Planned Parenthood announced that MacKenzie Scott has donated a record-breaking amount of $275 million. That’s the single largest donation in Planned Parenthood history.
This is one of the 465 organizations and institutions (including Habitat For Humanity, Boys & Girls Club of America and Urban Teachers, to name a few) that Scott has contributed to as part of her 2019 pledge to donate the majority of her wealth. But as political division continues to threaten access to sexual and reproduction healthcare (all of which Planned Parenthood provides) this action carries a different tone.
MacKenzie Scott, philanthropist and novelist, has given Planned Parenthood $275 million, the largest gift the nonprofit has ever received. https://t.co/NTnCeAjvDy — NPR (@NPR) March 24, 2022
“The increasing stridency of opinions in the news can be divisive. But lately I’ve heard something different in it. Turned up so loud, all I can notice is how similar it all sounds. The universal tendency to shout is an ironic reminder of how much we all have in common, as well as encouraging evidence that we have what we need to solve our shared problems. It’s as if the antidote is right there waiting in all that venom. We are all human. And we all have enormous energy to devote to helping and protecting those we love.”
As her statement continued, Scott mixed logic with heart perfectly while arguing the importance of helping those who are underrepresented.
She pointed out how helping one group helps us all, using the examples of bike lanes meant to protect cyclists also improved property for everyone, seat belt laws made for young children saved lives of all ages and how students of racially diverse schools achieved better learning outcomes.
“Those are just the positive ripple effects that can be easily counted,” she added.
“But the trend line is clear. Communities with a habit of removing obstacles for different subsets of people tend to get better for everyone.”
Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, wrote in a statement that the money would go toward improving health equity for patients of color by eliminating racial and structural barriers in the community.
She also reiterated the fact that Planned Parenthood is a critical part of the public health infrastructure.
This is incredibly important to remember as the organization is under fire for providing abortions, which only account for a portion of the provided services. Though there is much dispute over just how large that portion is, the fact is PP still helps provide birth control, contraceptives and healthcare to many who would not have it otherwise. This includes LGBT services like hormone therapy for transgender patients, another historically marginalized group currently facing crisis.
Scott’s act of kindness is philanthropy at its best. At a time when so many hard-won freedoms feel at risk, or when the constant chatter of derision drowns out hope for the future, it’s a gentle yet powerful reminder that generosity chooses no sides. It only exists to bring us together by placing everyone on equal ground. There is tremendous and exponential value to be gained (for everyone) by investing in people.
A session IPA might be the all-time best style to offer you an early spring break from darker, maltier beers after a long winter. These brews really lean into the lighter aspects of IPAs ,while still holding onto the bigger hop flavor profiles. This subset of the larger IPA universe are the sorts of beers you’ll continue drinking straight into the scorching summer months — especially since these beers are generally five percent or lower (which is what makes them “sessionable”).
Session IPAs, specifically, are lighter and less filling than a majority of other IPA styles and tend to be balanced and a little less bitter, while still having a bit of a floral, hop bite. The thing is, this all varies massively depending on the brewer’s whims. Some session IPAs might be bigger hop bombs than your average pale ale while others might lean more into the malts. It’s a crapshoot out there when it comes to nailing down a clear throughline.
The subtle, refreshing, balance of malt and hops and easy drinkability makes the session IPA a great choice for a blind taste test. There are quite a few on the market and many of them are very similar. What better way to finally find out which session IPA stands tall among them?
Today I’m drinking:
Societe The Coachman IPA
Lost Nation Lost Galaxy
Odell Good Behavior IPA
Green Flash Saturhaze IPA
Revolution Every Day Hero IPA
Founders All Day IPA
Drake’s Kick Back IPA
Lagunitas Daytime IPA
Let’s get our session on!
Part 1: The Taste
Taste 1
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
Wow, this beer has a lot going on in its nose. There were notes of mango, guava, and tropical fruits, bread-like malts, wet grass, citrus zest, and dank resin. Sipping it revealed a slightly juicy, hazy beer with hints of biscuit malts, sweet caramel, wet grass, mango, passion fruit, and slightly bitter pine.
It’s obviously low in alcohol but should still appeal to hazy IPA fans.
