393. - Ghetto Gastro

All right, this episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by Stateside with Kai and Carter, a new podcast from The Guardian. And they are using this podcast to slow down the news and wrestle with the questions that we all have about what's happening in the world. And they do it three times a week, Jason. Does that sound familiar to you? We don't really talk about, you know, a lot of international global news items and climates and cultures and sports and things like that. We do talk about fashion and wellness, but for everything else, Kai and Carter are a great place. All right, so who couldn't use more news? Listen wherever you get your podcast. or watch on YouTube. Oh, yeehaw, bitch. Country Chris checking in. Jason, how are you? City Boy TJ is doing just well. I have all my creature comforts of suburban life, you know, pour over coffee, smoothie, stuff like that. Resistance ban. No, all the stuff you need. And I know that we've been going to dinner at 6 p.m. for a while, but the failing New York Times picked up on that today. So hopefully we don't have to. kind of switch to 5 p.m. Wait, wait, wait, wait. What happened? There's a New York Times story about how everyone's going to dinner early at 6 p.m. instead of 8 p.m. And they wonder why the subscribers are going down. Exactly. Post-Trump slump is no joke. And then there's another story in Bon Appetit, one of your favorite titles, about the reservation's headaches. um and how that's all going and they used an image of uh jack's wife frida in as the header which made me laugh because people come to new york and wait in line for an hour to eat eggs which is and they're not even australian eggs with the really the with the yolks that are different i was gonna blame it on australia because you know the orva is much better they're just a little bit better i can't explain it it's just better yeah but so there's a lot of uh it bodes well for our guest sake because we do have a food world guest um but yeah i just

I wanted to get all that stuff off-rip. That's something, actually, that I'm glad you brought that up off-rip. I was looking at a friend of the show, Grub Street, where I famously had my Grub Street diet. Yeah, famous to me and you. Famous to me and you, yeah, that's right. The people of New York didn't love to hear what I was getting up to over here in suburban California, and rightfully so. They posted a story, and I think it was my friend who works there who I worked with on the thing. So it's not a slight to him, but it's basically a story about how there's a restaurant somewhere in New York. I don't remember where. I think maybe it was like a dumpling place or something like that. But it had this notoriously super long line, and it was like, oh, you can't go there. It's blown out. And then there was a story in Grub Street about how the line had finally sort of gone down, and it was chill again. So it was sort of like the sweet irony of announcing that the restaurant is now slow enough to visit again, which will obviously, within a matter of 45 minutes, send it right back to where it was. And the responsibility of food media, it's really pretty low on the totem pole of all the problems we have going on. I don't think it's ever going to get worked out. Once we finally figure out that we don't need to go to space, then we should tackle food media next, kind of as the biggest problem. Actually, speaking of space, I'll put a pin in that. You can finish your point. Well, I just think the reality is, and I was saying this on Twitter earlier, that truly no restaurant is worth the lengths that people are going to. And I know I'm saying that as a person who's not like... a foodie unless there's a piece of pussy on the other end of that res but i feel like you would agree with me you're like i'm there's nothing worth or penis paying off a restaurant owner there's a guy saying there's a restaurant owner and quoted saying he's getting trips on private jets and rolexes for reservations i'm like what planet do you mean maybe if you go if you go every friday night to that maybe but i just don't understand like it's not that important

It's just not that good. Nothing is worth that. It's just crazy. I would rather it's less work and less money to put yourself through culinary school and teach yourself how to make this food yourself. That's a good idea. Than it is to go, hey, I got my 40th birthday over here at Mother Wolf. Let's drop 12 apps, five pizzas and the steak in 45 minutes and send me the check instead of the Amaro card, something like that. Yeah. Just go to culinary school and learn. and spend all that money on the people who are really working hard, the unsung heroes, the mongers, the butchers. You know what I mean? I think we need to start a How Long Gone Culinary School scholarship to stop people from going to restaurants. We will send one lucky creative director of a watch company to culinary school every year. That's my promise. You have my vote. And it will be a community college, obviously. We're not kind of ponying up for Ivy League or even state school. Glendale Community College, they are aware of it. They don't love our photo shoot that we did, unsanctioned and unpermitted. So we are a little bit in the doghouse, which is fine. I don't feel too bad for them. But you were bringing up space exploration, and we were talking about that earlier in our group chat. I know there's a lot of talk about Elon Musk and the space race and Bezos and all that stuff. Whenever one of these big brains finally gets the old spaceship up and running, and we can finally begin exploring our universe, our solar system. And we can begin to inhabit other planets like Mars where, you know, the life expectancy on planet Earth, the clock's ticking. You know what I mean? We're basically dead standing. We're basically dead standing right now. Yeah, if it wasn't for the good, the eco clean glass technology of GMC trucks, their entire line of Dodge trucks, we'd be fucked. But I was saying once we finally get that going. Let's make sure Demi Lovato's on that first plane to Mars. We let her cook for too long. I know this is a culinary episode today. We've let Demi cook for too long, and it's time to put her to bed. Demi's kitchen's about to be condemned if the city goes in there because I don't know. There's just always something new. There's always something new, and it's always bad. It's like I can't figure out what my pronouns are. I'm canceling my tour because I'm so stressed out.

I'm now punk. It's just all insane. But I do. I like to report on it in the group chat because I feel like I'm really tapped into, you know, hashtag Demi Lovato on all social media platforms. But I agree with you. I think that if Bezos really wanted to win back the American people. He could sit out the first flight, send Demi on it, and just be like, you stay up here, check it out for a while. Kind of like a King's food tester situation. She won't get the full two decades worth of NASA training. It'll be a crash course. The movie writes itself. Demi's going to get into some hijinks, sure. It'll be like when Cho went skydiving. They give you a couple hours of instruction, and then you just strap in and you've got to jump. And I think it's time for Demi to jump. Because if I get one more Avril Lavigne knockoff record or an update on her sexual choices, I might have to close my laptop, which you know for me is big. For you to shut the machine down, only someone as sinister as Demi would do that to you. Thank you for bringing that up. Thank you for bringing that to light. I mean, you know, she's an easy person to pick on. I know that. But she's made millions of dollars. She's had hit records. You know, all the juice has been extracted out of this grapefruit. Not an orange. We're all set. Well, I've said this before. The unfortunate part about all of this, Demi can sing better than most of these chicks. Demi has an insane singing voice. Yeah, but she ain't playing the game like Selena Gomez is. She ain't playing the game. She ain't palling around with fucking Steve Martin, and that's the problem here. Selena can't sing her way out of a wet Aritzia bag, but she's out here getting M's. She's getting nominated for Emmys, bro. It's crazy. But Ariana... She can sing herself out of a dry Aritzia bag, maybe even a Bottega one. They're thicker than other ones. And you know what Ariana's doing? Just kicking back, enjoying her talent and her life. She's not tweeting about how, like...

