398: Rachel Dratch

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0:32If I'm going to get a lobster roll, I wait to go to Cape Cod. Yes, I'm a snob. Sorry, everyone. I go to Cape Cod for my lobster roll. But no, I'm not going to waste that in the city.

0:47This is Taste. I'm your host, Matt Rodbart.

0:59Rachel Dratch is an actor, comedian, and was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1999 to 2006. She's also the host of a great new podcast, Woo Woo with Rachel Dratch. This is such a fun conversation, and we really get a sense that Rachel is a foodie. For real, we talk about her favorite place in New York's East Village and why she's been hanging out at the new Second City location in New York City. It was so fun having Rachel in the studio, and I hope you enjoy this conversation.

1:36Rachel Dresch, welcome to This is Taste. Thank you. How are you? I'm good. How are you? This is fun. I met you like 25 years ago. I'm sorry I didn't remember that until you told me. Wait, you didn't remember when I was an intern at Fox News Channel? Don't remember, but I'm sure you're going to jog my memory. No, you wouldn't have remembered because I was an intern at Fox News Channel, but I helped produce a segment with you and Tina Fey. I had seen your show, Dresht and Fey, which was a two-woman show, and it was really amazing. And I can't believe that I worked at the Fox News channels. That was weird.

2:11Yeah, yeah. But tell me, for our listeners, that era of New York City comedy, it was like really at a cool moment right when like alt comedy was starting to really happen and then obviously crossover with television uh a lot of alt comics were actually getting on tv oh okay uh well i started out at second city in chicago yeah where tina was also uh in the cast and um that's where and amy poehler like that's where we got she was in a different cast but that's where we all got our start along with many other people that i'm sure you've heard of in any case um then like drach and fae is that what i'm talking about yeah drach and fae Judge and Faye, that started because, so Tina had gotten hired as a writer on SNL and I had left Second City and moved to LA and like nothing was happening.

2:55And so then Tina and I were like, what if we do a show over the summer in Chicago? Because she wanted to do more performing and I want to do anything. So we did this at Second City. We put together this two-person sketch show and it was really fun. It was a smash success. And then we did it the following, I don't know when, I don't remember the timing. It was like over 20 years ago. But then we did it here in New York at the UCB. At UCB in Chelsea, right? Yes. Yeah, the old theater. And then after that, I got hired for SNL as an actor, and Tina got hired. Well, she was already there, but she got to do Weekend Update.

3:28It bumped her up to Weekend Update. She was in front of the camera, not the head writer, a writer. Yes. So the show, what was the premise of Dracula? It was just the same kind of sketch we had done at Second City. Although with Second City, we developed things through improv. And with this, we developed a few scenes through improv. and then we wrote some and it was kind of a mishmash but Second City you get to try out your scenes beforehand before the big opening in front of an audience night after night and this was our first time just like let's put on this show and so we didn't know how it was going to go but it went really well like we were still at that relief of hearing the laughs when you don't even know if they're going to be there so it was really fun and we just you know we just two person sketch just did all these different sketches different characters and energy and we ended with this love song that I remember Anyway, it was just a lot of fun.

4:17It's cool. And it is on YouTube. There's like some unofficial stuff on YouTube available. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, it was great to watch and remember that. But also, and Second City just opened in New York. And we're going to talk about that. You know, this legendary incubator of comedic talent and comedy writing in Chicago is now in New York. What's it like in Second City, New York? They're freshly open. Yeah, exactly. So I can't really speak to it. But the space is beautiful. It's in Williamsburg. And it has a bar and restaurant. and the lobby is sort of a facsimile of the Chicago. I mean, they have the big caricatures up.

4:50I walked in, there's Amy Sedaris and Tina and Keegan. It's a beautiful space. And some of the cast is out of Chicago, and they got to come here and start, which is exciting for them. And so they're developing their show much, as I just said, like putting it up every night. It's up and running now, though. I love it. And the other great thing about Second City that I love is after the show, there's an improv, like a third act of improv, which is that's how we developed our scenes. And then once the show's up and running, you're just doing improv. It's just so fun. Like you're improvising every night.