Taste 2
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, I found aromas of lemon curd, wet grass, ripe peach, pineapple, and slight, floral hops. The palate is loaded with dank, resinous hops, grapefruit, tangerine, caramel malts, and gentle, pleasing hop bitterness at the finish.
Overall, this is a very complex, flavorful session IPA.
Taste 3
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
This beer definitely smells more like an IPA than some of the beers on this list. There is a distinct pine aroma with a little citrus zest and floral hops. That’s where it starts and that’s where it ends. Sipping it didn’t reveal much more flavor. There are flavors of resinous pine, grapefruit, tangerine, and some bready malts.
A decent, albeit muted session IPA.
Taste 4
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
A complex nose of citrus zest, wet grass, ripe pineapple, and slight pine met me before my first sip. Then after taking a drink, it moved into notes of tangerine, caramelized pineapple, wet grass, peach, bready malts, and maybe a hint of melon. The finish was light and fruity with just the right amount of hop bitterness.
Taste 5
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
There’s not much going on with this beer’s nose. There are slight aromas of wet grass and some floral hops, but not much else. The palate is very watery and borders on fizzy water with some light bready malts, floral, piney hops, and a slightly fruity flavor.
From my notes: “It does its job but does it without adding much excitement.”
Taste 6
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
A tropical bounty awaits your nostrils when you nose this beer. There are scents of ripe pineapple, mango, tangerine, honeydew melon, bready malts, and slightly dank pine resin. Sipping it brought forth notes of guava, mango, passion fruit, pineapple, citrus zest, lemongrass, and biscuit-like malts. The finish is slightly bitter and memorable.
Taste 7
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
There are a lot of aromas intermingling in this beer’s nose. I found ripe pineapple, honeydew melon, mango, tangerine, pine needs, and caramel malts. On the palate, I found more juicy pineapple, melon, various other tropical fruit flavors, orange peel, lime, slightly resinous pine, and light pale malts.
All in all, it’s a surprisingly complex and well-balanced session IPA.
Taste 8
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
The nose is floral and lightly fruity, but otherwise fairly subdued. Sipping revealed a slightly more complex beer than the nose suggested with hints of lemongrass, slight bready malts, and floral, slightly bitter hops. It’s dry and light, but overall lacking in the flavor department.
Definitely a crushable beer, but not one you’ll ever rave about.
Lagunitas is well-known for its IPA prowess so it was only a matter of time before it launched a session IPA. Its aptly named Daytime IPA was created to be low in carbs, calories, alcohol content, but not flavor. They did this by creating this hoppy, light, very crushable beer with malts, Centennial and Citra hops, and even some oats.
Bottom Line:
I expected a little more from Lagunitas, because their Hop Stoopid was one of the first IPAs I fell in love with. Compared to that, this beer is… just okay.
Founders All Day IPA is arguably the most well-known session IPA on the market. This 4.7 percent brew was created to be enjoyed “all day” with a balanced flavor profile of malts, hops, and grains. It’s slightly hoppy, very crushable, and crisp. There’s a reason it’s so popular.
Bottom Line:
I’ve never been really impressed with Founders All Day IPA so I’m not surprised this beer landed where it did. It’s an easy-drinking beer without much substance.
Everyone needs an everyday hero, right? Well, this 4.3 percent ABV was created to be an everyday sipper, a respite from hoppier, heavier beers. This year-round, slightly bitter, fruity IPA gets its flavors from the addition of Sabro, El Dorado, Mosaic, and Cascade hops.
Bottom Line:
With the varying hops included in this session IPA, I expected a little more complexity in the flavor department. It had all of the flavors drinkers associate with IPAs. But they were all a little too light.
When you crack open a Green Flash Saturhaze, you know what you’re about to get into. A Hazy, light beer that you should drink and enjoy on a Saturday. This year-round offering is 4.2% and was crafted to be light in alcohol, but big in juicy, tropical fruit flavors.
Bottom Line:
Green Flash is an IPA factory. It shouldn’t be surprising that its hazy, juicy session IPA is actually pretty good. It’s not easy to make a good low alcohol version of a New England-style IPA, but Green Flash did it. Still, there were a few beers that did it better in today’s lineup.
Odell’s Good Behavior was crafted to be a balanced, crushable, low calorie, low alcohol, slightly hazy IPA and that’s exactly what it is. They did that by using their own proprietary yeast, a blend of malts, and HBC 586, Citra, and Amarillo hops.
