Why Are People Hooked On A Fake Food Delivery App?

Can “functional” candy be delicious? Why are people ordering from a fake food delivery app? And should tomatoes be banned from sandwiches?

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Dan Pashman?

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• 0:43Dan Pashman?

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• 1:01Speaker 01

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• 1:33Speaker 02

  Sirius XM Podcasts.

• 1:41Dan Pashman?

  I don't know if you all saw this TikTok the other day, but someone was showing that they've been secretly feeding their husband tofu instead of meat in their sandwiches. And the husband still hasn't caught on, and the comments were so angry at the woman making it. She's like, you have to disclose that this is tofu. That's not right that you're saying it's chicken.

• 1:58Speaker 03

  Talking about tofu like it's an illicit substance, like you have to disclose that it's in there.

• 2:07Dan Pashman?

  This is The Sporkful. It's not for foodies, it's for eaters. I'm Dan Pashman. Each week on our show, we obsess about food to learn more about people. And I'm looking forward to seeing some of you at our live shows this weekend at Little Island in Manhattan. These are free shows outside on a beautiful grassy hill with a view of the Hudson River. The event will include live music, froyo, and a story about yogurt. It's this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 5:00 PM, same show every evening. Details at sporkful.com/live. All right, time to get ready for hot topics and hot takes, because this week, we're hopping into the salad spinner, our rapid-fire, roundtable discussion of the biggest, strangest, and most surprising food stories of the moment. Today, we have two very special guests.

• 2:49Dan Pashman?

  First up, joining us right here in our studio in New York, she's an editor for the food and cooking sections at The New York Times and writes The Times Weekly Newsletter, The Veggie. She has a new book coming out in just a couple of weeks. You can preorder it now. It's called Veggie Everything: Recipes for Weeknights, Parties, and the Bites in Between. Please welcome Tanya Sichinsky.

• 3:07Speaker 03

  Hello, hello, thanks for having me.

• 3:08Dan Pashman?

  Hey, Tanya. And joining us from Los Angeles, he is the host of the excellent, beloved podcast, Vibe Check, and so much more. He does so much more than that. He is a true multi hyphenate. It's Zach Stafford. Hey, Zach.

• 3:20Speaker 04

  Hi, it's so good to be back.

• 3:21Dan Pashman?

  And now, you know, I was trying to write an intro for you, Zach, and if anyone has ever run out of space in Google Docs, that's what happened. You've been a producer for Broadway shows. You're also on the board of like, about a number of nonprofits. You're somehow involved with the USTA and the U.S. Open.

• 3:36Speaker 04

  I'm on the board of the U.S. Open, yeah.

• 3:38Dan Pashman?

  Right.

• 3:38Speaker 04

  The U.S.C.A., rather.

• 3:39Dan Pashman?

  USTA, right. And like, you also go to the Met Gala?

• 3:43Speaker 04

  I have been to the Met Gala, wow, Dan.

• 3:45Speaker 03

  Zach, do you need a date?

• 3:46Speaker 04

  My god, this is such a deep dive. Yes, I have been before, thank you.

• 3:52Dan Pashman?

  I do want to ask you, though, what's the food like at the Met Gala?

• 3:55Speaker 04

  So, funny enough, when I was at the Met Gala, I was asked to be a red carpet correspondent. So, it was the Black Dandy Exhibition. So, it was like me, Al Roker, anyone black Anna Wintor could find. I think she Googled black people and said, these people should come. So, but what we found out as correspondents to the Met Gala is that you're not allowed to eat. When you arrive at 3:00 PM, they lock you in a holding room, and they don't give you snacks or food, and then you sit on a red carpet until Rihanna walks the carpet, which is around 11 o'clock. And you do not eat anything unless you are hosting the Vogue livestream, and then you get to eat. But the rest of us are peasants, and we get to eat McDonald's at midnight.

• 4:35Dan Pashman?

  Tanya, you look shocked.

• 4:37Speaker 03

  I'm, this is a humanitarian crisis.

• 4:41Speaker 04

  It was, and is.

• 4:42Speaker 03

  Seven hours on the carpet, no, no snack.

• 4:46Dan Pashman?

  Anytime I am going anywhere where I am not absolutely assured of having access to food at a pretty specific time that I know of in advance, I do not show up without food. I'm gonna have some almonds or, you know, a protein bar, something, something.

• 5:03Speaker 03

  Yes. I mean, obviously, Zach, your outfit was probably a little different than what I would wear if I was there, but there would be things tucked in the corset. I would be wearing big gown and having like, a full snack station kind of underneath.

• 5:16Speaker 03

  That is not, that's not right.

• 5:18Dan Pashman?

  I'm imagining inside the Met Gala, it's like a lot of canapes that nobody eats.

• 5:22Speaker 03

  Wasn't the Met Gala menu, if not this year, maybe a couple of years ago, wasn't there a whole hoopla about it being vegan?

• 5:28Speaker 04

  Who was it? Someone was, Kiki Palmer posted a picture, posting about how bad the food is, because it was vegan, and vegan badly done. So, you know, you can have delicious vegan food, but this was really bad vegan food.

• 5:39Speaker 03

  No, of course, you can have delicious vegan food.

• 5:40Dan Pashman?

  Yeah, we'll get to that. All right, and speaking of vegan or vegetarian, Tanya, your main beat at The New York Times is sort of vegetables, vegetarian recipes, but you're not a vegetarian.

• 5:49Speaker 03

  No, it's an open secret that I am not a vegetarian.

• 5:53Dan Pashman?

  You're working on this cookbook that's coming out. When is it?

• 5:56Speaker 03

  September 15th.

• 5:57Dan Pashman?

  Veg, very exciting.

• 5:58Speaker 03

  Veg, everything, baby.

• 5:59Dan Pashman?

  I'm curious to ask you, because I feel like we're way past the point of the, sort of like, vegetarian 1.0.

• 6:06Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 6:07Dan Pashman?

  I think everybody understands that there are extremely delicious, extremely satisfying meals that you can make with nothing but vegetables. What is exciting about vegetarian cooking to you today?

• 6:17Speaker 03

  I mean, I do agree with the first point that you made, but I think broadly speaking, you and I know that, people who are like us know that, eaters, as you, as you say, would know that, but I actually don't think everybody knows that. I think there are a lot of people across the country that don't have the kind of cooking literacy to make vegetables exciting. And for me, the thing that has always been exciting and is still exciting to me is the range. I think you can completely adulterate vegetables beyond recognition in a way that you can't really do with meat. Chicken is chicken, and you know that it's chicken, but you would be shocked and awed by some of the things that...

