A Better Life New York
Steve "The Judge" focuses on the art of enjoying yourself through food, fun and frolic. Steve conducts live Interviews on many popular and controversial topics. Steve has candid conversations about fine dining to BBQ, cigars to cars, history making events and everything in between. Recently, we added a special monthly addition ion collecting Antique Phonographs with experts Wyatt Markus, and Collector/Dealers Joe Hough and Tracy McKinney. Sponsored by Premium Botanicals the maker of Herbal Spectrum a line of full spectrum Hemp based CBD products. http://www.mypbcbd.com
A Better Life New York
Tokyo Tales, Yakitori Artistry, and the Sake Renaissance: A Feast for the Senses with George's Insider Stories
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Embark on a sonic sojourn to the bustling streets of Tokyo as my buddy George and I navigate the city's marvels, both edible and audible. While George regales us with tales from the Land of the Rising Sun, we'll pull back the curtain to reveal the alchemy of podcast magic. Hear how tools like Descript and BuzzSprout, along with the crisp clarity of Rode tech, transform our chats into auditory gold. It's an insider's tour from the hum of Tokyo's trains to the meticulous craft behind each episode, proving that a great story is just a play button away.
As the aroma of perfectly grilled yakitori wafts through the conversation, George leads us into the heart of Tokyo's culinary temples, where the yakitori masters wield their skewers like brushes on a canvas. The sizzle of Japanese charcoal becomes the backdrop for an exploration of the intimate dance between chef and ingredient, where each skewer tells its own tale. From the bustling izakayas to the tranquil simplicity of a Japanese breakfast, our tastebuds travel on a journey as rich and intricate as the culture from which it springs.
Finally, we raise our cups to the sake renaissance, a narrative steeped in tradition but buzzing with innovation. The evolution of sake from its warm, rustic roots to the delicate notes of chilled Daiginjo is a testament to the craftsmanship of its brewers—and we're here to share that story. Through anecdotes and analogies, we connect the dots between sake's complex character and the familiar world of fine spirits, even contemplating its place alongside classic American fare. And because no trip is complete without a touch of homesickness, I reminisce about the signature dishes of my favorite Chinese spot back home, and the undeniable comfort of the foods we love. Join us for these stories, stitched together with the thread of friendship and a shared appreciation for life's finer flavors.
Hello everyone, this is Steve from A Better Life. This podcast is brought to you by our sponsors, premium Botanical. They are the makers of Herbal Spectrum, which is a full spectrum hemp-based CBD. They make salves, liquids and they have a great mixed berry gummy. You can check them out at wwwmypbcbdcom. Now our podcast, the best podcast. Hello everyone and welcome to our podcast, a Better Life with George and Steve. Tonight is a special night because George is on location in Japan. Are you in Tokyo?
Speaker 2:Yes, I am.
Speaker 1:In Tokyo, can you imagine. So this is the first time we're using this technology that we've had for so long, but we are using it. How are you, george?
Speaker 2:No, it's great, Fantastic. The flight was a breeze. Direct flights are the way to go and I got a good night's sleep. I got up this morning at five it's currently 8.30 AM over here in Tokyo and I texted you and we were like yeah, let's do it. Yeah, now we're going live on our podcast. Here we go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we're not really live. Actually we're recording, but it's pretty much what we always do and it sounds exactly the same. I don't even know if we had to tell them you were in Tokyo, but tell us so you had a direct flight.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's pretty common. It's a 14 hour flight from JFK to Haneda, which is the closer of the two airports for Tokyo, and once you get to Haneda, you take the train. It's three bucks to get into downtown Tokyo, and you just then take the subway and you find where you need to go. You surface and voila, you're back in a mix.
Speaker 1:Interesting, interesting.
Speaker 2:It's so convenient and I sometimes wonder why I continue life in New York. It was a $90 Uber ride for me from my apartment to JFK and then from the airport to where I'm staying in Tokyo. It was $3.50. So it's crazy and the convenience level and the timeliness, it's very convenient.
Speaker 1:Great Sounds great, you sound great. I mean considering.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I can't wait to hear the final product because I'm on earbuds. What are they called? Earpods? It's a little bit.
Speaker 1:It's not as full as it usually is here, but you're not running through a lot of the technology that we usually do here. You're not running through because you're coming in. You're not coming through over the microphone. The difference is earbuds and an expensive road microphone is absolutely.
