{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Top Chefs, Part 2 (S8E23)","description":"In Part 2, Aft joins us to chat about the band\u2014Top Chefs. We start with the story of how TJ met Aft. A mutual friend of his and Loveberry\u2019s, Lucas Hanson, put on a show at DNA Lounge called \u201cLiam Berry and Friends.\u201d TJ was just getting out of high school at the time. They asked him to join them on stage, something he\u2019d never really done before. TJ had been playing smaller sets in restaurants, but joining a band at a bona fide venue was new for him. Loveberry (Liam) had met Aft at something called a \u201csound gig\u201d for a set they would play as part of the effort to keep People\u2019s Park in Berkeley from being closed. They called Loveberry because he had a PA and they needed someone to run sound. Loveberry didn\u2019t really know what that meant at the time, and he might\u2019ve been mistaken for a guy named Jeff whom they\u2019d been expecting. Nevertheless, Aft was one of the few people who was nice to Loveberry that day in Berkeley. The band ended up needing a guitar player, and so a mutual friend told Aft that he should have this guy, Loveberry, play guitar with him. They agreed and ending up borrowing a guitar from a member of the crowd. Aft later invited Loveberry to a rehearsal back in SF. Afterthough, aka Aft, joins the conversation at this point. He recounts his version of that day in Berkeley. It was still early pandemic enough that folks were wearing masks. He liked Loveberry\u2019s playing that day enough to ask him over. They played a couple of shows as \u201cAft and His Band\u201d or \u201cAft \u2026 backed up by (various musicians.)\u201d Aft was also asked to play with \u201cLiam Berry and Friends.\u201d At that DNA Lounge show, Aft met TJ and the trombone player Will, who\u2019s also in Top Chefs now. Aft had played in bands for years, including with a set of twins who played piano and bass. But those guys moved to New York around the time he connected with Loveberry. And soon after that, TJ and other members of today\u2019s Top Chefs. There\u2019s some collective fuzziness around when this all went down, but that doesn\u2019t matter. It was the beginning of coming out of a worldwide pandemic when time began to get totally skewed for everyone. But also, they were just busy playing music and making friends. I ask the three of them who came up with the idea to play shows on the stoop of Aft\u2019s childhood home on Scott Street. Loveberry and TJ credit Aft with the idea. Liam talks about arrangements that Aft was putting together with complex horn sections. And in those sessions, one of the musicians started a habit of saying, \u201cYes, chef\u201d to Aft when he was asked to do something. That came from watching cooking competition shows. The dude was messing with Aft, so at the end of a show one night, when Aft was introducing band members, he called this guy \u201cthe top chef\u201d to get him back. The name stuck for the entire band after that. There\u2019s a story about TJ\u2019s Filipina grandma, who lives near DNA Lounge, making Filipino BBQ on a stick and madeleine cookies for the band. TJ wasn\u2019t sure what to do with the food, so he set it out in the crowd while they played a song called, \u201cEverybody Eats.\u201d It was a whole thing, and something Aft says he wants to bring back. I ask the fellas whether anyone has ever compared their Stoop Sessions to NPR\u2019s Tiny Desk music series. There\u2019s a resounding \u201cyes\u201d from all three. Then Aft shares that Top Chefs actually shot a Tiny Desk audition video on the stoop. It was early 2024, and despite not making it onto the hit public media show, they realized that they had something in shows on the stoop. In 2025, thanks to a fundraiser show, the band went to South by Southwest in Austin. After that, they played in the Haight, Hunters Point, Bernal Heights, downtown. Then Top Chefs started ramping up the quality of the videos. In late 2025, just before they planned to take a break from the band, Aft called a media day. The video of that performance went viral. Top Chefs\u2019 Stoop Sessions had arrived. It must\u2019ve been around that time that my wife and I discovered them and immediately knew we\u2019d found something special. And it was basically in our backyard. This coming Sunday, Aug. 2, they\u2019ll be at Chapel of the Flowers in Berkeley. If you\u2019re in the South Bay next weekend, they\u2019re playing San Jose Jazz on Friday, Aug. 7. There\u2019s a show in Levi\u2019s Plaza in The City on Saturday, Sept. 12. And for more shows and info, and to lose yourself in videos of past Stoop Sessions, follow @stoopsessionslive. The band account is @topchefsband. Their website is topchefsband.com. Sign up for their email list to learn about upcoming Stoop Sessions. That\u2019s the only space they share that info with folks. That\u2019s a wrap on Season 8: Every Kinda People. Thank you for listening and supporting our effort to uplift and share the stories of artists, activists, and working people who make San Francisco what it is. Photography by Marcella Sanchez ","author_name":"Storied: San Francisco","author_url":"http:\/\/www.storiedsf.com\/","html":"