The Foodfluencers: Why Alice Mushrooms Wants You to Eat Chocolate Every Day

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1:24They're a regular. Built Hospitality is available now for restaurant groups everywhere. Learn more at BuiltDining.com backslash hangout. That's BuiltDining.com backslash hangout. And check out what Built Hospitality is going to do for you and your restaurant. Happy ending sexual wellness and aphrodisiac. Yeah, and that one is spicy. So that one has nine aphrodisiacs in it. There's also cayenne and cinnamon, which not only make it kind of literally taste spicely, but they act like a vasodilator or they are vasodilators. So it helps your body absorb it faster.

2:05Live from Amazon Business Studios in New York City, it's the Hospitality Hangout Podcast with the restaurant guy and the finance guy. And joining us today is Charlotte Cruz, Dr. Charlotte Cruz, the co-founder of Alice Mushrooms, as we continue our Food Blincer series on the Hospitality Hangout. Welcome to the show. Well, Jimmy, I don't think we've ever had a doctor on the show. You know what? I don't know if we have a doctor. Have we had a doctor on the show? We've had a doctor now. I'm still not so sure we have a doctor. Dr. Charlotte Cruz. But she is, you know, as far as we're concerned, we are anointing her the doctor of mushrooms.

2:42The mushroom doctor. The mushroom doctor. I have the privilege of welcoming you more formally to the Hospitality Hangout, a hospitality-focused podcast where the founders of Branded share their insights and bring technology and innovation leaders that are making things happen in the industry we love. Today, we're continuing our Food Flinter miniseries, the CPG Edition. That's consumer packaged goods for any of you not in the biz. And we're spotlighting the brands that are not just influencing what we eat, but literally how we discover it. I like them apples, Shatsy. I love it, Jimmy. I got to tell you, it's really a beautiful introduction.

3:15Thank you. Are you done with it? Is there more or should I? Well, now part two, subset three. Go ahead. No, I'm good. You can go. Well, thank you for that kind introduction. Was there an introduction to me? I'd like to introduce my partner. How are you going to introduce me? I got to tell you, I think at this point, we just start rambling. I think people just know who we are. But I'll introduce Mr. Michael Schatzberg, a.k.a. the restaurant guy. But everyone just calls him Schatzie. Anyway, listen, I got to tell you, Jim, we could talk about this all day long. But let me tell you something. We are super excited to have Dr.

3:43Cruz here on the podcast to learn more about Alice Mushrooms. Because I've got to tell you, mushrooms are hot. I like to eat mushrooms. I like to cook mushrooms. I always like to eat mushrooms. But we're really going to learn about this. Today, we've got somebody who's making functional mushrooms cool, delicious, and accessible. And we're going to dive into this because the word mushroom, I think, needs some specificity. We're going to dive in. We have Miss Charlotte Cruz, the co-founder of Alice Mushrooms, the brand behind those chic mushroom chocolates that you've probably been seeing all over your Instagram page.

4:15And by the way, have them in-house. In-house. Have them in-studio. I think I'm going to have a Xanax. Xanax, yeah. Yeah. Dr. Cruz has suggested. Prescribed. Prescribed, yes. Dr. Cruz prescribed this, and I went to CVS, and I had my script fulfilled at CVS, and now I have one square. Well, listen, Charlotte, can you say hello to everybody? Hello, everyone. Yeah, this is Charlotte. Charlotte Cruz, the founder. Co-founder. There's two of us. Co-founder and running. Let's see. How does one become, how does one get involved in the selling of mushrooms, Alice mushrooms? Well, first of all, you're not Alice.

4:54No. Who's Alice? Alice is no one and everyone all at once. So is it more like Alice from Alice in Wonderland? Loosely inspired by her character. I like that. Nothing really with the story, but my business partner grew up loving the story of Alice in Wonderland, specifically Alice and how she carried herself and what she represented. So the brand name is kind of an ode to her curious personality. Well, I just had my first little square. You like it? I mean, the jalka tastes delicious. That's my favorite one. I have a favorite child, and it's that one. Okay, I like this. I like this Xanax, and I like the riff on Xanax.

5:34Yeah. In my household, I'd say that Xanax is frequently thrown around a lot. I think Jillian is a big fan of Xanax and Xanax. I had the brainstorm. Brainstorm for Focus Energy. I had the brainstorm, and I'm extremely focused right now. Locked in. I'm locked in. Yeah, you are locked, and you look like you're locked in. So let's go. So you go into Virginia, and you get a BA in American Studies. You did your research. Well, I spoke to your - Fourth grade. Yeah, your fourth grade elementary school teacher. Where'd you grow up? Lexington, Kentucky. Yeah, I spoke to your fourth grade teacher at, it was Lexington Public School, elementary.

6:13Close, but no second. What elementary school did you go to? Sare School. Yeah, that's where I am. Go Spartans. Right, that's what we spoke to her. Go Spartans. And it was your fourth grade teacher. What was her name? Mrs. Coet. Mrs. O 'Rourke. Mrs. O 'Rourke. And you know what she told me? she knew that you would be making Alice mushroom chocolates one day. Wow. That's just a smart woman. So you went to London School of Economics. You went and spent a summer over there. I did spend a summer in London. Like you got to be really smart to go over there. Not so smart for summer school, I think. Oh, really?

