Executive Chef • Live-Fire Authority • Founder of OWN THE FIRE®
Mike Riddle / OWN THE FIRE® / Press & Media
The chef who builds the grill he cooks on.
From professional kitchens to live fire. Built, cooked and taught firsthand.
20+
Years on the Line
2M+
Views Across Platforms
Top 1%
Reddit Contributor
"We take the ordinary and turn it into extraordinary"
Download Complete Media Kit
Professional biography, credentials, brand portfolio, and interview topics
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Everything you need for coverage, interviews, and collaborations
Featured Coverage
Own The Fire In The Press
Conversations with Mike Riddle on the craft, the reinvention, and the company behind the fire.
Nashville Voyager
Inspiring Conversations with Mike Riddle of Own The Fire
Twenty plus years in professional kitchens, from dishwasher to Executive Chef. Two decades building Fortune 500 brands after that. Then the turn that changed everything.
Starting over isn’t the same as starting from nothing.
Mike Riddle / Nashville Voyager
More Coverage
Business Stories Magazine
Mike Riddle, Own The Fire
The business behind the fire. Two careers that became one operator, and why the steel and the education are a single company. Built to last, not built to scale cheap.
Build the thing you actually know, not the thing that looks like an opportunity.
Mike Riddle / Business Stories Magazine
Featured Interview
Mike Riddle, Executive Chef, Chief Marketing Officer and Founder of OWN THE FIRE®, featured on New York's Business Podcast
Two careers, one fire: twenty years on the line and twenty-five building brands
Key Topics
- 20+ Years in NYC's Professional Kitchens to Executive Chef
- Chef and Chief Marketing Officer: Running Both Inside One Fire
- Argentine Asado & Brazilian Churrasco
- Hand-Building Custom Live-Fire Grills in Steel
- Teaching Fire Management and the Member Vault
- Building a Brand the Hard Way, No Shortcuts
"Everyone else has the romantic story of leaving everything behind. I didn't. I built OWN THE FIRE® the hard way, on top of a full executive career, with no safety net and no shortcuts. That's the real entrepreneurial story."
• MEDIA READY ANGLES •
Mike Riddle Press Kit Quick Facts, Executive Chef and Founder of OWN THE FIRE®
Stories That Matter • Hooks That Land
DUAL EXPERTISE
20+ years Executive Chef + 25 years building brands
UNIQUE ACCESS
Exclusive Brazilian knife craftsmen and custom steel fabrication
REDDIT AUTHORITY
Top 1% Poster and Commenter • ~2M views
VIRAL REACH
YouTube asado 16K in 6 mo • IG heat-mgmt ~50K
THE OWN THE FIRE® HOUSE
Member Vault, Brasero Grills, Ember & Salt Co.™, Artisan Knives
FIRST VIDEO, NO FOLLOWING
Santa Maria build hit 60K+ views cold on Facebook
NYC STORY
Culinary school to Executive Chef to founder of a live-fire brand
NO BS APPROACH
Zero celebrity endorsements, 100% earned expertise
BUILT THE HARD WAY
On top of a full career, no safety net, no shortcuts
THE BOTTOM LINE
"We take the ordinary and turn it into extraordinary"
Meet Mike Riddle, Executive Chef and Founder of OWN THE FIRE®
Executive Chef turned Marketing Executive — building the future of culinary education through proven business strategy.
Mike Riddle brings a combination rarely seen in the culinary industry: professional kitchen training from NYC's high-end restaurants paired with executive-level marketing expertise built across Fortune 500 brands. The kitchen earned the credibility. The marketing knows how to scale it. Most chefs have one. He runs both.
