609. - Nancy Silverton

All right, this episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by Stateside with Kai and Carter, a new podcast from The Guardian. And they are using this podcast to slow down the news and wrestle with the questions that we all have about what's happening in the world. And they do it three times a week, Jason. Does that sound familiar to you? We don't really talk about, you know, a lot of international global news items and climates and cultures and sports and things like that. We do talk about fashion and wellness, but for everything else, Kai and Carter are a great place. All right, so who couldn't use more news? Listen wherever you get your podcast. or watch on YouTube. How long gone? Good morning from Seoul. It is 4.46 a.m. Them jeans, how are you feeling? Is it really 4.40? Okay, and how long have you been up for? I'm feeling fine. I'm feeling okay. I woke up at 3. I felt like shit the entire time I've been here, if I'm being completely honest with you and our wonderful listeners. So I was up at like 3, blasting off some emails, you know what I mean, having a couple of iced Americanos, a popular drink here in Seoul, and just, you know, Jason, just living my life, bro. You know, that's all. Okay. Wow. Shit. Okay. This is kind of crazy that you're doing this. Are you going to leave soon to where your body will never adjust to the time zone? That's the plan. I mean, I think that's the only way. I mean, it's a 15-hour and 45-minute flight direct Korean Air from JFK to Seoul. And then, you know, a solid hour from the airport to the hotel. And then it's been nonstop activations. But I have learned a lot and seen a lot as it pertains to the K-pop universe, which I am now more accustomed to. I wouldn't say expert, but I am more familiar now with the inner workings. You know a hell of a lot more than you did last Tuesday. Exactly, exactly. That's what you're telling me. I was able to try the new Coca-Cola K-wave flavor inspired by the connection that...

k-pop has with its fans okay um so i you know my life is different now jason i'm different i'm coming back okay so i want to hear about k-wave the new coca-cola flavor inspired by uh pop music i don't k-wave is an interesting it kind of sounds like a korean radio station that plays adult contemporary It sounds like a black hairstyle, but more on that later. Yes, it does, yes. I want to know, so we'll round it up, 16-hour direct, JFK to Seoul. I want to know what the plane experience was. What was our seating situation, double-decker, single-decker? Yeah, the plane actually, I mean, it's not the newest plane, but it is a double-decker. So I read on one of my... little points guy websites that you want to get a window seat on the top floor, which I did. And it felt, it kind of feels like you're on a private plane because it's like, you know, 15, maybe 20 seats total. And it's huge. And it's just like, it's nice. It's nice. Walk me through your class system seating arrangement. I believe. We were prestige, but I think there was first on the bottom level, which is like the full suite move, which honestly, obviously I would like, but I don't know how much it, I don't know how much different, unless there's a shower in there, I don't give a fuck. Okay, so you got the penultimate second to best seating option on the plane. Yes. Which is the equivalent of the best on a normal airplane situation. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When it's this serious, I mean. The flight attendants couldn't get over the fact that I wouldn't eat anything. They kind of wouldn't leave me alone. But I'm like, I can't have beef ramen on the plane right now. You know what I mean? It's just not going to work for me. It was a classic halmoni situation, which loosely translates to a grandma in Korean. And these Korean grandmas were telling you,

Both that you need to eat as well as that you are too fat? Is that sort of what happened? Yeah, there was some shame involved. But they kept the Perrier flowing. So I was nice and lubricated. And I did something I'd never done before because I knew this flight was bad. And I also read that the entertainment selections on Korean Air are not up to snuff. I downloaded stuff. on netflix and hbo max onto my phone and then because you can't you can't do it on a computer so i was able to see all of the new love is blind um you know back to back so i didn't it didn't make me feel crazy or anything to watch that okay did you so you can only download and watch ahead of time on a mobile device so phone or ipad not on the desktop it makes sense exactly exactly because i tried to do it on the computer and it was so tough and i was like what's the problem but i i mean The flight, honestly, it was long as fuck, but it was kind of fine. I don't know. The plane was so big that there was a full section where I held a squat for a minute. You know what I mean? It was like that big. They had a little area with some TRX bands. They had some resistance bands. Just light kettlebells. It wasn't anything crazy. But I tell you what, man. These motherfuckers got this shit dialed in, bro. You're talking about just Korean people in general with life? I'm talking about Coca-Cola. I'm talking about get off the plane. There's a guy there with a sign. He hands me a laminate. He fucking has on a custom staff only coca-cola like k-wave limited edition puffer okay okay like they're all and they honestly look pretty good yeah he said you ain't got these um and then i was i was paired up with some other friends of the brand so i've made some great friends with a hot 27 year old pop star from oslo okay um and as well as a 21 year old

travel TikTok influencer from England by way of Spain. So I've expanded my network as well. Okay. So you have a new chosen family in your life as a media influencer. How many of these people are media types like you and how many of them are just influencers? Barely any are like me. Most are influencers and it's really interesting because it's so global and being in a group of people where you're the only one basically not filming every move you make is fascinating yeah it's honestly it's fascinating like i i and these people all i'm like i've never heard it and i look it up and it's like three million followers you know it's no it's like it ain't a game it ain't a game but yeah there's um but i'm like making these new friends uh it's interesting to understand the inner workings of the oslo uh music scene you know something that i had never kind of looked into um so i'm just i'm learning i'm listening and i'm learning but i have some i have some free time later this afternoon so i'm going to go to the mall that cho told me about which is like the nicest mall here which is probably by also the nicest mall in the world probably yeah well i mean there's malls everywhere but this one apparently is the one and i was like what makes this one nicer he's like well the other ones are louis vuitton this is chanel and i'm like well that's pretty that's pretty Hi. Okay. The lower tier. Yeah. Yeah. We're splitting hairs, but yeah, I'm going to go there and there's a 10 core. There's a Corso Como here. That's apparently nice. There's a Noah store. There's a palace store. I'm going to try to check out some local. Yeah. I'm going to, I know. I talked to Kyle check about that. I'm going to, I'm going to try to do some stuff, but I feel, I mean, I just feel insane. So I don't know how much, how much I can physically. When do you, when do you leave? Tomorrow morning after we podcast at a similar time. Straight to the airport, then back to New York for one day where I have been asked and I have accepted to attend the Charlie XCX boiler room. Oh, jealous. Which she was like, you can say no. I know you don't want to come to this. It was basically her. But I said no. I think I need to check it out. I'm bringing Jake. I'm bringing a young person.

