Sporkful Dating Game: Suitcase Full Of Cheese Edition

This week, The Sporkful plays matchmaker! We put out the call for Sporkful listeners looking for love, and many of you responded. We used our proprietary algorithm (i.e. a producer looking at a spreadsheet) to set up and record two blind dates — one in New York and one in Chicago.

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

• 0:00Dan Pashman?

  As someone who has been lucky enough to go to Napa Valley, I can tell you it's everything people say it is. Beautiful scenery, quaint, beautiful towns, and phenomenal food and drink everywhere you go. I don't even know that much about wine, but I know that every glass of wine I had in Napa Valley was excellent. I mean, there's no bad glass of wine and no bad meal. Choose between hundreds of wineries, tasting rooms, and chef-led restaurants from a low-key lunch on a vineyard terrace to a full tasting menu paired by the winemaker. Plan your trip at visitnapavalley.com. Start the day strong with Quaker Protein Products. Quaker makes it easy and delicious to get a good source of protein. No matter what the day has in store, Quaker Protein Products give you a variety of ways to reach your protein goals.

• 0:43Dan Pashman?

  Oatmeal, granola, bars, and rice snacks in flavors you already love like maple and brown sugar and blueberries and cream. Quaker Protein helps fuel you to start whatever's next. Get your protein with Quaker, available at a store near you.

• 1:08Dan Pashman?

  What are a couple of moments from the date that really stand out to you that were most memorable?

• 1:13Speaker 01

  Well, one of the most memorable moments was definitely when he told me that he dissected a cat in biology class, in AP Biology class. I have not stopped thinking about that.

• 1:27Dan Pashman?

  This is the Sporkful. It's not for foodies, it's for lovers. I'm Dan Pashman. Each week on our show, we obsess about food to get people to fall in love. All right, not every week, but this week, back by popular demand for Valentine's Day, we are presenting The Sporkful Dating Game.

• 1:49Dan Pashman?

  We asked those of you looking for love to fill out a Google form. Then we painstakingly combed through the entries to find matches using our proprietary algorithm, by which I mean we asked you what age range and what gender or genders you're looking for and where you live. And we match people based on that. Still, it's proprietary. And we did this back in 2021 at the height of the pandemic. We arranged- Two Zoom dates. Unfortunately, neither of those matches led to a second date. So we're already over two in our matchmaking exploits. Can we do better this time? Once again, we set up two blind dates, but this time in person. One in New York, one in Chicago. We recorded the whole dates, then we talked to the daters afterwards. As an incentive, I promised the couples that if either of them gets married, I'll provide cascatelli for their wedding.

• 2:34Dan Pashman?

  So will their love smolder like a kebab on a hot grill? Will they become as inseparable as the two slices of bread in a peanut butter sandwich? Or will they repel each other like oil and vinegar, salad dressing that hasn't been properly emulsified? First up, we have our New York date. Let's meet our daters, Shazad and Stacy.

• 2:59Speaker 02

  I'm Shazad, I'm 37. I live in New York, grew up outside the city, and I'm a marketing director. So for the past few years, I've been running a business called Zorse, which means say it louder in Urdu and Hindi. And I make what I call like South Asian arts inspired joy wear. So here's a pet peeve of mine. Restaurants that have insane cancellation fees. If I cancel a plan with two days' notice, you guys can fill that table. For a first date, the main thing I'm looking for is, are we laughing? If we're laughing, I feel good about everything else. And I'm, I am curious to explore, you know, future dates.

• 3:37Speaker 01

  I'm Stacy, I'm 37, and I am a cookbook author. And I wrote a cookbook called 50 Pies, 50 States, where I baked a pie for every state in America when I was applying for my green card. I think that when you visit a new bakery, you have to get minimum six pastries, preferably three savory and three sweet. Because then you kind of get like a full tasting menu. When I go to a new restaurant, I just go in blind. I don't do any social media looking up. I don't look at the menu so I can like immerse myself in the experience. When I'm going on a first date, what I'm looking for is just someone that's like down and mellow to hang out with. And I'm always thinking in the back of my mind, if they can hang out with my crazy friends.

• 4:21Dan Pashman?

  We sent Shazad and Stacy to Leland, a Mediterranean restaurant in Brooklyn. You'll hear highlights from the date, mixed in with each dater's confessionals, which I recorded with them afterwards. Okay, let's get to the date.

• 4:35Speaker 01

  Are you a sharer, or you like your own main?

• 4:38Speaker 02

  Oh, sharing.

• 4:39Speaker 01

  Sharing, okay.

• 4:40Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 4:40Speaker 01

  All right.

• 4:41Speaker 02

  What about you?

• 4:42Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm a sharer, because I like, I usually play food captain in my group, so I usually order everything, so, yeah.

• 4:50Speaker 02

  Food captain.

• 4:52Speaker 01

  That's like when you-

• 4:52Speaker 02

  Food captain, yeah, yeah.

• 4:53Speaker 01

  So, all my friends like to turn their brain off, like during a dinner, and then I'm the one that-

• 4:58Speaker 02

  You're the only one to listen to the specials when they ever listen to it.

• 5:00Speaker 01

  Yes, yes, that's me.

• 5:01Speaker 02

  And you remembered, oh yeah, that thing with Arden too.

• 5:03Dan Pashman?

  How did Shazad handle your food captaining?

