Spoon Mob

On this week's restaurant review, Ray talks about his first experience back eating at Veritas in Columbus since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and breaks down all the dishes from the Mexican Supper Club. For more on chef Josh Dalton and Veritas, visit spoonmob.com/joshdalton. For all things Spoon Mob, visit spoonmob.com and make sure to follow us on Instagram (@spoonmob), Twitter (@spoonmob1), and Facebook (@spoonmob1).

There's no Food News episode this week so we're dropping back to back pods to fill the void. On the second episode Ray talks about chef David Falk's Mexican restaurant chain Nada. He talks about the Mexican food scene in Columbus, or lack there of, before breaking down the individual dishes and talking churros! For more on chef Garrett Talmage and Nada Columbus, visit spoonmob.com/garretttalmage. For all things Spoon Mob, visit spoonmob.com and make sure to follow us on Instagram (@spoonmob), Twitter (@spoonmob1), and Facebook (@spoonmob1).

There's no Food News episode this week so we're dropping back to back pods to fill the void. It's a two part chef David Falk day. On the first episode Ray talks about chef Falk's culinary career, filling the void created by the closure of Maisonette, his experience at Boca, and why its the best restaurant in Cincinnati today. For more on chef David Falk and Boca, visit spoonmob.com/davidfalk. For all things Spoon Mob, visit spoonmob.com and make sure to follow us on Instagram (@spoonmob), Twitter (@spoonmob1), and Facebook (@spoonmob1).

On the latest episode of the Parts Now Known podcast, Ray and Ben talk about the highlights from rewatching the first season of Parts Unknown and take a look at season two's upcoming eight episodes. For all things Spoon Mob, visit spoonmob.com and make sure to follow us on Instagram (@spoonmob), Twitter (@spoonmob1), and Facebook (@spoonmob1).

On this week's restaurant review episode, Ray talks about chef Elliot Moss and his Asheville North Carolina barbecue spot Buxton Hall. For more on chef Elliot Moss and Buxton Hall Barbecue, visit spoonmob.com/buxtonhallbarbecue. For all things Spoon Mob, visit spoonmob.com and make sure to follow us on Instagram (@spoonmob), Twitter (@spoonmob1), and Facebook (@spoonmob1).

On this week's episode of Food News, Ray starts off highlighting the major non food news stories from the past week before talking about Coca Cola's restructuring, Amazon's first non Whole Foods grocery store, the current state of Steak & Shake, Master P's new business venture, and Burger King's drive thru of the future. Then he makes the rounds to all the top stories out of major markets, touching on San Francisco, Los Angeles, Nashville, Chicago, Las Vegas, New Jersey, New York City, Cincinnati, and Columbus all while highlighting the notable restaurant openings and closings since last week. For all things Spoon Mob, visit spoonmob.com and make sure to follow us on Instagram (@spoonmob), Twitter (@spoonmob1), and Facebook (@spoonmob1).

On the season 1 finale of the Parts Now Known Podcast, Ben and Ray follow Anthony Bourdain up the Congo River into The Heart of Darkness. The first  half of the episode is all about the history and politics of the Congo, including crossing over from Rwanda to Goma, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, all the militia's and conflict, Queen Elizabeth's old luggage plane, the explorer Stanley, the Belgians enslaving the Congolese, the Wakinia tribe fishing the river, the current state of things and the everyday way of life for the Congolese in Kisangani, and the city's train station that used to run all the way to South Africa. The second half of the episode covers Bourdain's trip up river to the old research station that was abandoned over 50 years after independence and the subsequent redistribution of workers to Rwanda. The guys talk about the boat, the group giving the king a goat and the king giving Bourdain a bracelet, the cooking dinner scene, debate how much money they'd need to swim in the river to tie off the boat for the night, alligators and crocodiles in New York, and wonder about the real purpose of the research station before ranking the episode, running through the categories, and locating Daniel McCabe's documentary "This Is Congo". For all things Spoon Mob, visit spoonmob.com and make sure to follow us on Instagram (@spoonmob), Twitter (@spoonmob1), and Facebook (@spoonmob1).

On this episode, Ray talks about chef Michael Symon's Cleveland restaurant Lola. Ray talks through Symon's career, reshaping his restaurant group, his eventual Food Network stardom, and how chef's eventually age out of the kitchen in a physical sense. For more on chef Michael Symon and Lola (Bistro), visit spoonmob.com/lola. For all things Spoon Mob, visit spoonmob.com and make sure to follow us on Instagram (@spoonmob), Twitter (@spoonmob1), and Facebook (@spoonmob1).

Ray starts this weeks episode talking about the recent events involving the terrible and tragic Jacob Blake shooting and the pending spiral that is the approaching election. Then he gets into the weeks major food stories like airplane nuts for sale, the peach recall, Dunkin' and McDonalds trying something new, dog beer, Cameron Diaz's wine being shitty (as predicted), and Bon Appetit's new editor in chief. Then he makes the round to all the major food cities in the U.S., touching on San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, Detroit, Houston, Dallas, Louisiana, Honolulu, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, and all the notable restaurant closures and openings since last week. Saving the best for last, Ray wraps up the episode by talking about chef James Beard and his foundation, covering his life and death, how the foundation came to be, voting rules, the categories, why the awards used to mean something, how the foundation lost its way, and how the awards fit into his life and the websites future going forward. For all things Spoon Mob, visit spoonmob.com and make sure to follow us on Instagram (@spoonmob), Twitter (@spoonmob1), and Facebook (@spoonmob1).

On the second half of the double drop Parts Now Known Podcast, Ben and Ray follow Bourdain and Ripert to Peru to hunt for all white cacao beans. The guys talk chocolate before marveling at the spread at Marissa's weekend gathering and touching on Lima, the Andes, the Amazon, ceviche, flounder, culantro, catfish, eating ants, poisonous yucca, how brooms are made, Bourdain's love for weird museums, street meat, Columbus the explorer, Cortez, the first chocolate factory opening in New England in 1765, the shaman scene, militia guarded toll roads, crossing a raging river on a leaky boat and floating barge, how chocolate is grown, the hiking scene to the trees, and if they made any money off the venture. Ray fills Ben in on why the shaman scene is even funnier when you know the backstory and they guys go through the categories before updating their episode rankings ahead of next weeks season one finale, Congo. For all things Spoon Mob, visit spoonmob.com and make sure to follow us on Instagram (@spoonmob), Twitter (@spoonmob1), and Facebook (@spoonmob1).