Bottom Line:
Odell Good Behavior ticks all of the session IPA boxes. It’s light, refreshing, complex, and manages to be well balanced with malts, grains, and hops all working in unison. It’s a solid take on the style.
San Diego’s Societe is a big name in the IPA world. Its IPA The Pupil is constantly one of the top ten highest-rated IPAs on BeerAdvocate. Its award-winning session IPA, The Coachman, is known for its balanced fruity, malty, memorable flavor profile.
Bottom Line:
I’m a big fan of Societe The Pupil, so I wasn’t surprised when the brewery’s session IPA was so flavorful and balanced. There’s a reason this beer keeps racking up awards.
Drake’s wants you to “Kick Back” and enjoy this surprisingly complex session IPA. Brewed with 2-row and Simpson Best Pale malts, Simpson Golden Naked oats, hulled barley flakes, California ale yeast, and Cascade, Chinook, Simcoe, Mosaic, El Dorado, and Pekko hops, it’s hoppy, refreshing, and highly crushable.
Bottom Line:
It’s difficult to find a session IPA with more flavor than Drake’s Kick Back. One sampling definitely wasn’t enough to find them all. I’ll definitely try this one again.
Lost Nation Lost Galaxy isn’t your average, watery session beer. This wheat-based, slightly hazy beer is brewed with Galaxy hops (hence the name). This gives it a hazy, juicy flavor with a nice mix of dank hops and tropical fruit flavor.
Bottom Line:
Lost Nation Lost Galaxy is a really good session IPA. If someone told you this beer was low in alcohol, you wouldn’t believe them because it’s so full of tropical fruit flavor, you’d just assume it was seven percent ABV or more. And that, folks, is why this is the winner today — balance, depth, and session-ability are all there.
Hollywood has long been filled with figures unafraid to speak up about the issues. Then there’s Ron Perlman. Where the likes of George Clooney and Mark Hamill regularly speak truth to power, Ron Perlman fumes it. Less than a week after saying “go f*ck yourself” to Ted Cruz, the beloved character actor and definitive on-screen Hellboy has come for Ron DeSantis.
On Monday, the Florida governor officially signed into law the controversial Parental Rights in Education bill, colloquially known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. It prohibits the teaching of LBTQIA+ matters in kindergarten through third grade. Its critics accuse it of effectively legislating homophobia and transphobia, further marginalizing already marginalized people. The bill has led to backlash from numerous corners, among them from Florida-based Disney employees. DeSantis in turn has mocked the biggest company in his state, brushing them off as “Woke Disney.”
In a video much like his Ted Cruz rant, Perlman speaks in close-up to yet another far-right bigwig. Perlman takes, shall we say, umbrage with the notion that a state can restrict American citizens from saying certain words, like “gay.” He calls DeSantis a “f*cking Nazi pig” before reminding him about the First Amendment. “Read about it,” he says, “then run for office, you piece of s*it.”
The bill has led to a week of walkouts at Disney, formal condemnations from the company itself, as well as derisive jokes at Sunday’s chaotic Academy Awards. But Perlman’s is among the angriest and sweariest denunciations DeSantis has received yet. Indeed, it gives Sean Penn’s recent threat to “smelt” his Oscars a run for its money.
Come April 8, blockbuster director Michael Bay’s latest movie, Ambulance, will be in theaters. The film stars Jake Gyllenhall, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eiza González, and the pride of the Washington D.C. rap scene, Wale. While we don’t know the full extent of his role, Wale (billed as Wale Folarin, for the IMDB heads out there) plays a character named Castro He just posted a couple of photos from the set to his Instagram Story with captions that said “Introducing ‘Castro’” and “Castro is coming,” referencing his character in the flick.
In the photo, Wale is posing in front of an ambulance, which given what we’ve come to expect from Michael Bay films, has a very good chance of getting exploded at some point. Watching the trailer, the film looks to be part Fast And The Furious-style heist and part ’90s action thriller, a la Speed.