• 5:06Speaker 01

  He handled it very well. He had a lot of input on like, what he really wanted to eat too, and so I included all of those things. So, I had already eaten at Leland before, so I kind of knew like, what the vibe was. So, it was really fun to see what he was excited about, and if it was anything that I was also excited about, or if it's something that I had tried before and really liked.

• 5:28Speaker 02

  She's a good food captain, I would recommend her. I feel like, if you have that like nightmare scenario of a 12-person dinner party, and people don't really know each other very well, and everyone's being shy and bashful, and no one wants to make decisions, she will make like, the right optimal calls, and not be ashamed to be like, all right, this is how we're gonna do it. We need to get the Gildas.

• 5:49Speaker 01

  All right, let's do that. Let's do focaccia Gildas salad.

• 5:53Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 5:53Speaker 01

  And then, what of the, the mushroom toast is really good. Do you like mushrooms?

• 5:58Speaker 02

  I do.

• 5:58Speaker 01

  Okay, we should get, definitely get the mushroom toast.

• 6:00Speaker 02

  Mushroom toast.

• 6:02Speaker 01

  And then the potatoes, sounded good. The fish.

• 6:05Speaker 03

  And the hot fish. Oh my god, this, it's an amazing order.

• 6:12Speaker 01

  That's what I was actually.

• 6:13Speaker 02

  Great.

• 6:14Speaker 01

  So what do you do for work?

• 6:16Speaker 02

  Uh, I work in tech. Do marketing. Look, it's a kind of a corporate job that does the, pays the bills and on the side I have a fashion company and so they make clothes that I think are really interesting.

• 6:26Speaker 01

  Cool.

• 6:27Speaker 02

  I wasn't ever into fashion, but I just like kind of wanted to have a good career platform.

• 6:31Dan Pashman?

  So Stacy was the food captain. Who would you say was the conversation captain? Who took the lead on the conversation?

• 6:38Speaker 02

  You know, I felt like we split it pretty well. I feel like in a lot of dates, I feel like I'm usually the bigger question asker and like conversation driver. I think in this case, like Stacy is like super thoughtful and she was good at asking deeper questions.

• 6:58Dan Pashman?

  So you felt like in terms of who was asking questions and who was answering questions, it was about equal?

• 7:04Speaker 02

  I would love to see the data of the transcript of if that's true or not.

• 7:09Speaker 01

  There was no awkward moments or pauses. He can talk a mile a minute, so it was just, I can probably write a memoir about his life. I know so much about him now.

• 7:21Dan Pashman?

  Wow. Did he ask you any questions about your life?

• 7:25Speaker 01

  Not as much. I think he was very interested to tell me about all the exciting things he's into, like cocktails and hosting parties and the fashion line he's started. And I was very much happy to listen, so yeah.

• 7:39Speaker 02

  Actually, like cocktail making during the pandemic made me realize like how I could play with flavors more. And then I was like living in the Hudson Valley at the time and I got a better home bar. And then I was like, oh, I'm gonna like it like next to me.

• 7:54Speaker 01

  You know, I think sometimes maybe he was nervous and just like, you know, when people get nervous, they ramble. Or he was also just really excited to tell me about him and tell me about his life. And I was ready to listen. I tried to do some like leading questions that would maybe help him ask me more about my life. Like I asked him, um, like what kind of music he really likes, because music is a huge part of my life. Um, but yeah, it never really went that back way and that's okay, too.

• 8:26Speaker 02

  That's your whole point of view versus not.

• 8:27Speaker 01

  So is that the kind of music that you like?

• 8:30Speaker 02

  Maybe like house music is like my biggest like focus, but I just like they're the most accessible shows and accessible artists. That's part of what it is. Like there's like a renaissance of like house music right now and especially in New York. I can like see some.

• 8:46Speaker 01

  Like relationships and partnerships. Um, there's always a front of house and a back of house person.

• 8:52Dan Pashman?

  Front of house, meaning like in a restaurant. That's like the servers, the host, like the people who are more extroverted. And then you have the people who are kind of doing also very important work, but a little more behind the scenes.

• 9:03Speaker 01

  Exactly. Exactly. And the back of house person, you know, gets things going, chugs it along, may not want to have as much face time with the outside world as possible. And I feel like he's very much a front of house person. He's very, very extroverted and it's so funny and made me very quiet, but I also like to listen. So that, that kind of worked out too. But yeah, it felt really funny as a front of house person to be the back of house person for the evening.

• 9:30Speaker 02

  Bluegrass and folk and like pop, you know, jazz kind of at the time band. It was like a very eclectic one.

• 9:35Speaker 01

  I am very excited for you to try this mushroom toast.

• 9:38Speaker 02

  It does look very pretty. It is like covered in toast, the cheese and the sauli. Oh, wow. Yeah.

• 9:48Speaker 01

  Crispy.

• 9:49Dan Pashman?

  You two shared a whole fish. It's whether to share certain kinds of food, but that's really, you're kind of both, you gotta get your utensils in there. There's, there's some work involved. How did that go sharing the whole fish?

• 9:59Speaker 01

  It went really well. He was not as adventurous in the parts of the fish as I was. The cheek is my favorite part on a fish.

• 10:08Speaker 02

  I don't think I've even had like fish cheeks. I don't think I have.

• 10:12Speaker 01

  No? Have the other side.

• 10:14Speaker 02

  I'm gonna have it.

• 10:15Speaker 01

  It's like.

• 10:16Speaker 02

  How do I dig into this? Where am I digging into?

