August 28, 2025 • 37 mins
In this style of restaurant, the kitchen sends dishes through the dining room via varyingly automated systems for customers to select from. Anney and Lauren dig into the science and history behind conveyor belt sushi restaurants.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hello, and welcome to Savor Protection of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm any Recent and I'm Lauren vocal Bum and today
we have an episode for you about conveyor belt sushi.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Yes, and wow, wow are there a lot of avenues
to go down with this one?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Uh huh Yeah, I really had to streamline. I think
there could be a bunch of weird little spinoffs.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
I think so too. I think so too. Fascinating topic
And was there any reason it was on your mind? Lauren?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Nope, all right, I think it had during some prior
searching of like restaurant types and technologies I had run across.
I was like, oh, yeah, what's that about. So yeah,
here we are, here we are, and there.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Is some really cool technology. I got kind of lost
in rabbit hole reading about that.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I regret today that we are not
tech stuff and that I did not allot myself an
extra week to read about all of this.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Yes, but fortunately there are other pieces of media you
can find that have really delved in about how this
whole thing works, and it is honestly very interesting. I've
had good times at these types of restaurants. I have
a friend who likes to go on her birthday and
(01:38):
that's always fun. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, they're just kind
of fun.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Yeah yeah, I've actually never been to one, I know, right, Yeah,
it seems like absolutely the thing that I would be
up to. I think the one around Atlanta that I'm
most aware of is right next to like my favorite
Iszikaya in Atlanta's, so I always just go to show you.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yeah, so yeah, yeah, yeah, I get that. Uh, they
are they are fun, They're they're they're good old time
just seeing what comes out. As I've discussed before, like
that's one of my favorite things about dim sum is I.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Like, oh yeah, kind of like random selection.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Sure, yeah, I see the food and I didn't know
I wanted it, and now you need it.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Weich.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Speaking of past episodes, you can see automats, southern cafeteria
style dining, and dim sum.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
I would say buffets maybe, sure, yeah yeah, But I
guess this brings us to our question.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Sure, all right, conveyor belt sushi, what is it?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Well, conveyor belt sushi is a type of restaurant service
that serves sushi and other dishes with some degree of automation,
which will include delivery of food to the customer's table.
Via a conveyor belt that winds through the dining room
at more or less table height. This confunction in a
bunch of different ways, but the sort of classic is
(03:15):
that you're seated in a restaurant dining room at a
table or a bar that sidles up to the conveying mechanism,
and as dishes go by on this contraption, you take
them off as desired, and when you're finished, you turn
in your plates to either a human person or an
automated collection system, and your total cost is tallied based
on some indication on the plates, be that like the
(03:38):
color of the plate, or a barcode, or like RFID chip,
or whatever it is that it is. Some restaurants also
have self served drinks like Hot Green Tea that operate
on similar concepts. Different restaurants may have ways of ordering
specific dishes and drinks, either from a human or a
touch screen at your seat or somewhere elsewhere in this
(04:01):
and then that item will be sent directly to you
via human or conveyor belt or free roving robot. I
don't know. The kitchen might be in the center of
one of the conveyor belt loops, like in the middle
of the dining room, or it might be hidden in
the back. The vibe in the food can vary, but
(04:21):
it is often meant to be like an inexpensive, fast
casual dining experience with an efficient sort of feel and
with fairly standard sushi varieties served a few pieces at
a time, plus like appetizers or sides like soup or
noodles or dumplings or some kind of veg plus a
few desserts. Though of course, places might serve fancier dishes
(04:44):
or incorporate different cuisines based on the whims and or.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Savvy of the staff.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
The whole thing is, Yeah, it's like fun, Like it's
a fun visual stick. It can be nice if you
don't want that much human interaction or if you're in
a hurry. It's like being inside a toy prize machine.
But every prize is food, the best prize, so right.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
There's a lot of often proprietary technology involved in these things,
and again this is not tech stuff, but but very basically,
there are a few different types of conveyor that you
might encounter, so okay. A classic belt conveyor is a
device where where a motor turns a pulley or a
(05:43):
roller that's connected to a second roller or a pulley
with this taut closed loop of material and that's that's
your belt. Yeah, so when the motor turns the roller,
it pulls the belt around in its loop. You've seen
this at a supermarket checkout lane or at a baggage
claim at an airport. And if you've ever been at
(06:04):
a baggage claim that has not like a flat rubber surface,
but rather a surface made of interconnected panels or plates
that can fan over each other around corners, that's usually
the type that we're talking about. In sushi restaurant situations,
the individual dishes of food can be carried around via
(06:26):
just direct contact with the belt, you know, like friction,
or if it's a bit fancier, by magnets under the
belt that loosely attached to a magnet on the interior
of the plate.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
There's also a train style track that some restaurants use,
which again vary. Basically is just a programmable electric mini
trainset with like stops at every table or seat around
the bar so that the customer can order a particular
dish or drink and you can send it straight to them,
or like a trainset. You can just set that thing
(07:02):
to go around on loop. Yeah, adorable. The tracks and
trays can be variably fancy, with like lighting installed above them,
sneeze guards, all kinds of different design elements, Like do
you want to theme everything like monorails, You can do that.
Do you want to theme it like wooden fishing boats
(07:24):
and have the track pulled through like a very small
lazy river, that's a thing. The dishware can also be
anything from like just a plate with some stuff on
it to a covered dish to plates with these kind
of like clear bubble tops, so it's a little bit
more sanitary, but it still lets you see the food
(07:45):
because temptation and presentation are absolutely part of this business model.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Oh yes, oh yes.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
That food is traditionally like modern Japanese sushi or is
a kaya like like pub adjacent cuisine, though that ranges
pretty widely from like what people would expect around different
parts of Japan and the adaptations of those cuisines around
the world, But generally speaking, you might expect like single
(08:18):
or pairs of nagiri, which are small, oblong balls of
vinegar seasoned rice that are topped with like a pretty
little slice of usually some kind of protein, often raw
or cooked seafood, sometimes with other seasonings or sauces, or
like a little bit of solid kind of situation incorporated,
or maybe three to six pieces of a maki like
(08:39):
like a sushi roll, or maybe some single or pairs
of gunkan which are sort of like nagiri, but they
have got a sheet of seaweed around the perimeter, not
around the center, around the perimeter. Yeah, or a larger
hand roll, which is a cone of sheet seaweed with
fillings inside of it. Yeah. You might have some cold
(09:02):
sides up there, like pickles or small salads, or some
steamed and cooled veg. Maybe some hot sides like steamed
or fried dumplings, grilled proteins, fried proteins or veg, bowls
of noodles or soup or noodle soup, desserts like cut fruit,
small pastries, ice creams, mokey taiyaki see our taiyaki episode. Sure,
(09:25):
and each table or seat at the bar probably has
some basic condiments placed at it, but additional dish specific
sauces or dips might come out on each plate depending
on what it is. Yeah, and yeah, like some restaurants
will use that conveyor element as pretty much the only automation.