Who? I plan to stay for about an hour, hour and a half. My friend Jacob, who likes her and also like parties. You know what I mean? So it's reasonable. Not Gallup Gurr. No, no, no, no, no. He couldn't handle that. And then TJ and then you and I are reunited in beautiful Mexico. Fue a la Cancun. For the Hotel Edición. Have you prepared your DJ set? You have your record box out? Where are we at? Not yet. I just got back. I was in wine country for a little belated Valentine's Day for the last day. It's been pouring rain. Still is. And just sort of drove in through the floods for a few hours to wine country. Beautiful. Had some food at a couple restaurants and then kind of drove home in the rain today. Okay, that sounds great. And now it's still raining. What's it called? Bells? Yeah, I went to Bells and Bar Le Cote. And I think I saw our guest was in Ojai. This weekend as well. So we're both kind of bopping around. She does the restaurant at the Ojai Valley Inn. Oh, I actually didn't know that. I should know that. Yeah, she does the restaurant at the Ojai Valley Inn. See, now I just fixed it in post. Yeah, it totally makes sense that she was there. She does the restaurant. Yeah, it would be weird if she wasn't. But the cool part about being over there is, number one, I'm a sideways freak, so it's cool to drive past the hitching post in Buellton to see where the god kind of dragged his heels past the Chevy dealership begrudgingly to go try to get some puss at the post. Of course. You know, I had never, it's so, and it's so close. It's like an hour and a half drive when it's not a torrential downpour. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it really, you feel, I don't know, you feel like you're in another state or another country in many ways. It just looks completely different and like literally with no traffic and the way I drive, it's 90 minutes as a crow flies. Oh, shit.

I mean, look, I know you went Lewis Hamilton mode. I've driven to Long Beach. It's taking longer? More time than I could do. Okay, so. Yeah, it's crazy. I mean, so it's a whole other world. Even with the. And the wine is cheaper there. Yeah, well, of course. It's like you're going to the source. You know, that kind of makes sense. The import duties and stuff are not a non-factor. Well, I think what it is is all the people there, they all work in the biz and they know how much everything costs. And they're just like, you can't scam a scammer. So, like, I sell this wine myself and I know how much it costs. So, it's cool to be drinking, like, good wine. For like, you know, 40 bucks a bottle. That is nice. And I'm glad... That doesn't get you piss in LA. No, it really doesn't. You go to Lolo, oh, they're looking at 100 minimum. Well, I'm glad you made it back. I'm at all time. They're raping my ass. All time. Those prices are something else. Remember when we went to all time with George and they're like... The wines by the glass, it's just a red, a white, and an orange. That's it. And they're like, would you like to sample the orange? And I was like... It's the only wine you sell, so just pour it in a glass and give it to me. There's no reason. What choice do I have? What fucking choice do I have? I'll take the wet wine that comes in a glass, please. Yesterday I did experience something at the... the hotel has a pretty insane breakfast spread with both Korean and American delicacies available. Oh, continental. I witnessed a trend. First of all, everyone has a look here. Everyone looks good. It's the number one place in the world for credit card debt because they all are dripping. Really? Yeah, that's true. It's just crazy. The breakfast room, every single person is in fucking Tom Brown, ERL. like our legacy new balance you know it's the whole thing but then i noticed that a trend where the male of a couple was eating duck for breakfast and the female in the couple was having like a bread pudding and a waffle and i saw this a couple times and these people look great and i'm like how do you eat this kind of shit for breakfast

And look like that. It's like when you go to Scandinavia and they all eat the fucking buns every day and they're so hot. I just don't understand. Every day I have butter and cheese for breakfast and free for cigarettes. Watching a guy with an Hermes belt on eat duck for breakfast. Hey, duck for brains. But I guess duck for breakfast, you know, it's... There's a lot of healthy fats in there. Yeah, no, it's not that. It's not that crazy. It's the eating creme brulee French toast every day. That'll get you. That makes less sense to me. And we can also talk to our guest about that as well. A snatched petite queen who is sort of made and eaten. Nothing but pasta and bread her whole life, right? She's the original sourdough influencer, which is something that you can't say for many people. Our guest today is Nancy Silverton. She's a chef that you guys have probably heard of, and she owns a handful of restaurants in L.A., Osteria Mozza, Pizzeria Mozza. How do you say it? Kispaka? Kispaka. Yeah. And she's had a bunch of other restaurants over the years. Yeah. You know, obviously down in Ojai. Started La Brea Bakery. She's really known and done it all. She's kind of the queen of L.A. cuisine. I've hung out there a couple times. I'm not a big fan of TJ, so we'll see how this shakes out. I sent her a DM saying, hey, you ready to pod today? And she left me on rad, so. You know, things are going well. She's also, if you don't live in L.A., you know, go to Whole Foods. They got Nancy's. She makes a nice kind of gelato. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, it's good. They have one. I think it's sort of based on the butterscotch budino that you can get over at Mozo. You've had that before, right? Oh, have I had that? Jason, come on. The budino. Is the sky blue, chief? I mean, come on. Okay. All right. Let's give Nancy a buzz. All right. This episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by Quince.

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So where are you? What part of the world? I'm actually in Korea right now. Wow. Yeah, it's 5 a.m. for me in Seoul. What are you doing there? I was invited here by our good friends at the Coca-Cola Bottling Company. They are releasing a new flavor inspired by the sounds of K-pop. So I have been learning a lot about K-pop as well as the Coca-Cola Bottling Company. Do you have any Coke stories you want to share? Cocaine or Coke? Which one? Well, either one. I'll tell you my cocaine story, but no. But just out of curiosity, is that because you asked me about headphones and then you asked me about what if I wanted to listen to music? Are you both music? Like driven or something? Is that a component of what you do? I would say that's a component of what we do. Jason is a DJ for many, many years, and I used to be in the music business, and I'm also just a big music appreciator. Wow. So it's part of our... I would say. But I also I mostly use headphones to listen to podcasts and to edit this podcast nowadays. But then back to music. That's the other thing. It's so funny. One of the questions that no matter where in the world I am and no matter what the magazine is that's interviewing me or the or the newspaper, one of the questions is what. is your playlist. And it's like, I don't have a playlist. Who said I have to have a playlist? But I'm rare in that of today's world, maybe my generation. No, I think I'm just rare in that. I don't have a playlist. I like one voice, one instrument. Okay, so you're like a Dylan Unplugged, like Joni Mitchell? You got it. You bought it. Okay. Okay, and maybe if it's a duo, it's Loggins and Messina, but that's like about it. Because I like classical music, and that's what I love in the morning. When I'm in Italy, I don't listen to music in my house in Los Angeles at all. But in Italy, my favorite thing to do is to wake up in the morning.

And go to my Spotify and put on classical music. Love it. If you ask me who are my favorite composers and what are my favorite sonatas, I wouldn't be able to tell you. I like the genre of classical. And when I'm in Italy cooking, I will put on. And I do have my own Spotify music. And whenever I hear a song I like, I add it. So I have like 500 songs on them that are so random. Besides my classical, I love words. I like lyrics. Okay, so you're paying attention. Yeah, and that's what really sort of draws me in. And so when I hear some of the music that is appreciated today, I just don't get it. I really don't. And I'm like, what is this? Is this electronic or is this heavy metal? I don't even know what the music is. I am so detached from that world. I kind of like this because I never meet people like you, except for my own father, who historically has driven to work for 30 years in silence. Yes, me too. Both ways. And I'll tell you why my drive in silence. Another thing, and I'll tell you. I can't stand the fact that you can't turn a radio on and turn a radio off and press a button, that it's so complicated to get the music on your car. I'd rather just know and deal with it and drive with your father in silence. Okay. Well, I think it's probably because your Maserati is so new. The technology is different. You know what I mean? I mean, I agree with you. I struggle with Bluetooth connectivity issues in my car and Los Angeles as well. And it is a real problem. And sometimes it doesn't register. And it does make me want to put my head through the windshield. But do you use Google Maps or do you just know where you're going? No.

