824: Deadass Beekeeping and Beyond with Gecile Fojas and Anthony Virey 

20:06Anthony Virey:yes yeah we're also gonna be having kids merch soon and the first shirts will say uh money cash hose oh and like a child's t-shirt size yeah just just for the kids yeah so hose was an expansion

20:24Gecile Fojas:of our beekeeping practices because we have so many different interests and also with beekeeping Like everything interconnects and it's more than beekeeping. It's gardening. It's our different systems. Like I come from a healthcare background and I was always complaining, the healthcare system is broken. And with Hose, it's like how can we create tangible action to change the systems that are broken? So how do our systems evolve?

20:50Anthony Virey:Yeah, and I like that systems is a broad enough terminology to kind of give us the permission to see how all kinds of systems evolve. So like I started my professional career in sneakers and fashion and like that system's so broken. Right. And like taste the food systems like our food systems are so globalized and certain parts of that are upside down. So how can we improve, you know, the food systems? And, you know, this this mindset and philosophy can be applied to so much hose hoses, kind of our way to have a framework in working to explore better alternatives for the future.

21:38Gecile Fojas:Yeah, I think it seems really nice in that it is clear, but also flexible and what can kind of be encompassed beneath that. And Anthony, I get the sense that you are really kind of have a smart mind about branding and kind of positioning in that kind of way. And I'm curious how you guys think about like, how are you sharing the story of what you're trying to do through collaborations or other ways of kind of just like building out what Hose is and how it exists?

22:04Anthony Virey:Well, we first didn't really look at it as a brand. When we launched Hose, or rather, when we first jarred our honey in 2020, we placed jars all around the different community fridges in the boroughs. So the Harlem community fridge, the North Brooklyn community fridges in Greenpoint, the Elmhurst community fridge was a big one because that's where a lot of my family lives in Queens. And I think in the Bronx, they call it like the friendly fridge in the Bronx. So that's kind of how we, you know, introduced deadass beekeeping to the world. And then when we did that, friends on Instagram and other brands wanted to kind of like have honey in their orbit.

22:58Anthony Virey:So we ended up having honey in places where honey is typically not found, whether that was a design and furniture shop or whether that was at a really talented tailor shop or whether that was a tea house in the East Village. That's kind of how we initially looked at partnerships, just like friends and people we respect and admire as being like true partners in crime. And as we grow Hose, we take deep pride in the intentionality behind partnerships. We say no a lot because things don't make sense for the moment or the timing doesn't feel right. But for example, this long-term partnership that we've established with Wave Farm, it feels right to us.

23:48Anthony Virey:When they first approached us to have bees on their property, we were skeptical because a lot of people come to us saying, we have a bunch of property, you should put some hives here.

23:57Gecile Fojas:Right. And beekeeping is so difficult. It can get very labor intensive and people only see the final product. People only see the honey. It's like, I want bees, I want bees. But sometimes they kind of forget that it takes hours to beekeep and time.

24:14Anthony Virey:Yeah, Wave Farm was like the optimal partner because they didn't care about the honey. They were like, we have a radio station and we want the bees for sonic purposes. And we just looked at each other and we were like, that's dope.

24:29Gecile Fojas:Yeah, if other people can use the sound of the bees in their art practice, that is so fire. Yeah, it's such a genius idea because it's something that everybody, it's both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

24:46Anthony Virey:Yeah, and then I guess Hose evolved beyond the honey because our interests, it was just another way to connect our interests to our practice of beekeeping. So coffee and teas are a big part of Hose. We wanted to introduce Hose to the world and we were intentional about launching it as a year-long cafe space upstate. I think upstate was a great location because familiar city goers would come and venture out there, but you're in a space where you have the luxury of slowing down.

25:29Gecile Fojas:Yeah, it's not like pumping out drinks all the time, like every hour on the hour, like hundreds of drinks. It allows us to talk to people about the ingredients, what's around us, where the honey comes from. Beverages were a beautiful conduit for more conversation. And being Filipino, hospitality is very core to who we are. So to be able to share something that's part of us and something that we participate in with harvesting the honey, it was really important for us to like share our practices with folks. And this was at Inoki in the Catskills, which is also such a special and like cute place upstate.

26:10Gecile Fojas:Yeah. So can you tell me about the drinks that you were serving? I imagine honey played a role, but it was probably not a limiting factor. Yeah. So it was primarily honey-based beverages, but selfishly, I am big on coffee and I was living in the Philippines for a good amount of time and I was part of the growing specialty coffee scene. so I saw how that kind of cultivated community and also was allowing me to kind of get to know a product from like from the farmer to the roaster and to like the barista and then finally to me so I wanted to share that experience through a coffee curation aspect and Anthony's really into teas.