6:43You just got to pay? Is that more just, okay, so you just got to pay? All right, at least you're honest about that because I know if you get in there, that's like super smart. Jimmy applied. He didn't get in. I didn't get in. But then you went to NYU, Masters of Art, Master of Arts degree. Master's in Food Studies. An MA in Food Studies. I'm trying to make this sound a little bit more impressive. So it's basically you are like a PhD. Essentially. A PhD, a doctor, attorney. Right. So that's why we can call you a doctor officially, Jimmy. Sure. You got a background in media and marketing, right?

7:19You worked at big, like NBC. I see that. I don't know what Inside Hook is, so I'm just going to go with NBC, right? You loved working with food brands, telling their stories, right? Yeah. And so tell us. So then let's jump in from there. So then what happened? Yeah. I mean, media was my thing for a long time. I worked at Inside Hook was kind of like Refinery29. Inside Hook is, not was, still around. It's lifestyle media. Okay. So I did branded content partnerships. So basically, you know, a brand would come to us. Let's call it Tag Heuer because I did a lot of media. Yeah, yeah. Nice watches. Jimmy's the watch guy.

7:54And they'd say, hey, we got this amount of money. Can you come up with a video campaign to blast your audience about it? And I would kind of do that from nose to tail. And you were doing it for how long? Like eight years. Eight years. Yeah. And you were loving it except for there was something missing. There was something missing in your life. Yeah. And I mean, I got to a point where I couldn't come up with another way to sell a watch to a dude. I had maxed out on those ideas. There's no more watch selling ideas. No more watches to no more dudes. Okay. And I realized that the stories that I liked telling the most in media were about food.

8:28So how'd you meet Lindsay? Yeah. So when I had kind of, I went back, the master's thing, started working in early stage consumer food products, realized that's what I really wanted to do. I had a business that I'd been working on that I like to call my six month MBA in how to run and run a business into the ground. Oh, good Lord. And after that one tanked, I was looking for my next challenge and just started networking like crazy. And through a friend of a friend got thrown on a text thread with Lindsay. And it's funny because I live in New York. Lindsay lives in L.A. We had zero mutual friends.

9:07This guy that I just happened to talk to through a friend of a friend of a friend met Lindsay at a potluck a week later. And Lindsay kind of mentioned to him, oh, I'm working on this. I'm looking for a partner. and he just threw us on a text thread and we talked on the phone. It was during the pandemic. So we just talked on the phone for months. Didn't even meet in person. Because you're a foodie and she's already had this idea. Mm-hmm. She has a background in pharmaceuticals. So she's been doing big pharmaceutical sales for almost 10 years. Okay. And got super fed up with the industry, was looking for natural alternatives, things that were not so much Band-Aids but addressing root causes.

9:41Mm-hmm. And she very much understood, I think when you look at the functional mushroom space, Everything's a powder, a pill, a tincture. It tastes pretty bad and it's a chore to take. But it was really like, okay, how do we make this accessible, taste good, and attractive to the modern consumer? Right. So she was looking for ways to do that. Started playing around with chocolate in her kitchen because the thing that she really knew from pharmaceuticals is how the delivery method of medication affects patient compliance. Right. Which is a fancy way of saying if something sucks to take, no one's going to take it.

10:14So she's messing around with chocolate in the kitchen. Yeah, with a homeopathic doctor. She's in there getting chocolate from Trader Joe's, melting it down, buying like magnesium capsules and capsules of mushrooms and pouring them in kind of mad scientist vibes. And started formulating the first two were nightcap, our sleep chocolate and brainstorm, our focus and energy for the two things that I think everyone was struggling with most during the pandemic. Right. Like, how do I sleep and how do I not lose my mind? And we met and she was like, I think this is something. And I was like, I really think this is something, too.

10:44so we started working across the country on it together and you still haven't met we didn't meet until probably four months into working together so that brings you to like so that was like winter of 20 like 2021 into 2022 and then you launch in 2022 in october yeah we did with two products nightcap and brainstorm right yeah and then you and then happy ending happy ending yeah okay did Did you come up with the names or is that collaborative or is that you or is that Jimmy? We come up with the names. Yeah. It's a lot of spitballing back and forth. I like it. These are good names. So Nightcap is Sleep.

11:20Brainstorm is what Jimmy, that's what you're on, right? I'm on Brainstorm. And then Happy Ending, Sexual Wellness and Aphrodisiac. Yeah. And that one is spicy. So that one has nine aphrodisiacs in it. There's also cayenne and cinnamon, which not only make it kind of literally taste spicily, but they act like a vasodilator or they are vasodilators. So it helps your body absorb it faster. So is this like, what happens when I take this? So the idea with all of our chocolates, and this is just kind of a quick two-second crash course on functional mushrooms, is that functional mushrooms do not work instantly.

11:55You need to take a medicinal dose daily for about a month to allow the nutrients time to compound and start working. And then they just get better the more you take it. I feel so good right now. With all of our chocolates, though, like Lindsay and I are very much not into waiting. We need instant gratification. Right. So we formulate the functional mushrooms alongside things that do work right away. So all of our chocolates will give you kind of this instant benefit. And the idea is that keeps you motivated to take them every day. And then you're going to start getting the benefits of the mushrooms.

