Transcription
Very rarely. I would go to the office every day and I would drop off lunch.
>> Lunch for who? Like all the employees?
>> No, just for John Steven like lunch and that's that's a classic Steven plate right there. Flavoring of lobster with potatoes on the side. That Thanksgiving. No, that's not mine. I would never make something that cheesy looking.
>> Why is he getting a private chef for 21K when he's still door dashing 220K worth of food? Well, that's a pretty good question, Charlie, and I think this interview will answer that. The much discussed private chef for former Intrepid Studios CEO Steven Sharief and his husband, John Moore has finally come forward to set things straight. The chef is one of the many people I've talked to or interviewed in the aftermath of Ashes of Creation and Intrepid imploding. And I'm hoping they're able to add more context to what we found in the Intrepid Studios ledger that this channel recently published and also shed some light on the now elusive former CEO who had appeared very talkative and transparent to the MMO community for the past decade. To respect their privacy, the chef's voice has been heavily modified. And we've also trimmed down the 48 minutes discussion down to about 20 or so minutes to convey the most important and relevant information.
>> Private chest to $21,000. But that's not me. That was Private Chefs Incorporated is a is an agency that chefs with high profile people and it's it's crazy how much people pay these companies just to find them a chef. Steven paid them that much money just to find me which I'm like are you serious? Like they just like walked in your door before I met John Steven. I know I know the people at Private Checks Incorporated pretty well. So they have I've gone through FBI back checks everything. So by the time I get to them they don't have to worry about all that. still a crazy amount of money they charge.
>> Yeah.
>> But yeah, you got to understand like a lot of these people are multi-billionaires and 21,000 $30,000 is like a penny to them. So yeah, I I met John Steven through um Grabb Incorporated. And the initial um when they reached out to me, I was like, "Hey, you interested in working for this couple in San Diego?" And I was like, "Yeah, tell me about it." I was told um when I met them when I Private Chefs Incorporated, you know, they're looking for a private chef at their home, but also someone to cook and eventually open up like a cafe inside Intrepid Studios. So, that was my initial like agreement to join and get hired by them, which I didn't get hired obviously. And so the the plan was to like, you know, was going to be at the office pretty much 80% of the time, you know, setting up a kitchen, coffee shop, whatever for the staff and then I'd go to John Stevens. Um after and just like prepare them dinner cafe, the rest restaurant if you want to call it inside the trip, it never panned out.
>> Okay. Do you know why?
>> Um, I was told it was uh permit issues with the building. It's funny like I I got I kind of had a funny feeling because Joe and Steven were very I don't think they knew what they were talking about to be honest with you. But foodwise they were telling me about it. I'm like, "Okay, cool. Yeah, I mean this sounds like a great idea." So, we put all the stuff together. Um, and then it just never like panned forward when I would kind of mention it. He's like, "Oh, I was probably going to wait another year to open it." And I was like, "Okay." I was like, "Oh." And Steve went to like, "Oh, it's like these stupid permit issues." I'm like, "Well, didn't you think about this before you maybe hired me?" I mean, I never told him that cuz I, you know, I like the comfort of my job. But, you know, so basically, I just turned into um a chef at their their home in Rancho Santa Fe 5 days a week, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That's normal for people of high net worth, especially out in Rancho Santa Fe. It's like the wealthy wealthy area of San Diego. People hire chefs to be in their house and prepare them food and take care of bad caring needs. And um so that was pretty much my job. I know I was also kind of told, you know, to make sure I take care of Steven. He had some severe health issues. He had uh type 2 diabetes. So for the most part, it was trying to get getting him on track and stuff like that. And for if you have any other questions about like their personal life, I will tell you right now, John and Steven are the most boringest people on the face of the universe and lavish party lifestyle. Stephen don't party.
>> So you never saw them party or anything?
