229: Samantha Irby

29:13And so like maybe there's a like backstage bakery show I could make. It sounds like the perfect, like, compliment to the bear. Yeah, right? And because everyone thinks, like, bakeries are, like, so sweet and nice. And it's, like, your grandmother making muffins. And the bakery where I worked, my boss, Judy, had this deal with a work release program. So our kitchen was full of, like, giant, hardened criminals, like, making pedophores. Yeah. Which is like the that needs to. I mean, that's like drama. Like people with like, you know, like like an axe tattoo, like delicately making a pettifor and chocolates.

29:58I mean, it was an incredible experience. She used to make cookies for Starbucks. She made lemon knots and carmelitas from way, way back in the day. Oh, man. So there was a whole cookie production crew and everyone was yelling all the time. And I was like, oh, man, I thought it was just like cute people making cupcakes. But no, it is people screaming at each other, sweating, yelling. I'm going to make maybe I'll make that show. I feel like that show will happen. You've got the obvious the chops to make it happen. Now, you probably picked up some skills working at a bakery. Are you are you pretty good with the oven?

30:35I, you know, I'm pretty good. But my wife is the baker. so I don't get in there because I don't honestly I don't want to make her feel bad. No I'm just kidding. I love it. I do savory and she does the sweet but I'm probably pretty good baker. I bet you are now okay observation about Kalamazoo have you gotten into like the cream cheese frosting zone in Kalamazoo I feel like everybody is using cream cheese frosting at some point. I haven't seen not in Kalamazoo not yet. That's the one thing. We're not there yet. Not You know what I like? Do you remember Sarkozy? Yeah, I do. It's still there. Yeah, I know.

31:14And like I feel like all of like all of the bakeries in town make very grown up pastries, right? Except for Sweetwater, which makes like things for children. I took Taekwondo next to Sweetwater. I went to Master Chung and I definitely went Master Chung, Breaking Boards, and then got that glazed cherry. Oh. Let's go. But they make – they're like a place that has like Oreo cookie. I know. Donuts. And you're like, what the fuck? I'm like 100 years old. I can't I can't like eat that. But the other bakeries like Victorian and Sarkozy have those very adult, like not sweet. Yeah. Where you're like, where's the sugar?

31:56So the thing is, maybe I should open a bakery. Wait, are you serious? Do you want to do that? If OK, so my wife's dream is to like have a little bakery. This is real. This is not a bit. This is real. It's real. She wants to have. So she's a social worker. Yeah. Yeah. Like, you know, you want to die after being a social worker for 20 years. Oh, she's 20 in. She's got a pension. Well, no, because schools got rid of it right before she started. My mother, 17 years, kindergarten teacher. So knows that deal. Yeah. So I am her pension. Oh, man. So I got to figure out a way to get rich so that I can afford to lose all my money starting a bakery.

32:40The low margin business of restaurants and bakeries. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that is her dream. And I'm hoping to make it a reality eventually. So, OK, let's workshop this. So it's a bakery. Is it a cafe? Is there other elements to it? Are we doing straight like baked goods that are a little bit sweeter? I'm hearing. There's a need for like sweeter pastries, but like a little more polished. OK, so in my mind, it's very cute. And it's the kind you want to like hang out. You want to like put, you know, take out your book, do your little laptop. Cool crowd. You know. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Like very cool.

33:17But not too studenty because, you know, Kalamazoo is a college. That's like burying the lead about Kalamazoo is an absolute college town. it's got bilbo's pizza which is like number nine of ten for me i can't can't fuck with bilbo no it's no it's gross bilbo's and bimbo's pizza dude i know i know i know bilbo's and bimbo bimbo's bimbo's right next to the bar with the mechanical bull yeah i mean it's it's all class okay so it would be you know like sarkozy is very cute and clean i want it to be cute and clean but actually have like oh i shouldn't say actually but have like delicious pastries that i would like i love that would there be a coffee program yes okay yeah kirsten's a big coffee person i don't know anything about oh yeah do you ever go to factory i am super close friends with both dan and emily dan's the best factory i used to have an office above factory on frank street so that emily and I shared a studio.

34:19I was wondering which because you mentioned this in your writing and I was wondering if it was factory on Frank Street. Yep. On Frank Street. Me and Emily were I mean, Emily's work. It's hard to work with an artist. Emily makes children's books. It's hard to work with an artist like a visual artist when all your art is like clickety clackety clack. You know what I mean? Like I can't turn the computer to someone and be like, look at this sentence, girl. This But with like being surrounded by all of her work was like really amazing. And then we moved into a house where I could have an office at home.