12:26I love that your goal, make Alice synonymous with mushrooms. So now help me because we talk about mushrooms and people's mind may go in any number of places even before they take psychedelic mushrooms. But when our producer, Julie, told me that we were having the mushroom brand on, I was curious, like, first and foremost, which type of mushroom we're talking about. So when people hear mushroom chocolates, there's definitely a thought about psychedelics. So how do you navigate this conversation? You're clearly doing things from health and wellness. And every one of these products are things that matter to, I think, all of us.

13:03So how do you talk about the functional mushroom versus culinary mushroom? and sorry, functional mushrooms, culinary mushrooms, psychedelic mushrooms. Well, so I think when we started, I mean, it's crazy what's happened over the last three years in terms of how much education there's been just on a cultural level around mushrooms. I would say when we launched three years ago, we got emails all the time. I want to try this, but will it make me feel a drug test? Can I take this overseas with me? Is this going to get caught at the airport? Is TSA going to, you know, we got that all the time. I would say that's pretty rare now.

13:33And I think that is maybe, if I can toot my own horn, a product of us being very forward with how we educate. But I think just the industry as a whole has educated a lot. But like the real thing here is that and that people forget it. The fungi are a kingdom. This is something they don't teach you. You said fungi. I love that. Fungi are a kingdom. It's something they forget to teach you when you're growing up, that there's the plant kingdom and the animal kingdom, but there's also the fungi kingdom. Fungi kingdom. Yeah. The fungi were actually the first species that came onto the earth before we did.

14:05There used to be mushrooms the size of skyscraper buildings. But talk about media buzz. I mean, this kind of dovetails right into it. I mean, what are you guys doing? Like social media today has really changed the way we learn about things. We get our news and we really, where do we eat? What do we eat? Where do we, you know? So tell me what you guys are doing on the social, on the media front and the social media front to continue to stay like in the forefront of coolness and hip. I mean, you guys were in Forbes. You're in Bon Appetit. You're in Fast Company, WWD, all the food magazine, beauty magazines.

14:40Everyone's talking about you. Pedro Pascal's talking about you. What do you guys do? Is that you and Lindsay doing that? Yeah, honestly, our social has really been us since day one and still is us. um our instagram we take a different approach to it it's kind of ethereal it's kind of wacky um we do a lot of memes it's we kind of like to keep it this like mystery of who alice is and be a little less uh cpg and almost a little more beauty and i think that that has differentiated us a lot um we lean a lot into just the deliciousness of our product which is something that a lot of people in the wellness space can't do because they're usually selling pills um and powders which aren't delicious it's like food porn has been big for us and I think we do a lot of collabs 110 ,000 followers on Instagram too yeah so a lot of people give a shit about wait we're 110 now that's what it says wow am I wrong last I checked we were at 100 something look at that well I think you know what happened I think that people found out you were coming on yeah and you know we generate that kind of buzz once they knew that Alice would come to the office probably like I would say like you had 100 ,000 last week then we said that you were coming on and then you're at$110 ,000.

15:50I mean, the math, math. Yeah. It does. The correlation may not be as exact as... No, but the hospitality hangout drives awareness. There's no question about it. So are you a big social media person? I'm very online, is what I would say. And Lindsay? She's also pretty online, but we're in very different corners of the internet, which I think has made the content very good because we kind of mesh the two. Right. All right, listen, I have a question. I dropped some of the celebrities and some of the folks that have gotten behind your company. And you have some serious star power. I mentioned that guy from Pedro Pascal.

16:24We talked about Kevin Hart. You've also been extremely strategic about your influencer marketing and how you're building real relationships. In an age where everyone is somewhat spamming influencers, how do you cut through the noise and get people genuinely excited about Alice? Yeah. I mean, I think if you're just a real person, that goes a long way. I think there's so many brands now. It's just like, it's so easy to start just a drop shipping brand and have a bot start reaching out to a bunch of influencers. And I'm sure you get like, do you get emails all the time from like different SaaS companies that are like, Charlotte, are you, have you thought about increasing revenue?

17:03You know, and you're like, and I have thought about it. So interesting you say that. And influencers are the same way in their DM inbox. Right. So I think it's all just about having a personal touch and finding someone, writing them a real note that comes from a real person. And you'd be really shocked on what that can do. It just takes a little bit more time. Is there a world where Alice Mushroom Chocolates, where are you in the world of technology in your business? And how is it helping? Or is it, no, no, no, I don't buy into that. I like AI to proofread things for me. That's frankly what I use ChatGPT for.

17:41I agree. proofread this. It's great grammatically. It's a good spell checker. It's a good spell checker. But I mean, sometimes you use it like a thesaurus. I don't know. I just think that the best ideas come from human beings. I agree. My chat GPT, by the way, great at crossing puzzles. I mean, if I'm stuck in a word, five letter word, you know, and it's like, boom. Don't tell Will Short that. But it is good for that stuff. Yeah. But so where else are people using it that they're like, you know, freaking you out um video generation like uh ai to fake someone's voice i mean i think that type of stuff that's scary talent is really scary um like that ai actress what tilly what's it tilly tilly tilly norwood yeah yeah till he's doing gigs yeah amy paul amy poehler had a great bit on tilly like it's amazing saying that tilly's getting business she's one do a frontal and amy polar was like hey me too exactly right right there's no one there's no one's asking yeah exactly if you ask me exactly if that's how tilly's getting gigs i would do frontal nudity too right yeah no i i hear you oh i i hear you so let's talk about um functional mushrooms and influencing restaurants yeah like is this a trend now you're seeing in food service are we going to start seeing this in the food we eat our chefs now going and making recipes with with these products and is this are you going to food service yeah i mean we're trying to make it that way we've done a lot in food service more as kind of limited edition pop-up collaborations with our chocolates so we've done um do you know department 4f the viral kind of croissant bakery we've put our brainstorm chocolate in their croissants which has been fun we so you're making like food service sized chocolates that people could buy?