5:24You're getting so much better at improvising because improvising, you can get rusty or when you're first starting, you can be fearful. And like when you're doing it every night, the stakes are lower because you know you get to do it again tomorrow. And you just get so much, you get kind of like a well-oiled machine. With improv, I'd say it's like 80 % pretty great and then like there's 10 that is amazing like i can't believe i saw that and then there's the 10 that totally dies yeah and you just don't know when that's gonna happen that's makes you guys stay on your toes and just like sure you love it right okay i want this conversation going to a few areas i want to talk about restaurants and talk about food i want to talk about snl wrap parties okay yeah um i want to talk about what else well let's go into oh and POTUS.

6:08I saw you in POTUS. Oh, POTUS. Yes. And that was really cool. And you're great. That was a great. Broadway debut. I know. And like, wow, you killed it. It was a great show. It was really, really good. So fun. I wish it was, I guess you don't wish it was so long because it was. Well, it was so fun. I mean, it was always a limited run because it had all those, you know, big wigs in it. Yeah. But it was super fun. We did it two summers ago, 2022. 2022. And it was, I mean, Vanessa Williams and Julian Hough, Leah Delaria, Lily Cooper, Susie Nakamura. Yeah. And Julie White. Yeah. I think I got everyone.

6:39Directed by Susan Stroman, or Stro, as I like to call her. But anyways, it was such a fun... I got to do this really fun part where you saw. I got to be like this completely physical clown, basically. So it was really fun. And I love live theater with the audience. I love that kind of give and take. You really sold the scenes. It was great. And it is... I mean, Julianna Hough, is that her name? Julianne. Julianne. She was amazing. Yeah, I know. She's fantastic. Fantastic. I didn't expect that out of it. But it was a great, and you were terrific. I mean, really stood out. I was like, wow, damn, Rachel is amazing.

7:12That's a great show. And do you want to do more Broadway? Yeah, I'd love to. I mean, it is. But I mean, you have no weekends because you're doing the matinees and you can't just go to the wedding that you've had. And then it's also takes a lot of physical energy. I mean, when I was doing Second City and I was whatever, 30 years old, I didn't even notice. You're just so excited to be there. And now I'm older than that. It's like, oh my gosh, our dressing room was on the third flight up of the thing. You're going up and down, up and down. You're like, oh, I feel like an old broad. Yeah, that pack of Winstons isn't feeling so good.

7:46I had to quit the Winstons. No, but I had to run around the whole theater. It was good for me, though. Don't get me wrong. But I don't get how people, like when I go to theater now and I see the Broadway, the dances, the hoofas, and they're up there doing two shows. I'm like, now that's energy, you know? Those doubles on Saturdays. Oh, I know. I want to ask a Broadway performer about food because you got to like fuel, right? Because how do you actually eat during a performance day? Like do you have rituals while the run's going on? God, you know what? I don't even remember that really. I didn't have like ritual rituals.

8:21No, but I just, I like to go out afterwards because it's like your reward. Well, you also have a lot of adrenaline because you just went through this amazing thing. Yeah, and you usually have friends that have come, like people coming every night. So then you're going out with them every night. Yeah. So by the theaters, were there any spots? Oh. Remember going to your restaurant? Yeah, so I mean, Midtown is sort of a wasteland of restaurants, I think. So then you've got to find your places to go. Our offices in Midtown, I hard agree. Oh, right, so you know this. Yes. Well, one place that I like for post-theater is just like simple, the Glass House Tavern.

8:55Yeah. Because they're so friendly there. So cool. What a great reference. The food's pretty good. The drinks, like, it's sort of like, it's not an Irish pub, but it's like Irish. But they make good cocktails. Yeah. There's a but. How about that? Because often with an Irish place, you should just order the beer, you know? But anyways, not to stereotype. I'm canceled now by the Irish population. Yeah, the Irish are like, eat and do cocktails. I'm saying, they make a good margarita there. They do. But they're so friendly. And you know what's great about the place? If you have like a big group of people, they'll let you, like they'll just like give you like your own area there.

9:28Oh, yeah. I grew up going to a place called Carlos Murphy's, which you can imagine was an Irish pub that had good margaritas. It's exactly that spot. All right. I want to ask you about restaurants in general. Okay. Which we always like to ask at the top of the show. I feel very strongly about this. Yes. I've evolved. Okay. So right now, what's the rotation? I've devolved, I should say. I've devolved. Did you? No, because let me explain what I mean. I don't like going to new places in New York because I have my same four places. and whenever I'm like, okay, I'll try that place. It's never as good as the same four places where you know what you're going to get.