She's Latin today. She's looking in the mirror to make sure her ponytail is high enough while her real estate agent husband takes pictures of her is probably what's happening. I think she married a civilian, which is always a crazy move for someone that famous. I'll put a time limit on that. But when you marry a civilian, you don't get invited to Benny Blanco's house anymore. So I'm sure her and Kashmir are having a tough time with that little phone tag. That is unfortunate. Yeah, I was saying before we started recording, I'm lining up. Because of my time in Atlanta, I'm lining up a lot of live music because going to shows in tertiary markets is so much easier. You know, it's nicer. The parking is only $25. You know, the beers are only $15 instead of $20. Oh, that's nice. Okay. I'm going to guess it starts a little earlier, you know, since we have church every day here. You know, it's kind of like you got to get the curfew kind of kicks in. You can get yourself like a bag of hot nuts in the parking lot instead of a bacon-wrapped hot dog. Exactly. And the bootleg t-shirts are probably cheaper. But, yeah, so I'm trying to decide. Sunny Day Real Estate is playing on Friday. which I feel like watching those four fatties, you know. Is there another band that's fighting for that position? What else do you have on the calendar? Well, there's just a lot. There's a lot coming up. Do you have a challenge on that date, Chris? Because I talked to Ben Gibbard. I'm going to go see Death Cab for Cutie. Rostum's hooking me up with Father John Misty, so I've got to go see FJM with Sookie Waterhouse. And then there's some other stuff because you're coming to town, and we're kind of lining something up that could be very special. In the live performance realm, this could be the most special thing we ever do together. Have you secured the tickets? I haven't, but they're available. It's not a problem. This podcast is reminding me. As soon as we finish recording, I will go cop the ticks. Okay. I mean, it seems like it could potentially sell out. I just want to make sure that you. Secure. I think all the tickets that we were looking at are already, I think they're, you know, resell. Oh, got it. Okay. But they're not that expensive. You're on the secondary. I mean, even down in the south, the secondary market is probably chill. Well, for the person in question, does that really surprise you? All right. We do have a guest today. You're probably familiar with Ghetto Gastro. It's the trio of chefs, John Gray, Les Walker, and Pierre Cero. They have a new cookbook, Ghetto Gastro Black Power Kitchen.

that is in stores, I think, October 18th, so pretty soon. But, yeah, we're going to tap in with John and figure out what's up with this spicy-ass syrup they made. Yeah, I saw a video on his Instagram where he was pouring syrup all over, I believe it was a Branzino. i was like bro whoa that's that's fucked up what do you think does that make sense to you in your mind or is this going to be a confrontation it's it's not maple syrup it's i believe sorghum syrup so it's a different kind of sweetness but it's syrup nonetheless are you going to stand up for the monger community in this case and is this like an abuse allegation on the fish or is this more of just i mean you know pouring syrup all over a piece of branzino I'm very curious to try. I will say that. I'm not knocking it. Obviously, these guys know what they're doing in terms of flavor. It does sound insane. I mean, yeah, I want to get into how much money they're making because that's what I love to talk about, and I feel like these guys are really printing it right now, and that's always aspirational for me and something that I really respect from other creators. And I love cookbooks. Let's give them a Zoom. This episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by Squarespace. Obviously, Jason, you and I spend a lot of time on the World Wide Web, so do our peers, our listeners, our friends, our colleagues, maybe even your parents if they're freaky. And if you're doing anything in the world, writing, taking pictures. I do topless boxing. You need a website. Exactly, a website that works, that does what it's supposed to do, that allows you to be creative but also business-minded. Jason, there's one place to go for that, Squarespace. Yeah, Chris, I'm over here. I'm modifying calculators and putting Claude inside of them so you could cheat at school. And I just want a place where I could, you know, have everything all in one place. I can have the SEO tools so those future graduates can find me. And, you know, I'm able to accept, quote, unquote, donations for my services that might be gray area. You know what I mean? And then email campaigns. Hey, I got a new 2.3 version upgrade. Boom, boom, boom. Get the analytics going. Raise some money. Show your investor all of your cool analytics of what's going on. They're going to want to get in early. And we can use Blueprint AI to make your website look as professional as your competition, if not more.

So head to squarespace.com slash howlong for a free trial. When you're ready to launch, use offer code howlong to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or a domain. This episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by a new podcast from the Guardian stateside with Kai and Carter. This is covering a lot of our bases, Jason. It's trying to slow down. The news and wrestle with the questions we all have about what's happening in the world. And I know you particularly have quite a lot of questions. A lot of questions. But how often? Because we do this podcast three times a week and that's a sweet spot. How many times do they do? Three times a week. And I have a feeling just based on the platform and these talking points that they're maybe going to be covering different stuff than we do. That's just a guess. The Guardian is not some billionaire owned. They're not afraid to say what they want to say, brother. Yeah, Rupert ain't sniffing around in what journalists Kai Wright and Carter Sherman are up to over there at Stateside. But yeah, listen wherever you get your podcast. You can watch it on YouTube. It's three times a week. And who couldn't use more news? Especially when it's not from here, let's say. Give it a listen. Give it a listen. Oh, this is huge for me personally. This episode of How I'm Gone. It was brought to you by TaskRabbit. Oh, baby, let me tell you something. This is not a joke. I use TaskRabbit a lot because I can't do anything. You need some art hung? TaskRabbit. You need something put together? A cabinet? Got to reach that cheese grater on the top shelf? TaskRabbit. Anything you need, TaskRabbit can take care of it for you. How it works, TaskRabbit connects you with skilled taskers in your area. They can help you move. They can assemble furniture, repairs, yard work, mounting, and more. You can search for a tasker based on cost, skill set, availability, and past client reviews so you know exactly who's showing up and can have confidence that they know what they're doing because taskers have assembled over 3.4 million pieces of furniture, completed 700,000 home repairs, handled 1.5 million moves, and the numbers are just going up, Jason. Yeah, throw a little money at the problem. It's not so expensive, and that job that you really don't want to do is something that another person out in the world is very good at doing and would gladly do it in exchange for a little bit of money.

When life happens, your to-do list grows. Get ahead of it now and get $15 off your first task at TaskRabbit.com or grab the TaskRabbit app using promo code HOWLONG. Taskers book up faster, especially for same-day tasks. So book Trusted Home Help today. That is $15 off your first task using promo code HOWLONG with the TaskRabbit app or at TaskRabbit.com. You're coming to us live and direct from New York, New York? Varric Street, man. You hear that Hudson Tunnel traffic, you know what I'm saying? Oh, damn. Okay, I like this. That's some of my favorite New York traffic, actually, so I'm glad you got to call that out. We have a global listenership. They might not know what Varric Street is. Could you maybe add a little more detail to where you're at in the city, perhaps? So Varric Street is... South of Houston Street, right? Okay. I want to say this is the West Village, West Soho area. I'm at the publisher's office of our book, Artisan Publishing. Okay. So Ghetto Gastro is coming to you live from the West Village. Okay. Bed-Stuy, West Village, same. It's the other Shaolin. Now, low-key, Ghetto Gastro, the first events we did were in the West Village. I had an apartment here on Washington Street in LaRoy. So it's all full circle. I liked it. So that was you do pop-ups at the apartment back in the days. It was just house parties. So you've been in the neighborhood for a while. I'm also a downtown guy. I prefer it. Do you make it to the outer boroughs these days? Oh, I live in the Bronx. I live in the Bronx. Oh, you do live? Okay, okay. Yeah, born and bred in the Bronx. I just was like a prodigal son for a minute, so I had to go see what the city was saying. I had to see what Queens was saying. I had to see what Brooklyn was saying. Sure, they all needed you, and you have returned back. Okay, I understand. You had to do a little soul-searching yourself.

