Episode 179: Interview with Josh Sharkey, CEO of meez

Line Cook Thoughts

On this episode I chat with Josh Sharkey. Josh Sharkey is the founder and CEO of meez, the recipe tool for professional chefs. He is an entrepreneur, chef, and restaurant operator with over 20 years of experience in the industry at restaurants like Oceana, Tabla, Bouley and Cafe Gray. After more than a decade cooking in Michelin-starred kitchens, he opened Bark Hot Dogs in 2009, which earned numerous accolades in the fast casual space. Sharkey spent five years as the Chief Operating Officer of Aurify Brands (Melt Shop, The Little Beet, Little Beet Table, Fields Good Chicken, and Le Pain Quotidien) before launching meez to the public in late 2020 following more than two years of development. Since then, meez has partnered with renowned groups and concepts, including José Andrés’ ThinkFoodGroup, Jean-Georges Restaurants by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, fast-casual favorite Mulberry & Vine, and local staple BKLYN Larder. During the pandemic, Josh used meez’s technology to create Recipes for Relief, an initiative that made interactive recipes available for purchase with 100% of proceeds supporting restaurant relief. In 2021, the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) became the first culinary school to be powered by meez. Josh believes in building technology with domain empathy, ensuring software always conforms to how we operate, and fervently focusing on the finer details. We talk about startups, funding, the importance of recipes, accessibility of tech in the food industry, food tech and much more. Link to meez: https://www.getmeez.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=linecook Link to Josh's socials: https://www.instagram.com/joshlsharkey/ https://www.instagram.com/getmeez/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/getmeez/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sharkey-406965b/ Check out the Line Cook Thoughts newsletter at linecookthoughts.com