Nyla's Chef (aka Chef Susur Lee)

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0:35Sometimes I have friends, you know, sometimes come to my house. You know, the way I talk to Nyla is like, oh my God, I've never seen you that side of my personality. You know? So can you give us an example? Yeah. What's your Nyla voice?

0:54I'm Jen Moroz, and this is Furball Confidential. If you're a foodie, chances are you know today's guest, world-renowned chef Susser Lee. Maybe you've been to one of his amazing restaurants, or maybe you remember him from his Iron Chef Canada days. Susser Lee grabbing that king crab, the biggest crab in the Eastern Hemisphere, most coveted found in the waters off the coast of Alaska. Let's go, guys. Or you might know Chef Lee from TikTok or YouTube, where he's teamed up with his son Jet and racked up millions of followers. Hey, Dad, think you can turn this McDonald's gourmet? McDonald's? Of course I can, you know that.

1:39What you might not know about Susser Lee is that behind all that, he is absolutely obsessed with his dog. A Siberian husky named Nyla that we rarely get to see. But trust me, she is a fixture behind the scenes. and the amount of love and respect that Chef has for this furball? Well, it's what this podcast is all about. So let's dive right in. I asked Chef what changed in his life when Nyla arrived, and it's a theme that came up a lot during this conversation.

2:11As an immigrant, you know, coming to Canada, coming from Hong Kong, you know, winter is really a challenging, you know, climax for me. But since I have Naila, I'm actually enjoying winter. Because when I go out, even very cold, I don't think about how I feel. I think about how happy she is. So the mindset is like I keep walking. Now I can walk for a long distance. It feels very normal. It used to be, oh, jump in the car from one point to another point. Now, no, I would just walk. I say, okay, I'm just going to walk to get to 1A to 1B. That changed a lot in terms of like walking and enjoying, you know, the weather, you know, the air.

2:57And also, well, recently, you know, as you know how much snow we had. Even though it was technically spring when we taped this, it is Toronto and there was snow in April. I took her out. My God, I was like, you know, like walking in such a high snow bank. I was sweating and she was hopping like a rabbit now. I was so happy to see that and I said to myself not very long You won't see that, you know, so I always really conscious about you know How happy she can be? Dogs, you know, you know with a face when she decided wanted to play You know, there's a you know, when you walk to the park is suddenly she turns around have that looked in my eyes.

3:46They say, I want to play. Do you want it to play? And then she start running around. It was just like a connection. It's very hard to describe. It's a moment. Yeah, it's like, oh my God. Okay, let's go. So that feeling is extremely honest. And it really start really, you know, give me another sort of like a very light spirit in the beginning in the morning. And I always believe morning is a very important day for any human because when you start it, not a good day, there are some other things that you see to trigger you to have a baby. Yes. That's good that way. So Nyla did change me, you know, very mindful about, you know.

4:34And like watching them, like just hearing you describe watching Nyla hop through the snow, I feel the same way with Clutch. Like there's almost like your heart, it's like the Grinch, you know, with the heart is getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

4:49Chef Susur Lee: And what happened then? Well, in Whoville, they say that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day. And like you just your heart wants to explode because they're so happy and you're so happy for giving them that happiness. Yeah. And seeing that that is their nature of being a husky in the habitat. And you can really see this is in my element. This is what I love. This is what I am in the nature of being a lot of snow. So that's how I got to know her. You know, when she's, you know, emotionally, you know, dogs, they hear anything. They feel everything. They don't have to look at you, you know.

5:34So, and it really gave me a lot of pay, a lot of attention by little things. You know, that switched to, you know, because I work with, you know, hospitality. And I'm very mindful about, you know, my customers, their energy, you know, their body language and my staff, you know, all that stuff. It's based on all this learning, little things by watching. That is also, you know, it has changed, you know, a lot of that little detail. but you know one thing is really great this morning happened um with me and nila was you know sometimes when she she walks by herself you know off leash and um sometimes there's a big tree and she didn't see me and suddenly she looked she was like oh she was very relaxed just sniffing around suddenly oh where is he you can see that like little nervousness like where's my master That's right.