I don't know how to do it. I just don't. But you know what I do know how to do, what I'm good at? Driving drunk? Driving drunk and making friends with people under 30. And they do all that for me. All I do is hand them something and say, you do it. Okay, so you keep a harem of young'uns around. Teenagers, yes. To get your digital tasks accomplished. Not in an Epstein kind of way, though, but in a healthy, productive way. No, it's a really healthy way. Everything happens with my clothes on. But I can't. The world has gone beyond what I am capable of understanding. And so I just grab the closest teenager and just say, you do it. This is cool. This is cool because I feel like everybody likes to feel needed. Yeah. And if it's easy for you to help Aunt Nancy with her phone, then that's a good feeling. That feels like you're really helping someone because I'm sure you seem helpless and desperate. I do, but what happens is I see the old mother in me talking to my kids when they were younger and them trying to work out something and me trying to give them the tools. to be able to figure something out and that it takes a little bit of effort, but then you can do it. And me, in my old mother, I've just given up on even trying to figure out how to use Google Maps or how to use Bluetooth or how to stay relevant, you know, because I just don't have the patience, the time, and most of the time I don't have the interest. I'd rather not figure out how to do the... anything in the car, and I'd rather just drive in silence. You've made it this far in life, and also a person in your situation running multiple businesses. You have become a master delegator. It's the only way you're able to function and survive, so why not keep delegating to these young people? You can give them a little focaccia at the end of the week. They're happy, right? Yeah. Exactly. But I do need to know about this new Coca-Cola brand.

Something that's only going to be, and I'll tell you why in a second, but is this only going to be available in Korea? I don't know exactly. I don't think so. It just came out yesterday. I was at a press conference with like 300 members of local Korean media. And it's described as a fruity fantasy, is the flavor. So it's a baseline of classic Coca-Cola with some sprinklings of ingredients inspired by the K-pop universe, is what I've been told. It's also sugar-free. Yes, it is sugar-free. But so when you say the K-pop universe, so what is that? What does that mean? It's a great question. It's a great question, Nancy, and I thought the same. How do four girls wearing miniskirts affect the flavor of Coca-Cola is your question? That's a very good question. They linked up with a K-pop legend, this guy JYP, and his company, and they made a music video and song with all of his artists. that was sponsored by Coca-Cola. And I have to say, the song is pretty catchy. The video premiered yesterday, and I'm not really a K-pop head, and I do remember the chorus. Oh, wow. But how did they get that flavor in the can? You know, I asked the CMO this yesterday, and I think that those scientists at the Coca-Cola company in beautiful Atlanta, Georgia, are keeping that close to the vest. You know, I'm not exactly sure. But I think that there's Korean food, as you know, is so flavorful and there's so many elements. I feel like it wouldn't be that hard. You know, it's not that hard to find something. But they're more savory. Look, I'm not an expert. In fact, it's been really tough for me to eat here as a vegetarian. They don't really understand what that means. But yes, I would. I think savory is more. I mean, I had a nice kind of like Korean pancake last night, which was basically just greens. You know what I mean? In a circle-shaped crispy, which was very nice. Green onion pancake kind of thing? Yeah, exactly. It was good. Yeah, it was very good. But I don't want my Coca-Cola to taste like green onion, personally. Exactly. Did you like the Coca-Cola? Yeah, it's good. I mean, Coca-Cola is a delicious treat occasionally, you know? But I was saying this yesterday, but, like, growing up, I grew up in Atlanta, so it's, like, in my blood. And my mom, in the 90s, you know, my mom would drink six or seven Cokes a day. Wow. Like, it was nothing.

And she looked good, too, which is crazy. Many moms did. Do you drink? No, I don't drink it only because I just think of how bad it is for you, and I think of the calories and the sugar. But I've got to tell you, if it didn't have calories, it didn't have sugar, and it was just the flavor profile, on a hot day over ice, a Coke, and not a Coke substitute, because they're terrible. You know, nobody has achieved anything. Full-fat Coca-Cola only. Classic tradition. In my opinion, the best way to eat it is you're hungover pepperoni pizza or a cheeseburger, ice-cold Coke over, you know, in the glass. Nothing better. But I am opening up this, I don't know why, this tiny pasta bar in Koreatown. Oh, really? Okay, in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles. And I wanted to call it K-pop pasta, but it's not. It's some crazy Korean jargon for something else. I don't think I would ever even remember the name. But anyway, I was thinking about that Coca-Cola. that maybe I would do something with that Coca-Cola if it's something that's going to be available. I'll set you up. I'll set you up with our friends over at Coca-Cola. We can get that moving. What is this? It would be our pleasure. Why are you opening a pasta restaurant in Koreatown, if you don't mind me asking? Do you know, are you both from Atlanta? Does anyone live in L.A. over there? Yeah, we both live in L.A. at least some of the time. Where do you live? What part of town? I live in Glendale. I've been on the east side my whole life, so Silver Lake, Atwater, Glendale, but I've been to all of your restaurants many times. I live in West Hollywood, spitting distance from Moza and your other members of your empire. Well, in Glendale, do you go to that wonderful Armenian bread place called Hots? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I've been there. The one where they roll up the greens inside of it? Yes. I was thinking of your cream pancake. Yeah. But in K-Town, there's a young, I guess he's an entrepreneur. He has a couple businesses there, a nightclub. And then he opened up, which I went to look at a couple of years ago, which was, I don't understand the joy behind that, but it's that axe throwing bar. Okay.

So if you want to let off some steam, you go in, you pay your money, you throw axes, and you kind of try to forget about your problems. Yeah. A fly-by-night trend that I'm surprised is still sort of existing. Yeah, exactly. So he was obsessed with my partner, Joe Bastianich, and loves pasta. Sure. And convinced Joe, my partner, to partner with him, meaning me too, in a pasta restaurant in Koreatown. And so that's why. Because you need another restaurant in L.A., right, Nancy? Well, first of all, I need another restaurant in L.A. But see, my whole thing is, oh, okay. So let me research this and try to develop sort of a fusion that actually works. That could be interesting. But it's not what he wants. He wants just a regular pasta restaurant. My feeling is, why do you need just a regular pasta restaurant where you can get? you know, carbonara or cacio e pepe or, you know, whatever, amatriciana. In Koreatown, it makes just zero sense. Why not go 10 minutes north and go to, you know, it's like I don't understand this. So I think I have to fight a little bit more for some of these Korean flavors. Well, I mean, you've had like the noodles with black bean paste before. It's kind of a Korean-Chinese. Yeah. Fusion dish. Yeah. That one's pretty good. Something like that. But also do Korean, I think Korean people in general love the traditional authentic version of it and maybe not necessarily a fusion version of it. But they came all over town, you know. So why not get the people that are visiting Koreatown that love the energy of being in Koreatown and have them also want to try. something where they're getting a little bit of Korean and a little bit of Italian. So not just geared towards the Korean neighborhood, because there's so many people that go to Koreatown now, you know, so many non-Koreans that live in that area. Because, again, it's not like I'm bringing something to their neighborhood because they live so far away.

