Top Chef: Wisconsin Ep 7 Recap with Owen Knight

SUBSCRIBE to RHAP at: https://link.chtbl.com/rhap

Your Top Chef RHAPup hosts are sharpening their knives and brushing up on their cooking skills as they head back to the kitchen to recap Top Chef: Wisconsin. Haley Strong, Curt Clark, and LaTonya Starks  bring you the finest coverage of Top Chef: Wisconsin Episode 7 with special guest, Survivor 43 contestant, Owen Knight.

Looking for an even better treat? Follow your hosts for even more Top Chef coverage and kitchen fun:
Haley Strong @hstrong_
Curt Clark  @CurtClark
LaTonya Starks @lkstarks

Top Chef: Wisconsin Ep 7 Recap with Owen Knight

#topchef #topchefwisconsin #rhap #robhasapodcast #realitytv #cooking
—————————————————————————————————————————
⭐ Become a Patron & Support RHAP: http://robhasawebsite.com/patron

📱Social Media
➡️Website: http://RobHasAwebsite.com
➡️Twitch: http://twitch.tv/rhap
➡️Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobHasApodcast
➡️Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rhapgrams/
➡️TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@robhasapodcast

Top Chef: Wisconsin Ep 7 Recap with Owen Knight

-js

unpack your knce and stay yes stay welcome everybody to another episode of the top chef for haa I’m haey strong and I am joined um by I don’t know you know I’m just gonna say a whole sausage fest today Kurt Clark welcome I I I am 25% polish so kabasa I don’t know my God what there was literally no pun in there I’m like I am 25% bullish hi latata are you sick of us already it’s we are uh 40 seconds into the podcast it’s been a really interesting week um of reality TV um I’m glad that I got this episode of Top Chef I will say after the episode of Survivor that we got this week what El Le done um and we’re not alone today no no no no we are joined by um somebody from the affir mention Survivor oh and night welome welcome to your inaugural performance on the top CHF for haa we will not vote you out yeah it’s nice to feel safe in a reality space here there’s no pregaming here for Top Chef 22 or anything like that you just weren’t on the thread oh oh oh I’ve been left out of another group chat oh God you don’t even pretend to like Applebees here oh my gosh you can love Applebees if you want we’re not gonna judge but you do not have to pretend here best money Applebees has ever spent whatever they paid for that spot last night was not enough for how much Liz was sh Shilling for Applebees um but no I’m pumped to be here and to podcast with y’all and um I’d only really met Kurt once for like five minutes so it’s exciting to actually get to spend some time with y’all because I’ve been listening I’ve I’ve really I was thinking about it I’ve Loved Top Chef longer cumulative cumulative L than I’ve Loved Survivor since I had that break in the middle of my Survivor watching and I’ve been watching Top Chef consistently from the very beginning so excited to talk about it and it was a fun episode The Season’s been up and me personally but um I thought it was a solid one and they seem to cook some really good food so we can get like um you know a finger on the pulse of your top chef loves what are your favorite Seasons who are your favorite Chef test great question season wise um season six with the voltagio brothers and Kevin that was a really good one um the New Orleans season obviously holds a special place in my heart as I live here and have for my whole adult life basically um DC was exciting since I grew up outside DC um and then they’ve been on a tear recently I mean I thought Allstars La was excellent I thought uh Houston World Allstars those were both great um I’m sure I’m missing some in the middle in terms of Chef testing um Isaac tupes got to shout out my New Orleans connection he’s a really great guy as well he’s done a ton um raising money and donating food during covid and now over the summer with um Louisiana you know uh SNAP benefits being cut he’s he’s providing free food to low-income families here in the city um Sheldon one of my favorites um I loved Shirley Chung I love Nina Compton um Kristen obviously the list goes on and on but um Melissa King shout out but yeah I love the show I love seeing that y’all get to talk to Jim Smith a lot um because I Remember Loving watching him um but yeah it’s just consistently been one of my favorite shows so uh excited to talk about it with people because it’s like Survivor I have a hard time finding people in my real life daily life to talk about these shows with I can’t I can’t wait for the Owen and Jim Alliance on the Traders he he came to New Orleans for the the live show and I didn’t talk to him I I missed him and I didn’t realize and I I feel like I think I saw him but I didn’t compute that it was him and I I felt so bad when I found out later that he had been there and uh man so Jim if you’re listening uh we got to we got to cut it up sometime I take it you’re firmly on the side of the Nino was robbed anti nich oh my goodness yes yes not not to be a Nick hater but yeah I’m a totally a Nick hater n know I’m in the minority in terms of like was pro Nick oh my God okay well this has been fun this has been fun you know that that that’s really brought me back to like a core memory of Kurt for the longest time just like loving the most boring contestant in every single season you haven’t done that in a while but gosh you had a real run there yeah I was always drafting the vanilla white guy that was that was kind of the thing that was was yeah like who’s the just yeah that’s good mold I I got to uh I got to eat at Nina’s second restaurant about a month or two ago Bywater American beastro and it was the the best octopus dish I’ve ever had in my entire life um it was like charred and it wasn’t rubbery at all it was amazing so not not flade not flade not flade charge she made it to the second round of the quickfire okay speaking of the quickfire um our best friend Brian voltagio comes in the kitchen yeah I know you’ve got a thing for well I don’t think guys I saw come in Haley and I thought of you because you’re Pro Brian oh I’m Pro Brian we both are though we both like notedly are okay okay because I was thinking like between the the the uh the power bottom gym session listen this is this season is like it’s not been it’s been you know what I I have this theory that um The Bachelor producers listen to our podcast and do as much possible to make me upset like that they can we’re the top chef producers listen to our podcast and they go what does Haley want and she Haley wants two hotties calling each other husband like that is what I want and I am so glad to have that in Top Chef Wisconsin the Bromance has been great I I did think of of you both when I saw uh Brian bagio make his appearance so is he is he a certified do in your book Haley oh my God yes yeah yes yes yes yes and like him standing beside Kristen that’s like too hot for me like it’s like too too hot to handle too much yeah yeah for like completely different reasons yeah like I didn’t think they were gonna be able to to top last week’s judging table for just how like attractive everyone was but then they did this oh and then later in the episode they also had um 2013 haly baseball boyfriend Ryan Brun in the m which is a real real thrill for me personally he’s he’s a handsome fell I he doesn’t sound like a dummy which like I was I was honestly expecting him to sound a little bit like a dummy he did have to um take a season off because he got suspended for PS but that’s in the past that’s in the past that show biz that show biz and there were 10 sausage experts I mean it all just comes full that’s what they called me in high school I thought so okay quick challenge create featuring the flay technique because uh Finish dish detergent is sponsoring this Challenge and they want the pots to be real dirty um I do hate cleaning the pots in pants and I also have a gas stove so gets real real flamed up on there um they have to FL Bas stuff honestly this looked I to see every single thing on this um Kevin I felt there was like a lot of Chaos carryover in a good way like people seem to be approaching things in a more risky or out of the-box mode in terms of what we saw on the plate so I was really I that’s maybe was an upside of last week is the impact it has on the rest of the competition yeah like I think I I I think you’re right that this episode the level of cooking was higher in this episode across the board than we have seen and I think the chaos let them break open a little bit like as much as you guys hated that I loved it great but I think it like gave them an opportunity to really like figure it out um Kevin made grill shrimp flambe Op pestis with fennel potato puree Sue made a Flom bourbon uh with fish sauce caramel whipped creeme fresh Ros and deleted bananas Laura made pan roasted SE Bass with blond verou sauce rikio and apples Manny had sauteed mushrooms with mezcal marsala ricotta peino with toast Savannah made saganaki with cheese toasted white bread molasses and flam baked peaches Kina made kimchi and escallion donut bourbon flambay peaches and jalapeno Dany had grilled prawns with Satsuma habanero sauce and flambe mcow Amanda made a french toast Brios with C oh this is the one that’s going to Tri me up I was on such a roll too uh Kaka flade mango with lime coconut and vanilla mering Dan had grilled redico and cucumber salad with garlic ground cherry per perod Emulsion and Michelle made a flamb badeed mushroom and bacon toast with sweet potato puree and herbed goat cheese Uh Kevin Danny and Amanda were in the top with their dishes and I have to agree with the judges I would have maybe thrown Sue in