34:58So I moved out. I didn't really. So, you know, that's cool. That's cool. I know. Emily is in the book. She's the friend. She's the friend. She's the one I took to the Cheesecake Factory. Yeah. She also is the one who saw me embarrass myself at the sushi restaurant. I know. No, absolutely. I'm linking to that essay from your previous work. And it's just absolutely everything you'd want from a lunch date gone wrong. I mean, luckily we became like best friends because she is funny and has a sense of humor and like knew what was happening to me. Factory is great roasting though. I mean, legit like great roasting there.

35:40I'm into it. See, I don't understand roasting, but I'll take your word for it. But you do understand Grand Rapids. Let's talk about Bosna. Bosna. Bosna is, you shout out this place that I've never heard of. You went there on, was it your anniversary or Valentine's Day? Yeah. You drove up one hour north in Grand Rapids. Definitely not known as a bastion of great food, to me at least, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Well, you know, Grand Rapids has a lot of cute little places. Love your West Michigan pride. I mean, I've been there seven years. I have to start like claiming it now if I'm staying. Grand Rapids has like the kind of cute little brunch places.

36:18They have Madcap Coffee, which is like a very good coffee place. Very good. But Bosnia, like you get off 131, you turn right, it's right there. It shares a lot with a Pizza Hut. And you go in, it looks like a bar. It's like dark wood, the whole thing, lots of beers. and the most incredible Bosnian food you've ever had in your life. What are you ordering? I'd love to hear this. I, okay, I get to start to eat in the car. I get fries. Yes, you take it to go. Yeah, oh, oh, always. I get fries with, they put like a lot of chopped up herbs and garlic and stuff on it and they give you this dill sauce.

37:01I love dill. They give you this dill sauce to dip it in. It's outrageous. And then for that's the appetizer for the meal, I got to get a gyro always. But they don't serve it in a pita. They serve it in this Bosnian bread that's like puffy and soft, like what you actually like. There's like a pita, you know, you got it. It's like chewing an eraser. Exactly. It's excess. You need a little bit of that crisp to it. Yeah. So it's so they have these puffy breads and they put all the gyro stuff in. and it's really great. And then for later, I get a salad to take home with gyros on top. Oh, so it has the gyros on top.

37:43So it has the gyros on top. So like the marinated or seasoned, highly seasoned meat. Yes. And it's so good. Feta, tomatoes, cucumbers. Have you gotten into the gyro-gyro conversation ever? People call them gyros here on the East Coast. What? They say gyro. Like you look at me like I'm crazy. No. Let's like, we have three people in the show of hands. How many people call it gyro? We have three producers. What? We have two out of three. Shalia, what do you think? For some reason, this is like the hill my mom chooses to die on. I'm from Massachusetts, and, like, I think most people say gyro. But, like, for whatever reason, she, like, gets, like, very proud.

38:21Like, she'll go somewhere, and I think, like, a Greek man must have complimented her once because she'll just go, like, oh, like, I want a gyro. And, like, so it's, like, a thing I would, like, talk. She is right. Yeah. Thanks, Shalia. So I grew up in Evanston. I grew up like down the street from the greatest Greek restaurant on earth. It's called Crossroads. It's small. It's cash only. It is amazing. If you are anywhere near there, you should go. and so I learned how to say all the Greek stuff early because we went there all the time. And it's Euro. I cannot believe Greek people let you guys get away with that.

39:03I don't know. It's some East Coast shit. It's like adding to your hatred for New York. Yes. We're just adding to it, right? Another mark in the negative column. I love it. Well, it's really fun to talk food with you. We could go on. So my wife, Tamara, ran into you at Trader Joe's, and she's a huge fan of yours. she was trying to be chill. She'd never be chill with me. But you had a wonderful interaction. Yeah. It was beautiful. It was great. And I just think about you grocery shopping at Trader Joe's in Kalamazoo. Do people stop you in Kalamazoo? Yeah. I hope so. Because they're reading your books.