(09:49):
It'll otherwise look and operate a lot like any other
sushi bar. But some really lean into automation through those
table side touch screens for ordering, or technology that will
scan your plates and tally your order automatically as you
finish each plate and drop it in a receptacle. Some
(10:11):
places have like a little reward story that plays out
on your touch screen for every so many plates that
you finish. All right, yeah, yeah, And the automation isn't
just going on in the dining room necessarily, because in
order to perform volume automated kitchen gadgets like a nagery
(10:34):
rice ball maker or a maki maker might be used
back in the kitchen. And all of this does lead
to some friendly discussion about quantity versus quality and the
experience that you're looking for from sushi, and like the
respect that you have for the ingredients and the chefs
(10:58):
and the entire the entire thing. But I'm not really
here to discuss that that is that is a broader
topic that I would love to have experts in the
field speak about.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Yes, And it is once again something that you can
find plenty written about if you're interested. Oh yes, well
what about the nutrition.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Oh that depends on you.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
This to choose your own adventure. Yeah. Yeah, well, I guess,
speaking of we do have some numbers for you.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
A couple here.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
So this is a restaurant model that is sometimes lauded
as being cool for an owner and operator because it
lets you save on service costs. But I haven't like
really dug into all of the numbers about it, but
(12:07):
I will say that the costs for the machinery can
be a little bit intense, Like conveyor belt system might
cost anywhere from like fifty grand to like two hundred
grand at startup, and it does require maintenance, So I'm
not entirely sure exactly how much money you're saving by
hiring fewer servers. But that said, the market for the
(12:33):
technologies that go into these restaurants is pretty huge. I
saw multiple estimates that put the technology market for conveyor
belt sushi restaurants at over three billion dollars a year
and growing as like cultures that are familiar with the
concept in Asia Pacific gain more disposable income, and as
(12:56):
affluent urban cultures around the world gain more familiarity.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Oh okay, well, listeners, we would love to hear from you.
Oh yeah, about your experiences, your familiarity with this type
of restaurant.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
If you have strong opinions.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
If you have always But yeah, the history of how
we got to hear it is very interesting. Oh it is.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yeah, and we are going to get into that as
soon as we get back from a quick break forward
from our sponsors.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
And we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you. Okay.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
So sushi has a long history in Japan. Absolutely, that
is a separate episode.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Yep, for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
We are not tackling about today, Nope. But for our
purposes now, as early as the sixteen hundreds, people in
Japan could purchase seasoned ball rice, usually seasoned with vinegar,
along with some type of cooked or dried seafood on
top from street carts. Yes, sushi itself is way older
than that. For now, these snacks were tasty, they were affordable,
(14:15):
they were convenient, and during the Second World War, rationing
impacted these sushi businesses. The stalls and carts were outlawed
by American forces post World War Two, and in some
cases customers had to bring their own rice to restaurants
if they wanted sushi. So sushi went from an inexpensive
(14:35):
casual food to something much more formal and costly, meaning
that some people no longer had easy access to it.
The sushi conveyor belt kind of changed that. The story
goes that after witnessing the conveyor belts used to move
beer bottles at Japan's Asaii Brewery or some other beer
(14:57):
factory restaurant chort Yoshii Ki Shidai she got the idea
to implement a similar mechanic in a restaurant of his own.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Shidai she was a self taught inventor and sometime restaurant
worker who moved to Osaka as a young man and
wound up back there after World War Two.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
He had a small place already but was struggling to
get it off the ground, and this was an idea
that he thought would alleviate his difficulties finding staff, that
it would cut cost and in theory offer a unique
dining experience where customers could serve themselves. At least that
was the plan. Over the course of four years, he
came up with and tested a prototype.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
It was this whole process he apparently had trouble even
finding a machine shop willing to work with him in
this bustling post war era. He you know, had to
figure out how to design something sturdy and washable, you know, sanitary,
that could move smoothly through corners. He settled on these
pieces of stainless steam I'll cut in crescent shapes that
(16:02):
can fan out along long stretches and fold in around corners,
inspired by how people hold playing cards.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
He opened his restaurant, Mawaru Jinroku Sushi in Osaka in
nineteen fifty eight. And just a side note, Osaka is
known as a big food city in Japan. When I
was in Japan, this was where I did my food
tour and I'm so full I could popped. It was
delicious and amazing, but I was like, no more, please,
I wish more, please.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
But I can't.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Uh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
And Genroku is the name of the era in Japan
from sixteen eighty eight through seventeen oh four. That was
this era of like peace and arts and culture. So
that's why he incorporated that into the name of this place.
One of the restaurant's first ad campaigns talked about like
satellite sushi, like revolving satellite sushi because the Sputnik had
(16:58):
just been launched the year prior to the restaurant opening.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
And at the time, the restaurant featured a horseshoe shaped
bar in the center minus sets. The stainless steel belt
moved clockwise since most people used chopsticks with their right hands,
so that they could grab the plate with their left hands.
The conveyor belt moved at about three inches or eight
centimeters per second. He determined this was the best speed
(17:25):
to prevent sushi accidents. It's pretty excellent and allow people
time to look at and pick up dishes, and was
not slow enough that the food would dry out. People
were charged per plate. The price was indicated by the
color of the plate. Fifteen years later, the restaurant introduced
an automatic green tea dispenser so customers could put some
(17:48):
green tea powder or a green tea bag and a
cup and then fill it with hot water, which is
now a pretty standard feature at a lot of them.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Yeah, I think, especially in powder format. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Yes. At first, his restaurant was slow to take off,
but that soon changed. In nineteen seventy, Osaka hosted the
Osaka World Expo for almost sixty five million people from
all over the world. Shiaishi decided this would be a
great place to introduce others to this style of restaurant
(18:22):
that he developed. The whole thing was a success for him.
It exposed so many people to this type of dining
and allowed him to open more restaurants because more people
were like, yes, I want that. He went on to
open the chain Genroku Sagno, which at one point had
about two hundred and forty locations. People really loved it,
(18:45):
and it changed how people interacted with and saw sushi.