• 6:55Dan Pashman?

  Like what? What's one example?

• 6:56Speaker 03

  I was actually just talking about sandwiches for an episode that we have coming out in September, a video episode, and we were talking about Superiority Burger, of course. I think a lot of the things that they do there...

• 7:07Dan Pashman?

  It's a vegetarian restaurant in New York, and they do a burger, among other things.

• 7:10Speaker 03

  Yes, and they have an incredible fried tofu sandwich there that is, I think, an incredible dupe for kind of a Chick-fil-A sandwich, as far as what we're getting with crunch and pickle brine and whatnot. And it's a form and a construction that people associate specifically with meat.

• 7:26Dan Pashman?

  Right.

• 7:26Speaker 03

  Right? Like...

• 7:27Dan Pashman?

  I mean, that's how Lord Sandwich, or the Earl of Sandwich, started it, right? He was like, I want to eat meat without having to use utensils.

• 7:35Speaker 03

  He needs portable meat.

• 7:36Dan Pashman?

  Right, right.

• 7:37Speaker 03

  And we, as part of the episode that we were recording, we asked people what makes a great sandwich. No, I think one person mentioned the meat. Everyone talked about texture and freshness and brightness and crunch and sauce and the bread. And what I have found is the thing that makes a sandwich great is actually the vegetables, right? But we think that vegetables are there as a kind of side, side player, a side character, supporting cast, however you want to call it, but really, they're doing the thing that you like.

• 8:05Dan Pashman?

  Right. Zach, do you have a favorite vegetable sandwich ingredient?

• 8:09Speaker 04

  Oh, my gosh, I was trying to think about that, because I'm such a lover of meat, that when you said that the veggies are the star, I thought, no, the meat is the star. But I do think lettuce is a make or break for me, what type of lettuce, and especially now that we're dealing with this lettuce outbreak of disease or whatever is happening. I'm very curious of like, are they putting arugula? Are they putting an iceberg? What's happening to give it that extra crunch? So, for me, it's about the lettuce.

• 8:34Dan Pashman?

  I agree with you on the lettuce. The role of the greens is not just flavor and crunch, but also friction.

• 8:40Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 8:41Dan Pashman?

  You got a high surface area to volume ratio, green, that's gonna hold a lot of things together and prevent slippage.

• 8:46Speaker 03

  Yes, I think one of the most critical pieces of feedback I got when I was talking to people about this was the fixation on ratio and layering.

• 8:55Dan Pashman?

  Yes.

• 8:55Speaker 03

  A good sandwich is about construction.

• 8:58Dan Pashman?

  Why was I not a guest for this segment, Tanya? You know, my first book, which came out 14 years ago, has an entire chapter on the structural engineering of sandwiches.

• 9:07Speaker 03

  Dan, what the hell?

• 9:09Dan Pashman?

  Out, Dan.

• 9:10Speaker 03

  No, this is on me, this is, you know what?

• 9:11Dan Pashman?

  We need to do a sequel.

• 9:12Speaker 03

  We're gonna, there are plenty more sandwiches to talk about.

• 9:15Dan Pashman?

  I have a lot to say about this.

• 9:16Speaker 03

  Next season, we're on this. We had, we did, we had a panel of guest judges.

• 9:19Dan Pashman?

  Okay, all right.

• 9:20Speaker 03

  And we had, we had...

• 9:21Dan Pashman?

  Don't rub it in, Tanya.

• 9:22Speaker 03

  I'm sorry, we had some, we had some sandwich experts, but clearly, I did not exhaust all my options.

• 9:26Dan Pashman?

  I understand, next time, next time. Zach, real quick, I wanted one follow-up with you, because the first time you were on, you were dating a guy that I'll call Mr. Meal Prep.

• 9:34Speaker 04

  Oh, my god, yes, we're still together, yes.

• 9:38Dan Pashman?

  I was gonna ask, what are the status, both of the relationship and of your meal prep?

• 9:43Speaker 04

  Mr. Meal Prep, I love that. I'm gonna use that on Vibe Check.

• 9:46Speaker 03

  I need to know everything about him.

• 9:48Speaker 04

  So, we do continue to meal prep, but very separately. So, I think that's the thing, and what's become really amazing is that when we go to a grocery store, we go to the Sprouts in the neighborhood more often than not. We've gotten really good at, we even buy our groceries separately. We've been together for four, going on five years, but we're really good at bagging each other's groceries now. We have all system in play, and we know how to shop for each other, but we still meal prep for ourselves, and that keeps the relationship going for us. We have nights where we do things together, but it's mostly separate all the time.

• 10:17Dan Pashman?

  Are checking accounts separate, too?

• 10:19Speaker 04

  Yes. Oh, my god, finances is separate, carbs are separate, everything's separate, yes.

• 10:24Dan Pashman?

  I love that, though, separate, but do you, do you meal prep alongside each other?

• 10:27Speaker 03

  Mm, parallel play meal prep.

• 10:29Speaker 04

  Yeah, it's, that's really difficult. I think we take turns meal prepping. We do, me more often than not, I do help him clean up. So, that's a sign of love, is helping clean up the meal prep.

• 10:42Speaker 03

  And what is he doing for you?

• 10:44Speaker 04

  He, listen, let's talk about that. What is he doing?

• 10:47Speaker 03

  Why, why are you helping him clean up? What is he helping you clean?

• 10:51Speaker 04

  He will, he will help, he will help clean up. I'm just like, one of those putter awares that I just like, jump into action.

• 10:57Dan Pashman?

  I respect that.

• 10:57Speaker 04

  I like to clean while I cook, and he likes to clean after he cooks, and I think that's not efficient. So, it's my own type A-ness that gets in my way.

• 11:04Dan Pashman?

  Fair enough.

• 11:05Speaker 03

  Heard.

• 11:09Dan Pashman?

  All right, Tanya, Zach, are you two ready to spin the salad spinner?

• 11:12Speaker 03

  Born ready.

• 11:13Dan Pashman?

  Yes. Tanya, if you want to do the honors, we have an actual...

• 11:17Dan Pashman?

  Perfect. All right, the spinner has been spun. Time for our first story. The Korean fake food ordering app. A new Korean app lets you scroll through a menu, add things to the cart, and click "Buy", except the order doesn't go anywhere. The app is called Food Never Comes, and the idea is that people derive pleasure dish from the act of browsing and ordering. They don't need the actual food part of the experience. As of this recording, the app claims nearly 1.2 million cravings have been satisfied. I assume that means 1.2 million orders for nothing. Zach, what does this say about our food culture today?