>> No, they're the opposite of party. Their their parties consisted of Yeah. Magic the Gathering having like game night, which you know, I mean, if you guys consider that partying, but it was not like alcohol and crazy. No, like they don't even they don't even drink. The other the other parties they'd have is when Steven would have his high school friends come over with their wives and their little children and they'd have pool pool days, pool evening parties, watch movies. John and Steven are they're the like the chillest. Like not not crazy, not wild, you know? They're very very It kind of hurts my heart because they're probably the two sweetest people you could ever meet, you know? I can't comment on Steven and being a liar or anything like I have no idea how he does business. I never got involved with Intrepid or what Steven treated me. He treated my family like his own. He was a sweet guy and so was John. John was as nice as they come there. I kind of just I do have like some thoughts like you know he does BS quite a bit though. I can tell you that. Like food wise Steven didn't know anything. Like Steven liked to eat fast food like 24/7 food wise and like kind of setting up like a a restaurant in a kitchen inside of Triet from what I saw. Like he was always gaming at home. He was always home on pretty intense phone calls. Most of them seemed kind of you know serious but it never seemed like mean or yelling or anything. He was very talkative. He was very uh involved. He was he had a lot of uh lot of the intrepid, you know, developers, guys, the kind of more higher ups would come over for dinner sometime. And them too, they were they were super kind, good people for the most part that I knew. Like there was nothing that got me thinking like, is this some sort of scam? What are these guys doing? Me from the outside looking in who know nothing about the gaming industry. I thought like who's stupid enough to pay $500 to really stupid game membership. That's my that's my thought. I don't game. game. I've never done steak in my life. And I'm like, how is this a successful like model? Like how how the hell does this work? And I'd always just kind of like I'd always scratch my head like what is the point?
>> Yeah, I can't eat this.
>> But I knew Steven come from a MLM background. I knew his mom and his and his older brother. Your typical family, fighting, arguing. Yeah, I didn't really dabble or get into Steven's personal life with his family and his mom. I know his mom is she wasn't kind of the weirdest lady, you know, but you know, again, like it's not really any of my business. So, the more I hear about this kind of stuff, I'm like, "Oh, yeah. They kind of seem like that way." The more I'm reading your stuff, I'm like, I hear the So, these guys, these Robert Dawson and Jason, whatever. I've never met or heard of these guys ever, just so you know. Never saw them. None of None of them ever came over. Never once. And that was their two years. I never saw those guys come over once. For how they describe them, like they don't seem like the type of people that want to come hang out. They came home, ate dinner, and watched Star Trek and went to bed. Like this party stuff is a lie. They do not party. Those bad guys don't. They like the closest thing they do is like maybe drink a wine cooler mix with Seven Up, like one sip. They're really kind guys. And you know, it's sad to think that maybe that's something that they did or they knew what they were doing. And I don't I don't agree with it. everything is right. But from my time, they were they were nice to me and they were I thought they were good people.
>> Did you ever get to meet or interact with any of the other employees apart from the more higherups that would come to Steven's house?
>> Very rarely. I would go to the office every day and I would drop off lunch.
>> Lunch for who? Like all the employees?
>> No, just for John Steven. I would drop them like lunch. And introverted co-workers, like none of them really came out to talk. They're all kind of like zoned in on what I would think of like people that are dialed in on, you know, tech stuff. Like, you know, I just I don't relate with these people. None of them ever will talk to me. They had a hard time looking you in the eye. But there were people in their office. Like, it wasn't just some empty, you know, there was a pretty big space. There were two sides. There was like the I think the developer side, the artist side and just John would walk me through it sometimes and I would see people at the desk working away and designing stuff and you know I saw it all but interacting with any others you know maybe I I would talk to a few just on like, you know typical how's it going and but they had a high turnover I can tell you that like I would see new people like every other day it seemed like
>> and after a year like you just kind of assume that they couldn't resolve the permanent issues Yeah. After a year, I just stopped asking from somebody from the outside looking in. I know it sounds crazy like why the would you pay someone six figures just to make you dinner? Like, well, that's a small world that I live in. Find these wealthy people and they pay you money to cook them food, you know? So, John Ste are not the they're definitely not the first.
>> What kind of food did you cook for them?