10:05And I know that's like, here you should go out and try all the places, which I do. It's stressful. It's exhausting. I do. I like trying the new places. I like looking at the list, like 100 best restaurants. But whenever I go, I'm always like, this isn't as good as that. Yeah, and also there's something to be said about being a regular. Regular, yes, yes. Now, how do you feel about this thesis I just threw down? It's an amazing thesis. I love regulars. I think four is a great number. If you said I only went to the same place all the time, I'd say that's like psychopathic and just like uncreative.

10:34Okay. No. But it wasn't like on purpose for it. It's just I just noticed these are the places that always do right by me. Yeah. Am I going to name them? Okay. We don't have to put them in any order. So let's be clear. I'm going to put them from old place I've been going to the longest. I love that. There is a logic here. Now don't crowd this place because I still need my table. and that goes for all these places. But number one, Supper. Yeah. On 2nd Street and Avenue A. Yeah. Have you gone there? I used to live at 7th and A. Oh my God. Love it. Back in 02 and 05. Really was going strong then. Oh my gosh.

11:08It's been there for years. I used to go before I had a kid and everything. It was like sort of my cheers. I mean, not like everyone knew my name, but it was like, that was the place I would go meet my friends and we knew the bartender. Now, they don't have the bar anymore there, which is a bummer. They don't? No. Oh, so they used to, it's such a cozy decor. It's just very cozy. But they used to have a bar in the next room over. And then out of nowhere, they closed it. And everyone was so sad. It felt like a piece of my heart was ripped up. That bar was the spot where you would go. Yeah, it was such a great hang.

11:42But anyways, it's the restaurant still there. They also have this amazing little party room in the back, like Scooby-Dooville, where there's these wine racks. And then you go, it's almost like a secret door sort of thing. But there's a great party room there. I mean, I don't mean like a large party, but you could seat like maybe 14 people. Private dining room. Yeah, that's what I'm trying to say. PPR. For a birthday or whatever. Yeah, yeah. But the food is so good. It's cash only, everyone. So be warned. Still? Yes, cash only. Wait, that's hilarious. There's like literally like five of those. Okay, well, that's one of them.

12:09Now it's like no cash allowed. But you have to get the spaghetti limone. Yes. That's number one. The chicken parm is delish. I love this. And those are my two favorite dishes. Those are great picks. Do you live in the neighborhood? Oh, you know what else is so good? Sorry, I'm really getting passionate right now. It's a food podcast. But they give you these white beans and oil just so they bring it by. And I know that sounds like beans. They're so good. Yeah, when you get a bean that you know and you love. There's nothing. Yeah. No, they're so good. So anyway, that's my number one in the city.

12:42Okay, so question. Do you ever go to Il Bogato next door, nearby? Oh, I think I've been there like once or twice. Il Bogato is always my spot. Oh, okay. I think I've gone there for like a last while. But it was clearly not as good as supper. And you're like, nope. I guess not, because I'm just getting really worked up over supper over here. So you got supper. I might have to go there tonight. Three more. Okay. Oh, I just thought of another one too. Okay. Am I going on too long though with these? You are not. This is a food podcast. We're great. Okay. Okay. Okay. Second. Now I discovered this one during the pandemic, which I guess it's been there for a year.

13:12Yeah. But I, during the pandemic, you know when you were first like sprung into the wild and you finally get to go meet a friend for a drink, but it's 25 degrees. this is where I went. Rosie's, which is on second street and second Ave. Again, don't take my table. Do not crowd this place. I still need my access, but they have the best margaritas. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that's my drink of choice. It's clearly a theme and I'm loving this. I know. Margarita's there. I think best in the city. I'm going to say that right now. They have, they do a watermelon Marg in the summer and it is so good. Rosie's is a, it's not too sweet.