• 10:17Speaker 01

  Use the spoon.

• 10:18Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 10:19Speaker 01

  And it's like right here.

• 10:21Speaker 02

  You eat the eye?

• 10:22Speaker 01

  I eat the eye, but you don't have to.

• 10:24Speaker 02

  No, I'll, I'll try it.

• 10:26Speaker 01

  Yeah, like all this meat part.

• 10:29Speaker 02

  One of the highlights culinarily for me was that I had never had fish cheek before. And Stacy was like, oh yeah, like dig in right there. Get that part. It's the tastiest part. And because she was willing to dig in and show me, and I was like, oh, great. And I dug in and it was like a beautiful little, I can still remember that taste really distinctly. The fish cheek is just so smooth and like dissolves in your mouth in a certain way. And I wouldn't have noticed it. I probably would have been like, oh, I'm a little grossed out by the head. And I wouldn't have dug in and she was like, no, no, go for it.

• 11:03Speaker 02

  I haven't really gotten that too. Is it the spatty, is it the spatty thing?

• 11:08Speaker 01

  Yeah, eat that.

• 11:11Speaker 02

  I'll be honest, I'm not like into the food, into like whole food dissection, whole animal dissection.

• 11:16Speaker 01

  No.

• 11:17Speaker 02

  Vibe. It's like.

• 11:19Speaker 01

  There you go.

• 11:20Speaker 02

  I don't like suck the marrow out of bones, out of like beef bones and stuff like that where it's a very like, not gonna say anything to do to eat that.

• 11:26Speaker 01

  Oh, really?

• 11:27Speaker 02

  It is. It is very much so. I grew up seeing my dad do it and I was like, I'm not into this.

• 11:32Speaker 01

  Not for you?

• 11:32Speaker 02

  Well, let me just try this first.

• 11:35Dan Pashman?

  So Shazad, how do you think Stacy took your confession that you don't suck marrow out of the bones when given the opportunity?

• 11:41Speaker 02

  Uh, I don't, I don't, uh, hmm, um, I'd like to think that it came off as like the one off little cute, I think self acknowledgement.

• 11:53Speaker 01

  You know, I'm gonna be frank, judged him pretty hard.

• 11:59Dan Pashman?

  So you judged him because you felt like he wasn't being adventurous?

• 12:04Speaker 01

  It's so funny because I felt he was so adventurous in so many other aspects of his life that it was funny that the adventurousness didn't translate into his way of eating. I think just like, at least suck the marrow out once, you know, like at least give it a shot. I'm all for that kind of eating. And yeah, it was like so funny to be, to be just like, this is one thing that I do not do.

• 12:26Dan Pashman?

  At what point in the date did you find out what she does for a living?

• 12:29Speaker 02

  I mean, I, I made an effort not to ask, what do you do for a living? Because I thought that's kind of like, I prefer to keep it like. On other topics first and if it comes up naturally. Um, but I think it was like three fourths of the way through where more of her job came out.

• 12:47Speaker 01

  He did not really find out much about me or what I did till dessert. Yeah, I used to bake pies at 420 Blackbirds for a couple of years.

• 12:56Speaker 02

  Holy shit. Wow. We might have run into each other in that context.

• 13:01Speaker 01

  Uh, I've never worked in the store, only in the kitchen.

• 13:04Speaker 02

  Oh, okay, okay.

• 13:06Speaker 01

  Have you gotten pie from there before?

• 13:07Speaker 02

  Yeah, but also, yeah, I mean, it was, I was like, there used to be a taxidermy museum right next to it.

• 13:13Speaker 01

  Oh, yes, the museum of whatever. Yeah.

• 13:15Speaker 02

  So I would have this thing where I would go to, I would go to the taxidermy museum at the Black, 420.

• 13:21Speaker 01

  Yes, my friend Sue, who is a tattoo artist, used to teach taxidermy classes there. She taught the, the mouse class. I always wanted to take.

• 13:29Speaker 02

  My god, the mice.

• 13:31Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 13:32Speaker 02

  Did you ever dissect animals in high school?

• 13:34Speaker 01

  I don't think we, I think we did frog.

• 13:36Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 13:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 13:37Speaker 02

  I did frog, mice, and like cats.

• 13:41Speaker 01

  Oh, you did cats in high school?

• 13:43Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 13:43Speaker 01

  Very morbid. Where did you go to high school?

• 13:45Dan Pashman?

  So he brings up dissecting a cat. That's a choice to bring that up on a first date. Like, what does that do to the vibe?

• 13:52Speaker 01

  I think it changed the vibe a little bit. I'd say I was just like, I am an animal girly. I'm an animal lover. We had finished, I believe, the whole fish at this point. So there was, maybe that's where the dissection conversation came from, is that we had to, you know, take apart this whole fish together and that maybe triggered a memory of when the cat happened. Yeah.

• 14:13Dan Pashman?

  Right.

• 14:13Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 14:15Speaker 02

  I would recommend most people don't discuss dissection on a first date. I, I would say probably generally not a good topic. So, okay, so then did you want to stay in food? Like, did you want to like?

• 14:27Speaker 01

  Oh, I, I am still working in food.

• 14:29Speaker 02

  Uh huh.

• 14:29Speaker 01

  I wrote a pie cookbook called 50 Pies, 50 States, where I baked pie for every state in America when I was applying for my green card.