19:31I mean, in the industry. We're taking these bars, and I mean, those bars are the only way we make it, but it's easy because it's just dosed out, right? Right. So you don't need very much. Okay. At 4F, they basically took some of our chocolate and melted it in with some of theirs so that they didn't overdose people on it. Well, what happened? You said that you have to eat them for like two, three months. Right. But there are instant benefits and ingredients in there that work right away. So in our Brainstorm chocolate, there's 66 milligrams of natural caffeine per square. Oh, I feel a little jittery right now.

20:03Did I have? No, you had our chill one. I had the chill one. Oh, okay. Yeah. Then I was lying. So that ain't us. That ain't us. I had an espresso. I had an espresso. So you're going to food service. Chefs are starting to do that now. Is that something like a disclaimer on the menus and stuff like that? What are we talking about here? We haven't gotten that far, really. I mean, I think we do a lot of espresso martinis. Right, right. That's where I'm thinking. Yeah. Espresso martinis are really fun with our chocolate. We've done our chocolate melted down as dips for churros. We've done ice cream sundaes.

20:37But I mean, the disclaimer is really just like it's it's Alice chocolate. And I think we're still doing it on a smaller scale where it's more just fun pop up things. But I mean, I'd love to take it further. And we've done a lot of stuff with coffee, which has been really fun. But you guys, are you fully like. No. Yeah. We're we're everything that we do is a thousand percent legal. FDA. Yeah. I mean, well, the FDA doesn't regulate the supplement industry. It's actually something that I always caveat to people is it's really not hard to start selling supplements, which makes you, I think, it can be very discerning about what supplements you buy because there's no one being like, does this pass the test?

21:13Like, you can just go out there and say something. Yeah. And once you get big enough, you can get sued. But there's a long time before that happens. Right, right. So trust your supplement brands. Well, because wasn't there a time where the diet pills, remember those diet pills? Yeah. And I think they just sent diet pills out, but I think people were dropping dead or something. Totally. Like having heart attacks. And I think that's probably when the FDA gets involved. That's America, baby. Yeah. So these are supplements. These are supplements. And the packaging is very much like, to me, it's like Altoids.

21:44Yeah. Right? Yeah. We wanted to have that kind of sensory experience of clicking the tin open and close, something you could carry with you. have in your bag. I like it a lot. And you know what else? Because when I'm done eating the chocolate, I'll keep this. Yeah, and you can put stuff in there. Because I can put stuff in there. Yeah, it's a little stash tent. It's a stash tent. Because I used to use Altoids, I mean, you know, back in the day. I mean, it was a great place to like put pot and stuff. Yeah. Can I say that? You can say it. Yeah, it was a great place to put pot. Yeah, so that's like this is good for, right?

22:10Yeah. Yeah, it's awesome. I like it a lot. Yeah. Go ahead. No, as you say, we've done a lot of, like with that one, we've done sex lattes, which are really fun. Wait, what's a sex latte? You basically melt that down under some espresso and make a latte with it. And people come and buy. We've done that at the Elk in New York. We've done that at some spots in L.A. I want to scroll back for a second, expand a little bit on Alice. You mentioned Alice in Wonderland. Yeah. There's the mushroom in the book that makes Alice grow and shrink. There's clearly intentionality. You want to make Alice synonymous with mushrooms.

22:42Can you talk more about that? Because actually, I kind of feel whether it's an Isabelle's collaboration, I think we want to kind of people want to get behind Alice. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think that mushrooms, it's such an emerging category and it's really exciting. And I think we are the leaders in that or we're aiming to be the leaders in that because we're making it accessible with these fun tins. We're making it delicious. We're making it work in a way that people will have instant benefits versus having to wait for a really long time. and we're making it feel approachable and not like something that only people at like Woodstock would be interested in right I think that was the big thing with mushrooms it's not just granola people it's every person right you don't need like a kombucha mother brewing in your basement to like mushrooms and we wanted to be something that you know someone could have out on their desk at work and feel really good about and not have to hide or it's something you want to put in your on the nightstand in your guest bedroom very good looking look how clean that is very good packaging.

23:38Yeah, I feel. I think that, you know, this is very good for gifting. Exactly. It literally fits perfectly into a stocking, too. Before we move on, because we mentioned some of the celebrities, and to a certain extent, the company I'm going to name is a celebrity in its own right, but El Caterton led and backed your Series A$8 million round. I mean, that's no, that is a, they're a monstrous player in the space. They're one of the elite, you know, investors, or as institutional investors, I think it's huge. And as someone who was bootstrapping your company and being intentional about not over-raising or over-spending, what changes have you experienced now that you've secured this capital?

24:20Are you thinking about retail expansion? Wait, when did you close this$8 million? So that$8 million we closed in May, but actually Catterton led our seed rounds. And then they came in and participated again in our A. The A was led by a fund called Newbound Venture Capital. And we also had Unilever Ventures in there and the DJ Tiesto. Yeah. Really? So when you get a guy like Unilever on the cap table, are they like, you know, we're going to be on the cap table, but let me tell you something. You know, this is something like if you get, you know, things go really well. We have rights and we want to be selling all the Alice Marshall stuff.