Speaker 2:I purposely wanted to go off the wire just to see what the worst case scenario is, because, if this passes, we could be podcasting from any spot on earth with the same gear.
Speaker 1:That is true. I think it sounds great. You know that we run through two different softwares before it hits the well, maybe you don't, but so when I edit, just for the edification of everybody out there, it goes through two different systems where it works on the sound. The first one, it really just converts it to a file that you can upload to a full rounded file. It cuts out the extra noise, it does some mastering of our voices, because it's just our voices. There's really no music other than the lead-in and then it makes a transcript.
Speaker 1:I'm guessing using AI makes a transcript of everything, and then I edit it through the transcript Like you would edit a Word document. You take out the extra spaces, you take out the extra words, things that don't sound right, you delete it. There's any noise or anything like that? You delete that. And it's on an online software that you have to be a member of and pay a fee. It's called Descript, and then it exports a file and then that file goes into Bus Scout and then I'm sorry, it's not Buscat, it's Buzz something and then Buzz then takes it, inputs. It does the exact same thing, makes a transcript, reads it, identifies both softwares, ask me questions about who's speaking, how many people, what are their names? Because when they make the transcript, they assign names to it.
Speaker 2:Right, so the initial tag.
Speaker 1:And then it does something called music mastering and it's M M something. M? M. I can't think of what it is, but what it does is it makes a, it goes through, it takes the highs and lows out, it makes it all sound the same and then converts it to a file. That, and converts to a file, gives you some ideas for titles based on the words, and we edit it and then it gets uploaded and then Buzz Scout uploads it to all the major systems. So it really is quite a. It takes you have to listen to it and it's a little bit longer, probably 10 or 15 minutes longer than it is in the final part.
Speaker 1:Buzz Sprout I'm sorry, buzz Sprout does magic mastering, it's called, and they automatically goes through everything. It optimizes for spoken word or music, if you. That's what you were doing. So it really does a great job and it gives it the next level. I think our podcast stuff found sound fantastic, I think every time not as much as the beginning, but I think we're we're always surprised at how good it sounds, considering we do it.
Speaker 1:We have road we have road microphones that are what's called the pod mic, specifically for podcasting. We also have the road what the heck is this thing called? We have a road recorder that basically uses that makes everything sound great. You adjust it for the microphone, you adjust it for who we are and what our voices are, and then it'll cast their pro. That's what it is, and then it also we also go through a cloud preamp before it even goes into the road cast or pro, so it's all recorded. The recording is then uploaded to an Apple computer and then that's how the whole, the whole podcast comes in.
Speaker 2:Thank goodness that you are an obsessive type of guy that does a lot of research before buying some heavy equipment, but couldn't have come out any better. I think this is what a journey really.
Speaker 2:In Tokyo. We're we're, you know, doing a recording on Thursday morning, wednesday night, and I gotta say the weather is gloomy here. It is, it's warm, it's probably in the 50s today, but it is going to be raining for the next two, three days. I have people who I'm meeting are gonna blame that I brought the rain, but they were. They just had a 70 degree spring day two days ago on Tuesday. Unlucky them, I brought a little New York weather, but can you believe that 70? It was 70 degrees here in Tokyo two days ago.
Speaker 1:I wish it was supposed to be warmer here next week. I don't know when you're coming back, but it's supposed to be warmer here next week.
Speaker 2:By the time I get back. I'm sure I'll bring the the deep freeze into into it.
Speaker 1:It isn't this week. You know that. I thought it was too cold to fight. Start wearing a coat. I don't wear a coat. Yeah, I started wearing a coat. It was like this huge revelation. I was telling everybody they were like idiot and we all been wearing coats for a little kids. You're the only idiot that doesn't wear coats.
Speaker 2:Oh, so I got into Tokyo. I had dinner yakitori, are you familiar with yakitori? Oh yeah, I love it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's chicken, it's mostly chicken on a skewer and then grilled over charcoal. And it's the art of deboning the chicken and skewering it so the size, shape and how it cooks over charcoal flame, the balance between everything and the sauces and the seasoning you do to the skewers, it was great. I think we had seven skewers each. A salad, nice beverage, and then I think we finished with some ramen duck duck breast ramen actually. And yeah, I think I just sent you some pictures so you can post them on the website. But things like this it's just the convenience of great food and reasonably priced. This was probably like $40 meal each head.