13:48Outdoor space is nice. It's cool. I mean, it's like you are by, like, you know, the traffic and everything. So it's not like, it's not an idyllic outdoor space, but they do have outdoor space. You're right. You're in the heart of the East Village. Yeah. Put it that way. Yeah. You don't know who's going to walk by your table. But, no, the food's pretty good, but I like the margaritas. Yeah. What about your second, your third? Third is Mermaid Inn. You are hitting. Different locations throughout the city. Yeah, man. Mermaid Inn is consistently delish. Are you lobster roll or shrimp roe? roll oh i'm not a lobster because i'm i'm from assachusetts so i save if i'm gonna get a lobster roll i wait till to go to cape cod yes i'm a snob yeah sorry everyone i go to cape cod for my lobster roll but no um i'm not gonna waste that in the city but but no um you know what's really good there though the lobster knuckles that they call them they serve them like escargot right you had those i i they're in like a buttery delish they put the butter you dip it in oh my god so good That's one of the best things there.

14:50How's the margarita there? Margarita, not as good. Not as good. Okay. Not their specialty. That's not their specialty. I would get wine and oysters maybe. Yeah. Oysters are good there. But so here's the thing. They used to have one in East Village. Yep. Mysteriously closed. I never cracked the mystery. Then they reopened. Then they closed again out of nowhere. Yeah. Out of cover of night. But they do have one over on 10th and 23rd. Oh, that's right. Because the one in the East Village is done and that was like the best one. Yeah. That was great. There's a few of them. But you know where they just opened one within last year?

15:20Why do I know all this? Hudson Yards. I'm really going off about this. Midtown. Yeah. 43rd and like between Broadway and something. Wow. And it's great for Midtown because whenever you're looking for a mid, and it's very large there, you can always get a table, but you don't quite feel like you're in Midtown. Well, 43rd and 8th, you said? Between Broadway and 7th or something like that. I'd call that more of the Times Square bistro. Okay, well, Times Square then. That's a Broadway area. is what I'm saying. It's cool. It's like you feel like you're a little bit out of... Wait, so they do pay you money, Emmer Maiden.

15:53What? They do pay you money. No, I'm just kidding. Because I'm listing the location. Yeah, you're like literally the directory. I know. Oh, the fourth... Well, I also... I'm going to slip this into Ribalta. I like that. This is 3D. This is 3.5. Ribalta. That's down across from Strand Bookstore. And that has really good pizza. That place is never been too. And very good pesto, by the way. I like the... Pesto Unparalleled. What'd you say? You live in the East Village, I imagine. Yes, I live somewhere in the vicinity. Okay, yeah. We don't need a box here. I'm totally kidding. I know all my places are.

16:26But then, and then my last one. Ethan Hawke lives there too. I've seen him once or twice. He's like the most East Village guy. But I don't know exactly where he lives. No, and then my final, the fourth one. Now this is a splurge though. But I'm going to say ABC Kitchen is my splurge. It is a great place. And for that, they do really good salads and that hot fried chicken is really, really good. Oh, they do a hot fried chicken there. I love it. And they've been doing that one for years. I'd say go with that. You're a real downtown person. I am. You're downtown. I don't know. I never know where to go.

17:00If I'm on the Upper West Side, I don't know what restaurants to go to. Nobody. There's nothing to go to. Okay. You go to Zay Bars, maybe. Yeah. I can't think of other stuff. Those are the ones that I always go to. You have great taste in restaurants. Oh, good. I should branch out, though. I want to try. Oh, you know what I went to? Here's a new one. Can I list a new one? Breaking news. Let's do it. But, I mean, I've only been once. Some friends took me to my birthday. No, I didn't even know about this. The tin building. Yeah. I had no idea. John George von Griechen. Yes, John George, who runs ABC.

17:32Yes, he does. Anyway, I didn't even know this existed, but it's almost like an Eataly, but it's John George. Isn't it fun there? It's great. It's so fun. Yeah. So it's down near the, what, the seaport or something? No, not the seaport. It's exactly the seaport. Like pier, whatever. Yeah, it's the seaport. Next to the giant old ship. Yeah, it's in the Tim Building. And it's like a building that's just Jean-Georges little like, you know, what do you call that? I don't know. It's a food hall. I wanted to say like Quincy Macket, where I'm from. Oh, food hall. Thank you. Quincy Macket. Food hall. They have every kind of little restaurant.