there too because his looked incredible um was one of the other ones that I wanted to eat my screen looking at that one but I was I was proud of myself I like jotted down since I was taking notes for this I jotted down the ones that I thought were going to make it and I had two of the three um I had Kevin and Amanda on my ones that looked tasty to me um but yeah it was it was interesting some of them weren’t giving flambe to me like they didn’t like have kind of the visual because to me I I associate it with bananas’s Foster the dessert and you know the like the like caramelization and the texture and um some of them like I know they did it obviously but just like visually it wasn’t like speaking to me in that way I don’t know if that makes sense but I saw more fire on the episode of below deck I watched today in one of the stoves that I saw in this episode it feels like yeah um I I am I alone in the in feeling that we don’t need two levels to a quickfire oh no no you’re not this and this is one of my thoughts about the on the quickfire on the elimination and on lck the structures of the challenges were more chaotic this episode than in the chaos kitchen episode like the structure not necessarily the instru but like remember the the all the sh the allstar one where they went to the uh the football pitch uh in London and they there was like there were these very complicated rules about like it was like brackets and oh that’s what this that’s what this one this episode was was like I didn’t I didn’t feel like we needed like you’re saying that’s talk to two levels to the quickfire and then and it makes you like and then suddenly they just just announce at the end that the $10,000 prize was doubl to 20,000 so I’m wondering just offer 20,000 at first I just I feel like this season is suffering from something that it it shouldn’t even be suffering U ing from like shows all the time have to replace their hosts and then people talk about how the magic of the show is like gone now because the new host is uh there’s no vacuum here I don’t think with these two hosts I think they were just like oh Padma won’t be around anymore we’ve got to get people used to like a new era of the show or something and so we’re just going to like say the word twist as many times as we can and if we can make a twist then we’re going to do it like you don’t need all of this to complicate something that’s already really cool to watch um you should have Stakes to things I think that are more than just money the quickfire should have way more of a through line into the actual challenge itself and no one like it’s just like no one this season behind the scenes is noticing any of this stuff they just want to throw a bunch of gimmicks at us as if we are suffering from there being a hosting vacuum but we’re not Kristen is amazing she’s she’s killing it and and brings her own unique energy to things that is in my opinion made more convoluted by all the ridiculous twist stuff yeah I have to I have to say I don’t I’m not missing padb at all not in like a way where I don’t love her I like didn’t appreciate her as a host it’s just like I’ve accepted it and I love Kristen I agree that they are throwing a lot of stuff at the wall to see what sticks and I can understand how week after week after week being hit in the face with twists is like okay guys like let’s just watch our favorite cooking competition I will say I like this I like I like I like this episode in particular um I like the two-prong quickfire challenge I think it was I thought it was like a fun extra little layer to a quickfire I felt like the elimination challenge that’s not different from anything that we’ve seen in the past honestly like I feel like we do a version of this challenge every season I can completely understand where you’re coming from that like we’re getting put a lot just to see what happens but I would say I would like to see the two-prong quickfire Challenge in a season that’s like less convoluted for sure what what have your your thoughts been ow in terms of some of the changes we we we’ve seen like especially like the quickfire no longer offering immunity like yeah like what what what are your thoughts on just we haven’t really kind of taken that step back and talked about either from from from Kristen to like some of just the structural changes yeah well I hadn’t really thought about it until latata put it so beautifully like it really parallels survivor’s new era in terms of like trying to like over fix a problem that isn’t really there you know obviously Survivor had like the budgetary and covid reasons for for certain decisions but a lot of the creative decisions that they went with in terms of like losing so many votes or you know the double Tribal Council or the Meritor like those things are kind of unforced errors that have been hit or miss and and I worry uh that they’re they’re overcompensating for for Padma leing um but I don’t think they need to I found Kristen really really enjoyable like latata said I think her personal has shown in a way that Padma didn’t like it’s you can tell they have different personalities I guess is what I’m trying to say like Kristen almost like breaks the fourth wall more frequently or like you can tell when makes a comment off to the side that isn’t on the script and it’s just her reacting to something really organically and I found that to be really transparent and honest and and interesting to see her almost like break character in a way to just react organically um at the end of the day I don’t think it’s going to be like the death for the show or anything overly dramatic I will say like one thing that I noticed in this episode in particular was like with the guests they aren’t always explaining who they are like who are all these sausage con we have a lot of guests that we are not learning anything about like why is the woman from Pitch Perfect here is she from Milwaukee like from why are you here like it’s just so certain are you a big fan of the show like like what like yeah are you a sausage expert I mean exactly yeah big big sausage gal like I don’t I don’t get it I just that was one but then like then it’s Ryan Brun and oh he played for the Brewers that makes total sense so and he like owns some restaurants in Milwaukee like it’s didn’t know that that’s it’s like we just invited Britney Snow and she said yes yeah yeah they wouldn’t have they wouldn’t have flown her in I I I probably it’s probably like one search on Google away like is Britney Snow from Wisconsin but um why don’t I just do that right now while we’re here that that confused me and but the she’s from Tampa uh the yeah it’s and I feel like some of the change like I’m actually surprised they that when they brought in Kristen that they didn’t keep everything else static so she can get her footing a little bit like like let’s not change yeah don’t look at this is an opportunity to change everything look at it like let’s first get Kristen in there and then maybe the next 23 you change all this other stuff but I’m wondering like how much of this is like which of the things rece like is the lack of of stakes for the quickfire going to be like the The Hourglass in Survivor 41 like is it are going to see it go away but like and they even announced to that now immunity is no longer being awarded which seems way earlier in the season it do still n yeah I I feel like they do it usually right around like you get immunity going into restaurant Wars and then it’s kind of Kut are we are we kind of all in agree agree yeah sure all in agreement that the um the the double elimination that they can slip in at any time is probably going to be restaurant Wars I didn’t even think about that I was just like oh it’s weird that there’s nine people for restaurant Wars and then I remember they brought two people back blah blah blah and I was like okay those Mak more it’s just also weird that there’s just a dangling elimination out there that’s being held over people’s heads like the Sword of Damocles when they’re trying to cook food stop stop it is is is next week restaurant War I didn’t watch the oh it is gonna be three three and three and then there will be two losing teams and then one from each losing team goes home and so that that gives Credence to the theory of why they got rid of immunity is because they don’t want one person on a team of three being immune at restaurant Wars they like Roy no I can’t do this I can’t why do you have to be smart I want to hear that as a possibility that’s probably what’s gonna happen it’s it seems likely because yeah the dangling elimination it makes more sense like I I go I don’t hate it for Top Chef just since it is such a like results oriented show and it can change so much week to week uh based on you know their performance and one of the leaders can choke like Ros did but um yeah it’s just weird structurally just not knowing exactly how it’s going to advance but maybe that’s just like a weird uh Counterpoint to Survivor being so formulaic these days that it’s making me anxious you know I don’t know no it’s just it’s that thing that goes off in your head when like something is supposed to have been resolved and it wasn’t resolved because this should have been resolved at some point or they should just make it be okay that they brought back two people from last Chance’s kitchen I mean that they literally never think that that might be a possibility that it’s been done before right they weren’t not going to bring Sue back I I firmly believe oh of course that they weren’t not go that that that anybody who went up against Sue is going to I think I was going to be screwed I I yeah