Speaker 1:It's nice. It's funny. I've watched some yakitori specialists on YouTube or on television or whatever chefs, and it really is something the, for those of you are not familiar, it's really just like a barbecue on a sphere, on a skewer, and it really is such a talent because each they understand each type of meat, like on a chicken, every different the wing, the leg, the breast, different parts of the body that have different flavors and are prepared Different textures, different flavors and it's really a science.
Speaker 1:And then they have and I almost bought one. I have to stop sometime. And I almost bought one of the grills and you buy this. And on MT, what is it? Mtc, mtl, what is that?
Speaker 2:MTL Kitchen. Mtl Kitchen. They have the best selection of Japanese cookery, kitchen equipment, knives and also the ingredients. They're one of the largest and oldest importers of Japanese goods in the country. It's a one-stop-shop, but yeah, we go on that website and all of a sudden, two, three hundred dollars later, you order in some toys.
Speaker 1:But what I found most interesting is the charcoal. The Japanese charcoal for the grill is different than anything I've ever seen, and I've used a lot of charcoal in my life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a whole different science, different art form. The charcoal is made so it's all uniformly shaped, so there's more predictability in terms of how you stack and how you lay it out on the grill. Obviously, when we grill, we have a hot spot, we have a medium and a cool spot. Same thing goes with the Japanese grill for the acutory. The chef will probably layer more charcoal on one side and on the other side it will be the cooler zone and therefore you're able to manipulate the heat and how intense you want to cook each skewer at.
Speaker 2:I think some of the great yakitori chefs, even in New York City, these guys are so skilled. I've spoken to a few of them. Mr Kono, chef Kono is one of my favorite chefs in the city and he runs, I think he has a Michelin star for yakitori, which is incredible. But his food, his preparation I think he told me he can prepare 23 different dishes from one bird. So he has the skill to break down the bird and accentuate 23 different variations.
Speaker 2:So, whether it be the thigh, he'll take the thigh, he'll have the inner thigh, the outer thigh. That's two different portions. The breast you have the tenderloin in the middle. Everything is broken down to a very, very specific and doing one of his tasting menus is one of the coolest things you can do as a foodie in the city. I highly recommend anyone try to get a reservation at his counter and just watch this master at work. In one hand he's got the fan and he's waving and manipulating the airflow, the oxygen, so that the charcoal gets hit with more oxygen, meaning more heat, and sometimes he lets glow and lets it cook at a lower temp, even though it's still in the hot zone, and it's really just a marvelous thing to watch.
Speaker 1:Yes, I haven't actually been to one, but I've seen some and it's like going to a sushi chef. It's that's. The best way I can explain it to the audience is that it's like going to sushi, where you go in, you watch them and use their knives and it's a very similar thing because they're unbelievable with the knives, how they trim and how they attach it to the skewer and then and how they cook it and the marinade and they're pretty straightforward marinades. It's all in the knife work and the meat and how they cook it.
Speaker 2:They keep it so simple. I think that that's really the beauty of a lot of Japanese cuisine is, even though it looks so simple, the fundamentals of their craft guides their style and each chef has a certain style. It's undeniable. You look at even the most common, let's say, momo, which is thai meat skewer, and you'll take, let's say, top 10 yakitori places in Tokyo. If you take a closer look at each guy's skewer, they're tapered differently. Some guys might have, let's say, four pieces, some guys might have three, and then you look at the first piece on the top and it tapers down to the bottom.
Speaker 2:It's sometimes a different size and configurations. Essentially, the chef wants you to have a different experience while you eat through that thai skewer. The big piece comes first and then the smallest piece is the third or fourth piece. And it's undeniably it cooks different. If you have something that's 20% larger versus the fourth piece being 20% smaller, and you're cooking on the same heat rate and everything, it's going to cook differently. So, even though it's all fully cooked, those slight nuances, those slight differences, give you a whole different experience to that just one skewer. You multiply that by eight or 10 different portions. Now you're doing breast meat, doing wing, you're doing the neck meat, you're doing all these different, and then you have the innards, you have the liver, you have the heart, you have the snagimou I think it's called the gizzard and you have just this really amazing tasting menu. From One Bird, the broth comes out. It's pretty cool.