• 14:35Speaker 02

  Okay, that's, I think for a sense now, I'm like, oh, is it curious, you have like a lot of affiliation around? Food, food memory, taste, memory. I never like read books.

• 14:45Speaker 01

  Oh, I read them covered.

• 14:46Speaker 02

  Yeah, and then my Brooklyn Law.

• 14:52Dan Pashman?

  Coming up, we'll hear Shazad and Stacy's final thoughts on the date, and we'll find out if they'll be seeing each other again. Then we'll get to date number two. What could go wrong on that one?

• 15:01Speaker 04

  You definitely don't want to make your date sick on the first time that you meet.

• 15:05Dan Pashman?

  That's coming up. Stick around.

• 15:13Speaker 02

  It's time to open up a can of advertisements.

• 15:21Dan Pashman?

  When you're cooking, ingredients matter, right? You use higher quality ingredients, you usually get better results. And if you're listening to this show, you're probably the kind of person who puts some thought and effort into your ingredients. But ingredients don't just matter with food. They also matter with laundry detergent. Of course, the cleaning job needs to get done. The odors and stains have to be tackled, and I want to feel good about the detergent and the ingredients in it. Because remember, whatever's in your laundry detergent is essentially in your clothes, and then you're putting those clothes on, you want good stuff in there. And All Free Clear uses only essential ingredients. It's 100% free from dyes, perfumes, parabens, and irritating residues. Check out the label and see for yourself, it lists all the ingredients and what they do. We've been using it in my house, we're very happy with it, and let me tell you, family

• 16:03Dan Pashman?

  of four, two teenagers, we do a lot of laundry, so we have put All Free Clear to the test. It's a powerful clean that you can feel good about. All Free Clear is the number one detergent brand recommended by dermatologists for sensitive skin. When it comes to laundry detergent, the choice is clear. All Free Clear. Pick up a bottle for your next laundry day. Start the day strong with Quaker Protein Products. Quaker makes it easy and delicious to get a good source of protein. No matter what the day has in store, Quaker Protein Products give you a variety of ways to reach your protein goals. Oatmeal, granola, bars, and rice snacks in flavors you already love, like maple and brown sugar, and blueberries and cream. Quaker Protein helps fuel you to start whatever's next. Get your protein with Quaker, available at a store near you.

• 16:48Dan Pashman?

  I grew up on Lando Lake's cheese. I still remember going to the supermarket deli counter with my mom and her ordering Lando Lake's American Cheese. And now, Lando Lake's Cheese and Butter are a huge part of my home. There are so many easy weeknight recipes using Lando Lake's Cheese and Butter that bring delicious restaurant taste right to your table. From chicken parm to weeknight shrimp pad thai, Lando Lake's has plenty of quick dishes that'll have the whole dinner table talking. Visit landolakes.com/reцепes/collection for easy weeknight dinners.

• 17:18Dan Pashman?

  Last year, right around this time, I got a new jacket from Quince, a lightweight fall jacket, and it has turned into my favorite jacket. And this is why you need a lightweight jacket, and probably a new one because it's time to freshen up your look. You need a lightweight jacket from Quince because the beauty of a lightweight jacket is you can wear it in the early fall, you can wear it in the early spring, but also it goes over a sweater, over a sweatshirt. And then suddenly, your lightweight jacket is a great accessory for pretty much the whole winter. Bottom line, when the temperatures start to drop, Quince makes it easy to build on those everyday staples with versatile layers designed to keep you warm and comfortable all season long. They make elevated everyday essentials using premium materials and designs that are timeless, thoughtfully crafted, and made to be worn again and again. So find your next fall favorites at Quince.

• 18:03Dan Pashman?

  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.

• 18:27Dan Pashman?

  Welcome back to the Sporkful. I'm Dan Pashman and our big live show in Brooklyn is fast approaching. March 19th at the Bell House with longtime friend of the Sporkful, Kenji Lopez Alt and comedy legend Judy Gold. What a lineup. It's March 19th. Tickets are going fast, so get yours now at sporkful.com/live. Again, that's sporkful.com/live. Thanks and see you there. All right, back now to the Sporkful dating game. You heard the highlights from Shazad and Stacy's date. Now it's time for final thoughts. So throughout the meal, Stacy, did you feel any sparks?

• 19:04Speaker 01

  Unfortunately, no sparks. He was a very lovely guy, but he would be, you know, a great person for someone that's like very adventurous in the world.

• 19:13Dan Pashman?

  So Shazad, at any point in the date, did you feel any little bit of romance? Were there any sparks?

• 19:21Speaker 02

  I think that you can have moments of connection, but it definitely didn't like turn into, I think, a fire on both of our ends. We were in a corner booth and she sat like kind of far off, like further than the like place settings we even were. And, and she didn't like move closer over time.

• 19:39Dan Pashman?

  Has there been any contact since then between the two of you? No contact since the date. Did you exchange numbers or Instagram handles or something? We did not. Okay. He didn't ask. He did not ask. And you didn't ask. I did not ask.

• 19:57Dan Pashman?

  Oh, man. When you combine this result from our last dating game episode, we're now oh for three, which frankly only makes us slightly worse than the dating apps. Now, before we get to our next date, we did actually set up a third date for this episode at one of my favorite restaurants in Philly, Laser Wolf. It's an Israeli style grill house. And the best part is that for appetizers, you get all these incredible little salads, like probably 10 or 12 of them with hummus and pita. There are so many flavors and spices and it just guarantees you always leave feeling like you tried everything. One of our daters, Jacob and Holly, went to Laser Wolf. They loved the food. They enjoyed the date. But they told us it wasn't going to lead to a second date, which means we're now oh for four. So there's a lot riding on this next date in Chicago. Let's meet our daters, Viraj and Diego.