6:35And then she looked and then she saw me. Oh, and then she relaxed. You know, that means so much to me. It means she really relying on me, you know, her livelihood pretty much. I feed her, I give her water, all that stuff. And, you know, that really kind of give me that kind of connection over responsibility was really great. You mentioned, you know, starting off your day, like feeling happy because of her and how much that helps you get through sometimes stressful days. And right now we're living in a very stressful time. You also have a very stressful, I would imagine, but, you know, you know, a stressful career where you're in kitchens and it's intense.

7:20Do you find that Nyla is also, I don't know, a bit of a touchstone that helps keep any stress at bay? Very much so. You know, I make time sometimes, you know, in my restaurant, you know, we work at night. Sometimes I said, you know what, I'm going to home early. I'm going to be getting up early. I'm going to walk Nyla early. So there is sort of like that responsibility. You say, okay, I'm not going out with my friend, have a drink tonight. I'm going straight home. Normally, I get to bed at a certain time tonight. I go to bed even earlier. Tomorrow, I'm making sure that she has more time to spend with me.

8:03So all that little things that really decompresses me is also having a good night's sleep. And sometimes first thing in the morning, she likes me to run around with her. And I said, okay, all right, okay, I'm going to, you know, have a little play around with her a little bit. So I'm always up for when she wanted to play. That makes me happy. But in terms of decompress, you know, when she's walking, when I'm walking, you know, she's not the kind of a dog runs in the park. She would just walk and just look at me and walk. and it gives me a lot of time to really think about my day. Have a little bit of a sort of like, what do I do today?

8:51Okay, I have a list of things. I make it into priority. What is the most important thing? So when I'm walking, it gives me those free time. My brain opens up, not like sitting on my desk or going in the kitchen and just looking at that four walls. And, you know, I need space in my brain because... I so relate to that. You know, it is a very stressful kind of a business, but I'm so used to it. It's not like a bad stress. It's an exciting stress. So Nyla do really, you know, grounded me. You know, when I come home, it doesn't matter, you know, how late at night, how early when I come home. And she just like have the ears going back.

9:40It's like just looking at me and just, you know, hopping and turning around and, you know, and be with me and welcoming me home. That kind of stuff is really, I just, in that moment, I don't remember anything what happened when I got off the car. I just don't. It is like, okay, I'm here with you. What's going on? How is your day? You know, I said to my wife, you know, sometimes I talk to my dog when I'm walking. I felt like a crazy person. Listen, if you are, join the crazy club because me too. If you're listening to this podcast, chances are you've had at least a few of those conversations. Honestly, our pets probably know way too much about us.

10:26I know Clutch does. They understand. They understand not the language, the energy, the voice you're projecting. And it's positive. They know. They know how to receive it. Yeah. The dog doesn't really understand English, but they understand energy. That's the bottom line of, you know, Nyla is very in touch, you know, when I'm riding on my bike. You know, it's just as simple as, hey, good dog, huh? And then she just, her ears move, you know, because she was listening, what I was saying. Yeah. It's amazing. So those are the, you know, my day of changes. and also give me a lot of creativity, right?

11:10When you have that 45 minutes of giving the world for you to think about creativity with food, things I wanted to do. It is really great to have those space. And I have a choice. I can stay home to do that, but I like to take her out. So the positive thing is giving me to open my mind to walk and think. And the sun, especially when the sun hits, it's like, oh, wow. Okay, really treasure that. You know, those are the special moments. Yes. I'm curious. You mentioned something a little earlier. And I was curious, like some people view themselves in relationship to their pets as like a guardian. Or some people view themselves as a pet parent.

12:02I'm curious, like, how would you qualify your relationship to Nyla? You know, I respect Nyla as an animal, number one, as sort of like her habitat, being a husky. Number two, you know, I am not a needy person with Nyla. I don't, you know, go to interfere a space while she's upstairs lying in her own bed. that I always go very gentle when I come home. I don't make a huge ordeal, making her jump and doing paws. You'll go around, feed, and give me this. I don't like to train dogs like that. Dogs are not supposed to be like that. When dogs trusted you, safety, recall, and also when they're in danger, you should protect because they do it right, rely on you.

12:57so those are the things that I really conscious about you know specifically Naila because I meet other dogs I wouldn't like to behave as an owner without the dogs the way some people behave with you know so I'm very conscious you know Naila is not like a pet to me he's a companion he's an animal. She's an animal. And I want to take her as much as that she feel comfortable being a husky. And that is that is my sort of like I'm trying to understand even more about her. I understand Naila started off with one of your sons and then you ended up adopting her. Can you walk me through what happened there and how she came into your life?