Speaker 1:I bet you saw last night. You were at the place.
Speaker 2:You were at an amazing place to be doing this, yeah yeah, I was watching the chef in front of me fan the skewers on that grill and you get to chat with them if you want, or chat it up with your friend or whoever you're having dinner with, and it's just this interactive symphony of foods coming towards your way.
Speaker 1:So where are you going? That's breakfast, right. What do you have today?
Speaker 2:Breakfast. I just made a quick breakfast Some eggs, some sausages, a salad yogurt, granola, coffee and juice.
Speaker 1:In the hotel room.
Speaker 2:No, I'm staying with my girlfriends. I have, yeah, with jet lag. I'm up at five. I went to the local 7-Eleven. Not only do they have prepared foods but they have a nice grocery store. There's different styles of 7-Eleven and this one happens to have a little bit more of a home grocery fair. I just picked up some ingredients, made breakfast and had a nice breakfast in the morning, prepare to get some work done before my conference calls later this afternoon, and I thought it'd sneak in a nice podcast session with you. And here we are.
Speaker 1:I appreciate you did. I hope everyone out there appreciates it as well. Are there full blown grocery stores like there are in the United States, in Japan, especially in Tokyo, because there's really not the room for it? Is there?
Speaker 2:so we always think Tokyo is really cramped and it is okay. So I think it's one of the more densely populated cities in the world, but they use space so efficiently. It's really nice. As a kid I didn't really appreciate the compactness, but now traveling traveled pretty extensively around the world and I've seen a lot of different ways of life. Way of life in Tokyo is I keep using the word efficient, but there's no really other, better way of explaining.
Speaker 2:I think people as a collective are aware of energy. I think there's not that excessive. As Americans right, we're all guilty of blasting our air conditioners. It's frigid. There's really no need for the amount of air conditioning we use as a country, but that's one thing. So I think, if people are aware, I think people are aware that we don't need to drive five liter V8 engine cars. For the most part, the government slaps a pretty heavy luxury tax sticker when your engine goes past I think two liters is it in Japan If it pumps out more than 280 horsepower, there's another luxury tax. So there's certain ways to, I think, live life comfortably without excessive behavior, and I think Japan does such a really good job with that.
Speaker 1:Well, gasoline is very expensive there, right?
Speaker 2:It used to be double, I think. Now in the States, when we're hitting $384 a gallon, I think we're getting pretty close to what we pay here, and with the exchange rate I think it's pretty much the same now. Right, the best is for the most part, expensive, but people just drive really small cars here. The cars are tiny, but no one's slamming the pedal and peeling out of their parking lots. It just unheard of. Also, the funny thing about driving here is nobody hunks the horn. It is incredibly polite. It is, unless it's your dire need of alerting someone of an emergency.
Speaker 2:With a horn, you just don't honk the horn. And I've driven through Tokyo, I've driven in the countryside here and on the other side of the road Everyone drives on the left side, the steering wheel is on the left side, on the right side now, and the fact that you don't honk the horn, even for just a little bit of a hey, what's up, it just doesn't happen. So it's a whole different culture. In that sense as well, I can't imagine going a day driving through New York City without honking the horn, right?
Speaker 1:I don't know, I rarely honk the horn. I know you don't believe that, but I rarely honk the horn.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm just saying it's a very different way of life here. It's very peaceful actually. I just find a lot of serenity living in a very just, peaceful society.
Speaker 1:Sounds good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll be traveling throughout the whole honshu the island of Honshu, that's a big island throughout Japan. In the few days Meeting my colleague and we're going to meet a lot of customers and clients. We're lining up new product lines for 2025, 26, and just meeting a lot of the owners and breweries and brewmasters throughout the country as things get a little bit more secured. I can't wait to share all this great news. But I will be re-entering the world of sake Japanese towards the end of this year and I think we have a tremendous opportunity within the culinary landscape of the United States to really showcase some of the greatest brewed products in the world.
Speaker 2:Japanese sake this is my tagline. It's brewed like a beer, sips like a wine, it's really just this beautiful. If you enjoy sans serres, or even chardonnay with a little bit more gravity, or something on blancs with a little bit more crispness, Sake has it all and it has a tremendous amount of umami, has tremendous amount of acidity. It is food paring forward that I think we have a really we're budding on a renaissance, I think, in the States, and I can't be more excited to showcase that to everyone and all our listeners down the road.