Before it had been this fairly expensive formal affair. Perhaps
this was not only more approachable and affordable, but it
also had the addition of novelty and entertainment. Customers liked
that it saved them time, perhaps they liked that they
(19:06):
didn't have to interact with people. Of course, such success
inspired others to open similar restaurants, and not all of
them sushi based, especially because his patent expired sometime in
the mid nineteen seventies.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Yeah, and this did also coincide with the introduction of
international fast food chains in Japan like KFC and McDonald's,
which also tabled at that expo. In nineteen seventy, although
I will say that along the line here somewhere in
some conveyor belt sushi restaurants they added chairs. That original
(19:44):
one had no seating because he was like, look, man,
take your plate, eat the food, get out. This is
meant to be too quick for seating.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Yes, yes, Oh, also, I love how many times these
expos come up in our episode. They really did have
a big impact. Absolutely, Oh my goodness restaurants up. This
style started proliferating first in Japan, then across Asia and
then the rest of the world, and this led to
different takes on sushi rolls. We're gonna have to come
(20:16):
back to that oh my goodness as mentioned because yes,
as we've talked about before, this is the time when
we saw things like the California role popping up in
the United States, and just more exposure to sushi around
the world in general. This type of restaurant also led
to other innovations, including the sushi robot the Nagiri machine
(20:38):
in nineteen eighty one that later went on to be
incorporated into these sushi conveyor belt restaurants.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Right, So, okay, this I briefly glanced across it earlier,
but this was an innovation from the Japanese food service
machinery company Suzumo, which had previously been mostly working in
machines for making like filled dessert products. But this nagiri
(21:05):
machine was a machine that could gently pack prepared sushi
rice into that small oblong ball that's used for single
pieces of naghii. They expanded into other rice forming related
equipment like an ungari machine and a maki machine later
in the nineteen eighties, and this concept took a layer
(21:28):
of skill and time out of sushi making because like
as as Suzumo and eventually some rivals honed the machinery.
Over the next couple of decades, it became possible to
shape rice for nagiri at the rate of like a
ball every few seconds from increasingly more convenient countertop equipment
(21:52):
without having to train a person or pay them, you know.
So I have a number of feelings about that, But
also it absolutely drove the proliferation of both these conveyor
belt joints and also supermarket sushi. Should I she would
(22:14):
pass away in the year two thousand and one, at
the age of eighty seven. At that time, there were
over two thousand four hundred restaurants of this type in Japan.
The name in Japan is a Kiten Sushi, and at
that time the restaurant was worth some two point one
(22:34):
billion dollars.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Wow. Well, there have been other tech innovations as this
type of restaurant has evolved and modernized. Touchscreen ordering, an
automated dish collecting system that scans a barcode on the
plates to calculate price, pictures of food on dishes that
customers use a tablet to order, large LEDs that display
(23:02):
virtual conveyor belts. I almost went on a complete deep
dive about the dishwashing system that some of us it's fascinating.
In recent years, newly opened establishments often omit the conveyor
belt to prevent food waste, probably cost also instead relying
(23:24):
on custom orders and or express track options. In twenty
twenty three, there was a viral trend called sushi terrorism,
where people were posting videos of themselves poking, touching, or
coughing on the passing sushi or the plates, or licking
the soy sauce bottles something like that. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
This in particular, in addition to you know, the COVID pandemic,
like really drove some of the above innovations in this
type of dining, like like digital ordering and the direct
to table type service. One of the big chains, Kuda Sushi,
installed surveillance cameras with software designed to tag suspicious behaviors
(24:11):
to back of house staff so that they can call
the police. Because for the record, doing this in Japan
can and will get you arrested. Like, don't do this,
you absolute COVID lockdown, adult gremlins. We still live in
a society for now. Let's respect it a little bit.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Yes, yes, And there are a lot of if you
want to look it up, there are a lot of
articles about the etiquette. Oh yeah, being at a restaurant
like this, but I feel like this one. We don't
even need to say it. But don't even touch the plates.
Don't even unless you want that plate.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Yeah, don't mess with that touch it. Yeah, Why would
you mess with it if you don't want it, don't
go mess with it. Yeah, yeah, that's all. Yeah, huh okay.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
So at the twenty twenty five of Soccer World Expo,
sushi chain Kurda Sushi debuted the longest sushi conveyor belt
in the world at one hundred and thirty five meters
or four hundred and forty two feet, breaking the company's
own previous record.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
That is, if you're struggling to imagine the length of this,
it's a slightly longer than a soccer field or a
Boeing seven forty seven, whichever is easier for you to picture. Yes,
and it features a huge variety of sushi and other
dishes from seventy countries, yeah, including a lot of international
(25:42):
dishes presented in the giri format, like like little you
know the little like like vinegar seasoned balls of rice
topped with say, spicy tied chicken or fried Swiss cheese
or Peruvian style sebich.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
The expo runs from April thirteenth to October thirteenth, and again, listeners, if.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
You go, if you've been, if you're going, oh please,
if you witness this personally, if you eat just as
much as you can from it. We want to know
everything about the Zexpo and this in particular, and oh
my goodness.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
Yes, so much so yes, please please let us know
if you've had a good experience at a restaurant of
this type, please let us know.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
Oh yeah, and also I'm always super fascinated by how
different cultures localize cuisines. So yeah, like, what's what's your
local Japanese restaurant up to? Yes, if you're in Japan,
(26:58):
if you're elsewhere, yeah, yeah, absolutely, please let us know.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
But in the meantime, I think that's what we have
to say about sushi conveyor belt restaurants for now.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
It is.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
We do already have some listener mail for you, though,
and we're going to get into that as soon as
we get back from one more quick break for a
word from our sponsors.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
And we're back, Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you, and
we're back with us.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
I went on a date once at a restaurant of
this type and you get so distracted you miss a
lot of the good dishes and you see them on
the other side. Curses there they go. Sounds like with
the technology at the time, what is currently available, I
would not have that issue. But when I was doing this.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
It was just the luck of the luck of the
conveyor belt draw Yeah it was.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
It was okay. Mark Robe, my name is Mark, a
very long time listener and first time commenter. I have
some serious thoughts on the subject of snack cakes. Even
did an episode about those thoughts on my podcast Random
Schmuck for Me. Drake's Ring Dings and Devil Dogs are
(28:27):
at the top of the top. But Hostess had the
King of snack cakes in the Choco Dial uh. It
was sold as a single cake and was essentially a
chocolate covered twinkie. I'd walk a mile for a Choco
Dial was the tagline for this insanely delicious snack cake. Unfortunately,
(28:47):
it became unavailable on the East Coast many years ago,
as the factory that made them was on the West
Coast and they were not shipped east. I came across
my first one in years while out on a storm
chasing trip in two thousand and seven at a gas
station in the middle of nowhere in Montana. There were
a few of us from the New York area, and
(29:07):
when we saw the display of these still single packed cakes,
we bought them out and gorged on them. The last
one I had was in twenty twelve at Ruby's Inn
outside of Bryce Canyon in Utah, where I was visiting
with my dad. As I was with my dad, I
restrained myself to only one Choco Dial and it was
(29:29):
the last time I had one. Another fun fact about
Hostess going belly up. The disappearance of Twinkies and other
favorites from the store shelves led to a massive online
market for the last remaining boxes, which were bought up
in large quantities and sold on eBay for a significant markup.
