The NotAFoodie Podcast by Notafoodie

September 28, 2021 The Rise of Mikey Pomodoro

We're back!

Since we last released an episode, Mike Miranti has become MIKEY POMODORO. So, Tom decided to interview him about his transformation from "Front of house guy" to a budding restaurateur.

Plus we talk about the "10 New Rules of Dining Right Now".

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Transcript below:

From the NotAFoodie studio which is not actually a studio it is a zoom meeting from I don't know where are you Mikey?

In Hell's Kitchen, at our pop up kitchen space.

So anyway, it is the NotAFoodie show. I am Tom and I am your co host along with Mike Miranti aka Mikey Pomodoro.

Mikey Pomodoro.

So I think, Mike, one of the things that I want to talk about about this episode I bet the focus of this episode I think, is the evolution of Mike Miranti. Front of House guy, podcast host extraordinaire, to Mikey Pomodoro restauranteur. Pop Up manager pop up restaurant or chef Chef Smorgasburg like we've got a lot to unpack there. But I think I think we should just get started with some food news first What do you think?

Yeah, I meet you that that's the plan that's what we do.

You're out of practice because you didn't do the Food News jingle. So what do you what do we have to talk about today? What do we got?

Yeah, so pretty much if you've been if you're just coming out of the coma The first thing you needed to do is listen to the new nada foodie show there's been a worldwide pandemic since the end of 2019 what restaurants closed for a year then there was a vaccine where there is a vaccine and a lot of people have taken it but not everybody yet for some reason

I thought to get a microchip I didn't know that there was a vaccine alright

Because there's a vaccine restaurants are kind of back there's no more 50% seating there's no more outdoor only seating restaurants are back so restaurants are back but it's not the same as what it was pre COVID and food and wine put out a really like perfect Instagram post like a 10 slide post about the new rules of dining out

Yeah this is awesome I came across this the other day and just to be clear you and I started talking about food news we started talking about just the shit that servers have to deal with like that they've had to deal with historically right like you go to a restaurant people see it people are entitled and you know that's not even talking about the people that don't tip but the people who you know as my my daughter would call them Karen's but like just people who are complaining who who have the sense of entitlement and it's gotten worse across the board for for everything right like people are understandably angry people are you know, frustrated with the world and things start to open up a little bit and they there's this trend I guess or this this immediate like you know urge to get back to Oh, everything should be perfect again, you know, when on the back end there's there's a lot of shit that's not perfect. We lost how many fallow hundreds of 1000s of people

you know, died, that there's no so that means there's a labor shortage to there's a labor shortage are more people to go back to work? Yes. Which is a really like, cynical way of looking at it. But it's true.

But also people are choosing not to people who might not feel comfortable going back to work in a restaurant where you're dealing with people with dealing with the public. You know, I know me personally like I've got kids at home who are not vaccinated yet I would probably feel uncomfortable if I had a job working in a restaurant like that. I had to go to a conference in Nashville, back in August, which is like the breakthrough COVID capital of the fucking world because it's just crazy, unmasked unvaccinated mass of people and I, I quarantined at home, before seeing my kids, like I can't imagine having to do that every single day and having to go to work and being treated like shit and, you know, by customers and everything like that. I think it's just, we're at a we're at a breaking point. So that led us you and I to talk about this post that came out from food and wine. It was an Instagram post and once you take us through it,

yeah, so it's 10 words. Yeah, it's 10 rules. Number one, the customers not always right. Which is the truth. The customer Usually wrong. And also people hate asking servers questions when they go out, and then they don't have as good of the time. You and I are generally friends because you asked me things that Christos

though. So like this is it's interesting because I, I've always struggled with, like, I'm not gonna complain about certain things, but I will talk to my servers and I'll talk to chefs and I'll ask for recommendations. And I'll, you know, at the other day, I had some really bad service at a place that I'm not going to blow up their spot and but I'll but I sent the manager a note, because I feel like they want they want to know, right? Like, I'm not asking for anything for free. I'm not demanding things.

Like sometimes I'll tell if I had really bad service or like a bad dinner meal, I'll pay for it. And then after I paid for it, I'll bring the manager over.