Speaker 1:Okay. So now that we're really talking about it, I'm going to tell you something I've never tasted sake in my life.
Speaker 2:Okay, fair enough. Most times when I talk to Americans, their first entry into sake are either sake bombs or they'll have it really piping hot and they'll just shoot it at, like the Hibachi restaurants or some sushi restaurants, and there's no right or wrong way. I want to get that out of the way here. If you like your tequila, if you like shooting them, fine. If you have now discovered the world of reposado, a niehos, and now you're sipping tequilas like you would sip bourbon or other whiskeys, that's just your journey into the world of tequila. And the same thing goes with sake.
Speaker 2:Sake traditionally was drunk warmed, probably to body temperature, if not slightly hotter, but not piping hot. But that is just to bring out a lot of the nuances you wouldn't taste at room temperature or chilled. Through technology, through rice polishing technology, we're able to now polish the rice, grind out the outer core to the finer white center where the starch is, and produce some very aromatic and floral sake. And that's why the shift from warm sake to chilled sake became so popular. And this was probably from the 80s to the 90s in Japan, and you'd give yourself a 10-15 year lag for the Western world so early on in 2000s, 2010,. This must be drunk, chilled.
Speaker 2:Movement happened and for the most part that's correct, because a lot of Daiginjo that is the funny Japanese word for premium high polish came to be and you definitely want to serve that sake around 35, 40, maybe 45 degrees Fahrenheit, like you would serve a high end chardonnay or high end sauvignon blanc. And there is just education needed to be had right. The more you know, the more you can enjoy, like anything else in the world cognacs, whiskeys, scotches same thing with sake. I think the industry as a whole has done an amazing job. We have so many talented, educated and passionate educators of sake throughout the country. A lot of distributors, a lot of importers have poured a lot of money into the education of sake and I can see the next five, 10 years being an even bigger growth to what we've seen the past 10 years. Again, I'm just so excited to come back into this world and showcase and really talk about something I'm really passionate about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I could see it. I could see that. I think people are out there looking for something different, something that complements their food in a way that hasn't been complimented before, and I think sake is the answer. I think sake is like you said it's ready for a renaissance, it's ready for something different. It's paired as we know. It's paired very well with food.
Speaker 2:It always has been but it really shouldn't be limited to just Asian influenced dishes, and I think a lot of yeah, go ahead A lot of times, I think in the 80s and 90s, just the fact that something foreign was a little bit harder to embrace in the States. But you know, we are so open to anything in the world, anything from the world that is of quality and I think Japan has done a tremendous job positioning themselves as producers of quality goods and has been going around, has been brewed for 200 plus years for the type of sake that we're talking about, but historically we can trace that back to probably 1500 years of a brewed beverage per day, but for all intents and purposes, highly polished rice milling sake with conventional top fermenting yeast and the product that we are actually producing today. Give or take a few decades, but 200 years of history. Leave it to the Japanese artisans. We're going to create some amazing juice, and that's no surprise to me that, going to taste things and just talking to brewers, juice always something within their repertoire.
Speaker 2:That fits with some of my favorite dishes here in the States, whether it be pizza, whether it be barbecue, whether it be even just Mexican food Tex-Mex, socal, southern California, mexican food, the barbecue from Texas, barbecue from South Carolina, from St Louis, and pizzas from the New York area, or even Chicago style pizza. We have so many different amazing American dishes that can go well with and it doesn't have to be just wine, doesn't have to be just beer, but Japanese sake is truly a vessel that can really take on this parability aspect and really enhance anyone's meal and experience.
Speaker 1:Right, I think it's going to take a little bit of educating people. Much like my CBD business, it takes a little bit of educating people. It's really out there and it works the same way as soon as you get a few people to try it and you start advertising it and you have purveyors of food out there that share in it and then share it with the guests in their restaurants.
Speaker 2:All about that experience, right. All about sharing and then the hospitality and just trying something new. So, yeah, it's a really interesting time and I really do believe the sake of renaissance is here to happen. In the next five, 10 years We'll see tremendous amount of sake on more beverage menus throughout the country, and it's all for the better. I can do a little bit of that to help with the general cause. I think I'll be a happy guy. And who doesn't like? I tell some friends I get paid to eat and drink, and that's true, it's really. I don't work a day in my life, right.