maybe that is results or I I don’t know but the I don’t know which I feel more strongly about the the fact that they got rid of quickfire immunities or that they’re doing a nine-person uh uh restaurant restaur yeah I don’t that there’s nowhere to hide there’s nowhere to hide this show drives me absolutely Bonkers like I’m gonna be like Laura down on the ground like just chugging alcohol from a bottle we now know why she’s been the that that’s where her inner sabur came from you know she she’s she’s spilling stuff on the ground she’s letting people slip it’s because she’s like drinking a little bit during the that was one of the funniest Cuts I’ve seen in any any quickfire challenge it’s just her like chug in a bottle of her mooth or whatever oh god I’ve done that all the Liquors in that kitchen to chug from the bottle goodness the I I I don’t think I ever realized there was like literally bottom shelf of alcohol uh like in the in the the the top chef kitchen because I could see several contestants from several past seasons is like dipping into that every so often which I let’s be fair so in the second part of the quick Fire Challenge back to the quick remember the quickfire CH uh make a dish featuring the Char technique uh and it was just Kevin Amanda and Danny going up against each other Kevin made charred squab breast with green curry yogurt sauce Pango fried squab leg and toasted almond Manda made a glazed ve chop with Grill and charred corn relish and Peach pickles and Danny made charred brenzo with charred PLO puree and charred avocado I got to say I’m not a v girly but Amanda’s looked incredible I thought Amanda was robbed on this one it looked way tastier and gave more of that like rustic chard like you want to just devour it like Danny’s looked a little boring I don’t know it looked delicious but it looked like too like cheffy for this challenge I don’t know if that makes sense to SW yeah to SW exactly exactly what was was it sh La Mer was that the challenge the Instagram challenge where they there was like this there was like the there was like the spoof or there’s like the S satirical Instagram account which I think was like Chef jacqu ler where he just took like where the purpose was to make food look Swan and like overly fancy watched season with Sammy Rec no it’s you know what’s funny is that I many years like many years later rewatched that season and realized that the woman who is like jacqu Le is like somebody I genuinely know from around like around Niagara oh wow like I like messaged her being like what the hell like I’ve seen this season so many times and like it’s just clicking now that it’s you and she’s like that’s funny um I also noticed Kevin we we’ll see later he breaks a Top Chef rule by making risotto but he also broke a rule in the quickfire by doing a Duo when he didn’t need to like I I knew he wasn’t G to win as soon as I saw that fried yeah but like it’s not a it’s not a deep fry challenge although honestly if finished dish tabs could help with greasy dishes then you know that to I just want to go back quickly to Kevin’s um initial dish the grilled shrimp dish um because he was like this is something that I would make if I was having friends over and I’m just like is it like who are your friends can I be a friend yeah what am I coming over yeah and and Kevin after all we’ve said about you this season you have to invite us over you have to honestly the least you could do other than maybe don’t because we’ve been such creeps I don’t know up to you no we haven’t been creeps come on speak for your s you have eyes what are you not supposed to say anything exactly they call themselves The Power bottoms that’s fair following up on your comment from earlier Owen I was also I was very intrigued by kalina’s donut the the kimchi and scallion donut such a weird sentence Dr by kalina’s Donut oh fair enough uh between like the jalapeno element the flamb bade peaches the kimchi like I want to try this I don’t know if I like it right but I want to try it I feel like if Kina doesn’t win something soon she’s going to shank someone yeah I guess now’s a good a time as any also to mention like I I have a vested interest in Kina because she’s also a Korean adoptee and all of a sudden now between her the twins on Amazing Race last year and myself like there’s dozens of us you know like Squad is growing yeah in Kristen I had forgotten about that um you should because you’re going to the uh the rhap event in Chicago right Owen oh yeah and she’s in Chicago try to find a restaurant they should that’s a good reminder I forgot she’s based out of Chicago um yeah man um yeah so i’ I’ve been rooting for her I was sad to see her go originally but um it was cool to see her wi back and I mean I I’m sure you’ve talked extensively about Sue and like what a weird setup this has all been but I’m glad we got at least a little of his backstory this episode for the people who like don’t watch Last Chance Kitchen or yeah um you know aren’t as familiar because I think he’s compelling and like for me the parallel between him being a former professional athlete and like his nervous energy in the kitchen I think is interesting especially since is like a mental sport I could see how like that just mindset could be allow him to be a really like get to the professional level but also like make it so he retires at 27 too so um and I saw Challengers this week so I can like completely get behind the professional athletes mind and like what they’re thinking at all times and and that explains Don’s nervous energy and like every season she’s been in yeah oh my gosh yeah yeah Don’s clock management o it’s it’s can we just not like I was told personally that I would not be um like attacked during this podcast um so L you know we’ never promised that somebody wasn’t going to be attacked onast you’re on the wrong podcast you’ve been here long enough very true we need more reasons to have Michael voltagio around Michael or Brian both Brian Brian I and I will say I just want to say like I want to throw out a saga Naki shout out like I love flaming cheese and so uh interesting combining it with the bread but uh there’s a there’s actually a diner that has kind of a like a Greek flare to it that’s like literally I can see it out my window it’s been a while since I’ve been there but when I go there I usually get their their saganaki and now I’m craving it and I may have to get it this weekend nice Applebees and then sagaki get the get the bourbon Burger yeah don’t eat it and then get the sagaki I see you eat every day okay no you don’t get it I also just like want to point out like I I don’t even think I could win the Applebees Challenge on Survivor because after not eating for two full weeks and then trying to eat four different kinds of cheese I would have to be medically evacuated yeah yes I won a few food rewards on my season and uh I won’t go into the details but it is uh it’s it’s a challenge in and of itself to I like I I could I would be like no Jeff I I can’t take this one the only challenge or like the only reward I think I’ve seen in the many many years I’ve been watching Survivor that has been like yeah I’m going for that one was the fridge of full fat Coca-Cola and Survivor Amazon that that one I could handle nice okay so when we got to baseball I thought of you I’m glad that you saw baseball and thought of me um I made sure to wear my nice blue jays sweater to the podcast so I could represent my hometown team Theon Blue Jays um who do not often face the Milwaukee Brewers but actually are going to Milwaukee thisas the orol wow wow wow wow okay you have to be kicked off this podcast you wow just kidding you know at least it’s not the Yankees yes we can agree on that have you been to has anybody here been to I’m gonna call it I’m gonna call it Brewers field that’s probably no it was American ballp part no that’s that’s American field American Family field American Family Fields right yeah because one of the one of something really pretentious and like probably would judge me ERT one of the sausage experts had in his name I think he was like the official chef of American field and then I also saw it on the outside the stadium but I think I think I went there for like a bachelor party like as part of like a weekend of festivities um I think I’ve been to that Stadium once I don’t remember the big slide you guys saw the slide right did I see the slide it is the start of one of my favorite clips and I don’t know if it’s like a full internet clip or if it’s like a hypers specific Canadian sports clip but there was like one sports presenter who was like I’m going down the slide and he goes down the slide and then breaks a rib and his wrist oh no and like it sounds terrible but it is pretty funny if you can find that clip I feel bad besides his injuries it was really he he was laughing too he was like I think I broke my wrist guys like I’m have to look that up that would be me that would be me um yeah I know I was so excited for there to be a baseball challenge as a big baseball girly um and then this is our sausage challenge can’t come to Wisconsin without a sausage challenge we’ve had like the top chef first annual was it Cheese Cook Off Top they have all like first annual like farmers market shop off like they keep branding each of these challenges as like the top chef black um yeah which like like they’re going to have another sausage fest the SE it well they had to have the power bottoms for the sausage fest that’s true that’s true oh did y have a team that you thought would win going in I I thought the yellow team was gonna pull it out okay sorry goodness this is a family