- Corporate Excellence: VP of Promotional Marketing for 25 years, driving multi-million dollar programs and managing a $230M division
- Culinary Authority: Executive Chef with 20+ years in high-end NYC restaurants, bringing professional fire technique to a national audience
- Proven Growth: Built OWN THE FIRE® into a content engine with consistent viral reach across Reddit, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook
- Community Validation: Top 1% Reddit Poster and Commenter with consecutive #1 posts across r/BBQ and related communities, nearing 2M total views
- Premium Positioning: Launched the Member Vault alongside Brasero Grills custom steel and Brazilian artisan knife lines
This is not a side hustle or a retirement project. Mike applies the same strategic thinking that drives corporate success to culinary education, treating content as campaigns, audience as segments, and education as product. The marketing bridges the gap between knowing the craft and building something that lasts. That bridge is what makes him different.
The Member Vault is where the two careers meet: 80+ recipes built on frameworks earned behind the line in professional kitchens, structured and delivered with the discipline of a built brand, now in the hands of the home cook.
"We take the ordinary and turn it into extraordinary."
¡Un aplauso para el asador! How Mike Riddle Earned the Argentine Asado Tradition and Built OWN THE FIRE®: Brasero Santa Maria Grills, Asado Tools, Brazilian Artisan Knives, Artisan Leather Aprons, the Member Vault, and Ember and Salt Co Seasonings
One Fire. One Standard. Every Brand Earned the Hard Way
None of this started as a business plan. It started with the asado, a chef learning
the way of the asador the only way it is learned: over open flame, over years, from
the tradition itself. Every brand that followed came from the same place, a standard
the market couldn't meet, so it got built by hand. The grill. The tools. The blades.
The leather. The recipes. The seasonings. In that order, because that is the order it
happened.
It Started With the Asado and the Steel
Learning the way of the asador, then forging the grill to honor it
THE WAY OF THE ASADOR
The asador is the master of the asado, trusted with the fire from the
first coal to the final cut. Mike learned Argentine asado and Brazilian
churrasco the traditional way, over years, from the craft itself. The
tradition set the standard everything else had to meet.
THE GRILL HE FORGED
No production grill held fire the way the asado demanded. So he
hand-forged his own Santa Maria parrilla in quarter-inch steel, built to
take decades of live fire.
Became Brasero Grills
BRASERO GRILLS
Argentine Soul. American Steel. Hand-fabricated Santa Maria, parrilla, and
gaucho grills, commissioned one at a time and built to outlive their owners.
Then the Tools the Tradition Demanded
Authentic asado equipment and Brazilian artisan blades
ASADO TOOLS
Cooking true Argentine asado meant authentic asado equipment, proven
against the tradition, not a big-box approximation of it.
Became the Asado Tools line
BRAZILIAN ARTISAN KNIVES
The tradition demanded the right blade. Mike built direct relationships
with Brazilian master craftsmen and sourced premium churrasco knives at
the source.
Became Artisan Knives
THE STANDARD
Every tool earned its place at the fire before it earned a place in the
line. Sourced by a chef who uses them, not a catalog.
Then the Leather That Could Take the Fire
Professional aprons built to a working chef's standard
BUILT FOR THE WORK
Mike wanted an apron and goods that could take a working live fire and a
chef's abuse. Nothing on the market held up, so he built the line himself.
Became Artisan Leather
ARTISAN LEATHER
Professional-grade live-fire aprons and leather goods, built to
working-kitchen standards and standing on their own as a brand.
THE STANDARD
Made to survive the fire it's worn in front of. Function first, earned in
use, not designed for a shelf.
Then He Put It on Paper
Twenty years behind the line, written down and opened up
THE MEMBER VAULT
Two decades of professional method, finally written down: 80+ recipes
built on frameworks earned in working kitchens, structured for the home
cook. Direct access to the way Mike actually cooks.
FIRE & STEEL CHRONICLES
The journey in his own words: the dream smoker, the Santa Maria discovery,
the build years that spawned the brands.
SMOKE SIGNAL
The monthly newsletter that turns live-fire technique and pro recipes into
a standing relationship with the audience.
Then the Flavor to Finish It
The blends developed at the fire, last because they were built on everything before
BLENDED BEHIND THE LINE
With the fire, the tools, and the method proven, the last gap was the
seasoning. Mike had mixed his own dry compositions and finishing salts for
years because nothing on the shelf was built for live fire.