These might be the last Twinkies you ever get to taste.
(29:52):
From what I understand. The choco dile itself has been
reborn as fudge covered Twinkies, but once again they can
be found here in the East. History repeats itself, and
I find myself once again utterly bereft. Oh no, oh,
the chocolate dial that got away? Oh no, yeah. I
(30:18):
think I've said this before on here, but I wanted
to do a whole mini series that was just the snacks,
the food items you can't get anymore that were discontinued.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
It's devastating when it is and you're like, no, this one,
and for some reason the company that makes it is like, hey,
screw you. Specifically, yes, we shall not be continuing that
and or we won't even ship it to the East.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Yeah, yeah, yes, Well I'm sorry, uh four or four
year loss.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Yeah, I'm glad that you had so many good times
with it. I'm fascinated that you've been storm chasing.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Yes, me too, me too.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
I would love to hear about that. Also, I hope
you find a Choco Dial in your future.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Yeah, yeah, I hope that. I hope that someone gets there,
gets their act together and gets some Choco Dial type
products out your way. Yes, uh, Nava wrote, I just
finished listening to the mapaw Tofu episode and I was
so happy that a listener other than me commented on
the proper pronunciation of gouda. I'm not gonna do it now.
(31:34):
You're gonna get a bunch of them in a second here, Okay.
I think Dutch people love listening to foreigners trying to
pronounce it. Half my extended family lives in Holland, and
while I'm not fluent in Dutch, I feel like it
has some of the most fun words to pronounce. One
of my favorite words in the world is sinas apple
sup sin us apples up, which is the Dutch word
(31:57):
for orange juice. Some other fun Dutch topics for episodes
are Barren Burch Barren Burke, which is spiced Jennifer Jennifer
also puffer yes, which are tiny buckwheat pancakes and oily bowlin,
which are Dutch donuts already mentioned striup waffle so much
(32:21):
fun with pronunciation. Not sure if you guys are still
doing animal pictures, but I have some that are also
food related, so I thought you'd appreciate them. We have
a pair of bloodhounds, Ladybird and Rollo, who have had
two litters before we got them fixed. It's traditional to
give each litter a naming theme, so for the first
litter we went with breads, briosch biscuit, peta baguette, olive loaf, marble, rye, pumpernickel,
(32:46):
and sour dough. The second litter was named for sweet
pastries moose donut, chiro waffle, cheesecake, moon pie, cupcake, speculas, crumpet,
and truffle, treffle being the runt. The last picture is
a side by side of muse and treffle ps. In
my last email, I forgot to mention how much I
(33:08):
love and appreciate your Seinfield references. Would love to hear
a whole fictional food episode dedicated to sign Field food references.
Other suggestions for fictional food episodes American Psycho, the book
not the movie, and the TV show Hannibal with Mad's Michelson, which.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
If I am not misremembering, we have done.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
We did a Hannibal universe. Did we do it specifically
on the TV show or was it kind of the universe?
I can't remember, but we've definitely talked about some of
that before. I remember talking about the TV show. It
might have been a long time ago. Styling, Oh right,
so gorgeous, really upsettingly pretty.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Upsettingly pretty is a good description. Yes, thank you, you're
your recommendations are noted and appreciated.
Speaker 3 (34:02):
Yes, yeah, I know that.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
I feel like Annie has been waiting for someone to
suggest a Seinfield. Oh yeah, I'm ready, Seinfeld. Do I
keep saying Seinfield? Seinfeld? What am I doing today? Well?
Speaker 1 (34:16):
I did behind the Curtains listeners. I'm the one who
chooses the listener mail. Usually I just go in order,
but I did. This one is a little behind because
I was going to give it to Lauren in the
previous episode, and I was like, well, this one has
(34:36):
a lot of pronunciation. I should give her at least
a little heads up before I assign it to her,
because I wasn't going.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
To do it.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Yeah, And and Annie did warn me about it, and
then I did not heed her warning, and so so
I just spent a couple of slightly panicked minutes trying
trying to remember and or look up how to say
these things because in my many years doing weird, weird
stuff for this company, I know I've talked talked about
(35:08):
a few of these things before.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
But Dutch, cute, Dutch. I think you did great given
out what you had in the time that you had.
I think it was fantastic.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
That is for Dutch speakers to let us know about.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
That, Yes, definitely you can. But those two seem they
seem like very fun, difficult words, but yeah, oh yeah
for non Dutch speakers, but you know, oh.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Yeah, no, but those I mean just the combination of
sounds alone is fascinating, so cool, very cool. And all
of these dogs are the cutest. Every single one is
the very cutest dog. And I know that that isn't
technically possible, but it but it, but it is.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
It's true. So yeah, And the names are fantastic, they.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
Are, and they all do resemble the type of the
type of bread and or pastry at hand, So.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
They're well named, very fitting.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
Yeah, on their little their little phrases are so wrinkly
and you just want to smoosh them. They're so cute.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Yes, I believe in this. I didn't include it, but
I believe in this. Email was a note like, I'm
not sure you still want pet pictures named after pets
named after food literally always always, Yeah, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
That is my number one interest. My number two interest
is like making a podcast about food, science and history
and culture. Pet pictures is number one.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
This was the means to an end. Well, thank you
so much to both of these listeners for writing in.
If you would like to email, as you can our
emails Hello at savorpod dot com, and we're also on
social media.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
You can find us on Instagram and blue Sky at
saver pod, and we do hope to hear from you.
Save is production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from my
Heart Radio, you can visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Thanks as
always to our super producers Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard.