13:47Well, Levi used to have two dogs. One is Pomsky.

13:58They grew up together. He got them together when they were babies. and then he moved to LA and then he asked a friend to look after the dog and I saw the dog in the park I wasn't that close with Naila you know and I didn't like the look of the dog because you know that the dog reflecting because Levi didn't completely forgotten Naila he was just letting some friends take care of yeah so and still i still have the attachment with my son what he loves which is his dog right so there's a related third party of relationship there so i look at it i said oh my god i don't like the look of a dog like that uh you know it wasn't was it that she didn't look happy or well it's not it's just i see because i used to have dogs i'm very always look at dogs you know if they are healthy the way you know their neck when they're walking heads up not happy, just walking, slouch and all that stuff.

15:07You can see the emotion. So when I saw the dog in the park, I saw Nyla, I wasn't very happy. I didn't say anything. And then Levi said, hey, you know, yeah, my friend is taking care of, you know, sometimes I don't know what, how she's dealing with Nyla. And I said, and then he said, dad, do you think you can take care of Nyla? I said, yes, I can. Right away, I took Nyla home. So there was no question. You know, question, you know, because when he asked me, it's like, it's like he said, hey, can you take care of my kid? Right. Of course I can take care of my kid. Well, for that generation, it kind of could be, right?

15:43Yeah. So, you know, I look at it that way. When I took Nyla, I'm one of these kind of person. I would never want to have a dog because I'm a very attached and very nostalgic person. So when a dog is like a relationship, I would put 100 % or I don't want to have a dog because when the dog leave me, if I leave the dog, there would be a sadness. And I don't want that emotion because I want to, hey, you know what, why do I want to bring in that sadness? But when I said I'm going to take the dog, 100%, I would take care of the dog. It's a commitment. One or the other. There's no pathway. That's great.

16:28And so for you, it seems like it was a very, very quick decision for you. Yes, I'm going to take Nyla. Was there something about your life? Because you'd said, I'm not going to take a dog unless I can really give the dog what it needs. Was there something that was happening in your life then that made that the right moment to take Nyla or not? Yeah, I'm a very disciplined person. And I see that, you know, in order to have something really great, you have to be disciplined that way. you know take care of things you know i'm one of those kind of guys i would buy a pair of shoes uh it would keep me like 20 years and because i would love to take care of the leather you know i'm putting something to make sure the shoe looks still look great you know i'm not a wasteful person that way so when i um talk over nyla it's a commitment for me to like making sure that she's healthy, making sure she's going to be my dog, making sure that she's going to love me to be a master.

17:29All those things I gradually learn about her and learn about myself. And of course, you know, there are things that need to change. You know, of course, for example, sudden schedule, my son, you know, because I do a lot of YouTubing with my son. Yes. And then I said, Oh, you know what? One o 'clock, I'm not available. He said, What? what, you're feeding Naila, you go for a walk? I say, of course I am. You know my schedule. I'm not the one that I love to just do things with you. You know, I have also a priority. So, you know, and sometimes, of course, you know, kids will think, God, just a dog, Dad, you know, he's just giving him kibbles.

18:08No, I'm not going to give kibbles. Listen, this is a world-renowned chef we're talking to. So definitely no kibble for this pup. Just before we started this conversation, chef was whipping up Naila's freshly made lunch. And let's just say, I'll have what she's having. So those are a lot of things that I kind of like committed. So my son knows, you know, everyone loves something. You know, they have to love something. You can't change that. You know, it doesn't matter, you know, you're my kids. I love you. So it's just different. So, you know, I have a love of a dog, you know. So that part, it kind of, you know, changed a little bit to understand.

18:49I think it's important, like kids should also see their parents are responsible to take care of things. And I think they need to see that. We touched a little bit on this earlier, but like the flip side of discipline is like silliness. And you've described some mornings where you're running around with Nyla. I've certainly noticed that with my own dog, Clutch, who, as I said, I got her three years ago. So, you know, as a full-on adult, she brought out this silliness in me that I really just, I had no idea existed. Like, we're racing around, here's a grown woman racing around the house with her dog.