• 20:48Speaker 04

  Hi, my name is Viraj. I am 38 years old. I work in higher education and I live in Chicago, Illinois. My food pet peeve would definitely be when things are under salted. My strategy for a new restaurant is I definitely want to do my research. I check out social media. I will look at menus beforehand, but I still go in with an open mind. And my favorite thing to do is actually to share a lot of dishes to make sure I can try the most. I'm really looking for someone that feels like a friend first, and then we align on shared values and interests. But someone who's just excited to explore the world, try new things and have someone to do that with along the way.

• 21:30Speaker 04

  Well, I'm really excited, but definitely a little bit nervous to go on this date with the Spork Bowl. Um, I've been a fan of the podcast for years and so just really excited for a new, a new adventure.

• 21:42Speaker 05

  My name is Diego. I'm 36 years old. I live in Chicago, Illinois, and I'm an attorney by trade. Truffle oil can be a lot. If there's a lot of stuff on the menu with truffle oil, I start to get a little bit skeptical about everything else that could be there. My ideal first date is a good hang. I like to spend time around people who are thoughtful, respectful, kind of curious about the world around them. I'm excited to go on a date for this portfolio. I mean, it'll be a cool story and maybe it'll be something more.

• 22:12Dan Pashman?

  We sent Viraj and Diego to a Korean barbecue restaurant called Perilla Fair. Now let's get to the date.

• 22:18Speaker 04

  Hi, Diego.

• 22:19Speaker 05

  Hello.

• 22:20Speaker 04

  Hi, I'm Viraj. It's nice to meet you.

• 22:22Speaker 05

  Diego, nice to meet you.

• 22:24Dan Pashman?

  What were a couple of your first impressions?

• 22:26Speaker 04

  I thought Diego was super nice and friendly. I felt instantly comfortable when I sat down at the table and we immediately started chatting.

• 22:34Speaker 05

  I said beforehand, like, um, you know, at the very least hoping for a good hang. And Viraj is definitely a good hang. It's like, wow, this is actually like probably the most interesting person that I've met. Uh, you know, through either the dating app or being set up with somebody. Maybe just hands down.

• 22:51Dan Pashman?

  I should say, we gave each pair of daters some food-related conversation starters, but we left it up to them if they wanted to use them.

• 22:57Speaker 04

  It did print out the questions that they needed us.

• 22:59Speaker 05

  I was gonna say, I have, I, I wrote them down and I also have them, uh, right here, so. I don't know if, uh, you want to begin with that.

• 23:08Speaker 04

  No, well, I'd love to get to know you first.

• 23:11Speaker 05

  I guess, however you want to do it.

• 23:12Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 23:12Speaker 05

  Yeah. Wow.

• 23:13Speaker 04

  Or should we start with first, like ordering?

• 23:15Speaker 05

  Yeah, I don't know.

• 23:16Speaker 04

  I think we were both maybe a little nervous. Uh, this is definitely a new situation for both of us.

• 23:22Dan Pashman?

  Right, you don't normally wear a microphone while going out on a first date? It seems totally organic to me.

• 23:27Speaker 04

  Totally. I think it took us maybe a few minutes to kind of find our rhythm and to see how we wanted to approach it. But, um, I found it really easy to even just chat with him about how we wanted to go about having the conversation or making decisions on the food we got.

• 23:44Speaker 05

  Yeah. When you're looking at this menu or any menu in general. What's your strategy? Where you start?

• 23:50Speaker 04

  Usually I love sharing things. I have no dietary restrictions, blessed. And so, you know, I'll take that into account if, you know, the person I'm with has any dietary restrictions. But I do love like family style ordering. How about you?

• 24:04Speaker 05

  I mean, that's the best way to go. If possible, you get a chance to sample everything. But I guess, yeah, if we're both in the family style, this is supposedly a good place to do it for that.

• 24:13Speaker 04

  Agreed.

• 24:14Speaker 05

  That'll be nice.

• 24:15Speaker 04

  Yeah. Are you from Chicago?

• 24:17Speaker 05

  No, I've been here for a while. There were several similarities in terms of like, oh, like places that we've been to or things like that. I grew up outside of Philadelphia and my family's still there. She spent a lot of time there. She's from the western suburbs. My dad's from the western suburbs.

• 24:32Speaker 06

  My name is Calvin. I'll be helping you both out tonight. And this is the first time you're free, both?

• 24:36Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 24:37Speaker 04

  It is, yeah.

• 24:38Speaker 06

  Typically, I come over, let you know my name, find out some little tidbits of information, and then let you know about the meal.

• 24:43Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 24:44Speaker 06

  Now, seeing as though it's your first time.

• 24:45Speaker 04

  The really long spiel at the top, it was definitely a little overwhelming, but the server was also just so passionate about the food that it was hard not to get more excited about the meal.

• 24:56Dan Pashman?

  So Stacy was the food captain. Who would you say was the conversation captain? Who took the lead on the conversation?

• 25:07Speaker 04

  Thank you.

• 25:10Speaker 05

  Thank you. Do you look at the menu beforehand or are you more kind of a show up and figure it out?