And now you've kind of returned to the motherland. Exactly. Exactly. Back to America. Very Cappadonna-esque of you. I like that. What's going on in the Bronx now, though? Have white people ruined it or we still have some time? We have some time. But the developer has definitely been getting gentrified in a not cool way in a South Bronx area. But the other parts. still thriving and still very okay you could go to the Bronx in the summer go to Orchard Beach and have a salsa experience on a Sunday you know so it's very it's very real I wish I was ready for that kind of experience but unfortunately I don't think I would be I don't think I would fare too well with that even though I have great rhythm the birds in the background say otherwise So, John, you mentioned South Bronx is being gentrified, not in a good way, in a bad way. What would be an example of a good version of gentrification to you, perhaps? Well, I don't know if there's necessarily a good version of gentrification. I will say this, though. I had a lot of guilt. I call these gentrified snacks. Like, I used to buy the kettle chips. 10 years ago. You saw the kettle chips in the bodega. A little bougie shit. Times are changing. I bought the Justin's peanut butter cups. That's like my gentrification porn. Those are good. Those are great examples. You like to cosplay as like my rich aunt sometimes and get the good Justin's cups and all that stuff. It feels nice sometimes. Because the Reese's joints are a little oily and they stick to the roof of your mouth. I just had to switch up the drip on them. But what I would say is I think about revitalization of a neighborhood, it should definitely be in tandem with the community that resides in a neighborhood. So cultural sensitivity, have collaboration, create jobs in a community.

That type of vibe. There's a way to do it right, basically. Yeah, and you see it rarely because of the capitalism. So it's always about squeezing, building the cheapest you can, getting the most out of a rental unit. So a lot of times those things aren't considered. It's really just the bottom line. So kind of just capitalism is rare until you run into founders of Patagonia, where he just gave away his company. People are really on his dick for that. I'll tell you what. There's nothing you can do. I've never seen anybody get better press than this guy. You've got to give away billions of dollars to get good press these days. It's tough. You can put out a ghetto gastro cookbook or you can give away your whole company. It's your choice. What are you going to do? I'm going to take the ghetto gastro cookbook, a.k.a. the cookbook. We'll get to the book, John. Don't worry. We'll get to the book. By the way, I love the title. Thank you. Thank you. It's amazing. Have you heard of a hardcore band called Zulu? No, I'm not familiar with them. Well, their Instagram handle is Black Power Violence. Right. Give them a look. Maybe you guys would have some synergy there. I'll check them out. I'll check them out. Check them out, John. Sorry. My mind is just stuck. My mind is just I can't get off the peanut butter cups. You got me. My tummy is growling now for some. cashew butter wrapped in chocolate now they got it with the puff quinoa on it man bro no not the crunchies they got the crunchies they got the crunch john has your has your knowledge of all these quinoa puffs and all that stuff how has that helped you with the ladies over the years oh man it's funny i was at a comedy show the other day in brooklyn in prospect park and one of the she was a comedian and she said something about Nothing gets me more open than like someone just ordering for the table. And a lot of the women that were around me just agreed. Really? So I guess being able to know my way around the menu is a good thing. That's good to know because Jason is also, he considers himself to be somewhat of an expert in the culinary arts, loves to order for the table. And he doesn't.

He does it for me a lot, and I never let him hit. I just want to be clear, but that might not be true for other people. Yeah, I'm able to take control at the dinner table more so than in the bedroom, unfortunately. Every boss needs to be bossed, as they say, John. No, but I agree, and I've always loved to order for the table. You want your Chuck Rose shit from Billy? Yeah, he's going to a little basement after work, you know. He couldn't get that conviction. He's feeling low. Not those Louboutins. The other ones. Now get to walking. No, but I love ordering for the table. But I also love, I mean, obviously it's like a control thing. And you have to do it in a cool, sly way and not like a creepy way or else you ain't going to hit. But I also love to control who is going to be at the table as well. I like to put together a group of people for a dinner party. Because all it takes is one person to fuck up the whole night. The dining table of feng shui is important, man. Especially if it's still in an impressionary stage. I feel like it's a sin to have a dinner with more than six people out. I'm with it. Maybe in the home it works. No. But once people start like, yo, can I get a table for eight? Like, nah, it's quiet. Not only does it get weird when the bill comes out, but it's also just too much. Like if you watch Curvy Enthusiasm, a lot of people don't know how to middle. It's true. It's true. You know what I'm saying? So it's like, if you don't have a good deal, it just gets funky. Yo, my girl's family. It makes me middle every dinner now. It's just like that's just what I do because I have to be able to roast the mom because they're not able to roast the mom and only I'm able to do it. So they're like, all right, you sit in the middle. She starts talking sideways. You say some shit, and then the cousin over here, he's in our form. It's a whole thing, man. It's a gift. I agree with you, though. I think I've always said dinner, I would say even four if I'm being honest. It's too much for me. Four is too much.

For as long as it's all, yeah, if it's just like four of the boys, four of the girls, four of the non-binaries all together, you can talk freely. You don't have to worry about what you're saying. I find, though, I find now, I've gotten over this as I've gotten a little older, thank God, but there was a period where that check confusion would come up, and I would just pay because I felt so... I hated it so much that I would just pay. Yo, I was so awkward, especially if you know the restaurant only and shit, and you're like, fuck it, I'll just pick it up. Then I got hit, like, hold up, nah, this is a plot. This is part of their plan. I just go to the bathroom when the bill comes. John and I might be in the same, but we're the most successful people in our, like, immediate friend group, John, you and I, so I think if people look to us to do that, whether we want to or not, but I've gotten over it as I've gotten older, but now, this the splitting technology and like the conversation around it has become deafening and it's turned everyone into fucking nerds who are like worried about a dollar and i can't stand it it's crazy it's like fractional but you know the way inflation isn't working and the economy i get it so If you've got to split the bill, much respect and much love. Prayers. Prayers. I was talking to my mom because I'm in Atlanta and I was talking about my parents last night. The gas prices here are just amazing compared to L.A. I don't really think about inflation because I'm just like a guy with only bills I cause myself. I don't have any kids. I don't have any big shit. And my mom started talking about inflation at the grocery store. And I was like, Mom, you didn't raise me to be cheap like this. Don't do this. Not tonight. Not tonight. Not when I just got here. You're going to buy the gallon of milk. Yeah. Even if it costs 17 cents more than it did last week, it's not going to keep you up. You got the no-frills potato chips now at the crib? Yeah, there's no Lays anymore. Come back and all the snacks are off-brand in the black household. I don't fucking get it, man. It's crazy. Just statements of use on the packaging, just like potato chips. No Reynolds wrap. It doesn't even say Kirkland on it.