Wale spoke to XXL last year about making the move into acting and working on Ambulance specifically: “It’s like learning to ride a bike and the next day, they put you in the Daytona 500…” he said. “I’m just really, really, really blessed to be able to work with Yaya and Jake Gyllenhaal. I never had no freak-out moments because these actors, they know how to talk to n****s. Michael would spazz on everybody and my energy’s off and Yaya would give me this look like, ‘You got it, bro! Come on, n****!’ Everybody was so f*cking nice.”
Netflix has plans to stop you from watching Bridgerton on your parents’ account. Which you shouldn’t be doing anyway. Not for moral reasons, but, well, have you seen Bridgerton? Not really a show you want to associate with your mom or dad. Anyway, the streaming service is testing a feature that will make primary subscribers pay an extra fee if they want to allow additional, outside-the-residence users to access the account.
But how many Netflix subscribers actually share their password? According to a new survey, it’s lower than I would have guessed. Or there are a lot of liars out there. Probably a mix of both. Deadlinereports that “about one-third of U.S. subscribers to Netflix share their login credentials with others, according to data from Leichtman Research Group.”
Here’s how they came up with that figure:
The research firm’s online survey of 4,400 consumers confirms the company’s own conclusions in recent years. While 64 percent of respondents said they pay for and use Netflix only in their own household, 33 percent indicate some form of sharing. (The remaining 3 percent are households whose Netflix comes packaged via other subscriptions.)
The 18 to 34 demographic is the most likely to “borrow” someone else’s account, with the survey finding that 34 percent of adults between those ages “have at least one streaming service that is fully paid for by someone else, compared with 14 percent of for those 35 and older.” No one tell the boomers about this: they’ll find a way to blame supply chain issues on millennials and Generation Z not paying for Netflix.
Like most of the entertainment world at this point, Joe Rogan weighed in on Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars after the comedian told a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith. Despite his MMA background, and having actual MMA fighter Josh Barnett on his podcast, Rogan did a surprising amount of pearl-clutching over the incident. The podcaster sided firmly with people who thinks Smith should’ve been kicked out of the event after he “assaulted a small comedian.” (We’re sure Rock appreciated that adjective.)
“They should’ve ejected him! They should’ve ejected him from the show!” Rogan said before arguing that Smith’s actions could put other stand-up comics at risk. Via Mediaite:
Rogan continued, “you can’t just go smack a man in the face in front of the world and go about business as usual. It sets a terrible precedent in so many different ways. It sets a terrible precedent for comedy clubs. Like, are people going to decide to go on stage and smack a comedian now?”
After calming down, Rogan conceded that people probably aren’t going to start jumping stages and popping comics in the mouth, but the potential is there because society looks up to actors.
“The Academy Awards is supposed to be them in their most regal,” Rogan said. “Their most regal outfits, their best behavior and to drop down to violence for something so innocuous as a G.I. Jane joke… this is a nonsense scene where you’re allowed to just go smack someone!”
So there you have it, Joe Rogan’s biggest takeaway from The Slap is that comedians like Joe Rogan might get hit now even if they’re dressed all fancy. What a stunning observation that truly showcases the podcaster’s uncanny ability to think outside of the box. Remarkable.
If you have ever done a deep dive into the tragic death of Michael Peterson’s wife — made famous by a documentary series titled The Staircase — you might be familiar with The Owl Theory, which claims his wife was actually attacked by an owl the night of her death. While authorities have brushed this theory off, the HBO miniseries promises that they will go into the theory, and offered a glimpse of an owl in the latest trailer for the series.
The Staircase follows Peterson and his wife Kathleen, played by Colin Firth and Toni Collette, and the drama surrounding the family, both before and after the mysterious death of Kathleen, who was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in 2001. Michael was eventually found guilty, though there were many theories that led both family friends and true crime fans to believe there was more to the story. Sophie Turner, Parker Posey, and Patrick Schwarzenegger also star in the eight-episode series, which premieres May 5th on HBO Max.
Earlier this year, director/writer Antonio Campos mentioned that there will be “a deep dive” into the infamous Owl Theory, which has gained traction over the years, due to several documentaries about the case. He added, “We took it as seriously as any other theory.”