19:33So did you find that that was opened up by Nyla or was that already opened up prior to her arrival? Uh, well, um, you know, I, sometimes I have friends, uh, you know, sometimes come to my house, you know, the way I talk to Nyla is like, oh my God, I've never seen you that side of my personality, you know? So can you give us an example? Yeah. What's your Nyla voice?

20:06you know there's one when she came back from um uh from a first walk in the morning because my kitchen is on the ground floor and she comes up from the first floor and when she comes in I heard and then I say Naila Naila Naila and she's like a little kid coming from school and she was just hopping down and that face is like i embrace her and she just like talking with me it's just like a little kid just finished her her afternoon school coming home and that is like wow that is like the sweet i dropped everything if i have a meeting i don't care even now if say we are talking nila coming in sorry it took me another few minutes to greet her first Well, listen, you know she is welcome to make an appearance on this podcast anytime, Chef.

20:58Anytime. You mentioned that you've had dogs before. When did you start a relationship with pets? Have they been in your life a long time? When I was as young as I was kindergarten, my mom used to work for the British Army as a tea lady. so when when the army uh decided to go back to england she would be you know um you know she they would ask her hey you know i have a rabbit because they have pets for the kids can you take the rabbit because they're not taking back to england oh right sure so that my first uh uh pet was chicksy was a german shepherd okay and i remember i remember a dog but i don't remember was a German shepherd.

21:51And then later on in life, my sister would show photographs of the family. I was just like a little kid. They always talk about Chixie, how smart Chixie is. And, you know, especially my older sister, very in touch with Chixie. Then the rabbit came to our life. Then I started to really understand, you know, because they're just cute little thing, very independent. You know, we live in a small house. We have, like, family of eight. So that was like, you know, because I have four sisters and a brother. And so all my sisters are really caring for animals, too. So she always, you know, talked to animals.

22:35And I was a kid. I was growing up with that spirit already, naturally. Right. Yeah. We're seeing dogs on the street, always pet, always say hi, you know, wild dogs and all that stuff. So what's the, what was the difference, would you say? Because I've noticed I had a dog growing up too, and I found it very different being the responsible one. What is having Nyla like compared to like Trixie, if you can even remember, because you were still young, but. Well, it's a maturity of a relationship, you know, and that relationship is, of course, when you are much older, you're responsible. and neither livelihood.

23:22You know, it's dependent on you, how you want her to making sure she has a dog life, a good dog life. So I think when you're young, it was just a pet. You know, everything. You just wanted to scratch and, you know, hug and play around and interfere the dog space, you know. But now you, now I look at, you know, You know, someone like Nyla has a company and she's a dog and has a very good company with me. You know, so I think that it switches the difference between, you know, as a young person and an older person. It's just learning about, you know, animal spirit. You know, so sometimes we forgot about just human spirit, but animal also of a spirit.

24:17That, you know, if you if you look at, you know, all kinds of, you know, yoga poses is all come from animal poses.

24:26Chef Susur Lee: Right. So, you know, there's a reason animal brings, you know, the combined with human and there's a balance element to it. So, and I enjoy, you know, I look at myself, you know, working in this industry, it has been, you know, it's a very disciplined industry, especially being a chef, following recipe, protocol, timing, creativity, teamwork. like when I am not in that element everything I just like take off my apron is like I am with this really back into my nature human being as a kid, as a father as a master as a leader and suddenly it was just like okay, this is who I am I'm just sharing that with this animal that doesn't talk back and I just show it by emotion.

25:28That's exactly how it feels from the young until being an adult. So it sounds to me like caring for Nyla has really deepened your sense of spirituality. Yeah, it is. Every moment when I see her is a therapy. It's like I'm seeing a therapist of my own self. There's no answer. that's emotional is give me the answer. And I think that's what it is. You were talking before about the difference between having a pet when you're a child and an adult. And I was nodding my head all the way through your answer because I totally relate to that. But it sounds to you were a family of six kids, right? With Trixie.