>> A lot of meat and vegetables. Even I can tell you never touched a vegetable. My whole goal was like, you know, I want to make sure that it's somewhat healthier than like not giving him French fries and mashed potato, anything fried. Like I never made I never ever once made a mini fried cuz I mean I really looked into like the type 2 diabetes and stuff that he need to get better on. But Steven's just not disciplined like at all. He's extremely like he's probably the most addictive person I've ever seen to fast food. So when I saw that like Door Dash, that's not shocking to others. I'm not shocked by that. Sometimes Stephven wouldn't touch my dinner and then I'd come back the next day and I'd see like Popeye's, Taco Bell, like Door Dash orders everywhere, but you just ordered like ordering in excess and he'd eat whatever he could.
>> Was it John or Steven that primarily like talked to you? From what you're telling me, it sounds like John was trying to help his husband. He really seemed out of place in California and he really seemed on edge all the time being an intrepid and even being around some of the intrepid people that would come over. John has a heart of gold and he's a really kind. He comes from a really good family. I always worried about him. I'm like, you know, I don't know if like this is for you. Be like, you know, John looks really scared or like on edge all the time. But I think he was doing his best to like make sure Stephen the healthiest he can get because Stephen would have to go to the hospital get these injections and cleared stuff. Bad stuff. Oh, I'm doing the best I can. I can't I can't control someone ordering Burger King every single doesn't want to eat the the chicken or the salmon that I made. If their friends came over or family, it was mostly family style. I never once made anything extravagant. John Steven, that's not their style. And if they want something extravagant, it was like when they'd go to Vegas, which that's where Steven's mom lived, and they they'd go out to dinner maybe at the Bellagio or something. And it was more like steakhouse stuff, you know, like most people do. But like, you know, like sometimes they'd have their intrepid people come over. And I would I would make it a little bit nicer and give like a a first course, a main course, and a dessert course. Again, I'm not trying to make fun of gamers, but they're not their pallets are not the the widest, you know? So if it makes like fog ra or something, they'd be like, "What the hell am I eating?" Make sure I do like salmon or steak, you know, something that's like where they can all like, "Okay, this is good." Wow. Okay, good. Something that I can relate to. I think I made Rob once once. I think he enjoyed it. It was just more of a a side on top of a steak. For the most part, it was like ribeye and grilled zucchini or just even like steamed red potatoes. At least he'd eat something. Was it five work days a week or just like was it weekends too or?
>> Uh, no. It was Monday through Friday. No. Yeah, they were good good employers. I thought Intrepid had a good job. You know, I just my only thought was just like and how do they stay in business? Like doesn't seem like they're doing anything. And then I look more into Intrepid or this creation. I'm like like I thought like why can't you just go on your computer and finish this in a month? Like hurry up already. But I I was always just like I cannot understand like how you have 200 employees. Again, I don't know the gaming. Again, I do not know any of this, but I just I just thought like, well, this is weird. I did cook once for I think it was the CEO of Riot Games. He came over and that was like that was like 2023. They came over for he was only one guy. He came over for lunch. It was like steak with like bernay and asparagus and you know he was really nice. Um but I remember Stephen pulling me aside and telling me like hey you're this person coming coming over is from Riot Games
>> and you were just like who's that?
>> And Stephen like like oh Riot Games you know this game this game. I'm like no see I always made fun of Stephen too to his face. I'm like Stephen you're a game nerd. I'm a food nerd. Okay. and you would look at me like I was crazy. Right now, you're crazy to me. I have no idea who this person is, and I don't care. You know, my job is to cook and not be amazed by any celeb. Can I can't do my job if I do that,
>> right?
>> But he was very he just wanted to he said, "We'll make sure I know no one at Tren Intrepid knows." He was about it. You know, now that when I read like, "Oh, this game's offered to >> buy Intrepid $500 million." I'm just like, "What? You morons?" Like, "Why not?" Oh wow. So I was actually I was actually part of that. I was making he was a really nice guy and they seemed to have a fun time. There was didn't seem like any heavy conversations of like laughing and just kind of hanging out and then the guy left and then Steve and John went back to work. They worked every day. They went to the office like every day. There was no like there was sometimes like Stephen would be feeling well and you know obviously he could work from home. When my time my two years they always went to the office and they stayed there late a lot of the times. They had company parties like at the bowling alley. They they'd run out like the bowling. They'd run out Marinopoulos for all the employees kids. Yeah. Typical like company stuff. People loved Steven, you know? I mean, everyone that I knew like that's all like they loved him and he was he was a good guy.