• 11:54Speaker 04

  I'm so glad you brought this story. We discussed this on Vibe Check. If you have confused the joy of ordering food as the process of gamifying it, not the eating or getting what you like to actually consume, you just need help and you need friends that love you and help take you outside some more. I hate this idea. I think it speaks to our addiction to our phones and that capitalism has us too tied up and it's tentacles and we need to untether ourselves and be free of it. But just order real food, find things you actually like, and don't play with capitalistic games from Korea.

• 12:27Speaker 03

  May I present one dissenting opinion?

• 12:29Dan Pashman?

  Yes, Tanya.

• 12:29Speaker 03

  So I think the existence of the app is crazy. That being said, I do this to myself.

• 12:38Dan Pashman?

  Really?

• 12:38Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 12:38Dan Pashman?

  Really?

• 12:40Speaker 03

  Yes, okay. But here, I think the psychology for me is slightly different. It is not so much the dopamine rush of hitting "Buy" and then the food not coming. For me, it is entirely a shame-based exercise. I will, I don't keep DoorDash on my phone, but occasionally I will re-download it when I am hungover. And then I will say like, okay, I'm going to order my hungover DoorDash delivery of choice is Panda Express. I will put the Panda Express in my cart. I will look at how exponentially more expensive it is to get it delivered to my house, and that satisfies the craving. I suddenly do not want it anymore. It saves me money and it cures me of my impulse to purchase it.

• 13:25Dan Pashman?

  But does it cure you of your drunkenness?

• 13:27Speaker 03

  Well, no, but that's what, but that's what like a blue Gatorade and an ice cold Coca-Cola from the bodega are for. I will, like, it is such a shameful experience of seeing that like my little bowl from Panda Express is, I don't know, $30, that I will say, okay, I actually cannot do this. I'm better than this. And then I will walk to my fridge and like scrounge for something.

• 13:49Dan Pashman?

  Can you not just walk to a Chinese restaurant or stop at a Chinese restaurant on your block before you get home? And just be like, can I have a pork fried rice to go?

• 13:57Speaker 03

  Incredible of you to think that I can get that far.

• 14:02Speaker 04

  Listen, I get that my partner's obsessed with Panda Express. That's one of the foods we order when we aren't meal prepping, and he loves orange chicken. But he would leave me if I told him he could just fill the cart up and not press "Buy". Like, that is like breakup, tear story if I'm not letting him have his Panda Express.

• 14:17Speaker 03

  It is like a real exercise in restraint, right? I am like conditioning myself to feel a deep shame associated with the... It's not about food shame. It is not about restriction. It is strictly about the money and it is about the support of apps that I think kind of historically take advantage of...

• 14:38Dan Pashman?

  Small restaurants.

• 14:39Speaker 03

  Small restaurants, of laborers, of delivery workers.

• 14:42Dan Pashman?

  Yeah, I find this app to be kind of sad and depressing. And it's like, it's also just the idea that people have conflated the dopamine rush of ordering something on their phone with the joy of eating.

• 14:57Speaker 03

  Yeah, that to me seems completely disconnected.

• 14:59Dan Pashman?

  It's like you can't, those two things are not interchangeable.

• 15:02Speaker 04

  Agreed.

• 15:03Dan Pashman?

  And if you get such a dopamine rush from buying something on your phone that you're like, I'm not hungry anymore, like what?

• 15:12Dan Pashman?

  All right, let's keep it moving. We're gonna spin the spinner once again. Tanya, you'll do it. You'll be Zach's proxy.

• 15:17Speaker 04

  Thanks.

• 15:18Dan Pashman?

  All right, very good. Who put candy on a diet? So-called healthy candy is trending, according to the New York Times. Things like Hormel's Chorble's protein candies, which have no sugar at all but lots of protein. Trader Joe's has these gummy worms that are 35 calories and have 14 grams of fiber per serving. The Times says, "Diet candy, whether described as better for you or functional, has transcended the grocery and convenience store and found its way into gyms and supplement shops blur in the line between protein bar and indulgence."

• 15:52Dan Pashman?

  First off, Tanya, have you tried any of these?

• 15:54Speaker 03

  Well, funny enough, I also edited this story.

• 15:55Dan Pashman?

  Okay, all right.

• 15:58Speaker 03

  Actually, it's crazy that you bring this up because last night I was at dinner at a friend's house and we went to the grocery store down the street from her place and saw the Fruit Riot Sour Grape Candy. Are you familiar with this?

• 16:11Dan Pashman?

  No.

• 16:11Speaker 03

  Oh my God. So they're in the freezer section. It is a bag of real whole grapes that have been dusted in kind of a citric acid laced candy coating. It, you know, purports to be low calorie, natural ingredients, lower sugar. And so we jokingly were like, okay, let's buy it and try it because one of the friends said that he liked it. I ate the whole bag. It's so good.

• 16:35Dan Pashman?

  Really?

• 16:36Speaker 03

  It's so good. I would say, so in this story, which was written by Ella Quittner, she kind of talks about the different categories of diet candy. And you have the functional candy, which are like high protein, high fiber, what have you. Then you have kind of just this generic diet candy that is low sugar.

• 16:54Dan Pashman?

  Low calorie.

• 16:55Speaker 03

  Low calorie. And then there's kind of this other category that's doing the like fresh fruit, fresh ingredient, anti-artificial this. And so I would say that the grapes that I had are kind of more in that category.

• 17:07Dan Pashman?

  Right. They're more like sweet snack, but they're not, you wouldn't call it candy.

• 17:11Speaker 03

  Well, they're, but they're branded as candy. They're branded as nature's candy.

• 17:15Dan Pashman?

  Oh.

• 17:15Speaker 03

  So, and it's truly like a candy coating because the grapes are frozen, which is an already incredible snack.

• 17:21Dan Pashman?

  So you suck on them?

• 17:22Speaker 03

  You bite them.

• 17:23Speaker 04

  It's got a crunch.

• 17:24Dan Pashman?

  But it's not frozen so solid that you can't bite through it?

• 17:26Speaker 03

  No, because a frozen grape, have you ever had frozen grapes?

• 17:29Dan Pashman?

  Yeah, I feel like, like they were a little too hard to bite into right off the bat.

• 17:32Speaker 03

  No, they're like, you can definitely bite into them and there's like a nice resistance that I think kind of replicates the mouth feel of a chewy candy. But it's not gummy and the candy coating is not totally like Eminem hard crunch, but there's like a crunch factor. And now they're making ones that are kind of nerds covered. There's like a SpongeBob branded one.

• 17:55Dan Pashman?