39:42Yeah. At Trader Joe's once I was in the, first of all, let's talk about being at Trader Joe's. I only go for like the Trader Joe's snacks and my wife likes the green wine. Like I don't do my regular grocery shopping there. Oh, no, but you get the peanut butter pretzel chocolate? 100%. Yes, like two bags. That's the guy. Have you ever been to Horrocks in Battle Creek? No. What's that? It is like a warehouse grocery store. Oh, nice. And they have every exotic fruit or vegetable you could want. Sam, let's go. Yes. Love it. Yes. We'll go. I walked in and like I almost started crying. I was like a green papaya.

40:25Wow. We got these little tiny like cucumber. Like they just have so much. Is it like a broker for the Midwest? It sounds like it might be something special. Well, I know there are a few in Michigan, but I don't know if it's. I don't know the history or the deal behind it. No, I appreciate it. It is amazing. Okay, Trader Joe's, only snacks, but meeting your wife was incredible. I love when people talk to me. The checkout person at Trader Joe's once was like, I really love your work. And I'm like, listen, scream it. Tell everyone. In Kalamazoo, it happens less often than it does in Chicago. Yeah, of course.

41:12I mean, you're in New York, too. I mean, yeah. And I just like, Sam, I really, really mean it. You are such a lovely human being and your love for Kalamazoo is just – it means a lot to me. I mean it. No bullshit. Thank you. Trying to be honest here. Like I was – I think at first I was like making fun of it a little bit. Easy. Because I was uncomfortable, right? Like it didn't feel like my home. So I'm rejecting it before it can reject me. No. Yeah. But I do love it. It is a good place. It's like progressive and nice. Yes, it is. And like I haven't met a bad person there yet. Yeah. Like everyone I've met has been amazing.

41:54I have to shout out Rick and Stan's. You shouted, like this is my favorite car wash. Let me tell you, Rick and Stan. First of all, for the young ladies who might be listening in Michigan, the young dudes who work there, man. Yeah. I bought, oh, gorgeous. I bought, this is what a pervert freak I am. They have, I am currently paying them, I believe,$29 a month for unlimited car washes. I've been doing it for six months because this little cutie was like, you know, we have a deal on, and I was like, uh-huh, okay. Guess how many car washes I've gotten? Two. Hey, man. I am averaging money there. $14.50.

42:46It's worth it. But it is the best. During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, they do use pinks. Bless them. Wow. And there's like a stoner dog as like their mascot. Kalamazoo has like a real 90s, like Gen X kind of, and that stoner dog fits with that. Yeah, it is the best. The dude's there, like I said, hot, also nice. I never drive like into the right, you know, and they're always like, no, no, sweetie, over a little. And I'm like, okay, I'll tell you where to get over a little. I'm glad we could give them a shout out. Me too. Sam, we asked all guests in Taste Podcasts if you could write a cookbook or food culture book without the burden of time, meaning you have no deadline, or the burden of budget, meaning you have all the money in the world to execute this idea.

43:35What would that book be? It would be an IBS cookbook for sure. Love it. But like not a, you know, not like a medical one. It's like I don't want to research or talk to any doctors, right? Like that's terrible. It would be like here are recipes that I eat when like my Crohn's disease is flaring or I've just gotten food poisoning. And basically it would be like applesauce. That's a whole chapter. Yes. How to make – so, like, I have all these ways of, like, zhuzhing up rice if I got to – okay, let me tell you how to cook your rice. Toast it in a little oil. Throw a handful of garlic cloves in there.

44:25Some loose chicken bouillon. Yeah. And quarter an onion. Throw it in. And then cook the rice as normal. It's the most delicious rice I've ever had. Are you putting – so how much liquid are you putting in? Just like you're talking about like just a bouillon liquid. No, no, no. OK, you have to go to the Mexican section of the grocery store and get the like shakable bouillon. Not a cube. Not that better than bouillon. Although, I mean, we use that. Oh, it's better than bouillon. Dude. Yeah, I love this. But I'm talking old school, like shake a little chicken flavor into your rice. And that is my go-to.

44:59Goya has a great brand. I love that. That's what we use. We use the Goya. Their politics fucking suck, though. Oh, they do? They had some bad—but that's just—let's just not go there. But anyways. Well, I don't watch the news, so I blacked out what you said. This is so great. So you have the ideas. You have a recipe. Yes. Yeah. I would need, like, someone to—someone who actually knows how to make food to give me some more ideas other than what I do. But if I could make a cookbook, that would be it. IBS is great. I think, Sam Mirby, this is going to happen. I know it's going to happen. I hope so.