26:58Anthony Virey:A couple of my friends and I were very early patrons of tea dealers. They are kind of arbiters of some of the rarest teas from all over the world. And we were friends with them since before their East Village Tea House. They've since relocated to Tribeca. And, you know, the ceramics part of their businesses and a crazy aspect as well. Um, but they focused a lot on, uh, kind of like really fancy elevated restaurant tea programs. And when we mentioned we were opening up a beverage counter, they were, you know, gracious enough to be like, do you guys want to wholesale and have some of our teas? I was like, that's crazy.

27:47Anthony Virey:Yes. So, um, yeah, teas and coffee, were like single single source ingredients beverages that were like one side of the menu and then the other side of the menu was like the complete opposite that was like very fun looking social media friendly drinks uh that were honey focused you know with the isi cream top uh toppings and we would dehydrate our own kind of garnishes from uh local farmers and and uh produce people

28:22Gecile Fojas:Yeah, I want to say our creativity really shined with our garnishes and our toppings, because the actual drinks, most of it was from childhood memories and nostalgia. One of the drinks was a ginger calamansi, which was sweetened with honey. And I grew up drinking calamansi juice when I was sick. And then in Filipino culture, there is a ginger tea called salabat, which is either hot or cold. and to be able to share that with folks and then Sweeten with Honey, it was able to bring more people in. And then once they were there, the conversation just like flowed and we were able to have like really great connections with folks.

29:02Gecile Fojas:A lot of regulars became friends. And even though we're a little bit more downstate now, to be able to connect with them at Wave Farm is like such a beautiful experience because they were with us from the beverage counter and they're still on this journey with us today. Yeah, my impression of the upstate New York communities as somebody that lives in Brooklyn, but likes to go upstate pretty often is that like there really are so many people doing cool projects upstate and people are really like eager to be able to connect with each other. Even like my friend Shannon does these like Mahjong nights that happen at Inoki sometimes.

29:37Gecile Fojas:But like the people that come from all over the upstate area to play Mahjong together, like those kinds of activities seem to be like really appreciated in that context. Yeah, upstate is really special because it really allows you to slow down and connect with folks on a different level. Because here it's like you have to commute to them or it's so fast. There's so many events happening. But when you go upstate, it's like, okay, what can I do? Who can I connect with? And you're looking for people with like-minded interests.

30:08Anthony Virey:I also think it's interesting because upstate is such an integral part of American history. you'll be walking down some intersections you know in kingston and you'll look up and there'll be a plaque that says this is the oldest intersection where all four houses are made out of stone from the 1600s and then you'll like walk down the block and it'll be like this is this was george washington's favorite place to chill and it's like yo where am i right now like you would never think that this like you know humble quiet upstate place uh had held so much historical meaning but what i also find fascinating is obviously there's this growing creative community upstate um but it has historically been pretty homogenous culturally and that's changing very quickly and i think as a byproduct of that there's a re-energized interest in the community engaging with, you know, diverse experiences and people.

31:15Gecile Fojas:And some of that is because lifelong New Yorkers are being priced out of the city and they're moving upstate and others are people that are, you know, choosing to go live upstate and there's kind of different waves happening in that sense.

31:27Anthony Virey:Yeah. We've also found that like the LA to upstate New York pipelines been like surprisingly strong recently.

31:35Gecile Fojas:I'm from LA, but I live in New York City. But I do know people who maybe for work, they want to have closer proximity to Manhattan, but they want a little bit more space than they could get here. And so they're kind of moving to upstate New York. Yeah, there's an Amtrak, a Metro North. Hop on that, go back into the city. Yeah. Something I'm curious for your thoughts on is this kind of like burgeoning interest between the fashion and kind of like farming agriculture art spaces. I wonder if that maybe is part of this kind of upstate creative renaissance that we're talking about. Is that something that you guys notice and see happening?

32:10For sure.