  The whole idea of like any kind of like a candy shell and that crunch giving way to something soft is like, that does sound like it's up my alley. Zach, have you tried any of these things? What are your thoughts?

• 18:04Speaker 04

  I'm a lover of these things, sadly. Fruit Riot, Fruit Riot. My true lover of lovers is True Fru, which is frozen raspberries that have been covered in chocolates, white chocolates, dark chocolates, milk chocolates. And just the other day in New York City, I was at a dinner party that a friend hosted. And for dessert, he pulled out True Fru, but bananas dipped in chocolate with peanut butter. And these were gay men who are very obsessed with their physiques. And this is what they are serving for dessert at dinner parties, to be healthy and clean eating, but have a little delicious treat. And so there is this interesting way in which, in this kind of culture where we're optimizing everything and trying to make everything about being like our best version of ourselves,

• 18:45Speaker 04

  even dessert has become kind of this weird site of health protein maxing or fiber maxing. And I will say, it is delicious. It does, I get why people are obsessed.

• 18:55Dan Pashman?

  But like, have you quit ice cream, Zach? Or like other like traditional desserts?

• 19:01Speaker 03

  Quit is a strong word.

• 19:03Dan Pashman?

  Would these replace traditional desserts for either of you?

• 19:06Speaker 03

  No, I mean...

• 19:09Speaker 03

  Hold on. No.

• 19:12Speaker 04

  In my context, they've replaced the at-home dessert. So I keep them in my freezer as a backup, so I don't eat a whole Ben and Jerry's. I have to go out and get that Ben and Jerry's or get the gelato. This is my like, I need a quick little sweet treat. This is what I'll snack on. But Tanya, you're anti this, right?

• 19:25Speaker 03

  Well, I'm, so I think that like the class of banana dipped in chocolate or date stuffed with peanut butter, those to me still feel like an extension of something that I could make at home and it doesn't feel too bastardized. But the kind of Hormel's Chorble's category of like, is it a protein bar? Is it a candy bar? I think it robs the treat of its delight. We're removing indulgence from our society like bit by bit in a way that I find so terrifying.

• 19:56Dan Pashman?

  Yeah, like to me, the thing that upsets me the most about this, I hate the use of this word "functional".

• 20:03Speaker 03

  Yeah, totally.

• 20:04Dan Pashman?

  Especially as it applies to candy and dessert. Because what functions, okay, protein and fiber and nutrition are one function, but you know what else is a function? Pleasure.

• 20:14Speaker 03

  Yeah, the function is bliss.

• 20:15Dan Pashman?

  Pleasure is a function, you know, like, you know, I had a functional dessert last night, you guys. It was three scoops of ice cream.

• 20:21Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 20:22Dan Pashman?

  And you know what function it served? It was delicious and it made me happy. And that, let us not forget that that is also a function. All right, we're gonna take a quick break. Coming up, we'll hear some hot takes from Zach and Tanya and we'll address a sweeping change to expiration dates. Stick around.

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  Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to quince.com. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns, now available in Canada and the UK too. And when Quince asks where you heard about them, let them know it was The Sporkful. It's the best way to support the show.

• 23:27Dan Pashman?

  Welcome back to The Sporkful, I'm Dan Pashman. In last week's show, we asked, who killed the Florida orange? Like palm trees and Disney World, oranges are a classic symbol of the Sunshine State, but production has cratered in the last 25 years. So what happened? It's a produce murder mystery. Find out whodunit, that one's up now, check it out. Also, you want to hear me and my family eat our way across Myrtle Beach? Stick around to the end of this episode for a special segment.

• 23:53Dan Pashman?

  All right, we are back now to the salad spinner with vibe check host Zach Stafford. Hey Zach.

• 23:57Speaker 04

  Hello.

• 23:57Dan Pashman?

  And we have New York Times editor and author of the upcoming cookbook Veg Everything, Tanya Sichinsky. Hey, Tanya.

• 24:03Speaker 03

  Hi.

• 24:04Dan Pashman?

  Can I have a turn to spin the spinner? Oh, yeah. I'm spinning, here we go.

• 24:12Dan Pashman?

  Time now for hot takes. Zach, you're up first, what is your hot take?

• 24:17Speaker 04

  Okay, so my hot take is that there is a new trend in San Francisco that is an omakase style dish that you can do now out and about, but it's coffee, not sushi. And I, while I am not Japanese, and I have no expertise in Japanese culture or way of being, I do not love this idea of making coffee omakase style and charging $75 to try some coffee, because it feels very rife with like gingerfication in San Francisco and tech culture, and it just all has a really, really bad vibe. I think omakase should stay as sushi, and I should be sitting at a bar with a master chef, and he should be making his choices for me over sushi, not coffee. That's my, my take.

• 25:00Dan Pashman?

  You're basically saying omakase should be the traditional omakase, and you shouldn't use that word for coffee?

• 25:07Speaker 04

  Yes, exactly, because I think the Japanese translation is, I'll leave it up to you. So it does work, but it feels like a really tech SF play at making more money off coffee beans, which I don't like.

• 25:17Dan Pashman?

  And also just like taking a word that is buzzy, and that half the people even who are eating at omakase restaurants don't really know what it means.

• 25:23Speaker 04

  Exactly.

• 25:24Dan Pashman?

  Half the time, they probably don't know what they're eating. Not that I would either, but I'm just, I mean, like, they don't have the expertise, I'm saying, so like, it's just something to brag about. Tanya, thoughts on Zach's take?

• 25:34Speaker 03

  This feels like an extension of a trend that I have observed, which is, we're calling everything different things now.

• 25:42Dan Pashman?

  Yes.

• 25:42Speaker 03

  Because I think a lot of this is kind of the TikTok-ification of our brains, but every colorway is like, it's dirty martini green, or it's like fettuccine yellow. Just doing like essentially, what is it, like a flight of coffee essentially? Now it's omakase. It's like, oh, people, like you said, Dan, people hear the word, they understand what it means, and then because it's so trendy to have an omakase dinner, they think that the omakase experience is a buzzy word that people will gravitate toward. But like, why can't we just call things what they are?

• 26:17Dan Pashman?

  Right. Like, if you called it a coffee tasting?

• 26:20Speaker 03

  Literally.

• 26:21Dan Pashman?

  Okay, that sounds good.

• 26:21Speaker 04

  That's fine.

• 26:22Dan Pashman?