podcast this is the Great American Family podcast since when since five minutes ago l we talking saus a bit of a different podcast Oh I thought you were talking about who was going to win the sausage race I’m like I guess I was pulling for polar sausage um what I was trying to make note of the teams when they were like mingling around but it wasn’t really till like halfway through the cook that I fully knew who was on each team yeah you know what’s funny is that the knife draw had a very similar um result as the um merory event in this season of Survivor cuz it was like all girlies and one boy and all boyes and one girl MH good point I wonder which team Tiffany would have picked to uh be on if she was on Top Chef anyway um so yeah there was some sausage racing and then based on who won that the chef Tans were not participating in the sausage Racing for those who no and all it really rigged oh my God yeah it was obviously rigged I was like what this is not fair and also is that is that chizo costume kosher in uh the year of our Jeff 20124 I don’t think so I I do appreciate Manny and Amanda being like rooting for the sausage because it’s the only brown one color the so Amanda’s one of us and I can’t wait like he should come on our podcast as well I just think she I just think she would fit right on in that would be amazing the and then it would turn into a game of D and D rooll initiative Amanda um I thought the sausage race was completely unnecessary like 100% yeah yeah yeah no no no totally I mean it was fun was it was it like were we just supposed to think that it was fun because even the people there were like wow those sausages really can run the I it’s okay I the sporting events I’ve gone to I I am like on my feet cheering for one of the whether it’s literally the sausages running around the base or like on the big screen it’s just like three you know condiment race yeah like a b you see like a video of a bottle of ketchup run yeah I I I I love that but I think it’s when you’re in the environment of the stadium that it’s more charg of course it loses its electricity when there’s you know 13 of you in the stadium instead of a packed house I I I really want to see is a brawl between like the sausages of Milwaukee the hot dogs of Cleveland the presidents of DC like there’s got to be some more of those kicking around too but like I want to see like a three-way brawl between those three yeah like I want to see Thomas Jefferson kicking the ass of the BR worst I I also thought that having two teams was unnecessary on this like just have parents and the losers are up for elimination I was fine with the team I think the team sense in the in the because it’s baseball I I thought it was funny how convoluted they getting with like yes each inning there’s going to be five innings like it’s like a te ball oh wait for Last Chance Kitchen oh yeah The Last Chance Kitchen was so extra yeah oh yeah so I was fine with I I think I should have been two teams like that Mak sense to me this made way more sense to me than remember the football challenge in Houston that one was ter just like like who won who won won that no one scored a touchdown right 95 yards they like we can eliminate all of you so the so it was the it was the it was the people who were on it was The Losers of the losing team who were up for elimination yeah which meant it was going to potentially be three to four to five people MH yeah and because it was so close it was three people uh uh should we get to the dishes because I’m about to like get to the dishes um so we had Sue and Danny going up against each other with a hot dog Sue made a corn dog with Wasabi and jalapeno mayo and Danny made a bacon wrapped hot dog with raised cabbage and beet relish uh Sue won that round in the Polish sausage round we had Savannah uh with her perogi and fenel and apple salad going up against Michelle’s a with creamy crits Michelle won that round uh in the Italian sausage round we had Kina going up against not Italian Kevin although like I think Kina being like you and me Italian he’s like I’m French just we same Madame like k um that’s the most French ever I took many years of French but I’m embarrassed about it so um actually I said a2v pretty good so good job um Kevin had a risoto with roasted parmesan ulion and fennel and Kina one with a potato and Yoki with Italian sausage and calabrian chili Ru Kurt Ro Chell in the notes instead of but I was like one of these things is not like the others would a churro challenge not be amazing oh gosh um Manny won with the chizo and cheese tiella and roasted salsa and avocado Crema against Lara’s chizo Kebab Taco with yogurt sauce and in the final round we had the broth first uh Dan lost with his potato pancake charred cabbage and Sak Kraut and mustard butter butter and herbs against Amanda’s rye and carway spatel caramelized onion with beer mustard sauce and crispy sauerkraut I just want to say that a churro Kebab Taco with yogurt sauce sounds amazing I would sign up for that yeah yeah yeah there were a lot of these that sounded delish the yeah the so when when Sue was talking about and I think the people who got soon and Danny got the hot dog there was like this is the vanilla uh you know sausage of the of the bunch um and he started say he he was going to do a a Korean inspired corn dog um I had my first when I was in London I was gonna say did your tach CH tach turn stomach turn um because longtime listeners of the podcast May remember that last time you went to not this past time but the perious time you went to London you got serious food poisoning from what you suspect to be a Korean corner it was one of three things it was either a local Billy Cheese Steak a German Kebab or a Korean corn dog the one the Korean I’m still not sure which of the three but the Korean corn dog I had was covered in uh I got it was it was a Korean Ramen corn dog and for some reason I I had thought that it was like instead of batter it was going to be like covered in some sort of ramen noodle that’s what I’m picturing when you just said it yeah it was it was it was instead it was like a regular corn dog but with like crumbled dry Ramen ah yeah and and then you got to add your own toppings to it and I think I got like a garlic sauce and a Sriracha um it at the time it was fine but fast forward eight hours and something uh hit me wrong um so I had a little bit of reaction but he was talking about like the batter uh had like almost like diced french fries yeah I was intrigued by that that sounded really really good to me and like texturally I was so curious like must have stayed crunchy for it to for him to have won that handily because like I could see a scenario where like that gets well I guess he only won by three boats but I was nervous when he said french fry like maybe it could have gotten soggy or this or that but I bet that was fascinating to eat um and Danny’s must have yeah yeah the jalapeno Mayo the jalapeno Wasabi situation um and then I was just quickly gonna say Danny’s looked not all that exciting but it must have tasted really really good to be that close I was like did you make those buns tell me you made those buns I I and I know this wasn’t part of the challenge but I saw I saw Danny’s and I was like oh that’s going to be messy to eat at the fall park because sometimes they have those those challenges where it’s like well can you actually take this and eat this at a tailgate party you sort of thing um but I I was I was glad to and actually for all of these I like I I kind of came out of this knowing that kin lost like that that was like there was regard regardless of the vote spread there was still positive commentary about pretty much everything except for Kevin’s like upon reflection savanah’s you like the the Polish sausage got lost I she hit the sausage too well um but uh sorry uh this isn’t the drag race [Applause] podcast it could very easily become that though yeah so I I guess like she would have potentially been the running but like the moment we got to Kevin I like this is the only like really not really negative but it was the only like negativity of any substance that I feel so I did not feel good for him coming out of this I literally wrote uh oh in my notes when he was making risoto and yeah I uh I the only other possibility I thought maybe was Dan just because his seemed like a little boring um you know was like kind of more of a classic combo not super like inspired flavor profiles or anything super uh unique necessarily and he just like they said they he just kind of cut up the sausage and put it on top so I thought they may have punished him for going the easy route whereas Kevin swung for the fences as it were doing a like difficult DISH On Top Chef um but yeah it’s just I guess it was just too cheesy the texture did look odd on on the shot I have something against foam on dishes of food I’m supposed to eat that is not an element that looks good to me ever yeah the comment that it looked that it was a really good mac and cheese was interesting yeah oh I’m also just like not a risoto girly like often it’s like not done well enough so that it’s like crunchy on the inside and like mushy on the outside but often the texture is mushy and it’s just like not for me personally um the chizo round I would say was quite possibly the um a most interesting one just because both dishes were so incredible I mean Laura’s teso kab Taco looked incredible like the way it was presented on on the on the sword on the knife um but Manus was really beautiful like I was just I didn’t know where they were gonna go with this one yeah it’s well I think it was Manny’s dish where Gail