• 25:15Speaker 04

  I did for this.

• 25:16Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 25:17Speaker 04

  How about you?

• 25:18Speaker 05

  Most of the time I'll take a look.

• 25:19Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 25:20Speaker 05

  But In the Scallion Pancake was one that I was like, oh, those are always great.

• 25:24Speaker 04

  A hundred percent. I would totally get that.

• 25:26Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 25:26Speaker 04

  I was also looking at the rice cake for help. It sounded pretty good.

• 25:31Speaker 05

  There's two things.

• 25:32Speaker 04

  And then honestly, one of the tasting plates probably sounds easiest.

• 25:36Speaker 05

  Okay, let's do it.

• 25:38Speaker 04

  And then he kind of sold me on the sundebu, but.

• 25:40Speaker 05

  Yeah, I would agree. That's, you know.

• 25:43Speaker 04

  It's really hard to turn. I mean, that was such a. Sincere love he shared for that dish.

• 25:48Speaker 05

  Yeah, no, definitely. And I wouldn't mind having some sam as well.

• 25:52Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 25:53Speaker 05

  Cool.

• 25:53Speaker 04

  I think that sounds like a good, a good order. I agree.

• 25:56Speaker 05

  It was quite painless and actually like seemed like we were on the same page and, you know, got a well-rounded experience for what the restaurant had to offer.

• 26:04Dan Pashman?

  Did it feel like the two of you were compatible in deciding what to order?

• 26:08Speaker 04

  Yeah, it honestly felt kind of like we were doing some improv, like a yes and that we both kind of like threw out things that we were interested in and we were both open to trying some new things, but editing as we went, it worked out to be a perfect menu ordering and I appreciated that he went with a couple of dishes that were not even on his radar that I was like, oh, I really want the sundebu, right? And it, it worked out great.

• 26:32Speaker 07

  We have our banchan here as well. These are meant to be eaten on the road and not be put on the grill. They're traditional Korean side dishes. So this is going to be our bokki chi or white kimchi. We use Korean pairs, so it's not going to be spicy.

• 26:41Speaker 05

  I liked the banchan a lot, just like I think we should have, we should have just like more banchan, like an appetizer sampler is, is a lot of fun.

• 26:50Dan Pashman?

  I always forget about the banchan when I order at a Korean restaurant and I'm like, I'm so hungry, I'm going to order this and that and this and that. And then there's like the parade of banchan comes and I'm like, I forgot about this part.

• 27:00Speaker 05

  And then all of a sudden you're kind of like, man, this table is really crowded.

• 27:03Dan Pashman?

  Right, right. In a good way.

• 27:05Speaker 05

  Yeah, exactly.

• 27:06Dan Pashman?

  But, uh, yeah.

• 27:07Speaker 05

  Food is great.

• 27:08Speaker 04

  It was delicious. I love having sides to complement any dish. It was really wonderful to have, you know, an array of like crunchy, spicy, sweet.

• 27:17Speaker 06

  Good meat, have a ride.

• 27:19Speaker 05

  Wonderful.

• 27:20Speaker 06

  And the first to hit the table would be the LA gobby.

• 27:24Speaker 05

  Awesome.

• 27:25Speaker 06

  Were you all comfortable grilling on your own or would you like a little bit of assistance?

• 27:30Speaker 04

  I would prefer a little bit of help.

• 27:32Speaker 05

  I would, I would recommend assistance, yeah.

• 27:36Speaker 06

  I almost felt useless today. Everybody just went like, yeah, I'll do it. I'm like, oh.

• 27:39Speaker 04

  Oh, no.

• 27:41Speaker 05

  I feel useless a lot. It's okay. You have a friend.

• 27:44Speaker 06

  I won't steal the entire experience from you.

• 27:47Dan Pashman?

  The server will come over and flip the meat and stuff for you. So you you let them do that?

• 27:50Speaker 05

  Yeah. And then while they do a little bit of it, and then they kind of leave you to your own devices. I did the first go around and then she did the the next go around. I don't know. It seems to be fairly forgiving. You're probably not going to overcook it or anything like that. So.

• 28:03Dan Pashman?

  Is that what the concern was? You were worried about if you were in charge of turning it that it would be cooked poorly? And then you would really have screwed up?

• 28:11Speaker 05

  Oh, yeah. I mean, that's that's always a fear, I guess, whenever you're like, you know, on the grill or otherwise cooking.

• 28:17Speaker 04

  I was definitely nervous that I was undercooking. You definitely don't want to make your date sick on the first time that you meet.

• 28:24Dan Pashman?

  In the end, did you like having the grilling at your table a component to a first date? Or would you rather have not had that stress?

• 28:32Speaker 04

  I think I would have preferred to not have that stress. It was fun to have it. But then part of the experience in the restaurant is also that the server helped us with grilling the meat. There was quite like several long periods where we were chatting with the server as well. And it ended up feeling like we were on a date with three people.

• 28:51Speaker 06

  Besides, oh, I used to live in Milwaukee for about six months.

• 28:54Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 28:54Speaker 06

  I went to Indiana for.

• 28:56Speaker 04

  And so it was just a funny, funny addition to the meal. I think that I would have preferred if we could have chatted a little bit more solo.

• 29:05Dan Pashman?

  Without the server?

• 29:06Speaker 04

  Without the without the server, without and without the additional stress of like poisoning, giving food poisoning.

• 29:14Speaker 04

  This is fun.