If there’s one thing everyone knows about Donald Trump, it’s that size matters. If something isn’t “yuge,” he doesn’t want to be a part of it—insurrections included. And he’s always been particularly sensitive about the size of crowds who gather to hear him speak—or, whatever you call that thing he does where random words just spill out of his mouth into a sort of Mad Libs of sentences that rarely follow any cogent path. And while Seth Meyers maintains that Trump still seems to wield quite a bit of power in some GOP circles, he’s also noticed that the attendees who come to hear the former president speak don’t seem quite as enthused as they were in the past.
On Monday night, Meyers shared:
Trump keeps strongly hinting that he’s going to run in 2024, but his crowds aren’t exactly getting bigger. A reporter at Trump’s rally over the weekend tweeted, “I’ve covered more than two dozen Trump rallies around the nation. This is the smallest crowd I’ve seen at a rally of his in Georgia since he won the 2016 election.”
The reporter also posted a photo from the event that showed plenty of empty seats. Normally, you only see that many empty seats at a community theater production of Hamilton where they couldn’t get the rights to any of the songs…
There’s even video of people in the crowd filing out early as Trump was still speaking… They’re like Mets fans heading to the subway in the seventh inning of a 10-run blowout.
Heaven Hill knows how to release great limited-release whiskeys. Their Beer Barrel small keg bottles are beloved. Their annual autumn Parker’s Heritage releases are some of the most sought-after collector bottles in the game. Even their Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond releases have folks lining up to this day. Now, Heaven Hill has added another major limited release to their arsenal for whiskey lovers to swoon over, the very first Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 17-Year-Old Barrel Proof Bourbon.
The Heritage Collection is going to serve as the yearly spring drop that counterpoints Heaven Hill’s very popular fall Parker’s Heritage drops. Basically, we’re looking at one-of-a-kind bottles from the deep reaches of the Heaven Hill warehouses. The whiskeys are expertly built to bring a sense of classic bourbon to the table while maintaining the feel of an ultra-rare release.
The thing is with these rare one-offs is that they never run cheap. This bottle has an MSRP of $274.99. That’s already pretty steep. Add in that getting a bottle at that price is nearly impossible (with the secondary market snagging up allocations from liquor stores) and you have a whiskey that’s going to cost a lot, whichever way you slice it.
Instead of just reviewing this bottle and leaving it at that, we’ll also give our two cents on whether this is actually worth tracking down and dropping serious coin on. Let’s get into it.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
The base of the spirit is Heaven Hill’s classic bourbon mash of 78 percent corn, 12 percent malted barley, and a mere ten percent rye. This particular whiskey is built from several barrels from four warehouse campuses in the Bardstown area. In this case, three different ages were pulled with 17 years being the youngest. The whiskey is made from 28 percent 20-year-old barrels, 44 percent 19-year-old barrels, and 28 percent 17-year-old barrels. Once those barrels are vatted, the bourbon goes into the bottle as-is, without any cutting or fussing.
The Bottle:
The whiskey comes in a snazzy box with a soft blue and gold theme. That color scheme matches the long-neck bottle inside. Overall, the presentation is very subtle and classy, which will help this one really catch anyone’s eye from across the bar.
Tasting Notes:
The age is apparent from the first nose with old glove leather next to a soft hint of cobweb-draped cellar beams leading towards a dark and thick cherry syrup that’s laced with cinnamon, clove, and allspice. The nose then grows with an almost cherry-maple syrup with a buttery base pushing it toward a toffee creaminess. The palate leans into those spices with a winter-spice-laced chewy (almost wet) fistful of tobacco leaves jammed into an old cedar box. The mid-palate bursts with spiced cherry crumble with baked brown sugar and nutmeg nuts, creating a velvety texture. The finish carries the spice from that mid-palate towards a sweet finish that feels like a marrying of toffee syrup and cherrywood tobacco with that dry cedar tobacco box echoing on the far backend.
Bottom Line:
This is pretty goddamn delicious. I think “silky” is a good adjective here. This is a bold whiskey but it’s so soft and nuanced that it drinks like soft-yet-warm-silk. I know “smooth” elicits eye rolls from the whiskey nerds, but this is shockingly easy to drink for such and old and deeply flavored whiskey. A home run for folks who appreciate that quality.
Ranking:
98/100 — This is nearly perfect, especially if you’re looking for a pure classic bourbon with everything both heightened and refined. It’s not taking bourbon anywhere new, but it is helping to prove the beauty that can be found in these older barrels of whiskey.
Is It Worth The Price?