Yeah, I had to ask some questions. But yeah, my mom was at Costco today texting me. They were out of Chameleon Cold Brew at Costco. Shit is moving off the shelves no matter what the price. It's even affecting you now, Chris. Well, John, before we hopped on, is it true that you were doing a little media training? Nah, hell no. Shit is natural. Can't trust your sources, man. I don't know where you get that from. I understand. Your source did have your company name on her Zoom, but we'll leave it at that. We'll leave it alone. No face, no case. Okay, you got me there. For our listeners at home, John is wearing a full Nike baklava. We have no idea if it's him, who it could be. I can't tell. Okay, so this is all natural. You've done a lot of press over the years, but how is book press different than normal ghetto gastro press? We existed in the abstract for so long, and now the book kind of compresses the decade of work and ideology and the vibration of what we're doing in the one place. So I think it makes it a little bit more digestible. But when you're doing press, it's like, how do you say that in a sentence? Like, I just. said a lot of words yeah right you know it's really good job saying it honestly right there that sentence i'm glad we were recording on that no but i i think i say this a lot i think a book you know obviously you know cookbooks actually do make money a lot of books don't um but it is like a solidifying like this thing is fucking real now the same way i think when you have like a clothing brand or something and you open a store even though that might not make you money it feels real and it gives you something like concrete and i think it's important to do that especially with us not having a restaurant like people were so confused for so long i said what is it you do is a restaurant is a catering well you know you create these experiences around the world so how do i get me some ghetto gastro and you're like well just start working for nike and cut the check you get a little

But now we're giving the game out to the people so they can, like, take these recipes, see the artwork, see the vibes, read a bunch of knowledge. Okay. So what's the breakdown, like, percentage-wise, you think, from, like, recipes versus, like, ideology and your story? Shit. It's all equal. Like, because, like, we have photography is art. You know, each recipe has the photography. We have like fine art paintings, visual paintings that correlate with some recipes too. And then also the intros to the recipes are like storytelling. So it's not just like here, preheat the oven. It's like we're breaking down the chopped beef sandwich and we're breaking down the black power waffle or cornbread and caviar. Like we're giving you the story behind the food. Because I think about cookbooks all the time. And like a long time ago, I was like, I'm going to write a cookbook one day and that'll be how I solidify myself and I could do my Bourdain shit after that or whatever. But it always felt so daunting to just feel like, oh, just write 200 recipes off the dome and you're good. I feel like we don't really have to do that anymore. It's all about like what's the culture, what's the story. And like you said, photos and art and like all that shit. So you can really just have a 300 page book with 40, 50 recipes in it. Which is nice. Yeah, we got 75. 75. You know what I mean? Okay, okay, okay. We got it. You're rich with recipes. We understand. But back in the day, 75 wouldn't cut the mustard. You're like, bro, we need like 300 recipes or you're not really going to get it, you know? It's quiet. We wanted to do quality over quantity. You know, we wasn't just trying to come through with like... ants on a log peanut butter celery recipe one you know not ants on a log here's how i make money here's my garlic aioli you got garlic you got mayonnaise mix that shit all right next recipe let's take lunch now now is it i'm sure it's been a conscious i'm sure there's many uh vc types that have thrown money at you or offered to to open a restaurant and because you're smart you've decided not to take that headache on

And I just want to congratulate you for that. Well, yeah, with us, like, I think we wanted to really be able to take the show on the road, right? And when you want to do a restaurant the right way, you need to be there. Like, it's intense. You need to be there. You're tethered to the business. Yeah, like, you're tethered. And for me, like, Rolling Stone vibes. Like, we got to take the show on the road. We got to be able to hit Tokyo, hit Italy, hit London, you know, go to Mexico City to soak up the knowledge from there. take like our upbringing from the Bronx, take our travels, we call it do-rag diplomacy, you know, that's a chapter, and infuse that and merge those things together to create something new. Yeah, I know. I mean, it seems a lot more fun, I'll tell you that. I mean, as someone who's never worked in a restaurant, the way you're doing it seems a little more fun than what I've seen and heard from my peers. Yeah, and all the best restauranteurs or chefs, you know. They're like those obsessive control freaks where it's like, I got to be here. First person in, first person to leave. And like, I get fat. My fucking family hates me. What are you drinking right now? Is that a protein shake? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Games. That's how you got the shirt over. First class trips to the games, Bill. He's showing you his best side. He knows what he's doing. He's got the camera adjusted. I want to point that out. Chris is more of the workout guy. I know you're flipping monster truck tires and stuff like that too, probably. I'm, I'm little, I don't really have a whole lot of gains, but I just left the gym and I'm having a little protein. That's why. But how much normally Chris is the one who's brolic. How much time are you spending in the Equinox in the Bronx though? Oh man, I don't even know if we have an Equinox in the Bronx. We got exports and I use the park like, and during the pan, pan, panorama, I got a, um, I got a, I got a weight bench and something like Ionology. So it's just Ionology crib, you know?

ionology 101 just like okay so you're on your jail shit you're on your jail shit it's up it's up north trips up north trips but you said you were you're at the park so you're like you're doing the bar boys shit like yeah yeah we are the yeah we definitely we definitely buying out the bar God damn it. I think that New York – I mean, New York is obviously one of the most disgusting places in the world, and that's what makes it so special. Come on, man. Blasphemy. I mean, look, dude. I live there. I live in the East Village. It's disgusting. I just – the thought of working out in a park, I just haven't gotten there yet. But I do appreciate the kind of – raw sensibility of just being able to walk outside and do it the same reason like running appeals to me is i can just walk outside and do it puts hair on your chest putting your hands on that concrete dirty ass piss covered concrete builds character it makes you a different kind of strong oh nah nah you gotta get the gloves you gotta get the supreme like construction gloves man so that wouldn't make no That way, when you're taking a fit pick for the workout, they know the drip is perpetual. You know what I mean? That is smart. And if somebody wants you to move a dumpster or something real quick, then also you're ready with those gloves, Chris. Exactly. Whatever it takes, Eddie B. Look, when you're born ready, you don't got to get ready, man. That's right. I need to remember, because I have two pairs. I have some OVO mechanics gloves as well as some Supreme football receiver gloves. So you're channeling Drizzy Drake when you're working out? I don't know if that's the vibe. Bro, first of all. That might not be the best role model. He just has CoolSculpting. Fuck both of y'all. Just because he's had some work done to his abs doesn't mean I can't aspire to that. Now, I don't think I would have liposuction to get abs, but I'm also not that famous. So I can't, you know what I mean? It's a different mindset. But when Drake wore the baseball gloves in the video, the Nike baseball gloves. That did send me somewhere. Like, I really like that look. And I don't know why, because I'm obviously a pussy, and I work out indoors. But I just really felt the vibe of the glove. Who started the baseball glove? I mean, that was like in the 90s, right? Did Nelly have baseball gloves? I know he was a baseball player. He did the Band-Aid. I'm sure Nelly had that.