32:12Anthony Virey:I think the nature of artists is to find space to let their creativity roam free. Upstate provides the space to let imaginations run wild. I also believe that creativity, the best creativity comes when two ideas that don't usually live next to each other come, you know, joining forces. And city lives in upstate environments usually generate interesting byproducts. so the city and upstate connection has been strong for decades whether that be through food form like stone barns and blue hill and they're pushing innovation in food um but then also like the art component you see like a sky high farm situation where they they have a regenerative farm upstate and they you know essentially give all this produce to mutual aid efforts that they believe in but then they also have the the sky high farm goods arm of that company which is in dover street and and sells the vision of the farm as merch yeah and then they

33:34Gecile Fojas:have this art biennial right that has really incredible contemporary artists making site specific work at the same time i think at the core of everything whether it's farming and fashion there's always a appreciation for intention and quality and craftsmanship. And you see that reflected in how the farmers like practice their like, like how they curate their seeds and what they're growing. I think all of that, it's like, if you appreciate good quality stuff, things that are made well, you would appreciate this heirloom tomato as well. And who grew it?

34:14Anthony Virey:I also find it fascinating that food and fashion are two of the most widely flexed things on social media. I think we're in this era where people like to flex what they consume. And as a byproduct of that, restaurants have redesigned menus just to cater to what looks best on the phone. And likewise, fashion brands have boomed largely due to who and how people wear their clothes on socials. Yeah, Giselle, I like your kind of thought that, you know, farming is, it is design, like the bees are designers, like the intentionality behind that.

34:58Gecile Fojas:Because I do see, I think, sometimes, I don't know if greenwashing is exactly the right word for it, right? But a lot of people maybe like the aesthetic of a farm. But, you know, maybe they're mostly just kind of selling things as opposed to growing things or like that kind of tension in the space. Some AI company just did like a corporate creative retreat up on a farm last week. And it's a beautiful, it's a very, we were talking about this the past couple of days. And I'm like, damn it, that is such a beautiful farm. Like we haven't stayed there, but like we visited. It's a beautiful space, but then you see who it caters to.

35:38Gecile Fojas:It's a whole different stratosphere of like there's a wealth and income disparity.

35:44Anthony Virey:There are no farmers staying on that property.

35:47Gecile Fojas:There's only workers. And also, I think a lot of the criticism online about this was that obviously generative AI has a huge impact on the environment. and they're not really engaging with that part of it. They're just kind of flexing the access to nature. Yeah. Do people come to you and want to do like a fashion show with your bees or something like that? We have yet to get that request. But it's definitely a hard no. Now that we've spoken it into existence, maybe it'll happen. But speaking of fashion, there are people that are doing amazing things. We have a friend, Katie, shout out, Graceland.

36:23Gecile Fojas:And we've been working with her to make a custom B-suit for us. I know. She does really beautiful things. So maybe that's what you're speaking to in existence. Tell me more about the custom B-suit. Can you say anything about it?

36:41Anthony Virey:I think Katie is a super talented tailor. And she has a very avant-garde eye to silhouettes. and...

36:52Gecile Fojas:And she works a lot with deadstock fabric. So it's not like she's buying brand new fabric that's mass produced. She's reusing and repurposing old things. So it's very cyclical.

37:05Anthony Virey:We've gone back and forth and just the process of sampling materials and finding the right reference and inspiration points to make something beautiful but also super utilitarian because you don't want to be stung by these bees. At the end of the day, this is like protective gear. It's been a delicate balancing act. So it's been over a year long process.

37:30Gecile Fojas:Yeah, and this goes back to like building the world of Hose as a brand. Everything happens like naturally and who's around us and who's in our ecosystem, who wants to do cool things or reimagining how certain things are done. Does it have to be white? It doesn't have to be white. but preferably not like dark colors because they'll think you're like a bear or a predator because you're going into the hive. Oh. Yeah.

37:58Anthony Virey:Yeah, like we recently got our white suits custom hand dyed by this really talented Japanese, you know, designer, dyer, P-Boy. Shout out P-Boy. Shout out the whole Japanese community in Greenpoint. They're creating a little mini Japan on Norman Ave. I love it. Neighborhood. Yeah. But he designed or he dyed a bunch of white suits for us and they are like light lavender, light orange, sage green. Like as long as they're, I guess, organic colors that happen in nature and on the lighter side.

38:39Gecile Fojas:Do bees see in color, like a crazy color? So I've read about this and they see a spectrum. Okay. But I don't know what specific colors they see. I forget. I have so many niche bee questions. Like, really? I'm trying to not make this into a bee podcast, but can I ask a niche bee question? Yeah. Okay. Telling, going and telling the bees as a tradition. What is that? Do you guys do that? Do you know what I'm talking about? I'm not sure. It's like a phrase, like, go and tell the bees. I've heard before and it's this idea that you have to inform the hives when there's an important change in the home.