Became Ember & Salt Co.™
EMBER & SALT CO.™
A chef-driven seasoning and finishing line. Dry compositions and finishing
salts developed at the fire, formulated for heat and smoke, now in the
hands of the home cook.
THE STANDARD
Built last on purpose, on top of everything proven before it. Nothing in
the jar that wasn't earned on a cook.
"¡Un aplauso para el asador!"
The applause is for the one who earned the fire. This is the work behind it.
Press & Media
Book Mike Riddle, Executive Chef and Founder of OWN THE FIRE, for interviews, live-fire asado demonstrations, and speaking on the Argentine asado tradition
Stories that land. Segments that cook. Audiences that stay.
Great Interview Topics
01
The Journey
- Grew up in restaurants, culinary school, then 20+ years in professional kitchens to Executive Chef
- A parallel 25-year career as a Marketing VP, now applied directly to building OWN THE FIRE®
- Why the marketing career is the edge, not a detour: the chef who can also build the brand
- Learning the Argentine asado the traditional way, over fire, over years
02
Business & Brand
- Reddit authority: Top 1% Poster & Commenter, consecutive #1 posts, nearly 2M views
- An organic content engine across Reddit, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook with no paid push
- Building a brand house from one fire: Brasero, Artisan Leather, the Vault, Ember & Salt Co.™
- Premium positioning earned, not bought: no celebrity partners, no gimmicks
03
Fire & Steel
- Hand-forging a Santa Maria grill in quarter-inch steel, the build that started Brasero
- Brazilian artisan knives sourced direct from master craftsmen
- Argentine asado and Brazilian churrasco technique at a professional level
- Live-fire heat management, the most-saved content he produces
04
Mindset
- The forge mindset: excellence isn't given, it's forged
- Built the hard way, on top of a full career, no safety net, no shortcuts
- If it doesn't earn a place at his fire, it doesn't make it to yours
- Turning the ordinary into extraordinary, the standard behind every brand
“
I didn't get lucky. I forged this the hard way, through years of burns, lessons hammered into method, and an obsession with turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.
Media Inquiries & Bookings
Available for interviews, live-fire demonstrations, and speaking engagements. An Executive Chef who can break down technique on camera, a brand builder who can speak to how it was made, and the founder of OWN THE FIRE® bringing real craftsmanship to your audience.
i
Podcast & On-Camera Interviews
The journey from professional kitchens to Executive Chef to founder of a live-fire brand house.
ii
Live-Fire Demonstrations
Argentine asado and Brazilian churrasco, professional technique made accessible, on a custom Santa Maria build.
iii
Steel & Equipment Showcases
Hand-forged Brasero grills and Brazilian artisan blades most pitmasters will never see in person.
iv
Technique Workshops
Heat management to advanced live-fire method, drawn from 20+ years behind the line.
v
Brand & Business Talks
Building OWN THE FIRE® without shortcuts, and the marketing edge behind it.
vi
Food & Beverage Segments
Repeatable on-air formats: fire challenges, knife skills, asado from coal to final cut.
Partnership Opportunities
Direct relationships with premium manufacturers and a brand house built around battle-tested equipment. Built for honest product showcases, gear features, and reviews an audience will actually trust.
Book The Interview.
Tell us about your outlet, format, and timing. We respond within 24 to 48 hours.
Received
Booking Request Locked In.
Expect a reply within 24 to 48 hours from mike@ownthefire.com or 917.387.6156. For urgent deadlines, call directly.
Let's Build Something Worth the Fire
Mike Riddle
Executive Chef & Founder, OWN THE FIRE®
Live-Fire Authority · 20+ Years Behind the Line
Live-Fire Authority · 20+ Years Behind the Line
Emailmike@ownthefire.com
Phone917-387-6156
BasedLong Island, New York
Crafted in Smoke. Forged in Fire.
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