I mean, I feel like I've seen Tupac in the baseball gloves. I feel like Diddy might have did that. I feel like that could have been a Diddy kind of vibe. Cam as well. Oh, yeah, Diddy did a – he had a video on a baseball field, I remember. Oh, yeah, I remember that. He had the LL Cool Jaday sweatsuit, one leg rolled up situation, King Griffey's, I think. Baseball, baseball, it was an urban baseball aesthetic for a minute. King Griffey bought that. Urban baseball aesthetic. Oh, yeah, yeah. There we go. Now, I don't know if that could ever return. You know, because baseball players now, I notice this, The shit is all baggy now. When I was growing up, those pants were tight. Now they're like, they're wearing them oversized, which seems like kind of bad for performance. J.Crew's fault. My cousin might have started that. I think Gary Sheffield was one of the first ones to rock the baggy joint. But you think Gary, and this is Gary Sheffield, this is like late 90s, early aughts, San Diego. He played for San Diego? I thought Gary Sheffield was a San Diego. Yeah, I thought that was his, like. He played for L.A., for sure. He was L.A., New York Yankees. Maybe he did play. I think he played in Milwaukee. That was his first name. Chris, I think you were talking about a different person. Okay. I mean, I'm definitely wrong about sports. I just, for some reason, that was stuck in my mind. Because also the Padres had a cool jersey. Famously had, like, a great logo. I think you're thinking Tony Gwynn. Yeah. Or Dave Winfield. Urban baseball aesthetic is something you should. should do kind of a deck on. I feel like you could sell that somewhere. Yeah, Gary Sheffield, he's probably just like, I'm not going to wear skin-tight fucking skims, bro. I'm a grown-ass man. It was not a calculator. I want to leave something to the imagination. And he's like, I'm not going to shit out the park. I don't got to run around on these bases expeditiously. I'm going to just cruise. Also, Gary got ass, too. So if your home run percentage is that high. That's where the power is coming from. That's where the power is coming from. The butte.

It's all in the hips. That's what they teach you in the gym. It's the most powerful muscle in our body. And, you know, we don't really, as men, we don't give it enough attention. I've been working on my own bridges, man. Really? One-legged, like, what are we doing? I get weighted. I'll get weighted. I'll weight them. We'll do some one-leg joints, you know. One-leg bridge, no weight stuff. Yeah, but are you doing the bridge with the, are you putting the dumbbell on your, like, waist and doing it like that? How are you weighting it? Barbell. Yeah, the barbell. Okay. Oh, you're doing the high. The hot chick workout. So we're talking about the number one thotty exercise in the gym. Yeah, exactly. You're doing the OnlyFans special over there. I understand that. OnlyFans. You got too much time on your hands. Shorty nonstick. Passed iron, man. Cast iron is very well seasoned over on this side. I saw a tweet today that said these guys are treating their sheets like cast iron pans. That made me chuckle. So earlier you were mentioning buying out, paying the check for the whole table back when you were younger. You were making a good amount of money at a pretty young age, right? Oh, yeah. I was the trap lord, man. I was trapping out the band, though. But we're taking the skills that we learned from that trade, applying it to new and turning a negative to a positive, running it up. And you've done a very good job doing that. And I just remember when you were a kid and you hear about drug dealers and you're like, That's bad. And now you're like, let me call my dude for the shrooms. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Are they chocolates? They taste weird. I don't know how much money there is in shrooms, but I get what you're saying. Well, it's a very stinky pack. Loud pack. It's loud in a bad way. It's become too loud. But you hear it a lot with graffiti writers or certain crimes where it's like,

I wasn't like doing I wasn't like beating women or like raping people. I was like selling little drugs, doing a little graffiti, you know, whatever it is. And they sort of talk about their life of crime in the past life in like a fun, endearing way. Whereas back in the day, you'd be like, I'm not going to fucking snitch on myself saying I used to sell drugs or I used to do graffiti or like it's a weird thing I've noticed. And maybe like the last 10 years where people feel open to talk about. crimes of their past i think hip-hop might have did that i think probably most of the stuff is public record because i got jammed up like it's like what's gonna happen now like you know what i mean so yeah better just like be able to use missteps and lessons i learned to just like inspire folks that might be in that life or came out of that life to know like yeah the future is more to do like you have tangible skills that you could use from that and whatever you want to do i know i mean i think it is like i think that like the people that I know that have been successful in the trade that we're speaking on are some of the best business people I have ever known. You know what I mean? It's like, it's like a whole different, they're very bright. They're very, they're on it. And I do think when you take, I have a friend who got out and he reapply, and he's doing just as well as he was doing before, you know? Cause it's just like, he took it and he applied it somewhere else and it's working out. It's no big deal. If you, if you like have the know-how and the skills or whatever that you find yourself doing well and mad. Yeah, it's definitely applicable because the stakes are way lower than any other business you're going to do. Try podcasting. It's really low. No, we could get canceled any day now. But I feel like once you hit a certain level of success in drug dealing or whatever it might be, the problem sort of becomes like you have that down and then the real problem becomes like the money laundering or like. What are we going to do? Like, how am I really going to splash out and not get popped by the IRS? Yeah. And I feel like that's probably a sliver of people to make it to that stage. Because you see in the culture of like urban centers of America, like you ball out, you go and get all the material things and laundering is like a lot of people don't even make it to that point. But even if you're just thinking about a pivot, it's like when you're used to that fast money, like.

You've got to start from ground zero. So imagine you're moving bricks. It's like whatever you start now, you're going back to Knicks. And you've got to build that up. So you're used to getting that fast money. And I think that's a lot of things that probably applies to people that were stripping or dancing. It's like used to getting like just a bartender. Like when you're used to getting fast money, sometimes it's hard to think about your time, how you think about the time or like sowing the seeds and putting in the sweat equity. on a new thing that builds it up to become something that's lucrative what the fuck is 60 days net you don't know how many early on and still now i don't run up in offices anymore but that was late well i i would be in the office i'll just pop through. Sir, you can't go in there, sir. I was still fresh off the porch. My Excel skills were great. It was just about collecting a late payment. I could build an invoice in InDesign, Excel, whatever. You can name it. Word. I'm going to get that back. So you started with invoicing, and then that's how you learned the whole entire world of computer programming. I can make an invoice in MS Paint. I can make an invoice on Facebook, whatever you need. Facts. Big fact. That's impressive because that's because, I mean, I look like a person who'd be very good at making invoices. Especially since you went on video. I don't know who I'm talking to now. Sorry, my computer, my Wi-Fi was slowing down a little bit. I've gone into a new, I went, so I got LASIK and now I'm going into a more tough guy era of my hook. So I shave my head. I'm getting a little more brolic. My chest is filling out nicely. So I'm kind of going for Jason's like really nice and friendly, but one of us needs to be kind of the intimidating, you know, kind of fire and ice. Yeah. Cause the picture is definitely given the drink, um, comeback season mixtape. Yeah. You can't tell his face is cropped in the zoom photo, but right underneath it, he's in the wheelchair. Just like, just like Aubrey. Yeah.

Man, you guys are really coming for Drake today. I guess I'll stand for it. No, we're coming for you. We're coming for you. No, no, no. You're like a butternut squash, Chris. You're very easy at roast. I'm sorry. Earlier in the pod also, John, you mentioned – don't laugh at that. You mentioned the chopped cheese, and I feel like the word – the chopped cheese has become – speaking of gentrification, it's been – boosted up into the world with you know you guys and 20 you know action bronson and eddie wong and all these people and then it was sort of you know it's gone up and it's like a tesla stock it's like it's cool and like oh no it's crazy like they fucked it up and now it's back like i want to know like the 2022 state of the union for the chopped cheese where are we at right now we hot we cold you're the authority you're the authority for me it's always a staple because it's like something that I was introduced to very young and like, like at the time when I was ordering them, that was like a lifesaver. It was, it was chopped cheeses. It was pizza slices with beef patties with cheese and pepperoni. Like that was a diet, you know, like of adolescence, you know, with an Italian ice or like a Coco Delicioso in the summer or whatever, Paraguas. So for me, it's always a staple. The way we flipped it in our book, we did, we did a version that's plant-based. All right, so what are we using then? Because, you know, this Beyond Meat doesn't work well with my stomach. So I was just wondering what others. Also, Beyond Meat, you just see the CEO of Beyond Meat? Yo, the COO. What the fuck? That's the new Papa John. And I got Beyond Stock. I was sick. I'm like, I got Beyond Stock. I'm like, damn. I looked at the Beyond Stock went down a good amount yesterday. It went down like a lot, like $8 maybe. I'm glad that you also checked the stock. That was a billion-dollar nose bite. God damn. Nonsense Mike Tyson. I guess you could go to Philly. You've got to go the route to give away billions or you could go pay the nose. So you've made a plant-based – walk me through this. As a lifelong vegetarian and now pescatarian, I always thought the chopped cheese was kind of off the table for me, no pun intended. Well, we're definitely using one of those. You've got a few options. You could go – we don't do this in our book, but you could go lentils. You could do a substitute of lentils and carrots, cook it down and kind of make it like a –

