Did you notice any differences in the way that the different generations were approaching the challenges?

Yeah. Well, I just thought that initially the generations really stuck together and they had a lot of camaraderie. But as you start to progress in the competition, people start leaving the competition. And in the midpoint of the competition, you start seeing a lot more interaction between the Millennials. I saw some of the maternal and paternal feelings of the boomers, for instance, with the younger generations and wanting to teach them a little bit and help them out. It was just beautiful in that respect. There’s just a lot of emotion, a lot of pride from all the different generations. It was beautiful to see. And everyone will see that.

For Mother’s Day, Johnny Sánchez, your restaurant, posted a photo of you and your mother cooking together when you were quite little. Was there a lesson or something that you really took from learning and cooking with your mother when you were young?

One of the biggest things she told me was to develop your own cooking style. Make sure that when somebody eats your food, they know it’s an Aarón Sánchez dish. And that’s why initially I delved into Nuevo Latino food, which is a broader approach to Latin food, and didn’t touch Mexican. Because that was my mom’s deal. I felt like I was not well-read enough, I hadn’t traveled enough in Mexico. So later on in my career, as I got older, I finally felt that I could tackle Mexican food. That’s one of the ways that she taught me a valuable lesson.

Can you tell us a little bit about some of the upcoming guest judges?

Yeah, of course. Well, we have Sean Evans from “Hot Ones” who’s awesome. We have Christine Hà, the season three winner, an amazing woman who’s kicking butt. Vietnamese-style cooking, just crazy. We had Lidia Bastianich, speaking for the Baby Boomers, Joe’s mom was in the house and she was busting his chops. It was this really cool, really eclectic group of people that we invited on. We had Nick DiGiovanni speaking to the younguns. It was just a fun group.

Would you say there was any particular dish that still stands out in your mind?

Oh my God, there’s so many. There’s so many. I’d have to get back to you on that. I have to go through the Rolodex in my head. I’m sorry.