  Here's the thing that sets me off about this. One of the places in the, in the article about this, their omakase, coffee omakase is $60, it features signature drinks, like a spritz made with the fruit of a coffee seed. In addition to black coffee, it's palate cleansers and pastries. A guest might receive seven courses at one of the two seedings. This is what that really set me off, though. Even the water used is infused with select minerals adjusted to each drink. Have you ever heard such bullshit in your life? I mean, I want to have, I want to do a blind taste test with all these people to see if they can figure out the differences in the different minerals that have been infused in the waters used to make these different coffee drinks. And when they get it wrong, which they will, I feel like they should be slapped.

• 27:07Speaker 03

  I mean, the things they're doing to water now is crazy.

• 27:09Speaker 04

  It reminds me of that trend where there were water sommeliers, like, what are you talking about?

• 27:14Speaker 03

  Yes, but there are actually many restaurants these days that are now doing water pairings as part of tasting menus.

• 27:21Dan Pashman?

  I mean, just the worst. It's just like the worst kind of restaurant status symbol. 99.9% of the people in there, and this would include me, cannot taste the difference between these different waters.

• 27:34Speaker 04

  Did you see the viral moment for Erawan this past few weeks in LA where somewhat, they're now selling-

• 27:40Dan Pashman?

  This is like the super trendy, insanely expensive LA market.

• 27:43Speaker 04

  And they're now doing water there, that's infused with a bunch of things. I think it's like 20 bucks for a cup of water. So people went out to Hollywood Boulevard and used hose water and put it in an Erawan cup, and started serving it to people, and people were giving real feedback, saying, oh, this tastes, like it has all these like notes and everything, but really it's just hose water.

• 28:02Speaker 03

  It tastes like childhood.

• 28:05Dan Pashman?

  This has a note of sidewalk.

• 28:07Speaker 03

  Yeah, I don't love the, I don't love the luxury-ification of something that like we all need.

• 28:11Dan Pashman?

  You know what, instead of a water sommelier, I have been advocating for years that restaurants should have soap elliers.

• 28:17Speaker 03

  Oh.

• 28:18Dan Pashman?

  Because I, it bothers me when a restaurant has strongly scented hand soap in the bathroom, because then you wash your hands and you come out, and now you raise a fork to your mouth, and, and you're smelling the soap, and it affects the eating experience.

• 28:29Speaker 03

  Yeah, you're getting a note of bergamot.

• 28:30Dan Pashman?

  So I think, instead of doing unscented soap, they should come around with a cart of different hand soaps, and they should be pairing the hand soap with the different dishes, because that's something you'll tell, like, you can tell the difference. If your hands smell like lavender or cardamom, that, that's a difference you're going to pick up on. And so, I want that instead of the water sommelier.

• 28:47Speaker 03

  Dan, that's going to open in Tribeca in like six months.

• 28:50Dan Pashman?

  Oh, yeah. I want to get in on that, that's going to happen.

• 28:53Speaker 04

  And it also is, it's so applicable to sushi eating, because you eat some sushi pieces with your hands, and if I did have a really smelly soap or something acidic, it would change the profile of the fish.

• 29:02Dan Pashman?

  Zach, you're in charge of getting the investment money. Tanya, you're in charge of media coverage. Go.

• 29:09Dan Pashman?

  All right, Tanya, what's your hot take?

• 29:11Speaker 03

  I don't want to see a tomato on my sandwich ever, unless it is a BLT or strictly a tomato sandwich. Do not put it on a sub, do not put it on a hoagie. I, I don't want to see it on a burger of all things. Oh my God, do not put a tomato on a burger.

• 29:28Dan Pashman?

  Why?

• 29:29Speaker 03

  It's sick. Most tomatoes are bad. You are eating your best BLT or your best tomato sandwich in the summertime, and you really just want to eat it for the tomato? In every other instance, I think a tomato is muddying all the other good things that the vegetables are bringing to the sandwich. So crispy lettuce, tangy pickles, the tomato that you're going to get probably on some of those other sandwiches, which you might be ordering out, is going to be limp and wet, and that kind of like weird pale red color. It's not adding anything, why is it there?

• 30:03Dan Pashman?

  I'm with you, there's a lot of bad tomatoes out there. So yes, if you're talking about a bad slice of tomato, sure, it's not adding anything, it's often attractive.

• 30:10Speaker 03

  No, even a good slice, take it off.

• 30:11Dan Pashman?

  Even like a, height of the tomato season, fresh, sweet, acidic, meaty tomato? Even that does not belong on a sandwich?

• 30:21Speaker 03

  No, don't put it on-

• 30:22Dan Pashman?

  Why is that, what's the problem with that one?

• 30:24Speaker 03

  I think that you want to enjoy the tomato at its most tomato, and you want a more minimalist sandwich, a BLT or a tomato sandwich.

• 30:33Dan Pashman?

  You feel like basically the tomato has to be the star, or it shouldn't be there at all?

• 30:36Speaker 03

  I, yes, entirely.

• 30:38Dan Pashman?

  Zach, response?

• 30:39Speaker 04

  I love Tanya, I agree so much. I've been a big anti-tomato since I was born.

• 30:45Dan Pashman?

  Really?

• 30:46Speaker 04

  I do not think it needs to be on a hamburger, oh my God, a tomato is mostly water, and it gets slimy. There's ketchup on it too, so we're double dipping on the tomato stuff, like, I just, no, let it go, I don't want on anything, I hate it. I agree with Tanya so much.

• 31:00Speaker 03

  I love a BLT, don't get it twisted. Love a BLT, love a great tomato sandwich, but I would also, to Zach's point, say, let's double down. Do not put ketchup on the burger either.

• 31:10Dan Pashman?

  To me, condiments on burgers is like a personal taste thing.

• 31:13Speaker 03

  Sure, sure.

• 31:15Dan Pashman?

  I'm a ketchup mustard guy.

• 31:16Speaker 03

  Oh, okay.

• 31:17Dan Pashman?

  50/50, I swirl it together on the plate and then dip the burger.

• 31:21Speaker 03

  That, I'm, I'm, I'm all right with that.

• 31:22Dan Pashman?

  But let's not get sidetracked. I'm, I'm, so, so-

• 31:27Speaker 03

  Lock in.

• 31:27Dan Pashman?

  I am. I am with you both that even good tomatoes are overused in sandwiches. That being said, I do think that a slice of really good tomato can add something. First of all, I mean, yes, there's a lot of water in tomato, but tomato adds juiciness.

• 31:44Speaker 04

  And soggy-ness. It sogs everything.

• 31:46Dan Pashman?

  It it has to be placed in the right place within the layers of the sandwich. The tomato should never be up against the bread.

• 31:54Speaker 03

  No, never.

• 31:56Dan Pashman?

  There must be a layer of greens separating the tomato from the bread.

• 32:01Speaker 03

  Right, which is why the correct construction for a BLT is bacon, tomato, lettuce.