We were using the beyond, the impossible of the world. That makes sense. You got to go another route. No, I'm a big, we talk about veggie burgers a lot on this podcast because I think the technology has actually hurt. I think veggie burgers, when they were made of vegetables, were much better tasting. They got too tech with it. Too much innovation. Like the meat with the invitation meat? Have you had a superiority burger? Oh, that's my favorite. That superiority burger? That's an example of a good veggie burger. Back before it got all fucked up and stepped on. I lived down the street from Superior Burger, so I go superiority and Houston's. Houston's the best, low-key, all vegetables. I haven't had the Houston Giants. Where are you at, John? Where are you at on seed oils? That's a big thing in the fitness food world. You know about all this? Nah, put me on. Like, black seed? Like, I know my mom's is big on black seed oil, and we have a black seed oil on the green for the money drink, which is, like, from black. I want to say, is it black? I don't want to fuck up the seed. Black seed. What seed is it? Now you sound like a VC guy. Like, talking about seed rounds? Yeah, I don't want to fuck up the seed. Not today. Well, yeah, I have a 415 with black seed. I've got to take the jet over. No, I'm talking about there's sort of a movement moving away from oils that come from seeds, I guess, like hydrogenated vegetable oils, corn oils, grapeseed oils, things like that, where it's damaging and it's not healthy. And that's like a big reason why the downfall of sort of our, the world's, you know, human beings are so unhealthy now because of that versus using like a high quality olive oil or a ghee or a butter or something like that. I know ghee is good. I wasn't up when a seed oil slammed there. I use grapeseed oil on my skin and we use grapeseed to fry. The thing with coconut oil is a smoking point. So you can't do everything in that.

And then just also the saturated fats. And avocado oil is really expensive as well. I like avocado oil a lot. Avocado oil is good. But, yeah, I wasn't up. Like, we don't use canola. I know they have the grapeseed. They have a rapeseed oil that they use. I thought it was a typo when I first saw it. I was like, yeah, what is this? Just a rebrand. Just a rebrand. But it's a rebrand of canola, right? It's like a canola rebrand, right? Yeah, it is canola oil. It is canola oil. Oh, so it's just a classic rebrand. Like you said, that's interesting. I love when that happens. What's your take on the oils? You know, you have to, it really boils down to sort of like the food deserts and like the privilege of being able to afford, you know, like imported fine olive oil from Tuscany and then have enough time to drizzle it over your heirloom tomatoes. Like not everyone has that luxury or that know how to do that. So, you know, it's just another depressing part of the world where you can't really get any type of affordable food that doesn't really have that oil in it that, you know, has carcinogens and cancer-causing ingredients. And, you know, all fast food is fried in the lowest quality oil. It's just, it's a bummer. And there's not really a good way around it. It is a conundrum. We're trying to, like, do our best to. Patagonia, the food game. Patagonia has their own food, but we have products too. Ironically, the Patagonia foods are very expensive. Sorry, go ahead. We're selling $20 waffle mix, but we're working on getting ingredients and getting them at a scale where we can make it accessible, but still very high quality and tapping into ancestral ingredients from the motherland. We call ourselves the mouth of the global south. Ingredients from Asia, Africa, South America. They got the South all over the world is what you're saying. Exactly. So you're saying I can cop the $20 Ghetto Gastro waffle mix.

wherever waffle mixes are sold, or is this a direct-to-consumer thing right now? Right now, ghettogasher.com, direct-to-consumer, but we're going to have a big retail partner launching next year, so stay tuned. Okay. Key foods stand up. How many waffles do you get out of a $20 worth of waffle mix, though? Depends how big your waffles are. You like that answer? Great point. That's a very good answer, John. That's a very good answer. I'm true to this. I ain't new to this. This guy, John, he's got an answer for everything. He has been media trained, and I like it. I want to talk about the syrup as well, because Jason was explaining to me before you came on that there's footage of you putting syrup on fish. Is that true? Where's this footage? I don't know if it was on your Instagram. Oh, the spicy syrup. Yes, yes, yes. So there's a Branzino, and there's a slow... sorghum drizzle of syrup all over it. And that was, I was thinking that's just crazy. So actually some user generated content. That's a, that's somebody that, that cooked something that sent it to us. Okay. But, but yeah, it's a spicy syrup. So we got the, we've collaborated with fly by James. So you have the Szechuan chili crisp and then you have the maple apple cider and the sorghum. So the sorghum gives the grassiness and a bit of a savory flavor. You got the maple. So you're going to have the sweetness and then you have the apple cider. syrup what gives you a little bit of the tartness so yeah it actually worked perfectly that that is a very good explanation i was just thinking syrup and i was like not not on the branzino but like you think you were thinking mrs butterworth like on a on a branzino butterworth on the branzino sounds wild it's got too much flavor but i mean that makes perfect sense i also didn't even know you could You can buy apple cider vinegar syrup. That sounds also amazing. Well, I misspoke. Apple cider syrup. Just apple cider. Yeah, not apple cider syrup. Okay, okay. All good. I may have mislistened. That might be a little too much flavor for me if I'm keeping it 100. I believe it. I believe it. I'm looking at your photo as you speak. I'm like, yeah, that's too much flavor.

I'm just going to keep it real, you know. I like my Branzino, you know. I prefer it, you know, steamed, actually. Keep it really light if I could, you know. Steamed and then, you know, maybe a little squeeze bottle of water on top. Yeah, exactly. But, you know, you hear people talk about seasoning and flavor, just sort of like in air quotes. Like when you talk about food not having enough seasoning on it, what do you think like the main? thing that it's lacking? Is it the flavor that's being coaxed out of the ingredient or it's like a spice blend or something like that? Or were you just looking at an email? You went over my head. Yeah, I was looking at it. Talk to me again. What do you say? Look, that's my media training right there. Well, don't worry, John. I edit the whole podcast, so it's going to have perfect timing. Don't worry. But I was talking about how people will comment on a food not having seasoning or enough flavor or whatever it is. Is it just like not enough salt on it? Is it that version of seasoning? Or is it something a little bit more overarching? Or is it like the essence of a dish? Yeah, I think cultural background is a big... Like how your palate is trained growing up and the flavors. That's why I'm fucked up then. Okay, that makes sense. It depends. Oftentimes my preference is to have a lot of flavors. So like just really complexity. So I want to get some umami. I want some spice. I just want to balance. You want the salt, fat, acid, heat. Exactly. Shout out to my girls. Full dynamic range. I want the lows and the highs and the middle. Yeah, so it's like I just like a balance. But I also appreciate just. But I guess you're also getting that, right? When I'm thinking about a piece of toast with butter and anchovy, you're getting a lot of those things. Like, you're getting those different... It's simple, but... Anchovy? On the toast? You never had the anchovy butter toast at St. Julie Verde? Oh, you missing out, bro. I'm not a huge anchovy guy myself. Me either. Okay. Because I was introduced to anchovies by the cheap joints at the pizza shop, like, in Spanish Harlem. Like, so... That was, like, my intro to anchovy. But then I had...