Thanks to you for listening, and we hope that lots
more good things are coming your way
Hello, and welcome to Savor Protection of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm any Recent and I'm Lauren vocal Bum and today
we have an episode for you about conveyor belt sushi.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Yes, and wow, wow are there a lot of avenues
to go down with this one?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Uh huh Yeah, I really had to streamline. I think
there could be a bunch of weird little spinoffs.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
I think so too. I think so too. Fascinating topic
And was there any reason it was on your mind? Lauren?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Nope, all right, I think it had during some prior
searching of like restaurant types and technologies I had run across.
I was like, oh, yeah, what's that about. So yeah,
here we are, here we are, and there.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Is some really cool technology. I got kind of lost
in rabbit hole reading about that.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I regret today that we are not
tech stuff and that I did not allot myself an
extra week to read about all of this.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Yes, but fortunately there are other pieces of media you
can find that have really delved in about how this
whole thing works, and it is honestly very interesting. I've
had good times at these types of restaurants. I have
a friend who likes to go on her birthday and
(01:38):
that's always fun. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, they're just kind
of fun.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Yeah yeah, I've actually never been to one, I know, right, Yeah,
it seems like absolutely the thing that I would be
up to. I think the one around Atlanta that I'm
most aware of is right next to like my favorite
Iszikaya in Atlanta's, so I always just go to show you.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yeah, so yeah, yeah, yeah, I get that. Uh, they
are they are fun, They're they're they're good old time
just seeing what comes out. As I've discussed before, like
that's one of my favorite things about dim sum is I.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Like, oh yeah, kind of like random selection.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Sure, yeah, I see the food and I didn't know
I wanted it, and now you need it.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Weich.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Speaking of past episodes, you can see automats, southern cafeteria
style dining, and dim sum.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
I would say buffets maybe, sure, yeah yeah, But I
guess this brings us to our question.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Sure, all right, conveyor belt sushi, what is it?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Well, conveyor belt sushi is a type of restaurant service
that serves sushi and other dishes with some degree of automation,
which will include delivery of food to the customer's table.
Via a conveyor belt that winds through the dining room
at more or less table height. This confunction in a
bunch of different ways, but the sort of classic is
(03:15):
that you're seated in a restaurant dining room at a
table or a bar that sidles up to the conveying mechanism,
and as dishes go by on this contraption, you take
them off as desired, and when you're finished, you turn
in your plates to either a human person or an
automated collection system, and your total cost is tallied based
on some indication on the plates, be that like the
(03:38):
color of the plate, or a barcode, or like RFID chip,
or whatever it is that it is. Some restaurants also
have self served drinks like Hot Green Tea that operate
on similar concepts. Different restaurants may have ways of ordering
specific dishes and drinks, either from a human or a
touch screen at your seat or somewhere elsewhere in this
(04:01):
and then that item will be sent directly to you
via human or conveyor belt or free roving robot. I
don't know. The kitchen might be in the center of
one of the conveyor belt loops, like in the middle
of the dining room, or it might be hidden in
the back. The vibe in the food can vary, but
(04:21):
it is often meant to be like an inexpensive, fast
casual dining experience with an efficient sort of feel and
with fairly standard sushi varieties served a few pieces at
a time, plus like appetizers or sides like soup or
noodles or dumplings or some kind of veg plus a
few desserts. Though of course, places might serve fancier dishes
(04:44):
or incorporate different cuisines based on the whims and or.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Savvy of the staff.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
The whole thing is, Yeah, it's like fun, Like it's
a fun visual stick. It can be nice if you
don't want that much human interaction or if you're in
a hurry. It's like being inside a toy prize machine.
But every prize is food, the best prize, so right.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
There's a lot of often proprietary technology involved in these things,
and again this is not tech stuff, but but very basically,
there are a few different types of conveyor that you
might encounter, so okay. A classic belt conveyor is a
device where where a motor turns a pulley or a
(05:43):
roller that's connected to a second roller or a pulley
with this taut closed loop of material and that's that's
your belt. Yeah, so when the motor turns the roller,
it pulls the belt around in its loop. You've seen
this at a supermarket checkout lane or at a baggage
claim at an airport. And if you've ever been at
(06:04):
a baggage claim that has not like a flat rubber surface,
but rather a surface made of interconnected panels or plates
that can fan over each other around corners, that's usually
the type that we're talking about. In sushi restaurant situations,
the individual dishes of food can be carried around via
(06:26):
just direct contact with the belt, you know, like friction,
or if it's a bit fancier, by magnets under the
belt that loosely attached to a magnet on the interior
of the plate.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
There's also a train style track that some restaurants use,
which again vary. Basically is just a programmable electric mini
trainset with like stops at every table or seat around
the bar so that the customer can order a particular
dish or drink and you can send it straight to them,
or like a trainset. You can just set that thing
(07:02):
to go around on loop. Yeah, adorable. The tracks and
trays can be variably fancy, with like lighting installed above them,
sneeze guards, all kinds of different design elements, Like do
you want to theme everything like monorails, You can do that.
Do you want to theme it like wooden fishing boats
(07:24):
and have the track pulled through like a very small
lazy river, that's a thing. The dishware can also be
anything from like just a plate with some stuff on
it to a covered dish to plates with these kind
of like clear bubble tops, so it's a little bit
more sanitary, but it still lets you see the food
(07:45):
because temptation and presentation are absolutely part of this business model.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Oh yes, oh yes.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
That food is traditionally like modern Japanese sushi or is
a kaya like like pub adjacent cuisine, though that ranges
pretty widely from like what people would expect around different
parts of Japan and the adaptations of those cuisines around
the world, But generally speaking, you might expect like single
(08:18):
or pairs of nagiri, which are small, oblong balls of
vinegar seasoned rice that are topped with like a pretty
little slice of usually some kind of protein, often raw
or cooked seafood, sometimes with other seasonings or sauces, or
like a little bit of solid kind of situation incorporated,
or maybe three to six pieces of a maki like
(08:39):
like a sushi roll, or maybe some single or pairs
of gunkan which are sort of like nagiri, but they
have got a sheet of seaweed around the perimeter, not
around the center, around the perimeter. Yeah, or a larger
hand roll, which is a cone of sheet seaweed with
fillings inside of it. Yeah. You might have some cold
(09:02):
sides up there, like pickles or small salads, or some
steamed and cooled veg. Maybe some hot sides like steamed
or fried dumplings, grilled proteins, fried proteins or veg, bowls
of noodles or soup or noodle soup, desserts like cut fruit,
small pastries, ice creams, mokey taiyaki see our taiyaki episode. Sure,
(09:25):
and each table or seat at the bar probably has
some basic condiments placed at it, but additional dish specific
sauces or dips might come out on each plate depending
on what it is. Yeah, and yeah, like some restaurants
will use that conveyor element as pretty much the only automation.