Oh, that's exactly what I did. I paid for it. Yeah. That's it, I paid for it. I and I, you know, and I said, Hey, I know that you're a new restaurant that's been around for only, you know, a few months, I know that you are beloved, you're developing a relationship or a reputation of being beloved in the community. And every experience I've had up until this point was good, but I just want to let you know that this is really screwed up what you did like this, this was a really bad day. And everybody has a bad day. So anyway, the customer is not always right. Yeah. What's the natural?

Big 20% is minimum now?

I agree with that. Yeah, I agree with them.

I also like when I kit I tip 20% after tax, that's usually like 25% Yeah, I

mean, yeah, I've always kept 20% after tax sometimes. I when when I first started going out, I was tipping like, 50%. I was just, I felt so grateful. I know, right? Well, I mean, it's not like I was going out to like, you know, a like, and well, let me just say, I'm not tipping 50% of the bill, if I'm going to a restaurant that I know is owned by some rich person. What about when you go to EMP for vegan? Yeah, no, not at all. So pay $350 I will not Don't they have no tipping and keep Danny Meyer of like the old anywhere. method for that. Anyway, number three. Number three,

be clear about food allergies? Uh, yeah. But servers should always ask allergies too, because people are stupid. So you, if you ask them, they'll more they'll be more likely to tell you then if they just have it. Right? Well, and

this all I think the ethos behind this is be clear, because restaurants have always had to work on razor thin margins. But like, you don't want to be sending things back. You don't want to be causing a problem when people are short staffed and barely getting by. Right. So be offended about some kitchen. Yeah, no, exactly. And so the next one is use your phone for memories, not calls. With your pictures. Yeah, take take pictures, put them

on Instagram, take a phone call in the restaurant.

I know. I could not believe that this was a new rule of dining. This is always my rule of dining my phone. I take a photo when things come out, but it goes into my pocket or it gets turned over upside down. If I'm ever on my phone. While eating dinner. You can come over and slap me.

Yeah, if you're if someone calls you to pick up like, Hey, I'm out to dinner. I'll call you back. And that's it. Yeah, yeah. If I go to a table and they're on the phone, I just leave and then they'll get me when they're off when I'm when they're off the phone.

Number five

is saving that reservation.

Oh my god, I this is something that I am always like, I think my wife gets annoyed with me. Because if I'm going to be 10 minutes late for a reservation, I will call the restaurant and let them know. I am I know I'm a little bit crazy with that. You can

give a rest you could be 15 minutes late to a reservation. Yeah, I think that's the that that's the absolute most I think that's totally acceptable after that. It's really not fair. But I mean, obviously, restaurants close earlier now. So if they're closing 10, and you have a 945 reservation or 930 reservation, and you get there at 945 You better get your ordering quick because they're so

close. But I think that the first sentence on this slide that food Why put out as restaurants simply can not sustain the financial losses of no shows, particularly right now. I mean, that's something to keep in mind when you make a reservation, especially at a place where you've got limited staff, you've got limited food that people have, you know that they've ordered that the restaurant has ordered to cook for you. Like that's all based on your reservation. So respect the reservation number six patients vacation patients. I agree with that. 100% I mean, I think my first dining experience my first indoor dining experience, Post getting vaccinated definitely took probably 15 to 20% longer than normal and I was fine with it. I am happy to be out I'm happy to be to be partaking in the economy I'm happy to have people cook for me and serve me. It is a privilege right to be able to go out and do this absolutely.

Just I miss it so much. During quarantine I miss going out and like just having a meal night like dreaming about diner breakfast like the idea of someone just like making me eggs and toast in home fries and sausage.

Yeah, I mean you know what i like? I love a dirty dark tight bar like yeah, that is that like when I say tight I mean like your shoulder to shoulder with people. Like when people ask me what I want to do after you know getting vaccinated I want to be in a tight bar with like, shoulder to shoulder people that screaming with some drunk next to me about whatever sports is on the TV. You know what I did?