an anchovy and i'm like oh this is okay so you're so you're taking something as simple as toast with butter on it which i guess would be considered a pretty undynamic flavor but it's also delicious like what do you ever crave subtle flavors that aren't just knocking you over the head with the full umami blast like what's your boring girl swag yeah i think about just the subtleness of like an oil you know or even just certain like when i think about Our syrup is like nuances in the chain. So I like use the syrup in my tea in the morning and it's just like a nuance. Like it's just a different type of sweetness, not the spicy syrup. So it's just a little note in the background that you don't even notice it, but it makes the overall product better. Exactly. But like our stuff is flavor forward. So like we got the cornbread and caviar and it's not like cornbread, crab salad, caviar. It's not like any. Spices aren't going to knock you out of your feet, but it's just like the layering. Like you have the sweetness of the cornbread, the citrus notes and the sweet notes from a different type of sweetness from the crab meat, right? And then you have the savory, the salinity coming in from the caviar. So it's like we balance it with the layers. We have a moniker. We only layer flavor. So I think the layering of flavor is important. Salt at every step. That's that wolf life. And the moniker ends up at wolf. so out of all the other people in ghetto gastro you're are you the least chef in of the group you're more of like the face pr dishwasher i'm a dishwasher like so i handle i handle a lot of the creative i handle the business you know what i mean yeah yeah and and that's that's kind of kind of my role it was also my idea like because i was outside of the kitchen i think sometimes you have to have a you got sometimes being a few steps away like you could think about the innovation right so being able to like look at spaces i was going into and vibes and i'm like we we this we got up the level of food and culture and in the zone and create something different because when you're a chef working at a restaurant you don't have a lot of time to think creatively you're in the eye of the storm yeah exactly so so i had that privilege and then we we came we came we came through it but

But, yeah, my God, Lester and PD, those are the culinary wizards. But I can also cook okay, but I compare it to, like, someone that's good at a pickup game at 24-hour fitness and someone that's, like, Kobe or LeBron or Jordan. Like, you know, like, that's kind of – like, I can boil. I can put something together because I have a good palate. So if you go to Daniel Balud's house, he'll be like, it's good. Palate is vicious. Palate is vicious. So it's safe to say that you're more of a front-of-house shorty. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We talk about back-of-house shorties all the time on the show, so it's nice to have a front-of-house person. Look at the Freudian slip, man. I'm more of a front-of-house shorty myself, but I also have no interest in cooking. I can't even use – I don't understand the appeal. You know what I mean? I don't find – I don't get – He's never touched a pan. I don't get the high from it that other people do. And Jason, being my closest friend and business partner who's very good, I just would always defer to him. When there's somebody in your life that's so good at it, it's hard to even be motivated to attempt it at 40 years old. It was like me withdrawing. I was trying to draw animated characters as a kid, and I just... It was because my friends were older, but they were just so much better. I'm like, I felt like I'd never get this. I just started curing. And I was like, all right, look, can you draw this? Can you do that? Just using other people's hands to establish the vision. Like a creative director. You're not going to actually do any of the work, but you know the right person for the job. Yeah, we have a name for that now. And you're still going to take your little cut as well. Yeah, we have a name for that now. Guy with a laptop. A lot of shade on the creative directors. Yeah, a lot of shade. No, they need to be shaded, all right? Yeah, they're making too much money, and they need to be taking down a peg. You know, that's our job. That's what we do. They take all their money. They spend it on Rick. They don't do shit, but they just get the new MacBook that's black. Yeah. They think they're all cool and shit. I'm still attacked right now. You brought the Rick in? No. I feel like you took a shot. Because you know we racked a brick to the dig. Wow. I didn't know you. Not the shoes. Yeah.

I didn't know you were a Rick guy. Are we wearing the sweats? Are we wearing the shoes? Is it everything? The shoes? I don't really wear the shoes. I like Nikes. The shoes are a bridge too far. The shoes, Rick is wild for the shoes. Everything else is good. I actually think that, no, guys, I think the shoes are a lot of people's entry points, to be honest with you. Because you can stunt with the shoes. It's like, you know this is Rick if you see these shoes. Yeah. I'm wearing, my T-shirt is Rick right now, and I'm wearing, kind of taking me back to my skater days when I used to rack the parachute, big pants. So it was like a parachute kind of windbreaker fabric pants. Okay, so you're spending a little of this cookbook advance. You spent some time on the Essence sale. I see you, bro. I'm going to say that because the people at the Rick Flag system are getting mad if they heard rumors of me buying online. Okay. Yeah, of course. You're loyal. We did our first product in Paris with Rick Owen. We did a Thanksgiving. For peace. It was after the Batheclown attacks in Paris. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And we did a big Thanksgiving dinner just to kind of bring some joy for the people out there. Because some people had lost family. Yeah. So we just... That's beautiful. So it goes way back with Rick and Michelle. You ain't new to this, as you said. Yeah, yeah. I couldn't afford that shit before knowing them. You shitting me? Not many people can. I understand. You and Playboy Cardi. I was in Nike Tech, man. I was in whatever's free, man. Whatever seating is getting dropped, man, I'm rocking that shit. All right. Well, that brings us up to a couple of recurring questions as we're kind of approaching our landing on this episode, John. First of all, you probably get a lot of free shit all the time, and you have for a long time. What do you do with it? Is there a strategy? Do you have a room in your house for all the shit? Do you have an intern go sell it on the low on StockX? You give it away for charity? The cousins get it? What's going on? The fam. If I can't wear it, I don't get as much as you would think. A lot of spices. A lot of spice packs will get sent.