If you’re a collector (and can find this at MSRP), then 100 percent yes. That said, the ship may have already sailed on getting this at MSRP. I really can’t see spending $500, $1,000, or more on this unless you’re a seasoned collector. Or money is no object.
If you’re looking for something to show off on your bar cart and actually drink, I’d also say yes. This is truly good juice. Heaven Hill’s Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond would be a good parallel if you can’t find this but want something in the same general vibe/price range.
We are at the tail end of the second season of TruTv’s Fast Foodies, and so far it’s been a blast — thanks to the onscreen chemistry between the three chefs tasked with re-creating and reimagining each celebrity guest’s favorite fast food dishes. Kristen Kish, Jeremy Ford, and Justin Sutherland are great in their roles and really make this show work. The Top Chef and Iron Chef alums have on-screen chemistry that is virtually unparalleled in the culinary tv space.
Part of what makes the trio so fun to watch — aside from their interactions with guests like Reggie Watts, Natasha Leggero, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Baron Davis — is the noticeable friendship and mutual respect between them, and that infectious chemistry was on full display when I sat down with the trio over Zoom to talk about the challenges of season two and get their takes on who is doing it right and wrong in the fast food space.
Dive into the discussion below, and be sure to catch new episodes of Fast Foodies every Thursday night on TruTv.
TruTv
How has season two of Fast Foodies differed for you personally? What is new about this season?
Kristen: I think from my perspective the greatest thing is, obviously, it still has all of the charm and comedy of the original, hence why season one did so well, but I think from a chef’s perspective, we’ve gotten as collectively as a group of three, more involved cooking. We were given a little bit more time and that allows a bit more creativity to be showcased.
The first go-around we tried to do everything from start to finish and in season two we had pockets of time where we could do longer process items and really explain it on camera which helped to open up how we are able to cook. I think the food is going to be intensified.
Justin: You’re definitely going to see higher-level food from all three of us and I think the interactions between us have been more genuine. The first season we had all known each other but had not worked that intimately with one another. The getting to know you awkward phase was out of the way and I think the three of us have great chemistry and you’re going to notice that off the bat, our real-life friendship shows through.
Jeremy: I think with anything, the first go-around is always that you learn from what you can and can’t achieve within that time frame. It’s a long day of shooting but there is a lot to be done with breaks, lunches, everyone doing their own thing but I think overall we’ve gotten better at it, more efficient, like Kristin was saying we upped the level a little bit. I know this season I went to the farmer’s market a lot more and tried to utilize what was around Cali, so I think that I had a lot more fun.
I know you all have pretty extensive professional culinary backgrounds — what’s your individual relationship with fast food? Is it something you only ate when growing up? Do you still eat it a lot, or is it something you tend to avoid?
Kristen: I certainly grew up eating it, I grew up in Michigan and McDonald’s, Burger Kings, Arby’s, and Wendy’s were essentially on every other street corner, and we frequented them as a family sometimes. Oftentimes during road trips, like driving from Michigan to Disney World and you’d hit every KFC, that was one of my favorites. But the relationship is nostalgia-based for me, I don’t indulge in it every day now, however, let’s be honest, what’s the big difference between fried chicken from KFC, outside of the quality of course, or going to a restaurant and completely gorging myself on fried chicken and other fried items? So I still eat fast food, but probably just higher quality now because you know, the chef world is so vast!
Justin: My parents were health freaks growing up so I didn’t get a lot of fast food as a young child but from my older teenage to college years, being poor and needing to eat effectively, that was when I had the most fast food. It’s definitely nostalgia, I enjoy it now but I definitely don’t indulge as often. But I’m not going to lie and say I don’t lie my late-night Taco Bell runs every once in a while. I’ll take a Beef and Cheddar any day still.
Jeremy: For me, I’m the opposite of these two because I have three daughters and fast food is very much a current part of our diet. I have a four-year-old that literally won’t eat sometimes unless it’s chicken fingers from McDonalds. I’m trying to break that habit because it’s an awful one, but she is the pickiest eater and for us, we want her to be healthy because when you’re a kid it’s the only time you can be carefree over what your diet is.
So I’m stuck in the middle, do I take it from her and feed her something else when she gets hungry, or do I let her enjoy this little gap in life when you have no opinion of yourself?