Yeah, they live seven minutes from Silver Lake. It's not the other side of the world. Exactly. Just go to Silver Lake and go to Alimento. It's not that serious. The parking's bad everywhere. Just pick your poison. Yeah, exactly. That's true. What's the timeline? Probably fall. Like maybe fall. Ball? Okay. All right. Well, we'll look out for it. I'll take an Uber to Koreatown, you know, and try out this pasta restaurant. I'm not opposed to it. Yeah, maybe you can figure out how pasta, you know, the traditional pastas play with the Korean drinking culture, perhaps. Yeah. I don't know. You know, we'll do, you know, Chianti bombs instead of Soju. Yeah, that sounds delicious. You know, maybe some Fernet, some Amara, who knows. Exactly. This is exciting. Yeah, well, I mean, actually, speaking of me rudely saying, like, you need another restaurant, your podcast, the intro of it, you sort of say, like, I'm the world's busiest chef or something like that. Oh, sorry. Yeah, and that, you know, I wouldn't have said that myself, by the way. That was written for me, as you could probably tell. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll take that, you know. I pick my arguments. So I am not the world's busiest chef, but it is true that I am busy. But you know what? I still have my hands in everything that I have going on, and I just am sort of tuned into when I see a new item on the menu at one of my restaurants overseas. I'll be able to say right away if I like it or not or hold off until I'm in town so I can taste it. or send me a photo. But I noticed that each and every day. I have a restaurant that I opened nine months ago in Riyadh. That's Saudi Arabia, if you don't know where Riyadh is. Oh, okay. I like this. Getting that blood money, baby. Let's go. This episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by Squarespace. Obviously, Jason, you and I spend a lot of time on the World Wide Web, sort of our peers, our listeners, our friends, our colleagues, maybe even your parents if they're freaky.

And if you're doing anything in the world, writing, taking pictures. I do topless boxing. You need a website. Exactly, a website that works, that does what it's supposed to do, that allows you to be creative but also business-minded. Jason, there's one place to go for that, Squarespace. Yeah, Chris, I'm over here. I'm modifying calculators and putting Claude inside of them so you could cheat at school. And I just want a place where I could, you know. have everything all in one place. I can have the SEO tools so those future graduates can find me. And, you know, I'm able to accept, quote, unquote, donations for my services that might be gray area. You know what I mean? And then email campaigns. Hey, I got a new, you know, 2.3 version upgrade. Boom, boom, boom. Get the analytics going. Raise some money. Show your investor all of your cool analytics of what's going on. They're going to want to get in early, and we can use Blueprint AI to make your website look as professional as your competition, if not more. So head to squarespace.com slash howlong for a free trial. When you're ready to launch, use offer code howlong to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or a domain. Oh, this is huge for me personally. This episode of How I'm Gone. It was brought to you by TaskRabbit. Oh, baby, let me tell you something. This is not a joke. I use TaskRabbit a lot because I can't do anything. You need some art hung? TaskRabbit. You need something put together? A cabinet? Got to reach that cheese grater on the top shelf? TaskRabbit. Anything you need, TaskRabbit can take care of it for you. How it works, TaskRabbit connects you with skilled taskers in your area. They can help you move. They can assemble furniture, repairs, yard work, mounting, and more. You can search for a tasker based on cost, skill set, availability, and past client reviews so you know exactly who's showing up and can have confidence that they know what they're doing because taskers have assembled over 3.4 million pieces of furniture, completed 700,000 home repairs.

handled 1.5 million moves, and the numbers are just going up, Jason. Yeah, throw a little money at the problem. It's not so expensive, and that job that you really don't want to do is something that another person out in the world is very good at doing and would gladly do it in exchange for a little bit of money. So when life happens, your to-do list grows. Get ahead of it now and get $15 off your first task at TaskRabbit.com or grab the TaskRabbit app using promo code How long? Taskers book up faster, especially for same-day tasks. So book trusted home help today. That is $15 off your first task using promo code howlong with the TaskRabbit app or at TaskRabbit.com. I was just there. But, you know, it's just interesting. You know, I mean, it's really easy to take a brand and not. watch over your brand but my feeling is if I'm going to go to the trouble of being a busy person then I need to take after and look after what I have and so I do and you know you go to these places where we have very competent chefs that are leading them and yet things slip and things change and they don't even know they're changing you know I was looking at this chicken dish that they do at One that's the same as in Quispaca because it's a Quispaca that I opened in Saudi. And it's a dish that is, you know, a chicken dish, half a chicken that's served on bread, chicken toast, you know. Yeah, classic. And I would say, wow, this looks so much better here. I mean, the version because the chicken is the right size. I find the one that we use in Los Angeles way too big and all different reasons. Then I go to taste it and it's like. Why is there brown sugar in this dish? And one of the cooks decided that the sauce needed brown sugar, right? So the chef obviously wasn't tasting the food or didn't notice. But, you know, I need to travel halfway around the world to realize they're putting brown sugar in the sauce. But at least I bring it back so that when people go to my restaurants around the world.

they know that they've eaten that dish somewhere else. And that's not true, I think, with a lot of other restaurants or empires that sometimes I'll go to. It's like, okay, that guy's dialing in because if they knew what was happening here, they'd be pretty ashamed. The continuity. I mean, I guess that's the thing that you have to think of when you're scaling on this global level. You kind of have to think like a Din Tai Fung. you know, where people know and expect these dishes, the focaccia de ricca has to taste the same as it does everywhere else. You failed, you know? Yep. Brown sugar in the roast chicken, that's fucked up, if you ask me. I don't know much about cooking, but that sounds fucked up, even to a layman. Right. Hopefully his punishment was swift and severe over there. No, it was just that, don't put brown sugar in it. How about I put it this way? It was Swift. Okay, you took care of business. You took care of business. So even though you are very busy and you are traveling the globe and you are taste testing in Saudi Arabia, why did you start a podcast? Yeah, you know, I don't usually have an idea of... I don't look at myself as an entrepreneur. You know, the few things that I do that don't have to do with my immediate, say, one restaurant and ends up being a second restaurant or a cookbook or a podcast is the idea comes to me. And if I think it's a good idea, it's like, sure, I'll do that. And that was what was with the podcast. So, as you know, my co-hosts, Laurie Ochoa and Ruth Reichel are good friends of mine. comes to Los Angeles, except for this year, had been coming to Los Angeles for three months for the past eight years to get away from the cold of New York. She's been wintering here. Yeah, yeah, she's been wintering here. And then Lori and Ruth and I are all very good friends, and we walk together and we talk about exactly the nonsense and unscripted versions of what's on the podcast.