>> Yeah. I mean, again, I've heard a lot of great stuff about him. Um,
>> but some of the employees I've talked to also have had other things to say. So, it seems like we have a very nuanced picture. I'm glad you're talking about John because not a lot of people talk about John.
>> Yeah. I mean, Stephen's the face of everything. You saw was one of the in the in the background all the time. John is a kind-hearted person, good-hearted person. Yeah. Being around Stephen, him doing something like that never crossed my mind, but now that I'm hearing about it, I'm just like, well, you know, he comes from a multi-level marketing and like his mom and his brother were kind of that way, too. But when I met them and kind of knew kind of how they were and kind of the businesses they ran, I'm like with that multi-level marketing stuff, I look at it's like gaming. I'm like, who's the idiot that spends money? So, I hear about this Jason guy. I'm like, buddy, I I I think I listen to the one where you interviewed him like live pretty thought he was pretty funny and angry at the same time. But my thought was like, how are you dumb enough to keep giving this guy money? John is he's kind of the opposite of Stephen. Like and that's where I I kind of putting it together like this kind of how he was a distant kind of really kind of nervous and shy kind of person if they were doing something not right. I don't think it's sitting well with him at all. Like not at all. Like I can I hate to say it but I can see Steven like really not caring. He was like more organized like always taking care of Steven always. You know when John would go see his family and it was just me and Stephen at the house Stephen never woke up. Steven always forgot to do stuff. It was John calling me. He's like, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry to bother you. Can you go and like for Steven to wake?" It was silly stuff. He's like a child. He was like a child. Just a big happy child most of the time. Not extravagant at all. Like they did try make Vegas trips, but it was like maybe for 2 days and they drove. There was no private jets. There was none of that, you know. They did the one trip that they made for 2 years. They went to Hawaii and they rented like a house and they brought Steven's best friends from high school and all their wives and kids. It was like a total of like maybe eight people and they went to Hawaii for like a week. So that's like a you know everyone deserves that you know and I know I know Steven always fronted the bill obviously I mean these people didn't didn't have the means like Steven did you know that's the most extravagant thing I ever saw them do.
>> Were was there anything in their house that seemed extravagant? I know a lot of people have dug up pictures of his historical memorabilia and linked it to the transactions we found in the ledger
>> their house. I'll be dead honest with you. It was a a massive like all right kind of thing. It was a a staged house. I think they bought it with the furnishings that were in there and it looked like a really lame staged house. Like if it was not their furniture. It was like that stuff you'd see like, you know, it felt like you're like in a a hotel lobby. It's like oh this is nice stuff but it's really just lame. Like it really doesn't fit anybody. It's very like bland. And like they had like all their sofas, all that stuff was all it just seemed like it was staged.
>> So you would say none of the furnishings match their personalities.
>> No, not at all. The extravagant they had was like a home theater and that's where they watched Star Trek and they watch they play video game video games. Anything like huge was just like a you know the room was like a flat a big flat screen and like theater chairs. I think that's like the only modification they did at the house when they bought it. Like a glass case like on one of the hallways with memorabilia, but honestly it looks like it was like some coins and like pictures of them at their wedding. One of them was like a sword or something. I mean stuff that I don't give a about. Who the hell collects this lame stuff? Like I work for people where you see like you know uh Da Vinci's writing, you see Mones on the wall, you know, no Stephen Jones. It was just like maybe they're collecting like a a Pokémon. Oh, I always made fun of John Steven
>> and they and they took it well.
>> They always found it funny cuz they like somewhere start we're just a bunch of nerds. I'm like no you're not. I'm a food nerd then. Like I would I would talk some off about certain pastas and spending you know $1,200 on this meal I had in Paris. Like we're all the same really. Let's fast forward to 2024 and that's when you stopped working as the culinary director. What what happened there? Like were what did John just tell you, hey uh we don't need your services anymore?