24:58There's no kind of deal like that. They invest off of their balance sheet, so it's completely their venture arm as kind of just a part of their business. But we love the Unilever team, and that would be a dream scenario. Because I think they own Ben & Jerry's. I know there's a little tension over there, but I won't get into it. But I'm thinking, like, could we get an Alice mushroom ice cream like we talked about? I mean, you're reading my mind over here. Right? That is the dream. Yeah, that's not the dream. That's the reality because, listen, everyone out there, like, we got to do this. Like, I can come up with all these.

25:29And look at the flavors we have. Happy ending. How great would that sell? I'll buy that. Right? Sex ice cream. Yeah. I like this, right? This is really terrific. All right, Jimmy, is there anything else you want to say about that? Or now can I take a break? Now we can take a break. I got to take a break? Take a break. All right, so listen, don't go any. We're going to be right back with Dr. Charlotte Cruz, co-founder, CEO, chairman, president of Alice Mushroom Chocolates. A little this or that, the spice is right, and a little quick fire. So stay with us because there's a lot more, a lot more to get to on the Hospitality Hangout.

26:03Hey, everybody. I got to tell you, we're going to talk about Built. Built Hospitality. Millions of people use Built every day. That's right, every day to earn rewards on housing and in their neighborhood. But now, now it extends to your restaurant. That's where Built Hospitality comes in. Built Hospitality shapes how guests are recognized and taken care of. Built's restaurant-facing platform is designed specifically for dining operators to drive loyalty with their guests. It combines reservations, guest preferences, VIP management, and payments all into one platform alongside an agentic concierge.

26:42That's right, an AI concierge that thoughtfully designs and executes experiences around your guest tastes. Using the latest and greatest in AI technology. When a guest walks in, your team already knows what they like without digging through notes. Built Hospitality works across the entire guest journey. That's right, the entire guest journey from delivering a complimentary course at the right moment, just the right moment, sending a personalized offer that brings them coming back again and again and again. That's right. That's what Built Hospitality is doing. It is allowing you to communicate with your guests and keep them coming back over and over.

27:22Make every guest feel like a regular every time, not just their first time, every time. They're a regular. Built Hospitality is available now for restaurant groups everywhere. Learn more at BuiltDining.com backslash hangout. That's BuiltDining.com backslash hangout. And check out what Built Hospitality is going to do for you and your restaurant. We are back. We are back with a little magical, mystical, magical. Benson Boone version of Alice Mushroom Chocolate, This or That. Do you know how to play This or That? I feel like I can figure it out. She's quick study. Yeah, see, Jimmy, some of the other guests, you have to, like, explain it.

28:04Not, you know why? Because she's a doctor. A doctor. It's a long good school of economics. Yeah, you don't get it. You don't got to explain to a doctor how to do that. Master of food studies at NYU. All right, Charlotte. This or that. Morning brainstorm or evening nightcap? Nightcap. Coffee or tea? Coffee. NYC or LA? New York. Sweet or savory? Ooh. Can I have both? You sure can. You can go sweet and savory. Yeah, I like that. All right, both. I think I know the answer, but I don't know. Yoga or running? I mean, again, it's both. I have to have both. Do you run and then yoga, or do you yoga then run?

28:39I'll run to yoga. You do? Uh-huh. Really? Yeah. You're unbelievable. Unbelievable. So yoga and running. Instagram or TikTok? These days, TikTok. It's so fun over there. But you got 115 ,000 on Instagram. But that's your personal or is that business? No, that's the business. My personal is Peanuts. Is it Irwan, Whole Foods, or Meadow Lane? Ooh, I mean, don't make me pick a favorite child. We just rolled out in Whole Foods. And I love it there. Yeah, Whole Foods is good. But Irwan's been with us since day one. Really? Yeah. They knew. They knew. They were our first big retailer. Took a chance on us.

29:13Supplements or snacks? I mean, Alice's both. So, Jimmy, do you have anything? I mean, based on, you know, it's evening nightcap, it's coffee. I mean, are you usually say, wow, we're so alike? And you guess what Charlotte guessed. Did you not do that this time? I did that. I did not think that she was going to use both as often as she did. So, for example, I chose New York over L.A., and I was right about that. Then I chose yoga over running, and she was a both. I chose Instagram over TikTok because she has so many followers on Instagram, but she chose actually TikTok. So to a certain extent, the both had me a little bit perplexed.

29:52I think she's a big both-er. She says great range. She has great range. Like Alice itself. Great range. Yeah, it really is unbelievable. It is a supplement. It's a snack. Yeah. All right, what about a little, should we do a little Jimmy? You know what I hear coming in? Yeah, I want to play The Spice is Right. I don't know if this is a game that Charlotte knows. Have you ever heard of the game The Price is Right? Of course. You have. Oh, yeah, big time. Me and Bob Barker go way back. Do you really? Oh, yeah. So let me ask that man. Because, like, for me, when I was younger, I would always tell my mom I didn't feel well.