was like you just gave me the perfect plate of food like if Gail Simmons ever said that to me I’d just like combust on the spot like that was really uh compliment and I’m such a crush on Gail I’m not afraid to say it she’s excellent but um yeah like that was such high praise and I thought because Laura made her own chizo like that would kind of give her a significant leg up but uh I guess that just speaks to how good his was here’s my um crackpot Theory and that like I don’t think there’s any standing to it whatsoever but if Laura would have won this round it would have just been the yellow team like it was just there was there would have been no um drama for that last round now I do actually think Manny deserved to win Etc ETA but I don’t know maybe convenient convenient I was I was wondering because I’m trying to remember if that’s happened before in challenges like this where it’s best of like it always feels like it almost almost always comes down to having to like uh Survivor reference read all the US like there’s never like one person that comes one team that comes out so far ahead that you don’t like have to you know that you know who won before you even get to the the final matchup or whatever so um I guess I expected it to be three- two but I also believe that they judge fairly so I guess always would have been the chance that it could have been five and0 there was a lot of 13 to twos there were Yeah by that I mean there was two of them but there was 12 to three had a nickel um the etu with creamy grits just speaks for itself like I want that please was the one thing I did not get a chance to have when I was in New Orleans in December on I think I’ve had every other staple um the ATU was like the one thing I missed but that looked amazing I’ve never been to New Orleans H got to come sometime it’s great food town but yeah at2 I was excited to see it like make the show and when she was talking about you know being exposed to more cinjun and creole Cuisine when she moved to Houston um that spoke to me because you know it’s it’s it’s a very regional thing and there’s so much history and so much like heart in the food um that I think it it translates really well in these competitions like we’ve seen people over the years kind of a being able to like make up for a lack of technique with just delicious depth of flavor and I think sometimes people get it conflated that cun and cre is all about spice and heat but it’s really about seasoning and like developing flavors and um I I’ve never heard of it being done with sausage you know with a usually you get it with shrimp or crawfish or you know a seafood situation and um yeah hers looked amazing and usually it’s with rice instead of with grits and I I I think um it would have been really interesting to try that was one I was like salivating over for sure and her journey has just been so interesting as like a contestant on The show I mean this time last week I was you know having a meltdown because I thought that she was going to be gone uh she was in the bottom and uh and then all of a sudden I mean like I’m just saying I’ve got a bad heart Michelle uh so if you could just keep it consistent that’ be great you know um I’m glad you’re growing as a person and as a chef and that this experience is bringing something unique out of you I’m just telling you as a watch her what I’m going to need from now on is for you to stop freaking me out every episode so thank you please and thank you yeah I completely agree I mean in the beginning she was saying like oh I’m just a Pit Master I don’t know if I and then she crushed with that first pasta Challenge and she’s been one of my favorites this whole way through and her energy is just so infectious I mean she’s got a beautiful smile positive energy just like coming out of the screen so yeah I was excited to see her do well on a on a dish that I love yeah I think if Michelle wants to have a Food Network career after this like she I I think that Dora would very much be open for her like she does really have that uh warm engaging personality where you just like naturally can’t help but to root for her uh and I love how honest she’s been in some of the struggles or like sharing that like she’s like hey I don’t know if I feel like I deserve this but then she kind of comes out on top being like okay yeah like obviously I do like I’m I’m right in line with some of these Michelin star winning chefs um so I’m really excited that she won this challenge after being in the bottom last week I thought this was like a really good challenge overall like Tom even said that this is some of the best food um they’ve gotten all season which is really interesting with something such as like so like simple as sausage and um I I I feel like a lot of the chefs could have really been um like felt tied down by the Simplicity of sausage but they all really shown here so that was a lot of fun that’s a great Point yeah I think it was three or four of the the matchups he said these were both really good so I don’t think we’ve gotten that energy from him the rest of the the previously the season and it’s it seemed like to me like he was so much more impressed during Last Chance Kitchen than during the main show and he was like to me it it felt like in last CH kitchen every week you would taste and be like thank God someone made something good like finally like I’ll let two of you back in cuz on the main show they’re giving me dog [ __ ] compared to what you’re whipping up here in 10 minutes you know so uh it was nice to see him like actually be impressed and like give them their props and it was nice even though Kevin ended up going home like Gail saying like this was one of the better risotto we’ve ever had on Top Chef which exactly I don’t know if that’s like backhanded or not but blow for him and I thought Kevin like left so graciously like I think he knew like it was his time like compared to everyone else who’s left like he’s probably been in the bottom the most um I and him and Manny’s romance like I don’t know if anything could ever ever come as close to this fever dream for me I think I have an idea of what could okay so go with me on this this is from Owen’s um idea this is your idea Owen um so we don’t like it it’s on you exactly uh we have um a it’s Punk but it’s like for restaurants right and like really high level chefs right and I think that someone should actually give Tom kikio dog [ __ ] and just treat it like it’s like it’s a normal thing and just see what he does in a restaurant setting and then we can record it and I’m just saying call us Bravo this is idea there’s more where this came from yeah when it breaks the ratings you know who to ask for your next next for your next twist please give us a call like it’s it’s it’s funny say because I can’t remember what what challenge I I can’t remember which at what point during the episode I was thinking this but I thought a challenge where you basically have to lie about your dish and and fool and fool the judges in some way would kind of be interesting so like you’re uh like know that’s not maybe it’s a little bit like that part on Hell’s Kitchen where the the people like you get down to final four everyone has to like run the kitchen and then like try to like swap in salmon for a halibut or something and they have to and the person in charge has to catch it but like you like you tell the judges well this is a ve chop with blah blah blah blah blah blah and it’s like if you and if you if they don’t catch that it’s actually Lamb Chop then you get some sort of advantage or some sort of point for your team or something but like but like some sort of of fool the judges thing I thought could be an interesting challenge yeah I like that let’s do it let’s always be lying to the judges Kur tell me about last chance K oh boy oh my gosh tell all of us it’s a mouthful I watched as well but I’m I’m excited to hear you try to explain this okay well first of all they tried to force a baseball analogy into it they didn’t really need to be there um I didn’t hate it though once I understood it yeah they so the chefs were so Tom rolls out this big board that has Kevin and Rosa on it and like nine innings like like like you see like a standard like physical scoreboard for for baseball and the chefs are told you have 45 minutes to cook as many dishes for me as you want to each one kind of being represented by an inning um and for each dish Tom is going to score you anywhere from zero to four runs depending on how much he likes it and it’s just like go and like Rica was like I’m gonna do this traditional five course Indian meal and so she was basically at five chances at scoring zero to Four Points and Kevin was like I’m just gonna shoot for three maybe um and as they you served your Dish as you got them up there that was and Tom tasted it and then would say okay that’s worth two runs that’s worth four runs that’s worth zero runs or what have you at first I thought it was going to and then he hangs a little tag like Kevin’s first dish represented his score for the first in uh and so on and I thought he was going to initially just like wait till each person had served one dish and then he was G to give them the score for that inning and that’s how it was the first couple dishes but I think there was just enough of a gap where like Kevin got third dish out there way before Rica got her third dish out there and he said here’s what you scored in the third inning which could have had Rica change what she was doing seeing what his score is but uh so when it came down to it Rika ended up serving four dishes and Kevin ended up serving five his fifth dish