TruTv
You guys have cooked for a lot of foodies, a lot of celebrities, who would you love to cook for?
Kristen: That’s a big question there are so many amazing people both living and past that would be amazing to cook for. My go-to is always Mr. and Mrs. Obama, that would be epic. But honestly, because we are who we are and we’re chefs by profession, and this is just our life, honestly, and not to sound super cheesy, but just being able to cook for anyone that actually appreciates something, regardless of your celebrity status, is the main reason we do what we do.
So everyone and anyone… including Mr. and Mrs. Obama.
Justin: I would agree with Kristen, starting up when we first started getting accolades as a chef, I think there were people I thought I really wanted to cook for but now that I’ve cooked for a lot of people… I did get to cook for Obama when he was a senator on the campaign trail — I think nowadays we’ve cooked for so many people that I think it’s all truly about the appreciation, whether it’s Joe Schmoe off the street or some famous celebrity.
I just like cooking for people that enjoy it.
Jeremy: For me, I think there is a guy and gal named Mr. and Mrs. Rubenstine and they have dined at Stubborn Seed, I think we’re at 170 visits now, to me that’s a celebrity because that’s the guy and gal that help pay my rent, hep pay my staff, keep food on the table at my home. That guy and that gal and those individuals that continuously support the restaurant, those are my celebrities, those are the people I see and get giddy inside like “yes, 178!”
You mentioned earlier how a lot of fast food for you is steeped in nostalgia, and I imagine for a lot of people you cook for it’s the same. In your experience on the show so far, what fast food restaurant is the hardest to recreate, and which shows the biggest room for improvement? Sometimes our memories are the greatest spice, and something we think we love might actually taste terrible.
Kristen: The hardest one was the whole Schlotzkys thing because it’s fast food but it’s also not and there is a lot of technique that comes with recreating portions of that item… but yeah, some items are slightly more disappointing compared to others because you thought they were bigger and more robust as a child, but at the end of the day it’s the flavor profile and it’s what it does to transform you back to having that as a child.
Justin: I think as an overall brand, McDonald’s is probably the hardest to truly replicate because it’s been around for so long with the same flavors, it’s so simple, yet so unique. Nothing tastes like McDonald’s. They have their tried and true recipes and they’re crazy simple, but it’s extremely hard to replicate.
Jeremy: They’re all really difficult, to be honest. What they come up with in these labs and the places they come up with these recipes, it’s really hard to find the texture to some of these things, that’s what I find really hard. Kris has a really good way of mashing meat paste and it literally tastes like Taco Bell.
Kristen: Stop!
Jeremy: So it’s like those weird things, like ‘oh a potato masher actually emulsifies fatty oil back into the meat creating a paste,” and even if you’re a chef, that isn’t stuff you learn, those are textural things that are practiced like hundreds of hundreds of times between multiple people and you’re trying to figure it out in 45 minutes.
Justin, I wanted to ask what do you think McDonald’s secret is, is it a touch of sugar?
Justin: We definitely know its sugar, from the added sugar in the ketchup to the French fries to their own secret recipe of Coke that only McDonald’s gets. And it’s probably whatever mystery meat is in those patties. But it’s every element. The slice of cheese, the little onion, the pickles, the ketchup, everything is so uniquely Mcdonald’s. You couldn’t go pick up cheese, onions, pickles, beef, and even an identical bun, and make it taste like McDonald’s.s Whatever their lab-created ingredients are… and a lot of sugar.
Kristen: All of our copycats were certainly light years beyond better, even if we tried really hard to make it shitty.
Kristen could you walk us through your meat paste mashing magic?
Kristen: Oh fuck off!
That’s your brand now!
Kristen: It clearly is. It’s just one of those potato mashers, the ones that are better are the ones that are more like waffle patterns, not the ones that are coils, or one-piece metal. You just literally keep all the fat in there and just mash it and mash it and mash it. Similar to how you’d take a spatula at the beginning of making tacos at home, and you use the edge of the spatula to break up the chunks of meat. The potato masher does it for you and just completely obliterates the strands of protein and incorporates the fat back in.
TruTv
What was this season’s biggest challenge for your personally?