30:18Not always. I mean, there were times. I just didn't feel like going to school. I don't feel well. Yeah. Because I wanted to watch the price. Right. That's a cross-generational experience. So that's what I'm saying. So is that, like, did that not happen? No, that was me for sure. It was. 11 a.m. is when I would come on. 11 a.m.? Uh-huh. So you sleep in because you're sick, and I got to sleep until 1030. And you get the prices right. And then you get the prices right. And you feel a little better. Uh-huh. All right. Well, listen. How about a little Spices Right, okay? In honor of your partnership with, well, this says, well, Irwin.

30:45Irwin. I mean, you have a partnership with Irwin, right? Yeah. And they're OG and you love them, right? Uh-huh. And they really helped get you some traction, right? Yeah. So how about we do the Spices Right Super Smoothie Edition, okay? And you guessed the price. Closest without going over because the Price is Right rules are in effect. Jimmy, you will be bidding first. No cheating. By the way, I was a penny off the last time. You were a penny over, though. I was a penny over. You can't go over. I know. Everyone knows that. I was like, I nailed it. Price is right. If you nailed it, you would have had the right price.

31:19Actually, that was two times ago. And then last time, we were both over. And then you gave our guests a hit. Not a hit. Like, I guess. And you're like, Jimmy was not over. And then he went one penny above me. He's trying to help our guest. That's right. I said, who was that? Who was that? I forget. That was the foodie magician. Oh, the foodie magician. Yeah, come on. He was throwing tricks around here. That guy's cool. I've seen him. Yeah, yeah. That's Josh Beckham. All right, here we go. Here we go. Today we are featuring the Hallie Bieber Skin Glazed Smoothie. Let me just tell you what's in this bad boy.

31:48I think I may have had this. It's organic strawberries, not those usual ones that you get. Okay? Organic avocado. It's organic coconut cream. It's organic dates. I love dates. Hyaluronic acid. Does that ring a bell with you? Yeah, yeah. I use it. I mean, look at this. Do you see this skin? I'm glowing. Seamoss. I had this because I rubbed the Seamoss on my face, and people said something to me. They're like, you look really good. Organic coconut milk, organic maple syrup, vanilla stevia. Uh-huh. That's what's in the Hailey Bieber skin-glazed smoothie. Uh-huh. How much do you think a shake like that costs?

32:26Every time you said the word organic, I started adding. You have all. Organic costs more money. It does. How many ounces is this shake? Am I allowed to ask that question? I've had them. They're like 12 to, they're no more than 16 and more than 12. They're big, right? 12, 16 ounces. I think they're expensive and they're big. Oh, they're expensive, huh? All right,$12.99. Oh, my God. I'll let someone call him, but I'm not going to accept that call. That is so low. Did you hear that phone ringing? Yeah. You did? I did. All right, just want to make sure. I did. Okay. $12.99 and Doc said. Wait, who's guessing?

32:57I guessed$12.99. He laughed at me. He's like, oh, God. All right. You can't even walk outside your house in L.A. for$12.99. Yeah, Jimmy. Oh, it's 20. We're hearing from Julie, 20 ounces. That's a 20-ounce shake. Oh, well, it's 20 ounces. Hold on. Now. Oh, it's a whole different ballgame. Okay, what do you think? I was at$12.99. I was guessing. I'll leave my guess in there. All right. I mean, he's making this too easy. I could just say 13 because I'm going to win on that. But I'll make it spicier. Let's go$16.99. $16.99. and I got to tell you, the winner is Dr. Cruz,$19. Yeah. $19. Is that a lot of money for a shake or no?

33:40Yeah. Like, what do you think a Dairy Queen charges for a shake, Jimmy? You're a big Dairy Queen guy. Oh, big Dairy Queen guy. What do you think? Like$1.99? 20 ounces, but still a$3. What does Friendly's get for a Fribble? Fribble's expensive. Fribble. Where do you get milkshakes? Where's your favorite shake? Well, I'm lactose intolerant, so. Really? Yeah, it's a real bummer. Are you sure? I promise. I have the blood work to prove it. Can we check that right now? Can we get a glass of milk in here? But back in the day. Oh, you just became lactose intolerant like recently? I figured it out like a year and a half ago.

34:09Really? And I cried. So do you, when you're lactose intolerant, do you take like those lactate pills all the time or no? No. So you just avoid dairy? I just avoid it when I can. To me, it's more, I mean, this is really getting into doctor stuff. It gave me hives. We'll go quick fire. Here we go. All right. Put this on. All right. All right, branded quick fire, Alice Mushroom Chocolate's version. Charlotte Cruz in the house. We are so fortunate to have the doctor here. Okay, quick fire. Are you ready? Yeah, hit me. All right, don't think too long. Don't think too hard. This is a quick fire, mind you.

34:40What is your dream brand collaboration with Alice Mushroom Chocolate? Ben and Jerry's. Oh, we said Ben and Jerry. Do you want a different one? No, it's okay. It's okay. Ben and Jerry, that's your dream collab. Okay. You know, if you had to delete either Instagram or TikTok forever, I think I know this one. What are you deleting? Instagram. No, you really hate on Instagram, huh? I mean, TikTok is more pure. It knows me. It's showing me funny stuff. Did Instagram not get a chance to know you? I mean, I felt if you gave it the chance, you could be friends. The algorithm is not as good. It's not. Well, that's why everyone knows that.