(09:49):
It'll otherwise look and operate a lot like any other
sushi bar. But some really lean into automation through those
table side touch screens for ordering, or technology that will
scan your plates and tally your order automatically as you
finish each plate and drop it in a receptacle. Some
(10:11):
places have like a little reward story that plays out
on your touch screen for every so many plates that
you finish. All right, yeah, yeah, And the automation isn't
just going on in the dining room necessarily, because in
order to perform volume automated kitchen gadgets like a nagery
(10:34):
rice ball maker or a maki maker might be used
back in the kitchen. And all of this does lead
to some friendly discussion about quantity versus quality and the
experience that you're looking for from sushi, and like the
respect that you have for the ingredients and the chefs
(10:58):
and the entire the entire thing. But I'm not really
here to discuss that that is that is a broader
topic that I would love to have experts in the
field speak about.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Yes, And it is once again something that you can
find plenty written about if you're interested. Oh yes, well
what about the nutrition.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Oh that depends on you.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
This to choose your own adventure. Yeah. Yeah, well, I guess,
speaking of we do have some numbers for you.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
A couple here.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
So this is a restaurant model that is sometimes lauded
as being cool for an owner and operator because it
lets you save on service costs. But I haven't like
really dug into all of the numbers about it, but
(12:07):
I will say that the costs for the machinery can
be a little bit intense, Like conveyor belt system might
cost anywhere from like fifty grand to like two hundred
grand at startup, and it does require maintenance, So I'm
not entirely sure exactly how much money you're saving by
hiring fewer servers. But that said, the market for the
(12:33):
technologies that go into these restaurants is pretty huge. I
saw multiple estimates that put the technology market for conveyor
belt sushi restaurants at over three billion dollars a year
and growing as like cultures that are familiar with the
concept in Asia Pacific gain more disposable income, and as
(12:56):
affluent urban cultures around the world gain more familiarity.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Oh okay, well, listeners, we would love to hear from you.
Oh yeah, about your experiences, your familiarity with this type
of restaurant.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
If you have strong opinions.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
If you have always But yeah, the history of how
we got to hear it is very interesting. Oh it is.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yeah, and we are going to get into that as
soon as we get back from a quick break forward
from our sponsors.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
And we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you. Okay.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
So sushi has a long history in Japan. Absolutely, that
is a separate episode.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Yep, for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
We are not tackling about today, Nope. But for our
purposes now, as early as the sixteen hundreds, people in
Japan could purchase seasoned ball rice, usually seasoned with vinegar,
along with some type of cooked or dried seafood on
top from street carts. Yes, sushi itself is way older
than that. For now, these snacks were tasty, they were affordable,
(14:15):
they were convenient, and during the Second World War, rationing
impacted these sushi businesses. The stalls and carts were outlawed
by American forces post World War Two, and in some
cases customers had to bring their own rice to restaurants
if they wanted sushi. So sushi went from an inexpensive
(14:35):
casual food to something much more formal and costly, meaning
that some people no longer had easy access to it.
The sushi conveyor belt kind of changed that. The story
goes that after witnessing the conveyor belts used to move
beer bottles at Japan's Asaii Brewery or some other beer
(14:57):
factory restaurant chort Yoshii Ki Shidai she got the idea
to implement a similar mechanic in a restaurant of his own.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Shidai she was a self taught inventor and sometime restaurant
worker who moved to Osaka as a young man and
wound up back there after World War Two.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
He had a small place already but was struggling to
get it off the ground, and this was an idea
that he thought would alleviate his difficulties finding staff, that
it would cut cost and in theory offer a unique
dining experience where customers could serve themselves. At least that
was the plan. Over the course of four years, he
came up with and tested a prototype.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
It was this whole process he apparently had trouble even
finding a machine shop willing to work with him in
this bustling post war era. He you know, had to
figure out how to design something sturdy and washable, you know, sanitary,
that could move smoothly through corners. He settled on these
pieces of stainless steam I'll cut in crescent shapes that
(16:02):
can fan out along long stretches and fold in around corners,
inspired by how people hold playing cards.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
He opened his restaurant, Mawaru Jinroku Sushi in Osaka in
nineteen fifty eight. And just a side note, Osaka is
known as a big food city in Japan. When I
was in Japan, this was where I did my food
tour and I'm so full I could popped. It was
delicious and amazing, but I was like, no more, please,
I wish more, please.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
But I can't.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Uh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
And Genroku is the name of the era in Japan
from sixteen eighty eight through seventeen oh four. That was
this era of like peace and arts and culture. So
that's why he incorporated that into the name of this place.
One of the restaurant's first ad campaigns talked about like
satellite sushi, like revolving satellite sushi because the Sputnik had
(16:58):
just been launched the year prior to the restaurant opening.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
And at the time, the restaurant featured a horseshoe shaped
bar in the center minus sets. The stainless steel belt
moved clockwise since most people used chopsticks with their right hands,
so that they could grab the plate with their left hands.
The conveyor belt moved at about three inches or eight
centimeters per second. He determined this was the best speed
(17:25):
to prevent sushi accidents. It's pretty excellent and allow people
time to look at and pick up dishes, and was
not slow enough that the food would dry out. People
were charged per plate. The price was indicated by the
color of the plate. Fifteen years later, the restaurant introduced
an automatic green tea dispenser so customers could put some
(17:48):
green tea powder or a green tea bag and a
cup and then fill it with hot water, which is
now a pretty standard feature at a lot of them.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Yeah, I think, especially in powder format. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Yes. At first, his restaurant was slow to take off,
but that soon changed. In nineteen seventy, Osaka hosted the
Osaka World Expo for almost sixty five million people from
all over the world. Shiaishi decided this would be a
great place to introduce others to this style of restaurant
(18:22):
that he developed. The whole thing was a success for him.
It exposed so many people to this type of dining
and allowed him to open more restaurants because more people
were like, yes, I want that. He went on to
open the chain Genroku Sagno, which at one point had
about two hundred and forty locations. People really loved it,
(18:45):
and it changed how people interacted with and saw sushi.