18:03But where they took me for my birthday was House of the Red Pearl. Have you gone there? I have been there. Oh, my God. I've not been there. I've been there for a party, but I've not been there for a full meal. First of all, Dratch loves a secret entrance. Yeah. Yeah. So I love, oh, it's not a store. No, it's a restaurant. I love the bar Dear Irving. Unmarked. Yeah. Yeah. You just walk upstairs. Unmarked. They can be a little snooty there if you don't have read. I know. I know. I mean, they're nice to me, but I live somewhere in the neighborhood. But anyways, no, Dear Irving, great for cocktails.

18:36Sorry. I'm really passionate. I just had coffee, so I'm running at the mouth. No, you're doing a great job in the mixology scene. House of the Red Pearl looks like a little fake storefront. And then you walk in and I love the, I love a drama. Walk into the world. And so it's Jean-Georges, I guess it's Chinese influence, I would say. Exactly, yeah. But it was very good. Was there any entertainment happening there? Because I know they do that sometimes. No, not that night. Jazz band. But they had good drinks and they had great dumplings and stuff like that. You said they took you there. My friends.

19:09Who's taking you out? Like what's the party? Oh, my lady friends took me for my birthday. It was just like three. I wanted to do a mellow. I spread my birthday across the whole week. So I did a bunch of little dinners. So that was one of them. I love the spread. So you went to Red Pearl. When I just thought of another restaurant, I loved it. Where else did you go on this week of Rachel's birthday? Oh, well, we went to the new revised El Quixote. The one in the Chelsea Hotel. I've heard extremely mixed reviews about that place. Okay. Loved the atmosphere. Yeah, it's a Chelsea Hotel, for God's sake.

19:39It's amazing. But you know what place I love for tapas? Tia Pole. Have you gone there? Sure. That's a little nook, and they have the best sangria. Quite the foodie here. Oh, yes. They have good food. No, you have a good... Oh, yes. I am a foodie. But none of these restaurants opened, I mean, except for the tin building. Oh, because I'm not listing anything new. It's okay. I'm down with this. I love it. What's a new one that I've been to? I can't think of anything. When do you like to dine out? Do you dine out when you're just with your family? Are you dining out when you're with work? More with friends.

20:11Friends. Just like the thing. Like that's my activity. People say, what are your hobbies? I've just listed my hobbies. Like I don't, you know, I like going out with friends and meeting my pals out in the city because it's like, I don't know. That's what's good about living in a city. If you're going to go deal with all the crap, you might as well deal with the good stuff too. Yeah, yeah. So let me ask you, just were in Memphis doing some work. Did you get any food in Memphis? Oh, we did. But we went to kind of like a dive. It was called Huey's. I just was in Memphis for this gig. You called it, it's a corporate.

20:42You did a corporate. It was a corporate thing. Yeah. But then we were supposed to fly out that day. But then because of the weather, we couldn't. No flights were going out. So then we were like, okay. We got a night in Memphis. So we ate at Huey's, which was a really good burger joint. Oh. I don't know this place, but I'm going to look it up. I didn't either. I've never been to Memphis. Wait, you went to Memphis the first time and did not go to Graceland? We drove by. We didn't have time. We drove by. I took a photo of the exterior. The plane, yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, this place, Huey's, was pretty good.

21:13Cool. Any barbecue? Did you have any barbecue? No, we didn't do barbecue. We had fried pickles. Sweet. And we had this burger that was very good. What was the corporate? What were you doing? Anything fun? Oh, so I'm doing these new commercials. What's the brand? For American Home Shield. And I'm playing this funny, I hope funny character. American Home Shield? Yes. And I'm playing a character named Warrantina. Ah. Because it's home warranty. And I'm a new age, kind of like a little bit offbeat, a little bit off character. Sounds fun. Named Warrantina. I think they started running this week because my doorman told me you saw.

21:42Oh. So, yeah. So, American Home Shield, we're just going, this is not SponCon, but it could be American Home Shield you can write. Now, what do you get with American Home Shield? You get a home warranty. It's something. Warranty? What I mean is it's a thing. People in apartments don't need it. But if you have a house and you want to have all your appliances and your HVAC and your fridge and you want everything covered, washing machine, when anything breaks down, then you have like it's all covered and someone comes out and fixes it. We don't we don't know from this because we're in New York. Right.