45:35I told Alison Roman, my homegirl, I was like, when are we doing the IBS cookbook? Collab. And she ran screaming from me. But someone will. Someone will. Someone will pick up the torch and make that happen. Well, Sam Burby, thank you so much for joining the Taste Podcast. Thank you for having me. This was the best.

46:04Matt, you want to talk about three things? I love three things. I love thinking about three things. I like thinking about four things, too, and five things. And then cutting two of them out. And cutting, like, the ones we don't like. But I'll start with mine. I was just in Las Vegas, Nevada, and I don't like it there, like, in terms of the gambling part. Not Big Gambler. But I had some great food. I had really excellent food. And I think the one place that I want to call out is I finally made it to Lotus of Siam. Oh, I've never heard of this place. Oh, shit. I love it. So Lotus of Siam, very recognized Thai, specifically northern Thai restaurant that has been made super famous by Anthony Bourdain.

46:48So he filmed there. There's actually, if you walk into the location I went, which is like kind of off strip, there was a literal, in a case, a broken cigarette of Anthony Bourdain's. That they kept? Yeah, that they kept from the filming and a photo of him. Wow, I love that, like a shrine. It's a little shrine to Tony. And I just have always wanted to go there. I haven't been to Vegas in over 14 years. And it was a real trip to go there because, man, the food was excellent. I was like very surprised. When you walk in, it's massive, and it felt almost like a restaurant on the strip. It had, like, big, cozy chairs to fit all sorts of different people from all over the world.

47:28It had carpet, which is interesting in a restaurant. Fun. Real fun. It's the real fakest thing. Huge ceilings. It was kind of like strip molly. But, man, I thought the food was excellent. I really loved it. What did you get there? First thing that really comes to mind are these giant grilled prawns. grilled perfectly but with this like really like acidic cilantro and lime kind of sauce perfectly sized and like i don't like like grilled shrimp isn't something that you really think about but man it was a real standout the way they grilled it um i also really love the crispy duck and coconut curry it's like a dish that i have had a million times um you know i think when you get coconut curry it can be extremely sweet and this one did not have that over bearing sweetness.

48:15And of course, we had patsiyu, which is like, again, one of those like classic, doesn't really scream northern to me. And like the menu was extensive. And I didn't really, we were going to have a khao soi and we were going to maybe have some lob, but we had been eating all week. So we were kind of chill here. But man, patsiyu when done right is amazing. That's one of my truest comfort foods. And this is making me really hungry to think about it. I know it was it was really tremendous. And I think I was texting with P. Sheyang, great Thai chef and he kind of I was like so before I went he was like so I was like how as Louis I am and he was like kind of skeptical about it as he will and and I have to just report back that I am not skeptical I love it Eliza what's your first thing my first thing is also travel related but a little closer to home I went to New Jersey this past weekend for the state of the state of New Jersey the great state for the monster truck rally yeah of course whoa first let's go there what was that like amazing incredible There was like a backflip sponsored by Morgan & Morgan, the injury attorney law firm that I think contractually when every time somebody went for the backflip, the announcer would say, oh, it's time for the Morgan Morgan backflip.

49:22That's so classic. Was Gravedigger there? Gravedigger was there. How come everybody knows this except for me that there's like legacy monster trucks that everybody follows? What, like Bigfoot and Orange Crush? Yeah, they were not there. But Gravedigger was there. Gravedigger was like the highlight for sure. every time he would come out, the little kids in front of me, which it was a lot of kids, would jump up and scream. I love that. Yeah, it was phenomenal. And in preparation for this, I went to Rutz Hut, which is this institution in Jersey to get hot dogs before the Monster Truck Rally, and specifically Rippers, which are hot dogs that you fry just the dog in the deep fryer and it rips a little bit, hence the name.

50:03Oh man, Jimmy Loftus and I talked about it on a previous episode and how she loves and she wrote the book. But hot dogs, what's the texture of a ripper dog? It is like how some hot dogs are snappy. It has that snap and there's a little bit of kind of crumble on where it's ripped in the fryer. Yeah. That's really good. And the other thing that's special about Rutz Hut is their relish, which I was told is the reason they've been there since I think 1928 is when they opened. It's kind of like a finely chopped sauerkraut with mustard and then spices in quotes. I don't know which spices. could not find out.