Before it had been this fairly expensive formal affair. Perhaps
this was not only more approachable and affordable, but it
also had the addition of novelty and entertainment. Customers liked
that it saved them time, perhaps they liked that they
(19:06):
didn't have to interact with people. Of course, such success
inspired others to open similar restaurants, and not all of
them sushi based, especially because his patent expired sometime in
the mid nineteen seventies.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Yeah, and this did also coincide with the introduction of
international fast food chains in Japan like KFC and McDonald's,
which also tabled at that expo. In nineteen seventy, although
I will say that along the line here somewhere in
some conveyor belt sushi restaurants they added chairs. That original
(19:44):
one had no seating because he was like, look, man,
take your plate, eat the food, get out. This is
meant to be too quick for seating.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Yes, yes, Oh, also, I love how many times these
expos come up in our episode. They really did have
a big impact. Absolutely, Oh my goodness restaurants up. This
style started proliferating first in Japan, then across Asia and
then the rest of the world, and this led to
different takes on sushi rolls. We're gonna have to come
(20:16):
back to that oh my goodness as mentioned because yes,
as we've talked about before, this is the time when
we saw things like the California role popping up in
the United States, and just more exposure to sushi around
the world in general. This type of restaurant also led
to other innovations, including the sushi robot the Nagiri machine
(20:38):
in nineteen eighty one that later went on to be
incorporated into these sushi conveyor belt restaurants.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Right, So, okay, this I briefly glanced across it earlier,
but this was an innovation from the Japanese food service
machinery company Suzumo, which had previously been mostly working in
machines for making like filled dessert products. But this nagiri
(21:05):
machine was a machine that could gently pack prepared sushi
rice into that small oblong ball that's used for single
pieces of naghii. They expanded into other rice forming related
equipment like an ungari machine and a maki machine later
in the nineteen eighties, and this concept took a layer
(21:28):
of skill and time out of sushi making because like
as as Suzumo and eventually some rivals honed the machinery.
Over the next couple of decades, it became possible to
shape rice for nagiri at the rate of like a
ball every few seconds from increasingly more convenient countertop equipment
(21:52):
without having to train a person or pay them, you know.
So I have a number of feelings about that, But
also it absolutely drove the proliferation of both these conveyor
belt joints and also supermarket sushi. Should I she would
(22:14):
pass away in the year two thousand and one, at
the age of eighty seven. At that time, there were
over two thousand four hundred restaurants of this type in Japan.
The name in Japan is a Kiten Sushi, and at
that time the restaurant was worth some two point one
(22:34):
billion dollars.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Wow. Well, there have been other tech innovations as this
type of restaurant has evolved and modernized. Touchscreen ordering, an
automated dish collecting system that scans a barcode on the
plates to calculate price, pictures of food on dishes that
customers use a tablet to order, large LEDs that display
(23:02):
virtual conveyor belts. I almost went on a complete deep
dive about the dishwashing system that some of us it's fascinating.
In recent years, newly opened establishments often omit the conveyor
belt to prevent food waste, probably cost also instead relying
(23:24):
on custom orders and or express track options. In twenty
twenty three, there was a viral trend called sushi terrorism,
where people were posting videos of themselves poking, touching, or
coughing on the passing sushi or the plates, or licking
the soy sauce bottles something like that. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
This in particular, in addition to you know, the COVID pandemic,
like really drove some of the above innovations in this
type of dining, like like digital ordering and the direct
to table type service. One of the big chains, Kuda Sushi,
installed surveillance cameras with software designed to tag suspicious behaviors
(24:11):
to back of house staff so that they can call
the police. Because for the record, doing this in Japan
can and will get you arrested. Like, don't do this,
you absolute COVID lockdown, adult gremlins. We still live in
a society for now. Let's respect it a little bit.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Yes, yes, And there are a lot of if you
want to look it up, there are a lot of
articles about the etiquette. Oh yeah, being at a restaurant
like this, but I feel like this one. We don't
even need to say it. But don't even touch the plates.
Don't even unless you want that plate.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Yeah, don't mess with that touch it. Yeah, Why would
you mess with it if you don't want it, don't
go mess with it. Yeah, yeah, that's all. Yeah, huh okay.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
So at the twenty twenty five of Soccer World Expo,
sushi chain Kurda Sushi debuted the longest sushi conveyor belt
in the world at one hundred and thirty five meters
or four hundred and forty two feet, breaking the company's
own previous record.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
That is, if you're struggling to imagine the length of this,
it's a slightly longer than a soccer field or a
Boeing seven forty seven, whichever is easier for you to picture. Yes,
and it features a huge variety of sushi and other
dishes from seventy countries, yeah, including a lot of international
(25:42):
dishes presented in the giri format, like like little you
know the little like like vinegar seasoned balls of rice
topped with say, spicy tied chicken or fried Swiss cheese
or Peruvian style sebich.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
The expo runs from April thirteenth to October thirteenth, and again, listeners, if.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
You go, if you've been, if you're going, oh please,
if you witness this personally, if you eat just as
much as you can from it. We want to know
everything about the Zexpo and this in particular, and oh
my goodness.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
Yes, so much so yes, please please let us know
if you've had a good experience at a restaurant of
this type, please let us know.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
Oh yeah, and also I'm always super fascinated by how
different cultures localize cuisines. So yeah, like, what's what's your
local Japanese restaurant up to? Yes, if you're in Japan,
(26:58):
if you're elsewhere, yeah, yeah, absolutely, please let us know.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
But in the meantime, I think that's what we have
to say about sushi conveyor belt restaurants for now.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
It is.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
We do already have some listener mail for you, though,
and we're going to get into that as soon as
we get back from one more quick break for a
word from our sponsors.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
And we're back, Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you, and
we're back with us.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
I went on a date once at a restaurant of
this type and you get so distracted you miss a
lot of the good dishes and you see them on
the other side. Curses there they go. Sounds like with
the technology at the time, what is currently available, I
would not have that issue. But when I was doing this.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
It was just the luck of the luck of the
conveyor belt draw Yeah it was.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
It was okay. Mark Robe, my name is Mark, a
very long time listener and first time commenter. I have
some serious thoughts on the subject of snack cakes. Even
did an episode about those thoughts on my podcast Random
Schmuck for Me. Drake's Ring Dings and Devil Dogs are
(28:27):
at the top of the top. But Hostess had the
King of snack cakes in the Choco Dial uh. It
was sold as a single cake and was essentially a
chocolate covered twinkie. I'd walk a mile for a Choco
Dial was the tagline for this insanely delicious snack cake. Unfortunately,
(28:47):
it became unavailable on the East Coast many years ago,
as the factory that made them was on the West
Coast and they were not shipped east. I came across
my first one in years while out on a storm
chasing trip in two thousand and seven at a gas
station in the middle of nowhere in Montana. There were
a few of us from the New York area, and
(29:07):
when we saw the display of these still single packed cakes,
we bought them out and gorged on them. The last
one I had was in twenty twelve at Ruby's Inn
outside of Bryce Canyon in Utah, where I was visiting
with my dad. As I was with my dad, I
restrained myself to only one Choco Dial and it was
(29:29):
the last time I had one. Another fun fact about
Hostess going belly up. The disappearance of Twinkies and other
favorites from the store shelves led to a massive online
market for the last remaining boxes, which were bought up
in large quantities and sold on eBay for a significant markup.
