# Marcus Samuelsson on Top Chef Success, Bouncing Back From Failure, and Showing Up!! (Part 2 of 2)

An episode of [The Chef's Cut](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1820686169), 5 Oct 2026, 35 min.

Audio: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/LMINC2288499347.mp3

Adrienne and Joe welcome back Chef Marcus Samuelsson for Part 2 of their conversation, diving deep into the art of mentorship, surviving business failures, the power of plant-forward cooking, and what it takes to build a lasting legacy in food. In this episode, we also discuss: • Preparing mentee chefs for high-pressure platforms like Top Chef • Building team confidence, granting creative ownership, and protecting mentor relationships • Lessons from failure: how the closure of Merkato led directly to the success of Red Rooster • Staying hands-on on the line while expanding a multi-faceted culinary career • Food tech, raising global visibility for African cuisine, and social media’s impact on young chefs • Marcus’s new cookbook and bringing plant-forward ingredients into everyday home cooking • Early-career disasters: Marcus’s New Year’s Eve mishap in Switzerland Follow Marcus: @marcuscooks Follow the show: @chefscutpod Follow Adrienne: @chefadriennecheatham Follow Joe: @insta.flamm

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.