39:20Gecile Fojas:Like if someone is born or if somebody passes away, that you have to go and tell the bees about the change in the family. Because they're like essentially a part of the larger family. No, but I do talk to the bees.

39:34Anthony Virey:Yeah, I believe it.

39:35Gecile Fojas:So whenever we go beekeeping, I always say hi and hello to them and I greet them. and I thank them for like their hard work. Sometimes like I try to like chat it up and yap with them. There's no like response, but it's nice to like talk to them a little bit. Do you feel like they have personality? They definitely do have a personality and the personality is based on the queen. And there's one single queen. Well, typically there's one queen per hive, but there have been like anecdotes where people have said they've had two queens in a hive and it's possible but traditionally we were taught that there's one queen per hive okay i'm gonna be thinking about gonna be queen bee thinking what do you think about like the bee the tiktok people who go in like when there's a hive like do you know i'm talking about there's a hive that gets in someone's awning of their house and then they go and they have the oise that today i want to remove i know exactly who you're talking about she's like the texas beekeeper yeah um that is that's also a booming business too so a lot of people don't know like again bees are not native to the united states in north america they are native to like africa um europe and parts of asia bees find their way in to people's houses because their natural way of creating a new hive and like reproducing is by swarming.

41:10Gecile Fojas:So the bees will swarm into another place. They'll find a home and sometimes that home is in someone's walls. And that is a booming business because it's a pretty penny to have the bees removed.

41:23Anthony Virey:Yeah, I think a surprising thing that some people don't know about beekeeping is honey production is actually not a main driver economically. Yeah, I think the most lucrative form of beekeeping in America, at least for commercial beekeepers, is when the nut companies rent out their beehives and bring them to California to pollinate the almond trees in the early springtime.

41:53Gecile Fojas:Yeah, pollination service is a big business. So you load up, not you, but one, loads up the hive, drives it to the farm, and then lets the bees out.

42:03Anthony Virey:80 % of all commercial beehives in the early spring are in Central California.

42:11Gecile Fojas:Wow. And that's because almond trees need to be pollinated by bees. Yeah. And since honeybees in particular were introduced to North America, it's become a big business before the honeybees there were native bees that were doing all this pollination but big agriculture right it like kind of shook up the system a little bit wow okay this has been really informative for me and thinking about like the way that you've been kind of providing opportunities for people to connect with the hives and the projects that you do i'm really interested in the events that you've been doing can you maybe tell me more about those

42:54Anthony Virey:yeah the so after our year-long beverage counter uh upstate was winded down we've evolved uh the beverage concept into kind of like two three ish avenues um the first one being rotating tea gallery we have a partnership with uh the good folks at lichen and ff and e where we've created bespoke tea blends for them and will feature artists work on the packaging and the artist work rotates every three to six months so we said if we have shelf space at our homie shop why not share that space with you know creatives and photographers and artists we admire and that's kind of the evolution of our love for tea.

43:51Anthony Virey:The evolution of the honey-based, honey-forward beverages has evolved into informal partnerships with friends and brands who we just see eye to eye with in some capacity.

44:09Gecile Fojas:And as for coffee, we still love a good pour-over, But we've partnered with Pour Study to kind of not really scale pour overs, but it took away the burden of focusing on the actual pouring so we could have more conversations with folks. So beverages are still a conduit for more conversation, but we are able to do it in more spaces now. Yeah.

44:36Anthony Virey:Yeah, we're excited about that partnership in particular. Like we had this crazy commercial grade pour over machine in the bees, like right next to the bees last month. We're imagining the same crazy machine, like slinging coffees outside of our friends, like G-Wagon in front of his new shop. But then also just trying to bring like really good specialty coffee into places where coffee currently isn't, but makes sense to be in.

45:09Gecile Fojas:Yeah. Yeah. I love that kind of like flexibility of where it can be. And then also the music events that you guys are doing. You have one coming up. By the time the show will be out, it will have already happened. But can you maybe speak to that too? Yeah, so we are having Laraji, beautiful, talented artist come and he'll be performing Overlooking the Bees. Wave Farm has become a beautiful space to gather folks around the bees, but also sharing this experience of like ambient sound and nature, seeing the changes of the season too. and having Laraji play is going to be very, very wonderful.

45:53Anthony Virey:Yeah, I think recording the B sounds opens up a whole new avenue for audio-focused artists to kind of remix and reinterpret B sounds in however they see fit.