Speaker 1:You know me, I do 50 different thousand things and I feel the same way. People are like aren't you exhausted? I said no, I'm actually enthusiastic. I mean, I did crazy stuff today and we don't need to go through it, but you get excited about it. You know, I'm happy that these are my jobs, these challenges that are rewarding, to make something out of nothing. And we're always doing that. We're almost like an artist painting a picture.
Speaker 2:You know you're problem solving all day.
Speaker 1:All day and like, think about Michelangelo or any of the great painters or sculptors, and they would look at a piece of. They always say they look at a piece of marble and they see the sculpture in there and it's a blank slate. And that's exactly where you are. And you're taking new technologies and new efficient processes and you're going to create something that's going to change how everyone in the world eats and it shares their time with each other. It's you have to be so excited about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. It's a great opportunity and I think things happen for a reason right, so it's a blessing. I take everything with a tremendous amount of humility and I'm just grateful, so I can't wait to share more and educate all our listeners about the world of sake and how well it pairs with the foods from the world.
Speaker 1:So where are you going to dinner tonight? Tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 2:So I missed Valentine's Day with my girlfriend.
Speaker 1:Right, we're on the let's remember it's Thursday there, so it's the day. We're on Wednesday, I'm on Wednesday.
Speaker 2:He's on Thursday, I have the day to spend and I made a reservation at this really nice Chinese restaurant. Believe it or not, some of the greatest Chinese chefs in Chinese restaurants are located in Japan. Surprise, I say that about pizza, I say that about other Italian food, but it is true. The precision and the sourcing of ingredients is so superior in Japan that it makes cooking that much easier, and I think a lot of times chefs will choose the ability to get a high quality chicken versus whatever right. Long story short, there's a great restaurant here in Tokyo and we are probably going to go with the course menu. It's a Michelin star Chinese restaurant and I actually don't know so much about it, but I do know of its gravitas within the world of astronomy and I can't wait to experience it. I will have in depth knowledge in about 12 hours of this amazing restaurant here in Tokyo.
Speaker 1:I can't wait to explore that next week. It's funny you bring up Chinese restaurants. I had a friend, Bonnie, you know. She asked me for a recommendation to Chinese restaurants and I sent her to Omandarin.
Speaker 1:And then, which is in Hartstown, new York, but I had to do a few gaviottes. One, realize the food could be really spicy, so watch yourself. And two, don't go in there and look for chicken and broccoli because it ain't going to be there, just going to have to go with the flow in the menu. I said, when I go, george usually orders so I don't have to worry. But there are different things on the menu. You have to be prepared to try them.
Speaker 2:And for all of the kinds of purposes. Old Mandarin in Hearth's Dail is my hands down favorite Chinese restaurant in our area in Westchester. They have handpicked a few dishes from a variety of different regions in China and made it their own. I wouldn't say it's the most authentic, but I would say it's the most cared for and thought forward cooking that you'd get in Westchester and it's always a pleasant experience. I hope she enjoys it. The thing about eating Chinese is you definitely want to go with more people. The better, because then you get to try different dishes, you share and you naturally create a banquet style tasting menu experience. So you have usually you start with a soup, you then you go with something lighter and then all the different disciplines something fried, something steamed, something stir fried, something braised, and then you have some vegetables. You want to mix up everything through the course to have land and sea and this is a marriage of textures and experiences, whether it's protein, vegetable, land, animals, sea, animals. All these things creates the tasting menu experience.
Speaker 1:So it's funny. You said that probably one of the best Chinese restaurants I've ever been to was in Florence, italy. So I was. When I went to school in Italy, I went to the University of Urbino, which is in the North. We would, on weekends, we would travel to every city you possibly can, every little village all over Northern Italy and Tuscany, and all different places, and then we ended up in Florence. We had a four days there where we studied with a visiting professor from Cambridge and we went to a Chinese restaurant and it was the freakiest thing you ever saw. The food was Chinese, the menus were in Italian. You just didn't know what to think and what to say, but people were Chinese and they're speaking Italian, so it was really pretty interesting, but it was a great meal.
Speaker 2:Nice.
Speaker 1:Nice. By that time I'd been there, I'd been in Italy probably eight months, maybe 10 months, and I hadn't had Chinese food, obviously because in the North it wasn't what they had. We ate a lot of Napolitan pizza. We ate a lot of pasta.