50:38That's really good. We got to do a piece. What is the bun? Is the bun toasted? No, untoasted. They have ketchup if you want it. They also just have good mustard. And also I got really nice lacy onion rings that I piled onto my hot dog and ate that way. Oh my God. And so what's it like dining there when you walk in? What's the scene like? The scene is families, tile counters, signs that say do not sit on the counter and then chairs and you can just kind of lean. It's very casual. It's cash only in and out kind of vibe. Yeah. It was perfect. Was it crowded? No, there were like some people there.

51:12We kind of went right before they closed. Oh, right. And then ended up being late to the monster trucks because of that. But I would say it was worth it. Now, let me ask you, are you a ketchup on the hot dog kind of gal? Yeah, I sometimes will. In this case, I did not because I felt like there was a mustard vibe going with the relish. And I I was explaining this to the people I was with that there's this huge feud about ketchup on the hot dog or not. And they were all shocked and didn't know anything about it. Well, you attended a university in Chicago and you must have an opinion about the Chicago hot dog and that mustard question.

51:44Right. So I would never, if I was in Chicago, put ketchup on my hot dog. But if I was at a barbecue, maybe I would do like a Thousand Island kind of mayo ketchup vibe instead. I like that you split between geography, but also like locations. Like my dad grew up in Rogers Park and would obviously never put ketchup on a hot dog. But if I'm at like a backyard barbecue, I want that sweetness. Yeah, you're doing what you want. Fair enough. Do what you want. Do what you want with the hot dog. What's your second thing? Well, I stopped by Pop-Up Grocer, which I love going to. I'm going to try to go like every month or so because they reset the store.

52:20And I picked up a couple new products. My first one is YourPasta, which I have to say from the rip, it is a little tough to Google YourPasta. Yeah, is it Y-O-U-R? Yeah, it's Y-O-U-R Pasta, and the domain is YourPastaNYC.com. So I grabbed a box of their rigatoni, and it was really cool. The texture was perfect at 16 minutes boiled. And I just love the story. It's a female-owned company, run company. Alicia and David are the owners. I think they're I only know them by their first names because that's what's on the website. I don't know them personally. But but David used to work with Missy Robbins at Missy when was part of that pasta program.

53:02So I just love the way they package it. And like we don't necessarily need more pasta companies in our world. But I feel your pasta is definitely going to be in my cabinet, in my pantry for a long time. I feel like with dried pasta, Timmy, I'd always I'm sorry, Italians, but it always kind of tastes the same. Is it like a texture thing that's different with this one? Great question. I think it comes down to like the dyes they're using and the texture when made at the prescribed time or at a little bit al dente. It's a great question because like, aren't they all the same or is like flavor always the same?

53:37And like, generally I say yes. So it comes down to the texture. Also just comes down to the thickness of the noodle. And I think that like if the shape is really unique and I thought this rigatoni was thicker than what you'd get with like a DiCecco rigatoni? I like a thick noodle. That's good to know. It feels like expensive and fancy. Okay. Like, I just use the terms expensive and fancy to describe food. I just felt like it feels like if you're like at a cool pasta restaurant, like it's thicker, right? Yeah, yeah, for sure. I think that's what I was thinking about fresh versus dried is that I think a fresh noodle feels a little bit more luxurious in the mouth.

54:14Definitely agree. What's your second thing? My second thing is I just want to talk about a rhubarb application that I don't want to claim to have invented, but that I thought up on my own this past weekend that was so good, which is that I was cooking a bunch of very large beans and I wanted to make a marinade for them. And I also was doing a rhubarb themed dinner party. So I had a lot of rhubarb to use up. And I did like a grummelata style approach. Yeah. Which was so good. So I did finely chopped rhubarb, mixed in finely chopped chives and parsley, and then a lot of orange juice and rice vinegar and a little bit of miso and some olive oil.

54:52It sounds amazing. I have to back up and ask you a couple other questions. Okay, but first I need to say there are a lot of red pepper flakes because the jar broke when I was pouring it in. So it was very spicy. But I was into that too. This happens sometimes, you know, a little bit of unforced error with the spicing. Yeah. So backing up, first thing, when you said you made very large beans. Gigante beans. So how big? I'm thinking like beans as big as your head. Oh, my God. I mean, I could show you a picture right now. They're truly the size of my thumb probably. Wow, wow, wow. Like giant, you know, Greek gigante beans from Titan, the Greek supermarket in Astoria.