46:08Gecile Fojas:Yeah, it's like a collaboration. A collab, yeah. Artist collab with the Bs. Do you think, can the Bs hear? Do they know what's happening? They know. So they communicate through vibration also.

46:19Anthony Virey:They feel for sure.

46:21Gecile Fojas:Yeah. They feel. So mostly vibration. And a lot of the Raji's work, because he uses certain instruments with the vibration, maybe they can feel it. They'll probably feel it and change as an air pressure.

46:33Anthony Virey:He's such like a calm old soul. I'm like so looking forward to seeing this like 75 year old man like in an orange bee suit like next to the bees it's going to be great.

46:48Gecile Fojas:We had a so if you don't know Laraji wears the color orange and so we had a custom dyed suit for him so it's an orange beekeeping suit for him. That's going to be so cool. He's also he's like a legendary artist. It's a really cool opportunity, I think. Yeah. Beautiful soul. Wow. OK, I want to play a rapid fire game to close. But before we get into that, do you have any other updates, projects on the horizon that we didn't get a chance to speak about? Getting people to go upstate is usually a logistical nightmare. So we're creating new activations and experiences where we have created a...

47:31Anthony Virey:It's kind of like a mobile observation hive, but it's going to be packaged really cool. We'll kind of tease it out. I think we're actually going to release it alongside a collaborative object we're releasing with our friends in Dumbo, the Hudson Wilder team.

47:49Gecile Fojas:Cool.

47:49Anthony Virey:Yeah, so instead of coming upstate to see the bees, you can— You're going to bring the bees.

47:52Gecile Fojas:We'll bring the bees. We'll bring some bees. But we are lovers of physical media, books, newspapers, magazines. And so our observation hive is a repurposed newspaper box. That's so cool. Yeah. Wow. And the bees don't—they don't care. Well, we did some alterations and modifications to the newspaper box. So it is safe. Yeah. Yeah. So there's a lot of ventilation and there's enough space for a couple of frames. Okay. So people will have opportunities to come see this observation hive. Yes. Without having to put on a suit. Wow. That's so cool. I feel like a lot of people don't even really get the opportunity to see how bees work in that kind of way.

48:42Gecile Fojas:Yeah. A lot of people are afraid of bees. So this is kind of a way to show that it's okay to be around bees. And most of the time, bees will only sting you if they're feeling threatened or when they're afraid. Yeah.

48:54Anthony Virey:That ideally, in an ideal world, leads to broader education of the bees at large and then our environment and ecosystems.

49:02Gecile Fojas:Yeah, we're planning more kids programming. Hence the kids merch that you're making. And books. And books. Wow.

49:10Anthony Virey:I mean, kids are always part of it. We feel like kids are like how the system actually evolves, right? Just like biologically.

49:16Gecile Fojas:They are seeds of the future. Okay, now you're going to come up with like a kid's backronym for your next project. We love puns and backronyms. I do too. I also love the word backronym. It's not something I was familiar with before, but it's really cool.

49:32Anthony Virey:It's the mind of Giselle.

49:34Gecile Fojas:This episode is brought to you by Facebook. So you were scrolling on Marketplace, and there it was. the bike you'd been searching for. You sent a message, and it turned out the seller was super chatty, kind of funny, and an avid cyclist. The next thing you know, you're in a cycling crew. Well, a community cycling group. The thing about Facebook, you might find more than what you're looking for. From a browse to a bike ride, this summer, find more on Facebook. This episode is brought to you by Starbucks.

50:07Anthony Virey:That is fire! Whoa, that's good. This might be the drink of the summer.

50:12Gecile Fojas:Okay, I like this one too. I'm rocking with it. Okay. Try it for yourself. Starbucks refreshers concentrates are coming home.

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50:26Gecile Fojas:when things don't go according to plan. It specifically works after unprotected sex and before pregnancy occurs by temporarily delaying ovulation. Plan B is available nationwide at all major retailers and through delivery apps like DoorDash.

50:40Anthony Virey:no id prescription or age requirement it's the number one obgyn recommended brand of emergency contraception and it won't impact your future fertility that's freedom to be use as directed

50:53Gecile Fojas:okay are you ready for rapid fire let's go ready when you are okay um you just decide who's gonna

50:58Anthony Virey:go first for all of them you can you can go first for all of them you've been volunteered just okay

51:03Gecile Fojas:Okay, are you ready? I'm going to attribute. Okay, your favorite food or farming or bee-related book. It's an ecology book. Does that count? Yes. Braiding Sweetgrass. Great book.