35:14Yeah. What is it that they've done to their algorithm that no one else could figure out? I don't know, but they can have all my data because it's worth it. Well, that's what I think. They're like, TikTok has your data. I'm like, what data? Like, what? What I like to shop. Yeah, you're like, hell yeah, they do. Yeah. And now it's awesome. All I know is, I know at my house, Jillian is just swiping. Boxes are just coming to our home, and she's just like, I don't even remember buying this. Yeah, I spent$100 on TikTok shop yesterday in a fugue state. Do you ever think that the stuff that you get from them is just garbage, though?

35:46No, because you can buy Alice Mushrooms on TikTok shop. No, but I mean, like, oh, yeah, no, I agree. What is your Uber rating? Ooh, I don't know. I haven't tracked in a while. I Ubered here. You did? I sure did. Should we look? Yeah. Let's pull it out. Let's pull it out. Jimmy, how are you doing? I'm scared. You know what? Don't be afraid. I think I'm unchanged, but I'm going to go check it out. Because we had someone last week that assured us they were five, and then they looked. They were like a 484. No, I'm probably like a 47. I'm late. I'm 478, which is not great. How do you find? Ooh, I'm 485.

36:19That's very good. That's very good. Very good. I'm very polite. Can you show that to the camera? 478. I know yours. Oh, mine. Yeah, we don't even know. We're taking your word for it. We don't take a word for it, right, Jimmy? I'm up. Really? 487. Woo! 487. By the way, my Uber radio started to get better when I stopped picking Shatsy up. Yeah, Jimmy Blaine me. He's very bossy. I just don't like when the Uber guys take you the wrong way. Like, they don't know New York City. Right. You know, taxi cabs don't know New York City anymore. They used to. This bothers me. I get in the taxi and I'm like, hey, corner of, you know, DeKalb and Lafayette.

37:00And they're like, please type it in. Yes. Because everyone's just got. Do you remember the days when you got into a cab? There was no Uber. There was no nothing. You got into a cab. You just told me you wanted to go. And they knew the fastest way. The real hacks. Yes. Right. That's gone. OG cab drivers would never look at them out. I mean, they had the city memorized. Yes. They knew the staggered lights. They knew which when to go east or west. And how to get there. The 200 block versus the 300 block. That's gone. Gone. Those days are gone. Gone, I tell you. All right, listen, let me ask you. As a New Yorker, but you're not born in New York, are you?

37:32No. You were from? I was born in Washington, D.C., and then I grew up in Lexington, Kentucky. Right, Kentucky. You told me that, I think. Yeah, I'm coming up on 10 years in New York. So you're, Jimmy, what's the New York, is it 10 or 13 years? How long are you going to be in New York to say you're from New York? Tell me, because you always had a rule about that. No, it's not to say you're from New York, to say you're a New Yorker. Yeah, what is your rule? Yeah, you're here for seven years here in New York. Is that seven is the number? I've heard ten. I heard ten, too. I will go ten. But here's my other kind of - Is that you're from New York?

37:59Jimmy's just making shit up now. Yeah, you're part of New York. Yeah, you do. But here's my other thing that fast-tracked me is I stayed during COVID. I didn't do any of that, leaving, getting cash out, and going through the bridge and tunnel, you know? I stayed on Manhattan the whole time. There you go. Because you know why? Because you're a doctor, and you knew there was nothing to be afraid of but fear itself, right? Yeah, I had to bang those pots and pans. Yeah, exactly. Every night at 7 o 'clock. Yeah, exactly. Remember that? That was a lot of fun, by the way. Yeah. You know what? What is that?

38:27They were the worst of times. They were the best of times. I was right behind Lenox Hill Hospital. It was a lot of action. Oh, yeah. Jimmy, they had that. And the 18-wheelers, the frozen refrigerator trucks. That was depressing. That was not so depressing. You know, Jimmy, the pots and pans was nice. You're bringing me down with it. With the refrigerated trucks with morgues. That's depressing. All right. As a New Yorker, how do you take your bagel? How does Charlotte take her bagel? Okay, here's the other bummer. I'm also gluten-free, which I tried out at the same time. I know. Are you sure? It's awful.

38:56But back when I did do bagels, the Tompkins Square Caitlin, do you know this order? It is an everything bagel with cream cheese, avocado, and egg whites. The Tompkins, we got something, but I think it was a bacon, egg, and cheese. Yeah. And it was absolutely delicious. Tompkins is so good. It was very good. It was very good to the everything bagel. Everything's very popular. I think that if you're not doing an everything bagel, you're kind of leaving a lot on the table. Well, let me ask you something else because, you know, we're going into Thanksgiving. I don't know when this is going to air, but we got some good Thanksgiving, Garp.

39:26What do you think of Thanksgiving food, Charlotte? The best. The best. The best. You know, I will say I've told you all about my dietary restrictions, but this Saturday after the half marathon, I decided to ignore these dietary restrictions, which I do from time to time. How did you feel? And I felt okay. If I do it only from time to time, I'm going to be okay. But I went to this hoagie place in Philly that had a, it's called Legacy Kitchen. Have y 'all been there? I have not. Unbelievable hoagies. Legacy Kitchen. Philadelphia. My niece lives in Philly, so I'll ask her. It's a field home across town.