Like two three weeks ago. What I took I took over the jukebox and Billy markwest

Oh Billy marks that is we could have a whole episode about billion marks. I can you know talk to you about the the sex worker friends that I made there even though they would they would be beginning their shift when I was finishing my shift. I was not a sex worker. I was working at a media company but I would come in at like seven or eight o'clock at night. There'd be the sex workers gearing up for the evening. What a great place that place. Anyway, never

said when you when you play music, they talk to you about what you play. Oh, yeah, they're like big like music guy big like all these guys. So did you know

for a while they were the only bar in New York that you're allowed to smoke

in? Yeah, you told me that I didn't. told my friend that. Yeah, the police had no employees. They just had the two owners.

It was Billy and mark. Number seven smaller menus on the order of the day. Totally fine.

I feel like that was the trend. Pre COVID. Anyway,

yeah. Yeah, I'm, I'm fine with that. I'm always like, Hey, man, give me one of everything on the menu. You know, don't come on. Anyway,

sorry, I'm cutting you off my dad. Hey, don't weaponize your online review? Yes, uh, yeah, that's just called being a good human being.

I know, I know, I and I also will go as I very rarely have left bad reviews online for restaurants. I, I followed a lot of food writers and food critics who just decided they're going to stop reviewing restaurants, like they'll go out and they'll highlight restaurants, but they're not going to if there isn't something negative to say they're probably not going to do it right now. Because we're in a place where these, you know, these these restaurants, these businesses are trying to survive and you know, do they need someone some idiot writing a one star Yelp review, like is not

helpful. I mean, okay, well, one, remember in the beginning of the pandemic, the picture of the fajitas, and it was like, we've been waiting for 20 minutes, she can't eat her fajitas without cheese or something like that. Yeah, something stupid like that. That's how all those people come off as

well. Like that's that's the problem with Yelp reviews is that like, you can't trust the person who's writing it to begin with. And if someone didn't get their, you know, their iced tea with enough ice cubes in it, they're going to leave a one star review on Yelp and that one star review is going to be into it's going to be put into the weighted average of the the overall review of the so I never trust any, any of that stuff.

We got a one star review on seamless or grubhub. And it was like food was not good. Okay, that was it. Sorry.

Alright, number nine. Prove your status. That means if you're asked to show proof of vaccine, do it don't give people a hard time for enforcing regulations. No matter how you feel about whether you should be vaccinated or not.

It's the same as like being 18 and going into a bar and being like, why can't I drink? Why can I serve in the army but I can't drink it's not the market. It's not up to the bartender.

Yep, it's not That's it. That's it. That's a cut it's it's it's that cut and dry. Number 10. Being kind, keep timeliness and or directness and kindness and communication. Top of Mind. I think the next sentence is recognize the humanity of every worker. That is something that was gone for a long time. Just because you're paying somebody to serve you a meal doesn't make you better than them doesn't mean that you get to not kinds to them. I mean that was always always my rule when I was looking for a partner in life is watch how they treated the waitstaff at a restaurant and if they didn't treat them with like the utmost kindness and respect then they weren't the person for me so anyway those are the 10 new rules as put out by food and wine magazine this week couple well like yesterday they put this out but yeah, I love that Yeah,

shout out my friend chef marker CS for putting me on to a really good

love marker See? Anyway on friend of the pod Mikey so Mikey pop I'm gonna call you Mikey from now on because it's Mikey pomodoro I never called you Mikey I use called you Mike.

You know, I don't like Mikey right? But I can't gotta get used to it. It's a really good name. It's a really good name for the business. But when I introduce myself to be pious might

Alright, well, we're transitioning you are no longer for this segment. At least. You are no longer Mike Moran D co host of the nada foodie show you Mikey pomodoro restaurant tour. And I want to hear your story Mikey. pomodoro. Talk about so. I really I find it fascinating. And I'll set you up pandemic hit you. We're not working in restaurants anymore. So you decided you can start making chicken parm kits that you're going to sell. You're going to make chicken farms and and little speakeasies, little pop ups, and sell them to your friends. And then that evolved? So take it from there.