These might be the last Twinkies you ever get to taste.
(29:52):
From what I understand. The choco dile itself has been
reborn as fudge covered Twinkies, but once again they can
be found here in the East. History repeats itself, and
I find myself once again utterly bereft. Oh no, oh,
the chocolate dial that got away? Oh no, yeah. I
(30:18):
think I've said this before on here, but I wanted
to do a whole mini series that was just the snacks,
the food items you can't get anymore that were discontinued.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
It's devastating when it is and you're like, no, this one,
and for some reason the company that makes it is like, hey,
screw you. Specifically, yes, we shall not be continuing that
and or we won't even ship it to the East.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Yeah, yeah, yes, Well I'm sorry, uh four or four
year loss.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Yeah, I'm glad that you had so many good times
with it. I'm fascinated that you've been storm chasing.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Yes, me too, me too.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
I would love to hear about that. Also, I hope
you find a Choco Dial in your future.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Yeah, yeah, I hope that. I hope that someone gets there,
gets their act together and gets some Choco Dial type
products out your way. Yes, uh, Nava wrote, I just
finished listening to the mapaw Tofu episode and I was
so happy that a listener other than me commented on
the proper pronunciation of gouda. I'm not gonna do it now.
(31:34):
You're gonna get a bunch of them in a second here, Okay.
I think Dutch people love listening to foreigners trying to
pronounce it. Half my extended family lives in Holland, and
while I'm not fluent in Dutch, I feel like it
has some of the most fun words to pronounce. One
of my favorite words in the world is sinas apple
sup sin us apples up, which is the Dutch word
(31:57):
for orange juice. Some other fun Dutch topics for episodes
are Barren Burch Barren Burke, which is spiced Jennifer Jennifer
also puffer yes, which are tiny buckwheat pancakes and oily bowlin,
which are Dutch donuts already mentioned striup waffle so much
(32:21):
fun with pronunciation. Not sure if you guys are still
doing animal pictures, but I have some that are also
food related, so I thought you'd appreciate them. We have
a pair of bloodhounds, Ladybird and Rollo, who have had
two litters before we got them fixed. It's traditional to
give each litter a naming theme, so for the first
litter we went with breads, briosch biscuit, peta baguette, olive loaf, marble, rye, pumpernickel,
(32:46):
and sour dough. The second litter was named for sweet
pastries moose donut, chiro waffle, cheesecake, moon pie, cupcake, speculas, crumpet,
and truffle, treffle being the runt. The last picture is
a side by side of muse and treffle ps. In
my last email, I forgot to mention how much I
(33:08):
love and appreciate your Seinfield references. Would love to hear
a whole fictional food episode dedicated to sign Field food references.
Other suggestions for fictional food episodes American Psycho, the book
not the movie, and the TV show Hannibal with Mad's Michelson, which.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
If I am not misremembering, we have done.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
We did a Hannibal universe. Did we do it specifically
on the TV show or was it kind of the universe?
I can't remember, but we've definitely talked about some of
that before. I remember talking about the TV show. It
might have been a long time ago. Styling, Oh right,
so gorgeous, really upsettingly pretty.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Upsettingly pretty is a good description. Yes, thank you, you're
your recommendations are noted and appreciated.
Speaker 3 (34:02):
Yes, yeah, I know that.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
I feel like Annie has been waiting for someone to
suggest a Seinfield. Oh yeah, I'm ready, Seinfeld. Do I
keep saying Seinfield? Seinfeld? What am I doing today? Well?
Speaker 1 (34:16):
I did behind the Curtains listeners. I'm the one who
chooses the listener mail. Usually I just go in order,
but I did. This one is a little behind because
I was going to give it to Lauren in the
previous episode, and I was like, well, this one has
(34:36):
a lot of pronunciation. I should give her at least
a little heads up before I assign it to her,
because I wasn't going.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
To do it.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Yeah, And and Annie did warn me about it, and
then I did not heed her warning, and so so
I just spent a couple of slightly panicked minutes trying
trying to remember and or look up how to say
these things because in my many years doing weird, weird
stuff for this company, I know I've talked talked about
(35:08):
a few of these things before.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
But Dutch, cute, Dutch. I think you did great given
out what you had in the time that you had.
I think it was fantastic.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
That is for Dutch speakers to let us know about.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
That, Yes, definitely you can. But those two seem they
seem like very fun, difficult words, but yeah, oh yeah
for non Dutch speakers, but you know, oh.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Yeah, no, but those I mean just the combination of
sounds alone is fascinating, so cool, very cool. And all
of these dogs are the cutest. Every single one is
the very cutest dog. And I know that that isn't
technically possible, but it but it, but it is.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
It's true. So yeah, And the names are fantastic, they.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
Are, and they all do resemble the type of the
type of bread and or pastry at hand, So.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
They're well named, very fitting.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
Yeah, on their little their little phrases are so wrinkly
and you just want to smoosh them. They're so cute.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Yes, I believe in this. I didn't include it, but
I believe in this. Email was a note like, I'm
not sure you still want pet pictures named after pets
named after food literally always always, Yeah, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
That is my number one interest. My number two interest
is like making a podcast about food, science and history
and culture. Pet pictures is number one.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
This was the means to an end. Well, thank you
so much to both of these listeners for writing in.
If you would like to email, as you can our
emails Hello at savorpod dot com, and we're also on
social media.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
You can find us on Instagram and blue Sky at
saver pod, and we do hope to hear from you.
Save is production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from my
Heart Radio, you can visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Thanks as
always to our super producers Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard.
Thanks to you for listening, and we hope that lots
more good things are coming your way
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
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