Kristen: I think and I’m sure both Justin and Jeremy will agree, I think when we film these shows we’re very fortunate and incredibly lucky to be doing what we do for our jobs, for sure. That being said, we’re removed from our restaurants, we’re removed from our daily responsibility, and removed from our families and those that we love for weeks at a time.
It’s not about the food, the food is not hard, what makes it difficult is the mental state and for me personally it was a long run, it was cooking and cooking and cooking for lots of hours of the day and sometimes you hit a mental roadblock. While having the gratitude, you’re also allowed to have feelings and I think that was more difficult this time around given that the world was more opened up, whereas in the first season we were three people doing a really cool thing while no one else was doing anything.
Justin: When we filmed season one it was mid pandemic, our restaurants were closed, the world was shut down, so we came from sitting at home super excited. Not that we weren’t super excited this time around, but doing it while the world was moving around, while our restaurants were operating, while we had other responsibilities other than making the show made it a bit more distracting. Our minds had to be in multiple places at once. But you know, such is life, definitely not complaining. I love what I do and we’re lucky to be able to continue this show, but there was a difference.
Kristen: I think the three of us felt that way because we are three people that truly pour everything into what we’re doing, so when you pour 1000% into one thing or into 100 things you’re bound to have to hold your head on straight for a minute.
Jeremy: My thing is always missing my daughter. I’m super close with them so on week two or three I start turning Into a cry baby and start losing it randomly. I have a one-year-old, a four-year-old, and a fourteen-year-old and the fourteen-year-old needs me right now so when you’re gone for that long you feel bad, you miss them, they call you, and it’s hard.
For me it’s just missing my family, my restaurant I know is going to do great because I have great staff and they’re amazing, so I don’t really worry too much about the restaurant, it’s more the girlies.
Kristen: In a non-covid world I highly doubt we’d have this conversation because everyone would be able to fly their family in and have them on set and do all the fun stuff together. Circumstances with Covid were definitely the catalyst of a lot of challenges.
What fast food dishes do you legitimately admire? Doesn’t have to be something you eat all the time, but who in fast food is thriving right now?
Kristen: I think the changing of the guard of what fast food actually means and how people operate within the fast food world. Obviously, Danny Meyer and Shake Shack is a pioneer in a lot of different things. What he did to revolutionize what fast food could look like, not just from an employee standpoint, but the quality of food standpoint, while still delivering you quite literally fast food is huge, and the price point is relatively in line with other fast food in some respects.
What he and Shake Shack did in reinvigorating the fast food model is huge.
Justin: I’m always impressed with Arby’s ability to continually change and innovate and they’re always trying something new with different meats and different sandwiches and really trying to elevate their game compared to just burger and fry places.
Jeremy: I really like what Chipotle is doing, buying properly sourced proteins and they have a really good tofu thing, but I think from a health standpoint they buy great ingredients. It’s very quick service, it’s very delicious, I’ve never had a bad meal there and every time I go there are 22 people in front of me. I think Chipotle has definitely found a nice niche.
TruTv
What’s your favorite fast food guilty pleasure? I’m talking the trashiest stuff, airport food, road trip indulgences, the stuff you don’t want people to know, but you’re going to tell us right now.
Kristen: Oh I will admit every garbage food that I ever eat. I’m not above any of it and I fully enjoy most of it. Every fast food chain you can possibly imagine well with the exception of the bad ones… less food wise more viewpoints and standpoints on the world… but I digress!
Jeremy: We don’t fuck with Chick-fil-A!
Kristen: No we do not, I love KFC!
Justin: That’s what I was going to say. I don’t feel like it’s a guilty pleasure or something I have to hide from, between Taco Bell and KFC I love them both. I don’t indulge in them every day, but you shouldn’t indulge in things you love every day. But the gravy from KFC, I will pour that on absolutely anything and will dip anything in it.
And I do have a secret or not-so-secret love for Taco Bell, I just try and only eat it under certain circumstances or uh… certain… conditions.
Jeremy: I’m driving a lot because we opened up a restaurant in Palm Beach Gardens and it’s two hours. So I’ve been loving those grab-and-go egg salad sandwiches from 7 Eleven.
Justin: Gross Jeremy, you are gross!
Jeremy: I know. I get a bag of Doritos with it and a really big Coca-Cola, that’s my jam right now.
Justin: That’s the worst!
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