Speaker 2:What is it about human nature when we know we can't have something, especially foods? Right, you want it more, man. I remember even on my plane, on the plane ride over here, I was texting you and I was like I really wish I had a juicy American burger. And I know I'm not gonna have it for the next 14 days while I'm overseas because I would never. It's not like I'm wasting a meal, but I gotta fill myself with foods I can't get back home, back in the States, and why would I look to get a burger? Plus, I feel like it would be just too neat of a burger here in Japan. It'd be made with some engineering precision and it's not the same. I think a nice smashed burger. I think that's where I'm headed these days. Well, I want a burger today. I want something that's crust and it's got a lot of charred that my yard reaction on that double patty burger and Jesus gotta be perfectly melted and on a toasted bun, and that's what I'm looking for. So I'm just looking for a burger right now.
Speaker 1:Have you ever been to the cabin? And I know I must have spoken about it. You ever been to the cabin in it's in Valhalla? It's like from a cabin from like 1928. And it's changed hands so it got a little bit more well rounded in what their food selection. But they're burgers, so they have a regular burger and it's just really good. I don't know how they cook it, flayne, it's really good and then they serve it with truffle fries and it's really good. So we're gonna have to go on a road trip there. I like the burger and their wings are good too. It's that kind of place and when you go watch the football game, families go there. It's big. It used to not be so big but it got bigger.
Speaker 2:That's great.
Speaker 1:And it's really I really love it there.
Speaker 2:So cabin restaurant, okay, white planes.
Speaker 1:No, Valhalla so it's actually on my street, you, when you cross over and you just keep following up, just follow up. Or the same street, to say, same street as Hard Steel Halsa Pizza, and you just keep following it straight up and it just becomes into Valhalla.
Speaker 2:All right, that's another destination we have on our short list. The short list is not really short anymore, it's become a list.
Speaker 1:It is Cause we don't really, we don't really, we don't really go anywhere. We go to the same handful of places.
Speaker 2:It's so hard, it's so hard to coordinate.
Speaker 1:So we'll be like, we'll make all these plans. And then, like the other night, we I got out of work early and he was going away. So he was home and we went over and said, oh, let's go to the steak place. So we had plans, we invited other people and then he was done. So it was like three o'clock, so I'm going to go over and have a cigar. I said, you know what, I'm really done too, so I'll go over and have a cigar. Then we're sitting here having cigars and the next thing is why don't we just order our pizza so we don't have to go anywhere?
Speaker 2:It wasn't so bad, I think, just courting with buddies and getting excited about having the boys all together for steak and some guy either bails or says they can't make it until way later. It takes the wind out of the sales and then it becomes option two and option three.
Speaker 1:You just wanted to order, have a pizza delivered from Art Steelhouse of Pizza. That's all, and it was good. I don't know what it was, but it was great.
Speaker 2:Oh, it was. What was the grandma?
Speaker 1:It was sausage and broccoli rob, and I love sausage and broccoli rob.
Speaker 2:Everything they make there is pretty good. I got to admit it is Even cold.
Speaker 1:It was good, because it was 20 below that day. It was the coldest day of the week. I don't want to hold you up. I think we've covered a lot of ground and we're talking about Japan. I'm waiting for the next, next week. You'll still be there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, next week I'm a little busier. I have I'm just on a on a world wind travel schedule Just going from prefecture to prefecture. But we can always squeeze in a little time.
Speaker 1:Right, when are you? When are you coming back? You there for two weeks, are you there?
Speaker 2:Yeah, something like that, all right.
Speaker 1:So it doesn't matter, because I'm not going to process this one for a little bit anyway, so I thank you for taking your time out of your world wind road trip there.
Speaker 2:My pleasure and more updates to come. Check your texts, I hope. And, yeah, just post as much as you can and we'll answer any questions anyone has when they send us the DMs and whatnot. Please keep listening and hit that subscribe and tell your friends. I think we're now, you know, expanding into close to 900 downloads and even more more people followings. Thank you, thank you, and can't wait to report on more things.
Speaker 1:And that's I'm gonna leave it there. Thank you very much. Thank you everyone for listening. Please subscribe like even review. I appreciate it all more to come and George and Steve, we're out. Have a good night. Good night, stehencolacom.