>> John sent me a text when I was at home and you know this here last week kind of they told me they're moving which I think they're full of crap. Um cuz they never moved. Yeah. But when I I met when I talked to them about my um being let go, they did keep me on for another two months just out of the goodness of their heart. So that's why like the people that text me about what happened, I felt bad for them cuz they hadn't got paid. John said told me like, you know, we'll pay you for the rest of the month and you and your family on insurance till the end of the year. Then I talked them into like letting me stay on to work for two more months and then give me that seance in December. So like I bas I basically had November and December off when I was paid. So I do my heart does hurt for a lot of those people that were like hey getting paid. I think that's that's low.
>> Yeah. They haven't gotten their PTO yet. They haven't gotten severance. They haven't gotten their last paycheck.
>> That's that's very low. And I don't wish well on Steven or John or these other people. I know I don't know whose choice that was. I have a hard time thinking John Steven would do that. But if they did, that's that's not that's not nice.
>> I want to text you some pictures right now and ask if it's the food. This is the food that you made.
>> That's that's a classic Steven plate right there. Fletan lobster with potatoes on the side. That Thanksgiving. No, that's not mine. I would never make something that cheesy looking.
>> Okay,
>> I'm ripped. No, that's not mine. We're holding that knife. Slicing is completely doing her own. The nice thing about John Steven, they uh I never worked holidays. This one with this the ham and the carrots. Nice. That's Yeah, that's mine. You can kind of see it's in their theater room. Like I'd make little sometimes like just randomly I'd make them like a Thanksgiving themed dinner. So I'd make them like some roasted ham steak with stuffing, roasted carrots, and like put like a cauliflower brought in the back. And this Yeah, that's mine. This is the I remember this. This was um what do you call it? Uh Fourth of July. That's really easy stuff. Ribs, corn on the cob, not corny salad. They left it up to me and I knew how they were. So I was never going to think anything extravagant like steak and lobster. I mean that's extravagant to most people. John John's like a homegrown country boy. You know, he comes from like a really conservative family. He even like kind of grew up with a silver spoon. Like you know, his mom always kind of had money. And I know that the mom would talk to me. They'd go to Paris a lot or they'd make trip like she even randomly like speak to me in French sometimes like he would like name like some food you know and I'm just like the hell like what are you talking about? I had the cool when I was uh in Neo once. I'm like huh? And you're the guy that's eating Popeyes and stuff yourself with Cordidas and Domino's pizza. Like what are you talking about? Yeah, he was uh he was funny. So like he had a talent but I think his but he was more just love fast food. Like I think he could I think Stephen I could care less that I was there cooking. I'm not trying to rip him, but like I just think like if Stephen had his way, he would just order Door Dash every night and he still did. I mean like sometimes he would even touch my food and you know I don't have any ego so I didn't give a crap.
>> You mentioned that John seemed visibly stressed and like on edge. What about Stephen? Was he ever visibly unstressed or like do you think some of that could be stress eating?
>> So Stephen never seemed stressed to me. He always seems pretty chill and you know he's always he was very um he seems always very calm and he was very antisocial for the most part but when he got talking he was very social. He would walk and he would kind of avoid me at all costs. He never the kitchen he never like made eye contact at all. But then when he would talk he was the sweetest nicest guy. So he wasn't being a jerk. But when he got talking and he had people over. Stephen was a talker and he seemed to have a good time and he never seemed too stressed if this is what they're actually doing. I think it was kind of eating him up on the inside out cuz he was taking a lot of trips to the hospital. When the gentleman would tell me like, "Oh, Steven's blood pressure and this and his liver." I'm like, "What the are you getting this food for?" Like, it's really quite simple. Don't do this. Doctors would like you can't eat this. He needs to leave it. Is there any other thing you would like anyone to know out there?
>> Just wanted to let it be known that that they were they were good, loving people. What maybe a lot of people told you they were and I I really was grateful for my time with them and they were they were always sweet, kind and it's just a shock to me that this is kind of how it's going down. I just want to make it clear like I know people see like oh they have this private chef like so if I have the ability to like set the record straight I willing simple people and they were kind and they were loving and they just I think they I I felt like they really cared about everyone that came into their life they were really good people extravagance the the opposite the exact opposite they never went out to clubs they never did any of that you know they just had a simple for the most part what I thought like I sit home and just do