• 29:15Speaker 05

  Yeah, I've been very lucky in some parts of my life to explore some pretty cool places that had pretty cool food. Like I studied abroad in Oaxaca.

• 29:23Speaker 04

  Oh, I just went there for New Year's.

• 29:25Speaker 05

  Very cool. How was that?

• 29:27Speaker 04

  It was incredible.

• 29:28Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 29:29Speaker 04

  It truly was one of the best foodie trips I've ever taken in my life.

• 29:32Speaker 05

  Yeah, yeah. The KCO is like, I do think about that a lot. The Oaxaca string cheese.

• 29:38Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 29:39Speaker 05

  I am occasionally like, you know, I could just stuff my suitcase full of cheese.

• 29:43Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 29:43Speaker 05

  It can't be that wrong. But yeah, I like that a lot.

• 29:46Speaker 04

  Sounds like a dream, actually.

• 29:48Dan Pashman?

  Tell me more about this suitcase full of cheese. What kind of cheeses is it gonna be? Walk me through it.

• 29:53Speaker 05

  Oh, man. Well, it's basically.

• 29:56Speaker 05

  Like a Wahaque and string cheese. It's like got a pretty mild flavor. They make it into big strands and just roll it up into a ball. You know, a suitcase might be a little much, but like duffel bag, maybe.

• 30:08Dan Pashman?

  A carry on.

• 30:11Speaker 05

  Yeah, exactly. Yeah, don't mind me.

• 30:15Speaker 04

  I mean, if I could, I would have also brought back a suitcase full of cheese from my recent trip. So I thought it was a funny comment to make.

• 30:22Dan Pashman?

  So if hypothetically speaking, the two of you ever went to Wahaque together and Diego started packing a suitcase full of cheese, you would be like encouraging him or discouraging him?

• 30:32Speaker 04

  I would trust him to make the decision that's right for him. Pack his own suitcase. We're not sharing a suitcase.

• 30:43Dan Pashman?

  So you so you don't want the cheese suitcase for yourself?

• 30:46Speaker 04

  No, I'm good. I mean, listen, if he successfully brings it back, I would happily have some some of the cheese, but you are managing that.

• 30:58Speaker 04

  Would you like to try some?

• 30:59Speaker 05

  I'll go ahead. I was gonna say if you want to.

• 31:03Speaker 04

  Yeah, I can take over. Absolutely.

• 31:07Dan Pashman?

  How did it work out, though, the cooking?

• 31:09Speaker 04

  It was delicious ultimately, right? We both I think cooked it a little bit differently. You could taste the difference of like when we both took it off the grill, but it was fun to compare notes on this together because I think we were both a little bit nervous about it.

• 31:22Dan Pashman?

  What was the difference?

• 31:24Speaker 04

  I think I cooked mine a little bit less. So mine was maybe more of like a medium rare and I think he did a solid medium.

• 31:31Dan Pashman?

  Which do you prefer?

• 31:33Speaker 04

  Um, I prefer medium rare.

• 31:42Dan Pashman?

  Were there any moments in the date that felt a little bit romantic? Any sparks?

• 31:48Speaker 04

  You know, too early to tell, but I really enjoyed meeting Diego. I would definitely want, like, we have talked about maybe finding a time to meet up again and kind of seeing where it goes. When we connected over some of our other common interests, it was exciting. It was nice to have some really great conversations with someone who I think we share some similar values there, too.

• 32:11Dan Pashman?

  Right, and I have to say, I think that knowing that you're being recorded.

• 32:15Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 32:16Dan Pashman?

  Even if the sort of constant awareness sort of falls away, you might still be able to have a great conversation, but that may sort of restrict the romance a little bit.

• 32:23Speaker 04

  Yeah, sparks are a little hard to figure out in the moment when you're first meeting someone.

• 32:28Dan Pashman?

  And how did you leave it at the end of the date?

• 32:30Speaker 04

  We exchanged numbers and texted a little bit. It's been just a few days, and so I think we have talked about maybe finding another time to get together, and we'll see.

• 32:41Dan Pashman?

  Get together like a second date?

• 32:42Speaker 04

  You know, unclear. I think we'll kind of leave that to us to figure out.

• 32:48Dan Pashman?

  Is there one that you prefer?

• 32:49Speaker 04

  I'd be open to another date or to an official first date.

• 32:54Dan Pashman?

  Right, this was like the pre-date.

• 32:56Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 32:56Dan Pashman?

  With the microphone, so like a proper first date without people eavesdropping.

• 33:00Speaker 04

  Absolutely, and I would also be open to hanging out as friends and then taking it kind of one hangout at a time.

• 33:08Dan Pashman?

  Right, I don't know, go for it, Viraj, just go for it.

• 33:11Speaker 04

  It was really refreshing to meet someone in person and actually get to know them without having pre-screened a lot or a profile to go off of, you know?

• 33:19Dan Pashman?

  Right, and having been matched by the most primitive algorithm on earth. The Sporkfuls algorithm, which uses only three factors.

• 33:28Speaker 04

  And I would say they resulted in a lovely evening, so maybe you got something going here.

• 33:39Dan Pashman?

  Were there any moments during the evening that felt maybe a little bit romantic? Any sparks?

• 33:43Speaker 05

  I don't know, I would say maybe like as things went on, we seemed to really enjoy each other's company. And so I'd say, you know, maybe while not fully romantic all the time, it was just like, oh, this is like, this is really nice. I really enjoyed hanging out with her. I would be really surprised if we didn't hang out again.