• 32:05Dan Pashman?

  That makes a lot of sense. You have to sequester the tomato from the bread.

• 32:09Speaker 03

  Mm hmm.

• 32:09Dan Pashman?

  You also, you don't want tomato in a sandwich that's gonna be sitting. Like, if it's a pre-made sandwich, that's gonna be bad.

• 32:14Speaker 03

  But Art, this is a lot of caveats. Why is it there?

• 32:17Speaker 04

  Dan, the amount of caveats you're giving reminds me of when my girlfriends asked me if they should be dating a man. If they have to explain this much why he's in their bed, he shouldn't be there.

• 32:25Speaker 03

  Right. Well, he can't come around Brenda, and it's a long trip. He can't be there. Like.

• 32:33Dan Pashman?

  There's an old saying in politics, Zach, if you're explaining, you're losing.

• 32:36Speaker 04

  Tomato requires too much explanation. Just let it be.

• 32:38Dan Pashman?

  It's okay. I don't know. I I feel like good tomatoes are special. They're rare.

• 32:42Speaker 03

  I agree.

• 32:43Dan Pashman?

  But they're special, and I don't feel like they should only be in sandwiches when they're the star. It's kind of prima donna. What kind of a prima donna ass fruit?

• 32:51Speaker 03

  A tomato is a Leo.

• 32:52Dan Pashman?

  Yeah, yeah. You're right.

• 32:55Speaker 03

  It's it's our season, okay?

• 33:00Dan Pashman?

  All right, next story. Should we spin the spinner?

• 33:02Speaker 03

  Hit it.

• 33:03Dan Pashman?

  I'll spin it again. I'm spinning for you, Zach. This is your proxy spin.

• 33:11Dan Pashman?

  All right, California is dispensing with the always ambiguous sell-by label on food packaging. There are so many variations, right? Best Buy, used by, sell by. It's very confusing. So according to Fortune, food sold in California can now use only one of two labels. Best if used by to indicate peak quality and used by to indicate safety. A similar law is being discussed in New York. Now, we've done some reporting on this on the Sporkful. It is BS, first of all. Like, there's no government regulation of what these different terms mean. They are kind of useless. Multiple experts we spoke to said, just use the smell and taste test the good old fashioned way. But what are your thoughts on this, Tanya?

• 33:52Speaker 03

  I completely agree. I have been known to eat really, really, really old and expired things in my fridge, and I'm here to tell you about it. So it surely went okay. This is also kind of, to me, about culinary and cooking literacy and just being more comfortable with ingredients and knowing generally what the shelf life is and how to know when you've passed the shelf life of something. Like, I get a text message from a girlfriend all the time that's like, this miso's been in my fridge for XYZ amount of time. Is it okay? Yes, it's fermented, and it actually is probably going to be finding your fridge forever.

• 34:27Dan Pashman?

  Right.

• 34:28Speaker 03

  Same with something that's been unopened that she'll text me and be like, this tahini's from 2024. I'm like, it's probably fine. Now, cooked leftovers, you know, you want to be careful about things like rice, of course. But trust your nose and your and your taste. If you can figure out when a gallon of milk tastes a little funky, you're probably good figuring out a lot of the other ingredients that would potentially cause problems.

• 34:48Dan Pashman?

  Zach, how uh how much do you follow expiration and best buy dates? Or are you like Tanya, you just will eat anything?

• 34:55Speaker 04

  I am like Tanya. I try to use my food literacy to make decisions on what's in my fridge. And it is a contentious conversation in my household with Mr. Meal Prep. He is a big believer in those sell-by dates, and I have been very avidly telling him they are not real. Do not throw that away. It is totally fine. Just smell it. And he doesn't believe me, so things will disappear from my fridge. And now that we be living in LA, and now that this news is broken, I will be printing this on our fridge. So I'll just stop throwing my stuff away.

• 35:25Dan Pashman?

  I think the next time that he throws out your food, if it hasn't truly actually gone bad, um, I think you can call the police now with this new law.

• 35:33Speaker 04

  Yes, this is what police should be focused on most in California right now. Yes.

• 35:38Dan Pashman?

  All right, we're gonna take another quick break. Coming up, we'll spin the spinner at max speed for our lightning round. From retirement home happy hours to the first ever Chipotle in Mexico. We're covering it all. Stick around.

• 35:54Speaker 05

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• 36:00Dan Pashman?

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• 36:31Dan Pashman?

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• 37:35Dan Pashman?

  All right, welcome back. Once again, I'm joined by Tanya Sachinsky from the New York Times and Zach Stafford, co-host of the podcast Vibe Check. Hello to both of you once again.

• 37:42Speaker 03

  Hi. Hello.

• 37:43Dan Pashman?

  All right, we're gonna spin the spinner one more time. Tanya, you wanna do the honors?

• 37:46Speaker 03

  I will.

• 37:47Dan Pashman?

  I'm gonna throw it to you. Can you catch it?

• 37:48Speaker 03

  Yes, absolutely. I'm an athlete.

• 37:50Dan Pashman?

  You are.

• 37:54Dan Pashman?

  All right, first up, Burger King is making gains in the fast food wars. According to the Wall Street Journal, BK saw an eight and a half percent increase in domestic US same-store sales in the second quarter of this year. One reason is that McDonald's is on the decline. They just fired the president of their US business. BK says they're getting some of those customers. Also, though, BK has upgraded the Whopper. According to the Wall Street Journal, they improved the bun, box, mayo, and other elements. Zach, why do you think people are moving towards BK and away from Mickey D's?

• 38:24Speaker 04

  I think Burger King has done a better job, and I'm a child of the 90s, of of kind of marketing that they have a real burger, like a restaurant-style burger. Now that that bun, I've seen it on TikTok, my TikTok has been filled with Burger King truthers.

• 38:37Dan Pashman?

  Really?

• 38:37Speaker 04

  Burger King has been very consistent in their marketing, and now they've invested it in better ingredients. And I'm excited for them. I would like to see the king continue to be the king, because I was a Burger King kid.

• 38:47Dan Pashman?

  Tanya?

• 38:49Speaker 03

  The minute you try a Burger King onion ring, you'll know that McDonald's is the lesser of the two.

• 38:53Dan Pashman?

  Interesting.

• 38:54Speaker 03

  I also agree with the burger take, for sure.

• 38:56Dan Pashman?

  I have to say, so I went to Burger King yesterday in preparation for this taping. I have not had a Whopper in quite some time. Um, I don't know that I could tell a difference from older Whoppers in terms of the burger or the fixins, but the bun was excellent.