So what had happened is Ruth, I think it was a year, yeah, last time she was here, I guess, was talking to Lori and I and saying that she was in the midst of formulating a podcast with another co-host on a completely different subject. And she was just not into it, really had cold feet about it. And so she kind of was asking the advice of her son, who is someone that she really trusts his opinion of what. today's world and what people of today really want and he said to her nobody cares about this podcast that you want to do what people would really love to be would be that fly on the wall when you and nancy and laurie are taking your walks and so that's how it was presented to me she went back to the people that were going to do the podcast and said i don't want to do that podcast but what do you think about this idea and they loved it so she came to laurie and i and said look at what if We did this podcast, obviously unscripted, but just talked about whatever it is we talk about on the walk and see how it goes. And that's really how it came to be. I've never listened to a podcast. And for the same reason I don't listen to music in my car, I don't know how to access a podcast. Okay. Have you ever listened to your podcast? Never. I'm getting turned on. Very cool. I'm embarrassed that I've listened to my own, but I've since not. I don't do it anymore. There's no point. It's fun because a lot of times people love to sit around and gossip with their friends and catch up, but in today's busy world, it's hard to find the time to do that. A podcast really does create an excuse or a reason to do it because you can make some bucks around it. People really do. Just love hearing the hens clucking at the end of the day, right? Yeah, it is. It's lovely to take the time to sit down with Lori and Ruth. Even Lori, who lives in the same town, I don't see enough. So it is fun. Quick detour. You mentioned you had a cocaine story, and I would like to hear it. Okay, so my cocaine story is this. First of all, luckily, it's a...

It wouldn't happen today because I'm not a cocaine user, but I am very comfortable and free to say that I was at one time. That makes three of us, so go ahead. My cocaine story is when in 1985, I was getting ready to move to New York, and I decided to have a garage sale and sell everything to get rid of it. And then buy money to get some cocaine. So I sold my, this is when you have perjure's remorse. I sold my copper Pavoni espresso machine for probably $125. And I really regret it. I wish, how much cocaine could you buy for $125? I mean, in that era, probably more, obviously. Well, that's kind of the thing about cocaine is it has sort of stayed the same price adjusted with inflation the whole time. Like, it's always been kind of expensive, and that's why people like it. Oh. What's it called? How do you buy it? Eight ball. You could get an eight ball. Eight ball or a gram. Eight ball is a big boy. That's for you and your homies. That is one eighth of an ounce. That's 3.5 grams if we're... speaking in baking terms for you. But how else would you, like, let's say, when you, let me try to think of other drugs that one would buy. That was the only drug that I liked. I mean, I didn't, I never tried LSD or mushrooms or anything like that, but wait, how did you buy a gram? Is that how you bought a gram? Yeah. Yeah. How much is a gram of Coke? How much was a gram of Coke? 60, 60, 80 bucks, depending on the quality, Chris. Yeah. I mean, in my, in my day it was 40, but I was, it was stepped on. So 60 is probably better. Wow. You weren't getting a lot, that's for sure. No, and I wish I, so whenever I see a Pavoni, old school, one handle machine, I just, that's my, it's like, wow, if I only didn't sell it for cocaine, I would have still.

Every time you see that copper espresso machine, you start getting a little post-nasal drip. Yeah, you got it. You start talking about starting a band. That's right. Trying to organize my play load. 85, that is primo cocaine using years. L.A. in 85. Yeah. You know, Breddy Cinellis era, less than zero. Where did you work? What were you doing then? I was working at Spago Restaurant. Okay. I was moving to New York to redo the menu with my then-husband, Mark Peel, at Maxwell's Plum in New York. Okay, okay. That sounds about right then, I think, for that area. It was appropriate for that area. era not appropriate anymore but it was not age appropriate for me anymore or appropriate anymore but yeah it was definitely appropriate for my era for that time i wanted to talk to you about clothes because i know you are into clothes and i remember seeing you on tv a couple years ago in like a wild kind of marnie look so i just wanted to know like you seem like you really be shopping so i would love to hear more about some of your habits yeah how much how much money you spent at comb more than i spent It calmed much more than I spent on cocaine. How about that? Okay, sure, sure, sure. That is a really good point. I think I, you know what? Financially, I think that I should get back into coke. It'll save you money? And give up my obsession. But you know what? I guess it's one addiction, right? Yeah, yeah. One addiction leads to the next. I think I gave up coke and I got addicted to... Where do you shop in L.A. or they just bring it to you at this point? I'll tell you where I shop in L.A. And the other part that's dangerous about it is the owner of the shop is a super, I mean, really one of my closest friends. And so the problem is it's like you go to your friend's house and you go in and you visit and then you leave and it doesn't cost you. I go to my friends to say, oh, and I leave $2,000.

In the hole. But I'll tell you something that got really bad during around 2020. Okay. 2020, when I couldn't go to shops, one thing I did discover, and I'm really good at finding, but then I have to grab the teenager to actually buy it because I don't know how to buy. But shopping on the Internet and buying designer, like, you know, vintage Gucci dresses. are fantastic so much better than contemporary and um i got addicted to buying gucci vintage dresses um but again i can't buy it because i'm afraid i'm going to press the wrong button and something you know it's like i ordered 10 of them or something so i i buy them but i find them and then i have to grab someone to buy it for me is this on the real real No, I don't. Well, no, some do, but I don't really find it on there. I find them on websites like Vestiae and First Dibs and Farfetch'd. I always forget that First Dibs has clothes as well as furniture and objects de art. Yeah, and I learned about it. It's funny that you said it because the first thing I ever bought on First Dibs was the most fantastic vintage. Issei Miyake piece that is a art piece. And I bought it on First Dibs, and it is breathtakingly beautiful. But my shop in L.A., it's called Noodle Stories. Oh, yeah, yeah. I know Noodle Stories. I've been there before. Yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about. The most beautifully curated shop of women's clothing that... I've ever really been in that every single thing you want. And a lot of the brands are brands that maybe other people have. She doesn't have any designer brands. There's no, you know, Dior, no Gucci, no Prada, anything like that. It's, you know, but they're all, I love her Japanese, you know, I love her Italian choices, but they might be choices that other people have, but just the way they're curated and she doesn't overbuy.

And you don't have to peel apart the rats to find things. And everything in that store says, buy me. And you do. Yeah, it's funny you say that because I've been in that store a few times just because it looked good, you know what I mean, from the street. And it does, I can tell that you shop there, if that makes sense, after being there a couple times. But it is. Can you explain the name? Because it's very confusing to me. Well, I was going to say, if you know the owner of the store, this would be a great name for your Korean pasta restaurant, your Koreatown pasta restaurant. That's true. That's true. You know what's funny? You just made me think of this. When I first started shopping there, and this is years ago, 20 more years ago, 25 years ago. I would get denied by my credit card company all the time because they couldn't imagine somebody was spending that much money at a noodle store. $3,800 on ramen? I mean, you know David Chang. What's going on here? We're flagging it. She's Korean, and noodle stories is a – I've asked her a million times, and I knew, but it's like a little – It's not like a fairy tale or it's not like a – or it's a type of little story. So I wonder if it's like jingles or it is something. Like a little limerick or something? Something like that, a noodle story, or it's a – yeah, it's something like that. Now I'm ashamed that I can't remember which because she's told me and told millions of people that asked. Do you live in Hancock Park? Yeah. Okay, okay. So you live right near the restaurants. I live on Van Ness, yeah. I live on the last street possible that I'm allowed to brag and say, oh, yes, I live in Hancock Park. The next street is something else. Oh, that's a good trick. Yeah, what would you call the next? Then what's right, what's bordering you then? So, well, and it's not like Hancock Park is just a noticeable name that people know to a certain geographic area, but really it's Windsor Square. So there's like Hancock Park.

