 Last night you had a night out and you were in a position to enjoy some tapas. Apparently originally tapas were thin slices of bread or meat that sherry drinkers in Andalusia in Spain used to cover their their glasses in between sips and this was practical because it prevented fruit flies from hovering over the sweet sherry and getting at it and the meat was normally ham or chorizo both very salty so the the owners were very happy with this because you know they've been drinkers for the thursday and they didn't drink more and soon the the tapas became everybody's important as the alcohol and tapas of course have evolved over the years and they come in all not necessarily all sizes but all shapes and all varieties now and there's big national competition every year in Spain to decide on the tapas champion and there's an international competition as well a world tapas competition and that's in Spain also in the city of via Doid and I think that's how it's pronounced and there's 15 participants from 15 different countries that take part in that and the fifth one is coming up shortly the fifth such competition and it will involve someone from bunny go Joseph McFadden Joseph is now living in Orlando but he has been announced as one of the finalists in the world tapas finals and and led that Joseph now actually joins us on the line and on screen as well we're on facebook live from florida Joseph good well good morning to you there good morning to me and good afternoon to you guys I guess it is isn't it it is indeed yeah how's how things in florida today I imagine it's a bit I'm hoping it's a bit drier than it is here it's sunny very sunny I should have put the sunglasses on but that's sunny but didn't want to look too cool on here you know and uh what's this was it's as warm as it normally is in florida it's it's cool down there we actually the cold front start there on sunday but by cold front like we're not oh 80s so it's still still pretty warm yeah i don't imagine okay tell me about ending up in this tapas competition um well first of all let's just go back away but how come you've ended up in Orlando cooking cooking there um long story short they've had a love affair with the usa for a long time i've been over and back over the last 22 years and uh almost eight years ago i made the decision to to move to Orlando i had a great opportunity and i was with um interstate hotels and resorts there for six years and then covid hit and the opportunity then for margaritaville resort came and it took that so they're almost a year now they work in in the famous famous margaritaville resort margaritaville made famous from the jimmy buffett song jimmy buffett song yeah uh um yeah i'm the executive chef there i've been there it'll be a year november 6th is it is is it as exotic and as uh relaxing as the song would suggest it's more so it is actually it is actually a inland paradise that's the theme and when you walk in actually when you drive into the resort you feel like you're in that island in the bahamas or somewhere it's beautiful oh wow would it get many international um a visitor well in a normal year would it get a lot of international visitors or it would be mostly people from the states we get a lot we get a lot of international visitors um we're really close to disney as well so people will use it as a like a stop as well um they get they get the pool in the morning they can do their disney in the evening or they can switch that around if they want we have live music at all of our pools we have five different restaurants and then we have the sunset walk as well which is another 32 shops and restaurants plus other businesses so you don't have to go anywhere it sounds like it sounds good you're definitely selling it and with five different restaurants and uh your your days are busy very busy very busy but thankfully i have a good team there um great management team so um just like the island field we have we have that family field when it comes to your associates i i don't think i've worked anywhere with that sort of continuity and i think the resort just makes people feel happy when they go to work right yeah i can imagine in those surroundings but as an executive chef you probably aren't hands on so is this going to be a bit of a stretch for you now when you have to create these tapas i haven't lasted yet john i'm not suggesting for a second that you have but just when you're out of practice it might be even harder yes i understand you're correct there i'm more management and financials now than than anything but i still have to jump in and get stuck in you know uh i i did a i did a good two months spent uh at night when we were changing the restaurant from the euphoria to the euphoria fish house so euphoria was jimmy buffett's first yacht that was the name of his first yacht so that's the name of our restaurants yeah yeah yeah so um yeah so sorry just as you mentioned jimmy buffett there does he actually have an association with the resort is he like an ambassador or something he does he's been there yeah he goes around them and he makes sure that he's seen seen at the resorts yeah oh yeah interesting all right now it's all right you're gonna say i haven't got to sit down and play with him yet but one day and he hasn't come into the kitchen to do any cooking with you