The Nike family definitely takes care of me, but I rock my shit. I'm going into uniform mode right now, so I'm establishing, like, it's going to be black pants and gray tops. That's, like, that's my Steve Jobs energy. For fall. We're going uniform mode, New York City fall. Where are these black pants and gray T-shirts coming from? Is this a Rick uniform, or are we branching out? The pants will probably be a lot of Rick. I have some cool, like... supreme and junior wantanabe pants that are like cool black yeah it's probably gonna be that rick and rick and nose and then some sweats like my own sweats that i make with with the homies at ecosystems ecosystem sweats you know vintage vintage gray wash on a t-shirt so oh so we're making our we're making our own sweats now these just for you are these available for purchase i'm gonna do the trial run and then we're gonna drop them to the masses it's a tough thing to master i know you're aware you know it's a tough thing to master this this stuff is not easy and you seem like a connoisseur so i'm sure you're really taking this seriously seeing how the drape is landing i prioritize coziness like cozy cottage is an important place to reside so So you like to be comfortable unless it's black tie, and then you're taking it seriously. But on a day-to-day. If it's black tie, I'm wearing a black T-shirt, and I'm tying a do-rag on. That's what I'm tying. Okay, okay, all right. That's good to know. Next time I get invited to a black tie event, I'm going to kind of start to experiment with my look. Not the do-rag, of course. That would be offensive. But maybe some of the other parts. I like that. I like that. You mentioned going into uniform mode on your little Steve Jobs swag. is there a reason like do you go into that mode when you're like i have a project to work on or is it just something that happens with the changing of the seasons i think i just realized are you in album mode is what i'm asking it's album mode and it's just too much time to think about the fit like like i just like it's kind of i'm almost there with a uniform but i just wanted to just be premeditated where it's like boom got a long sleeve gray shirt got got shirt short sleeve gray shirt

you know maybe we get creative with the outerwear but but otherwise it's just like what we're wearing i'm out the door you know it works for you you know it's tough to pull the trigger there's so much fun bright stuff out there catching your eye you know it's there's a passion for flashing so it's hard for him to get into the uniform yeah i'm a real flashy guy i was in i was in japan and i was looking at my man kenji and he had it was just like for me the perfect fit he had on the shadow jordan ones like the black and gray ones which also works for my brand because i'm john gray a pair of black pants and a black heather gray t-shirt and i'm just like this is perfect it's not just all black there's a little nuance to it there's a little yeah and i'll incorporate the jordan floors like i'll switch up the footwear to be on grayscale red black gray or white whatever but grayscale that's the name of the brand i gotta say when you collab with rick simple Yeah, I like that you keep it. It's nice to give yourself a little bit of a range to play with, you know, because all black feels a little dramatic, in my opinion. You know what I mean? It feels like you're working on a set and you're not the star, and you're a star, so you can't kind of be caught slipping like that, you know? That would be bad for you and your brand. As a person whose last name is Gray, do all the whips have to be Gray? Is that just a thing for staying on brand? On the V-Lone range, is it all gray? What type of whips are you talking about? Are you talking shades of gray whips? I'm not talking about a whisk. I'm talking about vehicles. I'm not talking about the KitchenAid. Now, do you have the gray Range Rover in the Bronx? Oh, you said wrist, wrist, like watch, or whip like a car? Whip like a car. Both. Or either. Any of your accessories. I like black cars. I like black cars, but I also like gray cars. I was borrowing my friend's Audi, the RS6, and it was like this particular gray that they only made 50 of. It was like a perfect kind of elephant gray. Like, it just looked really good, kind of matted. That's a good... So I'll probably do the whips with the same. As the collection grows, I'll probably go...

White to black. I pulled up in the Dumbo Audi looking crazy. Okay, that's good to know. Going Dumbo and Dumbo, you're rowdy in the Audi, you're. Jump in Dumbo. Going Dumbo and Dumbo. That is good. Last question. Whenever we have rappers, musicians on the show. we talk about syncs you know have you heard of like what a music sync is john no what's that so that's like uh when you when they license one of your songs to be in like a commercial for something or like in a movie or something like that where like oh you know this john legend song is going to be in a american express commercial ben staples says he made his records like for that like he was like i'm making albums in a like These are going to be placed in movies or whatever. That's because Vince Staples wants to make money, and that's smart. Run those royalties up. Run that pub up. Run that pub up. Okay, so I feel like you guys get a lot of offers to do ghetto gastro cooking events with certain companies and brands. So usually when we ask that question to rappers and musicians, we like to ask, is there a story that either you got a crazy wild check for? Or it was a crazy wild check that you had to turn down for personal or political reasons? Nothing. I wouldn't say anything yet. I'm trying to think. How often do you say no, I guess, when they send through the request? We probably say no eight out of ten requests. That's a good average. And do you say no by saying no, or do you say no by sending through the quote that makes them LOL and not reply? It's a very good filter. Yes, it is. The fee is a good filter. But, yeah, it's just like we just say we can't. This opportunity is not the right one right now. Thank you for the consideration. I'm not going to ask you to list off.

companies that you said no to that would be crazy after your media training but what what does the brand what media what media training man where they at though no they said your publicist was like this is gonna be a test because we we put him through he did his real shit but Now we're going to send them on how long gone and see how fucked up it can get. That's what it's like. Yeah, you know, when you go by the Range Rover and they do the test drive on the little rocks and shit, that's our podcast. Yeah, that's us. It's off-roading. See if you can go hit that shit sideways and you don't tip over. That's our shit. So what does a company or a brand have to bring to the table other than you think they're cool and they have a lot of money? for you to say yes like what what what's what gets the yes honestly that's really the alignment is the most important thing it's like are we aligned value so it's like if y'all did something that's like inhumane and we know about it we can't really rock with you like you know um but but yeah so it's just really alignment on on all fours like do you value the culture Or are you just trying to extract? Because we kind of know where we sit and what people on the outside might want to use us for, to leverage us for. Sure, of course. Understanding that if you can't be used, you're useless, but just making sure that it's the right thing. It's mutually beneficial, and it's helping us put forward what we put forward from a value standpoint. I don't think I've ever heard if you can't be used, you're useless. It's very good. All right, John. I hope you had a fun time chit-chatting with us. Yeah, John, thank you. We got to break bread one of these days. John, I was realizing now that I'm looking at you is that I've met you before with friend of the show, Josh Woods, on the street. Because Josh and I go way back. Josh Woods, the photographer? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Oh, that's my brother. You know he shot the... He shot the book. I think I saw you. I feel like I saw. Where did you guys do the shoot for the book? We did it in New York. We did it. We did it. Most of it in the Bronx. And then we use some of the Josh's photos that he shot, like in Dakar and synagogue. But we did mostly in the Bronx. Small world. But yeah, great guy. Love his work. I just put that together. He's very talented. But yeah, we'll break bread. You're a real fashion boy. Yeah, that's right. He really is. No, he really is. Yeah, his looks changed up over the years. I will say that.

You remember when he was on a Black Ivy vibe? Yeah, but I remember Black Ivy, but things are looking a little more expensive. The fabrics are a little nicer. You know what I mean? It's a little less itchy, if you know what I mean. No question, no question. We'll be in New York. We're actually doing some shows at Bowery Ballroom, Music Hall of Williamsburg. So if you're in town, we'll make sure to invite you. All right, let's link up. Everybody listening, man, go run it up. Trickle them nickels and cop that black power kitchen. Get those waffles on getupgastro.com. You know, run it up with the gang. The book comes out in like a month, right? October 18th. October 18th. October 18th. We in the gang. You can pre-order it, though, of course. You know, in the book business, the pre-order is very important to success. You guys can do that wherever books are sold. Yes, it's like first week album sales. You know what I'm saying? This is his blueprint. This is going to be the blueprint, too. Yeah, I was going to say. This is important. All right, John, thank you for joining us. Peace, y'all. Thank you for having me. Nobody gave a damn. No one gave a hand. Made man. Made the band. Wave your hands. Rocks on the watch. I think I'm about to blaze the band. Elliott Nash. You know I'm here to say to the land. Don't try to lie. Say the liquor's with Andrew Ram. Go somewhere and be a maintenance man. A janitor. Lord, don't blame me. Blame your manager. You fucking with the man.