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Chef Eric LeVine doesn’t do filters, not in his kitchen, not on a podcast mic and not in life.
He’s a Food Network Chopped champion, author of multiple cookbooks and a James Beard-nominated chef with decades in the industry.
But none of that matters, he says, if you’re not being real. “I’m not trying to impress anyone,” he tells Shawn Walchef, host of Restaurant Influencers. “I’m trying to matter.”
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That kind of honesty isn’t a branding strategy. It’s survival.
LeVine has beaten cancer six times, shed 186 pounds and finished a marathon on a blown-out knee. Through it all, he’s learned that authenticity is as essential as it is admirable.
However, reaching that point required more than physical resilience. It meant burning away ego, something LeVine calls the most dangerous ingredient in any kitchen, business or life.
“Ego is the worst part of people,” he says. “It keeps them from learning, from growing, from being honest with themselves. Ego will kill you faster than failure.”
He didn’t just face the diagnosis; LeVine beat it. And in doing so, he began to rebuild every part of himself. He lost weight, reconnected with his health and ran a marathon despite a serious injury. The finish line wasn’t about glory. It was about proving to himself that he could do hard things for the right reasons. Not ego, but purpose.
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Living in the moment
Somewhere along that journey, LeVine stopped hiding behind the grind. “I was never really present,” he says. “I was always chasing the next. My wife helped me realize that the moment we’re in is the most powerful one we have.”
That shift in perspective now drives everything he does, from leadership to speaking engagements to writing cookbooks. “I hate writing cookbooks,” he admits, “but I love what they represent. They’re real. They’re a connection.”
That connection is what sets LeVine apart. He doesn’t try to be the loudest voice in the room — just the most real. He tells his story not to highlight pain, but to showcase what’s possible when you stop pretending and start being genuine.
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“I’m not afraid to make mistakes,” he says. “And I’m not afraid of what my past was like. It doesn’t define me. It built me.”
In a world of polished branding and performative leadership, LeVine is betting on something different. Something human. Something honest. Something real.
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