Carb Your EntHusiasm
Co-owner, video producer & chef
Nov 2017 – Present
Carb Your Enthusiasm (later know as “CARB”) is a culinary brand and business that I founded with Tim Quirino.
Projects include a Web Series, Supper Clubs, and Private Catering Events.
CARB was created because Tim and I were looking for a different creative venue to inspire us outside of our normal jobs.
With my background in motion and video, Tim’s charismatic personality and cooking talents, and our love for sharing food with friends; it was the perfect storm for a creating cooking endeavor.
Warning: Strong language. Viewer discretion advised.
Web Series
Tim and I created the Carb Your Enthusiasm Web Series for a work project. It was about our relationship with food and each other. Over the course of a year, we created 6 full episodes that explored everything from making pizza to testing our spice tolerance.
The web series consists of “the voice behind the camera” (me), often arguing with Tim about the feasibility of cooking certain things, testing our friendship, all the while trying to learn more about the “culinary arts”. Ultimately it was to help others learn alongside with us.
I filmed, acted in, directed, edited, designed motion titles for, and produced every episode. It was a massive amount of work and gave me a better appreciation for the entertainment industry and the effort that goes into video production.
Towards the end of the Season 1, we decided to develop a Season 2 — unfortunately we only created 1 episode. The episode was pretty great and you can view it here.
Due to getting too busy with our next adventure and going through a rebrand, we focused our attention on The Carb Your Enthusiasm Supper Club. Season 2 was never finished.
Supper Club
For some reason, we thought it was a good idea to fund our web series with a pop-up restaurant. So for 2 years, Co-Founder Tim and I conceptualized, coordinated, and cooked our way to hosting several 9-course fine dining tasting menus to sold out crowds of 12-14 diners per evening.
It was accompanied by a wine pairing, with additional cocktails for purchase, at a rented location that featured one long shared table and an open kitchen to let people in on the presentation.
Listen to the sounds of our Supper Clubs on your own: Lounge Mix (Spotify) and Dinner Playlist (Spotify)
For a single dinner, we would prep from 8AM to 2PM, pack everything up and travel to a rented space, unload by 4PM and set up for a 7PM service. It was extremely hard work.
Being designers, everything was curated. Lighting, soundtrack, menus, wine, cocktails, food descriptions, the bathroom. My favorite part was that a custom playlist that changed according to the courses being served.
Branding
Our branding and identity were designed by us and played to themes we’ve built from the web series and supper club.
We collaborated with Smith & Diction from Philadelphia to develop our logo.
Future of CARB
CARB was an incredible and creative adventure. While focusing on the Supper Club, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Being a pop up by nature, we didn’t have the means to continue forward. So we were forced to put it on hold until a future date.
CARB will still continue to live on and we intend to continue exploring the world of food and creativity at a later date.
