Spoon Mob

On the 25th edition of the Spoon Mob Pod and the Quebec Parts Now Known Podcast, Ben and Ray geek out recanting the food porn episode to end all food porn episodes, the tongue in cheek titled "Canada" episode. The two speculate about the reason for shooting and including the out of place postman scene before breaking down the ice fishing cabin dining scene with Fred Moran and David McMillan of Montreal's legendary restaurant Joe Beef. Then they talk about the Picard beaver scene and a random few minutes at a local pick up hockey game before deep diving into adding caviar, foie gras, and truffle to a rail car meal. Theres a quick side bar about Columbus not having Amtrak service before the guys are mesmerized about Bourdain, Moran, and McMillan's dining experience at the Continental in Quebec and the underground hipster restaurant L'Affaire est Ketchup. After briefly touching on the Quebec separatist movement of the mid 90's that neither of them researched on their own and Picard's seasonal restaurant of all things maple, Ray educates Ben on the Maple Syrup Cartel before the guys wrap up discussing Moran and McMillan trying to make Bourdain tap out, assigning categories, and updating their respective best episode rankings. 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 Greg McPhee's vegetable forward Greenville South Carolina restaurant The Anchorage. Ray starts off going through McPhee's culinary career thus far before touching on the importance of Sean Brock to the region and South Carolina as a whole, the extensive process McPhee had to go through to rebuild the 100+ year old building, how achieving success with a vegetable forward restaurant is much harder than a meat centric one, and how The Anchorage has become a pillar within the growing tourist destination of Greenville. For more on chef Greg McPhee and The Anchorage, visit spoonmob.com/gregmcphee. 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 touches on the recent Epstein Maxwell overnight document drop before talking about Amazon's push into grocery delivery, a wine international crime ring, the lawsuit against the USDA, updates to the James Beard Awards & MICHELIN Guide, why seeing "cooked at famous restaurant x" is not always what it seems, Chris Duffy's new restaurant Ever, coronavirus, the time line of the Ohio liquor sales ending at 10 p.m., and all the restaurant closures and openings from the past week. For all things Spoon Mob, visit spoonmob.com and make sure to follow us on Instagram (@spoonmob), Twitter (@spoonmob1), and Facebook (@spoonmob1).

Ray and Ben travel to South America for the first time to break down the Colombia episode. Katie makes her Spoon Mob Pod/Parts Now Known debut before the guys debate how safe the plane flight is and talk all things cocaine, cartels, and the war on drugs. Then Ray makes Ben wonder aloud about how America's involvement in slavery is perceived by the rest of the worlds history books and how America is currently perceived globally in 2020. Ray then highlights the similarities between where America is at now and where Colombia was at in 2013, Ben challenges Ray on his hate of shrimp, and they cover all the food scenes in the episode before digressing into an aside about the 2003 Tommy Lee Jones Benicio Del Toro action flick "The Hunted" and Ben's love for the 2007 Mark Wahlberg film "Shooter". They wrap things up by running through the categories and updating their best episode rankings lists. 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 his recent and final experience at Ushabu in Cleveland. Ray reminisces about dining with strangers around, the things were losing due to cover-19, and why he'll miss Ushabu before breaking down the courses and comparing Cleveland's food scene to Columbus'. For more information on chef Matthew Spinner and Ushabu, visit spoonmob.com/matthewspinner. 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 jumps right in with the recently announced upcoming layoffs at the hands of airlines and hotel companies, masks, Uber's new controversy, Instacart's appearance on the dark web, and explains the difference between filing chapter 7 and chapter 11 bankruptcy. Then Ray goes around the horn city by city touching on the restaurant closures and openings from the week, governors drunk with power, surprising news from the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, before breaking down Miami's $35 million dollar grant program. After running through the highlights in food in Cleveland, and why Townhall sucks, Ray runs through a list of promising new restaurant openings in Cincinnati before wrapping up with a few updates on Columbus and thinking around on future plans for this podcast. 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 episode of the Parts Now Known series, Ben and Ray discuss Bourdain's hour long hang in the small Los Angeles neighborhood with his two friends, Roy Choi and David Cohoe. They talk about how the episode is definitely a one for him in favor of Bourdain versus a corporate idea, the part that gets left out pertaining to the 1992 L.A. Riots, Jon Favreau, Food Trucks, the enigma that is David Choe, Sizzler, Ray following up on the Dalai Lama, and Ben cites a University of Michigan study. 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 a local destination bakery called Pistacia Vera. Ray goes into the backstory of its founding by Columbus natives Spencer and Anne Budros, it's start and eventual move from the Short North to German Village, how the Short North has changed over the years, why German Village is so strict on changes to neighborhood buildings, and gives a rundown on all the pastry's and desserts he's tried from the shop recently. Then Ben joins the pod to talk about his first experience eating Pistacia Vera baked goods before the two discuss all things coronavirus. For more information on chef Spencer Budros and Pistacia Vera, visit spoonmob.com/spencerbudros. For all things Spoon Mob, visit spoonmob.com and make sure to follow us on Instagram (@spoonmob), Twitter (@spoonmob1), and Facebook (@spoonmob1).

On this weeks episode of food news, snarky Ray makes his debut and spends the first 15 minutes giving his thoughts on the state of coronavirus in the U.S. before talking about the "partnership" announcement between American Airlines and Jet Blue. Then he touches on the Goya Foods controversy, Publix act of charity, Johnnie Walker going green, automation and robots at White Castle and Tyson, Burger King and methane, and why NBA players complaining about free meal kits in hotels in the Orlando Florida bubble is so tone deaf. Then Ray starts making the rounds state by state breaking down all the interesting restaurant openings and closings along with Moldgate, Alinea's misstep, the hostile workplace at Win Son, and the bartender vs owner clash in Houston at Taste Bar & Kitchen. Ray then highlights new restaurant openings in Ohio and the list of temporary re-closures in Columbus due to positive employee tests. For all things Spoon Mob, visit spoonmob.com and make sure to follow us on Instagram (@spoonmob), Twitter (@spoonmob1), and Facebook (@spoonmob1).

On the debut episode of Spoon Mob's newest podcast series, Parts Now Known, Ray and Ben jump right into how the opening shots of the episode set the tone for the entire series going forward, highlight the stark contrast between Travel Channel's No Reservations and CNN's Parts Unknown, where Myanmar is located on a map, talk about the craziest Ferris wheel you'll ever see, review an even crazier train ride, and get side tracked on the Dalai Lama and Bigfoot. For all things Spoon Mob, visit spoonmob.com and make sure to follow us on Instagram (@spoonmob), Twitter (@spoonmob1), and Facebook (@spoonmob1).