51:18Anthony Virey:My cousin gifted me a book maybe 20 years ago called Living and Eating. It is a cookbook by a food writer, Annie Bell, and a minimalist architect, John Paulson.

51:35Gecile Fojas:So cool. Your go-to breakfast? If I have time, a full Filipino breakfast. Which is? Eggs and longanisa and garlic rice. But if I'm short on time, steamed eggs.

51:51Anthony Virey:Ideal breakfast for me, dim sum. like specifically steamed shrimp rice rolls, chicken feet, and black pepper beef short ribs.

52:02Gecile Fojas:Wow. Do you have a go-to dim sum spot in the city?

52:06Anthony Virey:In the city? Well, I've been going to the dim sum spot right off the LIE exit in Queens, going to Main Street.

52:17Gecile Fojas:Anthony used to live in Flushing, so he would always go to a bunch of dim sum spots? In flushing. Yeah. I mean, that's so many good ones. We'll keep it. We can keep it at that. Yeah. Your favorite use for honey? Ooh. If it's our honey, it's by the spoonful. Just straight up. Straight up honey. But I typically like to drizzle it on top of vanilla ice cream with olive oil, flake sea salt. So good. Yeah.

52:42Anthony Virey:Younger Anthony would say that honey makes any hard liquor more tolerable. more mature Anthony enjoys a good honey and avocado milkshake that's very Filipino it is I guess maybe fittingly your favorite ice cream flavor where to begin so that's really difficult

53:05Gecile Fojas:I used to work in an ice cream shop in the East Village it's no longer around it was a vegan ice cream shop. But I still think about this ice cream flavor to this day. It was a hemp milk-based ginger vanilla bourbon with crystallized ginger on top. So good. But regular in our freezer, probably an Earl Grey.

53:28Anthony Virey:I had this flavor for the first time earlier this summer, cinnamon basil at Fortune's Ice Cream in Tivoli, New York. Can you change it?

53:37Gecile Fojas:Cinnamon basil? Yeah, it sounds crazy, but it's so good. I believe you. Yeah. Your favorite upstate food spot? Oh, that's hard. Food, food, pastry, dessert. Wow. Maybe like a restaurant and then a non-restaurant if you guys are down to go for two. Okay. For non-restaurant pop-up, Ciro Ulo. Shout out Jess and Harrison. and they're doing Filipino food, but it's not like your regular tita or tito that's like aunt and uncle in Filipino, but they are doing Filipino pop-ups. Their food is really banging. I really like going to Pinkerton's. It's not a restaurant, but it's great pastries. So good. You can overlap.

54:24Anthony Virey:Yeah, Pinkerton's was like our go-to every morning before the shop. The head chef there used to have a pastry pie shop in Oakland, but before that she was the head pastry chef at 11 Madison, and everything there is just 10 out of 10.

54:47Gecile Fojas:Oh, get the breakfast sandwich. So good. Everything's really good there. Okay, your go-to special occasion celebration restaurant could be in the city or upstate. Right. Hudson House and Nyack, they have the best desserts.

55:03Anthony Virey:In the city, purely off nostalgia and vibes for me, Peter Luger's. I was a child and I would get mad at them because they wouldn't give me rice with my steak. But I've since grown and developed a better palate.

55:18Gecile Fojas:Okay, final question. A fictional food scene from a book or a movie or something made up that you wish you could magically eat in real life? Um, the dinner and food fight scene in Hook, because I've never been in a food fight. And I can imagine it's really fun. And just having a big table of a lot of food and eating with your hands. It's very Filipino of me, but I love that experience. Great answer.

55:45Anthony Virey:I would say the Itis restaurant from the Boondocks show. I would eat a Luther burger and then immediately pass out and take a 45-minute nap on the provided luxury bed.

55:56Gecile Fojas:Yeah, that's also a perfect answer. This has been such a fun conversation. Thank you both so much for coming on the show. Thank you for having us.

56:07Gecile Fojas:This is Taste is hosted and produced by Matt Rodbard and me, Eliza Abarbanel. The show is edited by lead producer Clayton Gumbert and supervised by Pat Stango, director of media production and development at Penguin Random House. Thanks to Shalia Harris and the production team at Penguin Random House. Theme music by Steve Rydell. Episode portraits by Louise Zergang Pomeroy. Logo design by Ellie Skurzat and Ian Dingham. visit taste online at tastecooking.com and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to keep updated on all cool things in the world of taste.