really kind of came out 30 seconds left and I was like here’s some salmon with a dill sauce on it um and he like burnt his hand grilling a piece of toast like it was really he made it in two minutes yeah he he was I I I I think he was trying to shave time off his cooking by using his hands instead of pongs um anyway so the four dishes that Rika got out there were a again she was shooting for five she got through four was a rice Pam which was kind of like a rice pudding sweet starter course it looked really good Je the r was the issue and that set her down from the beginning she got one point for that one run sorry um so you couldn’t just like you couldn’t just throw some like ground beef on a plate and call it steak Tartar and get one point there was an opportunity to get zero points um her second course was a Berber eggplant with corn and pepper salad for which she got two points she did a Beezy belly bot which I was fun to pronounce which was rice and lentils with roasted potato curvy Curry for two runs and a Cass screen me tomato and plum salad for one run so she got a total of six runs Kevin ended up getting five dishes out there he started with a roasted lamb with panko garlic and demig gloss which scored him three runs the highest gorgeous it looked amazing Tom was raving about I thought Tom was gonna maybe give it four but I think it’s also dangerous to give four for the first very thing yeah um his second course his second dish was scallop with Butternut puree and Herb salad for two runs and again these didn’t have to be Progressive venues you could have like done anything um a poro vinegret not the detective with ch and parsley salad for one run he was kind of on a one- run run hey singles win games yes singles win the sh butter lettuce with salmon herb and yogurt sauce for one run and smoked salmon with dill cream which just looks so simple but it wasn’t worth zero runs he that didn’t get zero yeah you could hear Tom like they were making small mistakes because they were sprinting and hearing them try to explain their dishes he’d be like this is butter lettuce blah and they just like they were like breathing heavy and running around and Tom would be like okay okay I get it but it a lot of it was like under season yeah consistent they’re whipping it out but um it worked out because yeah three three singles at the end helped him just kind of maintain that lead and that’s and that’s a great point is like unlike most lck and even regular series dishes it’s like you walk your dish up you set it down you stand there and you describe it and the dishes give and the and the judges give you feedback here it’s like they dropped the dish and they wanted to run back and keep cooking because the goal it was it was almost a little bit of quantity over quality or quantity while sacrificing quality as little as possible and so he would he was like shouting it out when he ran up but with his accent there were a couple times where Tom was like can you say it again like repeat that please like poo vinegret was said a couple of times and then because they’re not up there getting feedback Tom is kind of just talking to himself like he he’s giving his his voice over to the camera but he’s like hunched over eating and just kind of giving his monologue commentary and not able to deliver it to the uh to the audience or to to the to the chef so it was a little bit of a strange uh challenge again you didn’t necessarily need the baseball scoreboard it was literally cook as many dishes as you can in 45 minutes and you’re get a score of zero to four for each one but uh he but anyway Kevin is ending up advancing he beat rosica by two points and we’ve got uh he said there wasn’t a hint as to you have to get through this many people said it’s a long journey ahead is this potentially setting us up for a power bottom Last Chance Kitchen a power bottom themed Last Chance Kitchen like I I think the last the last thing or the first thing we want to see is Manny and uh Kevin going up against each other in lck but we’ll see I I I’m kind of glad that the both the two of you like explained that and supposed to be watching it um because that sounds like the most ridiculous it was a lot it was a lot it and I think that’s what cemented like my my comment earlier about I thought that the challenges in the main episode as well were overly complicated like the second level of the quickfire yeah maybe I was stretching a little in terms of trying to find something wrong with the sausage challenge um but it just it just seemed that that that you know May 1st was over complicated challenge day apparently my goodness right so yeah so Ros is out and Kevin is advancing I can’t believe I really thought Rosa was gonna like run the table table Yeah they kind of set her up for that and she was so creative it was it was bummer to see her go but that’s that’s show biz I’m kind of mad at the show about that I can’t I can’t wait to see her in All Stars 3 that’s for sure yay yeah she’s so she’s so funny too like her energy is really uh pops off the screen I would say yeah but I I was sad to see Charlie go and to not really get his footing in the in the season really at all um his restaurant here in New Orleans is actually one of my favorites um it used to be a stand at one of the food halls here and then he’s he’s got a full restaurant now and it’s it’s phenomen Al just the uh I usually get the the Grio which is the double cooked uh pork so I think it’s like brazed and then fried and comes with uh plantains and rice and beans and the pickes he makes on the show and um super tasty and the cocktails are good um and yeah it’s a good spot so if you ever make it down to New Orleans put it put it on the list it’s uh it’s worth it does he also have does he still have the spot in the food hall or just the restaurant just the restaurant now just but um I love me a good food Hall yeah do I love a lot of options you know yeah yeah we do love a food haul oh a hall of food what’s natur to love you know tell us the snck snacks you snacked on this week that you want to share with us what did I eat I did uh it’s a it’s a little embarrassing so sami’s out of town right now dealing with some family stuff but uh I’ve eaten Wings two nights in a row and uh I might make it three because two is not embarrassing my friend two separate orders or leftover on day two so day two and three might end up being leftovers day one well actually this might end up being four meals so I got wings for dinner on Tuesday night um from the Dive Bar Next Door got some cheese fries really good you know just a nice unhealthy uh fiance’s not home kind of meal um and then I had the leftovers for lunch and then I went over to my friend’s house to watch Survivor and he usually cooks dinner and dessert and he’s like you down for wings and I didn’t want to be a rude guest and be like I just had wings like make me something El so I was just like that wings sound good so then I might have the leftovers of those uh when we hang up here nice that sounds good to me I’m not I wouldn’t complain about three days of wings the the the the Dive Bar wings were they just like Buffalo or did you go like mango habanero garlic paresan like what’s your their dry rub actually dry it used to be leemon pepper there which is one of my favorites but they changed it to where it’s just like a more just like standard dry rub but it was it was good they were good and they’re nice and crispy but um my favorite there’s this place here called hudat Wings and More number two and uh they’re on Uber Eats and I discovered them during covid but they’re open really late so actually after the New Orleans live show back in December um me Franny Cassidy’s brother and uh Matt blankin ship and Sammy we ordered like 60 Wings to my place at like 2: a.m. and just demolished them and uh they stay crispy on in transit which is a miracle so WIS more number two gets my support is there HUD Wings more number one number one I believe so I believe so I just have loyalty to two because it’s closer to where I live but I don’t know I don’t know if there’s situation they’ve got a history but yeah it’s uh delicious stuff what what’s y’all’s go-to Wing Buffalo or lemon Pepper or something something else I like a classic Buffalo if I’m if like I’m just getting Wing um my favorite is actually like a honey honey hot um or like if we’re getting wild like I love like a like a mango something or like a fruity something um because I’m a baby and can’t always handle a lot of spice uh I’m I’m a basic Buffalo Wild Wings guy um so like but I I love their garlic parmesan I like the spice garlic I like their Asian Zing I like their they they had a they had a truffle sauce that they called truff Wings which I thought was clever that is clever wow oh I get it I was like what what yeah Asian because it’s just like indiscriminately Asian just general Asia and and I and I it’s like I like the flavor but there’s nothing in there that I could identify as particularly from like any part of Asia listen everybody knows how hard the Becky Wings hit have the Becky Wing well it’s funny like the well like and the place I got the Korean corn dog in in London like they like anybody who goes to London you have to go to Marcato metropolitano because they’ve got like a USC food stand they’ve got a Sri Lankan food stand they’ve got an Argentinian food like it’s a food Hall it’s a huge ass Food Hall from all all over the world Himalayan dumplings um highly recommend uh they didn’t have wings there though I look latata are you a wing person I love wings um I love a good lemon pepper um but like with mild sauce um mild sauce is a much bigger