26:17And then Nyla, it seems, is very much your dog. Am I right about that? It is my dog. Okay. I, you know, I can't see myself, you know. Yeah, she's the only one. Yep. She's the only one that really, I'm so glad to share this with you talking. If I talk to my friends, they think I'm nuts. Listen, you're talking to the wrong people, Chef. You're talking to all the pet people out here. That's what you need to be doing. So we are in the right moment to explore myself, actually. It's a good therapy. Thank you. Yeah. Because you do, I mean, I know there's other dogs in the family. Your sons have some dogs.

27:04And then your wife, we were just talking before we started this conversation. And you said your wife has a dog, but Nyla is yours. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Definitely. A hundred percent that, you know, I'm a very focused person. And when I have to deal with certain things, I want to make sure that is my job, that is my responsibility, that is my love. There's something I would share with and there's something she shared with me, you know, in a day. Sometimes it goes past real fast. Yeah. And just want to enjoy those moments. I'm curious, you have quite a following between your own following on social media, but also, as you mentioned before, with your son, Jet, you're on YouTube.

27:49And you're also on TikTok where you've got millions of followers. I'm curious. We rarely see Nyla on your socials. How come? You know, I'm not a very, I'm very private that way. I like to, my media, more driven really is my profession because of my love of cooking. Yeah. I really separate, you know, my private life about, you know, I've been practicing yoga for years. I don't do, you know, posting every time, you know, I would be in the studio. I like to separate those things. You know, this is home stuff for me. That's my inner home. My inner self of a home. And I don't really like to, you know, explore that to your outside world because this is what I like.

28:50You know, I don't need it to, you know, I don't know. You don't need to put it on display. I understand. I 100 % understand that. But back to Naila. Yes. What would you say, and this is a hard one, but what would you say the biggest lesson you've learned from your time with Naila?

29:16very good question i think you know um again you know back to the discipline with my profession um i really learned about uh when it needs to be soft and when it needs to be like discipline and hard and i think that really kind of like it changes me and sometimes i say oh okay i i did not think about that part of about myself today today and of course uh there are other spiritual things that i believe that also changes me and also because i give those energy to nila and nila give it back to me so um i i would say um it's a great rhythm what nila have taught me there are things could be just take it easy there's things could be you know different and I think that is giving me time.

30:11That's it. It really changes me, giving me time because of the walking, to making time to do something that it takes time to do. Not just like I talk about not getting in the car to drive somewhere. I would make time to, there's a process to do those outdoorsy things and it actually makes me feel good. And explore that, it changes me as a person. I think in a very kind of, not the word sensitive, I think mindful, that's a word. Very mindful. Yes. That sounds, that's beautiful. It's beautiful. It's hard to choose what lessons they teach us because there tend to be so many. And through this conversation, we've learned, I feel like we've learned a lot about you as well as Nyla.

31:14So thank you so much, Chef, for taking the time today. It was really great to talk to you. So glad. It's Nyla, you know, Nyla therapy today.

31:32Nyla therapy, I love that. and I love how much Chef talks about his appreciation for Nyla, not just as a dog, but specifically as a husky. There's such deep respect there. You can follow Chef Lee on Instagram, at Susser Lee, or check him out on YouTube and TikTok with his son, Jet. They're at Iron Chef Dad or at Jet Bentley. Better yet, check out one of his fabulous restaurants. There's the flagship Lee here in Toronto at its new Richmond Street location. or if you're in Singapore, why not check out Tongue Lock He? That's it for this episode. If you liked what you heard, throw us a bone, will you?

32:10Drop us a review, tell a friend, give us a follow. We'd love to spread the word.

32:17Furball Confidential is created and hosted by me, Jen Moroz. Our show producer is Talia Schlanger. She also co-created our theme music with David Travers-Smith with Brian Kobayakawa on bass. Reza Daya does our sound and video design and editing. Danny Stover does our social media. Our show artwork is by Adrian Foro. And Marina Hanna does our audience development. And thanks, as always, to the furball who started it all, Clutch. I'm Jen Moroz. See you next time on Furball Confidential.

32:57is your kid's birthday coming up don't stress the prep the party shop at michael's is your one-stop shop for everything from bluey to rodeo transform your space into a birthday wonderland with dream worthy tablescapes and decor starting at 99 cents plus get free helium inflation on select balloon styles. Whether you're crafting a one-of-a-kind bash or grabbing the essentials, Michaels has everything to make their big day legendary. Shop now and order ahead for delivery or in-store pickup. Michaels, everything to celebrate anything.