• 34:00Dan Pashman?

  Has there been any communication between the two of you since the date?

• 34:03Speaker 05

  Uh, yeah. I mean, just like she had mentioned, like, oh, it'd be great to hang out again, either a date or, you know, as friends or something like that.

• 34:09Dan Pashman?

  Did she say that? Did she say either a date or as friends? Or she just said it'd be great to hang out again?

• 34:13Speaker 05

  She did say that, like, you know, or, or as friends.

• 34:17Dan Pashman?

  How did you read that?

• 34:18Speaker 05

  I took it at face value. I don't know if that was like necessarily like, oh, you know, would it be a date? Would it not? That would probably be something that we'd talk about.

• 34:26Dan Pashman?

  If you saw her a second time, would you prefer that it be a date or as friends?

• 34:30Speaker 05

  I think honestly, at this point, probably more as friends, but definitely with like the eye towards like potentially having, you know, something more. I thought it was a really good first date. There's somebody that I really liked hanging out with. I'd be curious to see where it could go.

• 34:45Dan Pashman?

  Well, if I can throw in my two cents here, Diego, of course, I wasn't, I wasn't on the date. So you obviously know more about how it went and how it felt than I do.

• 34:55Dan Pashman?

  I think you could interpret Viraj's text saying, you know, if you want to schedule something as a date or as friends, as her kind of like protecting herself. But I don't think she would have suggested the possibility of it being a date if she was not interested in that.

• 35:11Speaker 05

  That's totally fair.

• 35:13Dan Pashman?

  So I think I would just politely encourage you to be like, let's go on a date and go on a date without anyone recording it and see how that goes.

• 35:22Speaker 05

  Well, I appreciate the input and, uh, you know, we'll definitely keep you posted.

• 35:26Dan Pashman?

  That's, that's my friendly advice for you.

• 35:27Speaker 05

  I appreciate it.

• 35:28Dan Pashman?

  Plus I just really want to make a real couple on this show.

• 35:30Speaker 05

  That's.

• 35:32Speaker 05

  Yeah, I was gonna say, I know you have a vested interest, but I do.

• 35:35Dan Pashman?

  I am, I am not completely impartial, but yes, that is my honest read on that exchange. Let me just check in with Emma real quick to see if there's anything else I should ask before we wrap up.

• 35:45Speaker 05

  Of course.

• 35:46Speaker 08

  I just want to chime in and say that I completely 100% agree with Dan's advice.

• 35:50Dan Pashman?

  Yes. Thank you, Emma. Thank you.

• 35:52Speaker 08

  I was thinking the same thing. I'm like, if she said it could be a date or friends, like, that means she's open to the possibility of it being a date. So.

• 36:01Dan Pashman?

  That's right. Come on, Diego. Shoot your shot. Let's go. Team Sporkful is speaking with one voice here, Diego.

• 36:07Speaker 05

  Yeah, we'll, we'll, we'll see.

• 36:11Dan Pashman?

  All right, we're counting that one. We are counting it. We are now one for five. Not bad. I think that's a pretty good percentage. Maybe it'll go up in future years. Thank you so much to all of our daters. As Diego said to me in our post-date chat, it was kind of an absurd experiment, but I'll say it was an absurd experiment in the name of love and deliciousness, which is the best kind of experiment. I also want to shout out the restaurants that hosted our dates: Leland in Brooklyn, Perilla Fair in Chicago, and Laser Wolf in Philadelphia. Next week on the show, I talk with a Muslim and a Jew about what to do when meatless pork products hit the shelves. How will it affect how they think about what they eat and about themselves? That's next week. While we're waiting for that one, check out last week's very special crossover episode with the podcast Mike and Tom Eat Snacks. That's the actors Michael Ian

• 36:56Dan Pashman?

  Black and Tom Kavanaugh, and we debate all kinds of snacking, including a deep dive on the science of chip tipping. Very important stuff. Check it out. 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. 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 show is produced by me along with managing producer- Emma Morgenstern- and senior producer- Andres O'Hara- Our editor is-

• 37:39Speaker 04

  Camille Stanley-

• 37:40Dan Pashman?

  Our engineer is- Jared O'Connell- Special thanks to Chantel Holder, Andrea Quinn, and Sean Ollie. 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.

• 37:53Speaker 09

  And I'm Rachel Alfero in the city of brotherly love, reminding you to eat more, eat better, and eat more better.

• 38:07Speaker 10

  We know life is busy. That's why saving money should be effortless. With Atlantic Union Bank's Roundup Savings, every time you use your debit card, your purchase rounds up to the nearest dollar and automatically goes into savings. So whether you're grabbing coffee, filling the tank, or picking up groceries, you're saving without even thinking about it. It's just one of the ways Atlantic Union Bank makes managing your money easy. Learn more at atlanticunionbank.com or stop by a branch today. Atlantic Union Bank, any way you bank.

• 38:37Speaker 11

  Whoever said fork in the road must have been hungry for the Sorento and Sorento Turbo Hybrid. Their three-row seating and 10-year 100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty. With a capable Sorento and Sorento Turbo Hybrid, every way forward is the right way. Visit your local Kia dealer today. Kia: Movement that Inspires.

• 39:02Speaker 10

  Call 800-333-4KIA for details. Drive safely. See retailer for warranty details.