Larchmont Village, they're all different streets. I'm Windsor Square, and I am the last street in Windsor Square. What do you think about the changing face of Larchmont? Can't get a parking spot, you know what I'm saying? You can't get a parking space, but you have 25 choices of what coffee you want to drink. I mean, how many more coffee places? Look, I take more of an offense to the Lavon fucking scone cookie. Personally, but the coffee choices are abundant, I would say. I mean, no one's going to Groundworks, though. Come on. That doesn't count. Oh, I got to go get them. Yeah, of course you do. Of course you do. You know, the coffee and ice cream, there's three gelato slash ice cream places. That's a lot. Jenny's, salt and straw, all that shit. And Bacio. Something Bacio. It's Kiss of Something. It has two names, though. But Levin Cookie Place, it's open until, I believe, 11, because I drive by every single night, and I'd like to see how a business is on the street. Oh, I am opening on that street, too, I should say. I'll tell you what I'm opening. But there's always a crowd in there. No, in New York, it's insane. The one in New York is lying out the door all the time. Now that they legalized marijuana, 11 p.m. is prime cookie-eating time. You know what I mean? Yeah, that has something to do with it. I just find those cookies, because I'm a big dessert head, and I love a baked good, and I tried those finally after years, because I walked by once and there was no line, and I got like three or four different ones, and I didn't, I just didn't realize, I didn't eat all of them, Nancy, relax, but I just didn't know if, I didn't realize, I didn't realize that they were just scones. Like, that's literally, I mean, I know there's probably a, It's a knife and fork. Yeah, it's a technical, I like a more, regular-sized cookie, maybe even a little crispy, if I have to be honest. So I was taken aback by the popularity after I tried them. Yeah, very popular. But I'm opening up – do you know who Phil Rosenthal is? Yeah, of course. Yeah. Okay. Somebody feed Phil. And that's his show, and he was the creator of Everyone Loves Raymond. Known foodies. Yeah, Phil don't have to work much. Phil doesn't have to work much. Phil Rosenthal decided, and he is a –

an investor of all my restaurants, and he's an investor of many other people's restaurants, because that's sort of his passion. His passion is food, and he loves to help people do what they want to do, but he wants his own restaurant that he wants to name after his parents, who are no longer alive, Max and Helen. So he not only wanted to honor them with a diner, but he himself Wants a place that from seven o'clock in the morning till nine o'clock in the evening, he can go in and order an open face turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy. And so if he wants to have that and it's not available, the only alternative is to open your own. So he's opening up at the old. It was called Le Petit Greek. It's a little space there. So I'm going to help. Oh, that's fun. Okay, that seems like a light lift for you. But see, I don't really know what a diner is because I'm from Los Angeles, so I know what a coffee shop is. Yeah, no, a diner is East Coast. But I don't know really what, like, what's the difference between a diner and a coffee shop? I actually hate, I actually don't really like diners. They're romanticized on the East Coast too much as a place where, like, you would go in high school and, like, drink coffee and, like, sit there with your friends. I think a diner vibe is Swingers, Fred 62, Cafe 101. Those are kind of our L.A. diners. But aren't those coffee shops? No, those are diners. Those are diners. I just think that the traditional one to me is, like, an East Coast kind of, like, tricycle. state area yeah me too yeah you go get a patty melt some onion rings a cup of coffee yeah but you can get that at swingers also now i you know the new yorker just did not just but maybe the last couple months did a very interesting little um article they are you know a writer did a very a great piece on diners and what she was saying because it was a was it hannah was it hannah goldfield i don't think it was hannah because she does the reviews i think it was actually a piece okay like a long form yeah but one page long form yeah but it wasn't a review of a specific place and what she was saying was this what's a diner okay the popularity of diners now but in actuality she said and she said she's very nostalgic for the diners but in actuality she said two really what definite components of a diner one is

There never should be a line. And the second thing is food should never be great. Okay, I like that. I like that. I like where we're going. Oh, and I told Phil that, and he was like, I want a line, and I want the food to be great. But I thought that was interesting. So your objection was to all these sort of gourmet diners, right, that you don't want. But I think you sort of do want. scrambled eggs like why did the scrambled eggs have to be brown and overcooked and flat top instead of yeah have scrambled eggs and bacon but why can't they be perfectly cooked i agree with you i saw i agree with you i think it depends on the dish and and you know how long it takes to whip something up obviously a scrambled egg all the minute is easy but yeah and not a 25 dollar version and no truffles or anything that i'm not saying that but don't you want to kind of like Slightly better. Yeah. But she was adamant. It shouldn't be better than good. I back that. I think the magic of the diner is you want the food to come out a little faster than it should. Yeah. And you kind of want it now and you're ready and you want to get in, get out and leave. Good point. And you're willing to sort of sacrifice 10% of quality. Yeah, you can do that. Yeah, you can do that. You say creating the food and you make something like you scrambled eggs. What do you do? And you say, ooh, these are too good. Yeah, make them a little worse. I'm too good at making eggs. We've got to tone this down. We've got to fire this guy. He's too good. He's too good back there. These cage-free eggs are too delicious. Let's get some smart and final shitty eggs in here. Let's get some Cisco eggs. Growing up in the South, our diner was Waffle House, which isn't a diner really, but it has the same conventions as a diner. It's got a counter. It's got bad breakfast-leaning food. When you Google Diner, you get Waffle House. It comes up. There was a coffee shop because they called it a coffee shop. When I was growing up here, it was called Ships. Ships. Great name. It was on La Cienega.

And I don't know what, say, Pico or Olympic or something like that. And there was a second one in Westwood much after the first. And they had a toaster on the table. But they made something called a ship-shaped burger, which was just a patty melt, but they called it a ship-shaped burger. And they ground their meat fresh every day. And I still taste that patty melt. That still, for me, is the bar of... All patty melts is that ship-shaped burger. But see, they called it a coffee shop. It was called Ship's Coffee Shop, and it had a wonderful neon sign. This feels like an L.A. difference, honestly, to me. I think it really is the same thing, but I think L.A. called it something different. Yeah, I think it's the same thing, just the semantics. Well, let's say this. On the East Coast or in Atlanta, maybe that is the East Coast. Was there anything called a coffee shop or did you only have diners? There was only diners. There's a Jewish deli or two. But mostly, yeah, I mean, mostly. But maybe that's a diner. When Phil says a diner, he means a coffee shop then. Yes, I think. I mean, because a coffee shop, a coffee shop. Where you can get breakfast all day, right? Yeah, yeah. You got to have breakfast all day. I'm going to breakfast all day. I would eat breakfast for lunch every day if I could. But over here in Korea, it's a little tough. Get a nice shitty bagel. Speaking of a nice neon sign over there. Have you ever been to Courage Bagels? Of course. I haven't. I refused to go. Why? Because you didn't like the lunch. No, I'm not waiting in line for a fucking bagel. I'm just not doing it. Oh, come over. I'll get you one. Fantastic bagels. No, I'm sure. I'm sure. They're just that good. They're just that good. So, like, what do you do when you boycott a bagel place, which, by the way, hurts nobody but yourself? Then what do you do? Sam's bagel? Or where do you go, then? He has water for breakfast, so it doesn't really apply to him. You have an English muffin? Oh, an English muffin sounds good. No, I love bagels. I live most of the time in New York City, and I'm good. I get my fill in New York, I think, and I don't need to go to one of the worst blocks in L.A. and wait in line at 7 in the morning. Well, I'm going to try to get those bagels. They're delicious. I think you can skip the line, Nancy. If I can skip it, you can skip it. He doesn't wholesale, and I have to convince him that I need those bagels. And then you would say...