55:26Yeah. I mean, always a must order at Greek restaurants, those gigante beans, the white beans that are just so comforting. How do you make them? I cooked them for five hours because that's how long it took for them to be done so you started at two you're like oh yeah it's like 90 it's like 90 minutes to two hours and you're like chew on it like man I'm calling up a picture for you I did the day before because I knew that they could take a long time and especially at certain grocery stores you don't know if they're fresh beans or not and dried beans that are not fresh will take even longer and I didn't soak them because you didn't soak your beans I just you know I didn't really think about cooking them a day ahead until kind of late in the game.

56:04So I just cooked them for a long time on very low, like barely simmer vibe with parm rind and some kombu and some dried shiitake mushrooms. I left their kombu into a bean. It's nice. Some scallions. They were very good. But then the marinade is kind of what took them from just a nice creamy bean into something that was, you know, I think one of the hits of the dinner. So yeah, that's my second question. when you talk about a rhubarb themed dinner are we talking like multi-courses are we talking every course has to include rhubarb yeah wait these are the beans okay we're looking at the beans first live yeah gigante gigante big beans yeah so what some of my friends and i tanya that i do cake scenes with and our friend alan and i cook dinners together for our friends maybe once a quarter and this past summer we did a corn themed dinner that had corn in every dish and then winter we just kind of fell off the ingredient vibe because there wasn't a winter ingredient we were really stoked on but we wanted to bring it back for spring and because we had chosen corn which is sweet but is a vegetable that tanya then made a very beautiful corn panna cotta out of we let her pick for dessert first and reverse engineered it so she did rhubarb she did rhubarb cheesecake and then oh yo that's so good well lemon cheesecake rhubarb drizzle yeah very strong on the rhubarb though yeah um and then we had three other courses that all had rhubarb in it too wow so what's the savory course oh maybe four courses um alan did a braised lamb with a rhubarb glaze very good man you guys are just a game that's great yeah we we it takes like two days to do the dinners also because it's you know in new york so if we're doing 15 people at a dinner table we're moving tables we're moving chairs so eliza what's the etiquette for this dinner i mean do you do people like venmo you a little cash are you hosting and just paying a lot like what's that go how's it um we like have people bring a lot of wine and that's their kind of contribution.

57:57And then I do beans at every dinner because that's an affordable way to feed a lot of people. So we'll do like a big meet and then just kind of figure it out from there. That's real cool. So it's real like pure hospitality and you had a big guest list. Yeah. And no one can get up from the table once you sit down. Otherwise, everyone's getting like elbowed in and out. So I'm just walking around serving everybody. Oh, how fun is that? Yeah. It was great. So when you wrap up the party, what's happening at the end what are you eating are there are there little snacks happening at the end dessert like after dessert no cheesecake was definitely the last thing but we did uh crostini with a rhubarb uh chutney and ricotta for the appetizer and then in addition to the beans i did a big salad with pickled rhubarb and then we had the lamb so amazing by the cheesecake it was kind of done you were done eating yeah when was the last one did the last guest leave uh i I think I was the last guest and I left at 1230.

58:48That's so early. I know. I'm getting old. Like what? Okay. Yeah. I know. It's nice. It's because you want to get up early and like not lose your weekend. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Respect that. Respect that. So my second thing is rhubarb gremolata, but I guess also doing a themed ingredient dinner party. I like it. Okay. Yeah. How about you? So my last thing is another pickup at Pop-Up Grocer. You know, shout out to Emily. I love that place. confusion snacks do you know this company no but that's a fun name it's a great name and i i and i i've been in touch with the founder on social and i i think i'm gonna ask him to be on the show um at some point because i thought um there's a real mission behind the word confusion and i want him to explain because i don't want to paraphrase it but fuck this is my favorite new popcorn like whoa fucking amazing i said the f word twice i don't care it's available a pop-up Also, Erewhon.

59:42So they're trying to channeling South Asian flavors in popcorn form. And so there's a black truffle masala. There's a chili chat, which has a really heavy black pepper kind of vibe. And then it's a mint popcorn. Wow. And can I ask about the popcorn? Is it a large or small kernel? It's that cool boutique kernel that is a circle that looks like a gumball. You know what I'm talking about? Big boys. Is that like a real term? I don't think so. There's a term for it. It's like actually when you go to like a popcorn store, I think that they also have those types of circular kernels. And aside, just remembering it, I had a coworker at a job long ago, Perry, shout out.