thing in Chicago than it is I think in a lot of places uh we have Harolds here um so um Harold’s Chicken you’ve probably heard about and like from pop culture a lot um and so whenever I get food from there I always get uh lemon pepper but also like with mild sauce um I like a good like habanero is about like mango habanero is about as hot as I can get U without just like messing up all of the things that are already wrong with my body um um but I also am a fan of a good like um like a garlic parmesan as well yeah and a like and sometimes I’m in the mood for just like an oldfashioned buffalo wing with some blue cheese y it really a mood dependent thing chees for sure wait well since y’all are purists I have one more question um I tweeted last night during the Applebees reward that I I said boneless wings are chicken nuggets with a baby emoji and the the ex emoji cuz I am of the Bel that I if you want boneless wings and you’re too much of a coward to eat the meat off the bone that’s fine with me but don’t pretend that you’re eating a chicken wing I was gonna bring this up earlier and ask you your stance on Buffalo is real wings or real wings and uh boneless wings are for babies and you should just call them chicken tenders or nuget I I love a boneless wing but it is a different experience that’s fine as long as you can acknowledge it’s not the same as a wing no like if I’m going for wings not ordering I’m not ordering a boneless wing but in the Pizza Hut my pizza box where you get a personal pan pizza with three toppings and your choice of regular Wings boneless wings or fries I’m getting the Boneless Wings every single time I could see that from like a place like Pizza Hut like a more Chaine I hate I hate oven wings so I will not I’ll pick boneless wings over an oven Wing every time I like this I like this speci just I feel like boneless wings is just something something that is like a complete marketing Ploy I really do think they are just tendies they’re just chicken tendies um and it’s it’s how like you know like on Tik Tok you can’t say suicide you have to say unive themselves like it it’s just like this is just marketing and I am smart enough and have worked in advertising so I can see through this and you’re eating tendies it’s okay to be a little baby but like half siiz tendies so my my entire career has been advertising and I’m a dendy’s guy uh boneless wings guy um so here’s like I don’t like eating food where I don’t know that I’m done with the food and with anything that has bones I’m like night everybody so apples anything like we like oh am I done with the Apple I don’t know like give me apple slices uh and boneless wings it’s like you know when you’re you just pop the whole thing in your mouth there’s no judging can I get like are you against bananas no because you can eat the whole banana there’s no banana core what about an orange you’re like an orange Gater no you can eat the like you can peel it you don’t never eat the peel you can eat an entire orange you can eat an entire okay what about what about a like a peach or a nectar like a stone fruit is a lot a lot more cut and dry in terms of being right now like no I see I hear what he’s saying cuz you don’t want to be judged for leaving too much meat on the bone my dad us your my dad used to get mad at me for leaving too much meat on the chicken wing take it off my plate and finish it I’ve never been judged for not eating enough if anything I it’s like I I’m like a dog as long as there’s food in front of me I will keep eating and with certain grazing tables are bad for me because I will stand by it the entire time and I like and like if you’re sharing a Sherie board with friends and like everyone’s like oh like I’m not going to have that last piece of meat like there’s like one block of cheese left and one meat left and like three grains of a grainy mustard I’m scooping it up it’s mine like I’m sorry like I’m not gonna I’m not gonna let it walk away from me I’ve gotten the nickname the cleaner from my eating habits yeah oh that’s amazing I my friend my I have a slogan Where I say uh if it’s me or the garbage it might as well be me we’re stealing t-shirt launch thank you and with an apple I don’t know if it’s me or the garbage like is it done I don’t know yeah see and maybe this goes back to me having braces but I always cut the Apple like I have to cut my own slices and I just have like Square that’s what I have to do if I have an apple is I have to like if I have to like slice it and get as close to the core as possible yeah I haven’t bit to an Apple since like 05 oh the great Apple bite of 05 I remember yeah it’s been almost 20 years since I’ve physically been to Apple wow your teeth must feel great yeah really because I was always afraid of knocking like a wire off and now I have like now I have like the behind retainer so the floss on like the leader thing where you like fish it through braces I still got to I have to go to the dentist tomorrow and my dental hygienist is going to yell at me for not doing that I floss every day that I have a dentist appointment I floss every single day like I I physically cannot go to bed unless I have flossed but it’s just like with the wire it’s like a little tough some sometimes I’m sorry to my dental hygienist see okay anyway L what did you what Lan what did you eat this week last week you left us on a cliffhanger of what you were ordering for dinner I need to know what you ordered for dinner last week what did I what did I end up or what day was that the 2th Wednesday th oh yeah it was THS th it was late though it was late it was like 3 in the morning it we started at 10 p.m. Eastern I I had a weird day that day because of when we started um but like I had kind of eaten something earlier so I just decided to order food like I normally would after a podcast so I got uh food from this place called Rose Bud that I’ve never ordered from before in Chicago um they are an Italian restaurant where are they located do you know um uh 720 North rush I think I I think I know I think I know where that’s at because I used to work at an agency right around the corner from there and it’s near a g oranos and near Jake melck okay okay cool um I got their garlic knots because you know they were on the menu because they’re they’re there yeah you have to order like I didn’t make the rules um oh yeah now I remember because I was really craving eggplant after whatever the hell it was that rasa did to that eggplant that got her eliminated yeah yeah eggplant slug like yes so I I got eggplant parm um to like I love eggplant parm so good what did you just say you’ve never had eggplant parm because if they offer eggplant parm they offer meat par and I will always get the meat parm fair I guess speaking of last week’s guest or last week’s uh TV guest MD maon his restaurant makes a really excellent eggplant arm just as a really um this restaurant had good eggplant parm the sauce was a little bit sweet like a little sweeter um that I would normally have um I also had some really good sausage and peppers in them I couldn’t decide what it was that I wanted um love it I got food from the ramen place again but it’s just their like um they do like pork belly on rice with an egg and it’s just really good it’s just from strings Ramen and I order extra eggs whenever I order from there um because they’re delicious I think I talked about them last week um what I um did have last night that was really good is I had um a fajita trio um and I haven’t had fajitas in a really long time so I got chicken steak and shrimp nice um but like the the most delicious thing and I also got a side of of sauteed mushrooms and I made um mushroom and shrimp uh fajitas and dang it so good it was just so good everything about it was wonderful um it really hit like at the perfect time because it like came just as the Apple bees reward challenge was getting hyped up um and and I mean I I just had a really good time um like with some with some fajitas and I haven’t had them for a really long time so I’m I’m very much excited that I had that and then tonight I’m I’m getting soul food so I’m excited for for eating soul food tonight nice Kurt what did you snack on this week um so over the weekend uh across the street for me is a Colombian Cafe and I remember like about 10 years ago I had to go to Colombia for work and I had Banda PESA for the first time and I just discovered that they serve that dish across the street for me um those not familiar with it it’s just a plate full of goodness uh so it’s typically red beans cooked with pork white rice ground meat chichiron fried egg plantain cherito aapa uh sometimes black pudding and avocado just all on a big plate if anybody’s been watching um Amazing Race yeah they had to make it and one of the challenges there and that it’s just it’s it’s just so good it’s like it’s like a it’s like a full English breakfast but I was say it’s literally the it’s like the South American version of full English um so tasty and then right next to it is the tiki bar I frequent although I I was gonna ask about the tiki bar I was like where is that I’ve not been there since I was was laid off last July and now that I’m in the Working World again I went there uh over the weekend as well I got my favorite burger there which is the gorgona pork belly Burger um so it’s like a pork belly on top of a burger patty with gorgona cheese um garlic lot it is I swapped in their fried Brussels sprouts for the waffle fries and I got a side of fried spam now yes very salty I was only and it’s like like half inch thick slices it comes with four of them I ate two the next day I made a Spam wrap