I'm not going to Max and Helen's because their bagels are too good. Yes, exactly. The bagels over there are too good. I cannot patronize that cursed place. Okay. Well, I mean, what is your take on the milkshake, speaking of diners? So that's another thing. It's like I feel like, you know, growing up. I didn't go to coffee shops with my parents. Well, I shouldn't say that. We went to one in San Fernando Valley. It was called DuPars. Classic. And my dad called DuPars. Yes. But I wasn't brought up on milkshakes and things like that. I never had them. I think I had my first ice cream sundae at Baskin-Robbins when I was like 13 years old, and my friends that took me were horrified that I had never had a sundae before because I wasn't allowed to eat sugar, really. So I don't have that milkshake. I mean, it's a good thing. No, no, no. I love that. I love the idea. What I don't like about them like now is it just like I wouldn't like Coke. I don't want to drink my calories. However, I think it's really important to get the right one. So I did order to start practicing and I will because it's got to have the right thickness in the straw. It can't be so thick you can't get it through the straw, but obviously not water. It's got to be cold. But I got what I think are the two components that are going to make it. Better than maybe not giving any thought to it. And one is I bought Fox's Hubet syrup for the chocolate rather than like Hershey's syrup. And then I bought Horlick's malt rather than. than carnation because i know it's you know i know horlicks malt products and i am going to experiment okay so you're going to be in the lab experimenting with some milkshake all the old people of los angeles are rejoicing right now when when they hear you say these words Because young people don't know any of the things that you're talking about, right? Yeah. Liz, our chef here, by the way, who is Korean, and she's young in the sense that she's almost 40. She never heard of Horlicks and never heard of Foxes, you bet. I mean, I've never heard of them. I mean, I've sort of heard of it, and I'm very much into food, but it's a little before our generation. Yeah. Which is fine. Yeah. Speaking, you mentioned neon signs. I wanted to know why chefs feel the need to have a shitty neon sign inside of their restaurant.

I don't know, because they need to have fake vintage metal signs, too. There won't be a neon sign. Like when you see a message written, like a text, like a handwriting or something like that. You've seen it before. Casa Maria Luigia has that sign when you enter the lobby, and I think Funky has one as well. It's something that needs to change. Is it the investors that you have to appease them? What do you think it might be? Yeah, well, also, again, it's that trend. You see it somewhere, and maybe the first time you see it, it's like, oh, that's a throwback. That is cool, and then. It's the same as like, when did the ampersand become so popular? That's a great question. That feels like something we have to blame on the graphic design community. I feel like they began using it as a tool versus a... I feel like the ampersand, but that's true. I agree with that, Chris. I feel like the ampersand sort of came around the same time where restaurants had to be called... A word and a word or something involving provision house. You know what I mean? Yeah. Or like this is an eating place establishment and you have to say the year that it was built, you know, 2019 eating house and shop. S-H-O-P-P-E. We just have small larder essentials. They're all locally sourced, of course. I can't wait until you open Nancy's larder and shop. You can have that one for free. Thank you. How do you spell shop again? S-H-O-P-P-E. Like an apothecary in the 1800s? Yeah, exactly. Ye olde. Ye olde. Yeah, ye olde. Where you go get your unicycle repaired or something like that. Do you remember the last person you comped a meal for? The last person I comped a meal for? Yeah. The last person I comped a meal for was the night before last. And that was for Alessandro. Alessandro has a little sandwich shop in Florence called Eno.

And I did an event together at Ojai Valley Inn. He made sandwiches, you know, and gave a little sandwich demonstration. And I made sandwich cookies and a sandwich salad. And he came back to L.A. and he came into the pizzeria for dinner. Well, OK, follow up question. What is a pizza sandwich? Is that just kind of a salad sandwich? Oh, salad sandwich. Salad sandwich. is a stacked iceberg wedge. So instead of it being cut into a wedge, it's a baby head of iceberg that's cut horizontally and stacked like a sandwich. That sounds pretty good. Protein style. Yes, protein style. Speaking of, what's your in and out order, Nancy? We're in the lightning round now, if you couldn't tell. We are in the lightning round, and I have never gone. to physically myself gone to an In-N-Out burger. And yes, I have had a bite of one. And that's because somebody brought them back to work one time. Or we used to buy In-N-Out for the staff when they did a good job because they love In-N-Out. And my feeling about In-N-Out is I don't get it. But there's certain things I don't get because there's two things that are really important to me. One is the grind of the meat and the flavor of the meat. That is, of course, the ground that is loose, kind of packed together. And this goes back to the days of ship shape, by the way, and that it has a component of dry age in it because I like a certain bit of funkiness. So I taste the beefiness of the patty. I know that smash burgers and we do do a version of smash burgers that are at Spock on Monday and Tuesday nights. And they're popular. I prefer a larger patty. with the option of getting it cooked very, very, very rare. And that you can get it at In-N-Out. And then from there, I like my tomato to be carefully chosen. It tastes like a tomato. I like more pickles and a certain pickle than the pickle they put on. I mean, I can go on and on. I like my spicy Calabrian mayonnaise.

I put on rather than their secret sauce. So it's like I don't get it. Is the best burger in L.A. than the one, is that the one that you make at your house? Or is there a restaurant that's able to check all these boxes for you, give you a thick patty so you can get a good sear on it, but it's still rare in the middle, all that stuff? Or is it just you at your house? Well, I do like them at my house. I have to say I am partial because I get it seasoned the way I want. You know, I get, again, the pickle I want. I wouldn't say that, but where else do I love them? I'm just trying to think off the top of my head in L.A. because it's not that I go to restaurants all the time and get hamburgers, although I love hamburgers. But like in New York, Minetta Tavern, that's great. Yeah, the Minetta Burger, that's one of my wife and my favorite things. Whenever we go to New York, we have to go get the burger. It's just what you do. And J.G. Mellon Burger is also a really good one in New York. I'm sure you've had that. Something about it. Yep. Okay, beautiful. I wanted to know your thoughts. You've been making and eating bread and pasta your whole life, but you've managed to achieve a – you've been snatched this whole time. What is your secret to staying trim and consuming all this stuff in a gluten-free world that we're living in? Well, you know, I think that probably if I had to say what that is, it's that I don't overeat. So, yes, I taste everything. But I don't necessarily finish everything. Mama knows when to stop. Bread and butter is really hard. You put a loaf of sourdough in front of me, it's game over. I don't have that kind of willpower. Chris, maybe you can do the thing where you accidentally, quote-unquote, pour your Diet Coke all over the food and it ruins it. You can't eat the bread anymore because you spilled it. Something like that, right? Yeah. Oopsie. Nancy, are there any people that order things from you from the restaurant directly that is maybe off-menu, like a cool celebrity friend or a close friend where you have to make them a special thing?