• 39:08Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 39:08Dan Pashman?

  That said, the original Burger King chicken sandwich is still my OG. That is my.

• 39:15Speaker 03

  The long one.

• 39:16Dan Pashman?

  The long one, yes. Of of of the iconic, old-school fast food chains and everything they have to offer, Burger King chicken sandwich for dinner, Burger King ham, egg, and cheese biscuit sandwich for breakfast. Those are my go-tos.

• 39:32Dan Pashman?

  All right, next up in the lightning round, charging for chips. Our friend Jose Relot, taco editor at Texas Monthly, argued recently that restaurants should be charging for chips and salsa, similar to the way that more and more places are charging now for what used to be free bread. Jose says inflation is making it impossible for restaurants to give it away for free. Tanya?

• 39:50Speaker 03

  I will always take the side of the restaurant if it keeps them in business, but I want the free chip. I mean, I think it really depends on what you're charging for it, but I think it is historically hard to take something that has been free and start charging for it. It's just something that really rubs customers the wrong way. But I understand completely from a from an economics perspective why that would happen.

• 40:15Dan Pashman?

  Right. If it's chips and guac, I feel like we're more accustomed to pay. People understand that guacamole is more expensive, avocados are more expensive. Chips and salsa is tough. Zach, thoughts?

• 40:23Speaker 04

  I think they should keep the chips free, but to protect their bottom line, they should hide the cost of the free chips in like the other dishes, the entrees. So pay an extra dollar for tacos, an extra dollar for burrito. But I think to Tanya's point, if you take away those free chips and salsa, I think people will just stop going to the restaurant, because it's that emotional tie to that place.

• 40:41Speaker 03

  It's not even that. They'll go to the streets.

• 40:44Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 40:46Dan Pashman?

  For me, it would also depend on how good are the chips and salsa. If you open a bag of Tostitos and put it into a basket, like, don't charge me $6 for that.

• 40:53Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 40:54Dan Pashman?

  But if these are really good restaurant-level tortilla chips, I don't mind paying for them.

• 41:01Dan Pashman?

  All right, next up in the lightning round, grandparents' happy hour. Listen to this. Grandmother of five Anita Lebrun has always loved a good glass of Pinot Grigio and her family's tradition of kicking off 5:00 PM happy hours at their lake house. The 82-year-old couldn't believe it then when she found out last year that her Minnesota assisted living facility was prohibited from serving drinks to residents because it didn't have a license. Well, Grandma Anita became the face of a movement. After testifying twice before the state legislature, she helped get a bill passed that allows senior facilities in Minnesota to serve alcohol for special events without a license. It's been nicknamed the grandparents' happy hour bill. Zach, thoughts on grandparents' happy hour?

• 41:40Speaker 04

  I love it. We're already seeing sexually transmitted infections are rising in elder pair facilities.

• 41:46Dan Pashman?

  Happy hour's not gonna help stem that tide.

• 41:48Speaker 04

  No, so they're already having sex. Give them a cocktail. They need a martini, and then they can go to the bedroom.

• 41:55Dan Pashman?

  You know there's one or two wallflowers in the in the old in the senior home who uh aren't getting in on that action, who are like, you know, I just need something to loosen me up.

• 42:02Speaker 03

  Especially in your older age, I really think that you should deny yourself nothing.

• 42:06Dan Pashman?

  That's fair.

• 42:06Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 42:06Dan Pashman?

  I like that. No more of these healthy candies once you're over a certain age.

• 42:11Speaker 03

  No, you you got to the point where you're in assisted living home. You kind of did all of the right things health-wise to live a long and prosperous life. I think you should have fun.

• 42:19Dan Pashman?

  Ice cream every day.

• 42:20Speaker 03

  Ice cream every day, martinis every night.

• 42:22Dan Pashman?

  There you go.

• 42:26Dan Pashman?

  One more item for our lightning round. Chipotle is opening in Mexico, their first ever place in Mexico. People lined up for hours for the grand opening. One customer said the steak burrito was, quote, "nothing special," but the chicken was, quote, "spectacular." The chain is positioning itself in Mexico between cheap eats and fine dining. The menu is the same as it is in the U.S., okay? No changes. Chipotle's CEO says the opening comes with, quote, "deep respect for Mexico's culinary heritage." Tanya, how do you think Chipotle will do in Mexico?

• 42:55Speaker 03

  Well, I have one follow-up question, which is where in Mexico did this open?

• 42:58Dan Pashman?

  Monterey, which is about three hours south of the border with Texas.

• 43:02Speaker 03

  I mean, listen, people will line up for anything. To me, it seems like maybe it's just early hype. And then over time, how does that brand integrate itself into the community?

• 43:13Dan Pashman?

  Right.

• 43:14Speaker 03

  I think you could probably get better burritos and tacos in Monterey.

• 43:18Dan Pashman?

  What?

• 43:19Speaker 03

  Like, I don't, I don't, especially at the price point of Chipotle right now. It doesn't make sense to me as a consumer, but I don't know what is next door to the Chipotle in Monterey.

• 43:32Dan Pashman?

  Zach, would you go to Chipotle in Monterey?

• 43:34Speaker 04

  Hell, no. I'm not going. And I love Chipotle, as we've discussed many times on this show for some reason. I live in Los Angeles, which is just Mexico. You know, we are Mexico. And Chipotle is very popular here, so I think folks from Mexico do enjoy the cuisine. It reminds me of like, when I was in Rome a few months ago, there isn't a Starbucks really in Rome, which I thought was really amazing, that they've kind of blocked Starbucks there. But you go to Paris, and people love Starbucks. So, you know, I don't know. It's just maybe it will do well there. Certain countries surprise me when they embrace American bastard versions of what they do better. But hey, it is what it is.

• 44:07Dan Pashman?

  I do think it speaks to something that like, as much as we hear about sort of anti-American sentiment, anti expat sentiment in some areas, like, there is still a cachet that American things have when they arrive in other countries. This, this cool thing from America has come to our country, and there is some portion of the population in, in a lot of places around the world that still finds that very exciting. All right, well, that wraps up this edition of The Salad Spinner. Zach Stafford is the host of the podcast Vibe Check, along with 100 other impressive and wonderful and incredible things that you do. Thank you so much, Zach.

• 44:38Speaker 04

  Thank you. I love, I love being here. This is the best place.

• 44:41Dan Pashman?

  We love having you. And Tanya Sichinsky, editor at the New York Times Food and Cooking Sections, author of the Veggie Newsletter. And she has a new book coming out in just a couple of weeks. It's called Veg Everything. Preorder it now. Thank you, Tanya.