out of a sundried tomato uh wrap that I had and I I’d made a a SLO a Brussels sprout uh carrot SLA with peanuts the and threw them all in there with some yum yum sauce great stuff um then yesterday I went to a local Korean restaurant and I got uh Ramen a cida kimchi and a bibon Bop burrito which was damn tasty um and then I also just uh this made me think if they can do Top Chef Wisconsin they can do Top Chef Michigan um maena Island fudge I’ve it’s been ages since I’ve had any but when I went grocery shopping you know this one’s already been eaten I’ve got cookies and cream fudge cookie dough fudge uh but between like m Island and their fudge you’ve got you know Traverse City and the cherries just like dor County here in Wisconsin huge Middle Eastern Community in the Detroit area um you know lots of fish I think apples I think there’s a Hu they should have done Top Chef Michigan instead of Top Chef uh Wisconsin that’s my my two cents next season are those probably too close yeah they’re tired of the Midwest now pasties you know it’s you know get get your get your little Michigan Kel Zone um anyway yeah so it’s it’s it’s uh that that’s what I’ve been been eating been slowly expanding my my getting my horizons expanded again how about you haly um wasn’t that like super interesting of of of a food we actually you know what that’s a lie I’m lying to you guys um I made some pasta last Friday which is delicious it was just like a cat Pepe for Christmas Ethan got me a wine club membership to Benjamin Bridge Winery out in Nova Scotia so I had one of their uh KRON Ros with the pasta it was excellent I love a Ros it’s Rosé season but it’s always Ros season also Tim also for the fellow Canadians Tim Hortons has a new tiam muit cold brew it’s pretty mid honestly it’s just like too sweet um they have they also have like a Bailey’s a Bailey’s cold brew like a non-alcoholic Bailey’s cold brew and that one’s really delicious um I went to my first ja game of the season this weekend and I got a prickly pear of Margarita here let me like hold the photo up you guys and came in like a really cool shaker cup um and I will never accuse a blue jay’s bartender of making a weak drink that is for um we also went went to Amsterdam Brewery um right beforehand for lunch they always do food real quick and it’s always good we got like a su chicken pizza and some fries and their pretzel is incredible um what we didn’t realize was that the Dodgers fan club told all of the Dodgers fans that were going to the game to go to that bar beforehand so it was like a Dodgers bar when we went um and then this weekend or yesterday yesterday Tuesday I was coming home from the office so we got take out from a Greek restaurant and it’s like one of those meals for two and then it lasted us for four days straight it was excellent and then this evening Ethan made homemade crunch R Supremes although there was no crunch element so it was just like a a rrap supreme the crunch um but that’s it that’s it me I like that you say it’s like it was like dinner for two whereas I’m like that that’s that’s like the goal for me is like can I not eat enough so that can I have leftovers no like and like e Ethan had his eyes are always way bigger than his stomach he was like we should order the dinner for four I was like you’re insane it was like this whole like it was like a full like um metal container so much rice so much potatoes so much meat it’s like $35 so to get and we you could get six meals out of it I’m not kidding I I Reg clearly like I’ll get takeout and I can always tell I always feel bad when they if they include more than one set of utensils I always feel bad oh you think this you think this is for three people that’s adorable yeah that’s yeah rookie numbers yeah they’re always like oh here you and your you and your family enjoy this spread you and it’s just like me and my cat sitting there like we’ll enjoy this thank you why are you judging me me in my eating bed cuz I’m te eating bed when you’re on work travel I don’t know if yall are familiar with the concept but when you get the two queen beds in your hotel room you reserve one for sleeping and then you reserve one for eating so you can just [ __ ] it up and just lay there and then you can just Waltz on over to your clean bed and sleep in that one that’s the prot I I always manage to eat at that little desk that’s there in the hotel room because if I go to a hotel and there’s more than one bed and I’m there for more than one night I want to get use out of both beds so like I’ll sleep in one bed one night and the other bed the other night if we’re traveling somewhere and there’s two beds we will always sleep in separate beds literally on our honeymoon we selected an Airbnb that had two twin beds and we’re like hell yeah my fian would probably be about that I I’m known to snore in the middle of the night so it was excellent not gonna complain about that um Owen working people find you on the internet if you’d like to be found on the internet yeah if you want to find me on the worldwide web it’s the young KN on Instagram and then it’s uh the young Knight with a zero instead of an O on X or why did oh my God on Twitter dare oh my God we’re sorry everybody for this content I took it off my home screen amidst all the Survivor 50 chaos but then I’ve been searching for the app to like satiate my habit so I’ve been typing in X on my phone wow to get to pull it up but anyway when will you be contacted for Survivor 50 uh maybe never maybe who knows but um it has it has been an interesting couple days but it’s it’s been fine we’re mostly just joking around about it but it did send kind of a shock wave through the uh through the Alum Community but yeah the young Knight which is Young is my middle name I don’t know if people knew that but yeah that’s the origin story Kurt where can you be found on the internet uh best place is probably Kurt Clark with two C’s on the Instagram it’s primarily food and escape room photos uh I just delved into the outer rings of the hell that is Tik Tok really for the first time this week oh boy um no do not clap latan this was I was telling he told me about it it was intense oh yeah um I now know what the grwm means um uh the uh you know the importance of uh complexion maintenance um and a bunch of other good stuff so uh don’t find me on Tik Tok uh just yeah just focus on the Instagram l oh sorry Kurt did you turn over to lat oh latata where can people find you um a lot of stuff going on right now um we are recapping the sympathizer over at silent podcast which is a show where uh Robert Downey Jr has given himself a permission to play all of the parts just all of them yeah um and uh yet it’s not even a story about white people so I’m still like grappling with that we’ll see how it goes uh but Naomi and I are covering that for silent podcast um Felipe and I just launched pop cultured which is the new thing that I’m doing along with Brazilian Dragon where um if you had the versus feed from postow Recaps then you’re going to start getting podcasts from um from pop cultured over at Brazilian dragon and the first podcast that we did together to launch everything was about the movie Challengers because I just don’t think that I could have gone an entire week without talking about that movie it’s just very much on brand for me and everything that I care about in the world um so that was fun and then I was on the recap Kickback again uh with Chappelle and Mari and we talked about the um the American Society of magical Negroes um is that on HBO or Max uh it’s like out this weekend oh oh okay no seriously they pulled it from the theater what yeah yeah pulled from the theater for being that bad um and just really missing the mark on what is supposed to be satire um but yeah we talked about that and then I’m supposed to be back talking about Challengers again because I can’t just do one podcast about Challengers so Chappelle and I are going to talk about that movie coming up um you can follow me on Twitter because that’s what it’s called um at LK Starks you can follow me on Instagram at Stormborn 1222 and then you can follow me on uh Tik Tock at latan K Starks because that is my name you all don’t know what the case stands for though uh my middle name is is keona like I will offer I will offer people money if they they think they could spell that name k y a n no Kurt what’s your pidal name Michael oh I was hoping it also start with a c no Curtis Michael you can find me on Twitter and Instagram at eore and you can check out everything I am reading on my bookstagram account at the strong Library um got got a couple people over from this podcast telling me they like to see what I’m reading that’s so nice um and then if you want to follow me on Tik Tok that’s an option at strong takes on Tik Tok yeah if you want to see the pasta I made that I just talked about Tik Tok video enjoy it’s really just Haley having an amazing looking life honestly just seeming like being goals frankly for me um yeah I don’t often show the breakdowns the weekly breakdowns so don’t believe everything you see on social media I’m also not a hot crier and if I was a hot crier maybe I would post more crying videos but I’m not happen for me um Owen thank you so much for joining us this week it was so much fun and we can’t wait to peer pressure you into talking to us every single season now yes no no pressure required like I said of my favorite shows and I I love that R does a show for it so happy to be here and uh good good to tap with y’all and us oh oh sorry Kurt I you say more stuff no okay I say I just I just add bandwagon uh until next time pack your knives and go bye