39:56Go birds. Go hoagies. Right? Okay. They had a Thanksgiving hoagie with cranberry, turkey, stuffing, and then a gravy dipping sauce. Uh-huh. I mean, that was unbelievable. Really? A Thanksgiving sandwich will always be the best sandwich. But the thing about the Thanksgiving sandwich, I agree, but that's really a turkey sandwich. You're getting a turkey sandwich stuffing. No, it's a bread sandwich. If you do it right because you're putting stuffing in there. It's a bread plus stuffing. But when else during the year do you and what is your husband's name? Patrick. When are you in, may I say Pat? Yes, please.

40:33When are you in Pat going for dinner and you got a restaurant in Brooklyn and you're having turkey dinner? Never. I don't like turkey. This year, my family, I wanted to get a rotisserie chicken. Right. And they already went out and bought the turkey. Because chicken is more delicious and juicy. Chicken is better. Have you seen those videos going around on the internet right now of those guys who are pumping their turkey full of butter? Is that the new thing? Yeah. I mean, it looks pretty good. It's a real butter ball. But they slice the turkey and it just explodes with butter. That's good. Yeah.

41:03Because the turkey is dry. And then it looks actually like good moist turkey. Like a chicken. Yeah. Like a chicken. We should be eating chicken. Yeah. Except Shatsy brings steaks. Oh, I bring steaks. And he brings steaks to Thanksgiving dinner. I like that. Right? And you want to hear something? So I tell Jillian, I'm like, I bought a new thing of Lowry's to bring to my brother-in-law's, my sister-in-law's house, because I'm going to make the steaks. And we have turkey and all the other stuff, but I bring steaks. Because I got the big, big 32-ounce, like a half a dozen 32-ounce porterhouse. Right?

41:31Gorgeous. Yeah, exactly. And Karen, my sister-in-law, says, I don't like you bringing these outside foods to, you know, we have turkey. Outside foods. Like, you know, I'm bringing something. Baseball stadium in your brain. And she's like, well, I got to tell you, you're cooking it on the grill. I'm like, as opposed to where am I going to cook this steak? Yeah. So, well, she's also a vegan. Do you have a favorite food influencer? Someone that you, like, follow or really like? Yes. Or you get your, like, restaurant, like, where am I going? Like, who are you following? Okay, not, the girl that popped in my head is not restaurant.

42:06She's a chef. Her Instagram, her name is Faith. I subscribe to her sub stack. It's called, her sub stack is called Picnic Date, and her handle is called Faith's Fresh. Let me look. And she does this bit where she says that she's a personal chef, but she's just cooking for herself. Whoa, million one followers. She crushes. She's dairy free. Uh-huh. So I love a lot of her recipes. All the stuff she makes is so good. I've been making her. She is a personal chef. Yeah. And she's always complaining about how picky her client is, which is her. So this is funny. She's got a bit. And her recipes are so good.

42:43I've been making her shakshuka a couple times lately. And that has been hitting. That's awesome. I don't know what that is, but I like the style. Shakshuka? Shakshuka. Shakshuka. Yeah. It's an egg dish with, I guess it's like a red sauce. sauce. I mean, it's so easy. It's Middle Eastern. Tomato. All you have to do is, yeah, you just basically chop up some onions and garlic, put them on low heat with some olive oil. Then you take four tomatoes, chop them up, throw a little water in there and steam it. And then you kind of just mash the tomatoes. You put a bunch of spices in and then you throw your eggs in.

43:22Yeah. It's big. We have it at Barbunia and Isabel's downstairs, Jimmy. It smells like crazy. It's a great brunch dish and even lunch too right yeah i gotta tell you all right so that so but you know um what is it myc gluten free do you do you follow her no yeah because you're gluten free right i know i should but you don't have to but i just thought that you know get the dairy free it's depressing to think about so it's like i like to just pretend that it doesn't i don't have it all right all right i gotta tell you but you don't have it if you know what if you just keep i feel like if you keep eating this alice stuff yeah i feel like you that'll it'll it's therapeutic and you'll feel better.

43:56Tell that to my GI, Docker. I love that you have a gastroenterologist. I love that. Here we go. Listen, Charlotte. Who doesn't these days? I got to tell you, you're too young for a gastroenterologist. Jesus. You're never too young for a GI. You're never too young for a GI. Dr. Charlotte, Dr. Cruz, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast. I'll be sharing the story of Alice Mushrooms. Truly, truly a cool brand. And from formulating with your partner, Lindsay's Kitchen, to raising$8 million from some A-listers and getting celebrity investors. It's an awesome story. Is Ashton Kutcher an investor?

44:31No. After he hears his podcast. Yeah, he should be. I feel like he's investing in everything. He should be. If you want to connect with Charlotte and learn more about Alice Mushrooms, you can reach out to the podcast team or the URL for Alice Mushrooms is www.alicemushrooms.com. There you go. Yeah, and you can find everything there, right? Yeah. I got to tell you. And one other thing I have to say, if you want to see Alice in person and see how gorgeous she is, you go check us out at Hospitality Hangout on YouTube, right? Yeah. And you'll see how ugly Jimmy and I are and how good-looking Charlotte is, right?

45:11You have a face for podcasting? Yeah. You have a face for television. Jimmy and I have a face for radio. And if you haven't subscribed already, check out our newsletter every Saturday morning. HospitalityHeadline.com, HospitalityHeadline.com and check out everything happening in CPG, restaurants, hospitality, food, everything, the whole wide world. Cheers, everybody. Thanks, everyone. Cheers. Thank you.