1:00:29She said one of her phobias was popcorn stores. I don't think I've ever been to one, but we're pretty close to Times Square. So I think I should maybe go sometime. There's popcorn stores everywhere in the city of Chicago. Yeah, there are. There really are. At the airport, too, they sell popcorn. There's something about popcorn stores in the Midwest that—that's an aside. Perry did not like popcorn stores. That was an interesting phobia. I'm sorry if she ever had to encounter a popcorn store. Heaven forbid. But I love Confusion Snacks. I think that it's a really growing brand. And what I like about it is it's definitely like a richer popcorn.

1:01:02It doesn't feel like it has—it's not like a light and lively style. And they really salt the shit out of it. It's really well salted and really well seasoned. And they sent me some products as well. And I bought some products. I've been the recipient of some samples and I just love it. It's so good. I have to go check it out. I love popcorn. It sounds great. It's a good one. What's your last one? My last one is that I was very lucky to be over at Sola and Ham Elway Lee's place for dinner recently. And I had grilled blowfish tails. Wow. What a great flex. I know. And I've never had blowfish before.

1:01:33It's not the venomous kind. No, it's a different, totally different breed. But honestly, I trust him with my life. If he wanted to serve me poisonous blowfish, I would eat it without question. He referred to them as the chicken wing of the sea, which I think is very accurate for the eating experience. They're kind of like little lollipops. And they're native in like the like the lowland area. Gulf Coast. Yeah. Gulf Coast. He told me that Cidarella. Oh, yeah. I don't even live in Manhattan, so I don't even know how to pronounce this grocery store name. But that Cidarella has a great seafood section in general and that that's where he got them from.

1:02:05And whenever he sees them, he has to get them because they're like such a favorite kind of fish cut. And they were so good, really juicy and just kind of a fun shape. I kind of was like, what am I eating at first? Because I'd never experienced a small fishtail like that. And so he grilled them? Yeah, he grilled them. They have like a charcoal grill set up in the back. And then they just brushed it with a kind of, I think it was a ramp salsa verde kind of situation. So it's a very, very delicious meal and just such a fun kind of fish to be eating. What a great host just to bring out some like bycatch fish, some like cool shaped fish.

1:02:39Oh, I mean, yeah, going to dinner at their house is kind of like entering into a time warp where there's just delicious food everywhere. Speaking of time warp, I, you know, I'm thinking Citrella, like Sex and City 2001. Did you ever go to Gourmet Garage? Yes. And it reminds me of like Dean and DeLuca also from this era, which is, I think, closed now. It is absolutely closed. I did a book event there with Dookie in 2017. It was like right after they were acquired by a private equity company. It was also like a week, randomly a week before they had a Dina and DeLuca golf tournament in Houston, Texas.

1:03:12Oh, my God. Take me there. All signs point that maybe the owners were thinking, you know, different direction because it closed soon after. But, man, Dina and DeLuca, RIP, what a place. Yeah, I feel like I'd go to the one in Nolita if I was ever having to do shopping around there and just stand in the frozen section and just feel calm. The one in Soho or Norlita? I guess it's Soho. The one on Broadway? The one on Broadway. Yeah, that's more Soho, I think. It could be, yeah, maybe it's Norlita. No, it's Soho because it's right on Broadway. Yeah, right. It's Soho, but it's also, that's like the original location, like from 1985 or whenever they opened.

1:03:48Wow, to me, it's the only location. So that's very nice. Nah, I mean, yeah. So Gourmet Garage, Dean DeLuca, Citarella. We still, Fairway, is that around still? Yeah. But they closed the one in Red Hook. That's why I think of the one in Red Hook being closed. The one in the Upper West Side is definitely open. And then we've got Eli Zabar. We're working on that story. I drank out of my Zabar's coffee cup this morning. It's a beautiful coffee cup. It's a beautiful coffee cup. It's just Eli. I can't wait to work on that piece. I'm excited. I'm excited to hear about it. And I think if I had to do a fourth thing, it would probably be my Zabar's coffee cup.

1:04:23Thanks for sharing the three things plus the coffee cup. Thank you.

1:04:31The Taste Podcast is hosted by Eliza Abarbanel and me, Matt Rodbar. The show is produced by Shalia Harris and Pat Stango and edited by Clayton Gumbert. Theme music by Steve Rydell. Visit Taste Online at tastecooking.com and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter for updates on all cool things that are happening.