Yeah, so it was a couple of things to start to start like I was, I was so bored. I was going I was by myself. I watched all of Netflix. I listened to all of Spotify. I was going out of my fucking mind. I was cooking a lot. And my friend asked me if I would cook dinner for him and his pregnant wife to surprise them. For it was her birthday slash she was pregnant. So I I pay I charged him like 150 bucks with food and everything. And I went and I cooked for them. And that was like the first Mikey pomodoro thing. And then my other friends turned their backyard into the speakeasy bar and they wanted to get chefs. So I came and that's how the chicken parm sliders were born. And then I started selling the chicken parm sliders out of my apartment in Harlem to as a kid,

and the chickenpox sliders are not just chicken parm like it's a ground chicken with proprietary blend of herbs and spices and deep fried and then you know layered on with the new middle parm farmed up. So it's not just Potato, potato so it is it is very it's very unique. It's not like you know, not your Italian deli chicken parmesan.

I say when you're eating it, you know it's a chicken parm, but it's like no chicken parm we've ever had. All right,

there you go. And those got they got rave reviews. You ended up going on to barstool and supply yes and chicken farm.

I've done barstool twice. I just catered for them on 421 says like, Hey, guys, what's up? Yeah, pop up. And I did barstool breakfast last December. Nice night. So the morning show.

So how did that transition from selling kits to putting together a few menu items and opening up a pop up,

I needed to kind of put this into high gear I so pandemic kit, there was no vaccine. I knew restaurants or restaurants aren't going away. Like as nothing's ever actually going to kill restaurants. As a whole, there's always going to be some sort of rest there's always gonna be like a McDonald's or something. So I thought about one was quick service restaurants. I've always been really into them as a business concept. And there really isn't a space for Italian American fast casual, quick service restaurants, there's pizza, but there is no space for that. And then that was probably the vessel that post pandemic restaurants would do the best in because it's mainly food that's like made for travel. for delivery. It's not really like like people will go to Chipotle and like sit down but most people are going to pull their food back to the office. Right so so I wanted to put together a menu that would travel well and still be in that quick service space feel like it would serve as restaurant. So I wrack my brain a little bit I put together a nice menu. I called my friend Marco to come in and do this with me. Because I knew I couldn't do it by myself. You can't one person can't run a restaurant, right? That's impossible. And I don't have any money size like I can't like hire somebody. So I brought him on as my partner and we did the the metro taco pop ups and bar stills every Sunday. Yeah, so

so you guys, and I, we might have talked about this on a previous episode, but we did. You basically took over one of your friends, Mexican restaurants. You took it up. You took it over for lunch service. All day,

Sunday, all day Sunday. Every Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday where indoor seating wasn't allowed. The second Sunday was Valentine's Day where they just had brought back indoor seating at like 30% or whatever the capacity was. Then the last two Sundays we sold out.

Nice, nice. Yeah, I mean, and that's where I got to experience that Mikey pomodoros Chicken sliders and a whole bunch of other stuff. Go through the menu real quick. Yeah, well, like I was gonna say go through the original menu and then how it's evolved. Okay,

so the original menu was nine items. It was chicken parm, meatballs. Mmm, string beans, spaghetti. pomodoro. rigatoni. vaca. mozzerella, corrodes suply Mexican chocolate cannolis we added, and I feel like I'm missing one thing. Oh, chicken tutor band aid, which is a grilled chicken piccata sandwich. That's also like a bat that evolved at the next location. Because we're in the Indian restaurant. So we did in the tandoor oven, so is more like a Mediterranean. Slovakia most

nice I that's. So that's something that also I've been fascinated with like your first pop up was in the Mexican kitchen. Your second pop up was in an Indian kitchen. No,

we were the first pop up forgetting Mexican kitchen. The first pop up was in a gluten free kitchen. Oh wow. couldn't use the deep fryer. We had a big ass heavy bottom pot. We filled with oil and had a thermometer a candy thermometer in the oil to monitor the oil. Yeah, but you're frying for four people. I

know. I say that. I mean, you've never been to Christmas Eve at my house. There are 4050 people it's like doing a you know dinner service. Yeah, that's legit. But so so the first one was gluten free. The second one was that's how the Mexican chocolate came in. And the third Yeah,

