Michael Stember --- 2000 Olympic Semi-Finalist and Stanford Grad (YOU WON'T RECOGNIZE HIM)

This happened.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev5vqqs6MEE

never had a shred of respect for him- this might gain him my respect for his ability to motivate people to give him money. good for him tho.

Did he convert to Judaism?

[quote]hahayo wrote:

What a bunch of douchebag hipster dipsticks.[/quote

Agree . Pompous bullshit . ]

Awesome dude. When he ran 4:04 indoors in High School, that was the little splash that was the beginning of the modern tidal upsurge in American distance running.

I love how the unhappy drones from Letsrun hate on the guy for doing something he's passionate about.

No this is pretty cool. He gave up a corporate job to try to be a sushi chef and start a fast casual chain. The guy is marketing his style and persona, no one wants the short haired Michael Stember serving them food. Good for him.

Balding with the compensating beard. #sad

Phlogiston Cowboy wrote:

Awesome dude. When he ran 4:04 indoors in High School, that was the little splash that was the beginning of the modern tidal upsurge in American distance running.

Nice story, but this couldn't be farther from the truth. Stember's reign marked one of the low points in American distance running -- by no fault of his. His only role in the upsurge was to taunt the guy who started it after beating him in a heat.

"Its, like, his heart [pause] is being transferred from his knife to his plate"

This is just asking for someone to do a spoof on You Tube.

Its a neat idea (charging people for coming over to your place for dinner), but my SO's parents thought of it first.

Democratized food wrote:

[quote]hahayo wrote:

What a bunch of douchebag hipster dipsticks.[/quote

Agree . Pompous bullshit . ]

Hey, ooohhh! Drives a Prius, lives in a loft, into solar, passionate about climate change, feed the world sushi, ....

He's still got a beautiful stride though

Alan Webb's Goggles wrote:

"Its, like, his heart [pause] is being transferred from his knife to his plate"

This is just asking for someone to do a spoof on You Tube.

Its a neat idea (charging people for coming over to your place for dinner), but my SO's parents thought of it first.

That quote was awesome ha. Good for the guy doing what he loves but agree with many of the other posters, these people look awful to be around.

I met him in a late night chinese restaurant in new york a few years back not realizing it was him. was arguing with my girlfriend and he laughed at us being idiots. talked with him a bit and ended up getting on his mailing list. seems that he's pretty successful and enjoys what he does. nothing wrong with that.

In July 2014 I worked three nights with his Sushi Belly Tower crew when I was visiting friends in LA. Of my two close friends, 1 was an assistant chef to Michael, and the other was in charge of coordinating the logistics but also served and prepped - everyone did a little bit of that. I thought it would be fun to go along and see what it was like, and it was an awesome time even considering I was prepping food and serving dishes to rich people. It was like a big family dinner party and by far the best food I've ever eaten. Keep in mind this was still when they were hopping around LA setting up shop in office buildings and lofts. As he said in the video, it was pretty unsustainable what they were doing, in many different ways. Glad to see he's opening a restaurant.

I was welcomed graciously and Michael was a great guy to work with, and he was truly passionate about what he was doing. I can see how he can turn people off - I was scared at times when I messed up a little bit - but as far as I could tell he was just trying to perfect his craft.

We got breakfast the morning of the first dinner and we talked about running for a while. Seemed like a pretty cool guy to me.

I will support his restaurant in NYC when it opens. Love stories like this. Guy is living the dream. Doing what makes him happy.

I mean.... HE WOULD!

But... I gotta respect the guy for choosing a passion and making it happen.

That beard though. hmmm

Apparently scientists have isolated the pretentious hipster dbag gene.

It is found in guys of that phenotype.

I am sure he wears something like this when cooking:

http://assets.dnainfo.com/generated/chicago_photo/2015/05/beard-net-1430747795.jpg/extralarge.jpg