is not normally on the menu for the average customer? You know, off the top of my head, the only thing that comes to mind is because we have these three restaurants, you know, next to each other, a close friend say more than... say a celebrity, but say a close friend, that's eating at one of the restaurants but really wants one thing from the other, I will tend to sneak them that other thing. Yeah, yeah. I've had the pleasure of enjoying that one time when I was eating dinner with Redacted, but we were able to get martinis at Quispaca one time, and I won't tell anyone that. Oh, wow. What a privilege. That is a privilege. I don't think I have that. That's above my pay grade. Yeah, I know this guy, Jason, he said I could get a martini here. Is that true? I want to be able to do it. Well, you know, you do a deal with Street Green and then we'll make it happen, Nancy. Just kidding. I did invest, though. I did invest with their whatever you call it. What do you call it? Stock? The IPO. Yeah. I IPO'd them. You're on the ground floor of Big Salad. We like that about you. Have you ever done any cooking for award shows? I know you said you were at Spago a while ago, and I know he does a lot of stuff like that, but have you ever had to do anything like that or had the privilege of doing something like that? For award shows, yeah. And that's only because certain shows have used a restaurant as their Canteen, post-victory. We come over to you. Yeah, so what's the last kind of celebrity thing? The last kind of celebrity thing was about a week ago-ish. When were the Grammys? Yeah, a couple weeks ago. It was like two weeks ago or so. Yeah, so we had two dinners that we hosted. Both was the night before. One was for a record label. Of course, you're going to ask me who were the stars. Oh, there's one guy that eats here all the time. Now, what's his name?

I want to say, like, in his name is, like, big or fat or something. He was up for a Grammy. Jelly Roll? No. Big pun. Killer Mike? Was it Killer Mike? Yes, Killer Mike. Well, there's no fat in there, sorry. Well, there's a reason your head went there, Nancy, and it's not because he's so slim. Okay, but he's a good customer. He was killing them breadsticks, is what we're saying. Kill Mike. And Kill Mike's label because there was somebody else. They bought out the Osteria. But we catered a big free party for Spotify. Oh, nice, nice, nice. Oh, nice. Okay. Okay. So you're getting that streaming platform money. And then you're going to ask me who performed. And, of course, all I can say is, oh, he's really famous. And he was up for the top record. What would he be? Who would that be? Piano. Oh. drop some names piano like that i think um john baptiste yes yeah yeah okay he took nice work jason he tickled the keys that's nice so they they put a piano and where was this though this was at a um it's a new space that has not been complete yet but almost completed it's a fantastic space it was an old What did they do there? Some kind of manufacturing of something. It's enormous. Do you know a place called the San Vicente Bungalows? Oh, yeah. Chris is a member. Okay. So they want to make it the equivalent of the San Vicente Bungalows for the music industry. Where is it, Nancy? Where is it? It's in Hollywood. Interesting. I feel like I've heard something about this maybe. And it's just, it's not, this was the first event they had there and only, it's only finished like three quarters of the way, but it's very, very impressive what they've done there. Nice. And Spotify put a lot of money into this event. Yeah, Spotify puts a lot of money into a lot of things. Less podcasts nowadays, unfortunately, but yes, I'm glad they had a great party. Yeah, that's funny you said that because my daughter used to, worked up until December for,

Well, it's whatever the part of the company that was called Spotify Churnin or Churnin Spotify, where it had something to do with, you know, utilizing content and the whole podcast part of it. And they kind of dissolved that part of it, as you said. So no longer Spotify, but up until December. She worked for Spotify. The rich get richer. So there is a chance that your daughter has listened to our podcast then at least. I'm going to ask her, what's the name of your podcast? It's called How Long Gone. Gone? G-O-N-G? G-O-N-E. G-O-N-E. How Long Gone? Yeah. How Long Gone. I'm going to ask her. Like the radicchio is all gone. Yeah. That kind of, to use it in a sentence. Shut up. Oh, now? Oh, you brought it down to my terms. Now I can relate to it. Yeah, we have to kind of bring it down to your terms. Luckily, I know everything about food and podcasting, so if only I was a teen, you could hire me to sort of navigate you through life. So wait, tell me the name of the podcast again. How Long Gone. How Long Gone. Actually, I reached out to Ruth Reichel a while ago to see if she wanted to come on this podcast, and she politely declined. Ruth, if you're listening, suck it. Yeah. I'll tell her not to. I'll tell her to. Thank you. She's like, these guys are monsters. I wonder if it has anything to do with... No, she doesn't have another podcast. She has print. She has some new... Oh, I see. I listened to her on... Julia Louis-Dreyfus' podcast, and she was a really good guest on that episode. I liked it a lot. Yeah, I'll remind her that you're really fun to talk to, and it's not like the other pods. I don't think you asked me. Yeah, we're not like those other guys. Yeah, we don't ask boring, stupid questions, but... Also, on the other side of the coin, we don't ask you about the thing that you're on the show to try and plug. So that is all the time for you, Nancy. Thank you so much for signing. So the book is out when? The book came out in November. In November. By the way, it also is my first book out of 11.

That was on the New York Times bestseller. Oh, congratulations. And you know what? That's a big thing. I didn't realize. I mean, I knew I was ever on it, but I didn't realize how much clout it gives you. For instance, right away they called me and they do a column called In the Know or something. I don't know. Whatever it is, they interview people that are on the New York Times bestseller. But that was immediate. The publisher already wants to know, okay, what's the next book? Once you're on the New York Times booklet, you've got to get a book out really fast right after it. It's like, really? I just did a book. Leave me alone. I want to do anything but make a book. Yeah. Yeah, that's exactly, exactly. Okay, the book is out, and we can eat at all of your fine dining establishments all over the greater Los Angeles area, even in Saudi Arabia. Yep, or Singapore, or Singapore, London, or Mexico. soon to be Lanai and Washington, D.C. Let's go. Move over, Nobu. The empire is expanding. Four to no booze. I don't know how many. Two hundred and something. He's on Mars. He's on the moon. He's the first sushi place on the moon. But he can't make a budino like you. That's right. Thank you, Nancy. We've been fans for a long time. I'll see you at Moza for some mozzarella. I would love to meet you in person. Yes, for sure. We can set it up. Bring a Coke with you. I don't care about cocaine anymore, but bring that giant Coke. I'm curious. No, I'll bring you the new flavor. That's my gift to you. Oh, great gift. And I'll slip you something of either that martini at Quisbaca or one of the forbidden dishes in one of the restaurants. Forbidden dish sounds great. Forbidden dish sounds like a new Coca-Cola flavor. All right, Nancy, thank you for joining us. We'll talk to you soon. Bye.