I thought it would be like a cute thing to do like, chocolate cannoli. And they were fire. Nice and yeah. So now

now that pop up the pop up was at an Indian restaurant in Manhattan and that ended at the beginning of September and now you're doing smorgasburg for those of you who don't know what smorgasburg is once you explain it, like

okay, so smorgasburg is a free outdoor food vending Hall. It's on Saturdays it's at Marsha p Johnson State Park it's

it's free to walk around it's not free to eat food

but it's absolutely free to enter Yeah, um and there's dozens of vendors just like me all small businesses who are there selling their wares and all the food is pretty good I've had by now because I went once to just like hang out and talk to some people and try some food and then last weekend we get to all the food is very good it's nice being around a lot of people who are like putting everyone's putting out like a good product

yeah it's always been a great little you know addition to that neighborhood and Williamsburg and I mean and they've also expanded they've got a business smorgasburg Park on Sundays was like there's also yeah there's there's one in LA though there's one CCD there a Yeah, they're all over it's a brand now. But um, I remember going in the early days when like, I would go to meatball shop and the orange cine brothers were there you know, brothers were never there. They want to talk.

I know when I sat down with the two guys two owners of smorgasburg I was just like saying brands was like oh, yeah, like, like the araghchi brothers are super impressive. They're like we've never had them.

Wow, like that. Yeah, well there that's a weird man. They're

they're super impressive brand. They don't have a single brick and mortar location. Yeah, but they have like permanent locations.

There'll be someone differences. Yeah. That's awesome, though. So So what's the menu like at smorgasburg?

So we ran a four item menu we did on chicken sliders back to chicken parm sliders, mozzarella and Kuroda and suplee which are rolling style rice balls and mozzarella. crozes and deep fried grilled cheese. Um, and let me last week was a shit show. None of our equipment worked. We did. So we had the fissara

Yeah, I saw I saw you do you know he did something about it or what I admire.

We didn't have the propane tank or anything, right? So there's a propane guy there. He sold us the propane tank, he sold us the regulator. He sold us the hose. But the hose didn't have the piece to fit into the fryers regulator. It just fit into the actual fryer. And then the machine wasn't regulating the gas. So it turned on and like butane going and everything running great, but we get too hot. And that would turn itself off. Yeah. So it took us a while to figure out what was going on. And what we did was we were batch frying chicken and suply then the broiler that I bought. I just look I look like a nice broiler on Amazon. I good reviews and big and not particularly too expensive. And we get there we open it up. And it's a 220 watt European broiler. So we couldn't use that. So

we didn't have like one of the it had like a European

figure. Yeah. And Marco's mom and stepdad drove from Sunset Park. And they brought two little Breville toaster ovens. Oh man. So that's actually what we have to rock out with this weekend too. And then we'll have a new brother thing in by next the following weekend. Oh, wow. Yeah. Which is fine. It's okay. Is it Saturday and Sunday? Sunday's Prospect Park

that's right so Saturday night doing that you're not doing that so you just do it Saturday so you got Yeah, the amount of work that you have to put in just to do you know one day Saturday

it's a lot it's you're essentially opening a restaurant like it but um the guy next to us set up his entire booth by himself in like an hour and he had a bunch of stuff he's like yeah, it just took practice and I'm not between me and Mark I'm not too worried about us like getting it The hardest thing is when I have to parallel park a u haul that's the app some

nice well that's the one of the perils of having to run a run a pop up stand or a restaurant in New York

not the giant truck

Yes. So what's next what's next with for Mikey pomodoro what like if I all of a sudden um, sell one of my NF T's and I've got you know $20 million and I'm going to give you you know half a million dollars or a million dollars what do you want

we're gonna we're gonna open a place in the Lower East Side and brand it and do everything we need to do and get the first one going and then hopefully open multiple ones throughout the East damn East Coast into like the South they can help shape

right right so what's your what's your Who's your like audience who's your

anyone that likes food? But it sounds like

with all the fried stuff I feel like you are the Lower East Side is perfect for you. I feel like you're not a late night when you're you know,

but well one Yes, absolutely.

