didn't know what Hyderabad was. But I knew I was free that day, so I said absolutely. The second that one was confirmed, the other places he'd been working on started booking too.

Early in my career I worked at a seasonal resort called the Balsams. Twice a year it closed and sent the apprentices out to work other kitchens, and the advice was always the same. You learn more at a place that lets you work the grill than at the famous one that hands you a bucket of herbs to pick. That stuck with me. So I stayed open to wherever the world wanted to take me, but I did the homework. I used AI, Google, anything, to find places actively looking for guest chefs and pop-ups.

One of them was Cap Karoso, a beautiful resort on the island of Sumba with a restaurant built just for guest chefs. I emailed. Nothing. I DM'd. Nothing. WhatsApp. Nothing. Then the Leela confirmed, and I wrote the owners, Fabrice and Eve, one honest note saying the year was filling up and this incredible place had just booked me. The next day they said, let's do it.

Ten minutes after that first call with Cap Karoso's director, Prasad asked what dates I was free. I said, right now, wide open. I'd gone from having nothing to being double-booked in the span of one afternoon. Classic me. So I called Prasad, asked if we could move things, and offered to have him join me at Cap Karoso to sweeten it. He made it work. India part one, Sumba, India part two.

From there it's Japan, then Mexico for the wedding, then hopefully down through South America. A few things I want out of this trip: host a pop-up in ten countries, learn to actually make wine somewhere they make it well, spend a few days on pastry with Chef Will at Room for Dessert in Bali, and learn the tastiest local food I can from the people who cook it. And wherever tea grows, Polina's coming with me for hers.

That's the whole method. Send the email even though most won't answer. Get one yes. Let it unlock the next one. And stay open to where it takes you.