• 44:52Speaker 03

  Thank you for having me. This was so fun. I hope I didn't scare you.

• 44:55Dan Pashman?

  You were phenomenal.

• 44:57Speaker 03

  I hope you'll have me back. This is a blast.

• 44:58Dan Pashman?

  For sure. Next week on the show, hate to break it to you, Zach and Tanya, it's all about tomatoes. I team up with my friends at Planet Money and travel to the Rutgers University Research Farm, where they're developing new varieties of tomatoes. We'll talk about the massive explosion in all kinds of branded produce varieties in the supermarket. That's next week. While we wait for that one, check out our recent episode on Florida oranges. Who killed the Florida orange? It's a murder mystery. That one's up now. And hey, did you know you can listen to The Sporkful on the SiriusXM app? Yes, the SiriusXM app, it has all your favorite podcasts, plus over 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, plus live sports coverage. Does your podcasting app have that? And there's interviews with A-list stars and so much more.

• 45:42Dan Pashman?

  It's everything you want in a podcast app and music app all rolled into one. And right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. This episode was produced by me, along with managing producer-

• 45:57Speaker 03

  Emma Morgenstern.

• 45:58Dan Pashman?

  And senior producer-

• 45:59Speaker 07

  Andres O'Hara.

• 46:00Dan Pashman?

  It was edited by-

• 46:01Speaker 03

  Camille Stanley.

• 46:02Dan Pashman?

  Our technical director is- Jared O'Connell. Music help from Black Label Music. The Sporkful is a production of SiriusXM Podcasts. Our executive producer is Camille Stanley. Until next time, I'm Dan Pashman.

• 46:12Speaker 05

  This is Alison Copeland, hailing from Austin, Texas, but coming to you from London, England, reminding you to eat more, eat better, and eat more better.

• 46:26Dan Pashman?

  This segment is brought to you by Visit Myrtle Beach.

• 46:31Dan Pashman?

  All right, Becky, set the scene. Where are we? What's happening? All right, so we're hanging out on the boardwalk on the water, just sitting outside this little food place where it has like a pickup counter type thing. Some people call them restaurants. Yeah, but it's not like a sit-down restaurant. But we're sitting down. Don't want people to get the wrong idea. There was no waiter service type thing. It's casual. Yeah. One might even call it casual. Recently, my whole extended family took a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Of course, we had to check out the famous boardwalk. It's a mile long, dotted with palmetto trees, ocean on one side, storefronts on the other, a mix of gift shops, arcades, a Ferris wheel, and of course, restaurants. One of those restaurants is a Mediterranean spot called Abraham's Yeros. It's named after the owner, Abraham.

• 47:15Dan Pashman?

  So how long have you had this restaurant?

• 47:17Speaker 07

  When I came, 1992. Before that, I was doing in North Carolina. I had another restaurant. So I took a vacation, came here, see what's going on on the boardwalk.

• 47:30Dan Pashman?

  Back in 92, not much was going on. Abraham saw an opportunity. He opened up shop, and over time, as Myrtle Beach has grown, this place has become an institution.

• 47:39Speaker 06

  We are happy because our customers come every year.

• 47:44Dan Pashman?

  This is Abraham's wife, Beha. She says they have customers who came years ago as kids.

• 47:48Speaker 06

  They was little. Now they brought their kids now. This is so important for us.

• 47:55Dan Pashman?

  Abraham and Beha are originally from Turkey, so they brought that influence to South Carolina. And so you have the kebabs, the Turkish kebab?

• 48:02Speaker 07

  Yes, yes, yes. We learn over there, you know?

• 48:04Dan Pashman?

  Yeah, you know how to make a kebab?

• 48:06Speaker 07

  Yeah, of course.

• 48:07Dan Pashman?

  That's why I ordered the kebab, because I thought, this guy's name is Abraham, he's got kebabs, I bet these are gonna be good.

• 48:13Speaker 07

  We use ingredients like homemade sauce, everything, scratch, everything is scratch, you know?

• 48:19Dan Pashman?

  Right.

• 48:20Speaker 06

  Our tzatziki sauce from our garden herbs. And then I make yogurt, homemade yogurt.

• 48:27Dan Pashman?

  Wow, you have yogurt culture at home?

• 48:28Speaker 06

  Yes, yes. Homemade yogurt.

• 48:31Speaker 07

  We eat yogurt every day in Turkey.

• 48:33Dan Pashman?

  Ah, yes. You have like an iron?

• 48:35Speaker 07

  Iron, iron.

• 48:36Dan Pashman?

  Ah, I love iron. You should get some of that to drink with the kebabs.

• 48:39Speaker 07

  Yes.

• 48:40Dan Pashman?

  I got a few different kebabs and yeros, a couple of hot dogs, and enough fries to go around. The kebabs and yeros were tender and perfectly spiced. Everything was excellent. I was gonna say, the guys are fire. Also, these wraps are very good. My wife, Janie, especially loved the vibe.

• 48:56Speaker 03

  I feel like, you know, there's like a nostalgia to this, like sitting out on like kind of an old-school boardwalk, games, food, Ferris wheel.

• 49:07Dan Pashman?

  I mean, it's really nice to be able to have a super casual meal with a big family on the water and not have a cost of fortune also. My nephew Max liked it, too.

• 49:18Speaker 05

  As my family knows, nice clothes make my body hurt.

• 49:24Speaker 05

  So this is like living the dream out here in South Carolina, just chilling, listening to music, listening to the waves, eating delicious food with the family.

• 49:39Dan Pashman?

  Thanks again to the sponsor of today's segment, Visit Myrtle Beach. Just think about the three different eateries we have featured in our segments on Myrtle Beach. A more upscale seafood restaurant with perfectly cooked scallops and a dessert that blew my mind. A brew house with its own craft beer, phenomenal burgers, and great outdoor space with fire pits and live music. And now Abraham's on the boardwalk, where the owners are using homemade yogurt and herbs from their garden. And that's just a small sampling. There are over 2,000 restaurants in Myrtle Beach. It's the South's newest food lover's destination, earning recognition from the James Beard Foundation and other top national tastemakers. You can find jaw-dropping dinner theater, fine dining, global flavors from around the world, breathtaking waterfront restaurants, and exciting family eateries.

• 50:21Dan Pashman?

  So if you've got the whole family in tow, you can still find a place to relax and enjoy amazing food. With over 60 miles of beaches, make Myrtle Beach your place by enjoying food you love with people you love. You belong at the beach. Plan your next trip to the beach at visitmyrtlebeach.com.

• 50:37Speaker 06

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• 51:22Speaker 06

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