Well, let me let me back up.

There's there's stuff that isn't Friday we had I just

meant what I meant by that went out and again, I'm backing up a little bit. The the stuff that from smorgasburg is Yeah, would be awesome. Drunk food, bar food, walking around food.

smorgasburg stuff. We're not doing eggplant parm, because you I we don't want to carry like three types of bread. I don't want to carry like a semolina hero on top of everything else. And I don't want to do like an eggplant parm in a tray that you have to like, walk around. Yeah, go leave and sit down and get one. Like there's like, there's a guy who does Thai fried chicken inside of a pineapple. Yeah, like that's awesome. And it's like a whole like, wow, oh my god. And then there's like a Bart. There's one guy that does barbecue. And that's another train where you have to like go and sit down, but it's barbecue.

Yeah, I

don't think people want I

want to try that. By the way. that's a that's a good American barbecue place. No, no, it's

called bark barbecue.

Yeah, I thought it was them. No. Okay. No. Um, and then

like an eggplant parm, I don't know. I can't imagine that being a thing that like gets people to sit down.

I'm cracking up because I don't know if you ever saw the movie, the jerk which I think is one of the funniest movies in the world. And when he Steve Martin is in it, and it's like a 70s movie and you know, he's tired. He's working at a carnival and he's like, Yeah we're right over there right next to the pizza in a cup guy and then they're like pizza in a cup because oh yeah that guy's good he put the other pizza in a cup guy out of business

but yeah I know that mine yes yes

so yeah it's I understand you need you need that walking around food you know yeah cool

so that's why we're not going to ask them but we are going to do meatball which is ordered another soup kettle we're gonna do meatballs this weekend too

nice. I mean who doesn't love a meatball especially on winter day like like a cold as the weather gets cooler you'll you'll sell more of those. That's awesome. So and so when I sell when so what we're gonna do is we're gonna mint one of these episodes as an audio NFT and our our listeners are going to be part owners of this NF T which we're going to then convert into an NF T of Mikey pomodoro and I'm half joking but now that I say

85 eath that's like

oh 85 eath yeah oh my god that's like you know $150,000 so we're we're in cool well I mean so is it this is something like you're you're still a little bit involved in the New York you know you're working jobs to sort of keep things moving during the day Yeah, you got bills to pay but like this is what you want to do you want to open Mikey pomodoro you want open

Yeah, I'm not I'm not doing this for fun.

Yeah,

I'm doing this because I believe in it and I really like I 20 at the point of 2021 January 1 2021. I was like, Okay, this year is not about making money. It's about proving the concept. And I went from in under a year selling chicken parm sliders I have my apartments being a smorgasburg

vendor so that's awesome that's good.

We haven't even talked about that people will not like your review but he came by I got people's Instagram shout out yeah of course. Well I mean so the like the meatballs actually that's what he had

I think that the what that says about you is that you know peep people can feel your passion you know people can feel it they can when you're out there you're promoting it you're you're you know I could feel it on Twitter I haven't eaten chicky POM slider in in seven eight months eight months you know I haven't been to I couldn't go to the pop up in in Manhattan when you had it I just wasn't around the city those days but I'm excited to the town during lunch and I couldn't I didn't I don't live here I don't live here during the summertime you were only here during the summer that Yeah, no I know but um but I but I do like I do feel like I can feel your enthusiasm for everything and Pete wells when I when I read that you could tell that he that felt the enthusiasm to and so every everyone should go check out i mean it's it's it's just it's awesome what you've done everyone needs to go to smorgasburg and check it out to the booty and we're back. I don't know why is it and we're back where I'm where we don't go anywhere and it's just to the listener it's just a quick edit it's not like we have radio I know the old radio show and I called you Mikey you're not Mikey now now you're back to being Mike Moran D So Mike you've got a busy day ahead of you. Um, we were

going to a welding store to find the part to put the hose into the regulator.