either has he that's that's yet to happen as well he might have to come to spain and help me with this tapa well how did the tap thing come about like how does an Irish man cooking in Orlando end up in a tap as fine in spain um it was an online application the process was all online um did my came up with my idea did my video did my photo shoot for it uh refined the recipe sent them all off and i i i want it so i get to represent the USA and all its territories so i'm extremely proud of that um it was it was a tough one because you want to keep it simple when it comes to the tapa but at the same time you want something unique and and modern as well so i think i think i got it on that i i presume that some of the restaurants that that you oversee uh or maybe all of them serve tapas what what what's the more more popular uh tapas in Orlando they like a lot of ahi tuna here they like they like their seafood here right definitely the uh this the scene here is definitely seafood in Florida we have an abundance of it from each coast um so that the ahi tuna we sell a lot off and then wouldn't really call it a tapa but it's a huge seller first would be shrimp ceviche it's uh it's like you can do it with any fish really as long as it's fresh but it's more or less marinated in uh citrus and and uh red onion and and items like that there beautiful pure pure delicious and then oh it's beautiful stuff like and here um there's a big there's a big latin field here in Florida as well like there's a lot of island influence so we have to cater for that so it works in our favor well it also works in your favor and that you're from Dunfany so you've been no you've been no stranger to fresh fish absolutely i used to pick the mussels in the bay there you go dig the cockles with a spoon there you are well that was a good grounding that was a good grounding and how many how many tapas do you have to create i mean uh i there's i presume that there's the set tapas what you applied with is what you're going to have to present or have to final yeah just one one per chef okay one per chef but um we'll get teamed up with a restaurant from the city i think you pronounced it right when you got it i think it was via the lead so yeah uh each chef will get teamed up with a restaurant and then we will actually sell that tapa from that restaurant for the duration of the competition okay so um i'm not sure who i'm teamed up with yet but we'll be work we'll be working on that and then uh on the final day we present for the judges and it's 11 Michelin star chefs no pressure no pressure 11 Michelin star chefs yes that's pretty intimidating it is just a little but i'm sure you can mix it up with the best of them and uh i when when the final zone and i get i fly november 6 to the 11th so the company that that organizes the whole thing east bay and they'll be they'll be reaching out to us soon and giving us the full itinerary so buy the six get there the sevens and then we compete until a tense there's the last day so just waiting on east bay and then the itinerary and then we'll know more from there but the dates are set and how has the last 12 months or so been at margaritaville it's you know it's been it's been tough here in hospitality here in ireland i'm sure it's been tough there as well it has been but i can tell you this and it might shock you margaritaville broke every record it ever set this year with with staycations yeah a lot of staycations and a lot of locals using the resort as a getaway just from the cabin fever that was going on you know and weddings banquets conferences they're all picking back up again we did 14 weddings in one month there wow yeah so and we're looking pretty busy for next year as well so going good everybody's being safe and sensible that's the main thing you know especially with the staff it's we got to be on on the ball when it comes to safety and sanitation and stuff definitely we had the high standards but we had to really up them just and make sure we're sanitizing every 30 minutes instead every two hours now you know yeah yeah so the last time i was in ireland though i was blown away literally by hurricane katrina so what's the hurricane season been like um that we've been we've not heard any any big reports or big stories so nothing nothing thankfully there it's been a quiet year everything musters are turned back out to sea or um yeah we got lucky i was actually on here i think maybe four years ago i can't remember who i was talking to but i was reporting from the hurricane coming through okay yeah yeah the one that turned can't remember it was down to port urico and then all of a sudden it just turns through the state was maria and all our members katrina that she's kind of spoiled our holiday but uh there's been sure you're well used to hurricanes there so yes i'm not done at all and i'm not on that scale thankfully oh no listen the best look in the competition and it's been great chatting to you joseph and uh and uh the best luxury we'll keep an eye on on your progress and uh and maybe chat again but in the meantime many have listened to good luck over in spain and and for the future into the matter thank you john i'll keep you posted and all right quick shout out to my three boys michael allen and christin love you all and love danigal check on a little bit