Well as we always end our episodes, I know you've got a busy day so I want to end it wrap it up for like, What are you drinking? What are you going to have as a cocktail tonight to to celebrate your success and in finding the proper coupler for your propane tanks?

So I think um, we used to say we're never going to repeat cocktails.

Okay, we've got a whole bunch of new pandemic. Yes.

Um, so I'm going to repeat a cocktail. Well, I

mean, the theme of the pandemic is just repetition. So I'm fine with it. Good.

So I'm gonna find a nice talented bartender to meet me in aviation. Oh, my favorite cocktail? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. gin, lemon marish you know, the core literal comme des violet. It is with with America. Good, nourishing, you're chairing it. It's so good. It's acidic. It's bright. It has all the complexities of gin. My absolute favorite things especially like when it's still really fucking hot out, and it shouldn't be like it's really good weather. Good CBH weather. What about you?

I? Well, I am I discovered a cocktail. That or a variation on a cocktail last week. So last week. I decided we had a bunch of acorn squash that we got from our farm and I made a corn squash and yoky like fresh acorn squash and I saw that some duck eggs that I had from another farm. So like really fresh and yucky. And then we made a Brazil so it was a combination of like a fall meal. And then grilled pretzel like summertime. It was a pork line stuff with provolone and prosciutto and some spices and things like that. And while I was making all that stuff, I was like, you know, I want something that's sort of fall ish, but something that is also like a little summer ish. And I ended up with I wanted something that was a little bit more Amaro or Omari sort of flavor,

Omari is yes,

so I ended up with a with a Toronto so do you know what Toronto?

Is this spelt like the city? Yes. And it is Oh, no, I don't know it's

right. fernet Branca simple syrup and some bit Angostura bitters,

right for net simple and historic so it's like a like a little elevated. Yes,

it's like an old fashioned we put some fernet in it. But what I did was I instead of using simple syrup, I use a little bit of maple syrup because I thought that would go really well first of all with the squash Second of all, just with the Canadian theme of the drink, and but I wanted since it was it was hot out. I wanted a little bit of a little bit of spiciness to it. So I added some cayenne pepper in there. So it's cayenne pepper and maple maple syrup instead of simple syrup, right, and fernet Branca and because it's Toronto, but it was a little bit spicy. I couldn't decide whether I was going to call it the Drake or the hotline bling or something like that. But that's how the hotline bling that's that's my so that's my new cocktail for that and I'm going to make that tonight.

How's the ghost pepper tequila?

Honestly, I open it once like once every few months, I take a sip and my lips are burning. You know what I did though, this summer. I just I diluted it down quite a bit. And I made some like, which is more tequila well when I made cocktails, and I diluted it with more tequila when I made cocktails. Like I didn't dilute the actual bottle that you made for me. Yeah, but Oh man, I gotta tell you it is. It is. So for those of you who don't know Mike gave me a ghost pepper. Tequila like a bottle of tequila with a ghost pepper in it that and I left the ghost pepper only so I left the ghost pepper in there for one day and then I was like I tasted it. I was like oh my god, this is like undrinkable. It's so hot. But this is the time of year Maggie I am I am a Calabrian chili pepper Baron right now. And I ordered I ordered the wrong variety from my seed guy in Sicily. So I ordered the little they're tiny tiny little ones are called Satan's kiss peppers or devils kiss. Way too spicy. So what I'm doing is I'm drying them and I've been experimenting with them I made like a little bit of a chili paste a fermented chili paste with some basil and garlic. But with the majority of them I'm just drying them and grinding them so like I'll have this really good crushed red peppers. But my hands I forgot to wear gloves the other day and literally for like three days. I my hands if I go anywhere near my lips, or my tongue or my eyes like putting contact lenses in. I'm crying for a half hour. It's incredible. It's like It's like bear spray like you know the Bear Bear powered pepper spray. me Yeah. So anyway, um, so we're gonna keep trying to do more episodes not a foodie. Now that we both have semi regular schedules, we're gonna find time to do it. Yeah, we're gonna try to do them like once every couple weeks. Thanks for thanks for recording and thanks for listening, everybody and we'll we'll talk to you soon. See you soon. Bye bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

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